When the two of them flew back down, the corpse beetles had already crawled to everyone's feet. The blood on Mo Liuchen's arm was attracting even more of the insects. Mo Chenfeng continually helped kick away the swarming corpse beetles, while Chu Qingmeng said speechlessly, "What on earth are you waiting for down there?! Are you waiting to be eaten?" Mo Chenfeng urged Mo Liuchen to go up first, as the small platform could barely hold two people. Once Mo Liuchen was up, Mo Liufang and Mo Liuteng went up as well. By the time Mo Liujin and Mo Chenfeng tried to ascend, the swarm of corpse beetles was already crawling up their bodies. A flash of inspiration struck Chu Qingmeng: she took off her jacket, poured half a bottle of alcohol onto it, set it on fire, and threw it right down. The corpse beetles on the two men instantly retreated, and they quickly leaped up onto the platform. Chu Qingmeng used the remaining half of the alcohol to coat the cave entrance and set it ablaze. The corpse beetles did not dare approach the opening, and the group hurriedly ran forward. After running for a while, they reached the cave that had been filled with snakes. Chu Qingmeng took a glance; the snakes had indeed all retreated, but it was still not safe here, so she turned back to call out to the others to keep running.
After running for who knows how long, Mo Wushuang was the first to collapse limply to the ground, panting heavily. "I, I can't. I, really, really can't run anymore!" Chu Qingmeng similarly slumped to the ground, completely out of breath. "M-me neither! We've been running for so long, let us catch our breath!" Looking back at the men, they were doing relatively well, only slightly out of breath, not gasping like they were on the verge of death the way the two women were.
Mo Liujin and Mo Chenfeng, who brought up the rear of the group, looked somewhat pale. Mo Chenfeng kept his hand pressed against his stomach, where traces of blood were already seeping through his clothes. Panting heavily, Chu Qingmeng looked at Mo Chenfeng and asked, "Are you injured?"
"It's nothing, just a minor wound," Mo Chenfeng shook his head to indicate he was fine. "Escaping with our lives is what matters. We can tend to it once we reach a safe place."
Chu Qingmeng nodded and called for everyone to continue moving forward. But they had not walked more than a few steps when something swept across her face. Looking up, she saw a section of a tree root embedded into a crevice in the stone wall. Joy flashed across Chu Qingmeng's face—they could get out! Pointing at the root, she said, "Look, there are tree roots here. That means we aren't far from the surface!" Hearing this, the group's faces lit up with joy as they quickened their pace. However, after walking just a few more steps, they found that the path had come to a dead end! Chu Qingmeng was speechless. She knew that ancient craftsmen would leave escape routes, but nobody had ever mentioned where these paths would lead! After a moment, Chu Qingmeng looked up at the cave ceiling. "The ceiling is made of earth. Should we try digging our way out?"
Depending on the species, tree roots could plunge anywhere from one to one hundred and fifty meters deep, and their rooting depths varied. Right now, they could only pray this was a relatively shallow tree root. Everyone nodded; this was their only option.
Chu Qingmeng took out the entrenching tool and started digging directly. Mo Liufang reached out and took the shovel from her. "You go rest. Leave this kind of work to us men."
Chu Qingmeng nodded. Since someone else was doing the work, she could save some energy. She pulled out the remaining half-bottle of water from Mo Wushuang and handed it to her, then took out a fresh bottle for herself to drink. Turning around, she saw Mo Wushuang handing her water to Mo Chenfeng. "Hey, Uncle, drink this instead." As she spoke, Chu Qingmeng produced a can of Red Bull, popped it open, and handed it to Mo Chenfeng. "This doesn't taste great, but it'll replenish your energy. Given your condition, you shouldn't be drinking plain water."
Mo Chenfeng nodded and drank that can of Red Bull along with Mo Liujin. Chu Qingmeng took out another bottle of water, tossed it to Mo Liuteng, and gestured for him and Mo Liufang to share it. After resting for a while, Mo Liufang and Mo Liuteng took turns digging into the earth. After about an hour or so, a ray of sunlight suddenly filtered through. Everyone was overjoyed, and the two men intensified their digging. Before long, more and more sunlight poured in, and an opening just wide enough for one person to squeeze through was cleared out. Mo Liufang had slightly younger Mo Liuteng step on his shoulders to climb up. Mo Liuteng shouted excitedly, "Outside is a forest!"
Mo Liufang had Chu Qingmeng step on his shoulders to go out first, but she shook her head. "Let Uncle go out first." Mo Liufang then had Mo Chenfeng step on his shoulders, while Mo Liuteng pulled from above, allowing everyone to climb out of the hole one by one. Finally, Mo Liuchen and Mo Liuteng pulled Mo Liufang up together.
Having finally seen the sunlight, the group found a huge boulder to sit on and rest, their joy bubbling over. But before they even had a chance to truly relax, they suddenly felt a violent tremor as the ground shook. The very tunnel they had just emerged from suffered a cave-in, burying their exit completely.
Cold sweat instantly broke out all over Chu Qingmeng. If they had been even a step later, she would have been buried alive inside!
After the tremor subsided, Chu Qingmeng looked around her surroundings. Lush trees and abundant vegetation—it was quite suitable for wilderness survival. But when she reached into her pocket to look for her phone, she discovered it was gone! With all the running and falling into caves back in the tomb, she must have lost it somewhere along the way.
Just as Chu Qingmeng was lamenting inwardly, she heard Mo Chenfeng emit a distressed groan from beside her. Looking over, she saw that the area he was pressing had turned from a few traces of blood into a blood-soaked patch. "Uncle, what's wrong?"
"It feels like something is thrashing around inside my body," Mo Chenfeng said, tightly clutching his chest in agony.