The walls and ceiling of the passage were entirely built with green bricks, and the floor was paved with blue stone slabs. Along the walls were four colorful murals, each vividly preserved despite the damp environment, as if freshly painted. These murals depicted four divine spirits, all majestic and awe-inspiring. Curiously, each divine figure had something in their mouth, but the items had been deliberately scraped off, leaving white paint underneath. We couldn't tell what they had originally held.
After walking about ten meters, Big Mouth Rong shone his flashlight on a pair of red-lacquered tomb doors at the end of the passage. His expression was one of excitement. "This is definitely the Ghost King's tomb! Look, his name is inscribed on the lintel!"
We raised our heads to see four black characters on the lintel: "Chen Yan's Tomb."
Little Knife sneered. "You illiterate scoundrel, it's not Chen Yan—it's Chen Xing! This isn't the Ghost King!"
Hearing this, Shadow and I nearly burst into laughter. Little Knife mocked someone else for being illiterate, yet he had misread the name himself. At this moment, the mischievous girl whispered to me, "The Ghost King's real name is indeed Chen Yan. This is undoubtedly his tomb. However, this entrance aligns with the direction of the Du Gate. Entering from here is unlikely to be peaceful. The tomb might be riddled with traps and defenses against the Ghost King's corpse turning into a formidable zongzi. Stay vigilant!"
I nodded, thinking that while Big Mouth Rong could handle the zongzi, the traps inside the tomb were more terrifying.
From what I knew about ancient tombs, many were equipped with traps like falling stones, quicksand, hidden crossbows, flip panels, and lock-in mechanisms. A single mistake could turn us into permanent residents of the tomb. However, quicksand traps were mainly found in tombs from the Han Dynasty or earlier. They were designed to collapse on tomb robbers digging in from the side, with sand mixed with rocks suffocating the intruders.
Big Mouth Rong didn't pay attention to Little Knife's ridicule. Instead, he tilted his head, inspecting the worn tomb doors with a small wooden mallet in hand, seemingly deep in thought. Little Knife, impatient, tried to pull the door ring. Big Mouth Rong was startled and slapped his hand away.
"Do you have a death wish? We don't know if the door is coated with poison. If it is, you'd drop dead right here and become the Ghost King's lackey!" Big Mouth Rong scolded.
Little Knife stuck out his tongue but retorted, "You've been studying the door forever and haven't figured out anything. And you call yourself an experienced tomb explorer?"
Big Mouth Rong pointed at the plaque above the door and said, "There's likely a trap inside containing corpse poison. If the door is opened, the poison will spill down, and we'll all turn into zombies!"
"So, what do we do? Stand here forever?" Little Knife said disdainfully.
Big Mouth Rong thought for a moment, then took out his mallet and a bottle of liquor from his bag. He swigged some liquor and hurled the mallet at the plaque. With a "thud," the plaque cracked, and a stream of greenish fluid gushed out, reeking of a foul, nauseating stench. We quickly covered our noses—it was corpse poison, just as he had warned!
Big Mouth Rong sprayed the liquor over the poison and tossed a lit match into it. With a "whoosh," the flames ignited, burning the poison. The stench grew worse, but after a few moments, the fluid turned clear, and the flames died down. Big Mouth Rong wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "The corpse poison is neutralized." He then sprayed more liquor on the door and tapped it with the mallet. The tomb doors creaked open slightly.
A wave of damp, musty air wafted out. Luckily, the tomb wasn't completely sealed, or the poisonous gases would have suffocated us.
Big Mouth Rong tossed the mallet to the ground and said, "Check if it's poisoned."
We all leaned in and saw the mallet was shrouded in a faint black aura. The tomb doors were indeed toxic. If we had pushed them open directly, we'd have become corpses ourselves.
Shadow and I exchanged a glance, both feeling a chill down our spines. If it weren't for Big Mouth Rong, we would've been in serious trouble.
The left tomb door was open just wide enough for one person to pass through. Little Knife no longer dared to act recklessly, waiting for Big Mouth Rong to enter first before following. Once we were all inside, Big Mouth Rong warned us to watch out for traps like flip panels and hidden crossbows in the corridor.
Using two flashlights, we cautiously advanced, stepping carefully in the deathly stillness of the tomb. After a few steps, Big Mouth Rong warned us again, pointing to a nearly invisible black wire on the ground. "This is a hidden crossbow trap. If triggered, we'd be skewered."
A couple of meters further, Big Mouth Rong suddenly dropped out of sight. Luckily, Little Knife reacted quickly and grabbed him. But Big Mouth Rong's weight, combined with the momentum of his fall, nearly dragged Little Knife into the pit as well. Shadow and I hurriedly pulled Little Knife back, saving both of them.
Big Mouth Rong lay on the ground, his face pale. "The pit is lined with sharp spikes. There's even a skeleton impaled on them!"
Little Knife panted. "You need to lose weight, man. If they hadn't grabbed me, we'd both be dead now!"
Big Mouth Rong chuckled awkwardly. "Thanks, by the way. What are your names?"
I smiled. "No need for formalities. We're all in this together now. I'm Wang Lin, and she's Shadow."
After catching his breath, Big Mouth Rong warned that without a ladder, it would be tricky to cross the pit. Shadow suggested a solution: I could jump over the pit and find a way to secure the flip panel from the other side.
When I shared the idea, the group was skeptical. Shadow, knowing my average jumping ability, strongly opposed the plan. But I grinned and said, "Just watch." Without giving them a chance to stop me, I leaped across with the help of the mischievous girl.
In an instant, I landed on the other side.
Everyone was stunned. Little Knife blinked and said, "That looked like a ghost floating across!"