ryethenovel Chapter 20 Danger Approaches, the Overlord of the Underground River
Chapter 20 Danger Approaches, the Overlord of the Underground River
The river was almost still, its surface like a huge black mirror, reflecting no light or shadow, except for the ripples created by the flashlight beam.
On the opposite bank of the underground river, about thirty meters away, a huge square stone gate can be vaguely seen.
Connecting the two banks is an extremely narrow stone bridge carved from a single piece of black rock.
"Watch your step, everyone!"
Professor Zhou suddenly exclaimed.
When everyone looked down, they saw that there were more than a dozen skeletons scattered on the black rocky beach at their feet!
The skeletons were in extremely contorted positions. Some looked as if they had been torn in two by some enormous force, while others were in a struggling posture, as if trying to escape the black river behind them in their last moments.
Beside the skeletons, there were scattered some rusty weapons—a ring-pommel sword from the Han Dynasty, a horizontal sword from the Tang Dynasty, and even a few modern-style entrenching tools and crowbars.
"These are... the corpses of grave robbers!"
Chen Wentao stared at the weapons from different eras, his voice trembling: "From the Han Dynasty to modern times, over two thousand years, so many waves of tomb raiders have found this place, but they... all of them died by this river!"
This discovery sent a chill down everyone's spine.
What terrifying thing is hidden in this seemingly calm, dark river that could wipe out so many well-equipped tomb raiders?
The live stream chat exploded instantly.
Holy crap! This is a mass grave for tomb raiders!
Even professional tomb raiders have died here; can this archaeological team even get through?
[Lin Shen, you'd better be careful! I have a feeling there might be danger in the water!]
Lin Mu's expression also became extremely solemn.
He walked to the riverbank, squatted down, dipped his uninjured right hand in the river water, and gently smelled it.
Besides the strong smell of sulfur, there was also a very faint fishy odor.
His gaze was fixed on the pitch-black surface of the water.
The beastly intuition brought by Zhang Qiling's template made him feel as if he were being stared at by a pair of malicious eyes underwater.
"Captain Wang, have your men prepare their weapons. There might be danger in the water."
Lin Mu stood up and said calmly.
Wang Meng immediately gave the signal, and the three security guards spread out in a triangular formation, with all the safety on their rifles off and the dark muzzles pointed at the water.
"I'll go ahead and scout ahead."
Wang Meng took a deep breath and was the first to step onto the slippery little stone bridge.
He took each step with extreme care, keeping his center of gravity very low.
When he reached the middle of the bridge safely, he stopped, shone his tactical flashlight on the opposite bank, and then shouted back, "Safe! The bridge is sturdy! You can..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
"Splash—!!!"
A tremendous splash erupted from the still, black river beneath his feet!
Immediately afterwards, a head so huge that it was beyond everyone's imagination, resembling a prehistoric beast, suddenly burst out of the water!
It was a head that looked like a giant salamander magnified ten thousand times!
Its skin is grayish-white and covered with slimy liquid and disgusting moss!
Its entire head was bald, except for a gaping maw that split open to the base of its ears and was filled with hundreds of tiny, sharp teeth!
"The prehistoric giant salamander!"
Lin Mu's pupils contracted instantly!
The giant salamander's target was Wang Meng, who was standing in the middle of the bridge!
It opened its huge mouth and lunged at the stone bridge!
"Captain, watch out!"
Everyone screamed in terror.
Wang Meng's reaction was incredibly fast!
The moment the salamander leaped out of the water, he suddenly rolled backward, managing to roll back across the bridge, which was only half a meter wide, narrowly avoiding a fatal bite!
"Snap—!!!"
The giant salamander bit through empty air, its sharp teeth slamming against the hard stone bridge, actually biting off a large chunk of the black rock!
"Fire! Fire!"
The security personnel on the other side reacted instantly, and three assault rifles simultaneously unleashed a barrage of fire!
"Da da da da!"
Bullets rained down on the giant salamander's massive head, tearing its grayish-white skin and flesh to shreds.
But this injury is nothing more than a tickle to a giant salamander the size of a small truck!
The intense pain only enraged it further!
It let out a deep roar, and with a sudden flick of its huge tail, it grabbed a security guard who was too close to the riverbank and dragged him into the dark river!
"Xiao Zhang!"
Wang Meng's eyes were bloodshot!
"Help! Help!"
Professor Zhou was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet.
The remaining two security guards immediately turned their guns and opened fire wildly in the direction where Xiao Zhang had fallen into the water.
But the river was pitch black, and the target was nowhere to be seen.
At this critical moment.
"Don't fire randomly!"
Lin Mu's roar exploded like thunder!
"It can't see! It locates itself by sound and by sensing water ripples! The more you fire indiscriminately, the bigger the ripples in the water become, and the more excited it gets!"
Lin Mu's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an irresistible calmness and authority.
Everyone was stunned by his shout.
"Captain Wang!"
Lin Mu's gaze was fixed on Wang Meng: "Have your men stop firing at the water! Everyone, launch a barrage of fire at the rock face above that stone gate on the opposite bank! Create the biggest echo possible!"
Although Wang Meng did not understand Lin Mu's intentions, he chose to believe him unconditionally at this critical moment of life and death!
"Everyone! Listen to Lin Mu! Target: the opposite rock face! Fire!"
"Da da da da!"
The firepower of the two assault rifles was instantly concentrated on the rock face on the opposite bank of the river.
The bullets struck the hard rock, producing an extremely piercing ricochet sound and a tremendous roar!
The sound echoed back and forth in the narrow underground space, creating an extremely chaotic resonance.
really!
Upon hearing the enormous noise, the giant salamander underwater instantly went berserk!
It loosened its tail that was wrapped around Xiao Zhang, and its huge head suddenly turned in the direction from which the noise came, letting out an angry roar as it charged toward the opposite bank!
"Quick! Pull Xiao Zhang up!"
Wang Meng was overjoyed to see this and immediately worked with another team member to pull Xiao Zhang, who was already half-drowsy from the water, out of the water.
However, the crisis was not over.
After missing its target on the other side, the giant salamander became even more enraged!
It realized it had been tricked!
It suddenly turned around, its huge body creating towering waves in the water. Ignoring the noise, it charged straight toward its only target—the small stone bridge spanning the river!
Its intention was clear—to break the stone bridge and force everyone into the water!
"Oh no! It's going to crash into the bridge!"
Chen Wentao let out a terrified scream.
If the stone bridge is broken, everyone will fall into the underground river full of prehistoric beasts, and the entire army will be wiped out!
Wang Meng and the others raised their guns again, but they knew that their firepower was simply insufficient to stop the behemoth.
Despair once again enveloped everyone.
Just then.
Lin Mu, who had been calmly directing operations from the shore, finally moved.
Instead of retreating, he took a step forward and arrived at the head of the small stone bridge.
Lin Mu's eyes turned icy as he watched the colossal object crashing into the stone bridge like a high-speed train.
He pulled out the half-sharpened high-carbon steel entrenching tool from behind his back.
"Lin Mu! What are you doing! Come back here!"
Su Nianwei was terrified and tried to reach out to pull him away.
But Lin Mu was too fast.
Just before the giant salamander opened its gaping maw full of sharp teeth, about to crush the stone bridge!
Lin Mu's legs, like springs compressed to their limit, suddenly exerted force!
"Whoosh!"
He shot into the sky like a cannonball and leaped directly off the bridge!
He neither jumped to the other side nor to the platform behind him.
His body drew a sharp arc in mid-air, landing precisely in front of the giant salamander's open jaws!
"don't want!"
Ye Zhi Qiu closed her eyes in despair.
Everyone thought Lin Mu had gone mad; he was deliberately courting death!
But what happened the next second completely overturned everyone's understanding.
In mid-air, Lin Mu's body was at the same level as the salamander's enormous mouth.
Facing those sharp teeth that could easily bite him in half, Lin Mu showed no fear.
He gripped the entrenching tool handle tightly with both hands, and using the gravitational potential energy of the fall and the huge inertia of the salamander's forward charge, he stabbed the half-sharpened tool fiercely into the upper part of the salamander's mouth!
That's the softest and most deadly part of the giant salamander's body—its upper jaw!
The upper jaw is not protected by a hard skull, but only by a thin layer of soft tissue, behind which lies the central nervous system of the brain!
"Pfft—!!!"
A dull thud that made your teeth ache!
The sharp high-carbon steel entrenching tool pierced the salamander's upper jaw as easily as cutting tofu, with most of the shovel's surface deeply embedded in its brain!
"roar--!!!"
The giant salamander let out a heart-wrenching, yet abruptly stopped, agonizing scream.
Its brain was instantly destroyed, its massive body stiffened abruptly, and its frenzied charge came to an abrupt halt.
Just a moment before the salamander instinctively closed its massive jaws in excruciating pain!
Lin Mu slammed his feet against the salamander's jaws, and using the recoil, he completed a beautiful backflip in mid-air!
"Bang!"
Lin Mu landed steadily back on the stone bridge, without even a drop of black blood splashing on him.
The giant salamander, as big as a small truck, was like a piece of wood without electricity; its massive body went out of control and crashed heavily into the dark river, never to resurface.
Only large swaths of bright red blood surged from underwater, quickly staining the entire black river surface red.