31: Chapter 31 Those who trespass on the Sacred Treasury shall die!

As soon as he stepped into the tunnel, Hu Tian reached into the side pocket of his bag and pulled out his high-intensity flashlight. With a crisp "click," the backup light source instantly turned on.

A blinding white beam of light sliced through the thick darkness ahead like a sharp sword, illuminating the scene inside the tunnel in minute detail and dispelling much of the eerie, ominous atmosphere.

With both the headlamp and the flashlight working in tandem, the two beams of light intertwined, finally dispersing most of the shadows and making the view much clearer, no longer just a dead, silent blackness.

He stood his ground, not rushing forward, but instead raised the flashlight, its beam slowly sweeping across the inner walls on both sides. His expression was vigilant, his muscles slightly tensed, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any moment.

He hadn't realized it at first, but upon closer inspection, Hu Tian felt a slight chill in his heart. He couldn't help but gasp, his pupils suddenly constricting.

The two walls of the tunnel were not bare, chiseled stone surfaces, but were densely covered with carvings of text, layered one upon another, like countless eyes watching him from the darkness, dazzling and dizzying.

The depth of the handwriting varied, and the strokes were rough, clearly the traces left by different craftsmen rushing to finish their work at different times. The styles were distinct; some were wild, cursive scripts exuding despair, while others were neat, regular scripts exuding a murderous aura.

The ink marks had long since blurred, and some of the characters were filled with black mold spots, emitting a musty, stale odor. If Hu Tian hadn't brought the flashlight close to examine them, they would have been impossible to recognize, appearing as obscure and difficult to understand as a heavenly book.

Just as he narrowed his eyes, struggling with the obscure and difficult-to-read font, unable to decipher it, the system activated silently.

A blue window flashed across the edge of his vision, and a crisp prompt sound rang out: "Ding! Wall inscriptions detected, automatic translation started and completed."

A massive amount of textual information flooded into his mind like a tidal wave, instantly transforming into clear, colloquial meaning, well-organized and distinct.

Those carvings were actually confidential inscriptions from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom era, recording this dusty, sealed history.

The content of the murals and inscriptions was complex and shocking: the left wall depicted the grand scene of transporting the treasure back then, with thousands of soldiers wearing uniform tunics marching in the night with solemn expressions. The accompanying text recorded the strict transportation routes and the cruel punishment of "death by a thousand cuts for those who leak secrets." The right wall detailed the regulations of the Holy Treasury, from the classification of gold and silver to the registration of treasures, covering everything in great detail, along with the blood-oath rules established by the guards of the treasury, every word weeping with blood.

But the most conspicuous, and the one that made Hu Tian's heart sink the most, were the six large characters carved deepest and largest in the first row at the entrance: Those who trespass in the Holy Treasury, die!

That was not a warning, nor was it an intimidation, but a statement of fact in a calm tone, as if it were describing a predetermined outcome, which made it all the more chilling, the coldness rushing straight to the top of his head.

Hu Tian stared at that line of text for two seconds, then a cold smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, and a trace of unruliness flashed in his eyes: "Die? Then let's see who dies first. The ancients are gone, the living are in charge!"

Before the words had even faded, he gripped the flashlight tightly and walked forward with firm steps, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the narrow tunnel, sounding exceptionally clear.

The tunnel was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass, and the height was only enough for him to slightly hunch over. Walking was quite awkward, and he had to be careful of the rocks above his head at all times.

The inscriptions on the inner walls continued endlessly. As he moved forward, he used the system's real-time translation to commit key information to memory, building a preliminary understanding of the Holy Treasury: this was not just a place for hiding treasure, but a huge underground mausoleum, burying the last hopes and secrets of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Just like that, walking unsteadily for about twenty meters, the tunnel suddenly widened, and the sense of space changed abruptly.

Hu Tian paused his steps, subconsciously raising his flashlight to sweep forward, the beam carving an arc in the darkness.

The passage suddenly widened here, with the cliffs on both sides extending outwards by three or four meters, and the space above his head was much higher, forming a small hall.

However, the abnormality of the ground made his brows furrow, his expression grave.

The stone slabs underfoot were no longer flat; fine stone crevices spread across the ground, intricate like a spider web.

The crevices varied in width, and some connected, outlining eerie geometric contours, clearly an artificially designed structure, exuding a murderous intent.

Just as Hu Tian was about to lift his foot to step out, the system's alarm sounded explosively in his mind: "Ding! Poison mist trap detected! The current position triggers the 'Rest Gate' kill formation of the Qi Men Dun Jia. Stepping in will activate the mechanism, please stop immediately!"

The system's alarm was sharp and urgent. Hu Tian reacted extremely quickly, pulling his heel back violently, leaving his half-lifted foot suspended in mid-air, and then steadily landing it back where it was, his movements smooth and fluid.

At this moment, a layer of fine cold sweat had already beaded on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks.

Too dangerous!

If not for the system's warning, if he had stepped down, the consequences would have been unimaginable; he likely would have died right here on the spot.

He steadied his breathing, slowly squatted down, brought the flashlight close to the ground, and shone it into the stone crevices, his gaze like a torch.

The light penetrated the crevices, and he could vaguely see some yellow powder deep inside, as well as dark brown plant fiber-like substances, quietly lurking in the depths of the darkness.

Although those substances were dried out, they were well-preserved, exuding an eerie aura, like a sleeping poisonous snake.

His nostrils flared slightly. Although the mechanism had not yet been triggered, that faint, pungent scent explained everything—highly toxic!

The system provided a detailed analysis: "The mechanism is filled with toxic powder made from a mixture of sulfur and heartbreak grass. Triggering it by pressure will cause a large amount of poisonous mist to spray out, with a concentration sufficient to instantly cause one to lose the ability to act. The 'Rest Gate' is a fierce gate; a frontal assault has no solution, you must find the 'Life Gate' to break the formation."

Immediately following this, a directional guide was superimposed on Hu Tian's vision, the red warning line turning into a green safe path.

A dot of light landed on a position slightly to the left of the stone slab area, near the wall, where the stone crevices were sparse. It was the blind spot at the edge of the mechanism's construction, exactly where the system had marked the location of the "Life Gate."

Hu Tian did not hesitate; he pulled the folding engineer shovel from his mountaineering backpack and with a "click," locked the shovel head in place. The sound of metal colliding was exceptionally crisp in the silence.

He squatted and walked to the position of the Life Gate, tentatively poking downwards with the tip of the shovel.

The soil was soft, and no mechanism was triggered, confirming the system's judgment was correct.

He began to work, the engineer shovel digging away the soil and rubble at the edge of the stone slabs stroke by stroke, carving an arc-shaped groove into the ground. The path exactly cut off the edge of the mechanism's trigger range, his movements precise and decisive.

After finishing this step, he reached into the side pocket of his mountaineering backpack and pulled out a small iron box, which contained lime powder he had prepared before setting out.

It was originally intended for moisture-proofing and anti-slip, but he hadn't expected it to come in so useful at this moment, becoming a life-saving tool.

He slowly poured the lime powder along the carved groove, filling it thickly, and then used the back of the engineer shovel to press it down firmly, ensuring it was covered tightly, leaving not a single gap.

Lime powder hardens rapidly when it encounters moisture, which was enough to seal the crevices, preventing the pressure-sensitive structure inside the mechanism from transmitting air pressure to the nozzle, thereby cutting off the trigger chain and neutralizing this century-old kill formation.

Hu Tian held his breath while operating; the whole process took no more than two or three minutes, but his back was already soaked with sweat, his clothes clinging to his body.

After finishing all this, he slowly straightened his waist, staring at the groove covered in lime powder, silent for a moment, his eyes complex.

Subsequently, he carefully stepped into the stone slab area from the position of the Life Gate.

His footsteps landed, and all was silent; nothing happened.

The poison mist did not spray out; death had brushed past him.

Hu Tian exhaled a long breath of stale air, his palms full of cold sweat, his heart still beating violently.

He stood in the middle of the safe passage, looking back at the mechanism covered by the lime powder, feeling not a shred of luck, but rather a surge of lingering fear.

Without the system's warning, he wouldn't have looked at the ground more than once, and he would have stepped down firmly.

At that time, the mechanism would have triggered, the poison mist would have surged, and in this sealed tunnel, he wouldn't even have been able to run away, let alone find an antidote.

Twenty seconds to lose the ability to act; what happens after that goes without saying—certain death.

Brute force had no place here.

No matter how much strength one has, no matter how strong one's fighting skills are, they are of no use in the face of traps carefully designed by the ancients. Only the combination of wisdom and technology can break the deadlock.

Hu Tian lowered his head to look at the engineer shovel in his hand, then looked up at the tunnel extending ahead, his eyes slowly becoming as calm as water, with an added sense of awe.

Every step taken on this road was begging for one's life from the death traps set by predecessors; a slight carelessness would mean complete destruction.

Fortunately, he had the system.

He gripped the flashlight tightly, took a step again, and continued walking towards the depths of the darkness, his pace more steady.

Passing through the poison mist area, the view ahead widened again, suddenly opening up.

At the end of the passage appeared a huge karst cave hall, the dome reaching five or six meters high, with stalactites hanging upside down, majestic and grand.

Eight passages chiseled from the rock walls spread out in a fan shape, like eight giant dragons opening their mouths. Each passage entrance was inlaid with a bluestone door frame, and each lintel was carved with a line of ancient seal script, clearly visible under the illumination of the flashlight beam, exuding a heavy sense of antiquity.

Hu Tian stopped his steps, swept the flashlight across the eight passages in turn, saw the inscriptions on the lintels clearly, and recited them silently in his heart.

The first: "Water and fire are already balanced, all things return to the source."

The second: "Thunder and wind thin each other, heavy mountains, Gen halts."

The third: "Heaven and earth, obstruction and prosperity, Qian and Kun define the positions."

The fourth: "Mountains and marshes connect their qi, loss and gain follow each other."

The fifth: "Earth and thunder, return and shake, one yang returns."

The sixth: "Wind and marsh, inner truth, trust travels the world."

The seventh: "Heaven and mountain, retreat and hide, the gentleman avoids the world."

The eighth: "Earth and heaven, prosperity comes, all things grow."

Hu Tian stood in place, having finished scanning the eight passages, his brows furrowed, his expression grave, his brain working at high speed.

This was a Bagua orientation problem; each passage corresponded to a trigram. If he took the wrong passage, it would likely be more ominous than auspicious, or even a one-way trip, trapping him here forever.

He did not rush to act, but closed his eyes, organizing the Bagua positions in his mind: Qian South, Kun North, Zhen East, Xun Southeast, Li South, Kan North, Gen Northeast, Dui West.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing in them.

He turned around slowly, using the direction he entered the cave as a baseline to readjust his sense of orientation, matching the eight passages to their corresponding trigrams, and already had a plan in mind.

The first passage faced the direction of entry, position due north, corresponding to the Kan trigram, with the lintel inscription carved: "Water and fire are already balanced, all things return to the source."

Water and fire already balanced is the sixty-third hexagram of the I Ching, with Kan water above and Li fire below, implying the intersection of water and fire, and all things returning to one, seemingly hinting at the meaning of returning to the source.

Hu Tian's eyes narrowed slightly, and he pondered to himself: "This sentence looks like directions on the surface, but the two characters 'return to the source' are too straightforward, instead seeming like a trap, deliberately inducing the comer to go astray. This path is impassable."

He swept his gaze across the remaining passages one by one, investigating and deducing them one by one.

The second passage was located in the northeast, belonging to the Gen trigram, with the inscription: "Thunder and wind thin each other, heavy mountains, Gen halts."

Gen means to stop and not move forward; this was clearly a dead end, or a place of imprisonment.

The third passage was located due south, belonging to the Qian trigram, with the inscription: "Heaven and earth, obstruction and prosperity, Qian and Kun define the positions."

Obstruction and prosperity alternate, auspiciousness and ominousness are hard to predict; blindly advancing at this time was by no means a wise move, the risk was too great.

The fourth passage was located in the west, belonging to the Dui trigram, with the inscription: "Mountains and marshes connect their qi, loss and gain follow each other."

It implied the meaning of loss, and did not point to the location of the life path; there might be mechanisms to consume physical strength or supplies.

The fifth passage was located due east, belonging to the Zhen trigram, with the inscription: "Earth and thunder, return and shake, one yang returns."

Although it had the meaning of rebirth, the one yang was just moving, its power still weak; it might not lead to the core, perhaps only the outer area.

The sixth passage was located in the southeast, belonging to the Xun trigram, with the inscription: "Wind and marsh, inner truth, trust travels the world."

Xun is wind; the nature of wind is changeable and inconstant, so it cannot be trusted lightly; there might be an illusion formation.

The seventh passage was located in the northwest, with the inscription: "Heaven and mountain, retreat and hide, the gentleman avoids the world."

With the character "retreat" at the head, it was clearly a retreat path or a place of seclusion, definitely not the entrance.

The eighth passage was located in the southwest, belonging to the Kun trigram, with the inscription: "Earth and heaven, prosperity comes, all things grow."

Hu Tian's gaze suddenly stopped on the lintel of the eighth passage, a flash of light appearing in his eyes.

The poem says:

A century of dust sealed, opened in a day,

Mountains of gold and seas of silver reflect on the green moss.

The traps set by predecessors finally become an illusion,

Naturally, a talented person comes to tread on the treasure.