Imperial Treasure

Chapter 563 - 364: Be Careful...Some

The village chief had already gone ashen-faced, muttering something under his breath—likely curses at the Corpse Hover, since he found clothing and jewelry from some of his villagers on the bodies in that pit.

Absolutely infuriating!

Not to mention these corpses for now, Sui Yi and the others had already seen the bottom of the pit, which was actually a large platform.

A stone platform.

The stone platform had but a face-basin-sized opening, which was the spot where the Corpse Hover had previously hidden and escaped.

It was difficult even for people like Sui Yi and Yhan Qingwu, who had slender figures, to enter, let alone these burly men.

Mount Mover crouched on the ground, peered into the hole, and shook his head, "This stone platform must be two meters thick... They sealed off the large opening, leaving only this small one; this thief’s tunnel is indeed strangely made..."

"It’s as if those people dug and dug only to hit a big two-meter-thick boulder, had no choice but to burrow a small hole... Were those people all pangolins or what?" Fatso mocked coldly, bearing a grudge against the old man for previously hitting him with a stone.

"The geological nature of this stone isn’t very firm; with a specialized drilling machine, one could drill through it. But these marks don’t seem like they were made by a machine, rather, it’s more like... they were melted open."

Are you kidding me, old man?

However, upon closer inspection, the opening was indeed peculiar, not smooth like it had been drilled, but more eroded and curved...

Simultaneously, everyone thought of the Demon God.

"It must be that creature’s doing; this is just too mighty, like Godzilla, only a bit smaller in size. How do we go down then? Spit on it to melt it further?"

Mount Mover couldn’t bother with Fatso, seeing Sui Yi and Second Master Gong squatting and examining the stone platform, he briefly glanced over: "Hey, there’s carving on this stone surface, looks like ancient script... Old man me, I only do the digging; you folks should handle this artistic task... Fatso forget it, I know you can only butcher pigs."

The grit on the stone surface was quickly cleared by Feng Sha and others. Second Master Gong looked and asked Sui Yi, "Miss Sui, I heard you are very proficient in ancient scripts and have even studied archaeology. Could you tell... "

Sui Yi examined it and said, "It appears to be Warring States script, that is, the script from the Six Nations of the Warring States, but I have only dabbled a little. Most of these Six Nations scripts, I can’t really understand."

Being straightforward as always, people rarely doubted the authenticity of her words; if she said she couldn’t understand, then she truly couldn’t, and no one thought any differently, not even Second Master Gong. Although Sui Yi’s martial arts cultivation was apparent, ancient scripts had nothing to do with martial arts talent and required a lot of time to learn. Nowadays, mostly archaeology professors or old-timers in the tomb raiding business would understand ancient scripts well...

Clearly, it was expected that Sui Yi wouldn’t recognize it; otherwise, people would start to wonder if she was human or demon for being so adept at both literature and martial arts...

Since Sui Yi couldn’t understand, Second Master Gong slightly curled his lip and said, "Indeed, this is Six Nations script, derived from the oracle bone scripts and gold inscription of the Spring and Autumn period... This exit marks the end of the Warring States Ancient Tomb and is the gate that should have been used by the many craftsmen who built the tomb..."

"That shouldn’t be right, though; during the Warring States period, tomb construction generally sealed the entrances permanently, and the craftsmen were often buried alive in them. Emperors back then weren’t nearly as humanitarian as they are now."

The group was dubious, finding the stone gate a bit too odd, almost simpler to have a regular dirt thief’s tunnel.

Second Master Gong continued to look, and after a while, he suddenly laughed, saying, "There’s even something stranger... This stone gate actually has a mechanism!"

He clearly was pleased, quickly walking to the edge of the stone gate, surveying around, and finally stopping, "You all, come down from that stone gate... I’ve found the mechanism."

Upon hearing this, Sui Yi’s eyebrows slightly raised, she lightly stepped down beside Second Master Gong, saw him stepping on the nearby soil, bending over, and pressing a hand on the side of the stone platform where there was a thick crust of dried blood. As his finger pressed down, there was a click!

The rest had already jumped down from the stone gate, clutching onto the mud wall, watching as the stone door clicked open and then split down the middle... splitting like a yin-yang Bagua.

"Yin Yang Gate?" Third Lady Yin muttered softly, which Sui Yi overheard. She looked at the person, who seemed to realize it too, and their gaze turned a bit resentful and unsettled.

Yhan Qingwu threw a glance at Sui Yi, her eyes briefly aglint before settling back into calmness.

"It’s open!"

"Fantastic!"

The group promptly jumped onto the stone platform, the crack wasn’t small—it formed a wavy-mouthed gap about half a meter wide, ample for each person to safely jump down...

Jump—that term was soon found to be inappropriate.

Because the height was not low...

"At least seven or eight meters high... What kind of escape route is this?" Mount Mover, considering himself a veteran tomb raider from crisscrossing the lands since his early teens, having raided countless tombs, had never seen such a peculiar tomb tunnel...

"Old man, you must be first-timing at a Warring States tomb, aren’t you? Not many know of the customs recorded during the Warring States nowadays; how would you know this isn’t their unique preference... Better think about how to get down... wait, that’s not right, why do I hear something below?"

Third Lady Yin glanced at Fatso, "That’s the sound of water flow, there’s an underground river below... The exit was likely meant to be near this outlet, but the perennial flow of the underground water has eroded and deepened the riverbed, naturally distancing it from this exit..."

Again, the question arose—the exit was actually connected to an underground river?

Mysteriously inexplicable.

However, they weren’t old archaeology scholars; for matters they couldn’t comprehend, they naturally ceased to ponder them, since their goal was to find people!

After a brief discussion, they quickly decided to go down using ropes; anyhow, three or four people needed to stay and guard this place...

The village chief did not go down; firstly, out of reverence for the Demon God, and secondly while he was skilled in Gu Arts, he still required materials and involvement, and in this unfamiliar ancient tomb below, his combat effectiveness was negligible. Going down would just be a burden, so he stayed above...

Second Master Gong kept a wary eye, making his three subordinates watch over him. The village chief understood the intention and snorted coldly, remaining silent.

Sui Yi had exchanged a few words with the village chief, seemingly to comfort him... and he had also assured the man not to fear the Demon God and to bring his daughter’s head back for a proper burial.

While the two spoke to one another, the village chief nodded. Soon after, Sui Yi left him and noticed one of the three people Second Master Gong had assigned was Gong Jiu.

Gong Jiu was quite reluctant and frowned, saying, "Uncle, I want to go down and search for Ah Jiu..."

Second Master Gong forbade it, perhaps fearing that another bloodline of the Palace Family might perish inside as well.

"Since Gong Jiu refuses, then let Feng Sha stay," Sui Yi suddenly interjected. Gong Jiu was stunned, and even Second Master Gong was momentarily shaken. He looked toward Feng Sha, who was already dressed and ready to go. Feng Sha’s expression fell, and he seemed anxious, about to speak, but Sui Yi cast a fleeting glance at him.

"Obey."

Feng Sha’s expression instantly turned stern, and he nodded, "Yes."

The people of the Palace Family were indifferent. They suddenly realized that, even when Gong Jiu was around, Feng Sha had never been so compliant..

That aura of Sui Yi’s... was truly unparalleled.

Second Master Gong’s gaze flickered and he agreed, "Since Feng Sha is to stay... fine then, Gong Jiu, you two coordinate well and handle any situations properly...."

Gong Jiu nodded, "Yes."

Thus, those determined to go below, including Sui Yi, tied themselves with ropes, ready to be lowered down one by one...

Feng Sha and Sui Yi were relatively quiet because Gong Jiu used to be close to these two, love me, love my dog...

Well, that was the gist.

Feng Sha was helping Sui Yi with her equipment when he suddenly felt Sui Yi coming over to hand one end of the rope to him.

Feng Sha was startled, looked up, and saw Sui Yi gazing at him with a profound and eerie, yet icy expression.

His lips moved slightly...

"Our lives are now in your hands.. be careful."

Feng Sha looked intently at Sui Yi, his eyes flickering, took a breath, and nodded heavily, "Miss Sui, rest assured.. I will not let go of this rope."

A few moments later, the groups of people led by Second Master Gong were lowered down, and when they had safely reached the river, which was thigh-deep, everyone felt much relieved. Sui Yi and the others were quickly lowered as well...

The air down there was much colder, with a musty smell mixed with dirt, very decayed, and, of course, there was also an inescapable stench.

Following the water, Xue the Skillful Hand and others waded through it. The sound of the water splashed loudly. The three women, including Sui Yi, were the last to descend, for they were women. Regardless of their strength, they were still treated with respect....

The water was cool, and getting their trouser legs and shoes wet was naturally uncomfortable, but it was unavoidable.

"Let’s go,"

Although there was some light from the opening overhead, the areas to the left and right were pitch black, resembling two massive black caverns...

Snap!

The group turned on the flashlights on their wrists and shone them around.

"The path is ahead, let’s move..."

Second Master Gong walked forward... The others followed, with Sui Yi and Yhan Qingwu at the rear. Third Lady Yin was also there; although she was not lacking in physical strength, her pace was slow, remaining in the back. As she walked, she glimpsed the beautiful and talented Miss Yhan taking the initiative to grab the stunning hand of the celestial Miss Sui...

She even scratched her fingertips against the other’s palm...

The usually composed and elegant Third Lady Yin instantly panicked.

Had she seen something she shouldn’t have...

With that awkward emotion, Third Lady Yin’s expression became strange as she quickly followed the others into the darkness. Above them, Feng Sha watched the people disappear below, and Gong Jiu lightly patted his shoulder, saying, "Don’t worry. Both my uncle and Miss Sui are incredibly capable, and with those people helping, there should be no danger..."

"Mm," Feng Sha nodded, "Actually, I wanted to go down too, for Ninth Miss..."

"I understand... I also want to go down," Gong Jiu sighed.

Feng Sha gave a bitter smile and walked aside, surveying the surroundings intently.

Yet, he remembered the lip-reading from Sui Yi just before.

The Palace Family had a traitor.

And those spoken words... be careful..

Be careful.. of one.

Be careful of Gong Jiu! (To be continued. If you enjoy this series, please visit qidian.com to vote for it or leave a monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)