Chapter 604: Nobody can read it anyway? Go ask Mr. Zhang—what are you standing around for!

He grabbed the flashlight and shone it downward, and what came into view was a long flight of stairs.

At least from this position, they could not see any tomb chamber below.

Wang Kaixuan burst out laughing and said excitedly, "Not bad. This half hour-plus of work wasn't for nothing after all. I'll take point this time—going down first to take a look."

Just as everyone was marveling at how ingenious the ancient mechanism was, Wang Kaixuan was the first to dash out.

Fortunately, Yang Lu reacted quickly and pressed her hand against his chest to stop him from going further down.

She followed up at once: "Same old rule—I'm going down first to check things out."

Yang Lu had no intention of discussing it with anyone; what she said at this moment was an absolute command.

Exactly the same as before.

Wang Kaixuan scratched his head, but he was already used to obeying commands like this. If it were a different team leader, he probably wouldn't have listened so obediently.

But with Yang Lu he felt both admiration and respect—after all, she had already proven her ability and authority as team leader with her strength and that sense of responsibility.

Yang Lu appeared calm on the surface now, but inwardly she was extremely excited.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her excitement, and just as she was about to step forward, a figure suddenly darted out.

He could not wait and hurried down—three steps at a time, in fact, leaping straight down.

"Old man! Where are you going?" Wang Kaixuan shouted at the sight.

In his haste he tried to reach out and grab him, but at that moment even someone as skilled as Yang Lu failed to react—and this old man, despite being over sixty years old—

moved with extreme speed. It wasn't because he was a trained fighter, but purely out of instinct.

Yang Lu had just steadied her emotions when the old man's figure had already vanished.

She hurried down after him, calling out as she went: "Professor Sun, be careful!"

This Professor Sun was the consultant for the archaeological team on this trip. In his life he was obsessed with nothing—only loyal to this one hobby of archaeology.

So whenever he saw a tomb chamber, he was even more excited than on his wedding night—always like that, never changed.

Moreover, although his nominal role on this trip was consultant, he hadn't been of any help at all, and Professor Sun was full of shame.

Now, thinking the moment had come to put his professional skills to use, he couldn't be bothered with anything else and simply charged straight down.

Yang Lu hurried down after him, and before she could even catch sight of Professor Sun, she heard his voice.

"Come down quickly, come look—it's gorgeous! Look at these murals, exquisite beyond compare, yet somehow not quite right—amazing!"

"And this tomb isn't large in area, but the grade is so high. That Mr. Zhang was right—this is absolutely the tomb of the Prince of Gumo, no doubt about it."

The moment Professor Sun's flashlight beam swept across the first mural, the excitement on his face instantly froze.

Before, he had only been looking at the murals' exquisite craftsmanship and the things painted in the corners above.

The reason he confirmed this was the tomb of the Prince of Gumo was, on one hand, because Zhang Lin had laid the groundwork earlier, and on the other hand, painted on the first mural was unmistakably a royal palace, with a figure in white robes seated at the top—who must be the Prince of Gumo.

Moreover, the very presence of such murals here in itself proved the identity of the tomb's owner.

If it were the tomb of an ordinary feudal lord, even if there were murals, they would absolutely not be in this kind of narrative form.

Only someone of the Prince of Gumo's status would have been qualified to depict such a story in his own tomb chamber.

"Professor Sun, what's wrong? Did you discover something?" Seeing his expression freeze, Yang Lu hurriedly asked.

Thinking some accident had occurred, but at that moment Professor Sun shook his head blankly.

He soon sighed and said: "I have devoted my whole life to archaeology, and I flatter myself I have exhaustively studied every kind of script and mural—yet I have never seen anything like this. Today my eyes have truly been opened."

The implication of Professor Sun's words proved that he could only see the general outline of the murals; what specific story was depicted on them, he could not answer.

It was like looking at a picture and telling a story—some things still fell within logic, but these six murals before him, apart from the first one which depicted the specific image of the Prince of Gumo—

the rest completely defied any corresponding logic. This was the reason Professor Sun felt such a strong sense of defeat.