Chapter 248: The Endless Sea of Flowers (1)

Uncle Diao didn’t explain much. He simply pulled a gas mask from his bag and said indifferently, “Put this on before going in!”

No one asked further questions, silently retrieving their own gas masks from their packs and putting them on. After some fumbling, Uncle Diao took the lead and strode forward.

Something had changed. Uncle Diao had really changed. Liu Dashao felt confused. The once jovial Uncle Diao, who always joked with him, had become quiet and reserved. Why did he insist everyone wear gas masks? And if there was danger ahead, why wouldn’t he explain clearly?

Had he recalled memories from the desert years ago? Did he know what to do next?

“Dashao, keep up!” It wasn’t Fan Debiao, but Wang Feifei urging Liu Dashao.

Liu Dashao didn’t dwell further. He nodded, adjusted his gas mask, and hurried after them.

He had expected this tomb corridor to be as complex as the one in Zhang Jiao’s tomb. But after walking a bit, Liu Dashao realized his assumption was wrong. The beams from more than ten flashlights shone forward, their foreign-made lights extremely penetrating. Ahead of them was the corridor’s end—a tomb chamber. Due to the limited perspective inside the corridor, they could only tell it was a chamber, but couldn’t determine its exact size.

Now Liu Dashao had two conclusions: first, his assumption was incorrect; second, their choice of corridor was correct. The next step was to rest in that chamber and wait for others to catch up—though perhaps they wouldn’t wait.

They were about thirty meters from the chamber, all feeling relieved at having chosen the correct revolutionary path. But to everyone’s surprise, danger struck at that very moment.

With a loud boom, everyone reacted instantly, though unsure what had happened. They initially thought it was just a normal loud noise, but soon realized otherwise. Whether by instinct or sight, they all sensed the corridor was clearly narrowing—not just that, it was also getting shorter. What did this mean? It meant the four walls of the corridor were compressing inward along the central axis—and accelerating.

“Run!” After a gust of wind passed by, Fan Debiao’s voice rang out. Looking over, the young man had already sprinted several meters ahead. They didn’t need him to remind them. Instantly, everyone tensed their nerves and ran.

Just after running about ten meters, they heard Fan Debiao cry, “Oh no!” Before anyone could react, they saw Fan rushing back. He crashed into Liu Dashao. With such a heavy person hitting him, it was a miracle he survived. Liu Dashao was knocked flat onto the ground.

“What the hell are you doing running back? Did you see a ghost?” Liu Dashao angrily shouted at Fan Debiao.

“Damn it, it’s not a ghost—it’s worse than a ghost!” Fan Debiao gasped in reply.

Liu Dashao hadn’t even had time to ask Fan Debiao what happened next when he saw Rat and Old Wu supporting Big Man back. Looking closer, Liu Dashao noticed something protruding from Big Man’s back. At first glance, it was an arrow. Liu Dashao immediately understood the situation: there was an arrow-shooting trap in the corridor. But how could there be arrows in a tomb over a thousand years old? And how could they still fire? But since the arrow had already been shot, the facts were undeniable.

At this moment, everyone’s nerves were once again on edge, though not as tense as before. Instead, there was a calmness—perhaps from having experienced too much already.

Despite this calmness, the reality of danger couldn’t be changed. They needed to figure out a solution immediately. Retreating was impossible—they’d likely be crushed before reaching halfway. And ahead, there were arrows. Damn it—they were truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

The four walls of the corridor were continuously closing in. There was no time for further discussion. After a quick exchange, they decided to brave the arrows. At least there was a chance of survival if they ran fast enough. Arrows wouldn’t catch them—except maybe Big Man. Unexpectedly, Big Man pulled the arrow from his back and said, “It’s fine. The arrow didn’t go deep. I can keep up with you.”

Hearing this, Liu Dashao recognized him as a true man. In Liu Dashao’s mind, he was now on par with Da Guozao. With the decision made, everyone quickly gathered their belongings, exchanged no more words, and rushed toward the chamber. The corridor was getting narrower, but they could still move freely. The twenty-meter stretch—how many seconds did they take? They didn’t care to calculate. They only heard continuous “swoosh… swoosh…” sounds by their ears. Whether they or others had been hit by arrows was unknown. When they saw the corridor’s end, they threw themselves forward, rolling several times on the ground, and their gas masks were all knocked off.

Then came a loud “boom”—the corridor had completely collapsed. Hearing this sound, their hearts sank. They realized if they had been a moment slower, they would now be flattened into meat paste. The thought chilled them.

At this moment, Liu Dashao immediately worried about whether others had encountered trouble. His speed definitely wasn’t the slowest. What about Wang Zhicai and Lin Miaoke…? He didn’t dare dwell on it. Immediately, he began counting heads. His eyes first landed on Wang Zhicai and Lin Miaoke, sitting on the ground panting. This eased Liu Dashao’s worry slightly. But when his gaze shifted to the collapsed corridor, Liu Dashao was stunned. It felt as if time had suddenly frozen.

Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei were dead!

Blood! Bright red blood filled Liu Dashao’s vision. Blood continuously flowed from the collapsed corridor. Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei’s heads were exposed outside the collapsed section—only their heads!

Their bodies remained inside the corridor. It was unimaginable what their bodies looked like behind their heads. Liu Dashao dared not think about it. But his thoughts defied his control, gradually overwhelming his mind—bloody, mangled corpses, as if crushed and mixed into a pulp. No, Liu Dashao couldn’t think further. He struggled for a long time before finally shaking off the imagery.

Returning to reality, Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei were dead. “Hallucination, hallucination,” Liu Dashao muttered repeatedly. But his subconscious urged him to face reality. Eventually, he returned to reality.

Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei were dead. They were truly dead.

Fan Debiao’s cute, humorous face. Wang Feifei’s pure, graceful face. Now both bore expressions of horror from their final moments. Seeing their faces, Liu Dashao deeply felt their pain. And he himself wasn’t immune.

Liu Dashao didn’t feel like crying. Every sensory nerve in his body had gone completely numb. The moment he saw Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei, he had already gone numb. Did he even shed tears? Yes—he silently wept without feeling a thing.

No sense of sorrow, no tension, no pain from the skin scraped off during the fall—Liu Dashao felt absolutely nothing.

Time froze in that instant. Tears also stopped flowing. Had Liu Dashao run out of tears? Despair—that was the feeling. He was utterly desperate, completely broken.

Without warning, without sensation, Liu Dashao fainted.

Dazed and confused, Liu Dashao gradually regained consciousness. The first thing he saw through his eyelids was Fan Debiao’s face, followed by Wang Feifei’s. Was he dead too? Was this hell?

Liu Dashao looked around. Uncle Diao, Old Wu, Wang Zhicai—they were all there, staring at him. They were in the corridor. Liu Dashao held a gas mask in his hand.

This wasn’t the chamber—it was still the corridor! The corridor hadn’t collapsed. Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei weren’t dead. It had all been a dream—from the walls closing in to seeing Fan Debiao and Wang Feifei’s deaths. Yet Liu Dashao felt as if he had experienced it all firsthand. He felt the fatigue of sprinting a hundred meters, the pain of skin scraped during a fall.

“What just happened?” Liu Dashao asked the group with a puzzled expression.

Fan Debiao was the first to rush over and reply, “Dashao, you just gave us a live-action Superman show. Running, rolling—you moves and scenes were no less impressive than that American ‘Wu’ guy’s stunts.”

Hearing Fan Debiao’s words, Liu Dashao knew this guy was mocking him. If Fan found out Liu Dashao had cried for him in that “dream,” he’d tease him nonstop until the sky turned upside down. But truthfully, seeing everyone safe brought Liu Dashao indescribable joy.

The “dream” had been too real, leaving Liu Dashao with lingering fear. Yet Fan Debiao’s explanation hadn’t addressed the key issue. “What caused me to act like that?” Liu Dashao asked this while looking at Wang Feifei. She was more serious and would speak more formally.

“Don’t know the reason. It was sudden, like Fan said,” Wang Feifei shook her head.

“Put on your gas masks,” Uncle Diao suddenly said.

Though unsure of Uncle Diao’s intent, since he had reminded them twice, the matter must be serious. Others had just removed their masks and quickly put them back on. Liu Dashao’s mask was in his hand. It was easy to imagine that his earlier episode might have been caused by not wearing the mask.

“Pay attention, dear nephew. Ancient tombs aren’t as simple as you imagine,” Uncle Diao specially warned Liu Dashao before leading the way again.

After hearing this, Liu Dashao felt depressed. Was it really that big a deal—he just lost control once. Making him feel like something was wrong. Everyone knew tombs weren’t simple. Carrying his grievances, he followed the others.

This corridor was indeed long—just long, not as complex as Liu Dashao imagined. Before them was a tomb chamber, the correct passage they had chosen, unlike the “dream” scenario.

Fan Debiao was excited upon seeing the chamber, eyes shining. It seemed his great revolutionary moment had arrived.

Fan Debiao, impatient, took a step forward toward the chamber but was stopped by Uncle Diao: “Don’t move! There’s something fishy here.”

As soon as Uncle Diao said this, Fan Debiao froze in place—one foot raised, arms in a flying pose, looking extremely awkward, like a statue standing there. Seeing his pose, Liu Dashao found it hard not to laugh.

“Come back!” Uncle Diao shouted at Fan Debiao.

“You told me not to move, now you’re telling me to come back. Aren’t you just messing with me?” Fan Debiao kept his pose, afraid to move.

Hearing Fan Debiao’s words, Uncle Diao felt slightly embarrassed: “What I meant was don’t go forward—not to stand there making a ridiculous pose.”

Uncle Diao returned to his old tone—this was the Uncle Diao they knew.

Hearing this, Fan Debiao exhaled in relief, cautiously retreating while wiping sweat from his forehead: “Uncle Diao, what suspicious thing did you notice?”

“This corridor has traps. Can’t you see?” Old Wu mocked Fan Debiao.

The tension between northern and southern factions in the tomb raiding world had never improved. Although Fan Debiao was originally from the southern school, he had studied under the northern school. Hearing Old Wu mock the northern school, Fan Debiao felt somewhat uncomfortable: “What? Traps? Setting traps in corridors is something done in Song and Ming dynasty tombs. This Golden City is from the Han dynasty. I’d believe it if you said a dinosaur could pop out. But if you say there are traps here, I, Fan Debiao, just don’t understand.”

“Stop arguing,” Old Wu was about to retort but was interrupted by Uncle Diao: “What century are we in? Still dividing into northern and southern factions?”

After Uncle Diao spoke, Wang Feifei, Jackson, Wang Zhicai, and Lin Miaoke all looked at Uncle Diao and others in surprise. Feeling slightly awkward, Uncle Diao quickly changed the topic: “Look, what’s different about this next section of the corridor?”

This topic shift worked well. Instantly, everyone’s attention turned to the next section of the corridor. The difference was obvious. The current section and the one behind were all built with whole stone blocks, although slightly cracked, they were basically stone slabs. However, the ground ahead was made of Han bricks—only the ground. The other surfaces were still stone slabs. Clearly, this final stretch was indeed unusual.

Fan Debiao shook his head at the Han brick section: “What’s strange about this? Maybe they just ran out of materials and used Han bricks instead.”

“Ran out of materials!” Liu Dashao felt short of breath at Fan Debiao’s words: “Whose tomb is this? The Golden Queen’s tomb! You actually thought they’d run out of materials?”

“I think it’s not running out of materials—it’s running out of common sense,” the previously silent Big Man suddenly said.

“Go to hell. I think you’re the one missing a brain,” Rat immediately shot back at Big Man. From this dialogue, it was clear their relationship was somewhat like Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao’s.

“Rat, Zhong Kui, don’t argue. We’re cultured, civilized people. Mind your image,” Old Wu probably knew these two would never stop arguing, so he quickly interrupted.

However, this “cultured, civilized” Liu Dashao truly felt they were far from reaching that level.

Uncle Diao focused intently on the Han bricks in the corridor. Heaven rewards those who persist—Uncle Diao finally had some clues. Liu Dashao hurriedly asked what he had discovered.

Uncle Diao stood straight, solemnly stating, “This corridor indeed has traps.” Hearing this, Liu Dashao felt depressed, feeling ashamed to face the people again, turning aside while sweating coldly.

“Who here doesn’t know there are traps in this corridor? Are you messing with us?” Liu Dashao exclaimed, drenched in cold sweat.

Uncle Diao realized he had made a lame joke and quickly used his knowledge to recover: “I’ve figured out this trap.”

He then stepped forward, standing on that section of the corridor: “Just follow my footprints,” he said before continuing forward.

Then Old Wu and others followed. Liu Dashao also understood the trap—it was like playing Minesweeper, except Minesweeper was blind guessing, while this was targeted. Once the pattern was understood, one could basically avoid triggering it. However, this trap was quite complex. For Uncle Diao to figure it out after just a glance showed his profound expertise in archaeology and tomb raiding—far more impressive than Liu Dashao had imagined.

“Dashao, hurry up!” While Liu Dashao was thinking, Fan Debiao urged from behind. Liu Dashao lifted his foot and followed Wang Feifei forward. Fan Debiao was behind Liu Dashao.

Although he knew Uncle Diao could handle it, walking on this corridor resembling a Minesweeper interface still made Liu Dashao a bit nervous. Each step was taken extremely carefully, tiptoeing, fearing a misstep might trigger something and result in a lifelong regret.

Soon, Uncle Diao reached the chamber safely, followed by Old Wu. When it was Zhong Kui’s turn, he stopped: “Oh no! I forgot the steps!”

Hearing this, Liu Dashao inwardly cursed: “Damn it, what kind of brain does this person have?” While Liu Dashao thought this, Rat actually said it aloud.

Fortunately, Uncle Diao had a good memory. He could recite a book backward after reading it a few times. Naturally, he remembered the steps backward too. He went to guide Zhong Kui. After much effort, Zhong Kui finally made it safely.

Liu Dashao waited behind, sweating coldly. Seeing Zhong Kui make it, he finally relaxed. Rat, true to his name, quickly reached the end in a few steps. Then it was Wang Feifei’s turn.

Liu Dashao was excited, ready to “land” when Fan Debiao suddenly asked everyone to stop and questioned, “I wonder if this trap is affected by gravity?”

Affected by gravity? Liu Dashao hesitated, immediately understanding—Fan Debiao must have messed up again. His heart sank. Before he could ask Fan Debiao what was happening, he heard a clicking sound from beneath his feet.

Liu Dashao panicked. This Fan Debiao was truly troublesome—now endangering everyone behind him.

Suddenly, he heard “swoosh… swoosh…” sounds from beneath his feet, like something violently rotating. Liu Dashao was only a meter or so from the end. No time to hesitate. Since the trap was already triggered, he couldn’t care anymore. He sprinted forward recklessly. The sound beneath his feet suddenly changed. Liu Dashao didn’t know if anything had shot out, but in a panic, he rolled into the chamber. He hit the wall hard with his head. Although wearing a gas mask, the pain made him grimace, nearly fainting.

Now wasn’t the time to faint. Fan Debiao and others’ fates were unknown. He didn’t know if the others had dodged the trap. He shook himself awake and quickly looked back at the corridor.

The scene before him reminded Liu Dashao of a war-themed play he had once seen. Fan Debiao, Jackson, Wang Zhicai, and Lin Miaoke were all frozen in the corridor like actors suddenly stopping mid-performance, resembling statues completely stiffened there, mouths wide open, eyes bulging as if about to pop out. Each had a different posture, with Fan Debiao’s being the most comical.

But Liu Dashao was certain—they were just too scared to move. The corridor below still had rumbling sounds, deep and dull, occasionally accompanied by sharp “hissing” noises.

Although Liu Dashao didn’t know what was happening, the position where Fan Debiao and others stood was extremely dangerous. Seeing them seemed paralyzed with fear, Liu Dashao immediately shouted, “Hurry up! What’s going on—still playing dumb?!”

Startled by Liu Dashao’s shout, they seemed to awaken from a dream, shuddered, and rushed forward in a panic.