The Lost Tomb : Ten Years Later

Chapter 27: Hint

I tried to change my way of thinking. If I were Poker-Face and knew that someone would come to me in ten years, what preparations would I make?

I would place hints at all the possible entrances here. "To the friend who's picking me up, please go here and watch out for the slippery floor."

If Fatty and Xiao Hua were to enter from somewhere else, they may encounter similar prompts.

Why was it on this wall? If Chen Pi Ah Si was facing this wall, then he must've had a fixed route. But why would he follow along a fixed route?

What was driving him?

The phrase "you may be able to obtain karma" had been written very big.

I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and picked up the copper wire and looked at the key. The dark green pearl inset on it reminded me of the color of the bronze door.

The key kept slowly turning and then stopped, pointing in one direction.

I poked it again and watched as it rotated and then stopped, still pointing in the same direction.

So that's how it works.

My heart beat faster. I didn't dare put my underwear back on, so I threw them on the ground, pulled the meteor hammer and diving suit from the pile of stones, went up to the water's edge, and started washing the suit. By the time I put it back on, the oxygen light was almost useless and could only light a few centimeters ahead. I hung it on my chest, grabbed the copper wire, followed the key's direction, and started to move forward.

The area in front of me was dark, and I only took a few steps before I felt the rock in front of me and began to climb up.

I couldn't see anything after I climbed to the top, and was worried about losing the key, so I tied the copper wire to my finger. I used my other hand to grope around as I crawled through the rubble bit by bit.

After climbing for several hours, I was exhausted, my hands and feet were cut to pieces, and I almost lost my sense of touch. At this time, I finally stepped on flat ground.

The ground was so rough that for the first time, I couldn't completely reconstruct the surrounding environment in my head. Maybe this was the bluestone floor of the tomb chamber, or the shrine of the emperor's tomb, or even the bottom of the moat. But when I crept forward, I didn't touch anything.

I walked step by step in the darkness, as if someone was holding my hand.

The oxygen light went out again and wouldn't come back on this time, so I had to rely on my other senses in the darkness.

At first, I heard a lot of sounds that seemed to indicate that the area around me was very empty. There was no wind, but there were all kinds of noises in the distance. Was it water? Rain? I couldn't tell. My sense of awareness seemed to disappear, and I couldn't tell what direction I was going in or how much time had passed. I couldn't even tell if I was moving or not.

I didn't know how long I had been walking in the dark. It seemed like only a few seconds had passed, but I felt as if I had been walking for several days.

This essentially proved that one's awareness was really just a quick response of the body's subtle senses, and its effectiveness needed the perfect coordination between the eyes, ears, nose, and brain.

My hands and feet were constantly moving and I was feeling all the sensations with my toes.

Plan B.

I tried to recall all the various scenarios I had discussed with Fatty and the others before we came here. Fatty had watched many American movies and was full of ideas like Plan B and C, but unfortunately, his pronunciation of B sounded wrong.

The place where Fatty and I had separated wasn't far from here, so based on his experience, he should be able to find this place faster than Xiao Hua.

If he and I got separated, we promised that we would meet before proceeding to the next step, so we agreed on two indicators: one was a flare and the other was sound. If we were in the same open area, Fatty would fire off a flare, but if both of us lost our equipment, we would whistle a certain rhythm at regular intervals.

I could whistle very sharply with my fingers or a thread, but for it to spread far, I still needed something that could emit a whistle at a high frequency.

I stopped, squatted down, and began to grope around. This was the first time I wasn't following the key's direction. I started searching the area beside me, hoping for something to use.

After taking two steps to the side, I felt a person's foot standing there in the darkness.

I was covered in a cold sweat and all my hair was standing on end as I quickly pulled my hand back. Then, I subconsciously touched the other side and felt another foot.

Fuck, I said to myself, there are a bunch of people here in the darkness.