Throughout the journey, Yan Shouyi was most wary of Boss Zhou. Yet, as the tomb gate opened, he suddenly vanished without a trace!
There was definitely something fishy going on!
The moment Boss Zhou disappeared upon their arrival in Longfei City, everyone became tense.
They gathered together, pressed against a wall, their senses on high alert for any surrounding threats.
Ma Xingping's face was incredibly grim. He had been the one who insisted on sparing Boss Zhou's life and having him guide them.
Now that Boss Zhou had disappeared after opening the tomb gate, it was obvious to everyone that their group likely held no further value to him.
And how would Boss Zhou deal with those who were no longer useful?
It could be said that everyone had prepared themselves mentally to face whatever dangers lay ahead!
"Damn it! There are clearly no other exits here. Where did Boss Zhou escape to?" Ma Jinxuan said angrily.
They had all checked thoroughly. Besides the mechanism stone gate they had opened, the only other way out of the burial pit cavern was the hole dug by the giant otters.
Could Boss Zhou have crawled back the way they came?
That was impossible. How could he possibly have the courage to turn back and face those man-eating, bone-crushing giant otters!
Ma Xingping stood beside Yan Shouyi and said in a deep voice, "Brother Yan, no matter what happens next, I will be at the forefront. Please remember your promise!"
Yan Shouyi rebuked him, "Can't you, a grave robber, have some backbone? Why are you so eager to die at the slightest trouble?"
In the words of Longfei City, Ma Xingping spoke only unlucky things.
Shouldn't those in this profession fill their hearts with hope and persevere through all difficulties?
Hearing Yan Shouyi's words, Ma Xingping seemed to gain a little clarity. He nodded to Yan Shouyi, "I was wrong. I will strive to survive!"
"So dramatic!" Yan Shouyi shot Ma Xingping a glare.
However, after all their nervous vigilance, there was no movement from their surroundings.
Apart from the vanished Boss Zhou, nothing around them had changed.
Someone said, "Co-could it be that we're just too nervous, and perhaps there's no danger at all?"
"Boss Zhou wouldn't disappear without reason. Everyone should still be cautious," Yan Shouyi stated. "You all stay put. I'll go and check the surroundings."
Ma Xingping wanted to compete with Yan Shouyi for this task, but Yan Shouyi pushed him back. As a Heavenly Fiend Corpse Puppet, he could recover easily even if injured, so it was his duty to step forward now.
Under Lin Zitong's anxious gaze, Yan Shouyi separated from the group and slowly walked around the burial pit. He encountered no danger.
Next, Yan Shouyi turned his attention to the terracotta warrior chamber.
The terracotta warrior chamber was akin to a living person's courtyard. King Jian wished to have servants attending to him even after death. Thus, he not only killed numerous living people and animals in the burial pit but also erected countless lifelike terracotta warriors in the courtyard, creating a sense of liveliness.
However, "liveliness" in a tomb translated to an unspeakable eeriness.
Yan Shouyi cautiously entered the courtyard and approached the first terracotta warrior. He examined it closely, even tapping and knocking on it.
For some reason, Yan Shouyi detected a strong medicinal scent emanating from the terracotta warrior.
"Why would the terracotta warriors be treated with medicine?" Yan Shouyi furrowed his brow in confusion.
Boss Zhou had once said that these terracotta warriors were extremely dangerous and that one should keep a respectful distance.
Seeing that Yan Shouyi was unharmed, the others bravely ventured into the terracotta warrior chamber. The formation spread out slightly, and everyone began to examine the warriors and search for the door to the main tomb.
Just then, Yan Shouyi's pupils contracted sharply.
He seemed to recall something and quickly shouted to the crowd, "Everyone retreat! It's very dangerous here!"
"Dangerous?"
One of the peculiar individuals, with a hand still resting on the shoulder of a terracotta warrior, couldn't immediately comprehend Yan Shouyi's sudden tension.
Suddenly, the terracotta warrior in front of him twitched. It grabbed his arm and, with a crunch, forcefully broke it!
"Ah!!!"
The peculiar individual fell to his knees in agony, emitting a terrifying scream!
Almost simultaneously, all the terracotta warriors in the chamber began to move!
They moved like vengeful spirits clad in stone armor, their movements stiff yet swift, contorting into bizarre and twisted postures.
Even the terracotta warriors suspended from the ceiling above them were struggling and swaying!
The scene was indescribably terrifying, and even Yan Shouyi felt a prickle of fear run down his spine.
In the ensuing chaos, Yan Shouyi rushed to Lin Zitong and Long Feicheng. He intended to lead them back into the burial pit, but the grinding sound of mechanisms echoed again. The stone gate they had finally managed to open began to close with a deafening roar!
Darkness engulfed everyone, and fear spread through their hearts!
Even more terrifying were the savage, man-killing terracotta warriors!
*Swish—*
Ma Xingping and Ma Jinxuan each fired a flare into the air, illuminating the terracotta warrior chamber brightly. The light allowed everyone to briefly regain their vision.
They saw that out of Boss Zhou's four surviving peculiar individuals, two were already decapitated. Their bodies were torn to shreds by the terracotta warriors, and blood flowed everywhere!
The remaining two peculiar individuals were doing their utmost to evade the pursuing terracotta warriors. Their strenuous efforts clearly indicated that falling into their hands was merely a matter of time!
Ma Xingping and Ma Jinxuan were slightly better off. They had hastily used grappling hooks to suspend themselves in mid-air. Although the terracotta warriors were ferocious like wild beasts, their joints were not as flexible as those of living people, making it impossible for them to leap. This was why they hadn't injured the two.
To Yan Shouyi's surprise, there had been many terracotta warriors near him moments ago, yet these warriors had not attacked him and Lin Zitong. Instead, they had pursued the other peculiar individuals.
It was as if some unseen force was protecting him.
"Could it be... Grandma?" Lin Zitong guessed in astonishment.
Yan Shouyi's grandmother had promised Mount God Yanze to become the tomb keeper, suppressing King Jian's soul. After twenty years, it was likely that his grandmother had become very familiar with King Jian's tomb. She could have exerted some power to protect Yan Shouyi's safety. All of this seemed entirely plausible!
Long Feicheng quickly knelt on the ground and repeatedly kowtowed, "Grandma, please protect us! We've come to bring you back. Please don't let these terracotta warriors harm us!"
"That's enough, get up quickly!" Yan Shouyi yanked Long Feicheng to his feet.
Even though the terracotta warriors were now ignoring him, Yan Shouyi dared not be complacent. He led the two of them and seized the opportunity to climb to a higher position in the cavern. He also remembered to shout to the two surviving peculiar individuals:
"Quickly climb higher! These terracotta warriors can't reach things up high!"
Hearing this, the two peculiar individuals scrambled to climb nearby stalactites. However, their agility was far inferior to Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong, and the stalactites were incredibly smooth. Climbing up was no easy feat!
One peculiar individual couldn't climb up for a long time and was seized by the ankle by a terracotta warrior and dragged down.
The other terracotta warriors swarmed forward, and the unfortunate fellow instantly fell silent.
These terracotta warriors were even more terrifying than the giant otters above. At least the otters were just trying to fill their stomachs, while the terracotta warriors were purely driven by the desire to kill.
The other peculiar individual had slightly better luck. He managed to climb to a rock face about five or six meters high. His back was pressed against the rock, his legs trembling uncontrollably. Seeing the terracotta warriors relentlessly pursuing him below, he couldn't help but cry out, "What do we do now!"
What to do?
Yan Shouyi was also unsure. Earlier, after smelling the medicinal scent on the terracotta warriors, he had suspected that they might indeed be human bodies filled with various medicinal substances, perhaps capable of coming to life and attacking at any moment.
Who knew they would actually come to life.
This also confirmed what Boss Zhou had said.
Everyone was now in a predicament with no clear way out. The gate they came through was closed, the terracotta warriors below were waiting menacingly, and they didn't even know where to flee.
Ma Xingping, hanging high up, kept searching for an exit. He called out, "Brother Yan, there's a tomb gate behind you. It should be the exit!"
Yan Shouyi poked his head out and looked back, shaking his head, "No, that's the entrance where we encountered the giant otters before!"
Anyone else might have thought it was the exit, but Yan Shouyi had already constructed a mental map of King Jian's tomb and immediately recognized that the gate did not lead to the main tomb but to the outside.
The remaining peculiar individual couldn't help but curse, "Isn't that entrance the exit? We're facing death, and you're still thinking about King Jian's treasures! I'm not playing this game anymore, I want to get out! Open the tomb gate quickly!!"
Yan Shouyi and Ma Xingping sighed. They both had reasons to enter the main tomb, and turning back now was impossible.
Moreover, the key to opening the entrance to King Jian's tomb was the thirteen serpent gallbladders held by Boss Zhou. Since Boss Zhou was missing, they couldn't open the gate anyway!
They stood there, and ten minutes passed without any progress.
People get tired, but terracotta warriors do not. After ten minutes, the terracotta warriors were still as lively as ever, while Long Feicheng and that peculiar individual's legs were trembling, and they could barely hold on.
Suddenly, Long Feicheng's foot slipped, and he almost fell. Fortunately, Yan Shouyi grabbed him in time.
Long Feicheng said with a trembling voice, "Brother Yan, don't let go, I want to live a few more years!"
"Enough nonsense, hold on tight, I'll pull you up!"
Just as Yan Shouyi was about to exert force, the terracotta warrior chamber suddenly trembled.
Then, a scene that surprised everyone occurred.
The entrance tomb gate of King Jian's tomb slowly opened!!
And standing outside the tomb gate was a figure. This person was none other than Boss Zhou!!