Chapter 533: Hercules
Long Zhengyu nodded seriously, "I have also instructed them about that. Apart from the hundreds of workers and dozens of firefighters on the site, the police force from the city and dozens of security guards from our Long Family are currently doing their best to search and rescue them. You can rest assured, we'll try our best to find the missing workers even if we have to turn over every inch of the land inside out."
"Then I'll give a hand, too!"
Tang Xiu patted Long Zhengyu's shoulder and strode toward the construction site. The moment he arrived there, he released his spiritual sense and covered a radius of 200 to 300 square meters within.
At present, he found two dead bodies and four workers who were still alive and stranded inside. However, two of them were seriously injured; if they didn't get rescued in time, they would only be able to hold on for several hours before dying.
At the same time, Tang Xiu also discovered a stair-shaped cave entrance. Tens of meters underneath it were several portals, yet the interior beyond was off limits to his spiritual sense.
An array?
Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and dashed toward the rubble. He pointed below and shouted in a deep voice, "Zhengyu, immediately order someone to dig this spot. But remember to do it very carefully, some of the trapped workers should be underneath!"
Long Zhengyu stared blankly before he laid on the ground, trying to listen to the sounds. With a puzzled expression, he said, "Why can't I hear any voices at all?"
"My hearing is several times sharper than that of an ordinary person's," said Tang Xiu lightly.
Pondering for a bit, Long Zhengyu, who held absolute trust toward Tang Xiu, immediately called out to a dozen workers as well as several firefighters to begin excavating the debris above the spot.
"Slow down!" Tang Xiu didn't stay idle. He took a pair of gloves and began to move the reinforced concrete. Even Yang Le and the four experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall joined in the work.
Ten minutes later, a worker shouted, "Boss, these steel bars are being pressed by a boulder! We won't be able to move it if we don't use a crane! And there's no way we can continue cleaning this place without removing it."
Long Zhengyu frowned and looked quite vexed. It was not realistic to call a crane here at this time. The scene here was a mess already, and the crane would make it worse.
"Make way, I'll move it," said Tang Xiu.
"Don't fool around! This boulder is at least 400 pounds; there's no way it will budge even if a few men join in an effort to move it. Besides, even if several people move it simultaneously, we still need to clean up the debris in the surrounding. The clearing up will take time, and we may still be unable to move it."
The worker said it correctly and Tang Xiu perfectly realized it, too. The environment and situation were precarious, and there was the possibility of a second landslide due to a slight mistake, thus injuring the people above. The boulder wouldn't budge even if four burly joined in the effort.
However, was he an ordinary person?
Tang Xiu directly pushed the worker aside and shouted, "Zhengyu, order everyone else to withdraw and give me some empty space!"
Upon hearing it, Long Zhengyu immediately executed Tang Xiu's instructions.
Tang Xiu stood in a deep pit as he looked at the half-buried boulder under his feet. He straightly coiled his hands around the boulder and took a deep breath.
"What the hell does he want to do? He wants to lift that stone by himself?"
"Is this youngster an idiot? Does he think he's Hercules or something?"
"That's beyond his ability, only biting off more than he can chew. I'll eat that boulder if he can really move it!"
"Oh, how can Chief Long have such a friend? It's really…"
No one concealed their thoughts. At this time, even Yang Le himself had a contemptuous look on his face and secretly despised Tang Xiu, thinking that he would only disgrace himself. Even if Tang Xiu was a little skillful, did he really think that his strength was that great?
Biting more than you can chew, eh! Yang Le scoffed inside.
Tang Xiu ignored everyone around him, however, and exerted his strength, easily moving the half-buried boulder. Yet, in order not to show it off and scare out the onlookers, he pretended to exert out a tremendous strength to show how 'difficult' it was to move the boulder.
Hiss…
Yang Le's eyes almost popped out when he saw Tang Xiu move the boulder. Despite his firm mentality, yet he still couldn't help but gasp.
The surrounding workers, firefighters, and the rest who had just ridiculed and made derogatory comments were all dumbfounded and left petrified. Only after Tang Xiu threw the boulder out of the pit did they finally snap back to their senses.
"HEAVENS!!! WHAT DID I JUST SEE?"
"What the hell… is he the Superman? It's a boulder weighing 400 pounds, y-yet he… he actually moved it out by himself?"
"OH, GOD! A boulder weighing 400 pounds that dozens of men are not necessarily able to move since it's half-buried, yet he can still pull it out? He's simply not human!!!"
"Terrific!!!"
As for Long Zhengyu, he gave Tang Xiu a thumbs up and then loudly shouted, "DON'T GAWK AND DAZE! Move your ass fast and dig!! I can hear some voices underneath. That means we're digging on the right spot! Be careful as to not cause a secondary landslide!"
"UNDERSTOOD!"
Everyone in the surrounding looked at Tang Xiu with shock and fright, before they loudly exclaimed in unison.
Time passed by, and half an hour after, dozens of people worked together and dug down two to three meters. Finally, the cave entrance underneath was revealed as someone's hand came out. The hand was full of blood, accompanied by the cry "save us".
"Someone's still alive here!!!" A worker called out excitedly.
Immediately afterward, everyone worked harder and finally rescued the two seriously injured workers from the inside after spending great effort. Tang Xiu even personally acted to treat the two people, and was able to save their lives despite the limited medical tools.
As the medics from the hospital's ambulance took away the two seriously injured workers, Long Zhengyu finally had a break as he gave Tang Xiu a thumbs up and said, "Brother Tang, I'm really convinced of your abilities. Since you have such a good hearing ability, how about using it to rescue the other workers stranded below?"
"Sure thing!"
Tang Xiu complied. A few minutes after, he pointed to another spot tens of meters away and shouted, "There's someone underneath. He should be still alive!!"
"Some of you get there quickly!!! Dig down that spot and rescue them!" Long Zhengyu was overjoyed and shouted.
By now, everyone fully trusted Tang Xiu, and under Long Zhengyu's command, dozens of people began to dig up and finally rescued two men after spending half an hour.
"Zhengyu, you said that the number of missing people was seven?"
Tang Xiu had used his spiritual sense to carefully comb every spot and path leading to the crevices and had found four men still alive and two who had died.
Long Zhengyu nodded, "Yes, it's really seven people."
Tang Xiu's brows wrinkled deeply, because he really couldn't find where the seventh man was. In other words, there were only two answers. The first one being an error in counting the missing people, which in fact there were only six people buried underneath; and the second one was that the last missing person had been buried under the soil, and there was no slit to the outside at all.
Tang Xiu walked around for several minutes and randomly selected several spots for everyone to start digging. One of which was a spot where two dead bodies were buried. He also brought Yang Le to begin digging a spot above the cave entrance to the ancient tomb, while the two dead bodies were finally excavated when dawn came.
"C-chief Long! W-we've found him! W-we found the last one!"
A middle-aged man who looked like a leader ran into the debris and rubble as he panted and shouted.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"
Long Zhengyu, who was currently leading everyone to look for the seventh missing worker, immediately asked in upon hearing the middle-aged man's cry.
"It's the seventh missing man, Li Quan, who has yet to be found," The middle-aged man hurriedly said. "He turned out to have ditched his shift and gone outside to drink. He just came back drunk and is now sleeping inside the drainage next to the workers' shack!"
"WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!" Long Zhengyu was so furious and angrily cursed.
Tang Xiu also heard the middle-aged man's report and let out a forced, wry smile. He walked over to Long Zhengyu's side and said, "Zhengyu, tell the cops and the firefighters to leave this place since all the missing people have been found. Also, instruct all the workers to go back and have a rest."
Long Zhengyu silently nodded. After tossing back and forth in frustration, the police and firefighters finally left, and the workers withdrew from the site. However, under Tang Xiu's silent instructions, dozens of security guards from the Long Group didn't leave, and instead, blocked the landslide area and prohibited anyone from entering.
"What exactly are you doing, Brother Tang?"
Long Zhengyu came to Tang Xiu's side as he watched Tang Xiu and Yang Le, as well as the four experts from the Everlasting Feast Hall still, excavating the debris. His expression looked strange and curious as he asked.
"I suspect that there's an entrance to an ancient tomb underneath. Since it has caused the landslide accident, I'd like to go down and see what type of ancient tomb it is, given that it unexpectedly has a false empty space above it," said Tang Xiu.
Startled and taken aback, Long Zhengyu hastily said, "Don't! Don't do anything stupid, will you? You'll definitely be trapped below in the event of a second landslide."
"Don't worry! I know what I'm capable of. I will never dare to go down to brave dangers and stake my life without an ability to back it up," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "Besides, Yang Le here is my friend. He has studied a lot of ancient tombs, so you can rest your worries with him accompanying me down there!"
Doubtful, Long Zhengyu gritted his teeth and said, "Then, I'll also go down there with you."
"You of all people have a more important thing to do rather than following me down there." Tang Xiu shook his head. "You must appease and comfort the workers, and then go to the hospital to visit the injured as well as comfort their family members. As for the dead workers, give them a large sum of money as compensation and take good care of their family members!"
"Then, in the case that…" Long Zhengyu still hesitated.
"There will be no ifs. Don't tell me you don't believe in my ability?" Tang Xiu waved his hand and rebuked.
Long Zhengyu pondered for a moment. To deal with the aftermath of this matter, he indeed must visit the hospital. Therefore, he nodded. But he still urged Tang Xiu to be very careful before leaving the construction site.
Chapter 534: Ancient Tomb's Teleportation Portal
The huge red glow rose from the Eastern horizon and dispersed the cold streams of air in the morning. After continuous digging, the cave entrance to the ancient tomb had finally appeared before everyone. Yang Le evidently possessed profound knowledge on the tomb's architectural structure, as he confirmed that the landslide was caused by the this ancient tomb's entrance.
"Are you sure?" Confirmed Tang Xiu with a curious expression.
"I'm sure. There should be a fake tomb above the genuine one in order to fool the eyes. Steel casting poles should be nailed inside the fake tomb to support the space. At the time when the construction was being carried on above it, it led to the collapse of the fake tomb, and eventually weakened the support of this stair entrance, causing the landslide."
With a doubtful expression, Tang Xiu asked, "Who could have built the tomb here? To think that they also constructed a fake tomb..."
"There are many kinds of ancient tombs, such as a tomb within a tomb, interlinked series of tombs like catacombs, hidden tombs with fake barriers, and so on. This tomb should be the hidden type, because someone didn't want the genuine ancient tomb to be excavated, hence the camouflage. Looking at the width and height of the stairs, however, I'm afraid this ancient tomb is a huge. The deceased entombed inside this ancient tomb was definitely a great personage among the nobility or a member of the royal family."
Nobility or royalty?
Disdain flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes. If it was only a tomb for a member the royal family, how could an array be arranged to isolate it from the detection of spiritual sense?
"Anyways, let's go down and have a look!"
Tang Xiu followed the ladder and descended to the bottom. A few minutes later, he brought Yang Le to the front of the first gate.
Hiss…
Yang Le raised his hand to touch the two meters high stone gate and couldn't help but gasp. A disbelieving expression was cast on his face.
"What happened?" Tang Xiu furrowed his brows.
While pointing at the stone gate, Yang Le stutteringly said, "B-Brother… Brother Tang, this stone gate… it's entirely made of diamond!!! Heavens! I must be dreaming, how could there be such a huge diamond in this world? and… the most important thing is… this stone gate was obviously cast and made by someone!!"
Tang Xiu looked at the dragons, phoenixes, and qilins carved on it. The carvings were so lifelike that they seemed like they would come to life at any time. He could understand Yang Le's shock. Carving such patterns on a diamond was not actually difficult; however, this ancient tomb was not made in the current era, but in the past. How did the ancients did it? Moreover, that huge-sized diamond block that was something beyond Yang Le's cognition.
"Is there a way to open this door?" This issue concerned Tang Xiu the most, because it would be very difficult to break this door directly with his current strength. Even if he could do it, he wouldn't dare to employ such an attempt in the case that it would lead to another landslide. If such a predicament happened, it would be next to impossible to escape from the situation despite him possessing formidable strength.
After Yang Le calmed himself down, his eyes turned burning hot, as he shook his head and said, "I'm not sure, I need to analyze and study it."
"Then study it fast! We don't have much time left," urged Tang Xiu.
"Huh?" Yang Le begged to differ, his expression was that of a strange one. "Isn't there someone already guarding the outside? There should be plenty of time for us, no?"
"The news of this ancient tomb should have been exposed to the outside, and experts and archeologists from the state department will surely catch wind of it and then rush here. What do you think we can get once they arrive?" Elaborated Tang Xiu with a light tone.
Startled, Yang Le hurriedly said, "You're right, Brother Tang! Needless to say, just this gate made of diamond is a must for us to take away. This meant money, like an inexhaustible source of money! As long as we can deal with this door, such a huge windfall will make us rich overnight!"
Hhh… what an inexperienced and ignorant guy!
Sighing inside, Tang Xiu ignored him and studied the stone gate himself. What surprised him was that he found no way to open it, yet Yang Le was able to open it after studying it for a bit; Tang Xiu was unable to do such a feat.
"How did you do that?"
"Well, that's an inherited secret of mine, a legacy! Sorry, it's not like I can expose it to you." Yang Le grinned proudly. "But if you want to know, I can…"
His smirk froze. His speech was abruptly stopped by something, as he stared blankly at the stone gate, which was retracted on both sides. He stared at it with eyes almost popping out.
"B-Brother Tang, pinch me so that I can feel that I'm not dreaming!! This gate made of diamond is actually two meters thick? In this world… this… is… simply… too unfathomably terrifying."
Tang Xiu shook his head helplessly again. He was really too lazy to even care about this young master who naively commented on so many little things due to his inexperience. He then stepped inside and walked down the stairs again.
The second portal was opened by Yang Le again. Although this gate was not cast from diamond like the previous one and didn't add more shock to Yang Le, it was Tang Xiu's turn to get surprised. It was because the gate was cast from Millennium Black Iron, which hardness far exceeded the first door.
"What the hell is this door made of?" Yang Le frowned and looked at the third door blocking the path, a look of frustration in his eyes. When he was about to reach out to touch it and see what kind of material it was, Tang Xiu stopped him directly.
"Don't touch it!"
"Huh? Why?" Yang Le was puzzled.
Tang Xiu didn't explain, yet his eyes sparkled as he observed the array pattern on the door. In just a dozen seconds, he was amazed at the fact that three types of arrays had been inscribed on this door: the Spirit Gathering Array, an offensive array, and a defensive array respectively. The three arrays were inseparably interconnected, mutually complemented each other, and shared the same characteristics to ultimately form a holistic magical array that gathered spiritual force along with defensive and offensive traits.
However, Tang Xiu's attainment in arrays had reached the peak. After showing a smile, his fingers unceasingly formed strange seals as an energy infiltrated the array on the gate in a way that couldn't be caught with the naked eyes.
Boom…
Tremors spread out in the ladder space as if indicating a collapse. However, right as Yang Le and the four experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall turned alarmed and terrified, Tang Xiu shouted and the gate in front slowly opened amid falling layers of dust.
"The four of you stay here, and you must not let anyone enter without my orders," Tang Xiu instructed.
"Understood!" The four men answered immediately.
Tang Xiu strode through the gate. What appeared before him was a spacious hollow great hall. Aside from hundreds of egg-sized Brightmoon Pearls placed on the ceiling of the entire hall, there was only a rectangular platform in the middle. What surprised Tang Xiu the most was that the concentration of spiritual qi in this space was extremely high, about several times higher than the outside. A soft, gentle breath caused the tiny pores all over his body to open, causing a comfortable sensation over his body.
"Eh? It feels comfortable here," said Yang Le who closely followed Tang Xiu as he looked around.
Tang Xiu then walked to the front of the rectangular platform in the middle. It was a meter in height and width and two meters long, and was covered with a layer of yellow silk fabric. However, with his keen eyesight, Tang Xiu could tell at a glance that this layer of yellow silk fabric was not ordinary.
The silk fabric was as though having a stream of flowing water on it. The misty luster was invisible to the naked eyes, yet he could clearly observe it with his spiritual sense. Tang Xiu affirmed that this silk fabric was at least a magical device.
"Yang Le, stand up." Tang Xiu took back his gaze as he looked at Yang Le and spoke to him in a deep voice.
"Huh? Stand on this platform? What do you wanna do?" Yang Le stunned and asked with a puzzled expression.
"You'll serve as cannon fodder, of course," said Tang Xiu lightly. "I need to figure out the mysterious mechanism here."
Yang Le rolled his eyes and snapped, "Say, Tang Xiu, are you not mistaking something? How could this broken platform have any mysterious mechanism at all?"
After saying that, he contemptibly stepped onto the platform.
Buzz…
A mysterious aura emitted out from the silk fabric, and the ripples that were originally invisible to the naked eyes also rippled. Amid the eruption of dazzling lights, Yang Le's figure directly disappeared from the platform.
Tang Xiu's complexion changed. A firm look appeared on his face as he also stepped on the platform. His figure then disappeared amid the dazzling white light.
The next moment, he appeared in a dim empty space. It was very difficult for an ordinary person's eyes to see anything within a few meters. However, with his sharp eyesight, Tang Xiu could see everything within the radius of 100 meters.
"Where the hell is this? Exactly what's going on here?"
Yang Le raised his hand, trying to grab anything around him. He then turned to look at Tang Xiu, who appeared out of thin air in front of him. What upset him the most was that he could barely see Tang Xiu's face, though the distance between them was only a few meters.
"I don't know, either!" Tang Xiu replied shortly as he quickly glanced around. The place was dimly illuminated, and there was nothing but a bleak, desolate black land in the surroundings. The most notable thing was that there was no trace of spiritual qi whatsoever, and the low amount of oxygen in the air made it difficult to breathe.
With a changed expression, Yang Le quickly grabbed the backpack he was carrying and took out a night-vision goggles from the inside. He put it on and glanced around. A few seconds after, he gaped, disbelief cast all over his face.
Seeing Yang Le made Tang Xiu startled. He quickly took off his night-vision goggles. After wearing it himself, his pupils suddenly contracted and his heartbeat raced up. He could clearly see the silhouettes of the mountains that were looming beyond the horizon. There was also a red halo on the mountain-shaped corridor, as if the entire mountain was set afire.
And behind it, a sword-shaped object stood towering to the sky therein.
"B-Brother… Brother Tang, we didn't bump into ghosts, did we? How am I feeling such a gloomy and ominous atmosphere here? Even breathing is a bit difficult." Yang Le's lips uncontrollably shivered a few times. A terrified look was painted all over his face as he gulped down.
"No, we didn't bump into ghosts," said Tang Xiu with a deep voice. "We were just teleported to a mysterious magical place by a teleportation array. It's very interesting, though. If my inference is correct, then this place is a genuine ancient tomb where someone has been entombed."
"A teleportation array? Ancient tomb?" Yang Le looked dazed and confused. He muttered with a perplexed and bewildered look.