"It seems so..." Tianmiao said softly, with a hint of regret in his tone.
Professor Wu sighed regretfully, "It’s really unfortunate to encounter such a catastrophe. However, no one can control natural disasters."
A catastrophe?
Tianmiao looked at the distant spire and said nothing.
"Alright, alright, we still have important things to do today. Our supplies are limited, so let’s hurry and walk around the Imperial City to see what’s left. Let’s head to that spire first." Professor Wu looked at everyone’s remorseful expressions and made a decision.
Everyone quickly packed up and set off again.
Que Qiu hoisted the bag on his back and walked ahead.
After crossing this massive platform, the main road extended backward. It took everyone nearly an hour to traverse the entire Imperial City from south to north. Unlike what they had seen before, after passing through the city gate ruins, the towering ’pyramid’ stood amidst a pile of rubble. Upon closer inspection, they found that this ancient building had been severely eroded by wind and sand, with seemingly only the fragile shell remaining, ready to collapse into dust at a touch.
What’s even more surprising was that among the pile of rubble in front of the tower, an incomplete stone path was exposed on the desert. Professor Wu ran forward excitedly to have a closer look and loudly said, "These are not random stones, but stone warrior carvings from the Irel burial rites. How did they end up like this?"
"Is the tomb passage exposed due to the sandstorm?" Cheng Luo interjected.
Professor Wu took out his glasses from his pocket, put them on, observed carefully, and said with excitement tinged with sadness, "It seems this tomb cannot hold much longer. We must inspect it to see if it meets the conditions for a salvage excavation, and also check if it has been looted."
"Professor, are you suggesting we go into the tomb from here?" the assistant asked.
"Yes, yes. First, we haven’t found anything significant yet, and second, I’m very concerned about the current state of the tomb. We’re just going in to take a look, not to damage anything inside. We’re professionals, so I don’t think there will be a problem," Professor Wu turned to everyone and said.
No one objected, as everyone’s curiosity seemed to have been piqued by a dream, and they all wanted to personally unveil the mysteries of the Irel Ancient Country.
Typically reserved, Que Qiu did not oppose the suggestion but instead said, "If we’re going, let’s hurry. We must be out before dark. I have no idea what might happen if we stay inside overnight."
Then he turned and entered the tomb entrance first.
No one wasted words, and they followed Que Qiu inside.
The long-cherished lighting equipment was finally put to use, and the strong flashlight illuminated the tomb passage.
Apart from some accumulated yellow sand, there were still no other items visible inside. The stone path was incredibly long, taking around twenty minutes to reach a door.
This stone door was slightly ajar, not completely closed, and behind the revealed gap seemed to be many rooms.
Everyone felt a sinking heart. Could it have been visited by tomb raiders?
Professor Wu’s face was very grim. He probed several times with his flashlight through the gap and then said, "Though the situation is quite bad, I think we need to go in and examine the extent of the tomb’s damage."
Everyone nodded, and Professor Wu arranged for several assistants to use soft cloth to adhere to the doorframe, attempting to push the door open, but three grown men couldn’t move the stone door.
"Let me do it." Que Qiu stepped up, took out a red string from his backpack with a gold coin tied at the end, etched with unintelligible patterns. He tossed the coin into the door gap, pulled the red line, and to everyone’s surprise, the coin stood upright, wedging the bottom of the stone door. Que Qiu tightened his arm, effortlessly pulling the stone door open.
"You... your skills, such a technique, are you really just a guide?" Professor Wu looked at Que Qiu in astonishment, recognizing that this was definitely the legendary technique, One Line Tie, passed down by the foremost family in the tomb raiding profession!
And that wasn’t an ordinary gold coin, but a Door-knocking Talisman, capable of bearing the weight of ten thousand pounds. When inserted, it formed a contract with the Door God, regardless of how difficult the tomb door was to open or how dangerous the mechanisms were, it would all be easily controlled by One Line Tie.
Remarkable, this person must be someone extraordinary!
Zhou Qiang watched Que Qiu’s actions, his gaze darkening. He slightly turned his head, meeting Tianmiao’s eyes.
"Who are you really?" Zhou Qiang asked in a low voice that only he and Tianmiao could hear.
"Guess," Tianmiao mischievously smiled and uttered these two words.