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墨書 Inktalez
I heard it too. I quickly maneuvered around a few large trees and climbed a small hill. Fat Ma followed closely behind.
The echoing sounds became increasingly real, as if the ground beneath us was boiling, churning with fervor.
I couldn't suppress my excitement, tinged with doubt, and stammered to the Fat Ma, "It should be here, right?"
Fat Ma replied, "You wait here for me. I'll be right back." After about two or three minutes, Fat Ma returned, holding a shovel that was shaped like the letter U and looked quite sharp.
He handed me his flashlight and said, "Shine this for me." I took the flashlight and watched his movements.
I noticed that the shovel could extend in length. After adjusting it to a suitable size, Fat Ma said to me, "Let me try first."
I didn't say anything; to be honest, I was still a bit nervous since it was my first time doing something like this. However, Fat Ma moved with great familiarity. He plunged the shovel deep into the ground, pulling out a lot of soil. He took the flashlight from my hands and leaned down to shine it inside. After a few seconds, he mumbled, "There... there..."
I felt anxious behind him and asked, "What is it?"
Fat Ma stood up, excitement evident on his face as he exclaimed, "There's treasure! This time we didn't come up empty-handed."
I leaned down to look as well. Sure enough, inside was hollow. A cold wind blew up from below, making me shiver involuntarily. It seemed we had indeed found a tomb. I still couldn't believe we had discovered this burial site so easily. Was it just luck, or did I really have a talent for this?
Fat Ma urged me to get up and praised me for being so unassuming. I was puzzled!
Fat Ma enlarged the hole he had just dug; dirt fell down with a resonating sound. The thunder had also stopped at some point.
It was like hearing thunder on a clear day—someone must have done something wrong. I couldn't help but recall what Fat Ma had said earlier. It seemed...
After cleaning for a while, Fat Ma told me, "It's ready now. You wait outside while I go down to scout around; finding treasures is my specialty."
I was more than happy to comply since I had never done anything like this before; it would be a lie to say I wasn't scared.
I promised the Fat Ma.
He pulled out a rope from somewhere and instructed me to find a sturdy tree to tie it to. Then he slowly descended.
In our line of work, we called it "going down to search for treasures."
I waited outside for a few minutes, and after a while, I heard the Fat Ma's voice from below, calling out, "Old Sun, you can come down now."
Upon hearing this, I hesitated no longer.
Gripping the rope, I slid down quickly. We landed in a tomb passage, which extended in both directions and was filled with a musty odor. I asked the Fat Ma, "This passage has two ends; which way should we go?"
The Fat Ma casually replied, "Just follow my lead; you stay behind me."
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, I reminded him, "Do you have any basis for that?" The Fat Ma hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Sometimes you just have to rely on luck." He then handed me a dagger for self-defense.
I took the dagger and held it tightly in my hand, suddenly feeling an unsettling sensation. So I warned the Fat Ma, "Be careful."
The Fat Ma, confident in his skills, said to me, "Old Sun, don't be afraid; I've got this covered." He spoke with bravado.
The entire tomb passage was constructed quite neatly. The Fat Ma remarked, "Looking at this passage, we can't go wrong this time."
I recalled what my grandfather used to say: generally, royal families or wealthy households would set traps when designing their burial pits. There would typically be crossbows, quicksand, mercury traps, and many other mechanisms that could lead to disastrous ends for those who dared to disturb them.
I reminded the Fat Ma once again to be cautious.
The Fat Ma began to mock me for being timid, saying I was worrying unnecessarily.
He recounted the experiences he had during his adventures in the Northeast a few years ago, confidently distinguishing between places with and without traps at a glance.
Seeing his assured demeanor, I decided to quell my doubts.
Fat Ma and I continued to push forward. The tomb passage was relatively narrow, so the flashlight's focus was excellent.
The unsettling feeling I had earlier became increasingly real, prompting me to instinctively remind Fat Ma to be cautious.
Fat Ma turned back to glance at me, looking as if he couldn't understand why I was so hesitant. "Old Sun, you can't keep this up. You need to come down here more often and get used to it."
At that moment, the feeling settled deep within my heart. Something was wrong. A voice echoed in my mind, and I felt a tingling sensation on my scalp. Ignoring everything else, I grabbed Fat Ma's hand and pulled him back with all my strength.
Due to Fat Ma's larger size, he stumbled backward a few steps and fell to the ground just as he was about to speak.
Suddenly, from a spot just one centimeter in front of his feet, numerous crossbow bolts shot out from the wall, glinting ominously in the flashlight's beam.
Fat Ma couldn't help but gasp in shock, and I wiped the sweat from my brow. If he had taken even one more step forward, he would have been turned into a sieve.
Once all the bolts had fallen to the ground, I called out to Fat Ma.
He sat there dazed for a moment, still in shock. I kicked him lightly, and he jolted awake, muttering, "Damn it! You scared me to death; I almost met my end here."
His voice trembled slightly, clearly showing that he had been genuinely frightened.
Slowly getting up, Fat Ma looked at the arrows scattered on the ground and said with a serious tone, "Old Sun, I owe you my life."
I teased him in response, "No need for thanks for such a great favor, Fat Ma."
Fat Ma turned to look at me, and to my surprise, his eyes had turned red. I thought he was about to cry, unsure of how to respond. However, it turned out he was just holding back a sneeze, which erupted and sprayed saliva all over me.
I nearly cursed under my breath, but he was the first to speak, grumbling, "It must be that bastard Li Jie talking behind my back."
I felt a bit short of breath for a moment. After a while, I said to Fat Ma, "Just be careful." This time, he didn’t argue back but instead started praising me.
Earlier, we had encountered a trap in the tomb passage that Fat Ma had triggered. We carefully stepped over the obstacle.
After walking for a while longer, I was uncertain of our direction. Our burrow was situated in the middle with two ends, so I couldn't tell which way was correct; I could only blame my lack of skill.
As we moved forward again, Fat Ma seemed to have gained some sense and stopped boasting.
Suddenly, Fat Ma halted in his tracks. I asked him, "What's wrong?"
He sniffed the air vigorously and said, "I smell treasure." With that, he quickened his pace.
I couldn’t help but remind him to be cautious.
Fat Ma was so caught up in his excitement that he completely ignored my warning and began striding ahead. I had no choice but to follow him. Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened until Fat Ma finally stopped again. We had arrived in a relatively spacious area, about forty or fifty square meters in size. The walls were packed with earth and appeared somewhat smooth, while the ground was paved with bricks. In the center of the chamber stood a platform with a coffin placed on top.
Fat Ma's judgment was correct; this must be the tomb chamber. The coffin was interred here.
Once inside, Fat Ma darted around like a headless fly before returning and saying, "No, no."
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