Early the next morning, everyone got up to check their gear and prepare to go into the water, only to discover that one person was missing from the team—Xie Lianhuan.
At that moment, Wu Sansheng pointed to a corpse on a reef not far away and said, "Look over there, there's someone."
Hearing this, everyone instinctively looked in the direction Wu Sansheng was pointing, and they all saw the corpse as well.
After quite a bit of effort, they managed to pull the body up, only to be shocked to discover that it was Xie Lianhuan.
Zhang Qiling didn't go over to look at the corpse. Instead, he stood off to the side, observing everyone's reactions. Everyone wore an expression of shock, with only one exception: Qiyu. His eyes alone held deep doubt and bafflement.
In truth, Zhang Qiling knew that wasn't Xie Lianhuan at all. It was simply a random corpse Wu Sansheng had found and disguised to look like Xie Lianhuan.
This was precisely Wu Sansheng's plan: to have Xie Lianhuan impersonate him, and then find a corpse to disguise as Xie Lianhuan.
Just when everyone thought Xie Lianhuan had sneered into the water alone and caused his own death, the real Wu Sansheng was actually lurking in the Seafloor Tomb, waiting for them to enter the burial chambers.
Since someone had already died in a tomb expedition, the group should have proceeded with even greater caution. Instead, Chen Wenjin decided to start investigating the Seafloor Tomb immediately to avoid any complications that might arise from dragging things out.
By the time they successfully found the entrance and entered the burial chamber, everyone was utterly exhausted, so they decided to rest temporarily to recover their strength.
Right at that moment, Wu Sansheng—actually played by Xie Lianhuan in disguise—secretly exchanged a glance with Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling gave him a slight nod, and then "Wu Sansheng" leaned against the stone wall and fell asleep.
The rest of the archaeological team was also resting. Before long, the only sound in the burial chamber was the steady breathing of the group; not a single other sound could be heard.
Suddenly, as if he had noticed something, Zhang Qiling fixed his gaze firmly toward the passageway.
In reality, that was the signal from the real Wu Sansheng that the operation was beginning. After staring for a moment, as if he had finally confirmed something, Zhang Qiling set off in pursuit of a nonexistent figure.
The members of the archaeological team, who were resting, also noticed Zhang Qiling rushing out. Qiyu was the first to get up and follow him. Seeing someone take the lead, the others dropped the pretense of resting and hurried after them as well.
When Zhang Qiling chased his target into another burial chamber, he stopped pursuing, because he saw the real Wu Sansheng.
This burial chamber was extremely dim. Standing in the very center was an octagonal pillar with a surface as smooth as a mirror, and the water on the floor had evaporated to form a thick layer of vapor. If one ignored the gloomy environment, it might have felt like some sort of ethereal dreamland.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Zhang Qiling nodded at Wu Sansheng.
Then, Wu Sansheng began to groom himself before the smooth pillar just like a woman, looking extraordinarily alluring. The stone wall behind him slowly slid open.
At that exact moment, the others caught up. Seeing those alluring yet eerie movements, for a moment they couldn't tell whether he was human or a ghost. Taking advantage of the moment they stood stunned, Wu Sansheng abruptly darted into the burial chamber behind the wall.
Zhang Qiling was the first to react and chased in ahead of the rest, with the others close behind.
Entering the chamber, they didn't see Wu Sansheng, but instead found a magnificent architectural model placed right in the center of the room. Atop it sat a mummified golden body wearing official attire from the Ming Dynasty, and several huge night-pearls were embedded in the dome above, illuminating the entire burial chamber as bright as day under their glow.
If Qiyu hadn't stumbled upon the plan between Wu Sansheng and Xie Lianhuan, they should have discovered the "corpses" of the two men right about now.
But since they had already been discovered, they had no choice but to play along. Suddenly, the mummified body's hand twitched, and the entire burial chamber instantly plunged into darkness. Just as everyone thought they had triggered a mechanism that caused a corpse to turn, a ghostly face appeared on the mural right in front of them. It scared several of the young men—who had always treated Zhang Qiling as a rival—into shrieking and instinctively sweeping their flashlights away from the wall, only to realize it was merely a projection.
At that moment, Zhang Qiling held up his flashlight, staring intently at the three murals on the wall that recorded the Clouds-End Heavenly Palace.
Zhang Qiling had known about the Clouds-End Heavenly Palace for a long time, but he couldn't just spell it out directly to them. Therefore, while looking at the murals, he started making up a story to divert everyone's attention.
However, there were only three murals; no matter how good he was at making things up, he couldn't stretch it out forever.
Just as he was running out of things to say, taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was hooked by the murals, Zhang Qiling turned his head and gave a glance to Wu Sansheng, who was hiding in the shadows.
Perhaps the story he was telling was simply too gripping, because Wu Sansheng, lurking in the dark, had actually gotten completely caught up in it and temporarily forgot to make his move.
That gaze was as calm as stagnant water, no different from his usual expression, yet Wu Sansheng inexplicably understood what his eyes meant: Why haven't you made your move yet?
Finally, running out of things to say, Zhang Qiling turned toward Wu Sansheng's direction, shouted, "Stop right there!" and rushed toward him.
Just as Wu Sansheng was getting ready to act, he was startled by that shout and bolted down the passageway at a full sprint.
Entering the passageway, Wu Sansheng ran while pulling out a spray bottle to mist the space behind him.
As soon as Zhang Qiling entered the passageway, he caught a strange fragrance and instinctively held his breath. At that moment, the archaeological team caught up from behind. Seeing him standing there motionless, they stopped as well, panting heavily as they inhaled massive lungfuls of the Jinpo fragrance that Wu Sansheng had sprayed into the passageway.
Chen Wenjin called out, "Where is he?"
By this time, Wu Sansheng was long gone to God knows where, so Zhang Qiling answered honestly, "He ran off."
Just then, someone behind them sniffed the air and asked with a puzzled expression, "What's that smell? It smells so good!"
Chen Wenjin suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly warned, "It's Jinpo fragrance! Hold your breath, quickly!"
But it was already too late. One person after another collapsed in a faint. Chen Wenjin looked at Zhang Qiling in confusion and asked, "How are you completely fine?"
Before she could finish her sentence, she, too, collapsed unconscious.
At that moment, Wu Sansheng walked over, smiling as he said, "Brother Yude, that was quite a story you spun. Even I got sucked into it."
Zhang Qiling didn't take up his banter, asking instead, "What's the next step of the plan?"
The smile on Wu Sansheng's face didn't fade in the least; in fact, it grew even brighter as he looked at him and said, "The next step of the plan is something Wu Sansheng needs to worry about. What does that have to do with me, Xie Lianhuan? I'm already dead."
Zhang Qiling said nothing, merely giving him a look.
Watching that calm gaze that didn't hold the slightest ripple, Wu Sansheng somehow felt like he was being cursed out...
Suddenly, Zhang Qiling's ears twitched as he caught the sound of familiar footsteps, and he asked Wu Sansheng, "Luring 'its' people over—was that also part of your plan?"
The smile froze on Wu Sansheng's face, and he hurriedly tried to retreat into the shadows. But seeing that Zhang Qiling didn't move, he instead looked right into his eyes and said, "Don't you want to witness our enemies firsthand?"
Wu Sansheng countered, "What do you mean?"
With that, Zhang Qiling led him into hiding in the dark, pulled out the talisman Zhang Xilin had given him, and pressed it onto both of their bodies.
"No matter what happens, do not make a single sound."