Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 111

The fat man went over and helped Big Gold Tooth up, pinching his philtrum in an attempt to wake him up.

Hu Bayi and Hu Ming looked around and found that the rock walls were neatly arranged and obviously carved by man.

"Have we entered a tomb?" Hu Bayi asked Hu Mingdao.

He was only suspicious a moment ago, but now he's basically certain.

This layout clearly indicates a large tomb, but there are still many things that remain unclear.

They clearly fell into a natural cave, so how did they end up in a large tomb? Logically, large tombs are sealed tightly, using many layers of blue bricks and filled with molten iron, making them airtight. How could they possibly be connected to a natural cave?
Hu Ming observed carefully and found that the surrounding area was covered with neat and dense blue bricks, covering a large area, definitely more than two hundred square meters, but it was empty and there was nothing there.

“This is the Underworld Palace. The place we just entered should be an empty seat in the Underworld Palace,” Hu Bayi said in a deep voice.

Hu Ming nodded. His ability to assess feng shui was no less than Hu Bayi's, so he could naturally see it too.

The tombs were all sealed tightly, with blue bricks paved around them and iron mortar filling the gaps between the bricks. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them impregnable fortresses.

However, according to feng shui requirements, a large tomb must have an empty space.

Empty spaces cannot be sealed off, so skilled tomb raiders often find these empty spaces and dig a hole from there to enter the tomb.

They must have entered through the vacant spot, but it's unclear why this vacant spot of the great tomb is connected to the cave.

The Underworld has been the place where the coffin of the deceased is placed since ancient times, as clearly stated in the Book of Burial.

But there's nothing here, it's empty, which really doesn't make sense.

Logically speaking, even if someone were to enter the tomb to rob it, it would be impossible for them to take the coffin away.

Judging from the scale of the mausoleum, this is a first-class royal tomb.

It is square at the bottom and dome-shaped at the top, which conforms to the ancient concept of a round heaven and a square earth.

The walls surrounding the palace are painted with murals depicting palace maids of all kinds, some holding brocade boxes, some carrying jade pots, and some holding musical instruments, showcasing a scene of court life.

While Hu Bayi and the others were still puzzled, Big Gold Tooth woke up.

As soon as he woke up, he started yelling and tried to get up and run away, but the fat man swung his hand and slapped him twice across the face.

"Big Gold Tooth, look closely, I'm Fatty."

Big Gold Tooth finally snapped out of his daze. After seeing the fat man clearly, he suddenly buried his head in the fat man's chest and burst into tears.

"Ahem, alright, Big Gold Tooth, with Fatty here, all the demons and monsters will have to retreat. Stop crying."

The fat man was a little helpless and could only offer kind words of comfort.

"Big Gold Tooth, what just happened? What did you see?"

"I...I...I saw ghosts, so many evil ghosts, they were all rushing towards me."

Big Gold Tooth's voice trembled, as if he hadn't fully recovered.

Hu Ming led Big Gold Tooth to the strange face and pointed at it, asking him a question.

"You see, is that the ghost?...A ghost..." Big Gold Tooth screamed, and tried to run away, but Hu Ming grabbed him.

A resounding slap landed squarely on Big Gold Tooth's face.

"Stop fooling around, look closely, it's a stone statue."

Upon hearing Hu Ming's words, Big Gold Tooth was stunned for a moment before slowly turning his head. He stared at the stone statue for a while and muttered to himself.

"It really is a stone statue!"

His body felt weak; the frantic running had exhausted all his strength.

It turned out to be a false alarm, and I realized that I was covered in sweat and completely soaked.

Hu Ming put Big Gold Tooth down and let him sit on the ground to catch his breath.

"Well... it's not that I, Big Gold Tooth, am a coward, it's just that I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old daughter at home who both need my support. What would they do if I died?"

Hu Ming suppressed a laugh and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's okay. Everyone gets scared sometimes. You'll get used to it after a few more times."

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth nodded, then paused, stunned. He'd already had enough once; why did it have to happen a few more times?

The fat man said, "Big Gold Tooth, come and look at the murals on this tomb. What era are they from?"

Big Gold Tooth had a deep understanding of historical artifacts, and he stared at the murals again and again.

"This is an ancient tomb from the Tang Dynasty, and the murals on it are all from that period."

Hu Bayi frowned slightly. This strange face didn't seem to be in the style of the Tang Dynasty.
He quickly pulled Big Gold Tooth over and pointed to the strange stone face carved on the wall, asking...

"Is this also from the Tang Dynasty?"

When Big Gold Tooth saw the strange face again, he was terrified once more.

The stone statue was so strange, it seemed to have come to life. It was only when I saw Hu Ming next to me that I mustered up my courage.

"No, this should be the style of the Western Zhou Dynasty."

This is truly bizarre; how could artifacts from the Western Zhou Dynasty appear in a Tang Dynasty tomb?
"Could we have really run into a ghost?" the fat man stared at the stone statue.

He always felt that something was wrong with the stone statue, that it was abnormal and distorted. This distortion was because the stone statue was sculpted too realistically, as if it had come to life.

It doesn't look like a sculpture; rather, it resembles a naturally grown stone creature.

If the stone statue could move, the fat man wouldn't find it strange at all.

Hu Bayi pondered for a while but still couldn't get an answer. He looked up and saw Hu Ming smiling, and a thought struck him.

"Mingzi, do you know why?"

Hu Ming smiled without saying a word, simply holding a flashlight and looking around.

“If I’m not mistaken, this should be a ghost tomb,” Hu Ming finally spoke, but his words only confused the fat man more.

"What ghost tomb?"

Hu Bayi and Da Jinya also looked up, wanting to hear Li Sheng's explanation.

"If I said this strange-faced stone statue is an illusion and doesn't exist, would you believe me?"

"How is that possible?"

The fat man reached out and slapped the strange-faced stone statue, producing a crisp sound of stone striking stone.

"If I'm not dreaming, this statue is absolutely real."

They were not dreaming, of course; the stone statue was truly there.

Hu Bayi seemed to remember something and asked in a deep voice, "You mean, a ghost?"

Hu Ming nodded and then said, "Legend has it that there are ghost buildings, ghost ships, ghosts... What we've encountered is a ghost tomb."

The fat man and the man with the gold tooth both gaped open. What did that mean?
“The exquisite things in the world are the result of countless hours of hard work by skilled craftsmen, and they also have a spirit.”

"For example, the legendary sword spirit is like that."

"Under certain specific circumstances, even stubborn stones can possess spiritual power, and this is even more true for many treasures."

"If this thing is destroyed and no longer exists in the world, but its soul remains, it becomes a ghost."

"For example, some luxury cruise ships that have been shipwrecked have been buried at the bottom of the sea for many years, but some people can still see the ship sailing at sea. That is the ghost of the ship."

"This is the tomb we are in now."

"This is a Tang Dynasty tomb. It must have been almost finished when they discovered a Western Zhou Dynasty ghost tomb here."

“It is very unlucky to have two tombs in the same location, so we had to give up and rebuild the tombs.”

"Therefore, what we see is an empty Tang Dynasty tomb and a ghost tomb from the Western Zhou Dynasty."

After hearing Hu Ming's explanation, the fat man suddenly understood.

"Oh, I see. It's just that this thing is old and has become sentient. So, we've encountered a spirit."

Hu Ming nodded and continued, "That's one way to look at it."

(End of this chapter)