When I woke up again, I was in a narrow and cramped place. The air was dirty, damp and rotten. I felt suffocated. I felt pain all over my body, especially my arms and knees. It was as if my bones were broken. It was heart-wrenching pain when I moved.
Under the dim light of the flashlight, Zhang Xinya was sitting next to me bandaging my wounds. There was a faint smell of sweat and acid on her body. Both her hair and face were covered with mud. She looked like a beggar who had been wandering for a long time.
"Awake? Don't move, you will be well soon."
Zhang Xinya said softly: "It was a bit dangerous. I saw a piece of earth and rocks buried you in an instant. I thought you were basically crushed to death. As a result, when Brother Yaozi and Lao Bai dug you out, they found that it was not serious. There was just a cut on your head. You are really lucky."
My eyes wandered around, and familiar faces came into view.
Brother Yaozi, Lao Bai, Lao Diaoye...
Although they all looked very embarrassed, at least one person was not missing.
From what Zhang Xinya said, I could tell that I was not unconscious for long. I was probably stunned by the blow. Maybe it was because of the desire to survive that I woke up quickly.
The two walls were still closed at this time. I saw that there was a gap of nearly four or five meters on the side that we broke. There were earth mounds everywhere, as if there had been a major earthquake. It was very shocking.
I thought to myself, fortunately, this tomb used a structure of sweat soil and pebbles, which had poor lateral compressive resistance. If it had been a different structure, we would never have caused such a big damage from the side. At least two or three of these people would have died.
Soon, Zhang Xinya helped me deal with the wound.
"Help me too!"
Lao Bai came up shamelessly: "My butt is numb, the flower scales seem to be poisonous, I'm poisoned."
Zhang Xinya rolled her eyes at him and ignored him, probably meaning that there are differences between men and women, and let him find a few men to deal with this matter.
Lao Bai looked around and finally realized how bad his popularity was on weekdays. He found that no one was willing to pay attention to him, so he shamelessly came to me, the injured one, and was very rude. He didn't even ask me if I was happy. He crouched over and pointed his butt at my face, and took off his pants by himself: "Help me suck it, the flower scales are so bright in color, they must be very poisonous. If you don't care about me, I may not survive tonight."
Don't say it, the situation is really serious.
Hua Linzi bit on the right side, close to the waist, leaving two small blood holes there, the blood flowing out was dark blue, half of his butt was dark blue and purple, and it was spreading to the upper body. I saw patches of spots on his back, which were no different from corpse spots.
A dry hand like a ghost's claw slapped Lao Bai's butt with a "snap", the force was huge, and the sound was very crisp. Lao Bai rushed forward, biting his mouth full of mud, and stood up angrily, only to find that Lao Diaoye was grinning behind him like a ghost. His surging anger immediately died down, and he whispered, "What are you doing?", his posture was exactly like a little girl being bullied by a strong man.
"Don't take advantage of the little kid from the Wei family."
The old man said bluntly: "Hua Linzi is indeed poisonous, but it won't kill people. At most, half of the body will be numb for a while, no problem!"
After hearing this, Lao Bai immediately pulled up his pants with a smile, interpreting the word shameless to the fullest, and threw a rather creepy roll of the eyes at the old man: "Hate, why didn't you say it earlier."
The old man couldn't stand it. I saw that his hand holding the gun was trembling. I guess if it was a young and vigorous man, the spray gun in his hand would have opened fire long ago.
After resting for a while, I recovered my breath, endured the pain in my body, struggled to sit up, and planned to continue on the road.
"Too dangerous."
Brother Yaozi shook his head and said that when I was unconscious, he tried to go around from behind the wall, but he didn't go far before the wall moved again. Now it seems that the two walls are closed, but in fact, it is opening and closing again!
I also fell silent after hearing this.
Could it be that there are spies?
At that time, I had already told Lao Bai to kill Hua Linzi to prevent this.
After thinking about it, I shook my head: "Hua Linzi is dead. Even if the old fox is really in the tomb, he can't notice our situation now. If you ask me, this is the old fox trying his luck. He controls the wall to open and close every once in a while. If a blind cat encounters a dead mouse and happens to trap us, then we will make a fortune. This is a business that guarantees income regardless of drought or flood. If I were in his position, I would do the same."
However, after suffering a loss, I also kept my eyes open and didn't want to fall into the calculation rashly. After a little thought, I said: "If you can't take shortcuts, then use the stupid method and smash it all the way!"
Brother Yaozi's eyes lit up. Since I broke the wall, our space for activities has been relatively much larger. The sledgehammer he has been carrying can now be fully used. He took it off and weighed it in his hand, swung it in a circle and smashed it hard against the wall. In an instant, a large part of the wall collapsed.
"This is much easier than digging a hole."
Brother Yaozi smiled and started working again.
One night passed like this. Several of us took turns to dig through a whole wall and reached the tomb door.
Maybe the old fox had completely accepted his fate and no longer controlled the two walls. It was very quiet, but I knew that a bigger storm was still to come.
Standing in front of the tomb door, I raised my head and looked at the door carefully.
This is a stone door, which is in the shape of an arch bridge. There is no sign or eye-catching place. I put my ear to it and patted it with my hand, but I couldn't hear any echo, which shows how thick and heavy this stone door is.
I noticed that on both sides of the stone door, there was some fine dust hanging on the door, all of which was stone powder.
If nothing unexpected happened, this should be a ground stone gate, which should also be controlled by a mechanism. It may use some pulleys. When it needs to be opened, it can be directly hoisted from the inside.
However, the mechanism that controls this door must be in the tomb chamber.
Through this series of techniques, it is not difficult to see that the person who designed this tomb is very proficient in the application of mechanics. These superficial physical knowledge may not be a big deal for modern people. Any junior high school student who has completed compulsory education can talk about it. But it was already very remarkable more than 2,000 years ago.
Lao Bai came up to me and asked if there was any way to break it open. I shook my head and told him directly that this kind of tomb door can only be destroyed by brute force, but Brother Yaozi's sledgehammer is not good. The best way is to blast it directly. If it doesn't work, you can only use a crowbar to lift the gap, put a jack in, and push it up. If it doesn't work, you can only pry a gap that a person can just get through, put something harder underneath, and people can crawl in directly.
"Can't open it from the outside?"
Lao Bai said hesitantly: "Could it be that the demon corpse also had to knock on the door when it came in?"
I shook my head and pointed to the edge below the tomb door.
There are obvious scratches, which seem to be traces left by fingernails scratching the tomb door.
In other words, the demon corpse lifted the tomb door directly by brute force. Cang Yao also said that this evil corpse has infinite power, just like the six-foot-tall golden body in Buddhist legends. It is normal for it to lift the door. We can never do it. This is beyond human power.
At present, the only explosives we have are the black gunpowder of Lao Diaoye, but the quantity is limited and the power is not enough. At most, it can be used as fireworks to make a lively scene. If we want to blow up such a heavy door, we may need high explosives. As for the jack, that thing is too heavy. We can't carry it with us. The only way in front of us is the third way.
Lao Bai fell silent for a while, and the others also looked gloomy and not very good.
These people are not fools. Everyone understands how dangerous this matter is.
You know, this matter is special.
The old fox knew we were going to the tomb, and was probably waiting for us inside. This was extremely dangerous. Going this way was like advancing in the face of a hail of bullets. It was no exaggeration to say that we were in danger of death.
Now, if we really lifted the tomb door and went in through a small crack in the dark, there would be nothing waiting for us inside, and we would have no chance to resist.
To put it bluntly, how can we win if we are attacked by a zongzi?
After hesitating for a moment, Lao Bai said, "How about we retreat first? We are not well prepared this time, and we can't do this job."
"We can't retreat."
Qi Ye suddenly said, "Looking at what the fox meant, it actually needs time. There are still dozens of living people in the pastoral area in its hands. If we go back and forth, wouldn't that be what it wants? When it finishes its job, will those people still be alive?"
I don't know what happened to this master, his IQ was online all of a sudden, and he hit the point.
"Brother, I don't like what you said. I'm not afraid of losing my conscience. I'd rather die than die with my fellow Taoists. What do those dozens of people have to do with me?"
Lao Bai said dissatisfiedly: "I didn't want to do this from the beginning. Now that it has come to this, I'm not afraid of saying bad things. Damn, one of us died halfway. What, do you still want to push all of us in to die? Brother, do you think this is the right way to deal with this matter?
Let's not talk about other things. Since we met, what have we done to you? At most, we have lived in the pastoral area for a few days, and we have meat every meal. On the contrary, when you came back, all the food, drink, and defecation were on our heads. Our Zhenwu Temple is also a government office with poor water. In this year, the landlords have no surplus food, let alone us poor people. The three melons and two dates in our hands are all exchanged for our heads on the belt. Do you really think you are eating from the rich?
But now we have mentioned the word money?
Tell us how much we have done. We won't talk about other things. My brother has been bleeding and sweating all the way. Because you didn't withdraw from the tunnel in time, you almost got blown to death. You didn't complain at all. Now we are at a dead end. You really want us to lose our lives?"
Lao Bai said a lot of things in one breath, just like pouring beans. He has been feeling aggrieved for a long time, and now it exploded completely.
The Seventh Master blushed and held his breath for a long time before waving his hands and saying, "That's not what I meant. I mean... I'll go in first and take care of any landmines. That way you'll be safer. I can't let you go in and die again. I know you've done enough..."
Old Bai was spitting and was about to spit again subconsciously, but he reacted as soon as he opened his mouth, his eyes wide open: "You want to go in first? Ancestor, do you know what you're talking about?"
The Seventh Master nodded and sighed, saying that he knew that it was the shooting of those foxes that gave the old fox a reason to explode, but he was the one who started the poaching and implicated so many people. It's a matter of fate, and even if he really dies now, it's considered paying off his debt.
I was thinking about discussing this matter again, but the Seventh Master had made up his mind and wanted to die. Finally, the old master made the final decision, saying that he deserved to die. Whoever started the thing should go first. This is the principle since ancient times.
At this point, we had nothing to say, even Old White stopped fighting. After resting for a while in front of the tomb door, Old Diaoye brought a huge stone. Brother Yaozi was the strongest, so he inserted a crowbar under the stone door and started to exert force on the stone.
Boom!
The stone door finally moved a little, but it was just lifted up a little. Not to mention people entering, even a hand couldn't be inserted. Instead, the crowbar was bent, which shows how heavy the tomb door is.
Finally, Old Diaoye and Old White joined in, and the three crowbars exerted force at the same time, and finally opened a gap that was just enough for people to pass through.
I took the opportunity to grab a handful of money under the tomb door and found that the tomb door was actually not thick!
I knew it in my mind. The tomb door must have lead inside and a layer of stone skin outside, so it was so heavy. Fortunately, we didn't retreat, otherwise it would have been in vain. This kind of door can't be blown open even with high explosives. Archaeologists rely on modern machinery to lift it up when they encounter this kind of door!
"Put a stone in!"
Brother Yaozi was so angry that his face turned red. He growled, "This door seems to be stuck. It can only be lifted to this point at most."
Zhang Xinya and I hurriedly picked two pebbles and stuffed them under the tomb door to cushion it. Lao Bai and the other two then pulled out the crowbar.
I lay on the ground and shone the flashlight inside. I could only see the uneven ground and found nothing abnormal.
Qiye took several deep breaths, took off his backpack, took a short knife, and fell to the ground in front of the door. Before going in, he suddenly turned his head and smiled at me: "No matter what, little brother, thank you this time, but it's a pity that we are too poor and can't afford anything. If... I mean if, something really happens to me, you can go back and don't worry about it!"
I don't know why, looking at his smile, I feel very dazzling, my nose is sour, the corners of my mouth twitched, and after hesitating for a moment, I nodded: "Even if I can't save the captured, I will try my best to ensure the safety of the people in the pastoral area. Even if I don't have this ability, I will ask my master to come and help."
"Thank you!"
Qiye nodded, held the short knife in his mouth, and crawled directly in through the door.
From beginning to end, I have been lying on the ground watching the situation inside, and there is nothing unusual!
Soon, Qiye got in. There was a flashlight flashing inside. He seemed to be observing the surroundings. I could only see his feet.
"What's going on?"
Lao Bai couldn't help asking loudly.
"It's okay!"
Qiye's voice came from inside. It was obvious that he was relieved.
"Next, I'll do it!"
I hesitated for a moment and crawled forward. Brother Yaozi grabbed my shoulder and said he would go first. After all, I was injured and couldn't rush in front.
I smiled and said it was okay. Although I was not well-trained, I was the one who knew the most about tombs among our group. Qiye didn't know the depth, but I could see some of the tricks. If there was something wrong inside, I could find it in the first time.
Brother Yaozi thought about it and didn't stop him.
For safety reasons, I woke up the Tianguan Blade and Dilingzhu in advance, and then crawled in.
As a result, as soon as I half-entered, two heavy objects hit the back of my head with a "bang". I had a head injury, and the pain made me shrink my head subconsciously. Because I was relatively thin, I could still move in this gap, so I turned over immediately.
All this happened in a blink of an eye. When I turned over, I heard Zhang Xinya's hysterical scream outside the tomb door...
Then, I finally saw what hit my head.
It was a human head and a flashlight...
Now, these two things fell in front of me, and the flashlight was facing the human head. It was a face I was very familiar with. It was Qi Ye's, but the skin showed a strange waxy yellow, like a wax figure, and it was stained with a little blood.
Qi Ye's body was still standing, and a large piece of blood spurted out of his neck and fell directly on my face. It was warm and hot, and my eyes were stinging, and I couldn't even open my eyelids.
Brother Yaozi reacted quickly. The moment the accident happened, he grabbed my ankle and started to pull me out.
At the same time, a pair of hairy hands pressed on my face, holding my head tightly and pulling me inside...