"Madam, don't be scared!!"
Lu Dayong tiptoed over, gently touched the statue on the door, then put his ear against it. Only after that did he turn around and wave his hand. "It's just the shadow of the light on it. It looks as if it's alive."
...
I was silent for a moment. I didn't plan to tell them that what I saw was actually a white ghostly figure, just like the evil spirits in Chinese folk legends.
Ever since we entered this gloomy stone tomb, Si Jiangchen had been holding my hand tightly and hadn't let go.
I looked up at him. As a Taoist priest, he must have noticed something strange too.
Si Jiangchen just tightened his grip on my fingers and then turned to watch Chen Jiu and the others. This time we were opening the main door to the tomb owner's bedroom from the front entrance. It felt much easier than the way we came. There was even a turning - key hanging in the crack of the stone door for the blocking stone behind it.
Suddenly, something stirred in my mind. I remembered what Si Jiangchen had said in Luocheng Prison. Chen Jiu's father had been framed by Chen Jiu and his son and died in a certain tomb... Looking at these traces of previous tomb - raiding now, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine.
Chen Jiu had already used the iron turning - key to push the blocking stone behind the stone door to the ground. With a loud "clank", the stone should have broken into several pieces when it hit the ground.
Lu Dayong and another helper each pushed one side of the stone door, opening it.
Immediately, a putrid stench hit my nose like a tangible force. Si Jiangchen casually covered my nose with his handkerchief.
The candle in Chen Jiu's hand went out with a "puff" in this stench.
It became pitch - black in front. Since Si Jiangchen and I hadn't entered the stone door yet, the lighter in Si Jiangchen's hand just shook violently for a few times and finally regained its light.
"What's that smell..."
Lu Dayong wasn't from the tomb - raiding background and didn't know what this smell was. Only to hear Chen Jiu's gloomy voice come from the front, "Corpse stink, heh heh..."
With his voice, the candle lit up again.
In a small patch of dim yellow light, I saw a coffin bed about half a person's height carved from white marble in the middle of this stone chamber. Leaning against the snow - white stone pier was a person. The tattered gray clothes had been soaked in the putrid liquid and turned a greasy black color. The gray hair was tightly stuck to the melted - looking face. It was hard to tell whether it was a man or a woman.
He died extremely unwillingly. His wide - open mouth almost tore his jaw apart. That painful expression gave me an illusion that he might jump up from the ground at any moment and pounce on us living people who were watching him.
Chen Jiu really was a guy who dealt with the dead all day long. He stood beside the dead body and even kicked the man's leg with his foot. "This is my father. The old fool didn't listen to me. He deserved to be suffocated here!"
"!!"
The hand held by Si Jiangchen tightened immediately. Just as I had guessed, Chen Jiu had locked his own father alive in here!
Could it be that the white shadow just now was actually the ghost of Chen Jiu's father, who was unwilling to be suffocated to death in the tomb by his own son and thus came out to cause trouble?
No... This dead man was wearing a shabby gray "rat - skin" suit. He surely wouldn't be so particular as to change into a white suit after death!!
While my mind was wandering, Chen Jiu had already lit four white candles at the four corners of the coffin bed.
It was these flickering candles that allowed us to see this stone chamber carved out of the high mountain. In this space of nearly a hundred square meters, except for the stone door we had just entered, there were many large and small stone niches carved on the other three stone walls. Inside the niches were Buddha statues of all sizes. Each Buddha statue was covered in golden light, and countless gemstones sparkled with a glorious rainbow light in the four candle flames.
"Captain Si... My father only said that the Taishang Resurrection Spell was hidden here."
Chen Jiu glanced at the body on the ground. There was not a trace of guilt on his face. Instead, he cursed in a low voice hatefully, "But in such a large place, he didn't tell me the specific location... He thought leaving his old life alive would still be of some value to me... Heh heh heh!!"
Saying that, he looked around and pointed at the bloodstains on the stone wall, sneering, "He really didn't believe that I would come back to save him. Did he actually want to dig through this stone wall with his own hands?!"
This man was indeed as cold - blooded, cruel, and extremely vicious as Si Jiangchen had said. He had even framed his own father to a tragic death.
Looking at those shocking bloodstains, I couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that tomb - raiders never had a good end. In the end, he was suffocated to death by his own son in the pitch - black underground...
"Fortunately, there are more of us this time!!"
Chen Jiu shifted his gaze from his father's body and looked at Si Jiangchen flatteringly. "Captain Si, what does the Taishang Resurrection Spell look like? Please tell us, and we'll all look for it together."
Unexpectedly, Si Jiangchen shook his head coldly and said, "I think you should ask your father."
As soon as these words were out, not only was Chen Jiu stunned for a moment, but I also looked at Si Jiangchen in surprise.
Since it was he who had asked Chen Jiu's father to look for that spell, how could he not know what it looked like or what it was?
"Captain Si, are you joking?"
Chen Jiu's face turned ugly.
This stone chamber was only about a hundred square meters, but there were countless funerary objects in it. There were no less than a hundred stone niches on the full - wall alone. If the "Taishang Resurrection Spell" was a book or a piece of paper, even if we knew it was in this stone chamber, it would almost be impossible to find it!
"If you can't find the thing, I'll let you stay with your father forever."
Si Jiangchen said calmly.
I could see a thin layer of cold sweat breaking out on Chen Jiu's forehead, but I didn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy for him. Instead, I gloated and watched him.
Just then, I suddenly felt as if a cold hand had landed on my shoulder.
I quickly turned around. Behind me was a gloomy darkness.
"What's wrong?"
Si Jiangchen noticed my abnormality and lowered his head to ask me. "Why are you suddenly shivering?"
Only then did I notice that the hairs on my arms had stood up.
"Something... something seems to have touched me."
Not being sure, I whispered into Si Jiangchen's ear. "It seems that we're not the only five people here."
Si Jiangchen finally let go of my hand. He took out a small triangular talisman from his pocket and handed it to me. "If something touches you again, burn it!"
The small yellow triangle in my palm seemed to respond to Si Jiangchen's words. There really was a burning heat spreading around.
I closed my palm again and looked at Chen Jiu and the others. I saw that the three of them had started climbing on the stone wall like geckos, searching one stone niche after another.
I didn't dare to go near the dead body. I walked around the side of the coffin bed where he was lying and found a pair of white - porcelain blue - and - white plum vases about half a person's height. They were as crystal - clear and beautiful as jade in the dim candlelight, so I walked over carefully.
"What are you looking for?"
Before I reached the two vases, a cold voice rang in my ear. "Do you need my help?"