Hu Ming and the others were crouched down, carefully tapping the ground with their hunting knives. They moved forward slowly, tapping as they went. Before long, Hu Bayi, at the front, noticed a hollow sound coming from the spot where the rabbit had just fallen.
The same was true of the row nearby. When they tapped the next row, they heard the same hollow sound.
Hu Bayi noticed that the sand here, and farther ahead, seemed much cleaner than it had been before.
Seeing the difference, Hu Ming crouched down too. He and Hu Bayi wedged their hunting knives into the stone seam.
Creak!
The stone slab suddenly swung open!
Hiss...
Hu Bayi and Hu Ming both sucked in a sharp breath.
The Fatty, who was behind them, hurried over and asked, "Old Hu, what's wrong?"
He peered beneath the slab, then cried out in horror, "Damn, how could anyone make something this cruel?"
The pit was filled with countless sharp bamboo stakes. The rabbit had been pierced through by them and was long dead. Hu Bayi's bottle, however, was still there.
Hu Ming remembered his grandfather telling him about this kind of trap. It was called the Ten Thousand Spikes Heart Piercing Formation, commonly known as the "no return" trap. Anyone who fell into it was doomed. Even a deity wouldn't be able to save them.
Hu Bayi said, sounding relieved, "Good thing the rabbit triggered the mechanism. If one of us had stepped on it, we'd have been lucky to escape with our lives."
The passage through the tomb was full of these movable slabs. If anyone stepped on one by mistake, the force would make it flip over in an instant.
Whoever triggered the trap would fall straight down and be pierced through by the sharp stakes, dying on the spot...
The Fatty looked at the densely packed stakes in the pit below. Just seeing them made him feel a chilling, prickling pain all over.
"Damn, that'd be a horrible way to go," he said.
Hu Ming's expression was grave. "Getting impaled wouldn't be the only problem. These stakes are coated in a bright red poison, and it's probably deadly. Even if you somehow survived the stakes, the poison would still kill you."
After hearing Hu Bayi and Hu Ming explain the trap, the Fatty wanted nothing more than to get away. He urged them to leave.
"Hey, Mingzi, let's get out of here!" the Fatty said nervously.
Yingzi, behind him, urged them too. "Brother Hu, Brother Ming, let's go!"
"I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this place. We'd better get moving," the Fatty said. He wanted to get into the tomb chamber as soon as possible and leave this place behind. He figured the chamber might be safer.
What he didn't know was that at least one Zombie was waiting quietly inside for them.
Even if the Fatty hadn't said anything, Hu Ming would have wanted to leave.
"Come on. We'll go along there!"
Hu Ming spotted a safe passage beside the wall. It was only wide enough for one person, but it looked harmless.
Hu Ming and Hu Bayi went across first. Once they reached safety, they began checking for any possible traps.
Soon, they confirmed the way was clear. The Fatty and Yingzi followed, one after the other, making their way to safety.
As the Fatty walked, he looked down at the stakes and started to feel dizzy. It seemed as if he were about to fall.
"Damn!"
"Mingzi!"
Seeing the Fatty's reaction, Hu Ming realized his fear of heights had kicked in. He immediately darted over, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him to safety.
It had been a close call!
Huff... huff...
The Fatty was breathing heavily. If Hu Ming hadn't grabbed him, he would have ended up keeping the rabbit company.
Yingzi crossed with ease and reached the safe area. At last, they were all safe.
Once Yingzi had made it across the Ten Thousand Spikes trap, Hu Bayi and Hu Ming exchanged a look, suddenly in perfect sync.
They nodded to each other, then began searching for the mechanism that would open the tomb door so they could enter the main chamber.
Before long, Hu Bayi called out to Hu Ming. "Mingzi, come take a look over here!"
At Hu Bayi's prompting, they spotted an almost invisible circle on the tomb wall beside him. It seemed to be the mechanism for opening the stone door.
But Hu Bayi and Hu Ming didn't act rashly. Better to be cautious than risk making a mistake. If they pressed the wrong mechanism, they could be in serious trouble.
At last, Hu Ming said, "Old Hu, check this side while I check the other. Once we're sure it's safe, we'll press the mechanism!"
"Okay, I'll do as you say!" Hu Bayi agreed with Hu Ming's suggestion. They couldn't just wait around forever.
Seeing what Hu Bayi and his cousin had decided, Yingzi and the Fatty pitched in too. They turned and began inspecting the tomb walls for anything unusual.
Soon, they gathered back together. Hu Bayi looked at Hu Ming. "Mingzi, my side's clear."
The Fatty chimed in. "Yingzi and I didn't find anything either."
Hu Ming nodded and looked at Hu Bayi, Yingzi, and the Fatty. "Good. If everything's clear, let's open it."
Everyone tensed up. As they pressed the mechanism, they heard it begin to turn.
Now they were all on edge.
"Mingzi, look!" As the mechanism continued to turn, the tomb's tightly shut stone door suddenly opened, sending up a huge cloud of dust.
The Fatty watched excitedly. "It's open! It's open!"
Hu Bayi looked inside and said to the others, "Come on, let's take a look." He led the way into the main tomb chamber and began examining it.
Hu Ming then realized that right above his head was the legendary Western Regions Fire Dragon Glazed Top.
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