The cliff was over ten feet high, with some trees growing on it. Blackie had already climbed up, and the others followed. When they reached the middle of the cliff, Blackie stopped on a protruding rock and took out a shovel to dig.
Before long, a stone slab with obvious artificial traces appeared. The eyes of the people next to them immediately lit up. This was clearly the sealing stone at the entrance of the ancient tomb.
Without further ado, the group took out shovels and started digging. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the outline of a five-meter-high stone gate appeared in front of them, with haphazardly laid stone slabs in the middle.
One of the lean men said excitedly, "Burying a tomb on a cliff must be a custom of the original Shu people. The tomb entrance alone is so grand. The identity of the tomb owner must be extraordinary."
The Monkey King, standing to the side, said with a hint of smugness, "Of course, don't you think the treasure land our Blackie found would be anything but ordinary?"
The lean man was about to say something when Blackie waved his hand to interrupt him, "Put down the explosives!"
The group understood each other perfectly. In this remote mountain area, no one would care if you set off some explosives in the middle of the night, and the town's police station would turn a blind eye.
A moment later, accompanied by a loud bang, earth and rocks flew everywhere. The group were all experienced. A large hole was blasted into the cliff, and when the flashlight shone on it, a stone door could be vaguely seen behind the broken sealing stone.
The group worked together to clear out the stone door, which was about three meters high and consisted of two tightly closed doors. Blackie squatted in front of the door for a while, then closed his eyes and reached out, groping and tapping. After a while, he opened his eyes, took a black pen from his pocket, and drew a square on the stone door.
The others were all experts, so without further ado, they picked up steel chisels and started hammering. Once the entire frame was cleared, Blackie showed the Great Sage Equal to Heaven his 'two hammers' (a tool for breaking stones), held his breath, and hammered five or six times in a row. The frame of the stone door broke open, revealing a dark hole, and a chilling aura immediately wafted out.
The group was startled. The chilling aura seemed to emanate from an extremely yin place. Even Blackie himself looked surprised. Those in this line of work know that extreme yin in a tomb means that the tomb is an ominous tomb, or even a tomb of great misfortune.
The tomb door had been opened, and gusts of cold wind blew out, making everyone feel a chill. Among them, Blackie was the calmest. He took out a torch he had made beforehand, lit it, and threw it inside, but it went out before it even hit the ground.
Old Man Hei frowned, beckoning to the Monkey King to take a square wooden box. He opened it and took out a bronze lamp, its surface covered in patina, giving it an ancient appearance. Upon seeing the lamp, the others all became serious. Among the experts in the surrounding area, who didn't know about the bronze lamp in Old Man Hei's hand? It was said to be called the Soul-Suppressing Lamp, but no one knew exactly where it came from. Some said Old Man Hei had stolen it from an ancient tomb, while others said it was a family heirloom.
The so-called "soul-suppressing lamp" is actually an oil lamp placed in front of the coffin after someone dies in the countryside. According to rural customs, it can guide the soul of the deceased back to its rightful place and allow it to rest in peace. If the lamp goes out, it implies that the deceased has great grievances and is unwilling to close his eyes in peace.
But Blackie's Soul-Suppressing Lamp is different. It is said that it can suppress vengeful spirits and evil ghosts that have become powerful. Villagers in the surrounding area know that if any family suffers misfortune after a death, as long as they ask Blackie to place the Soul-Suppressing Lamp on the coffin, the world will immediately be at peace.
Even before entering the ancient tomb, Blackie has already brought out the Soul-Suppressing Lamp, which shows just how extraordinary this ancient tomb is.
Blackie's expression softened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; the soul returns to the netherworld. Wrongful spirits and evil ghosts are not scary; what's scary is ourselves. Sometimes, the human heart is the most terrifying thing in this world." Blackie said this with a profound meaning, then gestured for the Great Sage Equaling Heaven to tie the rope and light the soul-suppressing lamp. The others shone flashlights behind him, and he climbed down first.
The group climbed down one after another, and shone their flashlights around. They discovered that the entrance to the tomb was actually a stone chamber the size of a house, with gusts of cold wind blowing from who-knows-where, making them feel their scalps tingle.
The group were all seasoned veterans and quickly calmed down. Blackie held the Soul-Suppressing Lamp with exceptional caution.
By the light, everyone noticed a stone carving on the right wall of the stone chamber. Blackie walked over with the Soul-Suppressing Lamp in hand, staring intently at the carving, and muttered to himself, "Could there really have been a people who worshipped the Shu Immortals thousands of years ago?"
The picture depicts a scene of a sacrificial ceremony, in which the ancient Shu people, dressed in rough animal skin clothing, cheer around a huge bronze human-faced statue. Some captives from other tribes are bound up, their heads are cut off, and the blood flows down the ground into the bronze human-faced statue, making the scene appear extremely bloody.
For some reason, the group felt that the bronze human face was somewhat strange, as if it were looking at them...
In the very center of the stone chamber, a stone coffin stood, surrounded by piles of skulls, seemingly those of the prisoners who had been beheaded. Several people stood around the coffin, silently observing and waiting for Blackie to make a decision; only Blackie had the right to speak here.
Blackie's expression was calm. The flames on the Soul-Suppressing Lamp in his hand grew increasingly eerie. He stared at the stone coffin for a long time. "This place is extremely Yin. This tomb is located on an extremely Yin vein, and the coffin is situated at the opening of the Yin vein. If I'm not mistaken, the real burial chamber is behind this coffin."
As he said this, Blackie's originally calm expression suddenly turned serious. "Tombs are extremely yin, and are prone to producing evil spirits."
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