The cliff beneath the bridge is about five meters deep, and the walls are covered with layers of water ripples.
This further confirms my hypothesis, indicating that the water level here has been declining year by year until it disappears.
To prevent the presence of other traps and hidden weapons in the river, I carefully stayed on the edge, checking the wall near the stone gate.
Not long after I walked, I saw the wall ahead casting shadows in the light of my flashlight.
Peeking inside, I saw a space that looked like a sewer, with many thick railings at the entrance. I walked over, squatted down, and shone my flashlight inside.
The moment the light shone into the pipe, I was startled to find myself staring into the eyes of a skeleton inside.
The railings of this sewer are made of some unknown metal and are severely corroded, while the skull inside has changed color due to rust.
Judging from the posture, the skeleton's owner was likely an underage boy. He died with his hands gripping the railing and his mouth wide open, clearly indicating that he drowned in the pipe.
Further on, there are four such pipes, each filled with a large number of skeletons.
Wei Shengnan jumped down, looked at the human bones in the pipe, and then pulled off a half-rotten railing: "These railings were first outlined outside the pipe, then positioned correctly, and finally secured with stones to the grooves at both ends. This kind of process is very difficult to complete underwater, so the railings must have been installed first and then the water was poured in. So where did these skeletons come from? Were they from sacrificial slaves?"
I licked my lips: "It doesn't seem like it. The number of skeletons in these pipes varies, and there's no pattern to it. It doesn't conform to the ritual system of sacrifice."
Qu Ruilin squatted down beside him and shone his flashlight on the inner wall of the pipe: "Look here! There are obvious signs of human excavation here, but they are not regular. They should have been dug haphazardly. Although no tools were found in this pipe, I suspect they are probably rotten and gone. This means that these people were carrying tools when they were in the pipe. I suspect they may have been workers trapped in the tomb, trying to escape using this waterway, but unfortunately they drowned."
“I disagree.” I shook my head: “Look at those complete skeletons in the pipe. You can tell they were short in stature when they were alive, and they were obviously teenage boys! The Demon Monk’s Tomb was built in the mountains, requiring the quarrying of rocks. Such a large project would never have used these underage children. The diameter of this pipe is at most forty centimeters, making it difficult for adults to enter and exit. Therefore, these children must have been specifically responsible for the work inside the pipe.”
Qu Ruilin countered, "You saw it yourself, this pipe is only so big. Even a group of children couldn't possibly survive in this environment, could they?"
"Therefore, I suspect that behind these four pipes there should be a slightly larger space where they could move around! And it is very likely the location of the mechanism that uses water flow to open the stone door!"
I tapped on the heavily rusted railing with my tool: "I need to climb in and check."
Wei Shengnan volunteered: "I'll go. I'm thinner than you, so it will be easier for me to move around inside."
"I need to see the structure inside myself to understand the workings of the mechanisms. You can't do this for me."
As I looked at the remains being replaced in the pipe, I loudly recited the Rebirth Mantra while mentally preparing myself.
After the fence at the pipe opening was removed, I took the oxygen tank from Wei Shengnan, stretched my hands forward, and crawled into the pipe.
"Splash!"
The skeletons inside, still in their death poses, shattered the moment I touched them, and their skulls rolled in front of me like soccer balls.
Many bones that I accidentally pressed under me made a "crackling" sound as they broke, just like the children who drowned here were grinding their teeth in my ear.
After crawling forward about ten meters, the space finally opened up. I pushed the nearly blocked skeleton out and crawled deep into the pipe.
This is a slanted rectangular space, tilted to the right, with water ripples covering the surrounding walls.
The room was also filled with a dense network of iron chains connecting the walls on the left and right sides, and the bottom of the right wall had no sharp edges.
I walked over and hit it twice with the head of a high-powered flashlight. I could tell that it was dried soil mixed with bones. Judging from the marks, the water here was the last to evaporate.
Walking uphill, you can see that these iron chains extend from a gap in the wall. They must have undergone decarburization and heat treatment. Although they are severely rusted, they are not as rotten as the fence outside.
In addition, there is an even narrower pipe in the left corner, less than thirty centimeters wide, which I could never climb into no matter what.
After I finished the inspection, I climbed back up the pipe.
When Wei Shengnan saw that I had returned safely, she asked, "How was the situation inside?"
I drew a simple sketch on the ground: "There is indeed a mechanism behind the pipe. There is an iron cable extending from the left and connecting to the right wall. The space inside is tilted to the right, but it is very waterproof. I think the right wall should act like a piston. After the water is injected, it will push the stone on the right to move downwards, pulling the iron cable and dragging the stone door above."
Looking at my sketch, Qu Ruilin raised a question: "Isn't that unlikely? The riverbed outside is open and can't create high pressure. Even if water is poured in, the pressure is constant. How could it possibly move that stone gate?"
"What I just said was just a guess. After all, besides the right wall, there's only a very narrow pipe on the left. I have no idea what kind of mechanism is behind these stones."
I paused for a moment: "The detection mechanism isn't the most difficult problem. As you've seen, there's no groundwater in this ancient tomb. If this mechanism really is activated by water, we have no way to bring water in, which means the mechanism inside is useless."
Wei Shengnan quickly came up with a solution: "If your guess is correct, and the mechanism inside really does rely on water flow to move the walls, we can ignite the remaining explosives inside and use the combustion to make the gas expand rapidly. Combined with the kinetic energy of the shock wave, this will push the walls inside to move."
I was skeptical: "Is it feasible?"
Wei Shengnan pointed at Xu Hu with confidence: "He is a demolition expert and can use directional blasting to ensure that the wall you mentioned is not destroyed. As for whether the airflow can activate the mechanism, I cannot guarantee that."
I'm a doer, and seeing that the others couldn't come up with a better solution, I immediately made a decision: "Since we can't find a water source anyway, let's try this method! If it succeeds, everyone will be happy; given our current situation, even if it fails, it won't be any worse!"
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