Half an hour later, all preparations were complete.
Ling Chen stood at the entrance of the ancient tomb with Tang Yuan and Nanrong Wanqing, looking at the tomb door that weighed over a thousand pounds, secretly clicking his tongue. No wonder Hao Dongnan and his team couldn’t move it; without professional machinery, how could manpower alone accomplish this?
"Sanlang, who’s buried in this ancient tomb?"
Ling Chen shook his head and said, "How would I know? I haven’t studied it. According to Professor Hao, the person buried here is either rich or noble, possibly a ruler of a dynasty, maybe even a national sovereign."
"A national sovereign?" Tang Yuan exclaid in surprise, "Really? If that’s true, it would be big news."
"I’ve never been inside, how would I know if it’s true or not. Enough! Stop asking useless questions and have soone move that tomb door. Miss Su has been trapped inside for two days and nights already. If we don’t rescue her soon, I’m afraid she can’t hold on much longer."
Tang Yuan nodded and instructed that the large crane be prepared. Several soldiers took slings and tied them around the tomb door. With Tang Yuan’s command, the crane’s arm slowly lifted, raising the door that weighed over a thousand pounds.
Once the entire door was lifted, a two-ter wide, three-ter high passage appeared behind it. It was pitch black inside, giving off an eerie and terrifying feeling.
At this point, Hao Dongnan, who had been prepared for a while, entered the passage with several professors, carrying professional equipnt. They were going to inspect the tomb to ensure there were no chanisms inside the passage.
Many ancient tombs, especially large ones, are equipped with traps and chanisms to prevent intruders from entering and disturbing the tomb owner’s remains.
At 8:30 in the morning, Ling Chen and others patiently waited outside the tomb. However, as ti ticked away, almost an hour had passed, and there was still no sign of Hao Dongnan and his team coming out of the passage.
"Strange." Nanrong Wanqing frowned slightly and said, "Isn’t it taking too long?"
Tang Yuan walked to the communication station, picked up the radio, and called out, "Professor Hao, please respond if you receive this."
Soon, Hao Dongnan’s voice ca through the radio, "Chief Tang, can you hear ?"
"I can hear you. How’s the investigation going?"
"Chief Tang, we... we seem to be lost."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yuan’s expression changed slightly, "How did you get lost?"
"I don’t know either. We followed the passage straight ahead, but when we tried to turn back, we found the path was different from when we ca in, and we don’t know where we are now."
Damn! Tang Yuan cursed inwardly, speaking sternly, "If you got lost, why didn’t you inform us earlier? Do you know everyone is waiting for your news?"
"Sorry, we discovered so valuable artifacts in the passage and lost track of ti. Chief Tang, could you send soone in to get us out?"
"Stay put and don’t move. Do you hear ?" After speaking, Tang Yuan put down the radio and went to Ling Chen’s side, cursing, "These guys got lost inside and still have the mood to study artifacts, leaving us waiting outside for so long. If it were up to , I’d let them fend for themselves."
"Lost..." Ling Chen pondered for a mont and said, "Old Tang, this ancient tomb might have so issues. With Professor Hao’s experience, how could they possibly get lost inside? Plus, according to what he said, he followed the sa path back but ended up on the wrong route."
Tang Yuan’s heart stirred, and he responded, "You an... there are chanisms inside this ancient tomb?"
Ling Chen nodded and said, "Maybe. We’re not in the tomb, so everything is just speculation. Let’s first lock onto Professor Hao’s position and then send people in to get them out."
"Alright, I’ll send in a scout vehicle to check the situation first." With that, Tang Yuan imdiately made arrangents.
Soon, an intelligent scouting vehicle, under the control of technicians, slowly entered the passage. As the scout vehicle’s lights turned on, the situation ahead and on both sides of the passage was clearly displayed on the screen. Ling Chen and others gathered around the technicians, watching the screen intently.
Quickly, the scout vehicle reached the end of the passage, where two forks led off to the left and right. "Check the left side," Ling Chen instructed, and the technicians imdiately maneuvered the scout vehicle to proceed left.
After a few minutes of maneuvering inside the passage, the screen suddenly showed a wall.
"There’s no way through."
"It seems this isn’t the way to the main chamber. Try another route," Tang Yuan suggested.
The technicians maneuvered the scout vehicle to retrace its steps. However, after a few minutes, the technician controlling the vehicle suddenly put down the controls and turned to Tang Yuan, saying, "Sir, sothing’s not right. This isn’t the path we took to get in."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yuan looked at Ling Chen and asked, "Did you notice it too?"
Ling Chen nodded and said, "He’s right. This path is indeed problematic. I kept an eye on it just now. The scout vehicle made three turns, left-right-left. But on the way back, it made five turns, left-right-left-right-left. I think this is why Professor Hao and his team got lost."
"The passageways in the tomb are changing," Tang Yuan frowned, looking serious.
"I’ve seen a lot, but I’ve never heard of passageways that can change," Nanrong Wanqing chid in, "What kind of wisdom did ancient people possess to achieve this?"
"Never underestimate the wisdom of ancient people," Ling Chen said, "To change the entire tomb’s passageway, every passage must be mobile. This ans the entire tomb is essentially one massive chanism." At this point, Ling Chen’s lips curved up, and he said enthusiastically, "Having seen so much, I’m now very interested in the tomb owner. Old Tang, how about joining for a look inside?"
"You’re planning to enter the tomb personally?"
"That’s right! It’s the only way to figure out the changes in this tomb."
"Alright, since you want to go in, I’ll accompany you."
Before long, Ling Chen and Tang Yuan were ready. To avoid getting lost in the passage, both Ling Chen and Tang Yuan carried locator devices. In addition, they each had a backpack filled with enough food and water for several days, in case of unexpected situations.
"Ling Chen, be careful," Nanrong Wanqing urged, sowhat worried.
Ling Chen smiled slightly, "Don’t worry, nothing will happen. With so many of us, if we really get trapped inside and can’t get out, we’ll just blow up this tomb."
With that, Ling Chen called on Tang Yuan, and the two walked side by side towards the passage.
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