The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 226: Seeking a Chance of Survival in Despair

The dim tomb's passageway was filled with a mixture of smoke and the stench of decay. After a desperate battle with the Japanese, Lei Tao and his companions were now caught in a bitter battle with a mechanical puppet. The puppet wielded its long sword, each strike carrying immense force, disrupting the airflow in the passageway. The group was forced to flee in all directions, facing danger.

In his hasty attempt to dodge the puppet's attack, Hu Hansi slipped and fell behind a massive rock. He instinctively reached out to steady himself, but accidentally kicked something hidden in the shadows. It felt cold, like some kind of metal. Following his kick, a low, muffled creaking sound echoed from deep underground, like ancient machinery starting to work.

Hu Hansi, still terrified, poked his head out from behind the stone to investigate. He saw the flat ground slowly cracking, the cracks widening, and a two-meter-wide, three-meter-long sarcophagus, engraved with strange, twisted runes, slowly rising.

At the same time, the wall behind them made a harsh friction sound, and three thick stone slabs sank, revealing three bottomless doorways.

Directly above the sarcophagus, the ceiling stones began to shift, revealing a circular skylight. Faint light slanted down from the skylight, forming a bright column on the dusty ground.

At that moment, a gust of fresh air blew in from the skylight. This air, carrying the freshness of the forest and the moisture of the earth, was a stark contrast to the decayed, stagnant atmosphere of the ancient tomb. As it flowed through the passage, everyone's tense nerves relaxed slightly. However, in this mysterious situation, no one dared to let their guard down. Instead, this sudden change intensified their anxiety and unease.

"What the hell is going on?" Li Shuiniu's eyes widened in fear, his voice trembling uncontrollably. The team members instantly tightened their grip on their weapons, their nerves tense again. They looked around warily, their eyes filled with confusion and anxiety.

Lei Tao's brows knitted into the shape of a "川" character, his sharp eyes darting back and forth between the sarcophagus, the three doors, and the skylight. His keen intuition told him that these new objects must contain key clues to leaving this place, but they might also conceal a deadly danger.

After carefully observing the position and height of the skylight, Lei Tao quickly turned his head to look at Hu Hansi, and said in an unquestionable tone: "Old Hu, give me a hand and help me jump onto the skylight!" Although Hu Hansi was full of doubts, the tacit understanding formed by fighting side by side with Lei Tao for a long time made him nod and agree without hesitation.

Hu Hansi, taking advantage of the moment the puppet left him, quickly ran to the base of the skylight and crouched down, clasping his hands together to create a stable platform. Lei Tao also quickly walked to the base of the skylight, stepped back a few steps, and took a deep breath. Then, he suddenly sprinted forward, using Hu Hansi's hands to push off, and leaped high like an arrow from a bow. Under the tense gaze of the crowd, Lei Tao's fingertips precisely touched the edge of the skylight. He gritted his teeth, tensed his arm muscles, and climbed up with all his might. After a lot of effort, he successfully climbed onto the skylight.

Standing above the skylight, Lei Tao discovered a narrow passage. The walls on both sides of the passage were engraved with strange symbols, and at the end there was a tightly closed stone door.

Lei Tao leaned down and shouted, "There is a passage above. I'll explore the way first. You guys be careful down there and be ready to deal with emergencies at any time." The voice echoed back and forth in the passage and the space below.

With that, he turned and cautiously advanced along the passage. He took every step with utmost caution, fearing he might trigger an unknown mechanism. As he went deeper, the light in the passage grew dimmer, a thick darkness threatening to swallow him whole.

Lei Tao reached into his pocket and pulled out a high-powered flashlight. With a click, the flashlight illuminated, a beam of white light instantly piercing the darkness. In the light, he could see the strange symbols becoming increasingly distinct. There seemed to be faint scratches around the symbols, as if someone had repeatedly rubbed them. He continued forward for a few dozen meters. Just then, a slight rustling sound came from behind him, as if something was rapidly approaching.

Lei Tao tensed up instantly and took out a Scorpion Charger with a large-capacity drum magazine from the space of the Bagua Gyro...