Chapter 15: No Way to Heaven, No Door to Earth

Chapter 15: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

The swarm of centipedes drew closer, their bodies piling up around the group, forming a nauseating wall of writhing flesh.

“It feels like a rope!” Qiu Ming shouted, his voice wild with the hope of salvation as his hand seized something.

At the same moment, Zhang Sanlu’s right hand grasped something rope-like too, and as he pulled, he realized it was covered in leaves.

“It’s a vine! Quick, climb! Hurry!” Zhang Sanlu shouted.

In a frenzy of terror, they all latched onto the vines dangling from the cave’s ceiling. Their palms were slick with sweat, but they climbed with desperate resolve. The vines, bristling with tiny spines, stabbed painfully into their hands, but no one loosened their grip—this was their lifeline from the abyss of horror below.

In a few breaths, they had already climbed quite a distance. Beneath their feet, the ground seemed to writhe and pulse, countless green lights surging like a tide, the creatures’ bodies twisting and squirming across the cave floor, filling the air with a chilling, rustling hiss. The vibrations traveled up the vines, making their hearts pound faster. None dared look down, fearing that a single glance at the seething mass would rob them of the will to climb.

Their arms ached with fear and exhaustion, their palms raw, but they all knew that to let go meant to become prey. The vines swayed under their weight, each swing threatening to snap the only thread holding them above the swarm. Their breath came in ragged gasps, lungs burning as they forced themselves upward, again and again.

The centipedes began to climb after them, their slender bodies searching for prey that dared escape. Zhang Sanlu could feel the brush of antennae against his heels, each touch a jolt of terror that tensed every muscle in his body.

No one spoke—a cacophony of hissing insects and frantic breathing filled the air.

Each of them pushed their limits, fueled by a single thought: climb, survive!

The three men climbed relentlessly. Zhang Sanlu, with only one functioning arm, squeezed the vine between his legs for support, using his free hand and even his teeth to haul himself higher. Sometimes he bit down so hard on the vine that the acrid sap burst into his mouth, but survival left no room for disgust.

After dozens of breaths, with a heavy thud, Zhang Sanlu’s head struck a wall above. A wave of dread flooded him—was there truly no way out?

“We’ve reached the top—light a fire!” he cried.

A spark hissed, and a faint flame flickered to life.

Zhang Sanlu looked up. The vines tangled thickly across the cave’s ceiling, with cold, unyielding stone behind them. Glancing down, he saw the ground below had become a living sea of black, the dark green vines now swarming with centipedes, some already crawling up to his feet. He could even see their blood-red mandibles opening hungrily.

Trapped above, besieged below—nowhere to run, nowhere to hide!

“Damn it!” Zhang Sanlu cursed, kicking a centipede off his foot, but despair was already tightening around his heart.

Qiu Ming was drenched in sweat, too exhausted to speak, and the pale, diminutive Man Shan looked even worse. Climbing was easier when they were moving, but now, halted at a dead end, their muscles threatened to fail, control slipping despite gritted teeth.

“If there’s no escape, I’ll take these monsters with me!” Zhang Sanlu wedged the vine tight between his legs, his right hand sliding to the hilt of his sword.

“Brother! There’s a gap in the vines up here—we might be able to squeeze through!” Man Shan, clinging near the center, shouted with sudden hope.

Zhang Sanlu realized the thickest vines grew outward from the center, forming a dense curtain. If there was a way through, they had to try.

Man Shan, energized by the hope of escape and the terror below, forced his hand into the tangle, wriggling upward until only his feet remained visible.

Seeing this, Qiu Ming and Zhang Sanlu hurriedly swung toward the center. With nowhere to anchor themselves, they had to sway back and forth until the vines arced toward salvation.

At that moment, Zhang Sanlu felt something crawling up his back—a cold itch, accompanied by the chilling rustle of an approaching centipede. With his right hand occupied, he twisted his neck, trying to shake the creature off.

A high-pitched hiss.

His face collided with the centipede. In an instant, the creature scrambled onto his cheek, its icy, needle-tipped legs leaving lines of agony in their wake. It crept slowly across his skin, the revulsion in his gut threatening to overwhelm him. But if he released the vine, he’d plunge straight into the swarm below.

Gritting his teeth, as the centipede reached his mouth and opened its maw, Zhang Sanlu summoned all his strength. He twisted his head sharply, jaws wide.

With a sickening crunch, his teeth pierced the creature’s carapace. A burst of viscous fluid exploded into his mouth, the taste so foul he nearly vomited. He forced himself to bite down harder, then whipped his head, tearing the centipede in two.

His chin was smeared with the insect’s remains. No time to wipe it away—he spat the head out, sending it flying into another centipede and knocking it to the ground. With his jaw clenched, he swung himself toward the gap in the vines.

Meanwhile, Qiu Ming, swinging with one hand and clutching a lit firestick in the other, lost his grip. The flame tumbled down, bouncing off vine after vine, each writhing with centipedes.

Zhang Sanlu involuntarily watched the flame’s descent. The firestick spun through the air, its red glow arcing through the darkness like a falling star. In its brief passage, it cast fleeting shadows across the vines and the cave walls, before vanishing into the darkness below.

To Zhang Sanlu, it seemed as if time slowed, revealing a vision out of hell.

As the firestick fell, it illuminated the vines, exposing a scene that made his scalp crawl: the vines were covered, end to end, with centipedes, their bodies pressed tight, forming wriggling, living black patterns. So many that the vines seemed wrapped in a living shroud.