An Ke offered no agreement or denial. She pointed to the bodies piled behind the door.
"If you're right, why didn't they go looking for a 'god'? Why did they try to escape instead?"
"That's why I think the 'god' left something behind that can help us fight the monsters."
She said no more, quietly stepping aside to help Lin Ya up.
Nobody could refute her. Looking at the heap of corpses, Ye Lin also grew thoughtful.
Yes. Logically, An Ke's theory made more sense. Especially given a detail he'd noticed: the sulfuric acid had been heated.
Hot sulfuric acid was more corrosive, but that seemed excessive if it was meant for humans.
On reflection, it could only have been intended for Aberrants.
No guns, no other weapons. That suggested even the monsters' corpses might pose a danger. The acid would kill them and dispose of them on the spot.
By the same reasoning, whoever installed those defenses hadn't intended to let a "god" deal with the Aberrants, either.
But...
Why were these bodies all naked?
Setting aside the question, Ye Lin rose and looked at the stairs descending nearby. There was no time to waste.
Like the space inside the doorway, the underground stairway was a full ten meters wide. Its end was nowhere in sight. Two hours wasn't a short time, but judging by the structure, the underground complex had to be enormous.
"In that case, we'll look for anything that might be connected to a god."
"Zhang Tie, bring up the rear. An Ke and Lin Ya, stay in the middle and watch both sides. As for He Zheng..."
Before he could work out how to persuade He Zheng to lead, the man stood and staggered over.
"Yeah, yeah. I know you want me up front."
With a snort, He Zheng clapped him on the shoulder and volunteered.
Seeing Ye Lin's surprised look, he sneered and turned away.
"What? I'm the strongest one here. You're all a bunch of useless rookies. If I don't go, who will?"
"But let's get one thing straight. If there's real danger, don't expect me to look after you."
As He Zheng strode ahead, Ye Lin fell silent for a moment, then quietly revised his opinion upward.
He had a gun, but in this environment, only He Zheng could react to a sudden threat. Whatever the Aberrants were, the person in front was undoubtedly taking the greatest risk.
...
Footsteps echoed through the darkness, mingling with uneasy heartbeats.
Walking at the head with the axe over his shoulder, He Zheng clenched its handle so hard his fingertips whitened. Nobody noticed.
His breathing grew heavy as he looked down the seemingly bottomless stairs.
Unlike his earlier bravado, he was beginning to regret it.
He'd been through enough exams to know how terrifying their monsters could be. And this was the fucking second round!
He didn't even know why he'd agreed. A veteran's pride, perhaps. Or the need to save face.
Heaven help him.
Please. Please!
...
Fifteen minutes later.
Drip. Drip.
Water echoed in the dark.
Ye Lin looked up toward the dripping, unable to locate its source. Doubt flickered in his eyes.
The air was stale, and the water seemed to fall slowly. Was it seepage?
The air grew damp, carrying a faint smell of rust.
On the dim stairway, He Zheng suddenly went rigid and motioned for them to stop.
He slowly lowered the fire axe from his shoulder, gripped it in both hands, and held it across his chest.
"Wait... I think there's light ahead."
His voice could hardly have been softer. Looking at the dim yellow glow around the distant corner, he began to breathe faster.
They'd encountered nothing unusual on the way down, but that only made him more uneasy.
The stairs beyond Basement Level Three had gone on far longer than expected. Now that he could see the end, his nerves were stretched taut.
Given how twisted the Death Gaokao was, this was exactly the sort of place where people died!
"Everyone, stay alert."
Ye Lin wasted no words. Gun in hand, he followed closely and advanced slowly. The others moved as quietly as possible, afraid to make the slightest sound.
Perhaps a minute passed. Perhaps two. They edged along the wall to the corner. He Zheng drew a deep breath and whispered to Ye Lin.
"If something's there, don't shoot right away. If I can't beat it, I'll run back. Then cover me! Don't miss the monster and fucking shoot me instead!"
Steeling himself, he wheeled around the corner and lunged like a hawk.
But the monster he'd imagined didn't appear.
Instead, a mural stretched a full hundred meters before him.
Like moss embedded in concrete, its surface was uneven. At first glance, it resembled flesh-colored dough.
...
The murals rose almost five meters, all the way to the ceiling.
Whatever materials had been used, the colors were extraordinarily vivid. They also gave off a peculiar smell.
"What the hell... are these pictures supposed to be?"
Zhang Tie approached, staring blankly upward and looking from side to side.
The first mural showed a blond man with a vast halo behind his head, his arms open.
His left hand was loosely curled, his right held a book, and his gaze was filled with compassion for those below.
Unable to grasp what the image meant, Zhang Tie could only stare in confusion.
He did vaguely recognize the figure in the second mural. It seemed to be a monk walking on water.
"That looks like Christ. And Buddha?"
Lin Ya spoke softly, uncertain.
She instinctively reached toward the Christ in the mural, but before her hand touched it, Ye Lin stopped her in a low voice.
"Don't touch it."
She looked back, bewildered. He exhaled softly and motioned for everyone to step away.
"Ye Lin, what's wrong? Something wrong with the pictures?"
He Zheng was surprised. This was the first time he'd seen such an ugly expression on Ye Lin's face.
Ye Lin's next words nearly made him vomit.
"These pictures are made of people."
He Zheng's eyes widened in disbelief.
Following Ye Lin's pointing finger, he turned ashen within seconds, his stomach churning.
Ye Lin was pointing at a set of teeth. He Zheng had thought the murals were astonishingly lifelike, with even the teeth rendered in relief.
Looking closely, he realized they weren't patches of paint at all. They were real teeth, embedded one by one in flesh.
"Urgh...!"
Hu Jia doubled over and vomited. A moment earlier, he'd secretly tugged at the hair on one of the murals.
Now he understood that slippery texture. It was hair soaked in corpse fluid, stuck wetly to the surface.
"Lin Ya, do you recognize these pictures?"
Suppressing his nausea, Ye Lin asked her directly.
"I... I don't know all of them. I just studied a little before."
Uncertain and startled that he'd asked her, Lin Ya waved her hands, terrified of getting something wrong.
"I studied a little art. I think the first one's called Almighty Christ. The second is something like a Japanese Raigo Painting."
"As for the third..."