Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Chapter 421: Calculation, Screams

"Ah?" I exclaimed in surprise.

I think Huang Ziran is taking things for granted.

The Western Zhou tomb outside the village is nearly one kilometer away from Zheng Erbo's home.

Ten meters underground, a hole one kilometer long was dug.

It is also necessary to penetrate the tomb chamber accurately.

It is by no means easy to do.

It’s not that I look down on the skills of Uncle Zheng and his team.

But anyone who has ever robbed a tomb knows how difficult it is.

For example, right now, I have completely lost my sense of direction in the cave.

It is impossible to tell which direction the hole leads to.

People's sense of direction is more accurate when there is a reference.

In a completely dark environment with no reference points, it is impossible to tell east, west, and north.

You can only rely on auxiliary tools such as a compass.

But a compass can only roughly determine direction.

The accuracy of the tunnel's direction cannot be guaranteed.

Unless they have more professional measuring tools.

But in those days, professional measuring tools were not available to ordinary people.

"Captain Huang, that's unlikely."

Huang Ziran didn't answer.

He leaned against the wall of the cave, hissing and gasping for air.

There was also the sound of rummaging through a shoulder bag.

After a moment he pulled out a square metal object and shoved it into my hand.

He whispered: "A windproof lighter is better than matches."

"See if there's anything nearby that can be lit to illuminate."

I took the lighter and weighed it in my hand.

Quite substantial.

I fumbled around with the lighter, but I couldn't figure out how to use it.

Lighters were a rarity at that time.

Not to mention this all-metal windproof lighter.

Huang Ziran seemed to realize that I didn't know how to use it.

He pointed out: "Open the lid and there is a roller inside."

"Press the roller and turn it downwards to create fire."

I did as he said.

He pressed the wheel and turned it, and a few sparks flew out of the flint.

Then the flames rose up.

I held up the lighter and looked around.

There seemed to be something stuck in the cave wall two meters away.

I walked over and pulled the thing off, and it turned out to be a torch.

It seems that the length of the cave is quite long.

Otherwise, torches would not have been specially prepared.

Light the torch and a blazing flame will begin.

The scene before my eyes suddenly brightened up.

It can illuminate a distance of about ten meters.

But there is still no end to the cave.

Could it be true as Huang Ziran guessed?

This cave leads to the Western Zhou Dynasty tomb outside the village?!

I walked back to Huang Ziran.

Lifting his right arm, he asked, "Captain Huang, can you still walk?"

Huang Ziran smiled bitterly and said, "Even if you can't leave, you have to go."

He leaned most of his body on me, and we slowly walked deeper into the cave.

At first, the cave was big enough for us to walk side by side.

But after walking more than thirty meters, the cave became narrower and narrower.

Even the height of the hole is decreasing.

After fifty meters, the cave became so narrow that only one person could walk through it.

The height was also reduced to only half a person's height.

I could no longer stand upright, so I hunched over and walked forward with Huang Ziran on my back.

But it was too uncomfortable to move forward with a hunched back.

It wasn't long before I started to feel back pain.

I had no choice but to stop and squat down to rest.

Huang Ziran, who was lying on my back, whispered, "Why didn't you put me down when you were on top just now?"

"If you leave on your own."

"Now you don't have to take care of a useless person like me."

I smiled bitterly and didn't answer him.

There was silence for half a minute.

Huang Ziran said in a low voice: "The cave is getting narrower and narrower."

"I guess it's to save effort when they dig the hole."

"If nothing unexpected happens, the road ahead will only allow one person to crawl through."

"You can't carry me over there."

"and……"

He paused, raised his hand and pointed at the torch.

"This torch appears to be a trap."

"The air would be very thin deep in a narrow cave like this without a ventilation shaft."

"Burning torches consumes a lot of air."

It was then that I noticed that breathing was a little more labored than before.

I thought he was tired from carrying Huang Ziran on his back.

Think about it now.

It really could be caused by the thin air!

This brings us to another risk of digging long-distance tunnels: it is easy to suffer from oxygen deprivation!

Many novices who don’t know much about the business, or semi-novices who think they know a lot, have suffered from lack of oxygen when doing big jobs.

Some even gave their lives for it.

Later, when I was robbing tombs at great depths and over long distances, I would arrange for blowing equipment to supply air into the cave.

After listening to Huang Ziran’s analysis, my heart tightened.

Has Uncle Zheng Er calculated to this extent?

He wanted us to die in the cave from lack of oxygen halfway up?

This is too cruel!

I wanted to let go of the torch in an instant.

But without torches, how can we light up?

We can't just move forward in the dark, right?

"Captain Huang, how long does your lighter last?"

Huang Ziran shook his head: "That thing can't burn for a long time."

"The burning time is too long, the overall temperature rises, and accidents are prone to occur."

Now, even using a lighter to light the way is blocked.

I felt in my pocket.

I hope I can find a flashlight.

Unfortunately, I was not prepared at all when I left.

Judging from Huang Ziran's appearance, he probably didn't bring a flashlight.

I said unwillingly, "Then we can only extinguish the torch and advance in the dark?"

Huang Ziran slid off my back.

Half leaning against the cave wall: "If you are alone."

"Move forward fast enough."

"Maybe we won't have to worry about torches burning a lot of air."

"Put me here."

"Go ahead on your own."

Huang Ziran took off his shoulder bag and handed it to me.

"There's a lighter, a dagger, and some food in the bag."

"Go ahead, be careful."

Looking at the shoulder bag handed to me, my eyes couldn't help but become wet.

By doing this, he is giving up on himself!

Give me all the chances!

But do I really want to give up on him?

Huang Ziran seemed a little impatient.

He gritted his teeth and stuffed the bag into my arms with his arms trembling in pain.

"A fussy mother-in-law is not like a man."

"Hurry and get on the road."

"If you escape fast enough, you might be able to bring someone to rescue me."

"If I die... remember to burn more paper for me every Qingming Festival."

"If you forget to burn it, I will look for you in my dreams."

Huang Ziran pushed me after he finished speaking.

Urged: "Hurry up!"

"The rest of the way depends on you!"

I wiped away the tears that were spilling from my eyes.

He bit it hard and carried his bag on his back.

Then he pulled up his arms and carried him on his back.

Huang Ziran asked angrily, "What are you doing?"

"My death alone is enough, why should we die together?"

"I've said so much, but you've turned a deaf ear to it?"

I ignored his shouting.

After carrying him on our backs, we continued to move deeper into the area.

Huang Ziran hit me twice weakly.

He shouted, "Put me down! I command you to put me down!"

I didn't let him go, but instead moved forward at a faster pace.

"Captain Huang, I don't know how you view your teammates."

"But I will never give up on my teammates."

"Who cares if the air is thin? Let's just keep going."

"What if there's a ray of hope ahead..."

Before I could finish my words, a cold wind blew out of the cave.

The flame of the torch was suppressed by the cold wind and could not rise up.

I squinted my eyes because of the cold wind.

At this time, screams were heard in the cold wind.

I heard it very clearly.

That was the scream of a person in pain!

Huang Ziran suddenly whispered in my ear: "Did you hear the screams?"

"Do you remember? Uncle Zheng said he was in a dream."

"Seeing his brother's ghost screaming after his tongue was pulled out by the tomb owner."

I shuddered all over.

Could this be the scream of a dead soul? !