A greenish ghost fire flared up from behind the stone door, instantly engulfing Yan Zong. He opened his mouth to scream, but could only emit a sound before being silenced. He collapsed, disintegrating into dust the moment he touched the ground!

The stone door slowly swung open.

A life at every pa.s.s.

“Hahaha!” Zeng Xunlong began to roar with laughter. His laughter echoed in the dark s.p.a.ce, as if there were 1,000 of him guffawing. It made the place even more sinister and terrifying.

Zeng Xunlong shone the tactical flashlight beyond the opened stone door. A ma.s.sive stone sculpture appeared in the light.

It was the statue of a G.o.ddess, peerlessly beautiful. Even a statue of Athena would seem l.u.s.terless in comparison.

Ning Tao's eyes landed on the G.o.ddess statue and his heart quivered. “This can't be Hu Ji's statue and her tomb, can it? If it is, then Senior Yin knows too little about her. I should have asked him along to check out this place.”

Once he thought this, Ning Tao bit his finger and drew the picture of a blood lock by the boulder beside him. It was not easy to reach this stage. He must surely leave a blood lock behind, or he would lose out.

At this moment, Zeng Xunlong knelt before the stone door and kowtowed thrice. “Your disciple Zeng Xunlong pays my respect to you, ill.u.s.trious immortal. I don't have the slightest thought of offending you. According to the ancient records, I must sacrifice five men before I can enter this tomb to give my offerings. I brought along five disciples to pay my respects. I would like to borrow the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms for a look.”

No one answered. But the greenish ghost fire above the stone door died away.

Zeng Xunlong stood up and strode into the stone door. He did not hesitate in the least, seemingly confident that he would encounter no more formations or traps.

Ning Tao and Qing Zhui also emerged from their hiding place behind the mountain boulders. The Howling Celestial Dog followed closely behind. They all went in the direction of the mountain door.

After entering through the stone door, Zeng Xunlong disappeared.

After skirting around the G.o.ddess stature, they came to a large hemisphere room. Dressed stones laid out this large tomb chamber.

There was a stone coffin at the bottom of this chamber.

This “temple within the mountains” should be the ancient tomb of a pract.i.tioner or demon—perhaps even an immortal's or immortal demon's. They could not be certain at this stage.

Zeng Xunlong stood before that stone coffin.

Was the body in the stone coffin that of Zhu Hongyu's mother, Hu Ji? No one could say at this moment.

Zeng Xunlong gazed at the stone coffin and knelt down before it. He said devoutly, “Dear immortal, since I have sacrificed five men, I will no longer stand on ceremony. I must open the coffin and look at the picture.”

The empty tomb chamber resonated with Zeng Xunlong's voice, as his voice clashed against the stone walls.

Qing Zhui s.h.i.+fted her eyes to Ning Tao. She was clearly impatient and was about to strike.

Ning Tao still shook his head. His lips trembled and Qing Zhui's face drew close. Her translucent ears were almost touching his lips. He felt quite helpless and could only whisper very softly, “Wait for a while more. After he opens the coffin.”

Qing Zhui nodded and scratched her ear again. Her face was flus.h.i.+ng slightly, a reaction to some indescribable stimulant.

Zeng Xunlong stood up before the stone coffin. He took out a mini electric saw from his backpack. He started to saw the rammed earth between the stone coffin and its lid.

Dust was raised as the grating electric saw cut through the rammed earth. Even though he was using a modern cutting tool, Zeng Xunlong still found it hard to saw. But he did not saw through the rammed earth completely. He was well prepared. After making a slight crevice, he took out some expansive agent from his backpack and stuffed it into the crevice.

Times were progressing. Modern grave robbers would not use ancient tools like Luoyang shovels. Some tomb raiders would even rent the land or hill and erect a barrier around it, before excavating the tomb using an excavator.

Cha, cha, cha…

The sound of dense expansion rang out in this quiet room. The coffin lid lifted a little.

Without triggering a formation or mechanism, the lid had separated from the coffin body. All he needed to do was to push the lid away.

Zeng Xunlong inhaled a deep breath. He stretched out his hands to open the coffin lid, pus.h.i.+ng it forward strenuously.

But at this moment, footsteps started to resound from behind him.

Zeng Xunlong instantly started. One second later, he had turned violently back. At this very instant, he pulled out a pistol. The tactical flashlight in his left hand was s.h.i.+ning at the chamber entrance.

Ning Tao and Qing Zhui ducked to one side simultaneously.

Bang, bang, bang!

Zeng Xunlong fired three consecutive shots. The bullets whizzed, one hitting the G.o.ddess statue, the other hitting the left wall. Another struck the right wall. Each bullet produced a shower of glaring sparks in the darkness.

“Come out!” Zeng Xunlong growled angrily.

A figure suddenly darted out from the darkness. It suddenly bit Zeng Xunlong's right wrist holding his pistol.

Crack!

His right hand and wrist instantly separated!

Ning Tao and Qing Zhui had attracted the gunfire and the Howling Celestial Dog a.s.saulted in a sneak attack. They had only one goal— to capture this man alive.

“Ah—” Zeng Xunlong shrieked horrendously. He smashed the tactical flashlight in his left hand on the Howling Celestial Dog's head.

But before Zeng Xunlong could smash the tactical flashlight on its head, the dog's back legs had kicked his chest.

Thump!

A dull thud. Zeng Xunlong's body flew backwards and slammed against the stone coffin. He collapsed to the ground.

But he was a warrior trained in martial arts who had some internal strength in his body. He not only withstood Howling Celestial Dog's kick, but also bore with the pain of his severed wrist. The moment he touched the ground, he flung the tactical flashlight in his left hand away and drew out his pistol.

He had two pistols with him, one seized from Yan Zong, the other his own.

But this time, before he could fire, a cold light glinted in the darkness. There was another crack. His left wrist also fell to the ground.

The person striking was Qing Zhui. Her snake claws could sever metal and jade. Her hack resembled a cleaver slicing through sugarcane.

Ning Tao walked over in the light of the dropped tactical flashlight. He said blandly, “You can't even beat my dog. And you wish to seize my woman?”

“It's you…” Zeng Xunlong felt such pain that his voice quavered. He uttered these two words but could not continue. He opened his mouth wide to inhale breaths, trying his best to recover and not pa.s.s out.

Ning Tao crouched and picked up the tactical flashlight, s.h.i.+ning a bright beam on Zeng Xunlong's face.

Qing Zhui and the Howling Celestial Dog also walked in from the two dark flanks. They came to Ning Tao's sides.

“Who… who are you really?” Zeng Xunlong finally said what he wanted to.

Ning Tao replied, “I am a doctor. I have a special treatment that can attach your wrists back. Would you like to seek treatment?”

“I won't, d.a.m.n you… Ah!” Before he could finish swearing, the Howling Celestial Dog had already sank his fangs into Zeng Xunlong's thigh. His curse had turned into a horrific shriek.

Blood spurted out from between the Howling Celestial Dog's fangs. It surged to the height of a man.

Ning Tao said, “Howling Celestial Dog, if he says another expletive, give him another bite.”

“OK.” The Howling Celestial Dog released Zeng Xunlong's thigh, uttering the simplest English word.

Zeng Xunlong was instantly stupefied. He even forgot his pain.

A dog speaking English. Whoever saw this would feel too astounded to accept it.

Ning Tao said, “Killing you would be like stepping an ant dead. It would be senseless. I have a few questions for you. As long as you answer me honestly, I will not only heal your hands and will even release you.”

“You think I will believe you?” Zeng Xunlong snorted coldly. He spat a mouthful of blood and saliva on the ground. “If I tell you, you will kill me. I won't tell you anything, even if I die! If you have the guts, kill me— Ah!”

The Howling Celestial Dog had bitten his ear.

Zeng Xunlong gave a horrendous shriek. “But I… I didn't swear!”

The Howling Celestial Dog gave a convenient jerk and Zeng Xunlong's ear broke loose. As the Howling Celestial Dog munched nosily on his ear, he mumbled, “My Master's wife is with him. How dare you swear. Another disrespectful word and I will bite off your nose as well… Munch, munch… Your ear tastes quite good, but not as tasty as braised pig's ears. Munch…”

At this point, Zeng Xunlong had a valiant hope to die. But circ.u.mstances did not permit him to!

Ning Tao spread out his hands. Two intermingling black-and-white alchemy fires emerged from the center of his palms.

Zeng Xunlong was flabbergasted. But this time, he did not forget the pain in his ear.

Ning Tao's voice was cold. “You want to die? Seek my approval first. I guarantee you; death will be an extravagant wish if you end up in my hands. I will make you regret ever coming to this earth.”

“Are you… are you an immortal too?” Zeng Xunlong finally realized.

Ning Tao replied, “You happen to be right. Let me ask you again: would you obey me and live, or defy me and die?”

Zeng Xunlong hesitated. “What… what do you want to know?”

Ning Tao asked, “Who hired you?”

“It's…” Zeng Xunlong's neck suddenly slumped to one side. His eyes were shut.

His wrists were severed, there was a big cavity on his thigh, and one of his ears was gone. There was not only pain but also excessive blood loss. He was already quite something to have lasted so long.

Ning Tao squatted, opened his small medicine chest and took out a few Sacred Needles, quickly staunching Zeng Xunlong's wounds. Then he injected spiritual power into Zeng Xunlong's body to help steady his heart rate and make him recover.

A dozen seconds later, Zeng Xunlong regained consciousness. He stared with astonished eyes at Ning Tao and the Sacred Needles inserted into his body. But the thing which most astounded him was that his bleeding had been staunched without being dressed. He no longer felt any pain.

Ning Tao said, “I have said before that I can heal you. I can also let you off alive. Continue where you stop: who hired you?”

Zeng Xunlong said, “It's Liu Jinyin of the Gold Raiders Sect. They call him Liu s.h.i.+ba in the martial arts world. He's a patriarch of our sect.”

“The Gold Raiders Sect?” This was the first time Ning Tao had heard of this sect. He was not interested in tomb-raiding fiction or TV series, so he did not quite know what it meant.

Zeng Xunlong said, “Grave robbery was started by Premier Cao, the 'Captain' of tomb raiders. By now, there are four major branches in this line: the Gold Raiders Sect, the Mound Excavating Sect, the Hill Moving Sect, and the Ridge Plunder Sect. That day…”