Великий божественный суд династии Цин

Глава 14

As I entered the cave and carefully examined its interior, I said, "Yes, the luminescent material on these rock walls is the same as the material on our Jade Seal of the Tomb Raider General." At that moment, the others followed me into the cave. Jenny touched the smooth yet uneven rock wall that emitted a blue glow and asked疑惑地问道, "But our Jade Seal only glows in a slightly acidic environment. Is this cave also a slightly acidic environment?" "That's right," I said, pointing to the hot spring water seeping from the tiny cracks in the cave floor and walls. "We saw these hot springs outside the volcano; they contain a lot of sulfur. This sulfur, affected by geothermal heat and combined with oxygen in the air, produces sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide, among other sulfur oxides. These then dissolve in water and undergo a chemical reaction to produce sulfuric acid and sulfurous acid solutions. Therefore, the environment inside the cave is slightly acidic. And these radioactive substances on the rock walls, catalyzed by the acidic substances, emit blue light."

"What do you mean by 'growing hymens'? Auntie grows hymens?" Dunzi, with his lower level of education, didn't understand me immediately and kept asking. I knew I couldn't explain these chemical concepts to him in a short time, so I pretended not to hear and didn't immediately respond. But Jenny, who was beside me, understood immediately after my explanation and said with a smile, "Yes, how come I didn't think of such a simple chemical principle?" "So it seems that those two tomb raiders must have used the substance from this stone wall to coat these two white jade seals, which is why they emitted a faint blue light even in a weakly acidic environment," I said after a moment's thought. Jenny smiled and nodded, indicating that she thought so too.

Just then, Ah Bao, who had gone ahead to scout the way, suddenly turned around and shouted at us, "Quick! Come and see what this is!" Hearing him shout, we realized that he might have discovered something unusual again, so we ignored the blue glowing stone walls and quickly ran towards Ah Bao.

Under the faint, bluish light, a natural hot spring pool, about ten meters long and wide, appeared inside the cave we were in. Puffs of white steam rose continuously from the surface. Although we were all wearing gas masks, we could still guess that the concentration of sulfur in the surrounding area must be extremely high. On the dim surface of the water, several dark objects seemed to float. Due to the dim light inside the cave and the distance between us, we couldn't see them clearly at first.

I shone the beam of my wolf-eye flashlight and saw that the floating objects appeared to be brownish objects wrapped in burlap. What could these be? I couldn't figure it out, so I had Ah Bao take out a safety rope, make a loop, throw it out, and pull it back. When the burlap-wrapped object was pulled in front of us, we could see that it was a burlap bundle about 1.8 meters long and 50 centimeters wide. The burlap seemed to be coated with a thick layer of tung oil, but due to the temperature of the hot spring water, most of the tung oil had melted, revealing the rotten, blackened dark brown burlap inside.

I took out a Cold Steel tactical folding knife and carefully cut open the package along the exposed burlap. After making a cut nearly thirty centimeters long, a nauseatingly pale face appeared in the beam of our wolf-eye flashlight. The face was severely shrunken and deformed. The eye sockets were sunken, the nose flat, and the ears were stuck tightly to the sides of the head. The entire skin looked as if it were coated with a thick layer of transparent glue, appearing extremely moist and sticky. Even more disgusting, on that sticky, transparent liquid were numerous tiny white maggots, some motionless and seemingly dead, while others were still wriggling slightly.

Seeing this scene, Dunzi couldn't control himself and ran to a corner to vomit all over the place. I was also made to vomit by these disgusting things, and I simply threw my Cold Steel tactical folding knife into the hot spring pool in front of me, not wanting to use it anymore.

“A corpse preserved in a hot spring!” Jenny exclaimed. “What is a ‘corpse preserved in a hot spring’?” I asked, puzzled. Jenny explained, “It’s said to be a way some primitive tribes preserve the remains of their ancestors. When a member of their tribe is about to die, they give the deceased a special potion made with a secret recipe, and then rub this potion all over the body. After the person dies, the body is wrapped in linen and tung oil and sealed tightly. Then the body is transported to a hot spring with a suitable temperature. Due to the temperature of the hot spring water, the tung oil begins to melt little by little. The hot spring water seeps into the wrapping and reacts with the mysterious medicine in the body, gradually causing a transparent, viscous, gelatinous liquid to seep out from the pores of the skin. With this gelatinous substance, when maggots grow on the outside of the body, they are slowly dissolved by this gelatinous liquid. And the nutrients formed after the maggots dissolve…” "These gelatinous substances are absorbed through the pores of the corpse's skin, keeping the skin looking new and the body from decaying," Jenny paused, then added, "A crucial step in this preservation technique is finding a hot spring with the right temperature. If the temperature is too low, the tung oil coating on the hemp cloth won't melt, preventing moisture from penetrating. If the temperature is too high, the tung oil coating melts too quickly, and the body, soaked in too much water, won't have time for the medicine to react before it starts to rot, thus failing to achieve the purpose of preservation. Because hot springs with the perfect temperature are extremely rare, once one is found, everyone will rush to put the corpses of their clansmen into it. Therefore, such hot springs are often filled with floating corpses, appearing quite gruesome. For this reason, these hot springs specifically for placing corpses are called 'Nether Springs.'"

78. A Peerless Treasure

After hearing Jenny's explanation, we finally had a clue. Looking into the hot spring pool again, we saw at least a dozen corpses floating in it. We wondered what purpose those two tomb raiders had in keeping these horrific corpses in this treasure cave.

Standing here won't solve these mysteries; only finding that ancient scroll might truly unravel them all. Thinking this, I observed my surroundings again. I discovered that besides this hot spring pool, there was no other path to take. It seemed this shallow hot spring pool was indeed the only way to reach the depths of the treasure cave. Although these gelatinous corpses looked disgusting, they were still inanimate objects, much better than zombies and ghosts. So walking past them wasn't so scary. Thinking this, I took the lead and stepped into the hot spring pool, slowly wading towards the opposite bank. After I entered the water, Jenny and the others followed, only Dunzi trailed behind, hesitating for a long time before finally joining me.

After walking a short distance ashore, the glowing rock walls began to disappear, and the cavern space gradually expanded. Brick and stone walls and steps began to appear around the perimeter. After walking about a hundred meters further, a tall and heavy wooden door suddenly appeared before us. It was estimated to be about four meters high and two and a half meters wide, inlaid with ninety-nine silver studs. Due to the damp air in the cavern, the wood had blackened, swelled, and begun to rot. However, the gold and silver ornaments inlaid on the door remained gleaming and intact.

Dunzi seemed to have his eye on the pair of pure gold rings with the heads of mythical beasts on the door, and he even took out an entrenching tool, intending to pry them off. I grabbed him and gently said, "Aren't you afraid there are some traps or hidden weapons on that door?" Hearing me say that, Dunzi dared not go forward alone again and obediently stood beside us.

I quietly approached, raised my wolf-eye flashlight, and carefully examined the outside of the door, but found nothing suspicious. So I shone the flashlight into the gap between the two doors, about two or three centimeters wide, trying to see what kind of space lay behind it. However, the stone chamber behind the door was extremely dark. The beam of the flashlight only illuminated a very short distance after entering through the gap, making it impossible to see what lay inside. Although I couldn't see the interior clearly, I did see several bronze chains connected horizontally and vertically behind the wooden door, seemingly some kind of mechanical mechanism. If the door were pushed open, these bronze chains could potentially activate the mechanism inside the stone chamber, launching hidden weapons at anyone who entered.

After observing the situation clearly, I returned to Jenny and the others and recounted what I had seen. Considering that the bronze chains behind the wooden doors were likely a mechanism, for safety's sake, we decided to use a battle axe to cut a hole in the lower part of one of the more rotten wooden doors, and then enter the stone chamber through this temporary opening.

After agreeing on the plan, we spent over twenty minutes carving a hole about sixty centimeters in diameter in the wooden door. I carefully shone the beam of my wolf-eye flashlight into the stone chamber and peered inside. Sure enough, the bronze chains behind the two wooden doors extended to the left and right walls of the chamber via several rotating discs. And within the primitive catapults on these walls, a dozen long bronze arrows were poised to fire, pointing straight towards the wooden door.

Seeing that there was no danger elsewhere, I told the others to be careful and not to touch the bronze chains behind the door. Then I went through first. Once inside, I found the stone chamber to be quite spacious. I scanned the surroundings with my wolf-eye flashlight and seemed to see many objects piled up inside, such as bronze artifacts, wooden boxes, and cabinets, but the distance was too great for me to see clearly.

By this time, Dunzi and the others had already crawled in through the wooden door. Seeing that they were all safely inside, I walked a few more steps forward alone, leaning against the stone wall on the side of the stone chamber. As I walked, I felt my foot step into a narrow, elongated groove, almost twisting my ankle. I crouched down and looked down; I saw an oil trough built into the floor at the edge of the stone chamber, containing what appeared to be some solidified milky-white wax. I immediately recognized it as animal oil used for lamps in ancient times. So I took out my lighter and lit the trough. With a "whoosh," as the flame from the lighter touched the oil, a burst of light shot up from the trough. The light, like a fiery dragon, quickly spread along the trough, and within two or three seconds, a bright ring of fire engulfed the entire stone chamber.

When the firelight completely illuminated the vast stone chamber, we were all stunned by what suddenly appeared before us. What lay before us was nothing short of a vast treasure trove. The enormous stone chamber, estimated to be several thousand square meters, was filled with all sorts of rare and precious artifacts. From bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties to gold and jade objects of the Han dynasty, it had everything imaginable.

On the left side of the stone chamber, various bronze artifacts are arranged in order. These include bronze water vessels such as various tripods, bowls, cauldrons, basins, and jars; bronze wine vessels such as various jue, jiao, zhi, gu, zun, you, hu, fangyi, lei, and shao; and bronze musical instruments such as various bells, nao, zheng, duo, ling, and drums. Other bronze weapons, such as ge, spears, ji, yue, knives, swords, pi, shu, daggers, crossbows, arrowheads, helmets, armor, and shields, are also neatly stacked to one side. Although most of the bronze artifacts are covered in patina and unrecognizable, their grand shapes, flowing lines, and exquisite craftsmanship still allow one to feel the captivating charm of these rare treasures in their heyday.

In the center of the stone chamber were piled hundreds of large wooden chests, occupying an area of approximately three to four hundred square meters. Due to their age, the wood had begun to rot, and the treasures and antiques inside were scattered all over the floor. Most of the items were gold, silver, and jade. These included jade thumb rings, jade hand grips, jade rings, jade pendants, jade huang (a type of jade pendant), jade bi (a type of jade disc), jade gui (a type of jade compass), jade cong (a type of jade tube), etc., as well as a large number of jade bowls, jade bottles, jade hairpins, jade clothing, jade chopsticks, jade belts, and other jade ornaments. The gold and silver artifacts mainly consisted of various gold and silver bottles and jars, gold and silver utensils, gold and silver ornaments, and gold and silver ingots. Some of the emerald, agate, tortoiseshell, and coral items were exquisitely crafted and uniquely designed, making them rare finds in the world.

To the right of the stone chamber, boxes of bamboo slips, silk scrolls, pottery, and stone tablets were neatly stacked, resembling an ancient book and epigraphy exhibition hall. Scattered haphazardly on the floor beside the chamber were numerous exquisite artifacts made of animal bones, ivory, and rhinoceros horn, each a masterpiece in its own right.

Everything before us was dazzlingly illuminated by the bright firelight inside the stone chamber, shimmering with golden light, a sight that was breathtaking and awe-inspiring. Although I have an archaeology background, I had never seen so many precious artifacts of such high quality displayed before my eyes, and I was momentarily stunned by the scene before me. Jenny and Ah Bao also seemed to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the scene, staring blankly for a long time without uttering a word.

Dunzi was completely dumbfounded, not knowing where to start. He stood there dumbfounded, not even blinking. It took me a while to come to my senses. Seeing Dunzi still standing there, I patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "What are you standing there for? Don't you like these the most? Now you can choose whatever you like." After I said that, Dunzi finally came to his senses and shouted at me, "I'm rich! I'm rich! This is truly a blessing from heaven and our ancestors!" Saying that, he quickly ran towards the light and easy-to-carry gold, silver, and jewels in the middle. Oh no, I should say he pounced on them.

79. The Terrifying Treasure Cave

Although we've finally found the treasure of the Tomb Raider General, that's not our primary objective. The ancient scroll we're searching for, said to contain the secret to transcending the mortal realm and achieving immortality, remains elusive. Initially, I thought it might be hidden in the area to the right of the stone chamber where bamboo slips and silk scrolls are piled. However, after Jenny and I searched there thoroughly for a long time, we still couldn't find the scroll we hoped for. The bamboo slips and silk scrolls were mostly classics like the *Classic of Poetry*, *Greater Odes*, *Spring and Autumn Annals*, *Book of Documents*, and *Book of Changes*. While each one is of immense archaeological value, they were of no use to us.

Just as Jenny and I were painstakingly searching among the pile of bamboo slips, silk scrolls, bronze inscriptions, and steles for the mysterious ancient scroll, a loud crash suddenly came from the stone wall on the left side of the main hall. The stone wall instantly cracked open, revealing two tall, ancient warrior-like corpses. One wore a silver helmet with eagle-winged dragon patterns, clad in silver-inlaid cowhide armor with double pythons vying for pearls, and cowhide boots inlaid with silver cloud patterns; he was imposing and exuded extraordinary power. The other wore a gilded, coiled dragon crown, clad in gold chainmail with dragon heads and tiger claw patterns, and cowhide boots with gold thread; he was broad-shouldered and burly, with a majestic and imposing presence.

We never expected that two ferocious-looking ancient zombies would suddenly rush out of this treasure chamber, and we were all terrified. Dunzi and Abao, who were picking through the treasures and antiques in the middle of the stone chamber, were also startled when they saw the two ancient zombies suddenly rush out from the left and quickly retreated to our side. Perhaps because he had the amulet to ward off evil, or perhaps because the sight of the enormous wealth before him gave him a moment of courage, Dunzi didn't show much fear as usual. He muttered softly, "Damn it, why did these two jinxes suddenly appear at this crucial moment?" "Never mind them, just use magic to deal with them," I said to everyone.

So when the two ancient zombies charged at us, Ah Bao and I quickly fired two shots at them. As we expected, the bullets entered their bodies but had no effect on them. However, the force of the bullets temporarily slowed their charge, allowing Dunzi and Jenny to quickly pull out their "amulet charms." I, on the other hand, bit my finger and used my blood to draw the "Three Elements Opening Heaven Talisman" on my palm.

The golden-armored zombie rushed towards me, its hands swinging down to smash into my head. Each swing must have weighed at least a hundred pounds, and it even created a whooshing sound as it hit. Seeing the danger, I ducked and rolled to the side. A loud crash echoed, shaking the stone chamber floor violently. Knowing this ancient zombie was incredibly ferocious, I feared it would break my hand if I reached out, so I dared not attack rashly, only dodging left and right, waiting for a suitable opportunity to strike. However, when I accidentally retreated to the side of two large wooden boxes that had originally contained bamboo slips and silk scrolls, I found my path firmly blocked by the boxes. Seeing the golden-armored zombie closing in, in desperation, I grabbed a pile of bamboo slips scattered on the ground and threw them at the ancient zombie to temporarily halt its attack. To my surprise, when the pile of bamboo slips hit the golden-armored zombie, it let out a miserable scream, and its entire body was sent flying far away, unable to get up for a long time. Seeing an opportunity, Dunzi quickly stepped forward and slammed the "peace talisman" hard into the golden-armored zombie's chest. Instantly, a ball of fire enveloped the golden-armored zombie, and it was burned to ashes in no time.

At this moment, I was greatly puzzled, wondering how a mere pile of bamboo slips could possess such power. I quickly ran to the bamboo slips that had fallen to the ground after hitting the ancient zombie, picked up a few scrolls, and examined them. They turned out to be ancient versions of Buddhist scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra and the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra. No wonder the golden-armored ancient zombie was so badly damaged; I hadn't expected that the pile of bamboo slips I had casually grabbed would be Buddhist scriptures. Its luck was truly terrible. When I looked up at Dunzi and the others again, I saw that the silver-armored zombie had finally succumbed to their "peace talisman," struck by it and reduced to ashes.

Having dealt with the two ancient warrior zombies that suddenly appeared, we breathed a sigh of relief. We then went to examine the large opening from which the two ancient zombies had emerged. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that the hole in the left wall of the stone chamber was actually a hidden door. Inside the door was a brick passage about one meter wide and two meters high. I thought to myself, since we hadn't found the ancient scroll in the treasure room, could it be hidden inside this secret door? So I shared my guess with everyone. They all agreed that we should go check it out. So, armed with our flashlights, we entered the hidden passage one by one.

The passage was initially brightly lit by the firelight inside the gem-hiding chamber, but it quickly became pitch black after a turn. Fortunately, we were all equipped with wolf-eye cameras, which allowed us to see the path. As we ventured deeper into the passage, I felt the temperature drop, and a chilly wind seemed to blow against our faces. If we hadn't seen the enormous crater outside, we would hardly have believed that such a cold, eerie cave was built inside a volcano.

After turning two or three more corners, we actually saw a faint light coming from the end of the passage in the distance. It was simply impossible that this light had been burning since the time of the tomb raider. No lamp oil could burn for that long. Even the "everlasting lamps" passed down in our folk traditions are just ordinary oil lamps used in funeral customs to guide the souls of the deceased; they cannot truly burn forever. If this was the case, then this light must have been recently lit by someone, just like the skull lanterns we saw when we first arrived on the island. And this person might be related to the automatic opening of the stone door outside the treasure cave and the ghostly laughter coming from the bronze crematorium.

As I pondered, I led the way slowly towards the direction of the light. A short while later, we emerged from the pitch-black passage. To our utter astonishment, what appeared before us was a dreamlike crystal palace. It was called a crystal palace because it was a vast crystal mine. The surrounding stone walls, including the ceiling and floor, were covered with dazzling, shimmering crystal particles. Four enormous bonfires burned in the four corners of the cave, illuminating the entire crystal cavern brightly. In the center of the cavern, a huge trapezoidal platform was constructed of bricks and stones. On it, two coffin-like objects appeared to be placed.

This was clearly the treasure cave of the Tomb Raider General, so how could there be two coffins? Just as I was puzzled, rhythmic footsteps suddenly came from behind the huge platform. The sound was heavy and loud, echoing for a long time in the crystal hall. We had been looking around, trying to see if the mysterious ancient scroll was hidden here. But the sudden footsteps quickly drew our attention.

We followed the sound, which grew louder as it approached, and looked towards the high platform. In the firelight, a long, narrow black shadow gradually appeared behind the platform, drawing closer. A moment later, a strangely dressed person emerged from behind the platform. He had disheveled hair, wore a wide, five-colored robe, tied at the waist with a straw rope, and his collar and sleeves were covered with thin strips of five-colored cloth. In his left hand, he held the skull of an unknown beast, and in his right hand, he gripped a two-meter-long, blackened vine cane. The sight of this attire seemed strangely familiar, as if I had seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place it. At this moment, the person drew nearer, and as the fiery firelight illuminated his face, I saw his mysterious, eerie, and terrifying eyes, as if his sharp gaze would devour us whole. Just then, I suddenly remembered him and cried out, "Shaman God!"

80. Clarifying doubts

Sure enough, the shaman we had encountered twice before appeared before us. How could he be here? Could he be the one who lit the skull lantern, opened the stone door outside the treasure cave, and made that terrifying laugh near the cremation cauldron? If so, what was his purpose in coming here? A series of questions popped into my head.

At that moment, Dunzi and the others recognized the shaman in front of them when they heard me shout. So Dunzi shouted at the top of his lungs, "Aren't you the shaman god? What are you doing here?" Jenny and the others looked at the shaman with puzzled expressions, hoping to get an answer from him.

The shaman gave us a sharp look, then slowly said, "The reason I'm here is very simple: I am the guardian of this Treasure Cave." "The guardian of the Treasure Cave?" Jenny asked, puzzled. "But you didn't mention anything about a guardian last time." "Since I didn't, I'll tell you the whole truth before I die." The shaman paused briefly, then continued, "It's said that the ancient scroll records a method for granting mortals immortality, requiring a complex ritual. This ritual requires a very special location—a place that, in feng shui terms, is either extremely yin or extremely yang. Because such places are extremely difficult to find, the two tomb raiders, following a method recorded in the scroll, set up many sacrificial sites in these mountains, gathering immense yin energy. They artificially created an extremely yin location in this volcanic cave, and then attempted to perform the ritual for immortality here. Finally, they found the method to gain immortality and entered the world of eternal life."

Hearing this, I finally understood. The terrifying sacrificial sites, towering altars, and sacrificial ravines we had seen along the way were all artificially created by the two tomb raiders to alter the feng shui of the area, making it a suitable location for rituals to obtain the power of immortality. The reason why the cave we were in, although located in the crater, was so cold was because the tomb raiders had gathered all the yin energy in the surrounding mountains and forests by setting up sacrificial sites, thus creating a location where yang energy was extremely yin.

"Why was that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva temple built underground?" I asked.

The shaman replied, "Back then, in order to change the feng shui of this volcanic cave, the Tomb Raider General set up many altars to gather yin energy. Heavy yin energy inevitably attracts all sorts of ghostly spirits and monsters. To deter these spirits and monsters and prevent them from easily disturbing the Tomb Raider General who was cultivating in the stone chamber, they found the Buddha's relic of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and located another spot, known as the Dragon and Phoenix Reflection Point, which corresponds to our current stone chamber in terms of feng shui. They placed the Buddha's relic there to protect the peace of our current stone chamber. Since that reflection point happens to be underground, they simply built the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Temple underground as well."

"Then what about the guardian of this treasure cave? How come we've never heard of him?" Dunzi asked, full of questions.

The shaman replied, “Those two tomb raiders were originally peaceful and kind-hearted. But after they began performing those evil sacrificial rituals, their nature gradually deteriorated, eventually becoming extremely cruel. The members of the shamanism they founded began to resent their actions, and many began to leave the church. To prevent the shamanism they founded from perishing, the two tomb raiders began to use extremely vicious witchcraft curses to control the members of the church. And this witchcraft curse continues to this day. Those cursed by this witchcraft suffer from a strange ailment: they have nightmares every time they sleep, and they frequently suffer from headaches, feeling worse than death. Only when they join the shamanism and become a shaman god can this curse be alleviated, until they find their successor.”

Hearing this, I remembered what Yingzi had told us before: shamans usually seek successors who have suffered a serious illness and been cured through shamanic rituals. It seems that those who suffered from illness weren't truly sick, but rather were very likely victims of the malevolent curse of the Tomb Raider General.

The shaman continued, "When those two tomb raiders went to the world of immortality, they left a task for the shamans: to guard this vast treasure trove for them, no matter what, so that if they were to suddenly return, or if their descendants came here, they could continue to enjoy it. Thus, from then on, the shamanic tradition has passed down the task of secretly guarding this great treasure from generation to generation."

“I see,” I said. “But there’s one thing I don’t quite understand. Why did those two tomb raiders choose a volcano as their treasure location? Weren’t they afraid that a sudden eruption would destroy all the treasure?”

"The reason is quite simple. In ancient times, people believed in fate and karma, and these two tomb raiders were no exception. They were afraid of being punished by heaven for stealing and keeping so many ancestral funerary objects, so they decided to hide these treasures near a secret volcano. They believed that this way, if heaven was displeased, it could erupt at any time and take back the treasures. If heaven did not blame them, the volcano would not erupt, and they could keep the treasures safe forever. In the end, they even built their own cenotaph inside this stone chamber."

"Then what about those 'Nether Spring Corpses' in front?" I asked, puzzled.

“These are all great shamans in our shamanistic tradition. Great shamans are highly accomplished individuals who have made significant breakthroughs in shamanic magic. According to our customs, we preserve their physical bodies in this way,” the shaman replied.

"And what you just said about telling us the whole truth before we die? How are we going to die?" Dunzi asked again.

“Because the only way to break the malevolent curse on all of us shamans is through a blood sacrifice. And this sacrifice requires the blood of those two tomb raiders or their descendants. Now those two tomb raiders have gone to that world of eternal life, so the only way to break this curse is with the blood of their descendants. Therefore, this woman must die.” He pointed at Jenny and continued viciously, “I know that if I only want this woman’s life, you will definitely not abandon her, so you must also die.”

After listening, I asked him, "Since we were all going to die, why didn't you show any hostility towards us when we met twice?" "The first time, I didn't know you were involved in this matter, but my intuition told me you were extraordinary, so I only glanced at you a few more times. The second time, you said this woman was a descendant of the Tomb Raider General, but I don't know if what you said is true. Who knows if you said that on purpose to ask me about the secret of this treasure? Did you see the Buddha's relics manifest in the underground temple of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? That Buddha relic was cursed, and only the descendants of the Tomb Raider General can make it manifest, and only then can it be proven that she really is a descendant of the Tomb Raider General."

By this time, it seemed all the mysteries had been solved, and no one raised any further questions. Seeing that we were no longer doubtful, the shaman continued, "And there's another important reason for killing you." "What reason?" I asked. "Because to retrieve the ancient scroll from this crystal chamber, we need the two tomb raiding seals on your bodies, and to get those seals from you, we must first kill you. Am I right?" the shaman said with a wicked grin. "So those two ancient zombies were also your doing?" I asked. "That's right, I sent them to attack you after I confirmed your identities." Before I could answer, he suddenly raised the beast skull high in his hand, and in an instant, the firelight in the cave turned a terrifying pale green. Then I saw a rapid "clattering" sound coming from the two coffin-like objects on the platform.

81. A Battle to the Death

With two loud bangs, the two coffins containing the robes and hats of the tomb raiders on the high platform were suddenly flung open, releasing a thick cloud of black smoke. We knew without a doubt that this smoke was the accumulated poison of a thousand years of corpse poison. Fortunately, we were all wearing gas masks, so the thousand-year-old poison couldn't harm us for the time being.

Before the thick smoke had even dissipated, thousands upon thousands of venomous wasp-like insects buzzed out from the two coffins. Upon closer inspection, they were as large as broad beans, jet black with a faint, eerie green glow, emitting a strong stench of decay. "Corpse venom wasps!" I exclaimed. I knew these wasps were different from others. They preferred to lay their eggs inside corpses. As the body began to decompose and ferment, the heat generated hatched the eggs. The wasp larvae, like maggots, fed on the decaying flesh, sucking its juices. Gradually, a large amount of corpse venom accumulated within them. After eighty-one days of growth, when they finally emerged as adults, the concentration of corpse venom in their bodies reached its peak. A mere sting from them could be fatal.

Before I could even relay the situation to everyone, the "corpse poison bees" swarmed towards us like a dark cloud. With time running out, I could only say, "They're highly poisonous, be careful!" before retreating. Jenny and the others must have already sensed that these strange bees were unusual; hearing my words, they followed suit and retreated a short distance as well.

However, simply retreating like this isn't a solution. No matter how big this stone hall is, it will eventually come to an end. What will we do then? As I retreated, I quickly thought of a way to deal with the "corpse poison bees" before they caught up with us.

When we were chased to the very edge of the stone chamber by the "corpse poison bees," I still couldn't think of a good way to deal with them. At that moment, our guns and bronze swords were insufficient against the sheer number of bees, and our Taoist talismans and spells were only effective against zombies and ghosts, powerless against these poisonous insects. It seemed we were about to perish under their siege. Just then, in this critical moment, I noticed a huge green bonfire piled up in a corner of the chamber not far from us, and a bold idea struck me. I thought, although the fire might be affected by shamanic magic, turning the flames pale green, it was still fire. Perhaps fire could be used to fight these "corpse poison bees." With that thought, I didn't even have time to call for help; I quickly ran to the huge bonfire.

When I stood beside the fire, I could see clearly that it was over two meters tall and probably about a meter in diameter. Unlike ordinary fires, it wasn't made of dry wood. Piled beneath the fire were desiccated corpses and rotten, blackened bones and limbs. Although it was utterly disgusting, at that moment, disgust was a hundred times better than death. So, without thinking, I quickly pulled a few burning leg bones and severed limbs from the fire and hurriedly ran back to Jenny and the others.

When I distributed these burning leg bones and severed limbs to them, they were all initially taken aback, but when they saw the green flames burning on the leg bones and severed limbs, they immediately understood what I meant. So, ignoring their nausea and vomiting, they quickly took the leg bones and severed limbs in their hands, preparing to use fire to deal with these ferocious "corpse poison bees".

As soon as I distributed the severed leg bones and limbs to the others, the "corpse poison bees" swiftly rushed towards us. We lined up about fifty centimeters apart, crouching down against the crystal chamber wall to minimize the area vulnerable to their attacks. Then, the four of us, with our eight hands, wielded eight makeshift torches made from the dried corpse's leg bones and limbs, forming a protective wall of fire in front of us. Just as I expected, the "corpse poison bees" at the forefront of the swarm, unable to slow their pace in time, all rushed onto our torches and were burned alive.

After an estimated hundred "corpse poison bees" were burned to death, the swarm perhaps began to realize the power of our torches, hovering around us but no longer daring to charge forward. Just as our hands were almost too tired to move, perhaps the shaman, seeing that his bee swarm was not working, changed his attack method. He tilted his head back and continuously emitted low "whooshing" sounds. Guided by this sound, the swarm of "corpse poison bees" that had been hovering in front of us gradually retreated, eventually settling on the shaman. When thousands upon thousands of "corpse poison bees" covered his body and face, he almost became a blackened "bee man," with only two sharp eyes staring fiercely at us.

At first, we didn't understand why the shaman was summoning all the "corpse poison bees" back to himself. It wasn't until a minute or two later, when the once ferocious and terrifying bees fell to the ground one by one, dying quickly, that we realized the shaman was using a mysterious magical power to control and absorb the corpse poison from all the bees, preparing to use it to fight us personally. Knowing the shaman's plan, we preemptively struck before he could react. We discarded the dried corpses, leg bones, and severed limbs we were holding, took out our weapons from our backpacks, and fired several shots at the shaman. When the bullets pierced his body, the splattered blood was black. Under the barrage of bullets, the shaman's body only trembled slightly from the force of the impact, without any other significant reaction.

When Dunzi and the others had run out of bullets and arrows, the shaman let out that terrifying, eerie laugh we had heard before, then bent his knees and leaped into the air, lunging at us. Seeing the shaman descend from the sky, we quickly dodged to the side, trapping him in the middle. Since it had been proven that our firearms and ammunition were ineffective against the shaman, we decided to try our luck with the talismans and spells, even though we weren't sure if they would work. Dunzi and Jenny quickly pulled out "peace talismans" from their pockets, ready to attack the shaman at any moment. I gripped the bronze ancient sword in one hand and drew a "Three Elements Opening Heaven Talisman" with the tip of the sword in my palm, preparing for a fight to the death with the shaman.

He swung his left hand, throwing the beast skull at me. I swiftly deflected it with my ancient sword. Then, the shaman opened his mouth wide, spewing out a thick cloud of black mist. Fortunately, we were all wearing gas masks, so we weren't harmed by the poisonous gas. However, even so, when the gas touched our exposed skin, it caused painful, itchy, purplish-red welts. At this critical moment, no matter how unbearable it was, we had to persevere. We held our ground and continued to fight him.

Seeing an opportunity when the shaman opened his mouth to exhale poisonous gas, the boy behind him, Dunzi, swung his "peace charm" at him with a powerful palm strike. However, as if the shaman had eyes in the back of his head, before Dunzi's palm even touched his robe, the shaman swiftly turned around, raised his right hand, and struck Dunzi's arm with his black vine cane. Dunzi couldn't dodge in time and was struck hard. He cried out, his fingers loosened, and the "peace charm" he had been holding fell to the ground.

82. The Heavenly Book and Mysterious Scripture

Seeing that Dunzi had been injured by the shaman, I swung my sword directly at him, hoping to distract him and save Dunzi from further pursuit. The shaman, seeing my sword strike, didn't dodge, but simply raised his right hand, intending to use his rattan staff to deflect my bronze sword. Little did he know that my ancient sword was an ancient, deadly blade, capable of cleaving even bamboo, wood, rattan, or solid iron and ice in one strike. So, at the instant the staff and sword clashed, with a sharp "clang," the shaman's black staff snapped in two. The shaman, completely unprepared for such a sharp weapon, was slightly startled by this sudden turn of events. At that moment, Jenny seized the opportunity to throw her "peace talisman" at the shaman. Unfortunately, the Taoist talisman seemed only effective against exorcism and demons, having no effect on the mysterious magic of shamanism. When the "peace talisman" struck the shaman, it had absolutely no effect. It seemed my "Three Elements Heaven-Opening Talisman" would likely be equally ineffective. Just then, Jenny suddenly turned black and collapsed, swaying precariously. This startled us greatly. As I wondered why Jenny had suddenly fainted when she was perfectly fine, the shaman laughed and said, "Hahaha, encountering my thousand-year-old corpse bee venom is certain death." Hearing this, we were even more terrified, fearing that Jenny had indeed been poisoned by the thousand-year-old corpse bee and died, just as he claimed.

Seeing Jenny fall to the ground in dire straits, Ah Bao drew his tactical dagger from his boot and, disregarding his own life, charged straight at the shaman. The shaman, seeing Ah Bao's resolute expression and intimidated by the fury in his eyes, panicked slightly and quickly raised his broken staff to strike. However, although Ah Bao was burning with rage like an enraged lion, he hadn't lost his composure and remained agile. Seeing the shaman's staff swing, he swiftly dodged to the side, then suddenly extended his right arm, swiftly plunging the dagger into the shaman's back. Seeing Ah Bao suddenly appear beside him, the shaman tried to turn around to continue the fight, but because Ah Bao held the dagger firmly to his back, he couldn't easily turn around. Seizing the opportunity, Abao quickly moved closer to the shaman's back, then opened his arms and hugged the shaman tightly from behind.

The instant Ah Bao touched the shaman's body, the shaman's face turned black, his eyes widened, and his brows furrowed, revealing a look of extreme pain. Despite the excruciating agony, he shouted, "Si Nan, quickly cut off his head!" I was stunned by the breathtaking battle between Ah Bao and the shaman, standing there dumbfounded. Hearing Ah Bao's shout, I snapped back to reality and immediately gripped my bronze sword, forcefully slashing at the shaman's neck, which Ah Bao had firmly pinned to the spot. A flash of cold light, followed by a trail of black blood. The shaman's head flew off with the remaining force of the sword, finally landing on the ground a few meters away. Only then did Ah Bao release his grip and fall backward.

To our surprise, the shaman's body, though decapitated, did not fall like Ah Bao's. Instead, it remained standing upright, continuing to swing its broken staff at us. However, having lost its head and eyes, it was like a headless fly, disoriented, wildly hacking and slashing around with its staff.

Seeing Jenny and Ah Bao lying on the ground, a raging fire ignited within me. "Blow him up!" I shouted to Dunzi. Dunzi, also grieving for Jenny and Ah Bao, immediately pulled out the last piece of plastic explosive from his backpack and tossed it to me. Seeing the shaman's body still struggling near the ground, I gently tossed the explosive at his feet. After Dunzi and I dragged Jenny and Ah Bao to a safe boulder, I pressed the detonator. With a deafening roar, the shaman's body was reduced to ashes in the flames and smoke. The four large, green-glowing bonfires around them instantly returned to their original fiery red glow.

At the same time as the explosion, a deformed bronze box suddenly flew up beside us. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was an ancient medicine box. Strange, shamanistic healing methods don't involve injections or medicine, so why would a shaman carry a small medicine box? Then it occurred to me that since a shaman could gather the venom of thousand-year-old corpse bees on their body, they could also detoxify themselves from it. If so, could this medicine box contain antidotes? With that thought, I opened the box. Sure enough, inside were several translucent, milky-white pills, emitting a faint fragrance of lingzhi mushrooms.

I glanced at Jenny and Ah Bao beside me. Jenny's face was black, she was foaming at the mouth, and her body was ice-cold; she seemed to be severely poisoned. Ah Bao's condition was even worse; his pulse was weak, and he was barely breathing, as if he could die at any moment. Although I didn't yet know if the pills in the medicine box were the antidote for the thousand-year-old corpse bee venom, given Jenny and Ah Bao's current state, I could only try anything, even if it seemed hopeless.

I had Dunzi help them both sit up, then I poured some water from the kettle and used it to feed the pills to Abao first, followed by one to Jenny. After about ten minutes, their complexions indeed began to regain their rosy color. Seeing that they were indeed improving, Dunzi and I were overjoyed, almost to the point of tears.

After they both regained consciousness, I told them what had happened after they fainted. They breathed a long sigh of relief when they heard that the shaman had been completely eliminated. Jenny, half-sitting beside a huge crystal block, said softly, "Now that the shaman has been eliminated, you and Dunzi should quickly search the area and try to find that ancient scroll as soon as possible, then leave this eerie cave." I nodded, and together with Dunzi, we carefully searched the cave hall.

We then arrived at the tall, raised platform in the center of the stone chamber. About five meters directly in front of the platform, two enormous "Hetu" and "Luoshu" patterns were clearly engraved on the ground with a sharp tool. At the center of each pattern were two square indentations, each the size of a jade seal. Seeing this, we didn't need to think further; we quickly took out the two seals of the Faqiu Zhonglang General from our backpacks. Then, Dunzi and I each took one seal and placed them into the two indentations, pressing down simultaneously. A series of loud cracking sounds followed, accompanied by a huge cloud of dust. The tall stone platform, originally used to house the cenotaph of the Faqiu Zhonglang General, slowly split open in the middle. A pure gold treasure box, about the size of a laptop, appeared before us, illuminated by the dazzling red firelight in the cave. I quickly opened the box, and inside, as expected, was a tattered scroll, seemingly drawn on animal hide.

Just as I was about to take out the tattered scroll to examine it more closely, a violent tremor suddenly came from the ground. The tremors grew stronger and stronger, and numerous crystal fragments of varying sizes began to fall from the ceiling of the crystal cave. We immediately realized that the cave was about to collapse. So, I dared not linger any longer, grabbed the golden box, and returned to Jenny and the others. At that moment, a deafening roar erupted, and a corner of the crystal cave completely collapsed, countless large and small stones falling from the ceiling and crashing to the ground with deafening thuds. Simultaneously, several wide trenches appeared in the cave floor. Before we could react, a huge torrent of hot spring water gushed from the cave wall, quickly sweeping us into a dark, deep hot spring trench.

The hot spring current was extremely rapid; we had no way to keep our balance and could only hold hands as we were swept downstream by the powerful current. We had no idea where this underground hot spring would take us; we could only hold our breath and leave our fate to chance in this dark world.

I don't know how much time passed, but when we suddenly felt the water temperature around us drop, we noticed a faint light coming from the surface. So, Dunzi and I each grabbed Jenny and Abao, and struggled to float to the surface where the light was.

Once we surfaced, we realized that we had been swept from the underground waterways by the hot spring current to the huge mountaintop pool outside the island in the middle of the lake. Jenny and Leopard were still very weak, but when they opened their eyes and saw the long-lost sky, they both smiled sweetly.

As we sat on that dilapidated raft and slowly paddled towards the opposite shore of Tianchi Lake, the eastern sky was ablaze with colorful clouds, thin wisps of cloud shimmering like fire. A golden sun was rapidly rising from the horizon.

This volume is now complete. To find out what secrets the protagonists discovered in the ancient scroll, please stay tuned for the next volume of this book—"The Mystery of the Qin Mausoleum."

The Mystery of the Qin Mausoleum, Part 1: The Ghost Domain Inscription