Chapter 64: Stone Chamber
Xuan Qing took the lead and entered the cave.
The others followed in sequence.
The cave was pitch black. Xuan Qing raised the fly whisk in his hand and shook it lightly, releasing a soft and bright glow from the fly whisk’s bristles, illuminating the path.
“Thank you, Martial Uncle, for your care.”
Qin Shen Bo cupped his hands in salute. The others came to their senses and also thanked Xuan Qing.
If Jianghu sorcerers controlled supernatural abilities, then Heaven-Reaching Dharma Masters had already transcended the human realm—they could fly through the sky, burrow through the earth, and see clearly without any light source, discerning all illusions wherever their gaze fell.
So Xuan Qing actually did not need illumination at all; he was only doing this to take care of the others.
At this moment, an untimely muttering suddenly arose from the crowd.
“Holy crap, lantern fish!”
Everyone turned back. Jiang Ce turned his head to look at Liang Zhi Che: “What nonsense are you spouting?”
Liang Zhi Che looked bewildered: “It wasn’t me.”
Xuan Qing was already somewhat irritated, but fortunately his qi cultivation was good and he did not flare up. However, he did not want to make a fuss and simply changed the subject: “Keep up.”
Jiang Ce breathed a sigh of relief, ignored Liang Zhi Che’s face full of resentment, and followed the main group.
The first half of the cave path was narrow but still fairly level. However, after going several hundred meters deeper, the ground began to slope downward, extending underground.
After walking another ten or so minutes, it finally began to level out again.
After passing through a narrow rock crevice that only one person could fit through, the path ahead suddenly opened up.
Noticing man-made chisel marks on the rock crevice, Xuan Qing speculated that perhaps the cave had not originally connected to the Great Tomb, but grave robbers had discovered this place by some means and dug from the cave into the Great Tomb, creating this path.
Hearing this, Jiang Ce immediately grew tense. He worried that someone had gotten there first and acted in heaven’s stead ahead of him.
However, his worry was evidently unnecessary.
Because after going a bit deeper, the group passed through a small hole that had been chiseled out and entered a corridor. Following the corridor straight ahead led to a huge circular stone chamber. Several corpses wearing rotten exploration suits, now reduced to white bones, also appeared before the group.
Seeing this scene, everyone became alert and raised their vigilance to the maximum.
Liang Zhi Zhou felt somewhat uneasy and said gravely: “This isn’t even the tomb chamber yet, and the exit is right behind us. How could these people have died here?”
Qin Shen Bo also looked solemn: “Perhaps there is some mechanism.”
Xuan Qing stared at the several sets of white bones still crawling with maggots, also puzzled, but with the situation unclear, he could not judge.
At that moment, Jiang Ce spoke up: “They were probably trapped here after entering the stone chamber, unable to find the exit or retreat to the corridor, and starved to death alive.”
“How do you know?” Liang Zhi Che instinctively turned back to ask, but as soon as he did, he knew the answer.
Xuan Qing turned back and also realized the problem, his gaze sharpening: “The door disappeared?”
Jiang Ce nodded to the group: “I watched it close. I was a bit far from you at the end—nearly got left outside.”
Gongyang Dan looked at him like he was a monster: “If you saw it, why didn’t you warn us?”
“How was I supposed to know what was going on.” Jiang Ce shrugged: “Before coming in, I thought someone was settling a personal grudge by closing the door to lock me outside.”
At these words, everyone gained a clearer understanding of Jiang Ce.
This guy was not only an arrogant madman but also a mentally deranged nutcase!
Liang Zhi Che opened his mouth, stayed silent for a moment, and finally could not hold back: “How are you acting like nothing’s wrong? Aren’t you even a little anxious?”
Jiang Ce grinned at Xuan Qing: “Why worry? Martial Uncle Xuan Qing is a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master—he can punch a path out. Small problem.”
The others were stunned. Lacking practical experience, they had been momentarily disrupted by the environment and only now remembered that these grave robbers who died here were ordinary people, completely different from them.
The equally unpanicked Qin Shen Bo quietly sized up Jiang Ce and nodded to himself. It was rare for him to be so calm—there was something commendable about that.
But just as they were about to relax, Xuan Qing slowly shook his head: “That won’t work. We went downward for a long stretch just now. Based on the slope and time, by my calculation, we are at least nearly a hundred meters from the surface, with who knows how much soil and rock in between. If I act rashly and cause a collapse, I might be fine, but you definitely won’t make it out alive.”
Jiang Ce helplessly looked at Liang Zhi Che, who spread his hands like a little bear: “Now I’m anxious.”
The group was instantly filled with despair. Even Qin Shen Bo’s face showed a trace of worry.
Xuan Qing reassured the group: “Don’t panic. It’s impossible to build such a large stone chamber just to trap and kill intruders—there must be an exit.”
Liang Zhi Zhou asked: “Martial Uncle Xuan Qing, didn’t the fellow disciples in charge of scouting mention this situation?”
Before Xuan Qing could speak, Qin Shen Bo answered his question: “They definitely didn’t come in. Otherwise, forget reporting the location here—they might not even have made it out safely.”
Liang Zhi Zhou was speechless, realizing he had asked a very stupid question.
“Reading fried your brain.” Jiang Ce quipped sharply.
Liang Zhi Zhou wanted to retort but was in the wrong and could not find a reason to argue back.
At that moment, Lu Xing, who often went out alone on missions and had some experience, had already been searching for clues and made a discovery: “Come look, there are words here.”
Several people gathered over and really found a line of hidden small characters on the stone chamber wall—
Adjust clothes and hat, know rise and fall, understand gain and loss.
Examining these small characters closely, Xuan Qing judged: “This doesn’t look original—like it was carved with a sharp tool.”
“Someone discovered the secret here and left a code.” Qin Shen Bo murmured.
But these words had no beginning or end, impossible to fathom.
“Mirror!”
Suddenly, Jiang Ce and Liang Zhi Che said it in unison.
The two then exchanged a glance and saw the astonishment in each other’s eyes.
Liang Zhi Zhou reacted quickly and also thought of the key, explaining to the puzzled others: “This should come from the Old Book of Tang, Biography of Wei Zheng. The original sentence is: Use bronze as a mirror to adjust clothes and hat; use history as a mirror to know rise and fall; use people as a mirror to understand gain and loss.”
Everyone suddenly understood. All three phrases were about using something as a mirror—no wonder Jiang Ce and Liang Zhi Che’s first reaction was mirror.
“Does anyone have a mirror?” Xuan Qing looked at the group.
But everyone looked left and right—no one had brought a mirror.
Faced with the group’s gazes, Jiang Ce stepped back: “Why are you looking at me? I’m not gay—why would I carry a mirror?”
But no sooner had he spoken than a large hand holding an exquisite mirror extended into the middle.
Jiang Ce looked up and saw it was the expressionless Qin Shen Bo.
“I brought one, but I’m not gay either.”
