“Go down.”
Lu Feng tugged at the rope, making sure it was secure.
He held onto the rope with one hand and jumped into the crevice.
“Damn!”
Wang Pangzi’s eyes widened in disbelief at Lu Feng’s boldness.
Hu Ba Yi, Xue Li Yang, and the others all ran to the edge and looked down, discovering that Lu Feng was already pressed against the rock wall, holding onto the rope with one hand and running towards the bottom of the valley.
“Comrade Lu Feng’s ability is truly amazing!” Professor Chen was shocked.
Even Sa Di Peng and the others, despite their dislike for Lu Feng, couldn’t help but admire him.
“Let’s go down too.”
Xue Li Yang said, grabbing the rope and going down into the valley.
Wang Pangzi was the slowest to move. By the time Professor Chen and the others reached the bottom of the valley, Wang Pangzi hadn’t yet arrived. They waited for him in place.
Lu Feng observed the surroundings and noticed a lot of animal bones, as well as human bones.
He walked over and silently put on his Ice Silkworm gloves. He slowly took out his bundle and rummaged through a bunch of useless items.
Besides those, there was also a pistol.
“Judging by the clothes, these were members of the expedition team. And this pistol is the one they carried,” Xue Li Yang said with a heavy heart.
“Lu Feng, do you think they might have been attacked by Fireflies?” Wang Pangzi asked.
Lu Feng shook his head: “If they were, there wouldn’t be any bodies left. Since we’re all here, let’s move on.”
“Which way should we go now?” Wang Pangzi said.
“This way.”
Lu Feng shone his flashlight northward. There was no way to go south, so it was pointless to waste their energy and time.
“Follow me!”
Xue Li Yang was initially unsure which direction to go, but she followed Lu Feng’s lead.
Lu Feng walked ahead, leading the way.
The path was long.
As they went, the terrain became lower.
They walked for three or four hours without any findings.
Nighttime had arrived.
Lu Feng told everyone to stop and rest for the night in the crevice.
They ate, drank, and rested as quickly as possible.
“Miss Yang, you and your team will guard the first half of the night, three hours. After that, Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pangzi will take over. I’ll take the last shift. Get some rest, everyone.”
“Okay.”
Xue Li Yang, Hao Ai Guo, and Sa Di Peng took turns on watch duty.
Professor Chen, with his old bones, couldn’t possibly stay up all night.
The night passed without incident.
At six in the morning, Lu Feng woke everyone up and they continued on their journey.
They walked for another six or seven hours, exhausting Professor Chen.
Thankfully, the underground space was getting larger, making Xue Li Yang and the others increasingly excited.
After another hour of walking, the terrain became flat and a passage appeared on the rock wall. Lu Feng vaguely heard the sound of running water.
“How come there’s a cave here?”
“Let’s go in.”
They walked for another ten minutes along the passage. Xue Li Yang listened carefully: “There’s the sound of water. There’s an underground river ahead.”
Everyone was excited to hear this and quickened their pace.
Soon, they arrived at the edge of the underground river.
The space suddenly became wider.
Everyone immediately began to observe.
Lu Feng took out a cold flame rod and threw it to the opposite bank: “Everyone take a break. We’ll be crossing the river by boat soon.”
The underground river was over thirty meters wide. The light from the flashlight reached the bottom of the river, where they could see a few fish over a meter long.
Lu Feng was somewhat surprised.
These fish had lived in this isolated environment for so long, their flesh would be extraordinary. They were rich in nutrition, a real delicacy.
“This water’s not shallow, are we going to wade through it?” Hao Ai Guo frowned.
“We have inflatable boats in our expedition gear. We’ll cross in those, so don’t worry,” Xue Li Yang said calmly.
“Everyone, come look! There are characters here.” Sa Di Peng exclaimed happily.
Lu Feng looked at the characters on the wall. They were the same as those on Pangzi’s jade pendant, the ghost hole script of the Kingdom of Jingjue, but their meaning remained unknown.
“Why does this writing seem so familiar?” Wang Pangzi was a bit surprised.
“Comrade Xiao Wang, could you let me see your jade pendant again?” Professor Chen’s expression was one of excitement.
“You’re suspecting that this writing is the same as the one on my jade pendant?” Wang Pangzi pulled the jade pendant from his chest. “What kind of writing is it?”
“It’s the ghost hole script.”
“What script?”
“This is the writing of the Kingdom of Jingjue.”
“The Kingdom of Jingjue was located in the Western Regions during the Western Han Dynasty. We found the ghost hole script here, which means we’re not far from the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda.” Professor Chen said.
“What’s the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda?”
Wang Pangzi’s face changed and he quietly moved to Lu Feng’s side.
Only when he was next to Lu Feng did he feel safe.
“That’s the form of burial for the monarchs of the demon kingdom. It’s shaped like a pyramid, nine stories high, hence the name Nine-Story Demon Pagoda.”
“Wait a minute!”
Hu Ba Yi’s expression wasn’t good: “Aren’t you guys looking for the expedition team? It sounds like you’re actually looking for some demon pagoda.”
“That expedition team came to the Kunlun Icefields to look for the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda back then.”
“If we find the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda, can we find the clues to the expedition team? And if we find the expedition team, we can find the diary.”
When Hu Ba Yi heard this, he didn’t say anything more.
“Comrade Xiao Wang, how did you get your jade pendant?” Professor Chen asked.
“I was suppressing bandits in the Niya Oasis back in the day, and I even killed the leader. I got this jade from his body…” Wang Pangzi started blabbering.
Lu Feng and Hu Ba Yi knew he was bragging and simply smiled without saying anything.
After his bragging was done.
Wang Pangzi changed the subject: “Professor Chen, you said that the Kingdom of Jingjue was a kingdom from the Western Han Dynasty, so my antique jade must be from the Western Han Dynasty, right?”
“I took a look, and it’s indeed from the Western Han Dynasty.”
“Compared to Liao and Jin antique jade, which is more valuable?”
“Cultural relics can’t be measured in terms of money!”
“But there must be a pri——”
“Pangzi!”
Hu Ba Yi quickly stopped Wang Pangzi, giving him a fierce glare.
PS: Thanks to Mangu and 9378 for their monthly ticket support.