He slowly turned his body around to look behind him. At the sight before him, he froze in terror. Right there stood a Yinglong, glaring at him viciously. Its eyes were filled with ruthless menace, and its mouth clutched a piece of meat still dripping with blood. At that moment, Liu Dashao finally understood why there had been peck marks on the corpse—they had been made by this very Yinglong feeding.
The Yinglong was about the same size as the smaller Yinglong depicted on the stone gate. The carving on the stone gate had only shown the outline without any details, so Liu Dashao had never truly grasped its appearance until now. The feathers on the Yinglong’s wings were white, while the rest of its feathers were black. Its head bore two enormous horns that seemed oddly mismatched to its sharp beak. Its beak looked extremely sharp; a single stab from it could tear away a large chunk of flesh.
As Liu Dashao stared at the Yinglong, Caiqingchong remarked, “Isn’t this Yinglong a mythical creature? How come it ended up inside Zhang Jiao’s tomb? Could it be guarding the burial grounds?”
Seeing the Yinglong, Liu Dashao felt a mixture of shock and excitement: “We must be getting close to the truth.”
He turned to Fande Biao and said, “Old Biao, you felt that gust of cool wind earlier, right? Actually, I felt it too before you did. I thought it was just a draft from the tomb corridor, but now I realize it was this Yinglong moving around.”
As they were speaking, the Yinglong let out a strange cry and lunged toward Liu Dashao. Fortunately, Liu Dashao reacted quickly, dodging the attack with a swift sidestep. Though he narrowly avoided a fatal strike, his arm was still wounded by the creature’s beak, showing just how dangerous it was.
Seeing the Yinglong attack, Daguo raised his submachine gun and fired a barrage in its direction. The group shone their flashlights and saw that the Yinglong was still hovering in midair—Daguo’s bullets had had no effect whatsoever.
Before Daguo could fire again, the Yinglong let out another shriek and dove once more toward Liu Dashao. This time, however, Liu Dashao was ready and dodged effortlessly to the side.
Just as the Yinglong passed him, Daguo raised his gun and opened fire again. Despite the rapid gunfire, the Yinglong remained unscathed.
Liu Dashao muttered to himself, “Damn it, why is this Yinglong always targeting me? This is insane!”
Seeing that no one could hit the Yinglong as it darted back and forth, Daguo quickly pulled out a cold-fire flare and shot it toward the creature. The flare ignited midair, emitting a blinding light. The Yinglong, unable to withstand the intense brightness, shrieked in pain and hovered helplessly in the air.
Taking advantage of the moment, the group opened fire, unleashing a barrage of bullets. Though struck countless times, the Yinglong did not die immediately. Instead, it flailed wildly in agony, shrieking and thrashing about. Suddenly, it slammed into the wall with such force that it created a massive hole.
Fande Biao exclaimed in shock, “Damn! This Yinglong is tougher than I thought—it actually punched a hole in the wall!” Then, eager to examine the rare creature’s corpse, he rushed forward.
But within less than two seconds of entering the hole, he cried out in astonishment, “Oh my God! This is like something out of a fantasy!”
Hearing his shout, the other four rushed in and stood beside Fande Biao, shining their flashlights around. They were stunned into silence.
They had entered a flat area roughly five meters square, surrounded by steep cliffs. Shining the flashlights downward revealed nothing but darkness—no bottom in sight.
Daguo lit another cold-fire flare and tossed it down. The entire area was suddenly illuminated. They realized they were standing on a cliff ledge, about a hundred meters above the bottom. At the base of the cliff stood a flat stone slab, and on it was a rectangular object that looked like a box from a distance.
Just as Liu Dashao was about to examine the surroundings more closely, the flare extinguished. He immediately asked Daguo to ignite another one, and once again the area was bathed in light, allowing Liu Dashao to carefully observe his surroundings.
The five of them stood at the cliff’s edge, a gentle breeze occasionally blowing past, making the atmosphere strangely refreshing. The cold-fire flares bathed the entire area in a surreal glow.
Liu Dashao’s gaze swept from the bottom of the cliff all the way up its sheer face.
To his amazement, the cliff walls were covered with countless beehive-like figures—though these were much larger than any beehive. From this distance, he couldn’t tell what they were made of.
Fande Biao, staring at the sight, muttered, “Damn, this place must be higher than even Mount Bosu!”
Liu Dashao said, “What a twist of fate! In such a small mountain, there’s actually a place like this.”
He glanced at the others and noticed their expressions had turned grim. He turned to Daguo and asked, “Daguo, what’s wrong? Is something off?”
Daguo lit a cigarette and said, “I had a feeling the moment we entered the tomb chamber. Now I’m sure—this place isn’t a tomb at all!”
Fande Biao, hearing this, became anxious. “What?! After all this effort, it turns out this damn place isn’t even a tomb? What a waste of time and energy!” He then began humming a tune: “Not knowing the tomb of the heroes, I plow the field with no flowers, no wine.”
It seemed Fande Biao had already lost all hope of finding treasure, and his morale had plummeted. Liu Dashao knew that although Fande Biao wasn’t particularly bright, if he lost interest now, he might cause trouble later.
Thinking quickly, Liu Dashao leaned close to Fande Biao and whispered, “Old Fan, don’t lose heart so soon. You just want some treasure, right? Daguo only said this isn’t a tomb—he didn’t say there’s no treasure here!”
He then gestured with his chin toward the cliff below and continued, “Didn’t you see that box down there? It might be full of big stuff!”
Fande Biao’s spirits immediately lifted. He said to Liu Dashao, “You’re right! When we get the goods, you have to help me hide them. Don’t let those tomb raiders know!”
Liu Dashao muttered to himself, “You idiot, treasure is all you think about. As long as you follow us down there safely, I don’t care what you do!”
After observing for a while, Liu Dashao turned to Daguo and said, “Daguo, I think that box down there looks suspicious. What do you think—should we go check it out?”
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