Their shoulders began to ache, a pain that seeped into the bone.
"Ah..."
"What's happening? Why does it hurt so much?"
"Ah, it hurts so much."
The students of Great Xia lay on the ground, clutching their shoulders, sweat beading on their faces.
The mercenaries were in similar pain, sweat dripping from their brows. However, they didn't writhe in agony like the students, only their weapon-wielding hands trembled.
"The curse is beginning to manifest..."
The metaphysics professor hurriedly pulled off Huoqi's clothes, revealing a snake-like tattoo on his shoulder that was slowly spreading.
Huoqi's face was slick with sweat from the pain, unable to utter a coherent sentence.
In the live stream.
"Damn, is this the mark of a curse? What do we do? The professors are in danger if this continues, and that giant snake is watching menacingly."
"Where's the big shot? Why don't we see the big shot? What's going on?"
"The big shot is thinking hard, don't worry, the big shot will solve it."
"But they look like they're in so much pain."
"Ours from Sakura Country are the same, it's heartbreaking to watch."
"Exactly, it's not just Great Xia people who are suffering."
"You brought this upon yourselves."
"Serves you right."
...
Inside the tomb.
The pythons opposite them, as if spotting fresh prey, lunged towards the archaeological team.
"Fire..."
Captain Zhao, enduring the pain, gave the order.
Bang bang bang bang!!!
Gunshots echoed across the altar.
Though the snakes were large, they were still flesh and blood. When the bullets struck them, blood appeared.
Soon, the altar was stained red with blood.
Captain Zhao and Song Lin, seeing this, increased their intensity, the pain in their bodies becoming almost unbearable.
Yet, strangely, the pain seemed to lessen as they fought the giant snakes.
This feeling brought them some relief.
Six of the giant snakes were riddled with bullets, their blood gushing out.
The air was thick with the smell of blood.
However, the tense atmosphere in the air did not dissipate.
Something was wrong.
Huoqi and the metaphysics professor watched as the giant snakes slowly began to stand up.
"How could they be killed so easily? This situation is not right."
Huoqi's face was still pale, his temples damp.
The metaphysics professor looked at Huoqi's shoulder and confirmed that the curse had not been resolved, his brow furrowed.
"The curse isn't over, it's not like this."
The metaphysics professor murmured softly, looking at Huoqi's condition.
Zhou Lin, who was currently viewing the system interface, heard the sound, like something about to tear apart.
Everyone looked up at the altar and saw something wriggling inside the bodies of the giant snakes, as if trying to break free.
"Something's wrong, it looks like something is coming out."
Huoqi's voice trembled with panic as he saw the situation unfolding.
Crack...
As soon as he spoke, everyone saw many round heads emerging from the bodies of the giant snakes.
They had three eyes each, all glowing with a red light.
One, two, three...
Little snakes emerged from their bodies, their red eyes fixed on them.
"Holy crap, there are more snakes?"
"And they have three eyes? What do we do?"
"Is it too late for us to leave?"
One of the students prepared to leave, intending to return once a solution was found.
"It's too late, we can't leave either."
"Why?"
One student looked at him, puzzled.
"Look behind you."
At these words, the Great Xia students turned around and saw that the two snake statues that had been guarding the entrance had also come to life. They were now lurking by the doorway, flicking their forked tongues, their eyes fixed on the group.
It was as if they were saying that they would devour anyone who dared to approach.
The student who had wanted to leave swallowed hard at this sight and decided to stay put. Leaving would mean death anyway.
"These snakes don't seem to dare to come closer. Do the snakes inside have territories?"
The metaphysics professor mused, puzzled.
At this moment—
The snakes on the altar had locked onto their targets. Their red eyes shot beams of light towards one of the mercenaries.
But the mercenary saw it and it was too late to dodge. He could only let the light shine upon him.
"Ah..."
The Sakura Country mercenary was struck. He collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and scales began to grow on his body. Scales appeared on his face, hands, and neck.
Finally, his legs and arms stuck close to his body, and he writhed like a venomous snake.
In just a few seconds, the mercenary fell to the ground, lifeless.
Everyone watched this scene in horror.
What was happening? He just died like that?
"Shields, beware of the snakes' light!"
Captain Zhao shouted urgently, then raised his pistol and fired. The bullets struck the snakes' foreheads, and they fell to the ground, motionless.
As Zhao pulled his hand back, he saw the hastily erected shield being hit by a beam of red light.
A small hole appeared in the shield.
Zhao's heart pounded.
"Professor Zhou Lin, hurry! We can't hold on much longer."
Captain Zhao called out urgently.
At this moment, in the live stream.
"Holy crap, what kind of snakes are these? How can they do that?"
"Exactly, these things are terrifying. How do they live inside those giant snakes? Was killing the giant snakes the right thing to do or not?"
"This... it should be right, shouldn't it? Otherwise, wouldn't they have been killed?"
"How did your Great Xia's curse appear? Is this thing very terrifying? What were you thinking?"
"Exactly, your Great Xia claims to be a civilized nation, but it doesn't seem like it now. There must be something wrong."
"Shut up, this is Great Xia's business, you butt out. No one invited your people, it was you who shamelessly followed, and your professors are just as shameless."
"Are you verbally attacking me? You're the shameless one."
"So what if I attack? What are you going to do about it?"
...
In the dean's conference room.
"What's going on? How can there be snakes like this?"
Professor Hu inquired, bewildered.
"Ask Zhou Lin. He hasn't made a move yet, what is he doing?"