The sand pile in front of the fallen rocks was quickly cleared, and the two mutilated corpses were revealed to us.
They are Huang Qiurong's upper body and a lower body that is trapped under a rock, with only the waist exposed.
Suppressing his nausea, Song Laosan rummaged through his pants and pulled out a pack of Yuxi cigarettes and a wallet.
"Based on skin color and cigarettes, the other deceased should also be Chinese."
Old Song wiped the blood off his wallet, rummaged through it, found an ID card, and handed it to me: "That's him."
"Xu Moyang, from Harbin, is thirty-nine years old."
I looked at the menacing photo on the ID card, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Do you know this person?"
“I haven’t been in China for so many years. I’m familiar with the names of some big families, but how could I possibly know anything about the specific individuals?”
Song Laosan shook his head and continued to rummage through Xu Moyang's pockets: "It's a pity that his phone wasn't in his pants pocket, otherwise we might have been able to find more clues."
I picked up my wallet and looked inside. Besides my ID card, there was only a small amount of cash. However, a white piece of paper caught my attention.
The note looks like a shopping receipt, dated ten days ago, and the rest is in Russian, which I don't recognize.
Having confirmed that there were no other clues and that the path ahead was blocked, we quickly retreated to the top of the steps.
Seeing us come up, Zhou Peng asked somewhat fearfully, "Mr. Duan, what's the situation down there?"
"It's nothing, just a minor issue."
To keep morale high, I didn't tell him the truth. Instead, I handed him the receipt and said, "Take a look and see what's written on this."
Zhou Peng took it and glanced at it: "It's a restaurant invoice. Five steaks, seven fried sausages, and eight borschts."
“Some people will order double the food, but very few people will order two soups! This analysis suggests that Duan Jinyan’s team has at least eight people. We found two, but if we take the worst-case scenario, there should be at least six more.”
Song Laosan licked his lips: "For an expert like your father, the fewer people involved in a task, the better. A small team of about three people is ideal. Such a large-scale mobilization is quite rare."
The monkey blurted out, "Isn't this normal? We're already in a foreign country, unfamiliar with the place and the people. Even a member of a prestigious family like Huang Qiurong has perished on the front lines. It's safer for them to bring more people."
"That's true."
Song Laosan nodded and said nothing more. Looking at the fork in the road ahead, he asked, "Xiao Duan, in your opinion, which road should we take next?"
"Just pick whichever direction looks best to you."
I shook my head: "The purpose of ancient feng shui masters setting up mazes in tombs was to prevent people from entering the tomb. It is said that each maze path was designed by different craftsmen, and when they were designing it, they did not know which direction they were going to explore. In short, this kind of maze is untraceable. Following the principle that there are no dead ends in the tomb, these three paths will most likely lead to the burial chamber, but the degree of risk is different."
Zhou Peng looked at me in surprise: "All based on guessing?"
I didn't answer Zhou Peng's question, but that was basically a tacit agreement. Even Duan Jinyan's gang had fallen into a trap, and I was at a loss for what to do.
Just as the others were pondering, the monkey suddenly spoke up: "Young Master Duan, perhaps we should go to the left."
Although I told everyone to choose any option, seeing how quickly the monkey made its choice, I couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
The monkey pointed behind me: "Because someone gave us directions."
I looked in the direction the monkey was pointing, and I realized that, at some point, the package containing the baby's remains on my back had a hole in it, and the baby's radius and ulna were protruding from the hole, pointing towards the fork in the road to the left.
Although I'm not afraid of dead bodies, this eerie scene still gave me goosebumps. I quickly steadied myself and walked to the left: "We have a connection with these two little kids. Since they pointed us in the right direction, let's follow their advice and go to the left!"
The monkey walked up to me, stuffed the radius and ulna back through the hole, then clasped its hands together and bowed: "Little friend, you must bless your uncle with a safe and smooth journey. As long as we can get out of here alive, after I bury you, I will find a monk from China to perform a seven-day Buddhist ceremony for you!"
Old Song laughed and said, "Come on, these two kids have been gone for over a thousand years. How could they possibly call you uncle? According to seniority, you should call them ancestors!"
The monkey laughed too: "If these two little guys can really protect us, what's wrong with me calling them my little ancestors?"
"Giggle!"
As soon as the monkey finished speaking, the sound of children's laughter suddenly came from the tomb passage in front of us.
The sound coming from the quiet tomb passage really startled us. Old Song patted his chest and said to the bundle on my and Monkey's backs, "Little ancestors, we can't do this. We've already said we'll give you a proper burial after we leave. Please don't show your spirits. Just let us go in peace. Thank you!"
"Giggle!"
"Waaaaah!"
Song Laosan's words had no effect; the sound of a baby crying and laughing still echoed in the tomb passage, sending chills down one's spine.
At this point, I also felt a little uneasy.
The wooden fish sound we heard in the Demon Monk's Tomb was caused by a mechanism, but how did the baby's voice come about?
Because of the loss of equipment, including the Dragon-Subduing Wood, all I have is that rusty sword in my hand, which I don't know if it can be considered a Two Realms Blade.
Fortunately, there was nothing else in the tomb passage except for the sound of children crying. After walking a few dozen meters, my expression changed drastically.
Ahead of us, another row of stairs descended, seemingly identical to the passage through which Huang Qiurong met her tragic end.
The monkey raised its flashlight and shone it on the area above our heads: "Young Master Duan, do you think this place, like the middle tomb passage, might also have a huge boulder hanging overhead?"
"Perhaps."
I looked up and saw that the ceiling was completely seamless and painted blue: "If there really is a mechanism here, there should be a layer of mortar and limestone underneath the stone to cover it up, which is why there is so much sand and gravel at the collapsed part of the tomb passage next door."
"Well, it seems these two little devils really aren't protecting me!"
The monkey sighed: "How about we turn back the way we came and take the right-hand path?"
I waved my hand: "No need. If nothing unexpected happens, all three tomb passages here are the same. Since the designer has already replicated two of them, he won't make the third one look different. At least the first mechanism is the same."
Song Laosan suggested, "There are still two corpses in the middle passage. Why don't we carry those corpses over and roll them down here to see if there are any traps?"
The monkey's eyes lit up: "Great idea! If there really is a trap here, we'll seal off all the tomb passages, so that Wei Shengnan and the others who are catching up won't be able to get in at all."
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