Chapter 325: The Breathtaking Deep Mountain Cave!

It didn't take much effort to find the wall Ning Fei had mentioned; they located it quickly.

However, the members of the exploration team looked grim.

Ning Fei immediately covered Bai Yi's eyes with his hand.

"Brother, what happened?" Bai Yi whispered, her eyes covered.

"There's a skeleton. Don't look," Ning Fei said, comforting her.

In the live stream, the footage broadcast by the drone showed a pitch-black hole in the wall.

Next to the hole lay a skeleton.

Only the bare bones remained. Judging by its posture, the person had died sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.

He was still wearing tattered clothes that had rotted beyond recognition. A few metal tools lay on the ground, completely rusted.

"He's from the Republic of China era,"

Zhang Ke said with a frown as he squatted down to inspect the remains.

"His clothes and belongings are all from that period. It looks like he was a professional tomb raider."

"I just didn't expect him to die here."

Ning Fei also looked at the skeleton.

The atmosphere in the live stream grew increasingly tense.

When had the viewers ever seen a scene like this on a stream?

The only reason Ning Fei's stream hadn't been banned yet was because this was an exploration and research project in cooperation with the Government. It was politically correct, so Douniao Live Company dared to broadcast it.

"Why did he die here?"

"Could it be that he couldn't find his way out of the maze?"

Zhang Ke muttered to himself.

Hearing this, Ning Fei shook his head. "He managed to find this wall. How could he fail to navigate the maze?"

"Look at the position of his hand bones. They're overlapping his sternum. It's obvious he was clutching his chest before he died."

"The most likely scenario is that he came out of the hole, got poisoned, or suffocated for some reason. He lay down here, clutched his chest, and died."

Ning Fei's logic was clear as he analyzed the scene. Hearing his words, the viewers nodded repeatedly, secretly marveling at his deduction.

Zhang Ke looked at Ning Fei, his voice full of admiration.

"Temple Master Ning, you're amazing. It's a good thing you came along; otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do in this situation."

Ning Fei simply replied, "Let's not talk about that for now. Things might be worse than we imagined."

"Since this man died here, it proves there really are unknown dangers inside."

Zhang Ke sighed.

"Yeah. I always thought booby traps in tombs were just movie plots."

"After all, in reality, we discovered the massive Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and all those Terracotta Warriors without seeing a single trap."

Ning Fei nodded and added, "I think our previous understanding was wrong."

"That map marked a small tomb and a large tomb. We assumed the one in the stalactite cave was a burial pit for sacrifices, and this was the master's tomb."

"But it's actually not."

"If I'm guessing correctly, the tomb in the stalactite cave is a decoy. This place is a blood-nourishing burial mound."

Ning Fei spoke calmly, but everyone who heard him felt a chill run down their spines. A freezing sensation shot up from the soles of their feet straight to their skulls.

Coupled with the Republican-era skeleton lying right beside them, it made the situation even more terrifying.

"Temple Master Ning, what do you mean by that?" Zhang Ke asked from the side, looking a bit nervous.

"Look at the map."

"This place sits within a Dragon Vein. On the surface, it's a treasure land of feng shui, but it aligns with the Tianyi and Taiyi stars above. These two are stars of fortune. However, a tomb aligned with Tianyi and Taiyi must be an Earth Store tomb—meaning it must be buried deep underground. It can't be a mountain burial."

"I felt something was wrong from the very beginning."

"Put it this way: there might be many tombs in Qinshan just like the one in the stalactite cave, and all of them point to this specific place."

"This location is like a massive altar. It lures tomb raiders inside, then finds a way to drain their vitality and blood to nourish the tomb."

"This isn't the main tomb. It's the altar for the main tomb, using the lifespans of the living to feed the true master."

"Of course, that's just my guess. Who knows what the ancients were thinking?"

Ning Fei explained quietly.

The cave was dead silent, unusually quiet.

The viewers watching the live stream were entirely speechless.

Everyone originally thought this was just a simple relic exploration in the depths of Qinshan, with the only risks being the journey there.

Who could have expected the actual situation to be this perilous?

"Is what Temple Master Ning said true?"

The viewers discussed this fervently.

"People strongly believed in ghosts and gods back in those days. It might be possible."

"The First Qin Emperor built the Terracotta Army. Those nobles would think of anything for immortality."

"Their technology just wasn't good enough. Sensible health regimens are the real way to live a long life."

"Is this cave really that dangerous?"

"Maybe he's just scaring people."

While everyone online was debating, the exploration team was having their own discussion.

"So what do we do now?" Zhang Ke asked, looking at the robber's hole.

"It's simple. Look at the era we're in now. We have plenty of ways to explore. People from back then could never have imagined something like a drone existing in the future,"

Ning Fei said.

He then switched his drone to manual mode, using the virtual joystick on his mobile phone to pilot it straight into the hole.

Zhang Ke hurriedly pulled out his mobile phone and opened Ning Fei's stream, joining the viewers to watch the drone's footage.

The drone had built-in lights. A beam shone down, forming a pillar of light in the pitch-black tomb.

Then, the cave ahead suddenly opened up and expanded.

"There's a dark shadow over there!"

Zhang Ke shouted suddenly as he watched the screen.

Everyone was already on edge. Startled by his sudden yell, a few people actually tossed their phones away.

"Damn it, the video isn't scary, but that shout scared the hell out of me!"

"Scared me so bad I instinctively threw a five-hit combo."

"What is that shadow?"

Everyone felt a deep sense of eeriness.

Ning Fei steered the drone closer, and the viewers finally saw the shadow's true form.

It was a stele.

A stone stele?

A hint of confusion flashed across Ning Fei's face.

He brought the drone in tight, allowing everyone to see the dense, complex characters carved into the stone.

"This is Zhou Dynasty script!"

"The Zhou Dynasty believed in gods and immortals more than any other. When they overthrew King Zhou of Shang, they always divined with oracle bones before marching to war. Stories like the Investiture of the Gods mostly originate from this period,"

Zhang Ke said in shock.

"Captain Zhang, can you read what these words mean?" Ning Fei asked.

Zhang Ke shook his head. "If I were back at the Research Institute, I'd have reference materials. Trying to decipher Zhou Dynasty script right now is too difficult."

"Then look at this symbol. In Zhou Dynasty culture, does this represent a great omen of disaster?" Ning Fei asked, spotlighting a specific character on the stele with the drone's light.

Zhang Ke looked closely and gasped in surprise. "You're right. This means an omen of great disaster. In Zhou Dynasty divination culture, if this symbol appeared, it was the most ominous result possible."

Suddenly realizing something, Zhang Ke stared at Ning Fei in sheer astonishment. "How did you know what this symbol meant?"

"I've read a few ancient texts recording Zhou Dynasty history. I have a good memory, so it stuck with me," Ning Fei explained simply, without elaborating further.

Seeing this, the viewers could only say one thing:

"Temple Master Ning is truly a badass."

Unable to discern anything else from the inscription, Ning Fei panned the drone around to inspect the surroundings. Right at that moment, a dark shadow suddenly darted across the screen.

That shadow made everyone's heart skip a beat!

There were animals inside this tomb!

Zhang Ke jumped so violently that he literally tossed his phone into the air. Fortunately, Ning Fei had quick reflexes and reached out to catch it.

"What was that?"

The viewers were trembling in fear.

For a sealed tomb to actually have animals living inside—it was far too terrifying.

Realizing something, Ning Fei operated the drone, slowly tilting the camera upward.

When they saw what was up there, everyone's mind went completely blank.

The drone's camera revealed hundreds—thousands—of glowing green eyes.

Wherever the light swept, they could see furry, bat-like creatures crawling away in disgust to escape the beam.

"They're bats. It looks like a giant species."

"Large bats typically eat fruit and nectar, while small bats usually hunt insects."

"On the path we just walked, there was no guano or any signs that bats had been coming out."

"Which means these bats are entirely self-sufficient inside this Mountain Cave."

With just one glance at the bats, Ning Fei had already drawn a multitude of conclusions.

For so many bats to exist, they absolutely had to have a way to survive.

So, while everyone was still in a state of shock, Ning Fei slowly angled the drone's camera downward.

Below was a platform bordered by open gaps. As the drone descended further, they witnessed yet another shocking sight.

Beneath the platform grew a thick carpet of deep purple moss. Flowing tirelessly beneath the moss was a subterranean river, running continuously for countless years.

"What a brilliant scheme."

"The person who designed this tomb wasn't just highly proficient in Daoist arts; they also understood biology."

"The underground waterfall and the salamanders in the stalactite cave hid a tomb inside. Those salamanders were likely bred by him."

"It's the same here. There's a subterranean river inside the mountain where someone planted this deep purple moss. This moss has probably been growing and regrowing for over a thousand years."

"If I'm right, that moss is highly toxic. The bats feed on the moss, and their guano falls down to serve as fertilizer for it. God knows how many years these bats have lived in this Mountain Cave."

"Incredible. Relying solely on an underground river, they managed to cultivate a relatively closed ecosystem that's still functioning over a millennium later. This person was a genius."

Ning Fei marveled at the discovery.

He had always been fascinated by ancient cultures.

The methods and grand scale of whoever had constructed this tomb were truly breathtaking.

The others, however, were still immersed in the eerie atmosphere inside the mountain. Their brains simply couldn't keep up with Ning Fei's pace.