After the old man finished preparing to invite the gods, he dressed like a feather duster and had many bells hanging on his body.
The moment the body moves, it makes a clinking sound.
Even though he looked particularly comical, I inexplicably became nervous.
The surrounding winds were blowing eerily.
The sounds coming from the woods sounded like countless people crying and laughing, giving one goosebumps.
Xu Le took out a few candles, arranged them in a square shape around the old man, lit them, and said to us, "Gentlemen, please turn around and close your eyes. Do not open them until I speak."
The monkey, who had initially wanted to watch the spectacle, was speechless after hearing Xu Le's words: "You guys don't have to be so mysterious, do you? Would it cost you a piece of your flesh to take a look?"
Xu Le said with a serious expression, "I'm doing this for your own good! Besides, we've already agreed that during the cooperation, you'll follow my orders in everything."
"Tch, if you won't let me see, I don't care to look anyway."
The monkey pursed its lips and then turned its body away.
"Thump!"
As we turned around, the first sound of the King Wen Drum came from behind us.
Immediately afterwards, small whirlwinds began to blow around us, and even the moonlight dimmed.
As the drumbeats became more rapid, a thin layer of mist appeared around us.
Logically speaking, it's difficult for fog to form on windy days, but here the stronger the wind, the deeper the fog.
The strong winds and thick fog had obscured even the distant woods, and the fog around me was illuminated by the candlelight behind me.
The wind was so strong that I could barely stand, but the candlelight behind me was like a street lamp, without even swaying.
When the thick fog completely obscured my vision, I closed my eyes.
Soon, besides the sound of drums, I could hear an old man chanting behind me. But he wasn't singing a divine tune; it sounded more like the throat singing of Inner Mongolia—it had only a melody, no lyrics.
I stood there, listening to the old man's chanting. I don't know how long I waited, but the rhythm of the drums behind me gradually slowed down.
Just when I thought the ritual to invoke the gods was about to end, I suddenly felt a wave of heat on my face, and something furry pressed against my face.
The sudden touch startled me, and I instinctively opened my eyes.
The fog ahead had dissipated, and the wind was gradually subsiding in the woods.
I made sure there was nothing around me and was about to close my eyes when I caught a glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of my eye.
Amidst the sounds of drums and chanting, a shadow illuminated by candlelight moves about, carrying the King Wen Drum.
The shadow was stretched very long and was clearly distorted, but it was still obvious that it was not the shadow of a person.
A triangular head and large ears.
It looks just like a fox.
This strange sight made me feel inexplicably uneasy, but remembering Xu Le's instructions, I refrained from turning around to look.
Just as I was about to close my eyes again, the figure suddenly walked towards me.
Upon seeing this, I instinctively held my breath.
I've seen fortune tellers before, who supposedly invoke the gods. It's just the fortune teller changing their tone and demeanor, yawning a couple of times. You can tell at a glance that they're just faking it to deceive people.
But the old man's method of summoning the gods was clearly different from any I had seen before.
Could it be that their true act of invoking a deity is to transform themselves into a demon, turning into a fox?
The fox's shadow moved a short distance before crouching down.
"Clang!"
Suddenly a loud bang came from behind, and about ten seconds later, Xu Le's voice came out: "It's okay, you can turn around now."
Upon hearing Xu Le's voice, I immediately turned around and looked at the old man.
He was now slumped on the ground, looking extremely exhausted.
Looking at his shadow again, it had returned to its normal shape.
When the monkey saw the stone slab next to the old man being lifted and moved to the side, its eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Holy crap, are you serious? Such a big stone slab, and one person just lifted it?"
"I didn't do it; it was the help of the immortals."
The old man stretched his arms: "Now that the stone slab has been opened, what should we do next?"
"Lend me your candles. All of you step back and stay away from that opening. Be careful of the poisonous gases in the tomb passage."
Although I didn't understand what methods the old man used, the stone slab at the entrance had already been opened, so it was now my territory.
I didn't know we were going to do tomb raiding when I came here, so I didn't bring gas masks or anything like that.
I tore a strip of cloth from my clothes, soaked it in water, and used it as a mask to cover my mouth and nose. Then I lit a candle and walked toward the tomb passage.
The candle was not for lighting; it was only to test whether there was oxygen in the tomb passage.
I rushed to the entrance of the tomb passage and shone my flashlight down.
Below the tomb passage, there are many square stone pillars standing upright, forming a series of steps at varying heights. A ring of taller pillars forms an inner lining to support the stone slabs above, and they are also fixed to the wall with steel bars.
I held the candle up to the entrance of the tomb passage to make sure there was no airflow inside, then walked into the tomb passage with the candle in hand.
The tomb passage was built with blue bricks, and the gaps were filled with mortar mixed with glutinous rice. It was about one and a half meters wide and had a square dome.
I shone my flashlight straight ahead and sighed again.
Just before entering this tomb passage, I was thinking about something.
Since the stone steps in this tomb passage are fixed with steel bars, there are probably other mechanisms and obstacles inside that are also made of steel bars.
I didn't expect to encounter it as soon as I entered the tomb passage.
At this moment, two meters in front of me, the tomb passage has been blocked by stacks of bluestone slabs.
Moreover, grooves were carved out on these bluestones, and steel bars were inlaid in them, fixed together like a mortise and tenon structure.
This wall is called the Diamond Wall.
Shaped like a Vajra, no living person may enter.
The fact that this wall was erected in the tomb indicates that the tomb owner had no children and never intended to open it again on the day the wall was erected.
If there are steel bars on our side, it means there must be some on the other side as well.
These bluestones might even be hollowed out, like precast cement slabs, and reinforced with steel bars.
In that case, even if the old man outside could summon a fox spirit, or even a rhinoceros, it would be impossible to open this passage.
I went over and checked the steel bars on the Vajra Wall, confirming that the tomb passage had been completely sealed off. I returned to the ground and shook my head at them: "This tomb passage is blocked by the Vajra Wall, and it's blocked with vertical stones. Even if we bring explosives, it won't work, let alone manpower. We have to find a way to get around it."
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