Chapter 11: Horse Tracks

Yao Cuo walked to the edge of the narrow cave mouth and squatted down, shining his light downward. This downward rock tunnel was narrow at the outer end but widened inside. Water had clearly flowed through it at some point, giving the stone walls a moist sheen in the reflected light. The slope was steep—around sixty or seventy degrees—and the bottom was nowhere in sight.

He picked up a medium-sized stone from nearby and tossed it down along the tunnel.

The rock clattered inward with a tap-tap—thud—echo.

Yao Cuo pondered for a moment, then stood up. “Doesn’t sound too deep. Probably two or three meters, and there might be a shallow pool at the bottom.” He wasn’t worried about Gu Xianwang or the tour guide, but Ye Chan didn’t strike him as someone who got much exercise. “Xiao Ye, have you done any rock climbing before?”

Ye Chan let out a dry chuckle, zeroing in on the crucial point—she wouldn’t grab it next time. “Senior Brother Yao, take a look at these skinny arms and legs.” As if she looked like she could leap to the heavens or dive into the earth.

Fair point.

Yao Cuo set down his backpack and pulled out two coils of rope. He looped an 8mm climbing rope around a sturdy stone pillar, then squatted back down and used several lengths of 6mm auxiliary rope to tie a series of knots along the main line. He showed it to Ye Chan. “This is a Prusik knot. It’s adjustable.”

He gripped the knot and tugged to demonstrate. “See? Pull hard like this, and it locks tight under tension. We’ll have Xianwang and Hei Bro go first. You’ll be third. I’ll tie you off simply with the main rope for extra safety.”

Ye Chan blinked in confusion. “Tie how? Just rappel down?”

Yao Cuo draped the rope around his crotch and over his shoulders, dropping into a half-squat. “Like this. Use your thighs for power—that’s the Egg Frying Method. No ascenders this time, so everyone grip tight. I’ll go last and light your way from up top.”

It was the only path forward, so they had no choice but to steel themselves and descend. Ye Chan nodded. Gu Xianwang wrapped the long rope once around her right wrist, slung her backpack across her chest, and gave Yao Cuo a nod before slipping down into the cave first.

Little Hei followed right after, both of them descending with practiced ease.

Imitating them, Ye Chan clutched the rope tight and hooked her toes against the rock wall, easing herself down inch by inch.

She was just past the halfway mark when Yao Cuo suddenly frowned oddly and shouted into the tunnel. “Xianwang, you at the bottom yet?”

Something wasn’t right. At a normal pace, she should have reached it by now.

Gu Xianwang’s voice echoed back quickly, amplified by the cave. “Not yet! It’s a vertical shaft down here—three or four meters at least!”

That high!?

Cold sweat prickled Yao Cuo’s skin. Ye Chan had already vanished fully into the slanted section, so he called after her urgently. “Xiao Ye, hold on tight! They’re right below you—if you slip, you’ll take them all down with you!”

“Ah?”

Hearing that only ramped up the pressure. It was her first time; the freefall sensation with no solid footing was bad enough already. Her palms burned raw against the rope, sweat pouring off her like she was in a steam room, making everything slicker by the second.

The slant was only about a meter long. Her foot slipped, and she plummeted half her body length into the full vertical drop. The sharp bend cut off all light from above, returning the world to pitch blackness.

Ye Chan’s heart hammered like it might burst from her chest. She gasped wildly, unable to stop.

Thump-thump-thump—it pounded relentlessly, the rope jerking beneath her. Endless voids yawned above and below, and she squeezed her eyes shut in terror.

Then something fine and leggy stepped on her neck—like a bug. She shrugged on instinct, and it hopped, landing in her hair.

“Ah!!!”

The tour guide below startled. “What is it?”

Ye Chan shrieked, her face draining of color. “Bug! It jumps! It’s on me!”

“Don’t yell,” the tour guide shouted back. “Caves are full of little critters. They’re more scared of you. Ignore it—don’t make it bite.”

Ye Chan: ??? As if ignoring it would keep it from biting?

The words had barely left his mouth when another bug dropped onto her head. She cracked her eyes open—and nearly hurled. At some point, long-legged insects like crickets had overrun the walls all around her, front and back, left and right, a writhing mass surging into the depths with a rustling wave.

“Holy shit…” Now she really didn’t dare make a sound, terrified of rousing the horde from above!

~~~

Gu Xianwang spotted shimmering water light not far below—just another meter or so to the bottom. Her nerves eased a fraction.

She was about to call up and reassure Ye Chan when violent shaking gripped the rope above her, like the tour guide had slipped and was spinning in midair. She pressed tight against the wall to steady herself first.

“What happened?”

She had barely gotten the words out when she realized what was happening overhead. A tidal wave of insects had already surged up to her feet, while countless black shadows pelted down from above like raindrops, pattering relentlessly until she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

Even a tough guy like the tour guide was left numb by the onslaught of bug rain. Panic-stricken, he couldn’t string together a full sentence—his mouth just spat out: “Pah! Pah pah—”

Had they kicked over a cricket nest?!

Gu Xianwang forced her eyes into narrow slits. Insects from the cave wall ahead were still clambering up her legs toward her body. She stomped hard on the rock twice, each foot crushing a black smear into mush. But in an instant, more bugs swarmed over the corpses, scrambling clumsily onto her with legs everywhere.

The word “chilling” didn’t even begin to cover how she felt. Gu Xianwang simply kicked away from the wall, dangling by arm strength alone from the climbing rope. But the bugs already crawling on her kept surging toward her exposed skin.

Weren’t bugs supposed to be afraid of people? Who was afraid of whom here!

Gritting her teeth, Gu Xianwang glanced downward. She figured she might as well rappel fast and brace for a hard landing. But before she could loosen her grip, a sudden sting pierced her neck—then her fingers, the inside of her wrist, her earlobe—

Damn it, the swarm was having a feast!

The dense prickling ignited a rush of adrenaline, sharpening her gaze in an instant. Gu Xianwang let go with her left hand, groped behind her waist twice, and yanked out the short-handled military knife. She scraped it diagonally along her own skin, heedless of whether she’d cut herself, and flung the bugs off in a spray like water splatters.

Hanging from one arm while swinging the blade in wide arcs had thrown off her balance completely. Right at that precarious moment, the tour guide suddenly yelled, “Miss Gu, watch out!”

Gu Xianwang’s back went rigid. In her stunned hesitation, something thudded down from above, landing squarely on her chest. The sensation there shifted a second later as the thing hooked into her clothes and started climbing up. In her panic, she came face-to-face with a cricket-like bug the size of her palm. Its slender antennae brushed across her cheek like a foxtail grass.

Gu Xianwang froze. She didn’t even have time to scream before her right wrist gave out, sending her plummeting downward like a shooting star.

Thud!

Her tailbone hit first, slamming hard into the water. Her whole body submerged next. Caught off guard, Gu Xianwang choked on a mouthful as she twisted at the waist, flipping face-down. Her arms pushed against the gravel bed a few times before she staggered to her feet.

As she stood, the water only came up to her thighs. Gu Xianwang coughed violently twice, wiped her face with her hand, and forced her eyes open. She found herself in an underground river—the current was gentle, but the channel varied in depth. The stones they’d tossed down earlier must have landed in a shallow pool.

Where were the bugs?

Gu Xianwang looked up at the cave mouth. The swarm wasn’t as frenzied now; only a few stragglers tumbled down, drowning the moment they hit the water.

They must be afraid of water. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Gu Xianwang groped her way a few steps to the side, clearing space for the other three. “Those bugs hate water! Get down here quick—there’s a river below!”

“Coming, Miss Gu, make some room!” The tour guide’s voice was close by; he sounded unharmed.

Gu Xianwang grimaced at her hands. The backs were a mess of black and red, impossible to count the bites. She plunged them into the water and scrubbed, bending at the waist. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something perched on a nearby outcrop of shallow gravel.

Damn! Speak of the devil—it was that massive cricket, the one that had brushed her face!

At least she was on solid ground now. Gu Xianwang raised her military knife with vicious intent and waded toward it step by step.

Suddenly, the big cricket hooked its antennae with its front legs, as if washing its face, while its tail end let out a strange hee-hee-hee chirp.

Gu Xianwang halted. Her scalp prickled; regret hit her hard.

As the saying goes, shallow ponds are full of snapping turtles, big shots lurk everywhere—and even a mighty dragon has to coil its tail in unfamiliar territory.

So the damn bug had been calling its buddies. Sure enough, over a dozen giant insects of similar size emerged from both ends of the river channel. One was nearly as big as her head.

Gu Xianwang’s breath caught in her throat. During their silent standoff, two swishing sounds came from the cave mouth above. Ye Chan practically stepped on the tour guide’s shoulder as the pair tumbled into the river together.

Water sprayed everywhere in a massive splash.

Gu Xianwang didn’t dare turn her head. In that instant, the commotion startled the giant bugs. They all whipped around toward the water at the base of the cave. Then Yao Cuo’s voice drew nearer, urgent as he called out to ask if Gu Xianwang was all right.

Trouble—real trouble. And if your landing made a racket too, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Alas, fate had other plans. In his haste to avoid the two people who hadn’t yet climbed to their feet, Yao Cuo landed curled into a ball, just like a third-rate athlete’s botched diving demonstration. He crashed straight into the water.

Splash!

Whoosh!!

His 1.83-meter frame burst from the surface in a powerful lunge. He shook the water from his hair and anxiously called out, “Xianwang, are you okay?”

Gu Xianwang: …Heh.

A beam of flashlight light swept across them, and the three who had just found their footing in the water froze solid.

Ye Chan looked on the verge of tears. “Have I time-traveled to Jurassic Park or something?”

The tour guide pinched his throat into a high-pitched whisper as he spoke to the nearest person, Gu Xianwang. “Miss Gu, these bugs are cave crickets. They eat meat!”

Gu Xianwang silently drew her waist knife with her right hand and raised it into a ready stance. She made no reply.

She! Already! Knew!

If they didn’t eat meat, then why had one gnawed on her!?

Seeing her posture, Yao Cuo felt a chill grip his heart. “Don’t do anything rash!” he cried in alarm.

The word “rash” had barely left his lips when the old nemesis perched on the rock kicked off with its thick hind legs. The entire insect launched into the air over a meter high and pounced straight at Gu Xianwang. In the flashlight’s glow, its body revealed yellow-and-black stripes. Beneath eyes the size of black beans, a sawtoothed maw opened and closed. If that thing bit down, even without venom, infection was guaranteed!

Gu Xianwang didn’t retreat a single step. Her long knife slashed diagonally upward from her right side, dodging the giant cave cricket’s four front legs. The blade tip whipped around and plunged straight into its abdomen, skewering the creature clean through.

These insects possessed astonishing vitality. Even impaled on her blade, it refused to die. Its six legs thrashed wildly while the eerie chirps from its tail grew more frantic and rapid. Gu Xianwang leaned back to evade its antennae. All around her, the “hee-hee-hee” sounds blended into a chorus as the swarm echoed one another.

She had no time to turn before giant cave crickets on both sides leaped into the air simultaneously. They could even skim across the water’s surface. In just two bounds, they were upon her.

Gu Xianwang’s stamina had reached its breaking point. Amid the frenzied swarm, she could only react on pure instinct. Her dual knives swung left and right in broad arcs, flipping up and down, but her focus shattered and her vision blurred into dim blackness.

The flashlight beam jerked wildly up and down. Yao Cuo splashed through the water in a desperate rush toward her, but he’d landed poorly. The water reached his waist, dragging at him with immense resistance. Before he could close the distance, Gu Xianwang found herself surrounded by over a dozen massive giant cave crickets.

No one could stay calm on the brink of death. Adrenaline flooded her heart, which pumped scorching blood fiercely through her limbs. Her organs, bones, skin, and mucous membranes all contracted in unison. Flashes of light spotted her mind, with only the echo of her own ragged breaths resonating in her skull—

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Her long knife swept down in a wide arc. Gu Xianwang’s entire body burned with acid pain. Another black shadow loomed at the edge of her vision. Without a second thought, she hurled the blade from her raised stance. It flew like a dart.

Clang!

The shadow batted the knife aside with a leg. The full-force impact sent the military blade slamming into a crevice in the nearby rock wall.

In that fleeting moment of respite, a sudden brightness flared before Gu Xianwang’s eyes. The two giant cave crickets in front of her were skewered through the head by another short knife, as if strung on a spit. They were flung into the water. Then a hand grabbed her and yanked, followed by a crouch and a heave that hoisted her straight onto a shoulder.

This was Long Li’s second time disarming Gu Xianwang.