After hearing the engineer's words, the monkey was completely dumbfounded: "Damn it, I've been in this business for so long, and this is the first time I've ever heard of encountering steel bars while tomb raiding!"

“During the late Qing Dynasty, there were still many such tombs. Later, many of them were converted into fortresses by the Japanese devils because they were located in secluded areas and were well-constructed.”

I turned to the engineer: "Won't the explosion collapse the tunnel below?"

"If the information you provided is correct, the possibility is unlikely. The shock wave from this type of directional blasting is mainly downward. If the support points on both sides are strong enough, the possibility of a collapse is not high!"

The engineer paused for a moment: "We have enough manpower here. Even if there is a landslide, we can use manual excavation. It's much better than not being able to even break through the soil."

"That makes sense, let's do it your way."

After listening to the engineer's words, I waved my hand again, signaling everyone to step back.

"boom!"

This directional blast was mainly to break up the ground, so the ground beneath our feet shook noticeably.

Once the smoke cleared, the engineer went over to take a look, waved to us, and said, "The demolition was a success; the entrance is open."

Upon hearing what the engineer said, we all gathered around.

After several explosions, a funnel-shaped crater was blasted open in the ground, and at the bottom appeared a dark hole about half a square meter in size.

As soon as the monkey got close, it frowned at the smell: "Ugh, what's that smell? It's like the sauerkraut jar has gone bad!"

"The sealing of the Vajra Wall is somewhat like the legendary Dragon-Slaying Stone. Once sealed, it can never be opened again, so craftsmen need to work on both sides at the same time. There must be workers trapped and died inside this tomb passage."

I could also smell the pungent, fishy stench in the air: "Everyone, step back and wait for the smell to dissipate before going in. Do not use open flames near the entrance. The tomb passage is well-sealed, and the methane produced by the decomposing corpses could explode."

Upon hearing this, the monkey took a few steps back and asked me, "Young Master Duan, do you think there might be secret passages or something left by the craftsmen inside this tomb that would allow us to take a shortcut?"

“In the late Qing Dynasty, tombs were rarely sealed with craftsmen sacrificing their lives. These 'impregnable walls' were usually built by condemned prisoners, and they did so voluntarily. If these condemned prisoners were willing to build the tombs, their families could receive a large sum of money. In that turbulent era, it was common for people to sell their children to make ends meet, so it was not difficult to select a few condemned prisoners.”

Looking in the direction of the blast, I said to the engineer, "You'll have to come in with me in a bit; we're going to conduct another blast."

"You mean, to carry out the explosion inside that tunnel?"

The engineer licked his lips: "I just observed from up above and found that the passageway below isn't very wide. If there's a mistake in operation, it could easily cause a collapse!"

The monkey also asked, "Young Master Duan, do you mean there's another Vajra Wall behind us?"

"The Vajra Wall will be gone, but there will definitely be a sealed gate."

I explained to the monkey, “In the Qing imperial tombs, the rear chamber where the coffin is placed is generally called the Golden Vault, and the front chamber is called the Small Hall Vault or the Doorway Vault. When we enter the Small Hall Vault from the tomb passage, and then enter the Golden Vault from the Small Hall Vault, we will encounter two sealed doors! Since this tomb used death row inmates to seal the Vajra Wall, there must be another sealed door behind it to prevent them from returning to the tomb passage.”

The engineer didn't seem to care about the content of our conversation. He looked at me very seriously and said, "My orders are to fully cooperate with you, but not all terrains are suitable for blasting. So I can only go in with you to take a look. If it's possible, we'll blast it. If the environment doesn't allow it, there's nothing I can do."

I nodded and said to the monkey, "Go find some dry grass, roll it into a ball, light it, and throw it towards the entrance to see if it will cause an explosion. Also, test whether there is any air in the tomb passage."

As I instructed, the monkey quickly threw the burning bundle of grass into the passage.

After waiting for seven or eight seconds, the monkey leaned over and took a look: "Young Master Duan, the bundle of straw is still burning, and the smell around it has faded a bit."

Seeing that it was already 11:20, I got up and walked over there: "Let's go down and take a look."

Soon, the engineer, the monkey, and I were lowered into the tomb passage by ropes from above.

Upon entering the tomb passage, the pungent smell hit us again, not only foul but also making us want to vomit.

I rehydrated the towel, which slightly reduced the odor, and stepped forward.

We hadn't walked far when we saw corpses all over the ground.

These corpses were reduced to skeletons, but their robes remained intact.

The monkey, seeing the clothes the corpses were wearing, asked me, "Young Master Duan, didn't you say that those who do this kind of work are all death row inmates? How come they're dressed so nicely?"

"Nonsense, death row inmates are human too. They risked their lives to build the tomb, so why can't they wear a new set of clothes before they die?"

I continued walking forward and saw the engineer following steadily beside me. I shone my flashlight on him and said, "I didn't realize you were so brave."

"We've gotten used to it. We've been building roads in the deep mountains and forests for years, doing things like cutting through mountains and digging tunnels. We've encountered all sorts of strange things, so we're used to it now."

Although the engineer said this, his eyes kept avoiding the bones on the ground, whether he didn't want to look at them or was observing the terrain.

After walking another ten meters or so, the road ahead was blocked.

Before us were two symmetrical stone doors, carved with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns, with a padlock hanging in the middle.

The monkey was overjoyed when it saw the lock on the door: "This tomb door is cleverly designed! There's only a lock on it. If we break the lock, won't we be able to open it?"

"If this door is just a lock as a so-called anti-theft measure, then the designer is far too mediocre! Any designer who can design such a tomb is no ordinary person; they are all highly skilled craftsmen with extraordinary expertise. The ingenuity of their design and the uniqueness of their imagination are beyond the comprehension of ordinary tomb raiders."

I tapped the lock on the door with my knife: "This lock is just for decoration; it's sealed off with a threshold."

The monkey used his flashlight to check the door lock: "Oh, I see! There's a lock here mainly to block the keyhole of the scissor-shaped key with a bolt! But we didn't bring any of those things with us on this trip!"

I took the crowbar the monkey handed me, pried off the lock lug, and tapped the hole in the door: "This door is at least fifteen centimeters thick, smashing it open is definitely impossible, the only way is to blow it up."