320: Chapter 314: The Thieves’ Hole 320: Chapter 314: The Thieves’ Hole The entire Steamed Bun Mountain was only within such a small scope.
Despite the speed of Chen Hai’s Divine Soul, even if he couldn’t penetrate deep into the mountain body to truly enter the Great Tomb, simply searching the shallow regions was still no problem.
At this moment, he stood up.
From the joy on his face, it seemed he had made some discoveries.
“Immortal Master, are you awake?”
“Were you performing Immortal Techniques and engaging in soul departure just now?”
Taoist Wang, beaming with a wide smile and holding a fish spear, rushed over as soon as he saw Chen Hai stand up, and tentatively spoke.
He might have been a Fake Taoist, but after wandering from place to place for so many years, although he had never witnessed a Tao Cultivation practitioner engage in soul departure firsthand, he had still heard about it from others.
After explaining a few things to him, Chen Hai then immediately sat cross-legged, appearing completely unresponsive.
Such an action caused Taoist Wang to ponder briefly before he quickly associated it with soul departure.
“I guess you could say that, I was merely confirming my suspicions and looking for something…”
Being intentionally vague, Chen Hai casually responded.
As he spoke, he jumped back onto the awning boat from the shore.
After rummaging inside the boat cabin, he initially wanted to find a shovel, but there was no such thing inside.
After pondering, he picked up a fish spear from the boat, and then leaped back onto the shore.
“Taoist Wang, will you wait for me here, or come with me to the mountain?”
Glancing over at Steamed Bun Mountain in front of him, Chen Hai looked at Taoist Wang and asked.
“Immortal Master, wherever you go, I will definitely follow!” Taoist Wang eagerly nodded and promised.
With his courage, if he didn’t know there were monsters in the reservoir, staying here alone wouldn’t be a problem.
However, given the current situation, he naturally felt safer staying close to Chen Hai, and besides, he could even get a chance to bond more with Chen Hai.
“Fine, just be careful on your own!” Chen Hai nodded.
Taoist Wang’s thoughts were somewhat clear to him; since this guy wanted to follow him, Chen Hai thought about it and decided not to directly refuse.
With weeds and trees everywhere, Chen Hai had to rely on the fish spear to clear a path ahead as they walked on Steamed Bun Mountain.
“Immortal Master, where are we headed to?”
“Immortal Master, are there treasures on this mountain?”
…
Closely following behind Chen Hai, Taoist Wang occasionally asked a few questions.
Regrettably, the questions he raised were destined to remain unanswered, as the leading Chen Hai simply never responded.
After more than half an hour, in front of a small hill, Chen Hai stopped.
On this slightly northern side of the hill, Chen Hai picked up the fish spear and thrust it forcefully into a patch of ground covered with weeds.
Seeing that Chen Hai wasn’t paying much attention to him, Taoist Wang was sensible enough not to continue asking around.
At this moment, although he didn’t understand the purpose behind Chen Hai’s actions, he still immediately held his fish spear, ready to lend a hand.
“No need for your help, Taoist Wang, just stand by and watch!” With a wave of his hand, Chen Hai directly stopped him.
If Taoist Wang were a decade or two younger, Chen Hai would have asked for his help without a second thought.
But at his current age, having him come over to help wouldn’t be much use, and what’s worse, Chen Hai would also worry about him potentially hurting his back.
“Alright then, Immortal Master, you go ahead, I’ll just watch from here!”
A bit awkwardly, Taoist Wang held his fish spear, stepped back to where he was originally, chuckled nervously, and spoke.
The fish spears prepared on the boat by Wei Zhidong were of good material, very sturdy.
Stabbing the tip of the spear into the ground, Chen Hai exerted force to pry, and a large chunk of soil and rock was pried out.
It took nearly ten minutes to dig through the layer of soil mixed with dead branches, and soon, a dark hole was revealed.
“This is…
a grave robbing tunnel…” Being somewhat knowledgeable, Taoist Wang had been watching all along.
At the sight of the hole, he didn’t hesitate at all and blurted out in shock.
“Being able to say ‘grave hole’ straightaway, Taoist Wang, are you not going to tell me that during those years of wandering from place to place, you also moonlighted as a tomb robber?”
Stopping the action in his hands, Chen Hai looked at Taoist Wang meaningfully and chuckled as he spoke.
For those who knew nothing about tomb robbing, suddenly seeing the dark hole Chen Hai dug up, they would generally think it was a burrow for snakes, rats, or some other creatures.
Being able to promptly say ‘grave hole,’ Taoist Wang this guy, must have had some understanding of this stuff!
“Immortal Master, in the earlier years, I once knew a professional in this field!”
“This Great Tomb stuff is very eerie; I remember, the person I knew told me, in a millennia-old ancient tomb, he once saw a living woman!”
“That time, five of them entered the tomb, and only he came out alive!”
“Whether what he said was true or false, no one can be certain.”
“All I know is, after these guys said they found the location of a Great Tomb and went to some place in the northwest, they completely lost all contact.”
“Based on my guess, they probably all died, and luckily when they admired my capabilities and wanted to recruit me, I righteously refused!”
“Otherwise, my fate would have been the same as theirs!”
…
Taoist Wang forced a laugh as he explained.
Talking about others admiring his capabilities?
But this fellow, he doesn’t have any real skills…
As for his words, Chen Hai, at most, could only half believe them.
“Taoist Wang, since you have some understanding of tomb robbing stuff!”
“Then you tell me, if there really is a Great Tomb beneath this grave hole, what kind of mechanisms might be inside?”
Holding the fish spear in his hand, Chen Hai enlarged the hole while casually asking.
“From what I know through that group of people, I do know some things related to this.”
“However, this kind of knowledge is profound and extensive, and what I understand is only a tiny fraction.”
“From what I can tell, if there truly is a Great Tomb beneath this grave hole, its era should be quite ancient.”
“After the Tang and Song dynasties, those nobles used green bricks to construct Great Tombs.”
“The act of excavating mountains to create tomb pits was only favored by some emperors before the Han Dynasty!”
…
Tilting his head and pondering briefly, Taoist Wang began explaining to Chen Hai.
What he said could, at best, widen Chen Hai’s horizons.
As for being of substantial help?
That definitely can’t be said.
“Immortal Master, shall we go down inside?”
Seeing the grave hole in front of Chen Hai, which could now allow a person to bend over and enter, Taoist Wang, looking nervous, tentatively asked.
“This grave hole has been sealed for some years now!”
“Just now, it was opened, and the air inside is dreadfully stagnant, but after a bit of ventilation, we can directly enter below!”
Glancing at Taoist Wang in front of him, Chen Hai smiled lightly and added, “If we are going down, I will go alone.
You just keep watch outside.”
“Inside the Great Tomb is no place for the good-hearted, and that creature from the water should be hiding there.”
“Once inside, I won’t have the capacity to protect you.”
“If you don’t heed my advice and insist on entering, I won’t stop you.
But don’t blame me for not warning you if something happens!”
Harsh as these words were, it must be said, Chen Hai was speaking the truth.
“Alright!
I will just keep watch outside the grave hole!” Taoist Wang’s face turned red as he responded.
Perhaps, from the expert he had mentioned, he had long known about the dangerous and eerie nature of the Great Tomb; this time, he actually showed some self-awareness by not insisting on going down with Chen Hai.
Seeing his agreement, Chen Hai didn’t say much but just nodded.
After waiting for nearly half an hour,
When Chen Hai took out a lit dry branch and inserted it into the grave hole and its flames did not extinguish naturally,
He nodded to Taoist Wang, then, clutching his fish spear, tiptoed straight into the grave hole.