activa-t Chapter 416 Corpse!
Chapter 416 Corpse!
With his memories from two lifetimes, Zhong Yuemin had long heard of the sensational legends of Death Valley—the eerie strong magnetic field, the sudden lightning, and the ever-changing extreme weather.
Seeing the pitiful state of Old Ma's fall and the unusual celestial phenomenon, alarm bells rang in his mind, and he instantly understood what was happening.
"Stop standing there!" he roared at the stunned crowd below. "Get down! Don't stand there like sitting ducks! Get under that rock! Now!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly lowered himself, gripped Old Ma's clothes tightly with both hands, gritted his teeth, and with all his might dragged his charred body, crawling towards the giant rock not far away.
The rough blades of grass scraped against his elbows, leaving streaks of blood, but he was completely unaware.
This shout finally woke everyone up.
Zhang Haiyang and Ning Wei, who were reconnaissance soldiers, reacted the fastest. Almost as soon as Zhong Yuemin spoke, they lowered their bodies, maintained a tactical posture, and while vigilantly scanning the sky where lightning was dancing wildly, they quickly and orderly retreated to the giant rock, not forgetting to pull the terrified scientific expedition team members next to them along.
Those scientific expedition team members who usually only dealt with instruments had never seen such a celestial aura before. They were all terrified, crying and screaming as they scrambled to their deaths, creating a chaotic scene.
Surprisingly, the camels carrying supplies were more perceptive than humans. They bellowed anxiously, but instead of scattering and fleeing, they intelligently followed the group to the foot of the giant rock. Once they reached a relatively safe area, these enormous creatures bent their forelegs, knelt down in unison, obediently lowered their heads, and used their bodies to form a fleshy barrier around themselves.
At this moment, beyond the rocks lies purgatory.
The world was pitch black, with only streaks of silver snakes writhing wildly in the low-hanging clouds. Deafening thunderclaps exploded one after another overhead, as if trying to shatter one's internal organs.
“Crack—Boom!!”
Several blinding bolts of lightning, carrying immense force, struck the vicinity of the rocks. The ground was instantly blasted into scorched craters, and scorching fragments of earth and rock flew everywhere; some even hit people's faces, causing a burning pain. One can imagine that if one were directly struck by such heavenly lightning, they would likely be instantly reduced to ashes.
The howling wind whipped up icy snowflakes, slicing everything in its path like knives and swords. Darkness, thunder, lightning, blizzard, biting cold... all these elements intertwined to create a despairing, hellish scene.
However, the power of heaven and earth comes quickly and goes quickly.
About five or six minutes later, the deafening thunder abruptly ceased. The inky black clouds were quickly drawn back like a curtain, and the blazing sunlight poured down once more. The fierce wind turned into a gentle breeze, and the heavy snow vanished without a trace, as if everything that had just happened was merely a nightmare.
The sky was once again a clear, deep blue, and the sun shone warmly.
Only when the terrified people peeked out, trembling, did they truly understand the horror of the storm—the once lush meadows had been reduced to scorched earth, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of burnt flesh and vegetation, silently recounting how death had just brushed past them.
"Doctor! Come quick! Save him! Hurry..."
Zhong Yuemin shouted at the top of his lungs, explaining that, given the dangerous nature of this mission, the team had specially assigned a doctor to accompany them.
The doctor was still in shock. He scrambled over and rushed to the unconscious Old Ma's side. With trembling hands, he checked Old Ma's pulse and breathing. His face grew increasingly pale, and he began to desperately perform CPR.
For more than half an hour, the doctor was sweating profusely, and Zhang Haiyang, Ning Wei and others took turns pressing on him, but Lao Ma remained motionless.
Finally, the doctor collapsed to the ground and shook his head helplessly.
The onlookers felt a chill run down their spines; a person who had been so lively just moments before was gone.
Before everyone could recover from the sudden death, another terrified scream shattered the silence:
"Ah—dead, dead people! So many dead people!"
The one who shouted was a female member of the expedition team. Her face was pale, and her finger was trembling as she pointed at the meadow in front of her.
The once dry meadow had somehow become wet and swampy, and corpses were eerily floating up from the muddy water, gently swaying on the murky surface.
"Don't go near the meadow! Back off! Everyone back off!"
Zhong Yuemin strode forward and sternly stopped the crowd that wanted to get closer to take a look. He stared intently at the strangely emerging group of corpses in front of him. Even though he had experienced many storms, he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine at this moment.
Zhang Haiyang, Ning Wei, and others also gathered around, and couldn't help but gasp at the horrifying sight.
"Where the hell did all these corpses come from? This is unbelievable!" Zhang Haiyang said in a low voice. "This place is really eerie!"
After this series of unexpected events, no one dared to let their guard down because of the success of the previous two days. The terror of Death Valley was gradually revealing its mysterious veil.
"The clothes these people are wearing look like those of the rescue teams that came into the canyon to search for scientific expeditions before."
On one side, Yang Qing's brows were heavy.
"How...how could this be here? And after all this time, the body hasn't decomposed at all..."
"Are you sure you're a search and rescue worker?" Zhong Yuemin asked.
Yang Qing nodded, "Their clothing and equipment are exactly the same as the first rescue team to enter the valley."
One of the researchers, Wang Ye, poked at the corpse with a stick, examined it for a moment, and then said:
"The cause of death for these people should be the same as for Lao Ma: they were all caught in a sudden thunderstorm. Look at their exposed skin, especially their hands and necks, there are obvious burn marks, which are typical characteristics of electric shock injuries."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked more closely and indeed found similar charred marks on each corpse.
"How did these corpses suddenly emerge from under the meadow?" someone couldn't help but ask.
Wang Ye said:
"I suspect there is an underground river beneath this meadow. Death Valley is cold all year round, and the rainwater here is melted snow from the mountains, which is extremely cold, like a natural refrigerator, which is why the bodies are so well preserved."
He paused, then continued his analysis:
"The thunderstorm that lasted for five or six minutes just now released a huge amount of energy. The lightning not only struck Old Ma, but also destroyed the overall structure of this meadow. The high temperature caused the surface vegetation and soil to separate, which is why the body underneath floated to the surface."
Wang Ye poked the ground with a wooden stick, his expression grave:
"If I'm not mistaken, this meadow was originally a swamp. We're lucky it hasn't completely melted yet. I guess the previous rescue teams encountered extreme weather while resting here, just like us, and then..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.