Ghost Talisman Scripture: No Living People Allowed.

Chapter Nine: The Flip-Panel Trap

Seeing me remain silent for so long, Xiao Xi assumed I was poisoned and burst into tears.

Knowing the poison on the tomb door was extremely potent, she knew she was doomed.

She choked out, "I know it was wrong of me to bring you here, but you're such a kind person. After I die, can you take me out of the tomb?

I don't want to live with a complete stranger from ancient times… Waaah…" Her sobs grew more and more heartbreaking, making me feel a pang of sorrow.

I was about to tell her she wasn't poisoned, but then I thought, who knows what this girl might be up to? I'll leave it at that for now, and deal with it after we get out of the tomb.

So I sighed and said, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here.

But the poison doesn't seem as potent as you think. If we're quick, we should be able to save your life."

"Really?"

The girl stopped crying, frowned, and shivered, saying strangely, "I can't feel anything in my back. Maybe the poison is slow-acting.

But you absolutely can't leave me behind. You promised to take me out, and a man keeps his promise!"

I nodded with a wry smile, "I always keep my word. I'll get you out of here, no matter what."

Xiao Xi glanced at me, wiped her tears, and struggled to get up, but the fall she'd just had was quite hard, and she collapsed back down in pain.

I said, "Let me carry you. You didn't even hug me, so we don't need to worry about who's taking advantage of whom."

However, you can't wear that protective suit anymore, to prevent the poison from spreading and making you even more severely poisoned.

Whatever I said, she agreed immediately, now as docile as a kitten.

They said they'd carry me, but I didn't pull me up because of the three-meter-deep pit—how were we going to get out?

Xiaoxi suddenly realized something: "This is a kind of trapdoor mechanism in ancient tombs. Traps usually have sharp blades, but we fell in and there's nothing there!

Strange, the bottom of the pit is all loose soil. That doesn't make sense!"

I scoffed and said, "Building traps in ancient tombs is inherently illogical. I think staying alive is the most scientific thing to do."

After saying that, I realized how unbelievable it was. You're saying that some i***t didn't use a blade when building the trap? Isn't that just a way to rip people off?

I looked down and shone my flashlight around, and strangely, I found footprints in the soil near the wall—shoe prints!

I wasn't wearing shoes, and Xiaoxi's shoes had long been washed away in the river. We both had footprints. Where did these shoe prints come from?

I crouched down for a closer look. It appeared to be the print of a pair of cloth shoes, bare and without any patterns. Just as I was beginning to guess what it might be, Xiaoxi said, "This tomb must have been robbed before. Someone entered the passageway and unexpectedly fell into a trapdoor.

But this person was incredibly skilled; they weren't killed by the sharp blade, but instead…"

At this point, I realized something was still off. Where did the sharp blade go?

I dug a few times in the soil, and not far down, I saw a sharp knife lying horizontally. The tomb robber had pulled it out, but why bury it in the ground?

This tomb robber was quite eccentric. Perhaps he was thinking of future generations?

As we pondered the reason, we heard a rustling crawling sound from above, and we were instantly terrified.

The Black-browed Viper had caught up again. This time, trapped in a palm-sized trap, there was absolutely no way out.

Xiaoxi panicked, repeatedly asking, "What do we do? What do we do?"

The more urgently they asked, the more frustrated I became. If I knew what to do, would I be frowning like this?

Hearing the agonizing crawling sounds, my heart was in my throat. Looking around, a sudden idea struck me: I could dig a hole in the pit wall for us to hide in, then seal it with mud. Would that save us?

There was no other way. I took out the switchblade, extended the blade, and forcefully stabbed at the left wall.

Luckily, it was all mud. It easily crumbled, collapsing in a large section, revealing a meter-square opening.

Xiao Xi and I froze, then we both understood why the knife was buried in mud. It turned out the tomb raiders had found the top too high to climb, and the passageway contained other traps; even if they had made it up, they would have been caught in one.

So they dug another one here.

But this guy was dishonest; after digging a passage, he blocked the entrance with mud so no one could use it.

I was immediately delighted. It truly was a case of "when one door closes, another opens," and even Xiaoxi laughed happily.

Without a word, I gave Xiaoxi the switchblade and small mirror, and first, I climbed in with a flashlight. The space was narrow, but it didn't hinder movement.

However, there was no turning back. I had to retreat, letting Xiaoxi grab my feet, and together we struggled forward.

The tomb was on a slope. Xiaoxi gritted her teeth, desperately pulling on my feet to climb, which stirred a strange feeling within me.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but a strange thought crossed my mind: no matter what, I had to get this girl out.

Was it because she was pretty? I wondered. Given our current situation, I had this unsettling feeling of being each other's only support.

The tomb was dug according to the length of the passage; the exit should be in the tomb chamber. Because of Xiaoxi's slow pace, the climb was arduous and exhausting.

However, since we didn't hear any vipers crawling behind us or smell any foul odor, we gradually relaxed.

After climbing for a while, we finally reached the end, only to find that the path was blocked by a large rock.

I was so angry I wanted to curse. Being stuck in a dead end, unable to turn around, would have been better off dying in a trap.

"Look, there's a shovel left by tomb raiders here."

Xiaoxi handed me a shovel.

I took it and examined it. The shovel head was cylindrical; I had no idea what it was for.

But having the shovel gave me an idea. I had Xiaoxi position herself to the left of the tomb raiders, and I used the shovel to dig upwards, then shoveled the excavated soil to Xiaoxi's feet. In no time, a mound of earth had formed.

Suddenly, we smelled a foul, fishy odor, but heard nothing. We both jumped in surprise, realizing that the vipers crawling on the loose soil couldn't make a sound.

We quickly grabbed our flashlights and shone them back, discovering a large swarm of black-browed vipers about ten meters away, frantically climbing up the mound.

Xiaoxi's face paled even more with fright. She grabbed my foot and cried, "They're here!"

I grunted but didn't say anything, continuing to shovel soil. The mound behind us grew higher and higher, finally almost sealing the entrance. Just then, the vipers reached us.

Xiaoxi hadn't completely lost heart. She lowered herself a foot, braced her feet against the mound, and desperately piled soil on top.

But just as the mound was about to close, a snake slithered in.

At that moment, I shoveled a handful of soil back, hitting the viper squarely on the head and knocking it aside.

Xiao Xi panicked and started climbing back. It's said that when a person is in a life-or-death situation, they can unleash unimaginable potential. She actually climbed up to my feet without stopping and continued climbing back up, managing to climb past me from the side.