Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

The old man chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his still trembling legs as he repeatedly bowed to the pieces of the coffin lid he had crushed, muttering, "Please forgive me, please forgive me, please forgive me..."

"You, you old man, you're really something. We've all come here to dig up people's ancestral graves, and you're still afraid of this."

Master Liang blushed at what he was being told, for he really had nothing to refute.

He still regrets it now, wondering why he was greedy for the benefits promised by Boss Wang. He's so old and has so much good fortune to offer, yet he didn't enjoy it and instead followed a bunch of desperados into this mess.

Now look what's happened! Not only have I sold my old bones, but I don't even know if I'll survive to get out.

Old Liang wasn't exactly nobody in his area. With his sharp eyes and plenty of knowledge, he was doing quite well. While not incredibly wealthy, he was at least financially secure.

Now we've ended up in this situation, and we're still at the mercy of others.

People really shouldn't be greedy...

Once they had steadied themselves, they were now in the mood to take in the space.

Looking down from above and actually being inside are two completely different feelings.

Looking down from above, the only impression is visual grandeur, the sheer size of the space, and the overwhelming presence of countless coffins.

But once you actually enter this place, you'll only feel endless boredom and oppression...

The makeshift coffin, pieced together from a few planks, was left untreated and left in the dark, damp cave where sunlight never reaches.

All the coffin boards had a moldy grayish-black color, and the air was filled with a strong musty smell mixed with some indescribable odor, making people instinctively cover their mouths and noses.

With air quality like this, even ordinary people would get poisoned if they stayed in it for too long...

"Let's go. The air quality is so bad in such a large burial complex. Let's hope we don't get any more corpse poison or something."

The corpse poison mentioned here is different from the corpse poison in Uncle Ying's world that can turn people into zombies. The true 'poison' mainly refers to the toxins produced during the decomposition of corpses.

Given the number of coffins and the way they were stored in this space, the amount of trace elements in the air would definitely be considerable...

At his advanced age, Master Liang engaged in an extreme sport, only to be smashed to pieces just as he sat down. Now, his legs are shaking, and he dares not sit down again.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xie, who had no intention of resting, tried to leave as soon as he landed, waving his hand while holding onto a rock at the bottom of the cliff.

"No, he can't keep up anymore. He's too old and weak. Let's rest for a while and let the old man catch his breath."

Seeing that he was really exhausted, Wu Xie thought that a few more minutes wouldn't make a difference, so he decided to rest for five minutes before continuing on his way.

Liang Shiye seized the time to rest and recover his strength, and his eyes were not idle either, scanning the surrounding situation.

The headlamp was bright but not glaring, and the inside of the cave was clearly visible.

As I looked at it more closely, I realized something was wrong.

"This, this place, Angkor Wat, something's not right here!"

"What? Something's not right? Something's not right? Isn't this the Miao cave burial script, the culture you were talking about?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Yang looked around but couldn't figure it out. He then spoke to Master Liang.

Liang Shiye shook his head at him.

"The coffin is made of the same material as that used in cave burials, but the way it is placed and the rules of placement are completely different from those of cave burials."

Although the coffins of the Miao people are also stacked, they are separated by shelves. The shapes of these shelves are also separated for men and women, each with its own significance and meaning.

These were stacked together like shipping containers, like a wall. As far as he knew, no other cave burial was done this way.

Lao Yang was dizzy from his explanation.

"If this isn't a cave burial, then what is it?"

When Liang Shiye heard Lao Yang's question, he couldn't offer any concrete information. "The old man can't tell anything now, so how about we open the coffin and take a look?"

Lao Yang immediately refused. He was there to do serious business and maybe find some artifacts to make a little money. Just by looking at the materials and arrangement of these coffins, he knew he wouldn't find anything good. It was like opening a blind box. Why bother?

What if you're unlucky and open a blind box and get a rice dumpling instead? That would be hilarious.

Having rested enough, Master Liang saw that Lao Yang really had no interest in opening the coffin and didn't force him.

Although he had studied the history of various dynasties and ethnic cultures, he was not a pure academic scholar. He was greedy and pleasure-seeking, talented but not passionate. He would never risk his integrity to learn about a burial culture he had never seen before.

The bright beams of the mining lamps swayed wildly throughout the space as the group walked and cautiously scanned their surroundings.

The coffin walls formed by the stacked coffins left straight, narrow passageways on both sides, allowing people to pass through easily.

Wu Xie led Su Li ahead to clear the way, but after walking about ten meters, Su Li keenly sensed a subtle change in the curvature of the coffin wall.

This is the intuition of a formation master regarding spatial lines.

These coffin walls function like walls in a maze, blocking the view from both sides and subtly altering the path of those entering through slight deviations.

You think you're walking in a straight line, but you've actually been led astray without realizing it, turning or even going in circles.

The larger the space where this maze-like effect is created through visual illusion, the less likely it is to feel wrong.

In places like this, where the sun never shines, and in ancient times when there were no portable timekeeping devices, people who entered would experience a disorienting sense of time distortion, not knowing how long they had walked, how long the road was, doubting their senses, and ultimately driving themselves insane...

Modern tomb raiders don't have this problem. They wear watches and use phones with timers, allowing them to estimate the size of the space from a high vantage point and roughly how long it will take to explore...

The problem is easy to spot.

Wu Xie was very curious about this Thousand Coffins Formation that had been deliberately set up. He originally wanted to try it out first, since he knew the principles behind it beforehand.

Looking at the time on his watch, he realized that the estimated time had long passed, and he had unknowingly fallen victim to the virus.

Old Yang and Master Liang, who had been following closely behind, approached Wu Xie with some confusion when they saw that he had stopped moving.

Wu Xie stood there, staring blankly into space, which was quite frightening given the eerie environment filled with coffins.

Could it be that it's been possessed by some evil spirit?

The two looked at Su Li, who was standing to the side, with questioning eyes, but only received a calming look in response.