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墨書 Inktalez
I couldn't help but feel a bit powerless.
The wooden door loomed before me, blocking my view entirely. After the Fat Ma failed to break through, he began knocking on the door, trying to find a weakness.
"Old Sun, Mud Man, take this seriously! This is our final masterpiece," Fat Ma said with a serious expression.
I pressed my hands against the door and tried to push it with all my strength, but it didn't have much effect.
Fat Ma was mumbling to himself, "I can't believe we can't figure this out. Mud Man, what do you think we should do?" I watched as Mud Man took a knife and inserted it into the gap of the door, trying to reach as high as possible. Gradually, it slid down until it got stuck in the middle of the wooden door.
"The latch should be around here," he said.
Upon hearing this, Fat Ma was eager to check. "Let me see."
Light streamed through the gap in the door, and a smile spread across Fat Ma's face. "Got it! Right on target!"
"Try not to damage the wooden door," Zhang Tong reminded us at the right moment, knowing what we were about to do.
"I can't promise that," Fat Ma replied with an unhappy look.
"Enough chatter, let's get to work." As soon as Mud Man finished speaking, Fat Ma sprang into action.
Having pinpointed the location of the latch, he focused his strength on that spot, believing he could break through. Naturally, Fat Ma took on this role without hesitation.
One hit, two hits, three hits...
With a loud bang accompanied by the sound of cracking wood, Fat Ma's final powerful strike shattered the door. He nearly fell over but steadied himself. For a moment, he was bewildered; once he realized what had happened, he joyfully shouted, "What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and come in!"
One by one, we entered through the broken wooden door.
"Be more mindful," Fat Ma whispered to me and Mud Man before letting out a few lewd chuckles.
I was a bit taken aback as the clay figure smiled and walked away.
This should be the main tomb chamber, the resting place of the tomb owner.
Several beams of light crisscrossed and moved around, illuminating the scene within the chamber. On a stone bed lay a coffin, with stone-carved railings extending from beneath our feet to the coffin's location.
Beyond the railings stood some statues of Yin Soldiers, each holding weapons and standing in pairs, facing each other as if guarding the coffin. They appeared eerie and solemn, causing us to freeze in our tracks, momentarily at a loss for what to do.
"It's so imposing," someone remarked.
The faces of the Yin Soldiers were fierce, and I suddenly had an illusion that we had entered hell, where Yama resided. How could mortals engage in such things after death? The thought was simply unbelievable.
Fear spread among us... Once we regained our composure, everyone's expression was somewhat unnatural.
"Let's go in."
I felt tense but didn't hesitate, closely following Fat Ma's footsteps.
As I took my first step, I confirmed that this was indeed the tomb of a Royal Family Member, but I preferred to believe it was a Ghost Tomb.
An eerie atmosphere hit me like a wave... I shivered inexplicably.
We passed through the stone-carved railings and moved forward cautiously, careful not to let our guard down.
Zhang Tong's astonishment was evident; if this were reported to the authorities, it would undoubtedly be a significant achievement. These Yin Soldier statues were more than two heads taller than an average person and exquisitely carved, lifelike enough to be considered masterpieces of sculpture.
However, my thoughts were not on that; this place felt extremely unusual, and I feared something might happen. I kept a close eye on my surroundings. Aside from these Yin Soldier sculptures, the chamber was mostly empty.
Earlier, we hadn't taken a detour but had walked directly onto this path surrounded by stone railings. Choosing this route felt almost instinctive.
The coffin lay at the end of this path; it seemed to have become my habit—"Capture the leader before capturing the thieves." I figured it was best to reach the coffin first.
"Old Sun, don't you think something's strange?" Fat Ma said ahead of me. After he spoke, I replied, "Yes."
I then said, "Something might happen."
Fat Ma shuddered, "What kind of thing?"
"I can't say for sure."
After walking a few steps, the coffin was now less than ten meters away from us, and the Yin Soldiers on both sides seemed to have become denser than before.
Five meters, four meters, three meters... one meter. Suddenly, a change occurred; the Yin Soldiers in front of us seemed to come alive, their arms blocking our path like iron pincers.
Fat Ma was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, standing rigidly in place. I felt similarly, a chill creeping up my spine as if my brain had been instantly emptied. The people behind us were still unaware of the situation.
"Why aren't we moving?"
Neither Fat Ma nor I responded. The mud man at the back suddenly realized something and hurriedly pushed forward, "What's going on?"
"See for yourself," I said, my voice slightly trembling.
When the mud man looked at the two arms blocking our way, his expression immediately turned serious.
Had the Yin Soldiers come to life? That was my first thought. Once I calmed down and regained some rationality, I realized that it was unlikely.
"It must be a mechanism," the mud man said.
I nodded in agreement. But I had to admit that this sudden turn of events had indeed startled me.
"No, it doesn't seem like a mechanism," Fat Ma suddenly contradicted the mud man's words.
His statement pulled me back into fear. "If it's not a mechanism, then what is it?"
"They're moving too quickly; it's just like a person raising their arm."
"Could they be warning us not to advance?"
"Very likely."
The three of us exchanged remarks, feeling that the Yin Soldiers' carvings were quite unusual, especially the Ox-Head and Horse-Face among others. If they were truly alive, it would be terrifying beyond measure.
However, this speculation was absurd, absurd enough that some were inclined to believe it.
Zhang Tong and the others sensed something was off. Upon learning the cause and effect, they felt a mix of shock and bewilderment.
"Should we retreat or advance?" Fat Ma said, his grip tightening around the machine gun.
"Let's retreat," I replied, my tone questioning others as well.
The Mud Man chose to remain silent, leaving the decision to the rest of us.
"Then let's retreat," Zhang Tong declared decisively. I was somewhat surprised by her decision; since it had been made, we hesitated no longer and turned back.
But after only a few steps, Residual Anger halted in his tracks, his voice trembling slightly. "The path is blocked." As soon as he spoke, a chill ran through us all.
"What do we do now?" Residual Anger asked.
We found ourselves stuck in the middle, caught between advancing and retreating. Behind Fat Ma was a coffin. The tension was palpable. My gaze suddenly shifted outside the railing, and I had a moment of clarity; when people are anxious, they often develop blind spots.
"Let's climb over the railing," I suggested.
Just as we began to scale the railing, the Mud Man suddenly shouted, "Don't jump!"
"What’s wrong?" Fat Ma asked.
Before the Mud Man could respond, one person lost their balance and fell, letting out a terrified scream: "Help me!"
"Don't struggle," the Mud Man urged.
"It's quicksand!" Fat Ma shouted. We quickly scrambled down from the railing as that person continued to sink. Zhang Tong frantically threw down a rope. "Zhang Da, grab the rope!"
Zhang Da was still struggling, fear evident in his eyes. When Zhang Tong threw down the rope, he hurriedly grabbed hold of it and shouted, "Pull me up quickly!"
Residual Anger and Huang Lin joined in to help, but Zhang Da continued to sink. They were pulling with some difficulty, and Fat Ma also lent a hand, managing to stabilize his descent.
However, the good moment didn’t last long; as soon as they relaxed their grip slightly, he began to sink again, firmly trapped by the sand.
"Try to lay flat," I reminded him.
His situation was similar to mine during my last experience in the underground river; he was being consumed by a force. So, he needed to lay flat to increase his contact area with the sand.
But Zhang Da was engulfed in panic and couldn’t hear my words at all.
His body sank bit by bit, while the six of us held onto the rope, pulling with all our might. But how could we resist the immense power of the quicksand?
When the sand reached Zhang Da's waist, his face had turned ashen, yet he seemed somewhat calmer.
Taking advantage of this moment, I repeated my earlier advice. I wasn’t disappointed; Zhang Da heard me and followed my instructions, no longer struggling and trying to lay flat.
We began to exert more force to pull him up, and it was effective; we managed to lift him a little.
“There’s hope,” Huang Lin said with some surprise.
“Don’t panic, take it slow,” I signaled to Zhang Da. Things were going smoothly until I glanced at that coffin and an unsettling feeling surged within me.
Just as I turned my gaze back, suddenly, without warning, the rope snapped.
Zhang Da witnessed everything and immediately panicked; his face looked as if he had swallowed something dreadful.
After the rope broke, I quickly leaned over the railing and reached out a hand to grab Zhang Da. He clutched me tightly as if I were his last lifeline.
Before long, I was pulled out a bit but felt myself about to fall again.
Fat Ma hurriedly wrapped his arms around my waist.
I steadied my mind, feeling every pore open up, absorbing the panic around me.
Quicksand was like the jaws of a crocodile, fiercely tearing at Zhang Da. At that moment, he had completely lost his sanity. "I don't want to die!"
Veins bulged on my forehead, and Fat Ma was in a similar state, as were the others.
"We can't hold on much longer, Old Sun. If this continues, we'll all die."
I realized the gravity of the situation, but we couldn't just stand by and watch someone perish.
"Let's try again," I said with great difficulty. At that moment, half of my body was already outside the railing.
Just then, Huang Lin dropped another rope and shouted, "Zhang Da, grab it quickly!"
Zhang Da's pupils contracted as he reached out with one hand to grab the rope, but he couldn't hold on. The other hand slipped from mine.
At that moment, Quicksand surged like a primal beast and swiftly swallowed Zhang Da whole.
The air was filled with his last words: "I haven't lived enough..."
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