hard choice

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw another comrade who had fallen victim to the corpse poison. He lay with a grin on a bronze urn, repeatedly twisting the tiger-mouth clasp on its lid. By the time everyone regained their senses, he had already pushed the lid off the large urn. Damn, I didn't pay attention just now, and he managed to sneak up.

At this moment, the man next to the bald guy, who had received special "attention" from Xiao He, shouted, "Be careful!" He pulled out a detonator from his waist and threw it towards the large urn. The second master tried to stop him but couldn't in time.

We had just fallen to the ground when there was a deafening sound, and a wave of heat rushed towards us. The large urn and its contents were blown to pieces. We were delighted for a moment, but our joy didn't last long. Strange sounds echoed in the hall, like the metallic sound of something heavy being pulled apart. I anxiously looked around; the iron chains holding the bronze statues were continuously breaking, and large urns were falling to the ground.

It turned out that the shockwave from the explosion reached those centuries-old iron chains. The delicate balance structure could only exist once, and once it fell, it triggered a chain reaction.

The bald guy cursed, "Quick, blow up those urns!"

"No!" the second master intervened. "We can't use explosives anymore; otherwise, we'll all be buried here."

The bald guy slapped his own head anxiously. "What can we do? If those things come out, we'll be eaten alive."

The second master remained silent, lowering his head to rub the bronze plaque he held. It was taken from the blood coffin of the tomb owner and undoubtedly held unusual significance. The second master spent most of his time contemplating it.

While the bald guy was losing his composure, his men couldn't stay calm either. The guy who threw the detonator earlier looked displeased, saying, "This won't work, and that won't work. We followed you down here, lost many brothers, and gained nothing. Second master, I'm a straightforward person. I don't understand the rules in your underground world. You need to tell us what's really going on down here. The second master from the Northern Dao is not supposed to be like you."

Xiao He held his gun, facing the guy's gaze. "Watch your mouth."

The guy smirked disdainfully. "Kid, don't act tough with me. I wasn't scared off by big shots."

The bald guy glanced at the second master, patted the guy, and said, "How do you talk to the second master?" Then he turned to the second master helplessly. "Second master, the times have indeed changed. Look, the men don't listen anymore. Why don't you explain it to us? Otherwise, I really can't control these guys. If they do something, it might ruin your plan."

Upon hearing this, I tightened my grip on the gun. Except for a few of us, everyone else belonged to the bald guy's group. It was fine before, no matter how dissatisfied they were, the bald guy restrained himself because of the second master. But now, even the discerning ones could see that the bald guy was trying to force the second master. Whether there would be a gunfight next depended on the second master's reaction.

At this moment, the second master took out a compass from his pocket, compared it with the bronze plaque in his hand, turned a few directions, and then looked up to tell the bald guy's group, "The exit is under that stone bed. After we leave, I will tell you what your boss wants to know."

After saying this, he didn't look back and walked towards the stone bed. The bald guy squinted and shouted after him, "Do as the second master says, brothers, wait for us."

The stone bed wasn't large, and the coffin on it was even smaller, with minimal decoration. The second master circled the stone bed, instructing us to push from the head down. Indeed, a hole that could only accommodate one person was revealed.

Xiao He, holding a flashlight, shone it inside. The second master bit the bullet and said to us, "Go in." The bald guy's group had already taken the initiative to move towards the stone bed.

In the meantime, five or six large bronze urns had fallen in the hall, and the sound of twisting tiger-mouth clasps rang out continuously, like death warrants drilling into my ears.

Zhao Gu helped Old He into the hole, urging, "Second master, you go first."

"It's not time for you to be a hero yet," the second master pushed him, then looked at me, "Go down quickly."

I hesitated for a moment. I knew what it meant to be the last one to leave, not that I was afraid of death. If I could end it decisively, it would be fine. However, I had to go through a terrifying process, and despite my dislike for the old man, I couldn't just watch him sacrifice himself.

I gritted my teeth and said to him, "You go, I'll stay. According to your rules, I'm the most useless here. I should stay behind, and you can take Old He and the others out."

The second master was a bit stunned, then seemed to smile and waved at me, "Go quickly."

I stubbornly shook my head. When he tried to come forward to pull me, I stepped back, raised the gun, and said decisively, "Those things are coming. You go down."

Strange noises echoed around us, and those things covered in mucus were crawling from all directions.

Zhao Gu patted me on the shoulder, "Second master, you go."

"It's not time for you to show off," the second master pushed him and looked at me, "Go down quickly."

We crouched under the stone bed, and in the pitch-black hall, the sounds of "clank, clank" continued from all directions. With each breath, those sounds approached, not only on the ground but also on the beams above, where something was crawling.

My breathing became more and more rapid. The second master put his hand on my shoulder and patted, signaling me to wait. At this moment, a distinctive "clank" sound near my right ear. I estimated it was less than five or six meters away from me. Nervously, I almost jumped up, but the second master's hand on my shoulder squeezed me, making me awake. I lowered my breath again.

Suddenly, I smelled a strange odor, somewhat similar to the smell of the "Pancreas" I had used when I was a child. As I was still pondering the source of the smell, the second master pushed me and said, "Run."

At the same time, the dazzling cold flame in his hand unfolded. In an instant, I saw the scene clearly. At least seven or eight resentful corpses were lying around us. As the cold flame in the second master's hand lit up, all the crawling resentful corpses turned their ugly faces toward him, crawling towards him on all fours.

I had regained my composure and rushed towards the back door of the hall. This might be the fastest speed in my life. So fast that when I stopped, my

 chest was like a bellows, panting heavily. I leaned against my knees and looked up. The cold flame in the depths of the hall had dimmed, but the second master hadn't caught up. Thinking about this, my heart sank. Did he not plan to come over at all?

Thinking about this, I became more anxious. Holding the gun, I was about to rush back, but at this moment, the light of the cold flame illuminated again, and not only that, but the second master descended from the beam like a god, rolled on the ground, stood up again, and ran towards me quickly, holding his long spear. This scene excited me so much that tears almost welled up in my eyes. Suddenly, I understood what Old He had said, the second master was a banner.

Just as I was thinking about it, the second master rushing towards me was suddenly knocked down by something. He kicked forcefully, sending that thing flying. Just as he was about to get up, he was pressed down by that thing again.

I hurriedly ran a few steps over, and when I saw it clearly, it was the guy under the bald guy's command earlier. I was furious, but he and the second master were entangled. I couldn't aim at him at all.

Seeing the gradually darkening cold flame in the distance, I felt anxious. I rushed up and strangled that guy's neck, pulling him down. Only when I got close did I realize that the second master's face was pale, and beads of sweat the size of beans were on his forehead. Although I didn't see any wounds, he was obviously injured.

The guy who was pulled down directly rushed towards me, pinning my neck tightly. Damn, this thing was really using all its strength. I felt my neck was about to break.

At this moment, the second master turned over, kicked him away, and held up his long spear like a steel whip, directly lashing at his neck, splitting his head from his body. The guy on the ground twitched a few times before dying completely.

This move obviously took a lot of effort. The second master staggered a few steps, stabilized himself with the spear, and weakly said, "Go quickly."

I coughed and stood up, supporting him, and ran towards the door. After the delay caused by that guy, the entire hall plunged into darkness again. When I reached the door, my heart was pounding. Dear God, it's best if this door opens; otherwise, I might have to give myself a glorious bullet. Holding my breath, I kicked it, but the damn tomb door didn't budge.