Exploring the Illusory Tomb Part 1 [Ancient Times Version] - Chapter 17: Testing the Waters

Chapter 17: Testing the Waters

“According to the tone here, this sticky rice dumpling was actually that Jade Ling Armor Dong Shaoqing?”

I was amazed. Indeed, one cannot trust all the rumors or books from the Jianghu. The so-called “brotherly bond” and “retiring from the world” between Liu Guizang and Dong Shaoqing were quickly turned to ashes. They were merely false rumors.

However, after Liu Guizang killed Dong Shaoqing in the tomb of the Princess of Chu, he feared that the resentment would lead to the corpse rising. So he set up a vicious trap for his brother. This was truly sinister. Moreover, Liu Guizang’s actions greatly damaged the original feng shui of the tomb’s dragon energy. It caused all sorts of ghosts and monsters to come out and move around. It’s likely that the Ghost-Subduing Formation was the cause of this mess.

In my mind, the murals I had seen in the passage flashed by: the beautiful woman adorned with exquisite jewelry, her waist soft and elegant. It was like cloud-like fairy descending to the mortal world. She must have been the so-called Princess of Chu.

But which specific Chu King was being referred to here, we couldn’t figure out. What I could be certain of was that the princess was not from the Central Plains. From the Taotie beast and the black serpent, it’s highly likely that she was a woman from one of the Southern Barbarians.

As I pondered, I continued to look carefully at the silk fabric. And the more I looked, the more my heart trembled. The silk was annotated with cinnabar, marking some red points. One annotation pointed to a location near our current location in Botian County. It likely marked a tomb on the map. The red cinnabar stretched all the way to the border. And the connections crossed a vast territory that was astonishing.

It turned out that this was a treasure map drawn by Dong Shaoqing himself. The secrets Liu Guizang and Dong Shaoqing had been searching for were probably contained in this fabric.

A group of people gathered around me. They also realized that this map was a treasure. And they were all extremely excited. Only Luo Shen, with her eyes closed, remained indifferent. She was sitting in the distance as if unconcerned.

I stole a glance at her, seeing that she appeared faint and calm. It was as though she knew everything and was completely uninterested in the treasure map. This puzzled me. If she was someone of high status, she should have been particularly enthusiastic about finding the golden foil. But she seemed entirely unconcerned. Could there be another reason she came with us?

While I was lost in thought, Yu Linxing suddenly exclaimed, 

“Ah!” 

And she grabbed the fabric. She stared at it for a long time before laughing and saying, 

“This old man Dong is really interesting. He killed so many zongzi in his life, only to end up being turned into one by his good brother. How pitiful!”

I shook my head inwardly. This demoness couldn’t say anything nice. The man had been dead for so many years. And yet, she was still mocking him. Could she not accumulate some virtue?

I stretched my hand toward her and said, 

“Yu Linxing, stop playing around and pass the map over. We haven’t finished studying it yet.”

“What am I playing?” 

The demoness’ beautiful eyes sparkled as she smiled at us. She looked like a red fox eyeing a group of foolish little rabbits. She said, 

“I’m in a hurry. My brothers are probably almost done, and Ah Jun needs treatment. I won’t stay with you.” 

With that, she calmly tucked the fabric with the treasure map into her chest right in front of everyone.

I was stunned.

So this demoness was a thief!

Xiao Jian waved his hands frantically. He was stammering, 

“Yu, Yu Linxing, you… this won’t do. This map is a treasure map. We’re all on the same boat. If you take the map, what will we do?”

Yu Linxing glared at him with her almond eyes. Her voice was cold. 

“Who is on the same boat as you? I didn’t even know which old Taoist priest was shouting and causing a scene earlier. But now we’re all in this together? I am the head of Mo Yin Valley. If I want something, I will get it. No one can stop me!” 

Her gaze suddenly turned icy. And the look she shot at me sent a chill down my spine.

Qing Songzi was about to speak up. But Yu Linxing quickly turned, leaping onto the wind steed in the corner. She swiftly darted out of the tomb chamber. Her red figure melted into the darkness, and no one could catch up to her.

Xiao Jian stood there. He was frozen for a long time, before finally reacting. He couldn’t help but pound his chest and curse, 

“Damn it, how could she do this? That was a treasure map! Think of all the treasures! She looks like an angel, but her heart is so dark!”

He turned to look at Cheng Yun and the others. All of them were filled with righteous indignation. I was helpless. I thought to myself, Yu Linxing was really cunning. She had effortlessly tricked us out of the treasure map. But with her skills, if she had decided to steal it forcefully, we wouldn’t have been able to stop her. It seemed that the leader of Mo Yin Valley had a rather unreliable style. But deep down, I wasn’t too interested in the treasure map. My curiosity was piqued, but I came to the Princess of Chu’s tomb only because the Prince had forced me to. As long as Kunlun was safe, other matters didn’t seem as important.

Luo Shen remained indifferent. She stood up and calmly said, 

“Let’s continue deeper. We’ll meet with Linxing again sooner or later.”

As she spoke, she began walking forward. And I quickly followed her. After spending several days with her, I couldn’t help but feel that this woman was an incredibly strong ally. No matter what danger we encountered, following her would surely lead to safety. I couldn’t help but feel an urge to rely on her more.

We continued down the path. And we soon discovered that the tomb of the Princess of Chu wasn’t very complicated. There were mainly narrow passageways. We carefully made our way through them, turning and twisting. And just when I thought we could take a breath, I saw Luo Shen at the front suddenly raise her hand. She was signaling us to stop.

I held up a torch and looked ahead. The passageway ahead had suddenly widened. The original narrow passage was paved with small stone tiles. But the wider passage ahead only had three jade-green stone slabs in each row. They extended forward like an enlarged Go board.

I looked at it, and it seemed somewhat familiar. Suddenly, I remembered that Kunlun had mentioned something like this in the book “Exploring the Tomb”—it was called “Testing the Waters.”

Underneath those large jade-green slabs in the narrow passage were hidden traps. Some were solid ground, others were bottomless pits, and still others were lethal mechanisms. It was like a 9-square grid. And the path had to be walked according to a certain pattern. Normally, such patterns would be near the “Testing the Waters” area.

I looked around, but there was no sign of a mechanism warning. Beneath the jade slabs, there were no clear signs. It seemed all up to luck. Walk carefully, and you’d pass safely. Step wrong, and you’d be in for disaster. Clearly, the tomb’s builders had set this up to kill any grave robbers, making it a dead-end.

Luo Shen seemed hesitant. She was pacing around for a while without daring to step on the jade slabs. I was also uncertain. Should we turn back and find another way? As I was thinking this, Xie Long crouched down. He focused on something protruding from the stone wall. He asked, 

“What is this?”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to what Xie Long had spotted. I was secretly delighted, thinking we might have found a clue to the mechanism. But what I saw on the stone wall near the floor was a beast’s head. It was protruding and glistening with a greenish hue. It was also made of a rare jade material. The ancient beast’s appearance made my heart skip a beat—it looked exactly like the Bi’an carving on the hairpin Kunlun had given me.

Xie Long reached out to touch it, but Luo Shen’s face changed. She shouted, 

“Don’t touch it!”

Everyone jumped in shock. But it was too late. The moment Xie Long’s hand touched the beast’s head, countless sharp arrows shot out from both walls. They were raining down like a storm. Xie Long, standing closest, was immediately shot full of arrows. He fell to the ground, pierced like a hedgehog.

Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react. The scene was chaotic, and the air was filled with the screams of Qing Songzi and the others. This was the first time I’d witnessed the death of a teammate inside the Princess of Chu’s tomb. I knew stepping inside was like entering the gates of hell. But I hadn’t expected death to come so swiftly. It was as if Heaven was playing a cruel joke.

In that instant, a white figure grabbed me. And a sword danced in the air, deflecting the arrows outside the sword net. Luo Shen shouted, 

“Run!” 

She dragged me to the “Testing the Waters” mechanism. And in my stunned state, I was pulled forward. My feet were moving on autopilot. The cold hand pulling me forward was all I could feel. The world around me was a blur, and I searched for a way to survive. But I saw no hope.

While running, a sharp pain suddenly hit my left hand. A sharp arrow had struck me. The intense pain made me stumble. And I stepped on a jade stone slab next to me.

Suddenly, a dark pit appeared beneath me. Luo Shen quickly rushed to pull me. But it was too late. Both of us were thrown into the pit.