Chapter 43: The retreat is cut off

Everyone was amazed at Luo Mei's judgment. Fan Zheng questioned with a look of disapproval, "This is Shen Wansan's tomb. How could such a cunning man show mercy to those who defeated him? If we're not careful, the traps here will most likely kill us all! If you don't explain it right now, no one will recognize the path you're pointing to."

Du Yunzhang also said, "Yes, look at your monkey's terrified expression. This middle path must have some very powerful traps. But you insist on pointing out that this path is the right path. How can we trust your judgment?"

Luo Mei shook his head and said seriously, "As a tomb robbing professional, I've naturally experienced many dangerous tombs. Let me tell you honestly, there isn't a single tomb robbing operation that doesn't have traps. Shen Wansan was a wealthy man with a fortune that could easily topple a country, so how could there be no traps in his mausoleum? So, of the three entrances before us, if we choose the two without traps, the result will be nothing more than luring us out of the tomb and returning empty-handed. It is precisely the entrances with traps that will lead to the tomb owner's hidden treasure. Do you understand?"

Yin Chuan slapped his thigh, "That makes sense! You asked the monkeys to explore the way so that you could find out which cave entrance has the trap. That's the entrance we should take. If that's the case, I guess you should also have a way to deal with the trap inside, right?"

Luo Mei spread his hands and said, "Although I have seen many mechanisms in tombs, I have no idea what mechanisms are in the Shen family tomb."

"Then what should we do? We can't just take the risk and rush in in the dark, right?" Du Yunzhang asked.

"I have my own way of dealing with the authorities. As for you..." Luo Mei curled her lips, "That's not my responsibility."

"You..." Du Yunzhang's eyes widened again in anger.

"Oh! Of course, Du Yunzhang, since I'm asking you for help, you can naturally come with me safely. I can guarantee that. As for the others, I'll..."

Yin Chuan gently patted Du Yunzhang's shoulder, who was about to explode, and gave him a look, implying that he should be patient and wait and see how she would respond. Du Yunzhang naturally understood and nodded silently, but just sneered at Luo Mei.

"Since you are so confident, Di Feiyan, please go first." Fan Zheng said sarcastically.

Luo Mei ignored him, hoisting the little monkey onto her shoulders and slipping into the central cave without hesitation. Fan Zheng then waved to Yin Chuan, Du Yunzhang, and Lin Lang, inviting them to follow. Master Lan and his two concubines entered third, with him and his two followers trailing behind.

Yin Chuan noticed this cunning arrangement. It was obvious that Fan Zheng and his group were being extremely cautious, reserving the safest position for themselves. However, Luo Mei seemed to pay no attention to their little tricks and continued to move forward.

After walking for a while, Yin Chuan began to sense a strange, intermittent noise behind the group. It didn't seem to be coming from Tan Zhuozi and Yuan Laoer at the end of the group. And what made him even more terrified was that the sound didn't resemble human footsteps; it resembled the rubbing of two hard objects. Because the sound was so subtle, no one else noticed it. To avoid causing panic, Yin Chuan kept this discovery to himself.

The cave was very narrow at first, only enough for one person to pass through with a bent waist, but as they went deeper, the cave gradually became wider. The group moved forward slowly for about ten minutes, and the team was no longer in a straight line, but could gather three people horizontally. At this time, Luo Mei was using a flashlight to confirm the way forward, and found that he had reached a corner. At this moment, the walls above, below, left and right suddenly trembled, and there was a "boom" sound, which scared everyone's heart. Could it be that the killing mechanism in the tomb was triggered? Luo Mei hurriedly looked back, but saw that everyone's faces were pale, and people like the fourth and fifth concubines sat on the ground, screaming.

"What happened just now?" Luo Mei asked behind him.

Yin Chuan, Du Yunzhang and the others all shook their heads, saying they didn't know what was going on. Yin Chuan could no longer sense the strange sound.

"It feels...it feels like there's an earthquake behind me!" Master Lan said tremblingly.

Everyone looked back and saw Yuan Laoer, who was at the end of the team, leaning against the wall with his bag and camera on his back, panting heavily and pointing behind him...

"The road behind... the road behind is blocked by huge rocks on both sides!" exclaimed Tan Zhuozi.

Luo Mei pushed through the crowd and came to the end of the group. As expected, the passage they had come from was blocked by two huge rocks on either side. Looking closely, they saw many sharp corners and thorns between the two rocks. Yuan Laoer claimed that the camera he was carrying had accidentally fallen between the rocks and was probably crushed to pieces.

"My goodness! If the last person had been a step late, wouldn't he have been squeezed into a meat patty and stabbed into a meat skewer?" Yin Chuan sighed, taking a breath.

"Luckily, you're lucky!" Tan Zhuozi wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled the frightened Yuan Laoer to his feet. "But the camera is broken."

"Even if no one was injured, the way back is completely blocked." Du Yunzhang looked at Luo Mei, "I hope you know how to escape from the tomb safely."

"Of course, I know what's going on," Luo Mei said confidently. Du Yunzhang couldn't see any sign of panic on her face, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt for once.

"If everyone has no problem, let's keep moving forward." Luo Mei said to everyone.

Although Master Lan's two concubines were still frightened, they could not stay here for long, so they had to reluctantly support each other and follow Master Lan, praying in their hearts that they would not encounter such a deadly trap again.

As the tunnel widened, the group split into four groups: Luo Mei and Du Yunzhang walked in front, Yin Chuan and Lin Lang followed closely behind, Master Lan and his two concubines walked together, and Fan Zheng and his two men walked at the end. Having experienced the intimidation of the previous trap, Fan Zheng and his two men dared not slow down. They quickened their pace and followed closely behind Master Lan, keeping only two steps away at most.

As they turned the corner ahead, the cave road began to slope downward. Although the incline wasn't steep, it was becoming difficult for most people to move forward.

"Did you notice?" Du Yunzhang whispered to Luo Mei, "This passage seems not only to be going downhill, but also to be curved, as if we are spiraling downwards."

"Of course, how could I not feel it?" Luo Mei replied, "This is the first time I've encountered this kind of tomb passage. Generally speaking, even in the largest tombs, the coffins are not buried too deep. This would not only waste a lot of manpower and material resources, but is also unnecessary. And this spiral tomb passage we are walking in now must have been dug extremely deep. Could it be that Shen Wansan would be so reckless as to bury his own tomb so deep?"

"It's hard to say. After all, he's incredibly wealthy, so it's understandable that he would create a tomb that's incomprehensible to us."

Luo Mei shook his head. "Perhaps there is another possibility. Whether Shen Wansan's body is here or not is uncertain, but perhaps that rare treasure is buried here?"

"What? You still believe in the existence of the 'Cornucopia'?" Du Yunzhang asked in a joking tone.

"Who knows!" Luo Mei laughed and no longer paid attention to Du Yunzhang. Instead, he continued to explore the way forward with full concentration.