The tomb passage was damp, with steps made of black stone that gave it an ancient feel.
"Boss, what do you think a flood dragon looks like? With Brother Two's strength, he should be able to kill one, right?"
"After all, Fatty's body can wrestle a bull to the ground with his bare hands."
Fatty made a fist-clenching gesture. True to his nature, he had quickly forgotten his earlier unpleasantness.
"Young Master Zhang, are there really creatures like flood dragons? I've never even heard of them," Xie Yuchen also spoke, sounding a bit puzzled. Despite his family's experience in tomb raiding, he had never encountered or even heard of a flood dragon.
"I'm not sure, but Fatty, your wording is improper. That's a major demerit for you," Zhang Tian said. Fatty pouted and mumbled softly.
"This tomb, its current position faces west from the east, forming a tomb eye. As the saying goes, 'A grave without good feng shui brings sorrow.' Not only is the feng shui here excellent, but the location is also prime. Boss, there should be a large burial chamber ahead," Hu Bayi said, his voice hoarse and echoing in the cave as he looked at his compass.
"Indeed, there is a burial chamber," Zhang Tian said, pointing not far ahead. Under the beam of the flashlight, a small tomb door appeared. The characters "Life" and "Death" were carved above the door.
"Holy crap, not again, the Gate of Life and Death? Whoever designed this is a real genius, a damn talent," Fatty exclaimed, looking at the door and unable to refrain from cursing. Ever since encountering the Gate of Life and Death last time, Fatty had a vivid memory of it, and now they had run into it again. How could Fatty not get worked up?
"Fatty, I call you narrow-minded, and you still deny it. There's another character above," Zhang Tian shot Fatty a look and pointed to the large characters above the double doors.
"Judgment!"
"Judgment of life and death? Whose life and death? Does a mere weasel-wolf get to judge Fatty's fate?" Fatty muttered, almost composing a poetic lament.
Zhang Tian looked at the door before him, his gaze lingering for a moment.
"This should be the Judge's tomb chamber, for determining life and death. But if they want our lives, they're still two thousand years too early." Zhang Tian's temper flared. After encountering so many problems and traps along the way, Zhang Tian wished he could find Huang Shuliang and give him a good scolding.
"There's a mechanism here," Hu Bayi said, crouching down and picking up two stones from the ground. The stones fit perfectly above the characters for "Life" and "Death." Hu Bayi didn't hesitate and pressed the two large characters in.
The next moment, the door opened. What greeted them was a larger cavern. This cavern didn't look like something humans could have carved; it appeared both eerie and solemn, majestic. Inside the cave, eerie blue ghost fires illuminated the surroundings. In the center of the cave, there was a basin of ghostly blue fire, with some vines burning on top. It looked rather strange. The surrounding cave had no burial objects at all, only countless vines. Fortunately, these vines showed no intention of attacking them; they simply lay on the ground, motionless.
"Boss, look, there's someone over there!" Fatty suddenly pointed to a corner not far away. Following the light of the ghost fires, the skeletal remains of a yellow-robed Daoist appeared before them in the corner.
"Master, is this your disciple?" Zhang Tian looked at Master Yimei.
"Look, his attire is different from mine. Mine has the Eight Trigrams and the mark of the Patriarch. His has mountains and some inscribed symbols. He should be what you call a Mountain Moving Daoist," Master Yimei said, his eyes fixed on the skeleton without much surprise. After all, he had seen Mountain Moving Daoists before; they were exceptionally skilled in ghost arts, but it was rare to see one dead inside here.
"This is a true Mountain Moving Daoist," Zhang Tian thought, feeling a bit strange as to why this person had died inside and not outside.
"Boss, someone has been here," Hu Bayi pointed to a scorched mark on the ground.
"Let's go take a look. We might find some clues," Zhang Tian said. The others nodded and walked towards the skeleton of the Daoist. As expected, as they advanced, the vines began to move. However, with the scorched marks, Zhang Tian was certain that these vines were afraid of fire.
"My good disciples, you explore, and I will provide cover for you," Master Yimei said, drawing a talisman in the air. A fire talisman appeared, and the surrounding vines immediately ignited. The vines on Zhang Tian's side also couldn't pass.
"Wang Qingming, eighteenth disciple of the Mountain Moving Daoist sect." Zhang Tian looked at the name embroidered on the collar of the deceased. After rummaging through the body, they found nothing, clearly having been looted.
"Boss, could this guy be the master of the Mountain Moving Daoist we met earlier?"
"No, not exactly. He stole this fellow's magic scripture. They weren't master and disciple; at most, he was a thief. I suspect that after stealing the Mountain Moving secret techniques and the Celestial Master's sword, he went to Beili. I didn't expect him to also be in seclusion in Qingming Mountain," Zhang Tian shook his head and said.
"That traitor actually came here," Master Yimei murmured, looking at the skeleton of the Mountain Moving Daoist with anger in his eyes.
"Since there's nothing here, let's forget it. We'll look for a way forward," Zhang Tian said, and they began searching. With Master Yimei's cover, things became much simpler. Xie Yuchen moved around the tomb chamber, and suddenly, his gaze fell on a section of the stone wall in a corner. There was an indentation on the stone wall. He hesitated for a moment and then gently pulled out the stone. A small box appeared before Xie Yuchen.
"What is this?" He frowned slightly, looking at the box, and walked towards Zhang Tian.
"Young Master Zhang, I found this in a crack in the stone. It should be untouched," Xie Yuchen said, handing the box to Zhang Tian. Zhang Tian took the box, checked that there were no traps, and then slowly opened it. Inside the box was a white jade pendant. The jade pendant was crystal clear, with faint green patterns inside.
"A jade pendant? Hidden in a stone crevice?" Zhang Tian frowned slightly. A jade pendant in a stone crevice was rather strange.
"Disciple, I can sense a strong yin energy from this jade pendant," Master Yimei said. "It might be some kind of key. Let's take it. This thing can also nourish the soul, Little Fatty, this thing is excellent for nourishing the soul." Master Yimei winked at Fatty.
"Hmph, do you think Fatty is that kind of person?" Fatty scoffed, then immediately went to Zhang Tian's side. "Boss, Fatty thinks it's fine if Fatty keeps it for you." Fatty grinned slyly. Zhang Tian rolled his eyes and handed the jade pendant to Xie Yuchen.
"Since Young Master Xie found it, he should be the one to hold onto it first," Zhang Tian said. Fatty then looked at Xie Yuchen, his face breaking into a smile, and he even threw Xie Yuchen a flirtatious wink. Meanwhile, Zhang Tian went to Hu Bayi's side.
"The Upper Xuan Star, the East has the White Tiger Star. The entire tomb is in an arched structure. If I were designing it, the tomb door would definitely be..." Hu Bayi was conjecturing in his mind, his gaze gradually shifting upwards.
"Boss, it's above us!" Hu Bayi suddenly said. Zhang Tian nodded sharply and, under Hu Bayi's direction, leaped up. The next moment, his head touched a mechanism, and a circular tomb passage opened above.
"Fatty, go into the passage," Zhang Tian said casually to Fatty, who was busy trying to get friendly with Xie Yuchen. Then, despite Fatty's reluctance, they ascended to the next tomb chamber. Upon entering, the surroundings became even more brightly lit. Not far away, a massive Book of Life and Death filled the entire chamber, and a judge statue nearly ten meters tall appeared before them. The previously chattering Fatty instantly froze, staring at the judge statue.
"Boss, he's so big, and his face is uglier than Fatty's..." Fatty mumbled mechanically.