Tomb

Xia Lin fished a torch out of his Space Bag and struck flint against it several times before finally lighting the oil-soaked rag.

The orange-red flames rose, dispelling some of the chill at the tomb entrance.

Sera, meanwhile, took a pigeon-egg-sized stone from her robes. It was pitch-black, with fine, ominous runes carved across its surface.

She murmured a few awkward syllables, and the stone gave off a faint but steady crimson glow. Like a devil's eye, it illuminated the small area around her, making it look like a corner of some lower plane.

"That's a pretty unusual stone you've got there." Xia Lin stared at the eerie red light, feeling goose bumps rise. "You use that to light your way at night, and aren't you afraid of giving any passing rats a heart attack?"

"Just a little trinket. It helps me see better in the dark and scares off a few pests that don't know their place." Sera's voice betrayed no emotion. Her purple tail swayed gently in the crimson glow, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows.

The two of them descended one after the other, Xia Lin holding the torch and Sera carrying the sinister stone that emitted a strange red light. They carefully made their way down the stone steps, which were only wide enough for one person.

The passage was narrow and damp, and the air reeked of mold and nauseating decay.

Cobwebs hung from the ceiling like filthy curtains. From time to time, cold droplets seeped through cracks in the stone walls and fell onto their shoulders.

The walls on either side were crudely built from rough stones, their surfaces marked with faded ancient writing and twisted, bizarre images.

The torchlight flickered, making the figures seem to writhe faintly on the walls. There was something indescribably sinister about them.

"What kind of nonsense are these scribbles supposed to be?" Xia Lin leaned closer to the wall, trying to make out the figures. But the carvings had been worn away by time, and he could only just make out what looked like some kind of primitive ritual, along with the outlines of strange creatures with tentacles and compound eyes.

Sera seemed more interested in the carvings. She reached out with a black-gloved fingertip and gently brushed the cold stone.

"These are ancient funerary runes and wall carvings for the dead," she said softly. Her voice sounded a little ethereal in the narrow passage. "They were meant to soothe the departed, guide their souls, and warn the living not to disturb the dead. But the style seems to be mixed with something even older and more primitive."

Xia Lin had no idea what she was talking about. He had never cared much for this sort of spooky mumbo jumbo.

He simply narrowed his eyes out of habit and focused. The light of [Item Appraisal] swept across his field of vision.

[Worn Ancient Wall Carving]

[Material: Ordinary stone, with trace amounts of natural mineral pigment remaining]

[Content: Crude geometric patterns, with indistinct outlines of animals or people visible in some areas. Possibly common decorations or simple funerary symbols found in early tombs.]

[Assessment: Ancient and badly weathered. In simple terms, a pile of worthless old stones covered in scribbles. Archaeologists might find them interesting.]

Since he couldn't get any useful information out of it, Xia Lin immediately turned his attention to the ground beneath his feet and anything else that might cost him his life.

"Watch your step. Old tombs like these always have a few surprises hidden away." Xia Lin gave a warning, then took a deep breath.

Like a loyal hound that had caught the scent of prey, he widened his eyes and held the torch so low it almost touched the ground.

His eyes bulged as he carefully scanned every inch of the ground ahead, the walls, and even the cracks in the ceiling, not missing a single suspicious mark.

Although [Item Appraisal] couldn't directly alert him to the presence of traps, in this state of intense concentration he was far more sensitive than most to the slightest irregularity in his surroundings—a stone slab whose color differed slightly from the rest, a patch of dust lying unnaturally, or an inconspicuous hole in the wall.

"Hey, look over there." Xia Lin suddenly stopped and pointed with his chin to a spot not far ahead.

A skeleton, long since stripped to the bone, lay face-down in a twisted position. Beside its leg bones, a thin, tough tripwire that almost blended into the ground had been cleanly severed.

"Looks like we're not the first visitors." Sera sounded mocking. "And it seems our predecessors have already 'tested' quite a few traps for us."

Xia Lin grinned, though his smile was a little chilling. "Well, that's... very generous of them."

As they continued onward, more "surprises" appeared one after another.

They found another tomb robber's skeleton, its chest pierced from below by a sharpened wooden stake. It had fallen into a cleverly Camouflaged Shallow Pit Trap, and the loose earth around the pit had since been trampled flat, exposing the vicious spikes.

Not far away, another skeleton lay beside a triggered rockfall trap, frozen in a pose of panicked flight. Its skull was shattered; it had clearly been struck squarely by the falling rocks.

"These poor bastards have saved us a lot of trouble." Xia Lin carefully skirted the triggered traps, muttering under his breath. Thanks to these "trailblazers," they had made it this far without incident.

Even so, Xia Lin didn't dare let his guard down for a moment.

Who knew if the tomb robbers had triggered every trap?

The two of them wound through one turn after another. It was impossible to tell how far underground they had gone.

At last, the narrow passage opened into a vast space, where a huge stone door blocked their way.

The door had been carved from a single block of obsidian. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, yet covered from edge to edge in magical runes more complicated than a goblin's thought process.

The door was tightly shut, radiating a chilly "keep out, or else" sort of menace.

Xia Lin brought the torch closer. Orange-red light danced across the cold stone, illuminating the dust and cobwebs gathered in the gap.

[Ancient Stone Gate (Magically Sealed)]

[Material: Obsidian, with an unknown metal skeleton embedded within]

[Status: Seal intact, no damage from external force]

[Assessment: Sturdier than the door to the Dwarf King's treasury, and its magical seal is more complicated than a red dragon's sneeze. Ordinary crowbars and explosives would probably be about as effective as a mosquito bite.]

"Magical lock, no question." Xia Lin tapped the Stone Gate with his sword hilt. It gave off a dull thud. "There isn't even a keyhole. Are we supposed to shout 'Open sesame' at the door and wait for it to sing and dance itself open?" He scratched the back of his head, looking as if he'd finally met his match.

Sera looked over the Stone Gate and gave a soft snort, as if mocking Xia Lin's limited imagination. "Step back, human. Don't use that brain of yours, stuffed with copper coins and cheap ale, to try to fathom the intricacies of the arcane."

She walked up to the Stone Gate and gently pressed her intact palm against the cold stone, palm facing upward.

She lowered her eyelids slightly. Her lips moved without a sound as a string of dry, twisted syllables escaped her throat, as if from the edge of the world.

It wasn't any language Xia Lin knew. Every note carried a chilling weight, as though she were whispering to some unfathomable presence.

As she murmured, a dense shadowy energy poured from her palm, almost tangible. It crawled across the Stone Gate like a living thing, seeping into it.

The ancient runes, which had been dark and lifeless, began to flash with an eerie glow one after another as the shadowy energy ate away at them, then quickly went dark again.

"Click... rumble..."

The sound of gears grinding came from within the Stone Gate. The heavy door gave a low, reluctant groan and crept inward, opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A chill, rotten stench surged through the gap, like evil spirits imprisoned for a thousand years rushing to escape.

"Done." Sera withdrew her hand and spoke as casually as if she had just finished some insignificant task.

"Damn, you've got some serious magic at your fingertips!" Xia Lin whistled and leaned toward the opening to peer inside. "You're even better than those Halfling thieves who call themselves 'lock-picking masters'! Are all warlocks this convenient? If I'd known, I'd have signed a contract with some obscure corner-dwelling evil god. Maybe by now I'd be able to come and go as I pleased in some noble lady's bedroom."

"Ignorance is bliss, human." Sera glanced at him. Her dark red eyes looked even deeper in the torchlight. "Do you think 'power' is some cheap stone you can pick up at a roadside stall? Every gift comes with a price, marked in secret. You'd better pray you never have to find out what that price is."

With that, she ignored Xia Lin and turned sideways to squeeze through the pitch-black gap.

Xia Lin pursed his lips and muttered, "As if you got such a good deal out of it," then followed her inside with the torch held high.

Beyond the Stone Gate was a tomb chamber far more spacious than the passage they had just left.