235: Jewelry Mountain, can a pro carry me?

Zhang Dada clicked his tongue and said mockingly, "Look at your skills, and you said you could help pry the door open."

"How would I know anything about such high-tech stuff?" Yang Mi stuck out her tongue and said, "How about I give it a try?"

She turned to Ye Bai and said, "Brother Ye Bai, could you please lend me your flashlight?"

Ye Bai took out the flashlight and handed it to her.

Yang Mi gripped the Dagger tightly and thrust it forcefully into the keyhole. But who knew, the key didn't budge at all.

Zhang Dada gloated, "See? You can't open it at all."

Ye Bai stared at the key for a while and suddenly said, "There are runes on the key; this is a Seal."

He walked forward, grabbed the key, and took a look. "It's a sealing spell."

He pinched the key between two fingers, suddenly pulled out the Dagger, and quickly slashed his index fingertip. Beads of blood immediately welled up.

Ye Bai quickly coated the Dagger with blood and drew a formation pattern around the keyhole. With every stroke he drew, spiritual power surged out and wrapped around the keyhole.

After a while, with a click, the lock loosened.

Yang Mi was thrilled, "It opened! Brother Ye Bai, you're amazing!" She impatiently leaned forward, wanting to open the box.

Ye Bai blocked her and stopped her, "Don't be in such a rush."

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a shrill, piercing scream, as if it came from the heavens.

Ye Bai's heart gave a violent jolt, his face changed instantly, and he immediately shouted, "Retreat quickly!"

Yang Mi was so terrified by this sudden shout that she was in a state of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. In her panic, she only had time to grab Meng Ziyi's arm and stagger back a step.

As for Ye Bai, after the initial shock, he began to think calmly.

His premonition was accurate; that strange sound was coming from deep within the cave. Although it was distant and ethereal, it still made people feel horrified and filled with fear.

Yang Mi asked, shivering, "Just now... what happened?"

Ye Bai frowned and said, "I'm not sure either." He tilted his head to listen and faintly heard a similar roar again.

Meng Ziyi comforted Yang Mi, "It's okay, it's okay, don't be afraid, I'm here."

Yang Mi hugged Meng Ziyi, trembling in her arms, but in her heart, she felt infinitely lucky—it was fortunate that she had grabbed Ziyi in time; otherwise, if she had rushed forward just now, she would probably have died a gruesome death.

Ye Bai closed his eyes and listened carefully; the strange cries became more frequent and shrill, as if warning them to get out immediately. If they dared to take another step, they would surely be punished.

They dared not linger any longer and hurriedly retreated towards the outside of the cave.

Ye Bai and Meng Ziyi walked in front, while Yang Mi and another teammate followed behind.

The three held their breath and focused, not daring to make a single sound. Both Ye Bai and Meng Ziyi knew that behind such silence, there was very likely a murderous intent lurking.

Therefore, the two of them kept their ears pricked, listening carefully to the movements around them.

Suddenly, Ye Bai sensed something. He stopped abruptly.

Yang Mi and the other teammate were stunned.

"What... what's wrong?" Yang Mi asked nervously.

Meng Ziyi also asked nervously, "What happened?"

Ye Bai sighed lowly. He looked at the pitch-black path ahead and said slowly, "There are... uninvited guests... who have broken into the forbidden area."

Meng Ziyi's eyes widened in surprise.

Ye Bai said, "Follow behind me, and remember not to fall behind." After saying that, he took the lead and walked in front to scout the path.

This narrow and long Passage was filled with a thick smell of decay. Ye Bai dared not turn on the light casually and relied on experience to walk in the dark.

After walking for a while, it suddenly became a bit brighter ahead.

Looking by the moonlight, a row of stone coffins appeared ahead. The Coffin Lids were all intact, not broken or damaged.

Ye Bai was secretly shocked that this Ancient Tomb was still so well-preserved. According to the records in "Records of the Grand Historian," this place should be over five hundred years old; he didn't expect it to be so durable and resistant to decay.

"Brother Ye Bai, is that a stone coffin?" Meng Ziyi asked curiously.

Ye Bai said softly, "It looks like one."

"Huh?" Zhang Dada asked in confusion, "Why is there only one stone coffin left? Could it be that it once held a corpse?"

"That's possible," Yang Mi said, "I don't know if there are any poisonous insects or fierce beasts here."

Zhang Dada: "That's impossible, right? If there were any poisonous creatures hidden here, the trees outside the Tomb Chamber would have been eaten up long ago. Besides, if there were poisonous creatures, we haven't seen them hurt anyone..."

Ye Bai said indifferently, "That's not necessarily true."

He quickened his pace and walked to the side of the second stone coffin.

Ye Bai pushed open the Coffin Lid.

He saw an old man lying in the coffin, his skin withered and wrinkled, his head already rotted away, revealing ghastly white bones. His mouth was slightly open, his eye sockets were bulging, and the area around his eye sockets was pitch black—clearly the appearance of someone who had died from poisoning.

Ye Bai's gaze swept over the owner of this stone coffin and landed on his right arm. He saw that a string of red rope was hanging on his wrist, with a copper coin tied to it.

His heart gave a sharp, painful twinge.

Ye Bai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze had returned to calmness.

He took off the copper coin, tucked it into his sleeve, then stood up and continued walking forward.

The space of this Ancient Tomb was larger than they had imagined. Ye Bai groped along the Tomb wall for a long time and finally arrived at the center of the Tomb.

A complex number of bronze vessels were placed here, of various shapes, including jade pots, porcelain cups, and so on.

Besides that, he also saw several carriages, as well as many precious gold and silver ornaments, piled up like a small mountain, which was astonishing.

But none of this had anything to do with him.

His gaze swept over the bronze-cast statue of a goddess and finally settled on a plaque hanging on her left chest.

[Burial of Begonia].

He recited these three words silently, sorrow flowing in his eyes.

Ye Bai collected his emotions and refocused his attention on the Ancient Tomb. He searched carefully but did not find any abnormalities. He wondered why he always felt that this Ancient Tomb was a bit strange. He raised his head and looked at the ceiling of the Tomb.

The stone slab on the ceiling of the Tomb was severely broken, with only a few fragments left, barely maintaining its original appearance. Ye Bai bent down, stretched out his hands, and tried to scrape away that layer of debris.

"Don't move!" A male voice suddenly sounded in his mind, carrying an anxious and uneasy emotion.

Ye Bai was stunned for a moment.

Immediately after, two other strange voices appeared in his ears at the same time.

"What are you looking for?"

"Those things are very dangerous!"

"Are you crazy?! Hurry up and take your hand away!"

The voices became increasingly chaotic and noisy, but his state of mind gradually calmed down.

Ye Bai shouted at the air, "I'm looking for the key; this is the owner of the Ancient Tomb, there should be a key."

The other three were silent.

Just at this moment, a familiar female voice sounded, "I know where the key is!"

Ye Bai felt a surge of joy in his heart and asked, "Where?"

The woman said, "It's in that direction."

The direction she pointed to was coincidentally behind the pile of stone coffins.

Ye Bai immediately followed that direction and walked over. Soon, in the corner of the pile of stone coffins, he saw a rusted iron shovel.