Chapter 66

Li Zhuiyuan didn't try to wake Ransheng and the others because, based on his recent personal experience, he knew that what the four of them had encountered this time was not ordinary miasma, but an eerie miasma.

The former could be likened to an ordinary haunted house in an amusement park, giving you an immersive feeling, while the latter was more sophisticated, featuring clear interactivity and guidance.

Previously in the "dream," someone was clearly and deliberately guiding their progress. The most obvious example was Tan Wenbin saying he wanted something, and it would be provided. The true purpose was to keep people intentionally immersed in the dream, isolating them from what was happening in reality.

In this state, the separation between body and spirit was very distinct. Even he couldn't detect that he was in a spirit travel state, indicating that external physical stimulation simply couldn't reach the level of mental consciousness.

Furthermore, if he insisted on shaking them to wake them, he might accidentally push them, who were still standing, into the water. They were originally standing in a place where it would take some time for the water to submerge them; doing so would be equivalent to giving them an early death sentence.

He glanced at Ransheng and the others, then at the stone carving of the woman opening the door. Her eerie, mocking smile was so realistic and detailed.

Li Zhuiyuan instinctively wanted to swim over to see if he could push the stone carving back into its original position, or perhaps take off his clothes and cover the carving, hoping to interrupt its effect.

But as this thought arose in his mind, Li Zhuiyuan immediately shook his head vigorously.

For ordinary explorers or survivalists, following this line of thinking would be normal, but it hadn't escaped the traditional test-taker's mindset.

Instead of swimming towards the stone carving, Li Zhuiyuan swam towards the stone steps, then climbed up, reached above the water, turned around, and sat down, facing Ransheng and the others below, and the stone carving of the woman opening the door a little further away.

His eyes gradually became calm. All the information he had mastered or could deduce quickly processed in his mind. He simultaneously re-evaluated everything and used the principles of Feng Shui to analyze the situation before him.

The former didn't make sense; it got stuck on the figure that appeared and then left at the snake's tail.

The latter couldn't be deduced either, because there were no obvious or clear changes in the surrounding Feng Shui layout.

But Li Zhuiyuan wasn't discouraged. Failure was sometimes a form of trial and error. When the most common line of thought was blocked, even the previously illogical or ridiculous detours might actually be true.

The figure in the dream might not be that important, as its approach was merely imitation and guidance. A room appearing at the top of the stairs, and stalactites appearing in the room, was already unreasonable enough. The subsequent snake carving even used two consecutive ones, and there might be a third or fourth next.

Such elaborate and grand craftsmanship, was it really meant to be used as mere stairs? Occasionally burning antique calligraphy or paintings to brew tea could be considered an "elegant hobby," but continuously burning them meant there was something wrong with one's mind.

There was subjective guidance, yet it didn't seem man-made. After escaping the confusion of being in the thick of it, he even found it a bit amusing.

As for the stone carving, since the Feng Shui layout deduced from it was completely ineffective, he boldly speculated that it was utterly useless.

He had meticulously examined the stone carving earlier. What kind of uncanny mechanism could make a non-existent half of a body suddenly twist into being?

Human imagination.

Therefore, he hadn't fully woken up yet. This was the second layer of the dream, a multi-layered eerie miasma.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt that he could wake Ransheng and the others. He scooped up the rising water at his feet and splashed it onto the faces of Ransheng and the other two, shouting:

"Brother Ransheng, Brother Binbin, Brother Liangliang."

Soon, the eyelids of the three began to tremble, and then they opened their eyes one by one.

"Ah, was that just a dream?"

"What happened to us?"

"Xiaoyuan, are you okay?"

Li Zhuiyuan's mouth twitched. He ignored Ransheng and the other two, instead turning over and kneeling on the ladder.

The four of them had been mesmerized, facing the stone steps, yet his consciousness had previously been completely drawn to the stone carving of the woman opening the door. In reality, the true first place to suspect a problem should have been the stone steps, specifically the very bottom layer.

Because before they got stuck, the water had just risen, only reaching the soles of their shoes.

Li Zhuiyuan went down the stairs, submerged himself in the water, and reached the bottom step. He first knocked hard on that step with his flashlight, then shined it on it.

The originally ordinary stone steps now unexpectedly showed a translucent quality similar to jade. There were also flocculent substances inside, but unlike the stationary flocculent substances in ordinary jade, the things inside here were moving, like long parasites, or small white snakes.

Coincidentally, one of them was drilling out from the edge of the stone step, already halfway out. If he hadn't discovered it in advance and kept observing it with the flashlight, he wouldn't have noticed when it emerged and blended into the water.

It fully emerged. Li Zhuiyuan extended his hand in front of it, and it bit down.

"Hiss..."

Intense pain immediately struck, a deep pain that gradually intensified.

"Ah..."

"Gurgle... Gurgle..."

Li Zhuiyuan woke up again.

This time, he was in the water, the water level already above his mouth, just a little below his nose. If it rose even a tiny bit more, his mouth and nose would be completely covered, and his true self would then fall into a state of suffocation.

As soon as he woke, his mouth was still letting out a pained cry, and he immediately gulped down several mouthfuls of water.

Turning in the water, he first looked at Ransheng and the others. They were still standing there, not awake.

They say that when the sky falls, the tall ones bear the brunt, but when the water rises, the shorter ones drown first.

Looking back again, the stone carving of the woman opening the door was still in its original state, with only its flattened back facing him. Where was the eerie, mocking smile?

Li Zhuiyuan knew he had truly woken up, returning to reality.

He couldn't spare the time to examine anything else. Li Zhuiyuan first submerged himself, shining his flashlight on his leg, from where the distinct pain originated.

Rolling up his pant leg and shining the flashlight, he saw a long, thin, white-thread-like thing. Its front end was on his skin, while its back end swayed continuously with the water, as if it was quite happy, wagging its tail cheerfully.

The human body is a very precise instrument. In fact, during normal activity, bone friction and muscle stretching can cause pain, but these are anesthetized by substances secreted by the brain. This is also why, for people who enjoy exercise, running can bring a sense of pleasure.

Addicts, however, experience problems with brain secretion due to absorbing too much pleasure at once, leading the brain to mistakenly believe that the body no longer needs its natural pain relief. After stopping drug use, highly pronounced withdrawal symptoms appear, such as the sensation of ants crawling on the body.

The function of these "little snakes" was similar. The bite itself was very painful, but it numbed your perception. However, the pain was always there; only when you truly became aware of its presence could you reawaken your numbed senses.

Truly, sophisticated ingredients only require simple cooking methods. A cunning eerie miasma... it was directly a hex.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out, grabbed it, and pulled it out. It struggled and pulsed. Li Zhuiyuan simply pulled with both hands and twisted it apart.

In truth, if he could, he really wanted to collect these things to use them later for research and development related to spirit travel.

But firstly, he didn't have suitable research conditions, and secondly, the current circumstances didn't allow for it.

Li Zhuiyuan then went to Ransheng, rolled up Ransheng's pant leg, saw the white thread-like thing, and pulled it out.

Next was Tan Wenbin.

"Plop!"

Ransheng woke up, falling down from the pain.

"Plop!"

Tan Wenbin also woke up, falling into the water.

But just as Li Zhuiyuan rolled up Xue Liangliang's pant leg, preparing to follow suit, he found that the long white thread biting Xue Liangliang's leg was actually black!

Moreover, it looked lifeless. Even if he didn't pull it out himself, it probably wouldn't last much longer.

This meant that Xue Liangliang would be able to wake up using his own "resistance," and very soon.

But by the time Xue Liangliang woke up, he might have been able to save Ransheng and Tan Wenbin, but Li Zhuiyuan himself would definitely have drowned.

He reached out and pulled.

Xue Liangliang hissed, but the pain wasn't as strong as Tan Wenbin's and Ransheng's. Not only did he not fall, but after waking, he immediately reached out to help the boy who was still in the water.

All four climbed up the stairs, getting out of the water.

Li Zhuiyuan told the other three what had just happened. All three looked greatly surprised and felt a surge of fear.

Then, from the three men's retelling, Li Zhuiyuan surprisingly discovered something: the dreams the four of them had were interconnected.

They had clearly been bitten by four small white snakes, with no other apparent connection, yet they had shared the same dream.

This made Li Zhuiyuan look at the first step again, his eyes burning with even greater intensity.

This was truly a good thing! It could move in water. If he could domesticate and control it, wouldn't it be smoother when trying to control the "dead fallers" later, combining it with Wei Zhengdao's black book?

After all, "dead fallers" mostly operated near water bodies; even if they came ashore, it would emerge from the water by itself.

"Xiaoyuan, should I help you break open the first step?"

Ransheng understood the boy.

Tan Wenbin asked, a little fearfully, "Will that release more of them, and then they'll bite us again?"

Xue Liangliang guessed, "If that were the case, there wouldn't have been just one biting us; there would have been many. I think it's probably because once a person is bitten, they develop resistance. A second bite would only have the opposite effect, directly waking us up through pain."

Tan Wenbin breathed a sigh of relief: "Meaning, this thing has no effect on us anymore?"

Xue Liangliang: "Even if you get bitten again, you can just treat it like a mosquito bite. Just notice it and swat it dead."

Tan Wenbin asked curiously, "Brother Liang, why did Xiaoyuan say the one on you had turned black?"

"I don't know." Xue Liangliang was also very confused.

Tan Wenbin clicked his tongue and mused, "Indeed, who would become a live-in son-in-law without benefits?"

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at Tan Wenbin: "You want to go too?"

"Huh?" Tan Wenbin scratched his face, a little embarrassed. "Someone has to be willing to take me in, and they'd have to like me."

"You can ask if the Zhou family is recruiting."

"The Zhou family?" Tan Wenbin immediately became interested. "Like the Bai family's underwater ancient town?"

"Our class monitor, Zhou Yunyun's family."

Tan Wenbin: "..."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go into detail about Uncle Qin's matter with them, because Liu Yumei still had to stay at Great-Grandpa's house.

That night, if Uncle Qin hadn't gone to fight in Baijia Town alone, Xue Liangliang wouldn't have gotten the conditions to be a live-in son-in-law.

Essentially, the Bai family wasn't looking for a son-in-law at all; it wasn't even about kidnapping a "bandit queen." What they wanted was simply a partner for childbearing.

Moreover, their methods were even more extreme. It wasn't just about removing the father and keeping the child; it was about removing both father and male child, only keeping the female child.

Baijia Town only had the Bai family's matriarch. In local gazetteers and the houses of Baijia Town, there was never any mention of Bai family young masters or patriarchs. Where had all those people gone for hundreds of years?

Therefore, Tan Wenbin envied Xue Liangliang's treatment, but such treatment was not replicable. The normal treatment was actually "enjoyment followed by destruction."

At the same time, this brought up another point: after the Ding family banquet, Liu Yumei told him about the Qin and Liu families, and why she, as an old lady, still had the confidence not to give those people face.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that Grandma Liu hadn't lied to him. What she told him was the truth, but it might not have been the complete truth.

That is, the legacy of the Qin and Liu families might have taken a different path. This could be seen from Yu Shu's attitude towards Grandma Liu.

This also aligned with the old lady's consistent style: hidden beneath her ostentatious display of wealth was an equally ostentatious concealment of her true abilities.

"Xiaoyuan?" Ransheng's call again interrupted the boy's thoughts.

Li Zhuiyuan pursed his lips. Since he was tempted, it was time to act.

"Brother Ransheng, but we don't have any tools right now."

"That's easy."

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan agree, Ransheng immediately dove back into the water.

Actually, Li Zhuiyuan could swim. There was a small river to the west of Great-Grandpa's house. During that time, he dared not go to other waters and even disliked fishing, but it was safe near Great-Grandpa's house, so he had Ransheng teach him to swim.

He learned, but when danger struck, he still habitually let Ransheng pull him along. For no other reason than Ransheng was simply too good in the water.

If Ransheng could also learn Uncle Qin's trick of pulling out gills on the spot, then Ransheng would simply be a second Uncle Qin.

Li Zhuiyuan and Xue Liangliang stood up, shining their flashlights on Ransheng. It wasn't really to illuminate Ransheng, as Ransheng underwater didn't seem to need his eyes much; it was more for them to see.

Tan Wenbin initially didn't follow suit. Then he inadvertently lowered his head and saw the flashlight hanging on his chest, realizing that he had only lost his flashlight in the dream; it was still there in reality.

However, after some hesitation, he decided not to use it, to conserve its battery life.

He now felt a sense of crisis. Xiaoyuan's role in the team was self-evident, and Ransheng's didn't need much mentioning. Even Xue Liangliang was very useful. It was just himself... it seemed he had no use other than livening up the atmosphere when the team's spirits were low.

He didn't even know the chemical formula for stalactites.

And the fate of a fringe member in a team was to be gradually eliminated from it. Even if, for old times' sake, they were willing to let him stay, he wouldn't be able to continue.

He had to figure out a way to make himself more useful. Should he manage Brother Liangliang's studio and convenience store businesses left at school to help Xiaoyuan make money... or should he change his mind and apply to Jinling Police Academy?

Without a handy tool, Ransheng found a stone, and underwater, he vigorously pounded the first step.

Exerting force underwater was greatly affected, but Ransheng seemed instinctively to know how to compensate.

As he pounded, the first step actually cracked open, and fragments resembling jade stone continuously floated out.

Tan Wenbin swallowed: "Is this very valuable?"

Li Zhuiyuan said, "It's jade, but the most common type, not valuable."

"Oh." Tan Wenbin nodded, dismissing the idea of collecting it. But then he looked at the steps behind them, thinking that if he found anything valuable when they went up later, he should definitely take some out.

Xiaoyuan and Liangliang were as indifferent as chrysanthemums; he would bear the taint of greed alone.

Facts once again proved that the most direct approach isn't necessarily the most effective, but it will at least have some effect.

Li Zhuiyuan speculated that people must have been here before, but most were probably eventually drowned or swept away by the "eerie miasma."

Even if someone managed to break through the miasma, they probably just rushed up, still terrified.

Unlike the four of them, who, seeing a good trap, would dismantle it and take it home. Even bandits weren't this good at stripping the land bare.

The step was broken open, and many worms scattered. However, they seemed to sense who had resistance and no longer approached the four, even circling around Ransheng who was right in front of them.

However, these worms probably couldn't survive outside this place for long. Xue Liangliang's unique physiology merely accelerated this process for them. Once they left their special host environment, they would die off. Some things simply cannot exist stably in nature on their own.

Ransheng surfaced, holding a jade seal in his hand.

"Xiaoyuan, here."

Li Zhuiyuan reached out, took it, and shined his flashlight on it.

There were characters at the bottom, but not in the standard square script. Only one character was carved.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yong?"

Tan Wenbin looked at Xue Liangliang: "What does that mean, 'the Doctrine of the Mean'?"

Xue Liangliang shrugged: "Do you believe me if I say I can't even read this character?"

Tan Wenbin clearly didn't believe him.

Xue Liangliang said with a wry smile, "This depends on one's family education. Xiaoyuan understands these things."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "This is Wanzhou, also called Wanxian. There are traces of ancestral activity and many relics from the Paleolithic era. Historically, the 'Yong' that matches this location is the State of Yong from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. However, during the Spring and Autumn period, it was annihilated by the combined forces of Qin, Chu, and Ba states."

Tan Wenbin's eyes lit up: "Is this a treasure from the Spring and Autumn period?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "I don't know. The craftsmanship looks... and the style of the woman's skirt on the stone carving of the woman opening the door, seems to be from after the Qin and Han dynasties."

Xue Liangliang asked, "Xiaoyuan, you can't be sure?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I just memorize things. With antiques and ancient architecture, mere memorization is useless."

Xue Liangliang speculated: "Could it be that someone later discovered some secrets of the State of Yong here and then built this place?"

Tan Wenbin asked, puzzled: "That's possible?"

Xue Liangliang explained: "This approach is quite common. For example, many current tourist attractions are exhibition halls built and developed on existing old sites. Isn't it essentially the same?"

Li Zhuiyuan gently shook the seal in his hand. Jade values a moist luster, and inside this one, it was truly abundant—gelatinous and liquid, with tiny granular specks, which were probably the eggs of those small snakes.

Those snakes had hatched from this seal. Normally, they should remain in this state, only hatching some when stimulated or sensed in some way.

So, would the hatched snakes return to lay eggs again?

Was there a fixed quantity produced each time, or some special trigger mechanism?

Currently, it seemed that once Ransheng broke the step, he destroyed the host environment, and the eggs inside would no longer hatch.

"Brother Ransheng."

"Mhm." Li Zhuiyuan handed the Yong seal to Ransheng for safekeeping. This item could only be studied after they left this place.

Immediately, the four of them once again looked up the stairs.

The water was rising more and more rapidly, so they could only go upwards.

Li Zhuiyuan reminded them, "Everyone, be extra careful."

Tan Wenbin immediately responded, "I will. I'll pinch my thigh hard every now and then."

They ascended the steps again.

They didn't walk far this time before seeing a platform. It was no longer the gatehouse, but a giant snake head carving, its mouth wide open, as if all who entered were being swallowed by it.

Xue Liangliang said, "It seems the people of the State of Yong worshipped snakes."

After entering the snake's mouth, a very wide flat area appeared. There were no snake body ladders, but rather numerous stone pillars. When illuminated by flashlights, the place looked like an underground palace.

However, it was not grand or opulent at all; instead, it appeared very primitive and crude, with sparse furnishings, making it seem very empty.

Walking a bit further, their footsteps began to echo. Even after noticing and becoming extremely careful and tiptoeing, it was useless; the echoes grew louder and louder.

Eventually, it was no longer just an echo, because the four had stopped, yet the sound continued on its own, growing more and more intense.

Finally, a small green light appeared ahead.

Li Zhuiyuan shone his flashlight forward. The green light quickly vanished, revealing a fierce tiger poised to pounce.

Everyone was startled and retreated. Ransheng, who was at the front, lowered his center of gravity as he retreated, clenching his fists, ready to fight the tiger.

But soon, everyone realized that the tiger was dead. It was on a stone platform. Although it still looked lifelike after so long, it was essentially a specimen.

But the vanishing green light reappeared, and the tiger's eyes were instantly filled with green light, as if the tiger had reanimated.

However, the four, having already discovered the tiger's true nature, would only subconsciously think there was something inside the specimen, rather than truly believing the tiger had come back to life.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected it was due to their equipment. Flashlights were far more efficient than torches for illumination, which greatly diminished the effectiveness of these arrangements originally intended to scare off intruders.

Moving the flashlight, he found many platforms nearby, each holding various fierce beasts. Some of these species no longer inhabited this region.

Most remarkably, there were two figures, clearly distinguishable as a man and a woman by their appearance. They wore leather armor and bronze snake-shaped masks, standing amidst the hundred beasts like kings commanding them.

However, both the man and woman had their arms and hands posed as if holding something, but they were now empty.

He swept the flashlight under the platforms twice and saw several piles of decayed matter. Like the Terracotta Warriors, the items they originally held must have rotted away.

Specifically, the woman had her right arm raised high, likely holding a weapon, and combined with the bronze spearhead dropped at her feet, she was probably holding a long spear. Her left hand, however, was palm up, as if cradling something. It wasn't a weapon, but more likely some kind of token.

But there were no corresponding traces on the platform below. Had it completely decayed, or had someone taken it?

Up until now, there had actually been no signs of anyone ever having been here before.

The eyes of both the man and woman also gradually lit up with green light, but these green lights clearly receded when illuminated by the flashlight. Essentially, when the flashlight shone on them, the light was suppressed, and when the flashlight moved away, it would brighten again.

A few points of light were still roaming outside, but after a while, they dissipated. They were likely fireflies or similar insects.

They resided within the animal and human specimens, lighting up when disturbed by external forces, thereby creating a "deterrent" effect.

Since they knew what it was, there was nothing to be afraid of. It was purely like visiting a museum.

The four continued forward. The echoing sounds seemed to be encouraged and began to gather again.

As they passed the stone platforms of beasts, before the flashlight could even illuminate the distance, a massive green glow suddenly arose ahead. A huge, towering pile of bones appeared before the four.

Untold numbers of fireflies resided within it. The current echoes were actually the layers of their internal reawakening. Now fully awake, they flapped their wings, appearing like eerie ghost fires burning on the pile of bones.

In the pile of bones, the outermost layer consisted of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens; the middle layer was tigers, deer, bears, apes, and birds.

Corresponding to the six domestic animals and five wild animals, respectively.

Many scattered bones were around, but most still retained their complete structural integrity, otherwise, they wouldn't have been so easily identifiable.

In the very center, also supporting the height of the bone pile, were human remains.

One human skeleton after another, like building blocks, pulling each other, supporting each other, climbing upwards, formed the main support of this bone pile.

Xue Liangliang's mouth was open, his eyes filled with shock. From a professional perspective, what he saw was a beauty combining mechanics and aesthetics.

Perhaps, among the four present, only Tan Wenbin could deeply feel the cruelty and unbearable nature of it.

Human sacrifices, or what could be called "artworks" crafted using human lives as carriers, always evoked a sense of empathy for one's similar fate.

However, Tan Wenbin looked left and right, Ransheng still had his usual expressionless face, while Xiaoyuan and Liangliang were more appreciative. He could only keep silently chanting in his heart: It's all in the past, it's all in the past.

After he finished his silent chanting, he also forcibly pinched his thigh. He pinched so hard that tears streamed down his face from the pain.

Xue Liangliang noticed, reached out and patted Tan Wenbin's shoulder, comforting him: "Try to see it lightly, it's all past ignorance."

Besides glowing, these fireflies showed no sign of attack, and their presence illuminated a large area of the place.

Behind the "bone bonfire," more than a dozen upward steps appeared.

Above the steps was a large bed, with golden threads forming its canopy, shimmering brightly in the light and providing excellent visual privacy.

From the style of the canopy, even without seeing inside, one could still imagine a woman sitting within.

Most importantly, behind the large bed was a slightly ajar large door.

In the entire underground palace, this was the only place that seemed to lead upwards, and it was also the key for them to leave the underground and return to the surface.

The four bypassed the bone pile and came to the foot of the steps.

Immediately, the three of them froze.

Xue Liangliang asked curiously, "Why is there a shovel here? Has someone been here before?"

Tan Wenbin said, "It looks like our Yellow River shovel."

Ransheng bent down and picked up the shovel: "It's our Yellow River shovel, the same model."

With two "clack" sounds, Ransheng intended to assemble it, but the shovel broke directly. It was rusted through.

Tan Wenbin said, "So, our predecessors have been here?"

Xue Liangliang asked, "Body retrievers also rob tombs?"

But soon, Xue Liangliang corrected himself: "Oh, no, this isn't a tomb either. There's a bed, but no coffin."

Immediately after, Xue Liangliang added: "Perhaps your predecessors entered here to deal with that big thing, intending to rid the people of harm."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Brother Liangliang, you don't need to be so nervous. We came down here by accident this time, but if I had known about this place beforehand, I would have wanted to come down too, though I'd have prepared in advance."

"Besides, there's a group of people called Water Monkeys; they specialize in robbing water burials. Although I don't consider them colleagues, what they study is actually along the same lines as us."

As he spoke, Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took the broken Yellow River shovel from Ransheng. He examined it, confirming it was from their line of work, not a Luoyang shovel.

This meant that indeed, professionals from their line of work had entered here as predecessors. And from the rusted and broken shovel, details could be discerned: the original item was very professional, configured just like the standard Yellow River shovel described in Wei Zhengdao's book.

So, the predecessors who entered were also professionals.

But did they really come in just to get rich?

The group began ascending the steps. Besides the initial Yellow River shovel, they found nothing else.

Upon reaching the very top, level with the large bed, they discovered a square groove encircling the bed, filled with a white-green liquid.

A strange smell, imperceptible at first, only became noticeable after they stepped up.

This smell was too familiar. Without Ransheng needing to remind him, even Tan Wenbin could blurt out: "Water corpse stench."

Ransheng added: "Very strong, very pure."

Li Zhuiyuan reminded them: "Let's go around the side. Don't disturb or touch anything else."

The side path was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to squeeze through. Everyone moved cautiously, little by little.

Even Tan Wenbin, who coveted the gold on the bed's canopy, dared not even think of taking it now. It involved "dead fallers," and "dead fallers" of this type and scale in such a place. Any further greed would be inappropriate.

Without alarm or danger, they bypassed the bed and the pool around it, arriving at the rear.

The main door was up ahead. Going up, they should be able to find the way out.

The four couldn't help but look back. From this angle, the bed they had just passed looked more like a small boat in the center of a pool.

Tan Wenbin lamented: "What a shame, so much gold."

Xue Liangliang gently patted his arm and asked, "What, tempted?"

Tan Wenbin said frankly: "Mm."

Xue Liangliang reminded him: "Things here cannot be taken."

Tan Wenbin: "Uh..."

"What Xiaoyuan took almost killed us. It has a grudge against us, so taking it is justified."

"Moreover, when this place is excavated by archaeologists in the future, if that thing remains down here, it might pose a danger to our archaeological colleagues. It must be removed in advance."

Tan Wenbin felt that Xiaoyuan probably hadn't thought so deeply about it himself.

"Brother Liang, you're good at rationalizing."

"I'm being realistic."

"Actually, I didn't want to get rich with this gold. Look at all the human sacrifices in the bone pile. Although this isn't a tomb, it's all ill-gotten gains from the common people. Other cultural relics aside, if we take the gold out, we don't need it to improve our lives. A small portion can be left for Brother Xiaoyuan's research funds, and the larger portion can be donated to Wanzhou government projects and Hope Primary Schools. That way, it's taken from the people and used for the people, which is better than just sitting underground collecting dust."

Xue Liangliang chuckled: "You're talking about me, but you're the true master of rationalization."

"No way."

"Gold crafted into ornaments is also a cultural relic now."

"Sh*t."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Let's go. After we get out, we'll report this place..."

Before he finished speaking, a woman's face peered out from the side of the slightly ajar door ahead.

She appeared so strangely, so abruptly, and without warning.

Especially when everyone had just passed the large bed on the platform, and, thinking themselves safe, began to lower their guard.

This was the true 'Woman Opening the Door' scene.

All four were startled by the appearance of this face. But Ransheng's immediate reaction was to grab the remaining half of the Yellow River shovel in his hand and swing it directly at the head of the woman behind the door!

"No matter what demon or monster you are, take this shovel first!"

"Crack!"

The woman's face disappeared, and Ransheng's shovel only hit the edge of the door.

"Hehehe..."

The woman's face reappeared from behind the other side of the door. This time, her upper and lower lips began to close and open repeatedly, emitting a silvery, bell-like laugh.

If heard in an afternoon park, this laughter would sound sweet, but in the current environment, it could only send chills down one's spine and make one's scalp tingle.

Ransheng again raised the shovel and struck.

"Crack!"

The woman's face vanished again.

But her laughter grew louder and louder, no longer confined to this spot but spreading out, gradually echoing throughout the entire underground palace.

The originally green fireflies' glow began to turn red, painting the underground palace like a sea of blood.

The originally white-green pool around the large bed also began to bubble "gurgle, gurgle," as if it were boiling.

Even the golden canopy on the bed now swayed on its own, without wind. This time, there was no need to imagine; a woman in luxurious red robes could be seen sitting upright within.

The woman's hair was surprisingly still black, appearing soft and lustrous. It draped down her back, spreading out behind her.

And as the canopy swayed, the woman's arms began to twist eerily, and her hair also slowly began to sweep around.

Soon, the woman's two arms straightened themselves. Her hands, previously out of sight in front, now appeared behind her, facing directly towards Li Zhuiyuan and the other three.

The sweeping motion of her long hair seemed more like a twisting of her head.

Although the hair covered her, making it impossible to see inside, it felt as if she had twisted her head around.

Originally, she had been sitting facing the palace; now, she faced the great door.

In front, on the other side of the door, the woman's face kept peeking out and laughing.

Behind them, the woman in the bed, whom the four had safely bypassed, had also "awakened."

This instantly trapped the four in the middle, unable to advance or retreat.

However, Li Zhuiyuan understood the reason for this structure. This underground palace was not a tomb; it was more like a sacrificial site.

In comparison, the "Woman Opening the Door" paintings on the walls of main burial chambers in later tombs could only be considered a crude imitation.

This was a place built by her own hands for herself, and the true door was open, just waiting for the "woman opening the door" inside to guide her into paradise!

It was the woman's face peeking from behind the door that triggered all of this.

But what exactly was she? Why didn't she trigger it earlier or later, but only appeared just as the four of them were about to pass through the door?

If she had guided people away earlier, it would have saved them trouble. How nice would an empty, safe underground palace be? After all, the four of them were just passing through, seeking refuge.

"Xiaoyuan!"

Ransheng, clutching the broken half of the shovel, questioned.

Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin also pressed close to Li Zhuiyuan's side. The three of them instinctively protected the boy in the middle.

But now, a plan had to be devised.

"Buzzing! Buzzing!"

From the pool below, came the sound of heavy objects scraping. The entire bed was lifted along with it.

From beneath the pool, eight figures emerged. They all carried the bed on their shoulders.

The people at the four corner positions were all men in leather armor, very similar to the man seen among the beasts when they first entered the underground palace.

After surfacing, their eyes were closed, but liquid still flowed from the corners of their eyes and their mouths and noses. Unlike other "dead fallers" that flowed water, they flowed a silver liquid, like mercury.

"Mercury-refined corpses..."

Wei Zhengdao's "Records of Rivers and Lakes Oddities" documented this type of "dead faller," specifically placed at water burial sites to guard the tomb owner.

Normal body retrievers wouldn't encounter this type of "dead faller" because they don't rob tombs. Only the "Water Monkeys" would specifically research how to deal with them.

Besides these four in leather armor, who clearly seemed to have been left here with the woman in the bed during the initial setup, there were also four other people. They wore tight-fitting long gowns, and each had a long queue behind their head.

These four Qing Dynasty individuals were most likely the four predecessors from their profession who left behind the Yellow River shovel.

The reason Li Zhuiyuan identified them as predecessors rather than Water Monkeys was that Water Monkeys usually operated in groups. Like Ding Dalin's group last time, twenty people were considered a small gang. But here, there were only four people, and no other bodies were left behind.

The pool water, which previously had a strong corpse smell, must have had a preservative effect, because these people and their clothes surprisingly hadn't decayed or swelled, still retaining a fresh appearance.

The eight men lifted the bed, left the pool, and stepped onto the upward stairs. Each step landed uniformly, creating a terrifying pressure.

"Hehehe... hehehe..."

From behind the slightly ajar door, the laughter continued.

"Xiaoyuan!"

Ransheng shouted again; it was time to make a choice.

In fact, at this point, Ransheng was already poised to rush into the door, and Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin were also prepared to do the same.

Compared to the eight men carrying the bed below and the mysterious woman sitting on it, a normal person would choose to rush into the door. After all, there was just that face inside the door!

But at this moment, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly saw that among the four Qing Dynasty men carrying the bed, the one on the right edge, though his body and hands were rigid, maintaining the lifting and moving posture, his eyes were moving, continuously shifting to the left, then back, then to the left again. At the same time, his mouth was opening and closing, silently mouthing:

"Come this way... Come this way... Come this way..."