[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-grave-robbers-chronicles":3,"chapter-the-grave-robbers-chronicles-the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-63":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Grave Robbers' Chronicles",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},15920,44,"Chapter 63: Raging Sea: Forbidden Woman","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-63",63,"\u003Cp>Less than a palm's width in front of my eyes, there was a huge, ghastly white face. The skin, who knows how many years it had soaked in the sea, was swollen and translucent. The most hair-raising thing was its two demonic eyes that had no whites—the black irises almost filled the entire sockets. At first glance it looked exactly like a hideous rotting corpse whose eyes had been gouged out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This scared me almost to madness. I let out a hysterical roar, shoved it away, and scrambled forward with all my might. My mind had only one word: flee. But the passage was too narrow for two people to pass. I got wedged together with Poker-face and couldn't move. Seeing I couldn't squeeze past, I grabbed him and screamed, \"Ghost! There's a water ghost!\" He clamped his hand over my mouth and asked softly, \"Don't shout! Where is the water ghost?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spun around and wildly pointed behind me: \"Right behind us, it's—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Halfway through my words I froze. My heart sank. Behind me there was nothing at all—no face, no hair, not even a trace of water. My finger was almost poking Fatty in the face, leaving him utterly bewildered. He said, \"Fuck you, you're the water ghost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was dumbfounded. Hurriedly I craned my neck to look, searching everywhere, but it really was gone. But that couldn't be right—the feeling just now was so real, it couldn't be an illusion. Could this ancient tomb really be driving me mentally unstable? My heart was still racing, my mind a fog of confusion. I didn't even know how to react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty saw my face had turned green and comforted me: \"What's going on? Take it easy, tell me slowly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stammered, \"Just now I saw lots of hair, a naked woman, and a water ghost! It even tried to kiss me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts were very jumbled. After babbling for a while I didn't know what I was saying. Fatty finally lost patience and said, \"Xiao Wu, you couldn't have been dreaming, could you? If there really was a water ghost, it would have to crawl over me first, right?\" He patted my shoulder and added, \"But you're over twenty, dreaming of a naked woman is normal. When your Fatty was young, I dreamed of quite a few, too. No big deal.\" I cursed, \"Don't make fun of me! That definitely wasn't a dream! Look, my neck is still wet—it rubbed against me!\" I showed them my neck. Poker-face and Fatty touched it and both frowned. Fatty even looked up at the brick top of the tunnel, thinking water was leaking from above. I told him that was impossible—the brick crevices were sealed with white plaster, very watertight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty wondered, \"That's strange. This is the only path. If something crawled onto you, I should have known.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I said, \"Could it be you were asleep? You wouldn't even notice someone climbing over you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty retorted, \"Bullshit! Even if I were asleep, I'd know if someone stepped on me. Besides, can you sleep in a place like this? If you don't believe me, look at my back for footprints!\" He turned around to show us his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By then I had recovered a bit and hadn't thought that thing might be lying on his back. As soon as Fatty turned, that thing turned its head, its mouth almost touching my nose. I was so scared my throat seized up. With a squeak I scrambled backward. But after crawling just two steps, I felt something tighten around my foot. I looked down and saw my calf was wrapped in strands of hair, I had no idea when they got there. I tried to pull my leg free but couldn't break loose. Meanwhile, masses of hair started winding around my body and crawling into my mouth. My worst fear is something hairy in my mouth—I frantically blocked it with my hands. In the chaos, Poker-face grabbed my collar and pulled me toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He barely pulled a few steps before his own hand got tangled in the hair, and he couldn't pull anymore. I turned back and saw Fatty already wrapped up like a cocoon, writhing inside. But the thing had disappeared. The whole tomb passage was full of hair, like we had entered a black Spider Cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poker-face pulled his hand free with effort and quickly asked me, \"Do you have any source of fire? This thing is afraid of fire!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt my waist pouch and pulled out a windproof lighter—I was overjoyed. This was from when we were eating fish head hotpot on the boat, I had borrowed it from the boat captain to light the kerosene stove. After using it I just stuffed it in my pocket. I never thought it would become a lifesaver. I quickly lit it and burned the hair on my body. Although the hair was very wet, fire could burn off a big bunch at once. I freed myself in a few moves. I rushed over to Fatty, but as I was about to pull him, suddenly from the pile of hair beside me a huge face emerged and almost instantly latched onto my back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought it was all over. No time to dodge. I lowered my head and threw a punch—a total conditioned reflex from extreme terror. I don't know how much strength I used. With a slap, I smashed its nose in, and a splash of black water came out. Luckily the windproof lighter in my hand didn't go out from the motion. I gritted my teeth to hit it again, but I saw the thing shudder and actually retreat a bit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I saw that and suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. Damn, it's true—gods and ghosts fear villains. Even this ghost is afraid of fists. My mind went hazy, and I actually got excited. I lifted my foot and kicked it right in the face, bending its face sideways and sending it back into the hair. Afraid that another kick would get me tangled again, I backed off a few steps, raised the lighter, and faced it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The face hid in the hair, wearing a very venomous expression, but it was wary of the fire and didn't dare to advance recklessly. At that moment, Poker-face pulled out a few damp fire-starting sticks from somewhere, rubbed them against my lighter, and they flared up. The flame was much bigger. The monster screeched and started to retreat. I saw it shrink back quickly, leaving Fatty exposed. I took the chance to burn off the hair wrapped around Fatty's head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poker-face kept forcing the monster back until it disappeared into the darkness, then lowered his hand. By then the fire sticks were almost burning his hand. I looked down at Fatty—his nose and mouth were full of cut hair, his face blue from suffocation. I pounded his chest hard until he suddenly caught a breath and a big black mass shot out of his nostrils. I let out a long sigh. Luckily Fatty had strong lungs and cleared his airways by himself; otherwise, even if I had to, I wouldn't sacrifice myself to give him mouth-to-mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After coughing for a while to clear the rest from his trachea, Fatty asked weakly, \"My grandma, what the hell was that thing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned off the lighter I'd been clutching tightly, feeling it was scorching hot—skin on my hand was burnt off. Poker-face wasn't much better; he shook his hand and said to Fatty, \"That should be a Corpse Woman.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had heard of this thing from Old Hai at Hero Mountain. I didn't quite believe it. I said, \"A Corpse Woman really exists?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poker-face nodded. \"I don't know how they are produced, but there are many legends around here. It shouldn't be wrong.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I found it strange and asked for details, but he only shook his head. \"Corpse Woman is born in water. I know it's afraid of fire. That's all I really know. Just like a corpse—since ancient times we only know that corpses are afraid of black donkey hooves, but why, nobody knows. I just didn't expect this thing to have thoughts. We must be careful; it's definitely still hiding behind us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatty, still shaken, moved closer to us and asked, \"Strange, this tomb's feng shui is so good—why does it have so many weird things inside?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn't sure about the feng shui of this tomb. But regarding the Corpse Woman, I had looked up some information. Among ethnic minorities in mountain areas, \"Corpse Woman\" actually refers to witches and spirit mediums; but in old coastal legends, it's the most evil ghost. I don't know why there's such a difference. Generally, the fate of a Corpse Woman is worse than a person's—if caught, they usually have their limbs cut off and are buried alive. The origin of Corpse Women is often related to pregnant women. The side chamber with the floating coffin must have something to do with this. Also, Third Uncle mentioned the mural of a big-bellied woman. The Corpse Woman here is probably no accident; maybe the tomb owner deliberately placed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I was thinking, Poker-face worried the thing would follow us again and signaled us to move on. I listened to the roof of the tunnel—there was no sound now. I didn't know who had walked past just now. We were making so much noise down here, they might have heard us. This place wasn't suitable to stay long; we'd better clear out quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at Fatty; he indicated he was fine. I could tell he didn't want to stay here either. I told him to turn on the flashlight and hang it on his belt so we could keep an eye behind us. I clutched the lighter in my hand and we continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We crawled forward a bit more, and the tunnel began to zigzag upward. I looked to the side; it seemed he had dug all the way here. Ahead was the tomb wall—presumably the sea was outside—so he had to change direction and head upward to find an exit. Maybe Xie Lianhuan's thinking was the same as ours: to get out from the very top of the tomb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From when we entered this tunnel until now, about half an hour had passed. It seemed this underwater tomb wasn't very large. I had a rough sense that the length and width of the tomb chamber weren't great, but its height was the main issue. I could estimate the height at almost thirty meters. By standard, three meters per floor, this tomb would be about ten stories deep. Though impressive, it wasn't exactly a miracle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We had no way to turn back now, so we had to keep climbing up. After climbing for about the time it takes a cigarette, Poker-face suddenly stopped. I pushed him, and he turned back and said quietly, \"No more path.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was stunned—no way. I hurriedly squeezed up to look, and sure enough, the passage ended there, blocked by several large bluestone slabs. I pushed at them with my hand; these stone slabs were very heavy, but not impossible to move. Poker-face and I tried lifting them together, and we managed to raise them a crack. Immediately, we noticed that light was leaking down from the tomb chamber above. As we were puzzling over this, the pressure suddenly released in our hands, and the stone slab above our heads vanished without a trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(Third Uncle's exclusive interview and revelations! The mysteries of *The Lost Tomb* that no one has ever uncovered! Plus the main character lottery draw—all on Qidian's public WeChat account: qdread. Third Uncle calls on you to follow now!)\u003C\u002Fp>",1961,"2026-05-28T17:13:44.893Z","2026-06-01T04:28:20.357Z",1,"deepseek-v4-flash","2a1286ab216d830a8b700d16d43c3907ed14164eb64df85d04372a18384d8536","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-64","the-grave-robbers-chronicles-chapter-62",513,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-grave-robbers-chronicles-cover.jpg"]