Volume One – The Tomb of a Hundred Coffins Chapter Twenty-Five – The Entrance

After sliding down to the ground, I picked up my flashlight and swept it around. There were only scattered rocks, nothing suspicious, so I unfastened the rope from around my waist.

The cave was chilly and damp, with occasional traces of water on the ground, which was riddled with uneven potholes of varying sizes.

I said to Li Kun, “Let’s go take a look inside.”

Li Kun nodded, shouldering his Type 87 rifle with heightened vigilance.

As we ventured deeper, the cave gradually changed. The entrance had been over two meters wide, but now it barely allowed more than a meter across. After proceeding about a dozen meters, we found ourselves stepping over small puddles, with droplets of water still falling from above.

Our footsteps slowed, and the echoes within the cave, mingled with the sound of water dripping into the pools, set both our nerves on edge. The passage grew narrower the further we advanced.

After about twenty meters, a spacious chamber appeared ahead, about the size of a room. In one corner stood a stone platform, upon which rested the skeleton of a feline beast.

We approached the stone platform. Gazing at the skeletal remains, I said, “This must be the tiger’s bones. It seems that after that lightning strike, the bolt hit the massive stone at the entrance, blocking the cave. This tiger must have starved to death, trapped inside.”

Li Kun stood beside the platform, looking at the skeleton with a sigh. “To think that a king of the forest would meet such an end. What a pity.”

I nodded gently and swept the flashlight around. Though the chamber was spacious, the walls were still rough and uneven.

I turned to Li Kun. “Alright, let’s leave the skeleton for now and check the surroundings.”

Li Kun nodded, and we began to investigate the cave. I examined the area around the stone platform, while Li Kun inspected the wall on the other side. After a thorough search, however, we found nothing of note.

This puzzled me. Since the Dragon-Seeking Plate had indicated this direction, why was there no entrance to the tomb here?

After confirming there were no hidden mechanisms in the stone walls, my gaze shifted to the only distinct feature in the chamber: the stone platform beneath the tiger’s skeleton.

I walked slowly to the platform. It stood about half a meter high and nearly two meters wide. Upon close inspection, I noticed something peculiar.

The base of the platform was cylindrical, while the top was a slab nearly two meters long. At first glance, there seemed little difference between the two, but the slab atop was clearly wider than the column beneath, resembling a lid covering the cylinder.

I called out to Li Kun, who was still searching the wall, “Old Li, come here!”

Li Kun turned and jogged over, asking, “Old Liu, what is it? Did you find something?”

I shone the flashlight on the stone slab. “Look at this slab on top. Doesn’t it look like a stone lid sealing the column below?”

Li Kun shone his own light on the join between slab and column, scrutinized it for a moment, and said, “It really does.”

“Let’s move the skeleton aside first, then see if we can lift this slab.”

Li Kun nodded. Together, we grasped the skeleton’s limbs and set it gently on the ground. Since the platform was in the corner, we had to stand close together.

I nodded to Li Kun. We gripped the protruding edge of the slab and heaved upward. With a concerted effort, the slab lifted easily in our hands.

“Hurry, set it down!” I urged.

We dragged the slab back and quickly jumped aside as it crashed heavily to the ground, reverberating through the cave.

Li Kun stared at the slab. “Damn, that thing is heavy.”

“Save your complaints—let’s see what’s inside.” With that, we stepped before the nearly two-meter-tall column.

I shone my flashlight inside, and a flight of stone steps appeared in the beam. “We’ve found the entrance,” I said.

Li Kun grinned. “Let’s go down and have a look.”

He was about to jump in when I grabbed his arm. “Hold on.”

Li Kun turned, puzzled. “What’s wrong, Old Liu?”

I reached into my pocket and drew out two pieces of cloth, handing one to Li Kun. “Wrap this around your mouth and nose.”

“Is this really necessary? You think there’ll be poison gas in the tomb?”

I nodded. “Most tombs are tightly sealed, so the air inside doesn’t circulate. That can lead to a miasma—at first, you won’t notice anything, but if you breathe in too much, your mind grows dull and you could be poisoned. It’s called tomb miasma, and modern medicine has no cure for it.”

At this, Li Kun snatched the cloth and quickly tied it over his mouth and nose. “Damn, I didn’t expect that.”

“I don’t know if this tomb has it, but better safe than sorry.”

Li Kun nodded, then asked, “Hey, Old Liu, what if this miasma catches fire?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea, but you’re welcome to try.”

He immediately shook his head. “Forget it. If it does, I’ll end up as a human torch.”

I smiled. “Alright, enough chatter. Let’s go. This is just the first step—we haven’t even reached the real tomb yet.”

Li Kun nodded. “Alright. You follow behind me. If we run into any venomous creatures, I’ll deal with them.”

I chuckled helplessly. “Enough talking. Let’s move.”

With that, Li Kun jumped onto the steps and headed down. I followed, descending cautiously behind him.