Chapter 25: A Sudden Surge

Ma Xu, unwilling to give up, shot us a resentful glance and muttered, “We can’t just leave empty-handed.”

His words instantly tugged at the worries in both mine and the man in the black jacket’s hearts. Of course, none of us wanted to leave with nothing, but this tomb was fraught with danger; surviving and making it out alive was already a stroke of luck, let alone hoping for any treasure.

I glanced at the man in the black jacket, then stepped up onto the stone steps, coming before the stone coffin.

“Ancestor, we juniors may have offended you—please don’t hold it against us. Grant us a way out, Ancestor, and let us leave this place in peace.” I bowed respectfully, thinking that surely the ancestor would not wish for his descendants to all perish here. If that were the case, there had to be a way out hidden within this tomb.

Seeing the sincerity of my gesture, Ma Xu couldn’t help but laugh. “So you do have your timid moments, little brother?”

“You don’t understand—this isn’t fear, it’s humility,” I retorted, giving Ma Xu a look. He didn’t seem offended, just kept grinning foolishly.

After all the chaos, we were all exhausted, each of us slumped on the stone steps like plucked chickens, listless and drained. Since it was temporarily safe, we decided it was best to rest here for a while.

Ma Xu leaned against a stone pillar beside the steps, eyes half closed, drifting off to sleep.

“Little brother, do you really think the Ancestor would leave us a way out?” Ma Xu asked, half skeptical, casting a disdainful glance at the stone coffin, clearly not convinced by my earlier words.

I sighed, my expression growing more serious. In truth, I wasn’t sure either—it was just a hunch.

“Let’s hope so. Honestly, it’s just my guess,” I said, gazing at the stone coffin. It sat there unmoving, calm as if the dangers just moments ago had never existed. If not for the pain of my wounds, I might have thought those threats were no more than a hallucination.

The air was utterly still. I closed my eyes, planning to doze for a short while.

Half-dreaming, I was suddenly roused by a murmur. I snapped my eyes open to see Ma Xu circling the stone pillar, searching for something.

I slowly got to my feet and walked over. Only when I stood beside him did Ma Xu notice me.

“Oh, you’re awake?” he whispered.

“Hush—don’t wake Black Jacket and Zhao Zhiqiang. They’re exhausted,” I whispered back. Ma Xu nodded and silently pointed at the pillar.

I paused, then asked softly, “What’s wrong with this pillar?”

“There’s a sound coming from inside,” he muttered, pressing his ear to the stone. Watching his odd behavior, I glanced at the pillar—utterly ordinary, nothing unusual about it. Yet, unconsciously, I pressed my ear to the stone as well, curious if there really was a sound.

My ear pressed tight against the pillar, and sure enough, I caught a faint sound: the gentle rush of water.

A continuous, rhythmic gurgling—there was no mistaking it, the sound was coming from within the stone, as if a stream was running right along the inside of the pillar, so close it was almost at my fingertips.

“Well? I wasn’t lying, was I?” Ma Xu grinned at me, but my expression was grave—there was something strange about this.

I furrowed my brow. Why was there the sound of running water inside a stone pillar?

“Isn’t it odd, little brother? Water inside a pillar!” Ma Xu stared in amazement.

I too kept my gaze fixed on the pillar, growing ever more convinced that this was no mere ornament—there was something more to it.

“I think… this might be the way out left by the Ancestor!” The idea struck me, a spark of hope lighting up my mind.

My suggestion left Ma Xu baffled. He looked at me as if I were making a mountain out of a molehill, and huffed, “Come on, little brother, it’s just a pillar.”

“In a tomb like this, you can’t ignore the slightest detail. The smaller the thing, the more attention it deserves. Look around—death hangs over everything, yet inside this pillar, water flows. Isn’t that a sign of life?” I pointed out.

“You might have a point…” Ma Xu nodded, half-understanding. But then he frowned—if the sign of life was hidden in this solid, unyielding pillar, how could it be of any use?

“But, little brother, this pillar…” Ma Xu fretted, circling it anxiously.

I saw his predicament and fell into thought. The water must simply be passing through the pillar; in that case, if we could just trace the direction of its flow, we might find a way out.

An idea struck me. I lay down on the ground and pressed my ear to the floor, listening intently.

Ma Xu, seeing this, burst out laughing. “What are you doing, little brother? Even kneeling to the Ancestor won’t help us—if he truly wanted to save us, he wouldn’t have set so many traps.”

“Hush, listen!” I silenced him. Ma Xu obediently closed his mouth and joined me on the ground. Sure enough, he too heard the sound of running water.

I managed a rare smile at Ma Xu. “Hear it?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “I hear it, I hear it!”

We grinned at each other, and I slowly followed the sound of water toward the entrance of the underground chamber. But just then, the sound vanished—as if the water had suddenly dived underground, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing my face darken, Ma Xu sensed something was wrong and hurried over. “What’s the matter, little brother?”

“The water’s gone.” I stood up, grave.

“What do we do?” Ma Xu looked worried. I shot him a glance, signaling for him to wake Black Jacket and Zhao Zhiqiang. But as Ma Xu moved over, he saw that both were already awake.

“You’re awake? Why didn’t you say something?” Ma Xu scratched his head, embarrassed, a note of reproach in his voice.

“In a place like this, sleep too soundly and you’ll never know what killed you,” Black Jacket replied grimly. Only when he reached my side did his expression soften a little.

“Little brother, have you discovered something?” he asked respectfully.

My eyes were fixed on the ground, my voice tense. “There must be a way out, left by the Ancestor. But it disappears here—I suspect there’s some hidden mechanism beneath this chamber.”

“A trap? Ma Xu, don’t just stand there—go look for it!” Black Jacket ordered sternly. Ma Xu didn’t dare delay and grabbed his tools to search for a mechanism.

He stopped beside me, looking uncharacteristically serious. “The water vanishes right here—the mechanism must be nearby. Move aside, little brother, I’m going to start digging.”

With that, he raised his Luoyang shovel, ready to pry up the stone floor.

I grabbed his arm, uneasy. “Are you sure about this? This isn’t a place for reckless force. You might trigger a trap.”

“Don’t worry, little brother. I’ve dealt with plenty of traps like this.” Ma Xu’s confidence left me with no choice but to let him proceed. I watched as he drove the shovel into the floor—at once, the rushing sound of water grew louder, approaching rapidly!

I realized instantly that Ma Xu must have activated a mechanism, and now the trap was turning on us.

“Quick! Get out of the way—this is dangerous!” I shouted. The others immediately scrambled to move, but it was too late. The stone floor began to break apart at an alarming speed, as if some massive force was pushing up from beneath, intent on reaching us.

Seeing this, the four of us bolted for the exit, but the chamber was sealed tight. After only a few steps, we were blocked by the stone walls and door, forced to press our backs against the wall and watch helplessly as a towering wave—ten meters high—rose inside the chamber.

“Ma Xu, didn’t you say you knew what you were doing?” Zhao Zhiqiang managed to shout, but Ma Xu was already too terrified to utter a word.