Tomb

Xia Lin reached into his space bag and pulled out a torch. He struck it forcefully with flint several times, igniting the oil-soaked rag.

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

Sera, meanwhile, took out a stone the size of a pigeon's egg from her embrace. It was pitch black, its surface inscribed with dense, ominous runes.

She whispered a few guttural syllables, and the stone emitted a faint but steady dark red glow, like a devil's eye, illuminating a small area around her like a corner of some lower plane.

"That's quite a unique stone you've got there," Xia Lin said, looking at the eerie red light. He felt goosebumps prickle his skin. "You're not afraid of giving passing mice heart attacks if you use it for light at night?"

"A small trinket. It lets me see more clearly in the dark and scares away any bothersome little bugs," Sera replied, her voice devoid of emotion. Her purple tail swayed gently in the crimson glow, like a viper lurking in the shadows.

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The two walked one after the other, Xia Lin holding the torch and Sera holding the sorcery stone that emanated an evil red light. They cautiously descended a stone staircase that was only wide enough for one person.

The passage was narrow and damp, the air filled with the heavy smell of mold and a nauseating stench of decay.

Cobwebs hung down like dirty curtains from above, and cold water droplets occasionally seeped from the cracks in the stone walls, dripping onto their shoulders.

The walls on either side were haphazardly built from rough stones, inscribed with faded ancient characters and distorted, grotesque patterns in long-gone pigments.

The torchlight flickered, making the patterns seem to writhe slightly on the stone walls, exuding an indescribable eeriness.

"What are these scribbles supposed to be?" Xia Lin leaned closer to the wall, trying to make out the patterns. But due to the age and severe erosion, he could only vaguely discern scenes resembling some kind of primitive ritual, along with the outlines of strange creatures with tentacles and compound eyes.

Sera seemed more interested in these murals. She extended a fingertip clad in a black glove and gently brushed over the cold stone carvings.

"These are ancient mourning runes and afterlife wall carvings," she said softly, her voice sounding somewhat ethereal in the narrow passage. "They are used to appease the deceased, guide their souls, and also warn the living not to disturb the peace of the dead. However, judging by the style, some older, more primitive things seem to be mixed in."

Xia Lin listened, utterly confused. He had never been fond of such superstitious things.

He habitually narrowed his eyes, concentrating, and the light of [Item Appraisal] swept across his vision.

[Worn Ancient Wall Carving]

[Material: Ordinary rock, trace amounts of natural mineral pigments remaining]

[Content: Rough geometric patterns, with blurry outlines of animals or human figures visible in some areas, suspected to be common decorations or simple mourning symbols in early tombs.]

[Evaluation: Very old and severely weathered. Simply put, it's scribbles carved on worthless old stones that archaeologists might find somewhat interesting.]

Unable to glean any useful information, Xia Lin immediately focused his attention on the ground and anything that might cost him his life.

"Be careful. These old tombs always like to hide a few surprises," Xia Lin warned, then took a deep breath.

Like a loyal hound catching the scent of prey, he widened his eyes, holding the torch very low, almost touching the ground.

His eyeballs bulged as if about to burst, meticulously scanning every inch of the ground ahead, the walls, and even every crevice above, not missing any suspicious traces.

Although the [Item Appraisal] ability couldn't directly indicate the presence of traps, in this state of intense concentration, he possessed a sensitivity far beyond ordinary people to subtle environmental anomalies—such as a stone slab with a slightly different color than its surroundings, a clump of dirt placed unnaturally, or an inconspicuous hole in the wall.

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

A skeleton, long reduced to white bone, lay sprawled on the ground in a twisted posture. Beside its leg bone, a thin, resilient tripwire, almost integrated with the ground, had been neatly cut.

"It seems we're not the first visitors," Sera's tone held a hint of mockery. "And it looks like the predecessors have 'cleared the path' for us quite a bit."

Xia Lin grinned, though his smile was a little chilling. "That's truly... thank you for their selfless contribution."

Continuing forward, similar "surprises" appeared one after another.

They found another skeleton of a tomb robber, impaled through the chest by a sharp wooden stake from below. It was a cleverly camouflaged shallow pit trap; the loose soil around the pit's edge had been trampled down, revealing the menacing wooden spikes.

Not far away, another corpse was frozen in a pose of terrified escape, lying next to a triggered rockfall trap. Its skull was shattered, clearly having been crushed.

"These unlucky fellows have saved us quite a bit of trouble," Xia Lin muttered as he carefully skirted the triggered traps. Thanks to these "predecessors," their journey had been surprisingly smooth.

Even so, Xia Lin dared not let his guard down in the slightest.

Who knew if these tomb robbers had triggered all the traps?

The two navigated through twists and turns, and they didn't know how far they had descended underground.

Finally, the narrow passage suddenly opened up ahead, and a massive stone gate blocked their path.

The gate was carved from a single piece of obsidian, smooth as a mirror, yet densely inscribed with magic runes more complex and incomprehensible than a goblin's thought process.

The gate was tightly shut, emitting a cold aura that seemed to say, "Stay away, or face the consequences."

Xia Lin brought the torch closer. The orange-red light danced on the cold stone surface, illuminating the dust and cobwebs accumulated in the gap between the doors.

[Ancient Stone Gate (Magic Seal)]

[Material: Obsidian, with an embedded unknown metal frame]

[Status: Seal intact, no external damage]

[Evaluation: Sturdier than the gates of the Dwarf King's treasury, and the magic seal attached to it is more complex than a Red Dragon's sneeze. Ordinary crowbars and explosives would probably be like mosquito bites to it.]

"A magic lock, no doubt about it," Xia Lin tapped the stone gate with his sword hilt, producing a dull echo. "You can't even find a keyhole on this thing. Do I have to shout 'Open Sesame' at the door for it to start singing and dancing?" He scratched the back of his head, his expression clearly showing he'd hit a wall.

Sera glanced at the stone gate and let out a soft snort from her nose, as if mocking Xia Lin's limited imagination. "Step back, human. Don't try to fathom the intricacies of Arcane with that brain of yours, filled with copper coins and cheap ale."

She walked up to the stone gate, her intact palm gently resting on the cold stone surface, palm facing upwards.

She slightly lowered her eyelids, her lips moving silently, and a series of dry, distorted syllables, as if from the edge of the world, emerged from her throat.

It was not any language Xia Lin knew. Each tone carried a heart-stopping chill, as if whispering to some profound entity.

As she whispered, a dense shadow energy, as tangible as a substance, spread from her palm, crawling and seeping across the stone door's surface like a living thing.

The ancient runes, which had been dim and lusterless, flickered with an eerie, faint light one by one under the erosion of the shadow energy, only to be extinguished just as quickly.

"Crrrack... Rumble..."

The sound of grinding mechanisms came from within the stone door, followed by a dull groan as the heavy stone door reluctantly opened a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A cold, decaying aura, like an evil spirit imprisoned for a thousand years, surged out of the gap.

"Done." Sera withdrew her hand, her tone indifferent, as if she had merely accomplished a trivial task.

"Whoa, your skills are seriously impressive!" Xia Lin whistled and leaned towards the door, peering inside. "More useful than those Halfling thieves who call themselves 'master locksmiths'! Are Warlocks always this convenient? If I'd known, I would've signed a contract with some obscure, forgotten evil god myself, and maybe I could sneak into noble ladies' boudoirs with ease by now."

"Ignorance is bliss, human." Sera glanced at him, her dark red eyes appearing even deeper in the firelight. "Do you think 'Strength' is a cheap stone you can pick up anywhere? Every gift comes with a price tag. You'd best pray you never have to know what that price is."

After speaking, she ignored Xia Lin and was the first to squeeze sideways through the dark gap.

Xia Lin pouted, muttering, "As if you got such a good deal," and followed her in, holding his torch.

Beyond the stone door lay a tomb chamber far more spacious than the passage before it.