Chapter 48: Grilled Crocodile Meat Part 3

The scattered rocks everywhere on the riverbank couldn’t stop their crawling. They bypassed large stones, crawled over the rubble, and pursued relentlessly. Though not fast on the rocks, they weren’t too slow. Big and small crocodiles crawled toward their position as if commanded.

Old Tang urged, “Wang Ya, let’s go.”

Wang Ya turned and walked up the plank road. In less than two minutes, they reached the previous fork. Naturally, they didn’t take the path to the broken bridge and quickly went up the upward plank road.

Wang Cheng’an stuffed the hot crocodile meat to Wang Ya and said, “Yaya, here, eat!”

Wang Ya was starving but had no appetite at all. Now, seeing food—especially smelling meat—made her nauseous.

Old Tang, walking behind Wang Ya, advised, “Wang Ya, no matter what, you have to eat something. Only by maintaining ample physical strength do you have a better chance of surviving.”

Wang Ya said, “I’ll eat after walking a bit further up.”

Old Tang looked back and said, “Everyone, take a break.” He said to Wang Ya, “You should eat something and rest first. Let A’qi and Little Zhang rest too. These two kids grew up in the city and aren’t as bouncy as you.”

Wang Ya slanted a glance at Zhang Qingshui and Huang Qi walking ahead. She really hadn’t noticed they lacked stamina or weren’t as agile as her! They had run more nimbly than anyone!

Zhang Qingshui said to Huang Qi, “Little Qi, rest a bit.” She scanned the surroundings first, used Azure Vine to form a protective array around herself and Huang Qi, then bent her knees and sat on the plank road, rubbing her ankles and soles.

Huang Qi sat beside Zhang Qingshui and said, “Qing Jie, let me lean for a while. I’ll nap a bit.” She rested her head on Zhang Qingshui’s shoulder and gently closed her eyes.

Zhang Qingshui said, “It’s uncomfortable leaning like that!” She stretched out her legs and let Huang Qi pillow on her thigh.

Wang Ya secretly tsked and said, “So intimate! You two wouldn’t be the legendary lesbians, a couple, would you?”

Old Tang widened his eyes at Wang Ya.

Zhang Qingshui’s fine brows arched as she asked, “Then weren’t you and that Leaf Demon a pair?”

Wang Ya unhappily huffed and said, “You’re the one paired with the Leaf Demon!” Mentioning the Leaf Demon instantly soured her mood! Her current feeling was like she owed the Leaf Demon money and couldn’t pay it back! She gloomily chewed on the crocodile meat. Each bite brought the meaty smell, reminding her of biting into the Azure Scale Monster earlier, making her stomach churn. She nearly puked over the copper chain railing again. She closed her eyes, steeled herself, silently chanted the Calming Heart Incantation in her mind, and chewed the crocodile meat in big bites! In this sunless, lightless place, who knew when they could get out, or if there’d be another meal after this? Old Tang was right—eating your fill to maintain strength gave a better chance of survival.

After eating her fill, Wang Ya, not wanting to waste, took uncut yellow paper from her slung yellow cloth bag meant for drawing talismans, wrapped the remaining meat, and stuffed it into the bag. She circulated her qi to adjust her breathing, tuned her spirit to its best state, then stood to continue.

Old Tang sat cross-legged nearby, seemingly circulating qi as well.

Huang Qi lay sideways on Zhang Qingshui’s lap, eyes closed in deep sleep.

Zhang Qingshui, in her base layer shirt, sat straight-backed on the plank road with eyes closed. One arm crossed Huang Qi’s neck as a pillow, the other draped over her, embracing her.

Wang Ya walked to Zhang Qingshui and Huang Qi, stomped the ground hard, and said loudly, “Time to go!” It startled Huang Qi, who nearly shot upright. Wang Ya ignored Zhang Qingshui’s glare full of anger and sauntered toward the upper plank road. After walking not far, she saw the plank road ended. The cliff wall ahead recessed inward. The whistling wind through the cave told her the cave ahead was vast and spacious. She asked Wang Cheng’an beside her, “Dad, is this cave big?”

Wang Cheng’an said, “Yeah, very big! The path is hard to walk! I came here earlier and don’t want to go again.”

Wang Ya said, “Other than here, we’d have to swim back through the river!”

Wang Cheng’an said, “Then I’ll take this path!”

Wang Ya sniffed hard and felt the air filled with a rotten, decaying smell. Though she couldn’t see into the pitch-black cave, she sensed something inside forming an indescribable aura. She stood there waiting four or five minutes until Zhang Qingshui, Huang Qi, and Old Tang caught up.

Old Tang had Paper Person floating beside him, Tang Dao in hand, face alert.

Zhang Qingshui gripped Huang Qi tightly with her left hand, Azure Vine in her right, ready to fight or flee!

Seeing their cautious looks, Wang Ya asked, “Dad, what’s inside?” Borrowing the faint light from the Azure Vine, she peered into the cave. With Wang Cheng’an’s words, “Corpses—the kind you hate eating most!” she saw rows of neatly arranged coffins ahead! In the four-to-five-meter square visible, there were at least six half-rotted coffins! They were spaced less than a foot apart, tattered and ragged, almost identical to the suspected coffin boards by the river earlier! Wang Ya cursed inwardly, rushed to the plank road edge, and puked violently, “Wah!” Bastards! They used coffin boards to grill crocodile meat for her! She had just gnawed on rotten corpses… urgh… Wang Ya puked until she felt her guts would come up! She wanted to curse Old Tang too! He must have known her dad used coffin boards from here to grill meat, so he made her eat down there before coming up. A bunch of bastards! “Urgh—” Wang Ya’s stomach spasmed, intestines knotted.

Behind her, Huang Qi’s voice rose, “Qing Jie, so many coffins—my probe range is all coffins!”

Zhang Qingshui said gravely, “It’s indeed the Myriad Coffins Array!”

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