People are watching American TV shows, and they are also watching American-style iaido.

If there were ghosts, that would be incredibly exciting.

Ding Ze thought for a moment, grinned, and then replied into the walkie-talkie, "Be careful, there might be something going on down there."

“Okay, boss,” the five employees replied in unison.

Time flies.

Nothing happened.

The five employees successfully reached the bottom of the pit and stood in an ancient city that was severely damaged and could almost be described as ruins.

The space at the bottom of the pit is very large, about the size of three or four football fields.

The overall appearance of the ancient city can still be seen...

It is worth mentioning that in the very center of the ancient city, there is a complete, huge female statue that is almost ten meters tall.

The statue is about ten meters tall and is entirely black... That's why the five employees didn't notice it on their way down.

At that moment, all five employees focused their lights on the statue.

After only a few seconds, all five employees felt a chill run down their spines... It wasn't that there was anything scary about the statue, but rather that the statue seemed to instill fear in people and was extremely eerie.

An employee quickly looked away, not daring to watch any longer, and then reported the situation in detail to Ding Ze.

After listening, Ding Ze thought that since the five employees below were all fine and hadn't been in any trouble, he should go down and see what was going on.

Of course, we can't send them all down, lest we be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Ding Ze didn't delay and quickly made arrangements, leaving twenty people up there. At the same time, he secretly left two Gu worms as a precaution.

Although he didn't actually think these employees would dare to rebel, nor did he think they would have a reasonable reason to rebel in such a place, human nature is something that can't withstand scrutiny, and it's never a bad thing to be on the safe side.

Almost ten minutes later.

Ding Ze took the lead, moving down the climbing rope, with Janet and her family of three following closely behind.

Then, a group of heavily armed employees, leading the experts, moved slowly.

Everything went smoothly.

It took some time.

Ding Ze and his group arrived at the bottom of the pit without any incident.

The employees then quickly and efficiently set up the lights.

In no time, the bottom of the pit was almost completely illuminated.

Ding Ze, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, silently and carefully observed his surroundings. Not seeing any living creatures for the time being, he then looked towards the ruins of the ancient city.

Although it's called an ancient city, it's really just like the village he's familiar with, and it's not even a very big village.

As far as the eye can see, there are rows of houses with distinctive tribal characteristics, but most of them are not intact... Most of them are just piles of rubble and wood, with only a few houses still having a few walls remaining.

It's worth mentioning that there are many strange patterns and black colors almost everywhere in the ancient city... for example, black stones, black wood, and that black statue.

Ding Ze observed quietly for a while and realized two potentially significant problems.

First, where is the body?

He didn't see a single corpse. If the ancient city had collapsed suddenly, then almost all the people of the Black Barrier tribe should have died.

Even if a small minority are lucky... those lucky ones probably wouldn't have the time to clean up the bodies of others.

So, where did the body go?

Second, according to the legend, based on the words of that mad explorer, there should be a lot of jade and jewelry here.

He didn't see any jade or jewelry anywhere.

"Is this really the ruins of the [Black Barrier] tribe?" Ding Ze took a drag of his cigarette, a hint of doubt in his voice. He then, before anyone could answer, immediately instructed the experts, "It's time for you to step in. Examine carefully and gather clues."

The experts, not daring to linger, nodded in agreement and quickly got to work.

Ding Ze then turned to the group of employees, "I didn't see any bodies here. You all thoroughly check the outside area to see if there are any entrances or exits."

Upon receiving the order, the employees immediately sprang into action.

Ding Ze said to Janet and her family one last time, "Don't leave my side, this place is probably very strange."

For a serial killer like Ding Ze to say such things... Janet and her family of three dared not take it lightly and nodded solemnly in response.

Without further ado, Ding Ze released the remaining three Gu worms and walked straight toward the black female statue.

Janet and her family of three promptly followed.

Something unusual must be going on.

The ancient city was almost completely destroyed, yet this statue appears to be intact, which is quite illogical.

Also, could that eerie woman's voice at night be related to this statue?

Standing in front of the statue, Ding Ze carefully examined it from head to toe.

Although this thing was completely black and looked rather eerie, its craftsmanship was quite exquisite, and it was remarkably lifelike.

Besides, upon closer inspection, one can see that the statue has many strange patterns... Some of these patterns are exactly the same as those found everywhere in the ancient city, while the rest are different.

Ding Ze studied it very seriously and quietly, and figured it out in general terms.

The other patterns on the statue seem to depict various deformed animals, such as snakes with legs, winged monkeys, and the very sinister spiders they had seen before...

In addition to animal motifs, a huge tree is also clearly depicted on the statue...

So, this ancient city is also related to the legendary Tree of Life?

Ding Ze muttered a sentence to himself, thought for a moment, and then reached out to touch the statue.

The statue is very cold, and the stone used is very special...

Ding Ze had absolutely no knowledge of this, so he immediately called over an expert who was nearby to take a look.

Two experts came over, reached out and felt it together, and were both somewhat surprised.

Immediately, the two experts examined the statue up close, almost pressing their eyes against it.

After a while.

"Boss, this isn't a stone, it's jade, and it's very likely to be priceless black jade," an expert exclaimed with delight.

Ding Ze raised an eyebrow. "How priceless is it?"

Experts estimated that "this statue is too big. If it is really black jade, it could probably fetch an eight-figure price if it were transported out of the country."

Good heavens, this is truly priceless.

Ding Ze was slightly surprised. (End of Chapter)

Chapter 386 The Living Dead, Capture the King First

Bottom of the pit.

Ding Ze found it somewhat unbelievable, and at the same time, it felt very abrupt.

Putting aside the value of this statue... it's just so out of place in this place.

After thinking for a moment, Ding Ze said to the group of experts, "Let's continue the research."

Upon hearing this, the experts didn't hesitate and quickly left.

Ding Ze continued to look at the statue, lost in thought.

"What ideas have you come up with?" Janet asked after a short while.

Ding Ze nodded. "I want to smash this thing open and see what's inside, but I'll have to wait a while."

"Wait for what?" Janet asked, puzzled.

“Wait for their discovery,” Ding Ze said.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, almost two hours have passed.

Because this place was so large, the employees searched the entire place thoroughly.

The results are in.

In the ancient city, which was almost in ruins, there was indeed not a single corpse, but there were ancient, unrotted daily necessities.

The presence of these everyday items indicates that human activity did indeed take place here hundreds of years ago.

The problem is, there are no bodies.

Then, there was no jade or jewelry in the ancient city, nothing of value.

In addition, there is no entrance or exit at the bottom of the pit; it is all solid rock.

Faced with this result, Ding Ze, who had been resting on a rock for a while, first looked up at the statue above, and then his gaze fell on the female statue.

That statue is so illogical.

Since that's the case, let's investigate this carefully and see what exactly happened.

Ding Ze didn't waste any time. He stood up decisively and called over the employees who were in charge of the demolition work. "We need to blow up that statue, but not completely. Just break it open."

"Okay, boss," the employees said without further ado and quickly went to make the arrangements.