Chapter 180: Xu Damao Falls into Desperation Again

Hu Yunbin took out a bronze Compass and paced back and forth, surveying the possible location of the great tomb. The more he walked, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "This place, the feng shui is too good! If there isn't a great tomb here, it would be an affront to heaven!"

Xu Damao saw the unconcealable joy on his Siqiang's face, so he leaned in and asked in a low voice: "Siqiang, what exactly is so good about this place?"

Hu Yunbin held the Compass, pointed at the surrounding mountains and rivers, and explained: "Look, ahead there is a jade-belt-like river encircling it, gathering Qi and generating wealth; behind, there is Jinping Mountain standing tall as a support, concealing wind and gathering blessings. This is the superior feng shui configuration in the art of feng shui known as 'a view in front, a backing behind'."

Xu Damao stared for a long time but still couldn't see anything unusual.

Hu Yunbin put away the Compass and said: "According to the calculations of the *Secret Art of Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui*, this tomb must have been built against the mountain. If I am not mistaken, the entire village is likely composed of descendants of the tomb guards. With such a grand scale, the identity of the tomb owner is definitely not ordinary."

"Siqiang, then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and find the tomb passage!" As soon as Xu Damao finished speaking, he hurried toward the mountain.

The four of them climbed to the top of the mountain and saw a dilapidated Mountain God Temple standing in the southeast corner. Its crumbling walls and broken pillars looked extremely fragile in the cold wind, as if the next gust could blow the entire structure down.

The entire temple consisted of only one room, and half of the roof had collapsed. The clay statue of the Earth God lay on the ground, covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Wang Donglai, Ma Chun, search the temple carefully and see if there is an entrance to a tomb passage!" After Hu Yunbin gave the order, he took Xu Damao and walked toward the back of the temple.

Xu Damao stood on the mountaintop and looked toward the back mountain, suddenly gasping—in the deep valley behind the mountain, a pool of water several hundred feet square was suspended.

Most of the pool's surface was frozen, but a thin strip of water near the cliff was eerily ice-free, and fine ripples were still shimmering on the surface.

"Siqiang, look," Xu Damao pointed at the unfrozen water, "this pool water is very strange."

Hu Yunbin observed intently for a long time, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter: "It is indeed suspicious..."

Just as the two were observing the pool water intently, Wang Donglai stepped out quickly from the temple and said excitedly: "Brother Hu, there is a mechanism under the base of the statue!"

The three of them immediately returned to the temple.

They saw that Ma Chun had already moved a blue stone slab, revealing a hole only large enough for one person to pass through, and a cold, damp subterranean air rushed out from the hole.

Hu Yunbin squatted at the entrance, reached out to test the airflow, and after a moment of contemplation, said firmly: "Since we've found it, there's no reason to go back empty-handed. Ma Chun, you stay on guard up here; the three of us will go down. If there's a situation, pull the Rope bell to warn us."

After speaking, he patted Xu Damao on the shoulder: "You go down first to scout the path, be careful."

Xu Damao nodded, nimbly tied the Rope, and was the first to slide into the hole.

Hu Yunbin and Wang Donglai followed closely behind.

The three of them bent over and walked for several hundred steps through a winding and narrow tunnel until a blue stone door carved with intricate coiled-dragon patterns blocked their path.

Hu Yunbin used his Dagger to carefully check the gaps in the stone door and listened with his ear pressed against it for a long time before finally speaking: "This door is solid; there must be another passage."

Wang Donglai couldn't help but ask: "Big Brother, these ancients built this fake door so exquisitely, what exactly are they aiming for?"

"To guard against people like us!" Hu Yunbin sneered.

The three of them followed the original path back to the surface.

Seeing them return so quickly, Ma Chun hurried forward and asked: "Boss, why are you back so soon?"

Hu Yunbin shook his head and said: "If the temple led directly to the tomb passage, this tomb would have been robbed hundreds of times already."

"That's true!" Ma Chun agreed.

The group began searching the mountain and its surroundings again.

Hu Yunbin even took out the Compass and the Luoyang Shovel to survey everywhere.

The group worked for several hours without results and felt a bit dejected. In the afternoon, after Xu Damao finished eating, he wanted to go to the edge of the pool to wash his hands. As soon as his hand touched the water, he shouted in surprise: "Siqiang, the water in the pool is warm!"

Hearing this, Hu Yunbin's eyes lit up: "Go down and check immediately."

All four gathered at the edge of the pool.

Hu Yunbin reached out to test the water temperature and found it was close to body temperature, so he couldn't help but laugh: "Damao, do you want to take a bath?"

Xu Damao waved his hands quickly: "Siqiang, I only know how to do a bit of dog-paddling; if I go down, I'll drown."

"Just tie the Rope around your waist!" Hu Yunbin said with a smile.

"Alright, I'll try!" Xu Damao gritted his teeth and agreed.

He understood in his heart that although they were called Siqiang and Apprentice, he was actually just a pawn. He still had to be the one to rush to the front for dangerous tasks.

Xu Damao took off his outer garment, tied the hemp Rope around his waist, took a deep breath, and dived into the water.

He dived slowly and suddenly saw a large expanse of snow-white mountain rock on the underwater cliff, moist and smooth like jade.

He quickly poked his head out of the water and gasped for air, saying: "Siqiang, the mountain rock below is white, it looks like jade, a huge expanse of it!"

Seeing his Apprentice short of breath, Hu Yunbin turned to Ma Chun and said: "Ma Chun, you are a good swimmer, go down and take a look."

Ma Chun nimbly took off his clothes, tied the Rope, and dived into the water with a splash.

A minute passed, and the water surface remained calm.

Xu Damao asked in surprise: "Can he hold his breath for that long?"

"He can hold it for two minutes." No sooner had Wang Donglai finished speaking than Ma Chun surfaced more than ten meters away. He took a few breaths and said: "Brother Hu, the underwater terrain is complex; let me scout it a few more times."

About an hour later, when Ma Chun surfaced again, he wiped his face and said: "Big Brother, I found an entrance underwater; it leads inside the mountain."

Xu Damao was immediately overjoyed: "That's great!"

"What is the situation at the entrance?" Hu Yunbin pressed.

"To enter the hole, you have to go up some steps... I can't describe it clearly... you'd better go down and see for yourself." Ma Chun pointed to a spot on the water surface more than ten meters away.

Hu Yunbin tied the Rope securely to a giant rock on the shore, stuffed his clothes and tools into a sheepskin bag, and said decisively: "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cub; let's all go down and take a look."

The group dived into the water and followed Ma Chun into a cave with stone steps.

They walked up the stone steps and arrived at an open, waterless platform.

Hu Yunbin lit a torch and couldn't help but be stunned.

There was another blue stone door with coiled-dragon patterns, almost identical to the one in the cave beneath the temple.

"Tricked again!" Hu Yunbin hammered the stone door fiercely and said.

Just then, the sound of rushing water came from the steps.

Xu Damao poked his head out to look and exclaimed in shock: "Siqiang, the water is rising!"

The group looked down and saw the water level rising rapidly, with white steam rising from it.

Xu Damao quickly went down a few steps and reached out to test the water temperature, then immediately pulled his hand back with a scream: "This water is scalding hot, Siqiang, we can't go back!"

Hu Yunbin rushed down the steps, but the moment his finger touched the water's surface, he pulled it back violently and stumbled, falling to the ground.

Ma Chun tried it as well, saying with a sobbing tone, "Big Brother, this water... if we go in, we'll be boiled alive!"

"Don't panic!" Hu Yunbin forced himself to stay calm, "The water temperature must change in cycles. It was still warm when we arrived; there must be a way out!"

"But this water can kill a person in a minute, we can't wait for it to cool down!" Ma Chun roared in despair.

Hu Yunbin stood up abruptly and shouted to the three, "All of you, come up! Light all the torches and check this stone wall carefully!"

The three hurriedly took out their torches and lit them.

The narrow space suddenly became as bright as day.

Sweat poured down Xu Damao's naked body, and beads of sweat dripped continuously onto the stone floor.

"Siqiang, we're done for!" Xu Damao finally couldn't hold back and began to wail.