Chapter 1 Chasing the Golden-Faced Dwarf

Judging from Jiang Yongguang's tone, he was actually planning to chase after that golden-faced dwarf.

Uncle Mei immediately dissuaded him, "You silly kid, are you trying to die? That thing is extremely dangerous. It killed Old Zhang in the blink of an eye. We're lucky it's not coming after us, and you want to go looking for trouble? That's like lighting a lamp in an outhouse – asking for shit!"

But Jiang Yongguang was as stubborn as a mule, and said in a deep voice, "I've never believed in this feudal superstition; that thing can't scare me! Besides, it killed my brother, and that debt has to be paid! No matter what it is, I'm going to make it pay for Old Zhang's life!"

The other Xiaoling Guards shared Jiang Yongguang's sentiment. It was clear that they were all loyal.

Before Jiang Yongguang could finish speaking, they joined in, shouting:

"Avenge Old Zhang!"

"We have to catch it!"

"Whether it's human or ghost, we can't let it get away!"

Uncle Mei sighed, his face bitter. "Alright, alright, I don't care what you do. Go if you want, but my son-in-law and I value our lives. My daughter is still waiting for us to come home safe and sound, so we won't wade into this mess..."

With that, Uncle Mei wanted to drag me back the way we came.

But before we could turn around, Jiang Yongguang called out, "The two of you, wait a moment."

Uncle Mei immediately changed his expression. "What? You're not going to let us leave? Is the Xiaoling Guard that overbearing?"

Jiang Yongguang explained patiently:

"Brother Mei, don't be angry. It's your freedom to leave or stay; we certainly have no right to interfere. It's just that this ancient tomb is dangerous, full of hidden threats. Old Zhang was killed because he was alone. I'm worried that if you and Xiao Chen leave the group, you'll be in even more danger..."

What Jiang Yongguang said was right, and I wholeheartedly agreed:

"Uncle Mei, Officer Jiang is right. In the current situation, it's safer to act collectively than to act alone."

Uncle Mei frowned and asked me, "So you're saying we should follow these daredevils and chase after that dirty thing?"

Jiang Yongguang said with a wry smile, "Brother Mei, listen to what you're saying... How can we be daredevils?"

Uncle Mei snorted coldly, "How are you not! In my opinion, your actions are simply courting death!"

Jiang Yongguang assured him, "Don't worry, we have years of experience exploring tombs. Every decision we make is measured and we won't put you in danger. If anything unexpected happens, I'll take full responsibility!"

Since he had already said that much, Uncle Mei naturally couldn't insist on leaving, but muttered softly, "You'll take responsibility? Can you afford to?"

Then he silently followed the group.

The Xiaoling Guards temporarily placed Old Zhang's body next to the stone coffin in the center of the first tomb chamber, and then began to search for traces of the golden-faced dwarf.

Before setting off, Jiang Yongguang gently patted Old Zhang's shoulder and whispered in his ear:

"Old Zhang, don't worry, your brothers will definitely avenge you!"

When we saw the golden-faced dwarf earlier, it was on the other side of the hole in the wall. After arranging Old Zhang's remains, we walked together towards the hole in the wall.

The hole was very narrow. The golden-faced dwarf was short, so it must be very convenient for it to crawl through, but for a group of normal-sized adults like us, with oxygen tanks on our backs, it wouldn't be easy to pass through this hole.

Uncle Mei suggested enlarging the hole to make it easier for everyone to pass through. Jiang Yongguang disagreed, saying that every brick, tile, plant, and tree in this ancient tomb was a historical relic and could not be easily destroyed.

After a lot of effort, we finally crawled through the wall hole one by one. I was the third to last to crawl through. After reaching the other side, I got up and subconsciously looked around, and suddenly saw a huge, sinister face!

The face was right next to the hole in the wall, also with a square face, large mouth, broad ears, and protruding eyes. It was glaring at me with a ferocious expression!

I couldn't help but shudder. After taking a deep breath and calming myself, I realized that it was a bronze mask placed at the end of the passage. The mask was at least two meters high, looking down at me menacingly.

On either side of the mask were two bronze lamps of the same specifications as those in the first tomb chamber. If these two lamps were lit at the same time, the huge bronze mask would surely become even more shocking.

At this moment, Xiao Liang also crawled out of the wall hole. When she got up, she also glanced in the direction of the bronze mask. As a result, the sight scared her so much that she gasped and almost lost her balance and fell to the ground.

I quickly reached out and helped her, teasing with a smile, "We've been in the tomb for so long, how can you still be so jumpy?"

Xiao Liang glanced at me, her face pale, and said stubbornly, "I'm not jumpy, I just... just suddenly slipped."

After everyone had passed through the wall hole, Jiang Yongguang asked me, "Xiao Chen, do you remember which way that three-inch nail ran?"

"Of course."

I nodded and pointed to the other side of the bronze mask, saying,

"It ran this way."

Jiang Yongguang then pressed the diving knife at his waist and quickly chased in that direction, the Xiaoling Guards following closely behind.

Uncle Mei, Xiao Liang, and I didn't dare to fall behind, and followed them forward.

We continued along the narrow, deep tomb passage.

After walking about two hundred meters, I vaguely heard a strange sound. The sound was like some kind of percussion instrument playing, and also like the sound of water droplets falling on the ground – ding, ding, ding...

Because I had hallucinated once before, I was worried that I was hallucinating again this time, so I asked Xiao Liang next to me:

"Xiao Liang, did you hear a strange sound..."

Before I could finish, Xiao Liang imitated the sound, "Is it a ding, ding, ding sound?"

"You heard it too?"

I asked.

"I heard it too."

Xiao Liang replied.

It seemed that this was not a hallucination.

Because in addition to Xiao Liang and me, the Xiaoling Guards had obviously also heard this strange noise.

Jiang Yongguang was walking in the front, and he unhesitatingly pursued the source of the sound.

Uncle Mei thought he was a little reckless and said in a low voice, "This sound is very strange. Are you sure you want to go over there?"

Jiang Yongguang said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid that golden-masked thing is trying to play tricks. Don't panic! There are so many of us, are we afraid of a three-inch nail?"

As he spoke, he continued to walk forward, and the sound became clearer and clearer.

After turning two corners, the narrow space in front of us suddenly widened, and another spacious and magnificent tomb chamber appeared at the end of the tomb passage!

This tomb chamber was much larger than the first tomb chamber. Inside were actually four large stone coffins and eight small stone coffins.

However, when I saw this tomb chamber, my attention was not drawn to the stone coffins inside, but to the direction from which the sound came—

I saw at the end of the tomb chamber, the strange dwarf wearing a golden mask and a strange straw hat, was vigorously hitting the wall of the tomb chamber with a tool similar to a hammer.

The ding, ding, ding sound was exactly what it was making!

Seeing us chasing to the entrance of the tomb chamber, it was not afraid at all. Instead, it slowly turned to us, extended its thick, black palm, and made a beckoning gesture to us!