From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Upon hearing that there were other poisonous creatures in the mountains, Hong was startled, but thinking of Jiang Liu's almost cloud-riding leaping ability, she believed that the three of them could deal with those harmful monsters that had become powerful.

only--

"Before leaving the ravine at the shoulder of the bottle, gray and red mirages emerged again, and we could not enter the tomb from that place."

"A demonic mirage? Indeed, it's troublesome."

That monstrous miraculous creature was not caused by the single Earth Dragon King during its cultivation. Only when millions or tens of millions of poisonous insects simultaneously spewed out poisonous mist could such an exaggerated commotion be caused.

Even now, having obtained the Golden Silkworm Gu ash with the special properties of the Great Gu Master, which can make poisonous insects drowsy when burned, it still cannot keep them clear-headed and unharmed from the poisonous fog for long within that demonic mirage.

"So where do you plan to enter from?" Lu Jin asked. "Besides the groove on the shoulder of the bottle, are there any other entrances?"

"Using the four methods of observation, listening, questioning, and palpation, we can confirm that there is more than one tomb in Ping Mountain. To enter it, we don't necessarily have to go down into that crevice."

Hong Guniang didn't hide anything and told Jiang Liu and his group that on their return, Chen Yulou had also discovered a tomb at the "Earth Gate" near the entrance of Ping Mountain. He planned to go and confirm it the next day, and then use the advantages of the Xieling lineage to complete the tomb raiding.

What are the advantages of the Unloading Ridge faction?

Although the Unloading Warriors are called "Warriors", in Li Muxuan's view, most of them are ordinary people. There are very few extraordinary people. The few who have obtained Qi are just starting out on the path of cultivation. They are only stronger than ordinary people. How could they possibly have the ability to move mountains and unload ridges?

"With a large number of people, it's naturally easier to cut through mountains, carve roads, dig the ground, and move soil."

There are four main categories of tomb raiders: Mojin Captains, Faqiu Tianguan, Xieling Lishi, and Banshan Daoren. Among them, Xieling Lishi are the most numerous, possess the most diverse skills, and their methods of tomb raiding are the simplest and most brutal: opening mountains, digging tunnels, and drilling underground.

With the advent of gunpowder and the ability to make it into explosives, the "mountain-opening" skills of the Unloading Warriors were given even greater expression.

In the past, when encountering underground palaces that were buried very deep and had very deep rock walls, if the Unloading Ridge Warriors were unwilling to give up, they could only spend time grinding them down. But with the advent of gunpowder, even rock walls that were more than ten meters thick could be blown through in a short time!

Many hands make light work.

The Unloading Warriors follow this path of "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".

In Jiang Liu's view, however, they had taken the wrong path. Despite their tendency to unite, they could have spent more time on the right path, but instead, they wanted to amass wealth in the shortest amount of time, exploiting others for personal gain, and thus strayed onto the wrong path, or even the evil one. It was truly a pity.

The situation of the Unloading Ridge Warriors is exactly the same as that of the Hermits of Wild Mao Mountain.

However, Jiang Liu wouldn't preach these grand principles to Chen Yulou. The other man wasn't someone like Zuo Ruotong, with whom he could truly have a calm and rational conversation. Talking to Chen Yulou like that would be like casting pearls before swine; he wouldn't listen to anyone's advice until he truly suffered a great loss in this area…

···

early morning.

As dawn broke in the east, the rising sun cast a golden glow, illuminating the distant Bottle Mountain and making it shine brilliantly. Coupled with the poisonous creatures spitting out monstrous miraculous creatures from the mountain, it was reflected in the water, making it resemble a dreamlike fairyland.

The bandits and warlords who had set up camp inside and outside the mortuary knew what kind of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts were hidden there, and they were terrified of them.

But the thought of digging up the tombs, collecting the artifacts, and getting money made their greed suppress their fear, driving them to follow Chen Yulou and Luo Laowai into the mountains again.

Having learned from yesterday's experience, Chen Yulou was much more vigilant and ordered his men to cut down and remove the bushes and haystacks along the way to create a wider road so that everyone could evacuate quickly and effectively if they encountered danger.

This shows that Chen Yulou, as the chief leader of Changsheng Mountain, is indeed qualified and considers the needs of the brothers in the mountain, unlike Luo Laowai who doesn't treat his subordinates like human beings.

Upon arriving at the entrance to Ping Mountain, at the circular stone gate naturally sculpted by feng shui, Chen Yulou, relying on his ability to observe mud marks and discern the color of grass, carefully surveyed the surrounding area and identified a relatively low pile of rubble. He determined that there was a tomb beneath this site and ordered his men to excavate.

The unloading warriors took off their clothes, picked up hoes and shovels, and began to dig through the rubble.

Luo Laowai's engineering battalion also sprang into action, taking out winnowing baskets and bamboo baskets to move the excavated mud and sand away, to prevent it from piling up nearby and collapsing under the influence of rainwater, thus trapping people inside...

# Chapter 139 Entering the Underworld with a Pumpkin on His Head

In just one hour, the original pile of rubble had disappeared, leaving behind a pit that was about 20 meters long and wide and more than 3 meters deep.

Many hands make light work.

This was demonstrated perfectly by the group of bandits.

"A head!"

Someone seemed to have dug something up, and was so startled that they fell down in the increasingly muddy yellow soil and sand.

In front of the man was an oval-shaped object covered in grayish-yellow mud, with a hideous human face vaguely imprinted on it, which was frightening.

Other people nearby also dug up many similar objects, and behind these oval-shaped objects were long, vine-like things.

Now no one dared to continue digging.

"It looks like some kind of melon or fruit?"

Hearing the commotion, Chen Yulou, Luo Laowai, and others approached the edge of the pit, while Jiang Liu and his group also went forward to observe. The girl in red guessed.

"It's a winter melon!"

After some thought, the knowledgeable Chen Yulou came up with the answer: "There are winter melons, pumpkins, and watermelons in the world, and everyone has seen them, but this northern melon is unheard of."

In fact, the Northern Gourd does exist, but it does not grow on the ground; rather, it grows underground. It is said to be formed from condensed resentment and is also called the Corpse Head Barbarian, which is extremely cold and gloomy.

"Finding the winter melon proves we've found the right place!"

Just as Chen Yulou finished speaking, one of the gourds started rolling and rolled towards one of the digging warriors.

"what!"

The Unloading Ridge Warrior was so frightened that he leaned back, using all four limbs to crawl backward, fearing that he would be entangled by the resentful spirits or ghosts in the Corpse Head Barbarian.

This scene also instilled fear in the others, and Luo Laowai was so frightened that he fell to the ground, his face pale with shock.

With a surge of courage, Chen Yulou flicked his sleeve and threw a dagger at the rolling gourd—it was the Little Divine Blade he always carried with him.

The dagger was incredibly sharp, instantly slicing open the corpse's head, causing a pool of red liquid to flow out. The small blade even pierced through one of the centipedes, which was about the thickness of a thumb.

"Don't be afraid."

Seeing that it was a centipede inside, Chen Yulou secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He walked forward triumphantly, grabbed the little divine sword along with the centipede, and said to everyone, "Centipedes like shade, which is why they crawled into this gourd. Moreover, this centipede is different from the one in the underground palace—"

Hiss!

Chen Yulou stepped on the centipede's head and grabbed Xiao Shenfeng. He then slid along the centipede's back shell, splitting it in two from head to tail. Small white beads, each the size of a fingernail, sprayed out and fell into the mud.

Chen Yulou picked them up one by one, a total of twenty-two, and showed them to everyone. He looked delighted and said, "These are centipede beads. They are not edible, but they can detoxify. You can remove them by repeatedly rubbing them on the scabs on your body. If they are made into prayer beads and worn on your body, they can also have some detoxifying effect."

When the diggers heard that the centipede bead had such an effect, they hurriedly dug out the rest of the corpses and smashed them one by one in an attempt to find the centipede inside, but they found nothing. They could only sigh at the extraordinary luck of Chen Yulou, the chief of Changsheng Mountain.

This reassured the bandits of Changsheng Mountain, who believed that Chen Yulou's defeat yesterday was just a coincidence!

Besides!

Yesterday, Mr. Chen was about to fall to his death, but he managed to "leap" back up using the Earth Dragon King. He has both courage and wisdom, and is truly an extraordinary person!

After that, these people threw the broken corpse head out of the pit and continued digging.

Jiang Liu walked up to the broken corpses and carefully examined the red pulp inside. He covered his hands with a layer of magnetic field, reached inside, and grabbed a handful of pulp, which was still connected and quite sticky.

"Brother Jiang, is this really a winter melon?"

Lu Jin approached and smelled the foul odor emanating from the melon pulp, causing him to frown.

The theory that it was formed from condensed resentment—

Li Muxuan immediately covered his nose, denying Chen Yulou's claim, "That's absolute nonsense! Otherwise, this thing couldn't possibly be a real object."

indeed.

If this pumpkin is truly formed from condensed resentment, the moment a person touches it, they will be possessed by a vengeful spirit, bewitched by its resentment, and lose consciousness.

"It has nothing to do with resentment or evil spirits. It should be something that the ancients buried outside the tomb to warn tomb robbers."

Jiang Liu rubbed the melon pulp, then flicked it away, leaving no trace of crimson on his hands. He confirmed the origin of this "northern melon." "Northern melon? No, this thing is actually a pumpkin! It's just that it was processed using some special method and buried underground, so it can remain rot-free for years... Well, it can't be said that it won't rot. The red pulp inside is caused by mold growing in the pulp."

"Is this a one-time use magical artifact?"

When Li Muxuan was cultivating at the Sanyi Sect, he had also heard about magical artifacts and exclaimed in surprise, "Food can also be made into magical artifacts?"

"Among the magic tricks of the Jiyun Society, there is a move called 'Millet Thousand-Pound Binding,' which involves processing millet in a special way so that it can produce golden threads to bind people. That is a kind of one-time magic artifact, but the world of supernatural beings generally does not define such one-time items as magic artifacts."

Jiang Liu used the example of millet weighing a thousand catties to explain, "This pumpkin that has been refined into a 'northern melon' is probably the same. Theoretically, the moment they dug it out, it would be triggered and exert its supernatural power. But perhaps it has been buried underground for too long, eroded by water and soil, and is also moldy and rotting at an extremely slow rate, so it has become ineffective, and we have no way of knowing what kind of power this thing can exert."

Although it is unknown what the purpose of this refined pumpkin is, it is probably to prevent others from robbing the tomb, which is nothing more than binding, bewitching, or poisoning.

Judging from the fact that this "Northern Melon" has a human face and Chen Yulou said that it was formed from resentment, when it is not ineffective, the ability it can exert is most likely to bewitch people and create illusions.

pity!

Under the immense power of time, the true function of these "northern pumpkins" has become invisible, and no sect or family in the world of supernatural beings has inherited the skill of refining pumpkins.

However, Jiang Liu could find a similar story in "Journey to the West" about burying pumpkins on top of tombs.

Liu Quan and Li Cuilian.

Because of the matter of souls returning to the underworld, Emperor Taizong of Tang wanted to find someone to offer pumpkins as tribute to the underworld. Liu Quan's wife, Li Cuilian, was accused of violating the virtues of a wife by offering a golden fork to a monk. Liu Quan scolded her for this, and she hanged herself. Liu Quan felt ashamed and wanted to follow his wife in death, but he also thought of serving his country and sacrificing himself. So he volunteered to die, preparing to deliver pumpkins to the underworld for Emperor Taizong, so that his death would have some value.

Of course, Liu Quan and Li Cuilian were later resurrected. However, Li Cuilian's body was destroyed, so she could only be resurrected by possessing the body of Emperor Taizong's sister, Li Yuying.

So, could the owner of this tomb also want to imitate the act of attacking the King of Hell with a pumpkin, hoping that the King of Hell would show leniency and allow him to return to life, or perhaps even be resurrected through a corpse?

If that's the case, then the tomb's occupant was truly superstitious!

# Chapter 140 Favors Must Be Reserved First

In the blink of an eye, another two hours have passed.

The pit had been dug to a depth of ten meters, and a stone tomb gate about two zhang high appeared before everyone's eyes. There were two gates in total, and the gap between them was filled with molten lead and copper, making them fit together perfectly as one. It weighed at least three to five thousand jin, just like the gate of a city, and it was definitely not something that ordinary people could break through.

The tomb door was engraved with ancient seal script, which was different from modern scripts. Even Jiang Liu, Lu Jin, Li Muxuan and the others did not know what it was written on.

The only person on site who recognized ancient seal script was Chen Yulou, and he was the only one who had studied tomb raiding. The rest of the Unloading Ridge Warriors could only do manual labor.

The same applies to Luo Laowai's engineering battalion.

However, Chen Yulou's expression turned slightly solemn as he looked at the ancient seal script, because it depicted vicious curses against tomb raiders, which even made him, a seasoned tomb raider, feel terrified.

But if he left now, his time as the head of Changsheng Mountain would be over, and he would have to grit his teeth and continue.

"The inscription on this tombstone contains the name and deeds of the deceased," Chen Yulou said.

"This is seal script, isn't it? Aren't you supposed to be digging up a Yuan Dynasty tomb?"

Chen Yulou and Luo Laowai did not explicitly tell Jiang Liu and the others which dynasty's tomb they were going to excavate. However, Jiang Liu overheard the conversations between the Xieling warriors, warlords, and soldiers while they rested at the mortuary last night, and learned that they were going to excavate a tomb far exceeding that of a great general.

But if it's a tomb of a Yuan dynasty person, why would it use ancient seal script?