The antique street in City C had recently become incredibly lively.
The arrival of “that person,” known only by reputation but never seen, immediately disrupted the existing order of the antique street, alarming the Four Great Families.
For a time, chaos spread layer by layer, centered on City C’s antique street.
Whether preparing to descend into the tomb, already inside, or just coming out, everyone was met with a special kind of “visitor.”
However, this had nothing to do with Ji Ting for the moment.
Ji Ting was currently busy cramming, studying those “tomb-raiding novels” in an attempt to absorb some experience to cope with the new situation.
The plane bound for Province X was silent. Liu Xuanjin browsed through relevant intelligence beside him, his brow furrowed deeply.
“The physiological monitoring data of the team leader and the others have been fluctuating, already close to the warning threshold…”
Liu Xuanjin underlined a point on the data and muttered to himself, “The situation inside the tomb is more dangerous than we thought.”
“I still insist on my previous suggestion: directly carry out emergency excavation of Mount Jimu, level the mountain, and mobilize the 213th Corps stationed nearby. No matter how dangerous this tomb is, it won’t be that dangerous then.”
Seeing that Ji Ting did not respond, Liu Xuanjin strengthened his tone.
“It’s definitely better than you risking yourself in the tomb. The team leader and the others already encountered danger in there. If it were you, you’d be chewed down to the bone.”
The atmosphere grew tense.
Someone tried to smooth things over: “If we do as you say, the commotion would be too loud, which could cause flaws in the original plan. Ji Ting is also making a comprehensive consideration…”
Liu Xuanjin snapped, “What comprehensive consideration? I saw it last time at the base—this guy definitely has a personal hero complex!”
Ji Ting wasn’t listening at all.
Liu Xuanjin had repeated this so many times, his ears were almost calloused.
His attention was elsewhere, gazing down at the forest below the plane.
The verdant greenery stretched endlessly across the land, brimming with vibrant life.
He took a deep breath, a little impatient.
“I’ve wanted to try parachuting for a long time. Why not let me go now?”
Liu Xuanjin quickly grabbed him.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Liu Xuanjin became wary as he spoke.
“Is this some parasite messing with you? Should we have a doctor check you out…?”
Ji Ting was annoyed by the nagging and explained, “It has nothing to do with those things. Parachuting is actually quite interesting…”
He paused, glanced at Liu Xuanjin, realizing he wasn’t asking about that, and continued, “If you’re asking why I insist on going to Mount Jimu, it’s purely based on my analysis of the current situation and my understanding of my own uniqueness.”
“I believe I can solve the problem.”
That’s why Ji Ting actively requested to enter the tomb after learning that the Tianshu team’s physiological data was approaching critical levels.
Liu Xuanjin pushed up his glasses and pointed out the problem: “Mount Jimu isn’t even mentioned in the novels. The creatures beneath the tomb aren’t described at all in the original text. You don’t have any affinity with them. At most, your identity within the novel’s framework is somewhat special, but what difference does that make?”
Ji Ting straightened up slightly. “I have a hypothesis, combining the previous hallucinations and the content from the video left by the Tianshu team—since I have a complete and complex identity set in the novel, who’s to say the rumors about me they mentioned aren’t true?”
“Although we all know those rumors are false, when I met She Lang, we both knew I wasn’t the Ji Ting he recognized.”
This hypothesis was the main reason Ji Ting convinced Director Wang.
Ji Ting successfully arrived at the 213th Corps base.
This was the transfer station for his journey to Mount Jimu.
Here, he needed to collect equipment and teammates… or more precisely, quite a large number of teammates.
A dense crowd of heads dressed in black suits and sunglasses filled the place, obviously from the same manufacturer as the Tianshu team.
To be honest, Ji Ting didn’t want to bring any of them.
If something happened in the tomb, every soldier lost would be a waste of national resources and talent.
But since he had no say in the matter, Ji Ting ended up taking about thirty of them into Mount Jimu.
After the Tianshu team’s physiological data showed abnormal fluctuations, Mount Jimu had already been searched once.
It was during that search they obtained the information left behind by the Tianshu team.
Before Ji Ting’s departure, each group had analyzed the map countless times and drawn up a detailed tomb exploration plan and precautions for Ji Ting.
Upon stepping into Mount Jimu’s area, hallucinations appeared immediately.
Perhaps because these men in black suits had no interaction with Ji Ting the entire time, suddenly talking to him would be too suspicious.
Or maybe the hallucination had given up disguising itself.
Either way, the hallucination was surprisingly direct this time: a floating, ghostly figure hovered mid-air, greeting Ji Ting warmly: “You’re here.”
Ji Ting stopped.
The slight pain from the electric shock device and the scratching glass sound in his earpiece continued to play their roles diligently.
He roughly understood why the Tianshu team had encountered danger in the tomb.
Because these two devices couldn’t help them distinguish hallucination from reality at all.
But since that was the case, he didn’t need to bring those two pieces of equipment—honestly, for an ordinary person, they were more like torture devices.
Ji Ting took off the shock device and earpiece and studied the suddenly appearing ghostly figure.
The apparition wore a long robe and a dazzling golden mask.
It didn’t look like traditional C country clothing but had a bit of a minority ethnic style.
As Ji Ting scrutinized the figure, a voice rang in his ear: “Ji Ting? What’s wrong? Having hallucinations again?”
With the voice came a rhythmic shaking—someone was shaking him.
“These people are really noisy,” the ghost muttered, still enthusiastically urging, “Come on, I’ve been waiting for you a long time.”
The shaking and voice disappeared.
Ji Ting turned to look back, but the men in black suits were nowhere to be seen. Only he and the suspicious creature remained.
Ji Ting glanced at the apparition and warned, “Don’t do anything to my people.”
“It’s just letting them wander here a bit,” the apparition replied nonchalantly as it led the way.
“They’re too noisy. Besides, you brought so many dead weight with you—not very sincere at all.”
“A gesture of sincerity?”
Ji Ting asked.
The figure floated leisurely toward a certain direction.
“Have you forgotten what you promised me?”
Before saying that, could he at least get a script to know the backstory?
Ji Ting fell silent.
Fortunately, the other didn’t seem to expect a definite answer.
Its attention was hardly on the conversation.
It led Ji Ting to the entrance of the tomb robber’s tunnel and beckoned, “Come down.”
Having come this far, Ji Ting had no reason to be coy.
He pulled out a rope from his bag, tied it to a tree, and descended.
The space beneath the tomb robber’s tunnel was surprisingly deep.
As the entrance gradually shrank, the darkness and strange smell belonging to the tomb rushed at him.
It was the scent of death and blood, coming from the tomb’s owner and countless tomb raiders who had died here.
The apparition floated ahead of Ji Ting, accustomed to the surroundings, chatting idly, “How long has it been since you last entered a tomb? Why have your skills deteriorated so much?”
Ji Ting moved slowly along the rope, probing in response to the figure’s words, “It’s been so long since I last came here…”
The apparition glanced back at him.
The golden mask shone strikingly in the darkness.
“You promised fifty years. You nearly didn’t make it.”
Ji Ting confirmed his suspicion.
In the video, She Lang had revealed under hallucination that Ji Ting had once been in this tomb.
The apparition’s words indirectly verified the truth of that.
Ji Ting stepped on something with a crisp snap—it broke beneath his foot.
He pulled out his lighting device and scanned the surroundings.
Scattered white bones lay on the ground.
The excavation marks on the stone walls were very old, now covered with layers of moss.
This wasn’t part of the tomb itself, but an extension of the tomb robber’s tunnel.
According to the intelligence team, this was a passage left by ancient tomb robbers to enter this grand tomb.
Throughout the long course of history, tomb robbers continuously infiltrated this ancient tomb through this tunnel, attempting to take away treasures left by the tomb’s owner.
But their fates were likely all grim.
Those who disturbed the “tomb owner” probably never left alive.
She Lang and his team’s experience was a case in point.
The apparition floated in a certain direction.
Seeing Ji Ting still surveying the environment, it enthusiastically called out, “Hurry up and follow, the road ahead is still long.”
Ji Ting followed it, exiting the man-made passage.
After squeezing through an adult-sized hole, he finally saw the true face of this ancient tomb.
Exquisite murals, rough and exaggerated statues, eternal lamps lit along the passageway…
Ji Ting’s nostrils twitched as the bloody stench suddenly grew heavy.
Fresh blood mixed with decayed death, signaling deadly traps for intruders.
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