The flare shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the hall as if it were daytime. The whistling sound startled me, and I ducked behind a rock, peering out from the side.

The main hall is about twenty meters high, with stalagmites hanging from the top, and the surrounding area is very flat.

Directly opposite the door we came through, the entire wall was carved with the ugly face of the tribal ruler.

Unlike the statues we've seen before, this face has a very large mouth that's pitch black inside, making it impossible to see anything clearly. But my first thought upon seeing this mouth was that it was the location of the third door.

Jiang Man and I were behind a stone platform to the right of the entrance. There were more than twenty such stone platforms in the hall, each carved with simple patterns.

On these stone platforms, some are adorned with jade sculptures, some with enormous seashells, and others with natural gemstones. Some platforms are now empty, or just piles of ashes, indicating they have rotted away.

The flare not only illuminated the main hall but also several figures on the opposite side.

The four remaining people from Ping'an Village, who were originally guarding the face, have now exposed their identities and are running quickly toward a stone platform.

"Bang! Bang!"

Gunshots suddenly rang out. Ah Bao fired two shots to suppress the enemy, then flipped over the stone platform and moved towards the other side: "They're over there, take them out!"

"Bang bang bang!"

As soon as the leopard fired the first shot, a gunfight broke out between the two sides. Gunshots rang out one after another, bullets flew and clanged.

Jiang Man looked at the two sides fighting, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes: "Duan Jinyan and his people are too crazy. I thought they would take forceful action, but I never expected it to be in this way."

Seeing the gunfight break out between the two sides, I was secretly pleased: "Go around to them, and if there's an opportunity, we'll capture Duan Jinyan!"

Jiang Man pressed my shoulder and walked past me: "They all have guns. This time, you'll follow behind me."

At this moment, Duan Jinyan and the others were focused on the people from Ping'an Village. I followed behind her and, using the stone platforms inside the main hall as cover, slowly moved closer to them.

The items placed on these stone platforms in front of us should be the burial objects from this tomb. Most of them are naturally formed, with only a small number of handmade items, including jade carvings, pottery, and some bronze jue (wine vessels) and xu (wine vessels), as well as some bronze plaques the size of playing cards, which either have openwork patterns or are inlaid with turquoise.

Although these artifacts are somewhat crudely made, they are extremely valuable.

Whether the Xia Dynasty truly existed has been a subject of debate in academic circles for many years. One point of contention is that the number of artifacts unearthed from the Xia Dynasty is pitifully small, and they are not recognized. Even the Erlitou and Xinzai sites are often considered by many to be civilizations from the Shang and Zhou periods. In the international mainstream society, the academic community does not yet acknowledge the existence of the Xia Dynasty.

The artifacts and murals in our tomb, however, truly prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty.

It is widely rumored that finding the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace is like opening a treasure trove. Although the items there may not be exquisitely crafted, just one piece would be enough to cause a worldwide sensation.

Normally, I would be deeply attracted to these things, but at this moment my attention was focused on Duan Jinyan, and I did not lose my focus on the objects on the stone platform.

Jiang Man led me around two stone platforms and hid behind a stone platform where coral was placed.

I glanced over there using the coral as a disguise. Under the fierce attack of Duan Jinyan and the others, the people of Ping'an Village had been blocked behind a stone platform and could not show their faces.

Unlike the people of Ping'an Village who stayed together, Duan Jinyan's group dispersed after choosing to attack, forming an encirclement to block the people of Ping'an Village and seizing the initiative in the shortest possible time.

Taking advantage of the fact that the people of Ping'an Village were unable to lift their heads due to the pressure, the leopard hugged the wall and quickly walked towards the huge human face opposite.

At this moment, Duan Jinyan and his group were all focused on Ping'an Village. While Leopard was moving, he was only concerned with avoiding the blind spots of those people's shots, but he completely exposed his back to me and Jiang Man.

Jiang Man saw the leopard appear, and with steady movements, she raised her pistol and aimed it at his back.

I had witnessed Jiang Man's marksmanship and knew that within this range, she could definitely blow Leopard's head off with a single shot, but I still held her arm and shook my head.

Seeing my movements, Jiang Man, hiding behind a rock, asked, "What's wrong? Is it because the leopard saved your life at the Ze King's Tomb, and you can't bring yourself to do it?"

"No, I just want him to draw the attention of those people from Ping'an Village."

I shook my head at Jiang Man: "If we fire now, Duan Jinyan and his men will definitely retaliate. With just one gun, we'll inevitably suffer losses once the two sides start fighting. So killing just one leopard isn't very meaningful. Let him go to the inner door. When the people from Ping'an Village see this, they'll definitely rush up without regard for the cost. As long as things get chaotic, we'll have a chance to make our move."

After I stopped Jiang Man from shooting at the leopard, I kept an eye on him.

The leopard was extremely agile. Taking advantage of its teammates suppressing the people of Ping'an Village, it moved towards that direction at lightning speed. As soon as it entered the mouth of the statue, it jumped out in less than two seconds, did a forward roll on the spot, and hid behind a stone platform: "Take cover!"

"boom!"

Before the leopard could finish speaking, a loud bang suddenly came from the statue's mouth, and flames flashed.

"Let's do it!"

When the people of Ping'an Village saw that the leopard had triggered the booby trap and appeared from behind the stone platform, they began to return fire with their guns and threw out several grenades.

"Boom!"

Several grenades exploded simultaneously, producing a deafening roar. The shockwave spread outwards, scattering the burial objects on the stone platform.

Taking advantage of the grenades providing cover, the people of Ping'an Village switched from defense to offense, emerging from behind the stone platform and rushing towards Duan Jinyan's group, clearly prepared to perish together with them.

"Bang bang bang!"

While Duan Jinyan and the others were dodging, the people from Ping'an Village opened fire continuously, and they no longer even bothered to dodge.

Duan Jinyan and his group were scattered in different places. Now, under the desperate charge of the Ping'an Village men, they were all pressed down so hard that they couldn't even lift their heads and began to retreat.

I saw Duan Jinyan about ten meters in front of me. I drew my knife and said to Jiang Man, "Get ready. When Duan Jinyan comes over, I'll pounce on him and grab him. If he resists fiercely, shoot him in the limbs! If his men come to take him away, then... just kill them!"