The flames erupting from the ground were so fierce that the translator let out a single wail before collapsing backward to the ground.

"Help!"

Xu Hu, who was closest to the translator, roared and started throwing dirt at him with a shovel, while the others took out water bottles and splashed water on him.

No matter how hard we tried, the flames on the translator's body didn't diminish; they burned even more fiercely, as if gasoline had been poured on them, and his bones were crackling from the heat. It was clear that he was beyond saving.

The spot he had just dug through was right at the entrance to the ramp leading into the tomb chamber; the flames acted like a door, blocking our way out.

Seeing the translator turn into a charred corpse in just a few seconds, Song Laosan tried to block the vent, but the walls and floor of the tomb had been reinforced and there were no usable materials. He stamped his feet in frustration: "This underground fire is not naturally formed, but rather seems to be a kind of anti-theft measure. We don't know how long it will burn. We can't stay here and wait to die, otherwise the high temperature and lack of oxygen will be fatal!"

Qu Ruilin was the first to arrive at the bottom of yesterday's tomb: "Come over here, a few people, and take me inside the tomb. I'll go up and pass the rope down!"

The rising heat from the flames turned the small space into a steamer. In that critical moment, I disregarded my personal grudges with him, walked over, interlaced my fingers, and let him step on my palm.

Xu Hu and two other members of the Wei family pressed themselves against the wall, preparing to form a human ladder.

"Snap!"

Just as I lifted Qu Ruilin up, I suddenly heard a cracking sound.

Before I could find the source of the sound, my feet suddenly gave way, and I felt weightless as I plummeted downwards.

In the chaos, someone shouted, "The tomb has collapsed!"

...

I was woken up by the urge to suffocate!

In a daze, I felt a pair of hands tightly gripping my neck, making it hard for me to breathe.

A strong will to survive gave me the strength I don't know where I got it from, and I reached out and pushed forward.

But there was nothing in front of me.

I opened my eyes and found myself in complete darkness. I felt excruciating pain all over my body, and even with my mouth wide open, I couldn't breathe in any air.

I fumbled around my waist and found that the flashlight from the multi-functional belt was still there.

The light shone, illuminating the small space around me.

I had no idea where I was. Beneath me was a layer of mud, behind me was a wall made of blue bricks, and in front of me was a sloping stone slab, trapping me in a triangular space.

After figuring out my situation, I took off my gas mask, gripped the 1000ml portable oxygen cylinder, and took a deep breath.

The feeling of being able to breathe freely finally gave me a sense of being alive again.

Many works related to tomb raiding record the rule that people should light candles, ghosts should blow them out, and that one should not touch gold when the rooster crows and the lamp goes out.

This is indeed an old tradition in the tomb raiding industry, but its actual purpose is to remind tomb raiders not to raid tombs during the day to avoid being discovered. The main reason for lighting candles is to determine whether there is oxygen in the tomb. Historically, there have been quite a few tomb raiders who died in tombs due to lack of oxygen.

However, this method is not safe, because candles can easily ignite flammable gases in the tomb and cannot detect some of the toxins in them.

In today's technologically advanced world, this old method has been phased out. For example, Wei Shengnan and her team now carry gas detectors specifically designed for mines.

We had considered the possibility of oxygen deficiency beforehand, so everyone was equipped with two canisters of portable oxygen.

Before we set off, Wei Shengnan gave us a brief training session. She explained that this type of oxygen cylinder can be pressed about two hundred times, and each press should not exceed one second.

In other words, these two canisters of oxygen can only sustain my breathing for about six minutes.

Time was of the essence, and without checking for any other wounds, I drew the Two Realms Blade from my waist and began frantically digging through the rubble on my side.

In the cramped space, the sound of metal rubbing against stone echoed continuously, and my hands trembled along with it.

Judging from the brick wall behind me, I must have fallen directly from the false mound into the burial chamber below, which explains the man-made traces.

I kept praying that I was trapped under the collapsing slabs, rather than completely buried, otherwise I would have had no chance of escaping.

The stones on both sides of the slab were piled up very tightly, and I had great difficulty digging with my rusty two-section knife.

When the second canister of oxygen was about to run out, I finally cleared away the rubble in front of me, only to find an even bigger rock in front of me. I pushed and kicked it, but it didn't budge an inch.

Looking at the stone in front of me, I suppressed the despair in my heart and kept hacking at it with the Two Realms Blade. The clanging sound made my eardrums hurt.

By the time the blade broke, my hands were covered in blood, and only a few shallow marks remained on the stone.

"hiss!"

I put the oxygen cylinder on my nose and face, but the oxygen inside had already been used up.

The feeling of oxygen deprivation returned; I opened my mouth wide, but couldn't inhale a single breath.

In just over ten seconds, my vision began to go black, as if an invisible pair of hands were squeezing my lungs, forcing my last breath of air into my head. My head and eyeballs felt like they were exploding, and my ears started ringing.

"Clang!"

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard a loud bang, and then a hand grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out.

The lack of oxygen made my vision go black. Although I could feel the beam of a flashlight shining on my face, I couldn't see anything.

Feeling the oxygen mask covering my mouth and nose, I began to greedily inhale the air, and my wildly beating heart gradually calmed down.

After receiving oxygen, my discomfort gradually subsided, and I finally recovered.

Looking out in the dim light, I could see that I was lying in a wide and narrow tomb passage.

The tomb passage is about three meters wide and nearly four meters high, resembling a city gate, and is many times more magnificent than Li Fan's tomb.

The spot above my head was the breach in the collapsed passage, which had been blocked by collapsed loess, preventing a complete collapse of the tomb passage. It was truly fortunate.

Seeing that the person in front of me was Qu Ruilin, a look of surprise flashed in my eyes: "You actually saved me?"

Qu Ruilin replied coldly, "I didn't expect the person I dug up to be you."

I could feel someone shining a flashlight on my face earlier, so I knew Qu Ruilin was just being stubborn. I looked at him gratefully and said, "Thanks!"

Qu Ruilin gestured with the air detector in his hand and tossed me a canister of oxygen: "The oxygen concentration here is below 10%, and the carbon monoxide concentration is extremely high. Put on your gas mask and go find the others."

"Carbon monoxide is a flammable gas. Could it be that we started the fire because we cleared this tomb passage?"

I thought for a moment, then immediately dismissed the guess: "No, carbon monoxide can burn, but to reach the intensity of the flames we saw before, this place would have exploded long ago. We must have triggered a mechanism in the Void Tomb. The purpose of those flames was to deplete the air inside, suffocating the tomb raiders! We dug a passage beforehand, increasing the oxygen content and allowing for more complete combustion, which is why the ground beneath our feet collapsed due to thermal expansion. And we all ended up in the underground tomb by accident... This is the real Tomb of the Demonic Monk!"

You guessed right.

Qu Ruilin gestured to the pottery shard in his hand: "I found pottery shards in the collapsed soil. There should have been a lot of pottery placed under the burial mound to hold flammable materials."