Chapter 8: The Hole

“What do I learn?” Zuo Qingcang asked in confusion.

The Old Man did not answer directly. Instead, he first explained, “The main function of this tomb was to trap Shen Zong in the deepest part of the burial chamber. The people of Western Wei believed everyone had a soul. All their arrangements here—whether it was the sacrificial offerings, the arrays, or the various traps and mechanisms—ultimately served the purpose of imprisoning Shen Zong’s soul forever within his body, and his body forever within the coffin. Then, they prevented any external factors from affecting this final goal.”

“But what do you think would happen if that coffin was finally breached?” The Old Man turned his head, a hint of fierceness in his eyes as he looked at Zuo Qingcang.

“If I were the designer of this tomb, I would definitely set up a mechanism so that once the coffin was opened, the entire tomb would blow up.” Zuo Qingcang’s eyes narrowed. “You want to open the coffin and trigger the tomb’s self-destruction?”

Having said that, he nodded again. “That is indeed a method, but we must know what self-destruction method he used so we can find a targeted way to escape. And doesn’t this mural say Shen Zong is immortal? After we open the coffin, won’t we release a Jiangshi?”

The Old Man chuckled. “How could that be? After two thousand years, without food or water in that coffin, even a turtle would have turned to dust. Although Shen Zong’s Dao Arts were powerful, he was not a god. The so-called ‘un-killable’ likely refers to something the ancient people couldn’t understand about his body. As for Dao Arts, they are merely principles of nature, not divine miracles.”

The Old Man’s words surprised Zuo Qingcang a little. Previously, he had thought the Old Man was superstitious, but now it seemed he viewed Dao Arts more like science.

He continued, “But that’s still very dangerous. According to you, many Dao Arts from the Western Wei two thousand years ago have been lost. We likely cannot comprehend how they operate, and the slightest misstep could lead to irreversible disaster.”

“That’s still better than growing old and dying alone here,” the Old Man said. “Originally, going down there alone would have been too dangerous for me, but with you it’s different. The two of us should be able to figure out a way to open the coffin. Besides, after staying here for so many years, I have made some findings. Under this island, there should be an undersea volcano. The Dao practitioners who built the tomb chamber likely set up Dao Arts that harnessed the volcano’s power. They probably also placed restrictions inside the volcano itself. Once the coffin is opened, underground magma might surge up, turning the entire island into a sea of fire. What we need to do is open the coffin, then escape from here before we are engulfed in flames.”

The Old Man led Zuo Qingcang to the mural depicting the coffin. Gesturing with his hands, he said, “There are two main challenges in doing this. One is how to get in, and the other is how to get out. This island lacks tools; the only thing we can rely on is ourselves. So, to get inside, your current physical skills are too weak. You need to learn some martial arts and Dao Arts. Also, when we come out, we will definitely encounter the Yin Woman and the Giant Elephant outside, so you will also need to learn some Dao Arts or martial arts for protection.”

Zuo Qingcang nodded. He walked to the mural and looked at the coffin sunken deep underground. Suddenly, he said, “Have you ever considered that maybe we can escape first, then open the coffin?”

“What do you mean?”

“We first dig a tunnel leading straight out, then make a rope from plants and connect it to the coffin. After we leave the island, we pull the rope to open the coffin.” Zuo Qingcang looked at the walls around them. “I don’t yet understand the structure and mechanisms of this tomb, nor the principles of the so-called Dao Arts. But I’ve examined the soil here; it’s very suitable for digging.” He tapped the bricks on the floor and looked at the ceiling. “If we can find tools, we might be able to bore a hole in this tomb. When we walked down the corridor earlier, I carefully calculated the slope and distance. We are at most ten meters below the surface. With tools, we could dig this hole in about seven days. As for food and water, you’ve been here so long; surely you’ve found a solution.”

The Old Man was taken aback, a strange look in his eyes. “You seem very familiar with this sort of thing?”

“Yeah, a long, long time ago, I learned a bit about this from a guy named Zhang Qiling.”

As he spoke, after tapping the bricks on the floor, Zuo Qingcang suddenly lay down and started listening to the ground.

“Your idea is good, but aside from the sealing stone at the exit, the walls and floors here have been reinforced with Dao Arts. With just the two of us, it would take decades to dig out.” The Old Man asked, puzzled, “What are you doing?”

“Something is making a sound.” After saying this, Zuo Qingcang signaled the Old Man to be quiet. The entire Sacrificial Chamber suddenly became very still. Under the green glow of the Luminous Pearl, the Underground Palace looked like a haunted realm.

In this eerie atmosphere, a series of knocking sounds—tap tap tap, tap tap tap—emerged from beneath the floor. The sound resembled a monk tapping a wooden fish, but coming from deep below the tomb chamber, it was enough to make one’s heart race.

The Old Man’s face turned pale, but Zuo Qingcang remained expressionless. Instead, he crawled toward the source of the sound. He tapped the floor, frowned, and said, “It’s hollow behind here.”

The Old Man exclaimed in surprise, “How is that possible?”

“Nothing is impossible.” As he spoke, Zuo Qingcang used the Dagger at his waist, inserting it into the gaps between the bricks, and slowly pried up all the bricks under his feet.

After more than half an hour, a dark, black hole appeared before Zuo Qingcang and the Old Man. The tap tap tap, tap tap tap sounds were coming from this dark opening.

A cold wind blew from the hole. The Old Man’s face turned ashen, and he trembled. “How can this be? What is this? Why is there a hole here? Could something below still be alive?”

“I want to ask, besides the Dao practitioners and the monsters they created, could ordinary craftsmen have also taken part in building this tomb?”

Seemingly affected by Zuo Qingcang’s calm demeanor, the Old Man steadied himself a bit and said, “There should have been. Although the tomb mainly operates through Dao Arts, some basic mechanisms—those relying on delicate metals, threads, and such—cannot remain intact for centuries or millennia without decay. They’d need mechanisms using large stones, water flows, etc., to last long-term. Also, the carvings and murals must all have been done by craftsmen.”

“That’s it then. Since the Dao practitioners built this tomb to seal Shen Zong forever, those craftsmen would naturally be silenced. In many ancient dynasties, it was tradition for emperors to have craftsmen buried with them after the tomb was built. If I were one of those craftsmen, while building this tomb, I would definitely secretly dig an escape tunnel in the Sacrificial Chamber to avoid being killed.”

Zuo Qingcang stared intently into the depths of the hole, but it was pitch black, and he couldn’t see anything.

Beside him, the Old Man frowned and said, “You mean this was dug by those craftsmen?”

“That’s only one possibility.” Zuo Qingcang rubbed his forehead and said, “There’s another possibility: after the tomb was built and before the two of us arrived, guests had already been here.”

“You mean tomb robbers?” The Old Man looked utterly astonished. “But who could find this place and come here to rob tombs? And how did they get out?”

“If someone could build a tomb in a place like this, naturally someone would come to rob it,” Zuo Qingcang said, sheathing his Dagger back at his waist. “Besides, they might not have left; maybe they died inside. No, wait…” He suddenly frowned. “Assuming this hole was dug by tomb robbers, if they only went in and didn’t come out, they couldn’t have covered the hole with bricks.”

As he spoke, he quickly moved around the Sacrificial Chamber, continuously tapping with his fingers.

“The walls and floor here have been reinforced with sealing water. To break through, you’d need other materials to dissolve the sealing water on the surface.” The Old Man asked in surprise, “What are you doing?”

“Looking for other Tomb Robber’s Tunnels. If it were craftsmen, they’d only need to dig one hole to escape. Only tomb robbers, before digging a hole going down, would need to dig a hole to get in.” Zuo Qingcang said without turning his head, “If we find another, it means this hole was indeed dug by tomb robbers.”

Halfway through, he stopped near the wall about ten meters from the Tomb Robber’s Tunnel, continuously tapping the wall with his fingers.

“It’s hollow behind here too.” Zuo Qingcang ran his hand over the bricks on the wall. “There are signs of movement on them. This, or this group of tomb robbers, is a bit strange. Not only did they leave, but they also restored the dug-out wall. Logically, that shouldn’t be necessary. In this remote wilderness, with no authorities around, why would they restore the wall?”

Zuo Qingcang had many more questions in his mind. Did those tomb robbers eventually get out? If they breached the Shifting Stars and Changing Constellations Grand Array, how did they do it? What were they looking for, coming all the way here?

While Zuo Qingcang was thinking, he had already used his Dagger again to pry out the bricks from the wall. But the cavity before him also led downward.

The Old Man beside him gasped, “What’s going on? Why did these tomb robbers dig two downward passages? Did one of them dig wrong?”

“No,” Zuo Qingcang said, a flash of understanding in his eyes. “It’s because of the monsters above ground. To avoid those monsters, they first dug a vertical shaft far from the monsters, then dug a horizontal tunnel underground, eventually reaching beneath the Sacrificial Chamber. They used this Underground Palace as an outpost, resting here while they dug the downward passage.”

The Old Man’s face lit up with excitement. “You mean, through the first hole, we can get outside?”

“Not one hundred percent sure.” Zuo Qingcang suddenly put the bricks back into both openings. “There are still too many uncertainties. Since those people put the bricks back, I’ll put them back for now as well. In the meantime, tell me about Dao Arts. What exactly are Dao Arts, and how do the Dao Arts in this tomb operate?”

Hearing this, the Old Man nodded, but he didn’t realize that at some point, the initiative in the entire situation had been completely taken over by Zuo Qingcang. He seemed naturally suited for command, making others trust and follow him instinctively.