Big Katyusha laughed and said to Liu Dashao, “What box? That’s a coffin down there. Whose coffin would be placed here? We really need to go down and check it out.”
Having said that, Big Katyusha asked Cabbage Worm to take out some nylon rope. Cabbage Worm replied helplessly, “Brother, this time I only brought a few meters of rope. I just thought it would be enough for dealing with a tomb robber’s tunnel.”
Big Katyusha responded, “It’s not your fault. No one could have expected such a cliff to suddenly appear. Looks like we’ll have to climb down barehanded.”
Upon hearing that they had to climb down barehanded, Fan Debiao was reluctant and insisted on going back to buy some long hemp ropes.
Big Katyusha slapped Fan Debiao’s head and said, “Is this really all you’re capable of? What happened to your determination back in Harbin? Didn’t you see all those protrusions and indentations on the cliff? It’ll be easy to climb down.”
Liu Dashao provoked Fan Debiao by saying, “Fan Debiao, are you even a real man?”
Provoked like this, Fan Debiao got angry, “Damn it, aren’t you a man?!” He rolled up his sleeves and started climbing down, determined not to be outdone by Liu Dashao.
Big Katyusha stopped Fan Debiao and said, “Don’t act so impulsively. We still need to prepare ourselves before going down.” He then instructed everyone to wear gloves and tuck their daggers into their belts for emergencies.
After everyone followed Big Katyusha’s instructions and prepared themselves, Big Katyusha fired three cold fireworks upward and led the way down the cliff.
As they were climbing, Liu Dashao’s foot seemed to step on something. Looking closely, he realized it was one of the statues they had seen earlier on the cliff. Now that he was closer, he could see it much more clearly.
It was a statue made of bronze, with many thundercloud patterns engraved on its surface. It was suspended from the cliff by bronze chains. Despite thousands of years of change, the bronze statue remained shiny and showed no signs of rust.
Soon, Big Katyusha and the others reached the bronze statue as well. Big Katyusha examined it and said, “This looks like a product from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Only someone of noble status could afford such large-scale bronze artifacts back then. But why would such a wealthy person be buried in such a humble place?”
When Fan Debiao heard it was from the Eastern Han Dynasty, his eyes sparkled as he stared at the bronze statue.
Liu Dashao found this strange and asked Big Katyusha, “What was this statue used for? If it was for burial, it should have been a human figurine. Why is it shaped like a beehive? Could the tomb owner have used bees for sacrificial purposes?”
Big Katyusha shook his head and said, “I don’t understand either. This tomb doesn’t follow the usual rules. Even though I’m familiar with tomb structures and feng shui from various eras, I still can’t figure out the purpose of this place.”
Fan Debiao muttered, “Who cares if it follows the rules or not? Let’s hurry down and open the coffin—it’ll all make sense then.”
Big Katyusha nodded and said, “Since this tomb is so strange, we can only take it one step at a time.”
Just as everyone was continuing their descent, the cold fireworks suddenly burned out. Instantly, everyone was plunged into total darkness.
Suddenly, Liu Dashao heard a tinkling sound in his ear. It sounded like something was tapping against the bronze statue. At first, it was a single melody, but soon it multiplied into a dense cacophony of countless sounds.
The sound made Liu Dashao’s entire body go numb. Big Katyusha’s expression changed, and he quickly lit another cold firework. The area was illuminated once again.
The five of them looked around in shock and saw that the bronze statues on the cliff were vibrating violently. The sound they had heard was the statues hitting against the cliff.
The violent vibrations nearly caused them to fall off the cliff. Everyone grabbed tightly onto the cliff’s protrusions. Just then, the cold firework went out again.
At the exact moment the cold firework extinguished, the bronze statues stopped vibrating. Liu Dashao, both feet standing on a protrusion, freed one hand and took out his flashlight, shining it on the nearby bronze statue.
To his horror, he saw that the beehive-shaped bronze statue was slowly splitting in half along its midline. Inside, a red object was revealed. Upon closer inspection, Liu Dashao was so frightened that he nearly let go and fell off the cliff.
High on the cliff, over a hundred meters above the ground, the five of them clung to the cliff like ants. The flashlight beam darted around erratically.
The bronze statue slowly opened completely, revealing the red object inside—it was the skinned corpse they had seen earlier in the tomb chamber above. It looked like a human who had been flayed alive, but even more terrifying because of the wounds from the dragon’s beak. Its protruding eyes stared directly at Liu Dashao, who stared back in shock.
At that moment, Fan Debiao, his voice cracking with fear, screamed, “What the hell is this thing inside the bronze statue?!”
As Fan Debiao screamed, Big Katyusha fired two more cold fireworks.
When the cold fireworks lit up the area, Liu Dashao looked around and saw that all the bronze statues on the cliff had opened. Each one revealed a skinned corpse inside, and all of them seemed to be staring at the group. The sight sent chills down their spines.
Liu Dashao stuck out his tongue in disbelief and said, “These really are human figures, but they look like freshly skinned bodies. Where did so many fresh corpses come from? And they all seem to have died recently.”
Big Katyusha examined the bronze statue beside him and said, “No, these aren’t freshly dead people. Look closely—there’s a white substance inside the bronze statues. These bodies must have been skinned and then preserved using this white liquid.” He pointed inside the statue.
After hearing Big Katyusha’s explanation, Liu Dashao quickly looked where he pointed. Indeed, there was a layer of thick white liquid inside. Upon closer inspection, the liquid was slowly moving.
Liu Dashao asked Big Katyusha, “What exactly is this stuff? How can it preserve bodies for thousands of years without decay? And why peel off the skin?”
Big Katyusha shook his head and replied, “I’m not exactly sure what this white substance is, but it must have preservative properties. Many medical techniques and substances from the Eastern Han Dynasty have been lost over time—like Hua Tuo’s Green Satchel Scroll and Yu Ji’s Essential Formulas. It seems their preservation techniques were quite advanced.”
Cabbage Worm examined the corpse closely and said, “Wait, these corpses weren’t skinned before being placed in the statues. The skin must have been dissolved by the liquid after the bodies were placed inside.”
Fan Debiao had been about to touch the white liquid with his finger, but upon hearing Cabbage Worm’s words, he immediately recoiled in fear and quickly put on gloves.
Seeing Fan Debiao’s reaction, Liu Dashao almost burst out laughing. After calming himself, Fan Debiao asked Cabbage Worm, “How do you know the liquid is corrosive?”
Cabbage Worm smiled slightly and said, “Now is not the time to ask such questions. Even if we knew, it wouldn’t bring us any good news.”
Fan Debiao was met with a cold response and felt very frustrated. He muttered, “Hmph! So what if you know it’s corrosive? I don’t care about such things anyway!”
Big Katyusha muttered, “What the hell is the purpose of placing so many corpses here? Even if they were for sacrifice, why open the statues and let the corpses out for some fresh air?”
The cold fireworks gradually burned out. Just as Fan Debiao was about to ignite another one, Big Katyusha suddenly stopped him and whispered, “Shh! Don’t make a sound. Listen carefully!”
As they fell silent, they heard a faint sound coming from all around them—it sounded like a group of children whispering. The sound was eerie, sometimes distant, sometimes close.
Fan Debiao whispered, “What the hell is making that sound? Could the corpses be coming back to life?”
Liu Dashao listened carefully and felt like he had heard the sound before. Suddenly, a realization struck him, and he exclaimed in shock, “This is the sound of that Yinglong dragon! Earlier, it was just one dragon’s call from above. Now it’s a whole group! And they’re all around us!”
Fan Debiao refused to believe that Yinglong dragons were surrounding them. He smacked his lips and said, “Didn’t we check the entire area when we came in? Where would all these Yinglong dragons come from?” Saying that, he grabbed the last cold firework from Big Katyusha’s bag and ignited it.
At the moment the area was illuminated, all five of them were stunned. Countless Yinglong dragons were circling around them, their feathers dripping with water, most of them pecking at the flesh of the corpses.
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