Chapter 197: Chapter 197 There's a Traitor Among Us!
"My head hurts so much..."
Professor Yan also began to gradually wake up; he slowly propped himself up, shaking his head, feeling as if his brain were paste.
It seemed he had just seen his daughter who passed away many years ago... It must have been a dream, for his daughter had been deceased for nearly twenty years!
"Professor Yan, how do you feel?"
Song Yun came forward and helped him up, asking with concern.
"No big problem, I'll recover in a while."
Professor Yan's eyes were somewhat unfocused; all he could think about was the image of his daughter when she was young, never before had he felt such a strong desire to return home.
"Professor, we've found a new path; would you come and take a look?"
Ouyang Jie was leaning on the entrance, shining a spotlight inside, but the darkness seemed impenetrable, swallowing all the light.
"This is a bit troublesome!"
Professor Yan brought out his years of expertise to explain to everyone, "The stones used to construct this tunnel have records in history, originating from an extraterrestrial meteorite. This meteorite has excellent light-absorbing properties, and a slight misstep will leave you lost inside!"
"This..."
The group members started to hesitate; they hadn't explored much, but had already encountered so much danger. Who knew what they might encounter next!
"Staying here means certain death, but moving forward might lead to a new path. You decide." Find your next adventure on m_v l|e'm-p| y r
The words of Song Yun brought silence to the group; they checked their watches, but the needles seemed to have been twisted and damaged due to the magnetic field of the earth. However, based on years of experience, they knew they had been down there for almost five hours!
During these five hours, they had expended a tremendous amount of energy, and what was left in their bodies was not enough to last until rescue arrived.
"Let's move forward."
Professor Yan, acting as the team's cornerstone at that moment, knew that waiting for a rescue wasn't a viable option if they wanted to survive with any certainty.
Entering the tunnel, Song Yun, with the best physical skills, took the lead, and the remaining six members held onto the clothing of the person in front of them. If anyone fell behind, the exploration would stop immediately!
The flashlights were completely useless in there, so the team slowed their pace deliberately.
Fortunately, after an unknown length of time, the flashlights began to work again, and the path ahead was clear.
"Take a break and see if we've lost anything in the tunnel."
"I lost a folding military shovel!"
"Me too!"
"I've lost a dagger!"
"My... my bullets in my pocket!"
After listening, Song Yun's gaze sharpened, and he said in a low voice with a frown, "As I was moving forward, it felt as though someone touched me. What about you?"
"..."
"..."
Fine, their expressions said it all; there were definitely unknown creatures in the tunnel just now!
"Be on guard!"
Song Yun and the other two spread out to form a triangle, enclosing Professor Yan and the other four in the middle.
"There's a stone door ahead; we need your help, Professor Yan."
The path ahead was blocked once again, and the stone door in front of everyone was adorned with a picture of an unknown fierce beast, with eyes embedded with gems that glistened under the flashlight.
"This is a tomb-guarding beast, meant to drive away evil spirits and ensure that the tomb's owner can rest in peace after death!"
Professor Yan reached out and gently touched the gems; they were extremely pure, not even one or two in modern society could match their quality. This also indicated one thing: the status of this underground site was very high! Perhaps it was even the final resting place of some king!
"How the hell do we open this, we can't just blow it up, can we!"
Ouyang Jie, somewhat irritable, smacked his head. Not to mention the cave-in that explosives would cause in such a confined space, but the shockwave itself would be unbearable!
"We can't blow it up! This stone door is of great research significance!"
Professor Yan hurriedly dissuaded everyone from harboring that idea; after fiddling with the stone door for a long time, he didn't find any mechanisms.
"Let me have a look."
Song Yun used the Perspective Eyes ability, and instantly saw that the mechanism behind the stone door was complex. It took him over an hour to finally locate the key point.
"Step back, everyone!"
Song Yun stretched out his hand to press on the Tomb-guarding beast's nose and pushed with effort.
Whether the mechanism, eroded over a millennium, could still function properly was another matter.
"Click, click click, click click click..."
Sounds of gears grinding against each other rang out as the stone door slowly opened. Song Yun's forehead was sweaty, feeling that exhaustion was not far away, he shouted to the others, "Hurry up and get through!"
After waiting for everyone to enter, Song Yun used the last bit of his strength to let the stone door rebound for a second, then he dived in with a leap.
"Bang!"
The stone door closed again, and the torches on both sides of the new corridor instantly lit up, illuminating the way forward.
"Song Yun, you actually have studied this area too!"
Ouyang Jie didn't know how many skills his brother possessed, but in his eyes, Song Yun was like Doraemon, always having a solution no matter what the danger!
"I've just seen this mechanism in an ancient book and decided to give it a try."
"Mr. Song is being modest. I've been doing archaeology my whole life and still haven't found a way. This proves Mr. Song's erudition!"
After Professor Yan praised him, he adjusted his exploration lamp to its brightest, and observed the surroundings intently.
"Do you see something ahead?"
The group's gaze followed, and saw a protruding area about four or five square meters ahead in the corridor, where a large chest was placed.
"Treasure!"
The youngest disciple of Professor Yan exclaimed excitedly, "After so many hardships, we are finally going to see the treasures of the underground ruins!"
"Don't open it, our main task now is to find a way out. Even if there are significant discoveries in this chest, we cannot take them with us."
Song Yun threw a bucket of cold water on everyone's eagerness, deliberately quenching their greed. How many people from ancient to modern times have been done in by their desires? Song Yun did not want his young wife to become a widow so soon.
"Let's move on. We can open it next time when the main force comes down."
Song Yun reminded them and walked on ahead on his own.
Except for Professor Yan's young disciple, everyone else followed closely, none wanting to be left behind.
"Damn it... why didn't the kid fall for it..."
The young disciple, with a gloomy look, watched as the rest of the group moved further away. He quickly rubbed his face to put on a facade of fear and called out, "Wait for me!"
"There's danger ahead on the road!"
Song Yun called a halt, and everyone peered ahead where the corridor material was made of meteorite once again nullifying the effect of the exploration lamps.
And this one felt different than before. Although pitch black as well, they still had the courage to move forward, but this new darkness felt gloomy and cold, instantly raising everyone's alertness to the highest level.
"Yu Shengzong, go ahead and see if there's any danger."
Song Yun commanded in an irrefutable tone.
Yu Shengzong was Professor Yan's youngest disciple. He looked towards his teacher and saw that he too was completely puzzled.
Could it be that Song Yun had discovered his true identity?
Impossible!
What he didn't know was that, while using the Perspective Eyes ability, Song Yun had accidentally seen the tattoo on his back.
And that tattoo was the same as the one on the arrogant young man's chest that they had encountered at the stone gambling venue before!
Moreover, the clumsy performance of Yu Shengzong when he wanted everyone to open the chest had convinced Song Yun even more that this person was up to no good!