I kept staring at Shen Xingyue's car until she turned onto the road. Only then did I say to Zheng Bingbing, "Alright, let's begin."
Zheng Bingbing secured the rappelling system on the mountaintop, then helped me put on my gear and lowered me down the cliff using the pulley system.
I paused above the middle opening of the nine cave entrances. It looked much like the one in my dream: a stone door hung with a lock. I wondered whose immortal or demon dwelling it was.
Continuing my descent, I soon reached the main central cave. Song Lei had clearly been here before, as everything matched his diary sketch, down to the patterns on the stone door.
I wasn't foolish enough to attempt sketching, so I pulled out my phone and took a direct photo of the stone door. If this attempt failed, I could use it as a reference next time.
After stowing my phone, I glanced back at the Han Yin Temple, ensuring no one had noticed my actions. I then swung twice into the cave, landing on the open ground before the stone door. Standing firm, I unhooked the rope from my waist and tugged it three times.
This was the signal. Zheng Bingbing sensed it and quietly lowered the rope to the left, hiding it in the tangled bushes about three meters away to avoid detection from below. I didn't need to worry about being seen, as the cave entrance was about two meters deep from the stone door. From below, one could only see the opening, not the door or me.
Glancing at my watch, it was eleven-thirty. The demonic energy should have dissipated enough. Delay could lead to complications, so I decided to act ahead of schedule.
I took out the hydraulic shears from my bag and inserted them into the bronze lock, gradually widening the opening. It was likely an alloy, hard enough, but not as strong as reinforced steel. Bingbing had mentioned on the way that these shears could easily cut through rebar, let alone a four-hundred-year-old ancient lock.
In less than two minutes, I successfully broke the lock. I carefully removed the bronze lock and placed it on the ground. The lock was heavy, weighing at least seven or eight pounds. It was probably an antique. I wondered how much it would fetch at Panjiayuan.
However, after unlocking it, another problem arose. The stone door was incredibly heavy, and I couldn't move it. I suspected it would require martial arts skills and internal energy to push open.
I didn't know martial arts, but I had a secret weapon. While studying Song Lei's diagram last night, I had anticipated this issue. That's why I had carried the car jack from the Pajero up the mountain. Otherwise, my bag wouldn't have been so heavy.
But there was no leverage point.
I squatted down and studied the situation for a while. I noticed stone pedestals on either side of the stone door, each carved with some kind of beast. I had an idea!
I took out a spare rope from my bag and wrapped it around the heads of the stone beasts, several times. I then secured the base of the car jack to the rope and positioned the jack's head against the stone door. Tightening the rope created a fixed point for the jack, which was now suspended in mid-air.
I started turning the car jack. The professional climbing rope held up well, with minimal deformation. As the jack extended, the stone door began to shift. After a good deal of cranking, I managed to pry open a gap of about ten centimeters.
I stopped and shone my flashlight inside. It was pitch black, and my vision was limited. I couldn't see much, and it didn't seem like the coffin was there.
I continued operating the jack, opening the door a little over twenty centimeters. I paused again and tested the opening with my head. It was wide enough. If my head could fit, my body could too.
I adjusted my gear, put on my headlamp, grabbed a crowbar, and squeezed through the gap, leading with my left shoulder, then my head, and finally my right shoulder. My backside got stuck, and it took some wriggling to inch inside. Luckily, I was thin.
Once inside, the space opened up considerably. I quickly swept my headlamp around.
Why was this different from my dream? This was just an empty chamber...
Suddenly, I felt a chilling pressure pressing down from above. I slowly raised my head. Suspended from the cave ceiling was a rectangular object. Focusing my gaze, I realized it was a coffin!