The master Liang put down the food in his hands and briefly narrated the backgrounds of the two individuals to us. The two bosses from Guangdong, the one with the surname Wang is called Wang Qi, and the one with the surname Li is called Li Pipa. Both of them are from Foshan and have a significant reputation in the local antique community. We already know about Li Pipa’s background, which is largely built on the “He Mu Ji,” a record of numerous ancient tomb locations.

The reason I know this is that I once eavesdropped on his conversation with Lao Yang, but everything he said was just his side of the story, and some of it might have been exaggerated, so we couldn’t be sure. However, hearing Master Liang speak about it now makes it sound much more credible.

Wang Qi’s family background isn’t as illustrious as Li Pipa’s, but it is more genuine. His ancestors worked as “Chao Feng,” which refers to employees in pawnshops who sit at high counters and quickly assess the value and authenticity of items. Among them, those responsible for high-value item appraisals and daily administrative tasks are called “Da Chao Feng.” A Da Chao Feng in a large pawnshop can be said to have seen the most treasures in the world; they have encountered all sorts of rare and peculiar items. Wang Qi’s ancestor was a famous Da Chao Feng named Wang Xianchu, who, in his later years, wrote a notebook titled “Gu Yu Zhai Qi Jie Yu Lu.” This book is considered a rare gem, documenting all the unusual items he encountered throughout his life, along with detailed descriptions from their owners and his assessments, providing strong lateral reference value for archaeological work.

Wang Qi himself isn’t highly educated, but he has an excellent memory. He has read the contents of “Gu Yu Zhai Qi Jie Yu Lu” multiple times and has unconsciously memorized everything. Once, at a street exchange meeting, he saw a white jade lion that resembled a type of treasure box recorded in “Gu Yu Zhai Qi Jie Yu Lu.” In front of everyone, he followed the record from the book and put the white jade lion into a cup of tea. Before long, the lion opened its mouth and spat out a gold leaf. From that moment on, Wang Qi became famous and couldn’t be stopped.

As for when these two came together, Master Liang couldn’t say for sure, and as a master, he felt it wasn’t appropriate to ask.

At this point, I asked Master Liang why they had come here in person this time. These people are used to a life of luxury; how could they endure such trouble?

Lao Yang replied, “What’s so hard to understand? This is what we call ‘idle money burning a hole in their pockets.’ When they have too much money, they forget who they are and seek out their life’s value. Some people, despite being wealthy, still go begging; that’s nothing unusual.”

Master Liang chuckled and said, “I initially thought the same, but later I realized it wasn’t. This time, they are very determined. In my estimation, there may be hidden motives, and the answer lies within this ancient tomb.”

I asked him, “By the way, Master, since you’ve read ‘He Mu Ji,’ do you know what path we should take after entering the waterfall?”

Liang Shiye glanced at me and said, “This ‘Hebumu Collection’ is a treasure of Li Pipa. I only managed to take a few glances at his notes after Li Pipa died. As for the other contents, I’ve seen quite a bit, but I didn’t see the part about entering the ancient tomb. That thing was later taken by that boss with the surname Wang, and I never had the chance to look at it. However, judging by what I saw yesterday, the entrance to the ancient tomb is likely right below the pile of corpses.”

Since Liang Shiye said he didn’t know, we had no choice but to believe him. After finishing breakfast, we shouldered our backpacks. I loosened Liang Shiye’s belt, then took off my own shirt and tied it around my waist, tightening my shoelaces. Once the three of us were ready, we reached the stone beam and began to attempt the first step down.

Ironically, among the three of us, I might have been the one with the best physical strength, so I took the torch. Back in the Lu Wang Palace, I was merely a sidekick, and yet this time I was entrusted with such an important responsibility; I didn’t even know how that happened.

That said, I had no words for the situation we were in now. We slowly lowered our bodies down the cliff, crawling toward the pitch-black bottom of the cave.

The climb was arduous, and there were several times when I nearly slipped off the cliff. However, overall, while it was steep, it wasn’t too difficult to climb; with a brave heart and careful steps, even a young girl could make it down, albeit taking a bit more time.

Halfway down, Liang Shiye’s legs were already trembling. It seemed he wasn’t used to climbing mountains. It took him a good half a pack of cigarettes before my feet finally touched the long-lost ground.

Looking at the corpses from the ground, a strong, indescribable fear washed over me. These corpses were likely those of sacrificial slaves or prisoners of war, having rotted away in the damp, cold cave, shielded from the sun for years. Their bones had developed a moldy blackness, and the air was thick with a strong musty odor. Many of the corpses had been dismembered, their expressions twisted in agony, and I even noticed that many seemed to have fangs.

I helped Liang Shiye down from the cliff. He staggered and stepped on a skull, crushing the already rotten cranium and creating a hole in it. Luckily, I caught him, or he would have fallen in. After he finally steadied himself and wiped the sweat from his forehead, he said, “I must apologize for making you laugh. I’ve been weak and sickly since childhood, easily knocked down by the wind. With my physique, I doubt I’ll have another chance at this tomb-raiding business.”

I comforted him a bit, raised the torch to illuminate our surroundings, and looked for a way forward.

The corpses piled up like mountains, and between them, a narrow path led straight ahead. With our limited torchlight, we could only see a few meters ahead; beyond that, everything was shrouded in darkness. However, when we looked from above the cliff, we had already confirmed that this path led directly to the flat ground. It seemed that as long as we moved forward, we would reach our destination.

Liang Shiye was too exhausted to continue, so I suggested he take a breather here and also take a look at the situation with the corpses around us.

After wandering around for a while and observing, I noticed Liang Shiye’s expression had changed noticeably, so I asked him, “What did you figure out?”

He said to me, “It seems there are some corpses here that aren’t human; the structure of these skulls is off.” I felt a chill run down my spine and thought, could they be zombie bones after a corpse transformation? I quickly asked him if these weren’t human, then what could they be?

Master Liang replied, “Right now, it’s hard to tell. If you want to know, I need to look at a few more, preferably find some that haven’t completely rotted. I wonder if there are any deeper in this pile of corpses; do you want to take a look?”

Old Yang gasped and said, “You make it sound easy. The corpses here are shrouded in such heavy yin energy; there are definitely signs of corpse transformation. If a zongzi (a type of corpse) pops out, we didn’t bring any black donkey hooves. You can’t jump or run, and if things go wrong, all three of us might end up here.”

I shared Old Yang’s thoughts and said to Master Liang, “No need; we’re not conducting research.”

Master Liang probably had heard enough about zongzi before, and he nodded at us, saying, “I’m just saying; if it were up to me, I wouldn’t want to do it either.”

I noticed the torch had been burning for a long time and was burning quickly. The flame wouldn’t last much longer, and if it went out in a place like this, it would be life-threatening. It would be very difficult to make another light source, and in the worst-case scenario, we would have to feel our way along the corpses, so I urged them to move on without resting too much, squatting for a moment before pushing them to continue.

We walked along the path, flanked by rows of corpses. In the middle of the corpses, I was somewhat relieved to see many stone figures mixed in. The bottom of the cave was dirt, which surprised me. Walking on it didn’t feel very solid, and thinking that these black things might all be decomposed remains made my feet feel cold.

After a while, the flame of the torch grew smaller, and the range of light gradually shrank. We quickened our pace and began to jog forward. Before long, I found it strange; from the cliff above, it was only about two hundred meters down. Even the weakest among us should have reached it in five minutes. How had we been walking for nearly fifteen minutes without seeing any sign of that pit? Were we lost in the darkness?

We ran for a while longer, but it was the same as before; all we could see were piles of bones, and further away was just a dark expanse. I couldn’t help but curse inwardly; I had miscalculated. I hadn’t expected that down here, visibility would be limited by darkness. No matter where I looked, it all looked the same, and now I had no idea which corner we had ended up in.

At this moment, Master Liang could no longer hold on. He grabbed me, gasping for breath, and said, “Little Wu, stop… running. It’s… useless. We might have fallen into a trap.”