Niren Zhang said that the snake back then was about the same size as this one, nothing particularly special about its appearance, except that it was a bit faster, and bullets seemed to bounce off it like toys. He was also puzzled how they managed to take this snake down so easily.
Liu Dashao found this strange. If they were the same species, why was the aggression so different? He paused for a moment, then moved closer to Uncle Diao and asked, “Why is this snake’s attack so weak?”
“Weak?” Uncle Diao seemed almost offended by Liu Dashao’s words. “Weak my foot! Do you know what everyone upstream in that underground river went through just to deal with this snake?”
“What happened? Playing hide-and-seek?” Liu Dashao chuckled, intentionally adding some spice to lighten the mood. It worked—everyone present couldn’t help but laugh.
Uncle Diao shook his head, smiling as he replied, “Hide-and-seek! You go ahead and try playing hide-and-seek with it! This snake is called ‘Jiushiyin’—it’s even more ferocious in water than on land. Did you hear that loud bang just now? That was a trap we set up to kill it. The method was too complicated to explain here, but unfortunately, it didn’t finish the job. However, the snake was seriously injured. Otherwise, with your few rusty guns, you wouldn’t even make it flinch.” Then, lowering his voice slightly, Uncle Diao added, “That Niren Zhang, he’s clearly not human. I don’t think any ordinary person could kill this snake.”
Liu Dashao smiled as he took a puff of his cigarette and said, “Indeed, he’s not human.” He said no more.
“Big nephew, where are we exactly?” Uncle Diao asked Liu Dashao.
Hearing this, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but wonder—what kind of observation skills were these? After staying here for so long, even if he hadn’t seen the coffin, he should have at least noticed the wooden walkway by now. Liu Dashao felt a bit annoyed, but he understood—after all, Uncle Diao was always forgetful. So he replied, “Where do you think? This is the Queen of Gold’s bedroom.”
Upon hearing this, Uncle Diao practically jumped up from the ground, took two quick puffs of his cigarette, and shouted loudly, “What?”
“The Queen of Gold’s tomb chamber. The coffin is over there.” Liu Dashao pointed toward the walkway.
Quickly, Uncle Diao turned on his flashlight, shining it on the magnificent tomb walls. His expression showed excitement at first, then he started sweating coldly, his body trembling uncontrollably. Liu Dashao hadn’t paid much attention at first, but upon closer inspection, something was clearly off—Uncle Diao was acting strangely. Just as Liu Dashao began to realize something was wrong, Uncle Diao suddenly collapsed straight onto the ground.
Liu Dashao immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation. He quickly supported Uncle Diao on his thighs and pressed firmly on his philtrum, his mind in chaos. Just moments ago, the man had been full of energy—how could he suddenly collapse like this? What the hell was going on?
Seeing Uncle Diao fall without any warning, the others rushed over. Fan Debiao asked, “What’s wrong with Master Diao? Was it too much excitement?”
Liu Dashao ignored Fan Debiao and kept pressing on Uncle Diao’s philtrum. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was the common method used when someone fainted. He was just following what he’d seen others do. Meanwhile, Wang Feifei was shouting at everyone to stop crowding in. Liu Dashao also urged them to step back.
Panicked and unsure of what else to do, Liu Dashao broke into a cold sweat and even shed tears from anxiety. The tense moment lasted for a few minutes before Uncle Diao slowly regained consciousness. Seeing that pressing the philtrum actually worked, Liu Dashao let out a deep breath of relief and quickly asked, “Do you have coronary heart disease or something?”
Uncle Diao suddenly sat upright as if nothing had happened and muttered repeatedly, “I remember! I remember!”
“What do you remember?” Liu Dashao asked while Niren Zhang and Wang Feifei exchanged a glance, quickly stepping closer.
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Uncle Diao said, “I remember what happened here twelve years ago. Yes, the cave outside, the stone bridge, the three hidden gates, Jiushiyin, and the Queen of Gold’s coffin.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao’s spirits lifted immediately. He quickly asked, “What was the situation back then? Did you see a book called ‘Taiping Jing’?”
Uncle Diao gave Liu Dashao a strange look, as if puzzled by the question. “No, not exactly. I just vaguely remember that there were three of us—me and a couple—who came here.”
“My parents!” Wang Feifei was overjoyed.
“Perhaps. I’m not entirely sure. Come on, let’s go to the coffin.” Saying that, Uncle Diao immediately strode toward the coffin.
His clear sense of direction suggested that his memory had indeed recovered significantly. But why would his memory return so suddenly? What the hell kind of supernatural place was this?
Liu Dashao didn’t dwell on it and immediately followed Uncle Diao. They bypassed a stone pillar and walked directly onto the wooden walkway, heading straight for the coffin. The walkway was quite long, and walking along it felt like strolling down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“Big Boss, come have a look!” Suddenly, Fan Debiao shouted from behind.
At that moment, Liu Dashao wasn’t really in the mood to respond, but he knew his purpose for being here—if there was something important to discover, he needed to check it out. So he turned and walked toward Fan Debiao.
He saw Fan Debiao crouched on the walkway, his hands continuously feeling around the ground, not sure what he was doing. Liu Dashao quickened his pace. “Fan Debiao, what did you find?”
Seeing Liu Dashao approach, Fan Debiao waved him to crouch down. Liu Dashao knelt and saw a piece of gold gleaming under the flashlight. Suddenly, Fan Debiao blew hard on the walkway, and instantly, a long golden walkway emerged into view, leaving Liu Dashao in shock. Where did the Golden Kingdom get so much treasure? If even the walkways were made of gold, maybe those pillars nearby were made of jade?
At this moment, Liu Dashao wasn’t particularly interested in these treasures. What mattered most was what Uncle Diao had discovered back then. So he told Fan Debiao to keep investigating and ran toward the coffin.
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