Chapter 64: The Human Heart is Hard to Fathom

The ancient tomb was cold and damp, with torchlight leaping against the walls and casting twisted, terrifying shadows.

The disappearance of the brave warrior Liu made the already tense atmosphere even heavier.

"Brother Liu! Where are you?" Jiang Yu’s voice echoed down the tomb passage, but only received an empty response.

Qu Wanqing felt uneasy in her heart; she worried about Liu's safety, yet vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

Could this fellow have fallen into some trap straight out of a tomb-raiding novel?

Or perhaps...

Did he actually have ulterior motives?

"Brother Liu! Brother Liu!" Hunter Zhang’s voice trembled. Being the most cowardly of the group, his face was currently pale with fright.

Daoist Wu wore an expression of supreme detachment, as if everything else was entirely unrelated to him as long as his own safety was not compromised.

He muttered incantations, continuously making calculations with his fingers, and grumbled, "How strange. The divination shows no peril in this place, so why..."

Qu Wanqing was agitated. She tightly gripped the dagger in her hand and carefully observed her surroundings.

The walls on both sides of the tomb passage were carved with bizarre patterns, appearing exceptionally eerie in the firelight.

A rotting stench permeated the air, enough to turn one's stomach.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from ahead, like someone moving about.

"Who is there?" Qu Wanqing demanded sharply.

The torchlight illuminated the burial chamber ahead, and a figure abruptly appeared before everyone.

It was Miss Chen!

She was holding an exquisite jade box, her eyes staring greedily at the pile of treasures behind them, just like a vicious dragon gazing upon its hoarded wealth.

"Oh, if it isn't the Second Young Miss Qu? What, have you found the treasures?" Miss Chen's tone was mocking, her eyes flashing with calculated malice.

"Miss Chen, these things do not belong to you." Qu Wanqing let out a cold snort, a hint of warning in her voice.

Yet Miss Chen showed not the slightest fear; instead, she laughed even more arrogantly, "Treasures belong to whoever sees them. Why should they all be yours? If you know what's good for you, hand the things over immediately, or else..." She deliberately dragged out the end of her sentence.

"Or else what?" Qu Wanqing tightened her grip on the dagger, her gaze freezing.

The atmosphere was taut, ready to snap at the slightest touch.

"Hmph, refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!" Miss Chen suddenly struck, lunging straight toward Qu Wanqing...

Miss Chen came on fiercely, looking as though she was about to pounce right on Qu Wanqing.

Just at that critical juncture, Jiang Yu flashed forward like a ghost, blocking in front of Qu Wanqing.

Gently waving the folding fan in his hand, he appeared to be a frail scholar, yet he exuded a chilling aura.

"Miss Chen, could it be that you are rushing to be reincarnated?" A mocking smile lingered at the corner of Jiang Yu's lips, but his eyes were as sharp as jagged ice.

"The treasures in this ancient tomb are not something just anyone can take. Look around you—ghostly winds are wailing, and the dead are crying. Doubtless, the resentment of these treasures is far too heavy, and they specialize in preying upon the blind."

He deliberately lowered his voice, adopting a spine-chilling tone. Combined with the flickering, dim light of the tomb chamber, he looked precisely like something straight out of a ghost story scene.

Miss Chen was somewhat unnerved by his words, her eyes darting frantically about as if she truly saw something unclean.

Her once arrogant momentum was more than half quenched by Jiang Yu's remarks, and the triumph on her face morphed into terror.

"You... stop trying to frighten me!" Miss Chen said, putting up a bold front while her voice trembled slightly.

She looked around the room, and the more she saw, the more eerie and terrifying the burial chamber felt, as if vengeful spirits might burst forth at any second to claim her life.

Seeing that she had already developed the intent to retreat, Jiang Yu pressed his advantage and said, "The mechanisms and traps in this ancient tomb are not child's play. If Miss Chen does not wish to become a funerary object in this crypt, you would do well to leave immediately."

Utterly terrified and losing her composure completely at Jiang Yu's words, Miss Chen tremblingly looked at the jade box in her hand, then at the pile of treasures behind Jiang Yu. Finally, she gritted her teeth and scuttled away with her subordinates in utter disgrace.

Watching Miss Chen's wretched and panicked retreat, Qu Wanqing could not help laughing out loud.

She walked over to Jiang Yu and praised him sincerely, "You fellow, you are getting better and better at playing the ghost."

Jiang Yu turned around to face Qu Wanqing, his eyes as tender as water.

He raised his hand and gently wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, his movements soft and careful.

The warm sensation of his fingertips caused Qu Wanqing's cheeks to flush slightly and her heartbeat to quicken.

In this peril-fraught ancient tomb, the affection between the two seemed to be quietly heating up.

"Wanqing, as long as you are safe, all is well." Jiang Yu's voice was low and magnetic, seemingly possessing a magical power to soothe her.

"This ancient tomb is fraught with danger. From here on, we must be even more careful."

Looking into Jiang Yu's focused eyes, Qu Wanqing felt her heart overflow with sweetness.

She nodded, the corners of her lips turning up slightly, and just as she was about to say something, she saw Jiang Yu suddenly make a silencing gesture.

He tilted his head to listen. "Something is wrong. Nearby..."

A cold wind swept through the tomb passage, making the torches sway unsteadily while the ghostly shadows on the walls danced wildly.

Having just chased away Miss Chen, before the group could even catch their breath, a new crisis eagerly leaped forth.

*Click, click*—a faint sound came from ahead, sounding exceptionally piercing in the silent tomb passage.

Qu Wanqing's heart tightened. Years of paranormal intuition told her there was danger ahead.

Sure enough, several stone doors suddenly dropped from above, trapping them within a narrow space. It felt just like playing an escape room, except the error tolerance was zero.

"Good grief, the tomb owner must be the founding ancestor of the anti-theft industry to have so many mechanisms!" Qu Wanqing could not help complaining. Why were ancient tombs always like mazes? Couldn't they make things a bit easier for posterity?

Was fate playing a joke on her, always throwing so many bizarre obstacles in her path?

She rubbed her brow, took a deep breath, swept her gaze across the surroundings, and forced herself to calm down.

The patterns on the mechanism stone doors were intricate and dazzling; without some brains, one really wouldn't be able to find a way out.

Although Hunter Zhang was cowardly, he was at least familiar with the terrain. Pointing to some faint traces on the wall, he said, "Second Young Miss, look at these totems. They seem somewhat different from the tomb passages we walked through earlier. This might be a clue to the mechanism."

Prompted by Hunter Zhang, Qu Wanqing carefully observed the patterns on the stone door.

An inspiration struck her. Combining this with the mechanism arts she had previously read about in books, she began attempting to crack the puzzle.

Analyzing as she went, she manipulated the mechanisms on the stone door. Her fingertips lightly brushed against the cold stone, feeling as though she were playing a game with the Grim Reaper.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, terrified of disturbing her.

Time ticked by second by second, and the air seemed to congeal.

Finally, with a crisp *click*, the stone door slowly began to open.

"Damn, Second Young Miss, is your brain hacked?" Liu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Jiang Yu also wore a look of approval, viewing Qu Wanqing's intelligence and resourcefulness with newfound respect.

The corners of Qu Wanqing's lips curled up slightly, and she felt a sense of satisfaction welling up from within.

However, this joy did not last long. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Liu stealthily exchanging a glance with one of Miss Chen's subordinates. That single look made her heart sink heavily.

In an instant, she understood that the brave warrior Liu was not as straightforward as he appeared on the surface.

The air seemed to grow thick and viscous, oppressive enough to make it hard to breathe.

Between Liu and Miss Chen, a greater conspiracy seemed to be lurking. In this perilous ancient tomb, everyone appeared to be harboring their own secret agendas.

"Let's go forward and take a look. There might be other mechanisms," Qu Wanqing said indifferently. Her voice was calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever, yet it gave Jiang Yu the distinct feeling that she had other thoughts on her mind.