I showed the others a pinch of that sulfur, saying, "It seems someone tried to blow this place up but failed?"

Number 12 frowned, saying, "It could also be the explosives used when blasting open the passage. Because the entrance collapsed, the unburnt explosives leaked out and scattered in the tunnel."

"No!" Number 2 interjected then. "How much explosive do you think it takes to blast a hole? This ground is covered in this powder, which means the amount of explosive used back then was massive. So I lean toward Ten's theory."

"Then who exactly wanted to collapse this passage, and for what reason?" I asked.

Number 2 narrowed his eyes and said, "Does that matter? Perhaps they discovered the danger in this ancient tomb and wanted to blow it up so others wouldn't come in and get hurt."

I nodded and said, "That must be it. Regardless, there must be a huge danger hidden within this tomb."

Saying that, we continued forward, though with a newfound layer of caution.

The passage wasn't exactly narrow, about two meters wide, and the steps weren't too steep, descending at a forty-five-degree angle.

The strange thing about this passage was the complete lack of places for lamps; there were only small holes appearing at intervals along the walls, and I couldn't guess what sort of lighting instruments were once placed there.

Seasoned tomb raiders can tell the age of a tomb, or even the general status of the tomb's owner, just by looking at the bricks in the walls.

Generally, for a tomb built this large, the wall bricks would have significance, but these bricks appeared plain and unadorned, their surface extremely rough. I couldn't tell if it was due to weathering or if they were never carved in the first place.

When I used to descend into tombs with Da Xiong and the others, since we were all insiders, we could discuss why the tomb bricks looked that way. But now, we were all amateurs, and I had no one to talk to; I was completely baffled.

We walked down in silence, quickening our pace to keep up with Da Zhu's strides, and soon reached a corner in the passage.

Starting from this corner, which angled about thirty degrees, the corridor ahead began to level out, though it still ran straight ahead.

Although our visibility wasn't particularly good, we could make out a tomb door at the end of this straight passage ahead of us.

Just as I was about to examine the door for anything unusual, Number 12 spoke up, "Look, this straight passage is different from the one where we were descending. The color of the wall bricks seems to have changed."

My thoughts were interrupted by his remark, and I quickly looked at the adjacent wall bricks. Sure enough, I discovered that the bricks here were all gray.

Furthermore, patterns had appeared on the bricks, seemingly depicting a type of bird.

Since we never intended to go underground, none of our bags contained lighting equipment.

So I said to Number 2, "Can you bring the light source closer? I want to see what's drawn on these wall bricks."

Number 2 naturally had no objection and moved the spark of his Hellfire closer to illuminate them for me.

At that moment, I clearly saw a simplified bird totem drawn on the wall. It seemed to be hovering in mist, indistinct, with a sun and a moon flanking it on either side. It looked ancient and mysterious.

This style of simple line totem was quite popular during the Xia, Shang, Zhou dynasties, and the pre-Qin period. Of course, later dynasties imitated this style but never captured its essence. The totem on these earthy gray bricks now showed a vigorous, ancient brushstroke, suggesting it was genuine.

This meant that the age of this ancient tomb was likely extremely distant.

In reality, tombs from the Xia, Shang, Zhou, or the Spring and Autumn/Warring States periods are exceedingly rare. Yet, this isn't the first one I've encountered, and this time we stumbled into it randomly. I couldn't say if I was lucky or unlucky.

As for my mood at this moment, learning the age of this tomb did not bring the slightest sense of relief; instead, a sense of foreboding began to grow in my heart.

Because, based on my experience, the most dangerous thing in tombs from the Tang, Song, Yuan, and later dynasties is usually just encountering a Zongzi (a type of animated corpse). But tombs from the Qin Dynasty and earlier truly contain everything. Naturally, there's the treasure, and you might even encounter ancient artifacts that only exist in legends.

However, conversely, these older tombs might harbor things that defy common sense: extraordinarily ferocious monsters, unbelievable mechanisms, perhaps even lingering ancient sorcery and hidden weapons—truly bizarre and impossible to guard against.

Thinking of this, I told the other two, "The passage we just came through might be a tunnel dug by grave robbers. For some reason, that tunnel was reinforced, making it look like a genuine corridor because those people frequented the tomb. But this section with the gray bricks is the tomb's true entrance. There's a high probability of traps here, everyone be careful."

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard two chirps from Number 2's embrace, and the monkey Ah Gui poked its head out.

I pointed at Ah Gui and said to Number 2, "No wonder we haven't seen this monkey along the way; it was hiding in your clothes sleeping."

Number 2 nodded and said, "Amitabha. It was inconvenient to let him out during all those previous dangerous situations, but now is the time we need this fellow."

With that, he patted his collar and said, "Come out, go check if there are any mechanisms in this passage for me."

My face broke out in a sweat. "No way! If there are traps, won't this monkey be done for? Even if he's a bit greedy, you can't treat him like that, can you?"

Number 2 looked helpless. "This guy is far more capable than any of us, and those mechanisms are nothing more than flying arrows, etc. Ah Gui is small and can easily dodge anything—collapsing floors, falling ceilings, or flying arrows. Don't worry."

Although what he said made sense, I still looked at the dazed Ah Gui on the ground with concern and asked, "Are you really okay?"

To my surprise, Ah Gui bared its teeth at me, looking extremely angry, as if to say, "Don't look down on me!"

I sighed helplessly and just chuckled.

Ah Gui didn't hesitate for a second. It scratched its cheek with its paw and charged straight toward the tomb door ahead.

While nervously watching Ah Gui's movements, I said to Number 2, "It should be fine. Da Zhu and the others passed through here just fine earlier, which suggests the traps might already be broken."

Unexpectedly, that jinx Number 12 chimed in, "How do you know? What if they already fell into a pit and died?"

I spat out a sound of disapproval. "What are you saying? They, father and son, are pitiful enough already; must you say that too?"

Number 12 pursed his lips and fell silent.

I knew that Da Zhu's attitude toward us hadn't been very good previously, and his appearance wasn't exactly likable either, so Number 12 probably didn't have any positive feelings toward them.

As we were talking, Ah Gui had already run unimpeded to the tomb door along the straight passage ahead.

Seeing no traps, I said, "There’s probably no danger. Let's hurry."

Number 2 shook his head and said, "Wait a moment. Perhaps it’s only because Ah Gui's weight is so light that he didn't trigger any mechanisms."

Number 12 said, "That's easy then; I'll go. Even if there is danger, I can switch places."

Number 2 considered it and said, "Alright. If there really is danger, then switch places with me."

Number 12 paused, clearly wanting to object, but seeing Number 2's resolute expression, he gave a thumbs-up and said, "Okay!"

At this point, I winked at Number 12. He seemed to notice me and gave me a thumbs-up in return.

I knew that even if Number 2 had only one life left, he was still extremely competitive and wanted to take the lead in everything.

But if he truly perished here, we would lose hope of confronting the Toad King. If the Toad King were to engage in a black duel, the villagers for ten miles around would be wiped out. Therefore, we absolutely had to protect Number 2 now.

Number 12 walked step by step toward Ah Gui's location, carefully treading on the stone bricks on the ground.

Whenever a brick shifted slightly or made an odd sound, he would immediately pull his neck in and halt his movement, showing extreme caution.

However, it seemed that, just like Ah Gui, he encountered no danger along this path.

During the interval when he was investigating, I noticed there were actually small holes in the wall, but they didn't seem to be openings for firing arrows; they looked more like the decorations we saw earlier, their purpose unknown.

In the blink of an eye, Number 12 was nearly upon Ah Gui.

But at that moment, for some reason, Ah Gui suddenly began to shriek and jump around wildly, flailing its limbs.

Both Number 2 and I were startled, unsure what affliction had struck the monkey.

This situation lasted for about three or four seconds before Number 2 said tensely, "Damn monkey, are you going crazy!"

Ah Gui paid no mind and continued to shriek while flapping its arms and kicking its legs.

Number 12, standing not far from it, saw this scene, froze, not daring to move an inch, his face full of bewilderment.

Just then, the Hellfire Number 2 was using for light suddenly hissed, as if it had burned something floating in the air.

We both looked toward the light source and saw tiny particles swirling around the Hellfire, occasionally one or two colliding with the sparks and making a faint sizz sound.

"Did that sulfur and saltpeter float up? Is there a draft in here?" I asked in confusion.

Number 2’s brow furrowed almost into a knot. He said to me, "No, Hellfire only burns when it touches living things. These aren't ordinary powders—be careful!"

As he was speaking, Number 12 suddenly exclaimed from up ahead, "Hey? I know why Ah Gui is flailing around!"

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