Ancient tomb excavation traces

(Too lazy to split it into two chapters, so I'll just post it as one. Dear readers of "Tomb Raiding," please consider giving rewards, clicking, commenting, and recommending...)

After we came out of the earthenware urn passage, we arrived at a very small space. There was a faint fragrance in the space, a fragrance that seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had smelled it before.

To stay awake, Chen Yi rubbed some Tiger Balm on the tip of his nose, and while doing so, he couldn't help but joke, "I almost lost my life just now, and now there's still a light on all the time. It's like a welfare rest room prepared for us survivors."

Chu Ba and I laid Bao Cai, whom we had dragged out of the cave, flat. Bao Cai was making gurgling noises, as if he were being held down by a ghost, and he couldn't wake up no matter what we did.

After settling him in, I got up, looked at the small cave, and said to Chen Yi, "This place should be the safest place in this haunted tomb. There's nothing here. I guess Sima Yan was certain that anyone who entered the urn passage would die inside."

"Sima Yan, I'd completely forgotten about that old bastard..." Chen Yi took out some Tiger Balm and rubbed a little on Bao Cai's nose. Seeing that he still hadn't woken up, he patted his cheek. After a few pats, Bao Cai groggily woke up. Chen Yi helped him sit up and leaned him against the cave wall, then asked me, "Liu Zi, you just mentioned Sima Yan, did you think of something?"

I responded and told him that this idea was just personal speculation.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, I was asked to share my thoughts. After everyone considered my opinions, I nodded and told them my ideas about this deadly passage. I said that things might not be as simple as the silk scroll described; we had overlooked Sima Yan, the one who built this tomb. Normally, the silk scroll found in Sima Yan's son's tomb is about Mi Ling and Sima Yan himself, so the silk scroll should have been buried with Sima Yan in his tomb. It's impossible that his son, Sima Xun, took it to his own tomb after his death.

After saying this, Chen Yi stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then said, "Now that you mention it, I also have a question. I find the contents of that silk scroll very strange. What's strange is that Sima Yan is in love with Mi Ling, yet he is willing to be a gentleman. If I were in love with a woman, I would never just give her up and even help her with her willful revenge. There must be other reasons, but we have no idea what the answer to those reasons is."

I don't have much experience or insight into relationships, so it's hard for me to figure out what Sima Yan was thinking. But I would say that Sima Yan designed this ancient tomb; if he were a kind person, he wouldn't have designed a tomb that was so ominous.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, he agreed with my opinion, saying that he had visited many tombs of all sizes, and this one was indeed quite complex.

So I asked the young Taoist priest who had been listening nearby about the life of Sima Yan that he had heard from him.

The young Taoist priest said, "Sima Yan is a legend. Many people regard him as a saint, and this title remains to this day. But as for what happened to him afterward, no one knows. He was a wandering hermit who didn't care much for his family. I only heard that his body was not buried with his family. That's a mystery, and this mystery has been mythologized by the people..."

Listening to our analysis, Lan Quexi also raised a question. As a witch, she was as sensitive to the supernatural as the young Taoist priest. She said, "Just now, I heard that little ghost say from behind that it was afraid here… Generally, vengeful spirits like that shouldn't be afraid of anything…"

I've heard that before, and I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I think about it, it's true. That girl said she was scared here, but logically speaking, since it's all ghosts, what could she be afraid of? I just don't understand...

Bao Cai snapped out of his daze and said weakly, "They're just children. They're probably scared because they're thinking about how they died, and they want to escape as quickly as possible..."

The young Taoist priest frowned and said, "Perhaps Miss Lan is right... they are afraid of something. And what Brother Liu said, that their memories are stuck on the scene of their death, that's probably true too. Otherwise, they wouldn't have attacked us when we first entered their acupoints. But when their consciousness began to clear, they were eager to leave, which means things aren't as simple as we think. Perhaps some more malevolent energy is suppressing these little devils, an aura even stronger than the Five-Colored Exquisite Heart!"

My heart pounded with unease. When it came to evil spirits, I'd always thought only Mi Ling possessed them. But thinking about it carefully, she had repented; she wouldn't have died so cruelly. After all, she chose a burial site with a five-colored exquisite heart before she died. But besides her, what else could suppress these vengeful spirits? I kept affirming and denying Mi Ling's ferocity, thinking and thinking, until I was almost frantic. This whole affair was almost more bizarre than the ancient tomb itself, and we weren't really here to raid a tomb; we were more like archaeologists.

At this moment, Bao Cai, who was sitting on the ground, said casually, "Look at what you're saying, making it sound so mystical. If you ask me, this is just like Xiaoqian in 'A Chinese Ghost Story,' wasn't she controlled by the thousand-year-old tree demon after she died...?"

"A Chinese Ghost Story?" The young Taoist priest was puzzled.

Chu Ba asked in confusion, "Who is Xiaoqian?"

Seeing their puzzled looks, I slapped my forehead in embarrassment. This was the generation gap that had been bridged for over a thousand years. I had told Bao Cai to try not to talk about modern things to avoid confusing the young Taoist priests, but he just couldn't control his mouth.

Seeing this, Chen Yi was about to scold him again. I felt a chill and suddenly remembered something, so I quickly said, "Wait..."

Everyone looked at me. I raised my head and said seriously, "Perhaps Bao Cai is right. You think Mi Ling was revered as a goddess in life? She must have been extraordinary even after death. Just look at how much the King of Chu worshipped her. Besides, the Ancestor... no, Feng Piaoba Zi once said that the hatred of the Chu witches has been controlling these vengeful spirits, so these children, like the outer skeletons, cannot be freed..."

"Since the boss said that, it's probably pretty much true," Chu Ba added from the side.

"So what do we do now? We can't just sit here and be bookworms who only read books and don't practice. In my opinion, we should go into the tomb of the Chu princess no matter what. If she really is an evil spirit, we don't care what she does. We should have the little celestial master perform a ritual for her. Then she won't be able to be fierce even if she wants to!" Seeing Chen Tiao's anxious appearance, he was obviously unable to contain himself. After all, what we were in front of was the authentic western chamber of an ancient tomb. Although the burial objects inside might be some daily necessities, for Chen Tiao, who loved antiquities, it was like entering a celestial palace.

Bao Cai was already awake, and not wanting to waste any more time, we got up and stared at the bronze wall before us, trying to find a breakthrough. This time, I noticed that the patterns depicted weren't the prayer rituals often used in ancient tombs, but rather floral totems. Upon closer inspection, these flowers were the same Death Flowers we had seen in the Labyrinth. As Lan Quexi had said, the Death Flowers weren't cultivated by the Miao people. Now, seeing them on the bronze wall, I suddenly realized that those flowers might have been rooted in this land for hundreds of years. Flowers that are hundreds of years old are like trees that are thousands of years old; according to old sayings, they possess a spirit. But for flowers to exist for so long, it truly can only mean that the feng shui here is exceptionally good.

The Death Flower was used to deter tomb raiders, bewitching their minds and causing them to self-harm; it was a flower of demonic nature. Now, this malevolent creature appears as a totem on a bronze wall, which terrifies me. Ancient art often blended with the culture and beliefs of the time, meaning that those flowers may have been brought here by Sima Yan.

I was secretly alarmed. Sima Yan had done everything possible to ensure Mi Ling's safety. If everything was as I suspected, then his love for this Chu princess had reached a point of madness. It was like looking at a calm lake surface, but actually concealing a huge undercurrent.

Just as I was thinking this, Chu Ba, as if bewitched by something, stretched out his hand and walked to the bronze wall in a daze, about to touch a round death flower totem.

I called him twice, but he seemed not to hear me. I had a bad feeling and thought to myself: Could it be that the real Death Flower bewitches the mind, and the totem Death Flower can also control people? Before I could react, the little Taoist priest grabbed Chu Ba's hand. Chu Ba was like a sleepwalker who was suddenly awakened, and his whole body began to convulse.

He was shouting wildly and acting strangely. When Lan Quexi saw this, she quickly had Chen Yu and me grab his arms, while she reached out and pinched his philtrum.

This method worked. Chu Ba's body slowly softened like mud. He wasn't tall, but because he had no willpower to control him, he was very heavy and pulled me and Chen Yi down to squat down as well.

It happened so suddenly. We laid him flat on the ground, and he woke up shortly after. He looked at us in confusion and asked, "What happened?"

The young Taoist priest replied calmly, "You're possessed..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ba exclaimed in surprise, "Ah... how is that possible..." As he spoke, a sharp pain shot through his head, as if he had remembered something. He said, "Wait, wait..." He kept recalling, "I think I just heard someone telling me, 'Here, here...'" He wiped the sweat from his brow as he spoke, "It sounded like it was a woman..."

Upon hearing this, the young Taoist priest and I exchanged a glance and tacitly walked to the front of the bronze wall. Chu Ba, having recovered by now, also approached to examine it closely. There were a total of six circular totems on the bronze wall, arranged in two rows. The totems in the middle row included flowers and the purple phoenix—the phoenix—that the young Taoist priest had mentioned.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, I reached out and touched the totem in the middle. At first glance, the totem seemed ordinary, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that the phoenix was holding a finely carved gourd in its beak, with a knot on it symbolizing good fortune. I wondered if there was something strange about the gourd.

Just as he was about to step forward to investigate, Lan Quexi said, "Young Master Feng, do you remember what you asked me about the Death Flower earlier?"

I turned and nodded. She continued, "You said that the three of you were bewitched by the flower and almost harmed yourselves, but didn't you notice that the scent in this cave was exactly the same as that of the Death Flower?"

Upon hearing Lan Quexi's words, I realized with a start and quickly asked, "You mean there are death flowers here?"

Lan Quexi took a silver needle out of the bamboo jar, then inserted it into the mouth of the gourd. After taking it out, I noticed that there was a red powdery substance on it. She said, "This is powder made from the Death Flower. It doesn't incite suicidal thoughts like the flower itself, but it can bewitch people's minds..."

"Isn't that similar to some flowers that anesthetize nerves..." Bao Cai was very interested in this. He said, "But why was only Eighth Master affected, while we were unaffected?"

Lan Quexi said, "You all entered the maze at the beginning, but he didn't..."

"So it can even be immune." Bao Cai suddenly realized, then asked, "Then how come this fatso is alright? He didn't even enter the flower array..."

"Who are you calling a fatso?" Chen Yi asked, looking indignant. He was about to make things difficult for the sharp-tongued Bao Cai when he saw Lan Quexi looking at him. He quickly stopped, put on a smile, and adopted a flattering expression.

However, the Miao girl couldn't answer why he was alright.

At this moment, the young Taoist priest unexpectedly spoke up, "Could it be Brother Chen's potion, to refresh you?"

The medicine the young Taoist priest mentioned was Chen's medicated oil, which was indeed the best answer; it's amazing he could come up with that.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi said with a hint of smugness, "I knew this medicated oil was a treasure..."

I couldn't be bothered to listen to his boasting. I thought to myself that Sima Yan had designed every path to be deadly; he probably never imagined that we, who had entered the maze before, could get this far. But then again, we really owe it all to the little Taoist priest.

On the eighth day, he continued to examine the bronze wall. He said that since the person who designed this tomb was so meticulous that even this small cave was filled with bewitching poison powder, then there must have been a mechanism designed here to enter the west chamber.

After saying that, he walked around the small hole, tapping on the walls as he went. After drawing his conclusion, he said to us, "There shouldn't be any hidden arrows or anything like that."

I noticed he was staring intently at the gourd-shaped totem, as if he had noticed something. Just as I was about to ask, he placed his hand on it without hesitation.

Upon seeing this, Bao Cai exclaimed and told him to wait. Chu Ba turned around and smiled at him, saying, "Brother Liu, once you enter this pit, you're bound to take risks." After saying that, he pressed the entire circular totem down. With a clattering sound, the long-sealed west chamber wall actually started to move, and it felt like a guillotine was being raised and lowered.

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Just then, in that tense moment, Bao Cai, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly cried out, "There's someone inside! There's someone inside!"

When he called out to me, my heart skipped a beat. I wondered if Bao Cai had been possessed by an evil spirit again. But at that moment, the sensitive Chu Ba and the little Taoist priest quickly knelt down. When they stood up, the little Taoist priest looked grave. I was very uneasy and hurriedly asked what was wrong.

The young Taoist priest frowned and said, "It has legs, it's a living person..."

Chu Ba was also extremely surprised, saying, "They disappeared too quickly..."