Liu Dashao suddenly had an idea and came up with a plausible explanation: “Perhaps these people aren’t actually Yellow Turban rebels, but rather prisoners captured by Zhang Jiao from somewhere else, so…”
Before Liu Dashao could finish speaking, Da Guoguo quickly refuted his idea: “These people are definitely members of the Yellow Turban army. Look, they all have the Bagua emblem on their clothes and yellow headbands tied around their foreheads. At that time, no one other than the Yellow Turban rebels would wear such attire.”
After hearing Da Guoguo’s explanation, Fan Debiao angrily exclaimed: “Damn it, Zhang Jiao really is inhuman, treating his own followers like slaves. Our tomb raiding mission this time is truly an act of justice!”
Indeed, someone who treats his own brothers, sisters, wives, children, and elders like slaves isn’t human at all. Liu Dashao also became furious at the thought, but at the moment, the most important thing was to figure out the tomb’s structure, and the blueprint should be on the eighth silk painting.
Everyone’s attention was now focused on the eighth silk painting. One glance at it left them shocked and completely bewildered. The other four people were staring at the painting, eyes wide and unblinking.
The eighth silk painting didn’t depict the structure of the mausoleum. Instead, it showed a tall figure wearing a tiger-shaped mask and Taoist robes standing on an altar. This figure was presumably Zhang Jiao. Below the altar were numerous people dressed in yellow clothes, all kneeling and worshipping Zhang Jiao.
Fan Debiao remarked, “Damn it, who the hell is this guy that so many people are kneeling to him!”
Liu Dashao replied to Fan Debiao, “Perhaps they are performing some significant ritual. Ancient people were accustomed to believing in gods and spirits, and during sacrificial ceremonies, everyone except the shaman had to kneel.”
Da Guoguo added, “You know, looking at this silk painting, it doesn’t seem like a sacrificial ceremony at all. To put it plainly, it somewhat resembles the scene of Chairman Mao reviewing the troops in 1949. It seems Zhang Jiao isn’t as simple as described in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”
Fan Debiao said, “Whether this old man with one horn is a god or a demon, he’s just a corpse now. He still wears a mask trying to play mysterious. Once we find him, I’ll give him a couple of punches to avenge our ancestors.”
After saying this, he pointed his finger toward the stone door and made a gesture to move forward. However, before he could complete the next motion, Fan Debiao suddenly fell onto the boat, his forehead breaking out in cold sweat, his finger trembling incessantly as he pointed at the stone door.
Seeing Fan Debiao’s reaction, Liu Dashao thought to himself that something must be wrong near the stone door. Fan Debiao had seen his share of terrifying things, so if he was scared like this, it must be something sinister. Liu Dashao turned his head toward the stone door and was immediately stunned, instinctively shouting, “What the hell is that?!”
This sight frightened Liu Dashao badly, and like Fan Debiao, he plopped down onto the boat, sitting right next to him.
Meanwhile, Da Guoguo, Cai Qingchong, Su Yougui, and others turned their heads upon hearing the commotion and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow!”
Before them, behind the closed stone door, a grotesque human face appeared. To be more precise, it wasn’t really a human face—apart from a pair of hollow pupils, all other facial features were completely missing, as if they had been corroded away. The skin had turned black and was flaking off in bits.
Those hollow pupils stared directly at the group, and everyone locked eyes with them. Liu Dashao already had his black donkey hoof tightly gripped in his hand.
Suddenly, “Bang! Bang! Bang!” Three gunshots rang out, and three bullets flew toward the strange face. The face quickly ducked, and the bullets merely grazed over its head.
Liu Dashao was very familiar with the sound of those gunshots—it was the pistol that Da Guoguo had prepared for them.
He turned his head and saw Fan Debiao holding the pistol with both hands, his forehead soaked in cold sweat. Liu Dashao thought to himself that Fan Debiao’s marksmanship was still impressive even in such a tense moment. This guy had never even touched a gun before, yet he managed to shoot like that. If he practiced a bit more, he might become an excellent soldier of the People’s Liberation Army.
Just then, as Fan Debiao aimed the gun at the strange face again, preparing to shoot, Da Guoguo stopped him: “Wait! There’s something odd about this face. It might actually be a living person.”
Upon hearing Da Guoguo say it might be a living person, Fan Debiao slightly loosened his grip on the gun but still kept the barrel aimed at the strange face as he said to Da Guoguo, “You gotta be kidding! How could this possibly be a living person? Who ever heard of a person without a nose, mouth, or ears? This is clearly a damn ghost. Maybe it’s Zhang Jiao, who found out we were coming to rob his tomb and came out early to deal with us.”
Liu Dashao also doubted Da Guoguo’s words, because with his own eyes he had seen a face that only had eyes. If this were truly a living person, it would be damn terrifying.
“He’s right. That is indeed a living person,” Cai Qingchong said again, seeing that the others didn’t seem to believe him.
Both Da Guoguo and Cai Qingchong insisted it was a living person, which made Liu Dashao somewhat convinced. Considering their experience, they probably wouldn’t both make the same mistake, right?
Upon hearing this, Fan Debiao suddenly stood up from the boat, shone the miner’s lamp directly at the strange face, and shouted, “Who the hell are you, pretending to be a ghost over there!”
Upon hearing his shout, the strange face withdrew behind the stone door and spoke in stiff Mandarin: “You tomb raiders! Don’t even think about taking anything from here! Everything here belongs to the People’s Republic of China!”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao immediately realized this was a foreigner. He thought to himself that this person must be one of the three TOUR explorers. He didn’t expect the person to still be alive. But why hadn’t the “Zhibing” devoured him completely?
The person must have mistaken their group for tomb robbers. However, listening to what he had just said, Liu Dashao found it quite agreeable.
Actually, Liu Dashao himself wasn’t even sure whether they were tomb raiders or archaeologists. He responded to the person, “Comrade foreign friend, you must be from overseas. We’re not tomb robbers—we’re just like you, here on an expedition.”
After Liu Dashao finished speaking, another stiff Mandarin voice came from behind the stone door: “I don’t trust you. Who goes on an expedition carrying guns?”
Fan Debiao shouted back, “You bastard, stop yapping and come out now, or else I’ll shoot you full of bullets when I go in!”
This shout seemed effective, as the person apparently responded better to force than persuasion.
Slowly, the figure emerged from behind the stone door. Judging from the water level, it only reached his knees, which meant the depiction on the silk painting was real. If there had been no water, there should have been a staircase in front of them. The figure said, “I’m part of the TOUR expedition team. Are you really an archaeological team?”
Fan Debiao replied, “Of course we are!” He pointed at Da Guoguo and said, “This is the leader of our expedition team. If you don’t believe me, come over here and I’ll show you the credentials.”
“Good heavens! You really are part of the expedition team! Thank God, I’m saved!” The man exclaimed joyfully. He sounded energetic, not like someone seriously injured.
Da Guoguo waved his hand, signaling Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao to row the boat over. Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao grabbed their entrenching tools and rowed over to the man in just a few strokes.
As they approached, they finally got a clear look at him. His entire body was covered in black mud, which emitted a faint, fragrant aroma. It turned out that the reason they couldn’t see his face earlier was that it was completely covered in this mud—the bits that had been falling off were just the black mud. Unexpectedly, despite such fierce attacks from the “Zhibing,” the man had escaped unscathed, his body coated in this strange black mud. Could it be that the black mud had something to do with his survival?
There was no time to discuss other matters now. They needed to get him onto the boat as soon as possible. Liu Dashao said, “Comrade foreign friend, quickly get on the boat. It’s cold in the water.”
The international comrade responded with an acknowledgment and laboriously climbed aboard, dragging a large backpack with him. Upon closer inspection, the backpack was surprisingly identical to the one already on their boat.
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