Looking at the traces of explosives and the tightly locked door in front of them.
Zhang Tian leaned in for a closer look.
"These explosives have burn marks, indicating they've already detonated."
"Judging by the style, it feels like old explosives, possibly done by the Kwantung Army or other tomb raiders."
Zhang Tian's voice was low, his gaze fixed on the door.
He didn't quite understand why someone had come, yet the door remained shut.
This was clearly unusual.
Hu Bayi also ran a hand through the gunpowder on the ground.
"Boss, my guess is it was most likely the Kwantung Army."
Hu Bayi looked back at the tunnel behind them, as if recalling something.
Zhang Tian's gaze followed.
His thoughts began to align with Hu Bayi's.
"Lao Hu, you mean the Kwantung Army dug this tunnel, and their destination was here, but why wasn't the door blown open?"
What puzzled Zhang Tian most wasn't who dug it.
It was why, having arrived, they didn't open the door.
Fatty, meanwhile, had stopped discussing with the other two.
He was already fumbling around the door.
Gradually, his eyes seemed to catch sight of something, and they lit up.
"Boss, look, there are remains here!"
Fatty shouted to the other two. Not far from the door, in a crevice, were two flattened skeletons.
At Fatty's call, Zhang Tian and the others quickly looked over.
Upon seeing the bones, and an entire body trapped in the wall crevice, Zhang Tian understood.
"Lao Hu, it seems they didn't fail to enter, but rather, there's a mechanism ahead!"
Zhang Tian managed a wry smile, fortunate that Fatty hadn't touched anything, and they hadn't rushed to open the door.
Otherwise, they would most likely have been the ones to die.
Zhang Tian ran his hand over the crushed powder.
It was all pulverized, but what could cause such destruction?
Zhang Tian's gaze shifted to the walls on either side.
If he wasn't mistaken, the walls had closed in, causing the crushing effect, or perhaps they had converged from top to bottom.
But where was the mechanism?
As he thought, their eyes fell on the main door.
On either side of the door, there were two head carvings.
The sculptures were etched into the door: one a Azure Dragon, the other a White Tiger.
The two creatures' eyes met, the White Tiger depicted in a fierce descent, and the Azure Dragon coiled as if in a phoenix-like pose.
"Damn it, to think the Kwantung Army was crushed into powder, it's so satisfying."
Fatty reached out, grabbed a large handful of bone dust, and tossed it into the air.
The area in front of the tomb door became dusty.
Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi remained silent, each observing the carvings on the door.
"Lao Hu, it seems the mechanism is on this door."
Zhang Tian said, his voice low, looking at the Azure Dragon carving.
His expression was solemn.
"Ahem, Fatty, stop throwing ash, you'll choke! Boss, this should be the Dragon and Tiger Battle!"
Hu Bayi admonished Fatty, then spoke.
"Dragon and Tiger Battle?"
Zhang Tian blinked, his mind drifting to a Jin Hua game and a man known as the God of Gamblers.
He even imagined the background music, but quickly shook off the thought.
"Does this have any symbolic meaning?"
Zhang Tian, lacking Hu Bayi's inherited knowledge, was sometimes at a loss.
"Yes, this is likely part of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise formation. And on the main door, only the Azure Dragon and White Tiger are present, facing each other."
"This in itself is a bad omen. The White Tiger descends to devour the Azure Dragon, while the coiled Azure Dragon prepares to battle the White Tiger. They are irreconcilable, a typical death trap."
Hu Bayi spoke, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding walls.
"So, Lao Hu, what are you suggesting?"
"Boss, I think this door, or rather, the area around it, isn't fully opened. There should be more stone carvings nearby, and these carvings on the door can be removed."
As he said this, Lin Tian touched the White Tiger carving. It was indeed as Hu Bayi described.
There was a seam, and it could be pried off.
This made it seem very plausible.
"Earlier, when the Kwantung Army found this tomb, I guess they used explosives. Unexpectedly, they triggered a mechanism, leading to their annihilation."
"Later, they must have sought other feng shui masters. Boss, look at the traces of blasting around here. I estimate that just three centimeters more, and the stone wall would have been discovered."
Hu Bayi ran his hand over the surrounding walls, feeling a sense of relief.
Zhang Tian also took a deep breath.
"It seems this was just a false front for the tomb door. After blasting through the surrounding stone walls, the true tomb door would be revealed."
"However, we cannot take such a risk."
Zhang Tian said, pondering for a moment. His gaze fell on the crevices.
"Lao Hu, let's place some bombs around the mechanism wall, perhaps that will blast it open."
Zhang Tian suggested, and Hu Bayi frowned slightly.
"But boss, I suspect the mechanism is very fast, otherwise those people wouldn't have died."
"I've figured that out too, but I have a solution."
Zhang Tian waved his hand, signaling not to worry.
He then took out the reinforced grenades he had tied to his waist.
He placed one on each side.
"Lao Hu, Fatty, Yingzi, you all move back. I'm going to start the detonation."
Zhang Tian said, and the others nodded and retreated.
"Boss, be careful. If anything happens to you, Fatty will be heartbroken."
Fatty said with mock affection.
Zhang Tian shuddered. Was this guy's sexual orientation questionable?
Yingzi also looked at Zhang Tian with concern. Once he confirmed they were all safe,
Zhang Tian pulled the fuse and then executed the 'Soaring Cloud Ladder' technique.
Zhang Tian's feet stepped on the stone wall, moving with incredible speed and lightness.
If there were a river, Zhang Tian was confident he could walk on its surface.
He hadn't even fully mastered this 'Soaring Cloud Ladder' technique yet.
There were still many aspects he didn't understand.
It was evident that if he truly mastered it, he might even be able to perform feats like Lu Shangwang saving the emperor from a cliff.
"Holy cow, I'm so excited, why hasn't boss come out yet?"
"I don't want to have to nurture two souls with one blood jade, Fatty's body can't handle it."
Fatty muttered to himself.
Suddenly, his head throbbed.
He looked up and saw Zhang Tian staring at him, furious.
"Fatty, who are you cursing? Believe it or not, I'll throw you in there."
Zhang Tian shot Fatty a glare.
"Holy cow, boss, you're so fast!"
Fatty looked at Zhang Tian, rubbing his eyes. It had only been three seconds, hadn't it?
As expected of the boss, three seconds is truly impressive!
Zhang Tian took a breath and kicked Fatty.
"I know Qinggong, so this is very simple."
Zhang Tian explained, and Hu Bayi understood.
No wonder Zhang Tian was so confident.
Just as Zhang Tian finished speaking, an explosion sounded from where he had been.
Simultaneously, before the explosion, the walls had begun to close in.
The smoke must have triggered the mechanism.
"Boom boom boom!"
The intense explosions echoed.
At the same time, the tomb walls began to collapse, and the previous mechanism was rendered inoperable.
Ten grenades tied together could blow up a tank, let alone this.
When the smoke cleared, Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi walked ahead.
Yingzi remained at the rear.
The group looked again.
Indeed, the previously narrow tomb door had been completely opened.
There was a large space around it.
On the walls were carved the divine beasts Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise.
The entire wall was inscribed with ancient Jin script.
It appeared ancient and mysterious.
"This big? Brother Zhang, what about our tunnel?"
Yingzi exclaimed, her eyes shining at the sight of the palace-like tomb entrance.
"What we were in was likely just a mechanism's antechamber. This is the true tomb door, and it's much larger than I expected."
Zhang Tian also marveled. The surrounding architecture was remarkable, and even the explosive blast hadn't caused complete destruction.
It showed how thorough the builders had been.
However, the more resilient the construction, the more uneasy Zhang Tian felt about the Jin prince.
(PS! Is anyone reading? Feel free to suggest any tombs you'd like to visit in the comments.)