Behind the four people, a corpse was slowly following.
"Does anyone among you know anything about archaeology? Do you know what dynasty this tomb belongs to?" Lin Chu asked.
An Xingyu said: "Yu Huan knows a little bit, his cousin is an archaeologist." But he is dead.
Lu Yanli didn't say anything.
In order to survive, he dabbled in various fields, and naturally knew a little about archaeology. But he could not tell what dynasty these tombs belonged to.
It was a strange winding passage, with darkness all around. There were only bricks and tiles that had been piled up for who knows how many years, and the joints were so tight that even a thin blade could not wedge in.
They walked for a long time but did not see the small burial area that should have been on the map.
The atmosphere became increasingly silent.
Lin Chu didn't talk much at first, but she started to talk more later, livening up the atmosphere under the pretext of exchanging information. Compared to An Xingyu, she cared more about Lu Yanli and Luo Ying.
Obviously, she and An Xingyu were from the same world and were former taskers, but An Xingyu was more familiar with those two people. Luo Ying was not a concern, but the "who" she mentioned was very suspicious, which made Lin Chu very concerned.
Does this world really exist? Otherwise, why could someone like Luo Ying survive? She couldn't figure it out.
The air became thinner and their breathing became weaker, but they did not notice.
"Is the map really correct?" After a while, Lin Chu couldn't help but ask, "Even if the scale is very small, we should have reached a burial pit, right?"
As they were talking, they happened to turn a corner and the flashlight shone on a tomb door that was noticeably lighter in color.
Comparing it with the map again, it should be a small burial pit somewhere. The door of the room is closed, and the outside is painted with faded murals. The shape is not clear, and only a few twisting human figures and a lot of strange words can be vaguely seen.
"This is a large mausoleum with many people buried with the deceased. I guess it must be a noble in ancient times. His status must be quite high. It's a pity that we can't tell what dynasty it was from the text." An Xingyu said in a relaxed tone, while asking Lu Yanli and Luo Ying.
Luo Ying shook her head: "I don't recognize this kind of writing."
Lu Yanli also said that he didn't know him.
He had studied a lot of ancient characters, but the strange pictographic characters before him had many strokes, were straight and smooth, and had beautiful yet complex shapes, which were difficult to recognize.
It's like... a language created by another country.
"Why not just record it and talk about it when we get outside?" Lin Chu was already preparing to take a photo, but strangely, the camera couldn't take any photos. Even though he pointed it at the wall, the photo was still blank. Lin Chu didn't believe it, so he took out a pen to write, but he couldn't write anything. No matter how hard he tried to trace it, it didn't look right.
She simply tried to remember it, but her excellent memory failed. No matter how she read and remembered it, when she turned around and tried to recall the words, her mind was blank again.
The other three tried it and the same thing happened.
Luo Ying's face turned pale: "No... This is impossible..."
It is impossible to recognize, remember, or recite... Isn't this the legendary writing? Humans cannot use it.
No! She would never believe it!
Lu Yanli knew why she broke down, but he didn't care. He just looked at the text a few more times, trying to find the pattern.
As I watched, I couldn't take my eyes off it.
The words seemed to materialize into notes that could bring beautiful music, and a faint song rang in their ears. Gradually, the three of them got closer and closer to the mural, their eyes filled with fascination.
The only person who was alert was Lu Yanli.
Unlike the other three who were mesmerized by the singing as soon as they heard it, Lu Yanli suddenly woke up.
This melody... these lyrics... he is very familiar with them!
Why? What's going on here
Lu Yanli didn't care too much, immediately closed his eyes, and reached out to pull An Xingyu away.
An Xingyu, who was suddenly out of his comfortable state, became furious and struggled desperately. He seemed to be crazy and kept trying to move towards the mural.
Lu Yanli opened his eyes to determine the direction. He stretched out his other hand and pushed Lin Chu, who was about to reach the front of the mural, hard. The other party was immediately pushed away and fell to the ground.
“Painting… my painting…” After being pushed down, Lin Chu continued to mutter to himself.
But Lu Yanli couldn't let them go on.
If they mutate here, it will definitely be a big trouble.
Lu Yanli dragged An Xingyu away a little further, knocked him out, then turned back and did the same to Lin Chu.
In fact, it was very simple for Lu Yanli to get out of this predicament. He only needed to kill An Xingyu and Lin Chu. The death of the last tasker meant the end of the task, and he would be able to gain temporary safety.
But now... these two were the most useful taskers he had ever met. He had to find a way to protect them.
It's not like he hadn't done this before, but almost every one of the people he hypnotized died during the mission. It's hard to say what the hidden reason is.
Until recently…
Lu Yanli's eyes darkened.
He dragged Lin Chu and An Xingyu to the side. Just when he turned around, Luo Ying had already arrived in front of the wall.
She stretched out her hand and melted into it.
Lu Yanli was stunned and immediately stepped forward to pull the person out.
but…
When he woke up again, the cemetery in front of him was still pitch black.
Lin Chu shook his head and suddenly woke up: "What happened? What happened to me just now?"
She still remembered the burst of singing she heard just now, and how there was some fear in her eyes when she looked at the wall.
"I seem to hear someone singing..."
"You heard it right." Lu Yanli's voice came from behind, "There's something strange about that wall."
"Where are An Xingyu and Luo Ying?" Just after asking, Lin Chu saw An Xingyu lying beside him, his chest still heaving.
"I was almost bewitched just now, and I woke up in time and knocked you out immediately. But after I woke up, I found that Luo Ying had..." After saying that, Lu Yanli shone the flashlight on the wall.
Lin Chu still vaguely remembered that there were only five figures on the wall before, but now... next to the five twisted figures, there was another clear black shadow.
She was stunned.
"This is too weird, I thought there was no danger in here." No, that's not right, this is already very weird, why didn't any strange changes occur after they went down into the tomb
Lin Chu touched the smooth hair on his face that did not belong to a human being, feeling puzzled.
But at this moment, they heard the sound of light footsteps coming from not far away.
"Who?!" Lu Yanli suddenly turned his head and asked.
The beam of the flashlight shone over and fell on a piece of clothing that was exactly the same as the one he was wearing at the moment.
The beam of light moved upwards, and the face looked exactly like his, except that it was obviously not the face of a living person. The skin was pale and blue, the eyes were green, and the vertical pupils shone with a metallic luster. Two sharp teeth were exposed at the corners of the lips.
A hissing sound could be faintly heard coming from the pale lips.
It looked more like a snake than a zombie; even the blue lines on the surface of its skin turned out to be densely packed with tiny scales if one looked closely.
"Damn it! Isn't this your zombie?! Run!" Lin Chu jumped up and rushed forward. Lu Yanli carried An Xingyu on his shoulders and rushed forward.
Behind them, the corpse took slow steps.
Its steps were very slow, but with every step it took, the distance between it and Lu Yanli became closer.
The closer the distance, the greater the attraction.
It found it.
It seemed that after they found the first corner, they encountered more and more corners. Lin Chu ran around a corner, and just as Lu Yanli caught up, the figure of the girl in front of him disappeared.
He looked back again, and saw that the roads on either side were no longer visible, and there was only a broad road going straight ahead.
Not far behind him was his own corpse approaching little by little.
Lu Yanli didn't care and tried to recall the map. He was not surprised to find that there was no such road marked on the map.
Wrong map
He didn't have time to think and had to keep running.
The footsteps behind him continued to sound like a shadow. No matter how far he ran, when he looked back, the figure was still not far away, following him slowly, and there was no way for him to escape.
He had been running in the cemetery for a very long time without stopping for a moment. His violently beating heart and heavy breathing showed that most of his strength had been consumed.
No matter how calm Lu Yanli was, he couldn't help but become impatient for a moment when faced with this situation.
Don't panic.
What to do
Why does it keep following me
Because it is your future
An Xingyu, who was on his shoulders, had long been left behind halfway. The corpse didn't even look at An Xingyu and continued to chase him stubbornly.
Lu Yanli gritted his teeth, remembered the layout of the burial chambers on the map, and continued to run forward.
Finally, a fork in the road appeared again ahead.
Lu Yanli turned in without hesitation.
This road was even colder and wetter, narrower, and barely enough for two people to walk side by side. Lu Yanli had a hard time running on it. But he had to do it.
Finally, he passed through the long and narrow passage and came to the door of a tomb.
There are still mysterious murals and words on the wall.
For some reason, when Lu Yanli looked at it again, he felt that the words were somewhat familiar.
It was as if... he had translated and used those words before.
How is that possible? If I really translated it, why don’t I remember it
Is there something wrong with his memory
Lu Yanli took a deep breath, calmed his violently beating heart, and then stared at the mural carefully.
He knew he was taking a risk.
Gradually, a gentle and beautiful song rang in my ears.
This song seems to be able to cleanse people's hearts, make them forget all the unhappiness, and lead all the suffering people in the world to heaven...
His eyes became fixed and he gradually took steps towards the mural.
Just when he came to within a palm's distance of the mural, a figure appeared on the mural. That figure was obviously Luo Ying who had been pulled in before!
At this moment, the Luo Ying in the painting had a strange smile on its face, as if welcoming Lu Yanli to keep it company.
The figure behind Lu Yanli gradually got closer.
It stretched out its hand.
A cold breath that seemed to come from the deepest layer of hell attacked directly from behind, and Lu Yanli shuddered in the mist. At the critical moment, he came over, dodged to the side, and then rushed forward with all his strength—
The mutated corpse was cold and stiff, and because of the collision, the palm of the hand touched the mural.
Then, it melted in bit by bit.
Lu Yanli shook his head, feeling relieved.
He had just hypnotized himself, telling himself to wake up immediately once he was one meter away from the mural. He didn't know if his hypnosis would work, but he had no choice but to take a gamble.
Fortunately, it is successful now.
But... just as the corpse was pulled into the wall obediently without any resistance, he had no time to react and everything went black before his eyes.
When I woke up again, I was in a small space.
He tried to move his body; he could move, his arms and legs moved freely, but he could not speak, could not feel his own breath.
Even when he moved, he could only move on certain planes. It was as if he had suddenly been reduced from a three-dimensional creature to a two-dimensional creature.
All the items on his body were there, even the scroll he had taken from Luo Ying before.
Why
Did he become a mural
Lu Yanli could not imagine what he looked like now. What surprised him even more was that until now, he still had consciousness, memory, and was able to think.
He is not dead yet.
It was really ridiculous. He wanted to live so badly, but it felt ridiculous that he hadn't died yet at this point.
But he could feel that if he didn't find a way to solve his current predicament, perhaps nothing could save him.
Lu Yanli controlled himself and started moving.
After becoming a mural, it became much more convenient. He started running on the wall, trying to find An Xingyu and Lin Chu.
Lu Yanli's purpose was very clear, if they failed to complete the task of ancestor worship, he would kill them.
Unfortunately, the cemetery was too large. After it became a mural, he realized that the road they had just walked was just the tip of the iceberg, and the layout of this area had nothing to do with the map.
Lu Yanli's movements gradually slowed down.
If he continues like this, he will really become a mural like the previous tomb robbers, forever fixed in a tomb that will never see the light of day.
He still didn't give up. He remembered the direction he came in from and tried to go deeper in that direction.
Since we can’t find them, we might as well go to the main tomb chamber first.
Could it get any worse than this
After he was no longer a human, his movements became much more convenient. Although his speed was slow, he could move continuously for a long time, still allowing him to get closer and closer to the main tomb chamber.
The characteristics of the main tomb chamber are very obvious, and there are many funerary objects piled up outside, including bones of various people and animals, various jade and bronze artifacts, chariots and horses, etc.
Lu Yanli didn't look at it for long. He passed by quickly and moved along the wall from the door into the room.
As soon as he entered the tomb, he was shocked by the scene inside.
The reason was that there was a bright light in the tomb!
The ancient lamp, which had been burning for who knows how many years, witnessed a light that may have shone for thousands of years due to the deliberate intrusion of a shadow.
Lu Yanli couldn't believe it, but he had to believe it. There were many oil lamps in the tomb, and the wicks were glowing with a faint light, illuminating the heavy coffin placed in the center.
The entire tomb chamber was in no way identical to the outside. The outside was magnificent, as if all the jewels in the world were piled up there, but the inside was empty, with nothing but a coffin.
Lu Yanli moved over little by little.
Only then did he realize that there was a mural painted on the wall.
Perhaps because it is well preserved, the mural still looks as bright as ever after so many years.
This painting is almost exactly the same as the one on the scroll in his hand.
The reason why the word "almost" is used is because the background is different. The background of the mural on the wall is towering mountains at the top, but it is completely different downwards. It is surrounded by a long blood-red river. Five evil immortals are riding on clouds and mist, but they seem to be in hell.
Another river of blood...
Is this river of blood the same river he saw in Honghe Village before
Lu Yanli stared at the river, and suddenly remembered the scene he saw when he opened the elevator door one time in the present.
That day, the elevator dropped straight down to the eighteenth floor underground. When the door was opened again, the red river water was pouring in from above, soaking countless wailing souls.
In fact, he had seen this river more than once, but he had ignored it in the past.
Also, there are paper dolls that appear in Shangxian Village.
Is it really a coincidence
Lu Yanli withdrew his gaze and walked to the coffin.
He wanted to open the coffin, but it was difficult to do so. He was just a shadow and could only watch but could not do anything.
He had no choice but to continue wandering around the tomb like a real wandering ghost.
It’s so dark…
This is probably where he is actually buried, right
What's the point of working hard? The whole world is not normal, what are you holding on to
The truth of the world... is not something that an ordinary person can pursue. He has persisted for too long for a goal that even he himself doesn't know where to find.
Pessimistic thoughts suddenly came to my mind, as if nothing was worth it.
His persistence was not worth it, and his life and death seemed to be a joke. A voice told him not to look for it anymore... The truth would only make him collapse...
No... that's not what he had in mind...
Lu Yanli turned around and tried to give himself a psychological hint. He reached out and touched it, and was surprised to find that the Pisces jade pendant was still there.
On the wall, five "immortals" had gentle yet weird smiles. In front of them, there was an incense burner, but there was not a single stick of incense in the burner, leaving it empty.
He suddenly thought of something.
Not long after, another shadow appeared on the wall.
This was a very magical experience. Lu Yanli knew that the person opposite him was himself. Although he and he could not communicate with each other telepathically, they obviously had the same idea.
He stretched out his hand and handed over a jade pendant.
Then, his figure quickly disappeared at the entrance of the tomb.
He was going to find Lin Chu and An Xingyu.
Lin Chu had just turned the corner when there was no sound behind her. She turned around and found that there was no one behind her.
The good thing was that the mutated corpse didn't chase us, but the bad thing was that we got separated from the others.
Lin Chu was not panicked. She took out a flashlight and continued to move forward.
Strange... Why is it different from the map I remembered
The number of tombs is obviously much greater than that marked on the map.
These tomb robbers have no sense of public morality. They know that the map should be given to others, but they don't mark it completely. Lin Chu complained in her heart. She learned her lesson this time. When she saw the mural, she quickly looked away and didn't look at it any more.
Ancestor worship... What exactly does ancestor worship mean
The villagers all said they wanted to come to the forbidden area to worship their ancestors. Who were their ancestors? How did they worship them
Is it okay to worship alone
Thinking of this, Lin Chu shamelessly found an open space, looked around, slapped his knees and knelt down.
"Ancestors, I am a villager from Shangxian Village. I have come to see you. Although I have brought nothing with me, no paper money, no mobile phone or house, I have brought a sincere heart."
"If the ancestors have spirits, can they point out a way out for us?"
She kowtowed three times devoutly.
Not surprisingly, there was nothing.
Lin Chu got up and looked around, making sure that what he had just done was in vain.
Ancestor worship fails, either the process is wrong, the words are wrong, the items are not prepared, or the location is wrong.
Or maybe... none of it is right!
Lin Chu sighed. Now she couldn’t contact anyone, her cell phone had no signal, and she couldn’t find the way back. She could only move forward on her own.
She paused and thought carefully.
Although the map had been kept by the village chief, who said it was handed down from his ancestors, judging from its appearance and the feel of it after touching it, the paper was old but definitely not more than 100 years old. In addition, the village chief had kept it, so it was very likely that it was drawn when they were robbing the tomb.
Nothing should go wrong...
Unless the mechanism under the tomb can cause the tomb chamber to change its position constantly, then it is difficult to establish that the tomb robbers took out a large amount of valuables. How could a small item like the Pisces jade pendant, which is usually buried with the body, be placed on the outermost layer? They must have explored deep into the tomb, and exploring deep into the tomb cannot be accomplished in one or two actions.
Therefore, this option can also be ruled out.
She suddenly remembered how the entire area was spinning when she was outside the forbidden area.
Will it be possible that... after a sixty-year cycle, the cemetery where they are located will also change
Just happened to catch up with them
Lin Chu was confused and doubtful. Comparing it with the direction of the sunlight he had seen outside before, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
So, the direction they were heading was actually west, right
The western tombs are an unexplored area, and now appear to be much larger than the eastern ones.
Although it doesn't seem like there is any danger at the moment.
At the fork in the road ahead, a figure suddenly ran past. Although it was only for a short moment, she was very familiar with that figure.
"Hey, hey, hey, Old Lu! Brother Lu! Wait for me!" Lin Chu hurriedly followed.
Unfortunately, just like before, when she ran to the end, she found that the figure was gone.
The direction the figure ran towards was a wall.
Before she could feel upset, she was patted on the shoulder: "I finally found you."
It’s An Xingyu’s voice!
Lin Chu turned around happily. It was indeed him. He looked a little disheveled, with mud on his face. An Xingyu asked, "Did you see Brother Lu?"
Lin Chu said: "Didn't he run with you? What? Did you get separated?"
An Xingyu shook his head: "I don't know. When I woke up, I found myself lying on the ground."
Lin Chu: "I didn't see him. I just saw him running over, but I don't know where he went. Maybe he was an illusion."
An Xingyu: "Did you see his shadow? Where did he run to?"
Lin Chu pointed to the wall on the right.
Unless Lu Yanli could walk through walls, it would be impossible for him to really get in.
"Maybe there is some mechanism?" An Xingyu suggested to her, "Should we look for it?"
Lin Chu thought it made sense.
She took out a pair of rubber gloves from her purse and clipped the flashlight in front of the bag. After carefully looking at the wall, she slowly felt around on it, being careful not to accidentally touch the mechanism.
Lu Yanli's shadow finally found Lin Chu.
At this moment, she was talking to herself while touching a cold and hard zombie.
Her hand was about to peel off the talisman stuck on the zombie's face!