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墨書 Inktalez
The three of them entered the tomb chamber and fell silent, only focused on unwrapping their packages and stuffing various strange items onto themselves.
After a while, it seemed they were ready. Gongsun Sheng handed a torch to Xunuo and said, "Today, we will see your courage."
He pointed to a high opening and continued, "The treasures in this tomb are all inside that opening. Our bodies are too wide to fit through, so the task of retrieving the treasures will be left to you, Fourth Brother. Inside is the main burial chamber, where there is a Sunken Wooden Coffin. You go in first; I'll teach you how to open the coffin."
Having finished speaking, he called for Zhang Liu, and the two formed a human ladder to send Xunuo to the opening. At this point, Xunuo realized there was no turning back. Gritting his teeth, he crawled into the hole.
This was a wall cavity connecting two tomb chambers, about a foot wide. As Xunuo squeezed through, he found that the hole was not narrow at all; it felt spacious enough for him. It was not as cramped as Gongsun Sheng had described, which made him even more cautious.
Xunuo extended the torch out first with his left hand while drawing a Short Blade from his leg with his right. Peering ahead, he saw another tomb chamber on the other side, but it was pitch black, with only a vague shape visible in the center. His eyes could see well in the dark like it was daylight, yet now in this tomb chamber, he could only see a few yards ahead even under the torchlight.
Lowering his head, Xunuo noticed some strange characters at the entrance of the hole and brought the torch closer to examine them. They were odd inscriptions that he could not decipher.
He called back, "There are some characters at the entrance."
Gongsun Sheng asked, "What does it say?"
Xunuo looked again but couldn't recognize them. He decided to chip off a piece of the wall and tossed it back. "You take a look, Brother; I can't understand it."
After checking the ground for any unusual items and finding none, he jumped into the inner tomb. Upon entering, he felt a bone-chilling cold that made him shiver involuntarily. He quickly activated the Huayang Classic to circulate True Qi around his body, dispelling the discomfort.
Only then did Xunuo notice that this tomb chamber's walls and floor were all painted black. The walls were smooth and lacked any slits for inserting torches. As he walked toward the center of the chamber with his torch raised, he finally saw an eight-foot long and five-foot wide Black Coffin. In the center of its lid was embedded a stone tablet about a foot square, which also bore those strange characters.
Though young, Xunuo had some courage and had even taken lives before. However, he still felt some trepidation about opening coffins and disturbing corpses. After circling around the coffin once, he returned to the entrance and called out softly, "Eldest Brother, what do those characters mean? There are similar ones on the coffin as well."
As soon as he finished speaking, a head popped out from the entrance, startling Xunuo. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was Gongsun Sheng and let out a sigh of relief. He thought to himself: It really is just nonsense about not being able to enter the hole. It seems there are unknown dangers in this inner tomb; I must be very careful.
Gongsun Sheng turned his head around to examine the inner tomb carefully before asking, "Is there anything unusual on that coffin?"
Xunuo shook his head and replied, "The coffin is entirely black; only in the center of its lid is there an Azure Stone Tablet embedded that is about one foot square. Those strange characters are engraved on that stone tablet."
Gongsun Sheng looked at Xunuo and said, "That Short Blade of yours is quite good. Go and lift the Azure Stone Tablet, bring it to me."
Xunuo thought to himself: Could it be that the inscriptions on the tablet are peculiar?
However, Gongsun Sheng did not answer his question, so Xunuo had no choice but to turn around and retrieve the stone tablet.
This time, Xunuo was mistaken; the piece of text he had given to Gongsun Sheng earlier was also unknown to him. The reason Gongsun Sheng wanted Xunuo to fetch that stone tablet was that he believed it to be a Coffin Seal made of Azure Jade.
Xunuo returned and inserted the Short Blade into the crevice of the stone tablet, but he could not pry it loose; the two seemed to be firmly connected. He decided to take the cut-off Azure Stone Tablet from the coffin back to the entrance and tossed it to Gongsun Sheng. Gongsun Sheng caught it and held it up with a torch for a while, examining it closely, only to find it was merely a stone. He cursed inwardly: what a disappointment.
Seeing the inscriptions on it were obscure and difficult to understand, he casually handed it back behind him. He said to Xunuo, "It's too dark in here. Walk along the wall and see where you can insert the torch."
Xunuo complied and began to feel his way along one side of the tomb chamber.
After just a few steps, Xunuo's figure vanished from Gongsun Sheng's sight, leaving only a faint flicker of light. A few more steps later, even that light disappeared.
Gongsun Sheng was an experienced tomb raider, and seeing this situation made him break out in a cold sweat. He shrank back and turned to Zhang Liu and the others, saying, "If my legs start shaking, you two pull me out quickly and seal that entrance with Black Dog Blood and other items."
Zhang Liu and the others noticed Gongsun Sheng's pale face and serious expression. They understood that something was amiss and quickly agreed. They took out some protective items they had prepared and placed them in front of for use.
Gongsun Sheng took a leap and once again thrust his head into the entrance of the cave. As he peered into the inner tomb, it was pitch black. He stretched his torch as far as he could but could only see a couple of yards ahead. Not long after, he heard a thud from deep within the inner tomb, which startled him so much that he nearly jumped out.
But then he heard Xunuo say, "Big Brother Gongsun, there's a hole in the ground."
Gongsun Sheng managed to suppress his racing heart. "Is the hole neat? Are there any markings?"
Xunuo replied, "The hole is messy with a pile of dirt. It's dug very crudely compared to the tombs your brothers have excavated."
Upon hearing this, Gongsun Sheng paused before responding. He took out a protective talisman and pressed it against his face, then pulled out a pouch of Black Dog Blood and smeared it over the entrance. He said, "Don't worry about that; let's see if there's anything else."
Xunuo had just stumbled over that pile of dirt and was still feeling pain from it. When he heard Gongsun Sheng's last words, they came with an obvious tremor.
After a moment's thought, Xunuo was startled as well. He realized: The presence of dirt at the entrance indicates this hole was dug from inside the tomb outward. Could it be that the corpse inside the coffin has come back to life? He had seen the coffin himself; it remained tightly sealed without any signs of disturbance. Could there still be living beings within this tomb?
Xunuo hurriedly bypassed the entrance, steeling himself as he continued to explore along one side of the tomb chamber. After a few steps, he reached a corner and estimated that the wall was about seventy to eighty feet long. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Xunuo turned around the corner and pressed on. A few more steps in, an inexplicable sense of unease suddenly washed over him, causing his True Qi to surge within him.
As he moved forward, Xunuo noticed some patterns on the tomb wall. He brought his torch closer for a better look and was astonished to see a relief carving of a Yaksha on the wall. The Yaksha was massive, lying against the wall with its wings slightly folded, its head resting against the stone, eyes tightly shut as if in slumber.
Despite not being an expert in this field, Xunuo couldn't help but admire the exquisite craftsmanship of the sculpture. However, having a Yaksha carved into the tomb was quite an unusual choice.
Not dwelling on it further, Xunuo raised his torch and prepared to move on. Suddenly, that feeling of unease intensified. He turned back to examine the Yaksha statue again, but there was no sign of anything unusual. Yet when he looked at the Yaksha's head, he was startled to find its gray eyes wide open, staring directly at him.
Xunuo couldn't help but scream in terror, throwing his torch at the Yaksha and stumbling backward several feet. When he steadied himself and looked again, the Yaksha was now standing upright against the wall. Its entire body was a dark greenish-black, with gray-white eyes fixed intently on Xunuo. The torch had been knocked to the ground by the Yaksha, casting a dim light.
Cursing under his breath, Xunuo thought to himself that he must be seeing things.
The True Qi within him continued to surge uncontrollably, and even he could see a faint red glow emanating from his body.
Meanwhile, Gongsun Sheng heard Xunuo's shout and hurriedly called out, "Brother Lu, is everything alright?"
After calling several times without receiving a response or hearing any other sounds, he angrily shouted, "You little thief! Stop playing tricks! Once I get down there, you won't have any good fortune left!"
As he cursed, he pulled out a dart. Gongsun Sheng continued to shout for several moments but dared not actually enter.
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