The Lost Tomb Vol. 3

Chapter 13: Ventilation Shaft

By the time we rushed over, it was already too late—Pan Zi was gone without a trace. We swept our flashlights all around the hole, but the beams couldn't reach the bottom. There was no telling whether Pan Zi was alive or dead.

I felt the blood rush to my head and moved to jump into the hole, but Fatty was faster than me—he grabbed the rope tied around his leg, pulled out his knife, and jumped into the hole, instantly disappearing into the darkness. I wanted to jump in after him, but Monk Hua stopped me, saying that the hole was too small. If I jumped in, there wouldn't be enough room to fight that thing below. It might be possible for Fatty to save Pan Zi by himself, but if I jumped in, we'd probably all die.

I sighed in defeat and peered into the hole. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear the sound of Fatty sliding down. As the rope was quickly pulled into the hole, I couldn't help but feel anxious.

After about a minute, the rope suddenly jerked to a stop and then quivered. Then, we heard Fatty shouting from the depths of the hole, "Pull the rope!"

We quickly grabbed the rope and started pulling desperately. Soon, Fatty appeared dragging a kicking Pan Zi behind him—obviously, the corpse fetus still hadn't let go.

Chen Pi Ah Si told us to get out of the way, frowned, and then pulled out an iron pellet. Aiming it at Pan Zi's ankle, he quickly threw it at the corpse fetus's big head. The corpse fetus screamed and let go, but quickly turned and launched itself at us.

Chen Pi Ah Si didn't give it a chance—another iron pellet sent it flying backwards, rolling end over end. It quickly righted itself and rushed towards us again, but another iron pellet sent it rolling back down into the hole.

We took the opportunity to pull Pan Zi and Fatty out of the hole, and then immediately retreated, while Monk Hua grabbed a folding shovel and waited next to the opening. Sure enough, within a few seconds, that thing suddenly rushed out again. Monk Hua used the shovel to smack it back down with a "dang" sound, sending it falling into the depths of the hole with a loud scream.

Fatty's face was pale and he was gasping for breath as he said to Pan Zi, "See? She likes you more. She wants to be your wife."

Pan Zi was still shaken from the fright just now and merely waved his hand, "Stop talking about it. Consider us even." Then he turned and asked Monk Hua, "Is this damn hole the corpse fetus's den? If so, I'll blow it up and let it reincarnate as soon as possible."

Monk Hua waved his hand and said, "No, the corpse fetus isn't an animal, so how can it have a den? But this hole is really strange. When you guys fell in just now, did you see anything?"

"I didn't bring a flashlight so I couldn't see anything," Fatty said. "But I could feel several stone slabs. This hole should be man-made."

Man-made? Monk Hua seemed a little intrigued by this, and even I turned my attention back to the hole.

The mouth of the hole looked a bit like a well, and was pretty damn deep. I thought it was an abandoned well shaft at first, but that wasn't the case considering how large the diameter of the hole was—the ancients wouldn't have dug a well so wide. There were tool marks and traces of chiseling on the edge of the hole, indicating that it was not a naturally formed lava vent. I took a look with my flashlight and found that the corpse fetus was no longer there. I didn't know if it had been beaten to death by Monk Hua, but it must have fallen deep inside. Although this thing looked scary, it wasn't very powerful.

The inner wall closer to the opening had been inlaid with some stone slabs, but that didn't appear to be the case the further you went in. It was also very uneven, like the inner wall of a person's duodenum.(1) We could feel the wind blowing up from the hole, carrying with it a hint of dampness. We stretched our necks out, but could only see a few meters ahead—the rest of the hole was pitch black, making it impossible to see where it led to.