Chapter 69: Investigating the Truth

  Although he had heard it once before, Tian Qi couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart when he heard the voice again.

  "Is Fatso in danger?" Tian Qi looked at Qiu Shen and asked.

  "Seems to be no danger for the time being, and also, I feel that Yingying is around here somewhere, just can't pinpoint their location. And now, Fatso has already gone quite far from us."

  There's no danger, Tian Qi can rest assured, and his heart won't be so tense. It turns out that Ou Shen's ability is quite practical. I wonder if his precognitive abilities will become stronger in the future. Of course, that's only if they can successfully get out this time; otherwise, there won't be a future.

  The tomb cannot be casually entered. The more important the person, the more anti-theft measures are taken inside the grave. Although Tian Qi and Qiu Shen have little experience in this regard, they do not lack relevant knowledge.

  The tomb chamber they are in now should have only served as a passage, except for some broken pottery in the corner, there is nothing else, and the room is not large, about ten or more square meters.

  "Tianqi, take a look at this." Qiu Shen shone his flashlight on the wall and beckoned Tianqi over.

  Tian Qi walked over and found some scratches on the wall, which looked like they were made by human fingers. There was also a faint red color, could it be blood?

  The wall itself should be made of stone, with a layer of something similar to lime plaster on top. The scratches are about one centimeter thick, so they look very obvious.

  What happened in this room?

  "There are many possibilities for the blood-stained scratches on the wall, maybe it's human, maybe something was chasing after them and they escaped here. Or perhaps it wasn't a human hand, after all, ordinary people wouldn't use such great force to scratch the wall under normal circumstances, maybe it was those mutated animals." Tian Qi speculated.

  He and Qiu Shen are not forensic experts or famous detectives in reality, so they can't determine what happened here just by looking at the scratches, restore the scene, and figure out what was used to make them, it's all just speculation.

  Apart from here, there's nothing unusual in other parts of the room. Tian Qi and Qiu Shen hold flashlights ready to head in the direction of Pangzi, but in fact, there are only two exits in this room, one is the 'hole' they slid down from, and the other is the direction Pangzi ran away. It's not possible for them to go up from the 'hole', they have no choice but to follow the other exit.

  However, when the flashlight was shone forward from the exit, it didn't quite match Tian Qi's expectations. Instead of connecting to another room, a passageway appeared, similar to the enclosed pedestrian bridges often seen in modern cities. The passageway was long and rectangular, with gray stone walls and straight paths. There were many lamp posts on both sides of the path, but it looked very long, and the flashlight didn't reach the end.

  "It seems that this is just the beginning of the tomb, and these should be records of the tomb owner's life." Tian Qi discovered the patterns carved on the wall, but the flashlight could only illuminate a limited area, and he couldn't make out what they meant for the time being.

  But Qiu Shen walked up to the lamp post and shone his flashlight on it.

  Tian Qi didn't know what he meant. Was he still thinking of checking if there was any lamp oil left? Several centuries had passed, and it was probably long dry by now.

  But when Qi Shen took out a lighter and lit it near the lamp, it was actually ignited!

  Tian Qi walked forward and found that there was indeed lamp oil in the lamp holder. Could it be true that the legendary Everlasting Lamp really existed?

  "Tian Qi, do you know about Zhu Long?" said Chou Shen, looking at the lamp oil in the lamp holder.

  "Changlong, as recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"

  Chou nodded, according to the records of Shan Hai Jing, Zhu Long is also called Zhu Jiu 'Yin', with a human face and snake body, red in color, one thousand miles long. When it opens its eyes, it becomes daytime; when it closes them, it becomes nighttime. When it inhales, it becomes winter; when it exhales, it becomes summer. It can also summon wind and rain, does not drink water or eat food, does not sleep or rest. Legend has it that using its oil for practice can ensure a thousand years of longevity.

  Tian Qi and Qiu Shen were both relatively familiar with the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Tian Qi understood why Qiu Shen asked about Zhu Long, but this legend was too distant and vague.

  "Let's not mention whether the dragon is real or not, even if it exists, it's not something that can be subdued by human power, and it's probably hard to hurt it, let alone kill it for lamp oil."

  "What if he were a king? Maybe there would be enough manpower, but even if they used the oil of the dragon's candle, it would still be consumed eventually. The lamp is not very large and will evaporate after a long time, unless it is replenished regularly."

  Chou Shen finished speaking and glanced at Tian Qi, from the exchange of their eyes, they both thought of the same possibility. If someone was regularly replenishing the lamp oil here, what did that imply? Who could have lived for so long, unless it was a zombie or some kind of monster that had become a 'jing'.

  Was it really the person who let out a cold snort?

  The more people are in such an environment, the easier it is for them to think too much. They have received several similar orders before, and when they listen to customers describe, there are always various horrors and eerie feelings. However, when they arrive, they find that it's all just their own imagination. For example, during the day on the way to work, they saw a car accident and accidentally saw someone who was killed on the spot. So at night when they return home, they might keep thinking about it, and in their dreams, they feel like he is standing by their bedside, or when they get up at night, they feel like he is waiting behind the door.

  At first, I also knew it was just my own 'crazy' thoughts, but as time went on, if I still couldn't forget about it in the end, I would think that it really happened. People who are not severe will get better after a period of psychological counseling and treatment, but those who are severe will develop mental problems, delusional disorder, persecution complex, etc., and even if they are not discovered in time, they may take extreme actions.

  Tian Qi and Qiu Shen naturally understood this, so after a simple analysis, they shifted their attention and walked forward while lighting the way. Fortunately, all the lights were able to light up. The passageway no longer seemed eerie, but instead had a solemn atmosphere inside.

  The patterns carved on the wall are not particularly complex, simple but clear in meaning. At first, it was mainly landscape, rivers and mountains, as well as some palaces, which should represent the world.

  "Why isn't there his life story, but directly to death." After the previous heaven and earth paving, Tian Qi thought that the next should be the tomb owner's life story, but on the wall, it continued with many people carrying coffins into this scene, with a scale of over a thousand people, much larger than what the old village chief said, maybe things were kept secret, so they didn't know.

  This is also normal, the tombs of kings and generals are very mysterious, and some have built many fake tombs to prevent grave robbers from finding the real tomb, such as Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms period.

  The same as Tian Qi, seeing this also raises doubts. If the tomb owner is indeed Zhu Ciyan, although he disappeared in the end, it can be said that he has gone through the vicissitudes of history and the changes of the times. His father was Ming Si Zong, his mother was the Empress, and Li Zicheng entered Beijing and made Zhu Ciyan the Duke of Ding'an, none of which are recorded, which is indeed not in line with common sense.

  But Tian Qi also knew that the truth of history was probably only clear to those who lived in that era, and how much false information was recorded in the historical records passed down by later generations could not be verified.

  With this question in mind, the two continued to move forward. The next scene was about building a tomb, but it was just briefly mentioned and not even the basic structure of the "maze" was shown, and the tomb was only marked with a sign. Was this to avoid revealing secrets?

  However, the scene behind the tomb becomes somewhat irrational. Normally, after the owner of the tomb dies and is reborn, they should live in the underground kingdom, but what's carved on the wall is a person wearing a dragon robe standing in front, with ten rows of people standing behind him. From the pattern, it looks like an army with countless people.

  The emperor is not on the throne, standing in front of him is already abnormal, but what's strange is that all the people standing behind him have a common characteristic, their upper body is 'naked' and 'exposed', and the position of their heart is actually empty, just like Ma Wen!

  The emperor stood in front like a big brother of the underworld, followed by a group of brothers behind him. Those brothers were all heartless. If this happened in modern times, it could be considered as an evil joke, but what era was that? It was definitely not a joke, and the fact is right there. Ma Wen is a typical example. He had no heart, he was already a dead man, but over the years, he maintained his original appearance, and even retained some memories, able to think like a normal person.

  Heaven forbid if these people were to form an army and enter human society, what a terrifying force you would be.