Chapter 4: The Azure Satchel

  As soon as he walked into the passageway, Han Geng Yan only felt that everything around him was pitch black, and the only faint light came from below, but it was still unknown how far away it was. Han Geng Yan could only move forward slowly while feeling the wall with his hand.

  After walking for a while, Han Gengyan finally reached the end of the corridor. The scene in front of him was so astonishing that he couldn't help but feel surprised. In front of him was a picturesque landscape with birds singing and flowers blooming, a typical rural scenery in spring.

  At this time, Hu Bang was a bit confused and couldn't understand what was going on. He had imagined that after experiencing so many hardships to find the main tomb chamber, it should be filled with gold and silver at least. But he never thought that after spending so much effort, he would only find such a simple tomb chamber like a village. "Damn it! I spent so much effort and got nothing, just this crappy place!" Hu Bang spat and cursed.

  Wan Guan had already disappeared, and as for Han Geng Yan, compared to Hu Bang, he still didn't have that much dislike for Wan Guan. He immediately walked towards the small bamboo house at the back of the field.

  As he walked towards the small bamboo house, Han Gengyan had once swept his hand through a cluster of flowers, but what was astonishing was that when his hand had just touched the flowers, it had passed through them as if they were nothing, without any sensation at all. This couldn't help but make Han Gengyan feel extremely surprised. After all, which child hadn't heard adults talk about some strange and supernatural events? But actually encountering such things could be said to be almost non-existent. Yet now, Han Gengyan himself had encountered something so bizarre.

  Not paying too much attention to this astonishing matter, Han Gengyan still thought it was better to find Wan Guan first. Previously, whether in the thief cave or on the way, Han Gengyan only saw the ability shown by Wan Guan alone, and he had not seen Hu Bang's skills, so from the bottom of his heart, Han Gengyan still believed that Wan Guan was stronger than Hu Bang by an unknown number of times. At this time, Han Gengyan felt that finding Wan Guan was the top priority.

  As he walked to the entrance of the small bamboo house, Han Gengyan had a feeling that Wan Guan should be inside, because in this garden except for the flower clusters and fences, there was only this small bamboo house left. However, just now when Han Gengyan touched the flower cluster, it felt like touching air and passed through, which made Han Gengyan somewhat doubt whether he would also pass through when pushing the door later.

  At this moment, Han Geng let out a sigh of relief, put his hands on the bamboo door, and just as his hands touched the bamboo door, Han Geng finally relaxed his heart, which had been held up to his throat, because this time he didn't pass through like before.

  Han Geng pushed open the bamboo door, and the scene inside was different from modern times, as if he had returned to ancient times. There was a bamboo table, a bamboo bed, and a bamboo chair, all very simple. However, there were two people inside, one of whom was Wan Guan, but the other was not Hu Bang. Instead, it was an old man sitting cross-legged on the bed.

  The "old man" had a head of white hair, his eyes closed tightly, wearing a long robe that seemed to be made of some unknown material. The edges of the robe were embroidered with dark green patterns that looked like text, but it was impossible to decipher what language they belonged to. The old man's hands were placed on his knees, holding a purple-red wooden box. But all these things were not surprising, what was most astonishing was that this person seemed to be alive, with skin as normal as any other person!

  "Ah..." Han Geng was just about to call out to the "old man", but was interrupted by Wan Guan's words. "You don't need to shout, he's a dead person, and I'm afraid he's been dead for many years, at least a thousand years according to my estimate."

  Hearing Wan Guan's words, Han Gengyan smiled incredulously. "Heh, this skin is just like ours, have you ever seen a dead person with such good complexion? Don't you see? This old man's complexion is even better than that of us soldiers! Old sir, isn't that right?" As he spoke, Han Gengyan laughed towards the meditating old man.

  Han Geng waited for the old man to respond, but the old man didn't make a sound, as if he hadn't heard anything. Han Geng thought the old man hadn't heard him, so he raised his voice "Old man, do you know where this is?"

  Half a minute later, the old man still didn't make a sound, looking at the scene in front of him, Han Geng couldn't help but feel puzzled. According to his own voice just now, it was enough to wake up someone who was sleeping soundly, but the old man in front of him seemed not to have heard anything, not moving, not making a sound, and even his eyes didn't open.

  Could it be that he was really a dead man? This thought involuntarily revolved in Han Geng's mind, and as soon as this thought emerged, Han Geng couldn't help but throw a glance at Wan Quan.

  Seeing Han Geng's puzzled eyes, Wan Guan licked his lips and said, "When I came in just now, I also thought this old man was a living person, but this is an ancient tomb, it's impossible for there to be living people here. I guess this old man must have something on him that prevents the corpse from rotting."

  When Han Geng heard Wan Quan's words, he couldn't help but think of the past when he was in his hometown of Fengtian. He had also heard older people say that some people wore jade pendants or clothes made from materials with anti-corrosion properties to prevent decay and rot. But after seeing such a real existence before him, Han Geng couldn't help but feel that there were too many strange things in the world.

  Suddenly, Han Geng thought of the things he had encountered before. "Lao Wan, when I came in just now and my hand touched those flowers, why could my hand pass through the flowers? What's going on?"

  "You've discovered it too?"

  Han Geng nodded seriously "I just touched it casually when I came in, I didn't expect my hand to pass through like this, what's going on?"

  "I feel that this tomb is a bit strange, and there must be something precious in this chamber. I observed from the earthen path earlier, this ancient tomb only has three chambers, the first one is the stone room we arrived at first, the second one is the stone room with the mechanism, and the third one should be here." As he said this, Wan Guan paused for a moment, then leaned in close to Han Geng's ear and whispered "And besides this bamboo house, everything else in this chamber is fake!"

  When Han Geng heard Wan Guan's words, he stared at him with wide eyes. What Wan Guan said was really a huge surprise to Han Geng. To think that Han Geng, who didn't believe in ghosts and evil spirits, had encountered a monster that only appeared in myths and legends, then a night pearl that turned into a device for harvesting lives, and then a corpse that had been dead for at least a thousand years but still hadn't rotted. Now, hearing Wan Guan say that the previous idyllic scenery was all fake and didn't exist made Han Geng somewhat unable to accept it.

  Looking at Han Gong's astonished expression, Wan Guan said calmly, "You don't have to be like this, get used to it. Earlier I also touched those things with my hand and passed through directly just like you. Then I took out a dagger from my pocket and threw it far away, but unexpectedly the dagger disappeared shortly after flying out. I think these illusions can only take effect within a certain range. So I searched for the center point around the distance, and unexpectedly this bamboo house is the center point that produces these illusions."

  Han Geng didn't know why Wan Quan was so calm, Han Geng only knew that Wan Quan had a lot of experience in this area, and reluctantly acknowledged everything in front of him, asking "Then, how do we get out, how do we leave this ancient tomb?"

  Wan Guan glanced around the bamboo house, his eyes lingering on the purple-red wooden box in the old man's arms before turning to Han Geng and saying, "There are two ways. The first is that there must be something on this corpse that creates the illusions around this bamboo house. If we can find out what it is and take it away, we should be able to dispel these illusions and see what's really around us, then look for a way out. However, this method is risky. Our family's elders have told me that things on corpses cannot be moved carelessly. If we encounter someone who is ruthless towards their own bones, we may trigger a mechanism, and we may not make it out alive."

  When Han Geng heard Wan Quan's words, he didn't even think about it and asked "What is the second method?" After all, the first method was a bit dangerous. It's better to live than to risk one's life for something that might not work out in the end.

  "The second method is to explore the road. Within the scope of this illusion, we will not be in danger, but outside the illusion, no one knows what's out there. We can only explore and find a safe point outside the illusion, then we'll have a chance to get out." Wan Guan said calmly.

  At this moment, Hu Bang, who had been wandering outside, pushed open the bamboo door and walked in. "Damn it, you two are here, huh? What the hell is this?" He said, taking a few big strides to stand in front of the corpse, and picked up the purple-red wooden box.

  The two people who saw this move, Wan Guan was slightly better, with a hint of surprise on his face. Looking at Han Geng's face, it was completely possible to say that he was flustered and lost, the heavens and earth were shaken.

  Before he could speak, it felt as if the heavens and earth were shaking, with many bamboo sticks and gray dust falling from the roof. The old man who had been sitting on the bamboo bed had disappeared, leaving only a long gown and a patch of white ash on the bed. It was probably because Hubong took away that strange purple-red wooden box, causing the old man to lose his ability to preserve his corpse's skin and turn into a pile of bones.

  "Run outside!" was all that could be heard as Wan Guan shouted and took the lead, running out with his long legs. Hu Bang and Han Geng immediately followed suit, sprinting out in big strides. They didn't know what the scene would be like outside, but the scenery outside the bamboo house was like two different worlds. Inside the bamboo house, it was still the same idyllic landscape of birds singing and flowers blooming, while outside, it was a vast expanse of blue sky and sea stretching out as far as the eye could see.

  Hu Bang held the purple-red box in his left hand and pointed to the other side of the green sea and blue sky with his right hand, shouting "Brothers, isn't that the back of the mountain we entered?"

  Han Geng Yan and Wan Guan Shun looked in the direction that Hu Bang was pointing, and indeed, behind this mountain, the back of this mountain is surrounded by the sea.

  "My goodness, this is a cliff, and the sea is right below us. There's no other way to go." Hu Bang stood at the edge of the cliff, as countless rocks tumbled down from the cliff due to the entire mountain shaking, falling into the ocean.

  At this time, the entire mountain was shaking more and more violently, as if it were about to explode. A large amount of dust burst out, choking Han Geng, who covered his mouth and nose tightly. "How do we get out of here?"

  Wan Guan looked at the sea below the cliff, then looked at the trembling mountain, swallowed a mouthful of saliva "Jump." As soon as he finished speaking, Wan Guan touched his fat belly and jumped down.

  Hu Bang shouted "My mother, I'll die with you, sir!" after seeing Wan Guan jump down. He also jumped down while holding the purple-red wooden box. Seeing that both Wan Guan and Hu Bang had jumped off the cliff, Han Geng, who still had a hint of fear in his heart, closed his eyes and jumped down as well. Shortly after the three men jumped, the entire unnamed mountain shook violently for a moment, followed by a landslide that buried the entire "Peach Garden" filled with birdsong and flowers.

  Salty seawater keeps pounding against the reefs!!

  The three people who had been struggling to swim in the water finally swam to the shore.

  Han Geng spat out a mouthful of seawater and fell onto the sandy beach, lying down. After experiencing this ancient tomb journey, Han Geng's view on life had changed once again, and he gained some understanding of things in the world.

  "Little Hu, bring me that box and take a look." Wan Guan sat on the beach with his fat palm stretched out towards Hu Bang. At this moment, Wan Guan looked quite miserable, and his most distinctive eight-character mustache had also become two horizontal bars.

  Hu Bang didn't expect that Wan Guan, who had gone through life and death, still remembered the purple-red wooden box he took out. "I lost it while swimming just now," Hu Bang said.

  "Stop pretending with me, hand it over quickly." Obviously, Wan Guan was a very astute person and didn't fall for this trick.

  At last, Hu Bang had no choice but to reluctantly take out the purple-red wooden box after all his tricks and excuses, without mentioning a single cent.

  The texture and sealing of the wooden box were also very good, and when it was soaked in seawater, there was no sign of water entering. Wan Guan carefully opened the wooden box with a branch, thinking that there would be a mechanism inside, but to his surprise, nothing unusual happened, and he couldn't help but feel relieved.

  All that was seen in the wooden box was a green book pouch, and there were no other things. On the surface of the green book pouch, there were only three characters, but none of them could be recognized. According to Old Wan's words, the wooden box used to hold this book pouch was made of purple sandalwood, which was a rare treasure. Therefore, the origin of this book pouch would not be ordinary, and its preciousness would also be very high.

  Three people did not recognize the words in the book bag, Hu Bang himself suggested taking the book bag back to study, but after experiencing a life-and-death journey, Han Geng had already understood what kind of person Hu Bang was very thoroughly, and immediately suggested dividing the Qing bag into three parts, each taking away one part.

  Before Lao Wan made a statement, Hu Bang was unwilling to do so and repeatedly said that damaging the national treasure would be unforgivable to the country. However, after Lao Wan's statement, Hu Bang reluctantly divided the Qing **bag into three parts, with each person taking one part. Hu Bang took the first part, Lao Wan took the second part, and Han Geng took the last part. As for the purple sandalwood box, Hu Bang hugged it tightly and refused to give it up, crying and shouting until the other two couldn't overpower him, so they gave the box to him.

  After the ancient tomb incident, Han Geng returned to his hometown and did not return to the Beiyang warlord to work as a servant. Instead, he went home to take care of his middle-aged mother. Although Han Geng was the only son in the family, his father had married five wives during his lifetime, and Han Geng was the fifth wife's son. Therefore, after his father's death, Han Geng and his mother did not receive any good treatment, but instead, his mother often suffered from the anger of the other wives when Han Geng was not around.

  Han Geng returned home and then moved out with his mother to take care of her.

  Good times didn't last long, Han Geng's mother fell seriously ill, and Han Geng returned home to get money, but unexpectedly the other wives refused to give him money, so he went out to find some.

  On the way to make money, Han Geng met an old man. The two hit it off and became acquainted. After getting to know each other, Han Geng found out that the old man was a master of throwing pots, and the old man also knew that Han Geng's mother was seriously ill and urgently needed money. So he advised Han Geng to learn the skill of throwing pots with him to make some money for his mother.

  Han Geng himself had also turned over in the past, at that time it was in the military to turn over, fifty people went and only three people came back. Han Geng's heart was hesitant, but his mother's illness worsened again, which made Han Geng determined.

  Then Han Gengyan learned the kung fu of Dou Di with Old Han, and got money to treat his mother's illness in a Dou Di match. From then on, Han Gengyan embarked on the path of Dou Di and had many matches with Old Han.

  Later, Han Geng got married and had a child named Han Chao. The character "Chao" has two auspicious characters that are liked by Han Geng's strict parents, also hoping for good luck in the future.

  Then came me, Han Xiaoke, a mouse born in 1960.