Several people followed the tomb passage into a side chamber. Although the side chamber was large, it was empty except for some murals.
After Ji Yuelan finished taking pictures with her phone, the three of them went to another side chamber.
The two side chambers were basically the same. After Ji Yuelan finished photographing the murals, they retraced their steps to the main tomb chamber.
Before the group returned to the T-junction, a cloud of smoke billowed towards them.
"Why is there smoke in the tomb?" Ge Yu asked, puzzled.
"The smoke is poisonous. Xiao Ming, get out the antidote." Long Xiao said in a low voice.
Xiao Ming took out the box containing the antidote from his backpack and gave everyone a pill to put in their mouths.
The smoke grew thicker. Long Xiao grabbed Ji Yuelan's hand and walked in front, releasing his qi to map out everything within a radius of thirty meters in his mind.
The white marble door of the ancient tomb had been closed by someone, and a lit packet of herbs was thrown down the slope.
"Everyone stay close. Let's head to the main tomb chamber to take shelter," Long Xiao said in a low voice as he stepped on the herb packet.
Soon, the group arrived at the main tomb chamber. Long Xiao arranged for everyone to hide in a corner.
"The tomb door has been closed. You guys stay here and don't move. I'll go take a look," Long Xiao said in a low voice.
"Long Xiao, there's a tomb robber's hole in the southwest corner of the tomb chamber. We can get out through it," Ge Yu said.
Long Xiao sighed and shook his head. "I suspect this is a trap. The tomb robbers are the ones who closed the tomb door, and the hole should have been blocked long ago."
"What do we do?" Ge Xin asked nervously.
"It should be safe inside the tomb chamber. Let's see what happens," Long Xiao said. https:/
Instructing everyone to stay in the corner and not move, Long Xiao went alone along the passage to the white marble door.
Leaning against the white marble door, he felt a cool sensation. Long Xiao released his five-element qi, and soon the situation within thirty meters of the stone door appeared in his mind.
Near the Ge family ancestral grave, there were more than a dozen people. Eight of them were burly and carried weapons. The remaining few held compasses or magical artifacts, and they seemed to be setting up something outside.
The old man who sold Long Xiao the blue and white porcelain bowl was also there. Dressed in a high-end suit, he stood with his hands behind his back, giving orders to those around him.
This was clearly a trap, and the target was Long Xiao.
Except for the old man, Long Xiao had never seen the others. He didn't know who was targeting him.
Returning to the main tomb chamber, Long Xiao released his qi again, observing the situation inside.
The main tomb chamber was filled with poisonous smoke, reducing visibility to less than two meters with the naked eye, but observation with five-element qi was unaffected.
As Long Xiao was observing, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' from his clothes crawled out and looked around from his shoulder. It seemed to have sensed the Yin qi and wanted to absorb it.
"Don't move yet, wait a bit," Long Xiao said in a low voice.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' understood Long Xiao's words, squatted on his shoulder, looked around, and didn't fly away.
To observe more clearly, Long Xiao strengthened the output of his five-element qi, and soon he discovered something unusual.
Behind a wall, there was another passage, which was very deep and beyond Long Xiao's observational range.
Long Xiao walked to the wall and touched it.
The entrance to the passage was blocked by earth, about a foot thick.
To find an exit, Long Xiao had no choice but to open this passage. He stepped back, channeled his five-element qi into his right hand, and punched out.
With a bang, the earth blocking the passage was blown open, revealing a hole about a meter wide.
Long Xiao drilled into the hole, releasing his qi and walking inside while observing.
After walking about thirty meters, he came to a larger tomb chamber.
In the center of the tomb chamber was a huge carriage, on which rested a red coffin. The ground was covered with all sorts of burial objects.
In the southeast corner of the tomb chamber, another smaller red coffin was placed. This red coffin had a peculiar style and did not seem to be for humans.
Long Xiao walked past the burial objects to the small coffin, as he noticed that the Yin qi from this small coffin was several times stronger than that of the larger coffin.
He circled the small coffin several times but couldn't figure anything out. The 'Crimson Flame Worm' became agitated upon seeing the small coffin, hopping incessantly and wanting to rush up immediately to absorb the Yin qi from it.
Just as Long Xiao was about to let the 'Crimson Flame Worm' absorb the Yin qi, there was a loud bang. A red light shot out from the small coffin, and a monstrous creature rushed towards Long Xiao.
The creature's scales shone with a metallic luster, as if cast from steel.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' flew up and lunged at the creature, colliding with it directly.
With a bang, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' was sent flying back, and the creature lunged at Long Xiao.
Long Xiao drew five-element qi from his dantian and punched out. He knew that he couldn't do without five-element qi this time, as the charging creature was likely a mythical Qilin.
The Qilin collided with Long Xiao's fist with a tremendous sound. It actually shattered into countless light fragments.
Long Xiao was stunned as the countless light fragments reassembled into a Qilin and charged at him again.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' scrambled to its feet, hopped a few times, and flew up again to attack the Qilin.
At the moment of impact, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' shifted a meter to the side, dodging the charging Qilin.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' landed directly on the Qilin's back and began to rapidly absorb the Yin qi from its body.
With the 'Crimson Flame Worm' on the Qilin's back this time, Long Xiao dared not punch with full force, fearing he might shatter the 'Crimson Flame Worm' along with it.
The Qilin was extremely fast, so Long Xiao could only spread his five-element qi throughout his body and perform the 'Chi Mei Xiaoyao Step'.
Although the Qilin was fast, Long Xiao was faster, like a streak of light, making him impossible to track.
The 'Crimson Flame Worm' clung tightly to the Qilin's back, continuously absorbing the Yin qi from within its body.
A few minutes later, the 'Crimson Flame Worm' had absorbed enough and flew up, landing on the large coffin in the center.
Seeing that the 'Crimson Flame Worm' was no longer on the Qilin's back, Long Xiao lunged at the Qilin and smashed its head with his left fist.
With a thunderous roar, the Qilin once again shattered into countless fragments of light.
Long Xiao quickly retreated, wanting to see how these light fragments reassembled into a Qilin. As soon as he focused his five-element qi on his eyes, he saw the light fragments charging towards him.
This time, it was too fast for Long Xiao to dodge, and all the light fragments drilled into his body.
Long Xiao was greatly alarmed. He quickly sat on the ground and examined his internal condition.
He checked his head, torso, and feet, but saw no fragments of the light Qilin, nor did he detect any special qi.
When Long Xiao finished checking his right arm and began checking his left arm, he found a very small Qilin lying motionless on his left arm.
Lifting his sleeve, Long Xiao discovered five metallic-scaled plates on his left arm.
Unexpectedly, the Qilin had entered his body. He wondered if it was a blessing or a curse.
Long Xiao tried to use his five-element qi to expel this light Qilin, but discovered that his five-element qi could not enter his left arm.