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墨書 Inktalez
"Ah, no!"
After I shouted, someone pushed me awake, and I realized I had only been dreaming.
Mu Xuanche's face loomed large in front of me, coming particularly close.
I clearly hadn't crossed the river on his back; how did I end up by the shore leaning against a tree?
"What on earth happened?"
Before Mu Xuanche could answer me, Jin Ping rushed over with an angry expression, pointing at me and scolding,
"You troublemaker! If you can't handle it, don't follow us! Do you know that you almost choked Xuan Wang to death just now?"
Choked Xuan Wang to death.
My gaze shifted back to Mu Xuanche, and sure enough, there was a deep purple-black bruise around his neck.
In that moment, I felt like a burden. If it weren't for me, he might have already reached the Tomb and obtained the item.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Shangguan Mingyue still unconscious nearby. Suddenly, I felt some concern about this journey that I insisted on joining. Should I have come after all?
Wang Kun couldn't find Jin Ping, so he was unaware of what had happened.
Seeing my dazed expression, he looked worried and said to Mu Xuanche, "Brother, maybe we should head back for a bit. Your wife is like this, and there's still a child in her belly. The life of both is more important!"
Mu Xuanche interrupted before I could respond, "No, no need to go back. I'm fine."
I propped myself up and walked over to Shangguan Mingyue's side, where Bai Qiling was taking care of her.
"You should take Mingyue back. It's too dangerous here; it's not suitable for her," I said.
Bai Qiling didn't answer me because Mingyue had woken up in his arms.
Shangguan Mingyue struggled to open her eyes and looked at me. "You bastard Gu Yanxi, I’d rather die with you than be left behind. You dare abandon me?"
I initially wanted to persuade her further, but Bai Qiling shot me a glare. "You should take care of yourself first."
They had originally planned to let Mingyue and me rest a bit longer, but since neither of us agreed, we all continued on our way.
Wang Kun led the way ahead, and after walking for an unknown amount of time, he stopped at the entrance of a cave.
"My father told me that this tomb isn't underground but at the bottom of a cave. I think this is the one," he said. "I’ve never been inside."
He placed a Big Rooster he had brought into the cave and said to us, "Don't be fooled by how weak this rooster looks; it has been raised by my mother since it was a chick. It only eats centipedes. If you take this rooster inside, it will help you."
Understanding his intention, I asked him, "Are you going in?"
He looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm my mother's only son. Before I left, she told me to just get you there and come back alive to give her a proper farewell."
Knowing this journey was fraught with danger and uncertainty, we couldn't force him if he didn't want to go.
Taking the chicken cage from his hands, I turned and followed Mu Xuanche inside.
"Wait a moment, sister," a voice called out from behind me. I paused and turned around.
"Brother, is there anything else?" I asked.
"Sister, I have one request. My father passed away when I was seven, and if you happen to find his remains, please bring them back for me. I, Wang Kun, will be grateful to you for a lifetime."
"Alright, if I find anything, I will definitely bring it back for you," I promised Wang Kun solemnly. I understood the longing of a son hoping to find his father.
This cave was unlike any other; it was particularly damp and incredibly spacious.
When we reached the bottom, we still saw no sign of any coffins. Had they already been looted?
"There’s nothing here. Where’s the tomb?" Shangguan Mingyue complained loudly.
Something felt off; that voice didn’t seem right.
As we entered the bottom of the cave, it narrowed significantly at the exit, making it impossible for such loud echoes to occur.
I searched along the edges of the sound. Years of accumulated water had made the floor particularly slippery.
I almost stumbled, but I managed to hold onto the floor and prevent myself from falling. However, that near fall allowed me to see something unusual. I shouted outside, "Come quickly!"
As soon as my voice echoed, everyone rushed in.
Mu Xuanche was the first to help me up. "What happened?"
"What do you think happened? I just tripped! Why are you all acting like it's a disaster?"
Jin Ping stood nearby, mocking me with her usual sarcasm. After a while, I grew too tired to respond to her.
Ignoring her, I turned to Mu Xuanche and said, "Look, there's a hole here. Do you think the Tomb could be below?"
Mu Xuanche shone his flashlight into the hole, illuminating the floor beneath. The laser pointer in his hand displayed measurements, indicating that the distance from the hole to the ground was about zero meters.
"Get ready to go down the hole," he commanded.
At his order, everyone began preparing.
Mingyue walked over and playfully patted my shoulder. "Yan Xi, you're impressive! You found the Tomb so quickly."
Jin Ping's expression darkened immediately as she shot a venomous glare at Shangguan Mingyue. The two engaged in another round of silent rivalry.
Bai Qiling secured the ropes while Mu Xuanche instructed me to cling to his back. He held me with one arm and grasped the rope with the other as we descended into the darkness.
The movement was strikingly graceful and exhilarating, even the way they landed on the ground was incredibly charming.
Following closely behind was Bai Qiling, with Mingyue also perched on her back, just like I was.
Lastly, Jin Ping descended alone, his face filled with anger.
To our surprise, there was another chamber at the bottom of the cave.
It resembled a house down below; instead of a sealed stone wall, there was a massive wooden door.
Bai Qiling stepped forward first and reached out to push the door.
The door didn't budge, but a voice echoed from within.
"Who dares to intrude upon Cao Manor?"
Shangguan Mingyue leaned closer to me and said, "Yan Xi, could this be the Corpse Trick?"
"It can't be; there's no aura of ghosts here. Can't you feel it?"
My reminder prompted her to calm down and sense her surroundings. Indeed, there was no trace of ghostly presence here.
After being teased, Bai Qiling was extremely angry.
She lifted her foot and kicked the wooden door open.
In an instant, a shower of white powder fell from above, igniting Bai Qiling's entire body in a flash.
Fortunately, Bai Qiling reacted quickly and managed to escape from his skin just in time.
If it had been an ordinary person, they would have already succumbed to the attack.
It seemed this was a warning; we received our lesson before even stepping inside.
This incident made everyone cautious. Even the Bai Qiling who had shed a layer of skin dared not act recklessly anymore.
Having passed the first obstacle, we entered the interior.
Was this really an ancient tomb? It looked more like a courtyard from ancient times, lacking any sense of being a tomb.
On the ground ahead lay two skeletons. Judging by their clothing, they appeared to be from the 1970s or 80s.
The deceased skeletons were pierced by several bronze arrows, indicating they had been struck by some mechanism.
This mechanism must be on the ground. Just as Mingyue was about to move forward, Bai Qiling stopped her.
He threw a few stones onto the floor repeatedly, but there was no response.
Could it be that the mechanism had already been triggered once and was now inactive?
Bai Qiling intended to test it himself but was halted by Mu Xuanche.
Mu Xuanche picked up the largest stone and forcefully slammed it down onto the ground.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Several dark shadows shot out, and I realized that this mechanism was controlled by gravity. Each person has a certain weight, and as long as an object reaches a specific weight when stepped on, it can trigger the mechanism.
Mu Xuanche then tried several other stones in succession, and I memorized each one that shot out arrows.
I gestured for Mu Xuanche to stop; testing like this was too time-consuming.
Then, I took a step forward.
"Yan Xi, what are you doing? This is too dangerous! Come back!" Mingyue shouted from behind me. I turned around and smiled at them. "It's fine."
I understood this basic mechanism layout. The latter half of the book Liu Qingfeng gave me was about feng shui arrangements, and I was confident with this foundational grid-like mechanism.
The mnemonic was: move horizontally and vertically within the grid, diagonally along the sides, diagonally across the grid, and follow the sun's diagonal.
Before long, I successfully made my way to the other side. I turned around to face them.
The bright moon gave me a thumbs up, and I smiled at Mu Xuanche. "Do you remember the route?"
He nodded and led everyone over.
It was another Taoist Sect. This wooden door was different from the previous grand entrance; it clearly belonged to a smaller Taoist Sect within a residential area. Flowers hung from the windows, and the intricate hollowed-out decorations were considered exquisite craftsmanship for that era.
Having learned from the last experience, no one dared to act recklessly this time. I turned around and asked, "Who will push the door?"
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