Chapter 57: Blazing Tears Ignite the Frigid Abyss

It was only at this moment that I noticed two parallel grooves carved into the ground. The tears falling from the bronze weeping faces did not scatter or puddle like ordinary water; instead, resembling little beans, they rolled rapidly along the grooves toward the rear of the passageway.

At the corner where the grooves ended—the exact spot where we had slid down like alpine grass-skiers—two pottery spheres the size of volleyballs were placed. Their surfaces were riddled with small holes. The teardrops falling from the bronze weeping faces on both walls followed the grooves straight into these apertures, causing the pottery spheres to begin rotating slowly.

Even fellows with limited knowledge of tomb excavation, like Jiang Sheng'er, knew that some kind of trap might have been triggered.

Jiang Sheng'er roared at the top of his lungs, "Fall back!"

Everyone frantically spun around and retreated toward the entrance.

However, after running merely a dozen steps:

"Boom!"

Two loud crashes echoed.

The pottery spheres actually shattered into four pieces!

The moment I saw them burst apart, a thought flashed rapidly through my mind. I recalled an ingenious trap mechanism introduced in an ancient book Liao Xiaoqin had given me, and an icy shiver ran down my spine. I screamed at the top of my lungs to everyone, "Extinguish the fires!"

The flames were indeed all extinguished.

Yet, it was already too late.

"Clack!"

An iron gate suddenly dropped from the ceiling at the entrance, completely sealing off any hope of our escape.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of water bursting through a valve surged into our ears.

From the floor at the corners of the walls, a massive volume of turbid, yellowish muddy water suddenly gushed upward!

As we were running at a full stride, the tremendous impact of the water knocked everyone off their feet and onto the ground.

Like a breached dam, the current flowed with unbelievable speed, instantly flooding the entire passageway.

The water temperature was piercingly cold, wrapping around our bodies like stinging needles.

By the time we struggled back to our feet, the water had already risen to our knees and was continuing to surge upward rapidly.

The openings at both ends of the passageway were undoubtedly blocked. With this volume of water and such a narrow space, it would take less than fifteen minutes for the tunnel to fill completely, and we would all drown!

In this moment of extreme crisis, there was no room for old grudges.

I yelled at Praying Mantis Luo, who was tied to the other end of the mandarin duck rope, "Follow me!"

The moment the words left my mouth, I charged straight toward the place where the pottery jar had burst.

This trap possessed an exceptionally poetic name: Scorching Tears Luring the Chilly Abyss.

An old rhyming chant went: Flames burn within the palm, scorching tears lure the chilly abyss. A single step decides life or death, skeletons entangle in the deep abyss.

Surely everyone has used a thermometer?

A thermometer contains mercury. When tucked under the armpit, the mercury expands and flows due to heat, thereby indicating the scale.

The eyeballs of the bronze weeping faces on the walls had been fitted with a clever mechanism containing spherical chambers filled with mercury.

Regardless of which grave robbers managed to pass the preceding tomb owl anti-theft chamber, in order to prevent unexpected accidents or to provide illumination (the ancients had not even invented flashlights, so they could only rely on fire for light), they would descend holding torches. Since this passageway was extremely narrow, the torches caused the temperature of the surrounding walls to rise sharply.

The mercury in the eyes of the bronze weeping faces expanded rapidly from the heat, instantly surging outward and making it look as though they were weeping tears of sorrow.

Because mercury is more than thirteen times heavier than water and flows with extreme velocity, once it dropped into the floor grooves, it would immediately roll into the pottery spheres riddled with small holes. The mercury flooding inside the spheres induced rolling motions, and the rolling in turn triggered the mechanism, ultimately causing them to shatter.

Once the pottery spheres burst, the mechanical valves underneath would instantly spring open, and the water from the outside would rush wildly through the valves, drowning the tomb robbers alive within the sealed passageway!

In other words, the preceding tomb owl chamber was merely an appetizer, while the layout of Scorching Tears Luring the Chilly Abyss before us was the true main course.

This was an earth-defying, interlocking trap system that integrated zoology, human behavioral science, chemistry, and physics!

Praying Mantis Luo and I rushed to the wall corner where the pottery sphere had shattered.

We had to locate the water inlet valve immediately and latch it shut, or else everyone would die!

Fatty Dong and the others, seeing this, also rushed over to help.

Unfortunately, the passageway was far too narrow, and simply could not accommodate so many people, ending up only hindering our movements.

"Fatty, provide illumination!"

The torches had all been extinguished.

We could only use waterproof searchlights.

The few of them hurriedly switched on their waterproof searchlights to illuminate our workspace.

Praying Mantis Luo roared at me, "What on earth are we looking for?!"

I shouted back anxiously, "The valve! Feel around for the valve and snap it shut!"

The two of us dropped to our hands and knees to feel along the floor.

The water was rising far too quickly.

In barely a dozen seconds, it had already reached our chests.

Praying Mantis Luo and I had no choice but to hold the waterproof searchlights and submerge ourselves into the turbid, freezing water of the chilly abyss to search frantically for the valve.

Yet, it was all in vain.

Because the water level was surging upward with such ferocity, not only could we not find the valve, but the powerful current pushed us backward instead. Despite both of us exerting all our strength, we could not get anywhere near the corner where the perforated pottery sphere had burst.

We tried several times, and every attempt ended in failure.

I could no longer hold my breath and had to surface for air.

The water had already risen to everyone's chins!

Xiao Yao was the shortest, and the water was almost over her eyes.

Fatty Dong, mustering all his strength, pushed her upward with everything he had.

I had miscalculated the time.

At this rate of water flow, it wouldn't take ten minutes; within another two or three minutes, everyone would be buried in the chilly abyss.

What is called waiting for death?

The current state of affairs was precisely that.

Praying Mantis Luo also could not hold his breath any longer and broke the surface of the water.

Everyone's faces were as pale as wax, looking at me with absolute terror.

Catching sight of Fatty Dong's posture as he lifted Xiao Yao, I decided to make one desperate gamble for survival.

"Everyone submerge! Interlock arms to steady your posture, push upward with all your might against me, and use me stepping on your shoulders as the signal!"

We had no choice but to rely on them forming a human wall to provide upward assistance from behind, helping me break through the resistance of the surging water so I could find a leverage point at the wall corner and feel around for the valve to close it. Otherwise, there was simply no hope of survival.

No one wasted words.

Including Jiang Sheng'er, all five of them sank beneath the water, forming a tightly packed human wall and extending their hands upward.

I planted my foot firmly and pushed off the human wall.

A powerful force surged from behind me, instantly propelling me forward.

I plunged my hands downward, clutching the floor grooves with a death grip.

We succeeded!

However, time was running critically short!

I could no longer care whether the water would sweep me away again. With one hand, I clung desperately to the groove like an iron spike driven hard into a wooden plank, while my other hand felt blindly along the wall beneath the perforated pottery sphere.

More than ten seconds passed.

Finally, I found a bedside-cabinet-sized bronze sluice gate at the base of the wall corner, through which the water was madly gushing upward from the gaping opening.

Directly above the bronze sluice gate was a spring-loaded trigger mechanism resembling a gun bolt.

They had no choice but to use such a simple spring mechanism.

If the design were too complex, there was no guarantee that some component would not malfunction, rendering the layout of Scorching Tears Luring the Chilly Abyss ineffective.

I pressed down on the handle with all my might, attempting to force it back into the locking catch.

Yet, it was simply too heavy.

After two consecutive failures, I silently chanted a prayer for protection from our founding masters. Abandoning the attempt to hold my breath, I channeled all my internal strength into my arms and shoved downward with every ounce of my remaining power.

It moved!

Even though I was submerged in water, I still heard the mechanical clacking sounds originating from the distant Warring States period echoing through the stone.

This sound resembled a stirring symphony played in a desperate plight, driving me to fight tenaciously against fate!

"Click!"

The latch engaged.

The sluice gate dropped heavily into place.

Everything fell silent!

My hands and limbs trembled with exhaustion. I hurriedly surfaced, my chest stinging sharply from inhaling water, coughing violently while spitting out mouthfuls of liquid.

The water in the passageway was barely ten centimeters from the ceiling, and the iron gates blocking both ends had now opened.

We had found a new lease on life amid certain death!

The scar-faced bodyguard grabbed Jiang Sheng'er, whose eyes had rolled back from the cold, and swam backward like mad with his head held high.

I spat out another mouthful of water.

"Are you all trying to get yourselves killed?!"

If they wanted to die, part of me actually wished they would.

However, since we were tied together by the mandarin duck rope, if these lunatics headed back, we would be forced to go back with them.

Upon returning, we would inevitably encounter the tomb owl nests once again. By then, the creatures would most likely have returned to their roosts, and since all our torches were soaked through, lacking fire meant only one inevitable outcome: being pecked to death and having our brains sucked out.

Moving forward was our only option!

Wrapping my arm around Xiao Yao, who wasn't much of a swimmer, I turned and instructed Fatty Dong, "Fatty, move forward!"

Jiang Sheng'er coughed up several more mouthfuls of water and instructed Praying Mantis Luo and the scar-faced man in a feeble voice, "Obey... obey Little Meng in everything."

A bold conjecture suddenly formed in my mind.

This was an exquisitely crafted tomb within a tomb, and the true tomb owner along with the greatest treasures were most likely waiting right ahead!