Ancient tomb excavation traces

(Thanks to reader Bai Qingzhu for the 5888+100 reward. The programmer will continue to work hard to cultivate the land.)

A mysterious aura pulled me, transforming into a woman's whisper in my ear. Though I couldn't make out the exact words, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I listened, mesmerized. The spiky barbs of poisonous insects protruded from my skin, like the sea urchins I ate with Xue Wei in Qingdao. I reached out and forgot that I had trypophobia.

The light filtering through the cracks gradually became clearer, radiating a fiery agate hue. The outer layer protecting the thorns was a multicolored wall, warm to the touch, like a woman's skin. In a daze, I even heard a sound like a heartbeat, transmitted through my palms to my brain, thump... thump... beating very steadily.

Slowly... a feeling of floating rose in my body, and even the wounds stopped torturing me.

The pain lessened, and I stared blankly at the poisonous blister on the back of my hand. Strangely, it was gone. After my hand touched the colorful wall at the center of the thorny spot, the terrifying poisonous insects didn't attack me. Instead, they circled my hand and then returned to the crevice, as if everything had just been a dream. I slowly pulled myself out of my trance.

When I came to my senses, I heard Chu Ba and Bao Cai calling out urgently. I thought I had just fallen into a demonic state again, but the comfortable feeling in my body didn't seem fake.

I answered them, saying I'd been a little distracted. Looking up, I saw Chuba, who had been avoiding the thorns, had now crawled to the crevice and was lying there watching me. I asked him if he'd killed all the poisonous insects, and he said anxiously, "They all went towards you!"

When I heard that, I was startled. Looking at the crevice wall, it really was! The two small teams gathered together, like a small black undercurrent, approaching me. I was about to dodge when I saw them orderly enter the crevice, treating me as if I were invisible.

Upon seeing this, Chu Ba was completely bewildered, muttering to himself, "Is this little worm blind, or what?"

I was also puzzled, wondering if it was because I was already poisoned that these thorns didn't bother to finish me off? As I thought this, I looked at the multicolored wall that was emitting a faint glow, and a thought flashed through my mind. I realized that it might be the reason, so I said to Chu Ba, "I heard a very gentle female voice here just now, and it seemed like there was something extraordinary inside."

Upon hearing this, Bao Cai shouted sarcastically from below, "Young master, are you bewitched by the stings? If you hear a girl's voice in a place like this, it's probably a ghost!"

I lowered my head and replied, "Go to hell! If it's true, look at it from a different angle. It's that dry area you just touched..." After saying that, I turned to the side, trying not to block Bao Cai and Chu Ba's view.

Bao Cai frowned and said, "It's too far away, I can't see clearly..."

This time, Chu Ba, who was closer to me, noticed it. He said, "There really is! It looks like something is glowing!"

Having received confirmation, Bao Cai adjusted his position and eagerly asked, "Young Master, what exactly is it?"

Seeing Bao Cai's anxious state, as if he were about to sprout wings and fly up, I patiently described what I had seen and felt. Upon hearing this, Bao Cai was delighted and asked, "Is the poison packet in your hand really gone?"

I nodded and told him that even the illusory energy in my body had disappeared. Upon hearing this, Bao Cai couldn't contain himself any longer and clamored to come up. I climbed up to make room for him. When we got up, Chu Ba helped me out. Seeing that the poison packet in my hand was gone, he exclaimed in amazement, "This...this is too amazing!"

I said, "I also find it strange. Anyway, as soon as I touch that wall, I feel refreshed, and even the weight and pain are reduced... I wonder what is inside that has such an effect..."

Hearing this, Chu Ba couldn't wait to go down and experience it for himself. Meanwhile, Bao Cai below was as excited as if he'd been injected with adrenaline. He reached the colorful wall, placed his hand on it, and carefully examined it to see if there was anything there. He completely forgot about being pricked by the thorns, pressing his face against the wall and peering into the cracks. What he saw! He exclaimed, "Wow! The thing inside looks like moonstone, with five-colored iridescence, the color like Warring States red! What is this? Is it some kind of cave crystal?" Bao Cai guessed, then quickly dismissed his guess: "No, the color and transparency are like a gemstone under light..."

He asked himself the question, but the eighth day interrupted him, saying, "Could it be some kind of evil thing?"

Bao Cai's enthusiasm was abruptly dashed, and he said irritably, "How could something so beautiful be an evil thing..."

Chu Ba said, "You know what... the more beautiful something is, the more deadly it can be. Once, the chief and I went into a pit and found a white jade flute. It was carved with several plum blossoms, and it was very exquisite. My fifth brother thought it was a good piece of material and took it. But not long after, we heard a mournful and lingering melody. It was a famous old song for sending off the dead. The chief thought it was evil and told my fifth brother to put it back. But my fifth brother seemed to be under the spell of the jade flute and wouldn't let go..." As he said this, a trace of sadness appeared on Chu Ba's face. Looking at his expression, you didn't need to say anything to know the outcome.

But Bao Cai, oblivious to the situation, insisted on asking. Chu Ba sighed and said, "He committed suicide... From that time on, the chief of the pit ordered that the rarer the items in the pit, the less desirable they were. He feared that these items were treasured by the local deities and that taking them away would bring retribution..."

Upon hearing the mention of the eighth day, Bao Cai swallowed hard and said, "Eighth Master, don't scare me. I've been in danger every time I've entered this underground place. I haven't gotten any treasures, and I even lost the only jade bottle I managed to take. I have to get the treasures inside no matter what." As he spoke, he looked inside again and saw that he had indeed been tricked.

Seeing how audacious Bao Cai was, I advised him, "Listen to Eighth Master, what if it's some kind of evil thing? We'll be done for."

Without looking up, Bao Cai retorted, "This thing cured our poison, how could it be something evil? I think we should carry it with us; it might come in handy later." As he spoke, he took out a Mongolian knife from his leather pouch.

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me, saying, "You must not take anything from inside, and you must not be greedy for it..."

Hearing the voice, I was startled. When I turned around, he was standing behind me, his white clothes stained with blood, the front of his shirt torn as if by claws. On the claw marks was a piece of crimson ancient jade, engraved with Taoist patterns, with a black impurity mixed in inside. Upon closer inspection, the impurity was moving like smoke.

I looked up at him in disbelief, and he smiled slightly at me. With this living, breathing person right in front of me, I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, stunned. In fact, at this moment, my heart was surging. I was so excited by this miracle that appeared out of despair that I couldn't speak. Only my dry throat and trembling lips longed to call out his name.

Chu Ba stood up, surprised to see him. After regaining his composure, he laughed and said, "Little Celestial Master, Little Liu Zi was just saying he was going to collect your corpse!"

Upon hearing this, the young Taoist priest walked to my side and said, "I'm late..." Then he said to Bao Cai below, "According to the theory of feng shui, all mountains and rivers are living things. This burial site is the maternal mountain, which is gentle in nature. What Brother Liu touched should be the Five-Colored Exquisite Heart. It absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and can sense your good intentions and evil thoughts. If you are greedy for it, you will be punished."

"The Five-Colored Exquisite Heart!" Upon hearing this, Chu Ba exclaimed in surprise, "I've heard the Chief Commander mention it before; this Exquisite Heart is a priceless treasure..."

The young Taoist priest nodded. Just then, Bao Cai heard that an old friend had come. He didn't care about his own feelings and climbed up the crevice like a monkey, grabbing the young Taoist priest.

The young Taoist priest was taken aback by the man's reaction. Bao Cai, his voice trembling, exclaimed with exaggerated emotion, "Half-Immortal, I, Liu Bao Cai, have truly prayed to all the Bodhisattvas, hoping you could escape safely, and you really did come out! It's truly the Bodhisattvas' blessing, their blessing!" As he spoke, Bao Cai clasped his hands together, bowing east and west, appearing extremely devout.

In fact, I could understand his feelings at that moment. The joy of getting something back was so intense that it brought tears to my eyes. I clenched my fist and tapped the young Taoist priest on the chest. He smiled faintly at me and said, "It's alright, you don't need to collect my body anymore."

Then the four of us gathered together, and the young Taoist priest explained to us the origin and wonder of the Five-Colored Exquisite Heart.

He said that people live when their energy gathers and die when their energy disperses, and the same applies to mountains and rivers... The Linglong Heart is formed by the condensation and mutual generation of the energy of water, fire, mountains, rocks, and earth. It absorbs the essence of the sun and moon and is a spiritual entity. It is the essence of the entire burial site. If one of the five colors we just saw is too much or too little, then the entire energy will lose its balance.

Furthermore, the young Taoist priest had traveled extensively and seen many auspicious burial sites, but none possessed this five-colored exquisite heart. In other words, the underground tomb we were currently in was extremely rare. According to the young Taoist priest, the essence condensed within this exquisite heart restrained the evil forces underground, bringing it into relative balance.

After hearing his description of the Five-Colored Exquisite Heart, I thought to myself, "Such a thing actually exists in this world." Could it be that the woman's voice I heard just now also came from this? If that's the case, then it's incredibly strange. This exquisite heart is communicating with me; it's like a gentle angel. Thinking this, I also attributed the whirlpool created by the Netherworld Dead Water to its effect.

At this point, showing great interest in insects, Bao Cai asked the young Taoist priest, "Then why did the thorns stop attacking us?"

The young Taoist smiled slightly and said, "The thorns are actually a kind of spiritual poisonous insect. In the tribes of the Western Regions, they are a symbol of unity and loyalty, and are revered and worshipped as totems. I guess the reason they protect the Linglong Heart is because it provides them with a dry environment to survive. And as they live together, over time, they understand each other's feelings... As I just said, the Linglong Heart can sense good and evil, and when it knew that you would not pose a threat to it, it gave the thorns a hint."

"So, if I had tried everything to get the Linglong Heart just now, the poisonous insects would have attacked me again?" Bao Cai asked.

The young Taoist smiled without saying a word, but at that moment I seemed to sense something. The so-called Linglong must be intelligent. It knew that I had no ill intentions towards it, so it gave Ci Liao the information, causing them to retreat into the gap early. The young Taoist was also an extremely thoughtful person. He had seen through these natural constraints and repayments of kindness, whether it was based on his speculation or was just that.