Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 330 Guardian

"Heaven, Earth, Man; Gods, Man, Ghosts..."

"Yes, I have seen tombs with this structure in ancient books, but this structure is very rare."

“Few people go to great lengths to build such a mausoleum, especially since it has very demanding requirements for the terrain.”

"But this place...indeed, the natural terrain is extremely suitable for building this kind of three-tiered mausoleum. With Wang Zanghai's wisdom, he certainly wouldn't let go of such a natural treasure!"

After firing another flare, Wu Xie carefully observed his surroundings and suddenly realized something.

"However, Uncle Ming, doing it this way would make the entire mausoleum an extremely massive project."

"Dongxia is ultimately just a small border country. Even if the entire nation were to build this mausoleum, it would probably take several generations to complete."

"But Wang Zanghai..."

At this point, Wu Xie suddenly became a little insecure.

It is known that the intelligence he obtained from the underwater tomb indicated that this place was built under the supervision of Wang Zanghai.

If that's the case, the timing doesn't match at all!
"Wang Zanghai was indeed involved in this massive project, but was it Wang Zanghai who oversaw its construction?"

"That statement is not entirely accurate. To be precise, Wang Zanghai was merely captured by the King of Wannu to renovate this mausoleum."

"As for when this tomb was built and how long it took, nephew, isn't that exactly what you studied in college? Go find the answers yourself!"

Hu Ming patted Wu Xie on the shoulder and said.

Hu Ming knew the situation here.

This mausoleum was probably built thousands of years ago when the Dongxia people broke away from the Western Queen Mother's Kingdom.

After all, there was only one King Wannu from beginning to end.

They did not need more tombs as resting places for the Wannu King before his "reincarnation".

Moreover, this mausoleum may well have served as a guardian of the bronze gate.

Hu Ming knew all this, but...

Hu Ming simply wouldn't say it.

Sometimes, it's quite amusing to see others scratching their heads in frustration.

"...Hiss, Mr. Ming, you weren't like this before!"

"You obviously know the trick to this game. I think you're just keeping us in suspense, hoping to see our frustrated expressions, right?"

Panzi grinned bitterly, revealing Hu Ming's perverse thoughts.

"Who knows..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Hu Ming stopped arguing and took out his climbing rope to begin preparations.

The imperial tombs were originally located in an underground volcanic basin, but now they are situated on a protruding cliff face.

The drop is over 100 meters, and it's impossible to get down without the help of climbing ropes.

"Leave everything useless behind, let's travel light!"

Chen Pi gave instructions to his subordinates.

Among everyone's luggage was a lot of equipment prepared for traveling on the glacier.

Now that we're here, these things are just a burden.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will return the same way they came, and then they can pick it up again.

Of course, that depends on everything going smoothly!
For safety reasons, everyone wore gas masks and used standard mountaineering techniques, climbing down the cliff step by step with ropes. The landing spot below was a dead tree.

The entire volcanic basin was filled with an unpleasant odor that even gas masks could not completely filter out.

This is toxic sulfurous gas that filled this area during volcanic activity.

It can kill an entire underground forest, so you can imagine how potent its toxicity is.

Without gas masks, breathing in air containing sulfurous toxic gas would kill everyone except Hu Ming within a short time!
Ahead, Hu Ming and the fat man walked side by side, shining powerful searchlights to clear the way.

Yes, once in such an open area, Mr. Fat, the vanguard with his impressive physique, was resurrected!
Of course, Hu Ming knew perfectly well that while liking to be a pioneer was one reason, the main reason was that Fatty wanted to be the first to touch the funerary artifact!
Beneath our feet was a wide stone road paved with large stone slabs, leading straight ahead.

This is the Sacred Way, a path that leads straight to the gate of the imperial mausoleum. At the end of the path, the mausoleum, resembling a colossal black beast, stands there.

Since ancient times, the general structure of tombs has been fixed, and there are strict regulations on what should be built in what place.

Anyone who studies feng shui and burial practices cannot go against this principle.

This is why feng shui masters study ancient feng shui knowledge, and no one innovates.

Because it's completely unnecessary!
The art of geomancy, specifically the search for auspicious burial sites, is all about studying the knowledge of the ancients. What's the point of developing your own new theory?
After passing many dead trees that had collapsed on the sacred path, we soon arrived at a stone gate. The stone was very tall, somewhat like the archway in an ancient village.

This is the Heavenly Gate leading into the imperial mausoleum.

The so-called Tianmen was the place where the coffin bearers and funeral processions were massacred.

After the encoffining ceremony is completed, everyone who exits through this door will be cut with a knife, so this door is equivalent to the gate between Yin and Yang.

There are certain rules and customs surrounding this in the tomb raiding world.

Entering the tomb is one thing, but if you have to walk the spirit path when you come out, you have to walk backwards out of the Heavenly Gate.

This is to avoid offending evil spirits in the unseen world.

After passing through the Heavenly Gate, there are white stone figures and horses every five meters on both sides of the Sacred Way.

If it's a legitimate archaeological team, these things are of great research value.

But to Hu Ming and his group, these things were just a pile of broken stones and were worthless.

Suddenly, the fat man who was running in front of Hu Ming abruptly stopped.

Wu Xie, who was behind him, didn't react in time and bumped into him, falling to the ground.

"Damn it, what are you up to now, you fatso?" Wu Xie complained.

There looks like someone is standing by the roadside.

The fat man's face was a little pale as he spoke softly.

Upon closer inspection, the "person" the fat man had mentioned was still standing there, seemingly sizing up everyone.

That "person," well, how should I put it, had a rather peculiar appearance; it wasn't a normal human face at all.

Where is this? It's an imperial tomb! It's a burial site.

Upon encountering such a strange thing here, everyone's first reaction was that it was a ghost!
In an instant, everyone broke out in a cold sweat, pulled out their weapons, and looked warily at the "person".

"That's not a person, nor a ghost! It's the guardian of the Wan Nu King's imperial tomb!"

Shaking his head, Hu Ming explained softly.

As they were speaking, the thing suddenly flashed and drifted away silently into the distance like smoke.

(End of this chapter)