To be honest, I'd rather fight a wild man head-on than be stuck with a corpse.
"This man in the ice is a Caucasian with blond hair, tall, and wearing old clothes, seemingly a military uniform from World War II."
Suppressing my discomfort, I calmed down and described the man's physical characteristics to Xivier.
Upon hearing my description, Xivier and the others on the walkie-talkie seemed excited.
"Good, Lu Ziye. You don't need to worry about the rest. Hurry down into the underground palace."
Damn it, I finally didn't have to be with a dead body anymore.
Perhaps soon, their secrets would be revealed.
I temporarily pushed the question to the back of my mind and continued downward, soon reaching the ground.
Only when my feet touched the ground did I feel truly grounded again.
I unbuckled the rope at my waist, stretched my limbs, and then used the spotlight from my headlamp to survey the surroundings.
I was currently in an underground cave, but unlike any I had seen before, it was extremely cold, and the ceiling, where I had descended from, was adorned with many sharp icicles.
I slowed my breathing, afraid of causing them to fall.
These things were like natural ice blades; if they fell, no one would be able to escape.
I remained cautiously in place and reported the situation to Xivier and the others above.
If you don't court death, you won't die.
When facing such an unfamiliar environment, waiting in place for Xivier and the others to act together was my only chance of survival.
But what exactly were Xivier and the others looking for here?
And it looked like someone had been here before, with the man frozen in the ice being the best proof. So, who were these people?
As I was pondering this, Qu Xiangyun, Hathway, Bone, and the Assistant Professor descended one after another via the rope.
Xivier was nowhere to be seen among them.
Could it be that Xivier, the woman, was afraid of death and hiding up there?
I was a bit confused and about to speak when I suddenly heard the sound of ice being chiseled from the ice hole above.
"Xivier said the man in the ice layer has important clues, so she's going to get him out last," Hathway explained to me, seeing my wary gaze fixed on the ceiling.
Professor Gugov took out a small box and was fiddling with something.
Only then did I lower my guard.
Qu Xiangyun looked at me and, without a word, came to my side and took my hand.
I gave her a look, then glanced at the ice cones hanging from the ceiling.
She understood my meaning immediately and stayed close to me.
While Qu Xiangyun and I were interacting, Professor Gugov had largely figured out the structure of the cave.
This cave had about five openings leading to different places.
However, there was no light in any of these openings, making it impossible to see what lay within.
Gugov didn't give up; he used the instrument he had taken from the small box and began to scan each opening.
Suddenly—
"Bang!"
After a commotion above us, a heavy object crashed down.
It was the man's body that had fallen to the ground, and then I saw Xivier, with a grim expression, descending as well.
"Search his belongings."
Hathway helped Xivier up and responded. I, of course, stood still.
It was unclear how long this man had been frozen in the ice, as his entire body had become as hard as a rock. It felt as though he would shatter with the slightest pressure, significantly complicating their search.
However, Xivier and the others were professionals. Soon, they retrieved a backpack from the man's lower back and found a small booklet inside.
Xivier carefully took out the booklet, but her expression turned to one of great disappointment as she flipped through its contents.
"The contents of this booklet have all been eroded; the writing is completely illegible."
I had been quite hopeful of finding something, and hearing this, I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
My gaze inadvertently swept over the corpse, and I couldn't help but frown.
Was it my imagination, or did the man's body seem to twitch?
I rubbed my eyes.
How could this corpse, sealed for who knows how long, possibly move?
Hathway, seeing Xivier's disappointment, was about to search the man's body again when suddenly, as if discovering something, she grabbed him and retreated rapidly, shouting to us.
"Run, something's wrong with this corpse!"
As Xivier finished speaking, the man's body on the ground began to melt as if water meeting fire.
Then, dense white worms emerged from his corpse.
These worms were crystal white and looked beautiful. The thickest among them was as thick as my little finger.