Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

"Let's go, everyone! Take a look at the Roman road I've prepared for you!"

With the obstacle in their way gone, Fatty Wang couldn't help but feel smug, raising his hand to signal everyone to move inside.

After navigating through scattered rubble and dust, the group arrived at what appeared to be a lush forest, though the trees only became more abundant as they ventured deeper into the woods.

After walking for more than ten minutes along the path worn through the forest, the group arrived at a strange place. Looking down, they saw several strange statues covered in moss and dust standing on the road.

"These stone statues are quite unique. Is the Queen Mother of the West putting so many stones here to guard the gate or something...? And the more I look at them, the more familiar they seem..."

Wang Pangzi was watching the young man carrying Wu Xie ahead, while he was leisurely following at the outermost edge of the group, closest to nature, carrying the backpacks of several people. Unexpectedly, he saw this situation right in front of him.

look familiar?

Wu Xie, who had been resting on Zhang Qilin's back, was still pale after a night's rest. After all, flesh had been cut from his back, and he couldn't recover to his lively self in a short time.

Hearing Wang Pangzi babbling on and on, he looked up and glanced at something. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock.

"How could we not recognize them? You fatso, aren't these statues depicting the cannibalistic birds from the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top? Human-faced birds! How can we not recognize them?"

After recognizing the human-faced bird, Wu Xie felt a sense of unease, and his tone of voice became much softer.

"A human-faced bird? What's this thing doing here! Could it have flown in from Changbai Mountain? This thing is incredibly persistent!"

"It's like the God of Brooms opening the door for a broom! What bad luck!"

Fatty Wang looked at the several human-faced bird statues on display and couldn't help but complain.

On the other side, Qin Henian's eyes darted around curiously, looking at the human-faced bird statue here and there.

This was his first time seeing a human-faced bird. Since A Yao's "death," this was his first visit to her tomb—the so-called renovated underground palace of the Queen Mother of the West's Kingdom—and he hadn't even entered yet. He wondered how intelligent these human-faced birds were, and what kind of bird they were—he'd never heard of them before…

"Wu Xie, Fatty, are you implying that you two have personally witnessed a live human-faced bird?"

Curiosity kicked in immediately. It was rare to encounter such a strange race, and Qin Henian was a little excited. Without beating around the bush, he asked with a smile.

"I've seen it before, on Changbai Mountain."

Wu Xie nodded, his little face blushing slightly under Qin Henian's beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, he was too weak to feel any temperature change on his body, but his heart was suddenly beating faster.

"Yes, it's Changbai Mountain. I've seen both Tianzhen and Fatty with my own eyes."

Wang Pangzi echoed Wu Xie's answer.

The obvious answer made Qin Henian even more excited. He remembered Changbai Mountain. He would definitely go and see it when he had the chance, to see if those creatures called human-faced birds had any intelligence or bloodline.

rustling sounds...

rustling sounds...

After walking for a few more minutes, passing through a path worn into the forest and several giant human-faced bird statues, a forest path appeared before them.

The road is paved with parallel stone steps, and the edges of the steps are covered with lush green grass. What is even more noticeable are the two stone pillars, each a meter or two tall, standing on either side of the entrance to the steps. There are circular holes running through the center of each pillar. Moreover, there are such stone pillars at regular intervals on both sides of the road.

"These stone pillars should be from the same era as the Queen Mother of the West. I wonder what purpose they serve in being placed on this road."

At this moment, Xie Yuchen, who had appeared to Qin Henian's left at some point, casually looked at the stone pillars and spoke.

"What's the point of putting them on the road? Maybe for sightseeing? After all, stones aren't worth much; nobody would buy them..."

Hei Xiazi stood to Qin Henian's right, raised his left hand and casually placed it on Qin Henian's shoulder, getting closer so that he could freely stroke the other's hair.

It's all rocks... I don't think this stuff is worth much anyway.

Qin Henian was speechless for a moment, then turned his head and saw Zhang Qilin carrying Wu Xie as they approached the stone pillar. Zhang Qilin took out a small knife from his waist and began scraping the moss off the pillar. The knife made a screeching sound as it struck the stone, and the scraping motion removed the debris from the pillar.

"The carving also depicts a group of people dressed in floor-length ancient costumes, neatly arranged, each holding something in their hands. Large drums are placed on either side of them, and people are standing in front of the drums, their purpose unclear..."

Wu leaned his head against Zhang Qilin's shoulder blade, craning his neck to carefully examine the stone pillar in front of him, analyzing the carvings on it.

"A carving? Let me see~"

Qin Henian had excellent hearing. When he heard what Wu Xie said, he moved closer and, being so close, he reached the stone pillar in just a few steps.

Looking at the carvings, the ornaments on the heads of the ancient people and their long robes, and then at the drums and stone carvings that are extremely similar to those of today, I carefully scanned the stone pillar in front of me from top to bottom, left to right, until my eyes fell on the large hole in the center of the stone pillar and I finally understood.

These stone pillars are probably not good things.

"Don't you find it strange? In such a large forest, in this kind of place, there are so many strange stone pillars, and they're even arranged in a relatively symmetrical order..."

Qin Henian did not lower his voice. He solemnly raised his slender right hand, made a fist, and pointed to the road lined with stone pillars with only one finger as he spoke.

"Strange! Very strange! There might be a trap or something~ My Henian's observation skills are just as good as Blackie's!"

Hei Xiazi launched into a blatant compliment, adding a self-introduction afterward, while his eyes behind his sunglasses gazed at the road Qin Henian was pointing to.

Looking at it this way, it really does resemble the road to the underworld, where you're "lured into a trap" and the further you go in, the faster you'll die.

"Is there a secret mechanism? Let's look for it just in case."

Xie Yuchen had been observing for a long time. Seeing that none of them showed any sign of leaving, and upon hearing this news, he couldn't help but act like the boss and give orders.

As for Zhang Qilin, who had finished scraping and sheathing his knife, he just stared at it for a while, showing no intention of helping to find the mechanism.

Bang...thud! Glug glug...

A large rock suddenly streaked through the air, rolling in a diagonal parabola toward the quiet path through the woods.

"You guys who do meticulous work, I'll just test the waters first, like throwing a few stones to see what's going on!"

Fatty Wang, with his chubby face beaming, threw a few stones into the road ahead.

boom! !

Another stone rolled down the forest path in an unpredictable parabola, but the distance from the first stone was not as great as the last.