The Lost Tomb Vol. 1

Chapter 13: 02200059

I cried out and reflexively drew my hand back. Touching some unknown thing in the dark was the most terrifying feeling. But the moment I touched that hand, I knew that its owner must have died because the chilly and bloated skin didn't have a hint of vitality at all.

I suddenly remembered that I was still carrying a few fire sticks on me so I quickly lit one. By the light of its flame, I could see a corpse lying there with a big stomach wound. There were a lot of corpse-eaters hanging around the wound, each one the size of my palm and all a bluish-green color. From time to time, some smaller corpse-eaters would crawl out of the corpse's mouth and empty eye sockets.

I felt sick to my stomach. This man appeared to have been dead for about a week or so and was probably a victim from the previous grave-robbing team. Could he have died here after finding that trap like I did? When I thought of this, I immediately began searching for the battery using the small flame that was about to go out. I finally found the battery, put it in the miner's lamp, and turned it on again, breathing a sigh of relief when the lamp actually came on. The guy who sold it to me said that the lamp could withstand a drop of more than three meters. It seemed that he really didn't lie to me!

With the lamp working now, I was finally able to take a look around. This place was empty and built in a very crude manner. It was a square cellar surrounded by walls made of irregular-shaped stones. There were a lot of vent-like holes in the walls, but they were dark so I couldn't see where they led to. From time to time, a cool breeze would flow through these holes.

I immediately turned and checked the body. It belonged to a middle-aged man who was about forty years old. His abdomen had been torn open in what appeared to be a fatal wound and he was wearing camouflage clothes. I could also see that his pockets were bulging. I pulled a wallet out of one of the pockets and found some money in it, along with a ticket stub from a train station. I continued to search him and found an embossed stamp on his belt buckle with the following line of numbers on it: 02200059. Other than that, there was nothing else that could prove his identity.

I put his wallet in my pocket, planning on researching it later when I got out of this place.

The architectural style here was very similar to ancient tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and this room in particular looked a bit like a temporary escape route. I thought it unlikely that someone would build a tomb on top of someone else's grave, so maybe this was the escape route the craftsmen who built the tomb had left for themselves!

In ancient times, especially during the Warring States Period, taking part in a project to build a noble's tomb was tantamount to death. You would either be poisoned or buried alive with the corpses. But the wisdom of the working people couldn't be ignored. Most craftsmen would make a secret passage for themselves so that they could escape. I swept my miner's lamp around the area and saw that there was indeed a very narrow door on one side of the wall, but the door was set pretty high up from the ground. There was a wooden ladder below it, but it was completely rotten. I estimated the height but knew that it was impossible for me to jump that high. As I stared at it, I suddenly saw a face poke out of the passage.

When I saw this face, I couldn't help feeling overjoyed and shouted, "Pan Zi! It's me!"

Pan Zi was startled when he saw me, but instead of showing a happy expression, it almost seemed like he saw something horrible because he almost fell out of the passage.

Just as I was wondering what his strange behavior was about, Pan Zi suddenly pulled out his gun and pointed the muzzle straight at me. I looked at him and knew that it wasn't good. Don't tell me... is Pan Zi mistaking me for a zombie?! I really am going to suffer an unjust death this time!

I immediately shouted at him, "It's me, Pan Zi! What the fuck are you doing?!"

Pan Zi acted like he didn't hear me at all and pulled the trigger. There was a loud noise—the gunshot was strangely loud in this room—and then the bullet whizzed past my ear, hitting something behind me. A bubbly, fishy-smelling substance splashed the back of my head. I quickly turned around and saw several big bluish-green corpse-eaters clinging to the wall, many of which were leaning towards me in a threatening manner. A few had even climbed to the ceiling and were only a dozen centimeters away from my head.