There is nothing else in the tomb passage as a reference point; the only reference point is the "light" at the end of the passage. The light is directly in front of you, and if you keep walking towards the light, your brain will subconsciously believe that you are walking in a straight line.

But the human brain can sometimes lie.

That little bit of "light" took advantage of this, keeping them going in circles.

"Could it be a mural with the same content in another place?" Qiu Wanlan still couldn't believe it. The Tang Dynasty Mausoleum is so big, it's normal to have a few similar murals.

"You don't believe me?" Zhang Fan drew the dagger from his waist and plunged it into a crack in the brickwork of the tomb passage wall.

"Walk!"

The two continued walking towards the light. A few quarters of an hour later, Qiu Wanlan saw a dagger stuck in a crack in the brickwork of the tomb passage ahead.

Qiu Wanlan felt a chill run through her heart.

"Why is this happening? We were clearly moving forward the whole time."

"Let's try going back." Zhang Fan said, turning around and walking back. Qiu Wanlan quickly followed.

A few quarters of an hour later, the two saw the dagger stuck in the wall of the tomb passage again.

"Amazing!" Zhang Fan exclaimed with admiration. "The design of this tomb passage is truly ingenious, making full use of the human brain's erroneous perception of three-dimensional space."

"Is this the time to admire them?" Qiu Wanlan said, both angry and anxious. "If we can't get out, we might be trapped here for the rest of our lives."

“That stone door is just the first line of defense. To prevent tomb robbers, one line of defense is far from enough. This tomb passage should be the second line of defense.” Zhang Fan pulled the dagger off the wall. “If I’m not mistaken, we should be trapped in a figure-eight shaped tomb passage, so no matter which way we go, we will eventually return to the starting point.”

“But the exit is clearly right there.” Qiu Wanlan pointed to the “light” at the end of the tomb passage.

“That wasn’t ordinary light,” Zhang Fan said. “That was a guiding ‘ghost fire’.”

"Will-o'-the-wisp?" Qiu Wanlan moved closer to Zhang Fan again. "Is it related to ghosts?"

“The phenomenon of white phosphorus spontaneously combusting in the air has nothing to do with ghosts,” Zhang Fan said, shaking his head. “You have to believe in science.”

"The will-o'-the-wisps are very light, and the tomb passage is a closed environment. Our breathing and movement here will disturb the air and create convection, which in turn will push the will-o'-the-wisps floating in the air. The airflow pushes the will-o'-the-wisps forward, making it look as if the will-o'-the-wisps are always leading the way."

"Then... what do we do?" Qiu Wanlan was now completely dependent on Zhang Fan.

“There must be something we’ve overlooked in the darkness between our torches and will-o’-the-wisps.” Zhang Fan thought for a moment, then lowered his head. “Let’s try going through it again, paying close attention to the tomb passages on both sides.”

Zhang Fan left a mark on the wall, and then the two continued walking forward. A few minutes later, they returned to the place where the mark was.

"Did you notice anything different?" Zhang Fan asked.

"Nothing's different." Qiu Wanlan was stunned. "Isn't it the same as the previous times we walked through?"

“I’m talking about the murals on the wall.” Zhang Fan walked up to the mural depicting the Tang Emperor performing surgery on a Yaksha demon. “Only this mural has a different style.”

"In other words, the exit should be in this painting."

Qiu Wanlan also came forward and carefully examined the mural, but after looking at it for a long time, she still couldn't see anything unusual about it.

Zhang Fan focused his attention on the Tang Emperor in the mural. The Tang Emperor had his hands raised, one hand holding a scalpel, and the other hand pointing upwards with his index finger.

Zhang Fan raised the torch in his hand to illuminate the area above the tomb passage.

"Get in." Zhang Fan squatted down and patted his shoulder.

"What are you going to do?" Qiu Wanlan asked, full of questions, but still sat astride Zhang Fan's shoulders as instructed.

"See that brick that's a different color?" Zhang Fan straightened up and pointed to the top of the mural. "Try pressing it."

Qiu Wanlan rested her left hand on the mural, raised her right hand to reach the red brick, and pressed it down hard.

Click click click—

The sound of gears turning filled the air again, and the mural in front of them suddenly opened behind them. Qiu Wanlan almost lost her footing and fell, but luckily Zhang Fan caught her. A staircase leading down appeared before them.

As the two entered the staircase, the mural behind them closed automatically. Having experienced the stone door before, Qiu Wanlan was not surprised.

The torch illuminated the entrance to the staircase, a spiral staircase with no end in sight, its destination unknown.

Zhang Fan led the way, with Qiu Wanlan following closely behind. Once they entered the stairwell, the view suddenly opened up.

This is a stone staircase built on a huge stalactite, spiraling down around it, surrounded by the open space of an underground cave.

The torches could only illuminate the other stalactites nearby, so it was impossible to know how big the underground cave was.

It took the time it takes to drink a cup of tea for the two of them to reach the cave floor. Zhang Fan silently counted the steps they had taken; there were over a thousand. If each step was 10 centimeters high, the cave must be over a hundred meters high.

Upon reaching the ground, one finds rows of bluestone slabs laid out on the ground, stretching into the distance.

The environment here is very humid, and you can hear the dripping sound of water. Zhang Fan guessed that there must be an underground river nearby to form such a large cave.

Zhang Fan walked ahead, with Qiu Wanlan following closely behind, her eyes occasionally glancing around and above her head.

Above the bluestone path they walked on, countless slender arms stretched down and swayed in the air, as if ready to grab the people below at any moment.

"Rumor has it that there are 'ghost hands' in the Tang Emperor's tomb that will drag anyone who enters into hell." Qiu Wanlan looked at the countless hands above her head and felt a chill run down her spine.

“That’s not a ghost hand, it’s an aerial root that’s extended from some kind of plant.” Zhang Fan looked up and saw that the dense aerial roots looked like a kaleidoscope of hands. In the dark and damp environment of the cave, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it “Ghost Hand Hell”.

Ding!

Zhang Fan suddenly stopped, and Qiu Wanlan bumped into him unexpectedly.

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop walking?"

Zhang Fan didn't speak, but pointed ahead.

Qiu Wanlan looked ahead in the direction he pointed and saw a "person" standing in the middle of the bluestone slab, blocking the way forward.

It has a head and four limbs, and it is indeed in the shape of a human.

Zhang Fan stared at the person blocking the way for a long time. The person was wrapped in bandages all over his body, like a mummy.

The bandages were rotten, and there was a strong musty smell in the air. A wisp of air was attached to the mummy's neck, making it look like a hanged ghost being held by a "ghost hand".

"These don't look like tomb raiders; they look more like people who were hanged and buried alive as funerary offerings." Zhang Fan looked at Qiu Wanlan with some doubt. "Didn't they say that the Tang Emperor had already abolished the custom of burying living people with the dead?"

“That’s a death row inmate.” Qiu Wanlan pointed to the brand that was revealed on the mummy’s face after the bandages had come off.

"Let's go over there, and try not to run into him." Zhang Fan continued walking forward, skirting around the mummy.

If this mummy was a condemned prisoner from the Tang Dynasty, then it has been dead for over a thousand years. It is truly unbelievable that the body could remain intact in such a damp environment as an underground cave.

Just as Zhang Fan and the mummy passed each other, the mummy raised a hand and placed it on Zhang Fan's shoulder.

Zhang Fan's pupils contracted instantly, and he reflexively rolled to the side, dodging the mummy's claw attack.

It can move?

Zhang Fan was a little confused; this went against common scientific sense, my friend.

The mummy was already upon him. Without thinking, Zhang Fan kicked it away, drew his dagger, flipped over, and pounced on the mummy without hesitation, plunging the knife into its heart.

Zhang Fan felt as if he had just been kicked in a muscle, and he suspected that the creature was alive, so he aimed his knife straight for its heart.

hoarse~

The mummy, however, seemed unaffected, letting out a roar as its mouth split open to the sides, reaching behind its ears, and lunged at it with its large, open mouth.

Holy crap!

Zhang Fan shoved the torch into the mummy's mouth. The oil on the torch sizzled inside the mummy's mouth, and the mummy began to struggle violently.

It seemed that burning was effective, but one torch could not burn the entire mummy. Just as the torch in the mummy's mouth was about to go out, Zhang Fan remembered something and used his dagger to cut off the "ghost hand" attached to the back of the mummy's neck.

The mummy twitched a few times and then stopped moving. The body visibly shriveled up rapidly until only a human skin remained.

call--

Zhang Fan stood up and exhaled. This sudden turn of events had startled him into a cold sweat.

"Let's keep going."

Zhang Fan waved to Qiu Wanlan, but Qiu Wanlan's eyes widened in terror as she backed away, pointing behind Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan suddenly turned around and looked behind him...

puff, puff, puff—

A dozen or so mummies were thrashed about as they were lowered down by the "ghost hand".