Chapter 42: The First Agency
Everyone wanted to go check it out immediately, but Luo Mei whispered a reminder: "Don't move whoever is holding the grass, or all your efforts will be wasted!"
Upon hearing this, Yin Chuan, Du Yunzhang, and Tan Zhuozi all hesitated to act rashly, their curiosity suppressed. Fan Zheng was the first to rush forward, following Linlang's direction. Sure enough, he spotted a dark hole at the edge of the gap between the stone and the ground. However, the hole was small, seemingly only wide enough for one person. He even doubted whether Master Lan, with his massive frame, could fit through it.
"Isn't this too small?" At this time, Master Lan also discovered the entrance to the cave and said with a frown.
"It doesn't matter if you don't go down, as long as Yu Zhenzhu goes in with us." Fan Zheng said.
"How can that be? If the Fourth Concubine doesn't have me by her side, she might go crazy any day. Who among you can calm her down then? Of course, you men can restrain her by force, but I'm afraid you won't get far with such a burden dragging you along."
Fan Zheng thought about it and it made sense. "But with your plump body, how are you going to fit into such a small hole?"
"That's not a problem—" As he spoke, Master Lan fumbled around his waist with his hands and quickly untied a thick bag. His waistline immediately shrank noticeably. "This is my most precious possession. I brought it with me this time, and it wouldn't be safe anywhere else, so I just tied it around my waist. Should it be okay now?"
"Mr. Lan, you really try your best to save money." Yin Chuan said sarcastically.
"There's no other way. As someone of my status, how can I not have a backup plan? I always suffered losses in the past. Alas, I'm afraid of losing." Master Lan sighed.
"I say, how are we going to get in like this?" Du Yunzhang asked Luo Mei impatiently.
"Let them go first, and we'll go down together at the end. It will take some time for this stone mechanism to return to its original position."
Luo Mei's words sounded nonchalant, but when they reached Fan Zheng's ears, they made him inexplicably wary. "Second Brother, you go down first," he ordered his men.
Yuan Lao Er obeyed the boss's orders without hesitation. He bent down and slipped into the cave in the blink of an eye. Fan Zheng asked below, "How is it? What's going on down there?"
"Boss, it's quite spacious down there." It was Yuan Lao Er's voice. "It's all smooth stone, nothing else."
Only then did Fan Zheng feel relieved and went through the entrance. Following behind were Master Lan and his fourth and fifth concubines. Linlang had wanted to help Yin Chuan, Du Yunzhang and the others, but who would have thought that Tan Zhuozi suddenly got in first. Now one side of the mechanism was unmanned, and the four people on top suddenly felt the stone slowly moving back to its original position.
"Damn it, you bastard! Isn't this a scam?" Luo Mei couldn't help but curse.
When Linlang saw that something was wrong, she hurried forward to take over from Tan Zhuozi and pull the weeds over there.
"Don't waste your energy, just go down quickly!" Luo Mei shouted at Linlang.
Yin Chuan also called out, "Linlang, hurry in first, we'll be there soon."
Since Yin Chuan said so, then it had to be done. Thinking of this, Linlang shouted, "You must follow closely!" Then, she rushed to the cave entrance and quickly got in.
"Old Yin, hurry up!" Du Yunzhang called out.
Yin Chuan did not hesitate and followed closely after letting go.
"Hurry up and catch up!" Du Yunzhang called Luo Mei again.
At this moment, the two of them could clearly feel the stone's force of recovery getting stronger and stronger, and the cave entrance was getting narrower and narrower. Luo Mei glanced at Du Yunzhang, gritted his teeth, and quickly got in. Fortunately, Du Yunzhang was agile. Just as the stone was rapidly recovering and the width of the cave entrance was about to reach its limit, he jumped in. As he entered, the stone just happened to cover the cave entrance.
After everyone entered the tomb, someone took out a lantern to illuminate the area. Luo Mei was furious and went up to Tan Zhuozi to argue, "Who told you to let go? Are you trying to kill us?"
Tan Zhuozi was quite confident and said, "I only listen to our boss. What's the matter? When will it be your turn as a bitch to teach me a lesson?"
"You——" Luo Mei's eyes widened with anger.
Yin Chuan hurriedly tried to persuade them, "Alright, alright, since everyone is safe and sound, don't complain. But, Miss Luo, the stone mechanism that seals the entrance has been sealed from the outside. How are we supposed to get out?"
"Don't worry about that. Based on my years of experience in tomb robbing, I know that since there's such a sophisticated entrance mechanism, there must be an exit..."
Du Yunzhang interrupted her, "Come on! This is a tomb. Would the tomb owner leave an exit for tomb robbers? Are you dreaming?"
Luo Mei snorted dismissively, "You know shit! The tomb owner naturally wouldn't leave an exit, but don't forget, in order to strictly protect the secrets of the tomb, the owners of those large tombs would most likely seal the craftsmen who built the tomb inside when it was completed. Naturally, the craftsmen were no fools either, and they would definitely leave a way for themselves to escape when they built the tomb. That's what I mean by an exit. You, a layman, don't make a fool of yourself in front of the experts!"
Du Yunzhang was furious, but what the other person said made sense and he had no way of refuting it.
As the two of them were arguing fiercely, Fan Zheng, who was at the front of the group, looked ahead with a lantern and asked in confusion, "How do we get here?"
Luo Mei ignored Du Yunzhang and walked over to Fan Zheng, looking at where his gaze was focused. There was a fan-shaped earthen wall in front of them, with a hole on each of the left, center, and right sides of the wall, making it clear that only one of the three could reach the main tomb chamber.
"Let me see..." Luo Mei said, cautiously moving forward to observe. After a moment's hesitation, she lowered the little monkey down again, placing it in front of the three holes and whistling again. The little monkey stared intently at the three holes, scratching its head and ears for a long time, refusing to enter any of them.
"Hey, is it being lazy? I'm going to teach it a lesson!" Tan Zhuozi said impatiently.
Luo Mei glared at him and pulled out a pistol from his waist. "Who dares to touch it? Don't blame me for being rude!"
Tan Zhuozi was startled and wanted to confront Luo Mei unconvinced. Fan Zheng quickly stopped him, "Zhuozi, please be patient and wait and see what it can find."
The monkey looked left and right, then stared at the hole in the middle with its eyes wide open. Suddenly, it squeaked sharply, as if there was something terrible in the hole in the middle.
"It seems that the middle entrance is a dead end. We can only choose from the two entrances on the left and right." Du Yunzhang nodded and said.
"But this little monkey only said that there is a problem with the middle hole, but it is not clear which one is correct, the left or the right. What should we do?" Linlang asked in confusion.
"No, quite the opposite." Luo Mei smiled, "Let's take the middle path!"
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