Tomb raiding: It all started with shocking the archaeological team.

Chapter 144 Dark Array

Our attention returns to Chen Yibai.

Chen Yibai racked his brains but still couldn't figure out how Yan Xuefei and Yan Wanlei had managed to get in.

It didn't matter that Yan Xuefei followed them in.

But if the police get involved, things become complicated and the situation becomes difficult to handle.

If I'm not mistaken, according to their police investigation procedures, the entrance to the tunnel above should already be heavily guarded and completely sealed off by now.

Although it's not 100% certain, we absolutely cannot gamble on this chance. If the tunnel is blocked, climbing back up the same way would be like walking into a trap.

Therefore, it is absolutely unrealistic to go up the original road and wait here for the police to leave.

The police have left, but the archaeological team will definitely come back later. Besides, I have no food or water on me, and I can't afford to wait.

After running out of the side door of the main hall, there was a terrace outside.

Standing on the terrace, you can get a panoramic view of the entire palace. Directly in front of you is a vibrant sea of ​​red spider lilies, the path you came from.

Behind it is a winding natural cave, which does not appear to have been carved by humans, and it is unknown where it leads.

Chen Yibai made a quick and decisive decision in his mind and chose to move forward!

Going back up through the tunnel is definitely not an option; there are silver handcuffs waiting there.

This Western Han Dynasty imperial tomb, like the tomb of King Kang of Qishan, must have had other exits; otherwise, the Earth Token would not have ended up outside!

After making his decision, Chen Yibai nimbly and quickly climbed down the glazed tile eaves of the palace.

After landing, they quickly ran towards the cave behind them.

Chen Yibai also noticed that a figure had been following him.

It was none other than Yan Xuefei.

Although Yan Xuefei knew in advance that the police would follow, she did not expect them to arrive so quickly. And just as Chen Yibai had thought, the entrance to the tunnel they came through was blocked by the police, so they definitely could not go out the same way.

But apart from the way they came, Yan Xuefei had nowhere else to go, so she could only follow Chen Yibai for the time being.

Yan Xuefei was secretly relieved that he hadn't shown his true colors and started a fight earlier...

The further you go into the cave, the larger the space becomes, as if the entire mountain is hollow inside.

As Chen Yibai walked further in, he once again smelled the familiar stench of decay in the air.

A putrid smell indicates the presence of a rotting corpse, which is considered an ominous sign.

Although Chen Yibai was already used to these things, he still slowed down a bit just to be on the safe side.

Taking advantage of this moment, Yan Xuefei quickened her pace to catch up. The earlier standoff in the palace, where everyone harbored their own secrets, seemed like nothing had happened. She chimed in, "Captain Chen, can we find the exit this way? The people who built this underground palace must have left themselves an escape route, which is why they were able to take the Earth Token out. The Earth Token is also the key to this underground palace. If we can find the escape route left by the builders, I know how to use the Earth Token. We can cooperate..."

What Yan Xuefei said was exactly what Chen Yibai was thinking, but he wasn't sure if Yan Xuefei really knew how to use the Earth Token, or if she was just deliberately emphasizing her value.

But in any case, now is definitely not the time for infighting, so he simply smiled and nodded.

After walking for about ten more minutes, the cave came to an end, and there was no road ahead. A cliff stood like a barrier.

At the foot of the cliff lay a pile of white bones, some of which had already weathered into dust.

In addition, Chen Yibai noticed that there were some tools such as axes and shovels in the pile of bones, and some of the skeletons were holding pickaxes.

Clearly, these were the workers who built this underground palace.

After the underground palace was built, the tomb door was sealed, and they became sacrificial victims of the imperial mausoleum!

This was very common in ancient times, mainly because it was feared that the craftsmen who built the imperial tombs would learn the secrets of the tombs' structure and mechanisms. Therefore, after the imperial tombs were completed, the craftsmen would be executed.

This is why, throughout history, many tomb builders have secretly left themselves an escape route, escaping through the pre-prepared exit after the tomb door was sealed.

But the fact that all the tomb builders here died doesn't necessarily mean there's a way out. They might have been executed here as a group.

"That's impossible! How come the road ends here?"

Looking at the sheer cliff in front of her, which stood like a barrier, and then at the pile of bones below, Yan Xuefei felt a sudden and extremely ominous premonition.

According to Yan Xuefei's thinking, if there really was a way out, these tomb-building craftsmen couldn't all have died here.

If there is no way back and the way we came cannot be taken, wouldn't we be doomed?

Chen Yibai ignored Yan Xuefei; to be precise, he simply didn't have time to pay attention to her.

Chen Yibai repeatedly sniffed the stench emanating from the air, constantly looking around as if searching for something.

Logically speaking, this Western Han Dynasty imperial tomb is already two thousand years old.

Two thousand years have passed; the bones would have almost weathered into dust and would dissolve instantly in water. How could they still have a putrid smell?

Finally, following the stench, Chen Yibai found the source of the stench in a crevice of a pile of rocks in the cave: three dark corpses!

These are three mummies that died but did not decompose. They died not too long ago, and their clothes have not completely rotted. They look like clothes from the late Qing Dynasty, about a hundred years ago.

On and around the three mummies, there were kerosene lamps, black folding tools, Luoyang shovels, and black donkey hooves, indicating that the three people were colleagues!

"Tomb raiders! Someone had already been here before this!"

Yan Xuefei was also looking at the three corpses in the pile of rocks, and she looked very surprised.

Immediately, Yan Xuefei seemed to suddenly remember something, and frowned in surprise, asking, "Where did they come from? Did they also come down from that tomb robber's tunnel?"

Chen Yibai shook his head firmly: "That's a new tomb raider's tunnel! They came in from somewhere else!"

Upon hearing Chen Yibai's words, Yan Xuefei instantly perked up. If that meant there must be other tunnels, then it was definitely not one that had burrowed underground.

Since there are other tunnels, theoretically, as long as we find out where these three fellow robbers came from, we can get out.

Before Yan Xuefei could ask any more questions, Chen Yibai said confidently, "These three senior colleagues came from this area! There's a hidden array here! It's set up internally to prevent anyone from leaving the tomb; in other words, you can only enter, not leave!"