The wound festering so quickly was likely due to it being submerged in water.
After treating my wound, Wang Yang said, "You need to go to the hospital to get a tetanus shot quickly. Otherwise, if it gets infected..."
He didn't finish his sentence. I knew that if it got infected, my life would likely be over. However, given the current situation, it was uncertain whether we could even get out, let alone go to the hospital.
I sighed and said, "I hope we can find an exit soon."
"Are you still going to accompany that old man to the cliff bottom?" Wang Yang asked.
I looked around the surroundings and said, "If we don't go there, how else do you think we'll get out?"
"Since he said that's the main tomb chamber, then the path we followed with the lizards earlier is very likely the exit."
I suddenly regretted coming here. If I had known, I should have followed the lizards directly into that hole earlier. Perhaps we would have already gotten out by now. Humans are contradictory creatures; our thoughts change with the times. Just now, I wanted to find Zhou Yongxiang, and now that I've found him, I regret not leaving with the lizards.
After resting for an hour, everyone's strength had mostly recovered. Just as we were preparing to set off, Da Jun walked over and handed me a pill. "Your waist seems to be injured quite badly. Take this; it's military-grade anti-inflammatory medication."
It was my first time hearing about military-grade anti-inflammatory medication, but judging by his expression, this pill must have been hard to come by.
"What are you hesitating for? If Boss Zhou hadn't asked me to give you the medicine, I wouldn't have parted with it," Da Jun said, somewhat impatiently.
Seeing this, I took the pill and thanked him. After taking the medicine, we retraced our steps and soon arrived at the cliff bottom. The fire at the cliff bottom had been extinguished, and black smoke billowed everywhere. The lizard corpses in the courtyard had already been burnt into piles of black ash.
We brought Zhou Yongxiang to the main hall. Seeing the chaotic state of the wooden figures inside, he looked regretful, muttering things like "What a pity." After wandering around the hall for a while, he and Da Jun went to inspect other rooms.
Finding it too tiring, I sat down on the stone steps with Wang Yang and Li Zha Si to rest.
"Boss Wang, Boss Xiang, do you think those lizards will come back for revenge?" Li Zha Si asked worriedly.
I hadn't really considered this question and glanced at Wang Yang.
He said, "It's hard to say. I think those lizards have quite high intelligence. When they attacked us in the courtyard earlier, they used a pincer movement. If we hadn't lit the fire oil, we would have been finished."
"Didn't you say that type of lizard is almost extinct? After burning so many, there shouldn't be many left, right?" I asked.
Wang Yang replied, "Not necessarily. You saw the cesspit we went to earlier; with so much excrement, how many lizards do you think it would take to produce that?"
"What if it's accumulated over the years?" I suggested.
Wang Yang said, "If it was accumulated over the years, it wouldn't be so fresh."
Hearing the word "fresh" made my stomach churn. Just thinking about that smell made me feel nauseous. I wondered how Zhou Yongxiang and Da Jun could endure it, being covered in so much excrement yet still focused on finding rubbings.
As the three of us were chatting, Da Jun came over and asked us to help. I asked him what kind of help was needed, but he didn't say anything, just told us to come over.
We went to the backyard and found Zhou Yongxiang standing by a millstone. A hand-cranked hoist was set up on the millstone, indicating he intended to move it. I had noticed earlier that Da Jun's backpack was larger than ours, and it turned out he was carrying something like this. The hoist was set up with folding steel pipes, a method I had seen before. When Wu Ting Xiu went into the tomb, Song Bing had used this method.
Zhou Yongxiang cupped his hands towards me and said, "Shopkeeper Xiang, please lend a hand."
"Old Zhou, you're too polite."
With that, the four of us began to operate the hoist. It was fine at first, but after a few turns, the resistance increased. I had to admit, this millstone was incredibly heavy, weighing at least several tons. I wondered how the workers managed to lift it up in the first place.
The millstone was gradually lifted, and soon a large space in the center was revealed. After moving the upper part of the millstone, we leaned in to take a look. In the center of the millstone, it was like a well, with a coffin suspended inside. Who would have thought a coffin was hidden inside this millstone!
The coffin was made of some unknown wood, but it exuded a strange dark red hue. It was likely human blood. This meant that the people used for sacrifices back then were crushed by the millstone, their blood seeping in and soaking this coffin. How much blood would that require? I was both shocked and incredulous! Who could have come up with such a sacrificial method?
"Let's get the coffin up first," Da Jun said. He then attached the chains suspending the coffin to the hoist and instructed everyone to pull slowly upwards. Soon, a quarter of the coffin was exposed. After securing it with climbing ropes, everyone strained together, and with great effort, we managed to lift the coffin out.
Shining a flashlight on it, I realized the coffin was made of Phoebe zhennan wood, which explained why it hadn't rotted after so long. After placing the coffin steadily on the ground, Da Jun prepared to open it. Seeing his demeanor, he was clearly a tomb raider. He took out some yellow paper, burned it in front of the coffin, and then retrieved his tools to remove the coffin nails. Finally, he inserted the tip of a crowbar into the gap of the coffin and gave it a sharp knock, causing the coffin lid to fall to the ground.
Everyone eagerly gathered around, curious to see what was inside. To everyone's surprise, the coffin contained a bronze figure, which appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old. Besides the bronze figure, there was nothing else inside.
When Zhou Yongxiang saw the bronze figure, his face lit up with excitement. He quickly instructed Da Jun to take the bronze figure out, intending to take it back for research.
I was taken aback and asked, "Old Zhou wants to take this bronze figure out?"
He nodded seriously. "What I need is hidden inside it. We don't have any tools here, so we'll have to move him out first."
We were already struggling to survive here, and taking this thing out would be asking for trouble. Besides, although the bronze figure looked like a child, its weight was not insignificant. Moving something like this out would likely be difficult. However, it seemed we wouldn't need to interfere. Da Jun directly lifted the bronze figure out. The bronze figure looked like it weighed about a hundred catties, which I thought was heavy. But since they were here for it, I couldn't say much.