Chapter 196: Entering the Ancient Tomb

The closer one gets to the Ancient Tomb, the more the surrounding Yin Qi condenses; to an ordinary person, it feels as if the temperature is dropping, and no matter how thick their clothing, they still feel a chill throughout their body.

If ordinary people stay in such an environment for a long time, it is very easy for evil energy to enter their bodies, causing their Qi and blood to wither and leaving them weak and prone to illness.

Meng Yifan looked at the swirling Yin Qi all around and was overjoyed; it was currently noon, the time when Yang energy is most vigorous, yet the Yin Qi at the mouth of the Ancient Tomb was still this dense—if it were the middle of the night, how dense would the Yin Qi be?

This Yin Qi was merely some that had diffused out from the Ancient Tomb; the Yin Qi inside the Ancient Tomb must be even denser. If he could cultivate inside the Ancient Tomb, Meng Yifan's strength would surely see a rapid, soaring improvement.

In the eyes of others, this tomb was a place of great misfortune, but in Meng Yifan's view, this was a geomantic treasure land.

If not for the fully armed army stationed in the surroundings, Meng Yifan would have wanted to occupy this place and transform this Valley into a cultivation site exclusive to himself.

"We've arrived. Entering from this hole here will allow us to get close to the Tomb Gate. Everyone be careful; the inside of the tomb is extremely dangerous."

Carlisle had previously sent in a special forces unit of several dozen men, but the entire force was wiped out, and they brought nothing back out.

The ways those special forces soldiers died were bizarre and varied, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Some special forces soldiers heard that strange sound and immediately lost their senses, attacking their teammates around them in a frenzy.

Others heard the strange sound and, not knowing what tragic encounter they had recalled, slammed their heads against the walls until their brains burst open, only then collapsing to the ground.

Others, who were physically strong and robust, had just approached the Tomb Gate when, suddenly, a gust of Yin wind blew past, and they were blown to death on the spot.

Still others were bitten by mosquitoes the size of a thumb, and within a few seconds, they died from the poison.

There was also a special forces soldier who entered the tomb and discovered that there were actually Zombies inside; that soldier was also a master of combat, and usually, fighting ten men at once was no issue for him.

However, the Zombie was too fast and its strength too great; with just one palm, it smashed that soldier's head into a rotten watermelon.

There must be treasures inside this tomb, but the danger in exploring it was too great; after losing over a hundred people back and forth, Carlisle had no other choice but to decide to spend a large sum of money to recruit extraordinary people to explore the Ancient Tomb.

Meng Yifan and the others all nodded; everyone knew the tomb must be very dangerous, otherwise, with so many soldiers, why would Carlisle spend money to hire them to carry out the mission?

Carlisle said nothing more, instead letting Guishou walk in front to lead the way, with Meng Yifan and the others walking in the middle, and Carlisle walking at the very back; the group followed the excavated thief hole and headed underground.

Guishou held two military-grade high-intensity flashlights; under normal circumstances, the light beams could illuminate three to four hundred meters.

However, because the closer they got to the tomb, the denser the Yin Qi became, the surroundings were like a thick fog, and the light beams of the high-intensity flashlights could only illuminate a dozen or so meters.

When they approached the Tomb Gate, a strong magnetic field appeared out of thin air, and those two high-intensity flashlights were ripped from their hands, being sucked onto the rocks at the top of the tomb.

Guishou had been prepared; when the flashlights were sucked away, he skillfully adjusted their direction, which caused the flashlights to be stuck to the ceiling of the hole while the light shone exactly downward, as if two lamps had been installed on the ceiling.

Borrowing the light from the flashlights, Meng Yifan saw that the ceiling of the hole was covered in dense amounts of weapons and equipment; there were various types of firearms, as well as some night-vision goggles, flashlights, navigation devices, and other modern equipment—these must have been left behind by the people who came in to explore earlier.

The Tomb Gate consisted of two heavy slabs of Blue Stone, with Mysterious Runes carved upon them.

"Huh!" Meng Yifan discovered that when he had looked at the pictures earlier, the runes on the Tomb Gate were dim and lusterless, but now those runes were flickering with a faint red light, as if fresh blood were flowing through them.

"This Array has absorbed the fresh blood of living people, becoming brand new and even more powerful." Meng Yifan was secretly shocked; he had not expected that even though this senior expert had passed away, the Array they left behind still possessed incredible power.

The Blue Stone Tomb Gate was very sturdy, yet it had still been blown open by the previous explorers using explosive charges, creating a small hole large enough for a person to crawl through.

The pitch-black little hole was like the mouth of a devil; with the arrival of Meng Yifan and the others, Yin Qi steamed from within the hole, and wailing, sobbing sounds continuously drifted out, as if the arrival of the living had disturbed the peace of the dead, and they were using this sound, like weeping and complaining, to advise everyone to leave quickly.

Meng Yifan and the others had heard similar sounds from speakers before, but hearing them on-site gave them a different feeling.

The emotions of the group seemed to be infected by this sorrowful sound; after listening for only a short while, that Muay Thai master, Lansangkun, suddenly burst into tears, crying like a child, while shouting, "Mom, Mom, don't go."

"Lansangkun, wake up." Shawang Suxi extended his right hand and pressed it onto Lansangkun's shoulder, and a jade-green energy was transmitted into Lansangkun's body, helping him isolate the influence of the sound.

Lansangkun sobered up and wiped away his tears in great shame; everyone else was fine, yet he was the first to be struck, and thinking of how he had just been crying and calling for his mother, Lansangkun felt he had no face to show anyone.

"Child, come in, come to me." Meng Yifan heard an ethereal voice calling to him, which made him pause; could he be having auditory hallucinations? That was impossible; he was already a Third-Grade Immortal Cultivator with a powerful Divine Soul, so it was impossible for him to have auditory hallucinations.

"Child, come over; I have waited for you for a very long time. I cannot hold on much longer; if you come any later, you will not be able to see me."

That voice rang out in Meng Yifan's mind once more; he looked at the reactions of Jiang Hailong and the others and confirmed that he was the only one who had heard this call.

"If this voice is not an auditory hallucination, then it means that the Immortal Cultivator from back then did not die and has been living in the depths of the tomb all along. Then, when Carlisle sent people to blow open the Tomb Gate, why didn't he come out to sweep through the army in the Valley? Is he unable to defeat them? Or are there some restrictions?"

"The owner of the tomb is urging me to go in; what does he want to do? Does he want to seize my body and be reborn? Or does he want to pass on his legacy to me?"

Meng Yifan was filled with doubt and confusion; he was not sure if the owner of the tomb was righteous or evil. Was letting Meng Yifan in an act of malice or goodwill?

The tomb was fraught with danger, and with someone controlling it, the danger level soared instantly; even Meng Yifan had to deal with it carefully.

"This Magic Sound will only grow stronger. Everyone, move quickly; let's get the treasure and get out as soon as possible," Carlisle said. "You six, who is going in first?"

Whoever went in first would be the first to suffer an attack, so the person who went in first was the most dangerous.

Shawang Suxi and Lansangkun took half a step back; they were unwilling to take risks for others.

Abe Seimei was somewhat tempted, and just as he was preparing to move, Meng Yifan had already stepped forward in advance and arrived at the mouth of the little hole.

"I'll go in first." After Meng Yifan finished speaking, his body flickered and he crawled into the little hole; Jiang Hailong did not hesitate and followed closely behind.