Hu Xiaotian said, "We can't rule out someone wanting to do this without gods or ghosts knowing-steal the skin from Emperor Jingde's back and keep everyone in the dark."
Zong Tang said, "What secret could Emperor Jingde and his wife have on their backs? Why would anyone strip off their skin?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "It must be an earth-shattering secret."
Zong Tang felt his hair stand on end. He did not want to stay here even a moment longer. "Let's leave," he whispered.
Hu Xiaotian nodded. They replaced the coffin lids and headed back through the tunnel they had come down. Zong Tang led with the torch, Hu Xiaotian following behind him. Zong Tang climbed out first into the grave robbers' tunnel above. Just as Hu Xiaotian was about to follow, the firelight outside suddenly went out. His heart jolted, and he called softly, "Brother Zong! Brother Zong!"
No one answered from above. Hu Xiaotian strained his ears, but even with his astonishing hearing, he could detect no sound.
Silence. Deathly silence. Hu Xiaotian slowly climbed upward, all six of his senses alert to every movement around him. With his current level of cultivation, he could clearly hear even a feather landing within thirty feet, let alone in this deathly silent tunnel. As he reached the opening, he suddenly felt the air stir ahead. A blade whistled through the air, and a razor-sharp streak of blade radiance slashed straight at his face.
Unfazed by the danger, Hu Xiaotian raised the Lightsaber hilt in his hand and blocked the strike his attacker had been certain would succeed. As he knocked the blade aside, his left hand caught the edge of the opening and he sprang upward, his back striking the stone ceiling. In that brief instant, he took in the situation.