I didn't know if it was Wang Yang's astonishing skill or if I was overthinking things.
Suddenly, I realized I didn't know him at all.
Come to think of it, this guy seemed to know everything, sometimes carefree, sometimes calm as water, making him unpredictable.
Fu Honglang and I pried at the stone door several times, but it didn't budge.
He also shouted towards the outside a couple of times, but there was no response from Fatty and the others.
"It seems to be a self-locking mechanism, only openable from the outside," Fu Honglang said.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
Fu Honglang replied, "Xiao Liu knows how to open the door, but I don't know if he can dislodge the lock core..."
"Lock core?"
"En," Fu Honglang nodded. "This kind of stone door mechanism is similar to the principle of the sliding tile puzzle we played as kids. As long as the lock core stone is pulled out, this stone door can be opened."
I finally understood. It meant that the thing Wang Yang had taken out of the stone door earlier was the lock core stone.
I had thought something was stuck inside, but it turned out to be the lock core stone.
Upon hearing this news, I suddenly felt deflated.
If even Fu Honglang couldn't dislodge the lock core stone, then Xiao Liu and Fatty would likely have a hard time.
And Wang Yang was trapped inside...
It seemed we were in dire straits this time.
Those Corpse Bees seemed to appear from nowhere, endless. Wang Yang was somewhat out of stamina and retreated.
As he retreated, the Corpse Bees that were attacking us suddenly lunged towards the bodies of their own kind.
Those Corpse Bees treated their own kind's corpses as a feast and began to eat them directly.
My stomach churned, and I almost threw up the compressed biscuits I had just eaten.
"How is it?" Wang Yang asked us. "Can the stone door be opened?"
I shook my head.
Wang Yang retreated to the stone door and fumbled around, tapping it lightly with the three-foot sword in his hand, seemingly searching for something.
When he tapped a dull-sounding stone, he smashed it with the hilt of his sword. Instantly, that stone was smashed open, and he immediately reached his hand inside.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached in, his expression changed drastically. When he pulled his hand back, a Corpse Bee had already clamped onto his forearm and bitten him.
Wang Yang made a decisive move, cutting off the Corpse Bee with his sword.
Even a large chunk of flesh was sliced off his own arm!
Looking at it made my scalp tingle!
This guy was truly decisive; if it were me, I wouldn't have been able to do it.
Even Fu Honglang beside him was stunned.
Wang Yang gritted his teeth, used his sword to slice open his clothes, and quickly wrapped them around his arm, tying a knot with his hands and mouth.
By the time he finished, he was drenched in sweat, and his lips were somewhat pale.
"Quickly find a way to get the lock core stone out..." he said weakly.
I looked at Fu Honglang, who was staring at Wang Yang blankly.
Following his gaze, I noticed he was looking at the tattoo on Wang Yang's body.
A moment later, Fu Honglang came to his senses. Without a word, he took a Molotov cocktail from his backpack, tore off the cloth strip, and poured the gasoline directly into the small hole on the stone door.
He struck a match, tossed it in, and it quickly ignited. Immediately, a Corpse Bee, engulfed in flames, shot out from inside.
Fu Honglang flattened the Corpse Bee with a shovel and kicked it away.
He took a deep breath, wrapped his jacket around his hand, and reached inside. After fumbling for a moment, his brow furrowed. "Got it!"
As soon as he pulled out the lock core stone, the stone door began to move.
We quickly moved aside, and the stone door slowly opened.
Through the gap of the stone door, we immediately squeezed out.
As soon as we got out, before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, my feet went empty, and a strong sense of weightlessness sent me spinning.
Before I could think further, my backside slammed hard onto the ground.
Fu Honglang and Wang Yang also fell the moment I landed.
Everything happened so fast that my brain couldn't keep up.
When Fatty appeared before me with a flashlight, I finally felt a bit of relief.
As expected, this tomb is not for just anyone...
"Brother Xiang, are you alright?" Fatty asked, helping me up.
I glanced at him. "Where did that pit come from at the entrance?"
Fatty replied, "Xiao Liu was looking for some mechanism, and he created a floor drain, so we just fell down..."
As he spoke, Fatty sniffed. "I thought I might not see you again..."
"Can you have a bit more backbone?" I said irritably.
"I'm serious, when we fell just now, I thought it would be some bone-grinding blades or something... aren't ancient traps all like that?"
I shook my head helplessly and turned to look at Wang Yang. He was injured and lying on the ground, and no one was attending to him.
I quickly went over and found that he had fainted.
Now that Shi Tou was dead, Wang Yang was seriously injured, and the rest of us were exhausted.
If we continued forward, who knew what we would encounter?
I felt it was best to find a way out first.
Fu Honglang seemed to realize this too, but he still seemed reluctant. "You guys rest. I'll go look around..."
Fatty and I helped Wang Yang to the side. The clothes wrapped around Wang Yang's arm were soaked with blood.
Fatty asked me what had happened. I explained the situation, and he was stunned, swallowing hard. "This guy is really ruthless..."
In that situation, if Wang Yang hadn't been so decisive, I estimated that not only his hand, but his life might not have been saved.
I asked Fatty to take off his belt and tie it above Wang Yang's forearm, trying to stop the bleeding.
He dazedly opened his eyes and looked at me, seeming to want to say something, but before he could speak, he fainted again.
For a moment, I felt a pang of sadness, unsure if he would make it out alive.
"Brother Xiang, this trip was a complete loss... if we don't take something out later, it would be a shame..."
"Can you shut up?" I said impatiently. "What time is it now? You're still thinking about such things?"
"No... Brother Xiang, I..."
I ignored him, stood up, and used my flashlight to examine the surroundings.
There were two岔路 not far away. Fu Honglang went down the left one. I stood at the mouth of the right passageway and shone my light inside, but I couldn't see the end.
Fatty had followed me at some point and tugged at my clothes. I ignored him, but this guy was persistent.
Just as I was about to turn back and scold him, Fatty winked at me and leaned in, whispering, "Brother Xiang, look at Xiao Liu..."
I was confused and turned to look towards Xiao Liu. I saw that fellow, for some unknown reason, kneeling on the ground and repeatedly kowtowing to the stone wall.