A rumbling sound suddenly erupted from the top of the stone wall, the sound of stone shifting.
Before everyone could react, countless rusty iron arrows rained down from above, shooting towards the people below.
Bai Xi sensed it first. She looked up at the holes, located the direction of the firing, and immediately pulled Han Mo to move aside, avoiding the arrows.
Xuan Feng, in turn, swiftly swept Han Rui, who stood there wide-eyed, off his feet. With his powerful arms, he pinned him against the stone wall near Bai Xi.
He hadn't had time to judge the danger, but as long as he followed the God of War, he would be fine!
The bald man, however, immediately took off his leather jacket and used it to shield himself and Xue Yi.
As for those standing at the very front who hadn't reacted, within two minutes, they were riddled with arrows, dead and tragic.
Bai Xi looked up at Han Mo. "Are you alright?"
Han Mo smiled. "With you protecting me, of course, I'm alright."
Bai Xi frowned. "..."
If she remembered correctly, she had pulled Han Mo along with her.
But why was she now in his arms?
Meanwhile, on the other side, Han Rui was still in a daze. He was pinned against the rock wall by Xuan Feng, his back hurting. He couldn't help but complain, "Commander Xuan, thank you for saving me, but... next time you save me, could you be a little gentler?"
Xuan Feng looked at the man in his arms and said faintly, "Xue Yi cannot protect you."
Han Rui was slightly stunned, looking confused. Then he stood on tiptoe and whispered into Xuan Feng's ear, "Nonsense, of course I know that. I just wanted to see what bad intentions he had, didn't I?"
Xuan Feng faintly averted his gaze and took a few steps back. "We already know his intentions, and you might not be able to monitor him at all times, especially when he's making such small movements. Eldest Miss asked me to protect you, so you must stay behind me."
Han Rui froze for a moment, looking at Xuan Feng, whose eyes had already shifted elsewhere.
Bai Xi's group had no casualties, while Xue Yi had lost four men and injured six, causing his brows to furrow even tighter.
The accompanying doctor bandaged the injured. Xue Yi smiled at Bai Xi and said, "This tomb is indeed more terrifying than others. It actually has an arrow rain formation installed at the entrance. Miss Bai, are you alright?"
Bai Xi said faintly, "I'm fine. It's just... Mr. Xue, you claimed to be very knowledgeable about ancient tombs, yet you triggered this, truly too careless."
Her speed was extremely fast, so she could naturally discern the actions of others.
Given the bald man's reaction speed, it was impossible for him to protect Xue Yi so quickly without being alerted. Furthermore, Xue Yi directly revealing the hidden formation further proved that he had intentionally triggered the mechanism.
As soon as these words were spoken, Xue Yi felt the guilt of being seen through for doing something wrong. "Miss Bai, please rest assured, I will be careful from now on."
Han Rui had been terrified earlier and was still being protected by Xuan Feng's strong and powerful arms. Upon hearing Xue Yi's inner thoughts, he became even more indignant. "Seventh Master, you must be careful. Otherwise, with the skills of Little Xi'er and Xuan Feng, you might end up biting off more than you can chew."
This was filled with sarcasm.
Xue Yi looked at Han Rui, his expression grim. "I know."
Bai Xi looked at the wall, took out a torch, and illuminated the entire wall.
On the wall was a disc with twelve squares. Each square had a corresponding stone. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the stones were movable.
Xue Yi said faintly, "This is the Twelve Epochs Chart. If the wrong time is pressed, it will trigger a mechanism. It should be Chen Shi, from 7 to 9 AM. I wasn't steady and accidentally touched the one next to it."
He then pointed to the position representing Si Shi.
Han Rui raised his eyebrows. "It's never too late to mend. Mr. Xue, please press it now. We are all watching. Otherwise, the time will change again!"
After saying that, he directly hid behind Xuan Feng, clinging tightly to his shoulder.
Little Xi'er was protecting that boy Han Mo and couldn't spare him any attention. Since Xuan Feng said he would look after him, he naturally had to stick close to him!
Xue Yi said no more and pressed the correct stone.
At that moment, the entire cave seemed to tremble, and the wall in front of them, which seemed to have no cracks, dissolved as if it were disintegrating, revealing another brand new world.
It was as if the entire cave was the existence of this tomb.
Inside the cave, there were no dark corridors, only two ever-burning eternal lamps.
The lampstands were made of an amber-like substance, shaped like golden boy and jade girl, each holding a beautiful lantern. But upon closer inspection, one would feel a chill creep up their spine, because inside these amber substances were two real people.
A boy and a girl, forcibly sealed within these amber-like objects, their faces contorted with extreme fear. Just looking at them sent shivers down one's spine.
Behind the dolls, there was a very spacious area where rows of statues stood.
These stone statues wore ancient-style clothing and were in various poses. Their only commonality was that they all held long swords in their hands. Their postures were serene, without any trace of malevolence.
Bai Xi said faintly, "Mr. Xue, you said you were very knowledgeable about ancient tombs. So, what does this place mean?"
Xue Yi looked around. "This should be considered a side chamber of the ancient tomb, and also a shrine. These stone statues holding long swords should be sarcophagi, containing the entombed bodies."
Bai Xi looked at the stone statues that had initially seemed benevolent. The strange feeling in her heart made her perceive the gentle smiles on the statues as mocking and sarcastic.
Han Rui looked at the two children before him and the bodies sealed in the stone statues. A chill ran down his spine, and he unconsciously stepped back behind Xuan Feng. "They actually practiced human sacrifice? This is too cruel."
Xue Yi, however, was quite excited. "This is considered cruel? There are countless methods of human sacrifice in ancient tombs, and this is already considered beautiful. I once saw infants sealed in jars, their flesh and blood already turned into something like mud. Besides flesh and blood, there were maggots. I also saw female corpses drowned in mercury, sealed in..."
Han Rui listened to Xue Yi's eloquent discourse, feeling his stomach churn.
The bald man looked at the two eternal lamps, greediness sparking in his heart. "Seventh Master, these two large pieces of amber must be worth quite a lot, right?"
Rich people all liked rare, peculiar, and historically valuable items, and these two items would surely fetch a good price.
After speaking, he directly reached out to touch them.
But the moment his finger touched the amber girl doll, he felt a sharp pain in his fingertip.
He looked down and saw that his finger was broken. He didn't know how it was broken, but he could clearly see his blood dripping onto the mouth and nose of the amber doll.
The posture was as if the amber doll had just come out from inside and bitten him.
Before he could finish speaking, the bald man clearly saw the doll sealed in the amber open its eyes, give him a creepy smile, and emit an extremely terrifying sound: "Zhi zhi ya ya... Zhi zhi ya ya..."
It was neither laughing nor crying, but it made one's heart freeze.
Xue Yi was greatly alarmed. "This is bad!"
Bai Xi looked around vigilantly, shielding Han Mo behind her.