Ancient tomb excavation traces

I thought to myself, why is this guy going off on such a tangent? But looking at his eyes full of longing, I figured the Second Master Qin I heard about when I was a kid must be quite something. Otherwise, with Chen Tiao's fearless personality, who could he possibly submit to? As for the ancestor's serious attitude towards doing things, I had absolutely no interest in him. After all, a storm is not for someone like me to watch. He is my ancestor, and I actually hoped he would be kind and gentle to me. Just imagining my ancestor disciplining his son sent chills down my spine.

However, speaking of the "Nine Yin Sect," the clan Chen Tianzhou's ancestor belonged to, it was said to be like a secret service organization, extremely secretive. If Chen Tianzhou really wanted to meet him, it would probably be quite difficult. Although Chen Tianzhou and my ancestor Feng Xie were from different sects, my grandfather said that they admired each other, so my family and the Chen family had been on good terms for generations. If we followed my ancestor and joined Cao Cao's forces, I believe that one day we would meet the renowned General of the Excavation Sect—Chen Tianzhou. But once we truly entered the treacherous world of the Eastern Han Dynasty, could we adapt and remain safe?

Chen Yi understood this perfectly. He said, "The ancient tomb is incredibly mysterious. Who knows, while we were wandering around here, we might have returned to the modern world. Let's just consider this trip a time-consuming sleepwalking experience. As long as the brothers are all here, what's wrong with experiencing a different kind of life? It's a good thing for men to shed their blood and sweat, like cupping therapy. After the pain, you feel better. After all, heroes often emerge from the dead. Who knows, maybe we insignificant people can still make a name for ourselves and go down in history?"

Bao Cai had absolutely no interest in such life-or-death matters. He sarcastically remarked, "What we're doing is shady stuff. To be remembered in history would only tarnish our own reputations. Let's be realistic, take some valuables home, marry a beautiful wife, and have a few healthy kids—that's a fulfilling life. And stop talking about your ancestors all the time, are you just showing off? You two think you're the only ones with anything to rely on? I have no father or mother to love me in this era. Don't you even consider my feelings?" As he spoke, Bao Cai pulled a silk pouch around his neck. Since he had lost both sleeves while fighting the Spirit Serpent, he was now wearing a sleeveless coarse cloth garment, which made me chuckle.

Chen Yi looked at the funerary object that he had chosen and said, "You little rascal, you have some taste. This is a braided embroidered silk with a purple phoenix and a fish tail. The embroidery is superb, and there are lines of text on it. It has historical research value when taken back to modern times. But you're just wasting it by hanging it up like a 'burning the zither and boiling the crane' (a metaphor for ruining something precious). It's such a waste."

When Bao Cai saw that Chen Tiao was eyeing his silk pouch, he immediately moved it behind his back. At that moment, he heard a soft sound of jade clinking together. Chen Tiao saw that there was still something inside. Ignoring Bao Cai's resistance, he pushed and pulled it out. It was a long string of jade bracelets. If this one item were separated, it could be used as several pieces. It was a wonder that this money-grubber was able to find the flaw by following his ancestor's words.

I couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking to myself that if the ancestor really took the treasure into the house, he would be in for a lot of trouble in the future. This guy was undisciplined and unruly, the kind of person who would jump into boiling oil or climb the sun for gold and silver. Those two funerary objects were rules that he absolutely had to break.

Casual conversation aside, the most important thing right now is to cure Chen Tiao and the ancestor of poisoning. The young Taoist priest didn't go into the east wing room; he and the Miao girl were studying the sacrificial site, trying to find a breakthrough and a way to reach the bronze dome.

After watching over the eighth day for a while, the old ancestor said to the two of them, "You two think about it, I'll see if there's anything strange about the top..."

The two nodded, and then they saw the ancestor leap up, kick the coffin with one foot, and soar into the air. When he was still some distance away, he threw the red copper knife along with its leather sheath. It was clear that he used a clever technique, and the red copper knife hilt struck the bronze wall accurately, making a hollow sound.

Having received confirmation, the ancestor did a somersault in mid-air, landed steadily, caught the falling red copper, and tucked it back into his waistband, saying, "As the little celestial master saw, there are indeed mysteries above, but this round trip is not easy..."

Bao Cai and I stood at the door of the east room, watching our ancestor leap up and down, both of us dumbfounded. After all, the bronze dome was about six meters above us. To be able to jump that high without any tools was truly admirable.

The young Taoist priest said, "I just searched every nook and cranny of the main coffin and found nothing unusual. However, I noticed that the Four-Eyed God had an iron chain running down his back, which seems to hold some secret. The chain runs underground, so I wonder if we could pull the chain up from underground..."

Upon hearing this, I felt a chill run down my spine. I walked up to him and said, "Pull up the chains below, and the antlers that the shaman is supporting will tip over, and this person will be in a prostrate, kneeling position..."

The young Taoist priest nodded and said, "I thought about it for a long time before I realized something. There are clues to connect them."

The old man stood with his hands clasped in front of his chest, full of curiosity.

The young Taoist priest said, "When we entered the main coffin chamber earlier, we smelled a strong odor of alcohol, which means that the living people often performed sacrifices for Princess Chu here. Some parts of these two iron chains are very smooth, but the parts where they pierce through the collarbone are relatively rough..."

Upon hearing this, I suddenly realized that all cases and mysteries in the world have clues. Nothing is ever truly flawless; as long as you look carefully, you will find something. The smooth iron chain reminded me of when I visited Kumbum Monastery and saw pilgrims prostrating themselves before the Buddha. Over the years, they had worn the floor so smooth that it was even shinier than polished and waxed surfaces.

The young Taoist priest said, "The furnishings and various patterns inside the tomb are a true reflection of the tomb owner. As for Sima Yan, he believed Mi Ling to be a goddess, so he would surely create a sacred scene of worship after her death. Suppose the four-eyed goddess is fixed in place by iron chains, and the living people in the cave come to worship her every day, holding onto the iron chains with their hands. Over hundreds of years, the iron chains will naturally become as bright and new as ever."

Upon hearing his words, the patriarch flattered him, saying, "Little Celestial Master's analysis is reasonable. Our Tomb Raider Sect is in dire need of someone as meticulous as you who understands the mysteries of heaven and earth. If you don't mind..." Before the patriarch could finish speaking, the young Taoist walked behind the shaman as if he hadn't heard him and tugged at the chain, but the chain didn't budge, as if it had been pulled to its limit.

The old ancestor, having been rebuffed, walked to the other side of the young Taoist priest and said to me and Chen Yi, "You two lads, you have no sense of propriety. Roll up your sleeves and get busy pulling together."

Chen Yi and I realized what was happening and walked to the front of the ancestor and the young Taoist priest. We thought that since the iron chain was so difficult to pull, it was probably like the seat belt in our car. If you pulled it suddenly, it would get stuck. If you pulled it slowly, it might be able to move. After thinking about this, I said my idea. The four of us were in a tug-of-war position. When Bao Cai saw this, he said, "Then what should I do?"

Chen Yi said, "You're no use to me, you skinny monkey. You can just stand on the sidelines and cheer me on."

Hearing Chen Yi's words, the breath I had been holding in vanished. After regaining my composure, the four of us pressed on, proceeding step by step. Suddenly, with a "crackling" sound, the circular dome enveloping the Seven Stars burst open. The shaman behind us had already prostrated himself. Lan Quexi, perhaps having damaged the deer antlers, took them from the shaman's stiff hands. Seeing that it had worked, we bared our teeth and pulled, and this time the entire circular bronze dome opened up. Strangely, a beam of silvery-white light shone down from above. I hadn't seen such natural and gentle light in a long time, and I was immediately thrilled. We went down to the bottom of the dome with the young Taoist priest. It was deep and eerily silent. Apart from that beam of light, everything else was unclear, and we couldn't see the coffin either. The only thing we were certain of was that the source of the light was very far away from us.

"Is that light some kind of exit from the cave?" Bao Cai asked.

"What kind of opening is that? It's so high up, like a hole punched in the roof. Who could climb up there?" Chen Yi replied.

At this moment, the ancestor took off the cloth wrapped around his waist and said, "You lot, since you've come to dig graves, don't throw away your livelihood (tools)." After speaking, he squatted down, lifted the cloth, and inside were two grave-digging tools wrapped in cloth, and a long rope with a grappling hook at the top. The ancestor said, "This is high-quality steel from the Western Regions, very sturdy." As he spoke, he twirled the grappling hook like a pirate, then threw it upwards, and the hook landed precisely on the grooved part.

We got up there relatively easily, but Chuba had his yang energy drained, leaving him completely dazed. Chen Yi tied a knot for him, and with the help of the ancestor and the young Taoist priest, they pulled him up. Chen Yi was the last to come up; because he was fat and couldn't stand the swaying of the rope, it took him a little longer.