327: The stolen jade bead, the labyrinth

"Okay, I understand."

Yang Mi nodded and walked over with the toolbox.

She squatted in front of the Tombstone and observed it carefully, but she couldn't make anything out.

Yang Mi sighed, "Sigh, there's a bunch of inexplicable characters written on this Tombstone; I can't understand them at all!"

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand them," Ye Bai said with a smile. "You just need to scrape off the Runes carved on the Tombstone one by one with a knife, and the task will be complete."

"That simple?" Yang Mi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Will scraping off these Runes really break the Tomb's curse?"

"Of course, why would I lie to you?" Ye Bai said. "Just give it a try."

Yang Mi nodded and picked up a shovel, preparing to scrape the Runes. Ye Bai gave her a reminder.

"Remember, you can't touch these Runes, and you can't use brute force; you must use a knife to scrape them! With every mark scraped off, the Tomb's curse deepens by one layer. Keep that in mind!"

"Mm." Yang Mi nodded. She wielded the shovel, tracing a line along the Tombstone, and then began to scrape carefully.

The Runes on the Tombstone weren't long, and she soon scraped them clean. Yang Mi let out a sigh of relief, a joyful expression appearing on her face. She packed up the toolbox, stood up, and said to Ye Bai, "Alright, we can start digging."

"Digging?" Meng Ziyi said in surprise. "Do you mean you want to open the Tomb cover and go inside to look for treasure?"

Yang Mi rolled her eyes at her and said crossly, "What are you thinking! I'm asking Ye Bai to dig right through this Tomb!"

"Dig right through this Tomb?" Meng Ziyi's eyes widened as she said in astonishment, "This... how is that possible? Stop joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Yang Mi countered, "I'm serious. Ye Bai, listen up! The entrance to this Tomb is at the top. We'll start digging from the roof, and once we've dug through, you can continue digging in other spots."

"Alright!" Ye Bai agreed.

Yang Mi led Ye Bai and Meng Ziyi to the top of the Tomb.

Ye Bai took a chisel and began to dig through the bricks and tiles on the roof. Yang Mi moved stones and wooden boards, prying them with all her might.

*Crackle~* The stone bricks split open. Ye Bai and Yang Mi stopped working at the same time.

Ye Bai picked up a stone chip, sniffed it, and then frowned, saying, "Something's not right."

"What's wrong?" Yang Mi asked, puzzled.

Ye Bai shook his head. "I'm not sure either; I just feel like something is off. Let's dig in a different spot." With that, he began digging at the Tomb again.

"Okay."

Ye Bai and Yang Mi each moved to a new position and started digging again.

*Crackle—Crackle!*

Stones kept flying out as Yang Mi grumbled and complained.

"Aiya! Be gentler, don't just throw stones around!"

"This stone is quite heavy. I can't even hold it steady!"

"..."

Ye Bai said nothing, focusing intently on digging the Tomb. Finally, he dug out a pit.

Ye Bai jumped into the pit, threw away the stones, and packed the ground down with his feet.

"Done." Ye Bai brushed the dust off his pants.

Yang Mi stepped forward and asked, "Are you sure you've dug through?"

"Of course I have!"

Ye Bai said, "I've already dug three feet deep."

"Let me see..."

Yang Mi leaned against the wall of the pit and looked down, sure enough, seeing a pitch-black opening with black smoke wafting out. "Wow! This hole really does lead to the underground Tomb!" Yang Mi was incredibly surprised.

"Let's go." Ye Bai took the lead and walked inside.

Yang Mi followed closely behind.

Meng Ziyi hesitated for a moment before following them inside.

Ye Bai led the group through the narrow Passage for a few minutes before arriving at the Tomb Chamber. The Tomb Chamber was spacious, large enough to accommodate over thirty banquet tables.

Yang Mi looked at this vast and luxurious Underground Palace and praised, "This Tomb Chamber is way too grand!"

Ye Bai didn't pay attention to that detail; his gaze was searching the Tomb Chamber. He looked around the room and discovered a Crystal Coffin placed in a corner.

He walked straight to the Crystal Coffin and knocked on it; the coffin didn't budge an inch.

"What is this?" Ye Bai muttered in confusion.

"No way..." Yang Mi stepped forward, knocked on the Crystal Coffin, and exclaimed, "This coffin is empty!"

"Empty?" Meng Ziyi leaned in, staring at the Crystal Coffin in surprise. "Doesn't that mean..."

"What was inside wasn't a corpse?" Yang Mi was also shocked.

"No way!" Meng Ziyi covered her mouth, looking like she couldn't believe it.

Ye Bai pondered, "Since there's no corpse in the coffin, then the Zombies we encountered definitely weren't transformed from living beings!"

"Then what are they?" Yang Mi scratched her head in confusion.

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Ye Bai, and he blurted out, "I've got it!"

"What did you figure out?" Yang Mi quickly followed up.

Ye Bai pointed to the inside of the Crystal Coffin and said, "A Sapphire Bead should have been placed here, but it's been taken away. So, this isn't the true burial site; the real burial site must be further underground!"

Yang Mi nodded in realization and said, "You mean the real Ancient Tomb is deep underground!"

"Yes," Ye Bai said. "Do you remember the Runes on the roof of the Tomb earlier?"

Yang Mi immediately reacted, "Was that the Demon Sealing Rune?"

Ye Bai said, "Exactly. The Demon Sealing Rune is a defensive formation set up by the Tomb owner to protect themselves, used to block the invasion of Evil spirits and malevolent energy!"

"Furthermore, the fact that the Tomb owner set up such a formation means there must be something crucial hidden below—perhaps the key to calming all these resentment, or a root of evil that could trigger an even greater disaster."

Ye Bai's brow furrowed, and he spoke with a solemn expression.

Meng Ziyi tugged on Yang Mi's sleeve, feeling a bit frightened.

"Are we really going to continue? It feels more and more dangerous. I've heard that many Ancient Tombs have man-eating monsters or Labyrinths you can never escape from."

Yang Mi also hesitated but put on a brave face. "We've already come this far; wouldn't going back now mean all our efforts were for nothing? Besides, with Ye Bai here, we'll be fine."

Ye Bai looked at the two of them, knowing they couldn't back down now. "Don't worry, as long as you do as I say, there won't be any problems. However, everyone needs to be extra careful from here on out; every corner here could hide a secret mechanism."

The three of them searched the Tomb Chamber for a Passage leading deeper underground.

Ye Bai felt around the walls.

Suddenly, he felt a brick was loose. Pressing it hard, a section of the wall beside him moved slowly, revealing an opening just large enough for one person to pass through. A pungent odor wafted out.

"Found it, it's right here. But this smell isn't right; everyone, put on your masks."

As Ye Bai spoke, he took out specially prepared masks from his backpack and handed them to the two women.

Yang Mi put on her mask and frowned. "This smell is like something rotting; it's disgusting."

"It's been sealed for too long, so this kind of smell is normal. I just hope it's just a common scent of decay and not something emitted by an evil entity." Ye Bai held his flashlight and was the first to step into the opening.