<h4>Chapter 1343: Chapter 1651: The Eerie Ancient Tomb (1)</h4>


    "I’m here." Tang Yuan picked up the walkie-talkie and replied, "Professor Hao, how’s it going on your side?"


    "I... I found a lot of corpses..."


    "Corpses?" Tang Yuan nced at Ling Chen beside him and said helplessly, "Professor Hao, you’re an archaeologist, often dealing with ancient corpses. Are you still afraid of corpses?"


    Through the walkie-talkie, Ling Chen and Tang Yuan could clearly hear Hao Dongnan gulp, "Chief Tang, I’ve seen many ancient corpses, but... but... I’ve never heard of or seen ancient corpses that have remained intact for hundreds of years. This... is too eerie. Can youe over to support us as soon as possible? There are too many ancient corpses here. We really can’t stay any longer."


    Hearing this, Ling Chen and Tang Yuan exchanged nces. For some reason, an eerie wind overhead made them both feel a chill.


    This ancient tomb is hundreds of years old, so even if there were corpses inside, they should have turned into a pile of skeletons by now. Just as they were thinking this, Tang Yuan’s phone rang; it was Hao Dongnan. He had sent over photos of those ancient corpses. Tang Yuan took out his phone and looked at the photos Hao Dongnan sent, his face turning slightly pale.


    "Tang Yuan, you... take a look." Tang Yuan handed the phone to Ling Chen.


    Ling Chen examined it closely, seeing two ancient corpses. These ancient corpses were very well preserved. If not for being in the ancient tomb, they could be mistaken for living people at first nce. Looking at those two corpses, Ling Chen felt a chill in his heart. This was too eerie!


    How could people who have been dead for hundreds of years be so well preserved? Ancient technology wasn’t developed to this extent. Even now, the only way to maintain a corpse unchanged for hundreds of years is freezing. But this tomb doesn’t have a freezer, nor freezing technology. How on earth did the ancients achieve this? As he pondered, Hao Dongnan’s voice continued over the walkie-talkie: "Chief Tang, I roughly counted, there are about thirty or so ancient corpses here, men and women of all ages."


    "All right, I understand. Wait there; we’lle over right away."


    Immediately, Ling Chen and Tang Yuan retraced their steps to the entrance of the tomb corridor. This time, they didn’t alter the corridor as before but walked directly into it. When they reached the end of the corridor, they returned the way Hao Dongnan did. By then, the trap mechanism in the corridor had already activated, and as they went back, they had actually entered another corridor.


    Not far along the corridor, Ling Chen found Hao Dongnan and the others waiting as they had originally. These people gathered together, their faces slightly pale. It was apparent that those eerie ancient corpses had given these archaeology professors quite a scare.


    "Professor Hao, are you all okay?" Tang Yuan asked.


    "Yes, we’re fine." Seeing Ling Chen and others arrive, Hao Dongnan and the others obviously breathed a sigh of relief. "Chief Tang, Mr. Ling, this ancient tomb is too eerie. We... we should leave first."


    "Old Tang, you take Professor Hao and the others out first. I’ll continue to search for Miss Su’s whereabouts."


    "Don’t you want me to apany you?"


    Ling Chen smiled faintly, "It’s just some dead people, what’s there to be afraid of?"


    "Okay, then be careful. Contact me if anything goes wrong." With that, Tang Yuan led Hao Dongnan and a few others toward the exit of the ancient tomb.


    Although this ancient tomb is a massive mechanism, once you figure out its operating pattern, the mechanism bes easy to break. After Tang Yuan and his group left, Ling Chen searched the entire ancient tomb alone. However, what puzzled Ling Chen was that, despite searching every corner of the tomb, there was no trace of Su Lin.


    "How could she vanish?" Ling Chen furrowed his brow, thinking. He was standing where the tunnel and corridor connected. Based on Hao Dongnan, Su Lin entered the tomb from here. Around the area, Ling Chen also found a lot of equipment, indicating that Hao Dongnan was right that Su Lin had indeed been here. Because it had been sealed for hundreds of years, dust covered the floor of the corridor.


    Ling Chen switched on his shlight and looked around, quickly spotting Su Lin’s footprints. Following her footprints, Ling Chen immediately dashed forward down the corridor. After a few minutes, Ling Chen suddenly stopped. He hadn’t paid attention before, but now he was surprised to discover that Su Lin’s footprints were all over the tomb. This meant that before they entered the tomb, Su Lin had already figured out the mechanism’s operating pattern.


    Since Su Lin had wandered through the entire tomb, why didn’t shee to find them when they entered? Moreover, he had searched the entire tomb and found no trace of Su Lin. Where did she go?


    "Hello! Tang Yuan, have you found Miss Su yet?"


    Hearing Tang Yuan’s voice from the walkie-talkie, Ling Chen replied, "Not yet."


    "There shouldn’t be any dangerous mechanisms in the tomb. I’m preparing to bring people in. Why don’t youe out and meet us first?"


    "Okay, I’ll go out right away." After speaking, Ling Chen headed straight for the tomb exit. He hadn’t gone far when a thought urred to him. Inside the main chamber, they had found a pull ring. At the time, fearing the pull ring might be dangerous, neither Ling Chen nor Tang Yuan dared to try it. Now that he thought about it, since Su Lin had ventured through the entire ancient tomb, did she pull that ring and enter an unknown ce?


    Thinking of this, Ling Chen felt it was very likely. Otherwise, why did he not find Su Lin after searching the whole tomb? Without dy, Ling Chen contacted Tang Yuan to share his guess.


    "All right, I’ll go in to find you now."


    "No need," Ling Chen said. "I’ll go by myself. We don’t know what the pull ring does. If there’s danger, at least you can rescue me."


    "Okay, I’ll wait outside. You be careful."


    It wasn’t long before Ling Chen returned to the main chamber. Looking at the hanging pull ring overhead, Ling Chen reached out, grabbed it, and gave a gentle pull. Instantly, a subtle creaking sound came from within the walls, as if numerous cogs and mechanisms were working.


    At the same time, the sarcophagus ced at the center of the main chamber slowly moved forward about a meter.


    Just as expected!


    Ling Chen’s eyes lit up as he quickly walked to the sarcophagus side, seeing at its base a stairway leading downward revealed.


    "Old Tang, I found a secret passage. Miss Su should be inside. I’ll go in first. Bring people over immediately."