The Lost Tomb · Chat

The subterranean chill, cold as a corpse preserved for thousands of years, seeped out in thin wisps through the cracks in the stone. The entire ancient tomb was terrifyingly silent. Even the corpse beetles that usually infested this place had vanished without a trace, leaving only the heavy, slow breathing of five people echoing back and forth in the vast, dark passage. Along the way, the traps had remained dormant and the monsters hidden. It was too quiet—so quiet that it made everyone's skin crawl. Fatty Wang switched on his flashlight, the beam sweeping across the mottled, peeling stone walls. Dust cascaded down in flurries. The ancient cinnabar patterns on the stone walls had long since blackened, looking like bloodstains dried for a thousand years. "Tianzhen, something's not right," Fatty whispered, instinctively raising the muzzle of his gun. "This path is way too clean. No zongzi acting up, no traps springing. For all we know, the big boss is waiting for us right up ahead." Black Glasses wore his dark sunglasses, hands casually stuffed into his pockets. His steps were relaxed and lazy, seemingly careless, yet his eyes swept over every blind spot in the surroundings. He let out a low chuckle, his tone carrying his usual nonchalance: "An overly quiet tomb usually hides the things people least want others to see." Xie Yuchen stood to the side of the group, his fingertips lightly brushing against the carvings on the stone wall, picking up a layer of cool, ancient dust. His features were calm and elegant, but his expression carried a hint of gravity: "These patterns are ancient sealing burial motifs, not belonging to any known dynasty. The owner of this tomb is no ordinary lord or king." As his voice fell, everyone's eyes instinctively landed on the man at the very front. Zhang Qiling stood at the end of the passage, his back straight, his black jacket damp with the cold, clammy air. He looked down at the massive stone door towering before him. The flashlight beam fell upon the heavy, pitch-black monolith of a door, which remained absolutely motionless. The stone door stretched from floor to ceiling, completely blocking the path ahead. There was no keyhole, no mechanism, and no gap, as if it had grown there since the dawn of creation. But the most striking and terrifying thing was the few lines of ancient seal script engraved deep into the center of the stone door, carved so deeply that they seemed to penetrate the stone itself, carrying an oppressive, murderous aura that weighed down on all living things. Wu Xie stepped forward, his fingertips gently brushing across the cold stone surface, slowly deciphering the ancient characters that had long been lost to history. The meaning of the words was chillingly direct, each character like a curse— "The gate seals the soul; let this forbidden land remain undisturbed." "Gods are enshrined within; the living shall not approach." "He who dares open this door shall bear the karma alone, doomed to eternal damnation." These lines of sealing curses were not mere idle threats, but an ancient, crystal-clear prohibition. It explicitly stated: inside the door, there was something, someone, an entity that must not be disturbed. The living must halt, forbidden to disturb, pry, or open it. After reading the words, a cold sweat instantly broke out on Fatty's back: "Holy shit, they practically wrote it right on our faces: No Entry! Tianzhen, let's take the advice and not force our way in. A door sealed so solemnly by the ancients definitely has something lethal behind it!" Black Glasses' smile faded slightly, his tone turning a bit more serious: "This kind of sealing curse is usually meant to suppress something extremely fierce, extremely secret, and absolutely forbidden from seeing the light of day. Leave it closed, and we leave the tomb safely. Open it, and nobody knows what we'll unleash." Xie Yuchen nodded slightly, his gaze falling on Wu Xie: "The carvings are ancient suppression-ritual patterns. This isn't a burial pit; it's a forbidden altar. A place used by the ancients to suppress, sacrifice, and seal away secrets. The risk is immense." Everyone was advising retreat. It shouldn't be opened, couldn't be opened, didn't need to be opened. The path ahead was forbidden; turning back meant safety. Only Wu Xie stared at the ancient sealing curse on the stone door for a long time, with no fear in his eyes, only a quiet resolve. Along the way, the eerie silence of the entire tomb passage, the absent traps, the hidden monsters, and the completely closed sealing layout all pointed to this very door. All secrets, all anomalies, and all the truths that the ancient tomb had deliberately hidden lay behind this door. They hadn't braved all these dangers just to turn back halfway; they were here to find the deepest roots of this ancient tomb. Wu Xie withdrew his hand, his fingertips coated with cold stone dust. His tone was calm, yet carried an unyielding determination: "Precisely because it says 'do not disturb,' we must open it." He looked up at the heavy stone door in front of him, his voice steady and clear: "The harder the ancients tried to seal it and warn us with curses, the more it proves that whatever is behind this door is the core of the entire tomb. We didn't come all this way to avoid danger; we came to solve the mystery." "The prohibition was meant for the ancients, not for us." Zhang Qiling remained silent throughout. Hearing this, he merely turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on Wu Xie, offering no objection or hesitation. Whichever path Wu Xie chose, he would always stand at the very front, bearing the first wave of danger for everyone. Seeing that Wu Xie's mind was made up, Xie Yuchen said no more. He simply let out a soft breath, his eyes turning steady: "Since we're opening it, I'll handle the mechanisms." Black Glasses shrugged, his smile returning to its lazy ease: "Alright. You guys cause the trouble, and I'll clean up the mess." Fatty clicked his tongue but still stood firmly on the flank, guarding their retreat: "Fine, we'll do as Little Third Master says! Even if the sky falls, the Iron Triangle will hold it up, not to mention we have two top-tier experts backing us. Let's do this!" Zhang Qiling stepped forward, pressing his index and middle fingers together into the narrowest natural crack in the stone door. His finger bones, hard as steel, gently probed along the veins of the ancient patterns, dismantling the mechanism of the thousand-year-old stone lock. A faint sound of cracking stone slowly echoed in the silent depths of the earth. Clack, clack— The dull, heavy, and ancient grinding sound of stone axles turning echoed from deep behind the door. The seal, dormant for thousands of years, began to loosen. As Zhang Qiling applied more force, the massive stone door slowly pushed inward from the center, opening up a crack. A blast of freezing, deathly quiet wind, carrying the desolate scent of ancient sacrifices, rushed over them. Dust swirled through the air as the beams of their flashlights pierced through the dark mist, illuminating the pitch-black space beyond the door. As the stone door opened wider and wider, everyone's eyes fell entirely upon what lay inside. Behind the door lay neither a tomb chamber nor a burial hall. It was an ancient altar, suspended in the depths of the darkness, silent since time immemorial.