SWDnovel Chapter 91 Blood Pool Pass
Chapter 91 Blood Pool Pass
On the ground, by the pool.
Wu Zhichong and his servants had already set up camp.
Several tents were pitched in a circle on an open ground about ten feet away from the pool.
A fire was burning in the middle, and an iron pot was placed on the fire, with porridge cooking inside, bubbling and steaming.
The servants were divided into three shifts. One shift guarded the pool, their eyes fixed on the water, guns in hand. Another shift patrolled the area around the camp, vigilantly scanning the forest. The third shift rested, sitting by the fire, eating dry rations.
Wu Zhichong stood by the pool, his hands behind his back, his face solemn.
They have only one task: to guard this place and prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
No entry or exit allowed!
Not only are outsiders not allowed to get close, but even those who do come out are arrested unless Huang Shujian himself gives his permission!
If you can't stop them, then shoot!
He looked up at the sky; the sun had already risen, and the young master and the others had been down for almost an hour.
The pool remained calm, its green depths resembling a sleeping eye.
On the other side, Zhang Hu, Zhao Long, and Liu Kaishan, leading the Red Tassel Squad, had already crossed two mountains.
The team consists of eight people, including the three of them and five other skilled members of the Red Tassel Demon-Catching Team.
Hu Laosan walked at the front, holding a porcelain bowl in both hands. The bowl was half full of water, and a small black fish was swimming in it.
The fish was very small, only the length of a fingernail, and completely black. It swam in the water in the bowl, its head always facing one direction, desperately bumping against the bowl's side.
"Over here!" Hu Laosan shouted.
His eyes were fixed on the fish in the bowl, and his feet followed the direction of the fish's head, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes even taking a big detour.
Zhang Hu followed behind him, while Zhao Long was at the back of the group, warily looking around.
Liu Kaishan walked in the middle, carrying a shovel, striding forward like a man.
The group eventually returned to the outskirts of Goose City, where Hu Laosan stopped.
The little black fish in the bowl stopped bumping against the side of the bowl and instead swam straight down to the bottom.
"This is it." Old Hu looked up.
Zhang Hu looked around.
This is no longer a barren mountain; underfoot is a smooth dirt road, with willow trees planted on both sides, their branches drooping down and swaying gently in the wind.
Not far away, the city walls of Goose City could be vaguely seen, their bluish-gray bricks gleaming in the sunlight.
Closer still, there is a magnificent building.
White walls and green tiles, upturned eaves and corners, two majestic stone lions stand in front of the door, and a plaque hangs above the door with four large characters in gold on a black background:
Huang Family Cemetery.
Zhang Hu was stunned, and Zhao Long was also stunned.
Liu Kaishan shoveled it into the ground, sending dirt flying: "What are you standing there for? Dig!"
Zhang Hu snapped out of his daze and quickly waved his hands, "Grandma, open your eyes and look around! Where are we?"
Liu Kaishan looked up at the plaque, then at the city wall of Goose City not far away, and the Huang Family Manor buildings that could be vaguely seen inside the city wall.
In the entire Goose City, only the Huang family could afford to build a cemetery of this scale, covering thirty acres with high walls, where the ancestors of the Huang family are buried.
Every year during the Qingming Festival, Huang Silang would lead his entire clan to pay homage, a grand affair.
The place where they are standing now is less than 20 feet away from the cemetery gate.
"Our mission," Zhang Hu said in a low voice, "is to keep digging along the blackfish trail until we reach the tomb, but now... we're supposed to start digging from the Huang family cemetery?"
His face twitched.
What is this? Digging up the young master's own ancestral grave?
Hu Laosan held the bowl, his hands trembling. The small black fish in the bowl was still swimming desperately downwards, indicating that Huang Shujian and the others were down there.
But this is the Huang family cemetery! He's just a gravedigger; he can dig up other people's graves, but dig up the Huang family's?
Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare.
Liu Kaishan didn't care about any of that.
She picked up the shovel, spat into her palm, and rubbed it together. "Have you all forgotten the young master's instructions?"
"Find the spot, no matter where it is, just dig! So what if it's the Huang family cemetery?"
She paused, her voice lower but more resolute: "The money that saved my mother's life was given by the young master."
After saying that, she shoveled down, turning up the soil.
While Zhang Hu was still hesitating, Zhao Long next to him had already picked up a shovel and joined the digging.
"Dig!" Zhao Long only said one word.
Zhang Hu looked at them, then at the five hesitant team members behind him.
He let out a long sigh.
Digging might be harmless, or it might lead to punishment.
But not digging, disobeying the young master's orders, would surely mean certain death.
The young master's criteria for choosing people were clearly stated: if loyalty is not absolute, then it is absolutely disloyal.
This team's surname is Huang, but more importantly, it's called "Shujian" (Book and Sword).
"Dig!" Zhang Hu gritted his teeth and picked up a shovel.
Eight people formed a circle and began digging.
The sounds of shovels digging soil rose and fell, the earth was turned over and piled up higher and higher. When the sun shone down, dust flew everywhere, and everyone's face was covered in mud. Sweat mixed with mud and flowed down like furrows.
……
In the tomb passage, the beams of headlamps cut through the darkness.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Arrows rained down from both sides of the tomb passage, the ground, and overhead, striking the opposite wall with a humming vibration at their fletchings.
In the darkness, only the sound of air being cut and the thud of arrows hitting the walls and the ground could be heard. In the beam of the headlamp, dark shadows flashed by, too fast to see clearly.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
The rain of arrows only stopped after a full incense stick's time, and the entire tomb passage was completely filled with arrows.
The shafts were black, and the arrowheads were bronze, rusted but still sharp. Some arrows were deeply embedded in the bluestone slabs, with only half of the fletching showing.
"Gravity Arrow Rain Mechanism." Qin Mo, wearing a gas mask, stood at the edge of the arrow forest, his voice calm.
"There are mechanical stone slabs on the ground. When someone steps on them, it will trigger an arrow that shoots out and covers the entire passage."
As he spoke, he withdrew the thin thread he was holding; the end of the thread was tied to a stone slab, which looked quite heavy.
Three arrows were nailed to the stone slab, their arrowheads embedded three-tenths of an inch into the stone.
"The cleanup is almost complete now."
"But you still have to be careful. Never touch the walls, in case there are other traps."
"However, when we tested it just now, there were some places where pressing down didn't release any arrows. This tomb was designed with an escape route in mind. Or perhaps..."
He looked at Huang Shujian: "Has a path been prepared for future entry?"
Lin Zhihua's eyes lit up: "Brother Qin, you truly deserve to be called an archaeologist. These mechanisms are no challenge for you."
"As for a way out... that's strange."
"Unless there are special circumstances, the tombs of the Great Ying royal family are usually sealed off completely, leaving no way out..."
Huang Shujian also frowned; this was indeed a bit strange.
But we've had enough strange things happen today, so we don't care about this one.
Huang Shujian gave him a wink, and Ma Yongzhen took a deep breath and took the first step.
My feet landed on the bluestone slab.
There were no arrows.
He took a second step, a third step...
They walked all the way to the end of the area covered by the arrow rain without incident.
"Young master, it's safe." He turned around and said.
Huang Shujian nodded, signaling everyone to follow.
The group carefully made their way through the area rained with arrows. Beyond the arrow-laden area lay a tightly closed gate.
The gate was cast in bronze, three zhang high and two zhang wide, with intricate patterns carved on its surface.
Look closely, and you'll see a scene of all kinds of beasts paying homage: Qilin, Phoenix, White Tiger, Black Tortoise... all kinds of mythical beasts kneeling towards the center.
In the center is a mythical beast with its mouth wide open.
The mythical beast had a dragon's head, a lion's body, tiger's claws, and a snake's tail; it was a strange creature, but ferocious and terrifying.
Its mouth was wide open, and deep in its throat was a black hole, bottomless.
There was carved saliva at the corner of his mouth, which flowed down to his chin and dripped into the stone trough under the door.
Murong Xue's expression changed, and she looked at Huang Shujian.
Huang Shujian understood what she meant.
This is the "Blood Pool Pass" that Murong Xue mentioned before.
One of the most bizarre mechanisms favored by the former imperial family, the door would only open if human blood was poured into the stone trough in front of it to feed the mythical beast statue.
Huang Shujian's gaze fell on Qin Mo.