In terms of mindset, Zhuang Rui probably has the best mindset among these people. He simply likes these objects that carry history, and money is no longer of great significance to him.
"Alright, it's already noon. Let's hurry up and find the tomb doors leading to the other chambers, then go out for lunch and a rest, and continue working in the afternoon..."
After Zhuang Rui returned the jade cicada, Professor Meng began assigning tasks. Everyone, including Zhuang Rui, took a small wooden mallet and started tapping on the surrounding walls.
"Here, teacher, the sound I hear is a bit hollow..."
Three or four minutes later, Zhuang Rui's voice rang out. In fact, he had seen the tomb door as soon as he entered the tomb chamber; he was just putting on an act.
The tomb entrance is made of two large bluestones, with patterns carved on them, blending seamlessly with the surrounding stone walls. If it weren't for the hollow echoes coming from behind, it would be quite difficult to spot.
It was difficult to open the tomb door from the outside, but it was easy to open it from the inside out. It was a trapdoor with three grooves in the ground. In the innermost groove was a long strip of sealing stone. After Zhuang Rui lifted the stone strip out, the tomb door could be opened directly.
"Alright, everyone, get out of here. There's another passageway ahead. Come back in after you've eaten. Be careful, everyone. If no one has walked through this passageway before, there's a high chance there are traps or mechanisms inside..."
After the tomb door was opened, a stench of decaying soil wafted out, causing everyone to back away.
Chapter 893 Everlasting Lamp
Lunch was personally delivered by Old Zhang. He went to town that morning to buy a few pounds of meat and made a big pot of braised pork with potatoes. The staple food was steamed buns, and there was also a bucket of egg drop and seaweed soup.
Although Old Zhang's cooking skills were not as good as those of the chefs in big hotels, everyone was very tired after working all morning, so the food tasted especially delicious.
The morning's harvest was quite substantial, and everyone was somewhat excited. Judging from the current signs, the ancient tomb had not been looted. An undiscovered Han Dynasty tomb would surely shock the entire Chinese archaeological community.
The Han tombs in Mancheng and Guishan that have been excavated in China are large in scale, but they have been looted more than ten or even dozens of times in the more than two thousand years, and most of the contents have been looted by tomb robbers.
Even so, tens of thousands of artifacts were still unearthed. One can imagine how many unknown treasures might be inside a complete Han Dynasty tomb.
"Zhuang Rui, when you go down, take the probe and ladder with you. The tomb passage behind us might not be very safe..."
After resting for a while at the top of the mountain, everyone tied ropes around their waists, preparing to go down again. All the cultural relics that had just been unearthed were placed in the tent of the armed police officers, and were guarded by an armed police officer.
While Zhuang Rui and the others were eating, the blower kept running. When they went down into the tomb passage again, the air had become very fresh, and even the unpleasant smell in the tomb chamber had disappeared, leaving only a faint smell of decaying soil.
"Xiao Ren, you go first. Watch the ground and both sides of the passage. The arrow traps should be useless now, but be careful of the traps and the dragon-slaying stones..."
Before even reaching the first tomb chamber, Professor Meng began assigning tasks. Ren Chunqiang was relatively more experienced and younger, so Professor Meng had him lead the way.
"Teacher, let me go first. I'm younger than Brother Ren, and my eyesight is better. If there are any problems, I can back out..."
Zhuang Rui volunteered to go ahead. He had already thoroughly explored the tomb passage behind the door, and if he needed someone to lead the way, he was the perfect candidate.
"Alright, then be careful. Use the probe to check the ground before you take a step..."
Professor Meng nodded upon hearing this. To become a true archaeologist, one cannot simply observe; one must experience things firsthand. This is how experience is gained.
Zhuang Rui had just entered the first tomb chamber when he suddenly saw a faint light coming from inside. He quickly turned around and asked, "Teacher, did we take all the lamps with us when we went out?"
Professor Meng turned around and asked, "Did anyone leave their lamp in the tomb when they went out?"
"No, I brought mine with me..."
"I brought mine out too..."
"Xiao Zhuang, is this your own light fixture?"
The group replied one after another, but none of them left a lamp in the tomb. This made Zhuang Rui's scalp tingle. He quickly released his spiritual energy to observe, but found nothing.
Apart from the abundant spiritual energy emanating from the burial objects in the distant tomb, there seemed to be no human presence. It was precisely because of this that Zhuang Rui became increasingly nervous.
"T-Teacher, there are lights inside, but when we left, we took the lights with us..."
Zhuang Rui's speech became somewhat stammering. It wasn't that he was timid; it was just that this matter was too bizarre. In such a sealed tomb, they had only left for a short while, and lights had appeared inside. Could it be...?
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, there seemed to be only one explanation: the ghosts in the tomb had come out and lit the eternal lamps on the walls of the passageway. After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, the people behind him suddenly felt a chill and looked around. Even the sound of the blower, which was originally normal, became somewhat eerie, like the wailing of ghosts.
Although Zhuang Rui was quite bold, this fact was truly inexplicable. People have always been extremely afraid of the unknown. For example, ghosts have been talked about for thousands of years, but no one has ever seen one. However, the living still fear such ethereal and unpredictable things from the bottom of their hearts.
"Xiao Zhuang, what are you afraid of? Move aside, I'll go in first. There are so many living people here, how can we be scared by ghosts?"
Professor Meng's voice suddenly rang out. Zhuang Rui had his back to him and didn't see the faint smile on Professor Meng's face.
"T-Teacher, it's alright, let me go first..."
Upon hearing Professor Meng's words, Zhuang Rui blushed slightly, gripped the probe in his hand tightly, gritted his teeth, and squeezed through the broken stone door into the tomb chamber.
Once inside the tomb chamber, Zhuang Rui could see more clearly that the faint light was indeed coming from the tomb passage that he and the others had opened when they left. The light was dim and seemed like it could go out at any moment.
The others didn't look any better than Zhuang Rui. You could tell from their knuckles as they held the objects that they were unconsciously using force, their knuckles sticking out and turning white, showing how tense they were.
For a moment, no one dared to look into the passageway, as if ghosts were lurking there. In the small tomb chamber, everyone's breathing sounded somewhat heavy.
Of all these people, only Professor Meng seemed to remain calm, his expression unchanged. After glancing at the faces of everyone in the tomb, he looked at Zhuang Rui and asked, "Zhuang, are you scared?"
"Afraid...not afraid, teacher, let me go and scout ahead..."
It would be a lie to say he wasn't afraid. Zhuang Rui's knees weren't exactly weak, but he was completely powerless. This was just too damn strange. When he opened the tomb door, it was pitch black inside, but now there was light coming out. It was just eerie.
Not to mention Zhuang Rui, even the other staff members who had some archaeological experience had never encountered such a situation before. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the passageway behind the door.
"Click...click..."
When he went out, the tomb door was half-open. Zhuang Rui mustered his courage, pulled open the half-open tomb door, glanced into the passageway, and his face immediately turned pale.
About 1.5 meters above the ground, a bronze lamp was burning quietly, and about 3 meters away on the wall, another lamp was burning. Three meters away was a corner, and light was coming from there.
It seemed someone had taken a lighter and walked along, lighting up all the lights in the passageway.
The light illuminated the bronze figure on the kneeling lamp very clearly, and the originally expressionless figure now seemed to be smiling at Zhuang Rui.
"T-Teacher, what...what exactly is going on?"
Although he tried to remain calm, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but stutter when he spoke, and his long-held belief in the atheistic theory began to waver.
"Zhuang Rui, tell me, what is the reason why the oil lamp in the tomb went out?"
Professor Meng did not answer Zhuang Rui's question directly, but instead raised a question.
"You mentioned this in class: if the tomb is well-sealed, the oil lamp would go out naturally because the oxygen would run out, and the second reason would be that the lamp oil would burn out... But teacher, this tomb is well-sealed, and it's a tomb from more than two thousand years ago. It's impossible that there was such a thing as an ever-burning lamp, right? How much oil would that have burned?"
After talking with Professor Meng, Zhuang Rui's fear dissipated considerably. However, if this question remained unanswered, Zhuang Rui wouldn't dare to enter the passageway. His spiritual energy could observe living beings, but it might not be effective against ghosts.
"Zhuang Rui, do you know what an ever-burning lamp is?"
Professor Meng pushed aside Zhuang Rui, who was blocking his way, and walked into the passageway to carefully examine the lit bronze lamp.
"I know, the eternal lamp is also called the inexhaustible lamp, which is the lamp that burns day and night in front of the Buddha. Although it is also used in the tomb passage, teacher, I have never heard of any eternal lamp in the tomb that is still burning..."
Zhuang Rui looked at Professor Meng in front of him and felt extremely impressed. He and his group of young men didn't dare to step forward, but the teacher didn't care at all.
Professor Meng smiled and shook his head, saying, "Hehe, you guys, when you see something you don't understand, you categorize it as a ghost or god legend. Xiao Ren, you don't even understand the principle behind how an oil lamp is lit, do you?"
"Teacher, I don't believe in ghosts and spirits, but I haven't found this phenomenon in any of the tombs I've excavated. Could you please explain it to us?"
Dr. Ren scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed. His fear just now was even greater than Zhuang Rui's, after all, thinking back to the ancient tombs he had entered before, he was afraid that unknown ghosts might possess him.
"Well, the mystery of the ever-burning lamp has always been a focus of debate in the world's archaeological community. However, after several on-site excavations in our country, the analysis of the materials inside the lamp has yielded results..."
Professor Meng led everyone forward a little and pointed to the wick of the bronze lamp, saying, "This wick contains white phosphorus and other chemicals that are prone to spontaneous combustion when exposed to oxygen, while the sealed tomb is oxygen-deficient."
When someone opened the tomb, a large amount of fresh air containing oxygen rushed into the sealed tomb, causing white phosphorus and other chemicals to spontaneously combust, igniting the eternal flame...
"We opened the tomb door and left, and during that time, these bronze lamps spontaneously combusted. Now that you know how it works, are you still scared?"
Professor Meng's words made Zhuang Rui and the others realize that these bronze lamps had played a trick on them. If they had stayed in the tomb a little longer, they might have witnessed this spontaneous combustion phenomenon.
"Teacher, let me go first..."
After understanding the principle, Zhuang Rui was no longer afraid. When he saw Professor Meng about to go inside, he quickly stepped in front of him.
Chapter 894 Washing the Sand
In this world, people often scare themselves. Before knowing the principle behind the ever-burning lamps, Zhuang Rui was truly terrified. But now that he knows, his feelings are completely different when he looks at these spontaneously combusting bronze lamps.
"Xiao Zhuang, be careful. The passageway is the most dangerous part. Given the size of this tomb, there are probably quite a few traps..."
When Professor Meng saw Zhuang Rui rushing inside, he quickly reminded him from behind. Actually, he hadn't explained the principle behind the spontaneous combustion of the lamp at first because he wanted to test his two apprentices' courage.
Professor Meng was fairly satisfied with the result; although Zhuang Rui was scared, he didn't let the team down.
However, Professor Meng was somewhat dissatisfied with the knowledge of his two apprentices. The debate over the eternal lamp had long been discussed in the world academic community, yet his two apprentices had not paid any attention to it.
"Teacher, I understand..."
Zhuang Rui agreed; probably no one knew the situation inside the tomb better than him.
Although Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy cannot see physical objects, he can still sense the situation in each tomb chamber through the spiritual energy emitted by different burial objects.
Even those arrow traps emitted faint spiritual energy, and Zhuang Rui had already sensed that things were not quite peaceful underground in this passageway.
Although the light emitted by these eternal lamps in the tomb passage was dim, there were so many of them, one every three meters, that they revealed the entire tomb passage to everyone.
"Teacher, something's not right up there..."
As Zhuang Rui rounded a corner, he stopped. A meter in front of him was a deep trap. Due to the angle, the light from the wall could not shine through, and he could not see what was inside.
"Xiao Ren, get a ladder! Goodness, this trap is no small thing..."
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Professor Meng stepped forward, shone a powerful flashlight inside, and suddenly exclaimed "Eh!"
"There's someone inside..."
With the help of Professor Meng's flashlight, Zhuang Rui could also see the situation inside the trap. The trap was two meters deep and four meters wide, with dozens of swords and spears stuck upside down. Although they were all rusty, they still stood at the bottom of the pit.
Zhuang Rui was half right; there was indeed someone inside, but he was dead.
Amidst these sharp blades, a skeleton was clearly visible, the skull and body of the dead man completely separated.
The skull with its two empty eye sockets lay alone at the bottom of the pit, appearing so hollow and deep under the light, as if telling everyone about its tragic fate.
"Another tomb raider..."
Professor Meng frowned deeply, picked up his flashlight and looked up into the passageway. A small hole appeared before them. Clearly, the tomb raider was unlucky; after digging the hole, he fell into a trap.
However, this makes the future of the tomb somewhat uncertain, as no one knows whether tomb robbers have ever visited the burial chamber in front of it.
"Teacher, please move aside, I'll put this ladder over there..."
Zhuang Rui took the alloy ladder handed to him by Dr. Ren, placed it above the trap, and then stepped on it to test its stability.