Chapter 408: Stone Shadow: Little Hair

Xiao Hua lit a fire folder, threw it in, and suddenly illuminated the entire area in front of us. We saw hair all over the ground, black "fur" almost covering the whole floor, even the walls. The whole cave was chillingly cold. We quieted for a moment, and the sweat on our bodies cooled, making our pores contract and giving us goosebumps.

At the same time, I saw that all the walls had been chiseled into pits, and the pits were filled with things. Most could be identified as bamboo slips. Some were empty, obviously taken away. I guessed that the most critical silk manuscripts that Jin Wantang translated must have come from here.

The number of bamboo slips was very large, also arranged along the "pipe" of the cave going inward, on both walls. It looked like a secret book storage corridor.

The deepest part was beyond the reach of the flashlight. Estimating the distance, it was at least three hundred meters, eerily deep.

This scene reminded me of a dragon kiln I had seen in Longquan, but it wasn't that long. The two of us stood at the entrance, momentarily unsure what to do.

Inside was just as cramped as outside; you had to crawl to enter. Xiao Hua tried to crawl in, but I pulled him back. I recognized those jars. I had seen them in Tamutuo. Those pottery jars looked very much like the ones containing human heads. If so, then very likely there would be those insects inside.

I told Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua looked back at the iron-clad ancient corpse and said, "In that case, that iron garment might not be an iron robe for cultivation, but a protective suit to guard against these insects. It might have been worn by the craftsmen who set up these pottery jars here."

I nodded and shone the flashlight ahead. Sure enough, I found that the open space in front was covered with broken shells of red corpse beetles. The sight was extremely unsettling.

Xiao Hua directed the flashlight at a jar. The thing covered with hair was truly horrifying. I could hardly convince myself that it wasn't hair but something else.

"How do you think they got in back then?" I asked. "Surely they didn't step on those jars – that would be disgusting." Besides, the jars were arranged very neatly, not like many people had stepped on them.

Xiao Hua shone the flashlight at the walls and ceiling, smiled at me, and said, "For them, getting in was far too easy."

I saw his smile was a bit sly and didn't know what he meant. I watched him pull out two arm-length sticks from the pile of bags, made of some unknown material, and connected them together. Then he took off his gloves, revealing hands completely soaked with sweat, and made a very flexible preparatory move: interlocking his palms and rotating them.

I didn't know what he was going to do and momentarily didn't think to stop him. He picked up the stick, suddenly propped it on the ground ahead, and flipped out like a circus acrobat in the narrow space. Then he spun in midair, and his foot landed on the cave wall to the side.

Before I could react, he loosened and withdrew the stick propped on the ground, creating a blur of shadows in the air. At the moment he lost balance, the stick propped against the cave wall where his foot was, launching him up again, and with an incredibly badass move he propelled himself to the other side of the cave.

My jaw dropped as I watched him repeat this. The stick was like a magic wand, and in a very short time he was like a spirit quickly flipping and jumping on the cave walls, his movements flowing smoothly without any effort. Within seconds, he was far away from me.

"Professional." The word suddenly popped into my mind. Compared to the way my grandfather, Chenpi A'si, and the like carefully and cautiously felt their way through the mechanisms, this miraculous skill was at least a level higher. In the process of tomb raiding, it was absolutely the most efficient and safest method. After a short while, I heard a whistle from inside, and the flashlight's beam shone out from within. It seemed the distance inside was shallower than I thought.

"What's it like?" I asked, my voice echoing in the cave.

"Not as hard as I thought! I can get over easily!" he shouted. "There's a chamber inside."

"Easy my ass! What about me?" I roared. I couldn't even do the first move.

"Wait, I'll figure something out. Don't move for now," Xiao Hua's voice came from inside. "I see something strange."

His voice echoed continuously in the cave pipe. Because his face was covered with bandages, it sounded unsettling.

"What is it?" I immediately asked.

After a moment of silence, his voice said eerily, "I don't know. Can't describe it. Seems like it's made of iron." As he spoke, I heard the sound of metal knocking from inside.

"Describe it," I said, my curiosity instantly piqued. Many strange images appeared in my mind.

"Uh..." he hesitated. "I don't know how to describe it."

"What's so hard to describe?" I shouted impatiently. "Round or square? Long or flat? How big?"

"It's a huge iron plate, like a cymbal. It has many strange patterns on it," Xiao Hua said. From his voice, his attention was completely drawn to the thing.

"What's so strange about that?"

"Boss," Xiao Hua's voice lowered, as if he couldn't believe it. "This thing is spinning. It's spinning on its own."