18: Chapter 18 The Burial Alive Squad

With a loud boom, the main wellhead collapsed completely.

Debris, black ash, and red-hot slag poured down all at once, making the stone hall at the bottom hum. Several already cracked ancient stone pillars snapped in half, the clusters of grey fire fungus flickered on and off from the tremors, and the scant air in the cave was instantly tainted with a choking, earthy stench.

The rat pack was thrown into instant chaos.

Some lunged toward the cave-in, some scratched frantically against the walls, and a few were pinned under the rubble, their squeals cut short.

Lu Jin didn't look up, instead pressing the half-map of the incubation pool and the incubation crystal core back against his chest.

"Grey Pupil."

Grey Pupil knelt half-way beside a broken pillar, its ears twitching slightly, grey eyes scanning the four stone walls.

"Main well sealed."

"North side return air vent, filled with fire sand."

"Abandoned cable well, rigged with ground-binding spikes."

"The old bottom path we came from has also collapsed."

It paused, its voice colder. "Not one squad, at least four."

As soon as it spoke, muffled human voices drifted down from above the collapse.

"Drop another cart of crushed rock!"

"Keep sealing the north vent, don't let them catch their breath down there!"

"Young Master Lu said, whoever leaves a gap, get out and accept your punishment!"

Someone hesitated. "Are we really sealing it completely? What if he crushes his emblem?"

The top went quiet for a moment, then a colder voice rang out, sounding as if it were squeezed out of a transmission stone. "Then make sure he doesn't have time to crush it."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was heard clearly in the stone hall.

The last trace of warmth in Lu Jin's eyes vanished completely.

Before, it was suppression, face-stepping, trying to force him out of the Unified Exam.

Now, it was different. Lu Jingyao wanted him dead.

The stone hall was low, surrounded by ancient walls blackened by time. Several dry, broken incubation pool troughs lay scattered on the ground, their bottoms still marked with concentric black stone patterns constricting inward. Once the opening was sealed, the air immediately grew stuffy, the brightness of the grey fire fungus visibly fading, and even the breathing of the Transport Rats became rapid.

A Tunneling Rat lunged to the bottom of the main well, trying to dig its way up, but Lu Jin kicked it back into the ash.

"Whoever digs upward again, I'll slaughter them first."

The cave fell silent instantly.

Grey Pupil walked to the left wall, brushed away a layer of floating ash, and revealed half of an ancient pattern underneath. It wasn't decoration, but more like guide grooves running along the stone layers, almost identical to the black stone ring patterns near the thermal vents of the Abandoned Zone.

It pressed its ear against it, and after a few breaths, looked up. "There's a tide behind the wall."

Lu Jin also reached out and pressed his hand against it.

The moment his palm touched the wall, the black shard on his chest felt a slight heat. It wasn't an illusion.

Behind the wall, there was a deep heat, like a Fire Well that had been sealed for many years, now pressing back along the strata. The harder the top was sealed, the more intense this heat became.

He looked down at the broken incubation pool troughs at his feet, then at the guide grooves on the wall, his eyes slowly darkening. This place was not a dead end.

This was a moisture-venting chamber.

Grey Pupil also understood, its Grey Pupils constricting slightly. "They sealed the top, but the grey fire thermal vein has been awakened by the blockage."

"Cut into the left wall, and we can reach the moisture-venting layer."

"If we cut it right, the tide will go to the main well."

"If we cut it wrong, we'll be cooked first."

The cave grew increasingly stuffy.

Two injured rats had begun to twitch on the ground, their nostrils filled with ash. Outside, the people were still sealing the entrance, the muffled sounds of dragging crushed rocks pressing down in waves, like someone sitting on top of their heads, shoveling dirt into their coffin.

Lu Jin only asked one question. "How far?"

Grey Pupil tapped its claw lightly on the wall. "Six and a half yards."

"It's behind the third black groove."

Lu Jin raised his hand, the bone clacker dropped.

"Digging Squad, cut the left wall."

"Transport Team, drag all the tawan iron sand and black stone fragments over, surround the semi-circular guide groove."

"Ambush Squad, retreat to the second ring, stay low and still; whoever moves around, toss them to the outermost layer to wait for death."

The orders were issued, and the rat pack moved instantly.

The Tunneling Rats no longer touched the top, turning instead to pounce on the left wall.

The front row opened the breach, the back row cleared the slag, and further back, the Transport Team bit open the captured water skins one by one, using the water to press down the ash, forcibly suppressing the rising dust.

Black stone fragments were dragged over one by one, stacked into a semi-circle along the position indicated by Grey Pupil, leaving only a narrow opening facing the direction of the main well.

This wasn't a tunnel for escaping. This was a channel to guide the fire.

The people above clearly heard the movement below and immediately laughed.

"He's panicking!"

"Still hitting the top, keep sealing!"

"Pour the fire sand in, choke his rats to death!"

A stream of hot, spicy grey powder quickly poured in from the north crack, and several nearby Ambush Rats rolled on the ground, choking.

Lu Jin didn't even look, just raised his hand slightly.

"Bury them, don't waste air."

The Transport Team lunged forward, dragging the twitching rats to the back ring and using wet ash to cover their mouths and noses.

The air was running out.

The Tunneling Rats' speed was also slowing down; the front row had already been replaced three times.

When the fourth row went up, the one at the very front had barely clawed twice before its body went limp, collapsing into the stone powder, motionless.

Grey Pupil walked over, slashed its throat with a claw, and dragged the body to the side.

"Let the ones behind step on it to dig."

Its tone was as flat as if it were talking about a piece of ore.

Lu Jin didn't make a sound. At this moment, any excess pity was a waste.

The heat inside the stone wall was seeping out bit by bit.

When the fifth row went up, the first wisp of grey-red gas finally emerged from the wall crack.

The gas was as thin as silk, but so hot that the Tunneling Rat's front claws instantly had their fur curled.

Grey Pupil pressed its ear back against it, listened for three breaths, and when it looked up, its voice was very low. "The tide is curling back."

"The more densely the people above are standing, the more neatly they'll die."

Lu Jin didn't order the wall to be opened immediately.

He walked to the bottom of the main well and listened for a while.

There were many footsteps above.

The heavy ones were from pushing collapse carts and Rock-backed Moles.

The light ones were from Fire-scaled Lizards and flag bearers.

There were also sharper wing-flapping sounds, likely patrol insect units, circling near the pit opening.

All blocked at the main well.

Very good.

Lu Jin turned back, looking at the red-patterned crack in the left wall that had already been dug half a foot deep, sinking his divine sense into his Sea of Consciousness.

The wanji ember furnace vibrated slightly.

The black fire didn't rush out, but slowly seeped along his finger bones into the ancient patterns of the stone wall.

Hum.

In an instant, the entire left wall lit up.

It wasn't an explosive brightness, but a strange dark red, as if fire had been buried in the black stone, and with a gentle touch from the furnace's intent, it came alive along those guide grooves.

Even stranger was that the first wisp of grey fire heat that emerged, upon touching the black stone semi-circle, didn't scatter wildly, but obediently lay down along the guide groove, as if it knew the way.

Grey Pupil looked up, glancing at Lu Jin's chest.

For the first time, there was a hint of genuine gravity in those Grey Pupils.

"It recognizes the furnace."

Lu Jin didn't reply, just held the bone clacker horizontally in his palm.

"Everyone retreat three yards."

"Ambush Squad, press behind the side leakage point."

"Transport Team, listen up: as soon as the second wave of the tide rushes out of the main well, immediately drag things out from the new opening. Prioritize the point plates, fire sand bags, and ground-binding spikes."

Grey Pupil bowed its head in acknowledgment and turned to leave.

The rat pack retreated quickly, lying flat against the black stone semi-circle.

Only a dozen of the strongest Tunneling Rats remained at the crack, waiting for the final strike.

The people above were still sealing.

Some laughed, some cursed, and some were so excited they couldn't control their voices.

"Collapsed and secured! This time, even if he grows wings, he can't fly out!"

"What does Young Master Lu say?"

"Wait for the gas to disperse before digging; the map and core won't run away, don't worry about the person."

Lu Jin heard this and raised his eyes.

"Open."

The final claw fell.

The left wall wasn't dug through. It was blown open.

Boom!

An entire layer of stone suddenly retracted inward, and the next instant, a grey-red heat tide sprayed directly from behind the crack.

It wasn't just fire, nor was it smoke, but a scorching tide of grey fire, hot sand, spores, and mineral vein heat that had been compressed for too long, twisted into a roaring wave, surging out along the black stone guide grooves.

The semi-circular guide groove took the full force of the first heat wave, and the entire circle of black stone turned bright red simultaneously.

The grey fire tide didn't rush toward them.

It was forced to change direction by that circle of ancient patterns, like a beast released from a cage, crashing all the way toward the main well.

The stone hall trembled from this recoil.

A few Tunneling Rats that were too close and half a step slow in dodging were instantly scorched by the back-rolling heat, unable to even let out a scream.

Lu Jin didn't even frown, staring at the top of the main well.

One breath.

Two breaths.

The third breath, the ceiling exploded.

The main wellhead lit up first.

Immediately after, the entire collapse layer was shattered by something from below, and the grey fire tide sprayed out along the stone cracks, ventilation shafts, the north return air vent, and the abandoned cable well.

"Ah!"

"Retreat! Get back!"

"Fire! How could there be grey fire down here!"

The screaming turned into chaos in an instant.

The Fire-scaled Lizards were the first to suffer.

They had been guarding the main well, spitting fire to fill the cave, but when the grey fire tide surged out, several lizards were instantly flipped over, their soft underbellies scorched raw on the spot.

The Rock-backed Moles pushing the collapse carts behind them were even worse off; just as they had driven the ground-binding spikes into the pit edge, the debris layer beneath them collapsed entirely, and they slid down with their carts, caught by the second wave of heat, their stone armor crackling and popping as it burned.

Some wanted to retreat, but it was already too late.

The fire sand bags, dry oil bladders, and broken wood supports used to seal the top were all piled at the edge of the main well.

Once the grey fire tide rolled over them, these things caught fire better than anything, exploding almost upon contact.

Half the pit opening instantly turned into a chaotic mess, with fire, ash, rolling stones, and human figures crowded together, no one able to stand steadily.

"Now."

Lu Jin stomped his foot and, with Grey Pupil, rushed straight toward the side leakage point.

That was the new gap the Digging Squad had secretly opened on the second level, just enough for three or four rats to pass through side-by-side.

The first wave of the tide took the main well, and the second wave shattered a thin wall on the right side as well.

Grey Pupil slashed with a claw, the stone skin shattered, and the cold air from outside rushed in.

Living air had arrived.

The Ambush Squad rushed out with red eyes.

The new opening was on the side slope of the sinkhole, positioned perfectly behind one of the sealing squads.

Those people were turning their heads, frightened by the grey fire tide spraying from the main well, never expecting the stone wall behind them to split open.

Dozens of Ambush Rats lunged out, first biting the Achilles tendons, then the wrists, targeting the gaps in the armor and the joints of the protective gear.

The leading boy holding the ground-binding flag reacted quickly, raising his hand to crush his emblem.

Grey Pupil was faster than him.

A grey shadow skimmed across the ground, its shiny black claws slashing across his wrist.

Pfft.

His entire hand, along with the emblem, flew off.

The boy screamed and retreated, but his foot found only air, and he stepped directly into the pit crack opened by the heat tide, half his body hanging outside.

Two Ambush Rats followed up, biting his shoulders and dragging him down.

On the other side, three Rock-backed Moles had just emerged from the fire, still wanting to collapse the side slope, but the Digging Squad had already hollowed out an entire row of cavities beneath their feet.

The one in the lead stepped into nothingness, and with a rumble, it and the two behind it rolled into the cracked slope, with tawan iron sand and debris pouring down the slope, burying them waist-deep alive.

Someone was finally afraid, shouting as they retreated.

"It wasn't us who wanted to bury you!"

"It was Lu Jingyao! Lu Jingyao gave the order!"

Lu Jin raised his eyes and glanced at the person, tapping his bone clacker lightly.

Three Ambush Rats lunged simultaneously, biting off the fingers he was using to crush the emblem.

There was another explosion near the main well.

The third wave of the grey fire tide burst open the abandoned cable well, spraying directly out from the other side of the pit edge, hitting two circling insect units.

As soon as their wing membranes touched the grey fire, they burned into black paper in the blink of an eye, plummeting straight down from mid-air.

The entire edge of the sinkhole exploded into chaos.

The four sealing squads were dispersed from the front by the grey fire tide and flanked from the sides by the rat pack coming through the cracked slopes and stone crevices; their formation didn't even hold for half a cup of tea.

Some were forced to crush their emblems on the spot, their faces grey as they were swept away by white light; some were a beat too slow and fell, along with their units, into the reopened main well; others tried to escape, but after just two steps, the stone layer beneath them was hollowed out by the Tunneling Rats, and they tumbled down the slope, never to climb back up.

This battle was half-lost the moment they sealed the opening.

Lu Jin didn't chase too far.

He only wanted an exit, wanted air, wanted to live.

"Collect the loot!"

The Transport Team immediately crawled out of various crevices, dragging bone ropes and leather bags to snatch goods in the fire ash.

Point plates, fire sand bags, two ground-binding crystal spikes that hadn't been driven in yet, three boxes of soil-stabilizing paste, and parts of a collapse cart that had been half-burned—they dragged and pulled everything into the side leakage point.

Grey Pupil stood on the cracked slope, grey eyes scanning the surroundings, when it suddenly pointed a finger.

"There's still a survivor over there."

Lu Jin looked over.

A candidate whose sleeve armor had been half-burned was leaning behind a black stone, his face as pale as paper, clutching a communication stone tightly.

The last words came from the stone.

"Bury him thoroughly, don't let him..."

The voice stopped abruptly there.

The candidate looked up, meeting Lu Jin's eyes, and his entire face instantly drained of color.

He wanted to say something, but in the end, he just abruptly crushed his emblem.

The moment the white light swept him away, the communication stone dropped to the ground.

Lu Jin bent down to pick it up and casually crushed it.

Debris and ash fell.

Evidence was unimportant.

He remembered it; that was enough.

The wind finally rushed in completely.

The stifling, dark, suffocating feeling from being buried alive at the bottom slowly dissipated.

Lu Jin stood at the crack in the slope, looking down at what was behind him.

Only the majority of the rat pack had escaped.

Twenty-seven had been burned to death during the first round of digging the wall, eleven were swallowed by the back-rolling tide, and over a dozen were buried when the side leakage point cracked open.

Those lying in the ash—some had only half a tail left, others were scorched down to the skin.

Lu Jin's gaze paused, his voice flat and without inflection.

"Collect the dead rats, return them to the fire."

The Transport Team turned back immediately.

To others, that was a battle loss.

To him, that was the fuel for the next, stronger fire.

Grey Pupil watched the grey fire still sputtering from the main well, and suddenly said in a low voice: "This tide isn't wild."

Lu Jin grunted.

He felt it too.

When the grey fire tide rushed through the black stone guide grooves, it crashed and burned wildly against other stone layers, but only when it touched that circle of ancient patterns lit by the furnace fire would it obediently lie down and turn.

It was as if, a long time ago, this place had walked the same path as the wanji ember furnace.

It wasn't a coincidence.

The sky suddenly brightened.

It wasn't fire; it was the leaderboard.

Names refreshed rapidly in the night sky, the names of the few teams just eliminated went dark, and after three bursts of white light at the main well, a string of scores began to jump wildly.

[Ji Mingxiao: 118]

[Lu Jingyao: 91]

...

[Lu Jin: 57]

Lu Jin's name climbed all the way up, jumping several spots, finally stopping on the most prominent line, the edges still glowing with the newly refreshed golden light.

The wind on the cracked slope suddenly changed.

It was no longer the hot grey fire wind.

It was a higher, colder, sharper wind, pressing down from the sky.

Grey Pupil looked up sharply.

Lu Jin also raised his eyes.

Deep in the night, a silver-white lightning scar tore through the clouds.

The flock of Thunder-wing Griffins, which had previously only been circling high above the Central Sinkhole, suddenly folded their wings and turned in unison, as if precisely guided by something, pressing straight toward the cracked slope where he was.

On the back of the leading Thunder-wing Griffin stood a slender figure.

He didn't make a move, just lowered his eyes to look at the wind-thunder positioning disk in his palm.

On the disk, Lu Jin's name was being locked tightly by a thin electric arc.

Ji Mingxiao raised his head, his gaze piercing through half the sinkhole and landing on him.