Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

As the crowd rushed over at the sound, a beam of light pierced the hearts and heads of the two men in front of the stone gate, their blood splattering all over the ground. The two thuds of them falling to the ground brought everyone back to their senses.

As Wu Xie watched the number of people in the group dwindle along the way, his heart gradually grew colder. Now, he no longer panicked at the sight of this scene, nor did he say anything unnecessary, as if his whole being had become detached from his past self.

pat!

At the same moment this happened, Wu Xie released his grip, and the pebble in his hand rolled straight to the ground, spinning twice.

Rumble…

Just as the pebble spun around for two rounds, a "crackling" sound suddenly rang out, and a stone brick in the middle of the platform was pushed open to both sides with a rumbling sound, revealing a stone staircase leading to the lower level.

"Wu Xie, you!"

Xie Yuchen had become immune to the series of events that had unfolded, but he still couldn't help pausing for a moment before speaking.

Then, when everyone turned around at the sound and saw the mechanism that had suddenly been triggered, and looked at the stone steps that were being pushed down, their faces lit up with joy... as if they had forgotten that their companions who had just died and were injured were still with them.

Ultimately, after discussion between the Huo brothers, Huo Youxue, Xie Yuchen, and Huo Jincheng, they decided to leave two people behind to watch over the injured but still salvageable workers, while the rest went into the tomb...

Wu Xie, on the other hand, followed the group down the stone steps to the bottom of the tomb chamber, looking completely lost in thought.

After ascending seven or eight stone steps, the group arrived at the underground passage. This was the only passage, short enough to see to the end at a glance. Using a flashlight, they could discern a series of carved stone murals on the opposite wall in the distance. The carvings stretched far along the walls and the entire passage... much like the stone gate carvings on the Silver River platform above, extending along both sides of the stone walls, offering a panoramic view of flowers, birds, deer, and grass. However, it was about two hundred meters away from the group. On either side were eight clearly visible three-dimensional stone doors... the three-dimensional carvings blending seamlessly with the stone walls, creating a beautiful sight.

However, the carving of three-dimensional narrative paintings is always different from that of two-dimensional relief narrative paintings, so the people easily discovered these eight stone doors.

"So many doors, Xiaohua, which one should we go to?"

After walking through the passageway, Wu Xie observed the surrounding environment. His two little feet quickly moved to the two doors on the left and right that were closer to him, and he shook his head to carefully observe them.

"Let's wait for Huo Youxue and the other two to make their choices. They'll definitely split up once they get here, since there's only one Huo family member."

Xie Yuchen quietly stepped out from behind Wu Xie, his steps light. He ignored the others who were excited after entering the tomb, and instead walked to his strange childhood friend's side, listening to his questions and answering them.

Through layers of stone walls, two pairs of golden eyes blinked as they watched Wu Xie's situation.

"Blind man, did you send a message to Little Qilin? Do they know which door leads to the next path? Did you leave any marks when you turned left or right?"

Qin Henian's eyes were glazed as he looked at Wu Xie and the others, who were separated by layers of walls. According to the plan, after entering the underground palace, Wu Xie would lead Xie Yuchen, Fatty Wang, and Zhang Qilin away from the Huo family's group, and they had agreed to meet at the location controlled by the mechanisms in the tomb chamber.

Hei Xiazi and Qin Henian are currently located in a small side chamber next to the main burial chamber, an area controlled by the large mechanisms of the entire tomb.

"Don't worry, Henian~ The blind man and the mute man have an absolutely perfect teamwork!"

"The mute will definitely come when he sees my mark."

Hei Xiazi was confident in his tacit understanding with Zhang Qilin, after all, they had lived together for many years.

"That's good. I was just worried that if I woke up all the ghosts in the tomb, it might accidentally hurt our own people."

Qin Henian's eyes crinkled with laughter as his thoughts returned. He raised his hand and stared for a while at the few transparent threads on his slender index finger, before a wide smile spread across his lips.

The fun is about to begin!

Qin Henian closed his eyes, his senses spreading throughout the rainforest, where shadowy figures could be seen both above and below ground.

When Qin Henian saw Huo Jincheng, Huo Jintong, and Huo Youxue each leading their own people into different stone gates and touching different mechanisms, he realized that the owner of this Yuan Dynasty tomb was quite conscious of preventing theft.

Of course, this anti-theft awareness can deter ordinary people, but it can't stop them from being human.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…

The sound of dripping water echoed in the tomb chamber. Huo Youxue, who had just led people through the third stone door, frowned, gripped her flashlight, and looked up. Her pupils suddenly contracted...

A dense mass of dark shadows and pairs of tiny green dots stared at the people below, seemingly waiting for them to walk into the lion's den.

"Get out of here!"

Huo Youxue felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the stone wall above her head covered with swarms of bats. To save her life, she didn't want to die in the tomb. She could forgive herself if she failed at the traps, but if she died at the hands of the monsters inside, she would be disgusted. So, without thinking, she blurted out her instructions to the people she had brought.

On the other side of the passageway, Zhang Qilin raised his hand to stop Wu Xie and the other two from choosing a tomb chamber to enter. His handsome face was cold as he stared at the three of them for a long time.

However, even though Wu Xie could often understand the meaning behind Zhang Qilin's expressionless face, he couldn't understand it every time. The four of them looked at each other for a minute, and finally Zhang Qilin raised his finger and pointed to the ceiling above the beautifully carved mural at the deepest part of the passage.

"The mechanism is there!"

"Come with me!"

In a way no one expected, the mechanism was designed right in their heads. Zhang Qilin compared the directions with the marks left by Hei Xiazi on the wall and calculated the exact location in his mind. When only his own men were left in the passageway, he casually fed the information into the minds of the people next to him.

Without a second thought, Wu Xie and Fatty Wang followed Zhang Qilin deeper into the passageway, while Xie Yuchen lagged behind, still wondering whether they had captured the high-ranking member of the Wang family among the three Huo family teams.

If we don't catch them, we can't take the other guys out except for the three from the Huo family. It's best to leave them all behind, and then have He Nian and the others search their souls to find out if the person is from the Gou family or someone He Nian is investigating...

...............................................................................

Zhang Qilin was leading Wu Xie and a few others toward where Qin Henian and Hei Xiazi were, while Qin Henian and Hei Xiazi were watching "three different documentaries about opening coffins".