My thoughts were interrupted by Song Laosan. I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the star map on the dome was twinkling.
The monkey exclaimed in amazement, "Wow! Is this tomb ceiling so realistic? The stars even twinkle!"
Ancient people observed celestial phenomena and surveyed the earth, believing that certain celestial phenomena corresponded to events on earth, and that this correspondence was fixed and lasting.
The history of tomb star maps is long and rich. For example, the Records of the Grand Historian mentions that the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum "had astronomical features on it". Starry sky tops were popular during the Han and Northern and Southern Dynasties, and became prevalent in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. They were still frequently discovered during the Song and Liao Dynasties.
Most of the existing early star maps were unearthed from various tombs. These star maps were mainly painted in the form of murals on the ceiling and four walls of the tomb. Cases like the Demon Monk Tomb, which used fluorite as a star map, are very rare.
Fluorite, also known as fluorspar, is a relatively common mineral in nature. It can coexist with many other minerals and is found in many parts of the world. Some samples can glow under conditions such as friction, heating, ultraviolet light, and ordinary light. Many ancient luminous pearls have been proven to be made of this stone.
Because I was familiar with this type of stone, I wasn't surprised when I entered the cave.
But I've never heard of fluorite that can sparkle like a flash.
Looking at the twinkling "stars" and the clusters of "nebulae" below, my face darkened: "It's not the fluorite above that's twinkling; it's the dome that's collecting dust, obscuring the stones! The chains behind those corpse puppets in the main hall are connected to those outside!"
As if springs had sprung from beneath him, Song Laosan suddenly stood up: "You mean, something's about to fall? Is this cave going to collapse too?"
"What are you waiting for! Run!"
The monkey stood up right after me, and I heard a rustling sound from his body. I then realized that he had countless strings of jewels hanging around his neck and his body was jingling, so he must have been carrying a lot of things.
"Cross the bridge immediately! Quickly!"
I glanced at the star map above my head, then got up and walked towards the ice bridge.
Actually, I was just putting on a brave face. We've been going downhill the whole way, and we don't know how many meters underground we've gone. Besides, we haven't seen any other way out.
The most feasible solution at present is to find the tomb passage that connects here, but even so, at most we can only return to the underground space where the corpse is, and there is still no way back to the surface.
Even though I knew the chances of survival were slim, Song Laosan and Monkey had placed all their hopes on me, so I could only pretend and couldn't bear to shatter their illusions.
"Bang! Crash!"
We had just crossed the ice bridge when we heard the sound of something falling and breaking on the other side.
The monkey shone its flashlight across the bridge, looking at a broken jar and the pale yellow paste inside: "What the hell is that?"
I pursed my lips: "It looks like white phosphorus!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a flame appeared on the paste-like substance, and it began to burn.
Old Song was taken aback: "Doesn't white phosphorus only burn at 40 degrees Celsius? It's so cold here, how could it catch fire?"
"There's something wrong with that can. The local friction when it fell probably exceeded forty degrees! There can't be just one can here, run!"
I was the first to react, and I grabbed the two of them and ran towards the edge of the square. The sound of the wooden fish still echoed in the square, and I could still see a group of monks striking the wooden fish, but in this life-or-death moment, I couldn't care less about that.
The sounds of falling and shattering grew louder and louder as countless pottery jars and fluorite fell from the starry sky, like the Milky Way pouring down, creating a spectacular meteor shower.
The monkey chased after me, yelling, "Was the person who designed this tomb crazy? Setting fires and boiling water in an ice mine for fun?"
"Run! These cans could kill you if they fall on your head!"
I held onto their arms and kept looking up at the sky as we ran.
I learned this trick when I was working part-time at a mine. When the workers were blasting the mine, they would look up at the sky to avoid falling rocks. It was also because I didn't want to see those strange monks.
I ran a few steps, then saw a jar coming towards us, and immediately stopped.
"Bang!"
The jar crashed several meters away, and the white phosphorus inside emitted flames. Contrary to what the monkey had said, the flames were not extinguished by the melting ice water; instead, they spread rapidly across the ice.
"Damn it! This is methane hydrate!"
Old Song shouted in a shrill voice, his teeth chattering, "When I was a border guard, there was a natural gas company's mine a few kilometers away from our post. They were digging for this kind of stuff! I talked to the people at that mine when I was on patrol. They said that combustible ice is an ice-like crystalline substance formed by natural gas and water under high pressure and low temperature conditions. It ignites when it comes into contact with fire! This stuff is called ice, not ice. It is internationally recognized as a replacement energy source for oil and other energy sources. It is also called solid gas or gas ice!"
"Run! Run! Run!"
I saw the flames spreading rapidly and pulled the two of them to run wildly towards the nearest mountainside.
If what Song Laosan said is true, my biggest worry now, besides that we will be burned, is that the fire will deplete the oxygen here, causing the carbon dioxide level in the air to soar, and even causing a natural gas explosion.
I ran all the way and quickly reached the edge of the square. Right in front of me was a huge stone statue.
Seeing the pottery jars falling from above, I instinctively tried to get around the stone statue to avoid them, but the monkey next to me dragged me forward.
"Thump!"
I was dragged and slammed against the stone statue, and my body fell to the ground. Then Song Laosan helped me up.
The two exhausted people didn't talk to me and kept dragging me forward.
At that moment, I fell into self-doubt again. Monkey and Song Laosan both said they couldn't see the statue, but the impact I just felt was quite real.
"Third Master, there's a hole here!"
The monkey's words pulled me back to reality. Looking in the direction he was pointing, I saw a natural cave about half a person's height on the mountainside in front of me.
I turned around and found that the monks in the square had all perished in the flames, struggling and screaming in agony.
The sight sent chills down my spine, and I quickly looked away: "Let's go in and take a look!"
Immediately afterwards, the three of us went into the cave.
The monkey, holding a flashlight, walked at the front. After going five or six meters, it turned right into the cave, following its shape, and then shone the light ahead: "This cave is blocked!"
I looked through the gap in his shoulder and saw that the cave entrance was piled with rubble, clearly indicating that it was originally a natural cave that was later blocked off by people with stones.
"Boom!!"
Just then, a deafening explosion came from outside. Even though I was hiding in this small cave, the sound made my vision go black and I instantly lost my hearing.
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