Volume Three – The Fox Spirit’s Tomb Chapter Thirty-Eight – Searching for the Entrance

After the three of us finished organizing our gear, I nodded to them and then turned to look at Dagou, who was exactly as I had expected.

Ever since we had pulled out our magazines and weapons, Dagou had been staring at us in a daze, his mouth hanging so wide open that he could have easily swallowed an egg. He looked at us blankly, unable to speak for a moment. I said to him, "Let’s go, Dagou. We’re heading to Goutou Mountain now."

Hearing this, Dagou finally snapped back to reality. He raised a hand to wipe the drool from his mouth and asked, "Master, what are you all doing?"

"Trying to survive," I replied.

Dagou didn't say anything more; he just gave me a firm nod.

"Alright, let's get moving," I said. "It's getting late, and we should aim to be back out by tomorrow morning."

Li Kun adjusted the Type 87 rifle slung across his waist and said, "With Old Xu here this time, we don't have to worry about missing out on any good treasures."

Xu Tian shot Li Kun a sidelong glance and retorted, "Don't forget the sect rules."

Li Kun chuckled. "I know, I know. Even though we can only bring three items out, with you here, we're guaranteed to pick the three best ones."

"Enough talk, let’s go," I commanded. The others nodded, and we opened the door and set off at a brisk pace toward Goutou Mountain.

The night was late, and the weather was poor. Thick, dark clouds blanketed the sky, completely obscuring the moonlight, and it looked as though snow might fall. We had to switch on our flashlights to slowly navigate our way through the mountain forest.

After walking for a full hour and a half, we reached the mountaintop where we had stood earlier that day. Once there, the others stopped, and I took the Dragon-Seeking Compass from my pack. As I held it, the others gathered around. I shone my flashlight onto the compass and recited slowly: "Probing caves and seeking dragons, distinguishing yin and yang; the two modes and four symbols determine the thousand hills. If the thousand hills hold a dragon vein, it is all revealed in the Taiji and Eight Trigrams."

I tapped the center of the compass lightly. The needle began to rotate slowly, and within seconds, it pointed directly toward the spot we had identified earlier as the Double Dragon Yin-Blocking Formation.

I nodded to the group. "Found it. Let's head down." They followed me as we descended the mountain. The return journey was much easier; the slope on this side wasn't very steep, covered only in fine sand, pebbles, and dry grass, so there was little risk of slipping.

As we moved through the forest, the sounds of insects were sharp in the night air. In the distance, we could hear the howling of wolves, but they were far enough away that it seemed we were outside their territory; otherwise, their keen sense of smell would have detected us as soon as we entered the woods. After about thirty minutes, we reached the side of the Azure Dragon Mountain. The terrain here was much tougher, dropping off into a near-vertical slope. Sliding down would be easy, but climbing back up would be impossible. However, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I shone my flashlight around, set my pack down, and pulled out a coil of climbing rope. Each of us carried a length of rope in our packs—thin, but strong enough to support the weight of three men (though certainly not three Li Kuns).

I gauged the distance to the bottom—about ten meters—and my rope was fifteen meters long. I tied it securely to a nearby tree. Li Kun gave it a hard tug to test its strength, and upon seeing it was secure, he nodded at me.

Xu Tian threw the rope down the slope. He strapped a safety harness around his waist, attached a carabiner to the rope, gripped the line with one hand and the carabiner with the other, and braced his feet against the cliff face as he began to slide down.

Li Kun and I watched in admiration at how deftly he descended. Once he was down, I strapped the safety gear onto Dagou. After they had all safely reached the bottom, I slid down myself. The rope was a bit short, leaving me dangling about a meter from the ground, so I simply jumped the rest of the way.

Once down, I used the compass and my flashlight to survey the area. We were on a flat, vast expanse of land. Based on what we had seen earlier, we were now inside the Double Dragon Yin-Blocking Formation. If I wasn't mistaken, we were standing directly atop one of the two giant "dragons."

We were now above the Fox Immortal Tomb, though we had no idea how deep it was. If it were too deep, we’d be digging for ages. We needed to observe the surroundings before starting the excavation of a盗洞 (robber hole). To our left was the river; we could hear the water clearly, meaning it was quite close.

"Old Li, Old Xu," I said. "Let's scout the terrain. We're standing over the tomb chamber. If we can't find an entrance, we'll have to find a trench or a depression to start our dig."

They nodded. Xu Tian headed straight ahead, while Li Kun moved to the right. I turned to Dagou. "Stay behind me. Don't wander off."

Dagou nodded, looking nervously into the pitch-black darkness. "Even if you told me to wander, I wouldn't dare."

"Let's check the riverbank to the left," I said. We walked toward the water. Li Kun, our team's lucky charm, wandered about aimlessly, a bamboo sliver hanging from his mouth and his flashlight swinging around. He scanned the flat ground, noting the rocky debris at the foot of the Azure Dragon Mountain.

"Doesn't look like much here," Li Kun muttered to himself. "Even if there’s an entrance, it wouldn't be on the surface. If the tomb is under our feet, I’m probably just at the edge of it. Searching here is likely useless; entrances don't just face the outside." Still, he continued to circle the perimeter.

Meanwhile, Xu Tian walked forward into a large, empty clearing. Aside from sand and stone, there was nothing. He shook his head, recalling that from the mountaintop earlier, this whole area had looked like a barren clearing. Finding nothing of interest, he turned toward the river.

Dagou and I had already reached the bank. The river was about ten meters wide and crystal clear; with our flashlights, we could see small fish swimming along the bottom. The riverbed was about three or four meters deep, and the banks were dry. I realized that if we couldn't find an entrance, we would have to start digging from the riverbed—there was no other choice. Digging from the flat ground would take too long to reach the tomb's roof or walls.

As we continued to scout along the river, a light appeared in the distance. We watched as a figure in grey clothing approached. Dagou hid behind me, but I recognized him. "It's fine, he's one of us."

"Old Xu!" I called out. "Any discoveries?"

Xu Tian heard me and trotted over. "Nothing," he said when he reached us. "Just flat ground everywhere. No tomb entrances, no deep gullies."