The passageway had only one path. The traps that Yan Shouyi and his companions faced, the first echelon of experts who entered the imperial tomb must have encountered as well.
However, they had explorers leading them, and they themselves were experienced. They also had no time constraints, so they carefully avoided the mechanisms.
But Yan Shouyi and his group were different. Their current mission was to rescue the missing experts, so they couldn't waste too much time on these traps.
This was why Lin Zhitong chose to bring Ta Xue out.
Ta Xue was large enough to press down on the stone brick mechanisms, and its running speed was fast enough that many mechanisms might not even react before it had already charged past.
Most importantly, even if it encountered traps like crossbow bolts, Ta Xue only needed to turn into its spectral form, and the crossbow bolts would pass directly through its body without harming it in the slightest.
Finally, if there were any unavoidable traps, all Lin Zhitong had to do was gently shake the Soul Summoning Bell, and Ta Xue would immediately be recalled. Even if a Ghost King appeared and pursued them, it wouldn't be able to stop Ta Xue.
Therefore, Ta Xue became the perfect little helper for scouting the path ahead.
With a horse's neigh, Ta Xue charged out instantly, stirring up a gust of wind that blew Xia Qi's hair into disarray.
The sound of rhythmic "clop, clop, clop" of hooves echoed in the passageway.
Ta Xue sped through the passageway, indeed stepping on trap after trap!
Crossbow bolts, dragon's fire oil, quicksand pits – these kinds of traps appeared one after another.
But Ta Xue managed to escape danger every time, running smoothly to the distance.
The scene left Liang Yinqiu breathless. She had been to many imperial tombs and had even served as part of the first echelon of excavation teams.
Over the years, she had seen countless mechanisms and traps, but she had never seen one as dangerous as that of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.
After all, they were still in the outer city!
If the outer city was already this dangerous, wouldn't the inner city and main hall be filled with traps and swarming with malevolent spirits?
However, Liang Yinqiu did not have any intention of retreating. Her student, Li Yang, was the same. Although this bookworm was not very brave, he could become completely engrossed when conducting research.
At that moment, Li Yang was diligently studying the mechanisms and traps, even picking up a fired crossbow bolt for examination.
Soon, Ta Xue reached a safe area.
It turned around, raised its front hooves, and neighed, as if showing off to Lin Zhitong.
"It's safe now. Everyone follow us," Lin Zhitong said, looking back.
Wang Sihhuai and the others behind them were already dumbfounded.
If they had only respected Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong before, they now admired them profoundly!
The team members were all vigorous young people. Who among them didn't have a dream of cultivating immortality? They all felt as if they had encountered immortals now.
However, despite having a head full of questions, no one dared to ask. Especially given the current situation, it was not appropriate to ask such questions.
Everyone followed Yan Shouyi and Lin Zhitong, carefully skirting around the triggered traps, and finally arrived safely beside Ta Xue.
At this moment, Ta Xue was staring ahead. Something seemed to be waiting for them in the darkness.
Yan Shouyi sniffed the air and said in a deep voice, "We've found the experts."
Found them?!
A wave of surprise swept through the group.
Liang Yinqiu calculated the time. They had been in the imperial tomb for more than half an hour. If they hadn't found the experts yet, the experts would likely be in grave danger.
Yan Shouyi shone his flashlight forward. On the ground ahead, more than a dozen people were lying in disarray.
Liang Yinqiu immediately exclaimed, "Yes! That's them!"
Wang Sihhuai beckoned and said, "What are you waiting for? Let's go save them!"
But Yan Shouyi stopped everyone. "Don't rush. Put on your gas masks quickly."
Reminded by Yan Shouyi, everyone noticed that what was ahead was no longer a passageway that could be seen through at a glance, but a magnificent city gate!
"We've reached the inner city gate..." Xia Qi murmured.
Passing through this gate, they would enter the inner city. Further inside would be the palace where Qin Shi Huang resided after his death.
Perhaps behind this gate, they would see a sky inlaid with luminous pearls and rivers filled with mercury...
No, they had already seen the river.
In front of the city gate, there were three stone bridges. Beneath the bridges, the sound of strange water flow could be heard. When the flashlight shone on it, the river water had a metallic sheen!
This was the legendary Mercury River!
Before anyone could get excited, Liang Yinqiu and Wang Sihhuai snapped back to reality. Mercury was a heavy metal. If they continued to stand there, they would quickly suffer mercury poisoning from inhaling mercury vapor in the air!
No wonder Yan Shouyi had reminded everyone to put on their gas masks.
These equipment had been distributed to everyone before entering the imperial tomb. Everyone quickly put on their masks before approaching the experts.
Wang Sihhuai and the team members walked at the front, each finding a target and beginning their checks.
The results of the checks eased everyone's minds. All the experts were alive, merely unconscious.
"Perhaps they were too excited to see the city gate and forgot to put on their gas masks, and now they've all suffered mercury poisoning," Wang Sihhuai speculated.
Yan Shouyi had also thought so, believing that it would be considered a success if Wang Sihhuai and the team members took the experts out now.
But Liang Yinqiu said very seriously, "Impossible! Our team this time consists of the most experienced experts and professors in the industry. They have been constantly researching the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor on the way here. They know better than anyone about the mercury river in the tomb, so it's impossible they forgot to put on their gas masks."
Xia Qi echoed, "Yes, and there are so many experts; it's impossible for all of them to forget to put on their gas masks, right?"
Their words indeed reminded Yan Shouyi.
Lin Zhitong said softly, "According to them, the experts might have fallen unconscious before suffering mercury poisoning."
Yan Shouyi frowned.
Then, what caused them to fall unconscious?
Could it be the蛊虫 (gu worms) from before?
But after Yan Shouyi lifted the clothes of one of the experts to inspect him, he found no traces of蛊虫. This indicated that the three experts who were rescued might have encountered the蛊虫 on their way back, and it had little to do with this place.
As Yan Shouyi was contemplating, Wang Sihhuai suddenly noticed that one of his team members had a face as pale as paper, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably, making it almost impossible for him to stand steady.
"Xiao Zhao, what's wrong?" Wang Sihhuai patted the team member's shoulder.
But the team member was so startled that he sat down on the ground and said tremblingly:
"Cap-captain, something's not right! Wasn't the expert team supposed to have thirteen people in total? Why is it that when I counted just now, there are fourteen people lying on the ground!"
"There's one extra!"