Upon entering the inner chamber of the tomb passage, even with a gas mask on, a faint stench could still be detected.

The monkey sniffed gently: "Young Master Duan, is the stench in the air the smell of a corpse?"

"Logically speaking, ancient tombs shouldn't have such a strong stench, because the ancients would have used preservation methods. Even if the body had really decomposed, the smell should have dissipated after so many years. Perhaps there are gases with an odor, such as ammonia or hydrogen sulfide, here."

I shone my flashlight ahead: "Go over there and everything will be clear."

Snap!

Just as I was about to take a step, a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder and pushed me forward.

Turning my head, I saw Ma Zhenhong had just been pushed over by the shark, and I was alone behind him.

I stumbled and nearly fell. I wanted to scold Ma Zhenhong, but I found that his arms were tied with a belt.

Thinking back to that eerie face I'd just seen, I felt a chill run down my spine: "Old Ma, did you see anything behind us just now?"

"ah?"

Ma Zhenhong was distracted at this point: "Didn't you trip over your own feet? What happened?"

"It's alright, let's go!"

I saw the shark enter the tomb passage, and I mustered my courage to walk forward, while also gripping the peach wood sword at my waist.

I am 100% certain that someone pushed me from behind just now, and I even felt the grip of their hand.

But Ma Zhenhong behind him simply couldn't do that.

The thought of the human face behind the tomb chamber gave me a strong sense of oppression in this enclosed space.

To enter the rear chamber from the front chamber, one must pass through a five- or six-meter-long tomb passage, with murals on both sides depicting the ceremonial procession of the deceased during his lifetime.

Right now, all I can think about is the hand that was on my shoulder, and I have no interest in looking at the mural on the side.

After nearly ten days of effort, we finally entered the main burial chamber, which was about forty square meters in size.

The flashlight beam swept across the ground ahead, revealing a number of utensils. First, there was a stone table with cups, bowls, pots, plates, bottles, saucers, and other porcelain items, some of which had rotted and dried out.

Even after a thousand years, the porcelain on the table still shines as brightly as new after the dust is wiped away.

The monkey looked at the things on the table and excitedly waved its arms and legs: "Judging from the glaze, they are all celadon from the official kiln! We're rich! We're rich now!"

My attention wasn't on that; I continued shining the flashlight forward.

The main burial chamber is square in structure, with a circular dome overhead painted with a sky full of stars. To the west is the stone sarcophagus of the tomb owner.

This stone sarcophagus is about the same size as a common earth god temple, carved into the shape of a large hall, with carved beams and painted pillars on the walls, a pointed roof with flying eaves, and two stone doors in front, with tomb guardian warriors carved on the stone doors.

The term "coffin" refers to a coffin used to hold a corpse, much like a bed for the dead.

The outer coffin is the outer coffin, equivalent to a curtain and a room.

Feudal society had a strict hierarchical system, and there were strict restrictions on who could use an outer coffin and how many layers of outer coffins should be used.

Besides the stone table at the entrance to the tomb passage, there are more than a dozen one-meter-tall terracotta warriors standing side by side in front of the coffin, guarding the entrance to the stone sarcophagus.

Two large boxes and a large number of burial objects were placed around the terracotta figurine.

There were many bronze and ironware, gold and silverware, jade, bone, wood and lacquerware on display, and even a chessboard.

The monkey's eyes lit up with excitement as he looked at the burial objects in the room: "My luck has finally turned around, Zhao Qinghou! Young Master Duan, we're going to be rich! Any one of these items could easily sell for hundreds of thousands, right?"

The shark looked at the enormous coffin and smiled. "After overcoming countless hardships, we've finally entered this tomb. Everyone, split up and search. Our targets are the books and bamboo slips!"

I nodded and walked towards the stone sarcophagus: "It's all clear here. See if what you're looking for is in those two boxes!"

To be on the safe side of any traps in the tomb, I proceeded with great caution. As I approached the stone sarcophagus, I vaguely saw a kneeling figure among the armored warrior figures, so I shone my flashlight on it.

At first, I thought this kneeling figurine was a kneeling statue of Li Mao made by Li Fan, so that he would repent before his own coffin for all eternity.

But when we shone the flashlight up, we discovered that what was kneeling there wasn't a terracotta figurine at all, but a person with their back to us.

The man knelt upright in front of the stone coffin, dressed in modern camouflage clothing, and remained motionless.

"Holy crap!"

The monkey, following behind me, was startled when it saw a person ahead: "What the hell is that person?"

"Everyone, don't move!"

My hair stood on end instantly. I shone my flashlight on the ground and my breath caught in my throat.

The ground around that person was covered in years of accumulated dust, without any footprints.

If this kind of topsoil is faked, it will look very obvious, meaning that no one has ever been around him.

But if that's the case, why is this person kneeling here?

"A ghost! He's a ghost!!"

Ma Zhenhong screamed, "The ghost I saw earlier was wearing this outfit! It passed right under my nose and through the outer gate!"

Even someone as oblivious as Monkey sensed something was wrong and pointed his bayonet at the kneeling man in front of him: "Are you a human or a ghost? Don't scare me!"

The "person" in front remained kneeling upright, silent.

"This outfit looks familiar..."

Seeing that the man was kneeling and not moving, the shark mustered up its courage, stepped forward, and nudged the man's shoulder.

Glug!

The man fell stiffly, still kneeling.

When I saw this person's face, cold sweat instantly broke out on my body.

I recognize this face.

Just now, when we were in the antechamber, this was the face looking at us through the tomb door.

He still had his eyes open, his cloudy eyes staring at me, filled with resentment.

It was unclear how long this person had been dead; his skin was slightly swollen, giving him the appearance of a giant, and the stench of his corpse in the room was coming from him.

Looking at the corpse's hideous face, I instinctively clenched my fists.

The foul odor in the air indicated that his body was already showing signs of decomposition, and a dead body could not possibly be kneeling so upright.

"I know him! He's Gong Yingfa!"

Shark shone his flashlight on the corpse's face, also looking surprised: "His father's name is Gong Ming. This father and son are the second batch of tomb raiders we hired to find the grave! But why is he here?"

Ma Zhenhong shouted loudly, "He's a ghost! He's the same ghost I saw before!"

"How could someone from outside suddenly appear in this tomb?"

I looked at the body lying on the ground, trying to calm myself down: "Everyone, split up and search the room to see if there are any holes left by thieves!"

"Young Master Duan, do you really think they broke in through a tunnel?"

The monkey looked at the thick layer of dust on the ground and the footprints we left behind: "None of the artifacts in this room have been moved, and there are no footprints on the ground... this..."

The monkey's words echoed my own doubts: "Don't scare yourself, look for it first!"

"A ghost! The ghost is here again!"

Ma Zhenhong suddenly screamed and stumbled behind the stone coffin: "There's an old man in the tomb passage, watching us and laughing!"