The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 377 - 303: Underwater (Part 2)

I dodged left and right, avoiding the Stone Man, and didn’t want to use the Karmic Fire in front of them, so I just kept dodging.

Qinghan swung his Longsword, directly chopping the Stone Man into pieces, while Mike used a gun, blasting the Stone Man apart, preventing them from getting close.

The other three had all had contact with the Stone Man, at least had touched them.

Wang Le was touched by the Stone Man first, so he was the first to show symptoms. When Mike inspected the Stone Man and looked at the nameplate, he used a dagger to lift it, without direct contact.

Piecing together all the details, we figured out that this assimilation starts from contact, but there’s still no clue on the solution.

This transformation is neither painful nor itchy, it’s no wonder those people turned to stone while still maintaining their sleeping or resting postures.

There was no expression of pain on their faces; they probably turned to stone directly in their sleep.

If Doctor Du hadn’t reminded us, and Wang Le hadn’t been watching closely, we might have found out later, and they could have turned into half Stone Men.

The bad news is that we can’t find a solution, the good news is that the stone parts on Wang Le and Doctor Du are on their hands, it will take some time before it spreads all over their bodies.

Huang Zaijiang’s situation isn’t looking good, his neck started turning to stone first, and if his neck turns to stone first, his brain and heart will be cut off from the pathways.

"Since it happened in the first two caves, let’s go back there and sit, we can avoid touching the rocks in this cave," I suggested seeing how hot they were.

"Yes, yes—" Doctor Du was particularly excited to hear my suggestion, and I felt she wasn’t just excited about cooling off.

She turned and went back to the Scorpion Cave, and we followed her in. She stood by the spring, staring at the water.

"What’s wrong?" Wang Le asked worriedly when he saw Doctor Du standing by the water lost in thought.

"Look here, there are rocks all along the water’s edge, but the female corpse hasn’t shown any signs of petrification." Doctor Du paused before speaking.

If the rocks had transformative elements, the female corpse in the water would’ve definitely come into contact with them. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Unless the rocks can’t assimilate the dead, otherwise, the female corpse should’ve petrified before them.

"Is it possible that the rocks in this cave don’t have that effect?" Wang Le suggested, looking around.

"Anyway, it should be safe to stay here," I said.

Of course, safety is relative; their time is running out, if we don’t come up with a solution, no matter how safe the cave is, it will only become their grave.

Woosh!

While we were talking, the spring suddenly splashed with water. Without me by her side, Doctor Du was caught off guard and was dragged into the water.

I only saw a hand grab her ankle, and then she was pulled down.

The rocks beside the water were particularly smooth, it was like stepping on a banana peel. Before we could react, she had already fallen into the water.

Huang Zaijiang’s neck was stiff now, he glanced sideways, turned around, and realized what had happened.

Wang Le’s entire arm had turned to stone. He dragged his stone arm to the spring’s edge, the water still splashing, but Doctor Du was nowhere to be seen.

Normally, a person falling into the water would at least struggle a bit, especially since Doctor Du could swim. I feared they hadn’t noticed that moment, so I spoke up: "A hand pulled her down, it must be that female corpse again."

"I’ll go after her," Mike volunteered, moving to the spring’s edge to get in.

I suspected he had been waiting for this chance all along, eager to jump in.

Qinghan stopped him, saying, "It’s too dangerous for you in there, let Little Fu go."

If Mike’s bulky figure jumped in the spring, he’d barely have room to turn around, but he hesitated, or rather, was reluctant to give up.

He looked at the spring, and then at me. Wang Le said, "Let Mike go, Little Leng..."

Wang Le left the sentence unfinished, but I understood his meaning. I had been keeping a low profile on this expedition, and he worried that a ’frail’ woman like me going down might not only fail to rescue her but might also put myself at risk.

Huang Zaijiang also looked at Qinghan with an unusual expression. He hesitated but finally couldn’t help but say, "How about you go, captain?"

"No problem, Little Fu can handle it," Qinghan insisted.

"Yes, I can do it." I quickly sided with him, confidently affirming.

Since I’d voiced my confidence, Wang Le and Huang Zaijiang had nothing more to say, and Mike nodded, saying alright then. He suggested tying a rope around me, so if I encountered any danger, they could help from above.

Qinghan didn’t object, they tied a rope around my waist, I put on a headlamp, and dived into the water, sinking down.