Chapter 181: Chapter 180: Closing in on the Criminals!

Xu Ying continuously communicated with the fruit bat, adjusting their direction.

Just as they were about to exit the maze, Lou Yiqun suddenly stepped on a loose stone brick.

With a light “click,” the sound of stone rubbing came from above.

“Trap!” Qi Xiao suddenly dashed toward Xu Ying. A huge stone slab skimmed their backs and hit the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Xu Ying coughed and got up, finding that the stone slab had just separated the team into two halves—she, Qi Xiao, and Chen Su were in front, while Professor Mo and Lou Yiqun were trapped on the other side.

“Professor! Are you okay?” Xu Ying shouted anxiously.

“We’re fine!” Professor Mo’s voice came from the other side of the stone slab, “But this slab is too heavy; we can’t get across!”

Xu Ying’s bat flew back to her shoulder, squeaking to convey information.

She nodded, “The bat says there’s a control mechanism not far ahead that can reset the maze. Professor, wait there; we’ll be back soon!”

The three of them continued forward and soon reached a round stone chamber. In the center stood a pillar engraved with runes, surrounded by a complex star map on the floor.

“It’s the astronomical room of the Jingjue Kingdom,” Qi Xiao said, identifying the text on the pillar, “We need to rotate the pillar according to the correct sequence of stars.”

Chen Su glanced at his watch, frowning, “We don’t have time to solve puzzles.”

Xu Ying approached a corner of the room, and the image presented by her night vision goggles revealed a coiled-up Night Viper.

The Night Viper is a medium-sized venomous snake, a timid one that usually flees when faced with danger.

Afraid of scaring the Night Viper, Xu Ying patted her satchel: [Wang Er, go ask this Night Viper if it knows how to leave this astronomical room.]

King Cobra, Number Two, poked its head out from the satchel, slithered out, and quickly approached the Night Viper, cornering it.

It bared its fangs: [Hey, kid!]

[You’ve been here so long, do you know how to activate the mechanism here?]

The Night Viper trembled like a bullied child.

Xu Ying tapped Wang Er’s head, “Be polite when asking for help.”

Under the intimidation of the King Cobra, the Night Viper quickly gave in.

Listening to the Night Viper’s trembling hisses, Xu Ying turned to the others, “It says some tomb raiders have been here, let’s see how they did it…”

The Night Viper twisted its body, turning its head towards a few specific gemstones on the star map.

Following the instructions, Xu Ying pressed them in sequence, and the pillar emitted a dull rumbling sound, slowly starting to rotate.

The sound of walls moving echoed from afar.

Moments later, Professor Mo and Lou Yiqun joyfully found the maze had returned to its original state, quickly catching up with the team.

“Amazing!” Professor Mo exclaimed, “Little Xu Station Chief really accelerates our work efficiency unbelievably!”

Lou Yiqun, with an embarrassed smile, echoed the professor, “Yes, indeed.”

Throughout, Xu Ying led the way, leaving his knowledge unused. Remembering his words before entering the tomb, Lou Yiqun smiled sheepishly, eyes reddening unconsciously.

Xu Ying carefully returned the Night Viper to its place. Suddenly, the King Cobra on her wrist squirmed violently, pointing towards the depths of the passage.

The group had just stepped into the tomb passage when Xu Ying, with her keen hearing, suddenly grasped Qi Xiao’s arm, “Listen!”

A faint whimpering sound came from deep within the passage, resembling a woman’s soft weeping, yet also like the wailing of the wind.

Lou Yiqun’s face turned ghostly pale, his flashlight trembling slightly in his hand.

“Is… is it the crying of ghosts?” he stammered.

Qi Xiao suddenly crouched down, drawing a bronze dagger from his boot.

As the dagger was unsheathed, a crisp metallic scrape sounded, instantly silencing the whimpering noise.

“Not ghosts.” Qi Xiao tapped the tomb wall with the dagger, “It’s a ’Wind Sound’ mechanism, an anti-theft device by Han Dynasty craftsmen.”

He pointed to nearly invisible tiny holes on the wall, “When air flows through these holes, it produces human-like sounds.”

Professor Mo leaned in to examine, realizing suddenly, “It’s like the principle of a clay flute!”

“I’ve only read about this in literature; seeing it firsthand is truly astonishing,” he said, amazed at ancient wisdom.

Qi Xiao nodded, “This sound can disrupt one’s sense of direction.”

He gestured for everyone to look at the ground, “Notice the tomb raiders’ footprints, they circled here three times.”

Xu Ying, curious, asked, “Then why did the interfering sounds disappear when Qi Xiao unsheathed the bronze dagger?”

At first glance, it seemed the bronze weapon mystically silenced those ghostly cries, quite fantastical.

Professor Mo adjusted his glasses, explaining, “This is the principle of sound wave interference in modern physics.”

“The high-frequency metallic scrape of the unsheathing bronze dagger interfered destructively with those low-frequency whimpering sounds.”

“The peaks and troughs of both sound waves canceled each other, creating an instant acoustic silencing effect.”

So it’s not some mystical bronze charm suppressing ghostly cries, but a balance of physics.

“This silencing effect can last three to five minutes in the enclosed space of the tomb passage until the bronze’s vibration diminishes.”

“Han Dynasty craftsmen were indeed physical experts, mastering acoustics intricately.”

Hearing Professor Mo’s explanation, Xu Ying’s skin tingled with goosebumps, feeling the allure of archaeology.

The brilliance of ancient wisdom from millennia ago illuminated her path even now.

At this moment, the King Cobra on Xu Ying’s wrist sniffed: [There’s fresh human blood scent here; the thief you’re looking for is not far ahead.]

“The tomb raiders are just ahead!” Xu Ying whispered, “My snake smells fresh blood, and… the scent of metal and gunpowder.”

The team immediately switched to alert mode.

After a few turns, they came across a stone door violently pried open, revealing a spacious burial chamber inside.

The exquisite murals on the walls were blackened, and the lid of the central stone coffin was tipped onto one side.

“My God!” Professor Mo rushed into the burial chamber, feeling dizzy at the scene: “They… they’ve plundered the main chamber completely!”

The burial chamber was in complete disarray; the burial items were all looted, leaving only a few broken pottery pieces and scattered fabric scraps.

In one corner, several modern backpacks were piled, clearly left by the tomb raiders.

Chen Su checked the backpacks: “Food, water, tools… and this.”

He raised a small pouch, spilling out several gold coins and a Jade piece engraved with Jingjue script.

“Artifacts worth at least millions…” Professor Mo, stricken with grief, knelt on the ground, “The rest must have been taken.”

Xu Ying crouched down, noticing a few spiders scurrying rapidly across the burial chamber floor.

Moments later, she pointed to a concealed passage on the other side of the chamber, “They went this way, less than ten minutes ago. Someone was injured, the bloodstains are still fresh.”

Qi Xiao examined the passage, “It’s a craftsman’s passage, leading directly to the surface.”

“We have to catch up with them!” Chen Su gripped his pistol tightly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep