The Lost Tomb Vol. 8

Chapter 35: We Are All Miluotuo's Food

"Do you mean those miluotuo eat people?"

"They eat anything they can catch. The most common method is their unique way to trap creatures that have strayed into certain crevices and caves and then eat their corpses."

We followed him back to the cave.

"What's this unique way you're talking about?" Fatty asked.

"They can seal caves and crevices with their secretions and trap their prey inside the mountain. This process is very rapid and there are a lot of gaps in these mountains, like a maze. Many people will find their entrance suddenly disappeared."

Fatty and I looked at each other and realized what had happened in the closed cave at the bottom of the lake.

"Or they can form rocks themselves. There are two kinds of rocks here, one is the real and already existing rocks, and the other is formed after the body fluid secreted by them solidifies. The stone formed by this secretion is exactly the same as the original stone here. They devour and corrode rocks and then fill in their secretions like concrete. Using this method, the whole mountain is like a huge jelly. They can move slowly in it since the rocks are like liquids. However, this method is only effective for sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks, so they can't advance when encountering igneous rocks. Another way is to pour strong alkali on the stones, which can also stop them. "

"Does it mean that the rock walls around this ancient road are covered with strong alkali? Although we can see miluotuo inside, they won't come out?" Fatty asked.

I shook my head: "Wouldn't the rain wash it away after all these years?"

"When it rains, the whole mountain road becomes a diversion canal and at the top of this mountain there is an alkali seam. All the rain washed down from the top is introduced into this diversion canal. As you can see, the rising trend of these mountain roads is very strange and the rain water flows very slowly here. The surface of the mountain roads is designed with a lot of accumulated water, so when the water washes down, there will be countless pools. After these pools dry up, the alkaline substance will cover the rock surface."

I thought of the old log-covered road Fatty took us along when we came earlier. There were indeed a lot of water pools there.

"So, this is an extremely unusual ranch?"

"I don't think the word 'ranch' is appropriate." Ghost said, "At that time, we thought it was like a fish pond. The rock is the water, and these miluotuo were the fish in the water. They can swim freely in this area, but they will never reach land."

"But does this have anything to do with what you said about everyone definitely dying when they enter Zhang Jialou?"

"I don't know if you've ever gone fishing. There is a very common phenomenon in fish ponds: when bait is put into a crowded pond, all the fish will be attracted and gather by the bait. After the miluotuo were put into the mountain, the Zhang Jialou was surrounded by a stone covered with strong alkali, which couldn't be breached. But the miluotuo will be attracted by the heat emitted by the people inside and crowd around the building. All of them will be crowded around the entrance."

"Buddy, you mean to tell me everyone will be trapped to death?"

"Probably so, but the situation is worse than you think. If there are too many miluotuo gathered around, the ancient building's mechanisms will be activated. A large amount of strong alkaline water will flow down from the roof of the cave, forming a mist that will flood the entire building, forcing the miluotuo gathered around to retreat. The whole area will be covered in a strong alkaline fog, and nobody will survive."