Chapter 232

"The threefold gate I mentioned has nothing to do with Han Han's novel; it is a layout used in ancient construction, also called the threefold illusion. It completely reverses the order of Yangjian, placing hell above, coffins and graves in the middle, and heaven below." I explained, saying this is equivalent to the Yang family's ancestral tomb actually having three layers: entering the first layer means you can only go in and never come out; the second layer, though said to be heaven, I estimate is certainly not anything good; and the third layer is the Yang family's burial chamber.

The text on the broken stele is definitely the sacrificial inscription for constructing the threefold gate. However, this ancestral tomb has three entrances; without a blueprint, no one can guess which is hell, which is heaven, and which leads straight to the coffin.

"Leave it to fate!" I took out a coin and said to Yao Wenju: "If it lands on the flower, we'll enter from the southwest entrance; if it lands on the character, we'll go into the tomb through the southern entrance."

"What about this entrance? Have you given up on it?" Yao Wenju asked curiously.

His words left me stunned for a moment; indeed, are we just going to abandon this opening like that?

Of course not. After thinking, besides flower and character, the coin has a third possibility: standing upright, neither side. However, this possibility is minuscule, weaker than winning the lottery.

"If the coin stands upright, we'll choose this entrance!" Saying that, I didn't waste words and tossed the coin straight up.

One second later, Yao Wenju and I stared in astonishment at the ground; the coin fell from the sky, spun several times, and then stood upright motionless, as if it had sunk into the soil, not falling to either side.

"Heaven's will," I said, looking at this entrance with a complex gaze; once we step inside, whether we live or die, whether it's heaven or hell, depends on luck.

Saying that, I stepped forward, walking ahead toward the cave opening.

"Wait..." Yao Wenju shouted at me: "Isn't there a saying, 'humans light candles, ghosts blow them out'? Isn't it a bit childish to go in like this, without even a Luoyang shovel?"

I... damn it, have you read too many novels?

Since that conversation in the basement of Yao's ancient castle, I've been convinced Yao Wenju is a total novel addict; I just didn't expect that besides wuxia, he also dabbles in tomb-raiding novels.

However, his remark reminded me: although there are three entrances, the threefold gate might be a trap set by Yang's ancestors, giving a one‑third chance to reach the tomb. But there's no doubt that after so many years, the underground must have accumulated thick miasma; to enter, one really needs to make thorough preparations.

Thinking it over, I had nothing prepared on me, so I drew two talismans, folded them into triangles, and stuffed them into my mouth. Supposedly the content inside the talismans can ward off yin and evil qi; I haven't tested the effect, I just hope the ancestral master doesn't screw me over.

I gave Yao Wenju a talisman, telling him to hold it under his tongue, took a strong flashlight from his car, and I led the way into the looters' tunnel.

It sounds strange, but according to unofficial histories or oral traditions passed down by elders, tombs should be extremely hard to enter; even if you find the opening, digging with a Luoyang shovel would take at least several days to half a month. Moreover, the elders' stories say that the graves of officials and nobles always contain some kind of maze or extremely troublesome ghostly monster tomb.

But this time, Yao Wenju and I proceeded without obstruction; this place doesn't resemble a tomb at all—it looks more like a naturally carved cavern.

The passage's environment is unusually damp and gloomy; from time to time we encounter some white bones. Oddly, these bones are not human but the remains of small animals.

Of course, that's just what we saw shortly after entering. Going deeper, as we moved further into the tomb, the flashlight revealed more than one skeleton.

"It seems the people who want to rob the Yang family tomb aren't just us two; long before us, countless people tried to get into the Yang ancestral tomb through these passages!" I admired Yao Wenju, who had one hand carrying Ye Qi, the other covering his mouth, the strong flashlight tucked under his arm, yet still managed to speak while moving.

I extended my index finger, shook it a few times, strongly disagreeing with Yao Wenju's remark: what does "grave robbing" mean? We entered the Yang ancestral tomb to find someone, which has nothing to do with grave robbing, okay?

"Brother Wen, be careful; those who didn't make it into the Yang ancestral tomb died, surely due to an accident. You're carrying Madame Yang, so you need to be even more cautious. For some reason, I always feel the Yang ancestral tomb is weird." I felt uneasy deep down, but couldn't put it into words.

I crouched down and examined several sets of white bones outside the passage; their clothing was either completely rotted away or only left with tiny fragments. Analyzing the fabric remnants, they likely date from before the 1960s.

"From outside the passage to inside, two or three people have died along the way. What danger did they encounter?" I was puzzled and couldn't figure it out; after all, since entering the Yang tomb, Yao Wenju and I haven't encountered any danger at all—not even ghosts, and even if we met snakes, insects, rats, or ants bred in the tomb, they'd just be the dead bones we see.

Having entered the tomb, the dim surroundings need no further mention; the earth and rock walls feel like they'd collapse at the slightest touch. So Yao Wenju and I tread very carefully. Moreover, what makes us anxious is that the Yang family tomb is like a maze: many branching paths, some of which interconnect, causing us to wander back and forth, returning to the starting point several times.

"Going on like this won't work!" Yao Wenju wiped sweat from his forehead; the deeper we went into the tomb, the thinner the air became, making even breathing difficult.

"Not going is also no option!" I said, drenched in sweat and panting. But nobody expected that after saying that, I would suddenly collapse flat on the ground.

I didn't faint from lack of oxygen; according to my own feeling, it was a sudden sensation of my whole body going limp, hands and feet powerless, as if all my strength had been drained, leaving me unable to move.

I struggled to get up, but Yao Wenju pressed me down with one hand.

"Don't move," Yao Wenju said, holding me down, he grabbed my arm, undid my belt and tied it around my biceps. Then he used both hands to firmly grasp the muscles below my shoulders and dragged them down forcefully.

As he performed this unorthodox massage, I suddenly noticed a small raised circle on my arm.

Yao Wenju seemed to have extracted something from my arm through the massage.

Looking closer, damn it, these protruding dots seemed to have something wriggling inside them; even though my arm was numb from Yao Wenju's massage, I still had that strange feeling.

I was about to speak when Yao Wenju drew a dagger from his waist. The blade flashed with a cold light; damn it, was he trying to kill me to silence me?

A flash of the blade, and before I could react, Yao Wenju pried open a hole in my arm.

Amid the splashing blood, I saw a scene I would never forget for the rest of my life.

After Yao Wenju opened the wound, a worm leapt out from my arm; it moved extremely fast, disappearing into the tomb's soil in an instant.

However, when I lifted my head, I still saw the worm's true form—because Yao Wenju's dagger tip was impaling one.

It was a uniformly dark, long worm, like the maggots in a toilet, except its hairs were much longer than those in a sewer, and they were stained with my fresh blood, making it look exceedingly eerie.

Staring at that disgusting worm, I trembled, my hair standing on end, my heart pounding with spasms; I almost couldn't hold back vomit.

"What the hell is this!" I asked Yao Wenju in terror, suppressing the urge to retch.

Yao Wenju turned the blade, making another blood hole in my arm, and said calmly: "This should be a maggot unique to this tomb, specialized for burrowing into human skin to suck blood. Just now your hand touched those skeletons; I think these maggot worms got into your arm at that moment."

"Damn, if you're right, these worms will suck my blood dry and I'll die?" I shuddered twice, picturing the worms drilling through my body, draining my blood, devouring my organs; then my fate would be like those white bones we saw in the passage.

Just imagining that scene is too beautiful—beautiful to the point of being unbearable to watch; even a forensic pathologist performing autopsies couldn't stand it.

"I don't know where these worms have crawled in your body; I hope they haven't wandered through your arm, otherwise you might still be saved!" Yao Wenju pondered bitterly.

I said, if there's a chance to save me, hurry up and do it; if not, just call 120—I absolutely won't give up treatment.

"Calling 120 won't help if we can't get out." Yao Wenju sneered, speaking bluntly: "Prying with a knife won't work either; better to just burn it with fire."

Saying that, Yao Wenju formed hand seals, muttered an incantation, then fiercely struck his own chest, spouting a bit of hot blood.

With a puff, the hot blood splashed onto Yao Wenju's middle finger; then he let out a loud roar, and his middle finger ignited with a flicker of scarlet flame.

Seeing that flicker of flame, I instinctively wanted to flee, but my hands and feet were powerless; I could only watch helplessly as Yao Wenju raised his flaming middle finger and moved toward me.

Damn, even if it's a maggot, you don't need to use heart‑fire. Is it because you have blood you can't spit out, or because you dislike me and want to roast me?

"Don't move, I'm going to burn it now, bear with it." Yao Wenju, expressionless, seized my shoulder; under my terrified gaze, the flame slowly crept toward my arm.

It's over; this time I'm really being roasted like a sea cucumber! I covered my eyes, unable to watch as my arm was about to be placed on the fire, silently awaiting Yao Wenju's torment; my anxious feeling was like that of a criminal about to be executed.