Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“The wooden mallet for the chime-bells. Hurry up and think of a solution! We can’t just stay here and get bitten to death!” The crew-cut man did not understand why Xu Lan was focusing on something so trivial when they had a bigger problem.
Xu Lan threw the glass bottle at the chime-bells and the chime-bells replied with a piercing clang before humming lowly. The white powder splattered all over the ground and the Gu worms moved away from the spots with the powder.
“Hand the mallet over and carry Bai Wu!” Xu Lan ordered the crew-cut man.
“… the elder is dead,” the crew-cut man murmured as he handed the wooden mallet over.
“F*ck off! I dare you to say that again!” Xu Lan was burning with rage. He kicked the crew-cut man’s calf and cursed at him angrily.
“We’re barely surviving ourselves, why should we bring along a dea—burden…” The crew-cut man kept his mouth shut after seeing the frightening expression on Xu Lan’s face.
“I’ll do it,” Sheng Ya stepped forward and said calmly.
Xu Lan took a good look at Sheng Ya. He found the weak yet calm girl adorable. After gratefully handing Bai Wu over to Sheng Ya, he snatched the wooden mallet from the crew-cut man. There were still people falling from above and disappearing into the current. Even though they were curious about what happened up there, they focused their attention on dealing with the corpse Gu worms.
The crew-cut man was fending off the corpse Gu worms with the iron cable that snapped off earlier. Sheng Ya dragged along Bai Wu as she trailed behind Xu Lan.
‘Clang…’ Xu Lan knocked on the chime-bells with the wooden mallet. The Gu worms did not respond.
‘Clang… Clang…’ Xu Lan knocked on two chime-bells randomly. This time around, he noticed the corpse Gu worms pausing momentarily.
“Heck! Don’t stop! They stopped! These freaks paused for a moment! Sheng Ya, did you see that?” the crew-cut man who stood as their first line of defense got a good view of the situation and shouted excitedly.
The corpse Gu worms were at his feet, giving him a good shock. He swung the iron cable in his hand wildly. Xu Lan applied some of the white powder from Wu Ling onto his hands earlier, this should protect him from being bitten by the Gu worms.
‘Clang, clang, clang…” Xu Lan rang three different chime-bells and saw no response. He went back to ringing the two chime-bells he rang earlier and saw a momentary pause in the Gu worms’ movement.
Xu Lan rang all of the chime-bells to identify the set of chime-bells that would stop the Gu worms from advancing. The result was an ancient tune. As he started playing the tune, the Gu worms did not advance. In fact, they began to retreat.
When Xu Lan sped up the tempo, the Gu worms retreated at a quicker pace. The platform spun and rose higher. The commotion above died down, and Xu Lan played his tune on the chime-bells with full focus. He did not stop until all of the Gu worms retreated into the crystal coffin. The crystal coffin resurfaced and rested in the middle of the platform.
“Soul-summoning tune?” Sheng Ya went pale after hearing the tune Xu Lan played, she asked curiously.
“Heck! We’re not monks, why do we need to ring the bell! What the heck is that even?” the crew-cut man sighed as he wiped the sweat off his face. Xu Lan shook his head, making clear that he did not know too.
“Thank god we escaped unscathed. There were a few times where I was almost bitten by the corpse Gu worms. I don’t even know how—” the crew-cut man rubbed his arms and turned to look at the spacious chamber. He gasped.
There were seven or eight people in the chamber and none of them were alive. The chamber was full of venomous insects and snakes, it was a gory sight.
“… Xu Lan! The crystal coffin is moving again! Hurry up and play the tune!” Sheng Ya who barely escaped death observed with a heavy heart. The second she turned around, she saw black Gu worms crawling all over the crystal coffin.