Chapter 368 - 65_6

Words : 1169 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 368: Chapter 65_6Tan Wenbin thought that Xiao Yuan might not have thought this much. "Brother Liang, you’re good at finding excuses." "I’m just being honest." "Actually, I didn’t think of using this gold to get rich. Look at the pile of bones. Although this isn’t a tomb, it’s still a place of people’s wealth. Forget the other artifacts; if we take the gold out, we won’t use it to improve our lifestyle. Small portions will be kept for Brother Xiao Yuan’s research funding, while the rest will be donated to the Wanzhou government’s projects and hope schools, using what’s taken from the people for the people. It’s better than leaving it down here collecting dust." Xue Liangliang laughed, "You talk about me, but you’re the one who’s truly good at making excuses." "No way." "Once gold is made into ornaments, it becomes an artifact too." "Fuck." Li Zhiyuan spoke up, "Let’s go, after we get out, report this place..." Before he finished speaking, a woman’s face surprisingly appeared on one side of the slightly ajar door ahead. She appeared so bizarrely, so suddenly, and with no warning. Especially when everyone had just passed the large bed on the platform, thinking they were safe and beginning to let their guard down. This was the true depiction of the mysterious "woman opening the door." The appearance of this face startled all four people, but Run Sheng’s reflex was to swing the remaining half of the Yellow River Shovel in his hand straight at the woman’s head behind the door! Whatever kind of ghost or monster you are, take my shovel first! "Smack!" The woman’s face disappeared, and Run Sheng’s shovel only hit the door edge. "Hee hee hee..." The woman’s face emerged from the other side of the door again, this time with her lips moving up and down, producing a bell-like laughter. *If heard in a park during the afternoon, this laughter would feel sweet, but in this environment, it merely made one’s skin crawl and scalp tingle with fear.* Run Sheng raised the shovel again and struck. "Smack!" The woman’s face disappeared once more. However, her laughter grew louder, not confined to the immediate area but spreading out and gradually echoing throughout the entire underground palace. The originally green fireflies began to glow red, casting the underground palace in a blood-red light. The white-green pond around the large bed also started bubbling, as if it had begun to boil. Even the golden canopy above the bed swayed without wind, clearly revealing the figure of a woman dressed in luxurious red clothes sitting inside. The woman’s hair was still black, shiny, and smooth, cascading down her back and spreading out behind her. With the swaying of the canopy, her arms began to twist eerily, and even her hair started to sweep and turn slowly. Soon, the woman’s two arms straightened backwards, and the two previously hidden hands appeared at the back, facing Li Zhiyuan and the others. The movement of her hair resembled a head turning. Even though the face was concealed beneath the hair, it felt as if her head had already twisted fully around. She was previously facing the palace; now, she faced the main entrance. Ahead, beyond the door, the woman’s face kept poking out, still laughing. Behind them, the woman in the bed, whom they had thought they had safely passed, had "awakened." This left the four trapped in the middle, unable to advance or retreat. However, Li Zhiyuan understood the reasoning behind this setting. This underground palace wasn’t a tomb, but more of a sacrificial site. By comparison, the "woman opening the door" artwork on the walls of the burial chambers in later tombs could only be considered a pale imitation. The owner had personally constructed this site; she’d even opened the real door herself, just waiting for the woman at the door inside to lead her into the blissful world! It was the woman peeking out from behind the door who triggered all this. *But what exactly was she? Why did she choose to appear just when his group was ready to leave?* If she’d taken the others through earlier, that would’ve been easier—an empty and safe underground palace would be much better, especially since they were merely passing through to take shelter. "Xiao Yuan?" Run Sheng gripped the half-shovel, seeking guidance. Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin pressed closely against Li Zhiyuan, instinctively protecting the young man in the middle. But now, a decision needed to be made. "Bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz!" From below the pool, the sound of heavy objects scraping echoed as the entire bed was lifted. Eight individuals emerged from the water, hoisting the bed on their shoulders. The men at the four corners were wearing leather armor, resembling the man they’d seen when they first entered the underground palace. As they surfaced, their eyes were closed, but liquid still trickled from their eyes and mouth, unlike the other corpses, which leaked water; this silver substance looked like mercury. "Refined mercury corpses..." Sёarch* The NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Wei Zhengdao’s "Jianghu Chronicles" mentioned this type of corpse, placed at water burial sites to protect the tomb owner. Regular corpse diver would never encounter this kind because they don’t rob tombs; only water monkeys specialize in such matters. Besides these armor-wearing men, evidently left here long ago with the woman in the bed, there were four others, wearing long fitted coats with long braids at the back of their heads. These four Qing Dynasty men were most likely the predecessors who left the Yellow River Shovel behind. Li Zhiyuan recognized them as predecessors, not water monkeys, because water monkeys usually act in groups, like the twenty people in Ding Dalin’s team, which was considered a small party. Here, there were only four, and no other bodies were around. The pool water bore a strong scent of the Water Corpse, suggesting it had preservation qualities, as these people’s clothes and bodies had neither rotted nor swollen, staying well-preserved. The eight carried the bed out of the water pond and up the stairs, each step bringing immense pressure. "Hee hee hee... hee hee hee..." The laughter behind the ajar door continued. "Xiao Yuan!" Run Sheng shouted again; now was the moment to make a choice. At this point, Run Sheng was already poised to dash through the door, and Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin were also ready. *Faced with the eight people carrying the bed and the mysterious woman seated atop, any rational person would choose to rush toward the door—as at least it was just a face!* But then, Li Zhiyuan noticed that among the Qing Dynasty men carrying the bed, the one on the right edge, though stiff in body and hands, maintaining the carrying and marching motion, his eyes darted left, right, and left again. Simultaneously, he silently mouthed: "This way... this way... this way..."

Chapter 368 - 65_6

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