Chapter 181: Cannot Get Out

At first, the four of them were still able to suppress the fear in their hearts, groping inch by inch around the stone door for a possible mechanism.

As boiling water mist spread beneath their feet, the heat carrying a pungent sulfur smell, the water level rose bit by bit, submerging the highest step of the stone stairs, as if it could swallow the few of them at any moment.

All four of them were getting anxious; they knew that if they didn't find a way into the Cave within a few minutes, they would be boiled alive by the scalding water.

"These ancients are really not human, what kind of thing did they build, it's really forcing people to their deaths!" Xu Damao finally broke down; he no longer crawled on the ground searching for the mechanism inch by inch, but stood up and started kicking the door, kick after kick.

After kicking the door, he kicked the wall next to the stone door one kick after another, sweat and mist mixing together, dripping down his cheeks.

"Boom—!" A dull, vibrating sound echoed in the stone chamber, and that "fake door" which had been impossible to shake actually slowly cracked open a slit.

"Damao, don't move, remember that spot!" Hu Yunbin shouted.

He hurriedly rushed over to check, and only then did he understand that it was Xu Damao who had accidentally kicked the mechanism that opened the door.

He was so excited that he grabbed Xu Damao and gave him a heavy kiss on the face: "Kid, you really are our lucky star!"

Before his voice had even faded, he also raised his foot and kicked hard.

Under the repeated impacts, the heavy stone door finally opened slowly, and the four of them dared not hesitate, scrambling into the door in a state of near-disarray.

After entering, Hu Yunbin immediately discovered a stone beast head by the wall; he twisted it hard with both hands, twisting it three times before the great door closed.

The scalding water flow had already squeezed in through the narrow slit, winding away along the drainage ditch hidden behind the door.

"The ingenuity of the ancients is truly supernatural..." Hu Yunbin gazed at the operation of the mechanism, unable to help but exclaim in admiration.

They walked forward along the narrow stone tunnel, their footsteps echoing in the empty passage.

Water droplets slowly seeped out on the slippery rock walls, dripping onto the stone floor.

After walking several dozen meters, a flight of moss-covered stone stairs appeared before their eyes.

The four of them supported each other and climbed up cautiously.

Passing through the cave entrance, their field of vision suddenly opened up—a wide stone cave presented itself before them.

On one side of the grotto was a narrow path carved out by human hands, slightly tilted toward the rock wall, presumably for fear of people losing their footing and falling into the crevice; on the other side was a pitch-black fissure, bottomless.

Xu Damao threw a small stone down, but couldn't hear an echo at all.

"How deep... is this fissure?" Xu Damao asked with a trembling voice.

"Can't hear an echo, it's very deep!" Hu Yunbin replied.

The group walked another dozen meters along the path and entered a massive cavern, as wide as a football field.

The cave ceiling was towering, and the echo of dripping water lingered for a long time.

On the high platform to the north, a pure white jade coffin lay quietly, its presence solemn, as if its master from a thousand years ago were still sleeping.

Arranged around it were spirit tablets, bronze ware, the remains of human sacrifices, and the skeletons of giant beasts, emitting an aura of decay.

Most eerie of all, on the rock wall diagonally above the coffin, two circular holes let in a faint light, like ghostly eyes, silently watching the jade coffin below.

This kept the entire cave from being too dark; even without torches, one could see the things inside.

Hu Yunbin looked solemn, took a Candle from his backpack, lit it in the southeast corner, bowed, and muttered something under his breath.

The other three followed suit.

Suddenly, the candlelight flickered violently, and the flame "popped" and shot up high.

A chill ran down Hu Yunbin's back, and he said with a trembling voice: "The tomb owner does not want us to touch his things!"

"To hell with it! We're already in, can we go out empty-handed?" Wang Donglai said, a greedy light flashing in his eyes.

He was the first to rush onto the stone platform, his gaze sweeping over the bronze ware covering the floor, and he shouted: "I'm rich! I'm rich! If I sell these treasures abroad, I won't have to work for the rest of my life."

Xu Damao could not hold back either and secretly approached the stone wall beside the coffin.

His gaze was drawn to a dragon-shaped handle. Two bright jewels were embedded in the dragon's eyes. The dragon's head was looking straight up, facing the two "eyes" on the stone wall.

Xu Damao looked around, and while everyone's attention was on the coffin, he reached out to pry it, but the jewels didn't budge.

In his desperation, he took out a hammer, knocked the entire dragon head off in a few strikes, and stuffed it into his backpack.

What he didn't know was that this knob was the switch that would destroy the entire great tomb.

Wang Donglai beckoned to Ma Chun: "Dachun, what are you doing? The boss is spacing out, and you're learning from him? Hurry up and give me a hand!"

Ma Chun looked at Hu Yunbin, who nodded.

The two worked together to move the jade coffin lid, but it didn't budge.

Hu Yunbin circled the coffin and said: "Push forward first to release the latch, then lift!"

Following his instructions, the four of them worked together, and the heavy coffin lid finally creaked open.

Inside was the corpse of a man about 1.7 meters tall, his face covered by a jade mask, a jade cicada in his mouth, a jade pig-dragon in his hand, his facial orifices sealed with jade plugs, a red and white Jade Bi hanging on his chest, and a golden Bronze Sword placed by his side.

"Good treasure!" Hu Yunbin's eyes lit up, and he was the first to reach out and pick up the sword.

Then, Wang Donglai and Ma Chun went crazy, stuffing all the burial goods into sheepskin bags.

Xu Damao took advantage of the chaos to rip the Jade Bi off the corpse's chest.

This Jade Bi had a unique shape, much like two knife-money coins placed head-to-foot, the internal patterns swirling and interlocking like solidified clouds, and as light and shadow penetrated through it, it seemed to carry an ancient time and space.

Wang Donglai didn't even spare the jade plugs on the corpse, cruelly pulling them out.

The corpse, which had been relatively intact, became shriveled and blackened under their tossing and turning, turning into a fragile, withered skeleton.

Just then, the Candle in the corner suddenly turned green, the flame flickered wildly, and then extinguished.

The few of them were all busy packing up the spoils, and no one noticed the change in the Candle in the corner.

After finishing with the things in the coffin, Wang Donglai looked at the bronze ware all over the floor and said: "Let's go, move the bronze ware!"

"What are you thinking? The things here are too big, and we still have to go up through the water; we can't take them at all," Ma Chun said.

"This young master doesn't want to come back again; that boiling water, I get scared just thinking about it!" Xu Damao said.

Once he said this, everyone fell silent—how to get out was truly a difficult problem.

Before Xu Damao's voice had even faded, the earth began to shake violently, as if a giant beast were turning over in the belly of the mountain.

"Not good! We must have disturbed something; it must be an Earth Dragon!" Hu Yunbin's face turned deathly pale.

"Big Brother, don't try to scare me, how could there be an 'Earth Dragon' underground!" Ma Chun said stubbornly, though his voice was trembling.

Xu Damao's legs went weak, and he shivered as he moved closer to Hu Yunbin: "Siqiang, let's leave quickly!"

"We can't leave!" Hu Yunbin's expression was grim, "Have you forgotten the boiling water outside the door? If you want to get out, you have to wait for it to cool down."

"Then what should we do!" Xu Damao said urgently.

The rumbling grew louder and louder, the mountain shook violently, and gravel fell like raindrops.

Stone steles and bronze wares rolled across the floor in a chaotic mess.

"The Earth Dragon is turning over! Run!" Hu Yunbin roared.

The four of them finally realized that disaster was imminent and scrambled to run outside in a panic.

Just as they returned to that wide cavern, scorching magma erupted from the rock crevices.

Hu Yunbin retreated rapidly, nearly getting sprayed in the face by the magma.

"This path is blocked!" Hu Yunbin shouted.

They retreated in a panic back to the main hall.

Just at this moment, the ground near the jade coffin began to collapse, and the entire coffin, along with the burial objects, plummeted into the ground, revealing a dark abyss.

"It's over... it's over... we are completely trapped!" Xu Damao howled hysterically, his desperate echo reverberating in the empty tomb for a long time...