Volume III, Visiting Antiquities and Seeking Immortals - Chapter Nine: Lu Yi's Conjecture

Just as Xu Tianyi was consumed by disbelief, an irritable roar rang out from the side, "That is complete and utter nonsense."

Lu Yi turned his head and saw the explorer who had previously been wounded by an arrow marching over aggressively.

The man walked right up to Old Man Luo, grabbed him by the collar, and snarled, "What's with that long, gloomy face of yours? Let me tell you, I've touched that thing myself, so stop spouting your ominous, superstitious crap. If I have to listen to any more of it, I'll make you experience this geomancy firsthand right now.

And another thing, I don't care which obscure ancient text you dug that out from, it's obviously fake. Understand!" With that, the man shoved Old Man Luo hard, causing the back of the old man's head to slam heavily against the wall.

Watching the man shouting loudly right into Old Man Luo's ear, a sharp glint flashed across Lu Yi's eyes. For this man to speak so boldly, he must have checked his smart-watch, but under certain circumstances, smart-watches could filter out or block certain pieces of information.

Subjected to such treatment, Old Man Luo's expression darkened instantly. However, seemingly wary of the influence of the Corpse Oil of a Hundred Grievances, he took several deep breaths before saying, "Young man, in our line of work, ignorance and arrogance are the most fatal combination."

"What do you mean by that?" the man demanded, giving Old Man Luo another violent shove. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Looking for a beating, are you? How dare you call me ignorant and arrogant? I think your cheap bones are just itching for a thrashing." As he spoke, the man raised his fist.

"Zhuang Feng, stop right now," Wu You said, his expression extremely grim. He took a few strides forward with his two remaining teammates, reached Zhuang Feng, and grabbed his arm.

Zhuang Feng aggressively jerked his arm away from Wu You and said with intense displeasure, "Captain, what's this? Can't I even discipline trash like this?"

Trash? Lu Yi frowned, but he noticed that the other explorers all wore calm expressions, clearly in full agreement with Zhuang Feng's remark.

Seeing this, Lu Yi narrowed his eyes. It seemed that this group of explorers, having traveled through different trial worlds and acquired some knowledge about urban societies, regarded themselves as high-and-mighty nobles or deities, while treating these native inhabitants as utterly expendable and lowly existences.

This scene involuntarily reminded Lu Yi of Katerina's plight. Back then, hadn't those explorers similarly looked down on Katerina, which was why they obstructed the sealing ritual and left laughing and joking about their spoils? Thinking of this, Lu Yi clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists tightly.

Wu You was visibly stunned for a moment upon hearing Zhuang Feng's words. Zhuang Feng's sentiment was indeed the prevailing view within their team; as the captain, he could not possibly reprimand his own teammate for the sake of a non-protagonist native.

Seeing this, Zhuang Feng let out a loud laugh, delivered several fierce kicks to Old Man Luo's shins, and then pointed a finger at Rat, who was huddled despondently against the wall. "I don't care about your stories, and I don't want to see you acting like a pathetic, lifeless coward. Right now, I need to find Prince Yongming, and all of you."

Zhuang Feng swept his arm in a wide arc, his finger pointing at the rest of the natives as well as Lu Yi's trio. "Do you really think you're big shots? Now get moving and search for him."

At Zhuang Feng's words, the explorers were utterly shocked, regardless of what they were doing. No matter how much they looked down on the natives, they usually kept it to themselves; who would ever shout it out like that? Wu You's expression shifted drastically. He grabbed Zhuang Feng and yanked him back, roaring in a low voice, "Zhuang Feng, what kind of madness has gotten into you?"

"Hmph," Old Man Luo sneered, turning to Wu You. "The truth is already crystal clear. Your little subordinate has already been affected by the Corpse Oil of a Hundred Grievances. If he continues forward in this mental state, he's bound to lose his life."

Wu You fell silent upon hearing this, while Lu Yi nodded slightly. Zhuang Feng, who had previously kept a low profile without any unseemly behavior, had suddenly transformed like this; he was definitely influenced, resulting in a severe drop in self-control.

"I think you really need a beating," Zhuang Feng muttered, rolling up his sleeves, but he was held back by his other two teammates. Wu You offered an apologetic smile to Old Man Luo and then helped his teammates restrain Zhuang Feng.

"Alright, that's enough," Guo Qiang said, casting an annoyed glance at Zhuang Feng. However, since the man was clearly influenced by an evil entity, there was not much he could say. He turned to the other explorers and asked, "Did any of you find anything?"

The few people who had been feeling along the walls exchanged glances, and then one of them stepped forward. "The previous corridor is indeed gone. We checked carefully and found no hidden mechanisms."

Hearing this, Guo Qiang's expression darkened further. "However, we found a concealed stone door on the opposite side," the man added.

"A stone door?" Lu Yi's face showed surprise before he looked back at the coffin in the tomb chamber and the four stone statues.

"A stone door! And right across from the corridor?" Shen Yixue exclaimed in astonishment. She turned her head from the location of the former corridor to the four stone statues, then from the statues to the coffin, and finally toward the opposite wall. "Could all these things have been intentionally arranged?"

Hearing Shen Yixue's words, Guo Qiang and the other natives experienced a shift in their expressions. Guo Qiang even nodded, "That is indeed a possibility." He exchanged a glance with the remaining natives, and the group immediately walked over to the stone statues.

They adjusted their flashlights to a focused beam and held them up. Four squares of light immediately appeared on the opposite wall, and they swept their flashlights one by one, confirming that the light beams did not intersect anywhere within the tomb chamber.

The results explained everything. Guo Qiang ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Damn it, we got played again.

Prince Yongming set up these four stone statues just to trick us into thinking his corpse was inside the coffin right in front of us, but in reality, his coffin is hidden behind this stone door that looks identical to the wall."

Lu Yi frowned. Was that really the case? He always felt that this explanation differed somewhat from his own deductions.

No one was willing to go anywhere near the coffin in the center of the tomb chamber anymore, so the group walked along the wall toward the stone door. Even the despondent Rat followed along; after all, since they couldn't find an exit, he couldn't just sit there forever.

Guo Qiang reached out and knocked on the stone door, nodding in satisfaction. But a second later, his expression darkened as he glared at the explorers who had found it. "Since you discovered it, why didn't you open it?"

The explorer who had been shoved forward earlier replied with a helpless expression, "This stone door won't open."

"Won't open?" Guo Qiang's eyes widened. "How is that possible!" With that, he tried pushing the stone door himself, but it didn't budge at all.

"Could there be a mechanism? Or is it blocked by a stone slab?" Rat muttered as he quickly inspected the surroundings of the stone door. Seeing that Rat had taken action, the others stepped back—first to give him space, and second to guard against any potential traps.

"Old Man Luo," Guo Qiang called out, retreating a short distance and addressing Old Man Luo, who was currently conversing with Xu Tianyi.

Hearing this, Old Man Luo immediately pulled out his Luopan compass and walked over to Rat. The two of them fumbled around the stone door for a while, but the door still refused to open.

This delay made Zhuang Feng irritable once more. "I must say, you guys are truly, utterly stupid. Have you never seen any other doors? All you know how to do is push, push, push. Don't you know some doors slide?"

Rat immediately bristled, snapping back sharply, "What are you yelling for? Can't you see this stone door is flush with the wall? How do you expect to slide it? Show me how you slide it then."

Brushing off several people who tried to hold him back, Zhuang Feng marched up to the stone door in a foul mood. "Calling you stupid is an understatement, and yet you still talk back. I told you to slide it, so you slide it. If I told you to go jump off a cliff, would you go do it?

I was just using an analogy! If sliding doesn't work, pull it outward! And if that still doesn't work, smash the damn door down!" With a roar of frustration, Zhuang Feng kicked the stone door hard.

His kick landed with full force, the sound echoing through the tomb chamber for a long time before fading away. Everyone watched quietly as the stone door shifted outward. "Ha!" Guo Qiang was the first to let out a loud laugh. "Not bad at all. Why didn't we think of that? Quick, get some tools and pull this stone door open."

Rat slapped his forehead repeatedly. "Damn it, why didn't I think of that? Why was I so fixated on the idea that this stone door was closed and deliberately concealed? A stone door identical to the wall could easily be carved beforehand and then pushed into the corridor position."

"That's why I said you're stupid," Zhuang Feng said, lifting his chin with extreme disdain. His expression instantly provoked Rat, and the two men started arguing once more.

The stone door was quickly pulled open, revealing a pitch-black corridor before everyone. Guo Qiang turned around and announced in a booming voice, "Brothers, ahead lies the rear hall holding Prince Yongming's coffin. There are mountains of treasures waiting for us."

At that moment, Xu Tianyi whispered to Old Man Luo, "Senior, there must be a way ahead to lift the curse of the Corpse Oil of a Hundred Grievances."

Old Man Luo shook his head. "Some things cannot be forced. If I don't make it out alive, go back to the place where you first met me. My notes are kept there, recording everything I've learned in my lifetime."

Hearing this, Lu Yi glanced sideways. So Xu Tianyi and Old Man Luo had met long ago; no wonder he had been so concerned about him earlier.

"Too much damn chatter," Zhuang Feng cursed under his breath and charged directly into the corridor. Wu You shouted continuously from behind, but to no avail.

Seeing this, Guo Qiang signaled the other natives. With someone else leading the way to test the waters, why wait? The crowd surged forward. Shen Yixue originally intended to follow, but Lu Yi grabbed her arm, and soon only Lu Yi's trio remained in the tomb chamber.

Shen Yixue looked at Lu Yi in utter confusion. "Lu Yi, why did you pull me back?"

Lu Yi didn't answer. Instead, he scanned every corner of the tomb chamber. Gradually, a sense of realization dawned in his eyes, but his expression grew steadily grimmer. Finally, his gaze settled on the coffin in the center.

Seeing this, Shen Yixue draped an arm over Lu Yi's shoulder and asked softly, "Lu Yi, you're not actually plotting against the soul whistle, are you?"

Lu Yi took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice, "Shen Yixue, don't you think this tomb chamber is a little too well-arranged?

All the current signs indicate that Prince Yongming indeed practiced evil arts. Since these tomb raiders knew nothing about Prince Yongming's deeds, the probability of Prince Yongming being executed by a Daoist priest is extremely high.

That raises a question: who built this tomb chamber, and when?

If it was built after his death, such a bizarre and evil thing would certainly not have been commissioned by the emperor. In that case, did his descendants learn the evil arts themselves, or is there an unknown faction behind the scenes that we aren't aware of?

If it was built during his lifetime, it means Prince Yongming was able to foresee the exact date of his own death. Could we be matching wits with a monster who can calculate five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future?"

Hearing Lu Yi's words, Shen Yixue gave a start. She looked around vigilantly, then said timidly, "N-no, it couldn't be that terrifying, right?"

Lu Yi looked at the coffin in the middle of the tomb chamber and nodded, "Perhaps not, because there is another possibility."

Hearing Lu Yi say this, Shen Yixue let out a long sigh of relief, casting a reproachful look at his way. "Lu Yi, can you please stop trying to scare me with such terrifying theories?"

Rubbing his chin, Lu Yi slowly continued, "From this coffin, I can indeed sense the faint aura of a wandering spirit. I assume the essence was harvested and used by Prince Yongming, but I haven't felt the slightest bit of energy coming from the corridor ahead."

"Jade Toad, do you sense any danger in that corridor?" Hearing Lu Yi's question, the Jade Toad looked up at the corridor, shook its head, and replied, "I don't feel anything."

Lu Yi wasn't surprised by this result. He nodded slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Someone capable of concocting so much corpse oil is hardly an easy opponent to deal with.

Old Man Luo didn't finish what he was saying. Based on my understanding, anyone who practices such powerful evil arts should be buried in some desolate, specific location rather than a prime geomantic treasure spot.

Therefore, this place is likely a false tomb that Prince Yongming began constructing long ago, with the sole purpose of trapping and killing any tomb raiders who followed the trail. I even suspect that the initial trap mechanisms were already broken on purpose just to lower the tomb raiders' guard. The real killing intent lies right inside these two chambers and ahead in that corridor."

Shen Yixue wore an incredulous expression, but before she could utter a word, a blood-curdling scream echoed from the corridor. Immediately afterward, a heavy stone portcullis slammed down from above, sealing the corridor completely tight.