Only when all six petals are lit will the central mechanism be activated— Xiao Lou's deduction was indeed correct.
What is the secret behind Herbal Hut?
Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan, and Lao Mo stepped forward and grabbed the three corners of Herbal Hut, spinning it vigorously. They thought that once all six colored talismans were lit, the Herbal Hut could continue spinning, but…
The three of them tried their best, but the Herbal Hut still wouldn't turn.
Yu Hanjiang looked up and asked, "Isn't the headquarters located at Herbal Hut?"
However, apart from the Herbal Hut in the middle of the entire secret room, no hidden compartments were found in the floor, and the six walls were also carefully checked and no mechanisms were found.
Xiao Lou frowned and observed his surroundings.
An ever-burning lamp?
He went over and tried turning the eternal lights on all six walls.
It can't be turned or moved; the ever-burning light is fixed in place, so it shouldn't be a mechanism.
It's not the surrounding walls, not in Herbal Hut, not the ever-burning lamp, not on the ground... so where could the mechanism be?
Xiao Lou suddenly raised his head.
roof!
The secret room is only so big. The floor, walls, and Herbal Hut have all been ruled out, so only the roof is left.
Who would have thought that the mechanisms of an underground tomb would be on the roof?
Xiao Lou said, "Pay close attention to the masks on the roof."
The masks were colorful and covered with all sorts of strange patterns. They were so numerous they covered the entire ceiling that Xiao Lou couldn't see them clearly and looked to Yu Hanjiang for help …
Yu Hanjiang understood instantly and immediately hugged Xiao Lou. The Lightness Skill took flight.
Upon closer inspection, Xiao Lou discovered that these masks also had totems corresponding to the six paths of reincarnation. He tried removing the black mask corresponding to the Hell Path in the very center, and the area covered by the mask was a stone brick with the corresponding incantation.
Xiao Lou quickly removed six masks of different colors, revealing six complete stone bricks.
He quickly moved the stone bricks to align them with the runes on the six walls—
Suddenly, a deafening roar filled everyone's ears.
The entire six paths of reincarnation began to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
Herbal Hut in the middle of the secret room suddenly sank, revealing a bottomless slide. Yu Hanjiang carried Xiao Lou back to the ground, and the two of them came to the side of Herbal Hut and looked down.
This slide has no end in sight, and we have no idea where it leads.
But one thing is certain: this is the exit from the petal-shaped maze we've encountered so far.
Xiao Lou pressed the voice headset and told Gui Yuanzhang how to solve the mechanism: "Senior, the mechanism is on the roof. Remove the mask in the very center and the one of the six colors. Six stone bricks with runes drawn on them will appear. Adjust their positions to correspond to the six paths of reincarnation, and the Herbal Hut will be activated."
Soon, he heard Gui Yuanzhang's voice: " Another secret room has appeared beneath the Herbal Hut. Shall we go in and take a look?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "Okay, let's keep in touch."
Both teams simultaneously entered the depths of the maze via the slide beneath Herbal Hut.
**
A moment later, a man and a woman emerged from the stone door at the entrance of the Asura Path and entered the secret chamber of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
They were dressed in black bodysuits for easy movement, and both wore silver-white metal masks that obscured their faces; however, their eyes were cold and sharp.
They discovered that Herbal Hut had sunk and revealed an exit, and the two exchanged a glance.
The man said coldly, "It seems they have found the exit of the Reincarnation Chamber."
The woman frowned, a hint of displeasure in her voice: "The exit is actually under Herbal Hut... We split up and entered different reincarnation gates to intercept them, but we missed them every time, and ended up injured all over. If we had known, we should have waited for them in the secret chamber of the Six Paths of Reincarnation."
The man glanced at her and said calmly, "What's the rush? It's not like we have to kill Lu Jiuchuan this time. The boss just wants us to follow them and find out their strength. We don't even know how many people are in their team. Even if you want to make a move, you might not succeed."
The woman thought for a moment and nodded, "That's true." Her gaze swept around the room, finally settling on the wall of Hell Path. "Where is she? Why hasn't she come out yet?"
"They're probably dead in Hell Path." The man walked to the front of Herbal Hut, glanced at the steps leading down, picked up a walkie-talkie, and said, "Everyone, listen up. There's a mechanism under Herbal Hut in the middle of the Six Paths of Reincarnation chamber. Keep tracking, but be careful not to get discovered."
"Yes." Several echoes rang in his ears. The man leaped and slid down quickly with his companion.
**
A long corridor appeared before them, paved with stone slabs that made a "tap-tap" sound when stepped on. Yu Hanjiang picked up the luminous pearl and led the way, with Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan, and Lao Mo following closely behind. Tang Ci and Liu Qiao, still the size of thumbs, were kept in their pockets.
As Xiao Lou walked, he noticed many murals appearing on the walls.
The first painting depicts the birth of a baby, a child of noble birth, for whom a grand priestly ceremony is held. The second painting shows a grown-up child, dressed in colorful clothes and with beautiful braids… a girl.
Then comes the story of her marriage.
Bright red wedding dress, phoenix coronet and embroidered brocade
The wedding was a grand affair, complete with a magnificent procession of ceremonial guards. The wedding banquet was a lively affair, and the entire wedding mural was five meters long.
Because the figures in the murals were so lifelike, everyone quickly understood the content of the three paintings. Strangely, the murals abruptly ended at the scene of the wedding night. Liu Qiao couldn't help but wonder, "What about her story after she got married? Logically speaking, if the murals represent the life experiences of the tomb's occupant, they should have continued until the occupant's death. There's no reason why they only depicted half of it, is there?"
Xiao Lou stared at the mural, lost in thought.
The murals use a lot of red, like bloodstains, which gives them an eerie feel in the dark tunnel.
He used Telepathic Connection to ask Ye Qi, "Xiao Ye, what have you found over there?"
Ye Qi said, "Some murals appeared on the wall, depicting the life of a woman, from her birth to her marriage..."
Xiao Lou: "And after you get married?"
Ye Qi stopped in her tracks, somewhat puzzled: "After she got married, it was gone. The walls behind her are all empty."
Hearing this, Xiao Lou's strange feeling intensified. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said softly, "This week's Weekly Routine theme is ' Tomb of the Headless General.' The owner of the tomb is probably not a simple general."
Yu Hanjiang stopped in front of the last mural: "Could it be this woman..."
Xiao Lou nodded: "She will most likely die after getting married."
Liu Qiao is right. If the tomb's murals were meant to record the deceased's life, it makes no sense that a mural depicting this woman would simply disappear after her marriage. Normally, a mural depicting a woman buried with the deceased would include her children and other important later events.
Unless she died shortly after her marriage, there's nothing to record.
The group exchanged glances and continued walking forward.
The deeper you go, the narrower the passage becomes, and the colder it gets.
Xiao Lou asked Lao Mo, " Which direction does the Compass indicator show?"
Old Mo said, "Heading east."
This was a straight passage with no forks or bends, and Lao Mo could clearly discern the direction using the compass.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Xiao Lou suddenly discovered a stone door in front of him. On the door was a strange rotating disc marked with the symbols of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Xiao Lou adjusted the spinning wheel according to the principles of mutual generation and restraint of the five elements, transforming it into wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
The stone gate opened smoothly in front of everyone the next moment.
At the same time, a message sent by Ye Qi via Telepathic Connection echoed in his mind: " Professor Xiao, we saw a Five Elements Wheel. The mechanism is very simple. Senior Gui opened the door, and there is a coffin in the secret room!"
Xiao Lou looked up and saw that there was also a coffin in this tomb chamber.
It was a stone coffin, with incomprehensible characters carved on the stone, like some kind of strange talisman.
The entire tomb chamber was brightly lit, with an eternal lamp in the corner that had been burning for who knows how many years. Although the lights were on, the temperature inside the tomb chamber was still very low, and the blast of cold air made everyone shiver.
Even more strangely, there was a large amount of blood on the stone coffin.
Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow: "So much blood on the stone coffin? Has someone been in the tomb?"
Xiao Lou said, "This blood is quite old. It oxidized and solidified in the air, which is why it turned reddish-black. It must have been left over from a hundred years ago. This tomb wasn't visited by anyone, but rather something unpleasant happened when the stone coffin was buried."
He's someone who isn't even afraid of corpses, so naturally he's not afraid of blood.
Xiao Lou stepped forward, bent down, and carefully examined the bloodstains around the stone coffin. Soon, he came to a shocking conclusion: "This blood seeped from inside the coffin."
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
Who is in the coffin? Why is so much blood seeping out?!
Xiao Lou's face was somewhat pale. He took a step back, looked at the cold stone coffin in front of him, and said, "I suspect that the woman in the mural is inside this stone coffin. She was still alive when she was put into the coffin."
That's why she struggled so fiercely, causing so much blood to seep from inside the coffin.
Everyone felt a chill run through their bodies.
If a living person is put into a coffin and buried underground, she will experience fear, pain, hunger... until the final despair.
Who has truly experienced the feeling of waiting to die?
Xiao Lou took a deep breath, turned to look at his teammates, and said, word by word, "This ancient tomb should be a tomb of live burial. The coffins on Ye Qi's side are probably those of women buried alive. The tomb owner buried these women alive and created a secret chamber with six paths of reincarnation, which is very likely a kind of... priestly ritual?"
Sure enough, Ye Qi's voice came again: "There's a lot of blood on the stone coffin!"
Xiao Lou's speculation was confirmed.
In the auxiliary burial chambers on the east and west sides, there are two women who were buried alive.
To unravel this ancient tomb labyrinth, one must find the main burial chamber and learn the identity of the tomb's occupant and the significance of the priestly rituals.
Xiao Lou said, "Let's keep going."
Just then, the stone coffin behind them suddenly began to shake violently. The sharp, piercing sound of fingernails sliding across the stone surface filled their ears. The black blood that had congealed on the stone coffin instantly turned bright red, as if it had just flowed out.
Lu Jiuchuan exclaimed, "A zombie?!"