Clay Figure Zhang completely ignored the way others stared at him and walked straight towards the crowd. Before Liu Dashao could even open his mouth to ask him anything, he slowly raised his white-haired head and said in a detached tone, “Yes, I’ve been here before!”
This taboo-breaking statement from Clay Figure Zhang would normally have caused an uproar, but now an eerie silence fell over the group—so quiet that even the dropping of a single needle could be clearly heard. Everyone was now staring at him with completely different expressions, but Clay Figure Zhang remained indifferent. His eyes locked onto Liu Dashao’s, as if trying to pierce into his heart, making Liu feel extremely uneasy.
But at this moment, Liu Dashao became certain of his earlier suspicion. No wonder he seemed so familiar with the place—Clay Figure Zhang had indeed been here before. When could it have been? Was it a year ago when he was with that tour exploration team?
Thinking this, Liu Dashao stepped forward and asked him directly, “You’ve been inside before? When?”
Clay Figure Zhang didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he walked over and sat down on a stone step, and said slowly, “Last night.”
“Last night?!”
“Yes.”
Clay Figure Zhang adjusted his hair and continued, “This place was something I accidentally discovered last night. I had just found the mechanism and was about to try to open it when I heard you babbling nonsense behind me. I thought something might happen, so I brought you back first.”
After hearing this, Liu Dashao finally understood the entire sequence of events. He pieced it together like this: his initial assumption had been wrong—he had misunderstood Clay Figure Zhang. Zhang had only just discovered this place last night, so it had nothing to do with the tour company. After hearing what Old Diao said about those inscriptions on the stone slab being left by himself, Zhang must have figured it out, found the mechanism, entered the tomb of the Golden Queen, and retrieved whatever Old Diao had discovered years ago. Perhaps he had encountered some rare creature or even the Golden Queen herself undergoing some kind of transformation, and it had attacked him. But Clay Figure Zhang was an expert in grave robbing, and naturally had his own ways of dealing with such things. He subdued the creature and then returned to meet up with everyone.
Realizing this, Liu Dashao immediately demanded that Clay Figure Zhang hand over whatever he had found, not caring how many people were around or how significant the secret might be. At that moment, his mind was completely consumed by curiosity and obsession.
Seeing Liu Dashao’s unstable state, Old Diao quickly called Wang Feifei over to calm him down. After some scolding and reasoning from Wang Feifei, Liu Dashao finally realized he had lost his composure. But he still didn’t stop questioning Clay Figure Zhang—because the secret of the Golden Queen was just too important to him.
Clay Figure Zhang patted his backpack and said, “I didn’t find the Golden Queen’s coffin. This bag only contains my personal belongings.”
Liu Dashao could tell from Clay Figure Zhang’s tone that he wasn’t lying. If he were, his acting would be worthy of winning the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards. Thinking logically, it also made sense—if Zhang had come specifically for Old Diao’s discovery, after retrieving it, there would have been no need for him to return and reunite with the group. Even if there were no other exits, as a seasoned grave robber, he could have easily dug a tunnel and escaped.
Fan Debiao, hearing that Clay Figure Zhang hadn’t found the Golden Queen’s coffin, looked doubtful. He walked over and sat beside Zhang, saying, “Bro, you’re saying you didn’t find the Golden Queen’s coffin? Look at how messed up you are—was it all for nothing?”
Clay Figure Zhang completely ignored Fan Debiao and said, “There were no corpses inside, only some strange birds that attacked on sight. I barely managed to escape them.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but wonder what kind of bird could have done that to him. But if he had already dealt with them, why didn’t he go on to find the Golden Queen and instead came back? So he asked what had happened.
Clay Figure Zhang’s face darkened as he replied, “The path ahead isn’t something one person can walk alone.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao was completely baffled. What did he mean, “not something one person can walk alone”? Did it mean two people were required to enter—perhaps even a married couple? But none of them were a couple.
So they asked him to clarify. Before Clay Figure Zhang could speak, Fan Debiao shouted, “Bro, why so many words? Let’s just charge in as a group! Who cares how many people are needed to get in? We’ve got numbers, we’ve got equipment—what are we afraid of?”
What Fan Debiao said made sense. Instead of endlessly questioning, it was better to just move forward.
Liu Dashao stopped asking further questions, and Old Diao immediately signaled for everyone to proceed. At this point, no one was interested in collecting any grave goods anymore. All their attention was focused on the final treasure. After gathering their gear, everyone moved behind the tomb wall.
The moment the last person stepped inside, there was a loud “BOOM!”—the wall behind them collapsed shut. Luckily, everyone had their flashlights on, or the noise and the sudden collapse might have made them think the place was about to cave in.
As soon as the tomb wall fell, Fan Debiao’s voice rang out, “Damn it, this tomb wall has an automatic sensor! As soon as someone walks in, it shuts—now we’re trapped!”
His words only made things worse. As soon as he finished speaking, panic erupted among the group—like a crowd at a concert. Liu Dashao silently cursed, *Dammit, what amateurs! What kind of people did Old Wu bring here?!*
Old Wu, seeing the group’s repeated outbursts, felt embarrassed and quickly tried to calm everyone down. In his frustration, he even started lecturing them on “Grave Robbing Psychology.” Fan Debiao stood to the side, clearly amused.
“No need to panic,” Clay Figure Zhang said casually from the side. “I encountered the same thing when I first came in. There’s a way to open it from the inside.”
Hearing this, the group stopped their chatter. It was clear that in this situation, Clay Figure Zhang had become the psychological anchor for everyone.
After speaking, Clay Figure Zhang stood up and walked forward without another word. Liu Dashao followed with his flashlight, and the others quickly fell in behind.
What they saw next was beyond their expectations. The space around them was entirely made of rock, smooth and ancient—clearly formed over tens of thousands of years. It was like stepping into an underground world. Who would have imagined that beneath the endless sands lay such a scene.
As they walked, they shined their flashlights around. The space was enormous—so vast that very little reflected the light back.
After walking for a while, Clay Figure Zhang stopped. It seemed they had arrived. Liu Dashao stopped scanning the surroundings and immediately shined his flashlight forward, but all he saw was pitch blackness—no outline, no shape.
Then others also shined their lights forward, but the area remained dark, only revealing a vague silhouette. It appeared to be a wall—different from the surrounding rock walls. Judging by the outline, this wall had clearly been artificially constructed.
Seeing the blurry view, Fan Debiao and Jackson each grabbed a flare gun and ran forward, firing several flares in succession. Suddenly, intense light flooded their eyes, causing sharp pain. Liu Dashao silently cursed them, *Damn it, these two have no brains! Firing so many flares at once—don’t they know how to conserve resources?!*
After a while, one of the flares finally dimmed. Their eyes were still stinging, and everything in front of them looked white and blurry. It looked like this was going to leave them temporarily blinded.
It took a long time for their pupils to adjust. When they finally regained their vision, the scene ahead became clear. In front of them was a deep cliff. Fan Debiao and Jackson were standing right at its edge. As soon as their vision returned, they both shouted “Waaah!” and quickly jumped back.
The cliff was extremely deep—Jackson threw down two flares, but they disappeared into darkness without revealing the bottom. It was terrifying just to look at.
In front of them stood a massive wall—clearly man-made. On it were three mysterious gates. The wall was covered with intricate carvings, none of which Liu Dashao recognized, and they certainly didn’t recognize him either.
It was clear that passing through those gates would bring them closer to the Golden Queen’s inner tomb. But there was a problem—the wall stood far across a deep chasm. How wide it was, no one could tell. Originally, there had been three suspension bridges leading to the gates, but now only fragments remained at the two ends. Judging by the appearance, it looked like they had been blown up—probably by explosives. Who could have done such a thing? Could it have been Old Diao twelve years ago? Was he trying to keep the secret hidden? If so, then this secret must be truly extraordinary.
Liu Dashao instinctively wanted to ask Old Diao what had happened, but then he remembered—Old Diao had amnesia. Perhaps he didn’t even know more than Liu himself. At least Liu knew this had something to do with Zhang Jue.
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