In their two days of exploration, the man named Yan had managed to lead them safely past the traps on the route that Zhen Mu had been to, proving the authenticity of his map.

On the seventh night, everything was ready.

The group entered the tomb again.

“This is the farthest we’ve been to.” Zhen Mu stopped and looked behind. “It was here that we met a long-haired ghost-like monster, up ahead…”

Several people looked at Mr. Yan.

“Boss, what should we do?” Xiao Li snickered as he turned to ask.

The man’s face stiffened. He took out the map and studied it attentively.

Zhen Hao frowned: “Of course we keep moving! Mr. Yan, didn’t you say that those things can be avoided? Didn’t we not see anything the last two days?.”

“That thing is not an ordinary zombie or the wicked things in the tomb, it’s a tomb guardian.”

“But do not worry.” The man gave Zhen Hao an emotionless look but because of the stiffness of his face, his expression seemed particularly cold. He nodded to Xiao Li and Zhen Mu, “Let’s press on. According to the map, there are only a few traps in this area. Although the tomb guardian is not marked on the map, this is not the first time we tomb raiders have come across such a situation. There were many other tombs without maps that we have raided. This little problem shouldn’t hold us back.”

The calm and definitive tone effectively motivated the fretful men.

Zhen Hao looked at Mr. Yan with a straight face and kept quiet, following behind the team as they continued forward. Lei Jie, standing in the rear position, squinted and sneered. After hearing his mentor’s soft laughter, he looked at Zhen Hao and the usually gentle eyes were filled with a touch of irony.

“Shibo, he’s going to be troublesome. This is a dangerous place, he might hold us back….”

“Don’t touch him, stinky boy.”

“…oh.” Xiao Luo lowered his head. Lei Jie placed her palm on his head and gave it a rub.

How long had it been in her line of work that she last saw a man whose discontent and arrogance were clearly written on his face? Lei Jie narrowed her eyes, in other words, it’s just plain stupidity.

…..

“This underground palace is so big. Look how long we’ve been walking?” Chunlei whispered.

Tiezi nodded: “And we have to avoid the traps and watch out for attacks from the creatures of the tomb.”

“Are there really tomb guardians? We haven’t even seen anything resembling the ghostly woman yet.” Tiezi touched his face. “Hm? Are we that deep underground? Why are there water droplets dripping on me? F**k! It’s in my mouth!”

Water droplets? Well, it’s plausible. This is within the mountain, there’s probably a river running through it, making the air dense enough to form the droplets.

Chunlei rolled his eyes at him: “That’s because your mouth is too big, you idiot!”

“Get lost!” Tiezi tried to spit out the water. He took a thermos from his backpack to gargle. Zhen Hao who had been following behind barged through them with an irritated look, almost causing Tiezi to drop his thermos.

“Step aside, don’t get in my way!”

Tiezi’s face immediately turned hostile. He wanted to speak up but was held back by Chunlei:” Don’t make any trouble!” Chunlei shook his head slightly and his eyes hinted that their boss was looking at them.

The angry Tiezi cursed at Zhen Hao’s back and spit.

He bit his teeth and whispered: “Damn it, see what I’ll do to him when Zhen Mu is gone!” As he said this, another droplet fell on his head. Tiezi’s anger was too prominent to care about the little things anymore.

At this moment, Xiao Li and Zhen Mu announced: “It’s a dead-end ahead!”

“Dead-end…” Mr. Yan stepped forward. He touched the wall and was about to say something when Zhen Hao interrupted him: “What’s wrong, Mr. Yan?! Did your map show us the wrong way?!”

“…..”

As soon as his words were said, there was only one thought in everyone’s mind: This man is an idiot, is he really questioning the real person in charge of this group?

Zhen Mu frowned with a sigh and Lei Jie all the way at the back snickered. The others looked at each other and thought: Is the boss going to kill him? 

Mr. Yan’s expression was frigid. He lowered his eyes and reached for his map, ignoring everyone else. He caressed the wall, feeling for a hidden mechanism on it.

“Tsk!” Chunlei and Tiezi were somewhat disappointed.

As for Zhen Hao, he was clenching his fist, thinking: How dare that Yan guy disrespects him, he’ll make him pay when they get out!

Standing in a place where no light could reach, the quiet Zhen Bei looked up at the dark ceiling of the tomb, slowly showing a chillingly silly smile.

Ah~ Here it comes.

…..

“By the way, who is guarding the outermost part of the tomb?” Wang Xiao Mie looked back at the man embracing him from behind.

“Hm? It’s Mu Shi and Mu Jiu.” Wen Feng Jin whispered as he continued to press his lips on Wang Xiao Mie’s neck.

Wang Xiao Mie was a little irritated and pushed him away. “Oh, it’s the two that look like jellyfish?” They’re soft and can even make the boing boing sound, it’s actually quite cute.

“They can turn themselves into water and penetrate the skin. People who are infiltrated by them will not feel any pain but… their insides will slowly be consumed, starting from the stomach to the intestines, then to the blood and flesh. Strangely though, they don’t eat the skin so in the end…”

“What’s left is only a piece of skin…”

“…..” Wang Xiao Mie swallowed his saliva. I’m a fool to think that they’re cute. 

The pale lips hooked up. Wen Feng Jin hugged Wang Xiao Mie with force. His gorgeous face was plastered to his neck, the tip of his nose pressed close to feel and sniff his skin.

“… Say, why are you so annoying today! You keep sniffing me, do I smell of something?” Wang Xiao Mie turned around and tried to grab Wen Feng Jin by the neck.

Wen Feng Jin lowered his head as he quietly gazed at him. This look coupled with the sparks in his eyes made Wang Xiao Mie blush.

Wang Xiao Mie could not hold his breath and succumb: “You, what did you want to say? And stopped dog-sniffing me like I’m a piece of bone.”

“…quite an accurate metaphor.” Wen Feng Jin moved Wang Xiao Mie’s hand on his neck to his lips and gave it a lick, “But I don’t know if Shixiong is willing to give me a bone~r…”

The words that will lead to a broken waist…

Wang Xiao Mie: “…..” my Xiao Wenzi is definitely possessed by something, that must be it!

“Stay away! Even Kai Ming is getting hot! What evil thoughts are you having?!” Wang Xiao Mie shouted as he ran around the coffin.

Wen Feng Jin chuckled a few times, following behind him slowly.

It’s not an evil thought, it’s just desire.

Wen Feng Jin’s elongated eyes swept over the sacred tree then back to Wang Xiao Mie who was staring at him on high alert.

…..come here quickly.

I’m getting impatient.

The one who wants my heart… you’re just in time, my Shixiong is also in need of a new sacrifice.

…..

The outermost area of the tomb

“Xiao Li, go with Zhen Mu to check the nearby walls.” Mr. Yan put his backpack on the ground and retrieved a piece of paper from it.

It was the inscription that used to be on the stone tablets.

Xiao Li and Zhen Mu looked at each other and went to look separately. There were two rows of alcoves with unlit candles along the walls of the passageway yet no one ever suggested lighting them.

In this tomb, the candles were most likely rigged with some kind of trap. It was safer to look to with a flashlight.

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Seeing Mr. Yan’s undivided focus on finding the trigger, the group assumed this would take some time. Chunei and Tiezi sat on the tomb floor to rest and reserve their strength.

Zhen Hao stayed quiet for now. He stood in a distance with his arms folded, leaning against the stone-cold tomb wall. Nonetheless, the docile facade could not hide his anxiety.

Lei Jie was sitting to one side with her arm’s length knife in her hand. Her eyes studied the wall in front of them. It was engraved with wavy lines. Generally speaking, the gates inside a tomb would be carved with symbolic beliefs or ferocious beasts to scare graverobbers away. Rarer were the ones carved with the life story of the tomb master weaved into a fairy tale of some sort. 

This is too strange…

Xiao Luo did not put down his backpack or sit down to rest. He looked around cautiously then walked to Zhen Bei who was squatting on the ground.

Although his mentor said that there was something wrong with this man, seeing him squatting harmlessly without uttering a word, Xiao Luo decided to give him a pat on the shoulder.

Zhen Bei looked up at him with surprise, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” After patting him, Xiao Luo did not know what to say so he took his hand back awkwardly. After scrambling his brain, he said: “It’s dangerous here… be careful.”

Zhen Bei was taken aback. He blinked then flashed a brilliant smile.

“Thank you, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Xiao Luo assumed that those words were to thank him for his warning but little did he know that his small gesture of kindness had saved his mentor’s life…

“Woah, why are there more and more water dripping down?” Chunlei touched his arm. Even though there was a layer of fabric over his skin, he still felt an itching pain where the water came in contact.

“True…” Tiezi raised his neck and looked up. Another droplet fell directly into his right eye. “F**k!” He rubbed his eyes vigorously. 

At the same time, the sound of mechanism moving vibrated through the place!

Even Zhen Bei and Zhen Hao switched from their resting state to an attack mode!

However, after a closer look, it turned out that Zhen Mu and Xiao Li had managed to find the hidden switch on the wall. Mr. Yan with the inscription in hand nodded gently.

With the switch triggered, the plain wall carved with wavy lines slid down, revealing four indentations, each corresponding with a rotating wheel etched with numbers. (TN: something like a 4-digit padlock)

“A pin? Ha ha ha! The owner of this tomb is quite modern! And here I thought we could use Chunlei’s demolition skill. And a passcode lock? It’s like they are actually going in and out as if this is a house.” Xiao Li grinned.

Everyone had now gathered in front of the strange-looking device.

“Mr. Yan, we don’t know the code, if we make any mistakes…” We could die. Just as Zhen Mu finished asking, a loud rumbling screeched over their heads. Even the ground felt like it was trembling.

“What’s going on?! The wall is collapsing! We are sinking! Ahhhh! What’s happening! Ah…”

Mr. Yan shoved the panicking group aside and approached the source of the commotion. His pupils constricted when he saw what was on the ground. Even Lei Jie and Zhen Mu were in a cold sweat. 

A piece of human skin in a set of clothes was lying on the ground!

And the clothes definitely belonged to Tiezi!

“Tiezi…… is dead….!”

“What happened before this?! Did no one see what happened? How on earth did he get like this?!” Mr. Yan roared at the frozen Chunlei standing beside him. The others subconsciously moved away from the emptied human skin.

Chunlei frantically said: “I… I don’t know. We were just standing next to each other a moment ago, looking at the wall. My… my stomach, why is it so hot? My throat… I… arrr…” 

His eyes widened in extreme desperation to open his mouth, gasping for air through his throat but in an instant, in front of everyone’s eyes, his body flopped down as his insides disappeared, leaving behind a rug of human skin…

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