Chapter 25: The Ancient Priest
After chanting “Orangutan,” the group became somewhat dazed. He asked, “So, do we continue or not?”
Eagle said, “What's there to be afraid of?! Aren't there curses in the tombs of the pharaohs in the Egyptian pyramids? What happened in the end? Most people came out fine, didn't they? Many even got rich because of it! Didn't we just hear? There must be quite a few treasures inside that dynasty. Brothers, this is our chance to get rich!”
The woman said nothing, only lightly furrowing her brows, while the others' eyes gleamed at the mention of wealth, and their fear immediately vanished. “Yes, this isn't the first time we've seen something like this; nothing to be afraid of,” boar shouted to bolster his courage.
Eagle said, “Big Monkey, check around for any mechanisms that can open this door. If that doesn't work, it's a pity to waste it—blow it up, and we'll just lose a few million.”
The woman said, “Wait a moment. I just remembered something.”
“What is it?”
“Didn't the boss send a team here first? Aside from the one without a head outside, where are the others?”
“Hmm, you mean the rest of the first team went inside?”
“Yes, which means none of them came out.”
Fear surged through their hearts again. The clattering sounds suddenly roused everyone from their thoughts—it was Eagle pulling the bolt a few times. “We've got this. Lark, if you're scared, you can stay outside to support us. Anyone else wants out? I won't stand in the way of money!”
The others all agreed: “Listen to Eagle.”
Lark stated, “I just wanted everyone to be careful, nothing else, I'll follow your lead.”
“Good, Big Monkey, move.”
The man called Big Monkey put on the infrared scope and scanned the surroundings. “Strange, there's nothing.” As he walked step by step, suddenly his left foot sank. Thinking he had stepped into a trap, he instinctively leapt back and sat on the ground. Seeing his movement, the others all dropped down as well. After a while, seeing nothing had happened, Eagle walked over slowly and found that a patch of ground about 30 centimeters in size had sunk about 20 centimeters deep. But there was nothing inside. He touched the walls of the pit and found nothing new.Just as he was thinking, the piece that had originally sunk suddenly rose again, and everyone looked around cautiously, fearing that something might jump out. A muffled rumbling sound came; it turned out the door began to tremble slightly. "Everyone, pay attention, the door is about to open."
The people unconsciously lifted their weapons and aimed them at the door in unison.
The stone door slowly opened like an elevator door. At first, there was a thread of light, then a few rays, and finally a broad light, but a shadow 'inserted' itself into it. The shadow increased, from one to two, from two to three... a horrifying scene appeared before them: four figures stood there—more accurately, not humans, but corpses. Some had half a head, half an arm, a chest with a bowl-sized hole, protruding eyeballs... Everyone gasped in horror. What had happened? Could there really be monsters?
After a long time, seeing that the corpses did not move, the group slowly advanced under the lead of Eagle. "Mountain Pig, blow them up." Eagle considered them obstructive, and the grotesque sight of the corpses made him extremely uncomfortable.
With a loud boom, the corpses turned to ashes, leaving no remnants. "We go in."
"Eagle, isn't it reckless to go in so boldly?"
"Mountain Chicken, you're too cautious. These dead people have already scouted the way for us, so just go in."
"Yes, yes, wise leader."
One by one, they entered. Before them was a large hall, with the floor and walls entirely covered in glazed tiles. At the center of the hall's ceiling, five huge luminous pearls were arranged in a pentagram shape, with one in the center. Beneath each corner pearl was a square crystal object, glaring under the light. On closer inspection, these were crystal coffins. Inside the pentagram-shaped crystal coffins lay five beautiful women, as if reborn: two in white sheer long dresses, two in black sheer long dresses, one split black and white. Each had crystal-clear skin and wore numerous ornaments, including pearls and agates. The middle coffin, however, was unclear; it contained a flowing thing like water, mist, and light, making the person inside appear hazy.
As they stared in astonishment, the stone door slammed shut again.
"Leader, the door has closed.""By the time they realized it, the door was already shut tight.
"Hmph, what's the point of keeping those explosives? Idiots!"
"I was momentarily confused." Hehe, that person laughed foolishly.
The others ignored him. "We've hit the jackpot! Just this luminous pearl alone is worth a lot of money!" Hahaha, the wild boar laughed proudly.
"Wild boar, the luminous pearls are not worth much at all; what's valuable are these people!" said the orangutan.
"Yes, the orangutan is right. What's valuable are these people! And look at the dense patterns on the walls around us, these are the things that are valuable. I think the boss is actually interested in these. As for the other stuff, we'll divide it among ourselves."
"I raise both hands in agreement."
"I firmly support it."
"Still a wise leader."
"Alright, it's decided. Take whatever you want from the coffins, but remember not to damage the people inside, or we won't be able to answer to the boss. But the coffin in the middle cannot be touched; I think there's something wrong inside, leave it for the boss. Each person takes one luminous pearl, and leave one for the boss. Clear?"
"Yessir!"
They started working, unloading all sorts of pearls, jade, metal ornaments. And that wasn't all. That person called Wild Boar, being naturally lecherous, went to kiss each person in the crystal coffins, and touched their private parts, including their thighs.
"Wild Boar, you're really terrible! You wouldn't dare want to commit necrophilia, would you?!" Hahaha, everyone laughed.
"Heroic nature! What do you know? They're so beautiful, I really want to strip them right here…" He realized a woman was present, so he didn't finish saying it.
"Pervert! Shameless!" The woman, knowing what he meant, glared at him fiercely: "Be careful, he's trouble!"
Hahaha, everyone laughed again, then bent back to busy going through the treasures. Maybe the woman was right, Wild Boar had indeed caused trouble: after being kissed by Wild Boar, the four women's fingers moved slightly, but everyone was too focused on looting the treasures to notice these changes.
"How's it going, have we taken enough? Save some for the boss too, otherwise he'll get suspicious!" The eagle scolded some people who were still putting items into the crystal coffins. After they were done, he said: "Good, start sealing the coffins. Take the luminous pearls when we leave."After all preparations were complete, the Eagle gave the order: “Blow the door!”
With a loud explosion, rubble scattered, and the door was blown to pieces. At the same time, the entire main hall shook violently after the blast. The people in it were panicked and at a loss, unable to stand steadily or run. The shaking subsided after a short while. Suddenly, the bead at the center of the ceiling emitted five red beams of light directed toward the five luminous pearls in the corners. Stimulated by the red beams, the five luminous pearls flashed blue incessantly and then emitted blue beams toward a pattern in the middle of the crystal coffin. Like the luminous pearls, the crystal coffin also emitted white light, shining continuously. Six crystal coffins slowly floated up, with the five around the central crystal coffin spinning faster and faster, forming multiple afterimages. After countless rotations, the five crystal coffins suddenly stopped and all descended back to their original positions.
“Ah!” A heavy sigh resounded, bringing immense pressure, as well as indescribable sorrow, hatred, and excitement mixed together, making it feel as if that mysterious person were oneself.
“Not good, the dead have risen. Move!” The Eagle gave the order. But turning around, he saw four people standing at the doorway—actually, not exactly people. They had clearly died before, and their deaths were gruesome.
“Do you want to leave?”
“Weren't you dead?” The Eagle tried to stay calm but couldn't.
“All phenomena are illusions. Shedding one shell makes it feel easier for us to live in this world. Join us!”
“Nonsense!” He said, lifting his gun to fire a volley. As mentioned earlier, these bullets had been treated by a feng shui master, making them quite effective against spirits—the 'people' who were shot disintegrated into drifting ghostly lights.
“Go!” After a few steps, he felt as if he hit a wall and fell backward to the ground.
Hehe, a few cold laughs rang out, and the figures reappeared, looking at them coldly.
“What's going on?”
“I told you: all phenomena are illusions. You cannot get out of that door.”
“Nonsense!” Another volley of gunfire erupted, but the bullets stopped right in front of them, as if held in place, then eventually fell.
As the bullets dropped, the tomb robbers' hearts sank.
“Boss, what should we do?”"The pheasant asked. The eagle hadn't answered yet before being interrupted. 'Who just insulted us?!' The woman's voice, tinged with indignation and shame. 'It's him!' The eagle reacted fastest, quickly pointing to the wild boar. 'Looking for death!' Before the wild boar could react, it was turned to dust by the blue light shot simultaneously from the five crystals. The only female tomb raider cursed: 'Hmph, deserved to die anyway.' She caught the attention of the mysterious figure. 'Why should he die?' 'If you are greedy for wealth, don't be lustful. Wanting both leads only to death.' Hehehe, the mysterious figure laughed, 'Well said. But before you came in, didn't you read the inscription on the door? Aren't you afraid of death?' 'Not afraid. I will die eventually anyway.' 'No, the 'death' I mean is special: just like them, never able to reincarnate, bearing my tens of thousands of years of suffering, until someone comes here to take their place. They are truly lucky, and you have arrived.' 'So what of it?' 'Here, you will live forever, but must face the greatest enemy: loneliness.' The woman paused for a moment but still said: 'Once we take this step, there's no turning back.' 'Good, I will let you go. You may leave.' 'High Priest, you promised us: as long as we find a substitute, you would allow us to reincarnate. If she leaves, one of the four of us must stay, and then you cannot keep your promise.' 'High Priest, please rest assured, we'll find more people to serve as substitutes.' The eagle suddenly interjected. 'Oh, you?' 'Yes. Our purpose here is treasure hunting. Now that we've found so many treasures, we definitely need people to carry them away. There will be many, so there will be no need to fight over substitutes; everyone can find one.' 'You are evil at heart, but your wisdom and courage are top-notch. Good, you are a very useful servant to me. Gather more people, and I will spare you!' 'Thank you, great High Priest!' 'Beasts require whips to subdue. You are the same! I will place a suppression seal on you.' As swiftly as lightning, the five crystal coffins simultaneously shot blue light at the eagle, branding a mark on his chest: inside the circle, a dragonfish chases its prey."“Rest assured, High Priest, I will do my best to handle things for you. However, I can't guarantee that they will obey, so…”
“Eagle, you!” The others were quite angry.
Hehe, the High Priest laughed and said, “Since you all came together, you should face the difficulties together. Do you want to leave him here alone?”
“High Priest, we will follow your orders.” The others still showed prudence in the face of danger. Following the procedure, they were all sealed with restriction marks.
“High Priest, I came with them. Although I have no personal feelings for them and the relationship is purely based on interests, after fighting together, I don't want to leave alone unscathed. I also ask you to place a restriction mark on me.”
“Oh, although your thieving behavior is lowly, your sense of loyalty is noble. As the saying goes: even thieves have their principles. You should stay by my side for now. When the time comes to leave, I will give you a generous reward. What is your name?”
“I have no name, only a code: Skylark.”
“Skylark? Good name. From now on, you will be called Skylark. You all get to work.”
“As you command, High Priest.” Eagle took out a communicator and reported to the boss:
