Her Marriage: The Night is Still Young-Chapter 175: Jade Bone Box

Josephine Thompson shook her head, "No, you’re not familiar with this field. Moreover, you’ve never descended into such uncleaned burglar tunnels, where the rock walls are unstable, and one misstep could cause a collapse. I’ve seen similar structures with my dad, more familiar than you."

She turned to Carter, steadied her voice: "Mr. Carter, I’ll bring the Tomb-Finder’s Shovel and High Intensity Flashlight. You take the Detector, we’ll explore just three meters, if anything seems off we’ll immediately retreat."

Carter nodded, pulled a safety rope out of his backpack and tied it around his waist: "Professor Thompson, be careful, these slanted burglar tunnels are most prone to falling rocks."

"...Thompson is pretty slender, less likely to get stuck, let her go along!"

"Remember, it’s only about probing the depth of the burglar tunnel, don’t rashly descend into the pit."

"Okay, I understand."

Josephine Thompson handed the other end of the safety rope to Captain Zimmerman, and checked the headlamp on her helmet again.

Captain Zimmerman swallowed before squeezing out his words: "I’ll pull the rope from above, every time you move give a signal."

"Okay." Josephine Thompson responded, checked the safety rope around her waist.

Julian Grant looked on, full of unease, "No, no, Josephine, I can’t rest easy if you go down there, I’ll go with you."

Josephine Thompson raised her eyes to look at him.

In the sunset, the red veins in his eyes hadn’t dissipated yet, full of deep worry.

"Relax, I descend into pits often, there won’t be an issue.

Moreover, it’s just to explore the depth of the pit, and if there’s any accumulated water. I’ll be back up soon, no need to worry."

Having said that.

Josephine Thompson already started walking toward the cave entrance with Carter.

The entrance was narrow.

Only suitable for one person to pass sideways.

The earthy smell instantly enveloped them, carrying a faint hint of damp mildew.

Carter: "I’ll go down first, you follow afterward."

Josephine Thompson nodded: "Okay."

Carter gripped the safety rope tightly, bit by bit descending into the burglar tunnel.

"Alright, the space below is sufficient."

Josephine Thompson heard this, and also began descending into the tunnel.

She turned on her headlamp, the beam pierced through the darkness, revealing the varied depths of scratch marks on the tunnel walls.

Obvious that these were kicked out by tomb raiders.

The edges were still tinged with black fibers, the same material as the canvas at the entrance.

"Half a meter down, the tunnel wall is hard earth, no cracks visible." She said into the walkie-talkie, her feet slowly moving down.

Carter’s detector screen glowed green: "Humidity is normal, no signs of hollow resonance."

Julian Grant held the rope tightly above.

Relaxing his grip a little every time he heard her voice, eyes glued to the tunnel entrance, fearing the darkness would swallow her.

Among the rustling of the warning tape, he suddenly heard Captain Zimmerman curse under his breath.

Turning to look.

Captain Zimmerman was raising binoculars towards the northwest: "No news from Teacher Lynch over there, Linton hasn’t returned either from checking the cars."

Before finishing his sentence, the walkie-talkie suddenly carried Josephine Thompson’s voice, more urgent than before: "Mr. Carter, look here!"

Julian Grant’s heart clenched tightly, immediately tugged the safety rope: "Josephine? What’s wrong?"

"There’s a groove in the tunnel wall!" Josephine’s voice echoed with an urgency, "Something might be inside, not dirt."

Carter’s voice followed quickly: "It’s metal! Cold, looks like... a latch?"

Julian Grant didn’t wait to hear the rest, moved towards the tunnel entrance, only to be held back by Captain Zimmerman: "Don’t cause trouble! Wait for their report!"

Inside the burglar tunnel.

The two descended to three meters, arriving at an angled funnel-shaped platform.

Approximately five square meters, scattered with plastic bags and some modern tools on the ground.

Clearly left behind by tomb raiders.

Josephine Thompson gently used the Tomb-Finder’s Shovel to clear away the floating dirt from the groove, the headlamp beam focused, revealing a palm-sized bronze lock.

The lock core was plum blossom-shaped, also engraved with the "Dawnveil" character.

She touched the lock body with her fingertip, ice cold.

This wasn’t a modern replica, the patina mixed with earth rust, a common "Hidden Door Lock" used in The Dawnveil Dynasty mausoleums."

"It’s the side door to the antechamber, tomb raiders likely reached here but couldn’t unlock the lock, so retreated."

Carter looked over: "This lock requires a special key, forcing it will trigger mechanisms."

Before finishing the words.

The tunnel top suddenly spilled soil "susu".

The headlamp shone upwards, a fist-sized stone was rolling down!

"Watch out!" Josephine Thompson urged Carter with a push, moving sideways herself, back hitting the tunnel wall, pain drew a sharp breath.

The stone thudded where she stood moments ago, dirt splashed across her face.

Above, Julian Grant’s heart nearly leaped out, yelled with his throat: "Josephine! Are you alright?!"

"I’m fine!" Josephine Thompson wiped her face, about to speak, when suddenly heard a light sound "click" from deep within the burglar tunnel, like something was activated.

Carter’s face changed abruptly: "It’s a mechanism! Retreat quickly!"

The two immediately turned to climb up, the safety rope tautened suddenly.

Julian Grant fiercely pulled upward, ignoring the pain as the rope dug into his palms.

"Scramble, scramble, scramble!"

Less than three minutes.

The two were swiftly pulled out of the tunnel entrance.

Just when Josephine’s lower body emerged from the tunnel entrance, a muffled sound erupted from the depths of the burglar tunnel, as if something heavy had landed.

She glanced back.

In the darkness, it seemed something was moving, frightening her, she swiftly crawled out.

"Josephine."

Julian Grant pulled her out urgently, grasping her arm tightly, surveying her up and down: "Are you injured? Where does it hurt?"

Josephine shook her head, pointing at the burglar tunnel while panting: "There’s a mechanism inside... seems like a trap door, they failed to open the lock but triggered that instead."

Captain Zimmerman immediately ordered the safety rope be retrieved, just about to speak when Linton’s voice came urgently from afar, filled with panic: "Captain Zimmerman! Teacher Lynch... he fainted in the mountain creek!"

The crowd felt a sinking in their hearts, Julian Grant hurriedly helped Josephine to stand: "I’ll go take a look!"

"Let’s go together!"

Josephine grabbed him, turned to Captain Zimmerman: "Leave two people here to guard, we’re heading to the creek!"

The night wind was even colder, sent chills down everyone’s backs.

Josephine followed Julian Grant to run towards the creek, repeatedly thinking about that bronze lock.

The symbol engraved on that bronze lock looked very familiar.

An heirloom had been passed down through the Thornton Family.

It’s a Jade Bone Box.

The box was rectangular, 30cm long, 20cm wide, 10cm high.

The material was ivory and bone tablet, engraved with nine vividly invigorating dragon totems.

The craftsmanship and design of this box were extremely exquisite, ingeniously crafted. It adopted Mechanika’s Secret Technique and Nine Ancient Craft Mechanisms.

Legend has it, inside this box lies a Treasure Map, and the Immortality Technique passed down from the Qin Dynasty.

Once opened, it reveals the design of the The Primordial Emperor’s mausoleum and the secret of immortality.

In other words, it can easily open The Primordial Emperor’s mausoleum.

Her parents had searched through all ancient records trying to find a way to open the box, but found nothing.

The only way was to descend into ancient tombs, seeking methods to open the box. Because many burial items in ancient tombs included everything once used by the tomb owner during their lifetime. Which also included many long-lost secret techniques and forbidden books in modern times.

It had already turned completely dark.

"Uh..." Josephine Thompson stumbled, nearly fell.