Volume Three: Tomb of the Fox Immortal - Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Mechanical Stone Gate

Li Kun remarked, "Old Liu, it seems there is only one path to take here. Do you think this could be the only way leading to the entrance of the Fox Immortal's tomb?"

I recalled our current position. When we descended, we were on the side of Green Dragon Mountain, and after reaching the underground level, the path led to our right. However, this direction sloped at an angle, which suggested that this path on our right was very likely the passage to the Fox Immortal's tomb.

If this were not the only passage, why would someone go to such a secluded place, over ten meters underground, to carve out such a large cavern? Furthermore, the presence of an underground river of this scale was significant; locations with underground rivers were often considered sites of dragon veins or places of great prosperity, making them prime spots for building tombs. It was entirely possible that the Fox Immortal's tomb was built here.

I nodded, shone my flashlight toward the path on the right bank of the river, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the only path to the Fox Immortal's tomb. Let’s get moving."

The others nodded, and we proceeded toward the right-hand passage.

This underground river was indeed remarkably wide—a truly massive scale for such a feature. I shone my flashlight into the water, but it was pitch black. Li Kun picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it in. We heard a muffled splash, and we all gasped; the water was at least five meters deep.

The path we were on hugged the riverbank, feeling slick and damp underfoot. To our right was a solid rock wall. As we walked, the path grew narrower, shrinking to less than two meters wide after a short distance.

We moved slowly. After about ten minutes, the path was completely blocked by a rock face. Beside us remained a solid wall of stone, but the river channel had widened significantly. It seemed the path had been eroded away by the river over time.

Seeing this, the others stood behind me, at a loss. Xu Tian asked, "Old Liu, the path is blocked. What do we do now? Are we supposed to swim? It’s deep winter; the water temperature in this underground river must be freezing."

I walked to the water's edge, shone my flashlight down, and knelt to pick up another stone. I tossed it into the water near the bank. Hearing a dull thud, I furrowed my brow.

The water at the bank was very deep. Both the center and the area near our side were nearly ten meters deep. Even if the path had been washed away, the depth shouldn't have matched the center so perfectly.

I concluded that there was likely never a path here to begin with; the builders must have stopped work at this point, which explained why the depth at the bank was the same as in the middle. I turned to look at the rock wall beside us and noticed it was unusually smooth and flat.

Seeing me stare at the wall, the others shone their flashlights on it as well. They froze when they realized how level the surface was.

Xu Tian asked, "Old Liu, what is it?"

I carefully inspected the smooth section of the wall, which was over two meters high and three meters wide. I pressed my flashlight against the stone to get a closer look. As I did, I noticed a faint trace that looked like a crack. Though subtle, the combined light of our four flashlights made it stand out clearly.

I felt a surge of nervous excitement. I leaned in and traced the crack with my hand, following it all the way down to the ground. I went back to the starting point and traced it upward, finding that the crack perfectly outlined the top of this flat section of rock.

I smiled. Li Kun and Xu Tian were still bickering about what to do now that the path had ended, but Xu Tian was watching me. Seeing my smile, he quickly asked, "Old Liu, have you found something?"

I nodded and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the entrance to the Fox Immortal's tomb is right here, in this stone wall."

Li Kun and Xu Tian were stunned. Looking at the uneven yet relatively flat wall, Li Kun asked, "Old Liu, you're saying this wall is the entrance to the Fox Immortal's tomb?"

I nodded and raised a finger to my lips to signal silence. I pulled the crowbar from Xu Tian’s pack. I first struck a different part of the wall to show them the sound it made—a loud *clang* that sent sparks flying. Then, I swung the crowbar with all my might against the flat section of the wall. The sound that returned was completely different: it was hollow.

Xu Tian pressed his ear against the stone and said, "Old Liu, there's an echo inside."

I nodded, as I had expected this. Li Kun’s eyes widened. "Damn, Old Liu, you're incredible. How did you find that?"

"This must be a door," I said. "Let’s figure out how to open it."

Li Kun began feeling around the wall. "This door is so well-hidden; there must be a mechanism."

As we searched, Xu Tian called out, "Old Liu, Li, look at this."

We turned to see Xu Tian standing by the right side of the stone door, his hand resting on a protruding, pale stone embedded in the wall. "I pressed this, and it moved inward. I think this is the mechanism."

I walked over and said, "Everyone, move away from the front of the door and stand on the other side of me."

They complied, moving behind me. I said, "If anything goes wrong, run immediately."

They nodded. I took a deep breath, placed my palm on the stone, and pushed firmly.

The moment the stone clicked into place, we heard a grinding sound. A zigzagging crack, like a lightning bolt, appeared on the wall to our left and extended all the way to the floor. Then, with a series of heavy *clangs* and the sound of stone scraping against stone, the wall began to slowly swing inward.

We tensed up, fearing traps, but as the door opened, nothing happened. We let out a long sigh of relief. Li Kun looked at the open door, then picked up a large rock from the floor and wedged it into the threshold.

"Just in case," Li Kun said. "If it tries to shut while we're inside, this rock will keep it from closing completely."

Xu Tian countered, "This door is triggered by a mechanism. If we don't trigger it, who would close it?"

Li Kun waved him off. "Old Xu, if you had been with us at the General's Tomb, you’d understand my caution. The secret passages there were more cunning than Old Liu and me combined."

Xu Tian looked at me, and I nodded. "Enough. We’ll talk about that later. Let’s go inside and take a look. Stay alert—if anything seems wrong, don't hesitate to open fire."

They nodded, and I stepped into the stone chamber. They followed, their flashlights sweeping the darkness.

As we crossed the threshold, a chill washed over us. I murmured, "That’s corpse aura."

Li Kun turned to Da Gou. "Old Liu, our heirloom rings protect us from the corpse aura, but what about Da Gou?"

I turned to Da Gou and asked, "Da Gou, how are you feeling?"

Da Gou shook his head, looking puzzled. "Huh? What do you mean? I don't feel anything."

Li Kun and I exchanged confused glances. Xu Tian added, "I don't feel anything either, Old Liu. What are you two talking about?"