Chapter 223: Exploring the Tomb

With dozens of gun barrels pointed right at her, Zhurige knew she couldn’t say no right now. The implication behind Ye Yuzhu’s words was clear—he was forcing her to come into the forest with them. Outnumbered, Zhurige had no choice but to agree.

Once everyone dismounted, Ye Yuzhu suggested scouting deeper into the Crying Forest first. If they confirmed that Gune Kingdom City was indeed beneath it, they would send someone back along the same path to bring the main force.

Wasting no time, everyone packed up outside the woods, shouldered their weapons and equipment, and lit their lanterns. Ye Yuzhu led the way, holding his lantern high as he stepped into the dense, sunless forest first.

Zhurige followed the team, walking for hours with her heart in her throat. Ye Yuzhu was a shrewd operator; whenever Zhurige was so thirsty she could barely go on, he would double back specifically to give her a few sips of water. This left Zhurige unable to fully hate him or feel grateful. Ye Yuzhu understood the strategy of the carrot and the stick all too well.

Nearing the foot of the mountain, Ye Yuzhu raised his hand to halt the group. He crouched down slowly, pinched a handful of grass from the ground in front of him, and smelled it. Then he raised his lantern, his gaze deep and inscrutable, with the light aimed directly toward a direction ahead.

Behind him, Qian Chuanzi narrowed his eyes and quickly gestured. A squad of men pulled out Whirlwind Shovels and Ground-Probing Needles and rushed forward, starting to dig right where Ye Yuzhu had set down his lantern. The Ground-Probing Needle was a wondrous tool invented by Chief Chief Ye; a single needle was divided into three segments, each kept by a different person. Now, the three men assembled the Ground-Probing Needle and drove it hard into the soil.

Immediately after, Old Monster Xiong stepped up and pulled the lantern back. Using the Ground-Probing Needle as the origin point, the men worked their Whirlwind Shovels in a triangular pattern, digging deep into the earth. This type of Whirlwind Shovel had four blades; once unfolded, so long as one possessed basic skill, the blades spun downward like a whirlwind with tremendous efficiency.

“Heh heh! This forest is huge, so there’s bound to be plenty of gold and silver down there! Brother Ye, looks like we came to the right place this time!” Old Monster Xiong rubbed his hands as he watched the men digging frantically, his eyes shining.

Ye Yuzhu stood to the side without answering him, clearly calculating something in his head.

Before long, after clearing away the grass covering the rocks, someone’s Whirlwind Shovel struck stone. Ye Yuzhu’s expression stirred just as a man shouted from inside the pit, “Chief! We hit the tomb door!”

Everyone brought their lanterns over to take a look. The massive Ground-Probing Needle was driven into the soil directly in front of a stone door. The earth compressed by the needle had loosened, revealing a tomb door over two meters tall. Carved upon the door was an illustration of ten thousand lotus stalks—it was undoubtedly Gune Kingdom City.

“As expected of the Chief Chief! That needle hit the mark on the first try!” Old Monster Xiong fired a shot into the sky and yelled down to the men in the pit, “Dammit, clear off the door to that old Gune ruler’s place! Once we dig up the treasure inside, every single brother gets a reward! We’ll go back and feast on meat and fine liquor—whatever you want!”

“Yes, sir!” Full of zeal, the men at the bottom of the pit set to work clearing away the remaining soil and grass.

Ye Yuzhu focused his eyes on the lotus patterns on the tomb door and carefully verified the era. It was definitely Gune Kingdom City below. He hadn’t expected the tomb door to be found so easily, and for a moment he was overjoyed, the persistent arrogance in his demeanor flaring even higher.

Qian Chuanzi sidled up to Ye Yuzhu and cupped his hands in greeting. “Congratulations, Chief Chief. Off to a flying start! I didn’t expect things to go so smoothly. Still, as glad as we are, that old devil Gune was sinister and ruthless in life. His tomb is bound to be full of deadly traps and hidden perils. Chief Chief, we had better prepare early.”

Ye Yuzhu raised a hand. “Naturally. That’s why I plan to take a small team in first to scout it out. If it turns out to be a decoy tomb^[1], we won’t lose all our brothers. If it really is the kingdom city inside, it won’t be too late to bring the rest of the crew in.”

“The Chief Chief is truly far-sighted. I am in awe,” Qian Chuanzi said with a chuckle.

Just then, a patch of earth clinging to the stone door was cleared away, exposing the pair of tightly shut stone doors to everyone’s view. Ye Yuzhu used a clip to fasten his long robe around his waist, rolled up his sleeves, and jumped into the pit ahead of the others.

Looking over the door, Qian Chuanzi said, “Chief Chief, the stone used for these doors looks extremely heavy. Ancient rulers loved to place blocking stones behind stone doors to stop thieves. We probably can’t push this door open with sheer manpower.”

After inspecting the area around the tomb entrance, Ye Yuzhu waved his hand decisively. “Back then, the lord of the Gune Kingdom was cruel and tyrannical. Countless thousands of slaves must have perished building a door like this. Today, taking its gold and silver to relieve the displaced commoners is simply doing the people a service.”

With that, Ye Yuzhu turned to the men holding storm lanterns and called out, “Brothers! On my mark, set up blasting holes along the bottom of the door and blow it wide open!”

“Yes, sir!”

Row after row of detonators were planted along the base of the door, with several stacks of explosives packed tight. Once Ye Yuzhu and his group pulled back to a safe distance, the charges were set off, shaking the ground for a moment. When they returned, the stone doors had been blasted open, laying the tomb passage behind them completely exposed to the air.

At Ye Yuzhu’s command, dozens of men assembled, gathering at the entrance.

“Chuanzi, stay behind to guard the outside. The rest of you, follow me in to scout,” Ye Yuzhu instructed. Raising his storm lantern, he stepped into the pitch-black tomb passage.

Zhurige harbored deep misgivings, yet she was shoved into the passage as well. Dragged along by two of Ye Yuzhu’s men, she felt a bone-chilling gust of cold air strike her face the moment she stepped inside.

The group moved slowly. As Ye Yuzhu and Old Monster Xiong walked, they used their storm lanterns to inspect the tomb bricks on either side. Rounding a corner, Ye Yuzhu suddenly took a sharp step back. Acting with lightning speed, he grabbed Old Monster Xiong by the collar, hauling him back just as half his body was about to tip over the edge.

“What’s going on?!” Perplexed after being shoved to the ground by Ye Yuzhu, Old Monster Xiong stood up and slapped the dirt off his rear. Then he saw that the spot where his foot was about to land was completely empty. For over ten meters ahead, no floor bricks had been laid—it was a sheer, bottomless abyss.

“Damn it all! It’s so wide, how the hell are we supposed to cross this?!” Old Monster Xiong cursed as he stared into the pitch-black abyss, where no light reached the bottom.

Ye Yuzhu frowned and waved a hand. “Get the Thousand-Mile Cable!”

No sooner had he spoken than several men pulled thin iron chains from their packs. They linked the segments together to form a long Thousand-Mile Cable and handed it to Ye Yuzhu.

“I’m telling you, Brother Ye, your Thousand-Mile Cable might be famous in the martial world, but this gap is massive. Even if we threw the damn thing straight into the sky, we’d never reach the other side,” Old Monster Xiong said.

Ye Yuzhu shot him a glare but remained silent. He wound one end of the Thousand-Mile Cable around his arm several times, then took a three-step running start up the wall. He actually ran several paces along the uneven stone surface, with nothing but a bottomless chasm yawning beneath his feet.

Gathering his breath, Ye Yuzhu twisted his body in mid-air. The Horse-Head Blade in his right sleeve shot out of its sheath, piercing the tomb ceiling to hook onto a stone. The Thousand-Mile Cable wrapped around his left arm immediately flew out, the grappling hook at its end sinking deep into a joint between the bricks of the tomb wall and locking firmly into place. As the rest of the cable was pulled up, several men quickly grabbed the chain, stretching it into a perfectly straight line.

The Horse-Head Blade snapped back into its sheath. Ye Yuzhu spun once in mid-air and landed firmly on the Thousand-Mile Cable, light as a dragonfly touching water^[2]. His posture was so graceful and effortless that the cable didn’t tremble in the slightest beneath his weight.