I, a cultivator, have ended up in the world of tomb raiding.

Seeing the change in Li Yue's expression, Chen Yulou quickly asked:

"Brother Li, have you noticed anything? What's the significance of those stone troughs on the cave ceiling?"

Li Yue shone his lamp on the stone troughs, which were filled with a thick, black, asphalt-like sediment that gleamed under the lamplight.

He said softly, "This is corpse oil."

"Corpse oil?"

Chen Yulou was startled, then immediately realized something and looked at Li Yue, asking, "Is it human oil?"

Li Yue nodded and said calmly:

"I've heard that some ancient tombs use corpse oil to light lamps, firstly to ensure that the lamps burn forever, and secondly to use its malevolent energy to ward off tomb robbers."

Hua Maguai clicked his tongue in astonishment: "To dig out a stone trough and use the oil from so many people, how big must this underground palace be?"

These bandits of the Unloading Ridge were all desperate criminals. Ordinary people might feel disgusted and nauseous upon hearing that human bodies were boiled to make lamp oil, and would condemn the cruelty of feudal society.

But these tomb raiders, who deal with the dead, think about things from a completely different perspective than ordinary people.

Upon hearing that the numerous stone troughs beneath the palace were actually filled with human oil used to fuel the eternal lamps in the underground palace, the Unloading Ridge bandits felt somewhat uncomfortable but did not show any fear.

Having witnessed much of the coldness and indifference of the world, Hong Gu Niang merely frowned upon hearing this and said nothing.

"So, these stone troughs were the oil reservoirs for the eternal flame lamps..."

Chen Yulou was born with heightened senses, with his vision, hearing, and smell far exceeding those of ordinary people.

Moreover, he was an expert in the "smell" technique of tomb raiding: smelling the soil to identify burial sites, smelling the fragrance to identify burial sites, and smelling the stench to identify poisons, relying on his sense of smell to determine the location of the tomb, the smell of the corpse, the poisonous miasma, and the traps.

But he didn't smell the presence of corpse oil in it at first.

Only after Li Yue reminded him did he vaguely smell the greasy, fishy odor of corpse oil down there.

He glanced at Li Yue, secretly alarmed. Could it be that there were others with a keen sense of smell like him?

But how could someone with a keen sense of smell stay in the stench of that Song Dynasty double-layered tomb for so long?

"However, if these stone troughs are all filled with corpse oil, why does the smell taste so faint?"

Chen Yulou looked at Li Yue, his tone puzzled.

Corpse oil has a strange and unpleasant smell.

Look at the black grease accumulated in the stone trough here, covering the entire courtyard. If it's all grease made by humans, the taste seems a bit too bland.

Li Yue slightly moved the headlamp in his hand, shining it on the black, asphalt-like viscous substance below, and said:

"These corpse oils must have had other drugs added during the boiling process to remove the fishy smell."

Chen Yulou looked down again, nodded, and showed an expression of "I see."

"I once read in an ancient book that the high-ranking officials and nobles of the past enjoyed the lights of the world during their lives, and that their underground palaces would also be kept lit after their deaths."

However, ordinary lamp oil would dry up after only a few days, as it couldn't withstand the damp and cold air in the underground palace and would go out after a short time.

Secondly, it would not reflect the noble status of the tomb owner, so naturally they would need to find oil that was different from ordinary oil. It is unknown when the practice of using human oil to make lamp oil began.

It is said that the best lamp oil is made by boiling the grease of unmarried women and then mixing it with medicinal ingredients such as Atractylodes lancea and Artemisia argyi and heating it together.

In this way, the putrid and foul smell of the oil can be suppressed, and finally, a little sandalwood can be added to finish the aroma, leaving only a spicy fragrance.

Although it carried a chilling tinge, it was no longer the filthy, putrid place it once was.

Hearing their leader's words, the surrounding bandits couldn't help but feel a chill.

"This oil refining for lamps is just like a chef seasoning meat on a stove—adding ingredients, simmering, and then finishing with a final touch of aroma and flavor. These rich people who insist on showing off even in death really know how to make a fuss!"

A brother from the Unloading Ridge faction next to him seemed to loathe this so much that he wished he could spit under those tiles.

Chen Yulou didn't react much. He had raided countless tombs and seen many cases of human sacrifice, so he was not surprised by this.

The most important thing now is to find the two missing brothers.

He looked around and said, "The doors to the side hall have all been sealed off. Let's go back to the roof and take a look at the hole."

The group then returned to the hole that looked like it had been smashed open.

Hua Ma Guai flicked his hand and fired a small phosphorus pellet. A dark blue flame suddenly exploded, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.

The vermilion pillars all around, gilded and dazzling, were so extravagant that they rivaled even the imperial palace.

However, phosphorus only burns for a very short time, and it went out in the blink of an eye, leaving the surroundings dark again.

Chen Yulou said in a deep voice, "Everyone stay alert and go down to investigate."

As soon as he finished speaking, two thieves dragged over a bamboo ladder and lowered it into the hall through a hole in the roof rafters.

Several daring brothers, holding German-made twenty-gun slingshots, opened their noses wide and descended the ladder one by one.

No sooner had they landed than the white pigeons used to detect air pollution and toxic miasma began to flutter about.

It fluttered and thrashed about in the cage, its state extremely uneasy.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, their hearts pounding in their throats.

Someone hurriedly shone a lantern around and immediately realized something was wrong, so they quickly called the leader down.

Chen Yulou realized something was wrong and immediately beckoned to lead his men down.

Li Yue followed behind, carrying a miner's lamp, and went down the ladder with the people in front of him.

The first few people to land already looked surprised and suspicious, standing still and not daring to move.

Li Yue looked around and saw that the side hall was paved with purple square bricks, on which were placed all kinds of Yuan Dynasty military weapons.

Armor, swords, spears, bows, shields, axes, and arrows filled the palace.

Looking at the dozens of saddles almost buried among the weapons, Li Yue was slightly surprised.

This palace is magnificent and grand, and one can imagine how much effort the emperors of past dynasties put into its construction at Ping Mountain.

All the palaces and mansions have turned to dust.

No matter how magnificent it was, it became a burial ground for the fallen soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty.

At this moment, everyone was gathering in the hall.

Through the crowd, Li Yue also caught a glimpse of the central scene.

Those were the clothes, shoes, and socks of the monkeys that had jumped around in the ground, neatly laid out on the ground, with a pool of yellowish-green pus soaking through them.

Strangely, the clothes and accessories remained as they were, but the person was nowhere to be found.

Just like the pigeon coop next to it, the coop was intact, but the pigeons inside were nowhere to be seen.

Li Yue glanced at it briefly before looking away again.

At this moment, a panel in my mind is flashing:

[Negative energy detected in the surrounding area...]

[Analyzing... Yin energy concentration 30%... Demonic energy component 25%... Earth energy component 5%...]

Should it be consumed immediately?

Now that we've ventured deep into the underground palace, the yin energy here should be at its strongest.

With a thought, Li Yue immediately chose to devour it.

When the panel absorbs Yin energy, it can quickly draw in and cover an area extending outwards by a hundred feet, centered on the user.

This time we only had a few minutes to stay, so time was a bit tight.

The moment he chose to devour, the invisible Yin energy around him was drawn in by a vortex, continuously converging towards his body.

Chen Yulou, who was still examining the clothes of the two missing thieves in the center of the palace, and the rest of the crowd who were looking around anxiously, suddenly felt the cold wind intensify and the chill intensify.

As Li Yue absorbed the Yin energy, he slowly walked to the pile of weapons and armor around him.

Over the years, the wooden racks displaying the weapons have rotted and become crooked, with most of them collapsed on the ground.

The rusted swords and spears had slipped from their shelves and mingled with the rusted and deformed armor, covered in thick dust and cobwebs, long since losing their former sharpness.

"The demonic energy here is condensed and doesn't dissipate; those poisonous insects and centipedes must be hiding down here."

Looking at the demonic aura swirling around the weapons and armor, Li Yue frowned slightly.