Master Ni looked at everyone and continued, “In other words, the ratio of the two segments of the entire underground palace journey isn’t the same. The first part is a map of the desert route, while the small section after the circle is a structural diagram of this underground palace. To put it simply, this map is like a mechanical parts diagram—where specific details are required, there’s a close-up enlarged view. If this map fell into the hands of someone studying mechanical engineering, it would be very easy to understand.”
After hearing this, Liu Dashao quickly moved forward to examine the map. Sure enough, he noticed that the middle section of the map was a twisted line disconnected from both the front and back sections.
“The end point of this map is the Golden Ancient City,” Master Ni suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao’s heart leapt with excitement. He hadn’t expected that in the end, it would still be the Golden Ancient City. It seemed like everyone would soon have to tear the place upside down.
“Can you really understand the underground palace’s structure?” Old Diao asked Master Ni.
It made sense for Old Diao to ask that. After all, Master Ni had claimed it was a structural diagram of the underground palace, but no matter how they looked at it, it didn’t seem like one. Could it be that the person who drew the map used some kind of graffiti technique?
Master Ni didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Old Diao’s skepticism. He grabbed a flashlight from Liu Dashao, flipped the map over, and pressed the flashlight tightly against the back of the map, laying it flat in front of everyone. “Look!” he exclaimed.
The three of them felt puzzled but shifted their gazes to the map—and were instantly stunned. Under the flashlight’s illumination, the map revealed an image of the underground palace, precisely depicting the very place they were in. The drawing was so direct and clear that even a three-year-old could recognize it.
Liu Dashao took a closer look and felt somewhat disappointed. “Damn it, there’s no way out.”
“Young man, why say that?” Old Diao pointed at an exit. “Isn’t there an exit right here?”
In fact, that exit was the one blocked by sand—the very place where Fan Debiao had already tried and failed. Liu Dashao explained to Old Diao, “You don’t remember me telling you that the exit was blocked by sand?”
“That’s no problem,” Old Diao said confidently. “We can go up from where you fell in. We’ve got the gear now—who are we afraid of?”
It was a decent suggestion. Initially, with fewer people and no equipment, they wouldn’t have dared to recklessly enter that pitch-black hole where even flares wouldn’t light. But now the situation was different. They had more people and better gear—what did they have to fear from a mere cave? Even if a dinosaur were inside, they could chase it out.
They had already been here for several days. If they didn’t get out in a few more days, the rescue teams would have to start combing the desert. But if too many people gathered in the Golden Ancient City, they wouldn’t be able to get anything done.
“Diao, our time is tight. Why don’t we get moving now? I don’t want to stay in this desert any longer,” Liu Dashao said to Old Diao.
“Then let’s go! Hurrying and bustling through the nine provinces!” Old Diao hummed a tune as he signaled everyone to follow.
Liu Dashao saw how carefree Old Diao was, even humming a song despite his memory loss, clearly a cheerful soul. The mood was contagious, and the three of them relaxed slightly as they followed behind.
“Don’t panic! Everyone grab your black donkey hooves!” Suddenly, Fan Debiao’s voice rang out.
Liu Dashao immediately sensed something was wrong. Fan Debiao and the others must have encountered some undead creatures. His nerves tensed instantly. Before Fan Debiao’s voice had even faded, Master Ni had already rushed off and disappeared. Old Diao, experienced in such situations, quickly reacted and ran over. Liu Dashao and Wang Feifei followed closely behind.
When they arrived where Fan Debiao and the others were, they saw everyone leaning against a brick wall, gripping their black donkey hooves tightly, looking around in panic.
Liu Dashao looked at the female corpse in its colorful feathered robe—it had already become a mummy. Someone must have taken the anti-decay pearl from its mouth, triggering some reaction. He thought to himself, “It must have been Fan Debiao who took that pearl.”
“Fan Debiao, what the hell is going on?” Liu Dashao shouted angrily.
Fan Debiao looked at him in terror, unable to speak, only pointing upward repeatedly. Following his gaze, Liu Dashao held his breath and looked up. All around them, the coffins were shaking violently, emitting a faint, eerie creaking sound.
The creaking grew louder and more frequent. Seeing this, Liu Dashao’s hair stood on end. He inhaled sharply and quickly led Wang Feifei toward Fan Debiao, seeking safety in numbers.
There were thousands of coffins here, each one shaking. Even if each coffin contained just one undead creature, there would still be over a thousand of them. This was turning into a scene straight out of a zombie apocalypse.
Realizing the creatures hadn’t emerged yet, Liu Dashao quickly asked Fan Debiao what had happened. The events had unfolded too quickly for Fan Debiao to explain immediately. After collecting his thoughts, he recounted the entire incident to Liu Dashao.
After everyone had left, Fan Debiao, Jackson, and Old Wu had rested and talked after eating. With no more alcohol to drink, they began boasting about their experiences.
Old Wu had seen more than both Fan Debiao and Jackson combined, and he proudly recounted his past adventures tomb raiding and the countless treasures he had encountered.
Fan Debiao, feeling indignant, began making up stories. He claimed that a couple of years ago, he had led a group in looting a tomb in Henan. Everyone knew that Henan wasn’t known for much except for imperial tombs.
Fan Debiao said he had used his self-developed techniques to locate the tomb of a Ming Dynasty emperor. They had gone in and even retrieved a dragon robe.
Old Wu listened in awe, almost addressing Fan Debiao as a senior. Then it was Jackson’s turn. Jackson had only ever entered one ancient Chinese tomb—the tomb of Zhang Jiao at Boddhisattva Mountain. Unfortunately, he hadn’t found anything valuable there. Thinking hard, he finally decided to talk about the anti-decay pearl in the female corpse’s mouth.
Both Fan Debiao and Old Wu were seasoned tomb raiders who had only ever encountered skeletons or mummies. They had never seen a well-preserved corpse before and didn’t believe in the pearl’s existence. Jackson, unable to convince them with words, led them directly to the female corpse.
When they saw the corpse—its skin slightly pale but otherwise perfectly preserved and still beautiful—they were stunned.
Excited by the sight, the three decided to remove the pearl for study. Driven by curiosity, they took it out.
As they eagerly examined the pearl, they didn’t notice any changes in the corpse. Suddenly, they heard the creaking sound.
At first, Fan Debiao thought the tomb itself had become possessed. He grabbed a black donkey hoof and shoved it into the corpse’s mouth. But upon closer inspection, the corpse remained unchanged. The creaking sound, however, was real.
Jackson noticed it first—the coffins were shaking. He immediately called Fan Debiao and Old Wu over. As experienced tomb raiders, they immediately realized the same thing: a mass resurrection of undead creatures.
The others were soon awakened by the noise and prepared to attack the coffins with weapons in hand. Fan Debiao realized this wouldn’t work and quickly ordered everyone to grab their black donkey hooves and take defensive positions against the brick wall. That’s when Liu Dashao and the others arrived.
After hearing Fan Debiao’s explanation, Liu Dashao almost wanted to slap him, but this wasn’t the time. When it came to tomb raiding experience, Old Diao and Old Wu were the most skilled.
Liu Dashao looked around and saw that Old Diao and Old Wu had already started preparing.
Each of them carried a treasure bag filled with tools used by traditional tomb raiders. It seemed the two old men intended to use ancient methods to deal with the situation.
At this point, everyone could only trust them. Facing potentially hundreds of undead creatures, their firearms—only a dozen or so—would be of little use.
Old Diao and Old Wu ran to the female corpse and began scattering handfuls of white grains. Upon closer inspection, these grains were glutinous rice. Since ancient times, glutinous rice was believed to ward off evil spirits and undead creatures. In theory, it should work.
“What are they doing?” Wang Feifei asked, puzzled.
Liu Dashao’s nerves were stretched tight, and he didn’t even register Wang Feifei’s question.
Old Diao and Old Wu continued scattering rice. Sure enough, the coffins gradually stopped shaking, and the creaking sounds ceased.
Seeing this, everyone exhaled in relief, though they still held their breath anxiously.
Old Diao quickly ran back and said, “We can’t stay here too long. We must leave immediately.”
“Which way?” Liu Dashao asked.
“Through there,” Old Diao pointed to a hole behind them that resembled a palace gate.
“That won’t work,” Old Wu interjected nervously. “The mechanisms inside are deadly. I fear we might not make it out.”
Old Diao thought for a moment and said, “The mechanisms here rely on sight and sound. If we don’t look or listen, we’ll be fine.”
Old Wu shook his head. “Only Old Diao here has the skill to do that. The rest of us don’t. We can’t take this risk.”
Seeing that neither option was viable, Old Diao grew frustrated and started cursing. Old Wu stood beside him, stroking his chin in thought.
“Climb up the statue,” Master Ni suddenly suggested.
Liu Dashao thought it was feasible. Earlier, he had observed the statue’s head—it could easily hold twenty people. With proper climbing gear, it was doable. Plus, the statue’s head was only a short jump from a large stone. Once at the top, they could set fire to all the coffins and end this nightmare.
Old Diao looked up at the statue and agreed. He quickly ordered preparations to begin.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage