Chapter 51: Korean Spicy Chicken Feet
At first, life in the underground cavern was tolerable. With Xiao Hei’s blue flames, cooking required no firewood—just holding its head and patiently teaching it how to control the flame’s temperature, so as not to melt her pot into a useless lump of metal.
Sleeping was simple too: find a flat spot, step onto the broad, self-warming snake body, and cover yourself with a down quilt—just like sleeping on an electric blanket.
As for washing, heating the underground pool water and quickly rinsing was no problem.
Su Su rode a giant python, wandering the subterranean caves until the seventh day, when she finally realized she had underestimated the difficulty.
This mountain range stretched endlessly, and she and Xiao Hei were hundreds of meters below ground, surrounded on all sides by the tunnels carved out by a long-dead giant python—like an immense labyrinth.
Some passages were too narrow for Xiao Hei to pass; others were filled with pools of water. After swimming hundreds of meters, they would encounter a cliff and have to turn back. The few light sources they found revealed exits blocked by rocks and snow, or fissures too narrow and walls too thick to crawl through.
Xiao Hei tried several times, but after losing dozens of scales from its head, Su Su refused to let it keep trying.
“Xiao Hei, I think we’re trapped here,” she said, exhausted, lying on the snake’s back, silently grateful that Xiao Hei had grown large enough; otherwise, she wouldn’t have made it out of the underground cave on her own.
“Hiss~” The snake gently licked the corner of her lips.
Being cold-blooded and adapted to dark, cool environments, Xiao Hei was in its element. But it keenly sensed Su Su’s deteriorating spirit—she was increasingly dazed, her reactions dulling.
More than anyone, Xiao Hei wanted to leave this place quickly.
It retracted its tongue and silently slithered forward, slipping through a narrow passage filled with dark, swirling water.
Splash, splash.
With limited flashlight power, they kept it off most of the time to conserve energy. Su Su could guess their position even with her eyes closed: another water-filled corridor, water about halfway up Xiao Hei’s body, and ahead either a blocked rock wall or a cliff plunging into a large pool.
Sure enough! The sound of a waterfall grew louder—it was another cliff.
“Xiao Hei, let’s turn back… Ah!”
Before Su Su could finish, the snake’s tail curled around her waist from behind, entwining her completely.
“Xiao Hei?”
The massive python gave no response. It continued forward and, at the cliff’s edge, didn’t stop but instead slid rapidly downwards.
Thud! Bang! Splash!
Wrapped within the coils of the snake’s body, it felt like riding a wild rapid, water splashing continuously on her cheeks.
Passage after passage, twisting and turning, until the sound of water faded, and the snake crawled onto a shallow beach where the cavern suddenly opened wide.
“Hiss!”
Xiao Hei’s head rubbed against Su Su, as if trying to say something.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
Su Su anxiously shone the flashlight around Xiao Hei’s body several times until she realized it wanted her to look ahead.
The bright beam flicked casually over two damaged stone doors.
“Huh?”
The unmistakable signs of human craftsmanship made Su Su sit up sharply.
“This…” Her mind raced. She immediately clung to Xiao Hei’s tail. “Could this be a tomb?”
Looking at the doors again, they didn’t seem naturally broken—more like blasted open!
Su Su’s suspicion grew: “Xiao Hei, I think we accidentally trespassed into someone else’s territory… Xiao Hei!”
Boom!
The two broken stone doors were ruthlessly smashed by the massive snake’s body. Without even a greeting, it swam straight into another’s tomb.
Su Su didn’t mind the tight coil of the snake’s tail now; she held on even tighter!
Her flashlight swept frantically across the spacious burial chamber. It was empty except for a white skeleton resting in a corner… She quickly turned the beam elsewhere.
“Xiao Hei, where do you want to go?”
“Hiss!”
After evolving, Xiao Hei’s hearing had become extraordinarily sharp; it seemed to catch the faint sound of wind.
Though communication was difficult, Su Su realized quickly—if someone had entered this tomb, there must be an exit!
Her spirits lifted, she watched as Xiao Hei slid forward through three or four empty chambers until reaching the largest main burial room, where the flashlight revealed a coffin!
The lid was open—the coffin board only half-covered!
Su Su held her breath, trembling as she tugged at the tip of Xiao Hei’s tail. “Xiao Hei, do you think… there could be zombies inside?”
Zombies?
The python, whose intelligence had advanced several times, blinked with confusion.
“Zombies are…” Su Su faltered. “Just think of them as a kind of undead.”
But she had already killed many zombies before; even if there were any inside, why would she be afraid?
Then the flashlight beam suddenly caught a dark silhouette in the southwest corner.
Su Su’s heart pounded violently, and her carefully prepared mindset shattered instantly.
“W-what is that?”
Her voice was soft but seemed to alert the shadow, which vanished from sight in an instant.
It was over! The unknown creature hidden in darkness was far more terrifying than one in plain view.
Suppressing her panic, Su Su swung the flashlight wildly.
The empty burial chamber revealed no sign of the black figure. Her peripheral vision caught the coffin, and she abruptly stopped.
The coffin lid that had just covered it was now propped against the side.
Could that shadow have slipped into the coffin?
Xiao Hei seemed unaware of anything unusual and continued sliding forward at a normal pace. As they passed the coffin, Su Su, taking advantage of her higher position, dared to peek inside.
Thankfully, it was empty.
The main burial room soon lay behind them. Su Su remained alert, eyes scanning everywhere but never saw the shadow again.
Until suddenly, a cave opening appeared ahead. The long-missed sunlight streamed in, and Xiao Hei excitedly slid more than half its body out.
Su Su’s smile just began to rise—when disaster struck!
Rocks at the cave mouth thundered down, burying most of Xiao Hei’s body beneath the rubble. Crimson blood flowed along with the falling stones.
“Xiao Hei!!!”
Su Su immediately pried apart the snake’s tail, jumped down from its body, and rushed to the collapsed rock pile.
“Xiao Hei, are you okay? Can you come out?”
The black snake beneath the debris gave no response, and the blood flowed even more.
Her voice trembling, Su Su begged, “Xiao Hei, don’t scare me…”
She hugged the massive snake body, futilely trying to drag it free, but no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t budge.
A roar echoed behind her!
A gust of wind swept past.
Startled, Su Su dodged to the side. The shadow lunged but missed. Turning, it revealed a rotting, pale corpse face—lips decayed away, greenish fangs bared in full.
Not a zombie, but exactly the kind of undead Su Su had imagined.
She stepped back, terrified, slipping into the thick blood.
Fighting back tears and pain, she shouted, “Stay away!”
The white light radiated a few meters ahead. The creature, frozen for a moment, suddenly broke free before Su Su could find a weapon.
Roar!
The zombie lunged again, its green claws five or six centimeters long, piercing toward Su Su’s heart.
Behind her was the collapsed cave entrance; to the side, Xiao Hei’s coiled body left her no escape. Summoning all her power, she barely held it at bay half a meter away.
That terrifying face was inches from hers. Su Su pulled a butcher’s knife from her backpack—strict controls before the apocalypse meant she had scoured many supermarkets and shops, but this was the only long, narrow pig-slaughtering knife she found.
Fortunately, she had Xiao Hei hide it in her pack for emergencies.
Fighting back tears, she swung with all her might, severing the zombie’s head.
Rotten, foul-smelling fluid splattered all over her.
The zombie was truly dead.
Su Su dropped the knife and tried again to pull Xiao Hei free, but then she turned and saw—there was no collapsed cave behind her, no blood at her feet—only a half-open coffin with a skeleton inside.
This was clearly the main burial chamber they had just entered.
As for the “zombie” she had just killed, it wasn’t a zombie at all, but a fourth-level undead wearing an orange explorer’s suit!
Boom!
Awakened, Su Su turned to see Xiao Hei furiously ramming the tomb walls, its dark green pupils wild with madness.
“Xiao Hei!”
Hearing her voice, the snake turned incredulously. Seeing her alive, its tail swiftly wrapped around her again.
“Hiss!!”
That large head leaned close, seemingly studying how she had survived.
Yes, it had clearly seen her crushed under the fallen stones, blood flowing everywhere.
Still shaken, Su Su hugged Xiao Hei’s neck, her eyes scanning the remains of the undead on the ground.
Drawing from her past life’s experience, a thought rose in her heart:
“This is a psychic undead.”
From the moment they entered the main tomb, they had been influenced by its psychic powers, forced to see their deepest fears.
The consequence of watching too many horror films… still, science must prevail.
After calming herself, Su Su ordered Xiao Hei, “Look for the crystal in its head.”
The snake’s tail slammed the rotten skull hard.
A yellow fourth-level crystal stone rolled out and was delicately picked up by the slender tail tip, then placed in Su Su’s palm.
She looked at it in surprise.
For the first time, protective Xiao Hei had willingly handed her a crystal.
“Hiss!”
The tail nudged her hand, urging her to swallow it quickly.
Meeting those vertical pupils, Su Su glimpsed a hint of fear and worry. Though it could not speak, she sensed its wish for her to grow stronger—to survive, at the very least.