I was sitting sideways on the saddle in Si Jiangchen's arms. The horse was galloping so fast that I had to wrap my arms around his neck to keep from being jolted off.
The two of us rode on the same horse, dashing towards the south gate of Luo City.
At the junction of Longmen Mountain and Xiangshan in Luo City, the Yi River flowed gently.
In front of the mountain used to be a vast expanse of fertile farmland, but after years of war, it was overgrown with weeds and strewn with gravel. Under the moonless night sky, it looked even more desolate and lonely.
The sound of the horse's hooves startled the wild birds nesting in the weeds. They flapped their wings and screeched as they flew towards the night sky where a few stars were twinkling.
"What are we doing here?"
After crossing the barren fields, Si Jiangchen reined in the horse. As the horse slowed down, I finally caught my breath and asked.
Si Jiangchen just curled his lips slightly, put his finger to his mouth and whistled.
Immediately, a hazy beam of light flashed in the distance on the mountainside. Si Jiangchen spurred the horse and trotted in that direction.
"Um..." I was about to ask when Si Jiangchen suddenly kissed my lips. Then he put his index finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet.
I quickly covered my mouth.
It was deathly quiet on the way up the mountain. The only sound was the faint cracking of dead branches under the horse's hooves.
After bypassing a grove, two dark figures emerged and reached out to grab the horse's head.
It was dim in the forest. Only a little faint light filtered through the branches and leaves. I could barely make out that they were two soldiers from Si Jiangchen's team. They had guns on their backs and bayonets in their hands, nervously staring at a certain place in the mountain depression.
"Have they gone in?" Si Jiangchen asked in a low voice.
The soldier nodded. "It's been almost an hour."
Si Jiangchen didn't say anything else. He dismounted and lifted me off the horse.
Fortunately, I was wearing a pair of Western-style wide-leg trousers and a short top today. If I had worn the front-buttoned ruffled dress like the other day, my legs would have been scratched to shreds by the crisscrossing branches in the forest.
Si Jiangchen's big hand was warm. He held my hand tightly and led me along a game trail in the forest towards a cliff.
There was a craggy rock wall, but he reached out and pushed aside a thick growth of vines.
Under the hard rock, there was actually a small round cave that extended into the mountain. It was pitch-black and emitted a cold, sour and putrid smell.
I ran my fingers along the cave wall and came away with a hand full of grayish stone powder.
"It's man-made?!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, it's a common trick used by tomb robbers!" Si Jiangchen whispered in my ear. "They pour vinegar on the stones to break through the brick and stone tomb passages."
Since ancient times, the people of China have believed in "treating the dead as if they were alive." Especially those emperors who enjoyed all the glory and wealth in their lifetimes would take everything they could enjoy in life into their tombs.
Such a huge amount of wealth would naturally attract the covetous eyes of later generations. Whenever there was a time of war and chaos, a large number of tomb robbers would target those ancient tombs that had become overgrown mounds. The methods they used to rob tombs were also diverse.
Luo City in Henan Province has been a geomantic treasure land since ancient times, with imperial tombs within every three feet. The Luoyang shovel, a special tool used by later tomb robbers, was named after this place.
It shows how rampant the tomb-robbing trend was here.
There should be a large-scale imperial tomb behind the rock cliff in front of us.
Since the tomb was built by hollowing out the mountain and then sealing the tomb passage with huge stones, it would be impossible for small tomb robbers who were used to digging earthen tombs.
But for those "skilled" experts, this kind of tomb, which seemed as solid as steel and cost countless manpower and financial resources to prevent theft, was still like their own pocket. It was only a matter of time before they could take out the treasures inside!
This round tomb passage on the rock wall was made by them. First, they used a Luoyang shovel to drill a bowl-sized pit outside the tomb they had surveyed. Then they built a fire inside to heat the stone until it was extremely hot and red. Then they poured old vinegar on it while it was still hot. The stone would expand when heated and contract when cooled. The acidic substances in the vinegar would react with the stone, making even the hardest stone soft. A Luoyang shovel with a good steel edge could dig into it as easily as tofu.
After repeating this process several times, they could naturally penetrate the cliff and reach the tomb...
"Are we going to crawl in?"
I bent down and took a look inside. Besides the strong sour smell, there was also a faint stench.
"Chen Jiu said that he hid the Taishang Resurrection Spell in here," Si Jiangchen had already bent down and crawled in. The "Chen Jiu" he mentioned should be the man he had almost tortured to death in prison.
"Where is Chen Jiu?!"
I wanted to stop him. Crawling into such a narrow and enclosed space without any defense would scare me to death!
"Madam, Chen Jiu has already gone in first," the two soldiers behind me pointed to the hole where Si Jiangchen's figure had disappeared. "That guy was so scared after we beat him that he obeys our every order!"
But I felt even more afraid.
I had killed Chen Jiu's son, making his soul disappear completely.
With their vicious and cruel nature, they would probably seize any opportunity to kill us!
Si Jiangchen would be in danger!!
Thinking of this, I felt a chill run down my spine, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head. Suddenly, I forgot my fear and bent down to crawl in.
The hole corroded by vinegar and fire was like a wound on the mountain gnawed by worms. The stone chips on all sides were scraped off by me and fell down. In the enclosed space, I felt that the stones around me were squeezing towards me like they were alive. The sense of suffocation and fear were infinitely magnified. I could only crawl forward desperately in the dark, with the sound of my own heartbeat ringing in my ears like it was going to shatter my eardrums.
The more I crawled, the more afraid I became. It was still pitch-black ahead. I couldn't feel the passage of time in the mountain belly!
It always felt like I had been crawling for a lifetime, and I could never see the exit.
Wasn't Si Jiangchen supposed to be not far in front of me? Why couldn't I sense him?
But I didn't dare to call out to him. What if there were villains lying in ambush ahead? My voice might expose his whereabouts, and he might be in danger...
In the absolute silence and darkness, I suddenly felt scared. My face was cold and itchy. When I reached up to touch it, I found my hand full of tears.
"Ugh..."
I bit my lips hard and quickened my crawling speed, trying to reach the exit as soon as possible. If anything happened, I could at least be there to help him!!
If something really did happen, I thought I would, just like in Luo City Prison, kill all those bastards who tried to harm Si Jiangchen! I would make them taste the pain of being completely annihilated!!
While thinking wildly, I crawled forward for I don't know how long. Faint light began to seep in through the bowl-sized hole.
I took a deep breath and quickened my speed even more. That little bit of light in the absolute darkness was like the sun, giving me hope. Finally, I reached the hole. My outstretched hands were immediately grabbed and I was pulled out!