The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 376 - 303: Underwater

Before Mike’s team entered this area, they had read a lot of materials, especially maps. They needed to know where every Rock Mountain in the desert was, where they could go, and where they couldn’t.

However, the materials did not mention any springs. More accurately, there was no record of any water sources in this area at all.

The desert is dry with little rain throughout the year. If there were any water sources, they would have been utilized long ago.

Of course, the entrance to the Scorpion Cave was previously very small. Not to mention humans, perhaps even dogs couldn’t get through. The rock above was nothing special, hidden so well, who would have thought there could be a spring within such a small area?

Putting aside the question of whether the spring water can be drunk, our team now has two different opinions. One is to rest on the spot and continue the journey after dark; the other is to check the water and find the hiding place of the female corpse.

Wang Le and Huang Zaijiang voiced the first opinion, while Doctor Du and Mike expressed the second. Qinghan and I were neutral.

It’s surprising that six people can reach a deadlock in decision-making. I sighed inwardly. Finally, Qinghan proposed a compromise. If the female corpse appears again, we will send someone to investigate. If she doesn’t come out to attack, we will ignore her.

In the high-temperature environment outside, the most important thing now is to regain strength and replenish water. Doctor Du listened to Qinghan’s suggestion, nodded, and randomly found a place to sit and rest.

The inside of the cave was cool and pleasant. If it had been discovered earlier, it would have undoubtedly become a tourist attraction.

The spring water, untouched by bodies, would surely be a treasure in this desert. But now, although everyone was dying of thirst, no one dared to touch the water from the spring.

I think everyone’s reluctance stems not from fear of the dead, but from fear of contracting a virus by drinking the corpse-soaked water.

The cave was silent. Wang Le, previously startled by the Stone Man, checked for any Stone Man upon entering.

After the team that boldly ventured into the scorpion nest, another team entered as well. We cannot be sure when the scorpions disappeared. Perhaps that team found this cave after entering the Death Zone and weren’t attacked by scorpions.

However, Wang Le found no Stone Man and no signs of humans camping inside.

So we still can’t determine if the rocks inside this cave will ’assimilate’ us.

While resting, Doctor Du kept a close eye on everyone’s condition, and Wang Le occasionally lifted his hand to check.

Less than an hour into sitting, Wang Le suddenly cried out, stood up, and showed us the back of his left hand.

"Look!" Wang Le exclaimed, showing us a patch of dirt on the back of his hand.

As we traveled, everyone had dust all over, having rolled through the sand repeatedly. It was normal to have dirt on our faces and hands.

But for Wang Dong to give it such importance, it must not be just because his hand was dirty. We all got up and moved closer to examine the dirt on his hand.

He patted it twice, but the dirt did not fall off. Doctor Du, moving quickly, put on gloves and did not touch Wang Le’s hand directly.

The dirt couldn’t be brushed off or wiped away, as if it had grown into the flesh, no wonder Wang Le was so nervous.

After examining it, Doctor Du confirmed it was a piece of flesh, a piece already fossilized.

Having finally found a shady cave, which we now couldn’t stay in, we all retreated to avoid being transformed ourselves.

The second person to show symptoms was Huang Zaijiang, with assimilation starting at his neck.

The third was Doctor Du, who, less than half an hour after Wang Le and Huang Zaijiang showed symptoms, also began to show signs of petrification, starting from her fingers.

The timing of the symptoms varied among the three, but the rate of petrification was consistent, expanding by the size of two palms every half hour.

Wang Le, who started petrifying first, was the most at risk. At this rate, they couldn’t reach their destination.

Doctor Du conducted many analyses. Half an hour later, with nothing happening to Mike, Qinghan, and me, she dismissed some of her hypotheses.

The three of us also sat in the Scorpion Cave for about the same time as the others. In fact, I entered a little earlier with Doctor Du, but I remained unaffected.

While resting inside, we all sat on our backpacks, without touching the rocks. The ground was sandy, without rocks.

Assimilation surely couldn’t happen from afar, right?

Qinghan’s thinking differed from Doctor Du’s. He thought back to when we encountered the Stone Man in the cave.

Reflecting on the scene with the Stone Man, we concluded that neither I, Qinghan, nor Mike had directly interacted with the Stone Man.