Chapter 950: Tomb Raiding
Chapter 950: Tomb Raiding
The tomb was dark and damp, filled with an oppressive and suffocating atmosphere.
The passage ahead was pitch-black and profoundly deep, its length unknown, and its destination a mystery.
Mo Hua held the compass, leading the group through the narrow darkness.
Hui Er Ye and his companions frequently scanned their surroundings, vigilant against the eerie corpse fiends that lurked within the tomb.
Indeed, corpse fiends appeared along the way, not in large numbers, mostly one or two at a time, silently emerging from the shadows to bite at people's heads.
However, the group was mentally prepared, and the seven Golden Core experts kept a watchful eye on each other, covering the blind spots.
These corpse fiends were swiftly dispatched whenever they appeared.
No one was bitten.
Mo Hua secretly felt it was a pity.
Since no one was bitten, he had fewer subjects for observation, and his plan to poison the evil entities with their venom was significantly hindered.
It was uncertain if anyone had attempted such a thing before.
But if it was to be done, there would likely be many challenges.
Just the sealing, storage, molting, breeding, and poisoning of the evil entities would require extensive research.
Therefore, Mo Hua needed someone to be bitten by the corpse fiends, so that when the poison took effect, he would have more subjects for comparison.
However, for now, the group was still in the stage of cooperation, exploring the tomb together. The final burial site had not yet been reached, so there was no need to rush.
Putting aside his other thoughts, Mo Hua focused solely on guiding the way.
The passage seemed to stretch endlessly, and after an unknown amount of time, it suddenly opened up.
The scene before them had changed once more.
Mo Hua, who was at the forefront, immediately stopped and slowly retreated to the center of the group, ensuring he was surrounded by the Golden Core experts. Only then did he fix his gaze ahead, and he saw that the passage led to a spacious stone chamber.
The stone chamber was simple, adorned with some murals on its walls.
These murals were crude, and the content depicted mostly consisted of scenes of bull-headed and horse-faced guards from the Dao Administration, apprehending, punishing, and executing criminals.
Mo Hua examined them carefully and then sensed them with his divine perception, after which he frowned slightly.
These murals were indeed just simple paintings.
They were neither contemplation maps nor did they contain any formation arts; they seemed to hold no other mysteries.
However, the scenes of the bull-headed and horse-faced guards inflicting various punishments left Mo Hua with an extremely unusual impression.
Mo Hua had a vague feeling.
He sensed that these murals were "copied" from somewhere, a "rubbing," but the person who copied them didn't understand their true meaning. They had merely copied the basic shapes and carved them into the tomb, filling the stone walls.
Even with just the "rubbing," Mo Hua could already feel a suffocating sense of gloom.
The original "source" of these murals might be even more terrifying if seen in person.
Mo Hua's eyebrows furrowed, and his expression turned solemn.
However, Hui Er Ye, standing beside him, saw the murals and his spirit lifted. He said to the group:
"These are the outer chamber murals of the underground palace. We've reached the underground palace."
"By passing through the underground palace and entering the inner chamber, we'll find the coffin. The treasures of the burial will be buried alongside the coffin."
"Once we enter the chamber, retrieve the items, and return the way we came, this mission will be considered a great success."
The group's gazes were filled with anticipation.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and finally voiced his question: "Whose tomb are we robbing... and what is buried within?"
Mo Hua lowered his voice, but everyone could still hear him.
All the cultivators present feigned ignorance, and not a single one answered him.
Mo Hua felt a bit awkward and pouted.
"It's getting late; let's keep moving forward," said Hui Er Ye. He paused slightly and then spoke with a solemn expression:
"However, since we're here, I must remind everyone that the underground palace is designed to protect the burial chamber. It's filled with deadly formations and mechanisms, so we must proceed with utmost caution."
Hei Pao Gongzi nodded.
Then, the group passed by the outer chamber murals of the underground palace and took about a hundred steps forward.
The walls changed, and before the spacious underground palace, five branching paths appeared.
"These branching paths are meant to confuse intruders and protect the burial," explained Hui Er Ye.
Hei Pao Gongzi slightly inclined his head and asked, "Which path should we take?"
Hui Er Ye and the others fell silent for a moment, all eyes turning to Mo Hua.
Originally, Pi Sheng, an expert in earth formations, was responsible for discerning the correct path. But with Pi Sheng's death, this task naturally fell to the only array master in the group—Mo Hua.
Even though Mo Hua was new to the art of formations.
This was Mo Hua's first time tomb raiding... no, being "held hostage" and forced into the tomb, and there was much he didn't fully understand.
Especially when it came to the various applications of earth formations, many of which he was seeing for the first time, and he lacked experience in this area.
The five branching paths before him appeared almost identical in his divine perception.
Even the layout of the earth formations and their auras were indistinguishable, and Mo Hua couldn't immediately discern which path was the true one leading to the burial chamber.
"Hold on, let me study this a bit more..." Mo Hua said.
Hui Er Ye's eyelids twitched.
Hei Pao Gongzi's gaze toward Mo Hua became even more peculiar.
Mo Hua, however, ignored them and began rummaging through Pi Sheng's storage bag.
Inside Pi Sheng's storage bag were formation-related array books, formation diagrams, and some miscellaneous books and notes.
Among the miscellaneous items was a portion of Pi Sheng's tomb raiding insights.
The main content of these insights discussed the compatibility of formations with burials, including the use of the Five Elements Array, Trigram Array, and the hidden earth formations within the burial.
It also covered how to solve problems encountered during tomb raiding using formation arts...
Mo Hua's divine perception was strong, and his mind was sharp. He read through the books and jade slips at an incredible speed, his fingers flipping through the pages. Soon, he had a general understanding of the relevant information.
This was a "fake formation" technique used in burials.
The five branching paths were identical, and the formations within them seemed the same.
However, this was one of the tricks of earth formations; only one path was genuine, while the others were "fake."
Mo Hua nodded and began to follow Pi Sheng's insights, using the earth formation auras to deduce the formations.
Mo Hua extended his hand and pointed to the rightmost path, saying, "Take this path.
"Have you figured it out?"
"Mhm."
"Are you sure?" Although Ash Sir had high hopes for Mo Hua's talent in his heart, and had even planned to claim this talent as his own, talent was still just talent.
Seeing Mo Hua's "learning and selling" and his guessing, Ash Sir felt it was unreliable.
"This is the way." Mo Hua looked as if he didn't care if others believed him.
Ash Sir frowned.
The Black Robe Nobleman's gaze landed on Mo Hua with a hint of complexity, and he slowly spoke, "This young brother has been accurate in his positioning and array breaking along the way. His calculations should be correct, let's go."
Mo Hua glanced at the Black Robe Nobleman in surprise.
The Black Robe Nobleman looked at Mo Hua, and a faint smile appeared on the corners of his mouth.
Mo Hua was taken aback, feeling something strange as his heart sank slightly.
Ash Sir hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He had no choice but to follow Mo Hua's calculations.
After all, Mo Hua was an Array Master, and this path was calculated by him.
If they didn't trust Mo Hua, they could only rely on their own guesses.
Guessing on their own was obviously even less reliable.
"Alright," Ash Sir said.
So the group headed towards the fork that Mo Hua had pointed out.
As they entered the fork, the atmosphere changed abruptly. The stone walls were more solid, engraved with various prison diagrams, and the mood became more solemn and awe-inspiring.
Everyone proceeded with extra caution.
Unexpectedly, there were no traps or pitfalls in the tomb passage, and the journey was surprisingly safe.
They continued walking until they reached a bald stone wall at the end, with no other exit in sight.
Ash Sir stepped forward, knocked on the stone wall, and then punched it.
The array lit up and then shattered.
Ash Sir's fist penetrated the stone wall, but behind it, there was no other passage, only a bottomless mountain.
"It's a dead end," Ash Sir turned and said.
The group's gaze turned to Mo Hua again.
Mo Hua stroked his chin, muttering, "How can it be a dead end... Did I miscalculate?"
"What do we do now?"
"Let me take another look..."
Mo Hua examined the surroundings once more. He found that the array was correct, but behind it was indeed a thick mountain, a dead end.
"Even the best make mistakes."
Mo Hua spoke calmly, not feeling embarrassed about his miscalculation.
Ash Sir and the others had no choice but to accept it.
After all, the "professional" Mr. Pi was already dead.
Mo Hua was like a duck pushed into the pond, and being able to calculate this much was already impressive.
"Let's turn back," Ash Sir said.
So the group spent some time retracing their steps and returned to the fork.
"Which way should we go now?"
Mo Hua recalculated according to Mr. Pi's tomb exploration notes, but after much calculation, he still felt that his calculations were correct.
Pi Er Ye noticed Mo Hua's hesitation and guessed that there was a problem with his array deduction. He gradually lost patience, thinking that they couldn't afford to delay any longer.
"We can't keep stalling like this. Let's try the middle path and see."
"If it doesn't work, we'll turn back and choose another path. There are a total of five paths, and even if we try them one by one, there shouldn't be any issues."
Ash Sir continued, "Lonely Mountain City is a third-rank Earth Realm. With seven of us, even if we encounter some danger, we should be able to handle it."
Mo Hua had nothing to say.
If it were a Five Elements or Eight Trigrams array, he would have absolute confidence.
But most of the arrays used in this tomb were Earth arrays, which he wasn't very familiar with, and he had to learn and apply them on the spot. Therefore, he couldn't be sure if he had miscalculated.
Since he wasn't sure about the arrays, they could only rely on Ash Sir, the "experienced" tomb raider, to make the decision.
Ash Sir took the lead, and the group followed him into the central tomb passage.
Mo Hua now had some free time.
Since he didn't need to guide the way, he didn't have to be at the front.
Mo Hua chose a safe spot and blended into the crowd, ensuring that if danger approached from any direction, there would be someone to act as his "shield."
The central tomb passage, from the outside, looked almost identical to the rightmost fork that Mo Hua had chosen.
But as they walked, the darkness suddenly lit up with dense firelight.
Countless sharp crossbow arrows converged, forming flames that seemed solid, like a fiery rain, shooting directly at the front-most Ash Sir.
The speed of these fire arrows was incredibly fast.
Ash Sir couldn't dodge in time, so he crossed his arms and summoned a dirt shield to protect himself.
The dense fire rain struck the shield, causing spiritual energy to surge and the flames to dance, appearing extremely dazzling in the dark tomb.
Not only Ash Sir, but the others were also affected.
The scorching fire rain rushed towards them, targeting the others as well. Stone's body formed a layer of dirt, and Rat's figure dodged strangely, while the several men in black also used their methods to defend against the continuous fire.
This was a third-rank fire rain, with immense power.
Mo Hua had sensed it coming and knew he couldn't withstand it, so he had hidden behind the two tall black-robed cultivators.
These two black-robed cultivators stood firm amidst the fire rain, like two small mountains.
When the fire rain stopped and the smoke cleared, Mo Hua stepped forward.
In front of the passage, Ash Sir and the others, who had been hit by the fire rain, looked a bit disheveled.
The four black-robed cultivators also had some spots on their robes.
Ash Sir lowered his shield and took a deep breath, clearly having struggled to deal with the fire rain.
But his face showed not disappointment, but joy, "There's a tomb mechanism, so the path is correct."
Ash Sir turned and warned, "Everyone be careful, and keep moving forward."
From then on, the group continued forward.
Along the way, they encountered poison gas, quicksand, stone burial, water miasma, blade arrays, and other deadly traps.
These tomb mechanisms were varied and treacherous, appearing extremely dangerous and vicious, and hard to guard against.
But Ash Sir and the others were experienced.
Tomb mechanisms were like daily meals to these tomb raiders.
With some caution, they could handle it, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking.
After a while, having faced various mechanisms, Ash Sir frowned, "Strange, the floor beneath our feet doesn't seem unusual. How are these mechanisms triggered?"
Ash Sir didn't understand, but Mo Hua knew.
The mechanisms in this tomb passage worked in conjunction with the Earth array, controlling them through the "sensing" of the Earth array. As long as someone walked over it, the mechanisms would activate.
This went beyond the scope of ordinary tomb mechanism techniques, involving more advanced Earth array usage.
Ash Sir, not knowing, was not strange.
But Mo Hua didn't say anything and did nothing.
Array masters must keep secrets.
Only when he understands the formation, whatever he does, whatever he says, what is right, and what is wrong, only he knows.
Wanting to kill, wanting to trap, wanting to blacken the black, everything is also at his own will.
This was not long ago, Mr. Pi just taught him.
Mr. Pi has been in the world of cultivation for so many years, and his experience is very rich.
Mo Hua felt he was very right.
Moreover, Mo Hua was also curious and wanted to see what kind of mechanisms were in the tomb, so that in the future, if he encountered these killing offers alone, he would also have a mental preparation.
So, while triggering the mechanism, everyone walked towards the depths of the tomb passage.
But after walking for a long time, the end of the tomb passage was still not in sight.
Moreover, the deeper they went, the narrower the tomb passage became, and the more branching paths there were. Walking and walking, when they looked back, they didn't know where they were.
Earl Hui had to stop and stand still, saying in a deep voice:
"Not right... This way is not right..."
"What do we do now?" Rat asked.
"Go back?"
Black Robe Young Master looked around, frowning: "There are so many branching paths, how do we go back?"
Everyone hesitated for a moment, and then, without any agreement, they looked at Mo Hua.
After all, among everyone, only Mo Hua was the only array master.
At this time, Mo Hua deeply understood why Mr. Pi insisted on following the principle of "one array master" every time he went to the tomb.
Cultivators take cultivation as the foundation, but cultivation is just cultivation.
For most cultivators in the world, powerful cultivation only means killing force and destructive power.
But there are still many problems that cannot be solved by cultivation alone.
But array masters are different.
The formation manifests the Way, encompassing all things.
Array masters are proficient in formations and understand all principles, able to solve many problems that ordinary cultivators cannot.
Encountering the slightest thing, others always ask, relying on the array master's judgment.
Mo Hua took a deep breath and reluctantly took out Mr. Pi's compass, and then began to distinguish the direction of the formation, discern the position, and walk for a moment. He then pointed to the left, "Here."
Everyone could only honestly follow Mo Hua.
Along the way, the branching paths gradually converged, and they could also encounter some triggered mechanisms, which were obviously the way back.
Earl Hui breathed a sigh of relief, and his gaze at Mo Hua also became more fervent.
"What's wrong?" Earl Hui asked.
Mo Hua's face was a little ugly, "There's something..."
Earl Hui was startled, and then instantly understood.
"Corpse Curse!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts trembled, and they immediately became vigilant.
Mo Hua also quietly retreated behind everyone.
But after a moment, in the pitch-black branching path, in the deep darkness, silently and without a sound, a head suddenly appeared.
This head was deformed and ugly, with its facial features squeezed and distorted, making it impossible to distinguish its features. Its mouth was split into three cracks, like the teeth of an underground creature.
At this moment, this head's three-part mouth split open, revealing wriggling flesh teeth, like a blood-red flesh-eating flower.
Earl Hui took one look and felt nauseous.
The image of having his face chewed by this corpse curse, was still vivid in his mind, and that disgusting taste, he didn't want to experience a second time.
Earl Hui drew his knife and wanted to chop this corpse curse.
But the knife only got halfway through, when he suddenly stopped, his pupils trembled, and his face turned ugly.
In front of him, what was blooming was not a "flesh-eating flower".
But it was many.
Flesh-red gums, bone-white fangs, in the darkness, blooming one after another, just a glance, there were about twenty or more.
Everyone's faces changed.
"Retreat!" Earl Hui shouted.
As soon as his voice fell, these hideous and foul-smelling corpse curses, with bloody mouths, rushed towards everyone's heads.
Earl Hui's knife chopped off one of the corpse curse's arms.
Stone's fist sent one of the face-jumping corpse curses flying.
The others also used their sword techniques and spells, killing or knocking away the charging corpse curses.
But as long as the corpse curses didn't die, even if there was a remnant of evil energy, they would still continue to rush forward.
"Fall back!" Earl Hui shouted.
They retreated to the branching path.
In the darkness, no one knew how many corpse curses, like a tide, one after another, rushing forward.
Rotting flesh, blood water, severed limbs, sword aura, blood light, spells, all mixed together.
The scene was momentarily chaotic.
Mo Hua could only try his best to hide among the crowd, letting these Golden Core cultivators take the brunt of the attacks for him.
But the branching path was chaotic, the passage was narrow, and there were too many corpse curses, like a tide, one after another, rushing forward.
Mo Hua could only try his best to dodge the corpse curses while avoiding the mechanisms, walking for a moment, and he indeed found a person.
It was the tomb raider called "Rat".
Rat was currently dealing with several corpse curses, his treasure seemed to be a shovel, which could dig earth, but could also cleave.
After about ten rounds, Rat had cleaved all the corpse curses around him.
The surroundings became a little clearer, and Rat also saw Mo Hua, so he asked, "Where are the others?"
Mo Hua shook his head, "We need to find a way to meet up with them."
"Okay." Rat nodded.
So the two of them walked along the branching path, wanting to find the others.
But as they walked, Mo Hua's heart trembled, and he immediately jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a large, coarse hand.
Mo Hua was surprised, "What are you doing?"
The one who tried to attack him was Rat.
At this time, Rat's face was dark, and his eyes, fixed on Mo Hua, were dead. He reached out to grab Mo Hua's shoulder, and at the same time, his voice was hoarse:
"Give that... to me."
(End of Chapter)
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