Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The steps leading down were steep and narrow.

The flashlight beam shone only a few steps ahead. Zhang Qiling walked in front, his steps steady and silent. "Zhang Qiling" followed behind, an arm's length away, also silent. Their shadows stretched long on the stone wall.

The people behind struggled to keep up. The steps were wet and covered in slippery moss, requiring them to hold onto the wall for support. Kun almost slipped and fell, but Chen Man pulled him back. Wang Yihan was panting, her face pale.

After climbing about a hundred steps, the stairs disappeared, turning into a gently sloping passage. The passage was wider, allowing two people to walk side by side. There was a smell in the air, like old wood soaked in water, mixed with an indescribable fishy odor.

"Take a break, take a break!" Fatty Wang plopped down on the ground, wiping away his sweat. "With all this fat on me, climbing stairs is really killing me."

Wu Xie, also panting against the wall, had a layer of condensation on his glasses. He took off his glasses, wiped them, and looked at the two black figures ahead: "Brother, how much further?"

Zhang Qiling stopped and glanced back into the depths of the passage: "Not far."

"How far is 'not far'?" Fatty Wang asked.

"Go all the way." Zhang Qiling replied with three words.

"Well, that's like saying nothing at all." Fatty Wang rolled his eyes, took out his water bottle from his bag, and took a swig.

Black Bear strolled up to Zhang Qiling, his sunglasses pointing towards the depths of the passage: "Dumb Zhang, something's not right."

Zhang Qiling hummed in agreement.

"It looks like something's rotten inside," Black Bear said again.

Zhang Qiling glanced at him without saying a word, but his eyes clearly said: Do you need to tell me?

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu were inspecting the walls of the passageway. The walls were made of single slabs of bluestone, with a black adhesive applied to the joints, which had dried and cracked. There were some shallow scratches on them, as if they had been drawn casually.

"Look at this." Huo Xiuxiu pointed to a spot.

Xie Yuchen leaned closer, shining his flashlight on the marks. The engravings were several crooked symbols, not like words, but more like some kind of mark.

"It was left by tomb raiders." Jiang Shouyi walked over and took a look. "Judging from the method, it must be from the Ming or Qing dynasty. Someone came down here before us."

Professor Zhou Xu'an was thrilled upon hearing this: "Really? Then there might be an even more important discovery ahead!"

"They might have died inside," Fatty Wang added coldly.

The professor glared at him, didn't reply, and took out his notebook to start taking notes.

The group rested for a few minutes and then continued walking.

The path went downhill with a gentle slope, but it seemed to stretch on forever. After walking for almost half an hour, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

One on the left, one on the right, exactly the same, both are dark.

Zhang Qiling stopped at the fork in the road, looked at both sides, and then looked down at the ground. A thick layer of dust covered the ground. On the left path, there were messy, fresh footprints in the dust. On the right path, the dust was flat, and no one had walked there.

"Which way?" Lin Guoce asked.

Zhang Qiling didn't answer. He squatted down and carefully examined the footprints on the left. The footprints varied in size and depth, indicating at least five or six people were involved. Several of the footprints had dried dark red residue around their edges.

"Blood." Zhang Qiling also squatted down and took a look.

"Is it the same expedition team from before?" Wu Xie asked.

"Maybe." Zhang Qiling stood up and pointed to the left, "This way."

"Why?" Fatty Wang asked. "Footprints mean someone has walked by, which is definitely dangerous."

"So we have to go and take a look," said Zhang Qiling.

Fatty Wang choked, scratched his head, and said, "Fine, the two gentlemen decide."

The group turned to the left passage. This time, after walking for less than ten minutes, they heard the sound of water ahead.

At the end of the passage was a small stone chamber, about twenty square meters in size. In the middle was a pool of water, which was flowing, seeping from cracks in the stone walls, accumulating in the pool, and then flowing away through an opening. Some things were scattered around the pool.

Several backpacks, already rotten. Several rusted entrenching tools. And... several skeletons.

The skeleton was incomplete, in pieces, as if it had been torn apart. The clothes were also tattered, but they were clearly modern mountaineering gear.

"It's that expedition team." Lin Guoce's face was grim.

Professor Zhou Xu'an and Jiang Shouyi carefully walked over to examine the skeleton. All the ribs in the skeleton's chest were broken, and there were cracks in the skull, as if it had been hit by a huge force.

"What did you do that?" Kun's voice trembled.

"I don't know," Jiang Shouyi shook his head, "but judging from this injury, the person was extremely strong."

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked around the stone chamber. Besides the entrance, there was no other exit. The opening over the pool where the water flowed was too small for a person to squeeze through.

"Is there no road?" Wu Xie asked.

"Yes." Zhang Qiling walked to a stone wall, reached out and touched it, then pressed down on a protruding stone.

"Click".

The stone wall slid open silently, revealing another passage behind it.

"Holy crap, there's a trap?" Fatty Wang exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"The Jingjue people love doing this," Hei Xiazi laughed. "The mute Zhangs are familiar with it."

Zhang Qiling ignored him and was the first to enter the new passage. "Zhang Qiling" followed.

The new passage was narrower, allowing only one person to pass at a time. After walking about a hundred meters, the path suddenly opened up ahead.

It was a huge natural cave, even larger than the sinkhole we'd seen before. Countless stalactites hung from the cave ceiling, some still dripping water. At the bottom of the cave was an underground river, its water pitch black and flowing slowly. On the opposite bank, the outlines of buildings could be vaguely seen.

The question is how to cross the river.

The river is over thirty meters wide, and there's no bridge. The water doesn't look deep, but it's dark and murky; who knows what's underneath?

"Swim across?" Fatty Wang swallowed hard.

"Swim if you want to feed the fish," said the bear.

Zhang Qiling walked to the riverbank, glanced at the opposite bank, and then looked up at the cave ceiling. The cave ceiling was very high above the water, more than ten meters high, with many large stalactites hanging down from it, some of which almost touched the water.

He took a few steps back, ran up, and jumped.

In mid-air, the left foot touches a protruding rock, the body rises again, the right hand grabs a hanging stalactite, and with a swing, like a black swallow, lightly floats towards the opposite bank. Just before hitting the water, the toes lightly touch a rock protruding from the water, and the person leaps up again, landing steadily on the opposite bank.

The entire process was smooth and silent.

Zhang Qiling moved almost simultaneously. He chose a different route, but with the same few leaps and bounds, he crossed the river nimbly and landed beside Zhang Qiling.

The two stopped and turned to look at them.

"Well, here we go again," Wang the Fat sighed. "When will I ever have this kind of skill?"

Wu Xie pushed up his glasses: "Maybe in the next life."

Lin Guoce directed the soldiers to bring out ropes and pulleys. They secured them on this side of the river and swung the ropes to the opposite bank. Zhang Qiling caught them and secured them on the other side as well. Then, one by one, the soldiers attached themselves to the pulleys and slid across.

Although he had seen it several times, Kun Ge still found it incredible every time he saw the two of them display their light-footed skills. He whispered to Chen Man, "If this were filmed, action movies wouldn't even need special effects."

Chen Man nodded, her eyes still fixed on the two black figures on the opposite bank.

Everyone crossed the river safely. On the other side was a platform paved with smooth stone slabs. At the end of the platform were two enormous bronze doors.

The gate is five meters high and three meters wide, rusted into a dark green. The gate is decorated with intricate reliefs, which, upon closer inspection, are swirling patterns composed of countless eyes, very similar to those seen in the temple, but more detailed and larger.

"This is... the real core?" Professor Zhou Xu'an's voice trembled.

"Possibly." Jiang Shouyi was also excited. "Judging from the grandeur of this gate, it must be the most important place in the Jingjue Kingdom."

Zhang Qiling walked to the bronze door, reached out and pushed it, but the door didn't budge. "Zhang Qiling" walked to the other side, pushed it as well, and shook his head.

"It's locked from the inside," he said.

"Can it be opened?" Lin Guoce asked.

Zhang Qiling didn't answer. He took a few steps back and examined the entire door. There was no keyhole, no handle, only those swirling eye patterns. His gaze fell on the largest swirling pattern in the center of the door.

At the center of the vortex, there is a very small, irregularly shaped depression.

Zhang Qiling saw it too. He took out the black stone he had placed in the groove of the stone chair in the temple, compared it to the stone, and shook his head.

"Not this one," he said.

"What is that?" Wu Xie asked.

Zhang Qiling was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly looked at Professor Zhou Xu'an: "Bamboo slips."

The professor was taken aback: "What bamboo slips?"

"Those two scrolls in the Lu King's Palace," Zhang Qiling said.

The professor remembered and quickly and carefully took out the two bamboo scrolls from his backpack—left by Tie Miansheng and King Lu Shang. He always carried them with him for research.

Zhang Qiling took the bamboo slip but didn't open it. Instead, he walked to the bronze door and aligned the two ends of the bamboo slip scroll with the two small holes on either side of the vortex-shaped recess on the door.

The end of the bamboo scroll is inserted into the small hole.

"Click."

A soft sound.

Zhang Qiling held the bamboo slip with both hands and rotated it to the left and right simultaneously.

The bamboo slips were rolled up, very sturdy. As they were turned, a heavy mechanical sound came from inside the bronze door, "clattering and creaking," like a sleeping giant awakening.

The door slowly opened inwards.

A strong, indescribable odor wafted out. It wasn't foul, but rather a pungent smell of aged spices mixed with metal and some kind of decaying substance.

It was pitch black behind the door.

When the flashlight beam shone inside, it seemed to be swallowed by the darkness, only illuminating a small area near the doorway. The floor was paved with clean stone slabs, without any dust.

Zhang Qiling was the first to walk in, followed by "Zhang Qiling". The others hesitated for a moment, then followed one after another.

Inside was a huge circular hall.

The hall was very tall, its dome inlaid with countless luminous stones arranged in a star map, emitting a cold, eerie blue light that barely illuminated the area below. In the center of the hall was a circular stone platform, upon which rested a coffin.

It wasn't a stone coffin, it was a bronze coffin.

The coffin was rusted, but patterns of eyes and snakes could be seen carved on it. The lid was not closed properly, leaving a crack.

The strangest thing is the walls around the hall.

There were no murals or reliefs on the walls, only countless grooves. In each groove lay a withered human head. The eyes of the heads were empty, dark voids, all facing the bronze coffin in the center.

There were at least several hundred of them, densely packed together.

"This..." Kun's legs went weak and he almost knelt down.

Chen Man and Wang Yihan covered their mouths, not uttering a sound, but their faces turned completely white.

Professor Zhou Xu'an was also quite frightened, but he forced himself to remain calm and said in a trembling voice, "This...this is 'first sacrifice'...using the heads of enemies as offerings...but this is too much..."

"Not the enemy." Jiang Shouyi's face was deathly pale. "Judging from the shape of those skulls, they belong to the Jingjue people themselves. They... used their own people for sacrifice?"

The atmosphere froze.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" ignored the severed heads and walked straight towards the bronze coffin in the center. When they were about three meters away from the stone platform, they both stopped at the same time.

The coffin lid moved slightly.

It was very slight, but it did move. Then, the coffin lid slowly slid open to one side, revealing what was inside.

empty.

There was nothing in the coffin except a layer of black, ashes-like stuff.

"Empty?" Fatty Wang was stunned. "Making such a big fuss, just putting in an empty coffin?"

"No, that's not right." Xie Yuchen narrowed his eyes. "Look inside the coffin."

The flashlight beam shone inside. The inner walls of the coffin were covered with tiny characters, the Jingjue script. And at the bottom of the coffin, amidst the black ash, something was reflecting light.

Zhang Qiling reached in and picked it out.

It's a piece of jade. About the size of a palm, shaped like an eye, the jade is warm and smooth, and it seems as if light is flowing inside. At the location of the pupil, a tiny swirling pattern is carved.

"This is..." Professor Zhou Xu'an leaned closer to examine it, his voice trembling with excitement, "This could very well be the sacred object of the Jingjue Kingdom! The Eye Jade!"

Zhang Qiling held the jade eye, feeling a warmth in his palm. He looked at "Zhang Qiling," who was also looking at him with an indescribable expression in his eyes.

Just then, the hall suddenly began to shake.

It wasn't an earthquake, it was the grooves in the walls. All the heads turned at the same time, their dark eye sockets all "looking" at the people in the center of the hall.

A levitating live-streaming sphere flew through the air and captured this horrifying scene.

The comments scrolled by:

Prophet: I knew it wouldn't be that simple!

A solution to the experts' dissent: What's the deal with these heads?

The guy's fan club: Honey, be careful!

The vibration stopped.

The head didn't move; it just "watched".

The hall was deathly silent.

Several seconds later, Fatty Wang finally let out a sigh of relief: "Damn it... that scared me to death..."

"Are you alright?" Kun's voice trembled.

"For now," Black Bear said, his eyes scanning the surrounding walls behind his sunglasses, "but we'd better get out of here quickly."

Zhang Qiling put the jade eye into his robes and turned around: "Let's go."

"Wait!" Professor Zhou Xu'an suddenly called out to him, "Mr. Zhang, that jade eye is an important cultural relic. Could I take a look at it? Or even just a few photos..."

Zhang Qiling turned around and glanced at him.

The gaze was calm, but the professor inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine. "Zhang Qiling" beside him also glanced over, the corner of his mouth twitching down almost imperceptibly by 0.5 millimeters.

Neither of them spoke, but their expressions and eyes clearly conveyed three words:

Are you stupid?