He Yining continued, "These people are a mixed bag, with all sorts of backgrounds. There are old hands who've been in this line for years, fresh recruits just starting out, pure thrill-seekers, and a bunch of desperadoes. For them, every day is living on the edge, every day is a countdown to death. So they've figured it out—live for the day, enjoy the day."
"You don't need to comfort me; I know all this." Shen Qi withdrew her fingers and lay back down. "He Yining, thank you."
He Yining reached out and ruffled the top of Shen Qi's head. "Be good, get some sleep early. We'll rest up and watch the excitement tomorrow."
Shen Qi hummed in agreement and said no more.
A good night's sleep.
The next morning, when they got out of the car, the camp outside was mostly a mess.
After all the ruckus last night, did these people really have the strength to go down into the tomb today?
Shen Qi was skeptical.
But that was their choice—life and death are up to fate, wealth and honor depend on heaven.
By late morning, some teams had already assembled, fully prepared to set out.
Shen Qi and the others, watching from the sidelines, also got ready to head out and see the spectacle at Lin Yuxiang's grave.
As usual, they drove to the cemetery.
The caretaker was puzzled. These people had come to pay respects yesterday—why were they back today?
Shen Qi couldn't help asking the caretaker, "Uncle, do you know about those people tomb raiding?"
"Of course I do! When don't they come? They show up every year, and every year they find nothing." The caretaker chuckled. "This year's commotion is especially big; who knows what trouble they'll stir up. But don't worry, that ancient tomb is still over a thousand meters away from us! Even if it collapses, it won't affect us. This place is a feng shui treasure, protected by the Great Emperor—it won't cave in."
Even though the caretaker said that, Shen Qi still felt like things weren't so simple this year.
Everyone headed up the mountain again.
The mood going up today was completely different from yesterday.
The bodyguards quickly set up a tent, and everyone gathered under it, each holding a telescope to watch the scene.
These telescopes were military-grade, so the image quality was superb.
They could see clearly from over a thousand meters away.
Every expression was crystal clear.
Shen Qi searched the crowd for a long time before finally finding Aunt Ella in a large team.
Although Aunt Ella's name was... common, and shared with a female celebrity from a Taiwanese group, she couldn't sing or dance—she only dealt with the dead.
Ella seemed to sense something and turned to look in Shen Qi's direction.
From a thousand meters away, the naked eye couldn't see much, but both sides were using high-powered telescopes.
Tommy also spotted He Yining and the others and couldn't help saying, "That man is really interesting! He's clearly intrigued, so why did he turn down my invitation?"
Ella replied calmly, "Not everyone likes to tie their fate to a gamble."
Tommy laughed heartily and said, "Ella, it's all up to you now!"
Ella nodded without hesitation, packed her gear, and prepared to descend with the others through the pre-dug tunnels.
Seeing Ella go down the tunnel, Shen Qi nervously grabbed He Yining's arm.
He Yining patted Shen Qi's shoulder. "Don't worry, Aunt knows what she's doing."
Shen Wu chimed in from the side, "Since they're all going in together, why dig so many tunnels? Why not all go through one?"
"Heh, they're all wary of each other—how could they trust someone else's tunnel?" Feng Manlun explained. "These tunnels are a mix of real and fake, some even rigged with traps. It's a great way to weed out the competition."
He Yining nodded. "Yeah, with so many going down, who knows how many will make it back up."
Seeing the worried look on Shen Qi's face, He Yining quickly added, "Tommy has deep pockets and good gear. Aunt is a key figure and will be well protected. So don't worry, she'll be fine. With years in archaeology, she definitely knows how to take care of herself."
Shen Qi could only nod.
Xiao Chun brewed tea and handed a cup to everyone.
Shen Qi put down her telescope, shifted her gaze to the distant scenery, and sighed softly. "The scenery here is really nice. These people always have to ruin it."
"Of course the scenery is nice—why else would it be called a feng shui treasure in geomancy?" Shen Wu chuckled. "It's precisely because it's a feng shui treasure, with an ancient king buried here thousands of years ago, that it attracts these destroyers."
Shen Qi agreed. "Yeah."
They say spectators love a good disaster.
Sitting here watching, the people far away were deep in trouble.
By now, it was noon.
Most had already gone down.
Only the support teams remained on the surface, holed up in their tents, guiding their members with technology.
Suddenly, one team's face changed, and they exclaimed, "We've lost the signal down there!"
Then other teams chimed in, "We've lost it too!"
Someone yanked off their headphones in shock. "How is that possible? Our equipment can penetrate thousands of meters underground—how could we lose the signal?"
The others fell silent.
Though they were far away and He Yining's group couldn't hear what was said, they could guess from the expressions.
"This tomb is definitely unusual." He Yining frowned. "Losing contact with those underground so quickly is not a good sign."
"Something's gone wrong down there." Feng Manlun put down his telescope and said slowly, "If I'm not mistaken, someone made the first move."
Shen Wu snorted. "They haven't even found anything yet, and they're already making moves?"
"Probably fell into an illusion." He Yining had his own theory. "Otherwise, they wouldn't act so hastily—they'd wait until they got the goods and then turn on each other."
Shen Qi said nothing, just kept watching the scene.
Just then, the person who claimed their signal could penetrate thousands of meters suddenly shouted, "The signal's back! It's back!"
The others crowded around to see.
Since those left on the surface were all techies with no combat skills, and they were all in the same line of work, no one minded sharing the screen.
As luck would have it, this person's laptop was facing He Yining's group.
They adjusted their positions and got a clear view of the screen.
The image on the laptop drew a collective gasp of admiration from the onlookers.
It was exquisite!
It was hard to believe this was pre-Christian architecture.
The entire underground palace was grand and majestic, still bearing traces of its former luxury and dignity despite the passage of time.
Several other people appeared in the frame, all moving forward in silence.
Then, the image shook, and the people ahead stiffened as if possessed, turning to attack their companions.
The laptop screen grew increasingly shaky, the image chaotic, clearly showing the person with the camera was now fighting for their life.
After a jumble of images, half a bloodied face suddenly appeared in the frame.
Shen Qi hadn't expected to see such a sight and screamed, dropping her telescope.
This wasn't a horror movie!
This was real!
It was happening!
How terrifying! Truly terrifying!
Could it be that those tomb-raiding novels were telling the truth?
Were there really such terrifying things in those tombs?
The others were mostly fine, but Shen Qi's scream made them turn to look at her.
When they looked back at the laptop screen, the horrifying half-face was gone.
The image had gone dead.
If nothing else, the person with the camera was either dead there, or the camera was damaged and discarded.
Shen Qi covered her face. "Oh my god, that's so scary!"
Xiao Chun handed Shen Qi a cup of tea. "Second Young Madam, people die for wealth, birds die for food—that's always been the rule. They're after money."
Shen Qi still struggled. "But they could choose other ways to make a living."
"Some people only know this trade. Others are just lazy and don't want to work hard." Xiao Chun explained. "Not everyone is as lucky as the CEO and Young Master Feng."
He Yining and Feng Manlun both nodded.
Shen Qi said wistfully, "It just feels like losing your life here isn't worth it."
He Yining smiled helplessly.
His little bunny was always so kind.
Just then, the image flickered eerily, and the signal connected again.
But this time, it was on someone else's laptop.
Everyone shifted their attention to that screen.
Inside the massive tomb, a silver-white coffin floated in midair.
Yes, floating.
Not a trick—real floating.
Shen Qi felt like everything she'd learned in high school physics was useless.
How was this possible?
Everyone's eyes were drawn to that floating silver-white coffin.
Why was it silver-white?
That didn't make sense either.
Shen Qi felt her intelligence was being tested.
Everything she saw today completely overturned her understanding.
"Incredible." He Yining couldn't help saying. "It was worth the trip."
Feng Manlun frowned. "What are these people doing? They're not planning to open it, are they? A coffin this obviously abnormal, and they still want to open it? Are they out of their minds? Grab what they want and get out—they're risking their lives for nothing."
"Desperadoes don't care about that." He Yining snorted. "Young Master Feng, weren't you planning to pick up scraps at first?"
"So I had the sense not to get involved later." Feng Manlun emphasized.
"Look, those lunatics are actually climbing up to it!" Shen Wu suddenly shouted. "I can't wait to see what's in that coffin."