Volume Three: Tomb of the Fox Immortal - Chapter Fifty-Two: Supernatural Craftsmanship

Li Kun could not help saying, "This place is quite strange. It looks like a deep well, except that it is simply too vast. Tell me, why would they carve a stone path along the wall of this deep well? Just how long must it have taken to dig this out?"

Xu Tian said, "This is the dwelling of the Fox Immortal, or you could say it's the fox immortal's grotto-heaven. The ancients revered the fox immortals as deities, so it is entirely possible that they built such a magnificent place."

With that, Xu Tian looked upward and said, "There might be ventilation shafts or something similar up there, though it probably doesn't go straight up to the surface in a direct line."

As he spoke, the few of us picked up our flashlights and shone them upward. We saw that the dome above was made of thick stone slabs. Even if there were ventilation holes, we wouldn't be able to make them out clearly, and besides, we had already reached the top; going up there would serve no purpose.

I looked at the stone path embedded in the right wall and said, "Let's go. Let's head down and take a look."

The two of them nodded, and the group of us walked straight down toward the stone path set into the right wall.

The stone path carved into the wall was surprisingly easy to walk on, with every single step uniform in size. The only catch was that there were no railings or handrails of any kind along the outer edge.

The stone path was about two meters wide and over two meters high, so walking down it, we didn't have to worry about bumping our heads.

After walking downward for about half an hour, a creeping sense of unease began to settle in our hearts. We had been descending for so long yet still hadn't reached the bottom; there was no telling just how deep this bottomless pit truly was.

From time to time, Li Kun raised his flashlight to inspect the stone walls back and forth, absolute anxiety filling his heart. "Old Liu, do you think there are any monsters on the walls around here? Like massive scorpions or something? Whenever I see those things, my legs just freeze up and I can't move."

Xu Tian smiled and said, "Old Li, I can't believe you're actually afraid of bugs."

Li Kun paid no heed to Xu Tian's remark and retorted, "You didn't go out into the field with Old Liu and me before. If you had, you'd have seen giant scorpions and centipedes as tall as a person and several meters long."

Hearing this, Xu Tian turned his head to look at Li Kun and said, "Stop messing around, Old Li. Where on earth would you find scorpions over two meters tall and as big as a person? Do you think this is the Jurassic period?"

Li Kun waved his hand and said, "We can talk about these things after we get back. The time I've spent with Old Liu has completely shattered my worldview. I've seen plenty of monsters like three-eyed snake-men with my own eyes."

Hearing this, Xu Tian turned to look at me, gesturing with his eyes to ask if what Li Kun said was true. I nodded gently, indicating that Li Kun's words were indeed the truth.

At this, Xu Tian's heart also skipped a beat with unease. It wasn't that Xu Tian was afraid of the three-eyed snake-men or whatever monsters Li Kun had mentioned; what terrified Xu Tian were the massive, multi-meter-long centipedes Li Kun had described.

The thing Xu Tian feared most in this world was multi-legged creatures, especially centipedes. A centipede the size of a palm was enough to leave Xu Tian shaken for half a day, let alone a giant centipede several meters long. The mere thought of such a scene made Xu Tian shudder involuntarily.

Seeing the two of them looking like this, I reassured them, "You two don't need to carry on like this. Even if we do run into those venomous bugs and serpents, I have a way to deal with them. Old Li, don't forget, I still have that small bamboo piece the Thousand-Poison Daoist gave me. I've kept it on me all this time."

With that, Li Kun turned to look at me, and I raised my hand to take out the small piece of bamboo hanging around my neck.

Upon seeing the small bamboo piece, Li Kun finally let out a sigh of relief and said, "Old Liu, nice work! I never expected you'd actually wear this thing around. Since that's the case, there's really nothing to be afraid of."

As we chatted idly, the group of us slowly continued our descent. But after talking for a few minutes, we fell silent once more, and our moods began to grow increasingly oppressive.

Because we had been walking for so long, we still hadn't reached the bottom. Could this truly be a bottomless pit?

With this thought in mind, we couldn't help but quicken our pace, and I said to Li Kun, "Old Li, open your Blood Eyes and look down."

Hearing my words, Li Kun and Xu Tian instantly understood my intention. Li Kun promptly activated his Blood Eyes, picked up his flashlight, and peered downward.

Although Li Kun's Blood Eyes allowed him to see in the dark, they could only reveal a very small fraction of the surroundings, giving us barely enough to make out the outlines of objects. Even so, this was still much better than Xu Tian and me groping around in pitch darkness.

Li Kun leaned his body forward to look down while we grabbed his arms to steady him. After staring into the gloom for a few seconds, Li Kun said, "We're about to reach the bottom. Vaguely, it looks like I can see a high platform right in the center. I estimate it must be at least ten meters tall, and very large at that. I can't make out anything else; the flashlight beam just doesn't reach that far down."

Upon hearing Li Kun's words, I initially thought there might be a coffin resting atop that high platform. If that were the case, things would truly become troublesome. Xu Tian and I pulled Li Kun back, and I asked, "A high platform? Is there anything on it?"

Li Kun shook his head and replied, "I can't see clearly, it's too far away. But from the looks of it, it seems to resemble a small building."

At this, Xu Tian and I froze in astonishment. A building? Could it be the dwelling place of the Fox Immortal?

Daring not to delay any further, I said, "Pick up the pace. Let's hurry down and take a look."

The three of us nodded in agreement, accelerating our steps as we practically marched down the path.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, we looked down and finally caught sight of the ground.

The moment our eyes hit solid ground, a collective wave of relief washed over us. After walking for so long, we had finally made it down. We hadn't realized this place was so deep; it was likely at least seventy or eighty meters down, perhaps even reaching a depth of a hundred meters.

One by one, the group of us stepped off the stone path and onto the ground, then raised our flashlights to sweep them across the space ahead.

Yet the instant our feet touched the floor, the entire area suddenly blazed with light. Even the stone path and walls high above our heads lit up brilliantly. In the span of a breath, the entire cavern was illuminated as bright as day by a dense glare of firelight.

Blinded by the sudden flash of light, we winced and reflexively closed our eyes, waiting quite a while for our vision to adjust. But when we finally opened our eyes and looked upward at our surroundings for the first time, the three of us were struck dumb by the sight before us.

The entire space we stood in resembled a gargantuan deep well. Bathed in the radiant glow, we tilted our heads back to look upward, only to see that the stone path winding along the cavern walls resembled a gigantic dragon coiled around the interior of the deep well. Lining both the upper and lower edges of the stone path were rows of oversized dragon-head torch stands, overlapping like the scales of a dragon.

And right on the dome directly above us was a colossal golden dragon head, its position seamlessly connected to the stone path. At the four surrounding quadrants of the path were four massive fissures extending downward from the walkway; looking up from the bottom, they looked precisely like four sprawling dragon claws.

Sculpted at the position of the dragon head on the dome was also an exquisitely beautiful woman, standing gracefully upon the dragon horn on the left side of the dragon head, holding a glowing sky-blue orb in her hands.

Under the illumination of the dragon-head torch stands, these intricate carvings emitted a soft, ethereal glow, making it impossible for any of us to miss them.

We were utterly awestruck by this spectacle. The only four words that could possibly describe this place were *work of supreme craftsmanship*.

Witnessing this scene, Xu Tian sighed, "I never imagined I would live to see such a magnificent sight in my lifetime. My life has truly not been lived in vain."

Li Kun could not help marveling either, "This is damn near mind-blowing! Just how much money would it take to build a project of this scale? If this were placed in ancient times, even an emperor's mausoleum wouldn't be this spectacular. Look at that giant dragon on the wall and its four claws—if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed such a sight existed in this world."

I too was stunned by the breathtaking scene before me, nodding involuntarily as I said, "That's right. There's probably only one place like this in the entire world. Even if we walk away from this tomb empty-handed, coming here just to lay eyes on such a place means our trip was worth it."

Hearing my words, Li Kun muttered with a gloomy expression, "Damn it, if I had known this fox immortal tomb would look like this, I would have brought my camera. Even just snapping a single photo inside here would have been amazing."

Xu Tian turned his head to look at Li Kun and said, "You actually want to take pictures? If those photos got out, the three of us would probably spend the rest of our lives rotting in a prison cell."

Li Kun waved his hand dismissively and said, "Such a fine place would be a complete waste without taking a few photos to remember it by. Next time we go tomb robbing, I'm definitely bringing a camera along. If we ever run into a marvelous place like this again, Old Xu, you'll have to take my picture."

Xu Tian smiled and nodded. "Fine, fine. When the time comes, the three of us will take a group photo to commemorate it, so we can pull it out and look at it when we're old."

Yet just as Xu Tian's voice trailed off, his gaze shifted toward me. Because Xu Tian was standing near the wall and I was positioned on the far left, the very first thing Xu Tian saw when he looked toward me was the exact center of the vast circular chamber.

Xu Tian raised a trembling finger toward the center of the space, his hand shaking slightly as he stammered to Li Kun and me, "Old Liu, Old Li, look over there. What in the world is *that*?"