Chapter 361 - Phantom in the Ancient Tomb’s Secret Chamber
The secret trapdoor was concealed well, and there wasn't any indication in the surroundings. The reason why Su Tao managed to find it was due to Fengshui.
Nowadays, it was a trend for tycoons to hire a Fengshui master when they're buying real estate or shifting their ancestral tombs. But truthfully, those places with excellent Fengshui were all taken. Whether Fengshui or TCM, there's a considerable market to find a good location for burial.
But after the new era of China's government, Fengshui was determined as a superstitious relic. Hence, Fengshui was actually in a position more terrible than TCM, and it has severely withered away.
Su Tao had his respect for Fengshui, since it was a cultural treasure passed down through the ancestors, and it had its own unique characteristics. Fengshui was the deduction of heaven and earth. Although it couldn't see through luck and calamity with absolute certainty, it was occasionally effective, and he relied on it to find the location of this trapdoor.
Since people of olden times believe in Fengshui, there must be something at the spot where the Fengshui was the best.
In the end, it was just as Su Tao had guessed. The two victims must have suffered an attack from the spiders because they entered this tomb.
"I'll go down and take a look. You wait here for me!" Jiang Qinghan ordered.
"How can that do?" Su Tao knitted his brows. Jiang Qinghan really did not consider herself to be a woman. The eagerness to be first in her personality wasn't at an ordinary level.
"Don't worry about it. I have experience entering a tomb. Someone found skeletons three years ago in a village to the west. Back then, I was the first to enter and found that the entrance was linked to a Ming Dynasty Tomb by luck. The owner of that tomb was a tycoon of his generation." Jiang Qinghan tied her hair together and rolled up her sleeves with excitement.
However, Su Tao immediately stopped her and suggested, "I'll go down with you. There are spiders below, and I know how to deal with them. It's definitely impossible for you alone!"
Jiang Qinghan knitted her brows. She felt that Su Tao's words made sense and replied, "Alright, but I'll go down first. You follow me!"
With a smile, Su Tao replied, "I believe I can't go with 'ladies first' in this matter." When he finished, he opened the trapdoor and slowly entered.
Seeing that Su Tao has disappeared, Jiang Qinghan asked, "What's the situation below?"
After a long time later, a beam of light shot out. Su Tao turned on the flash in his phone while his voice resounded, "Don't come down yet. I'll look around to see if there's anything unusual in the surroundings."
Jiang Qinghan was concerned about Su Tao's safety since he was her disciple, and she had a responsibility to keep him safe. Hence, she did not heed Su Tao's words and entered.
The tunnel was artificially created, and it became narrower the further one goes. It was roughly about twenty meters from the surface, and after crawling for a moment, Su Tao's view expanded. Just as he had speculated, this was a tomb.
Tombs weren't as brightly lit as shown in movies. The height of the tomb was roughly 5'2", and Jiang Qinghan's height was 5'6". Hence, she had to lower her head in order to walk normally.
"Su Tao, where are you?" Jiang Qinghan hollered after walking for a brief distance. Although she was bold, she still couldn't help feeling a little nervous due to the darkness in this environment.
Humans were always afraid of the unknown.
"I'm here!" A light flickered up ahead. Su Tao never expected Jiang Qinghan to follow up so swiftly. Hence, he could only pause his steps.
When Jiang Qinghan saw Su Tao, the latter took out some powder. As he sprinkled it on Jiang Qinghan, he explained, "This can expel bugs!"
Immediately, Jiang Qinghan calmed down. She knew that Su Tao was worried that she might be attacked by the spiders, so he intended to get a clear grasp of the situation below before letting her come down. Amidst the darkness, Jiang Qinghan looked at Su Tao's silhouette and realised that the sense of security that men possessed didn't come with their age. Su Tao was young, but he gave her a sense of security. It was a feeling that she hasn't felt for a long time.
"If it goes as I speculated, this should be a tomb of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was a time with wars and natural disasters. As a weak dynasty, the scale of their tombs wasn't as luxurious as the rest. However, the occupant of this tomb must have an extraordinary status to choose a location with such excellent Fengshui." Su Tao wasn't trying to show off his knowledge, but was trying to alleviate the atmosphere.
"You know quite a lot!" Jiang Qinghan followed Su Tao as her expression loosened up.
Despite being a weak dynasty, people in the Song Dynasty placed great importance on the location of tombs. They were meticulous when it came to renovating the tombs, just like how they renovated houses. The structure of the tomb was akin to houses with windows, doors, beams, tiles with flowery patterns, word engravings, and elegant portraits decorating the wall.
"The master room is up ahead!" Su Tao carefully warned. They did not see any traces left by people. So that means the two decreased did not have the time to excavate.
Quickening her steps, Jiang Qinghan walked before Su Tao. She wasn't willing to be behind anyone with her character.
But all of a sudden, Su Tao's eyelid started to twitch with a strong ill omen.
Although he would often encounter danger after returning to Hanzhou City, it never felt so uncomfortable as today. This was also the reason why Su Tao wanted to follow Jiang Qinghan to the Dongyi Village.
At this moment, the danger has finally appeared!
"Watch out!" Su Tao quickened his steps and pounced forth, knocking against Jiang Qinghan, which made them both fall to the ground.
A black silhouette charged out from the right and an exclamation resounded. He hid for a long time, and he was surprised that he failed to hit Jiang Qinghan.
Jiang Qinghan was also startled. After all, there was someone hiding within the darkness of the tomb. The first reaction she felt was to wonder if it's a human or ghost?
Soon, she realised that it was a person. Su Tao had already fought with that silhouette, and perhaps the other party was hit by Su Tao since painful groans were heard.
There's someone in the tomb?
If Su Tao hadn't warned her in time, she would've been injured.
Thinking about it now, it was the second time that Su Tao saved her.
Jiang Qinghan felt her heart tense up and she felt bashful. Earlier, when Su Tao pounced from the back, his hands came through her underarm and touched her sensitive location.
But she has been a criminal police officer for such a long time, and she had long forgotten that she was a woman.
"Where's that person?" Jiang Qinghan asked.
"You don't move, I saw him already!" Su Tao got up and charged to the right.
Inwardly letting out a sigh, Jiang Qinghan knew that Su Tao wasn't doing it on purpose earlier. Hence, she was trying her best to calm herself as she paid attention to the commotion not too far away. She was waiting for the best opportunity to help Su Tao.
Due to the narrow tomb, Su Tao was hindered due to his height. On the other hand, that black silhouette was short and was more nimble than Su Tao. Hence, it took Su Tao five to six minutes before he managed to knock that person out.
"There's a high chance that he's an accomplice of the two decreased!" Su Tao gasp for breath as he analysed, "Or he might be the employer of the two deceased for this tomb."
When Jiang Qinghan walked to the black silhouette, she briefly searched around with the flash on her phone before taking in a cold breath. She found a pitch-black pistol and it was loaded. If their reaction was a tad slower and took a bullet, the consequences would have been dire, despite their martial arts. After all, they were in such a narrow environment.
"This person is dangerous!" As Jiang Qinghan cuffed the black silhouette, she asked in a grave tone, "Are you injured?"
"A small one, I was just bitten on my wrist." The enemy was really ruthless. After he was restrained by Su Tao through the fight, he actually bit Su Tao's wrist.
"Let me take a look!" Jiang Qinghan ordered as her heart tensed up.
When Su Tao gave her his wrist, teeth marks could be seen despite the dim light and a piece of flesh was nearly bitten off!
"Why don't you go up first?" Jiang Qinghan stroked the wound with her finger and suggested worriedly before giving two stomps on that black silhouette on the ground.
"How could I do that?" Su Tao felt baffled. He found Jiang Qinghan interesting. She was like spring's breeze with her family, and a raging fire with her enemy. Having his wound touched by Jiang Qinghan, it felt extremely numbing and itchy. He immediately pulled it back and continued, "I'm afraid that there might be other accidents!"
"Alright then, but don't charge forth if there's any other danger." Jiang Qinghan solemnly instructed.
Although Su Tao agreed through his lips, he would definitely charge forth if there was really an issue.
Even if Jiang Qinghan was powerful and his master, he was a man. It was a matter of course for men to protect women, and he definitely couldn't lose in momentum.
When Jiang Qinghan took out her phone and wanted to call Zhang Zhen over, she realised that there was no signal since the earth has blocked out the signal.
"Let's leave him here for now. We can bring him back with us when we leave!" Su Tao poured some powder on the black silhouette to prevent him from being attacked by spiders. Since he's here, then he must have an impure motive. However, that was still a life.
After inwardly making a comment on Su Tao for having meticulous considerations, Jiang Qinghan continued forth. This time, she was more cautious to guard against any potential accomplices of that black silhouette.
"This is the master room!" Su Tao's glance fell on the center of the tomb, where a coffin laid in the middle.
"A dragon?! This can't possibly be an Emperor's tomb, right?" Jiang Qinghan shone the light on the surrounding walls and saw a golden dragon.
"All the named Emperors in history already had their tombs excavated." Su Tao walked to the coffin and examined it. After a layer of dust fell off, the words were revealed. When he took a clear look at it, he couldn't help inwardly sigh, "He's Emperor Huizong's eleventh son, Zhao Mo. He was conferred as King Qi and was captured by the Jins during the Rebellion of Jingkang before anything about him was lost. It looks like he's buried here, and judging from the surrounding walls, it seems like this Zhao Mo was dreaming of becoming an Emperor even when he's facing death!"
Since the tomb wasn't big, it spoke of the ordinary economic situation of the deceased. The black silhouette from before and the two young deceased should be the first batch of intruders in this Song Dynasty tomb. Even after a thousand years, this tomb was still well-preserved, and it was also Zhao Mo's luck.
But it was a pity that Zhao Mo's secret dream of becoming an Emperor would be revealed with their appearance.
Su Tao's gaze was on a porcelain bottle located in the corner of the room, which was covered in dust. Although Zhao Mo was an aristocrat held in captivity, that porcelain bottle must have been an exquisite product and an expensive one. Just when he was hesitating on whether he should take it with him, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned his head over, he was startled and felt that his heart nearly jumped out.
Without him knowing, Jiang Qinghan had removed her clothes. She was only left with her underwear as she stood before Su Tao.
This figure was extremely gorgeous and he could feel his heart leaping!