The Legend of the Gatekeeping Ghost

The team members breathed in the fresh air deeply. Surprisingly, the air was full of oxygen, and the humidity carried a hint of coolness.

Yu Xing splashed the water a couple of times with his hands, looked up, and felt that the top of the wall looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

With his increasingly hazy memory, he couldn't recall whether he had entered a similar place a long time ago, or whether he had experienced something during the few minutes he lay in the coffin and then forgotten it.

Before long, the stone platform was filled with people wearing tight-fitting clothes. Once they were sure it was safe, they took off their clothes, put them in waterproof bags, and hid in the water at the edge of the stone platform, hooking themselves onto the bags.

This way, you won't be discovered, and you won't be without equipment when the time comes.

Yu Xing also planned to go ashore. He swam forward a little and suddenly noticed a ripple in the water that was moving in a different direction from his.

The water rippled gently past his calves, and something passed by his legs but didn't go far, lingering there.

"..." He stopped moving and looked down, but the water was dark and only reflected his own image; he couldn't see anything below.

That is precisely why the unknown is the most frightening.

"Strange, I haven't seen any ghosts in the water along the way. Could it have come in from another route?" He knew very well that this was not his imagination; the thing underwater was not only entangled with him, but it seemed to be reaching out to touch him.

In that brief pause, Yu Xing was detected by something in the water.

He felt something soft and strange wrap around his calves, followed by a sudden downward pushing force that caused Yu Xing's body to sink involuntarily.

That thing wanted to drag him away!

Yu Xing wasn't panicked, but as he sank, he instinctively slapped his arm against the water, attracting the attention of his companions who had come ashore.

Ash was the first to notice something was wrong. He shouted something, immediately drew his dagger, jumped back into the water, and swam towards Yu Xing. The others also reacted. Master Li cursed and quickly walked to the riverbank to meet him.

"Ash, pull San up and get to shore quickly. Don't fight any monsters in the water!" Carlos didn't know how well Yu Xing could swim. A paper figure had appeared in his hand at some point. The originally fair and pretty paper figure was now soaked in a layer of dampness, as if it had been submerged in water.

Carlos's paper dolls were less effective on others than on himself, and each use was mentally taxing. However, he was clearly already helping Yu Xing share the damage.

Yu Xing didn't need Ash to come over. He reached for his waist, drew his unsheathed Tang sword, its straight blade exuding a fierce aura, and slashed down at his leg.

"Pfft."

The blade struck something, and the pressure on Yu Xing's legs eased. He floated up and was pulled back by Ash.

The crimson color spread to the water's surface, staining the view red. The pupils of the people on the stone platform contracted, but only Carlos looked at the paper figure with suspicion; his paper figure was not bleeding.

It shouldn't be Yu Xing was injured.

Carlos knew perfectly well that the one bleeding was the one who had ambushed Yu Xing.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Ash, seeing the blood surging to the surface, checked Yu Xing with alarm and uncertainty. "Are you alright? What was that? Where are you hurt?"

"It's nothing." Yu Xing reached for something beside his leg, then brought it to his face. He grabbed a large clump of hair, the strands tangled and knotted together. "The blood isn't mine."

The knife in his right hand was very intimidating.

"Oh my god!" Ash's first reaction upon seeing the hair was to pull him up to the stone platform. Yu Xing to be led by him.

"San, your leg must be injured."

Uncle Zhang on the stone platform reached out his hand, as if intending to pull him up. The others stood nervously scattered, staring intently at Yu Xing.

Yu Xing blinked, looked at Uncle Zhang's outstretched hand, then at the stone platform that could be climbed with a single push, gave it a symbolic shake, withdrew her hand amidst Uncle Zhang's bewildered gaze, and climbed up herself.

He wasn't injured at all; there wasn't even a tear in his clothes. Anyone with eyes could see that he was completely unharmed.

"..." Uncle Zhang awkwardly wiped his clothes, pretending to be nonchalant, "So, what happened just now?"

Ash: "There's something in the water, very long hair!"

"Could it be Water Ghost?" Yu Xing pondered for a moment. "It has hair, hands, and can go a long time without breathing. It's definitely not a normal thing."

Everyone: "..." Isn't that obvious!

"I stabbed it, so it must have escaped by now." Yu Xing didn't care about the little Water Ghost. Compared to the strange fish, it was like child's play. Even if he stayed there and let the Water Ghost pull him down, it wouldn't drown him.

However, it was unclear how long these Water Ghost had stayed there, or whether they were male or female. Although they had long hair, the corpses hanging outside also had long hair.

Yu Xing frowned slightly, thinking that he should have taken the opportunity to dive down and take a look earlier; Ash discovered him too quickly.

"When did the Water Ghost catch up?" Carlos murmured, pressing a button on his communication device. "Did you see it on the screen?"

Shi Jiu was watching from outside; her voice came through the equipment, sounding a bit distorted.

"I didn't see anything. There was nothing strange flashing in the footage. It definitely came from inside, not from the outside following you."

That's normal.

Most people have seen Water Ghost to some extent. In the tombs we've visited before, as long as they involve water, whether it's the tomb owner setting up an array or descendants causing trouble, it's easy to raise Water Ghost.

Water Ghost also vary in strength. This particular Water Ghost couldn't do anything to Yu Xing after grabbing him, so it's considered relatively weak.

"If there's one, there will be a second. The feng shui in this tomb is bad; it's easy for something to grow there," Lin whispered a warning.

"Hmm, be careful when you see water in the tomb later; who knows what might be inside." Master Li nodded, his gaze lingering on the blade of the Tang sword Yu Xing was holding, and praised, "San, where did you get this sword? It's really beautiful, a treasure."

According to Master Li, the location of the goods is equivalent to which tomb they were dug out of. Yu Xing smiled and said, "I bought it from someone else before. At that time, neither the seller nor I knew its value. The other party sold it as an art piece. I only realized later that the knife was extraordinary, both in terms of its sharpness and the blood grooves on its blade. I really don't know which tomb it was from."

"This luck is truly incredible!" Master Li clicked his tongue in amazement, filled with envy, though he wasn't sure how much of what he believed.

After the minor incident, everyone tidied up their equipment.

Fortunately, Yu Xing's knife and painting tube had been protected separately in waterproof bags; otherwise, if he had pulled out the knife earlier, water would have gotten into the painting tube, rendering the paper and pens inside unusable. Now, everything is safely with him.

The bespectacled man pointed to the stone door, which was dimly lit inside. Judging from the color, it should be the same as the Mingzhu on the ceiling. "There's no one at the door. I've been watching for a while. The people who went in first must have already gone deeper. We won't encounter them for now."

"That's not necessarily true." Lin took off his glasses and wiped his face. "If there's a maze-like corridor inside the tomb, we could run into other living people at any time."

"There were other dead people," Ash added.

Regardless of whether there's a maze or not, they're going to go in.

Master Li gave the bespectacled man an encouraging look and naturally walked to the front.

Among those present, Uncle Zhang and Master Li were the most senior. Although Unica came from abroad and didn't care about seniority, she was still a proper historian and had never done tomb raiding before, so she lacked experience and listened to the instructions of these two.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go." Master Li pushed open the stone door with force, the veins on his arms bulging, showing that the stone door was actually very heavy.

How did the bespectacled man manage to push it so easily?

Yu Xing moved closer and examined the keyhole, discovering that the lock was actually connected to a mechanism. Once the mechanism was activated, the door would automatically open a short distance, making the initial push easier.

Barely plausible, Yu Xing suppressed the fleeting suspicion that arose in her mind about the bespectacled man and lowered her eyelids.

One by one, the group entered the stone gate. Behind the gate was a large, square stone chamber with a passageway on each side. Several Mingzhu, like stars, adorned the walls. Although covered in dust, they remained pure and bright.

What's most captivating isn't the mysterious passageway or the beautiful, priceless luminous Mingzhu, but rather the coffin placed in the very center of the stone chamber.

The coffin was very formal, wider in the front and narrower in the back; from Yu Xing's perspective, it looked like half a round log.

No one went directly to touch the coffin because the ground was stone, and any gaps would be easier to see. They weren't blind; they could see some stiff lines on the ground around the coffin, clearly indicating some kind of mechanism.

It's similar to the kind that triggers an arrow as soon as you step on it.

"And who's in this coffin?" Uncle Zhang glanced at Unica first, then turned to Lin, "Do you have any ideas?"

"This is the entrance to the tomb. The coffin is placed in such a conspicuous position, which obviously means that the person buried inside is not of high status, but it is important enough." Lin's eyes darted around, as if he was frantically calculating the feng shui in his mind.

"Lin is right. This arrangement makes me want to mention the ancient history I've studied." Unica stepped forward, gazing longingly at the coffin, her eyes shining as she spoke of her field of research.

She told Yu Xing didn't know them; she had only overheard them. In short, over 1200 years ago in this world, there was a popular burial method: wealthy families liked to place a coffin at the entrance of their tombs, and the person lying inside was called a "gatekeeper ghost."

The gatekeeper must have been either a powerful and extremely loyal person in life, or a powerful and extremely cunning person. Both options are somewhat extreme, but both are feasible.

After the tomb owner died, his descendants placed him in the tomb, then sealed the living guardian ghost inside the coffin and placed it behind the entrance gate.

This person must never know in advance that they will be buried alive with the deceased. Whether they are loyal or treacherous, the former will become extremely terrifying evil spirits because of betrayal, and the latter because of their own resentment. They will wander around the tomb. If tomb raiders come and trigger the mechanisms, they will definitely be discovered by the gatekeeper ghost and killed.

The evil spirits are born from resentment and hatred. In order to prevent the guardian ghost from casting its resentment on the tomb owner, a maze must be set up around the coffin where the guardian ghost is located. In this way, if the tomb robber accidentally awakens the guardian ghost, the guardian ghost will only find the tomb robber who cannot escape in the maze, and will not find the place where the tomb owner is sleeping.

It can be said that during that period, the custom of guarding the gates with ghosts was prevalent throughout the region, which also led to the fact that the tombs from that period, which are the most feared and most desired to be encountered by archaeologists in later generations, are those from that time, 1,200 years ago.

Unica proudly said, "These abilities are miracles! We archaeologists fear these kinds of tombs the most because the presence of the 'guardian ghost' itself can easily harm people, but we also look forward to them the most because they hold so many secrets; each one can bring us endless knowledge and valuable information."

Not every gatekeeper ghost could be successfully set up. After the dynasty collapsed, many people tried to imitate this method, but without exception, they all failed. The gatekeeper ghosts were forever preserved in the long river of history, incredibly precious in those short ten years.

Aside from its academic value, among the elements in a tomb that tomb raiders fear most, the gatekeeper ghost undoubtedly ranks in the top five. Whenever the gatekeeper ghost's coffin appears, it means that the tomb raiding will not go smoothly from the start, because it will be completely "mixed up" by the maze. The maze is difficult to navigate, not to mention that there is no telling where a dead gatekeeper ghost is hiding and waiting for them.

"What will happen if we get caught?" Lin asked curiously. He listened attentively, but there were some things he didn't understand.

"Discovered?" Unica paused, then recalled, "If you're discovered, you can have all sorts of symptoms: disorientation, fainting, amnesia, death... I had a former colleague who encountered a ghost while excavating. He couldn't escape the maze-like place, and after emerging, he became depressed, listless, and his memory deteriorated drastically. It was obvious he'd been tricked by something in the tomb." He later sought treatment from Witch in his hometown, which barely saved his life. Unica spoke casually, a smile playing on her lips. "But that time we found many things different from other tombs; it was a very fruitful experience."

There are only two ways to avoid this disaster. The first is to find the location of the mechanism in their coffin, avoid the mechanism, kneel down in front of the coffin, and sincerely kowtow three times.

The gatekeeper, out of respect for the man, wouldn't initiate a fight, provided there was no rule against him traveling with companions.

The second method involves unlocking the mechanisms near the coffin and following the correct steps to put them to sleep, allowing them to stand there anytime, anywhere without worry.

"I've heard that legend too. The gatekeeper ghost is fierce, no less so than a hairy rice dumpling. We have to be careful," Uncle Zhang said.

"Since it's so dangerous, wouldn't it be better to just not touch it?" Ash asked, puzzled, as he wasn't familiar with local customs.

"Hehe, kid, don't underestimate the ancients. There's treasure hidden in the coffin." Master Li chuckled, and Ash knew they were determined to open the coffin.