Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing walked to the stone gate and carefully examined the stone crack, discovering that it was not very long, only about a foot.

”Just from this crack, can you tell that this door is a false door?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

”You haven’t seen this crack clearly.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong stepped over, tapped the crack with his hand, and said, ”Look closely at both ends of the crack; it’s not just a foot long. The sides are simply covered by stone layers; I can guarantee that underneath these stone layers, the crack extends much further!”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong picked up a hammer from the side and gently tapped the stone layers at both ends of the crack. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the stone layers actually broke open, and underneath them, the crack indeed extended further, just as Wu Yong had stated.

”It really is like this!” Handsome Fatty Wang was the first to get excited, looking at the crack, he said, ”Could this be the actual entrance?”

”It should be!” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong nodded slowly, handing the hammer to someone nearby, directing his men to carefully knock open the stone layers.

”I’ve encountered doors like this before,” said Nine-Fingers Wu Yong. ”Build a false door, and everyone’s attention gets focused on it. Meanwhile, beside the false door, there’s a true door, but the gap of the true door gets blocked by thin stone layers, unnoticed by anyone. Think about it, seeing a door this large, who would think there could be another door beside it?”

Ye Qing nodded, this kind of deceptive trickery could indeed fool many people. Honestly, if he hadn’t brought Nine-Fingers Wu Yong along, he would never have realized this crack could extend so far, and that this stone gate was actually a false door.

”However, those who built this door have made some missteps. They tried to be clever but ignored the most important aspect,” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said. ”A stone gate this large, even for the ancient Imperial Family, is essentially impossible to erect here. Look, this stone gate practically reaches the cave’s ceiling, and in such a place, it’s simply impossible to set up this stone gate. Frankly, even with modern technology and machines, it can’t be done. So this stone gate definitely wasn’t erected later; the only possibility is that it was carved from the cliff to create this façade of a stone gate. Simply put, it’s just a sculpture, not a real door. However, such a large gate is very eye-catching; the moment people enter, they’re immediately drawn to it. Seeing this door, people will probably wonder what the ancients intended to bury here inside the tomb. Plus, after seeing the dragon crocodiles earlier, this door alone probably scares quite a few people away!”

”You’re absolutely right!” Handsome Fatty Wang clapped his hands and said, ”Honestly, when I first came in, seeing this door gave me quite a shock, thinking maybe this tomb has a giant buried inside?”

Actually, Ye Qing and Handsome Fatty Wang had similar thoughts; seeing the dragon crocodiles earlier left Ye Qing doubting his worldview, truly suspecting there might be even stronger wild creatures or monsters hidden within the tomb.

Now, hearing Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s explanation, Ye Qing felt a bit more at ease. If that was the case, when the Demon Sect constructed the tomb, they added a lot of deceptive elements here, but didn’t actually leave that many shocking things.

”Ninth Master, it’s done,” shortly thereafter, a few people on that side had already knocked down the stone layers from the stone gate.

Ye Qing and Nine-Fingers Wu Yong walked to the stone gate and observed closely; sure enough, the crack extended as Wu Yong had stated, forming a rectangular shape about three meters high and two meters wide, precisely in the shape of a door.

”It’s just as I thought.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong chuckled, saying to Ye Qing, ”See, there’s just a thin layer of stone over this big stone gate, hiding the real entrance. However, this stone layer has been here too long, and with those dragon crocodiles here, parts of the layer got accidentally knocked off, revealing the crack underneath. Otherwise, finding this entrance would definitely not be easy!”

Ye Qing nodded, looking at the crack, he asked, ”But how is this door supposed to open? Do you just push it open?”

”There should be some mechanism, right?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, looking uncertain, turned around and said, ”Search for it.”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s men immediately began searching for mechanisms around, and Handsome Fatty Wang didn’t stay idle, following along, intending first to touch the Luminous Pearl, but Ye Qing stopped him.

”This could very well be a mechanism.” Handsome Fatty Wang whispered, still not giving up on the pearl.

”Don’t make trouble,” Ye Qing said. ”I know it might be a mechanism… or a trap. Right now, we’re trying to open the door, not get you killed, so calm down.”

”Damn, that thing’s worth risking my life for,” Handsome Fatty Wang muttered, but being stopped by Ye Qing, he couldn’t touch the Luminous Pearl and had to obediently follow the group to look for other mechanisms.

However, everything around here seemed the same. Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, along with the crew, searched for over an hour, almost touching every inch, but still found no trace of mechanisms; it seemed as if there were no mechanisms at all around.

”Can’t find it at all!” Handsome Fatty Wang walked over dejectedly, looked at the Luminous Pearl, and said, ”It must be this mechanism, this Luminous Pearl is definitely the mechanism. I think the person who built this tomb just loves to mystify things. This stone gate is tricking us, and this Luminous Pearl is placed outside just to scare us. They reckon we wouldn’t dare touch this Luminous Pearl. So, without a doubt, this Luminous Pearl must be the mechanism to open the gate!”

Hearing Handsome Fatty Wang say this, Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s subordinates turned their heads to look at Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, each with the same expression on their faces.

”Nonsense!” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong retorted, glancing at Handsome Fatty Wang and said, ”There aren’t many masters like me in this world, but there are plenty of fools like you. People like you would definitely grab this Luminous Pearl first upon entering the door. If this is the mechanism to open the gate, then what safety can there be in this tomb?”

”Uh...” Handsome Fatty Wang opened his mouth, but in the end couldn’t refute, because what Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said was true. Masters like Nine-Fingers Wu Yong are rare; only he can see that there’s something wrong with this Luminous Pearl. Others might come, but they may not be able to control their hands. If touching this Luminous Pearl can open the gate, then this tomb really isn’t safe.

”Then… then how do you say this gate opens?” Handsome Fatty Wang grumbled discontentedly, still staring at that Luminous Pearl.

Ye Qing moved closer to the Luminous Pearl, Handsome Fatty Wang’s persistent obsession is really worrying.

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong stared at the stone gate for a long time, then suddenly said to Ye Qing, ”Mr. Ye, could I trouble you to try pushing it?”

”Push?” Ye Qing looked at Nine-Fingers Wu Yong in surprise and asked, ”Can this gate be pushed open?”

”I don’t know either, we can only try.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said, ”Can’t find the mechanism around here. For such a mechanism, it’s unlikely to be placed too far. If there’s really no mechanism, then it must be opened by pushing.”

”Pushing it open, isn’t that too frivolous?” Ye Qing muttered under his breath but nonetheless approached the stone gate. Looking at the seam position of the stone gate, Ye Qing took a deep breath, slowly extended both hands, pressed on the stone gate, and pushed forward forcefully.

Ye Qing initially had little hope in this method, but when he exerted force, he suddenly felt something was off. That stone gate wasn’t as immovable as he imagined, rather, when he applied force, the stone gate gradually opened.

”This… can really be pushed open?” Handsome Fatty Wang exclaimed beside him, looking at Nine-Fingers Wu Yong in disbelief, ”What kind of lousy gate is this? Push and it opens? Isn’t this a joke?”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s brows furrowed tightly. Looking at the stone gate pushed open by Ye Qing, his face turned even more grim. He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, ”Everyone, be careful, the ease of opening this stone gate indicates that the tomb builders are very confident in the mechanisms inside. So this place inside is definitely more dangerous than outside!”

Upon hearing Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s words, everyone felt nervous, and Ye Qing heightened his alertness. Nine-Fingers Wu Yong had been through many tombs, his experience is extremely rich, indicating this tomb is really not simple inside.

Beyond the stone gate is a pitch-black cave; as soon as the gate was pushed open, everyone smelled a decaying stench, making them feel nauseous. Who knows how long this stone gate has been closed; the air inside fills with an ancient odor.

The cave isn’t large, but there are turns inside, so from outside, they can’t see the condition inside the stone gate. However, as the stone gate was pushed open, the light from the Luminous Pearl outside also shone inside, so it’s not too dark in here.

”What do we do now?” Handsome Fatty Wang turned to Nine-Fingers Wu Yong and asked, ”The gate is open, you say it’s dangerous, so are we going in or not?”

”Quit asking nonsense, I’ve lost so many brothers, can I just give up halfway?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong glared at him and gritted his teeth, saying, ”But going in, everyone must be careful. Inside this tomb, the circumstances are definitely more dangerous than outside. A single misstep and we could be utterly defeated!”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s reminder once again weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts. They looked at each other, but no one dared to enter the cave first.

”Damn it, you bunch of useless!” Seeing no one going in, Nine-Fingers Wu Yong cursed out loud, grabbed a miner’s lamp, and was the first to walk over: ”Follow me in!”

”Ninth Master, you’re the badass!” Handsome Fatty Wang immediately followed behind Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, the fat guy kept buttering him up one after another.