Chapter 49: The Gap

At that time, I had no concept of ancient tombs, let alone any knowledge of their structure or taboos. With my poor knowledge of history as a junior high school student, it was even less likely that I could make any relevant judgments about the characteristics of that ancient tomb.

The three of us, at that time, used the most rudimentary things to move forward in the tomb passage. All we could use were an oil lamp, some agarwood beads, a tiger claw that we didn’t know how to use, a somewhat wilted flower, a kitchen knife, a rolling pin, a few steamed buns, and a pot of water.

Although I am a student of metaphysics, Ling Ruyue is a descendant of the Gu family, and Su Rou is a good fighter, we are not even as capable of surviving in the tomb as an experienced tomb robber.

And this situation is not the worst. The worst thing is that I didn’t realize that my luck was at its lowest point. As long as there is a slight possibility, everything will develop in the fastest direction.

The tunnel seemed to be parallel, but there was a subtle downward slope. The three of us didn’t know at first that it was a visual game. It wasn’t until we had walked for three whole minutes that Su Rou suddenly turned around and realized that we had started to stand in a place that was almost invisible.

“Sanwa, I thought I was walking straight. Look!” Su Rou grabbed me and made me look back.

Ling Ruyue also noticed this problem. She pouted her lips and said softly, “How come Fat Brother discovered it first?”

When she said that, my face also turned ugly. If we are to talk about spiritual perception, I and Ling Ruyue are better than Su Rou, so why didn’t we notice it? Don’t think that the so-called spiritual perception is to discover ghosts, gods, and other things.

The specific explanation of spiritual perception is that you can use a feeling to detect subtle changes in your surroundings. It is a human ability to sense things, or in scientific terms, a sixth sense.

Su Rou was still not convinced and was arguing with Ling Ruyue, saying that I should have been able to discover it first. My mood was always gloomy because spiritual awareness was almost my greatest support. If it didn’t work at this time, we would be in danger in the tomb.

Could it be that the opening of the third eye just now caused it? I was thinking about my worries and walked forward with my head down. My dullness caused Su Rou and Ling Ruyue to stop arguing, but at that moment, Su Rou grabbed me, his face was more anxious than ever, and Ling Ruyue’s little face also turned pale in that moment.

“What are you doing?” I was suddenly pulled back and not spoken to, and I was a little angry. This was not some inexplicable anger caused by evil spirits, but rather a combination of environmental, psychological, and other factors.

In a dangerous environment, or even in a simple ritual, there is one major taboo, and that is an unstable heart. Laughing and cursing in everyday life is actually a form of venting and expression, and it can stabilize the heart.

This is a very simple process of stripping. If emotions are not in line with the heart, and if they accumulate, the heart will be buried. Therefore, often the true cultivators are not as refined as they are portrayed on TV. They are more straightforward.

But at this time, my heart suddenly felt a great gap. How bad is my personal situation?

“Sanwa, look for yourself.” Perhaps scared by my anger, Su Rou pointed to the ground with great care.

I looked down and saw that there was no way out under my feet! Below was a high embankment that was almost two meters high. What was at the bottom of the embankment was too dark to see clearly.

At that moment, I felt like my hair on my back was standing on end. It wasn’t that the ditch was scary, but that I didn’t even realize there was a ditch under my feet!

“I didn’t notice it either, but fortunately, Fat Brother blocked me.” Ling Ruyue’s face had not yet recovered, and it was obvious that falling down consciously and falling down unconsciously were two different things.

Why is this happening? My confusion was getting deeper and deeper, as if a lump had formed in my chest.

“I thought there was a road too. Look ahead,” Su Rou said, pointing ahead. There was a bridge in front of them, with two sculptures standing at the head of the bridge. However, with the dim light of the oil lamp, it was impossible to see what the sculptures were.

The gap appeared in front of the connection point between the bridge and the tomb road, and at this time the tomb road presented a strange upward angle. The gap was exactly in the middle, a visual blind spot, and if you weren’t paying attention, it was really not easy to find.

As for what was at the end of the bridge, I could no longer see.

The gap is not deep, but the width is not something we can scrape through. There is no wind in the tomb, and it is difficult for me to judge whether the bridge is empty or not. In short, in my personal opinion, this ancient tomb is too complicated, with a long tunnel and even a bridge.

“Sanwa, I think there’s something wrong with you and Ruyue. Who would come to a place like this without being careful? Why are you all like you’ve been possessed by a ghost? The gap is right at your feet, and you didn’t even notice it?” Su Rou said with some dissatisfaction.

Ling Ruyue and I looked at each other, but we had nothing to say. In fact, at the time, we didn’t know the reason either.

I could only explain it by saying that I had opened my eyes, and Ling Ruyue could only explain it by saying that she had commanded Hua Feifei to be too mentally exhausting. She had no idea that because the ghost that blocked the road was killed, the poison that Hua Feifei vomited was also counted as her karma.

“Forget it, take a break.” I was a little helpless, took the water bottle and gulped down a big sip, then closed my eyes and silently recited the master’s carefully-chosen mantra in my heart.

They didn’t understand why I was suddenly so tired, and could only wait silently on the side. The atmosphere was even more dull for a while.

After a long time, after reciting the carefully composed mantra seven times, I opened my eyes and said, “You see, we can’t go straight, because we can’t jump over this gap.”

“Then what?” Su Rou asked, obviously still haunted by the terrifying laughter. At this moment, he didn’t want to go back.

“We stay here?” Ling Ruyue interrupted, obviously the various things in the Hungry Ghost Tomb had made her lose her initial curiosity and excitement, especially her repeated ‘mistakes’. This feeling was very uncomfortable.

Spiritual awareness is important for Taoist priests, and for a sorcerer, why wouldn’t it be important?

“Otherwise, shall we retreat?” Su Rou said the most reluctant choice. He didn’t want to say it, but he had to.

I shook my head and said, “We still have a third choice, and that is to go down!”

Indeed, this is also an option. On the surface, stopping here is the best choice. Taking a step back and going back is better than going down. People are always terrified of the unknown, not to mention the dark crevice that appeared in the ancient tomb.

“What did you say? Sanwa, are you crazy?” Su Rou involuntarily shouted.

“No, it feels like burying yourself!” Ling Ruyue’s words were obviously much sharper, making people even more creepy.

“No, I have a reason for doing this. Do you know about formations? Don’t talk about metaphysics. It’s a formation that anyone who understands the spirit of architecture can use. I think this tomb passage is too strange. If we follow the road, we might get lost in the formation and not be able to get out.” This is my judgment. Of course, I am also a little sure. The formations that people like to play with the most are visual games that take advantage of people’s various visual blind spots.

If a road has such characteristics, it can basically be judged as a formation.

“This reason doesn’t work. Sanwa, this reason won’t convince me to go down.” Su Rou pointed to the dark hole.

“Listen to me! Any formation has a way out, and this way out is not necessarily a direct path or anything. It could also be a hint. Do you see that bridge? You know that the basic structure of a bridge requires piers, which means that the lower part of the bridge needs a certain amount of space. Have you ever built a curved bridge on flat ground? Have you seen it?” I said. In fact, I am not very knowledgeable about architecture. This is just a basic common sense.

After reciting the mantra of tranquility, my mind calmed down and I was able to analyze it in detail.

“But what does it matter? I can go back or stay where I am.” Su Rou felt that it was completely irrelevant.

“Yes, Third Brother, what does it matter?” Ling Ruyue was also puzzled.

“From what I know about formations, they are usually laid out to confuse and protect something. I don’t know about the tomb, but I can tell from this that the real tomb is below the tunnel, so that’s why I’m going down. This gap must be man-made!” I finally said all my thoughts!