C97 The Collapsed Cave Entrance

The next morning, our group was all set. Equipped with everything we needed, we hopped into two off-road vehicles and made our way to Short Mountain, located near our village.

Although the mountain's elevation was modest, only three to five hundred meters, it covered a vast area. Everywhere you looked, there were undulating green peaks.

By noon, we had reached the entrance to Murong Chui's mausoleum deep within the mountain. The trip had gone without a hitch. Second Master Lei, in particular, had been brimming with excitement since setting foot on the mountain.

He gestured toward a cliff not far off and said, "The entrance to Murong Chui's mausoleum is concealed behind those trees. It's likely that over the past sixteen hundred years, shifts in the earth's crust have buried it beneath stone and soil. Half Immortal Zhao had to give up years of his life to locate this entrance; without his sacrifice, this mausoleum might have remained hidden forever."

As I listened to Second Master Lei's reflections, I wondered if my foster father had been willing to shorten his life to break into this tomb because it truly contained secrets to immortality.

We quickly made our way to the base of the cliff and, after clearing away some dense foliage, the hidden cave entrance finally came into view.

Second Master Lei was about to lead the way in when Xie Kui stopped him. With a sly grin, Xie Kui said obsequiously, "Second Master Lei, leave the tomb raiding to me. I'll go ahead and scout for any dangers that might lurk inside."

Second Master Lei gave a slight smile and replied, "Very well, but be careful."

"Of course..." Xie Kui nodded with a shifty expression and scurried into the cave like a rat.

I glanced at Xiaodieh, who had been quiet the whole time. Despite her reputation as a Grave Robber who cherished wealth above all else, she showed no eagerness to dive in. Aligning with the Second Manager of Lei's Brand could mean securing a powerful patron—like having a gold mine to rely on.

Then I turned to Deaf Zhang, who had been fascinated by the idea of tomb raiding from the start and was now itching to have a go. But considering his size, I worried he might struggle to fit through the entrance, which was only slightly larger than a dog's burrow.

I was just about to crack a joke with him to lighten the tense mood when, unexpectedly, at that moment, Xie Kui, the Zhongli General from Qiuzhong, emerged covered in grime.

Second Master Lei seemed to have a premonition and quickly inquired, "Xie Kui, what's the situation inside?"

Xie Kui, with a look of panic, informed Second Master Lei, "Second Master Lei, the tunnel... it's collapsed, completely collapsed. I found traces of gunpowder inside; the entrance was blown up."

"Blown up? Who could have done such a thing..." Second Master Lei's gaze drifted to me involuntarily.

Truth be told, I suspected my foster father might be responsible. He knew about the tomb entrance, and of the last people who made it out alive years ago, only four survived. The Lei family brothers certainly wouldn't be behind it. The Ghost Doctor has been hiding in the tomb all year, while my foster father has lived in the village at the base of the mountain for seventeen years, making him the prime suspect.

But why would my foster father want to destroy the tunnel? It was baffling. Seventeen years ago, he had spent years of his life calculating the location of the tomb's entrance, and they had exerted tremendous effort to open it.

In the face of this predicament, even the usually composed and seasoned Second Master Lei grew visibly anxious. He turned to Xie Kui and Xiaodieh, the descendants of the grave-robbing lineage, and asked, "Xie Kui, Xiaodieh, as descendants of the grave robbers, can you think of a way to dig a new tunnel straight to the tomb's entrance?"

"Second Master Lei, I've been pondering that very question," Xie Kui replied. "I took a careful look inside, and I'm certain the old tunnel is beyond use, completely sealed by the fallen rocks."

Xie Kui shook his head and explained, "The cliff's stone is too hard. Even with a powerful drill, we'd barely make it four or five meters. Plus, with the mountain already compromised by the blast, attempting another tunnel is fraught with danger..."

Upon hearing this, Second Master Lei staggered back, nearly collapsing to the ground in despair. His seventeen-year obsession had been shattered; the destruction of the tunnel was a blow not just to the earth, but to his very soul.

However, at that moment, the sleazy Xie Kui spoke up, "Second Master Lei, don't lose hope just yet. There might still be another way for us to gain entry into this tomb."