The Martial Saint of the Defiled World

The floor of the tomb passage was also paved with blue bricks, covered with a thin layer of ash.

Beyond that point, everything became pitch black and obscured the view.

Chen Awu put his ear close to listen.

The wind is still the same wind.

But there seemed to be some other noise mixed in with the wind.

It was very light and faint, and I couldn't hear it clearly.

Chen Awu shrank back, while Chong Jinyi raised his chin.

"Go inside and take a look. Don't go too far, stay right by the entrance."

Jin Yi nodded, raised the tinderbox high, and first stuck his head into the hole.

His shoulders were narrow, and the basin-sized hole was just the right size for him.

Shoulders went in, waist went in, legs went in, and the whole person disappeared on the other side of the wall.

Chen Awu squatted at the entrance of the cave, listening to the sounds inside.

There was a rustling sound, the sound of Jin Yi hitting the ground, and then there was silence.

After a while, Jin Yi's head popped out of the hole.

"The tomb passage was empty, and it was so dark that you couldn't see the end of it as you walked forward. There were square pits in the walls on both sides, like places to put things. I didn't dare to go in."

Chen Awu stood up.

"Go in."

He squeezed through the hole sideways and held up his tinderbox to shine around.

Tomb passage.

A very wide tomb passage.

There are brick walls on both sides, each more than a meter tall, and a vaulted ceiling on top, all neatly arranged.

The bricks underfoot were also laid flat and covered with a thin layer of ash.

Every few steps along the wall, there is a square pit, about half a foot deep, which looks like a niche.

The pit was pitch black and empty.

Cui Ping followed him over, stood next to him, and held up a tinderbox to shine on the wall.

Upon seeing those square pits, he paused for a moment, then leaned closer to examine them.

"This is for placing lights."

"For putting out lanterns?"

"Eternal lamp".

Cui Ping pointed into the pit.

"The lamps were placed here to light the way for the tomb's occupant. When the oil ran out, the lamps were taken away, leaving only these pits."

Chen Awu looked deeper into the tomb passage.

The light from the tinderbox didn't reach very far; beyond that, it was all darkness.

"Walk."

Jin Yi was in front, Chen Awu was second, Cui Ping was third, and the Wang brothers brought up the rear.

Five people lined up and went inside.

Footsteps echoed in the tomb passage, clattering and thumping.

After walking twenty or thirty steps, Jin Yi suddenly stopped.

Chen Awu looked over his shoulder and saw that the tomb passage had ended.

Ahead was a stone door, half-open, with a gap large enough for a person to squeeze through.

The door was engraved with some winding patterns, but it was impossible to make out what they were.

Jin Yi turned to look at him.

Chen Awu waved his hand, telling him not to move.

He walked to the door and peered through the crack in it.

It was dark behind the door crack.

He pressed his ear against it.

Besides the sound of the wind, there was also a subtle movement; now we could hear it clearly—it was the sound of water.

The sound of groundwater flowing from high to low, passing through cracks in the rocks.

He stood up and widened the crack in the door.

The stone door was very heavy, and it creaked when pushed, causing dust to fall from the door panels.

The opening is just big enough for one person to squeeze in sideways.

Holding a tinderbox, Chen Awu slipped through the stone door without saying a word.

Inside was a tomb chamber, about two zhang square.

In the very center was a stone coffin.

At the base of the walls surrounding the tomb chamber, there were piles of bottles and jars.

The sound of water came from behind the stone coffin.

He walked around the stone coffin and looked back. There was a hole in the back wall, and the sound of water was coming from there.

Cui Ping followed him in and stood next to him, looking around.

My eyes lit up when I saw those bottles and jars.

"In stock."

Chen A-wu stared at the collapsed hole and asked, "Where does that lead?"

Cui Ping leaned over to take a look: "Landslide, it's probably because the mountain moved and the back collapsed. There should be another tomb chamber over there."

Jin Yi and the Wang brothers also came in.

Chen Awu withdrew his gaze and turned it to the bottles and jars.

"Pick up everything you can, and hurry up."

Cui Ping squatted down and picked up a jar to examine it.

Unfortunately, there is a crack on the jar that runs from the mouth to the bottom.

He reluctantly put it down, then picked up another one, thankfully this one was intact.

He wiped away the surface dust with his sleeve and saw a layer of dark red glaze underneath.

"Is it valuable?"

Wang Jiuyi came over and asked.

"value."

Cui Ping handed him the jar.

"Hold him carefully."

Wang Sanjiu didn't look at the bottles and jars, but stared at the stone coffin.

The stone coffin was covered with a lid, and there was a gap between the lid and the body of the coffin.

"Fifth Brother, isn't this one open?"

Chen Awu walked over and touched the lid of the stone sarcophagus.

The stone was cold, with some patterns carved on it, but I couldn't see what they were by the light of the tinderbox.

He bent down to look at the crack.

There was a dark, murky thing in the crack, like something had seeped out and dried there.

He rubbed it with his finger and brought it closer to the fire tumbler to look at it.

It was black with a hint of dark red.

Cui Ping leaned over and took a look.

"mercury."

Chen Awu wiped the things in his hands on his trouser leg.

"The coffin was filled with mercury, so opening it won't help; the contents will spoil."

Wang Jiuyi stood to the side holding the jars: "Then these jars."

"take."

Chen Awu stood up.

"Take as much as you can. Leave what you can't take at the entrance of the cave and come back for it later."

Jin Yi didn't go to get the jar. Instead, he squatted down in front of the collapsed hole and held up a tinderbox to shine inside.

The hole was only the size of a washbasin, but it seemed quite empty at the back; the firelight couldn't reach the bottom.

Fifth Brother.

He turned around.

"There's more space behind here."

Chen Awu walked over, squatted down, and looked inside with him.

"Is it possible to crawl through?"

Jin Yi gestured with his hand to show the size of the hole, and then compared it to his own shoulder.

"We need to pry it up a bit bigger."

Chen Awu stood up and glanced around the tomb chamber.

Cui Ping had already picked out three jars and was using the hem of her clothes to hold them.

Wang Jiuyi was holding one in his arms, and Wang Sanjiu was carrying one in each hand.

"Get these to the cave entrance first."

He said.

"Kim Eul, stay with me and pry open this hole again."

Cui Ping nodded, picked up the jar, and walked out.

The Wang brothers followed behind.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the tomb passage for a while, then gradually faded into the distance.

Only Chen Awu and Jin Yi remained in the tomb.

The tinderbox was stuck in a crack in the wall, and the flickering light cast two shadowy figures.

Jin Yi pulled a probe from his waist and inserted it into the collapsed hole, probing it little by little.

The probe went in more than halfway but didn't touch anything.

"It's quite big in the future."

He said.

"The probe can't reach the edge."

Chen Awu picked up the pickaxe and gently tapped the edge of the hole.

The stones fell down one by one.

He would tap a few times, then pause, afraid that if he tapped too hard, he would collapse the roof.

As the opening gradually widened, water droplets began to seep down from the top of the cave.

After knocking for half an incense stick's time, the hole had grown as big as a pot lid.

Chen Awu put down the pickaxe and held up the tinderbox to shine inside.

Behind it is a tomb chamber.

It was much larger than the room they were in, and they could see a corner of the stone coffin, as well as a large, dark pile of things in the corner, which they couldn't make out.

There was water on the ground, a shallow layer, which shone brightly in the light of the tinderbox.

The sound of water was coming from over there.

Kim Eul leaned over his shoulder and peered inside.

"This one is big."

Chen Awu didn't rush in.

He held up the tinderbox and shone it around, seeing the square holes on the wall and the pile of things in the corner.

It looked like a wooden box, but it had collapsed, and its contents were scattered all over the floor.

"Enter."

After he finished speaking, he turned to the side, first sticking his head over, then his shoulder, and then his whole body squeezed through.