According to Wei Shengnan, the ghost temple I saw outside and the monks I was harassed by were all because the valley was filled with a lot of hallucinogenic substances.

Although I'm skeptical of this claim, it's not without its merits as a reasonable explanation.

At this moment, while I was in the burial pit, I suddenly saw a row of monks sitting on the steps in front of me, chanting wooden fish. My first thought was whether I had inhaled some hallucinogenic substance when I took off my gas mask earlier.

Qu Ruilin then shone his flashlight in that direction: "That's right, there are indeed many people striking wooden fish ahead, but when we were up there, there was clearly nothing on the other side!"

On the other side of the tomb, above the wall, sat a row of monks sitting cross-legged, all wearing orange robes that covered their entire bodies, striking the wooden fish in front of them.

"Tap tap tap tap..."

The sound of the wooden fish, which should have brought peace of mind, now sounded eerie.

Before them lay a field of grotesque, corpse-like figures, and behind them appeared a row of monks striking wooden fish drums.

It felt as if they were beating war drums, urging these shadowy corpses to charge at us.

"Oh shit!"

Qu Ruilin was clearly frightened by the situation and drew his pistol from his waist, ready to shoot at the monks.

"Don't shoot!"

I grabbed Qu Ruilin's wrist: "The situation here is too strange. Be careful that the gunshots don't cause any unnecessary trouble!"

"Would you dare come near us if we didn't take care of these guys?"

Although Qu Ruilin spoke calmly, his slightly trembling hands were enough to prove his true feelings.

But what I'm worried about is something else entirely.

I'm afraid that the Qu Ruilin I'm talking to is a fake.

Just like the monkey that "didn't exist" beside me on the day I was trapped in the ghost temple.

If I am truly hallucinating, perhaps what I am holding right now is not his wrist, but rather a corpse.

Thinking about this made my stomach churn, and I felt so nauseous that I wanted to vomit.

Qu Ruilin was annoyed by the sound of the wooden fish: "Duan Shenxing, what should we do now? Think of a solution!"

I turned my head and stared intently at him: "How can you prove to me that you really are Qu Ruilin, and not something I've imagined?"

"Are you crazy?"

Qu Ruilin seemed quite annoyed by the question I posed under these circumstances, but seeing my expression, he pondered for a moment: "Where there is a large mountain with little water and no dragon's lair, termites will surely infest it. Where there is a small mountain with a large water and no dragon's lair, there will surely be a spring. If grass and trees grow on all sides but not on the grave, the coffin will be full of termites. If only moss grows on the grave and not on any side, the coffin will be full of spring water... This is the 'Earth Eye Grave Divination Formula,' different from the Duan family's 'Mountain-Turning Mirror.' You can't possibly conjure up this kind of knowledge on your own."

Upon hearing Qu Ruilin's explanation, I tightened my grip on his arm holding the gun.

Qu Ruilin winced in pain and shook off my arm: "Duan Shenxing, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing his actions, I could finally confirm that I wasn't hallucinating.

This means that the row of monks striking the wooden fish is a real person.

Not long ago, I opened the self-locking stone of this demonic monk's tomb, becoming the first person in a thousand years to enter this tomb.

How did these monks appear, and how were they able to move around like living people?

Besides ghosts, I can't think of any other explanation.

But even if there were ghosts, I had no way out at this point.

Be careful!

I said three words to Qu Ruilin, then drew the Dragon-Subduing Wooden Sword from my waist and held it together with the flashlight. I picked up the crutch key again and began to push the Yin Corpse forward to the sound of the wooden fish.

The rotting corpses crashed to the ground, splattering flesh everywhere and covering me completely. I could even feel the pieces of flesh sliding across my body.

Just as we reached the middle of the mass grave, I suddenly stopped.

Seeing that I had stopped, Qu Ruilin cautiously asked, "What's wrong?"

I turned to look at Qu Ruilin, who had an eyeball hanging from his head: "Besides the sound of the wooden fish, did you hear any breathing? Like that kind of heavy, labored breathing, like an old ox panting?"

"Hiss!"

Just as I was speaking, a heavy breathing sound rang out in perfect harmony.

"Hiss!"

Even amidst the disturbing sound of the wooden fish drum, these breathing sounds were exceptionally clear.

Qu Ruilin paused, his ears perked up, and said, "I don't think it sounds like breathing. It sounds more like the sound of water coming out of the pipes when the water supply is restored after a water outage."

"Damn! There's a trap here! Get out of the grave quickly!"

Qu Ruilin's reminder pulled me back from the bizarre thoughts I had woven for myself.

Ever since those monks appeared, I've been wondering if there really are ghosts in this tomb, completely ignoring the four-word mantra of calmness, composure, and lightness.

"Gurgle!"

As Qu Ruilin and I sped up, the sound of our panting was replaced by the sound of flowing water.

Just as Qu Ruilin said, this was clearly the noise made by water flowing in the pipes.

Piling sand and filling it with water are the most common methods of theft prevention.

It seems that the anti-theft measures for this burial pit were not only to store corpses containing venom, but also to fill it with groundwater.

In this way, the corpse fluid would mix with the water, completely blocking the tomb raiders' path. The reason it wasn't directly changed to a river was probably to prevent tomb raiders from using boats to avoid it.

Qu Ruilin is a smart man. At this critical moment, he didn't waste words with me and took the initiative to stand in front of me to clear the way.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly paused: "Have you noticed that the sound of the wooden fish has stopped?"

I shone my flashlight behind him and saw that the monks who had been striking the wooden fish had disappeared, and we could hear the sound of flowing water around us: "Never mind, let's get up there first!"

Qu Ruilin crouched down by the wall, weaving through the horde of corpses: "Step on my shoulders, quick!"

I swung the rope with the grappling hook up there, found a foothold, stepped on Qu Ruilin's shoulders, nimbly climbed up, and pulled him up as well.

"Splash!"

As soon as we stepped onto the ground, two bricks next to the pit of corpses were washed away by the water. The rushing groundwater was fierce, knocking down a large number of corpses, and the water level rose at a visible speed.

I shone my flashlight on the spot where the monks had just appeared, but there was no trace on the ground.

Twenty meters above your head is a stone slab roof, inlaid with many gems and jade, simulating the stars in the night sky.

"call!"

Qu Ruilin looked at the floating corpse and let out a long sigh: "We were being so careful just now, how did we trigger the mechanism?"

"have no idea."

I shook my head blankly, then walked towards the palace: "The ground here is too flat. I don't know if the water in the mortuary will rise up. There are too many germs in there. Let's go up the steps to higher ground first and avoid this poisonous water!"

Qu Ruilin followed: "Those monks who appeared out of thin air just now suddenly disappeared. Do you really want to continue going in?"

I turned my head and saw the water surface, which was almost level with the mass grave, along with countless pieces of corpse and corpse oil. I smiled bitterly and said, "Do we have any other choice?"