【Texture】(24, 25, 26)

Author: Wandering Traveler

, July 4, 2015, first published on sis.

Chapter 24

: "No..." "Bastard..." Seeing their attempt to snatch the short man back fail,
the two immediately shouted and cursed.

"Clang, clang..." One of them immediately pushed the automatic rifle hanging on his back to his front and fired two shots into
the dark crevice. The gunshots
echoed loudly in the empty and narrow tunnel, making my eardrums ring! Zhou Jingyi, terrified by the sudden disappearance of the short man and the loud gunshots, covered her
ears and screamed. Her scream caused chaos.

In addition to the two already standing on the mound, two more rushed up the mound, took out their weapons, and
fired in. For a moment, the sounds of automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns rose and fell...

"Stop...stop! All of you, stop the fucking!" Mr. Tang, who had remained calm until now, couldn't help but swear during
his desperate shouts!

After the gunfire ceased, Mr. Tang quickly called to the four men standing on the mound, "Cease fire! Get down
immediately ! Don't stand there!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a long, thin object suddenly emerged from the dark crevice
, wrapping around the waist of the man who had fired the first shot and pulling him into the crevice… followed by screams and the terrifying sounds of wild beasts
tearing at each other .

The three men still standing on the mound were terrified by what they had just witnessed and
scrambled down the mound.

"Run!" Zhou Jingyi suddenly screamed. She turned and ran towards the tunnel behind her, but
after only two steps, a flash of cold light appeared before her eyes! A throwing knife grazed her beautiful face and embedded itself in the wall of the tunnel
next to her . Zhou Jingyi froze in place, terrified!

I clearly saw from the side that Mr. Tang had thrown the knife!

"You bitch, shut up! If you dare shout again, I'll kill you first!" Mr. Tang's previously
wooden face now contorted with rage. Perhaps this was the true reveal of his nature...

"Everyone stay still! Get away from the mound! Anyone who dares to desert... don't blame me for turning on you
!" Mr. Tang viciously threatened everyone present.

Just then, the long, thin object in the crevice shot out twice more, but since
it was no longer on the mound, it only missed twice before
disappearing from the crevice again!

Seeing this, the remaining people realized that the object's attack range was limited, only
reaching the top of the mound. They gradually calmed down...

"Leopard, keep an eye on that woman! You..." Mr. Tang pointed at me and said, "Give me
back ." After saying that, he turned to the side, staring intently at the dark crevice above the mound.

Seeing how decisively Mr. Tang had stunned everyone present, I immediately abandoned my
plan to escape with Zhou Jingyi amidst the chaos. Instead, I obediently ran to Zhou Jingyi's side and
pulled the throwing knife from the mud wall.

As soon as I pulled it out, I realized how heavy it was;
judging , it was made of pure silver.

Holding the knife, as I passed Zhou Jingyi, I quickly whispered in her ear, "Don't do anything rash
… these guys can really kill…"

Only then did Zhou Jingyi realize that her attempt to create chaos had almost gotten her
killed , and she trembled with fear. I didn't have time to comfort her; I could only pat
her back to calm her down.

I went to Mr. Tang and handed him the knife. Unexpectedly, he suddenly reversed the blade and held
it to my neck. Unsure of his intentions, I stood frozen, too afraid to move.

Mr. Tang turned his head and whispered in my ear, "You saw
something in there from up there, didn't you?"

Hearing him deliberately lower his voice, I understood he didn't want our conversation to be overheard, so I
whispered back, "Why do you say that?"

"Because you knew there was something in there, but you were too afraid to reach in and test it. So you made an excuse that you're too big to fit
in, and made someone else your scapegoat!" Mr. Tang coldly exposed my previous behavior.

"Then what do you suggest I do? Knowing there might be monsters in there, why would I stupidly reach in
and die ?" I didn't bother to argue; I just blurted out what was on my mind.

"You should at least have told that guy there was something in there, and told him to be careful!" Mr. Tang understood that what I said
made sense, and his originally fierce tone softened slightly.

"I was going to say something. You saw what happened; Leopard wanted to smoke, and you were stopping him.
Everyone's attention was focused on that. I didn't expect that guy to be caught by
the thing inside so quickly!" Only now did I begin to defend my actions. After all, it all
happened in a very short time. Even if I had intended to warn the little guy,
I might not have had time to tell him in time because of Leopard smoking. Besides, I never intended to say anything; I was just trying
to muddy the waters.

Mr. Tang looked at me, his facial muscles twitching slightly. He asked, "What was inside? Did you see it
clearly ?"

I shook my head. "I only saw one eye. It was huge, as big as a fist. It moved, it
blinked..."

Hearing my description, Mr. Tang's facial muscles twitched even more violently. I vaguely heard him
mutter , "One eye? Could it be Zhujian?"

Of course, his voice was extremely indistinct. I wasn't sure if I had misheard! If
Mr. Tang is indeed referring to the "Zhujian," I have seen
a description of such a creature in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*. In mythology, it is a monster with a human face, a leopard's body, ox ears, only
one eye, and a long tail.

However, according to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, the Zhujian is a divine beast, not some ferocious monster. Moreover, legend has it that...
In the classic texts, encountering a mythical creature like Zhujian is often considered auspicious, but the being lurking in the darkness of the crevice is completely unrelated to the descriptions in the Classic of Mountains and
Seas .

At that moment, the blade that had been pressed against my throat slowly retracted. Mr. Tang stared intently at the crevice
for a while. In his distinctively deep, hoarse voice, he said, "Pack your things! This path is impassable
, we must retreat!"

"We're just going to leave those two behind?" Mr. Tang's decision
angered .

Mr. Tang gave the man who dared to question his decision a cold look. But ultimately, Mr. Tang
didn't harm him. Instead, he waved his hand, "Everyone, leave immediately!" Then, looking at
the man who had questioned him, he said, "If you want to stay, that's fine! But let me tell you! We're lucky
this mound of earth is blocking what's inside, so we're still alive. But I estimate it won't hold for long
!" With that, he led the group back towards the tunnel they had come from.

After observing the actions of the others, the skeptics ultimately abandoned their plans to stay and followed
.

After traversing a section of tunnel, Mr. Tang called out to Leopard and me, and Zhou Jingyi stopped as well.

"Leopard, I remember you carried detonators and explosives in your bag, right?" Mr. Tang asked Leopard first.

Leopard nodded in confirmation.

Mr. Tang then turned to me and asked, "Judging from your drawing skills, you served in the military?
As a staff officer ? Or a reconnaissance soldier?"

"A reconnaissance soldier!" I answered accurately.

Reconnaissance soldier was my true identity during my service, and I also received
training as a "bomb impact point observer. "

"Do you know how to handle explosives?" Mr. Tang immediately followed up.

I was taken aback! To say no would be a blatant lie! In fact, I not only know how to handle explosives,
but I also possess considerable skills in demolition and directional demolition. These are essential skills for reconnaissance
personnel .

"You want me to stay behind and blow up the tunnel?" I didn't answer Mr. Tang's question immediately, but instead asked him
a question .

"You're right! If my guess is correct! Cen Laoliu's group also encountered this monster and
were completely wiped out! But I've figured out their purpose in detonating the explosives! They wanted to collapse the tunnel and
stop the monster! To buy us time, Cen Laoliu was a true friend! But now it's obvious they didn't
succeed , and the collapsed earth over there didn't completely cover the passage! Since that thing could
rush all the way here through the obstacles below, it will probably be able to squeeze through that mound of earth sooner or later! So we must now
carry out another explosion in this tunnel! We must make sure this tunnel collapses completely! Otherwise, you've seen how terrifying that
monster is, firing so many shots and nothing happened. If it finally manages to break through here,
not only us, but the people in the villages and cities outside will probably suffer!" When Mr. Tang finished speaking
, a somewhat sorrowful expression appeared on his face. This surprised me.

"Of course, you won't be the only one staying behind. Leopard and I will stay here with you to cover your retreat!"
Mr. Tang realized I might suspect he was going to abandon me to be a scapegoat, so he immediately revealed his
decision.

"Me too, I'll stay too!" Hearing Mr. Tang's words, Zhou Jingyi quickly agreed to stay as well
. Clearly, for her right now, staying by my side was the safest option. If she left me,
who knew if those men ahead would be driven by lust and disregard the current danger, taking the opportunity to have sex with her
...

Mr. Tang neither agreed nor disagreed with Zhou Jingyi's request, but simply stared into my eyes!

I chuckled. "You said it yourself, it's not just for you guys, but also for those
people outside the tunnel! Do you think I have a reason to refuse? But this place isn't suitable! The passages are all straight and the space
is too large . The best place would be that slightly curved spot we just passed, where half of it is blocked. We
need to blow that spot up and completely block that section of the passage!"

"Alright, you're the demolition expert! You're in charge!" Mr. Tang immediately decided to
proceed !

Mr. Tang then ordered the other four men to rush back to the camp in the center of the tunnel to
report what they had seen and heard to Boss Li and the others, and also to leave behind their communication equipment and guns. Afterwards, he led me, Leopard, and
Zhou Jingyi to the tunnel corner I had mentioned.

Directional demolition is a technical job, and I also need to consider the intensity and radiation of the explosion. I knew very well that we were currently inside the tunnel. The entire tunnel had become extremely unstable
due to the previous earthquake and the demolition by Cen Laoliu and the others .
If it weren't for the fact that most of the tin ore inside Phoenix Back Mountain is
the granite , with a relatively solid ore body structure, even after a long period of mining,
the remaining rock still supports the main body of the vein. However, if I only considered blocking the tunnel with the collapsed earth without
considering other consequences, a single blast might cause a chain reaction of collapses throughout the entire mining area.

Thinking of this, I looked back to observe the situation of the tunnel below the corner. Mr. Tang also seemed
very patient at this moment, only instructing Leopard to take out the explosives and detonators from his backpack. He didn't urge me in any way
. Only Zhou Jingyi anxiously looked at the tunnel below, looking very agitated. It was as if she was worried that
the monster behind the mound of earth would suddenly appear in her sight.

After finalizing my plan, I turned to Leopard and asked about the type of explosives he was carrying. I quickly began
setting up the trenches: "Starting from here, the distance to that support... half a meter from the top of the pit, two meters apart,
two grooves on each side of the tunnel!"

Having received my clear instructions, Mr. Tang and Leopard immediately took out their spare entrenching tools and pickaxes,
and began digging grooves in the tunnel walls according to my directions. However, the location I had chosen was in a rocky area,
and their digging was not going smoothly. I climbed along an ancient tunnel support beside the tunnel to
a position close to the top edge. The wood of the support was already rotten and could break at any moment. But I still managed to
stay there and began digging a hole in the top with my pickaxe. As I dug, I explained my
intentions to Mr. Tang and Leopard.

"If we don't want the entire tunnel to be affected, but we still want to completely seal this place, we have to use multiple blasts
. We can't use too much explosive at each blast point. I know the area you're excavating is too hard, but
the reason we set up blast points at those four rocky locations is to vibrate the rock and
loosen and collapse the surrounding soil. Then my blast point will blast down the top layer of soil! Because the blast points
are scattered , and each point uses a small amount of explosive, the blasts shouldn't cause
a widespread shock inside the tunnel, but only affect this area and the surrounding tunnels. If all goes well, the soil
collapsing should completely seal this place!"

Just then, the monster's roar came again from the tunnel behind. Accompanying the monster's shrill
cry was the sound of rolling sand and gravel.

Mr. Tang had just barely managed to carve a groove in the rock. Upon hearing the sound, his expression changed.
"Damn it, that thing is digging at the mound. Leopard, you keep digging, I'll go back and check!"

With that, Mr. Tang pulled out his pure silver dagger, bit it, grabbed the double-barreled shotgun left behind by the earlier
evacuees , loaded it, and returned with the gun in one hand and his headlamp in the other.

Seeing Mr. Tang's actions, I couldn't help but think more highly of him. Although I knew he was definitely
not a good person, his actions at this moment truly proved he was a man of great responsibility!

After Mr. Tang went down, I sped up my digging and quickly carved a sloping
, deep . After finishing, I jumped down, picked up my pickaxe, and began digging
the second groove I had previously designated for Mr. Tang.

Leopard, being a professional tomb raider, dug even faster than me, even against rock. Before I
had finished digging, he had already completed his assigned task and was preparing to turn around and assist me in completing the final
groove . Two gunshots rang out from the nearby tunnel, accompanied by Mr. Tang's roar.

Leopard's face immediately changed. Mr. Tang's shooting meant that the thing had most likely abandoned the mound of earth that had
been piled up there. Even a desperate man like Leopard felt fear at this moment and had
the thought of fleeing immediately.

Just as Leopard and I were looking at each other, hesitating and considering whether to leave immediately,
a "click" of metal rang out.

Leopard and I turned around and saw that Zhou Jingyi had somehow picked up
an and was holding it in her hand. The metal sound we had just heard was the sound of her pulling back the bolt. And
the target of her gun was Leopard.

Seeing this, I quickly shouted, "Don't point your gun at people! What are you doing?"

"This guy is trying to slip away by himself! Don't think I can't see through him!" Perhaps because of extreme fear,
Zhou Jingyi became somewhat hysterical! Her originally very pleasant voice became shrill.

Realizing the urgency of the situation, I understood I had no time to comfort Zhou Jingyi or
calm her down. I could only turn and yell at Leopard, "What are you standing there for? Come help me!"

Leopard understood that Zhou Jingyi might have lost her mind and could shoot him at any moment. To
avoid causing her to go mad, he gritted his teeth and rushed to my side, grabbing a pickaxe and
helping dig for explosives.

From below the tunnel, Mr. Tang's curses and the monster's roars echoed.

I was extremely surprised. Who was Mr. Tang, that he could confront that monster head-on? But when I
recalled the monster Lin Meimei had mutated in the Cloud Mountain cave, I suddenly realized that Mr. Tang, whom
the bespectacled man had claimed to have "paid a lot of money to hire," might be the same kind of being as Wang Lie or Ye Tong
! Otherwise, how could an ordinary person dare to face such an unknown monster?

Although Leopard and I worked together on this last detonation point, I was somewhat distracted, and Leopard
was equally nervous, so it took us significantly longer to excavate it than the previous few recessed detonation points.

Just as I was about to examine the tunnel's terrain again to calculate the amount of explosives at each point, a
figure staggered out of the dark tunnel below and appeared in our sight.

Mr. Tang was dressed in tattered clothes and covered in blood. Upon seeing us, he shouted hoarsely, "
Detonate it In just a few minutes, it will have completely crawled through from there!" After saying this, he leaned
against the tunnel wall, head down, motionless, only panting heavily.

"A few minutes?" Hearing Mr. Tang's words, I no longer bothered to accurately estimate the amount of explosives at each point
. Based on past experience, I quickly ran to where Leopard had placed the detonators and explosives, grabbed
a bunch , and placed several rolls of explosives and detonators at each detonation point on the wall. Then, I
climbed back up the tunnel support I had just used to reach the top of the tunnel and stuffed the remaining explosives in...

Although Leopard hadn't received formal demolition training like me, as a tomb raider, he
was no stranger to using explosives. While I was filling the detonation points with explosives, he immediately
attached fuses to each detonator. At that moment, I was thankful that the detonators Leopard and the others carried were the most common type, triggered by a burning fuse
, and the fuses were long enough. If they had used other types of detonators, it would have been much more difficult to handle them in a short time.

After loading the explosives at the top of the tunnel, I quickly finished attaching the detonators to the top detonation points. Leopard also
skillfully took the section of fuse hanging above and pulled it together with the other four.

After dealing with that, I said to Leopard, "Carry him on your back and get out of here immediately, as far
away as possible ! I'll stay behind to detonate it!"

Leopard nodded, ran to Mr. Tang, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and turned to leave.

Zhou Jingyi, who had been hysterical, had finally regained some of her senses. When Leopard gestured to her
, she hurriedly followed behind him. After running a few steps, she turned back to look at me, and I could see the extreme worry in her
eyes .

I gave her a thumbs-up! This was my habitual
gesture .

At this moment, Zhou Jingyi seemed to understand the meaning and confidence contained in my gesture. After
biting her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, she finally turned and chased after Leopard, disappearing from my sight.

As everyone vanished, leaving me utterly alone, a strange
calm settled over me. I felt as if I were back in my military service, methodically untangling
the tangled wires in my hands… Soon, a soft "shh, shh…" sound came from nearby, sounding eerily unsettling

in the silent tunnel ! The sound grew closer… yet my heart grew increasingly at ease! 　　When the shh stopped a dozen meters away, I had just successfully twisted the five wires into one. I looked up, the beam of my headlamp illuminating the spot where the sound had ceased. 　　The white eyeball I had seen earlier was now in the focal point of the beam… 　　The monster before me stretched for a third of the tunnel's width. Its entire body resembled a gigantic centipede. Below its single eye, two enormous pincers snapped shut, blood . Besides two rows of long, black legs resembling those of a centipede on either side of its body, two long tentacles swayed below its head… 　　Its pale eyeballs rolled constantly in their strange sockets, as if searching for the exact source of the beam of light shining into its eyes. 　　“What kind of monster is this?” I finally witnessed the monster’s true form. “Whatever it is ! Light the explosives and kill it, or bury it alive!” 　　Driven by instinct, I unconsciously took out a lighter from my jacket pocket and lit the fuse. Then I stood up, turned around, and rushed in the direction where Leopard and Zhou Jingyi had gone. 　　The monster’s attention seemed to be drawn to the rapidly burning fuse, its white eyeballs slowly rotating as the fuse burned. At the junction of the fuses, sparks hissed and split into five trails, each heading towards its respective detonation point… 　　“Boom, boom, boom…” A series of explosions, mixed with the monster’s shrill screams, rang in my ears… The powerful blast blasts blew me from behind into the air above the tunnel. The violent impact with the tunnel walls caused me to lose control of my body. I felt my body rolling back and forth on the cold ground, littered with pieces of flesh and clods of earth, before everything went black and I lost consciousness… 　　I don’t know how much time passed before I gradually regained consciousness, stimulated by intense pain all over my body. I opened my eyes, but all I saw was darkness. At first, I thought I had gone blind, but then I realized that it was probably because the headlamp attached to my hat had been damaged in the impact. 　　My hands groped unconsciously on the rubble and clods of earth, but unexpectedly touched a strap . I pulled hard and confirmed that it was the travel backpack I had been carrying on my back. Remembering I had a spare light in my backpack, I quickly found the opening, took out the spare portable headlamp, and turned it on. A beam of light shone out. I could finally confirm that my eyes were still intact! 　　"I have to catch up with Leopard and Zhou Jingyi quickly," I thought, enduring the excruciating pain as I got up. After walking about ten meters along the tunnel, I froze. The passage in front of me was completely . 　　"Damn it, I'm out of my mind. This should be where I blew up the monster. Why did I go back?" Realizing what had happened, I quickly turned around and walked back, but after only thirty meters, I saw the collapsed earth completely blocking my way forward... 　　"This, this..." I instantly understood my predicament. The explosion had not only buried the tunnel where the monster was, but the resulting tremors had also collapsed the passage behind my escape route ! 　　Right now, I'm trapped in this section of the tunnel between two collapsed sections... 　　"Calm down... I need to calm down!" I swallowed hard and told myself, "After I was discharged from the army , I went to Laoshan with Li Feng and Liu Tao. An old Taoist priest there told my fortune, saying I'd live to be a hundred... that I'd turn misfortune into good fortune... that I'd always be incredibly accurate! I definitely won't be trapped here, I'm sure I can find a way to escape..." 　　Just as I was muttering these self-comforting words, a "shh, shh" sound came again from the direction of the tunnel that had been buried by earthworks. I suddenly snapped back to reality. 　　"Oh no, that monster isn't dead yet, it's just buried under sand and gravel or blocked on one side of the tunnel. This monster seems to be able to dig and burrow to clear obstacles in the tunnel for itself; it successfully passed through the lowest ... In that case, it will eventually reach this section of the tunnel I'm in now! I have to escape from here immediately or find a way to hide. Otherwise, I'm doomed!" 　　Realizing this, I ignored the pain in my body and quickly grabbed my handlamp and went to the collapsed area in front of me, hoping to find a relatively weak spot. As long as the area of the landslide wasn't too large, I should have enough time to dig a tunnel myself and crawl through. However, after observing and tentatively digging a few spots with my pickaxe, I realized that my thinking was completely wrong. The collapsed area in front of me was extremely thick. By myself , I probably wouldn't be able to dig a passage even until I was exhausted. 　　I sat down, panting, on a fallen rock, took a bottle of water from my backpack and drank it, my lantern beam aimlessly shimmering in the cramped tunnel space… 　　Little did I know that this seemingly frantic activity would lead to an unexpected discovery. When the light shone on a circular groove in the tunnel wall— a feature of the "blasting and detonation mining method" that Qiangzi had mentioned—I suddenly remembered the smoke extraction duct he had also mentioned needed for this method. 　　I quickly stood up and searched the top and side walls of this section of the tunnel with my lantern, and surprisingly , I found a "smoke duct" entrance, about two feet square. 　　I climbed to the entrance and shone the lantern inside. Although it was pitch black inside, the distance the beam extended confirmed that at least a large portion of the smoke duct was open and hadn't collapsed due to the previous blast. I tried to crawl inside, and surprisingly, I managed to squeeze in. I thought for a moment, then stepped out of the chimney, grabbed my backpack, stuffed it inside, and then pushed it back into the chimney again...

"Whether it leads to another place or not, this place at least provides some cover. Even if the monster breaks
through that collapsed section, I'll be safer here. The monster's tentacles seem to be only a few meters long;
if I move a few more meters forward, I can make sure they can't reach me. And since I don't know how long I
'll need to hide here, the water and oxygen tank in my backpack can sustain me for as long as possible."
Survival instincts compelled me to keep pushing my backpack forward through the smokestack…

I don't know how long I crawled, or how far I covered.
The rustling gradually subsided until it disappeared completely. My fear of the monster lessened slightly. But
the narrow space and thin air in the smokestack made me anxious again. I struggled to pull out another spare oxygen tank from my backpack
, took a few breaths, and realized that going back was no longer an option. The only thing to do now
was to push the backpack forward.

And so, I advanced almost inch by inch. After crawling for a while, I noticed that
every so often, a slightly wider space would appear in the flue, where I
could sit up and rest for a bit.

I realized then that this flue, too, had been dug by ancient miners. Because of its
size could only have been dug by a single miner. The miners who dug it needed space to rest and stretch, so these slightly larger spaces
were deliberately created at intervals . 　　After entering a third such space to drink water, rest, and breathe oxygen, I crawled back into the flue. But after crawling for a short while, I noticed the resistance increasing. A moment later, I realized that the flue had started to slope upwards… 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Chapter Twenty-Five: 　　“Perhaps I really can get out!” Thinking this, I suddenly felt an extreme sense of excitement! 　　My previous advance through the flue was purely a subconscious act driven by fear of the monster and the instinct for survival . Thinking the worst-case scenario was simply being trapped and killed in the tunnel or being captured and killed , I figured I might as well give it a try. But now, realizing the flue extended upwards, I truly felt a glimmer of hope for survival. 　　Qiangzi and I had casually mentioned it before while chatting over water. If a flue is always parallel, it's very likely an abandoned flue. Ancient miners didn't have modern detection methods and equipment; when digging flues, they often relied on experience and luck. They would dig one, encounter rocks, or make a calculation error, and then abandon it. Then they would start digging another one from somewhere else. Therefore, in ancient mines, you often encounter abandoned flues that were only half-dug or unsuitable and not completed. Once a slope or bend appears inside the flue, it proves that the miners have confirmed the location of the flue's exit and have begun adjusting their digging direction. The smoke duct began to rise , confirming that the one I was crawling through was indeed open… 　　I don't know how long I crawled forward, but just as I felt utterly exhausted and about to collapse, the backpack I had pushed in front of me vanished with a "whoosh." After the backpack disappeared, a dark smoke duct exit appeared in the light of my lantern. 　　I used the last of my strength to desperately crawl out of the exit. 　　There was a slight drop between the smoke duct exit and the ground; the backpack had "disappeared" because I had pushed the opening and it had fallen to the ground outside. 　　After exiting the smoke duct, I quickly realized that I was still inside the tunnel in the back of the mountain. After shining my lantern around, I found myself in an extremely open space. The walls were very different from the walls of the tunnels below; there were large rocks everywhere with obvious signs of being chiseled. 　　Moreover, the air here felt slightly fresher than the air in the tunnels. 　　Although the map I was carrying had been taken by the four who had evacuated earlier, I still vaguely remembered its contents because I had drawn it myself . Combining this with my analysis of the path I had taken through the smokestack, I realized I was probably near the top of the ancient tunnels in Phoenix Back Mountain. Judging from the size of the surrounding area, this place was likely a major mining site within a former tin mine. The area I had drawn on my map was located below this location. 　　"Anyway, I've finally escaped." I drank mineral water to replenish my fluids and regain my strength while considering my next plan. 　　"Meet up with those tomb raiders?" The thought had barely crossed my mind before I dismissed it. Cooperating with them would only be a compromise made under their guns. Now that I was free, I wouldn't be foolish enough to go back to them. But finding a way to leave on my own was impossible. 　　It wasn't that I lacked the ability to escape the tunnels, but Qiangzi and Zhou Jingyi were still being controlled by those guys . 　　Qiangzi accompanied me into the mine, and regardless of the circumstances, I have an obligation to get him out safely. As for Zhou Jingyi, although I'm extremely annoyed by her self-determined actions, like Qiangzi, I also have to find a way to ensure her safety, even if it's just out of humanitarian concern. 　　After drinking some water, I rested for a while and felt I had regained some strength. Then I started packing . Besides water, an oxygen cylinder, a camera, and a spare portable lamp and batteries, there was only the photography tripod that I had disassembled and packed into my backpack after entering the mine. I had forgotten to bring the pickaxe because I was too nervous when I went into the smoke tunnel. 　　"Those guys' target is that ancient tomb at the very bottom of the tunnel, the one whose existence is uncertain . It seems He Qiang has confirmed its location, so they probably won't be anymore. Besides, Leopard and that Tang guy likely think I'm dead. This makes it the perfect place for me to hide. For me, the best course of action now is to remain hidden , observe their movements, and then seize the opportunity to rescue them." 　　Having made up my mind, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and took out a disassembled triangular pistol in one hand.

Using the lantern as a makeshift weapon, I ventured into the unfamiliar tunnels.

The idea was good, but in reality, it was fraught with difficulties. Although I
was quite familiar with the Phoenix Mountain back area, the tunnels I was traversing were also uncharted territory. As before
, I had to keep track of every route I had taken and explored in my notebook,
marking each fork in the road and trying to find downward passages.

My smartphone, already rendered useless due to the lack of signal in the tunnels, was now completely drained of power
after spent the night at Yan Guang's bathhouse and hadn't had time to charge it. Even its
timekeeping function was gone. However, before the battery died, I knew for certain that night had fallen.
Neither Qiangzi nor I had contacted Yan Guang yet; he must have realized something might have happened to us. If only
he could bring his men here. Although he and his gang might not be
stronger than these fully armed tomb raiders, as the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. The tomb raiders, also members of the underworld, might very well give
him face and release Qiangzi. As for Zhou Jingyi, if I get Yan Guang to intervene, I think I can take her away smoothly too
.

I explored the tunnels inside the mountain, pondering various solutions to my current predicament
.

After exploring for a while, I entered a rather spacious area.
The walls were quite smooth, making it look less like a mining site and
more like a transit point inside the mine where the tomb raiders had previously set up camp. Scattered around the space were numerous ceramic fragments and severely
rusted metal fragments, many of which appeared to be broken pieces of iron.

I originally planned to quickly pass through here into a downward-extending tunnel. But as I passed by,
the light illuminated a noticeable protrusion on the ground beside one of the tunnels. I rushed over to investigate and
found it was a stone tablet half-buried in the soil. By the light, I realized it
was a commemorative stele marking the abandoned mine of this place. The inscription was in regular script, so even though I'm not an archaeological
expert , I could easily decipher it.

Local tradition says this tin mine was abandoned during the Northern Song Dynasty, but the inscription seems slightly different.
The reign title on the stele is "First Year of Longde of the Great Liang Dynasty." I don't know the exact year
.

However, I only recall two dynasties in history using "Liang" as their name:
the Southern Liang Dynasty established by Xiao Yan during the Southern Dynasties, and the Later Liang Dynasty established by Zhu Wen during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Although regular script
appeared , it wasn't until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that it replaced clerical script as the official script.
Based on this, it's more reasonable to assume this stele dates back to the Later Liang Dynasty, which
was only a few decades after the Northern Song Dynasty, aligning more closely with the local folklore.

This stone tablet was erected by a military officer named Yuan Feng. From what I understand, a
military officer during the late Tang Dynasty was roughly equivalent to a regional military commander or garrison leader. The inscription is
quite simple. It roughly says that excessive mining angered the gods, resulting in disasters
such as plague, drought, and crop failure. Therefore, the military officer issued an administrative order to
abandon the tin mine, seal the mine shafts, and establish a shrine within the mine to apologize to the gods.

After seeing the tablet, I finally had a clearer understanding of the history of the tin mine behind Phoenix Mountain.

However, I suspect that the disasters were
just The real reason was probably the discovery of the monster or
something similar in the mine shafts. Otherwise, why fill in the entire mine shafts to prevent
ordinary people from entering?

I was just about to continue studying the inscription on the tablet to try and figure out something more when... Suddenly, a relatively noisy sound of footsteps emerged from the downward-extending tunnel I had originally intended to
enter .

Startled, I quickly extinguished my handheld lamp after a moment's thought and concealed myself at the
entrance to observe.

Soon after, lights and figures appeared in the space. To my surprise, there were quite a few people
there , about a dozen, most carrying handheld headlamps,
providing ample illumination for the time being. The leader, who appeared to be in his fifties, was
dressed exuded an air of authority. His companions included both men and women;
aside from the young Mr. Li I had seen before and the bespectacled man at the back, the others were dressed casually, and some of the women were
even wearing high heels.

Upon entering, Mr. Li quickly took the lead, guiding the crowd to the location of the stone tablet. Pointing to it, he said
, "Dad, this is it. This is the stone tablet."

The man in the suit who was at the head of the group walked to the stone tablet, bent down, and knelt in front of it, carefully reading the inscription in front of him
.

After reading it, the man in the suit stood up and laughed,
saying to another man of the same sex, also in his fifties, "Old Hu, what do you think? I told you the Phoenix Mountain tin mine was abandoned at the end of the Tang Dynasty! You insisted it was
the Northern Song Dynasty Look at the reign title, the first year of Longde in the Liang Dynasty! Look closely."

The man called "Old Hu" sighed, saying with a regretful tone, "Can you blame me?
The local chronicles all say the Phoenix Mountain tin mine was abandoned during the Jianlong era of the Northern Song Dynasty. How could I have imagined that the local chronicles
were wrong? But saying it was at the end of the Tang Dynasty isn't entirely accurate either. When Zhu Wen established the Liang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty
had already been destroyed for several years."

"Hehe, I don't care! When we made the bet, you insisted it was the Northern Song Dynasty, saying you had checked
the records were absolutely certain. Now what? A bet's a bet... don't try to renege!" The man in the suit
didn't seem to care about Old Hu's attempt to renege, only emphasizing that the other party had to fulfill the bet.

When "Old Hu" saw the man in the suit emphasizing their bet, he could only shake his head, turn to his
companion in his thirties, and whisper something to him.

The companion immediately bowed and replied, "Understood, I'll handle it when we get back."

"Old Hu" said to the man in the suit, "Is it alright now? That piece of land in Nanjing is definitely going to Wanmei Group."
After saying that, he turned to Mr. Li and nodded, "Xiao Chao... this land in Nanjing was earned for you by your father.
Last time you caused such a big mess in Hangzhou, Li Xuanwei chased me for an audit for half a year.

If you make any mistakes this time, there really won't be a next time."

Mr. Li quickly bowed and scraped in front of "Old Hu," "Uncle Hu, don't worry... I will
definitely what happened in Hangzhou will definitely not happen again!"

Seeing Mr. Li's humble attitude, "Old Hu" nodded and said to the man in the suit, "
We've seen the stone tablet, let's go. After all, you came down here to inspect the work. It's not appropriate to linger here too long
."

The man in the suit nodded and said, "Okay, you guys go first. I still have a few things to tell Xiao Chao, I'll come
over and leave with you after I'm done."

Hearing the man in the suit say this, most of the people then followed the man with glasses toward the downward-extending
passage . As one of them turned around, I caught a glimpse of his face, and I was immediately stunned.

"A bootlicker?"

The bootlicker's real name was Ma Peijing. He was that provincial-level leader in the propaganda department who had always disliked me
! It was because of him that I was forced to leave the group's news department and come to the editorial department for "refuge."
Now he was here, and his attitude was respectful, a fawning
attitude This made me deeply fearful of the background and origins of the people in my sight!

"Damn, to have a provincial-level leader fawning over them like a dog... who are that man in the suit
and Old Hu? Is this Old Hu the same Secretary Hu who was transferred here a year ago?" I
suddenly remembered what Leopard had said earlier, "The real big boss this time is extremely powerful. Even if we really
clash with the police, the big boss can probably handle it." Judging from the current situation, Leopard wasn't exaggerating
!

At this moment, I suddenly understood many things!

The young boss, Mr. Li, was originally named Li Chao, and the man in the suit was his father. I had heard of Wanmei Group,
mentioned over the past two years. It's a newly emerging
group company in China, primarily engaged in real estate. Rumors circulate that the company's CEO is a young second-generation official, whose father is a high-ranking central government
official —not a member of the Standing Committee, but a member of the Central Committee. From their conversation, it's clear that
Mr. Li Chao is the CEO of Wanmei Group, and the man in the suit is likely the rumored
high-ranking central leader. However, there are many members of the Central Committee with the surname Li, and he appears far less frequently on CCTV than
a few Standing Committee members, so I haven't been able to match them up yet.

At this moment, only Li Chao, the man in the suit, and two women remain in front of the stone tablet. The man in the suit seems
to be reprimanding Li Chao in a low voice. Li Chao is only submissive in front of the man in the suit. Of the two women,
the slender young woman in a business suit stands silently beside the man in the suit. Another
woman, plump and with her hair up, looking extremely mature, consistently defended Li Chao whenever the man in the suit berated him.

The man in the suit seemed somewhat helpless with the plump woman, finally saying, "Anyway, you
'd better watch yourself . Wang Qisan, who's just come up here, is a mad dog, biting anyone he can! He's been watching me closely!
So don't cause me any more trouble."

With that, the man in the suit turned and left. The young woman followed closely behind.

After a few steps, the man in the suit realized the plump woman was still standing beside Li Chao and turned to call out to her.

The plump woman didn't move, but instead said loudly, "So you're allowed to take your anger out on your son? If you want to
leave , then leave. I'm staying here to talk to my son! Don't worry about me, Xiao Chao will arrange for someone
to take me there."

Seeing the plump woman's resolute attitude, the man in the suit could only shake his head and quickly left with the young woman.

Li Chao and the plump woman stood there watching the man in the suit and the young woman leave quickly. As soon as the man in the suit and
the woman disappeared around the corner of the tunnel, Li Chao and the voluptuous woman quickly put down their handheld
miner's lamps and burst into a passionate embrace, caressing each other's bodies...

In the darkness, only their heavy breathing could be heard.

After a moment, the woman's voice came, "Go see if your dad and the others are far enough away."

Li Chao agreed, grabbed a miner's lamp, and ran to the tunnel entrance below to peer down. The voluptuous woman
leaned against the stone tablet, panting, one hand rubbing her breasts, the other hand
caressing her genitals.

After observing for a while at the tunnel entrance, Li Chao hurriedly ran back. Seeing the voluptuous woman's
actions , he put down his lamp and pounced on her. The two embraced passionately once more,
caressing each other's bodies and kissing greedily.

After kissing for a long time, their faces finally separated.

Li Chao, panting, said, "They've gone far. They're going to inspect the industrial park in Hangzhou tomorrow morning.
They won't waste time here. Mom... you're not going to go with them, are you?"

The woman, panting, chuckled, "What's the point of going with them? My son is here! I'm
not going anywhere else this time, I'm staying here with you."

Hearing the woman say this, Li Chao chuckled. He hugged the woman and kissed her again. One hand pressed down on
the woman's hand that had been caressing her lower body, and began to rub back and forth.

"Mom, if you don't go, won't Dad be angry?"

"Angry my foot! He'd love for me to get far away. He's playing with that slut.
You saw what that bitch's expression was like. I told her to stay here, and her face almost blossomed! Ugh...
you brat, be gentle, you're hurting me..." At this moment, Li Chao's other hand was rubbing the woman's chest, seemingly
a little too hard, causing the woman to feel pain.

"Hehe, Mom, don't you always like it when people rub your breasts hard? Why are you afraid of pain today
?" Li Chao's movements seemed to soften a bit when he heard the woman cry out in pain, but he still teased her.

"Hmph, you heartless bastard. When did Mom ever say that!" the woman said, reaching down
to rub Li Chao's crotch.

"Last time when we went to the Great Hall of the People for the National People's Congress, in the restroom, I didn't rub it hard enough. Didn't you
laugh at me for being a coward?"

"Oh... um... what do you know! Hehe... hehe... it's precisely where it's done that it's romantic, that's exciting!
You were so careful in there that time... it didn't even give Mom a good time." The woman panted, her other hand
reaching down to Li Chao's lower body, pulling down the belt around his waist.

I watched from afar as the woman ripped off Li Chao's belt, pressing her entire lower body against him, twisting her waist and rubbing
up and down . Li Chao groaned softly.

The woman rubbed against Li Chao's waist for a long time, while simultaneously using her free hand to slowly pull down her pants
. When her snow-white buttocks were exposed, the woman turned around, placed her hands on the stone tablet,
lowered , and playfully swayed her snow-white buttocks from side to side.

"Baby, don't waste time, hurry up and give it to Mom..."

Li Chao stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

However, he still retained some rationality. He bent down and
extinguished the two portable miner's lamps that had been casually placed on the ground.

"Why did you turn off all the lights?" the woman asked in the darkness.

"Hehe, Mom, they might find this place at any time and report back to me. I'm just doing this in case
," Li Chao replied in the darkness.

Soon, the heavy breathing of a man and a woman and the soft sounds of flesh colliding came from the darkness...

"Isn't this an opportunity? Go over there, subdue Li Chao, and then use him as a hostage to
get Qiangzi and Zhou Jingyi back?" I knew very well that men and women in the midst of sex were least wary of their
surroundings . However, after I squeezed the metal rod of the tripod in my hand, I immediately dismissed the
idea.

"If only I still had that pickaxe... This thing, even if it hit someone, probably wouldn't cause much
pain. No, I finally managed to get myself into a favorable position in the shadows. If I'm not absolutely
certain I can control her and pose a threat, my advantage will be completely gone!
And if the hostage situation fails and I anger Li Chao, he'll definitely take his anger out on Qiangzi and Zhou Jingyi. Calm down...
calm down! I absolutely can't act impulsively." The faint sounds coming from the darkness also triggered a physical
reaction . Especially since I was quite hungry at the moment, hearing these sounds made me quite agitated. I
could only try my best to suppress my uncomfortable physical state and silently wait for the other party to finish.

Li Chao's stamina was quite astonishing. The woman let out several short, rapid
moans in a short period of time. I'm not a virgin, so of course I know that each of the woman's rapid moans meant an orgasm
. This made me a little jealous of Li Chao! I've had my share of satisfying women before.

Actually, my stamina isn't bad either.
None , not even my girlfriend who broke up with me three years ago. However, compared to Li Chao,
who can bring a woman to multiple orgasms in a short period of time, I seem to be no match for him. The most I remember was
three orgasms in a row with the woman I had a longer-term sexual relationship with. And right now, in the darkness, the woman
has probably had five or six orgasms.

But as I expected, Li Chao isn't made of iron either. When the woman
groaned excitedly again, I heard Li Chao's heavy, rapid breathing. The sounds of flesh colliding also quickened
.

After about ten seconds, I heard Li Chao and the woman simultaneously cry out, "Ah...ah...ah..."
After a while, all sounds subsided.

Then, a rustling sound arose. About a few minutes later, two handheld miner's lamps
were . Li Chao and the woman were dressed, each holding a lamp, and they stood there talking.

"How's the progress? Have you found the exact location?" The woman smoothed a stray
strand , her tone filled with extreme satisfaction.

"We found it, but He Qiang is a bit hesitant now. He says he can smell a strong stench of blood in the soil near the exact location
. He suspects it might not be the joint burial tomb Master Wang mentioned, but some other
terrifying, haunted tomb." Li Chao straightened his clothes, his movements quite dashing.

The woman stared at Li Chao, seemingly mesmerized. After a long pause, he seemed to realize what
was happening and said, "How could that be? Master Wang told us with absolute certainty! He Qiang is just a tomb raider
, how much knowledge does he have? Can he compare to Master Wang?"

"That's what I thought too, but Mr. Tang, whom Master Wang recommended, now supports He Qiang's
statement! He said the monster in the tunnel is very likely some kind of corpse centipede. He said it's
the first time he's encountered such a monster. He's already encountered it once. Although he managed to blow up the tunnel and trap
the monster inside, he suspects it won't last long, and the monster will likely rush
out of the tunnel..." Li Chao's tone was quite calm, but the worry in his words was clearly revealed.

"Hmph..." The woman snorted dismissively, "Xiao Chao, you're just like your father, always
hesitant and indecisive ! You need to understand, fortune favors the bold. Your father was too timid back then, which is why others got
there first. He still hasn't made it into the Politburo. Look at Gu Yue, back in Tibet, she acted decisively when the time was right. She
wasn't indecisive at all. That's why she climbed up. Now, even for such a small matter, you
worry and that. You have no manly courage!"

Hearing the woman's words, Li Chao chuckled dryly, "Mom, you're right! Actually, I
think the same way you do." Before we came, I had already forced He Qiang to clear the way. Even if he refused,
his men could do it. So now he had no choice but to comply. However,
we still need to be careful about the monster Mr. Tang mentioned. The people who came back said its hide is incredibly thick, even bullets
can't penetrate it. But Mr. Tang estimates that the previous explosion must have injured it, and given the tunnel blockage,
it's unlikely it will reach the outside of the tunnel within two days. In that case, we should speed
things and find the ancient tomb before the monster appears, then go inside and take a look.”

Hearing Li Chao's words, the woman giggled, her laughter sounding extremely smug!

At that moment, Li Chao's walkie-talkie crackled to life, "Mr. Li, is Mr. Li there?"

Li Chao seemed quite displeased with the sudden call, frowning as it clearly disrupted
the atmosphere between him and the woman.

The woman chuckled, reaching out to stroke his chest, and said softly, "Baby, you're
a man , you need to focus on your own business. Once things here are done, we'll have plenty of time." As she spoke,
her finger traced circles around Li Chao's nipple.

Upon hearing this, Li Chao picked up the walkie-talkie and replied impatiently, "I heard you, what is it?
Speak."

A voice came from the walkie-talkie, "Boss He has already planted the explosives, asking if you want to
detonate ?"

Li Chao glanced at the woman, and after receiving her affirmative nod, he said into the walkie-talkie, "Let him
do it , right now." Then he hung up. Holding the woman's waist, he said, "Mom, do you want to come
down with us and take a look? Or wait at the camp?"

The woman chuckled and replied, "What do you think I came with your dad this time? I also want to see
what's buried in this ancient tomb. Since I'm staying, of course I'll come down with you."

Li Chao and the woman smiled at each other. They embraced each other's waists, kissing affectionately, and slowly
left the area.

Seeing this, I quickly emerged from the entrance of the tunnel where I was hiding, relying on the faint light from the lanterns held by the two people ahead
, and silently followed behind.

After following for a while, and turning several corners in the tunnel, Li Chao and the others' camp inside the tunnel suddenly came into
view. After arriving here, my heart calmed down. However, seeing that there were still
quite a few people gathered in the camp,

I temporarily abandoned my plan to sneak into the camp, and instead remained in a dark tunnel
to observe .

After a while, I suddenly felt a slight tremor. I'm certain He Qiang and his men have begun attempting
to blast open the tunnel...

Chapter Twenty-Six

Just as I predicted, shortly after the tremor, the people in the camp gathered
around . Soon after, they dispersed, excitedly organizing their equipment.
Before long, under the command of Li Chao and the bespectacled man, they split into two groups and headed down into the tunnel.

In Li Chao's group, I clearly saw Zhou Jingyi. She seemed to be walking beside the voluptuous
woman , talking to her as they went.

Besides Zhou Jingyi, I also saw Mr. Tang and Leopard in Li Chao's group. Mr. Tang was clearly
weak, almost needing Leopard's support to keep up with the group.

Li Chao's group was quite large, close to twenty people. After Li Chao set off, the bespectacled man began calling out to the remaining
members . Because of the distance, I couldn't hear what he said clearly.

After he finished speaking, the remaining members split into two groups, one group of about seven or eight people following him
down into the tunnel. In the end, only five people remained at the camp.

After the bespectacled man and his men left, the camp suddenly became empty. Of the remaining five, one
stayed behind at the central radio station, while the other four crawled into a tent...

Seeing an opportunity, I crept into the camp along the edge of the tunnel. Near one of the tents, I obtained
the much-needed "supplies": two or three cans of food, an entrenching tool, and
a Swiss Army knife left there by someone.

The four people hiding in the tent seemed to be playing cards, and I could occasionally hear them arguing and shouting. I
curled up in a corner, calculating. The people playing cards in the tent seemed to have let their guard down, but I had no
intention of attacking them, because in my memory, the explosives and other weapons they had prepared were
piled up in the tent where they were playing cards. Including the one who stayed behind at the radio station, it was five against one, and the other side was armed; I
had almost no chance of winning. So, trying to obtain explosives and weapons was out of the question.

The key question now was whether to continue hiding and waiting here, or to bypass the remaining personnel and enter the "Fuxi Passage" that He Qiang,
Li Chao , the bespectacled man, and others had entered, and follow them to see what would happen. In the end, I
decided to follow them. Hiding around the camp was much safer, but it would completely prevent me from knowing the situation of Qiangzi and Zhou Jingyi
. Following them would allow me to accurately know the specific movements of Li Chao and the others.

Having confirmed this, I seized the opportunity and, taking advantage of the radio monitor's inattention, successfully avoided his
sight and entered the tunnel that I had entered with He Qiang before. Then, relying on my memory, I carefully
made my way down the tunnel.

Along the way, I was worried that I might encounter personnel suddenly returning from below. But until I reached
the end of the tunnel where I had parted ways with He Qiang, I didn't encounter a single person.

When I saw the familiar location, I was shocked. The ground at the end of the tunnel, which had been surrounded by layers of soil
, had now turned into a large pit. The entrance to the pit was several square meters in size, far beyond what could
be described as a "robber's tunnel. "

As I stepped into the pit, I realized that the large pit was actually a downward-extending stone gate.
Inside, neatly stacked stone steps led to a deep, dark underground.

"It seems everyone went down these steps. They didn't even assign anyone to
guard ?" I hesitated, looking at the entrance on the surface, finding it hard to understand why Li Chao would make such an arrangement. But ultimately, I
stepped onto the descending steps…

Holding my lantern, I silently counted the steps as I cautiously moved forward. When I reached the
last step, I had counted exactly twenty-eight. After walking a few dozen meters further, I saw the passageway
bend, with faint light shining from the side passage. I quickly turned off my lantern. I cautiously
approached the corner, peering inside, only to realize I had been overly cautious. Beyond the corner was another long
passageway.

It was completely empty; there was no trace of Li Chao and his group. The light that shone through
came from more than a dozen burning lamps protruding from the stone walls on both sides of the passageway.

"Eternal lamps? So many?" Although I felt a little uneasy looking at these ancient lampstands, I figured that
since Li Chao and his men were acting as the vanguard, they would naturally be the first to encounter any trouble, so I
confidently entered the passageway. As I walked, I observed the passageway.

The entire passageway was basically constructed from single blocks of stone, with the lamp stands extending from both sides
seamlessly integrated . However, the lamp stands were exquisitely designed, each carved with kneeling maidens on the protruding stone strips
. Above the maidens' heads were round stone plates for holding the lamp oil and wicks.

My first feeling upon seeing this was one of awe!

After becoming a journalist, I traveled to many places, either at my own expense or on official business.
I visited
several ancient tombs that are now open to the public. But in my memory, even in the imperial tombs of Changling and Dingling in Hebei, I had never seen such exquisitely carved and lifelike stone
sculptures. The key point is that the clothing of these maids is not the style I've seen before. The carved garments are extremely
loose-fitting, yet different from the clothing of the maids in the Changxin Palace Lantern from the Han Dynasty that I've seen in pictures.

"Tin mining began in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He Qiang judged that the excavation of this tomb predates
the tin mining. If his judgment is correct, this passageway is at least a remnant from the early to mid-Spring and Autumn Period
. During the Spring and Autumn Period, this area should have been under the control of the Chu state. In that case,
the clothing of these stone-carved maids must have been in the Chu style at that time. I've heard that the clothing styles of the Chu state were
very . This seems to make sense."

"But if this is really a mausoleum, whose mausoleum would it be?" I looked at the passageway, which was at least twenty
or thirty meters long, and felt extremely puzzled. Judging from the length of the passageway and the exquisite carvings, I basically
concluded that I had entered the underground palace of a mausoleum. And the scale of this underground palace should be quite large. I've
visited , including aristocratic tombs from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. But those
tombs pale in comparison to this mausoleum before me. Even the tomb passages of the Changling and Dingling mausoleums I've visited are
n't as tall and wide as this one. Based on this, I suspect this might be an imperial
tomb . However, I've never heard of any emperor being buried here.
During the Spring and Autumn period, this area was part of the Chu state, but Chu royal tombs could only be located around the
capitals moved
to Yicheng. In the late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States periods, the capital was moved to Jinan City in Jingzhou, also known as Yingdu. Later,
due to repeated attacks from the Qin state, the capital was moved twice more: first to Juyang near Taihe, Anhui, and finally to Shouchun,
now Shouxian, Anhui. Therefore, although this is the former territory of the Chu state, it is absolutely impossible for there to
be any royal tombs of the Chu state

from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The most famous figure from this area who has any connection to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods is actually Lord
Chunshen . According to local records, Lord Chunshen was the first person to mine the Phoenix Mountain tin mine. Moreover,
it seems that Lord Chunshen never actually came here in history. After all, his fiefdom was in
what .

This Phoenix Mountain tin mine was just one of his many businesses, and at that time he merely
arranged for his retainers to supervise production and construction here.

With all these questions in mind, I unknowingly walked to the end of this passageway. At the end, I passed through a
stone archway that was round at the top and square at the bottom. Inside the stone archway was a spacious stone chamber with an area of two or three hundred square meters! Around the

stone chamber, there were also stone lamp holders protruding from the walls, just like those outside the passageway. Each lamp holder
had already been lit by Li Chao and his entourage who had entered earlier. The visibility inside the stone chamber was excellent, and everything within the spacious chamber
was clearly visible.

In the very center of the chamber stood a solitary rectangular white stone platform. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that
behind the platform lay another large, dark pit,
leading .

Standing at the entrance to the tunnel leading further down, I didn't immediately descend but turned to
observe the white stone platform in the center of the chamber. The entire platform appeared to have been carved from a single piece
, without any visible seams. Its snow-white color gave it a translucent
appearance . I touched it; it was smooth, cool, and felt very comfortable. I couldn't resist touching it a few more times.

After touching it, I looked at my palm—not a speck of dust…

Apart from the central platform, the tunnel entrance behind it, and the time
lamps extending from the surrounding walls, the entire stone chamber was completely empty. There were no murals
or , and I couldn't understand what this stone chamber was for.

Although I'm not an archaeology expert, I know very well that ancient tombs followed a fixed architectural pattern.
As a burial site, it corresponded to the dwellings of the living. Almost every room in a tomb had its specific purpose
. But this stone chamber was completely incomprehensible.

I circled the chamber twice, finding nothing, and finally returned to
the entrance to the tunnel behind the stone platform and went down.

Stepping down the steps, there was another passageway, exactly the same as the one above. Then another corner. After turning the corner
, looking at the passageway with stone lampstands extending from both sides, almost identical to the one upstairs, I suddenly realized something!
I quickened my pace and rushed to the end of the passage, where there was another stone archway, round at the top and square at the bottom. Stepping through the archway,

a rectangular white stone platform standing in the empty stone chamber came into view. I immediately went to
the back of the platform, and another dark tunnel entrance appeared before me.

"Oh no... Is this the Labyrinth?" I was shocked by what I saw!

The so-called "Labyrinth" is an extremely bizarre architectural style from ancient times. Generally,
several identical rooms and buildings are built consecutively within a certain area, connected by passageways. Then, by using visual
illusions and differences in elevation within the connecting passageways, the illusion of endless rows of identical buildings is created, causing people who enter to run endlessly through these
rooms and buildings, ultimately trapping them completely within the complex.

Realizing this, I immediately turned around and ran back through the passageway I had come from.

"I've only come down two floors, I shouldn't be stuck in an endless loop yet. If I get out now,
I should still have time..."

The passage...turns...goes upstairs...the passage...turns...goes upstairs...

As I stepped off the stairs, a white rectangular stone platform suddenly appeared before me.

"W-how is this possible? I clearly remember only coming down two floors! I've already fallen into this
trap?" I stood at the entrance of what should have been the bottom of the tunnel, carefully observing the surroundings of this suddenly appearing
stone chamber . At this moment, I was certain that I had unknowingly fallen into the trap of the labyrinth.

In this situation, wandering around like a headless fly was extremely dangerous. So I tried
to suppress my panic and thought of a way to escape.

"Calm down...the best way to escape a labyrinth is to mark the places you pass through...to confirm if
it's a room you've been to before. Then find the differences between the different rooms, and finally find the
exit ." I immediately used a Swiss Army knife I had picked up to carve an
Arabic numeral "-" on the ground between the stone platform and the tunnel entrance as a marker. I then bypassed the stone platform and moved forward, passing through the same passage and
corners , and after climbing a row of stairs, I saw the stone platform again. Looking down,
I saw that the ground between the tunnel entrance and the stone platform was empty. So I carved the number "two" on the ground of this entrance and the stone platform, and then continued
forward...

Half an hour later, when I carved the number "five", I moved forward again and entered another stone chamber. Finally, I
saw the number "one" that I had carved on the ground earlier!

"Phew... Looks like there are five identical stone chambers in total! We haven't encountered anyone along the way
, which means the Li Dynasty group must have passed through here smoothly. Their team has
experts like He Qiang and Mr. Tang leading the way. I'm in trouble; I have to figure out how to solve it myself. Generally speaking, the obvious
rooms are just for show. The real key lies in
the passageways connecting these rooms and buildings, especially the stairs and corners. There must be differences in elevation and
traps ."

After figuring out the number of stone chambers in this maze, I sat on the stairs, drinking water and
opening . My phone was dead,
so I didn't know the exact time. But I estimated it had been more than a day since I entered the tunnel. I was
exhausted and hungry; if I didn't eat something, I didn't know how much longer I could last.

I wolfed down the can of luncheon meat, finally feeling full. My stomach was satisfied
, but I felt extremely tired. Although I knew perfectly well that this wasn't
the place , I couldn't resist taking off my backpack and sitting down against the stone platform. I had only intended to drink some
water and rest, but after the back of my head touched the platform for a moment, I almost uncontrollably closed
my eyes and fell asleep.

"How can this be a place to sleep? No, I have to wake up… Huh, what am I seeing? Am I dreaming…?" At this moment, I couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams. Because suddenly, long, vivid scenes flashed through
my mind … scenes as if I were standing right there, witnessing and experiencing them firsthand! 　　Blue sky, white clouds… I felt as if I were in a dense forest. I walked slowly through the forest . Soon, in the low bushes not far away, I saw what appeared to be shadowy figures. 　　I crouched down and slowly approached the bushes. What I saw was a naked man and woman tightly embracing each other under the cover of the bushes . 　　The woman had a beautiful face, but her features were still very youthful; she was clearly a minor. The man was also very young, appearing to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. Both had long, flowing hair. Perhaps due to their age , the girl seemed exceptionally shy, extremely passive under the young man's caresses and teasing. The young man , however, seemed quite experienced sexually. He whispered something in the girl's ear while simultaneously caressing her body, stimulating every sensitive spot. The girl moaned softly from the teasing … 　　Finally, under the young man's sweet words and constant movements, the girl lay down on the ground, covering her face with her hands, unconsciously parting her snow-white thighs. The young man chuckled and knelt between the girl 's legs… 　　I shook my head violently, finally struggling out of the dream in my mind, and sat on the ground, panting . 　　Looking up at my surroundings, I saw a spacious stone chamber, a cold stone floor, and a dark tunnel entrance before me… 　　“Damn, I must be exhausted! I actually managed to fall asleep here, and not only that, I had a dream ! A wet dream, no less. It’s true I haven’t had sex in the last two or three years. But I just checked into a hotel with Zhou Jingyi two days ago. We didn’t have sex, but I did take care of my needs … There’s no reason I should have a wet dream.” Now fully awake, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. 　　Perhaps that brief nap had indeed helped me recover from some of my fatigue. I felt much better now. I got up, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and descended the steps to the tunnel entrance. As I walked, I carefully counted the steps, observing the stone walls on either side. In traditional labyrinthine designs, stairs are where builders often like to manipulate things. They often use different numbers of steps to alter the height difference between several identical rooms, creating the illusion that the rooms are at different elevations. 　　Upon reaching the end, I found that this section of stairs still consisted of twenty-seven stone steps with twenty-eight tiers. The stone walls on either side also lacked any special design. I walked up and down this section of stairs twice more, finally confirming that the staircase connecting chambers one and five was working correctly, before entering chamber five. 　　The moment I stepped through the round-topped, square-bottomed stone archway, I faintly heard a barely perceptible sound. I stopped immediately , pondered for a moment, and then suddenly turned and passed through the archway again. This time , I heard no sound. I looked up and thought for a moment, then turned and passed through the archway a second time. This time, I heard .

I turned around, gazing at the stone archway in thought. A moment later, a smile involuntarily crept onto my face.
I suddenly realized I had discovered the secret of this labyrinthine building.

The stone archway was the mechanism; passing through it from the direction of the passage would trigger the mechanism, while passing through it from the direction
of would not. Understanding this, I abruptly turned and headed
back towards Stone Chamber One. This time, I didn't look back, rushing towards Stone Chamber Three in one go. As I rounded the
corner , the upward stone steps indeed disappeared, replaced by another stone archway.

I immediately stepped through this archway into a newly appeared passageway. The stone walls on both sides of this passageway
were no longer bare bricks. Besides the still scattered stone lampstands,
murals appeared above the lampstands.

The Joseon Dynasty entourage had clearly passed through here first; beneath a stone lampstand at the entrance, I saw
a discarded disposable lighter. The ever-burning lamps from before likely had all gone out, and
it was probably Li Chao and He Qiang who relit them.

At this moment, I felt I understood the layout of the labyrinth behind me. If my guess was correct, the entrance to
the Fuxi Path should be the passage between Stone Chamber 1 and Stone Chamber 5. The
first stone chamber I entered was 5. However, when I passed through the archway of Stone Chamber 5, I triggered the first mechanism.
The stone steps connecting the Fuxi Path and Stone Chamber 5, or perhaps due to some mechanism, automatically rose and closed, revealing
the steps leading to Stone Chamber 1. When I reached Stone Chamber 4 and triggered the mechanism through the archway
, the stone steps above the passage I was currently in lowered,
connecting , while simultaneously obscuring this passage. Afterward, if I continued forward, I would pass through three
archways, triggering the mechanism three times: triggering it once opens the passage between Stone Chamber 1 and 5, triggering it a second time
opens the passage between Stone Chamber 4 and 3. After being triggered three times, the passages leading to Fuxi Path in Chambers One and Five closed,
transforming back into a passage connecting Chambers One and Five. If an entrant
continues , they will be trapped in a loop within the five rooms.

Understanding this, I also understood why Li Chao and his group were able to pass through so quickly. With their numbers
, they only needed to distribute their forces, placing personnel in each chamber and passage, repeatedly entering and exiting
the archways . They quickly discovered the pattern and found the
passage currently located between Chambers Three and Four. While the maze design was ingenious, it seemed to only pose a problem for a single intruder. Moreover, if
an intruder was lucky enough to rush directly to Chamber Two and then suddenly return, they only needed to pass through
Chamber Three to coincide with the opening of the passage between Chambers Three and Four…

Having figured all this out, I felt extremely frustrated. Normally, I always felt that careful consideration was
necessary but at this moment, my careful consideration was wasting even more time. If I had really been running around
like through the five stone chambers, I might have discovered this hidden passage much sooner.
Of course, there was also the possibility of bad luck and never finding it, but I thought that was unlikely.

Moreover, I suspected that the purpose of the person who built this labyrinth was simply to discourage intruders,
not to actually trap them. Because although the labyrinth was cleverly designed, its rules were not complicated. Its
main effect was to create psychological pressure on intruders.

While speculating about the builder's true intentions, I looked up at the murals on both sides of the stone walls. After
a couple of glances, I became deeply curious about this ancient tomb. The murals I saw
were very different from those I had seen before; they were not only colorful and well-preserved, but the content of the murals was almost entirely erotic depictions of
male-female sexual intercourse. Of course, not all of them were murals; along the way, there were also
depictions of scenes resembling war. In my impression, the murals in ancient tombs either recorded the life and daily life of the tomb owner
or imagined the life of the tomb owner after death. If these murals are meant to convey
the same message as other ancient tombs, wouldn't that mean the tomb's occupant spent their entire life, aside from a few wars,
constantly engaging in sexual intercourse? This is truly unbelievable!

Moreover, these erotic paintings are vastly different from the ancient erotic paintings I've seen before. Most erotic paintings
circulating were painted during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and are relatively subtle, focusing less on the depiction of the human body and more
on the setting and clothing.

The men and women in these murals are not only completely naked, without any supporting clothing or
objects , but their proportions are also extremely precise, somewhat resembling the human form in classical European paintings.
They are less like murals and more like illustrations of sexual positions. Furthermore, the figures are merely
outlines, without facial features or features; gender can only be determined from their physiques. The women are depicted as
voluptuous , almost all with large breasts and prominent buttocks. The men, on the other hand, are muscular and extremely robust. After looking at them for a while,
aside from the blatant lust, I couldn't see any other meaning. So, I had to focus my attention
on the murals depicting battle scenes.

The figures in these murals were painted in the same way as those in erotic paintings, except that the
figures clearly had added items such as armor and crowns. In addition to figures, there were also
images of two-wheeled chariots, warhorses, and city walls.

The first mural depicted a warrior in armor riding a horse and shooting
an arrow at a fleeing enemy. The enemy had an arrowhead stuck in his back, clearly indicating that the warrior had killed him with one arrow
.

However, the appearance of this enemy caught my attention; the slain enemy was wearing a tall crown
.

He Gang had previously believed that this ancient tomb was from the pre-Qin period. If his judgment was correct,
the figures in the murals should have lived at least during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. And clothing during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods had
strict regulations. Hats were a very typical example of this. The archer's head was only slightly raised, and
judging from its shape, it was likely a common topknot worn by warriors during the Warring States period.
However a crown not worn by ordinary people. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, generally only those who had obtained the Zhou...
Only feudal lords formally enfeoffed by the emperor were entitled to wear such tall crowns. Of course, with the decline of the ritual and music
system , the number of people eligible to wear crowns increased, but even so, only royalty and nobility wore
them. Based on this, the enemy killed by the mounted warrior was of considerable status, at least
a prince or nobleman.

The second mural depicting a battle scene was somewhat puzzling to me. It showed a city scene.

Many soldiers were gathered outside a city. The city gate was open, and a group of people surrounded a
warrior standing at the gate. Another warrior stood in front of the soldiers; the warrior at the gate seemed empty-handed
, while the warrior in front of the soldiers held a sword-like weapon. It looked like two groups of people were conversing, or
perhaps the people in the city were welcoming soldiers from outside. However, after thinking for a while, I rejected the latter view.
Because if they were welcoming soldiers from outside the city, the warrior outside shouldn't be holding a weapon. Therefore, it's reasonable to infer
that this painting depicts an army besieging a city, with the people inside, led by a samurai at the gate, heading out to negotiate. 　　The third painting shows a samurai surrounded by numerous soldiers, the samurai plunging his sword into his own body. This likely indicates that the besieged samurai, outnumbered, ultimately chose suicide. 　　The fourth painting is rather bizarre. Strictly speaking, this painting shows two samurai, one lying down, and the other standing in front of him. 　　The two samurai are identical in appearance. In the distance between the two samurai, stands a man with wide sleeves, his hands raised to the sky, seemingly cheering or praying. Behind this man stands a naked woman, but she holds a sword, half of which is already embedded in the man 's body. 　　After viewing these four consecutive murals, I think I understand the meaning of the first three. 　　The first three murals seem to depict a warrior killing a high-ranking nobleman. His city was , or the disparity in military strength was too great, and he went out of the city to negotiate with the invaders in order to protect the city's ordinary residents. The negotiation seems to have resulted in the warrior choosing to commit suicide . 　　"So, this must be the tomb of the samurai who committed suicide in the murals. He chose to end his life because he couldn't bear the humiliation in the face of a powerful enemy. This samurai must have been a fierce warrior... But how come there are these sexual positions depicted in the tomb of such a warrior? Since the tomb owner was a brave warrior, the burial murals should have focused on his martial prowess. Why are there so many murals depicting male and female sexual intercourse? 　　And what does that fourth mural mean? I don't understand..." 　　I muttered to myself as I walked to the end of the passage, where it split into two corridors. As I was thinking which corridor to take, I heard voices coming from the left corridor. I quickly leaned against the wall at the left corner to hide, while cautiously peeking out to look and listen into . 　　"What a lousy tomb! Apart from a few items in the main burial chamber, the other chambers are completely empty, not even a single funerary object? If they weren't going to put anything in it, why did they build so many chambers, making it like a maze?" 　　"What does it have to do with us? Anyway, it was Boss Li who paid. But he didn't look too good either. He went through so much trouble to get in, risking his life, and Boss Cen still doesn't know what's going on. And now this is the result. I guess Boss Li lost a lot this time. Didn't you see Boss He almost turned on him just now?" 　　"Turned on him? What happened?" 　　"Three people died on Mr. Tang's side, and Boss Cen's group had eleven. Boss He was just yelling at Boss , forcing him to pay more..." 　　Two tomb raiders walked past the end of the left passage. I then realized that the end of the left passage also seemed to be a T-junction. 　　"Three people died on Mr. Tang's side? That's not right. I remember only two people were bitten by that monster. One was the short guy, and the other was one of the two who were shooting from above. Didn't the others all escape? Right, the third person must be me... Mr. Tang must think that I was either killed by the monster or didn't have time to escape the blast radius..." 　　Hearing the voices of the two tomb raiders gradually fade away, I turned and entered the passage on the left, silently following them.

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