Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Thirty-Four – The Art of Qimen Dunjia

Hearing what Li Kun said, I too fell into deep thought. There was nothing unreasonable about his speculation; judging from the attire and armor of the three-eyed serpent-man, it was indeed highly probable that it had been kept within this tomb by the owner during his lifetime.

My reasoning stemmed from the armor embedded in the serpent-man's body. Long ago, someone must have performed surgery or some kind of modification to fuse this formidable armor with its flesh. If this serpent-man had been unleashed on an ancient battlefield, it would surely have been a one-man army, impervious to ordinary swords and blades. Even its scales possessed terrifying defensive strength.

Its immense power was evident from the coffin it had flung overhead earlier; on a battlefield, a sweep of its tail would have meant countless deaths. Yet, the tomb owner could never have foreseen the invention of firearms after thousands of years. No matter how sturdy the serpent-man's body, it could not withstand the suppressive force of guns, let alone heavier weaponry.

What puzzled me most was the origin of this creature. How could it survive from the Song Dynasty to modern times? What did it subsist on? There was no food in the tomb to sustain it; surely hunger would have killed it.

With these thoughts, I said to Li Kun, "I think this three-eyed serpent-man was placed here by the tomb owner to guard the tomb at his burial."

As I spoke, I glanced around the grand hall. When I turned to look at the coffin the serpent-man had swept aside, I paused and said to Li Kun, "Old Li, look over there."

Li Kun followed the beam of my flashlight and saw that the scattered coffin did not contain just one skeleton; there were two bodies. One skeleton was relatively intact, its bones still pale, suggesting it had not died long ago.

Li Kun asked, "Old Liu, what's going on? Why are there two bodies in this coffin?"

I pondered for a moment before replying, "That pale skeleton is probably one of the people who previously entered the tomb, likely placed here by the serpent-man."

My words were not without basis; it was the only explanation that made sense.

Li Kun nodded, "That does make sense. Ah, forget all this for now. Let's figure out what's going on with that wall. Finding the main burial chamber is most important—talking won't get us any further."

I nodded, "Old Li, stay behind me and keep watch."

Li Kun replied, "Don't worry. With me here, you'll be safe." He changed his magazine, pulled the bolt, and aimed his gun at the stone wall where the serpent-man had vanished.

Seeing Li Kun ready, I raised my gun and cautiously approached the stone wall.

Standing before it, I nodded to Li Kun, gesturing toward the wall, then motioned for him to stand at my side.

Li Kun nodded, moved to my side, and shone his flashlight on the stone wall.

With everything prepared, I approached and slowly extended my right hand.

And just as my hand neared the stone wall, both Li Kun and I were stunned.

The moment my right hand touched the wall, I realized I hadn't touched solid stone—my hand passed right through it!

Seeing this anomaly, I quickly withdrew my hand, my heart pounding. Li Kun said, "Old...Old Liu, your hand—it went through?"

I was amazed, "It really did. What's going on?" I reached out again toward the wall.

This time, Li Kun saw it clearly—my right hand passed through the stone wall, and the sensation was utterly strange.

I recalled my grandfather mentioning such marvels before: a hidden doorway, a technique from the arcane arts of Qimen Dunjia. But Qimen Dunjia had been lost to the world long ago; only fragments remained, and those barely comprehensible.

It seemed this hidden doorway before us was constructed by a master of Qimen for the tomb owner thousands of years ago.

My heart raced. If the tomb owner had indeed enlisted a Qimen adept in his lifetime, perhaps the general's tomb contained other mechanisms or secret passages crafted with these mysterious arts. If so, no matter how skilled Li Kun and I were, we might not be able to overcome them.

But then I reconsidered. Such masters of Qimen were so rare that even emperors might struggle to gain their favor. The tomb owner was but a minor general, unless he had some special connection. Perhaps it was possible.

I cleared my mind of these doubts. Whether or not there were such traps, Li Kun and I had to explore further.

With that resolve, I turned to Li Kun, "Old Li, I'll go in first and take a look. Wait here for me."

Li Kun replied, "Old Liu, you're injured—don't push yourself. From now on, leave this kind of task to me. You're a renowned soldier, but I'm not so far behind. I can't let you always take the lead. Wait here, I'll scout ahead. If anything happens, I'll retreat immediately."

I nodded, "Alright, Old Li. Be careful, and come back at once if anything happens. Don't be reckless."

Li Kun replied, "Don't worry. I'm going in." He approached the hidden doorway.

He first probed with both hands, nervous—anyone would be uneasy in the face of the unknown. It was like walking blindfolded, a fear that needed no explanation.

Li Kun took a deep breath and slowly stepped through.

The moment he entered, his vision brightened. Inside, he looked around: to the left was a dead end, to the right a long corridor.

He gripped his gun and quickly turned right, raising his gaze. The corridor was about two meters wide, lined with stone-carved patterns on both sides.

Suddenly, Li Kun felt a weight on his shoulder, and remembered the giant three-eyed serpent-man. Alarmed, he spun around, gun ready.

When he saw it was me, he relaxed, "You came in? You scared me!"

I replied, "I couldn't let you go alone, so I followed. What did you find?"

Li Kun answered, "Nothing much. Just murals on both sides of the corridor."

I turned to the wall and saw countless figures carved in the murals. One stood out, surrounded by dismembered corpses. This imposing figure wore blood-red armor and wielded a long spear, radiating a fierce aura.

I said, "It seems the man in the mural is the tomb's owner. If his armor were silver rather than red, I'd mistake him for Zhao Zilong of Changshan."

Li Kun came beside me, studying the carvings, running his hand over the wall, then began to pry at it.

I was taken aback, "Old Li, what are you doing?"

Li Kun replied as he scraped at the mural, "Old Liu, look at how exquisite these carvings are, bold and grand. If we took them out, they'd fetch a fortune." He pulled out a crowbar from his pack, ready to pry the mural off.

I broke into a sweat, "Are you crazy? Even if you could pry this stone slab off—it's over three meters wide—we couldn't get it through the door behind us, let alone through our tunnel."

Li Kun paused, then put the crowbar away. "Ah, I didn't think of that. A miscalculation."

I looked down the corridor and said, "There's no need to examine these murals further. The passage has no traps; we can proceed safely."

Li Kun said, "It's strange, isn't it? Everywhere we've been is either full of traps or bodies, but here there's a safe path."

I replied, "This must be the serpent-man's route. Otherwise, there would be traps here too."

Li Kun nodded, "Makes sense. Let's keep moving. We can relax now, at least a little."

I said, "Relaxing isn't an option. We can't let our guard down—this corridor is the serpent-man's exclusive passage. We never know when we'll run into it, and a fierce battle is inevitable."

Li Kun nodded, "True. Let's hurry. I'll lead, Old Liu, you follow."

I nodded in agreement, and together we shone our flashlights ahead and pressed on.