Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Bait

("Unable to sleep at midnight, I hum my mood into a song, and can only come to the starting point to look for my readers... Please don't hit me, honestly, I inhaled too much celestial energy on the mountain today, after the excitement comes the endocrine disorder, so I got up in the middle of the night to update a chapter. I'm getting old.")
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I was about to ask a question, but Fatty shook his head and pointed at the fellow, whispering to me, "Look at his feet."

The beam of the flashlight was faint in the stone chamber. I followed Fatty’s gesture and looked ahead, but nothing seemed amiss at first glance. Yet, as I gazed at the man's feet, a strange terror crept over me. Curious, I edged closer for a better look, and as I drew near, I suddenly realized—the tips of his feet were facing away from us.

A shock ran through me as I understood what was so unnatural. The fellow's face was turned toward us, but his body, below the neck, was facing the opposite direction. In other words, his head had been twisted around a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

Goosebumps prickled up and down my arms. Looking closer, I saw that although he was bouncing incessantly before us, his legs never moved at all. He stood rigid and straight, like a wooden stake.

"Damn it, were we just speaking to a ghost? Did the ghost of that man lead us here?" A chill swept through me as I watched the jumping figure, all I wanted was to flee.

"Shit, I've seen my share of strange things, but I've never seen a ghost with my own eyes. We've got nothing in our hands, if this bastard really is a ghost, we're in trouble," Fatty said, already scanning for the way we had come.

The scene was terrifying beyond measure. Yet, after a while, once the initial terror faded, we realized the figure hadn’t done anything harmful to us. Perhaps he recognized me as an acquaintance and intended to spare us?

Still, watching him jump around wasn't an option. Leaving was best, but this place could very well be where my father was. I couldn't leave without finding out. Should we just ignore him, pretend he doesn't exist? Neither Fatty nor I could do that. The thing was too frightening—who knows, the moment we turned, he might reveal a monstrous visage.

Fatty and I exchanged a glance. I frowned, "Should we go closer and take another look?"

Fatty considered, then nodded. We sidled forward. Looking at the man's face, I couldn't help but think: first we thought him a fool, now a ghost—his fate was truly tragic. Life as a tomb raider is hard enough, but to die and remain restless is a curse.

Yet, something struck me as odd. If he was long dead, why lead us here? Could my father’s men really be so loyal, serving him even as ghosts?

Thoughts swirling, Fatty and I stopped two or three meters from the man. Up close, he seemed less a ghost and more a corpse, freshly dead. The smile on his face was stiff, as if someone had forcibly molded his muscles into a grin.

Watching his strange bouncing, a sudden flash of insight crossed my mind, but I couldn’t quite grasp it.

Fatty picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at the man. He threw hard—the stone hit with a dull crack, as if breaking bone. Yet the man remained unresponsive. It felt cruel, but there was no other way, and I had no reason to stop Fatty.

"Damn it, are you human or ghost? Give us a reaction, will you?" Fatty said, tossing another stone, this time with more force. It struck the man's forehead, and instead of blood, green fluid began oozing from the wound.

The viscous green liquid instantly reminded me of those giant spiders. I turned to Fatty, "Looks like he's really dead."

"Why the hell is he still jumping? Is he trying to be cute or something?" As Fatty spoke, the fleeting insight in my mind returned. Seeing me silent, Fatty grew impatient, "Damn it, I want to see what kind of corpse can jump like this." He raised his torch and stepped forward.

I didn’t stop him, because I was suddenly struck by a possibility, too stunned to react. In those two seconds, Fatty had already grabbed the man's clothes and pinned him down.

"Careful!" I shouted. "He might be controlled."

The man’s condition reminded me of a "bait fish," and we were the prey he’d lured in. With all the blood at the entrance, who knew what this sinister place held. Moreover, the creature in the spider cocoon room had managed to control so many of us; perhaps this corpse was under the same influence.

Fatty hesitated, but after a few seconds, the corpse remained unresponsive. "Relax, this zombie just looks scary." He even reached out, intending to twist the corpse’s head back around.

I was baffled—how had our luck suddenly improved? A jumping zombie, but a weakling.

But just as I was lost in thought, a voice suddenly shouted, "Run!"

The voice was close, desperate, nearly screaming at us. Fatty and I were stunned by the abrupt shout, frozen in place.

Next, from the darkness beside us, a flash of fire flew toward us—a fire starter. As I turned toward where it had come from, the newly lit scene revealed a massive creature looming before Fatty and me.

My legs went weak at the sight—it was the enormous spider from the cocoon room, now only seven or eight meters away, motionless. The monster's body blended into the darkness, and if not for the fire starter beneath its head, we would never have noticed it.

In that instant, I understood what the corpse was for. The man's body had indeed been controlled—I hadn’t expected the red glands to manipulate a person to such an extent. At the same time, I realized it was this giant that had lured Fatty and me here.

Fatty had never seen such a thing and was even more horrified than I. Before he could react, and before I could shout, a red gland suddenly emerged from the corpse’s mouth and wrapped around Fatty’s neck.

Fatty, strong as he was, was instantly immobilized. I tried to rush forward, but Fatty and the corpse were swiftly lifted by the giant spider and flown toward its head.

I'm no Peanut or Qin Feng—in such a situation, my body could do nothing more. Turning, I saw another corpse hanging by the spider’s head—one of the men who had accompanied Qin Feng. His abdomen had been hollowed out, a length of intestine dangling in midair, the scene utterly horrifying.

It seemed Qin Feng and his group were doomed. Guilt swept over me—I knew it was pointless to dwell on it now, but I couldn’t help thinking: if I hadn’t made that decision, maybe Qin Feng’s group wouldn’t have suffered, maybe those two men wouldn’t have died, and Peanut, he...

Lost in these thoughts, a blood-soaked hand suddenly gripped my shoulder. I jolted in fright, turning to find a man covered in blood standing beside me. After several glances, I realized—it was Qin Feng.

"Qin Feng, are you... are you alright?" All I could manage was useless chatter; truly, I was of no help. Qin Feng was covered in cracked wounds—alright? That was impossible.

"Never mind that, let’s go," Qin Feng panted heavily, barely able to stand without leaning on my shoulder.

I hurried to support him, looking ahead. "What about Fatty?"

"We can't do anything. That monster is beyond us—once it grabs you, there's only one outcome," Qin Feng broke into violent coughing. "It caught one of us, then used his corpse to lure us over. I got lucky and escaped, so we can’t worry about anyone else."

By now, Fatty had been dragged to the spider’s mouth. The gland around his neck loosened, then burrowed into his mouth. The entire time, Fatty showed no reaction. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive, or if I should give up hope of saving him.

Taking the opportunity, Qin Feng pulled me toward a wall corner piled with rubble, tossing another fire starter as we moved.

"Aren’t you drawing its attention... Is it afraid of fire?" I asked, puzzled.

Qin Feng shook his head. "That thing fears nothing, but its belly is covered with little spiders—the same kind that attacked you before. It doesn’t want to burn them, so it’s wary of fire. That’s how I escaped."

As we retreated, I kept watching Fatty, hoping he’d move. But he didn’t, and the giant spider edged toward us instead. Perhaps because of the fire starters, it was cautious, trying to circle around.

Qin Feng leaned against a larger chunk of rubble and tossed more fire starters toward the spider. After igniting seven or eight, our surroundings were suddenly bright. At that moment, I saw the spider’s belly crawling with countless little creatures.

The giant spider was truly a model mother. To protect its young from harm, it circled the fire starters instead of attacking us, despite our proximity.