Chapter 457: Tuan Tuan Has Learned to Hit People!

He took a few quick steps to the side of the coffin bed, using hands and feet he crawled up quickly, grabbed his sister into his arms, then looked at the coffin moving backward.

Creak… creak…

The mechanism's sound continued, the coffin moved back the full about three feet before stopping, revealing a pitch-black hole on the coffin bed below.

The edges of the hole were neat, and the interior could not be seen clearly.

After waiting a moment, there were no hidden weapons, nor any other movement.

Xiao Ningyuan then released his sister, slowly walked to the edge of the hole, and carefully looked inside.

Inside was not a vertical shaft but a sloping passageway extending downward, unknown where it led.

Dense black ants, each carrying a small crumb on its back, crawled endlessly into the depths of the hole.

Tuan Tuan poked her little head out, pointing at the hole: "Big brother, look, the ants' home is in that hole!"

Xiao Ningyuan's heart stirred; could this place be Jiang Yong?

He pulled out a few strands of hair, inserted them into the hole, and saw the hairs sway slightly in the same direction.

He felt energized; there was wind in the hole! Wind means there's an exit!

He turned to his sister and said, "Brother will go down to look, be good, don't move, wait for me."

Tuan Tuan nodded obediently: "Oh, I know."

Xiao Ningyuan entered the hole; inside it was low and narrow, barely allowing one person to pass, completely different from the spacious grandeur he had seen along the way.

Indeed, this is Jiang Yong!

He turned his head to look at the inner rock wall of the hole, and his scalp instantly felt numb.

He saw that the rock wall was covered with a thick layer of clay, densely dotted with countless tiny holes, as fine as a honeycomb; the black ants with crumbs on their heads were queuing up to crawl into different holes.

I've never seen such a huge ant nest!

The clay is used for waterproofing and seepage prevention; these ant colonies built their nests with it, and must have been doing so for many years to construct the nest to such an astonishing size.

Xiao Ningyuan crawled out of the hole, picked up his sister who was still peering over the coffin looking down, and said, "Let's go! We can get out!"

He bent over, slipped into the hole, then turned and brought his sister down as well.

Tuan Tuan instantly saw the huge ant nest on the rock wall: "Wow! Little ants, your home is so big! I want to go home too, thank you!"

Xiao Ningyuan rubbed her little head: "It's dark and narrow in here; I'll go ahead to scout, hold onto my collar, and don't let go even a step."

"Got it!" Tuan Tuan nodded vigorously.

After only a few steps, the passage ahead became even lower; Xiao Ningyuan had to proceed bent over, the sides grew narrower as well, and his shoulders occasionally brushed the stone walls.

All around was pitch black and utterly silent.

"Tuan Tuan," Xiao Ningyuan said while carefully moving his feet, deliberately chatting with his sister to keep her from being scared, "Do you know what place this is?"

"I don't know."

"This place is crude and narrow, different from the path we took after entering, right?"

"Right! Why is that?"

"Because this is Jiang Yong." Xiao Ningyuan's voice echoed slightly in the narrow passageway, "It is a route left by the craftsmen who built this tomb for their own escape."

"An escape route?"

"Exactly, after finishing the tomb, those craftsmen slipped away from here."

"So then, they could get out..."

Tuan Tuan understood, her face brightening: "We can too!"

"Exactly! My Tuan Tuan is so smart! By the way, are you hungry?"

"Big brother, I just finished eating! Did you forget?"

"I didn't forget, but you're a little pig! Little pigs get hungry again soon after eating."

"Big brother, you're so mean! I'm not a little pig!"

"Fine, Tuan Tuan isn't a little pig, she's a little suckling pig."

"Smack!" came a sound as his sister slapped his leg.

He deliberately cried out in pain: "Ouch! Tuan Tuan has learned to hit people!"

The brother and sister chatted and laughed as they slowly advanced in the darkness.

After walking for an unknown length of time, Xiao Ningyuan's hand holding the stone wall suddenly came up empty, and his steps halted instantly.

Tuan Tuan, caught off guard, bumped into him: "Ouch! Big brother! Why did you stop?"

Xiao Ningyuan reached back and grabbed his sister: "Don't move, something's not right here."

In the darkness, he moved his feet and felt around, discovering it was actually a three-way fork!

Good heavens, which way should we go?

A little hand tugged at him: "Big brother, I can't walk anymore."

Xiao Ningyuan felt heartbroken: "Alright, let's sit down and rest a bit, then we'll go on after we've rested enough."

"Okay!"

"Wait!" He crouched, one hand holding his sister, the other feeling the ground below, sat against the rock wall, and gently pulled her into his arms: "The ground is cold, sit in brother's embrace."

Tuan Tuan lunged into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck: "Big brother, how much farther do we have to go?"

Xiao Ningyuan felt uncertain: "I don't know either, but we will definitely get out, don't worry."

"Oh, Second Uncle and Seventh Uncle must be waiting anxiously."

One of Tuan Tuan's little hands idly rubbed the rock wall behind Xiao Ningyuan: "Everything here is hard and dark."

"Why didn't those craftsman uncles back then make this place the same as the outside?"

Xiao Ningyuan laughed: "They were fleeing for their lives; having this passage is already not bad."

"Huh, big brother, it looks like... there are words here!"

Xiao Ningyuan froze: "Where? What does it say?"

"I don't know, it's right behind you," Tuan Tuan pulled her brother's hand and placed it on the rock wall, "Go ahead and feel it!"

Xiao Ningyuan turned around and felt carefully.

Indeed there are chisel marks, quite deep; this is a horizontal line, and there's also a diagonal slash, this is…

After a moment, he exclaimed in delight: "These aren't characters, Tuan Tuan, they're directional markers! My dear little sister, you truly are my brother's lucky star!"

He felt energized: "Tuan Tuan, are you still tired? With this marker, brother knows which way to go; we'll definitely get out!"

"Not tired! Let's hurry!"

Xiao Ningyuan leaned against the rock wall and stood up: "Tuan Tuan, the place where this marker is carved is low, but it's just right for you to reach with your hand."

"Brother will walk slowly ahead; you feel the wall, and when you feel it, tell brother."

"All right!"

Xiao Ningyuan's confidence soared, and he walked into the path indicated by the marker.

Tuan Tuan, meanwhile, held her brother's hem with one hand and felt the wall with the other, following behind.

After walking for about half an hour, passing two forks, Xiao Ningyuan's steps halted; ahead came an unusually clear, gurgling sound of flowing water!