I wanted to remind them, but I didn't know how to explain it to them. That was why I pretended to say that the symbol was too big. Unfortunately, this excuse didn't hold water, and they easily refuted me.
As for why I was willing to go in with them, it was my selfishness.
Ever since I discovered the witchcraft aura in the tunnel, I've been secretly thinking about it. After I came down, I've been searching for signs of witchcraft aura. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any signs of witchcraft aura in this spacious cave, until I found this symbol.
If I wasn't mistaken, the mass of witchcraft energy we had seen earlier must have come from this cave.
Although I had come here to investigate a case, the witchcraft energy was more important to me than this case.
Since I couldn't stop them, I decided to follow them and go into this cave. No matter if we could find the witchcraft energy or not, we would be safer with them around.
As for Professor Liang, Han Wennan was right. If he could walk this far, it meant that his body wasn't injured. Moreover, we had notified the higher-ups. When they came down with the lighting equipment, they would search in other places. Whether he could be saved or not depended on his luck.
Speaking of which, Professor Liang was a bold man. After he fell, he didn't stay put and wait for help. Instead, he wanted to run around. I didn't know what he was thinking.
Anyway, after we entered the cave, we found that although the cave was big, it was much narrower than the spacious space outside. The light from the four searchlights made the surroundings look bright.
Unlike the open space outside, as soon as we entered the cave, we saw a tree stump on both sides of the road. Every two meters, there was a crisscrossed tree stump sticking out of the wall.
Han Wennan, the leader of the group, shone the searchlight in his hand. Now, we could see that it wasn't a tree stump. It was two rows of round stones on the wall. Moreover, they had some rough carvings.
This underground cave was strange and mysterious, and we had come here in a hurry. We didn't have any clues. Now that we saw these man-made carvings, of course, we couldn't let them go.
It was a pity that Professor Liang wasn't here. Although the four of us knew a little about ancient culture, we were all dabblers.
Han Wennan squatted down, stretched out her hand, and knocked on the stone twice. She said, "This is made of mud. From the carvings on it, it looks like a doll."
Since I was the furthest away from them, I noticed that the top of these circular objects was slightly concave, dividing them into two halves. From the carvings on the shorter part, I could tell that they were indeed puppets.
Han Wennan said that the doll was made of mud, so it must be a terracotta figure.
It was said that in ancient times, there were many terracotta warriors buried with them. The most famous one was Ying Zheng, the Emperor of Qin.
There were tens of thousands of terracotta soldiers buried with the Qin Emperor's tomb. After excavating them, they were hailed as rare treasures.
Before I could open my mouth, Chen Yangting said, "Is this really a tomb?
There are so many terracotta warriors buried with them. Ha, maybe we've stumbled upon the tomb of an important figure in ancient times. "
Han Wennan shook his head. "The ancients believed that the world after death was the same as when they were alive. That's why they made terracotta warriors to be buried with them. Their purpose was to protect and serve the tomb owner. For example, the terracotta warriors of the Qin Emperor's tomb were placed around it. They were equipped with chariots and armor.
If this place is really a tomb, no matter if it's for protection or service, the dolls should be standing on both sides of the road. However, these terracotta warriors are stuck in the wall, with only half of their bodies exposed. What's the meaning of this? "
Since these dolls were strange, Chen Yangting didn't refute. He just reached out to touch them. He didn't know the reason either.
After studying for a while, Han Wennan finally got up and said, "We should find Professor Liang first. We should record the situation of these dolls. When we get out of here, we will give them to the archaeologists to study."
Since we couldn't understand them, we didn't have any objections. We stood up and followed Han Wennan.
The tunnel in this cave was really long. Since we knew the situation here, we didn't dare to rush. We walked slowly. After walking for half an hour, we still hadn't reached the exit.
Chen Yangting was the first one to lose his cool. He waved the searchlight in his hand and shone it around. He said angrily, "We've been walking for half an hour. Besides the terracotta warriors on both sides of the road, there's nothing else. We don't need to be so careful. I think we should move faster. Although Professor Liang is old, he was able to run this far even after falling. His body isn't bad. If he isn't slower than us, and this cave is really long, how long will it take us to find him?"
Han Wennan suddenly stopped. He thought for a while and answered, "You're right. Professor Liang fell suddenly, but he was able to run this far. His body isn't bad.
However, he doesn't have a searchlight in his hand. Even if he has a light source on his phone, he won't be able to catch up with us in the dark.
It's been less than an hour since he fell. We've been walking for a long time, but we still haven't caught up with him. Did something happen? "
Then, he didn't wait for Chen Yangting's reply. He turned to us and asked, "Along the way, did you pay attention to the surrounding mountain walls?
Could it be that there was a fork in the road and we missed it? "
Chen Yangting was surprised. "I've been paying attention to the surrounding mountain walls. There shouldn't be a fork in the road."
He sounded very guilty. It was obvious that he hadn't paid much attention to the road.
Miao Jue, who was standing next to him, was honest. He said, "This poor monk only cared about the road. Although I did pay attention to the surrounding mountain walls, it was just a cursory glance. If there was a hidden fork in the road, I'm afraid we missed it."
After Miao Jue said that, Han Wennan turned to me.
The three of them had come together from the capital, so they knew each other's cultivation base. As for me, I had been forced to join the group by the leader of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. I had never revealed my cultivation base and had always played the role of a follower. I thought that Han Wennan wouldn't care about my opinion, so I didn't plan to answer him.
However, since he had asked, I smiled and said, "Chen Daozhang is right. I've been paying attention to the surroundings along the way, but I haven't found any forks in the road."
It wasn't that I was talking nonsense, but that I had been paying attention to the surroundings along the way.
Ever since I had discovered the aura of shaman energy from the symbol at the entrance, I had come here to search for shaman energy. Moreover, I was at the back of the group, so I didn't need to worry about the road ahead. I just needed to follow them. That was why I had been paying attention to the surroundings along the way.
After asking about the situation, Han Wennan was silent for half a minute. Then, he made a decision and said, "We'll continue to search for another half an hour. If we still don't find anything, we'll go back the way we came. We'll carefully search the mountain walls along the way. If we can't find anything, we'll go back and meet up with the people from the Municipal Public Security Bureau. After we've made sufficient preparations, we'll continue to search. What do you think?"
Miao Jue didn't have any objections. Chen Yangting was already impatient, so he nodded.
Although I wanted to continue searching until I found the shaman energy or the Tai Sui, I couldn't reveal my purpose to them, so I nodded in agreement.
After the agreement was made, we continued to move forward.
It seemed that Han Wennan's worries weren't wrong. The rest of the way was the same as the way we had come. If it weren't for the fact that our cultivation base wasn't bad and we could clearly sense the subtle differences between the mountain walls and the terracotta figures, I would have suspected that we had run into a ghost wall.
After walking for another twenty minutes, I became more and more impatient. All of a sudden, I was shaken. My eyes moved from the mountain wall to the terracotta figures stuck in the wall.
I had seen so many terracotta figures along the way, and I was already tired of looking at them. Of course, I wasn't interested in them anymore.
The reason why I was attracted to this terracotta figure was that I had finally found the traces of shaman energy on this terracotta figure!
I hesitated. Although Han Wennan had told me that we wouldn't find Professor Liang this time and that we would come back later to search, I didn't want to miss the traces of shaman energy that I had just found.
Moreover, this terracotta figure was different from the mist of shaman energy and the symbol at the entrance of the cave. The mist and the symbol could be seen at first glance, so they didn't have any research value. However, this terracotta figure was huge. Perhaps, there were a lot of shaman energy beads sealed inside. Since I had found it, I didn't want to miss it.
Thus, after a moment of hesitation, I stopped.
The three people in front of me had high cultivation bases. They immediately noticed my action and turned around.
Han Wennan didn't doubt my action. He hurriedly asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, did you find something?"
I stared at the terracotta figure and shook my head. "I didn't find anything. However, I suddenly thought of something. Although there aren't any forks along the way, there are so many terracotta figures on the mountain wall. Could there be some secret passage?
Or, the places where the terracotta figures are poking are actually passages that are blocked by the terracotta figures?
If that's the case, it's possible that Professor Liang found a passage while studying the terracotta figures and got in. "
I remembered reading a saying somewhere. As long as you're willing to lie, there will always be people willing to believe you.
This was not to say that there were many fools in the world, but because everything in the world had countless possibilities, especially when faced with some unknown things. No one knew anything, so as long as you put forward your own opinion, most people would accept it for the time being.
Han Wennan and the others weren't an exception. When they heard my story, their eyes brightened. They hurried to follow me to the terracotta figure that was emitting waves of shaman energy.
Chen Yangting was impatient. He didn't wait for me to take action and directly reached out to pull the terracotta figure.
Unfortunately, the terracotta figure was several times thicker than a human. It wasn't light, and it was completely glued to the mountain wall. Although cultivators had extraordinary strength, they weren't superhumans. He pulled for a long time, but the terracotta figure didn't budge.
Chen Yangting was annoyed. He took out a talisman and raised his hand to throw it at the place where the terracotta figure was connected to the mountain wall. He wanted to use the talisman's power to pull the terracotta figure out. Han Wennan and Monk Miaojue hurried to pull him back.
Han Wennan advised, "We don't know the situation here. Don't use the talisman rashly. If we're in a graveyard, there will inevitably be hidden weapons. If you use the talisman rashly, I'm afraid you'll trigger those things."
His words were solemn, but we hadn't found anything yet. I didn't want to miss out on this terracotta figure, so I urged him, "Daozhang Chen is from Mount Longhu, and he's an expert in the art of talismans. He's just trying to make this terracotta figure, so he won't trigger any other traps.
Of course, if this terracotta figure is a hidden weapon or a hidden weapon, it'll be better. We've been looking for it for a long time, but we haven't found anything. Perhaps we'll find some new clues after triggering the traps.
As for Fellow Daoist Han's worries, they're groundless. The traps in a graveyard are nothing more than flying arrows and stones, but look around. It's just a cave. Even if there are hidden weapons or traps, they won't be very powerful. With our abilities, we can easily avoid them. "
Chen Yangting didn't get along with Han Wennan, so he agreed with my suggestion.
Monk Miaojue didn't have any ideas, and now, Han Wennan was all alone. He hesitated for a moment, then clenched his teeth and agreed with us.
We retreated to the side for the time being. Chen Yangting excitedly took out another talisman and threw it at the place where the terracotta figure was connected to the mountain wall.
The corners of my mouth twitched as I watched.