Ancient tomb excavation traces

After the pain subsided, Chen Yi returned to the fray, intending to buy the young Taoist some time. At this moment, the young Taoist retreated to my side. I looked at the patterns on the bronze wall; I had previously thought they were just decorations, but the young Taoist said they were the key to the exit.

Upon hearing this, I examined the bronze wall closely and saw a large circular circle composed of coiled dragon patterns. This circle encircled nine neatly arranged holes on the wall, and inside the circle were four intersecting straight lines, forming a "米" (rice) shape, like the nine palaces on a chessboard.

In ancient times, many patterns had their own specific meanings. For example, the Panchi, a hornless serpentine monster belonging to the dragon family, symbolized power and bravery and was often seen on military flags. However, another interpretation is that the Panchi was actually a symbol of female nobility. Its appearance in the west chamber of this ancient tomb is quite normal, but after the young Taoist priest pointed it out, I felt that the pattern it formed was very strange.

"Does this pattern have any special meaning?" I looked at the young Taoist priest, wanting to find out.

The young Taoist priest said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Eight Gates Diagram."

"The Eight Gates Diagram?"

"Each line extending from the coiled dragon pattern represents the location of one of the eight gates. Except for the central hole, each of the other holes has its own corresponding line, and the exit we are looking for is in these eight holes."

"Can't we just pick one at random?" I asked urgently in a low voice, listening to the fighting behind me and Bao Cai's groans as he lay on the ground.

The young Taoist priest shook his head, his gaze deep, and said, "Among the eight gates, 'Open, Rest, and Life' are auspicious, but 'Death, Shock, and Injury' are inauspicious, while 'Block and View' are neutral. The Miao girl earlier told me that there are dangers behind this cave; some passages may be sealed, and some may contain traps and poisonous gas. Only by choosing the right one can we get out."

Hearing this, I suddenly felt like I was drawing lots for life or death. If we opened the death gate inside the hole, then the King of Hell would be waiting for us. However, given the current situation, there weren't many other options. Whether we cowered or bravely faced the consequences, it was all the same. Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance of escaping, we had to try. With that thought, I hurriedly asked the young Taoist priest, "What should we do now?"

The young Taoist priest looked up, his face earnest, and said, "Transform the bronze wall in front of you into a plane. The top of the plane is west, which corresponds to the seventh position of the eight gates, the 'Fright Pillar,' and you must not enter. The southwest is the second position of the 'Kun,' the 'Death Pillar,' a very ominous sign. There must be something terrible inside, but the 'Death Gate' is opposite to 'Life'..." As he spoke, he walked towards the northeast five o'clock position on the bronze wall, which was the bottom right corner of the nine holes.

"It is a life-or-death responsibility..." he murmured to himself, then stepped into the hole, twirled the bronze sword, and tapped it with the hilt. At that moment, a hollow echo came from behind the bronze hole.

Hearing this sound, I was overjoyed, as if I had seen hope in the darkness. Just as I was about to verify it myself, the young Taoist stopped me. To be on the safe side, he also checked the hole in the due east direction, where a muffled sound came from, as if something was blocking it.

He turned and glanced at me silently, confirming his judgment was correct, and then we began searching for the mechanism. However, the space was vast and high, making it extremely difficult to find the intricately designed mechanism. Furthermore, the constant attacks from the corpse cocoons hampered our progress.

"Have you found it?" At this moment, Chen Yi couldn't hold on any longer. He shouted urgently, his body covered in blood.

Seeing him risk his life, I was extremely anxious, but the more anxious I became, the more agitated I became, and the more agitated I became, the less I could concentrate on doing things. At this moment, the young Taoist remained unmoved, staring intently at the names on the bronze wall. I walked up to him, and his eyes lit up. Suddenly, he said, "I see."

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly asked him what he had discovered. He replied with a hint of excitement, "The names of these people."

Hearing him mention the name gave me a headache. The characters from the Warring States period were incredibly complex; I had no idea how to recognize them, let alone decipher any clues. I finally admitted defeat, "This… I don't understand…"

The young Taoist priest touched the characters next to the hole in the Shengren Cave and said, "This person is named Qiu Kun. The person in the southwest position corresponding to the Death Gate is named Yong Gen. 'Gen' and 'Kun' represent life and death respectively. The person who designed this mechanism reversed them because they didn't want us to notice the mystery of the mechanism."

Upon hearing this, I suddenly realized: "You mean these names are related to the Eight Gates Diagram, and not just personal names?"

The young Taoist priest nodded and said, "In fact, these characters are not their real names, but rather the mechanism to open the door."

"What?" I was shocked to hear this. I thought to myself that the minds of the ancients were really too complicated. Not to mention that I don't understand this kind of thing, even if I did, it would take a lot of brain cells to figure it out.

Before I could think much about it, the young Taoist priest had already taken action. Using the coiled dragon patterns as leverage, he climbed up the bronze hole in the third row. His movements were very nimble. When he reached the eleven o'clock position, he suddenly released his hands, lightly touched the bronze wall with his toes, and pressed down the character "艮".

With a loud clatter, the bronze hole at the five o'clock position opened, and the young Taoist priest leaped down, landing steadily beside me. Before me lay a deep, dark passage. I heard a sinister, swirling wind, hissing, hollow, and chilling.

I shivered. The young Taoist priest looked at me, as if he shared my bad premonition. But we had no time, no other choice but to risk everything and escape.

Seeing the door open, Bao Cai excitedly shouted, "Holy crap, there's finally a way out..." As he shouted, Lao Tiao beside him said, "Damn it, don't get too excited," and then kicked open a cocoon of corpses.

In the midst of the fierce battle, they were surrounded and it seemed extremely difficult for them to escape. Seeing this, I was about to rush over when the young Taoist priest grabbed me and said, "You go first..."

"How could I possibly leave at a time like this!" I blurted out.

The young Taoist priest said calmly, "There's nothing you can do to help right now."

"What do you mean I can't help?" I was about to argue when the young Taoist priest leaped into the air, placed one foot on the bronze wall, and deftly took down an ever-burning lamp for me. He said without a trace of emotion, "Let this light your way. Remember, don't let it go out."

"But..." Before I could say anything more, the young Taoist priest brushed past me and turned to me, saying, "I'll cover you...you guys go quickly..." There was a clear hint of sorrow in his voice when he said this.

I was stunned for a moment, staring at the ever-burning lamp in my hand, and then I realized what he meant and shouted, "What do you mean!" But this time he didn't answer me; instead, he just turned his back on me.

"Damn it, what do they take me for!" I muttered to myself, and was about to step forward when Chen Yu, who was in the pile of corpse cocoons, cursed, "Get out of my way!" As soon as he finished speaking, Bao Cai suddenly stumbled out and knocked me down. I hissed in pain, feeling like my whole body was about to fall apart.

Bao Cai and I stood up, supporting our backs. By then, the Miao shaman was also out of trouble. She clutched the wound on her arm, walked up to me, and said, "Let's go. We're only getting in their way here..."

Faced with the chaotic scene before me and the young Taoist priest and Chen Tiao who had given us the opportunity to escape, I clenched my fists and stood there, stunned. The witch and Bao Cai urged me several times, but I didn't move. The situation reminded me of the scene I had seen earlier, a scene where only I, Bao Cai, and Chu Ba remained. If that was a real omen, then I had to force it once and for all to prevent it from happening.

Thinking about this, I suddenly calmed down. I looked at the strips of cloth that the corpse cocoon had broken free from on the ground and remembered the wine that our ancestors always carried with them. Besides bolstering courage, that wine could also ward off the cold in this gloomy ancient tomb. However, at times, it was used to save people.

Thinking of this, I immediately shouted to Chen Cui, "Old Cui, do you have any more wine?"

"What? Are you trying to send us off?" he shouted. Just then, an old corpse suddenly reached out and grabbed his already injured shoulder. Chen Yu screamed in pain, his face contorted. At this critical moment, the young Taoist priest behind him suddenly turned his knife hilt, and the bronze sword pierced the old corpse's chest with a "whoosh." Seeing this, Chen Yu quickly added a blow to the corpse's head.

However, before they could catch their breath, a new wave of corpses attacked them, like the tide that recedes only to crash back onto the shore.

"Damn it!" I cursed, and just as I was about to grab my knife, a wine sack flew towards me. The old man fighting among the corpses said, "Rogue! Bao Cai! If I'm really gone, remember to burn plenty of paper money for me, and use the best Du Kang wine to offer as a sacrifice!"

"Get lost!" I cursed, and said urgently to Bao Cai beside me, "Let's pick up the strips of cloth on the ground, and the Miao girl will cover me."

"What are you going to do?" Bao Cai asked, puzzled.

I said, word by word, "Set the corpse on fire!"

"What?" Before Bao Cai could react, I bent down, picked up the strips of cloth that the corpse cocoons had broken free from, and laid them horizontally to form a partition. Bao Cai quickly understood what I meant. He quickly gathered up the remaining strips of cloth, and I poured wine on them, saying, "This is our only chance to shake them off. If we're going to leave, we'll leave together. I don't want to leave anyone behind."

Bao Cai nodded and said, "Yes, the same number of people coming in, the same number of people leaving!"

I smiled slightly: "It's time to bring some warmth to this godforsaken place..." With that, I lit the cloth strip with a lighter, and a flame shot up instantly, reflected in our eyes, becoming a spark of hope.

The flames wouldn't last long, so I said to the young Taoist priest and Chen Yi, who were fighting desperately among the corpses, "Let's go!"

My shouts attracted the corpse cocoons, and they turned around. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the young Taoist priest and Chen Yi quickly passed through the pile of corpses. The flames burned brighter and brighter, and the corpses were terrified of fire. As soon as they stretched out their hands, they let out hissing sounds. This puzzled me greatly. They clearly felt nothing, so why were they in such pain?

Just as I was thinking this, two figures rushed out of the flames. I was overjoyed, and Chen Yi hugged me tightly, saying, "Liu Zi, you're awesome!"