[Heaven-Sent Little Brother!!!!]
[Zhang Qiling, my eternal god!]
[Hahahaha, can't get over here, you snake? If you have the guts, come over here, hahaha!]
The audience, never one to shy away from a spectacle, started provoking the monstrous snakes stuck on the cliff edge, their impotent rage echoing across the screen.
"Little Brother, where did you just go? Are you okay?"
"Secret chamber, I'm fine."
Just then, Fatty, huffing and puffing, managed to climb up. He grumbled, "Aiyo, poor Fatty here served as a cushion, and not a single soul cared. Aren't you afraid I'll break my ribs? Truly, the world is changing, and people's hearts are growing cold!"
"Mhm, mhm, mhm, oh, thank goodness for our Fatty!" Wu Tianzhen feigned agreement, his words laced with a touch of sarcasm, but he ended with genuine gratitude: "Thanks."
This, however, left Fatty unsure how to respond. Wu Tianzhen's sincere attacks could sometimes be devastatingly effective.
He let out a hmph and looked around, suddenly noticing something amiss.
Behind the cave, there was indeed a path. It lay quiet, yet it seemed remarkably… lively.
The path was strewn with all sorts of hidden weapons and sharp blades. On either side, there were numerous stone fragments that looked like they were once statues.
They were densely packed, layer upon layer, enough to make a mouse lose its way.
Fatty: …It seems Little Brother had quite a lively time during that period.
Wu Tianzhen saw it too and was startled, worrying even more about Zhang Qiling, who had just gone through it.
Zhang Qiling, dressed in black, made it impossible to tell if he had sustained any new injuries. Only the palm he had cut earlier subtly seeped blood at the edge of the wrapped cloth.
"Little Brother, are you really alright?" Fatty also chimed in.
Emerging from such a place, and seemingly unscathed, was hard to fathom.
Zhang Qiling gave him a strange look.
"I'm fine."
Seeing that the two of them seemed to have recovered, he walked forward directly, stopping before a wall a few meters away.
He slowly reached out his right hand, feeling around. Once he found the spot, he pressed it hard!
A square wall tile was suddenly pressed inward, revealing a gap in the wall that had previously seemed seamless. It made a grating, squeaking sound.
As this tile was pressed, the cave began to shake inexplicably. Fine dust and soil fell from above. Fatty and Wu Tianzhen, caught off guard, inhaled a mouthful of dust and spat it out.
Only Zhang Qiling, his hood up, remained serene. He wore an expression of bewilderment at their complaints.
Fatty and Wu Tianzhen: …Speechless.
It felt like having a cat at home that knocked everything off the table, yet you couldn't scold it.
Frustrating, yet strangely prideful.
Preposterous.
Unaware of their inner thoughts, Zhang Qiling, to be honest, hadn't expected so much dust to fall from that press. Although his expression remained unchanged, he felt a slight pang of guilt.
But seeing that the two of them seemed to have pacified themselves, he didn't know what else to say.
After a moment's thought, he could only pull down his hood, acting as if nothing had happened, and attend to the main task.
At this point, a thin crack had appeared vertically in the wall, centered around the pressed stone tile.
Zhang Qiling placed his fingers into the crack and, with a surge of strength, actually pushed his fingers into the hard wall!
With a sudden pull and a roar, the wall was forcefully pulled open, revealing a dark, narrow tunnel.
Fatty, having never witnessed such a feat, clicked his tongue in amazement. Wu Tianzhen felt a surge of superiority, as if he had known this all along.
Zhang Qiling measured the width of the tunnel and then looked back at the two of them.
He gave Fatty a particularly deep look.
After repeated comparisons, he finally confirmed that Fatty should be able to pass through, albeit with some difficulty. He made a gesture to enter and was the first to squeeze inside.
Wu Tianzhen went in the middle, with Fatty bringing up the rear.
Upon entering the tunnel, they were plunged into darkness. Even with a flashlight, the beam couldn't penetrate far, as if the light was being "eaten" by the walls.
Wu Tianzhen, out of curiosity, took a closer look and identified that the tunnel seemed to be coated with a special black pigment, rendering the light largely ineffective.
His pause caused trouble. The Fatty behind him started to complain.
"I say, Tianzhen, can you hurry up?"
"All this flesh of mine is being squeezed, I'm practically a meat sandwich!"
Wu Tianzhen stifled a laugh and casually replied, giving up on studying the pigment, and continued to crawl. Suddenly, he felt Fatty grab his foot from behind.
He struggled for a moment but couldn't break free. Wu Tianzhen said irritably, "I say, Fatty, are you offering a tow service now? I can't pull your weight!"
Then he heard Fatty's confused voice from some distance behind him.
"What are you talking about, Tianzhen? I'm stuck here, I can't move. Don't crawl so fast, wait for me!"
Wu Tianzhen: …
Fatty's position shouldn't be able to reach him…
He suddenly realized something and slowly looked up. Above him, a pale face appeared!
The face was embedded in the stone wall of the tunnel. Because it wasn't coated with pigment, it was eerily pale in the light, its lifeless eyes staring fixedly at him.
"H-hello."
Wu Tianzhen, momentarily losing his mind, greeted it. Trembling, he turned back and saw that the hand gripping his foot was indeed reaching out from the stone wall below the tunnel, belonging to a skeleton.
…
…
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He kicked and shattered the bone hand, scrambling out in a panic. Behind him, only Fatty's increasingly mournful cries remained.
"Hey, don't run, don't run! I don't have a light, I'm stuck, hey!!!!"
In the end, it was Zhang Qiling, who had already reached the exit, who went back in to drag out the wailing Fatty.
Fatty was so tightly wedged that even Zhang Qiling had to exert considerable force.
When he emerged, Fatty's clothes were all wrinkled, and he had even scraped his arm.
Zhang Qiling: …Mistake. I didn't expect him to be completely solid beneath his clothes.
He felt a twinge of guilt again. However, Fatty didn't seem to care about his miscalculation at all. He went straight to Wu Tianzhen.
"Hey, Tianzhen, you just going to leave me to die? I'm heartbroken!"
"Didn't I crawl out to call Little Brother to save you? And look at me, how could I possibly drag you!"
"You're just saying I'm fat, aren't you!"
"Can you have some self-awareness? Ask Little Brother if you're fat!"
As they argued, they suddenly both turned their heads towards Zhang Qiling, startling him. But soon, Fatty seemed to sense his subtle apology and casually patted him on the shoulder.
"Little Brother, don't overthink it. Hey, it's all my fault for being too fat. I'll definitely lose weight when we get back!"
Zhang Qiling: …(Happy)
Wu Tianzhen: …?
"Hey, you fatso, why are you being so biased? Didn't you just say you weren't fat?"
"Then I'm not fat, I'm robust!"
"I'm going to your %%%+#﹉+!"