Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 116

"You three stay here and hold onto the rope. I'm going down to take a look."

Since he was the most capable person here, Hu Ming took the initiative to take on the exploration. At this time, Hu Ming also thought of a kind of mechanism from the original work, but he still needed to investigate it first.

Holding the ropes, they slowly descended the stone steps. The steps seemed endless, but fortunately, the ropes they used together were long enough to cover a considerable distance.

As soon as Hu Ming left, Big Gold Tooth felt a chill creep over him, a ghostly aura emanating from him.

Hu Ming's extraordinary abilities had been deeply imprinted in his mind.

With Hu Ming by his side, Big Gold Tooth always felt that there was nothing he couldn't overcome, and that he would definitely be able to solve any problems that arose.

But as soon as Hu Ming left, he immediately felt himself trembling.

Hu Bayi and Fatty were also on edge, anxiously watching the rope on the ground being lowered down, loop by loop.

"Old Hu, these ropes should be long enough, right?" the fat man asked anxiously.

Hu Bayi shook his head upon hearing this, then said helplessly, "Who knows? We can only let Mingzi give it a try; it's better than waiting to die here."

As Hu Ming walked forward, he suddenly saw a glimmer of light ahead.

Upon looking at it, he was stunned. Behind the shadowy light, there were three figures, none other than Hu Bayi, Fatty, and Big Gold Tooth.

After walking around by the rope, we ended up back where we started.

While the three were still looking down, Hu Ming had already walked over.

"Alright, stop looking, I'm back."

They were taken aback when Hu Ming, who was supposed to be going downhill, suddenly appeared above them.

Big Gold Tooth stumbled, lost his balance, and tumbled down the stone steps.

Fortunately, Hu Ming reacted extremely quickly, his movements as swift as lightning. He leaped forward and grabbed him tightly.

"Holy crap, Mingzi, this is really a ghost story. You were clearly going down, so how did you end up back up?"

Having been trapped in this place for a long time, the fat man felt both hungry and tired, and was on the verge of collapse.

Upon seeing Hu Ming return, the last glimmer of hope in her heart was shattered.

The fat man's face turned extremely ugly at the thought that he and his companions were going to be trapped here to die.

"It seems we really can't get out of here," Big Gold Tooth thought in despair.

This place is so eerie. Even when you're holding onto a rope to go down, you'll find yourself unknowingly returning to the top. It's simply incomprehensible.

Hu Ming's expression remained calm, while Hu Bayi, standing to the side, seemed lost in thought.

"Don't worry, I've already found a solution."

Upon hearing this, the fat man was overjoyed and immediately pressed for more information.

"Mingzi, do you have any ideas on how to get out of here?" The others also looked over. Having been trapped for so long, they were all eager to get out.

Upon hearing that Hu Ming had a solution, they all became excited.

"We didn't encounter any evil spirits or monsters," Hu Ming said with certainty.

"Mr. Ming, we didn't encounter any ghosts, so what could be the reason?" Big Gold Tooth asked, puzzled.

The fat man chimed in from the side.

"Yes, this place is eerie. I'd rather a few black and white monsters jump out of this tomb and fight them than be trapped here in a daze."

"This should be the legendary Suspended Soul Staircase," the fat man said, clearly hearing the name for the first time.

What is the "Suspended Staircase"?

"What? This is the Suspended Soul Staircase?" Hu Bayi exclaimed in surprise. He was quite familiar with the Suspended Soul Staircase, but he hadn't thought about it before. Moreover, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation, so he was naturally a little at a loss!

"Old Hu, you know about this too?" Fatty raised an eyebrow at Hu Bayi beside him.

Hu Bayi nodded with a wry smile and then looked at Hu Ming, saying, "Mingzi, are you referring to the strange mechanisms designed using the I Ching in ancient times?"

"That's right! How come I didn't remember!"

"It's a good thing that I've been studying the Book of Changes ever since I came back from the Jingjue Ancient City."

"I even read about the Suspended Soul Staircase in that old man's 'Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique'!"

Hu Bayi patted his head in annoyance.

"That's right, this Suspended Soul Staircase is based on the I Ching." "It uses the changes in elevation and height to make people circle around in a closed loop with special reference points."

"Furthermore, the steps are coated with a light-absorbing secret material, which limits one's vision to a limited range, making it difficult to perceive the mystery within."

Hu Ming nodded and said softly.

After realizing that this was a trap, the group sat on the stone steps, drank some water, and rested.

"I remember now!"

"I once handled an ancient book filled with all sorts of secret techniques and mechanisms, including this Suspended Soul Ladder!"

Big Gold Tooth also remembered that the "Suspended Soul Staircase" mentioned in the book was exactly what they were in now.

"After that, was there any explanation on how to crack it?"
"I'm not interested in this, so I'll just sell it!"

"Then you've done nothing at all! You only described this broken ladder! You didn't explain how to break through the mechanism!" the fat man shouted helplessly.

Hu Bayi glanced helplessly at the fat man and said, "Have you forgotten that I just said that this Suspended Soul Staircase is a mechanism deduced from the Book of Changes?"

"Oh, so what?" The fat man scratched his head, looking at Hu Bayi, not understanding why he said that.

Big Gold Tooth exclaimed excitedly, "Master Hu, you mean we need to find a way to break this mechanism from the Book of Changes? I remember you and Master Ming both know the Book of Changes!"

Hu Bayi glanced at Hu Ming, who was staring at the crescent-shaped mark on the steps, and nodded, saying, "Mingzi and I both know a little bit about it. We'll see if we can break it in a bit."

"Ah... I think I know how to get out now," Hu Ming said with a smile, throwing away his cigarette butt and standing up.

I've had my cigarette and rested enough; it's time to go out.

"Come on, follow me!"

"The path to survival is not ahead, but right beneath our feet."

"I just walked through it once and noticed that there are a total of 384 stone steps here," Hu Ming explained as he walked, counting the steps under his feet.

Hu Bayi nodded upon hearing this and said, "Three hundred and eighty-four... that's the number of the Eight Trigrams!"

"That's right! Taiji generates Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang generate the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols generate the Eight Trigrams."

"These eight trigrams interact, forming sixty-four hexagrams, each with six lines, totaling three hundred and eighty-four lines!"

"It corresponds perfectly to these 384 stone steps, and each step has subtle changes in light and darkness, with darker colors representing yang and lighter colors representing yin."

Hu Ming explained in detail: "Starting from the crescent moon symbol, each of these 384 steps represents a hexagram."

"Once we find the correct hexagram, we can get out."

"Mingzi, could this be a hexagram that alludes to our current predicament, the 'Kun' hexagram?"

"The ninth line of the fifth hexagram of the Kun hexagram represents the ninety-fifth step."

"The hexagram 'Kun' is composed of the trigrams Dui (☱) above and Kan (☵) below. The fifth line is a yang line. If the yang line changes to a yin line, the hexagram 'Kun' will become the hexagram 'Jie' (☵)!"

As Hu Ming explained, Hu Bayi became increasingly excited, sensing that the opportunity to break through the mechanism was not far off.

At this point, they had reached the ninety-fifth step.

“But Mingzi, if you count back three steps from here, you'll reach the Hexagram Cui, which also signifies survival.”

Upon reaching this point, Hu Bayi carefully counted the nearby steps and couldn't help but say with concern.

"No, it's the Kun hexagram!"

“My intuition tells me that the Kun hexagram is our way out!” Hu Ming grinned.

Upon reaching the steps that represented the "Kun" hexagram, Hu Ming had the urge to jump. His intuition, which always led him to success, told him that this was the way out!
Before Hu Bayi and the others could react, Hu Ming had already jumped down!
"Mingzi!" "Mingye!"

The three gasped in surprise; the jump was so sudden that they hadn't had time to react at all.

If something goes wrong here, there's a bottomless abyss below; jumping in would mean certain death!
"No, why didn't Master Ming hesitate for a second before jumping down?"

Big Gold Tooth stared blankly at the pitch-black space below, unable to come to his senses.

"Stop dawdling, come down! The way out is down there!" Hu Ming's eerie voice came from the darkness.

I've revised Chapter 114.

I think it's better to write it following the scenes in the TV series. Otherwise, I'll have to come up with my own ideas on how to solve the puzzle, which feels exhausting.

I've been so busy lately, so most of what I've written is pretty much like a TV drama, and I'm too lazy to revise it.

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(End of this chapter)