Three hours later, we arrived at the scene. The area had already been cordoned off by local police. Old Mo approached the officer in charge, flashed his credentials, and after a brief conversation, all the police retreated about two hundred meters away. Our vehicle drove straight up to the tomb entrance.
With no outsiders present, the Unit Two investigators had no need to hide their actions. They surrounded the tomb entrance as Ximen Lian pulled out about a dozen talisman papers, ignited them, and tossed them down into the tomb. As the burning charms fluttered downward, just before they reached the bottom, a sudden gust of wind surged up from the tomb, blasting the flames and ashes right back up into the air.
The expressions on everyone's faces around the tomb shifted instantly. Almost in unison, they drew their pistols and aimed at the opening. But after a long moment passed without any further movement from within, no one pulled the trigger.
I recognized what they were doing. This was a method for probing the presence of malicious entities within a tomb—practically a standard operating procedure for the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. That said, back in the day, Unit Two rarely had to rely on such techniques. Their old Director Qiu had been a blunt-force type—charge in first, smash things later. Now that Qiu was gone, Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian had no choice but to dust off these old-school practices.
The fact that all the talisman papers had been blown back up indicated that the zombie was likely very close. But because of the angle of the tomb shaft, we could only see straight down—any blind spots were entirely hidden, making it impossible to say what else might be lurking.
Just as Unit Two was preparing for the next step, Yinbai, who no one had noticed waking up, strolled off the vehicle and ambled over to where I stood. It sniffed toward the tomb entrance, flared its nostrils a few times, then, just when I thought it had picked up something interesting, it yawned, turned around, and—tail pointed at the tomb—flopped down and went back to sleep.
I had hoped Yinbai might give us a surprise edge here, but apparently, the tomb's malevolent presence didn't even interest him. Fortunately, the Unit Two folks hadn't noticed Yinbai's performance, because their next move was already underway.
After a quiet exchange between Ximen Lian and Old Mo, the latter went back to the vehicle and returned with a plastic container. He opened it and poured its contents—a pale blue liquid—down the shaft. As he did, Ximen Lian lit another talisman paper and tossed it in after the liquid.
The moment the burning charm touched the tomb floor, there was a whoosh—blue flames roared to life. The vivid firelight bathed the surrounding tomb entrance in an eerie glow that made the scene even more unsettling. I didn't recognize this technique—it must be some new method Unit Two developed in recent years. I was tempted to ask someone what the blue fire was all about, but seeing how tense everyone had become, I swallowed my question.
The flames blazed up violently, but faded quickly. After just about a minute, the blue fire extinguished on its own. At the exact moment the flames died out, Ximen Lian suddenly leapt straight into the tomb. A moment later, sharp gunshots rang out—bang! bang! bang!
Something's wrong! That was my first thought. But strangely, none of the others from Unit Two showed any alarm. Two or three seconds later, Ximen's voice echoed up from the shaft: "All clear down here! You guys can come in!"
Only then did I realize those gunshots were just him "testing the water"—a noisy but harmless way to ensure nothing was lurking in the shadows.
At his signal, the rest of Unit Two filed down the tomb one after another. I was just about to follow them when Old Mo reached out to stop me. "Lazi, follow protocol," he said. "You're the support from Unit Six—you stay topside for now. If anything happens, we'll call for backup. Though hopefully, it won't come to that."
As soon as Old Mo finished speaking, he was the last to jump into the tomb. The area above the entrance fell silent. I crouched by the edge, tilting my head to listen closely to the muffled voices below, when Yinbai—who'd been lying quietly at my feet—suddenly shot upright with a low whoosh. It arched its back, bared its fangs, and growled viciously toward the tomb entrance.
At that exact moment, a thunderous boom erupted from within the tomb, followed by a burst of rapid gunfire—bang bang bang bang bang! The gunfire hadn't even ceased when Ximen Lian's panicked voice echoed up from the depths, "Lazi! Get down here! Help us!"
He was yelling at the top of his lungs, his voice reverberating with desperation. It sounded like he had already reached deep into the tomb. Meanwhile, every strand of fur on Yinbai's body stood on end. It kept growling low toward the tomb, and something even more disturbing—aside from the Unit Two agents who had gone in, I couldn't sense a single presence down there. Ever since I'd awakened, I had been able to sense even the slightest aura—from Yang Xiao to Lin Feng. But now… could it be that whatever was in this tomb was stronger than even those two?
Yinbai's fur was shifting from gray to stark white. It became visibly agitated, twisting its neck back and trying to bite off the cord Wu Rendi had tied around its neck. Unfortunately, Wu had tied the thing with such maddening precision that while it looked loose, Yinbai's jaws couldn't reach it no matter how hard it tried—only managing to lick it with his tongue a couple times. Out of frustration, Yinbai lifted its head and let out a long, echoing howl: "Awooooooo…"
Well, I had a weapon of mass destruction at my feet. No reason not to use it. Without further hesitation, I yanked off the leash.
Yinbai let out a sharp yelp, then launched forward like a bolt of white lightning straight toward the tomb entrance. My heart had barely had time to settle when it leapt over the opening entirely and vanished into the shadows.
"Come back! You overshot it!" I shouted after him in disbelief. One crisis wasn't even resolved before the next one hit. What the hell was this mess? If Yinbai ended up bolting on me now, how the hell was I supposed to explain this to Wu Rendi when we got back?
Then, faintly from deep within the tomb, came Ximen Lian's voice again: "Shen La! Don't come down! Get out of here! Tell Director Wu to avenge us!"
After a line like that—how could I not go down?
I tore off my outer jacket, drew the short sword, and leapt into the tomb.
Gunfire was still ringing out from deeper within. After just a few steps, I saw a headless body—it didn't belong to anyone from Unit Two, so likely one of the earlier archaeologists. Continuing on, I passed more fallen members of the archaeological team. One of Unit Two's agents was lying unconscious on the ground—both legs bent at impossible angles. His injuries looked serious, but his chest was rising and falling. He was still alive, at least for now.
As intermittent gunfire echoed from ahead, I ran toward it. Rounding a corner, I reached the area where the earlier footage had shown everything go wrong.
The scene had changed. The entire tamped-earth wall had collapsed, revealing an inner chamber nearly the size of a basketball court. Right where the wall had fallen, three or four Unit Two agents were helping two wounded colleagues limp away. At the center of the chamber stood a massive sarcophagus, with several figures circling it rapidly.
Those circling the sarcophagus were Old Mo, Ximen Lian, and Xiong Wanyi—and hot on their heels was a "man" dressed in full Qing-dynasty Manchu armor, complete with a metallic facemask. His body was fully encased, not a patch of flesh visible. That armor was unusual—it must've been what shielded his aura earlier. Clearly, this was the zombie that had attacked the archaeologists. But wasn't this tomb supposed to belong to a Qing Dynasty Zhuangyuan? Why was this inside?
The zombie's movements were agile—none of the stiffness portrayed in movies. But Ximen, Old Mo, and Xiong Wanyi ran even faster. Whenever the zombie gave up on chasing them and turned to pursue the others who had made it out, one of the trio would fire at it. Though the bullets were blocked by its armor, they were enough to redirect its attention, buying time for their teammates to escape.
But by now, the three were being run ragged. If I hadn't come down, they would've been caught eventually.
The escaping agents who had made it out saw me and lit up as if salvation had arrived. One of them shouted, "Help them! Hurry!"
That shout caught the zombie's attention again. It abruptly gave up on chasing Ximen's team, spun on its heel, and bolted toward us. Gunfire rang out again behind it, but after four or five shots—click—the guns fell silent. They were out of ammo.
"Split up and run! Don't worry about each other—if even one survives, that's enough!" Ximen Lian shouted. All three of them drew their collapsible batons and staggered toward us.
The zombie was already upon the retreating investigators. Its left arm swung toward the back of one of their heads—there was no time to hesitate.
I hurled the short sword in my hand directly at the zombie's wrist.
A clap of thunder echoed through the tomb the moment the blade left my hand. A flash of blue lightning tore through the air as the sword severed the zombie's left hand cleanly at the wrist. After a half-second pause, a stream of thick, foul-smelling black fluid sprayed from the stump. The zombie staggered back, knocked off balance by the sword's force, and collapsed in a seizure-like spasm. It looked genuinely wounded.
The sword didn't stop there. After severing the wrist, it continued on—piercing through two layers of the sarcophagus before embedding itself hilt-deep in the far earthen wall.
Everything froze.
The entire chamber stood still for a beat. All eyes turned toward me—dozens of astonished gazes locked on, but no one spoke. The moment seemed carved in stone.
I hadn't expected the short sword to be that powerful. The one my third uncle gave me was strong, sure—but nothing like this. This thing came with its own thunderclap and lightning arc. When it struck, it felt like it sliced through the very air.
Xiong Wanyi was the first to react. He glanced back at the sword embedded in the wall, muttering, "What a fine piece… Lazi, that came from Director Wu, didn't it? Gotta say, your Unit Six really knows how to stock good gear."
He began walking toward the wall, apparently intending to retrieve the blade for me. I quickly called out, "Old Xiong! Don't touch it! Be careful!"
"What, you think I'm three years old? Relax, I'm not stealing your toy. I just wanna—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
The moment his hand closed around the sword's hilt, his body jolted as if struck by lightning, convulsing violently. Ximen and Old Mo rushed forward instinctively, but seeing Xiong's condition, they hesitated, unsure what was happening.
Thankfully, it only lasted a moment. Xiong Wanyi reacted fast—he shoved the wall with his other hand, using the momentum to stumble back several paces before collapsing onto the floor. That finally broke contact with the sword.
After sitting there for a moment catching his breath, he slowly got to his feet, brushed the dust off his pants, and muttered, "What the hell kinda sword is that, Lazi? Comes with anti-theft mode, huh?"
I chuckled. I was just about to make a smart remark when—
The zombie, who'd collapsed a moment ago, suddenly shot upright with no warning at all.
Damn. It had recovered that fast? I should've gone for the neck.