Master Duan!
When I heard that name coming from ahead, my body instantly stiffened.
When Song Laosan first mentioned Duan Jinyan to me, he referred to him as "Second Uncle," and also said that my aunt had died in the Lingbi massacre.
Therefore, Duan Jinyan is the second oldest in his family, and this address of "Second Master Duan" is clearly a way of addressing Duan Jinyan.
Song Laosan also heard the noise from ahead and gently nudged my body with his elbow.
After thinking for a moment, I didn't rush forward. Instead, I dimmed my headlamp, keeping the light source so that I could only see within a two-meter radius around me, and pressed it against the wall on one side.
At this moment, a male voice came from the corridor again: "This is a side chamber, not the place we are looking for. We just used the serpentine camera to observe the situation after the main burial chamber. The tomb door inside has been dug out with many hollow holes and has been reinforced with molten iron, making it very difficult to break through. The tomb walls on both sides are about half a meter thick. The terrain here cannot be breached by blasting. Use an ultrasonic thickness gauge to check the wall thickness of the side chamber. If it is less than thirty, we will conduct a directional test."
As the conversation began, I heard footsteps ahead. Fearing I would be exposed, I quickly turned off my headlamp.
For the next while, rustling sounds could be heard from inside, but it seemed they had entered a side room.
The monkey, who was standing beside me, was getting impatient: "Young Master Duan, now that we've found the person, what are we still waiting for?"
I listened intently to the sounds inside and said in a deep voice, "They should still have five people. If we rush in directly, it will only escalate the conflict and we'll likely suffer losses. I'm waiting for them to use targeted explosives."
About five minutes later, a sound suddenly came from inside: "Take over the fire."
"ring!"
With a single word of response, a sudden "boom" came from inside, followed by a gentle breeze and a slight tremor in the ground beneath my feet.
A few seconds later, a flashlight beam appeared in the darkness ahead, and a male voice commanded, "Old Li, Da Feng, stay outside. The rest of you come in with me!"
"Smack!"
I heard the sounds inside, snapped my fingers softly, and then, feeling my way along the wall, led Song Laosan and Monkey forward.
At the end of this corridor is another horizontal corridor, with walls carved to resemble the main gate of a courtyard house. The main tomb chamber is modeled after the gate of a royal palace, and there are many smaller doors on the side.
At this moment, the small door next to the main gate had been opened, and the light of a flashlight could be seen coming from inside. From our angle, we could see that the courtyard wall on the side closest to the main tomb chamber had been blown open by a directional blast, creating a large hole. Two people were guarding the entrance to the hole, one of them peeking inside, while the other was smoking.
Song Laosan, hidden in the shadows, saw the two men's movements and gently raised his hunting rifle: "At such close range, using deer bullets can incapacitate them. Next, as long as we plug the hole created by the blast, it will be difficult for the people inside to get out."
After listening to Song Laosan's words, I didn't give an immediate answer, but instead stared at the two people inside and started to think.
At this moment, I am only separated from Duan Jinyan, whom I have been searching for, by a room and a wall, and the straight-line distance is no more than twenty meters.
Ultimately, I sought him out because of the unbreakable blood ties between us, not for revenge. Given a choice, I didn't want our first meeting to begin in a tense and bloody manner.
Just as I was pondering whether to take Song Laosan's advice, I heard a shout coming from inside the tomb: "Old Li, stay outside! Dafeng, come in and help!"
The man smoking threw away his cigarette butt: "What happened inside?"
A response came from inside: "We've run into trouble! There are six identical stone coffins in here. Opening the wrong one could be a disaster. Bring the snake-tube camera in!"
The man named Dafeng agreed, put on his gas mask, and went into the inner tomb chamber. The man named Lao Li also shone his flashlight inside, seemingly curious about what was inside.
Seeing that there was only one person left in the tomb, I knew I couldn't miss this opportunity, and I was the first to move over: "Make your move."
As we moved, the "clattering" noise of a jackhammer hitting rocks came from inside the tomb. Old Li, who was guarding the entrance, was so loud that his ears hurt and he immediately looked away. But as soon as he turned around, a flashlight shone on us.
My original plan was to use the noise inside to sneak in, subdue Lao Li, and take him hostage. This would protect our safety and also serve as leverage in negotiations with Duan Jinyan.
Now that I've been exposed, I'm not going to hide anymore. I raised my gun and aimed it at Lao Li, but I didn't fire. I didn't intend to hurt him; I just wanted to force him to hide in the main burial chamber. If he chose to move to the other side, I would not hesitate to shoot, in case his resistance would buy time for the people inside to escape.
"flap!"
When Old Li saw my movements, he was like a slippery eel, instinctively squeezing through the hole in the wall into the main burial chamber.
I saw Old Li hide inside, turn on his headlamp, and step into the side room.
Under the beam of the flashlight, the room was filled with burial objects, many of which had been blown away by the shockwave of the previous explosion, and some of the jade pillars on which the burial objects were placed were also leaning to one side.
I heard the sound abruptly stop coming from the main burial chamber, pointed my gun at the hole, and decisively pulled the trigger.
Thump!
Gunshots rang out inside the tomb, bullets scattering sparks.
I shouted, "Listen up, everyone inside! The only exit here has been sealed off! Don't even think about forcing your way in. Bullets don't have eyes; I'll shoot every single one of you who comes out!"
A voice soon echoed from inside: "Friends outside! A leaf can hide in the forest, a whale can plunge into the sea. We're just here to tread the waters, not to cultivate immortality. Leave a narrow path at the door, and we'll each go our own way!"
This is slang in the industry, meaning that they only want to excavate the tomb and not take anything. They don't want to fight us to the death. As long as we are willing to give them a way, they will let us have the tomb. Otherwise, if we are not willing to give way, the people inside will have no choice but to fight to the death.
I originally wanted to speak directly to Duan Jinyan, but thinking of Huang Qiurong's attitude when she learned my identity, I patiently replied: "The rosy clouds reflect on my official robes, and the idle clouds divide me into two ends. I do not envy the emperor on earth, but only want to be an official in the underworld."
What I'm saying is a secret code within the four gates, not something that circulates in the martial arts world.
The so-called rosy clouds are the rising sun, and the official robes are the official uniforms. The phrase is taken from the meaning of judging a case, which is the character "审" (shen). When put together, it means "shenyang". The clouds are divided into two, which is the character "断" (duan). The second half of the sentence has already revealed the theme. Put together, this sentence means the Duan family of Shenyang, who specialize in tomb raiding.
After I finished speaking in my coded language, there was a few seconds of silence in the main burial chamber, followed by a male voice: "My name is Duan Jinyan. Are you here to see me?"
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