Chapter 8

"What are you learning?" Zuo Qicang asked in confusion.

The old man did not answer directly but first explained, "The greatest function of this tomb is to confine the Spirit Clan in the deepest part of the tomb chamber. The people of the Western Wei believed that everyone has a soul. All the arrangements here, whether it's the sacrificial burial, the array formations, or the various traps and mechanisms, ultimately aim to confine the soul of the Spirit Clan in his body forever, and his body in the coffin forever. Then, to prevent any external factors from affecting this ultimate goal."

"But what do you think would happen if the coffin is finally breached?" The old man turned his head, a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes, looking at Zuo Qicang.

"If I were the designer of this tomb, I would certainly design a mechanism that would destroy the entire tomb as soon as the coffin is opened," Zuo Qicang's eyes narrowed. "You want to open the coffin and let the tomb self-destruct?"

At this, he nodded again. "That is indeed a method, but we need to know how it self-destructs to escape in a targeted manner. Moreover, the mural says the Spirit Clan is immortal. Won't we release a zombie when we open the coffin?"

The old man laughed. "How could that be? Two thousand years have passed. Even a turtle would have turned to ashes if it stayed in that coffin without eating or drinking. The Spirit Clan's Daoist arts are powerful, but he is not a god. The so-called immortality might just be something the ancients couldn't understand. Daoist arts are merely the principles of nature, not divine miracles."

The old man's words surprised Zuo Qicang. He had previously thought the old man was superstitious, but now it seemed he viewed Daoist arts more scientifically.

He continued, "That is still very dangerous. According to your account, many of the Daoist arts from two thousand years ago have been lost. We might not understand their mechanisms, and a slight mistake could lead to irreparable consequences."

"Better than dying alone here," the old man said. "It was too dangerous for me to go down there alone, but with you, it's different. The two of us should be able to find a way to open the coffin. Besides, I've been here for so many years and have made some progress. The island is built on a submarine volcano. The Daoists who built the tomb chamber used the volcano's power. They probably set up restrictions inside the volcano, and once the coffin is opened, the underground lava might surge up, turning the entire island into a sea of fire. Our task is to open the coffin and escape before we are engulfed by the fire."

The old man led Zuo Qicang to the mural of the coffin, gesturing as he spoke. "The difficulty of this task lies in two aspects: how to get in and how to get out. The island lacks tools, so we can only rely on ourselves. To get in, your current skills are too weak, and you need to learn some martial arts and Daoist techniques. When we come out, we will certainly encounter the Yin women and the giant elephant, so you need to learn some martial arts or Daoist techniques to protect yourself."

Zuo Qicang nodded, walked to the mural, and looked at the coffin buried deep underground. Suddenly, he said, "Have you considered that we might escape first and then open the coffin?"

"What do you mean?"

"We can dig a straight tunnel out, make ropes from plants, and connect them to the coffin. Once we are out of the island, we can pull the ropes to open the coffin." Zuo Qicang looked around the walls. "I'm not very familiar with the structure and mechanisms of this tomb, nor do I understand the principles of Daoist arts. But I've seen the soil here, and it's very suitable for digging." He tapped the floor tiles and looked at the ceiling. "If we can find tools, we might be able to dig a hole out of this tomb. I calculated the angle and distance of the passage on the way here. We are at most ten meters from the surface. With tools, we can dig this tunnel in about seven days. As for food and water, you must have found a way to solve it after being here for so long."

The old man was stunned, a strange look in his eyes. "You seem very familiar with these things?"

"Yes, a long, long time ago, I learned some of this from a guy named Zhang Qiling."

As he spoke, Zuo Qicang tapped the floor tiles and suddenly lay down to listen to the ground.

"You have a good idea, but besides the dragon-severing stone at the exit, the walls and floor here have been reinforced by Daoist arts. It would take us decades to dig out," the old man said in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"There's something making noise." Zuo Qicang gestured for the old man to be quiet. The entire burial chamber became silent. Under the greenish light of the night pearls, the underground palace seemed like a ghostly realm.

In the eerie atmosphere, a series of knocking sounds came from under the floor, like a monk striking a wooden fish, but in the tomb, it was terrifying.

The old man's face turned pale, but Zuo Qicang remained calm, crawling over to the source of the sound. He tapped the ground and frowned. "There's a hollow space behind here."

"How is that possible?" the old man exclaimed.

"Nothing is impossible." Zuo Qicang inserted his dagger into the gaps between the tiles and slowly pried them out. After more than half an hour, a dark hole appeared before Zuo Qicang and the old man. The knocking sounds were coming from this dark hole.

A cold wind blew from the hole, and the old man's face turned ashen. He shivered and said, "How is this possible? What is this? Why is there a hole here? Is the thing below still alive?"

"I want to ask, besides the Daoists and the monsters they created, could there have been ordinary craftsmen involved in this project?"

Seemingly influenced by Zuo Qicang's calm demeanor, the old man calmed down and said, "There should have been. Although the tomb mainly relies on Daoist arts, some basic mechanisms need to be maintained for centuries or even millennia, which requires materials like large stones and water. The carvings and murals must also have been the work of craftsmen."

"Then that's it. Since the Daoists built this tomb to permanently seal the Spirit Clan, the craftsmen would have been killed. Many ancient dynasties had the tradition of burying craftsmen with the emperor after building the tomb. If I were those craftsmen, I would have secretly dug an escape tunnel in the burial chamber to avoid being killed."

Zuo Qicang stared intently into the dark hole, but he could see nothing.

The old man frowned. "Are you saying this was dug by the craftsmen?"

"That's just one possibility." Zuo Qicang rubbed his temples. "Another possibility is that someone else has already entered this tomb before us."

"You mean tomb raiders?" The old man was incredulous. "But who could find this place and come here to raid the tomb? How did they get out?"

"If someone can build a tomb here, someone else can raid it." Zuo Qicang sheathed his dagger. "Besides, they might not have left. They might have died inside. No... If this hole was dug by tomb raiders and they only went in but didn't come out, they wouldn't have covered it with tiles."

As he spoke, he began to move quickly around the burial chamber, tapping the walls and floor.

"The walls and floor here have been reinforced with Daoist arts. To break through, we need other materials to dissolve the surface sealant," the old man said in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for other tunnels. If it was the craftsmen, they would only need one tunnel to escape. Only tomb raiders would need both an entrance and an exit." Zuo Qicang said without turning around. "If I find one, it confirms that this hole was dug by tomb raiders."

Halfway through, he stopped at a point ten meters from the tunnel, tapping the wall continuously.

"This is also hollow behind." Zuo Qicang touched the tiles on the wall. "There are signs of movement. This, or these tomb raiders, are strange. They not only left but also restored the walls to their original state, which is unnecessary. In the wilderness, with no authorities, why would they restore the walls?"

Zuo Qicang had many questions. Did these tomb raiders eventually leave? If they broke through the array, how did they do it? What were they looking for after traveling so far?

As Zuo Qicang thought, he used his dagger to pry out the tiles on the wall. But the tunnel he found also led downward.

The old man exclaimed, "What's going on? Why did these tomb raiders dig two downward tunnels? Did they make a mistake?"

"No." A flash of understanding crossed Zuo Qicang's eyes. "It's because of the monsters on the surface. To avoid them, they first dug a vertical shaft away from the monsters, then a horizontal tunnel underground, and finally reached below the burial chamber. They used this underground palace as a base, resting here while digging downward."

The old man was shocked and excited. "You mean we can go outside through the first tunnel?"

"Not with absolute certainty." Zuo Qicang suddenly put the tiles back over both tunnels. "There are still too many things we don't understand. Since they put the tiles back, I'll do the same. Use this time to tell me about Daoist arts. What are they, and how do they work in this tomb?"