Chapter 1021 Tomb Passage
The moment she jumped down, she was met with complete darkness, but after landing, she saw the torches lit by the people who had jumped down earlier. The faint light barely illuminated the surroundings, and Green Silk immediately recognized that it was a fairly spacious stone chamber.
Calling it a stone chamber is a stretch; it's really just a stone cave, but it's clearly man-made. Although the surrounding stone walls aren't smooth, you can see deep grooves, obviously left by an axe.
However, they also understood that there was definitely more than just one cave here.
Green Silk looked up and saw that the person holding the torch had found a way out and was groping forward. The flickering flame illuminated the path ahead, which was about a person's height and less than ten feet wide. Like the stone cave, it was also man-made. The stone walls on both sides were full of jagged rocks. In the firelight, they looked like ferocious beasts that might jump out of the stone walls at any time, which made people feel scared.
However, at this point, even if there really were some monsters on the stone wall, and even if they were truly afraid, they still had to move forward.
So, two soldiers led the way with torches, Ashina Zhuxie led Lei Yu and Wang Shaoqiu behind him, several soldiers walked on either side, and Lüxiao and two young guards walked at the back. The group walked step by step along the seemingly bottomless passage.
The oppressive and suffocating feeling made it hard to breathe. Lei Yu looked around and frowned, "What kind of place is this?"
Ashina Zhuxie just stared ahead without saying a word.
He was unfamiliar with the customs and traditions of the Central Plains, and only wanted to find the legendary tomb of Zuo Gong, which was said to contain countless treasures. So, to him, this place was probably just a treasure cave. However, the soldiers who came with him, who were also hoping to make a fortune on this trip, excitedly said, "Is this the tomb of Zuo Gong?"
"Could there be treasure up ahead?"
"Great! Let's hurry!"
The crowd chattered amongst themselves as they cautiously made their way forward. Wang Shaoqiu grew increasingly uneasy, taking a torch from a soldier beside him and carefully examining the dark, sunless passageway and the stone walls on either side. With a hint of doubt, he said, "This... this doesn't seem like a tomb passage."
"The tomb passage?"
Upon hearing this, Ashina Zhuxie turned and glanced at him: "Why?"
Wang Shaoqiu said, "If it's a tomb passage, someone would have to carry the coffin down. Zuo Chen'an was the Duke of Xiaoshan during his lifetime, and he should have been buried with three coffins and one outer coffin. This tomb passage definitely cannot accommodate a coffin of this type."
Lei Yu nodded upon hearing this.
Born into an official family, she was young but knew some funeral etiquette. For example, when buried, the emperor had five coffins and two outer coffins, while princes and dukes had four coffins and one outer coffin. Zuo Chen'an was a duke, so he could only have three coffins and one outer coffin according to the rites. Even so, the coffins were very large, and this small tomb passage could barely fit them. It would be almost impossible to carry anyone else in.
She frowned and said, "You mean, this isn't where Zuo Chen'an died?"
If that's the case, and Zuo Gong's suspected tomb isn't here, then what can they do coming down here?
Upon hearing this, the people around him hesitated, but Wang Shaoqiu immediately said, "It seems that's not the case, but that 'Young Master Jia' must know about the clues to Zuo Gong's suspected tomb, which is why he left without saying goodbye. We must find him to benefit from this. He couldn't have gone anywhere else; he must be in this cave."
Ashina Zhuxie nodded: "We'll talk about it after we find him."
As they spoke, they had already walked more than ten feet forward. The distance was not far, but because it was pitch black and the passage was extremely narrow, they walked very carefully.
Just as Ashina Zhuxie finished speaking, a Turkic soldier walking in front suddenly stopped.
The people behind him also quickly stopped and looked at him cautiously: "What's wrong?"
The soldier listened intently ahead and said, "It sounds like there's wind."
"wind?"
This is a cave underground where the sun never shines. Where does the wind come from?
Although everyone was puzzled, once they quieted down and even subconsciously held their breath, they did hear a faint whooshing sound coming from the other end of the cave. Moreover, the torches in their hands were trembling slightly, clearly indicating that they felt the wind.
Could there be another hidden world at the other end of this cave?
A glimmer of hope rose in some people's hearts. Even if it wasn't Zuo Gong's suspected tomb, no one would dig a hole in the mountains for no reason. Perhaps there were some treasures hidden here.
With that thought in mind, everyone urged each other to move forward, while Green Silk, who was at the back, subconsciously clenched her sleeves.
Just as Wang Shaoqiu had said, she realized that this was probably not Zuo Chen'an's tomb passage, unless he didn't care about the regulations for his own burial and just did it hastily; but obviously not, since this person could set up so many false tombs to protect himself, he would definitely not just settle his affairs with a thin coffin.
However, whether it was a woman's intuition or not, she instinctively felt that this place seemed to be a tomb passage.
Because when the wind blows, it brings not only the dampness and earthy smell unique to the earth, but also an indescribable heavy deathly aura. If this is not Zuo Chen'an's burial place, then whose is it?
Thinking about this, she became increasingly nervous.
Just then, the soldier at the front suddenly stopped: "Ouch!"
The people behind him were startled and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Did you hear something else?"
"Don't make a fuss."
The soldier stopped, looked down at his feet, and asked, "What is this?"
Upon hearing his words, everyone instinctively crowded around. Someone lowered their torch, which immediately illuminated the ground beneath his feet, revealing a pile of rotten wood in the corner of the passageway.
It looks like it has been chopped and repaired. There are not only planks and sticks, but also some thin wood shavings that have been shaved off by a plane. I don't know how long it has been here, but most of it has rotted into dust.
How could something like this be here?
Although it wasn't anything dangerous, the more ordinary something was, the more eerie it seemed in a strange place. The group became increasingly cautious and took two more steps forward. Suddenly, they felt a chill coming from ahead, as if a breeze was blowing.
The torches in their hands suddenly burst into flames, and everyone felt a blur before their eyes, then everything became clear.
Ahead, there was a huge stone chamber!
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