The scene described by Ma Zhenhong made us tense again.
Since entering this tomb, we have already encountered too many inexplicable things. Now, trapped in this tomb, and he says he has seen a ghost, even if we have strong mental fortitude, we can't withstand this kind of shock.
Especially after hearing that the ghost had just been right behind me, I felt a chill run down my spine and asked the shark and the monkey, "Did you two notice anything unusual just now?"
The shark and the monkey looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously: "No, we were just looking at the murals too."
Ma Zhenhong was a seasoned tomb raider. His confident expression and wet pants made me think he wasn't lying, but I still mustered my courage and said, "Regardless of whether there are any evil spirits here, everyone must muster their courage and find a way out as soon as possible!"
"That's right. I've been a soldier for so many years. I'm not afraid of living enemies, so why would I be afraid of dead ones?!"
Shark's expression was also grim, and he tried to divert our attention: "Mr. Duan, you just said you could read the contents of this epitaph. What does it say?"
Based on the epitaph and murals, I made my deduction: "This tomb belongs to Li Fan, the grandson of Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the nephew of Li Shimin! His father was Li Yuanli, the tenth son of Li Yuan and the younger brother of Li Shimin, who was Prince Xu Kang!"
The monkey interjected, "Didn't Li Shimin kill all his brothers?"
"Li Yuan had a total of forty children, twenty-two of whom were sons. When Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he only killed Crown Prince Li Yuancheng and his younger brother Li Yuanji. Li Yuanli was cautious and upright by nature, and was highly valued by Li Shimin. He became one of the Three Dukes in his thirties, but his later years were very unfortunate!"
I looked at the prince in his imperial robes on the mural: "Historical records state that Li Yuanli's eldest son, Li Mao, was unruly by nature. When Li Yuanli was seriously ill in his later years, he took a fancy to his father's favorite concubine. Taking advantage of his father's illness, he forced her to give Zhao Ji to him. After being reprimanded, Li Mao became enraged and cut off Li Yuanli's food and medicine, starving him to death!"
The monkey looked at Li Mao in the mural and said, "That kid is inhuman! He fell for his stepmother and even tortured his own father to death?"
"Indeed, Li Mao used such vicious means to kill his father and then inherited the throne, being granted the title of Prince of Huainan. However, less than two years later, his crimes were exposed, and he was stripped of his title and exiled to Zhenzhou."
I shone my flashlight on the mural behind me: "Historical records don't detail how Li Mao's incident happened, but it seems that Li Fan reported him by name and killed him after Li Mao was exiled to avenge his father. Li Yuanli was buried in Li Yuan's Xianling Mausoleum after his death, while Li Fan only held the title of Duke of Huainan. During the Tang Dynasty, the capital of Huainan was in Yangzhou. So it makes sense that Li Fan was buried here; after all, he was a member of the imperial family, and it was in accordance with the rites for him to have an underground palace after his death."
The monkey, already bold, became even more excited after hearing my explanation: "I never imagined that a member of the royal family was buried here! The burial goods must be full of treasures!"
Shark then examined the collapsed wall: "Mr. Duan, the tomb door connecting to the back chamber was buried by the collapsed yellow sand, but judging from the distribution of the sand, the door should have sunk into the ground, forming a gap."
We had no way out: "Clear away this sand and expose the exit, but be very careful."
"I'll do it."
Knowing what he was responsible for, Ma Zhenhong mustered his courage and walked to the collapsed area to start clearing the sand and soil. But after working for a short while, he suddenly let out a strange cry and turned around to run towards the Duanmen Gate.
"Old Ma! You've gone mad!"
The monkey grabbed Ma Zhenhong and said, "The area outside Duanmen could collapse at any moment. Going out now would be suicide!"
Ma Zhenhong, as if possessed, pointed hysterically at the tomb door, shouting, "Ghost! Ghost! It's right there at the door! It's watching me from there!"
I saw him point in that direction, so I shone my flashlight in the same direction. I was so frightened that I held my breath and my heart started pounding.
At this point, a corner of the tomb door leading to the rear chamber had been cleared out.
Inside the tomb entrance, a deathly pale face was staring at me, perfectly blocking the exposed opening.
Whoosh!
Before I could see the face clearly, the sand collapsed, covering the gap.
"It's him! It's him! The ghost I just saw was him!"
Ma Zhenhong was nearly driven mad with fear, roaring hoarsely in the tomb chamber, desperate to escape through the tomb robber's hole back to the outside of Duanmen and flee this place at all costs.
"Hold him down! We absolutely cannot let him go into the outer tomb chamber!"
Seeing Ma Zhenhong's condition, Shark and I pounced on him and held him down. At this moment, the space outside might collapse at any time. If he really escaped, we would all be crushed underneath.
Ma Zhenhong was being held down by three men. He had already broken down mentally and kept banging his head against the ground, pleading, "I beg you! Let's leave here. I promise I can dig a tunnel through to the outside. If we stay here, we'll both be haunted by vengeful ghosts!"
Without hesitation, the shark replied, "No, we've waited too long to find this tomb. Besides, this place is crumbling. If we leave, it's uncertain whether we'll be able to get in again. Today, I must enter the main burial chamber!"
"You two hold him down, I'm going to check on him!"
The monkey drew his military dagger for self-defense and strode towards the tomb entrance: "I don't believe in this nonsense. Even if this tomb is really haunted, I'm not afraid of him because he can only scare people but doesn't dare to show himself!"
Upon seeing the monkey's appearance, Ma Zhenhong yelled, "Don't go! You're sending yourself to your death!"
The monkey completely ignored Ma Zhenhong's shouts, walked to the collapsed tomb door, picked up a shovel and began digging. Looking up at the ceiling, it said to me, "Young Master Duan, the outside of the walls here is indeed sand, but because of its age, the collapsed area has been solidified by the soil. There is no danger!"
As they spoke, the monkey had already dug through the sand, revealing the tomb door behind it.
I shone my headlamp in that direction, but it was completely empty; there wasn't a soul in sight.
But in that darkness, I just clearly saw a face, and I'm 100% certain that Ma Zhenhong wasn't lying.
The monkey quickly dug a gap in the inner tomb door and shone his flashlight inside: "The tomb passage is in front, but it's empty, there's nothing there."
I forcefully pinned Ma Zhenhong down, pulled out my belt and handed it to Shark: "Shark, tie him up and leave him here!"
"Mr. Duan, isn't this inappropriate?"
The shark looked at me with a troubled expression: "No matter what, we're on the same side. How can we leave him here to die?"
“I’m not abandoning him, but as you saw, he’s so frightened he’s delirious. Going in will inevitably trigger some traps.” I explained, “Let’s find a way out first, then come back for him!”
"No! Don't leave me here! I really saw a ghost!" Ma Zhenhong looked at me in terror: "Take me inside, I promise I won't move or shout!"
After thinking for a moment, I used my belt to tighten around Ma Zhenhong's arms, took the tool bag from his waist and draped it over my body, then walked to the front of the tomb door and crawled inside with the monkey.
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