Speaking of who wanted to disappear on the spot the most, Boss Zhao and his associates topped the list, leaving everyone else far behind in that regard.
While Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai stood quite a distance away, speaking in low voices, their words became muffled and unclear from where they stood. Yet, neither of them was blind. The actions of those two—sometimes touching their heads, then chests, and later sitting down intimately and even playing with a large furry tail—were scenes clearly visible to anyone with a raised glance from the muddy ground.
In broad daylight, blatantly visible to all, they seemed to create an impenetrable barrier separating them from the others.
Boss Zhao and Third Thief exchanged glances and then turned their attention to the bodyguard, Ah Wei. In that gathering, Ah Wei was the unfortunate employee, dangling a carrot of a bonus, coerced by the boss to march forward even through perilous situations.
However, as soon as he took a step forward, Shi Yuebai glanced at him, sending a look that Ah Wei couldn’t quite describe—a chilling gaze that made his spine tingle. It felt as if his feet were stuck in the mud, unable to move, suffocating and unable to utter a word.
With Zhao and the others not paying attention, Xu Yintang, facing away, sensed someone approaching. He was vigilant, listening and observing from all sides. Before Shi Yuebai could say anything, he quickly gestured and subtly indicated towards Ah Wei.
“They’ve dug the pit!”
As Xu Yintang turned around, the pressure that made Ah Wei feel breathless vanished. He palpitated his neck, taking deep breaths, hesitating to move closer, and exclaimed from a distance, “It’s already dug through. We can enter now!”
Before anyone entered, Third Flora’s butterfly flew into the Burial Ground to scout the path ahead. The butterfly’s exploration had limitations—it couldn’t penetrate tightly closed or completely dark spaces. It needed a light crevice to navigate and couldn’t reach the deepest, darkest areas underground where no butterfly could dwell.
Soon, Third Flora relayed messages to Xu Yintang about the spaciousness, abundant food, and a fragrant smell, except for the central area inaccessible to the butterfly. Xu Yintang instructed Third Flora to clear the area near the entrance of any potential threats.
The Burial Ground extended deep underground, its darkness concealing any sight of the end. A chilly, foul-smelling breeze wafted from the entrance.
Xu Yintang stared at the narrow and small passage, barely allowing one person to pass. Ah Wei seemed strained while entering, worrying he might get stuck halfway.
Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only one concerned about this. Zaisan had a petite stature, and while Boss Zhao had an average build, Ah Wei, despite his strength, was shorter than Xu Yintang by a foot.
Shi Yuebai, nearly the same height as Xu Yintang, possessed the agility of a skilled warrior, with a body adorned with flexible muscles, akin to a lithe and agile wildcat.
Xu Yintang wasn’t overly robust either, with a slender waist and long legs, well-proportioned and appearing slim in clothes, except for certain areas…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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After crawling downward for a while, Boss Zhao suddenly felt something odd about the passage ahead. Whether it was his eyes playing tricks or the light causing distortions, the mud around him seemed to be moving. His scalp tingled, fearing something might emerge. He hurriedly warned everyone.
Shi Yuebai, leading the group, reassured, “It’s fine, just some bugs.”
Bugs… Boss Zhao just heaved a sigh of relief when he felt something drop into his collar. Initially, he thought it was a piece of soil falling, but when his skin started itching and the sensation crawled beneath his clothes, he realized it was a bug. He quickly bent over, intending to brush it off or squash it, but when he looked closely, he screamed loudly, “Bugs! So many bugs!”
It wasn’t an illusion caused by dim lights; the soil was crawling with bugs of various sizes and kinds—black beetles in clusters, earthworms thicker than fingers, segmented centipedes with black and yellow bodies, as if they had stumbled into a den of pests, about to be overrun and devoured by the countless insects.
Boss Zhao’s screams reverberated through the entire passage, startling Ah Wei and Third Thief, making them think they had bumped into something dangerous. Nervously, they asked what was happening at the front. The cacophony in the passage sounded like a flock of ducks, incessantly noisy, irking Shi Yuebai, who was gradually growing impatient.
“Enough!” he sternly commanded. “Move forward quickly! Stop dawdling!”
His tone was almost a command, instantly suppressing the chaos. Xu Yintang followed, nonchalantly stating, “They’re just harmless little creatures. If you’re scared, don’t look at them.”
These bugs were probably nurtured under the old locust tree, used to enrich the soil. Most of them were harmless, merely eating and excreting soil, insignificant to the point that even Third Flora’s butterflies almost ignored their existence.
Second Treasure struggled to wriggle out from his mother’s embrace, providing comfort to everyone—except Shi Yuebai—calming down the panic-stricken crowd.
With Shi Yuebai leading and Xu Yintang stabilizing everyone’s nerves from behind, those in the middle, initially terrified by the bugs and then brushing against skeletons embedded in the soil, were dizzy and sweating by the time they emerged from the Burial Ground. Except for Boss Zhao, who now sported a bump on his head—during the crawl, he failed to stop in time and collided face-first with a skeleton.
Escaping from the narrow Burial Ground that felt like a water pipe, the tomb’s cold and putrid air offered a somewhat refreshing relief. Boss Zhao and Third Thief eagerly surveyed the surroundings, their eyes gleaming as they observed the jade-green walls.
Xu Yintang struggled to extract his upper body from the narrow exit when suddenly, Shi Yuebai wordlessly extended a hand, indicating for him to grab hold for leverage.
…He wasn’t that tightly wedged.
But having someone offer help always made things easier. Xu Yintang grabbed Shi Yuebai’s hand, pulling himself out. Meanwhile, Third Thief had already rummaged through this antechamber; the previous tomb raiders had taken everything valuable. The coffin was empty, and he shook his head in disappointment, “If they stopped here, there might have been wealth to enjoy.”
Although the chamber was emptied, the experienced Third Thief discerned something more.
“Ordinarily, there wouldn’t be so many grave goods in an antechamber. Besides, this coffin was originally empty and likely held a figurine instead,” Third Thief analyzed, wiping the gold powder off his hands.
“Li Quan, in historical records, wasn’t known for brutality. I guess he arranged it intentionally. If tomb raiders broke in and were content with the antechamber’s treasures, they might have preserved their lives by not venturing deeper.”
But if greed pushed them further, the numerous traps and undead creatures within this tomb wouldn’t be forgiving.
An empty antechamber couldn’t satisfy Boss Zhao’s appetite. Able to accommodate plenty of grave goods, it made him more eager to explore the main tomb chamber. Hastily, he urged everyone to move forward.
Third Flora’s butterfly had already scouted ahead in the tomb, thanks to Li Quan’s affinity for nocturnal items and reflective materials, providing ample exploration space. Xu Yintang listened to Third Flora’s murmurs about the tomb’s layout and remarked, “To the right, there are three more antechambers, all unopened and filled with grave goods. To the left, there are guardians and zombies. At the end is a large tomb chamber with a high-quality coffin.”
In more detail, Third Flora found that coffin rather enticing.
“Taking the middle path is the most perilous among the three. It holds more dangers with traps and guardians. I’m not sure about what lies inside, but that area is significantly vast and expansive, larger than all the other spaces combined.”
In principle, Boss Zhao, being the employer, could choose the path, but upon Xu Yintang’s description, without hesitation, the greed-driven Boss Zhao said, “Let’s take the middle path!”
If the traps in the left and right tombs were somewhat merciful, giving tomb raiders a chance for regret and escape, the middle path, however, was a one-way journey to the abyss. The moment one foot stepped onto it, the pitch-black tomb corridor suddenly lit up with scattered green lights, revealing murals of beautiful women playing musical instruments and dancing.
The women in the paintings exuded a distinct Tang Dynasty charm, voluptuous and enchanting. Contrary to the eerie atmosphere, the dim greenish light made it feel dreamlike, as if observing an ethereal beauty under dim lighting. The women’s lively expressions seemed so real, accompanied by the sound of music, creating an ambiance of allure. A gentle breeze carried a momentary burst of fragrance, transforming the eerie tomb passage into a gentle and tender paradise.
Observing Boss Zhao and his companions rubbing and swaying against the mural as if short-circuited, Xu Yintang squinted at the flickering green lights that danced around them, realizing these weren’t just lights but glowing insects, shimmering intermittently in a certain pattern.
“Fireflies?” he asked Shi Yuebai while instructing Second Treasure to splash some cold water on everyone to sober them up.
Shi Yuebai nodded and added, “There’s a belief about souls of the deceased transforming into fireflies. Fireflies, processed in a certain manner, can beguile the mind, inducing illusions to absorb vitality.”
The fireflies only illuminated the upper-middle section of the wall. Shining a flashlight toward the lower part revealed piles of skeletons beneath the painted women, almost like a stage raised for their performances.
With Second Treasure following his mother’s orders, he didn’t hold back in giving Boss Zhao and his group a severe mental shake. Startled, they snapped out of the trance, particularly Third Thief who exclaimed, staggering from what must have been a horrifying vision, causing even this seasoned veteran to struggle for composure.
“Take this.” Xu Yintang tossed a short knife to Boss Zhao. Illusions sometimes penetrate unnoticed; it was essential to provide the employer with something for defense to prevent a premature demise.
The moment Boss Zhao held the blade, he recognized its quality. Judging by its design, it seemed to be of foreign make, adorned with elaborate religious patterns. He speculated it might have been a ceremonial knife used by certain religious sects.
Embedded in the hilt was an iridescent opal emitting a dream-like, strange radiance. The mesmerizing hues immediately captivated their attention, rendering them oblivious to the surroundings. The vivid glow dissipated the colors of the fireflies from the painting and ceased to influence them.
This was Xu Yintang’s acquisition from the first dungeon, the “Nightmare Blade.” Its description indicated that the holder would be immune to nightmares and illusions.
—As long as the holder was first drawn into the illusion, subsequent illusions wouldn’t affect them.
That’s using magic to defeat magic.
Author’s Note –
I specifically studied the size of the tunnel. The sizes vary, usually square-shaped, roughly about a meter in width and height. You can search online for images. Some tunnel entrances are so small that I feel I wouldn’t be able to fit through.
Also, let’s refresh our memory: Mother Xu Yingtang’s bust size is 105.
When crawling forward, Second Treasure probably felt a subway-like crowd during rush hour.
For a moment I thought we were talking about his down there because the sypnosis says he’s the top.. Guess I’m too dirty minded 😖
You’re not alone there 😭😔
I thought both there and his chest (≧▽≦)
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
I’m not particularly claustrophobic or scared of bugs, but crawling through a small, dark, dirty tunnel filled with bugs? I don’t care what treasure is at the end of it. There is no way I’d do that.
It’s the combo right…
please please update more
I can’t wait for more chapters
😋
Thank you for the chapter! <3
Tbh if I was to face bugs for treasure I would abandon the treasure and get the hell out of there
Thank you for the new chapter
We are the ones who understand, we understand. Lmao! Thanks for the update ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for your translation 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 q
,,,,it’s 20cm more than mine T.T