Chapter 154: Unexpected Discovery

The space inside the grave-robber’s tunnel was cramped and pitch-black. Fortunately, there was no need to navigate; one simply had to keep crawling forward.

Naturally, Lin Jian sent out his Thought to probe ahead. However, Shen Ke seemed to have entered a long time ago, as there was no trace of her within his Thought’s range. The tunnel was likely over two hundred meters long. Lin Jian crawled all the way to the southeast tomb chamber in one breath.

This chamber had not collapsed and was surprisingly dry. There was no coffin inside, but there were human remains. The skeleton was propped up against the base of the wall, suggesting the person had died in a seated position. There were no visible signs of injury. Naturally, his clothes, shoes, and other belongings had long since rotted away to nothing.

Lin Jian continued to probe downward with his Thought, but there was still no sign of Shen Ke. The secret passage beneath the chamber ran incredibly deep, leading to an unknown destination. Just then, a beam of light shone from inside the tunnel. Lin Jian checked with his Thought and found that Wang Suo had followed him after all. However, he was alone; Xiaochen was not with him.

Lin Jian paused for a moment and waited in place. A short while later, Wang Suo crawled out, holding a flashlight.

"Mr. Lin, for your own safety, please go back immediately. I’ll go look for Captain Shen. Don’t worry, I promise to bring her back to you," Wang Suo said, sweeping his flashlight around the area.

Lin Jian shook his head. "Wang Suo, if you trust me, you should be the one to head back. Once you’re out, arrange for people to search for another exit in the surrounding area. Look further out—maybe a few hundred meters, or even a kilometer away.

"I suspect Old Cat definitely has a second exit prepared, and it’s bound to be far from here."

"Then you..."

Wang Suo wanted to say more, but Lin Jian waved a hand dismissively. "I’m highly skilled. Since I caught Old Cat once, I can catch him a second time."

Letting out a heavy breath, Wang Suo shoved the flashlight into Lin Jian’s hands. After a moment of thought, he suddenly pulled out his gun and tried to force it into Lin Jian’s hands as well.

It was an ironclad rule that an officer’s sidearm was more important than their own life. They could lose their lives, but they could never lose their guns. Handing a service weapon to a civilian was a massive taboo. If things went wrong, it wouldn’t just result in getting fired—it could lead to a prison sentence. Yet in that moment, Wang Suo unholstered his gun and offered it to Lin Jian anyway. "Just return it to me when you get out of the tomb. Don’t lose it, keep it safe!" It was the only thing he could do to help.

However, Lin Jian smiled and pushed the gun back. "I don’t need this thing. It’s not as fast as my knife!" He pulled out the Bone-Carving Knife he had confiscated earlier.

"How can a knife be as effective as a gun? Just take it, it’s fine." Wang Suo insisted that Lin Jian take the firearm.

"No need. There are only three people inside, so it won’t be a big problem. I’m going ahead. Hurry up and organize the search for the other exit!"

"Alright, I’ll go set it up. You... be careful!"

By then, Lin Jian was already sprinting rapidly down the stairs. The staircase descended for about a hundred meters, growing increasingly damp the deeper he went. Once he reached the bottom, Lin Jian could smell a strong, musty odor of mildew. More importantly, he finally spotted Shen Ke—and she was injured!

She was inside a long corridor that ended at a stone door, leaning against the wall as she crudely treated her wound.

WHOOSH.

Lin Jian rushed over like a gust of wind.

Hearing the noise, Shen Ke instinctively raised her gun.

"Shen Ke, it’s me!" Lin Jian hastily shone the flashlight on his own face.

"Lin Jian, why did you come down here?"

Seeing him, Shen Ke was both shocked and delighted. She was shocked because Lin Jian wasn’t part of the task force, yet he had actually descended into the tomb. She was delighted because it proved he cared about her and worried for her safety. Furthermore, seeing him somehow calmed her fearful, anxious heart.

Lin Jian stepped up beside Shen Ke and looked at her upper arm. It was a bloody mess. It was a gunshot wound—a bullet had pierced cleanly through her flesh. Fortunately, the girl had good Luck. The bullet hadn’t hit any bones, merely punching a bloody hole through her arm.

"It’s fine, it didn’t hit the bone," Lin Jian said as he stripped off his shirt, tearing it into strips of cloth to bandage her wound. "But you have to go back up now, or you’ll lose too much blood!"

"Lose what blood? It’s just a small hole, and it didn’t even hit the bone." Shen Ke shook her head. "Old Cat and his two accomplices went inside. I managed to shoot one of them. Their injury should be worse than mine—I hit him right in the back."

Lin Jian narrowed his eyes, casting a glance at the stone door at the end of the corridor. Upon looking, his eyebrows suddenly shot up! At the same time, the Dao Tree deep within his mind began rustling wildly.

Because behind the stone door, he actually saw Spirit Jade... No, it was some kind of Spiritual stone. There were seven of them in total, inlaid into the ground in a seven-star pattern.

"Nourishment! Nourishment for the Dao Tree!"

Lin Jian’s breathing grew ragged. He never expected such an unexpected harvest!

Naturally, Old Cat was inside as well, along with another woman. As for the scrawny guy who had taken a bullet to the back, he was already dead.

Furthermore, inside the chamber behind the stone door, a mummified corpse was sitting cross-legged right over the Seven-Star Spirit Stones. The corpse was pitch-black, holding what appeared to be a Duster that had lost all its bristles. A Treasure Sword rested right beside it. At the back of the stone chamber, there was a Jade Bed with a Jade Pillow resting on it. There was also a table displaying a Golden Bowl, White Jade Cups, and White Jade Chopsticks. There was even an entire chest brimming with gold lumps, silver ingots, and various gemstones—it was completely packed!

At that moment, Old Cat was slumped over the overflowing chest of jewels, trembling all over with excitement. The woman, on the other hand, had put on a pair of white gloves and was inspecting the seated mummy. She turned a blind eye to the treasure.

"Shen Ke, let’s go in too." Lin Jian was also thrilled. Not only were there seven Spiritual Stones, but that chest of jewels was simply too delightful! The two of them approached the stone door.

However, upon reaching it, they were shocked to discover that the mechanism to open the stone door had been smashed to pieces. As a result, it could only be opened from the inside; it was impossible to open from the outside!

"What do we do?" Shen Ke was anxious as well, worried that Old Cat might escape through another hidden passage inside.

Meanwhile, Lin Jian had already noticed that there was indeed another door at the very back of the stone chamber. Not far behind that door lay an underground river. Following that underground river would probably allow them to float right up to the surface!

Lin Jian’s expression turned incredibly grim. The worst part was that Old Cat had already started stuffing jewels into his bag like a madman, while the woman pulled a Golden Volume from the mummy’s embrace. It was a fan-shaped booklet bound together by golden leaves. One look was enough to tell it was extraordinary.

"Shen Ke, step back. I’ll try kicking it!" Taking a deep breath, Lin Jian backed up a few steps, then suddenly raised his foot and delivered a heavy kick to the door! However, aside from shaking off a bit of dust, the stone door didn’t budge an inch.

The impact from the outside caused Old Cat to frantically increase his looting Speed. His travel bag was almost completely full! More than half of the chest’s jewels were already gone. Lin Jian’s heart bled at the sight. He absolutely couldn’t let Old Cat take away those jewels!

What was more, the woman inside seemed to have discovered something important, causing her to give the mummy a push! With that single push, the entire stone chamber suddenly began to shake violently. The earth trembled, and rubble and thick clouds of dust rained down from above Lin Jian’s head. The stone walls of the corridor began cracking rapidly!

"It’s going to collapse!" Lin Jian’s face turned green.

Inside the chamber, Old Cat hoisted his travel bag onto his shoulder and sprinted toward the back, while the woman started prying up the Seven-Star Spirit Stones from the ground. Without a second thought, Lin Jian rapidly focused his Thought. Instantly, the Treasure Sword resting beside the mummy drew itself from its sheath.

CLANG!

The Treasure Sword flew up into the air on its own.

The woman, who had been busy digging up the Seven-Star Spirit Stones, was utterly dumbfounded.