Ancient tomb excavation traces

After entering the dark passageway, the five of us ran forward until we saw that the things behind us were not catching up, and only then did we dare to stop and catch our breath in front of the steps.

At this moment, I am especially grateful that I took the ever-burning lamp when I ran away. Now it is burning very steadily. I use it to illuminate the bronze steps. The patterns on it are mostly sacrificial patterns. These sacrificial patterns are not as simple as those on the previous murals. They are more abstract and difficult for the average person to understand. However, because I am an art student and have been influenced by my grandfather since childhood, I have learned to identify various patterns.

I quietly touched the patterns on them. They looked like just lines cast in bronze, but they actually depicted a grand sacrificial ceremony. I slowly moved the ever-burning lamp around, as if looking at a long scroll. The further I looked, the heavier my heart became. This was not a simple sacrifice; it was a massacre! The scenes depicted included people having their hands and feet broken off alive, being entangled by man-eating vines, and even choosing to commit suicide in front of a high and mighty woman.

I was a little shocked. Although these were just patterns, I knew that they represented a cruel reality that happened back then. This cold bronze pattern was telling the story of a massacre. In the scene, the expressions of the sacrificers were full of terror. At that moment, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

Just as I felt a bone-chilling cold, a gust of wind howled through the entire passage. I glanced back at the spot I had just run from; apart from the shadow of a door, I could see nothing else. We had gone from a densely packed space to an even more cramped area, and the feeling of being forced to see the light was indescribable.

While we were resting, Chen Yi asked the witch, "Hey, girl, there's something I find very strange."

The Miao shaman sat on the bronze wall, her eyes fixed on the ground. As if she knew what Chen Yi was going to ask, she counted on her fingers, one by one.

Chen Yi seemed to have anticipated her silence and continued, "Heh, I know you're stubborn, but you told us about the Rogue Organization, so you seem to know this place quite well. I just don't understand, if you know how dangerous it is here, why did you come in with us?" Looking at her, Chen Yi added, "Don't tell me you were forced in. We didn't look after you afterwards; you can leave anytime you want!"

When Chen asked the question, I noticed that the Miao witch was biting her lip and frowning, as if she had something to say. She glanced at us, then looked at the ground and said sadly, "Originally... my duty was to guard the tombs of my ancestors... Now... now I have betrayed my ancestors, and my fate... will be the same as yours... no, perhaps even worse..." Her words made the four men present gasp and look at each other in bewilderment.

"Girl...you betrayed the ancestor, it couldn't really be because of our young master, could it?" At this moment, Bao Cai was the most outspoken. I raised my hand and smacked him on the forehead to tell him to stop talking nonsense. He covered his head and said, "What! Isn't that right? That girl saved you time and time again, anyone with eyes can see that."

Looking at his face, I really wanted to slap him to death, but just as I was about to do so, I saw the witch silently watching me. I awkwardly lowered my hand and forced a smile. Seeing my reaction, she smiled sadly, then looked down at the ground and said, "I have my reasons..."

Seeing her covered in injuries, I didn't want to ask too many questions, but the situation forced me to know more, so I couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me for asking, but what exactly happened to your brother...?"

Before I could even utter the word "death," tears streamed down the priestess's face. She said mournfully, "Please, don't ask anymore. I have already betrayed my mission. I will tell you the way forward. You should hurry... When they come, you won't be able to escape even if you want to."

Seeing the girl cry, I panicked and wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know how to start.

However, Chen Chi was still determined to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he asked again with doubt, "Your mission? Them?"

The priestess looked up, her clear eyes fixed on us, and said, "I can only tell you that your previous guess was correct. Besides the dead, there are also living people here, and these living people are more terrifying than you can imagine."

"Who exactly are they?" Chen Yi couldn't contain his curiosity and immediately asked again.

The witch shook her head. Chen Yi was about to ask again when the young Taoist interrupted, saying calmly, "Perhaps this girl has many things beyond her control. She has told us everything she could. We will walk the rest of the way ourselves."

Seeing the slight moisture in the shaman's eyes, I nodded. Chen Yi muttered a few words and finally stopped pressuring the Miao shaman. Now everyone planned to continue forward, but I was worried about my ancestors and wanted to wait a little longer. Chen Yi said that my ancestors had always survived dangers, and this time would surely be no different.

I nodded; in this situation, there was no other way but to comfort myself like this.

Just as we got up to leave, the legendary eternal lamp suddenly trembled, and I watched its flame grow smaller and smaller...

We held our breath, waiting for it to go out completely and plunge us into darkness. But then, like a flower about to bloom in a photograph, the flame slowly, slowly, reignited. Only the color of the fire was strange. We exchanged uneasy glances. The eternal flame had changed from a ghastly green to the green hue of a spotlight, like a ghost, standing there without warmth or emotion, staring at us.

I gasped and instinctively looked towards the young Taoist priest. In the green light, I saw that his expression had become particularly profound. Suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something, his brows furrowed, and he said sternly, "Oh no, there's something dirty here."

Before he could finish speaking, Bao Cai exclaimed, "What! You mean, there is..." Before he could finish his sentence, the young Taoist priest covered his mouth and whispered, "Don't worry about anything, just keep going!"

At that moment, my hair stood on end. The shorthand for "dirty thing" was "ghost," and it was watching us from somewhere in the corridor, unseen by us. I looked around in terror. In truth, there was a tiny chance of winning against something visible, but against something intangible, the situation was utterly one-sided. That's why people often choose to watch horror movies rather than ghost movies—ghosts are more insidious, omnipresent, and fill people with fantasies. Tangible things, on the other hand, don't constantly inspire such fantasies. Thinking this, I kept muttering my bad luck, then turned around blankly and mechanically lifted my foot.

I don't know if it was my imagination or something real, but I felt a cool sensation on every inch of my skin. The air was eerily quiet, broken only by the sound of our tiptoeing. The sound echoed in the long, dark corridor, like countless needles piercing my heart. I cursed inwardly: "Which bastard is walking so loudly?" While complaining, I realized we were all pretty much the same, like taut strings, ready to snap at the slightest movement.

I had never experienced such a series of shocks before, and I was trembling with fear. As we stepped onto the bronze steps one by one, a chilling wind swept through the passageway, howling eerily. Chen Yi and I hadn't believed such things existed, but when the wind seeped into our bones, I truly believed.

"Pfft!" At the crucial moment, a muffled thud echoed from the bronze passageway. This sound, especially powerful in this place and at this time, sent a chill down my spine. I wanted to cry but had no tears, and I hissed, "Damn it! Who farted at this hour?!"

Bao Cai turned back with a sorrowful expression and said, "I'm...I'm so sorry...I...I was under so much pressure that I...I let go..."

I covered my mouth and nose, telling him to shut up. Chen Yi, looking speechless, drew his knife and said, "Perfect! The whole rhythm is messed up now, and I can't stand running away so cautiously. Let's fight the ghost!"

After speaking, he suddenly ran down the steps, but even someone as brave as him couldn't attack something unseen. We just watched him, swinging his knife at the air like a madman, like a child catching dragonflies. But soon, we all sensed something was wrong—our skin! All of our skin was bleeding. Could it be from that chilling wind we'd just heard?

Before I could think further, the young Taoist priest shouted to us, "This is a very ominous creature; it can't be dealt with by ordinary means!" It was the first time I'd heard him shout so urgently. He pulled back the panting Chen Yu and said decisively, "I'll hold it off. You guys run, and don't look back!"

In a moment of panic, he bit his finger, drew blood, and placed it near his eye, chanting, "May all things be clearly seen, open my eyes of wisdom!" As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled out a talisman, quickly wrote a seal on it, and then attached it to the air. Miraculously, the talismans in the air didn't fall. At that moment, I seemed to realize that the talismans had attracted an unseen evil spirit. The thing struggled, about to reach us. Seeing the danger, the young Taoist immediately pounced. However, at that moment, I suddenly noticed that the color of the talismans had changed; the bloodstains the young Taoist had attached to them slowly dissolved, soaking the entire talisman paper.

The young Taoist priest frowned upon seeing this and hurriedly said, "Hurry up..." As he spoke, his chest heaved, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Little Celestial Master!" I called out worriedly, quickly reaching out to help him. He glanced back at me, his voice stern, and said, "Don't come any closer!"

I was stunned for a moment, and Bao Cai grabbed me and said, "Liu Zi, I reckon the Little Celestial Master is fighting that thing right now."

I glanced at Bao Cai, then turned my gaze to the young Taoist priest. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixed on something intangible, and urged us, "Go... don't worry about me..."

I stared blankly at his retreating figure and asked, "What would you do if I left you behind?"

My words made the young Taoist priest shudder suddenly, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. That expression was fleeting, and soon he returned to his usual indifference.

He said, "If you don't leave, you will die..." Before he finished speaking, his body suddenly slammed into the bronze passageway. The clanging sound made his blood boil in the narrow space, and he felt as if he was about to explode.

We all gasped in surprise. The young Taoist priest abruptly shouted, "Go!" He pressed his back against the corridor wall, about to rise, when the thing attached to the talisman suddenly swooped down, rushing towards him. Seeing the situation was dire, I didn't think twice and plunged a knife into the talisman. A strange hissing sound rang out, and more blood seeped from the blood-stained talisman. I froze, the knife still in my hand, when a sudden gust of cold wind struck me against the steps. Bao Cai immediately rushed to help me, but I was freezing cold, trembling uncontrollably. Realizing I'd been tricked, I told Bao Cai to stay away.

However, Bao Cai ignored me completely. He helped me up and asked, "Young Master, are you alright?" I thought to myself, "Alright my foot!" At this moment, my body was being assaulted by the dead of winter; a feeling of my bones fighting inside me was spreading throughout my body. Chen Yi and Bao Cai looked at me with obvious panic: "You rascal..."

"Young Master!"

Looking at their eyes, I could imagine how terrible my expression must be. Trembling, I reached for the wine flask that had just served me so well. There were still two or three mouthfuls of wine inside. I tilted my head back and gulped it down. Normally, I'm not a big drinker; a little makes me feel hot and my face flush. After this gulp, I muttered, "This wine from the late Eastern Han Dynasty is damn strong!"

I choked a couple of times and was about to tell the young Taoist priest to run away with us. But he stepped back to our side, held out his hand to block our way, and said haltingly, turning his head to the side, "Go! Quickly...go."

I glanced at the several talismans hanging in the air in front of him and my Mongolian knife, knowing that the evil spirit was already upon us. What was unsettling was that the talismans the young Taoist priest had affixed to it were falling off one by one.

I stood there, bewildered. The young Taoist priest tossed me the bronze sword and said in a deep voice, "Use this for self-defense. I'll keep this knife for you for now!"

I took the bronze sword in a daze. A chilling wind blew, colder and more malevolent than before. If it were to possess me, I would surely die. In the nick of time, the young Taoist priest shouted, bracing his foot against the steps, gripping my Mongolian knife, and thrusting it deeper into the vengeful spirit. However, just as he pushed the thing away, I noticed blood seeping from his white robes on both shoulders. I knew something was wrong, and without thinking, I took a step forward and rushed towards it. But before I could take more than a few steps, Chen Yi grabbed me and pulled me back.

I cursed loudly, and Chen Yi, running away, said, "Liuzi, we need to be realistic in a place like this. We can't help you with anything dealing with that kind of thing. Besides, the Little Celestial Master said he'd keep the knife for now. Since he said so, he'll definitely escape and catch up with us. That's the spirit of true men and a promise!"

After hearing Chen's words, I seemed to understand the young Taoist's intentions and awareness. For a companion we had only recently met to be willing to sacrifice himself for our lives—what a truly righteous person he was!

At this thought, tears welled up in my eyes. I gritted my teeth, then strode up the stairs, one step at a time. At one point, I stopped and declared loudly, "If you don't come looking for me, I'll come back to collect your corpse!"