Chapter 4 That tomb gate is not an exit; it is an entrance!

Terry rolled his eyes at him. "He was insulting you!"

The tall, thin man looked astonished. "That can't be right. Isn't 'ghost' a compliment? Besides, I actually have a bit of cleverness."

Terry chose to ignore him.

Zhou Zeyi cleared his throat. "Ahem. Young Master Zhang is right to lecture us, but this tomb door is massive, and there is no mechanism to open it. If we want to get out, we have to blow it up. Desperate times call for desperate measures!"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Xuan, on the other end, fell silent. He disappeared from the camera frame. The group looked at each other in confusion.

"Where did he go?" Zhou Zeyi worried that he had offended Zhang Xuan.

Zhou Cheng scratched his head. "He probably ended the stream. Brother Xuan always rests at midnight."

Zhou Zeyi’s eyes widened. "What?"

The livestream audience had reached 120,000. These people were completely engrossed, and seeing Zhang Xuan leave without a word, they immediately panicked.

"????"

"Damn, it’s midnight. Is Brother Xuan really logging off?"

"No! Brother Xuan, don't go!"

"Brother Xuan, I know you love those 'Huazi' gifts. I’ll send them, just don't end the stream!"

"Brother Xuan, the Western Zhou tomb depends on you! You can't leave!"

Inside the tomb, the atmosphere was incredibly eerie. They had originally thought they could just blast their way out, but a single sentence from Zhang Xuan had stopped them in their tracks. To make matters worse, Zhang Xuan had vanished.

"Third Uncle, transfer me some money," Zhou Cheng said, staring intently at Zhou Zeyi.

Terry kicked him. "You brat, why do you need money now? Can you even spend it?"

Zhou Zeyi stopped Terry. "What do you need it for?"

Zhou Cheng rolled his eyes at Terry and said, "Brother Xuan ended the stream. He’s a streamer; if we want him to work overtime, we have to send gifts. Otherwise, why would he help us for free?"

Zhou Zeyi had an epiphany. "You’re right! I’ve seen you young people always sending those 'Huazi' gifts. Let’s send him a hundred of them! How much is that? Transfer it to me now." He pulled out his phone. Though they were underground, Zhou Cheng’s phone had been modified to pick up a signal.

Zhou Cheng looked surprised. "A hundred? Isn't that a bit much?"

Terry interjected, "Too much? Nothing of the sort. Third Master is a man of class; we can't be like you kids sending one or two—that would be embarrassing. Tell us the price."

Zhou Cheng replied, "You got it! It’s five thousand each—five hundred thousand!"

Zhou Zeyi hesitated, staring at Zhou Cheng in disbelief, but Zhou Cheng pressed, "Is it too much?"

Zhou Zeyi didn't say another word and transferred the money. Zhou Cheng’s fingers flew across the screen, bombarding the stream with 'Huazi' gifts. The audience was stunned.

"Holy crap, 300,000 worth of Huazi! Brother Xuan gets half, this kid just pocketed 200,000 for himself!"

"This kid isn't cheating his father, he’s cheating his uncle!"

"He’s a piece of work. His Third Uncle is a ruthless man; if he finds out this kid swindled him for 200,000, he’ll beat the living daylights out of him!"

"This is insane, a 300,000 overtime fee! Brother Xuan, hurry back!"

The hundred 'Huazi' gifts worked. Zhang Xuan’s hurried figure soon appeared back in the frame. Seeing the screen flooded with gifts, he looked surprised. "Thanks for the hundred Huazi, brother! You’re too kind!"

Zhang Xuan grinned and held up a grey model to the camera. "Can you see this clearly?"

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Zeyi’s excited voices rang out: "Yes!"

Zhou Cheng smirked at the others. "The 300,000 wasn't wasted, was it?"

Zhou Zeyi asked, "What?"

Zhou Cheng: "..."

"Listen to Brother Xuan."

The group went quiet, listening to Zhang Xuan’s voice: "Brothers, let me ask you: who told you that the tomb door is the exit?"

Zhou Zeyi asked, "What?" The others were equally confused. If it wasn't an exit, what else could it be? The question left them speechless.

Zhang Xuan turned the camera toward the grey model. Zhou Cheng finally saw that it was a hand-carved wooden model of a stone door structure.

"Recognize it?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Zhou Zeyi nodded.

"I carved this for fun in my spare time, and it happens to come in handy," Zhang Xuan said. "Although it’s different from the stone door in front of you, the principle is the same. This is a door: the front is the mechanism, and the back is the Dragon-Severing Stone. The opening mechanism is in the front, and the stone is behind the door."

Zhou Cheng nodded repeatedly. He had seen sketches of tomb doors, but this was his first time seeing a model.

Zhang Xuan looked at Zhou Zeyi. "Third Uncle, do you understand what I mean? If you don't, turn around and take a look. Think about which side is the front and which is the back."

Zhou Zeyi seemed to realize something. He whipped around, and upon inspecting the structure of the stone door, he gasped. "Wrong, it’s all wrong!"

Terry was still dazed. "What’s wrong?"

The tall, thin man suddenly exclaimed, "Third Master! There’s no Dragon-Severing Stone on the outside, which means it’s on the inside! We’re standing outside the door, not inside!"

Zhou Zeyi nodded. "Exactly! This probably isn't the tomb door of the Zhou Emperor; it’s likely the main gate of the Warring States tomb we’ve been searching for!"

Terry’s eyes widened. "What?"

After his initial shock, Zhou Cheng looked at Zhang Xuan, who was holding the model and giving a thumbs up. A wave of awe washed over him.

"A single word wakes the dreamer!" Zhou Zeyi sighed with emotion. As a veteran, he had overlooked such an obvious detail—it was inexcusable! But then he regained his composure. "Wait, that’s not right. If the Dragon-Severing Stone is on the back, the door is even harder to open. How can we not blow it up?"

Zhou Cheng added, "Yeah, Brother Xuan. If we don't blow it up, how are we getting out?"

Zhang Xuan put down the model and faced the camera directly. "Go ahead and blow it up then. I guarantee you’ll trigger something you won't like."

Zhou Zeyi blinked. "So, there’s a problem with this stone door. Young Master Zhang, could you enlighten us?"

Zhang Xuan said, "You already noticed that the human face on the door has been staring at you, right? First, let me tell you, that’s no ghost, and it’s certainly not the Mona Lisa’s smile."

Zhou Zeyi looked anxious. "Then what is it?"

Zhang Xuan tilted his head and spotted the tall, thin man on screen. "Didn't he just go to set the explosives on the stone door? He must have discovered the issue with the face, right?"

The three of them immediately turned to the tall, thin man. Terry glared at him. "Brother, what did you find? Why didn't you say anything?"

Seeing their intense gazes, the man hurriedly explained, "I was just so focused on listening to Young Master Zhang’s analysis that I forgot! It’s insect eggs!"

Zhou Zeyi narrowed his eyes at the glowing, fluorescent face. "You mean the face is made of insect eggs?"