"Don't move!!" Shen Qingfeng's sudden roar made Yu Shuang freeze on the spot. He was about to take a step when he turned his head to look at Shen Qingfeng.
"There's a sound. Listen..." Cold sweat broke out on Shen Qingfeng's forehead. Apart from the firelight around them, there was no light anywhere else. It was all pitch - black, and that strange metallic clanging sound seemed to come from somewhere in the darkness.
Yu Shuang's expression turned solemn. He also concentrated to listen. The two of them stiffened their bodies and listened quietly for a while, but heard nothing.
That clear sound seemed to have never existed. Inside the whole mass grave, apart from the crackling sound of their torches burning, it was completely silent.
Yu Shuang was a bit skeptical. He tentatively asked, "My lord... Did you really hear a sound?"
Shen Qingfeng nodded. He pursed his lips and said nothing. Although he couldn't hear the sound now, he was certain that it had truly appeared just now.
What had made that sound?
Could it be Xiangcheng? Or something else?
"Stay where you are," Shen Qingfeng whispered. "There might be something else here."
Hearing this, Yu Shuang's face turned pale, and he stood still.
Shen Qingfeng took a deep breath and slowly lifted his foot.
He remembered clearly that the metallic sound had appeared the previous two times when he took a step. He looked at the creepy white bones under his feet, found a relatively flat place, and slowly stepped on it.
The surroundings remained deathly silent.
Yu Shuang stared at Shen Qingfeng, his eyes showing concern. "My lord..."
"Listen carefully," Shen Qingfeng persevered and continued walking forward.
One step, two steps, three steps...
In the deep darkness, the unknown fear was like a thick liquid, threatening to squeeze out all the air from their lungs.
Four steps...
Five steps...
"Dingling..."
Almost simultaneously, both of them trembled violently!
This time, the sound was very clear. They both heard it, but compared to Yu Shuang who heard it for the first time, Shen Qingfeng broke out in cold sweat because he found that the sound seemed... to be getting closer?
Something was moving towards them through the darkness!
"My lord! That sound seems to be from a copper bell," Yu Shuang's expression was a bit strange. "It's for exorcising evil spirits!"
"Run!" Without hesitation, Shen Qingfeng started to stride forward. "The sound is closer than before! We have to get to that door quickly."
The two quickly took action. As they moved fast, the ringing of the bell became more and more urgent and stayed closely behind them, as if something was chasing them.
"Dingling... Dinglingling..."
Shen Qingfeng's face was as pale as paper. He started running desperately. "Run!"
Human fear of the unknown is immeasurable, especially in such a strange and dark place. Here, fear could be magnified countless times instantly.
The ringing of the bell behind them was like a death - knell. The sound became more and more urgent and seemed to be approaching them at an extremely fast speed. Shen Qingfeng and Yu Shuang didn't dare to stop for a moment. Although they had walked a long way, they still had a distance to go to reach the stone door. Moreover, there was no flat road under their feet.
At this moment, Shen Qingfeng didn't have the time to think about those things. He ran blindly, not knowing how many bones he had crushed in his panic.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing!" Yu Shuang cursed under his breath while running. He took out a fire starter from his bosom, flicked it a few times to light it, and then threw it hard in the direction of the sound behind them.
The flame of the fire starter left a bright trail in the dark sky. In the faint light, Shen Qingfeng and Yu Shuang both turned their heads. The next moment, they saw a scene that made their hair stand on end.
Behind them, the corpses all over the ground were somehow pushed up, forming a small mountain of bones about three people tall. What was even more terrifying was that the mountain of bones was moving towards them at an astonishing speed, accompanied by the "clacking" sound of countless bones colliding and the noisy ringing of the bell from who - knows - where.
"Damn it!!!" Yu Shuang shouted. Even a well - informed person like him was shocked. Not to mention Shen Qingfeng. The moment Shen Qingfeng saw that thing, he was completely scared stupid. It was as if his whole body was suddenly frozen by ice. His feet, which were moving quickly, suddenly stumbled, and he fell straight down.
Fortunately, Yu Shuang reacted quickly enough. As soon as he came to his senses, he reached out and grabbed Shen Qingfeng, then slung him over his shoulder. With a loud shout, he used his light - body skill and ran forward at full speed.
"Dinglinglinglinglinglingling...!!!"
The increasingly urgent ringing of the bell closely followed them. Yu Shuang gritted his teeth. That thing was right behind them. It was so close that if he stopped for a moment, they would be swallowed by the mountain of bones.
Shen Qingfeng didn't know how he had covered that short distance. He only remembered that his whole weight was almost on Yu Shuang, and he only remembered Yu Shuang's increasingly rapid panting beside him.
When he came to his senses, Yu Shuang was stabbing his short dagger into the gap between the stone doors. Then he exerted all his strength and let out a roar from his throat.
The stone door was movable. With Yu Shuang using almost all his strength, the stone door was suddenly opened with a "rumbling" sound. Then, without even having the time to see what was inside, the two rushed into the door like they were fleeing for their lives.
"Dinglinglinglinglingling... Kaka - -!"
Behind them, the noisy and almost suffocating ringing of the bell suddenly stopped the moment they rushed into the door.
Due to the inertia of their bodies, the two fell to the ground. They let out a muffled groan. It was Yu Shuang who reacted first. He sat up like a carp leaping out of the water, then reached out and pulled Shen Qingfeng up from the ground.
"My lord! My lord! How are you!" Yu Shuang didn't care about etiquette anymore. He held the torch and carefully examined Shen Qingfeng's body inch by inch to see if he was injured.
Shen Qingfeng was still in a state of shock. He took a few steps forward and then turned to look back. Behind the stone door, there was no more firelight or the noisy ringing of the bell. Everything seemed to return to darkness again, as if those terrifying things had never appeared.
Shen Qingfeng couldn't help but feel scared. He cursed and seemed to suddenly deflate. He leaned against the stone wall and gasped for breath.
"It's okay, my lord. Are you injured?"
"No," Shen Qingfeng gasped. He shook his head and leaned weakly against the stone wall. "What the hell was that thing!"
"... I don't know."
During the frantic run just now, Shen Qingfeng's torch had fallen somewhere and gone out. The only source of light they had now was the few fire starters on Yu Shuang and the torch in his hand.
"This torch won't burn for long," Yu Shuang said when he saw Shen Qingfeng staring at his torch. "My lord, we have to get out of here as soon as possible."
Shen Qingfeng nodded. He swallowed hard. His throat was burning with pain. He was in a relatively weak physical condition, and the frantic run had left him out of breath.
Beside him, there was also Yu Shuang's panting sound. Presumably, he was also very tired.
Shen Qingfeng could hardly speak. He took a few deep breaths and then looked up to carefully examine this stone chamber.
This stone chamber was not very big. It was circular, with a radius of only about five zhang and a height of about two zhang. As Shen Qingfeng had expected, there was a circular platform in the middle of the chamber. He could tell at a glance that it was a sacrificial pyre. The specifications of the pyre were the same as those of the Li Xia sacrifices, almost exactly the same as the pyres arranged by the Divination Hall each time.
But strangely, there was nothing on the platform except for some scattered chains.
On the surrounding walls of the whole stone chamber, there were square wooden - stone lattice structures. These lattices were evenly embedded in the stone wall, and no one knew what was inside.
Yu Shuang wanted to help Shen Qingfeng, but Shen Qingfeng shook his head and said he could walk. So the two slowly walked towards the platform. When they got closer, the firelight illuminated the pyre more clearly. At this time, they found that there seemed to be a shallow, sunken mark in the middle of the platform.
Yu Shuang looked at the chains scattered around and frowned. "It seems that there was something here before."
Shen Qingfeng stroked his chest and said while catching his breath, "Go and take a look at those chains."
Yu Shuang understood. He walked in front of Shen Qingfeng, walked up the half - person - high pyre along the steps, squatted down with the torch in his hand, and carefully examined them. "These chains seem to be used to tie something up."
He picked up a chain and looked at it. "This is high - quality cold iron. It won't rust, but it seems to have been here for a long time."
"Can you tell what was tied up before?" The frantic run had taken a lot of energy out of him. Now that he had recovered a bit, he also started to look around. Looking at the chain in Yu Shuang's hand, which was as thick as two baby's arms, the first thing that came to his mind was Xiangcheng.
Yu Shuang hissed. He frowned and said, "I understand, my lord. But these chains don't seem to be used to tie up a person."
Shen Qingfeng was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Yu Shuang said, "There are too many chains, and this chain is too thick. If it were tied on a person, almost all parts of the person would have to be tied up... This doesn't make sense. You don't need to do this to tie up a person, do you?"
Shen Qingfeng pursed his lips and said hoarsely, "Then... Could it be that the thing outside just now was tied up?"
Yu Shuang turned to look at Shen Qingfeng. The two looked at each other, and they both saw a trace of uneasiness in each other's eyes.
That thing had run out and was guarding the mass grave at the door. So how could they go back the same way?
Moreover, there was only one entrance and exit in this stone chamber that they could see, which was the door they had just come in from. If so, then what about the gust of wind he had detected before they entered the tomb passage? Did it mean that there was a hidden exit here?
Shen Qingfeng looked down at the iron chains scattered all over the ground, then looked up and carefully examined the small squares on the stone wall in the faint light, as if trying to find some clues.
Both of them fell into a brief silence. Inside the whole stone chamber, only the crackling sound of the torch burning and Yu Shuang's panting sound could be heard.
His panting was a bit heavy. Shen Qingfeng was startled and asked worriedly, "Were you injured just now?"
Yu Shuang shook his head. "No."
"Then why are you panting so heavily?"
Yu Shuang, who was studying the chains with his head down, suddenly trembled all over. Then, he slowly raised his head. His eyes were fixed on Shen Qingfeng in horror. "My lord, isn't that panting sound coming from you?"
The air suddenly fell silent for a moment.
The next moment, Shen Qingfeng suddenly turned around subconsciously. In front of him, there appeared a face as pale as paper, only a finger's distance from his nose, staring at him.