Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren)

"Only the most magnificent royal tombs would have side doors or alternative entrances built into them," Andrew said.

Kevin nodded. "That's exactly right. Royal burial grounds often took decades to complete. Emperor's tombs especially, would begin construction the day they took the throne. Some took up to 50 years to finish.

"Because of this, they inevitably had to create multiple side doors and alternative entrances. This made it convenient for craftsmen to come and go and allowed the emperor or high-ranking officials to come down and inspect the progress themselves!"

Chantelle asked curiously, "Wouldn't the emperor use the main entrance when visiting his own tomb?"

Andrew shook his head. "The emperor would only go through the main entrance once on the day he was buried. Every other time, he couldn't use the main door and had to use the side entrances instead."

Kevin was getting impatient. "Come on, let's hurry up and climb to take a look."

The nearly vertical cliff face constantly dripped with water, making everything slippery and wet. Even though there were stone steps carved into the rock, they were covered in moss and algae, making it nearly impossible to get a good foothold without slipping.

Andrew positioned himself behind Chantelle, holding her hips to help her maintain balance as she climbed ahead. Though it was somewhat embarrassing, Chantelle did not resist his help.

Kevin brought up the rear, struggling with the climb, and offered, "Andy, why don't you take a break and let me help Ms. Garcia instead?"

Andrew laughed coldly. "Kevin, you're nearly in your 50s and still trying to cop a feel? That's pretty shameless, don't you think?"

Kevin's face flushed red with anger. "Nonsense! I just wanted to help Ms. Garcia out."

Chantelle called down firmly from above, "Mr. Wright Senior, don't trouble yourself. With Mr. Lloyd's help, I can make it up just fine!"

Looking up at Chantelle's shapely figure ahead of him, Kevin felt quite envious. That lucky bastard Andrew was certainly blessed to be in such a position with Derek's usually cold and distant secretary.

After considerable effort, the three finally made it up the hundreds of stone steps to reach the protruding platform. Two stone sculptures, each about chest-high, stood lifelike with wings spread as if ready to take flight.

"These are totems from the Crimson Dynasty—the Sky Emperor's Falcon!" Andrew explained.

Chantelle ran her hands over the stone carvings admiringly. "Such exquisite craftsmanship! You rarely see work of this quality anymore!"

Kevin's eyes lit up greedily. "Too bad this place is so deep underground and hard to access for removal work. Otherwise, these two sculptures alone would fetch a fortune."

He shifted his tone and chuckled. "But guardian pieces are ultimately just decoration. Once we push open this door, the real treasures inside the tomb are where the serious money is!"

Andrew cautioned, "Don't push the door yet. Let's check around first to see if there are any traps!"

Kevin waved dismissively and

laughed. "Andy, you're being way too cautious. This was a side entrance used by construction workers-it's not a dungeon or prison. There wouldn't be any deadly traps in a place like this."

Andrew frowned as he watched

Kevin place both hands on the

bronze doors and bellow as he began pushing with all his strength. With two creaking sounds, the relatively modest bronze doors began opening inward.

"It's actually opening!" Chantelle exclaimed in surprise.

Andrew looked down at the ground, then at the easily opened bronze doors, feeling like something was not right. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and he noticed that behind the doors, the ground was covered with a mess of footprints.

The brick floor behind the door was thick with dust from years of abandonment, which was normal. However, the current state of the ground, covered in various footprints, definitely was not normal.

Without hesitation, Andrew shouted, "Chantelle, get back!"noveldrama

Over a dozen gun barrels suddenly emerged from behind the door, aimed directly

at Andrew, Chantelle, and Kevin.

Kevin was still frozen in his door-pushing position, his blood running cold. "Show yourself! I'm Kevin, head of the Wright family!"

A sinister chuckle echoed as the gun barrels shifted slightly. Then, a hateful, sneering face appeared from behind them.

"Mr. Wright Senior, what a pleasure! But what surprises me most is running into you here, Andrew."

Another man laughed. "Andrew, your time is up!"

Chantelle gritted her teeth in recognition. "Rafael, Mosby—it's you!"