Subsequently, we all walked to the back of the tomb chamber. Indeed, a monk was quietly leaning against the coffin at the back, his head slightly raised, leaning against the coffin wall.
The weak fluctuation in his chest indeed indicated that he was breathing.
The rest of the ghost niche people exchanged glances, their eyes all revealing surprise, but they dared not approach him due to Old Gong's shout.
"He's dead," Old Gong said suddenly.
As everyone was taken aback simultaneously, there was no one who was surprised, just a feeling of emptiness.
I was calm, seeing his first look, I found that a live corpse gas hanging didn't swallow it, feel not dead, in fact, this monk had already lost his life.
"It seems, at least four people ventured out, all perished halfway through. From this tomb chamber, we should be able to reach the main tomb chamber where the other survivors are trapped," I said solemnly.
There were three monks along the way, with two different causes of death.
This one here is yet another kind.
"Hmm, but this one is a bit odd. He wasn't pierced through with the curse's spirit, nor did his head get chopped off; his body is intact without any obvious wounds. How did he die? There's no soul left in him; it's just a shell." Old Gong kept looking up and down at the monk's body with his eyes.
Even Old Gong couldn't tell, let alone the rest of us. For a moment, silence fell in the tomb chamber once again, completely quiet.
With the body no longer of value, everyone began to search for other paths.
However, Old Gong was still staring at the body, eyes fixed, and I didn't move.
Having been in this kind of tomb too many times, my experience has taught me that we have to wait for Old Gong.
The others are likely to find no clear path, and even if they do, it may not be the correct route.
"The things here seem to have hurt the soul," Old Gong muttered softly.
I nodded.
He's right indeed. We've already seen the fourth body, with no remnants of soul left behind, just like the previous pairs of boys and girls whose souls scattered.
"That's true as well. The soul is the root. If the dragon vein is destroyed, everything here will be affected by the damage to the soul, how can others find comfort?"
"Sir, you can touch this man's head. I'll check it out," Old Gong alertly said.
I held my breath and focused, one hand making a sealing gesture with utmost caution, while the other hand touched the head of the monk.
At first touch, there was no sensation, the skin was warm, but in the next moment, a bloodline appeared on his neck, and his head fell to the ground instantly.
I didn't use any force at all, the head was already separated from the body, as if it was a perfect fit on the corpse, and hence, just a touch made it fall off!
"It's indeed a general ghost that killed him, but why didn't it take the head away? Is it because he looks ugly?"
"Is it because he had killed a monk before, already with a head?" Old Gong muttered and analyzed.
Ultimately, Old Gong did not come to any useful conclusions. The ghost niche people did not find any new paths, and they all seemed somewhat disheartened.
Old Gong began to search.
This fully echoes the saying, "specialization is the key to success."
After searching extensively, the ten or so people were unable to find the passage, but finally, it was discovered by Old Gong, who found a hole at the slanting lower back of the coffin. The body of the monk happened to block it.
The only thing is, the hole is too small. I haven't climbed through narrow robber tunnels or tomb passages before, such as in the tomb under that deep pond, where the tomb passage was very narrow, allowing only one to crawl in on their stomach.
However, this place is even smaller and tighter than that one. It's so narrow that only a thin person can fit through, with their hands and feet bound, they can only slowly crawl in.
A little bit bigger in physique, and one can only sigh helplessly.
"This is an air vent, belonging to the main meridian acupoint that spills out vital energy. It also tempers this coffin, and the builders, fearing that the overflow of vital energy might not be enough, opened another hole from above to allow more moonlight and overall mountainous overflow of energy to come in. After the dragon vein was destroyed, the evil qi was born from here."
"From this perspective, there should still be a trace of vital energy remaining in the main meridian acupoint? This General Mountain is quite tenacious. That's why the tomb room is still there, and the mountain hasn't collapsed on a large scale."
Old Gong's analysis was too profound, I didn't understand at all, the others were the same.
"Who will go in to explore the way? We may reach our destination below."
"Pull a rope, if everything is okay, pull a few times as a signal. We'll go down together after that." Old Gong opened his mouth again.
The several ghost niche people exchanged glances, and one of them stood forward voluntarily.
It was because they had agreed on the reward beforehand that someone was willing to risk their life to go ahead.
However, the ghost niche people here said nothing, and made no promises.
This may be related to their own view of life and death. After all, in the ghost niche, people like Zhang Gui are not few in number. They have already died once, or several times, just like the previous Wei Qing.
As long as the soul is still present, borrowing a body to return to life is not difficult, and it can even bring opportunities.
The person who stood forward was exceptionally slim, fitting the air vent passage perfectly.
He took out a roll of nylon rope from his bag, tied one end around his waist, and then crawled into the air vent.
The rope was slowly pulled in, with an even speed.
"How did they get in then? It's not possible through this hole, right? All of them had to crawl through the hole, but is it just when they climb out that they need to find the way?" Zhuang Yi's head suddenly tilted, raising a critical question.
"Naturally, not. According to my experience here, there were some mistakes in the earlier analysis. This is also a main tomb chamber, but it's a double-tomb mountain, with three tomb cave entrances outside. This is the whole of one tomb," Old Gong said.
"I don't quite understand... Old Gong, can you explain it in more detail?" Zhang Yi asked again.
The others' eyes were all focused on him, with an expression of curiosity.
"You don't know, you thought I had disciples and granddisciples? Alright, just standing around like this is just eyeing each other. Old Gong will show you all something. Leave one person to keep an eye on this rope to make sure there are no accidents. You, Big Head Ghost, open this coffin. I'll tell you in advance; there's a beautiful woman inside." Old Gong said in a relaxed manner.
After Zhuang Yi's command, someone started to open the coffin.
The one guarding the nylon rope was the man who first explored the path for us, using an old woman ghost.
The coffin was quickly pried open.
The moonlight shining in like a well, illuminating the inside of the coffin. Indeed, there was a female corpse lying inside. However, she was too old, and the corpse was completely skeletonized, with nearly all her hair fallen off from the top of her head.
However, from the bones, it could be seen that she had a slender figure.
The others' eyes were filled with awe, and they praised Old Gong highly, saying he had divine foresight and calculation.
Only then did Old Gong feel dissatisfied and mutter to himself, "It's a pity that it's too big. The general will enjoy it, and the people who built this tomb will lick the general's feet. Three coffins lie on top of this air vent, bearing the general's shade every day, with moonlight nourishing the corpse. On the day when the general ghost body is transformed, its soul leaves its body and ascends through this air vent into its own tomb for the little girl he was buried with. He can still keep her company well."
"Before the dragon vein was destroyed, this body must have been lifelike. But now, it's all gone. I am determined to fight against Wuling's thief to the death!"
The others exchanged confused glances.
I pondered for a moment and said, "This means that there is a separate tomb chamber below. The air vent is for ghosts to use, so this indicates that the tomb chamber has no way out. Their original path has been destroyed, so they have to find a way out from here."
"Perhaps Wuling is also in there?"
"That's a thought, but guess what? Old Gong has another question for you. How do you think the monk would escape through such an air vent?" With this one sentence from Old Gong, my faint hope was immediately extinguished.
"That's not right... Wuling Thief has to escape and return. It's strange, strange... seems like we have to wait and see the bald guys below to explain this clearly." Old Gong shook his head.
