Urban Martial Saint

Walking along the valley for a while, the big beard next to Ye Qing suddenly whispered, ”Someone lived in this valley!”

”Huh?” Everyone looked at the big beard, each person’s face showing astonishment. Fat Wang curiously asked, ”How do you know?”

”Look over there...” The big beard pointed to a distance and said deeply, ”There is clearly a dirt road here. If no one lived here, how could there be a dirt road?”

Everyone followed the direction the big beard pointed, and indeed, there were traces of a path on the grassy ground. Just as the big beard said, this path must have been stomped out by people over long-term use. Judging by this path, it’s certain that there once was human presence in this valley.

However, now quite a bit of grass has grown on this dirt road. Clearly, the person who once lived here has been absent for quite some time. Nevertheless, this alone is enough to shock people.

Not to mention how dangerous Xiliang Mountain is, just talking about the golden light in this valley that can cause flesh to fall off and turn people into walking skeletons is a terrifying thing. And in such a terrifying environment, it’s shocking to think that there was once someone living here.

”Everyone, be careful!” Ye Qing called out softly. Since Shijia is trapped inside here, then the person who once lived here must be no ordinary person; maybe Shijia was trapped by them. If this person trapped Shijia, they are our enemy.

”You don’t need to say, Fat Lord has been careful for a long time!” Fat Wang mumbled.

Since they found a path in the valley, everyone no longer forged their own way but followed the path forward. After walking for about five minutes, a cave appeared on the ground ahead, extending downwards, unknowingly how far it extended.

The marked position on the map happens to be here!

Ye Qing put away the map, looked at the others, and whispered, ”This place should be the one we are looking for.”

”Still need to go into the cave?” Everyone gasped. After encountering so many dangers already, no one was willing to enter caves or the like, fearing unknown dangers inside.

”According to the location of the golden light, the golden light we saw should be coming from this cave!” The big beard took a deep breath, looked at Ye Qing, and whispered, ”There’s probably something strange in this cave!”

”You don’t need to say!” Fat Wang glanced at him, looked at the cave below, and whispered, ”Young Ye, can you tell me, exactly what are we looking for? This doesn’t look like a tomb at all!”

Ye Qing didn’t tell Fat Wang about Shijia, only mentioned finding a tomb, which is why Fat Wang assembled this team. So Fat Wang still doesn’t know about Shijia.

”This isn’t a tomb below, but what’s inside is more important than all the things you’ve pilfered from tombs combined!” Ye Qing said deeply.

”Really?” Fat Wang immediately got excited. This scoundrel had no other hobbies but liked tomb-robbing and finding bizarre valuables. Originally feeling a bit deflated, he perked up again after hearing Ye Qing’s words.

”Fat Lord has flipped many burials and seen plenty of good stuff in his life. I want to see if you’re bluffing this time. What thing can be more important than everything I’ve seen combined?” Fat Wang mumbled, pulled out tools from his body, eager to enter the cave.

At this moment, people on the side were divided into two groups. Besides Ye Qing, Fat Wang, and the big beard, only four people remained. Among them, one had a good relationship with Fat Wang and was prepared to go down with him. The other three, however, didn’t want to descend into the cave, as they knew the golden light was shining from within, and feared turning to skeletons if it suddenly appeared.

Seeing the dispute among them, the big beard was instantly annoyed, pointing at the three, saying, ”Damn it, when taking the money, why didn’t you have so much nonsense? Now you’ve taken the money and don’t want to go in. Why the ****** didn’t you say so earlier?”

The big beard was always fierce, and his few words scared these three into silence.

Ye Qing gestured to the big beard, looked at the three, and said, ”I don’t know what dangers exist in the cave, so I won’t blame you for not wanting to go down. The money you received is yours; I won’t take it back!”

The big beard didn’t expect Ye Qing to say such a thing. He glanced at Ye Qing and said, ”Ye brothers, don’t be fooled by these three guys. They’re just being cowardly and don’t want to go in. In our line of work, doesn’t everyone go into tombs prepared to die? They’re only refusing because they took the money first!”

”It’s fine!” Ye Qing gestured to the big beard, saying, ”Everyone has their ambitions; the cave below poses a life-threatening risk I am unaware of; hence, I cannot compel others to venture with me. Regardless, having accompanied me here, it’s as if they’ve risked everything, and the money they received is deserved!”

The three felt ashamed upon hearing Ye Qing’s words, clearly embarrassed.

One opened his mouth, then whispered, ”Mr. Ye, we will support you here. If there is danger, we will quickly rescue you!”

The big beard swore, ”Bullshit, if we face danger below, you’d likely flee faster than us, how will you save anyone?”

”Enough, either go or don’t, no need for so much nonsense!” Fat Wang stepped forward first, carrying a backpack, and jumped into the cave, saying, ”Those who are going come with me, let’s quickly find whatever’s inside and leave this place before the golden light shines again!”

Seeing Fat Wang jump down, Ye Qing, fearing for his safety, quickly followed suit. The big beard pointed at the three, finally cursing as he jumped in. And the guy close to Fat Wang hesitated but also jumped in.

The cave was sprawling, but fortunately spacious. The four walked carefully, observing everything around as they moved forward.

”Hey, why are there so many small holes on the stone walls around this cave?” After walking for a while, Fat Wang whispered.

Actually, without Fat Wang mentioning it, everyone had noticed something odd about the stone walls. There were small holes everywhere on the stone walls, akin to bird nests on rural earthen walls. However, these holes were smaller than bird’s nests. And these small holes covered the walls densely, resembling an opened beehive, giving an icy feeling upon sight.

”So many small holes, surely not man-made nor naturally formed!” The big beard frowned, walked next to the wall, looked around, and whispered, ”How do you think these small holes formed?”

”Who knows!” Fat Wang shrugged.

The big beard took out a flashlight to shine into the hole, but the hole was too deep for him to see clearly inside. He inserted a stick he carried, and the hole was indeed deep, over a meter. He stirred with the stick, then pulled it out.

”Hey, what’s this?” The big beard whispered, noting something resembling fur at the stick’s end.

”Let me see!” Fat Wang hurried over, illuminated it with the flashlight, observed it closely, and his face changed instantly. ”This... this is fur?”

”I know it’s fur, but what kind of fur?” The big beard asked.

”Regardless of the fur type, it suggests these small holes are some animal’s nests!” Fat Wang looked at the stone walls, saying, ”Damn, so many small holes, how many of these animals could there be?”

Ye Qing came over, picked up that fur, examined it, sniffed it, and suddenly frowned.

”This is Long-toothed Rat fur!” Ye Qing said gravely.

”What!?” Fat Wang and the other two exclaimed simultaneously. This was a big deal. If it was Long-toothed Rat fur, doesn’t that mean these small holes house Long-toothed Rats? If true, then with so many holes in the cave walls, isn’t this the Long-toothed Rat habitat? Meaning, they have entered the rats’ den?

”Holy! My Lord! My Granny!” Fat Wang exclaimed repeatedly, looking around in panic, saying, ”We actually entered the Long-toothed Rat’s habitat? God, what do we do now?”

”Quickly exiting now should still be possible!” said Fat Wang’s close companion.

”Nonsense, what’s the point of leaving now!” The big beard deeply said, ”Don’t you realize? The rats in the mountain have long fled. We’ve encountered no Long-toothed Rats along the way, and the skeletons were intact, showing no rats. What are we afraid of now?”

The big beard’s words comforted the man, who glanced around and whispered, ”What good stuff could be here? Who would hide things in a rat hole? Can anyone actually venture inside?”