Chapter 28: Mysterious Death

  They walked another thirty meters forward, and the path to the grave became wider. A row of long lanterns appeared on both sides of the road, still burning and emitting a flickering flame. It seemed that they had been lit by the people from the Zongtian Group who had passed by earlier.

  Huang Zhen hesitated as he spoke, "In ancient times, many of the oils used for the long lanterns were made from human fat. Many royal families raised idiots, who were collected from rural areas all over the country. They were fed well and raised to be fat, and when their masters died, they would be killed and their fat would be used to make oil. Only oil made from corpses could last for thousands of years and still be lit. The souls of the children who were killed would not rest in peace and would be trapped inside the ancient tomb forever. When the long lanterns are lit, they emit a hissing sound, which is the cry of their souls."

  The girl was naturally timid and had an inexplicable fear of these things. After hearing Huang Zhen's words, she got goosebumps all over her body. She shouted at Huang Zhen, "Please say something else! Aren't you afraid that the vengeful spirits will come after you?"

  Huang Zhen spread his arms wide, "I didn't kill them, so why would they come after me? The vengeful spirits in ancient tombs are usually cursed. They will kill anyone who invades the tomb, and even if they want to kill someone, they will only kill the person who relit the lanterns. But I didn't light the lanterns, so what do I have to be afraid of? Besides, talk about ghosts is just nonsense. I don't believe that energy without a physical form can kill people."

  Jin Tianxing spoke in a low voice, "What you said applies to ordinary tombs, but we are currently in a ghost tomb. We can't make assumptions based on normal logic. As the saying goes, 'everything is possible', so it's better to be careful."

  As if to verify Jin Tianxing's words, a painful moan echoed through the darkness... Ah...

  "What... thing?" As soon as he mentioned the strange and eerie things about Guiyuan, Huang Zhen's face suddenly turned pale, and a layer of dense sweat beads appeared on his forehead. Jin Tianxing was also stunned.

  Lan Xinlin said with a gloomy tone, "Retribution has arrived, the vengeful spirit has come to claim your life, you deserved it for scaring me." Huang Zhen bowed repeatedly in front of a row of lanterns, muttering to himself, "No need to be suspicious, no need to be suspicious, I'm just passing by and didn't mean to disturb your eternal rest. Don't come looking for me." Lan Xinlin whispered into Jin Tianxing's ear, "That scream earlier was yours, wasn't it? Look at how scared you've made him." "N...no...it wasn't me," Jin Tianxing stuttered, his voice trembling with fear.

  "No way." Lan Xinlin's face turned green in an instant.

  All three of them were more or less afraid in their hearts, and each was desperately suppressing the fear from showing, there's no turning back once work begins, exploration must go on.

  They continued to walk forward for over thirty meters, and at the end of the tomb path, another stone gate blocked their way. The stone gate was also pushed open. Huang Zhen looked around and said, "It should be the tomb chamber inside, but why can't we see anyone from the Zongtian Group?" Lan Xinlin snorted coldly, "Can't you see them? Do you still want to see them?" "No," Huang Zhen explained, "The people from the Zongtian Group have always been ahead of us. Now, in front of us is the core of the ghost tomb. Don't you think it's too quiet around us? There's not a single sound." The implication was that where had all the people from the Zongtian Group gone to die?

  Jin Tianxing raised his flashlight and shone it into the stone gate, but all he could see was a dark mass. Behind the previous stone gate, they discovered the Hibiscus syriacus, but no one knew what strange things were hidden behind this stone gate.

  "Go ahead!" Not going in would never know what's behind the door, Jin Tianxing took the lead and walked into the stone gate. Lan Xinlin followed closely without any hesitation, Huang Zhen stood at the entrance for a while, making sure there was no danger, before stepping through the stone gate.

  Behind the door was a very large space, with yellow burnt earth and golden bricks on the ground. The walls around were painted with murals, which could hardly be illuminated by the flashlight. Huang Zhen finally managed to say, "The Mogao Caves are nothing more than this." The surrounding area of the tomb chamber was filled with wooden boxes inlaid with gold, some of which had already been broken and were empty inside, all falling into the hands of the Zongtian Group. In the center of the tomb chamber, there was another grave pit, where the coffin was placed. The coffin lid had been opened, and it was empty inside, presumably because the San Yan Fo Shou was placed inside. Huang Zhen said strangely, "It's a bit strange, the layout of the tomb is from the Han Dynasty, but the burial style is indeed from the Tang Dynasty. If I can find one or two burial objects, I can accurately determine the age of the ancient tomb." Lan Xinlin said, "I know where there are burial objects." Huang Zhen was overjoyed, "Where?" "In Zong Kuo's hands!" Huang Zhen was speechless.

  Lan Xinlin randomly waved her flashlight and suddenly let out a loud cry.

  Huang Zhen was startled by the voice and jumped up, saying, "My aunt, what's wrong with you? Can you shout so loudly in a tomb?" Jin Tianxing saw that Lan Xinlin looked frightened and asked, "What's wrong, did you see something?" Lan Xinlin trembled as she pointed to the right corner of the wall, "I just saw a shadow there." "A shadow?" Jin Tianxing shone his flashlight at the corner of the wall, and indeed, someone was crawling on the ground.

  "Who are you?" Jin Tian Xing asked loudly.

  No answer.

  "Huang Zhen asked, 'Are you human or ghost?' Still no answer."

  "We'll go take a look." Jin Tian walked forward with bold steps. Lan Xinlin was very afraid in her heart, but still followed him. Huang Zhen stood still on the spot without moving.

  Jin Tian Xing approached and saw a person lying face down on the ground, unable to see his face clearly. Judging from his clothes, he was one of the people from Zong Tian Group who had been walking in front of them. Behind him was a seemingly bottomless black hole, with freshly broken bricks and stones around its edge.

  Jin Tian Xing kicked him with his foot, "What's wrong with you, brother?" No response.