Chapter 45

(Listen, thank you to Hongchen Heng, Hualuo Pianxian, Qianmian JOKER, Huamian Zhang, Yi Tian Laogou, You Kuai Jiao Baba, Shuyou141018232511944, Shijian Chongtan·Qie, and other great supporters for your generous encouragement to Long!)

Inside the coffin, a thick, yellowish-brown liquid was piled up, emitting a foul odor;

Zhao Zhu clearly knew that this was all corpse fluid. He took a miniature gas mask from his backpack and put it on, then put on silk gloves again and began his next task.

Corpse fluid is the product of the deterioration of many microorganisms' proteins and carbohydrates. After the human body dies, the body no longer undergoes metabolism and cannot function normally, making it easy to produce corpse fluid. When a person is alive, the body's normal operation suppresses the survival and reproduction of bacteria and viruses within the body; however, after death, bacteria and viruses reproduce wildly without the body's defense system, dehydrating carbohydrates and proteins to form soluble compounds, which dissolve in water to form corpse fluid. Due to the large number of decomposing bacteria and fungi living in the corpse fluid, and the metabolic products of these microorganisms being somewhat toxic, the corpse fluid is toxic.

Zhao Zhu took the corpse out of the coffin and threw it outside. After being soaked in the corpse fluid for four hundred years, the man's body had already turned into a "giant view," which is a vivid description of a human corpse that swells and enlarges after being soaked in water, a rather terrifying sight.

Not long ago, a passenger ship named "Oriental Star" capsized in the Yangtze River, resulting in over four hundred people losing their lives. The divers who entered the ship for search and rescue operations all received psychological counseling from psychiatrists after the rescue, as one can imagine, entering a submerged ship and seeing hundreds of corpses that had swollen to a giant view due to water immersion, the visual impact was enough to become a lifelong nightmare!

After removing the corpse, Zhao Zhu began to feel around inside the coffin. Soon, he made a significant discovery: the coffin had no bottom!

Indeed, it had no bottom. Even after Zhao Zhu's arms were almost entirely submerged in the corpse fluid, he still did not touch the bottom of the coffin. Zhao Zhu took a soft rope from his backpack, tied a small lead weight to one end, and then dropped the weight. The soft rope was nearly twenty meters long, and even after all twenty meters were let out, the lead weight still did not reach the bottom. It was very deep!

Zhao Zhu's guess became a reality: the passage to the next tomb chamber was inside this coffin!

However, another problem faced Zhao Zhu: was the bottom filled with a liquid similar to corpse fluid?

If so, how could he dive down?

"No, it shouldn't be all corpse fluid, and there aren't enough corpses to form such a terrifying abyss of corpse fluid."

Zhao Zhu muttered to himself.

The coffin had no bottom, but it was likely that oil or another liquid was used to isolate the bottom of the coffin from the water below, creating a barrier. This is why the corpse in the coffin produced corpse fluid, but only within the coffin. The water in the abyss below the coffin might not be as pure as "Evergrande Ice Spring," but it was groundwater, and there were no factories nearby to pollute it, so it wasn't too dirty.

Zhao Zhu definitely didn't bring any diving equipment; he could only carry a few things, and his backpack was already full with the essentials. He couldn't fit a diving suit and oxygen tank. However, Grandpa Han's equipment was indeed very complete, and it included a "diving lung." This diving lung was not an oxygen tank but a few items that looked like animal stomachs or intestines, which could be filled with air to form balloons. The material was very fine and not easily damaged, so it could be tied around the waist and used to breathe underwater. It was a must-have item for tomb raiders in earlier years.

Zhao Zhu prepared four diving lungs with air. There were a few more in the backpack, but Zhao Zhu didn't plan to use them, as too much buoyancy would make it impossible to dive.

"Breath... breath... breath..."

After a few deep breaths by the coffin, Zhao Zhu dove into it. Indeed, he felt a layer of viscous liquid at the bottom of the coffin, and after breaking through it, he entered relatively clear water. The water was cold, and visibility was not high. Zhao Zhu held a flashlight in one hand and felt his way through the water.

At this moment, the most important thing was to find the correct direction to move forward. Time underwater was precious, and there was no room for waste. Zhao Zhu first shone the flashlight around, but the bottom was invisible. Zhao Zhu had no interest in diving deeper; he believed he should swim through an area and then surface to another tomb chamber, rather than diving blindly. Besides, the water pressure increased as he went deeper, and without professional diving equipment, Zhao Zhu couldn't dive any further. If he tried, he would be crushed by the water pressure.

Suddenly, Zhao Zhu's gaze locked onto a chain. The chain was not below but above his head, part of the foundation of the upper tomb. This chain was likely used to lock something, but it now pointed Zhao Zhu in the right direction. Zhao Zhu kept his body as close to the surface as possible and swam in the direction the chain extended.

After three minutes, Zhao Zhu removed the first diving lung, emptied the air, and continued swimming. Another three minutes later, he removed the second diving lung. If he couldn't find a way to surface soon, he would have to turn back, as he would drown without the diving lungs.

However, Zhao Zhu made a new discovery. Near the chain, claw marks began to appear, becoming more and more obvious, as if something had been desperately scratching the stone wall. The chain also showed signs of breaking and damage.

From this, Zhao Zhu deduced that the chain was used to lock something, but that something had broken free, tearing the chain. The size of the chain suggested that the creature it bound was not small.

This discovery cast a shadow over Zhao Zhu's heart. Who knew what the Qing Dynasty had locked down here? However, after four hundred years, whatever it was should be dead, right? He hoped it wasn't something that could reproduce asexually.

Just as Zhao Zhu had two diving lungs left, a light appeared before him. Zhao Zhu's heart leaped with joy, and he swam even harder, feeling that the exit was near.

However, as he got closer, the light seemed increasingly strange. It appeared to have a mind of its own, not entirely pure. Still, Zhao Zhu continued to swim toward it, as he couldn't just stay there.

Every minute, even every second, underwater was precious.

Finally, as he got closer, Zhao Zhu realized the source of his earlier strange feeling. The light was not the exit but the eyes of a massive underwater creature, larger than a lantern. Most of its body was still indistinct, but its size was terrifying, comparable to that of a full-grown great white shark!

The creature had likely noticed Zhao Zhu long ago and was calmly watching him approach.

In fact, this was a hunting technique used by some underwater creatures: using a light source to attract nearby fish, then hunting and eating them.

At this moment, it seemed to feel that Zhao Zhu was close enough, and it began to shake its body, emerging from the darkness. A massive, blood-red mouth, capable of swallowing a cow in one bite, rushed toward Zhao Zhu, causing the surrounding water to churn violently!