Zheng Zhuliu looked at Chang Sheng unifying the Myriad Fiends in the mural, with some guesses forming in his mind.
"Sixth Master, do you have any thoughts?" Fang Ming asked.
Zheng Zhuliu, with his vast experience, might be able to guess Chang Sheng's intentions.
"I feel his original intention was simply to kill," Zheng Zhuliu pointed at several combat murals. "Look, these battles had opportunities to expand outward, drawing more humans into the conflict, but Chang Sheng didn't do that."
"This shows Chang Sheng's goal wasn't expansion, but purely slaughter to generate immense resentment from both sides," Zheng Zhuliu analyzed, then immediately dismissed his own words. "Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and not highly credible."
Fang Ming looked at the murals Zheng Zhuliu pointed to, and combined with Zheng Zhuliu's conjecture, it seemed to be the case. Chang Sheng had no intention of territorial expansion, only war for the sake of killing.
"By the way, Fang Ming, do you know Chang Sheng's origin?"
Fang Ming shook his head. How could he know the origin of this mysterious Chang Sheng? However, judging by the murals, this person didn't seem like a good guy.
About ten minutes later, the three circled the corridor and returned to their original position, finding no way out.
"Strange, it shouldn't be," Fang Ming was puzzled. There was no mention of how to leave the corridor in the murals. What were they to do?
Just as Fang Ming was at his wit's end, Zheng Zhuliu suddenly discovered something and began tapping on the mural.
"What is it, Sixth Master?" Fang Ming asked.
"Hush~" Zheng Zhuliu made a shushing gesture, pressing his ear to the mural and tapping gently.
"Dong, dong, dong..." Zheng Zhuliu walked along the mural, tapping.
"Beng, beng, beng..." Suddenly, the tapping sound became muffled. Zheng Zhuliu's eyes lit up. He took out a triangular tool from his pocket and began to sketch something at the spot where the sound changed.
A moment later, Zheng Zhuliu looked in a direction on the mural and muttered to himself.
"Eighteen births outside the mountain, one wood by the river closes the dead path."
"Here..."
Zheng Zhuliu found a spot and pressed it firmly. Instantly, the entire corridor shook, and a stone door appeared on the wall of the corridor not far away.
"That stone door should be the way to the next level," Zheng Zhuliu said to Fang Ming, dusting off his hands.
Fang Ming was stunned. Indeed, there was a division of labor. If a novice had come here, they might have been trapped and never known how to leave.
"Damn, Sixth Master, you're amazing! How did you know there was a mechanism there?" Fang Ming exclaimed.
Zheng Zhuliu chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "These are just a few tricks of the trade. The construction of these grand tombs, especially for royals like Prince Xueqin, is done with great attention to detail."
"Situations like those in movies where tombs are completely sealed are rare. In ancient times, tomb construction was a solemn matter. To prevent the tomb owner from being trapped alive if they faked their death, the tomb chamber structure had to meet the requirements of 'one life and three deaths' or 'seven deaths' based on the tomb owner's status. Theoretically, only the tomb owner knew all the life gates. Even the craftsmen only knew the life gates in the area they were responsible for, and knew nothing else."
"But later, to survive, these craftsmen defaulted to certain unwritten rules in the industry. That's the incantation I just recited. On each level, as long as we find the 'mountain' and 'water' objects, we can determine the positions of the life and death gates."
Fang Ming realized. So that's how it was. He had to admit that the ancients racked their brains to survive. Without entering this profession, one would probably never know.
With his doubts cleared, Fang Ming prepared to lead the way towards the stone door.
"Wait!" Zheng Zhuliu suddenly shouted, startling Fang Ming into stopping.
"What is it?" Fang Ming asked, turning back.
"The entrance has been revealed, and all the mechanisms in this grand tomb will be activated. Every step we take next must be extremely careful, or we will face eternal damnation!" Zheng Zhuliu said with a solemn expression.
This surprised Fang Ming. It had been a long time since Zheng Zhuliu's personality split that he had seen such an expression. It seemed his seriousness about tomb raiding was etched in his bones.
"Then we'll follow Sixth Master's lead. How do we proceed?" Fang Ming knew his own limitations. His skills were not enough to roam freely in the tomb of Prince Xueqin. Even a formidable opponent wouldn't dare to boast like that.
Therefore, it was better to listen to the professional.
"Follow me, I'll lead the way." Zheng Zhuliu took out his compass and quickly walked in front of Fang Ming, beginning to measure the surroundings.
Fang Ming and Qingmian exchanged glances and chose to follow behind him.
After taking a few steps, Zheng Zhuliu gestured to stop, took out several round-headed nails from his pocket, and threw them forcefully, accurately embedding them in the surrounding walls before continuing.
Fang Ming curiously looked at where the nails were inserted. Each nail accurately jammed a joint of an activated mechanism.
For a moment, Fang Ming's admiration for Zheng Zhuliu was boundless. It seemed Zheng Zhuliu's reputation as a "master" in this field was well-deserved.
If it weren't for the extraordinary circumstances they encountered in the eighteen levels, Zheng Zhuliu would have likely plundered Prince Xueqin's tomb thoroughly with his men.
A few minutes later, Zheng Zhuliu led Fang Ming and Qingmian to the stone door. At least twenty nails were embedded in the wall behind them.
"According to the specifications of a prince's tomb, this stone door is an entrance for us, and also the first checkpoint to greet tomb robbers. Generally, opening it from the outside is extremely perilous. You two step back a bit, and I'll see what's behind the door."
Fang Ming and Qingmian quickly retreated a few steps. Qingmian hesitated, wanting to say that he could phase through the wall to check the situation first, but seeing Zheng Zhuliu so enthusiastic, he felt it would be impolite to steal his thunder.
Zheng Zhuliu took out a long, slender silver needle, then took out a bottle of potion and brushed it onto the needle. He carefully inserted it into the stone door.
Miraculously, the hard stone door yielded like tofu under the silver needle, likely due to the potion.
After the silver needle was fully inserted, Zheng Zhuliu pulled it out a few seconds later and examined it carefully.
"There's a large amount of concentrated sulfuric acid inside the stone door. Forcible detonation would cause the acid to splash. Even a small amount would be fatal to an ordinary person," Zheng Zhuliu said gravely. "We can only try to destroy the stone door after draining all the sulfuric acid."
"Actually... it's not that troublesome," Fang Ming interrupted Zheng Zhuliu. "This sulfuric acid is difficult for ordinary people to handle, but for Qingmian and me, it's no different from clear water..."
Zheng Zhuliu froze, awkwardly scratching his head. He had forgotten that his team was no longer a conventional tomb-robbing crew. Accustomed to commanding others, suddenly leading two "superhumans" took some getting used to.
"Then you two handle it. I'll stay far away," Zheng Zhuliu said apologetically, stepping back several paces and covering himself with a thin plastic sheet.
"You or me?" Fang Ming winked at Qingmian.
Qingmian stepped forward and drew his long sword.
"Swish, swish, swish..." A flash of sword light, and the stone door was cut into pieces like tofu.
"Bang!" The pressure inside the stone door was instantly released, exploding outwards. A large amount of highly toxic concentrated sulfuric acid splashed everywhere. However, Qingmian extended his left hand, and a force blocked the stone door, intercepting all the sulfuric acid with an invisible barrier.
"Sizzle, sizzle..." The ground corroded with a sizzling sound, and a foul odor permeated the corridor.
"Let's go," Qingmian sheathed his sword and gestured to Fang Ming.
"Sixth Master, it's your turn to shine again. Keep leading the way," Fang Ming shouted to Zheng Zhuliu.
"Coming, coming," Zheng Zhuliu hurried over, looking at the spilled sulfuric acid with emotion. This mechanism, which would have caused him a lot of trouble on every tomb raid, was now dealt with in a flash.
"According to normal burial practices, the next should be the burial terracotta warriors," Zheng Zhuliu led the way, and the three passed through another wide corridor.
Zheng Zhuliu had excavated countless tombs and had a general understanding of their designs.
Indeed, as they walked down the corridor and turned a corner, their vision suddenly opened up.
"My heavens," Fang Ming gasped.
Zheng Zhuliu was also very surprised. Only Qingmian didn't understand the meaning of the scene before him and didn't have much emotional reaction.
"Is the burial scale for this Prince Xueqin too grand?" Fang Ming turned to ask Zheng Zhuliu, his eyes still filled with shock.
Zheng Zhuliu also couldn't understand why a mere prince's tomb would have so many terracotta warriors buried with him. Judging by the current number, there were at least hundreds of thousands.
Each phalanx was a hundred by a hundred, and then the phalanges were arranged in tens by tens. This number was in the millions!
A burial scale like this would make even a ruler hesitate, as in ancient times, manufacturing so many terracotta warriors would require an immense amount of human labor and resources.
"Sixth Master, if I secretly took one or two to sell, would I not have to worry about my future?" Fang Ming joked. Based on the price of the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor, each of these warriors could sell for a million, and two would make him instantly rich.
"I don't know if you'd get rich, but you'd have a hard time selling them," Zheng Zhuliu immediately crushed Fang Ming's idea. "These kinds of warriors, apart from certain collectors, ordinary people wouldn't dare to buy them recklessly."
Fang Ming spread his hands helplessly. His dream of getting rich was shattered.
"Fang Ming, I suddenly have a bad premonition," Zheng Zhuliu thought of something, his brow furrowed. He then grabbed Fang Ming and ran back.
"What's wrong, what's wrong?" Fang Ming was confused. Why was Zheng Zhuliu suddenly pulling him back?
Zheng Zhuliu didn't answer Fang Ming, but kept pulling him back. They finally reached the stone door they had just passed through before stopping, panting.
"What's going on?" Fang Ming quickly asked.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo..." Zheng Zhuliu panted heavily, resting his hands on his knees. After a moment, he explained, "Prince Xueqin's burial scale absolutely couldn't reach the height of millions of terracotta warriors. You know, the number of terracotta warriors signifies the power of the tomb owner during his lifetime. A prince's burial scale would be at most around a hundred thousand warriors."
"Then you mean..." Fang Ming looked up at the mural, seeming to understand something.
"Those terracotta warriors... are all living Fiend Beasts!" Zheng Zhuliu said his guess with difficulty, which made Fang Ming's heart drop. A million Fiend Beasts?!
How was that possible?!