I stared at the pit for a long time, while Fatty continued to ramble on about something.
I wasn't listening, because my attention was completely focused on the wall behind Fatty and the pillar beside him.
"Fatty!" I called out. "Go check that pillar, see if there are any patterns on it."
My shout made Fatty stop. He walked over to the pillar and brushed away the dust with his hand. "Master Xiang, there are patterns!"
"What kind of patterns?"
"It looks like a bull, and there's a flower on its head..."
Hearing this, my heart leaped with joy!
At that moment, I finally understood what it meant to search high and low for something, only to find it unexpectedly!
Fatty's choice of restroom was truly remarkable!
As if by chance, he had fallen into the room that contained the secret chamber.
According to the treasure map, although the ancient city wasn't large, it still had dozens of rooms. To think that Fatty had hit the bullseye!
"Fatty! You truly are my lucky star!" My mood brightened considerably, and I couldn't help but laugh.
Fatty clearly suspected that the place he was in was the room with the secret passage. He said, "Master Xiang! You have to pay me more when we get back!"
"I'll pay you as much as you want!"
"Then hurry up and pull me up!"
"Wait a moment, I'll go get a rope. I need to go down and confirm something."
With that, I turned and ran to get the rope.
It was already past two in the morning, and everyone was fast asleep. Fatty and I were busy with this, and no one was disturbed.
I brought over the climbing rope, hammered two pitons into the ground to secure it, and then jumped into the pit, holding onto the rope.
When I reached the pillar, I took out the treasure map and asked Fatty to shine his flashlight on it for me.
The Taohuai Kingdom was a nomadic people, and their totems were usually animals.
The treasure map also had a totem, which indicated the location of the secret chamber.
I compared the two totems and found they were almost identical. So, I went to find two entrenching tools, and together with Fatty, we began to dig beneath the stone pillar.
After digging for a short while, we soon hit a large, broken stone tablet.
The stone tablet was clearly movable. Using the principle of leverage, we pried it open, revealing a downward passage.
"Master Xiang! Something's happening!" Fatty exclaimed excitedly.
Fatty and I exchanged a look and I smiled, "Let's go down and see."
The passage was very narrow, only about a meter in diameter, with steps leading downwards.
Following the steps down, we soon entered a passageway.
After walking for about five to six minutes, the passage gradually widened, and a double stone door, over two meters high, appeared ahead.
The stone door was covered with animal hides, which looked rather terrifying at first glance.
I went over and pushed it, but it wouldn't budge.
Just as I was about to try prying it with the entrenching tool, a beam of light shone from behind us.
"What are you two doing here?" Jin Qiaoyue's voice came from behind us.
I was taken aback. When did this woman get down here?
Turning around, she had already reached us. Seeing the stone door in front of her, she was also a little surprised. "Is this the secret chamber the map mentioned?"
"It should be," I replied.
Her expression brightened. Just as I thought she was also eager to open the stone door and take a look, she said, "Let's go back first."
"Aren't you going to take a look?" Fatty couldn't help but ask.
Jin Qiaoyue shook her head. "It's not the right time yet. We don't know what's inside, and if we rush in, we might get into trouble. Let's go back and discuss it first."
I thought what she said made sense, so I nodded. "Alright."
When we returned to the top through the passage, Song Bing and Li Chuang had woken up.
I explained the situation to them, and they both seemed excited.
"Mr. Xiang, you're really amazing! I was thinking we might have come here for nothing this time, but I didn't expect you to find the secret chamber so quickly," Li Chuang said with a smile.
I had wanted to say it was just good luck, but seeing that woman Jin Qiaoyue, for some reason, I fell silent, implicitly admitting that the secret passage wasn't found by chance.
Although Fatty was usually a chatterbox, at such a crucial moment, he knew what he could and couldn't say.
"The project manager lives up to their name, truly possesses extraordinary abilities," Jin Qiaoyue also praised me, which was rare.
Afterward, we all discussed it and decided to wait until morning to investigate further.
Song Bing and Li Chuang took over the night watch from me and Fatty. I crawled into the tent, pulled on my sleeping bag, and said, "I have a nagging feeling... Fatty, do you think Jin Qiaoyue might sneak into the secret chamber by herself without telling us?"
Fatty rolled over and yawned. "Don't worry, Master Xiang. I've seen that stone door. There's definitely a supporting pillar inside. It's impossible to pry it open from the outside unless you use explosives. If she wanted to go in behind our backs, she would have to blow up the door. Such a big commotion, and we would have woken up by then."
I thought about it and agreed with Fatty's point, but I still kept a watchful eye and told him, "Don't sleep too soundly later."
Fatty yawned perfunctorily and nodded. "I know, Master Xiang. Get some sleep quickly. It'll be dawn soon."
I zipped up my sleeping bag, thought about a lot of things, and then fell asleep.
The next morning, as soon as it was dawn, I vaguely heard an argument with my eyes closed. When I crawled out of the tent, I realized it was Jiang Ye and Jin Qiaoyue, still arguing about going back.
"I'll say it again, I won't stop you if you want to go back. You can leave anytime," Jin Qiaoyue said sternly to Jiang Ye.
"Rexiti must go back with me!"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"If he leaves, who will guide us back?"
"Do you know my wife can't hold on any longer!!" Jiang Ye yelled, his eyes bloodshot.
Jin Qiaoyue pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you want to send your wife to the hospital?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you want to, as long as you transfer your and your wife's spots to me, I can guarantee that your wife can be taken to the hospital today."
Jiang Ye froze for a moment, his gaze flickering. "What way do you have to get us out?"
Jin Qiaoyue didn't answer him. Instead, she produced a handwritten agreement from somewhere. "If you sign this, I can guarantee that I will get you and your wife out today. If the agreement is not fulfilled, this document will be void. How about that?"
Jiang Ye's eyes darted around. Gritting his teeth, he took the pen without a second thought and signed it.
Watching this scene, I was completely baffled.
What was Jin Qiaoyue up to?