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70 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 41 – Coral Tree

When the phrase “Mysterious Oil Bottle” was mentioned, I noticed that Ah Ning’s expression was very wooden, even dull, a stark contrast to her previously spirited demeanor. Now, being pressed down by Mysterious Oil Bottle, she neither struggled nor spoke, and didn’t even look at us, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.

The Fatty found it strange and said, “Something’s off here. I cursed her so harshly, yet she didn’t react. Normally, if I teased her a bit, she’d have kicked me already.”

I knew he had a rough hand, so I asked him, “Did you go too hard just now? Look at her, she can’t even speak. I suspect you might have hit her too hard and knocked her senseless.”

The Fatty was furious and said, “Don’t talk nonsense! How could I treat a lady like that? I just pressed her foot, and it was gentle, not leaving a mark. If you don’t believe me, ask the little brother.”

Mysterious Oil Bottle told us to stop arguing and said, “Don’t worry, she’s not seriously hurt, just a bit disoriented. She might have experienced some shock.” While saying this, he waved his hand in front of her and even snapped his fingers, but Ah Ning showed no reaction at all.

The Fatty scratched his head, puzzled, and said, “Could it be that this woman saw something that scared her silly?”

I replied, “This woman is incredibly tough and skilled; you saw how she treated me. How could someone like her be scared silly? Don’t let her fool you; she might be pretending.”

Upon hearing this, the Fatty began to doubt, saying, “You have a point. The most poisonous thing is a woman’s heart. We should be cautious. How about we each give her a few slaps and see how she reacts? This woman is quite strong; a few slaps won’t hurt her, no matter how virtuous she pretends to be.”

I saw he was rambling and scolded, “Stop! Damn it, have you watched too many revolutionary films? Trying to be like a Nationalist spy? Look at her like this, how could you bring yourself to hit her?”

The Fatty raised his big hand and symbolically slapped the air near Ah Ning’s small face a couple of times, but found he really couldn’t bring himself to do it. He sighed, “It’s a pity that I’ve never hit a woman. So what do you suggest we do?”

I hadn’t spent much time with her, and it was impossible to judge if she was pretending based on her actions alone. I said, “We can’t determine this right away. I think we should tie her up and take her out first. Then we can call the police and let them handle it.”

The Fatty was furious, “Are you really stupid or just pretending? We three are tomb raiders, do you know what that means? Handing it over to the police? Have you bumped your head on a pig?”

I actually felt a bit dazed. After what the Fatty said, I wanted to slap myself, thinking how my mindset hadn’t adjusted yet, still considering myself a small-time antique dealer. I quickly said to the Fatty, “In my previous tomb raiding experiences, I was just thrown into the situation, thinking of myself as a good citizen, used to seeking help from the police. I blurted it out without thinking, just treat it like I was talking nonsense. Let me rephrase.”

The Fatty waved his hand and said, “Forget it. I see you don’t have any good ideas. Let’s just watch this little brother; relying on you is like waiting for cold flowers to bloom.”

I was left speechless by what he said, so I had to go look at the “Muffled Oil Bottle.” He was shining a flashlight into her eyes. When we turned to look, he said, “No need to argue, her pupils are dilated, and her reaction is very slow, much worse than ‘scared silly.’ It can’t be faked.”

Seeing that he seemed quite confident, I had no reason to doubt him and asked, “Can you tell how this happened?”

The Muffled Oil Bottle shook his head and said, “I only understand a little about this, and that’s from what I heard while doing checks myself. To make a further judgment, I’m powerless. We need to go to a professional hospital.”

I sighed, recalling how vibrant this woman used to be, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Well, I can’t figure out what’s wrong right now, so let’s not overthink it here. Let’s take her out first.”

They all agreed with this suggestion, and the Fatty said to the Muffled Oil Bottle, “Then let’s do it this way. No need to dawdle. This place feels so eerie. Let’s take a look around, and if we don’t find anything, let’s get out quickly.”

I had already forgotten where I was, but as soon as he mentioned it, I felt a chill and wanted to leave immediately. However, seeing that they both had their own purposes, I couldn’t voice my thoughts and could only force myself to nod.

The Fatty immediately turned around and shone the flashlight into the depths of the cave. Following his beam, I saw that the cave wasn’t very long; at a distance of a few dozen steps, I could already see something at the bottom, but the flashlight’s penetration wasn’t strong enough to illuminate it clearly.

My eyesight isn’t as good as the Fatty’s, and I had no idea what was inside. I was just hoping he wouldn’t see anything and would quickly give up on the idea. I couldn’t stay here for even a minute.

The Fatty examined it closely and suddenly frowned, as if he had seen something. I followed his gaze but couldn’t see anything. I only heard him quietly ask us, “You two, do you see at the very back, is that a tree?”

I exclaimed, “How could there be a tree in an ancient tomb? There’s no sunlight here, and no one to water it. If there were a tree, it would have rotted long ago.”

The Fatty looked for a long time and probably wasn’t sure, so he insisted on pointing it out to me. I had no choice but to go along with him, but I really couldn’t see clearly; my eyes were straining, and I could only vaguely make out something branch-like. The outline looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t recall what it was. I said to him, “I can’t see clearly, but that’s definitely not a tree.”

The Fatty shone the light again, stubbornly saying, “I think it looks like a tree. Look, it’s even shining with a golden light. If you don’t believe me, let’s go take a look.”

I saw through his ulterior motives and angrily said, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Even if it’s a golden tree in there, can you carry it out?”

The Fatty, realizing I had seen through him, didn’t seem bothered and said, “Whether I can carry it out or not, we’ll only know if we take a look. Who knows, there might be some smaller items nearby. If we hadn’t come in, that would be one thing, but now that we’re here and see something good, we should at least take a look! Besides, we’ve come this far; it’s not too deep. If something were going to happen, it would have happened already. There’s nothing to be afraid of, right?”

I felt frustrated but helpless. I understood the logic of the fat guy very well: he was all about sightseeing, observing, and then taking advantage of the situation. This guy was like a reincarnated demon; anyone who crossed paths with him was bound to be unlucky.

Just as I was about to mock him, I saw the silent oil bottle gesture for quiet and softly said, “Everyone follow me, don’t fall behind.” Without looking back, he walked straight into the darkness.

The fat guy was overjoyed at this and picked up A-Ning to follow him. I found it strange, but the oil bottle was moving quickly, and I didn’t have time to think too much about it, so I limped after them.

The oil bottle walked briskly ahead. The brick tunnel was uniformly wide from the inside to the outside, and there wasn’t much distance from our position to the end of the tunnel. We soon arrived in front of what was referred to as a tree, the innermost part of the entire brick tunnel. When the oil bottle raised his flashlight, we saw its true appearance.

It was a gigantic white coral, over a person’s height, branching into twelve arms that spread out like a tree. The entire coral was well-carved, but the material was very ordinary and not particularly valuable.

The coral was planted in a huge porcelain pot, held down by pebbles. There were many small golden bells hanging from its branches. The golden light the fat guy had seen was likely reflected from these bells. However, these bells were definitely not made of gold, as there was already verdigris appearing in the seams, suggesting they were made of brass. The outer layer had been gilded to maintain their current shine.

The fat guy was greatly disappointed when he didn’t find the golden tree, but he wasn’t ready to give up. He shone the flashlight around other areas and asked me, “Xiao Wu, do you think this coral is worth anything?”

I had some knowledge about this and, recalling his earlier demeanor, decided to tease him a bit, saying, “I’m not trying to discourage you, but with this quality, the market price is about 16 yuan per pound, which is already considered decent.”

The fat guy listened, somewhat skeptical, and asked the oil bottle. The oil bottle nodded, and he immediately became gloomy, cursing, “Damn it, I thought I was going to strike it rich this time, but it turns out to be all for nothing.”

I chuckled and said, “Don’t be disheartened, Fatty. I’ll tell you, while the coral may not be worth much, look at those bells on it; those are valuable items.”

The fat guy didn’t believe me and said, “I see that smirk on your face; don’t be talking nonsense. I’ve come across plenty of these broken bells, and they’re only worth a thousand or so. Where do you think their value lies?”

I replied, “With your limited business acumen, it’s no wonder you can’t see it. To be honest, I can’t estimate the exact value, but I can guarantee that they’re worth more than an equal volume of gold. Look at the patterns on these bells; they date back even earlier than the Ming Dynasty. In that era, they would be considered antiques. Do you understand what I mean?”

The fat man was taken aback by my words, unsure whether what I said was true or not. I felt a sense of satisfaction inside but chose not to reveal the truth. In fact, I couldn’t discern the origins of these bells either. Bells are considered quite niche in the world of antiques; typically, the most common items found are porcelain and pottery. Metal objects can rust and require special preservation methods, which only large museums can afford. Even the wealthiest households cannot withstand such maintenance. Moreover, bells are more complex among metal artifacts, containing many small parts, and those that are well-preserved are extremely valuable.

The fat man pondered for a while but still didn’t believe me. He wanted to take one down to have a look, but the oil bottle man grabbed him and said, “Don’t move.” The fat man had already placed one foot on the basin filled with pebbles but was forcibly pulled down. Feeling puzzled, he asked what was going on. The oil bottle man ignored him and instead asked me, “Do you remember where you’ve seen this kind of bell before?”

69 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 40 – Wall Hole

This opening should be a key point in the entire event. The memories of the “Mysterious Oil Bottle” come to a halt here, and what happens next remains a mystery. What is inside the cave? How did he get out? Did others lose their memories like him? All of these are mere speculations with no solid basis.

I carefully examined the cave. From the outside, it can only be described as an artificially created door in a rather unreasonable location (aside from the tunnel warfare, I have never seen anyone open a door in such a place). Inside the door, the visible area is made of the same yellow clay bricks as the outside, and structurally, it is very ordinary. I have seen countless such openings in charcoal factories in Shanxi, all used as skylights for brick kilns. However, placed here, it seems very out of place in the layout of the tomb, leaving me puzzled about its purpose.

In my memory, almost all tomb chambers have a symmetrical structure, and it is rare to find a passage or an extra room opened inexplicably unless the tomb owner had such a peculiar preference. If that is not the case, there are only two possibilities:

The first possibility that came to my mind is that there might be some hidden burial items inside. This wouldn’t be surprising; according to my grandfather’s notes, many people who designed secret rooms in their own tombs exist. However, these secret rooms are generally well disguised. This hole has no hidden door and no concealment; it simply has a mirror placed outside, which seems rather childish.

The second possibility is related to feng shui. My reasoning is that mirrors are very important tools in feng shui, and placing one here should have a specific meaning. Generally speaking, opening a door in a room represents “communication” in feng shui, meaning to bring something in or let something out.

This is minor feng shui, which differs greatly from the major feng shui of ancient times, much like the distinction between Mahayana and Theravada in Buddhism. Minor feng shui emphasizes transformation, using certain methods to change the bad into good within a small area. I find this area of knowledge quite interesting, and I know it better than major feng shui.

I followed the diagonal line of the mirror to explore other areas, hoping to find some clues. The arrangement of the entire room is exactly as described by the “Mysterious Oil Bottle,” but since it has maintained its appearance from twenty years ago, only the four directions are illuminated by night pearls. The central model of the heavenly palace is hidden in darkness, and I can only use a flashlight to see a few parts. After scanning the room a few times, my attention was drawn to the shadow paintings on the wall.

I have previously described the content of these four shadow paintings, but at that time, I was also relying on the description from the “Mysterious Oil Bottle,” which was quite vague. Now, seeing them for myself, I find that these paintings are actually very realistic. If you are attentive enough, you can discern many specific details.

First, I immediately noticed that the snow-capped mountains depicted in the painting are likely the northern slopes of Changbai Mountain in Jilin. This is not due to my exceptional memory; rather, the main peaks of Changbai Mountain are very distinctive, and anyone who has been there should be able to recognize them.

Secondly, I noticed that in the second painting, the funeral procession consists entirely of women dressed in ceremonial robes. This implies that the person in the coffin must have been a prominent noble of the Yuan dynasty. Therefore, the construction of the Cloud-top Heavenly Palace likely took place during the transitional period at the end of the Yuan dynasty. In such chaotic times, having the resources to build such a massive tomb indicates that the tomb’s owner must have been extraordinary.

Thirdly, what surprised me the most was that the entire funeral procession was made up of women, which is quite unreasonable. I’m not familiar with the burial customs of the Mongolian people, but having a funeral conducted entirely by women is truly unheard of.

There are many other small details like this; I don’t know if they were intentionally left as clues by the sculptor or if it was simply their way of doing things.

At this point, I was already very clear in my mind that with these clues, if we could find a local mountain dweller familiar with the terrain, it would definitely be possible to locate this palace. However, it is buried under layers of snow that have accumulated over hundreds of years, and the permafrost is very soft. If we are not careful while excavating, even a small avalanche could bury us forever beneath the snow.

However, these hints should have nothing to do with the hole in the corner. I went on to check the mirrors in several other corners and the walls behind them, but found nothing special. It seems that all the problems could only be answered by entering that hole. I returned to the entrance of the hole and saw that the oil bottle was still staring, with a rare hesitation in his eyes, as if he was contemplating something. When he saw me approach, he suddenly said to me, “I might have to go in again.”

“No way,” I was shocked to hear this. “Aren’t you just going to your death? If you lose your memory for another twenty years, everything will be meaningless.”

He replied calmly, “I am different from you. For you, what happens here is just a bizarre experience, but for me, it is a huge knot in my heart. If I don’t untie it, even if I remember everything, I won’t be able to live well for the rest of my life.”

Hearing this made me anxious, and I repeatedly said it was not possible. I actually understood him, but the environment we were in did not allow for complications; getting out quickly was what we should focus on. Otherwise, no matter how many secrets of the world I knew, if the air ran out, everyone would suffocate and die, and those secrets would immediately lose their value.

I expressed my concerns to him, and he appeared somewhat conflicted, asking me, “How confident are you that we can get out?”

Hearing his question reminded me that I hadn’t closely examined the treasure dome here, so I hurriedly looked up. In all the notes I had read, the top of the Ming tomb was described as being very sturdy, with what was referred to as seven horizontal and eight vertical beams. According to my understanding, this treasure dome should have been constructed with an arch structure to withstand pressure, being higher in the center and lower on the sides. However, it now appeared that it followed the method of underground tombs, resulting in a flat top. Therefore, making a hole in any part of it wouldn’t matter much.

The宝顶 (Treasure Peak) is over ten meters high, and there’s nothing to stand on here. We can only start by working on the nearby pillar, using the camera tripod to knock out a few pits on it, then climb up, break the surface of the white clay, and start working on the blue bricks. We don’t need to be too careful; as long as we time it right, once the load-bearing structure on top is damaged, a hole will naturally collapse. We just need to wait for the seawater to fill this tomb, and we can easily escape.

The key to this plan is timing. If we don’t do it during low tide, once the load-bearing structure is compromised, the entire宝顶 might be washed away by the rushing seawater, trapping us inside.

I explained all this to the muted oil bottle (闷油瓶), emphasizing that our chances of getting out are quite high. However, once we do, the tomb will be completely ruined. But the tomb won’t disappear; everything that should be inside will still be there. He can always come back with the right equipment in a few days, so there’s no rush.

He nodded, finally convinced by my reasoning. The胖子 (Fatty) couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “Since that’s the case, why wait? Let’s just get started now and deal with this pillar first. No need to be flustered later.”

I glanced at my watch; there were still six hours until low tide, so we had plenty of time. I shook my head and said, “We’ve exhausted a lot of energy just now, and we haven’t eaten at all. Our physical state is very low right now. We should rest well. After we get out, we don’t know what we might encounter. The boat above might have already left. If we lack strength, we could drown after escaping, which would be too much of a loss.”

The胖子, who had been very enthusiastic, found my reasoning valid and scratched his head in frustration. “Damn it, we still have to wait? Fine, I’ll take a nap. Just call me when it’s time to work.”

I also found a place to lean against, but my mind didn’t stop. I was calculating how to navigate if the seawater started flooding in. The passage to the stone tablet at the bottom of the pool was already sealed. Although it wasn’t airtight, water would definitely enter slower than it would exit. A large amount of water would first rush into that strange wall hole. I just didn’t know where that low hole led. If it connected to other rooms, it would be very troublesome; it could create a whirlpool that would suck us in completely.

Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but glance into the depths of the hole, pondering if there was any way to block it. Then I thought I could stack those models together. I estimated the height and width of the hole, considering how to block it effectively.

However, at that moment when I concentrated, an extremely strange feeling suddenly surged in my heart.

In the darkness of the doorway, a force was strongly drawing my gaze. This force was not only intense but also had a certain compulsion. I wanted to turn my head away but found that my neck wouldn’t move at all, not even my eyeballs.

At the same time, I immediately felt a sense of restlessness. This restlessness was hard to describe, like a person who is extremely hungry, finally getting a pack of food but unable to tear open the packaging. This restlessness quickly turned into a strong impulse in my heart, urging me to go into that door and take a look.

Everything happened in an instant, without any warning. By the time they sensed something was wrong, it was already too late. I suddenly pushed aside the person in front of me, charging into the cave. I was very close to the entrance, so I dashed into the darkness in just a few steps, and he couldn’t pull me back in time. At that moment, I didn’t think about what I was doing; I was solely focused on reaching the deepest part of the cave to see what was there. I didn’t even turn on my flashlight and ran wildly into the darkness, completely ignoring what was beneath my feet. I didn’t pay attention to whether anyone was chasing me from behind.

But after just a few steps, a sudden gust of wind hit me from behind, and then a sharp pain shot through my left knee. My entire foot went weak, and I collapsed to the ground.

I fell hard, hitting my forehead against the floor, which made my head buzz with pain, and I even bled from my nose. However, after stumbling forward, my anxiety suddenly vanished, and everything returned to normal.

A jolt of unease ran through me; I felt an indescribable strangeness. This cave was incredible; just seeing a mass of darkness could drive someone mad. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I had fallen into its trap.

I turned back and saw that the person in front of me and the fat guy had already chased in after me. A flashlight lay on the ground nearby; it seemed to be the thing that had struck my knee.

They both came to my side and, without saying a word, tried to drag me out. But with one knee injured, I couldn’t stand up. They struggled to lift me a few times but failed, and the dim light made the situation extremely chaotic.

The fat guy found it inconvenient to use one hand, so he tucked the flashlight under his arm and used both hands to pull me. His movements were quite rough; I felt like I was on the verge of passing out from the strain.

At that moment, the beam of his flashlight swept over a spot, and my eyes caught a glimpse of someone crouching in the darkness. The light moved too quickly for me to see clearly, but I was certain it was a person. I immediately thought of my third uncle and shouted, “Wait, there’s someone ahead!”

The fat guy heard me, turned back, and shone the light on a figure, but the person had already stood up and was quickly running deeper into the cave.

At that moment, all three of us saw clearly, but we couldn’t make out who it was. The person in front reacted the fastest, immediately shouting, “Quick, chase!” Without hesitation, he took off after the figure, and the fat guy cursed loudly before following.

I mustered some strength, barely managing to stand up, limping along behind them. By this time, the person in front had already grappled with that figure, and soon the fat guy joined in, both of them pinning the person to the ground. When the fat guy shone the flashlight on the figure, he exclaimed, “Ah!” and shouted, “It’s An Ning!”

I rushed over to look and was taken aback. She was disheveled, her diving suit torn, and she emitted a foul odor. Blood was visible around her nose and mouth. I had no idea what had happened to her to end up like this. However, I soon realized that the three of us were not in much better shape, especially the fat guy, who was covered in wounds and looked utterly pitiful.

The fat man felt angry when he saw the woman and pointed at her nose to start cursing. However, after just a few insults, the muffled oil bottle suddenly stopped him and said, “Wait a minute, there’s something off about her!”

68 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 39 – Chaos

I was momentarily stunned and quickly realized that the stone slab above my head had definitely been lifted by someone. For a moment, I thought it was my uncle or An Ning, since there was no one else in the ancient tomb. But when I looked up, I saw a hulking, scaled sea monkey hunched over, looking down at me from a height. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of its shoulder, which was a bloody mess with a harpoon stuck in it. I sighed inwardly, thinking how unfair it was that this creature had come after me.

I hadn’t expected such a dramatic turn of events, and I was at a loss for what to do. Just then, someone tugged at my pants. I looked down to find it was the Silent Oil Bottle, signaling me to hurry down. Seeing the massive size of the sea monkey, I immediately understood his intention and scrambled to climb down. The tunnel below me was sloped, and since I was already cramped in with the Silent Oil Bottle, my movements were very awkward. In my flurry, I slowed down even more. Just as I had descended a few steps, the sea monkey let out a guttural sound and suddenly poked its head down towards me. I was so startled that I slipped and fell back against the wall of the tunnel.

Although my backside hurt tremendously, I used the momentum to slide down, thinking that perhaps fate was on my side. If I could quickly return to the tunnel, that massive sea monkey wouldn’t be able to squeeze in, at least giving me a moment to catch my breath. I thought my plan was brilliant, but fate had other ideas. Just half a meter down, I suddenly saw the Fatty blocking the way below, desperately trying to climb up while shouting, “Get up, get up! That chicken is climbing back up!”

I was taken aback and quickly turned to look behind him, only to see a large mass of hair already reaching the last turn of the zigzag. I cursed inwardly, realizing that misfortune often comes in pairs. I threw my lighter to the Fatty, telling him to hold it off for a moment, and raised my head to check the situation above. Just as I moved my neck, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. Turning my head, I realized that while the sea monkey’s shoulders were broad, its neck was surprisingly agile. In an instant of inattention, it had bitten down on my right shoulder.

This was a serious problem; its bite was perfectly placed, with its fangs digging deep into my flesh, causing me excruciating pain that nearly made me faint, but thankfully not injuring any bones or tendons. Just as I was about to struggle, it yanked me out of the tunnel entirely.

The sea monkey held me in mid-air, seemingly not intending to kill me immediately, but I knew that with a single jerk, it could easily tear me in half. At that moment, even fear couldn’t stop me from fighting back. I suddenly noticed the harpoon I had lodged in its shoulder, and in a desperate move, I kicked it. To my surprise, the kick landed perfectly, driving the harpoon in another four or five centimeters. It let out a howl and flung me away.

I used all my strength to roll several times on the ground, managing to cushion my fall. However, when I tried to stand up, my entire right arm had gone completely numb. The sea monkey, enraged by the pain, roared and lunged at me again, this time aiming straight for my neck, seemingly intent on biting through my throat.

It came at me with incredible speed, and I had no way to evade it, so I could only raise my hands to block. This was undoubtedly like an ant trying to stop a car, but if I didn’t do this, I feared I might lose my head. At that moment, the fat guy suddenly lunged from behind, grabbing the sea monkey’s foot and tripping it, causing both of them to tumble to the ground in a heap. The fat guy was surprisingly agile and attempted to climb onto the sea monkey’s back like Wu Song fighting the tiger, but the sea monkey was incredibly strong, and the fat guy couldn’t hold it down; it kicked him away with a single blow.

Seeing that the fat guy couldn’t subdue it either, I thought to myself that this was bad. Sure enough, the sea monkey bared its teeth at the fat guy and turned to pounce on me. I thought, “You bastard, are you targeting me?” I hurriedly reached for the air gun hanging at my waist, but then I remembered that earlier, when I was climbing the rock wall, I had thrown away that spear-like gun to escape smoothly, and now it was probably crushed into a twisted mess.

It was too late for regrets; the sea monkey was already in front of me. I thought it would surely bite my neck and tear my head off, so I closed my eyes and waited to die. To my surprise, it seemed to still have some energy left and stomped hard on my stomach. The force of the kick nearly broke my spine, and I spat out a mouthful of blood, almost losing consciousness from the pain. It wasn’t done yet; it raised its foot to stomp on my chest, but just as it lifted its foot, there was a loud “bang,” and I didn’t even know what had happened. I saw it get knocked away with a cry, tumbling several times.

I turned to look and saw the fat guy striding over like a deity, holding a large bronze mirror that was still vibrating. I was stunned; it seemed that this was the weapon that had caused the earlier loud noise. That fat guy’s strength was incredible; if that had hit a person, it would have surely killed them. I silently reminded myself never to offend him again.

The fat guy was furious at this point. Without waiting for the sea monkey to get back up, he charged over and delivered another blow with the same loud “bang.” The sea monkey’s face was deformed from the impact, and it rolled away several meters. Unfortunately, the sea monkey was very robust, and these hits didn’t cause it any serious injury. However, it recognized the fat guy’s strength and no longer dared to charge in. Instead, it scurried up a pillar and roared at the fat guy from above.

At this moment, I realized that this was indeed the room where the oil bottle had mentioned the model of the Heavenly Palace was kept. The most direct evidence was the four enormous paintings on the walls. I couldn’t take the time to examine whether the contents of these paintings matched his description, but I was certain that the scene here hadn’t changed at all in the twenty years since they left. However, I was surprised to find that this room was not as large as he had described. The only thing that truly matched his depiction of grandeur was the nearby golden silk nanmu pillars, which were indeed thick enough for three people to embrace. The rest of the items could only be considered luxurious at best.

The fat man struck a decisive blow and became arrogant, cursing, “Fuck you! I’ve knocked down countless zongzi (rice dumplings) before; you, a mere broken monkey, are nothing in front of me.” As he said this, he tried to throw the mirror, but the copper mirror was quite heavy. After using all his strength for those two strikes, he found he couldn’t lift it again and ended up wobbling in place for several circles.

The sea monkey was very cunning. Seeing that the fat man was struggling, it suddenly jumped down from the pillar and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. The fat man, caught off guard, was pinned down and couldn’t push it off. As a result, he took a solid slap from the sea monkey, which tore off a chunk of his skin. The fat man had never suffered such a loss before; his eyes turned red, and with a roar, he bit down on the monkey’s face. The sea monkey screamed in pain and jumped back several steps to escape.

I saw a large piece of scales torn from the sea monkey’s face, blood gushing out, making it look even more ferocious. However, it was also stunned by the fat man’s reaction and became cautious, starting to observe us from a distance, seemingly trying to find a flaw in the fat man’s defense. At this moment, the fat man was also barely holding on; I could see he was struggling to catch his breath, clearly exhausted.

After a few minutes of standoff, the sea monkey, being an animal, couldn’t maintain its focus like a human. It yawned, turned its head, and began to look around. Soon, it noticed that the mute bottle was gritting his teeth, trying to cover the stone slab over the hole. The slab was very heavy, and it was difficult for one person to lift it; he could only drag it inch by inch. Seeing that the mute bottle was alone, the sea monkey’s killing instinct flared up again, and it let out a loud roar as it charged over.

I was startled, not expecting this creature to have some sense, knowing it could take advantage of the weak. I shouted, “Watch out!”

The mute bottle sensed the gust of wind behind him and had no choice but to drop the stone slab. He rolled away to dodge the attack, but the sea monkey pounced again. I knew the mute bottle must have the ability to deal with this creature, so I wasn’t too worried. I saw him run a few steps forward, luring the sea monkey to a nanmu pillar. Suddenly, he leaped up, stepping onto the pillar with one foot, and then pushed off, spinning in mid-air. Both his knees landed heavily on the sea monkey’s shoulders, forcing it down almost to its knees. I didn’t know what kind of skill this was, but my eyes lit up. However, the sea monkey was incredibly strong, and this move barely affected it. The mute bottle didn’t stop there; instead of jumping down immediately, he clamped his legs around the monkey’s head with his knees and twisted his waist with force. There was a crisp snap, and the sea monkey’s head was twisted unnaturally 180 degrees, its neck bone completely broken.

This series of moves was completed in almost a second, simply a one-hit kill. The fat man and I were left with our jaws dropped, feeling as if our own necks were being pulled. I thought of the head of the bloody corpse and realized it must have been twisted off in the same way. I couldn’t help but gasp; this move was too brutal, and I felt sorry for the sea monkey.

After the Mysterious Oil Bottle jumped down, he hurried back to move the stone slab. I saw a bunch of hair already emerging from the hole made by the thieves, so I quickly called Fatty to help. Fatty used his usual method, first using a lighter to force the hair back down, and then he and the Mysterious Oil Bottle together replaced the green slate back into its original position. The ghostly woman below was quite unwilling and slammed against the slab several times, trying to break it open. Fatty, fearing that it would crack the slab, simply sat down on it, firmly pressing the hole shut.

The sound of the impact continued for ten minutes. Unfortunately, with Fatty and the stone slab in place, it was not something an ordinary person could lift. Fatty was exhausted from the shaking, and only then did the commotion below finally calm down. He cursed under his breath and collapsed onto the floor, not moving.

Seeing that the danger had passed, I breathed a sigh of relief. At this point, my right hand had regained some sensation, allowing for slight movement. I noticed the Mysterious Oil Bottle had walked over to the southeast corner, so I hurried after him. The mirror there had indeed been moved, and there was a pitch-black hole in the wall, only half a person high, which looked very deep inside, though I had no idea where it led.

67 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 38 – The Forbidden Woman

In front of me, just out of reach, was a huge, pale human face. Its skin looked like it had been soaked in the sea for countless years, swollen to a transparent color. The most chilling part was that its two eerie eyes had no whites; the black pupils almost filled the entire eye sockets, making it look like a grotesque corpse with its eyes gouged out at first glance.

This sight nearly drove me insane. I let out a desperate scream, pushed it away, and scrambled forward, my mind fixated on one word: escape. But the corridor was too narrow for two people to pass; I was stuck with my companion, the “Fatty,” unable to move. Seeing that I couldn’t squeeze past, I grabbed him and shouted, “Ghost! There’s a water ghost!” He quickly covered my mouth and whispered, “Don’t shout! Where’s the water ghost?”

I turned around and pointed frantically behind me, “Right behind us, just—”

Before I could finish, I froze, my heart sinking. Behind me was nothing—no face, no hair, not even a drop of water. My finger almost poked Fatty in the face, leaving him bewildered as he said, “What the hell, you’re the ghost.”

I was stunned, quickly leaning out to look around, searching everywhere, but it was truly gone. But it didn’t make sense; the feeling had been so real, it couldn’t have been an illusion. Had this ancient tomb really driven me to a psychological breakdown? My heart was still racing, and my mind was a fog, leaving me unsure of how to react.

Seeing my face turn pale, Fatty tried to comfort me, saying, “What’s going on? Don’t panic, take your time to explain.”

I stammered, “I just saw a lot of hair, a naked woman, and a water ghost! It wanted to kiss me!”

My thoughts were chaotic, and I couldn’t articulate what I was saying. Eventually, Fatty grew impatient and said, “Xiao Wu, you’re not dreaming, are you? If there really was a water ghost, it would have to crawl over me first, right?” He patted my shoulder and added, “But you’re in your twenties; dreaming of a naked woman is normal. When I was young, I dreamed of plenty too, so it’s nothing.”

I cursed, “Don’t mock me! That was definitely not a dream! Look, my neck is still wet; it was from it!” I showed them my neck, and both Fatty and the “Dumb Oil Bottle” felt it, frowning slightly. Fatty even looked up at the brick ceiling of the theft hole, thinking water might be leaking down. I told him that was impossible since the gaps between the bricks were sealed with white mortar, making it very water-tight.

Fatty puzzled, “That’s strange. There’s only one path here; logically, if something crawled over you, I’d have to know about it.”

I replied, “Could it be that you were asleep? You wouldn’t know if something crawled over you.”

Fatty retorted, “Shut up! Even if I was asleep, I’d still know if someone crawled over me! And besides, in a place like this, how could you sleep? If you don’t believe me, check if there are any footprints on my back!” With that, he turned around for us to inspect his back.

At that moment, I had already regained my composure and didn’t expect that thing to be clinging to his back. As the fat guy turned around, it turned its head toward me, and its mouth nearly touched the tip of my nose. I was so scared that my throat seized up, and I let out a squeak as I desperately backed away. But after crawling just a couple of steps, I suddenly felt a tightness around my feet. Looking down, I found that my calves were entangled in hair that I didn’t even notice had wrapped around me. I tried to pull my foot free with all my might, but it wouldn’t budge. At the same time, a mass of hair began to wrap around me, trying to crawl into my mouth. The thing I feared most in my life was having hair in my mouth, so I frantically used my hands to block it. In the midst of the chaos, the muted oil bottle suddenly grabbed my collar and pulled me toward him.

He had barely pulled me a few steps when his own hand got tangled in the hair, and he couldn’t pull me anymore. I turned around to see that the fat guy was already wrapped up like a cocoon, twisting inside, but that thing had vanished. The entire tomb passage was filled with hair, as if we had entered a black spider’s lair.

The muted oil bottle forcefully pulled his hand out and quickly asked me, “Do you have any source of fire? This thing is afraid of fire!”

I checked the waist pouch at my side and pulled out a windproof lighter, feeling overjoyed. This lighter was something I had asked the boat captain for when we were having fish head hotpot on the boat, and after using it, I had just stuffed it in my pocket. I never expected it would turn out to be a lifesaver. Thinking quickly, I started to light the hair on my body. Although the hair was quite wet, it could still burn and break off in large clumps, and I managed to free myself in just a few moments. I rushed over to the fat guy and was about to pull him when suddenly, a gigantic face emerged from the pile of hair beside me and almost instantly lunged onto my back.

I thought it was over; there was no time to dodge. I lowered my head and threw a punch instinctively. This was purely a reflex born from extreme fear. I didn’t know how much strength I used, but I heard a loud smack as I punched its nose, causing it to cave in and spew out a mass of black liquid. Fortunately, I had the windproof lighter in my hand, which surprisingly didn’t go out. Gritting my teeth, I wanted to hit it again, but I noticed that the creature shuddered and recoiled slightly.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. There was a way out! Damn it, it turned out that ghosts were afraid of bad people, and this ghost was afraid of fists. My mind got a bit muddled, and I became excited, lifting my foot and kicking it squarely in the face, knocking it back into the hair. Afraid that another kick would get me entangled again, I quickly stepped back a few paces, raised the lighter, and confronted it.

That face was hidden in the hair, showing a very resentful expression, but it was wary of the fire and didn’t dare to rush forward. At that moment, the muted oil bottle pulled out a few wet fire starters from somewhere, rubbed them against my lighter, and they ignited. With the increased flames, the creature let out a shriek and actually began to retreat. I saw it shrink back quickly, freeing the fat guy, and I seized the opportunity to burn off the hair that was wrapped around the fat guy’s head.

The muffled oil bottle kept pushing the monster until it disappeared into the darkness before finally letting go. At this point, the fire starter was almost burning his hand. I looked down at the fat guy, only to see that his nose and mouth were filled with broken hair, and his face was turning blue from suffocation. I hurriedly pounded on his chest, and he suddenly gasped for air, expelling a large mass of black substance from his nostrils.

I let out a sigh of relief; fortunately, the fat guy had a strong lung capacity and managed to clear his airway by himself. Otherwise, even if it meant my death, I wouldn’t sacrifice myself to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After gasping for a while, the fat guy coughed up the remaining substance from his airway and weakly asked us, “My grandma, what on earth was that thing?”

I extinguished the lighter that I had been gripping tightly, feeling that it had become scalding hot; the skin on my hand felt like it was burning off. The muffled oil bottle was not much better off; he shook his hand and said to the fat guy, “That should be a ‘Jin Po.'”

I had heard of this thing from Old Hai of Hero Mountain, but I didn’t quite believe it. I gasped and asked, “Is there really such a thing as a ‘Jin Po’?”

The muffled oil bottle nodded and said, “I don’t know how this thing comes about, but there are many legends about it in this generation. It shouldn’t be wrong.”

I found it strange and asked him for more details, but he only shook his head and said, “The ‘Jin Po’ is born from water; I know it definitely fears fire. Other than that, I really don’t know. It’s like zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)—throughout history, we only know that zongzi fear the black donkey’s hoof, but no one knows why. I just didn’t expect this thing to have thoughts. We must be careful; it must still be hiding behind us.”

The fat guy, still shaken, moved closer to us and asked, “It’s strange; with such good feng shui in this tomb, how come there are so many bizarre things inside?”

I couldn’t be sure if the feng shui of this tomb was good, but I had indeed researched some information about the ‘Jin Po.’ In the mountainous regions, it actually represents shamans and mediums among ethnic minorities. However, in old coastal legends, it is the most malevolent ghost in the world. I don’t know why there is such a discrepancy. Generally, the fate of a ‘Jin Po’ is worse than that of a human—if captured, it is usually dismembered and then buried alive. Speaking of the origin of the ‘Jin Po,’ it is generally related to pregnant women, and the ear chamber where the corpse coffin is kept is probably connected to this thing. Uncle Three also mentioned the mural of a big belly; the presence of the ‘Jin Po’ here should not be a coincidence and might have been intentionally placed by the tomb owner.

Thinking of this, the muffled oil bottle, worried that the thing might come back, waved for us to continue moving forward. I listened carefully to the top of the theft hole; there was no sound anymore. I didn’t know who had just passed by. With such a commotion from us below, perhaps it had already heard us. It wasn’t wise to linger here; we should clear the way quickly.

I looked at the fat guy, and he indicated that he was okay. Seeing that he also didn’t want to stay here, I had him turn on his flashlight and hang it on his belt so that we could keep an eye on things behind us. I held the lighter in my hand and continued to move forward.

We crawled forward for a while, and the tunnel suddenly began to zigzag upward. I glanced to the side and realized that it had been dug all the way here. Ahead was the tomb wall, and I estimated that outside was the sea. The only option was to change direction and look for an exit upward. Perhaps this thought process of solving the puzzle was similar to ours, trying to find a way out from the top of the tomb.

From the moment we entered this tunnel until now, it had only been about half an hour. It seemed that this underwater tomb was not very large. As we progressed, I got a rough sense of its dimensions. In fact, the length and width of this chamber were not extensive; the main issue was its height. I could estimate the height to be nearly thirty meters. If we used the current standard of three meters per floor, this tomb must be about ten stories deep beneath the sea. While impressive, it wasn’t exactly a miracle.

We couldn’t go back, so we had to keep climbing. After a while, suddenly, the “dumb bottle” (a nickname for my companion) stopped moving. I pushed him a bit, and he turned back, whispering, “There’s no way forward.”

I was taken aback; that couldn’t be possible. I hurried to squeeze in front to take a look, and indeed, we had reached a dead end blocked by several large slabs of blue granite. I pushed against one of the slabs; they were very heavy, but they weren’t impossible to move. The two of us tried to lift it together, managing to create a small gap. Immediately, we noticed light seeping down from the chamber above. Just as we were puzzled, the slab directly above us suddenly disappeared when I loosened my grip.

66 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 37 – The Thief’s Cave

I was just about to start climbing when I heard him ask, and I couldn’t help but shrink my neck a bit. I had been so tense earlier that I hadn’t noticed. In fact, while we were in the corridor, I had already felt the wound from the lotus arrow, which seemed to be showing signs of inflammation. However, as I scratched it, it seemed to feel a bit better. I lifted my shirt to take a look at the wound and found that the redness and swelling had subsided, and it didn’t feel unusual. I said, “I can feel it, but it’s not itchy anymore. With all this humidity, it might be an allergy.”

The fat guy was itching badly and said, “Is there any way to temporarily treat this allergy? I just broke out in a cold sweat, and now the itching won’t stop.” He kept rubbing against the wall, and I noticed he was leaving blood streaks behind, which felt a bit off. I quickly asked him to show me. He turned around while squirming, scratching with his hands. I swatted his hands away and shone my flashlight on his back, only to see that the wound from the lotus arrow had grown a lot of white hair, which was disgusting. I casually remarked, “Fat guy, how long has it been since you last took a shower?”

The fat guy exclaimed, “Shower? Why are you asking that? That’s personal privacy, and I can’t answer that.”

I replied, “Damn it, you haven’t showered in ages, have you? Let me tell you, it looks like you have mold growing on your back—white mold! What a wonder of the world! If you keep this up for a few more months, you might even grow some ganoderma.”

The fat guy looked confused and said, “What? White coal? Is there even white coal? Stop speaking so complicatedly and just tell me what’s going on!”

I noticed that the quiet guy was frowning, and it seemed like the situation was serious, so I didn’t dare to joke any further. The quiet guy squeezed over and pressed on the fat guy’s back, and as soon as he did, a lump of black blood oozed out. He whispered to me, “This is troublesome; there was something off about that lotus arrow.”

I found it strange because I had also been hit by the arrow, so logically, I should be in the same situation as him. Could it be that my grandfather’s genetics really made my body so special? I quickly exposed my wound to express my doubts.

The quiet guy looked at my wound and clicked his tongue, unable to figure out what was going on. At this moment, the fat guy started to panic and turned to me, asking, “What hair! Damn it, don’t speak in riddles—where’s the hair?” He reached back to touch it, and I quickly grabbed his hand, saying, “Don’t move! You seem to have some kind of skin disease. Let us take a closer look. You mustn’t scratch it; if you do, it could leave scars.”

He was itching so much that he couldn’t hold back. I said to the quiet guy, “This can’t go on; we need to think of a solution. I’ve heard that some people can’t stand the itching of skin diseases and even commit suicide!”

The fat guy shouted, “Damn it, I want to commit suicide right now! I’m itching to death! Why don’t you just learn from Guan Gong and cut out those two pieces of flesh for me?”

I had also had a skin disease when I was younger, and there was a folk remedy that was a bit disgusting. I said to him, “You don’t need to cut flesh; do you really think you have that much flesh? I’m not Hua Tuo, but I do have some soothing lotion on me. I’ll apply it to you first; it might sting a bit, so bear with it.”

The muffled oil bottle was momentarily stunned, and the fat man also exclaimed, “So you city folks are really delicate. Damn it, even when digging a grave, you bring moisturizer. Next time, just bring a deck of cards down; when we’re trapped, we can at least play a game of big D.”

Of course, I couldn’t bring such things. I spat a couple of times and applied the saliva to the fat man’s back, then put on gloves and spread it out. Unexpectedly, the fat man couldn’t stand the pain. As soon as the saliva was applied, he let out a scream and ran forward, cursing, “What the hell did you put on me! My grandmother, you might as well have gouged me! Now I’m really going to be in trouble.”

Seeing that the pain was effective, I said, “Look at you, you can’t handle a little pain? Pain is easier to endure than itching. Are you still itching now?”

The fat man flailed his arms and legs for a while but eventually calmed down and asked, “Hey, Xiao Wu, what was that stuff you used? It actually feels a lot better. What brand is that moisturizer?”

I realized if he found out it was saliva, he would definitely kill me, so I quickly replied, “Stop acting like a girl; let’s move.”

The muffled oil bottle found it amusing and shook his head. It was the first time I saw him not smiling bitterly, and I couldn’t help but feel he seemed to have a bit more humanity. It seemed that people really needed to communicate more.

However, after he smiled, he returned to his poker face and signaled for us to follow. The three of us crawled through the tunnel, winding our way up. After about the time it takes to smoke half a cigarette, the muffled oil bottle said, “Fork in the road.”

I squeezed forward, and sure enough, there were two passages on the left and right. I glanced down the left one and saw that just a little further in, there were bricks piled up, indicating a dead end. It seemed that the bricks were blocking the path from the right ear room to the left matching room where the muffled oil bottle and his crew had come from. I wondered why it had been sealed off. Were they afraid something might come from that coffin?

Since it was sealed, the exit of the tunnel must be on the right side. The muffled oil bottle had the same thought as me and pointed to the right. Without a word, the three of us continued to crawl.

To be honest, I had never crawled for such a long time in my life, and I was already drenched in sweat. Crawling through an ordinary dirt tunnel had never been this exhausting, mainly because my knees had nothing to support them, making them hurt. Now, with bricks and debris beneath me, crawling felt like torture, and my knees felt like they were on fire. It seemed that being human had its advantages; I had to strive to be human in my next life.

Lost in my thoughts, the muffled oil bottle suddenly stopped and made a gesture for me to be quiet. The fat man, unable to see ahead, quietly asked me, “What’s wrong now?”

I gestured for him to be silent. At that moment, the muffled oil bottle turned off his flashlight. The fat man and I quickly followed suit, and we were plunged into absolute darkness. At that moment, I was extremely calm; my heartbeat didn’t even quicken (Looking back later, the experience of nearly being crushed by the wall had a significant impact on me. Psychologically, I had already overcome my fear of the ancient tomb). I still didn’t know his intentions, but in the ancient tomb, it was always right to listen to him.

We were quiet for a while, our breathing gradually calming down and the sweat on our bodies drying. At that moment, I heard something moving above us on the brick ceiling, as if it were a person. I was startled and realized that we must be above the rear hall or corridor. Who could it be? Could it be Aning? Or maybe San Shu?

While I was guessing, I suddenly felt an itch on the back of my neck. A chill ran down my spine, and I thought, “Could it be that I’ve grown hair too?” I quickly reached back to touch it and found a damp, clumpy substance sticking to my neck. I thought the fat guy had squeezed in next to me, cursed under my breath, and shoved the substance away. When I pulled my hand back, I was surprised to find my fingernails sticky, with a faint floral scent.

Feeling disgusted, I wiped the substance on a nearby brick, thinking that the fat guy must have sprayed a lot of hair oil on his hedgehog-like hair. If we found a water source later, I would definitely need to wash it off; that hair oil might be months old.

Just then, my neck started itching again. That damn fat guy must be up to something strange again. I couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. I grabbed the clump and pushed it against the wall. At that moment, I suddenly realized something was off—why did the fat guy’s face seem so small? I cautiously propped myself up and touched it, my heart sank. Those damp clumps seemed to be hair. I touched it a couple more times and found that all the hair was tangled together. When I tried to reach in, my hand got stuck. I swallowed hard, starting to break out in a cold sweat. The fat guy couldn’t possibly have this much hair—whose hair was it?

I recalled the clump of hair that had tried to eat me in the water tomb, and my breathing became difficult. I didn’t dare turn on the flashlight; that thing seemed to be just a few centimeters away from me. If I turned it on, I would definitely lock eyes with it, and I couldn’t handle that kind of shock. Just then, I felt a delicate, wet hand suddenly touch my face, cold as ice, with very sharp fingernails. My scalp began to tingle, and the flesh on my face involuntarily trembled.

The fingers grazed my neck and then withdrew. Soon after, I felt that thing’s head lean closer to me. The damp, clumpy hair suddenly pressed against my face, and I bit down hard, preparing to scream. Suddenly, amidst the hair, a soft female voice whispered in my ear, “Who are you?”

The voice was incredibly soft, yet I heard it clearly, and I was taken aback. At the same time, the woman’s body pressed against me, forcing herself into my embrace. Her slender hand rested on my shoulder and then wrapped around my neck. I instinctively shivered, feeling that this woman was very small. Her mouth brushed against my ear, and her breath was icy. I was completely stunned as I heard her say again, “Please hold me.”

I heard those words, and it felt like I was under a spell. Although my hands were still resisting, they completely ignored my brain’s commands and suddenly wrapped around her waist. At that moment, I realized something even more shocking: this woman was completely naked. Her skin was icy cold but surprisingly smooth. I couldn’t help but feel flustered, and my face turned red. At that moment, her lips had already moved to my chin, teasingly brushing against it, as if hinting for me to kiss her. I completely lost control and was just about to lean in for a kiss when suddenly the flashlight of the muffled oil bottle turned on. In an instant, I saw what I was holding in my arms, and my scalp went numb, with all the hairs on my body standing on end.

65 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 36 – Escape

As soon as I recalled it, I remembered who Jie Lianhuan was. Speaking of which, there is a bit of a connection between the Jie family and our Wu family, which might be traced back to a relationship involving distant cousins. As the saying goes, “a distant cousin can be three thousand miles away.” By my generation, we are not very familiar with them anymore, but they are indeed a historically significant family of tomb raiders. Jie Lianhuan seems to be a second-generation descendant who was closer to my third uncle. I have only seen him a few times, but my grandfather often mentioned the Jie family when he reprimanded my third uncle, saying that because of my third uncle, our Wu family would never be able to hold our heads high in front of the Jie family. It’s a pity that something happened to that kid Jie Lianhuan while he was with you!

Looking back now, it turns out that Jie Lianhuan died this way. No wonder my old man didn’t want me to hang out with my third uncle; it turns out my third uncle had a criminal record in the past.

The fat guy behind me pushed me, and I couldn’t think any further. I gritted my teeth and moved forward a few more steps. A dark hole appeared on top of the bricks. The fat guy shouted happily; in fact, his time was already up, and his front and back were blood-red from scraping against the green oak stone, looking as if he had just taken a Turkish bath. I wasn’t much better off; my legs were already getting weak. But there was no rush at this moment. The Muffled Oil Bottle went up to take a look, crawled in, kicked the walls of the tunnel to ensure they were sturdy, and then pulled me in. The fat guy had a bit of trouble; I couldn’t pull him up by myself. I just watched him get serious, shouting and pushing up with all his might, scraping off a large patch of skin on his back before finally getting out.

Once we steadied ourselves and looked down, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. The space between the two walls had shrunk to a narrow gap. I didn’t dare to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t made it out. This time, it truly was a case of heaven not abandoning the desperate; if we had been a few minutes late, even if we had discovered the tunnel, we wouldn’t have been able to crawl in.

I looked up again and saw that the tunnel went straight up for about the height of a person before changing direction and slanting toward the east, likely connecting to the tunnel above. My legs were getting soft, and I couldn’t hold on much longer, urging the Muffled Oil Bottle to hurry up. The three of us crawled to the slanted section, exhausted and leaning against the tunnel wall, gasping for breath.

At that moment, we heard the sound of the stone wall completely closing below us. I breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed my legs, and tapped on my tight calf muscles, trying to relax. I had been too tense just now, and now that I relaxed, I felt a bit dazed and kept yawning. The fat guy leaned against the wall like a dead man, his body covered in scrapes, panting as he said, “This time I’ve learned my lesson. When we get back, I have to lose a few pounds; otherwise, I’ll end up writing the character for ‘king’ upside down.”

I had just heard them mention the brick tunnel; it was constructed very well. It seemed that this Jie Lianhuan was not an ordinary person. I looked up and saw that the entire tunnel had a zigzag shape. In architectural terms, this kind of construction means that even if a small-scale collapse occurs, it won’t pose a significant danger. If they had opted for a straight shaft to save energy, the bricks above could have collapsed entirely, resulting in an outcome no different from being hit by a pile driver.

The fat man took a break and then asked the dark oil bottle, “Hey, little brother, what exactly is going on? Twenty years ago, this path was just fine, but this time we almost got crushed to death. Did you take a wrong turn?”

The dark oil bottle was resting with his eyes closed. After thinking for a moment, he said, “That possibility is unlikely, unless the markings indicating the exit in that stone tablet have been tampered with. You saw how perilous the situation was just now; we probably entered a dead end.”

The fat man was puzzled and asked, “Could it be that woman discovered we weren’t dead and came back to scheme against us?”

I shook my head. I admit she’s ruthless, but I don’t think she has the ability to alter the ancient tomb’s mechanisms that have existed for hundreds of years. That would be absurd. But there was no fifth person here. After thinking it over, I couldn’t help but wonder: could it be Uncle Three? (In the modified earlier plot, Uncle Three went missing in this ancient tomb.)

The dark oil bottle noticed my concern and patted me on the shoulder, saying, “Actually, I have a hypothesis about this matter. If you’re so worried, why not let me analyze it for you?”

He was a participant in this event and had personally experienced the most critical parts, so I certainly wouldn’t refuse his insights. I nodded and encouraged him to continue. The dark oil bottle said, “Let’s assume that twenty years ago, Uncle Three and Xie Lianhuan knew each other and had a very good relationship, but they didn’t show it. When we were searching for the first time, Xie Lianhuan might have already discovered the underwater tomb’s existence, but he didn’t tell anyone, only informing Wu Sanxing.”

Both of them came from the background of tomb raiding, and at that time, they certainly wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by. So when others weren’t paying attention, they found a time to secretly infiltrate this ancient tomb. Both of them were skilled, so it shouldn’t have been difficult at all. However, after they entered the tomb, an unexpected incident occurred that made Uncle Three develop murderous intent and want to set up a trap to kill Xie Lianhuan.

We can’t know the specifics, but it’s certain that when Xie Lianhuan found himself in a desperate situation, he left a blood-written message on the brick ceiling of this passage. He suddenly realized that this brick ceiling was hollow, and he must have had some tools with him, so he quickly made a hole to escape and saved his life.

I nodded; this analysis was impeccable. He continued, “After Xie Lianhuan escaped, he wanted to use this hole to get out. Based on his experience, after several failures, he finally managed to escape from this ancient tomb. Naturally, he immediately wanted to find Wu Sanxing to settle scores, but unexpectedly, when he encountered Wu Sanxing, he was killed instead. His body was disguised to look like it had accidentally died from being trapped by a coral reef.”

Hearing his analysis made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I couldn’t find a reason to refute him, and he did say it was a hypothesis. I steadied myself and continued to listen.

After that, for some purpose, or perhaps to truly avoid a storm, Wu Sanxing brought all of us into the underwater tomb and pretended to sleep. At that moment, I discovered the secret of the porcelain and led everyone to the bottom of that pool. This might have been something he didn’t anticipate; he had no choice but to pretend to be possessed by a female ghost, leading us into the room where the models were kept, and then in the passage behind that mirror, he knocked us all out.

After we fell into a coma, he must have done something to us. As for how I came out of it, I can’t judge what happened to the others, but I’m sure they must have lost their memories just like I did. Over the past twenty years, even if we saw each other, we would only feel a sense of familiarity. Upon hearing this, I asked him, “Why didn’t Uncle San just kill you all back then? Wouldn’t that have settled everything?”

The Mute Oil Bottle said, “I can’t figure it out either, but perhaps he thought there was no need to kill us at that time, since we knew nothing.”

His assumption almost painted Uncle San as a scheming, premeditated villain, which I simply couldn’t accept. In my impression, Uncle San was definitely not that kind of person.

When the Fatty heard this, he seemed to have a realization and said to me, “Xiao Wu, I just remembered something that might explain this, but if I tell you, don’t laugh at me.”

Upon hearing this, I thought it was indeed a good time to brainstorm. The Fatty is straightforward, so he might come up with something I hadn’t thought of. I urged him to speak quickly, and he pretended to be mysterious, whispering, “I think this matter is actually very simple. After your Uncle San arrived at this place, he might have encountered something… unclean and got hit by it. Didn’t the little brother just say that your Uncle San learned how to comb women’s hair? Think about it, isn’t that a hint for you to find the way to the Heavenly Gate? Who knows this best? It’s the old ghost in this tomb! I think your Uncle San must have been controlled by the vengeful spirit of the tomb’s owner. If you find your Uncle San, just pour a basin of dog blood on him to force that ghost out, and everything will be fine.”

As he continued to speak, I found his explanation more and more absurd, saying, “Your explanation is ridiculous! I’ve lived with my Uncle San for over twenty years and never thought of him as a woman. That doesn’t count.”

The Fatty replied, “I never said the ghost had to be a woman! This madness can have its moments of being active or inactive. Maybe your Uncle San is perfectly normal in front of people but secretly puts on makeup and does embroidery behind their backs.” As he said this, the Fatty made a gesture with his fingers, which I found amusing. I said, “Do you think he’s like Dongfang Bubai? Embroidery? That doesn’t make sense.”

Listening to the Fatty, the Mute Oil Bottle said, “No, what he said does have some possibility. Such things have indeed happened in ancient tombs.”

Seeing that someone agreed with his opinion, the Fatty immediately became more confident, saying, “You see, I, the Fatty, absolutely won’t talk nonsense. I estimate that this is very much related to the tomb being underwater. Feng Shui, Feng Shui; the so-called wind rises, water stops. Do you know why water ghosts look for substitutes? Because their souls can’t leave. This ancient tomb is built in the water; while the Feng Shui is good, it’s significantly unfavorable for the tomb’s owner.”

Listening to his well-articulated reasoning, I couldn’t help but feel skeptical and said, “How about this: let’s remember this. If we really can find Uncle San, I’ll get a blessed Buddha seal and stamp it on his forehead to see if it works.”

“We each shared some ideas again, and by this time we had all calmed down. The chubby guy looked at his watch and said, ‘Let’s not hold a representative meeting here anymore. If it really goes like I said, if we starve to death here, our souls definitely won’t be able to escape, and then we won’t even be able to reincarnate. That would be a huge loss.’ After saying this, he scratched his back and asked me, ‘Xiao Wu, have you noticed that ever since we entered this ancient tomb, at some point, we’ve been itching like crazy?'”

64 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 35 – Blood Characters

I said to him, “Who knows what you’re really up to? You can say whatever you want, but don’t forget that we’re still in a dire situation. If it’s about those irrelevant matters, let’s skip it.”

The fat guy replied, “Don’t rush me. What I want to say is very much related to our current predicament. Didn’t you hear that young man say just now? The passage to the Heavenly Gate is an uphill walk, and that big room with the model of the Heavenly Palace is extremely high. With the height added on, it must be at least ten meters high. Just think about it—the total depth of this ancient tomb isn’t that much! I estimate that the dome of that room should be at the very top of the entire tomb. If we want to get out, we should focus our efforts there!”

Hearing this, I felt a spark of realization and quickly calculated. When I first descended into the underwater tomb passage, I checked the pressure gauge, and at that time, we were already thirteen meters underwater. Now, the bottom of this pool has gone down another ten meters or so, which means we should be between twenty and thirty meters underwater. By this calculation, the top of the room with the model of the Heavenly Palace is no more than ten meters from the seabed, which indeed confirms what the fat guy said.

I had been so focused on listening to the story that I hadn’t noticed these details. I couldn’t help but look at the fat guy with newfound respect. He seemed reckless, but he was quite perceptive. It appeared that I shouldn’t hide things from him in the future. With this in mind, I said to them, “The fat guy has hit the nail on the head this time. However, knowing this now doesn’t help much. We’re empty-handed; not only would we struggle to climb up to the ten-meter-high dome, but even if we did, without any tools, how could we break through the layers of bricks above? I think we still need to find some decent metal funerary objects first to quickly implement our plan to counter the thieves’ tunnel. If we delay any longer, we might miss the low tide.”

Though I said this, I felt uncertain inside. Throughout this journey, the only funerary items we had seen were porcelain and stone artifacts; there wasn’t a single metal object, which seemed illogical. I vaguely felt that perhaps this was deliberately arranged by the tomb’s owner. We could only go to the back hall to search; if we found nothing there, then it truly would be the end for us.

The fat guy laughed heartily at my words and said, “I’ve thought this through too. Isn’t there a gilded copper mirror with the character ‘Fu’ on all four sides in that big room? You deal in antiques, so you should know what that mirror looks like, right? If we take the legs off that mirror, it’s really heavy and could definitely be used as a hammer!”

As soon as I heard that name, it sounded familiar. When he mentioned it, I remembered that I had indeed handled such items before, but I couldn’t recall exactly what they looked like. Seeing the fat guy so confident, I felt reassured and said to him, “Alright then, let’s go with this plan. We shouldn’t delay; we need to act immediately. But once we get to that place, don’t touch anything—absolutely nothing! This place is full of traps, and we have plenty of years ahead of us. There’s no need to risk our lives for a few dead people’s belongings!”

The fat man nodded in agreement, insisting that he wouldn’t touch anything other than the bricks. I was worried he might still be eyeing those luminous pearls, so I emphasized this point several times, which only annoyed him. I clarified the specific structure of that place, outlined the possible situations we might encounter, and the necessary measures we should take, explaining everything one by one. Then the three of us followed the plan: we first found the Heavenly Gate, with the fat man leading, the silent oil bottle behind him, and I sandwiched in the middle as we walked straight into that narrow path of the Heavenly Way.

I had already heard about the scene in the Heavenly Way from the silent oil bottle’s narration, but entering it myself was a different experience altogether. At first, I didn’t feel anything special; it just felt like walking in the stone lanes of Xitang in Jiaxing at night, a bit narrow, that’s all. However, after walking for a while, I realized there was no end in sight ahead or behind, and I started to panic. I was in the middle; I wasn’t afraid of the darkness, but the surrounding silence was unsettling. We were all wearing flippers, and the sound of our footsteps echoed strangely in the narrow passage, making it seem like some monster was following us. The fat man, being thick-skinned, didn’t feel anything unusual, but he complained about how uncomfortable the narrow path was, saying, “Who the hell built this stone path? It’s clearly discriminating against us fat guys. How can the Heavenly Way leading to the Heavenly Gate be this shabby? If the path to the heavens is like this, even Maitreya Buddha won’t want to step out!”

I replied, “You can’t say that. There must be a reason for this design. This is a ship burial; no matter how big the ship is, there are limits. I guess they had to save space to highlight their heavenly palace. Besides, historically, tomb raiders have always been short and thin. Who would expect a fat guy could do this job?”

The fat man, feeling quite proud, said, “That’s right! When it comes to the Tomb Raiding sect, throughout history, if we don’t mention anything else, in terms of build, I, Fat Master, am definitely the best. But being fat doesn’t affect my skills at all. This is called—hey!”

Suddenly, the fat man froze and couldn’t move. I looked over and realized that his shoulders were wedged against the stone walls on either side, stuck in the passage. I burst out laughing, “Serves you right for bragging; you’ve slapped your own face!”

The fat man tried to move forward but couldn’t get through. Confused, he said, “Xiao Wu, don’t laugh yet; something’s not right. I was walking fine just now; how did I get stuck?”

I looked around and said, “It seems this stone path isn’t uniform in length and width. The section we just entered might have been a bit wider, but it’s gradually narrowing now. Why don’t you take a few steps back and see if you can free yourself?”

The fat man twisted his big butt and tried to move back a few steps, but it was still the same. He said, “No, no, that’s not it. This path is obviously narrower than before. I think there’s something strange about the walls. Xiao Wu, I’m afraid this situation isn’t good.”

Having been focused on moving forward, I hadn’t paid attention to the walls. After he mentioned it, I also felt that it seemed to be narrowing a bit. So, I pressed my hands against both walls, and a strange feeling surged through me. I exclaimed, “Not good! It seems like these two walls are closing in!”

The silent oil bottle also felt the walls and nodded, saying, “It looks like something has changed. We don’t have time; let’s retreat and come up with a new plan!”

As soon as I heard that, I thought this was no joke. If those two walls pressed down on us, we would probably end up as three pancakes. So, I turned around and ran for it. Seeing us run so fast, the fat guy quickly turned sideways, panicking and shouting, “Wait for me, don’t just think about yourselves!”

I had never run so fast in my life, practically rolling and crawling, using every ounce of strength I had. By the time I reached the exit, the two walls had clearly closed in a lot more; I had to turn sideways to squeeze through, and the fat guy couldn’t manage at all, almost having to move sideways like a crab. The quiet oil bottle reached out to open the hidden door, fiddled with it a couple of times, then suddenly cursed and turned to me, saying, “Someone outside has jammed the door hinge!”

The fat guy turned pale at this and cursed loudly, “Damn it! This is it! You guys better think of a way out, or we’re done for today!”

I was so anxious that my heart was racing as I watched the stone walls inch closer. It felt worse than death itself. But what could we do? Unless there was some miraculous escape, even a deity wouldn’t be able to help us. I said, “What can we do? Just keep running forward; if we run fast enough, maybe we’ll find a chance!”

The quiet oil bottle grabbed me and shook his head, saying, “It’ll take at least ten minutes to get through; we won’t make it. Let’s see if we can go up!” Saying that, he braced his feet against the walls and started climbing. I looked up and saw that the top was just as dark, with no sign of it widening. I didn’t know what good climbing up would do, but at this point, it was better than waiting to die here, so I signaled for the fat guy to climb up with us.

The passage was narrowing, and climbing was almost as easy as walking. We climbed straight up for several meters in just a few minutes. The fat guy couldn’t help but exclaim, “This guy’s quick thinking is impressive! Now we can jump off before being squished into pancakes! Better than suffering that kind of pain.”

I couldn’t tell if the fat guy was joking or serious, but thinking about being squished into meat patties made me feel nauseous. That was not a pleasant way to die; you might even hear the sound of your skull cracking. I would rather die from a fall than be crushed alive. At that moment, the quiet oil bottle called from above, “Don’t think about that yet; we still have time. Do you remember the thief’s tunnel under the coffin?”

The fat guy replied, “Of course I remember, but what does that have to do with us?” As soon as he said it, he realized, “Oh, I get it! You mean we should learn from his spirit and never give up until the last moment, right?”

The quiet oil bottle said, “No, it’s not that. No tomb raider would leave the underground palace untouched and instead drill holes in the walls. If that’s the case, there’s only one reason: he encountered some dilemma and had to drill a hole in the walls to escape.”

As soon as I heard that, I understood and felt a spark of inspiration. I said, “Are you saying that the person who drilled that hole, just like us, was forced to dig it out in a situation like this?”

I couldn’t help but admire the quick thinking of the quiet oil bottle and realized why he wanted to climb up. The floor and the two walls were made of oak stone; unless we had explosives, there was no way to drill a hole. The only place we could potentially take action was where the ceiling was out of sight.

As we spoke, we had already climbed to the top. Above us was a layer of blue bricks. I knocked on it and couldn’t help but feel delighted; our guess was correct—it was hollow. These bricks could be compressed but not chiseled, and with the right tools, making a hole should be very convenient. However, I glanced around and saw nothing but darkness; there were no signs of a thief’s hole. The胖子 said, “Oh no, little brother, what if the entrance is at the other end of this long stone path?”

The 闷油瓶 said, “Anyone encountering this situation would first run towards the exit. If they found the exit door jammed, they would resort to digging a thief’s hole as a last resort. Therefore, the entrance must be nearby. If it’s on the other side, we’ll have to accept our fate.” His words were very persuasive, and both the胖子 and I nodded, steeling ourselves to search the area. At this moment, my situation and that of 闷油瓶 were still manageable; we could still fit a fist in front and behind us. The胖子 was almost at his limit, having to suck in his stomach to move in this narrow space. I could see the pressure it put on him. I tried to comfort him, saying that the compression ratio of fat was quite large, and as long as the walls didn’t press against his bones, it wouldn’t be a big deal. After hearing this, his face turned pale, and he waved his hand, telling me to stop talking nonsense.

We started crawling from the outermost point and went in for more than ten meters, but found nothing. In fact, crawling sideways consumed more energy than climbing up. My legs were starting to feel weak, and I almost slipped several times. I knew that if the walls closed in a bit more, I wouldn’t be able to bend my knees, making movement even more difficult. Ahead was pitch black, and I had no idea where the thief’s hole might be. If, as 闷油瓶 said, it was at the other end of the path, I really wouldn’t know how to face such a death.

If I had known it would come to this, maybe it would have been more straightforward to be bitten to death by a sea monkey. People often talk about how terrifying zongzi ghosts are, but right now, I would rather encounter a dozen zongzi than be crushed to death here without any way out.

At that moment, 闷油瓶 suddenly shone his flashlight on me, signaling us to come over. The胖子 and I thought we had finally found something and were overjoyed, scrambling to squeeze to his side. When I looked up, I was taken aback. I saw a line of blood written on the blue bricks above us: “Wu Sanxing harmed me, with no way out, wronged and dead, heaven and earth as witnesses—Jie Lianhuan.”

I felt a chill run down my spine and thought, this isn’t a martial arts novel. I asked, “What does this mean? Who is this person? Why does he say San Shu harmed him?”

闷油瓶 replied, “This Jie Lianhuan is also from the archaeological team; he’s the one who held the snake eyebrow copper fish and died in the coral reef.”

I gasped, my mind racing. 闷油瓶 pushed me and said, “Since he left a message here and wasn’t crushed to death, it means the thief’s hole must be nearby. We don’t have time to ponder what he meant; we need to move forward quickly.”

I crawled a few steps, suddenly remembering the name Jie Lianhuan. Why did it sound so familiar? It seemed like I had heard my grandfather mention it before.

63 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 34 – Chain

This is truly unprecedented, both in the past and future. Even when it comes to zongzi, he had only seen ones that could jump and bounce, never one that could laugh. Zhang Qiling felt a tightness in his chest and hurriedly took a step back, on high alert, ready to respond to its next move. Unexpectedly, the hand of the corpse, which had been pointing to the sky, suddenly moved and shifted to point horizontally towards the east. At the same time, the entire room abruptly darkened; the luminous pearl atop the treasure dome inexplicably went out in an instant.

When they entered, they had turned off their flashlights to conserve battery, and this sudden darkness caused the others to scream in fright. Zhang Qiling noticed that although the room had darkened, it wasn’t completely pitch black. He quickly looked up and saw that the four luminous pearls closest to the walls were still lit, illuminating only a small area like dim streetlights on a dark road. At that moment, he heard Li Si’s trembling voice from beside him: “There’s a… a face on the wall!”

Startled, Zhang Qiling turned his head and saw that the yellow mud brick wall illuminated by the eastern luminous pearl had a light and shadow change, revealing a huge pale human face out of nowhere. Zhang Qiling knew it must be another trick and felt somewhat annoyed as he jumped down from the stone platform and walked over to the eastern brick wall. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was actually a shadow painting. Such paintings are formed when light shines from a fixed angle, creating shadows from the wall’s grooves. If the angle of light is incorrect, the painting won’t appear. However, due to the peculiar lines, in a highly tense situation, it was easy for someone to imagine it as a terrifying face.

He took a closer look and couldn’t help but feel a stir in his heart. This painting seemed to be a narrative piece, depicting the scene when the Heavenly Palace was just completed. He saw that the so-called Heavenly Palace was actually built on a very steep mountain, shrouded in mist at the peak, giving the entire palace the impression of floating on clouds. As Zhang Qiling gazed at the mountain, it appeared to be snow-capped and at a very high altitude, though he didn’t know which mountain it was.

Turning his head, he noticed shadow paintings appearing on all four walls. He hurriedly moved to the southern brick wall to continue observing. There, he saw another painting depicting many stone caves connected by walkways on the cliff below the Heavenly Palace. A line of workers was using a “jijiang” (a type of crane) to lift a gigantic coffin from one cave to another up the cliff, while a funeral procession was lined up, struggling to ascend along the walkway. Zhang Qiling exclaimed; could this Heavenly Palace actually be a tomb? If so, who was in that coffin?

Continuing onward, he found the shadow painting on the western wall even stranger. The walkway on the cliff was engulfed in roaring flames. This must have been the soldiers guarding the tomb, who, after the burial ceremony, set fire to the only path leading into the Heavenly Palace to ensure the tomb’s safety. This way, all small-scale tomb raiding activities could essentially be eliminated; no one from either the southern or northern factions would have the capability to climb a hundred-meter cliff at such a high altitude to dig a hole—impossible and unnecessary.

He had never encountered such a tomb in his memory, and couldn’t help but feel surprised. He hurried to the last painting, and once he looked at it, he was stunned, for the painting was surprisingly simple: the heavenly palace atop the mountain suddenly vanished, revealing only a vast expanse of white snow. Not only that, but even the cliffs were covered in white. Although it wasn’t very vivid, Zhang Qiling already understood that this must represent an avalanche.

He speculated that perhaps a great fire had caused the temperature to rise, loosening the snow above the heavenly palace, resulting in a massive avalanche that not only buried the entire palace beneath the snow but also covered the entire mountaintop, turning this palace into a genuine tomb.

Seeing this, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He never expected that the final fate of this heavenly palace in the clouds would be such. It seemed that Wang Canghai was also deeply troubled by this; his outstanding work was destroyed by an avalanche shortly after its completion, which would be enough to depress him for the rest of his life. No wonder he chose to record this event in such a secretive manner. This must be a tomb of a prominent figure, and he certainly couldn’t make this work public. However, given his penchant for boasting, he would surely find some way to let future generations know that within his work, there was such a magnificent heavenly palace in the clouds.

The only thing left unknown was who was buried in this tomb. Zhang Qiling took a deep breath, and at that moment, he suddenly saw Wen Jin and two others trying to move the large mirror in the southeast corner. He found it strange and hurriedly asked what they were doing. Wen Jin anxiously replied, “I just saw San Sheng hiding behind this mirror, and then he disappeared in a flash.”

Only then did Zhang Qiling remember his uncle’s situation and rushed to help. The two-meter-high gilded copper mirror with a fortune pattern was extremely heavy. They exerted all their strength and managed to move it half a meter. As everyone leaned in to look, they were surprised to find a square hole, more than half a person high, in the corner behind the mirror. Zhang Qiling shone his light inside, revealing a pitch-black void, with no idea where it led.

When Wu San Sheng was planning the underground palace a few days ago, he hadn’t discovered such a large room here. However, Zhang Qiling already knew that the underground palace was not as simple as he had planned. Unlike land burials, ship burials involved a process of sinking, during which the ship had to maintain absolute balance. Therefore, the symmetry of the tomb was of utmost importance. Although Wu San Sheng’s planned underground palace wasn’t fundamentally flawed, it was clearly top-heavy. If it were to sink with such a structure, the entire tomb would likely topple into the sea.

At that time, he was too lazy to show off and didn’t mention it to Wu San Sheng. Now, thinking back, it wasn’t surprising that there was a passage meant for balancing.

He explained the situation to everyone, turned on his flashlight, and was the first to enter. Since the flashlight had been on while entering the theft tunnel, it was already running low on power. Wen Jin suggested that they each turn on one flashlight in the front and back while the others turned theirs off. The stone passage was quite wide, almost allowing four people to walk side by side. When Huo Ling saw Zhang Qiling and Wen Jin walking so closely together, she felt a bit uncomfortable and squeezed in. At that moment, Zhang Qiling sensed that something was off; he vaguely saw something moving in the darkness ahead.

At the same time, the increasingly strong fragrance in the air caught his attention. It felt as if they were getting closer to the source of the scent. After taking a few more steps, the aroma became so overwhelming that he could hardly concentrate. He turned to ask Wen Jin, only to suddenly realize that the few people behind him had already collapsed on the ground. Wen Jin touched her forehead, looked at him in a daze, and then fell into his arms.

Zhang Qiling felt alarmed and immediately held his breath, but it was too late. He only felt an irresistible drowsiness wash over him, and he began to lean against the wall, gradually losing consciousness. In the haze, he saw his uncle squatting down, staring at him with a blank expression.

At this point, the “Dumb Oil Bottle” took a deep breath, fell silent, and said, “When I woke up, I found myself lying on a hospital bed, with no memory and no knowledge of anything. It wasn’t until months later that I began to recall fragmented memories little by little. Years later, I started to notice that something was wrong with my body.”

I couldn’t help but want to interrupt and ask him if he realized he wouldn’t age, but he didn’t give me that chance and continued, “Three months ago, I ran into your uncle. I found him very familiar, and in order to remember more, I followed you all to the Lu Wang Palace.” At this point, he suddenly turned to me and said, “I found that your uncle has a big problem!”

I was taken aback, not understanding what he meant. He continued, “The piece of silk book you took out from the bronze coffin is actually fake; it was swapped out by your uncle a long time ago.”

I was stunned and exclaimed, “Nonsense! Wasn’t that you who swapped it out?”

The “Dumb Oil Bottle” glanced at me calmly and said, “No, it was your uncle himself. He and Da Kui dug a hole from behind a tree directly down to the bottom of the coffin. This is probably also why Da Kui had to die.”

I felt a chill run down my spine, more tense than ever. Although I still wanted to stand by my uncle, my mind was racing with countless images as if a lightning bolt had struck. I remembered how Da Kui was poisoned, thought about why Panzi was still conscious before climbing the tree but was already in deep coma when we saw him on the ground, and recalled how he had come running with a gas canister before I and the Fatty had even crawled out of that gap.

I couldn’t think any further; it felt as if everything in the world had turned upside down. I didn’t know who was telling the truth and who was lying, and I didn’t know whom to believe. My mind was in chaos, and I couldn’t help but mutter to myself, “No, no, it can’t be this simple. There’s no motive. Why would my uncle do this?”

The “Dumb Oil Bottle” said calmly, “If this person is indeed your uncle, then there is no motive. But—” He sighed at this point.

I didn’t understand what he meant, but it seemed that deep down, I had already begun to believe him. I couldn’t help but smile bitterly. I had always been wondering how much my uncle had been deceiving me, but now I had to think about how much he had not been deceiving me.

The situation has changed so unexpectedly that I really didn’t see it coming. However, upon reflection, I realized that there’s no point in thinking about it now. Whether true or false, it won’t matter until we escape; otherwise, if we die here, knowing the truth won’t change anything.

With that thought, I took a moment to calm myself and relax. At that moment, I noticed that the fat guy had already walked up to the stone tablet, squatting there in a clumsy manner, twirling his hair with his pinky finger. I frowned and called out, “You fat bastard, what the hell are you doing? Can’t you just be quiet for a moment?”

He turned his head, affecting a woman’s voice, and said, “I’m just fixing my hair, for crying out loud! It won’t cost you your life, so why are you complaining?” I was utterly helpless and asked him, “Fixing your hair? Are you planning to go see what’s inside that heavenly gate?”

The fat guy replied, “Of course! With such a spectacular scene, how could I, the great fat lord, miss it? Besides, look at how hard it was for us to come down here. That woman ran away again, and it seems like we can only rely on our commission. No matter what, we have to dig up a few luminous pearls. After all, they say if you have money, you won’t end up empty-handed!”

I cursed, “So you listened for so long just to hear about a luminous pearl?” He became indignant and said, “Hey, you really can’t say that about me! I, the great fat lord, have another very important reason for wanting to enter this heavenly gate. Do you know what it is?”

62 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 33 – The Door of Life

The origins of Qimen Dunjia date back more than 4,600 years, nearly as long as the recorded history of China. The first person to use Qimen Dunjia in the world was our ancestor, the Yellow Emperor. It has been passed down through the generations, and you can see that almost every military strategist or military leader has some knowledge of it. However, by the Han Dynasty, Qimen Dunjia was no longer a complete system. After the Yellow Emperor passed it to Huangshi Laoren, this bird-like figure simplified and summarized it, making it difficult for later generations to understand what he was actually saying.

My understanding of Qimen Dunjia mainly comes from my second uncle (not my third uncle), and although I don’t know much, when Zhang Qiling mentioned it, I wasn’t as bewildered as Fatty, who seemed to be listening to something incomprehensible. Originally, Qimen Dunjia had 4,320 configurations, but by the time it reached the Yellow Emperor, he could only comprehend 1,080 of them. During Zhang Liang’s time, there were 72 configurations, and now, my second uncle has整理出来的 only 42 configurations, which is already quite rare. Only 18 configurations are widely circulated in the world; the others were accidentally discovered by my third uncle in a Han tomb.

Although Qimen Dunjia is profound, it is essentially a blend of military strategy and fate theory. Using it to set up formations is like utilizing its residual heat. The Qimen Dunjia formation, also known as the Eight Formations, is divided into eight gates: the Open Gate, the Rest Gate, the Life Gate, the Death Gate, the Surprise Gate, the Injury Gate, the Blocking Gate, and the Scene Gate. The Life Gate represents life, while the Death Gate represents death. Entering any of the other gates reveals the eight gates again, and this cycle continues.

The eight hidden doors discovered by Zhang Qiling naturally brought to mind the concept of Qimen Dunjia. These hidden doors are very narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways. The area is shrouded in mist, and outside there is a possibly rotating brick door that can be opened with a push. Once inside, the active door closes automatically, and without touching anything, it is impossible to tell that there is anything unusual about this place.

Zhang Qiling felt a bit remorseful about his carelessness. He is not a reckless person, but he had been too eager for quick results. All the strange and clever techniques in the world pride themselves on being small and precise, but this one was the opposite, being large and comprehensive, which made it difficult for him to guard against.

He returned to the stele and shared his findings with everyone, causing an uproar. This knowledge is very profound, and having just gone through the Cultural Revolution, how could they possibly understand it? Wen Jin pondered for a moment and suddenly said, “Just now, Sanxing’s behavior was so strange, as if possessed by a female ghost. Could it be that this ghost is the owner of this tomb? The hidden door he just entered—could it be the Life Gate?”

Zhang Qiling noticed the sparkle in her eyes, as if she had thought of something, and asked her, “Did you come up with something?”

Wen Jin asked him to follow her, then turned to the stele, half-kneeled like Sanxing, and began to comb her hair. Her figure was exceptionally good, and this posture was very charming, causing several men to be mesmerized. After combing a few strokes, she modestly turned her head, and as she did, she suddenly shivered and exclaimed, “I found it!”

As soon as everyone heard this, they rushed over to the stone tablet, looking around but seeing nothing after a long time. Wen Jin said, “No, you have to do it like me, kneel here to see it!” Zhang Qi Ling seemed to have a moment of realization and quickly knelt down. Wen Jin pressed down on his shoulder and said, “You’re too tall; lower a bit more. You can’t look straight at it; you have to look sideways and focus on your temple.”

Zhang Qi Ling found it amusing and mimicked her, brushing his hair back and then giving a very feminine glance. Suddenly, he saw his reflection in the stone tablet, where there were three faint, interlinked fish shapes at his temple, very blurry. When he moved his head slightly, he discovered that if he changed the angle even a little, they would immediately disappear.

He exclaimed, finally understanding what it meant to have fate. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly, thinking that only a beauty-conscious woman, coincidentally kneeling in front of this stone tablet to fix her hair, could possibly see this mark. Moreover, being too tall or too short wouldn’t work either. Fortunately, Wen Jin observed carefully; otherwise, this big man would never have found this secret no matter how hard he tried. (I also realized it at once, but then again, was the owner of this tomb some kind of pervert?)

He focused intently on the fish and noticed that the mark was slowly moving. It seemed that there was a mechanism inside the stone tablet that rotated at the same speed as the pool’s walls, and the position of this mark was always aligned with what was called the “Heavenly Gate.” Thinking of this, he quickly asked Wen Jin to keep an eye on it while he turned on a flashlight and ran to the pool’s edge, locating the hidden doors one by one. When he reached the third hidden door, Wen Jin saw the mark overlap with the flashlight beam and shouted, “This is it!”

Everyone cheered, and even Zhang Qi Ling couldn’t help but clench his fist in excitement. He pushed open the hidden door and was the first to step inside. It was a very narrow passage that led further in. This time, Zhang Qi Ling was very careful. He first touched the walls around him to ensure there were no other mechanisms before calling the others in.

The passage was also constructed from green oak slabs, only wide enough for one person; two slightly plump individuals wouldn’t be able to pass through. Zhang Qi Ling, with the flashlight, led the way. Looking ahead, he noticed that the darkness mixed with the color of the green oak stone created an eerie, dim green hue, almost like a color from the underworld. He focused all his attention, walking very cautiously, stopping for a long time at any strange sounds. At this point, he had completely become the spiritual leader of the group; everyone obeyed him, and no one dared to say a word of nonsense.

They walked for about the time it takes to smoke half a cigarette, and it was pitch black all around. Zhang Qiling felt as if the entire universe consisted only of the few of them, and he began to feel uneasy. At that moment, the pathway started to incline upwards. Following the slope, he looked up and discovered a faint light appearing in the distance, a dim yellow glow reminiscent of the setting sun. It wasn’t very bright, but it was warm. Zhang Qiling realized that this was where they were headed. He called out to the others and took a few steps, merging them into one big leap towards the light, which seemed to come closer and closer. Suddenly, the ground leveled out, and the entire world appeared to be enveloped in a golden radiance. He quickly squinted to see better and couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, nearly dropping to his knees.

Before them stood a massive square room. It was not just large; it exuded an extreme sense of dominance. The atmosphere of the entire structure could only be described as magnificent, almost evoking an impulse to kneel.

On each side of the room were ten solid pillars made of golden silk nanmu wood, too large for three people to encircle, resembling the supporting pillars of the ends of the earth. The entire room was constructed from yellow clay bricks, measuring about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) in width, with intricately carved beams and painted eaves above. There were ten five-clawed golden dragons depicted, radiating an extreme brilliance. At the nearly ten-meter-high treasure dome, a map of fifty stars was embedded, with each star being a dazzling luminous pearl, roughly the size of a goose egg, emitting a soft yellow glow. In each corner of the room stood a large mirror, reflecting light back and forth; although not very bright, it was enough to illuminate the entire space.

What surprised them the most, however, was the enormous stone platform in the center of the room. Zhang Qiling immediately recognized it: the platform featured a grand model of a palace. Although it was just a model, it included everything from dragon towers to flowing streams, and it was truly spectacular.

Zhang Qiling ran over, excitedly circling around it several times. He quickly understood that this was a model of the Heavenly Palace. He had never believed that such an outrageous palace would exist in this ancient tomb, so he didn’t feel disappointed. However, the mystery in his heart deepened. It seemed that Wang Canghai had really built a Heavenly Palace; but where was this palace? Could it really be in the sky?

This discovery was astonishing, and everyone was excited, shouting and cheering. A few of the boys playfully lifted Huo Ling onto the stone platform. Huo Ling, grinning as she steadied herself, suddenly let out a scream and jumped down, exclaiming, “There’s a dead person up there!”

Zhang Qiling was startled and quickly jumped up to take a look. In the center of the model was a circular jade garden. Inside the garden, on a stone seat, sat a completely shriveled corpse, its clothes in tatters, revealing a blackened torso. This was a very rare example of a seated mummified body, naturally preserved very well. With a dab of gold powder, it could be placed in a temple for worship. The corpse had one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the ground, and like other golden bodies, its hair and nails continued to grow after death. The nails, in particular, had grown almost as long as the fingers, which looked somewhat unsettling.

He leaped in front of the dry corpse without hesitation, first examining its mouth and finding nothing inside. Then he pried open its armpit and pressed down along the way. Wen Jin also jumped up and watched closely. She quickly leaped to his back and whispered, “Zhang Qiling, what exactly is your background? How do you know about tomb raiding?”

Zhang Qiling glanced at her but did not answer. Wen Jin got angry, grabbing his hand and saying, “You are clearly a tomb raider; otherwise, you wouldn’t be so calm in an ancient tomb. What is your purpose in following us?”

Zhang Qiling made a gesture for her to be quiet and pointed at the corpse, saying, “This is not important; look!” As he spoke, he stripped off the corpse’s clothing, revealing a very long scar on its abdomen, extending from the last rib on the left to the dantian. He pressed on the corpse’s belly first, then grabbed Wen Jin’s hand and pressed it down as well. She shivered; indeed, something was clearly hidden inside the corpse’s belly.

Zhang Qiling raised his head, still unsure whether to take the object out. If this person had hidden something in their belly until death, it meant that the item was extremely important to them. Alternatively, it could also be a test set by the deceased. His principle was to never damage a corpse for the sake of treasures in an ancient tomb. After a long internal struggle, he glanced at Wen Jin again. Being from the Northern school, she naturally valued righteousness. She shook her head and said, “Taking what is not yours will surely incur divine retribution.”

Zhang Qiling sighed and decided to give up. He took a step back and bowed his head to the corpse. When he raised it again, he suddenly noticed that something was off with the corpse. He looked left and right, and then gasped in shock; the dry corpse was actually wearing a strange smile.

61 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 32 – The Mysterious Door and the Art of Escape

The enormous figure was almost as tall as the stone tablet, and one could vaguely make out a head and neck, indistinguishable from a human. However, the way it stood there, hunched over, was so bizarre that it sent shivers down one’s spine.

Wen Jin was sweating profusely. The group stood at the junction of the stone steps and the bottom of the pool, only five steps away from the giant, a distance that was neither long nor short, making it extremely awkward. The mist at the bottom of the pool swirled, and the lighting relied solely on a few low-powered flashlights, making it impossible to discern whether the figure was human or ghost. Just moments ago, so many people had searched this area, inside and out, and apart from the four stone monkeys at the center and a blank stone tablet, there was nothing else in the ten meters of the pool’s bottom. When had this enormous ‘person’ appeared? No one knew.

And that damned Zhang Qiling seemed completely oblivious, still engrossed in studying the stone tablet, unaware of what he was investigating. Wen Jin was so frustrated she could hardly contain her anger, but as the person in charge, she couldn’t just leave him behind. At this moment, she had no strategy and could only warn the others behind her not to move recklessly.

After about five or six minutes, the giant figure still lingered behind the mist, seemingly with no intention of moving.

At that moment, Huo Ling couldn’t hold back any longer and softly called out, “Xiao Zhang, why are you still squatting there? Come over here quickly!”

Wen Jin was startled and hurried to stop her; Zhang Qiling was too close to that thing. If the situation changed, it would be difficult to retreat safely in just two steps. The best course of action was to maintain the status quo for now.

Wen Jin quickly analyzed the situation. Although there were many dangers in the ancient tomb, as long as one knew what they were dealing with, there would naturally be ways to cope. What was truly frightening was being in a perilous situation without any clues, often leading to a vague and untimely demise.

Upon some analysis, Wen Jin felt that there couldn’t be any zongzi (mummies) in this place because the location of this ancient tomb was exceptionally good. The Xisha Islands had seen little human disturbance for hundreds of years, and while there were several circular reefs scattered on the surface of the sea, they were connected underwater, forming a continuous underwater mountain range. The mountains were hidden beneath the sea, gathering wind and energy; with the dragon’s head to the east and the dragon’s tail to the west, it represented a rare underwater dragon vein. In feng shui, a water dragon is considered superior to a mountain dragon, as dragons first belong to water before ascending to the sky.

In such a place, if there were a coffin, it would undoubtedly contain wealth and power, especially if this ancient tomb truly belonged to Wang Cang Hai. Given his name, he would certainly lack water in the five elements, which would further enhance the feng shui of a sea tomb, essentially claiming all aspects of heaven, earth, and humanity in terms of feng shui.

Therefore, unless feng shui texts were completely fabricated, there would definitely not be any zongzi here. With this thought, Wen Jin felt relieved; since it wasn’t a zombie, it had to be a human or an animal. As long as it was a living thing, with so many people here, it wouldn’t matter if it was two meters tall; even if it were three meters tall, we could take it down.

At that moment, one of the boys said, “Wen Jin, I think something’s off. I remember that position should be where the stone monkey is. Could it be that something has climbed onto the stone monkey?”

Wen Jin’s heart stirred as she suddenly thought, could it be that Uncle San has woken up, realized they were missing, and come here to look for them? This person has a rather improper way of doing things; he might blame them for not obeying his orders, so he hid behind the mist and climbed onto the Stone Monkey to scare them.

If that were the case, it would be utterly detestable. Wen Jin thought this was the most plausible explanation. With that in mind, she shouted at the shadow, “Wu Sanxing! Stop playing around! Come down here right now!”

If the person really was Uncle San, this shout would surely reveal that she had seen through him. There would be no need to keep pretending. Uncle San was an open-minded person; for such a trivial matter, he would just laugh it off and wouldn’t mind at all.

But before she could finish her words, the shadow suddenly stretched out a hand and gestured for them to be quiet!

Wen Jin looked at his figure; the length of his hand was disproportionate to his height. It was indeed someone standing on top of the Stone Monkey. Without thinking, she concluded it must be Uncle San. Angered, she stomped her foot and quickly ran up, leaping onto the Stone Monkey to pull his ear.

This was her last resort for dealing with Uncle San. They had agreed never to argue, but whenever Wen Jin was extremely angry, she could pull Uncle San’s ear to let him know just how upset she was. Generally, in such situations, even if Uncle San was bold, he wouldn’t dare to act recklessly anymore.

Just as she leaped onto the Stone Monkey and hadn’t yet made a move, the person on the Stone Monkey suddenly grabbed her, covering her mouth with one hand and whispering, “I’m Xiao Zhang! Don’t say anything! Just look below!”

Wen Jin was already furious, but upon hearing the voice, she froze. This was indeed Zhang Qiling’s voice! How could he be standing on the Stone Monkey?

As she thought about it, a cold sweat broke out; something was wrong! If that were the case, then who was the person squatting in front of the stone tablet?

She quickly recalled the scene from earlier. At that time, she had only seen someone squatting in front of the stone tablet, holding a flashlight, and the only person missing from the crowd was Zhang Qiling. So she had jumped to a conclusion. Could it be that she had made a preconceived error?

With that thought, she leaned out to look. When she did, she was stunned. She saw that the person squatting in front of the tablet was wearing the same diving suit as they were. Judging by the body shape, it was none other than Uncle San!

Moreover, Uncle San seemed a bit off. At first, Wen Jin didn’t understand what he was doing, but upon closer inspection, she realized he was actually combing his hair in front of the smooth, mirror-like stone tablet. What was chilling was the awkwardness of his movements, which were clearly something a woman would do.

After combing for a while, Uncle San turned his face, carefully examining himself in the stone mirror, like a young girl checking her appearance after finishing her makeup.

In the stone mirror, Uncle San’s face was half-smiling, half-serious, looking eerily ghostly. Such a scene would normally be quite funny, but now, Wen Jin felt her hands and feet turn cold, and she didn’t even dare to breathe.

The people below looked at the two figures embracing the stone monkey, completely still, and thought it was really Uncle San pretending to be a ghost to scare them, which made them breathe a sigh of relief. Huoling, worried about Zhang Qiling, suddenly ran up behind the person in front of the stone tablet, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Xiao Zhang, what are you dazed about here?”

This caught everyone by surprise. Zhang Qiling silently exclaimed that it was bad and realized it was too late to stop her. He saw the person in front of the stone tablet suddenly stand up, scaring Huoling into a sharp scream. However, she quickly realized that the person in front of her was Uncle San. From fear she turned to anger, shouting, “Wu Sanxing, it’s you! Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you doing squatting here acting crazy?”

Uncle San saw Huoling and suddenly covered his face with his hand, let out a strange cry, and pushed her hard, knocking her to the ground. Then he turned and ran. Zhang Qiling sensed something was wrong and immediately jumped down from the stone monkey to chase after him. His speed was extremely fast, but as he passed by Huoling, he paused for a moment to check if she was hurt. However, this brief delay caused a major problem. When Huoling saw Zhang Qiling looking at her on the ground, she rushed over, thinking he was concerned for her. Her heart warmed, and she unexpectedly went to hug him.

Zhang Qiling couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. This few seconds of delay was enough to make him lose all his advantage. He rolled over and slipped past her arm, and when he looked back at Uncle San, he had already run into the thick fog, almost reaching the edge of the pool.

Zhang Qiling shouted, “Watch the stone steps! Don’t let him go up!” As he spoke, he chased after him. At this moment, he vaguely saw Uncle San suddenly turn sideways and, in an instant, seemed to have passed through the wall. However, the fog was too thick, and he didn’t see the process at all.

Zhang Qiling reached the edge of the pool, but found no one to chase and had to come to a stop. He didn’t believe that Uncle San had actually gone through the wall. Although he wasn’t the kind of person who strictly adhered to materialism, this scene was too bizarre, and there had to be something fishy about it.

He paused for a moment and immediately reached out to touch the stone wall. However, the stone wall was solid and real. Zhang Qiling didn’t believe that this world had something like wall-passing techniques. He extended his long fingers and pressed them against the stone wall. In an instant, his extremely sensitive fingers felt that the stone wall was actually rotating very slowly!

His mind buzzed, realizing it was over! He hadn’t noticed at all that this pool was actually a huge mechanism!

He suddenly felt a deep sense of emotion; this could be described as a miracle of ancient engineering. His so-called experience seemed childish in front of the tomb owner.

But what was the purpose of this mechanism? In the few minutes they had been down here, it seemed that the entire bottom of the pool hadn’t changed at all! That damned Wang Canghai couldn’t possibly just want to create a rotating restaurant in his own tomb.

Zhang Qiling was not unfamiliar with the principles of mechanisms. To put it in his own words, his understanding of traps and mechanisms in Chinese ancient tombs surpassed that of anyone else in the world (his exact words). He was very familiar with the working principles of mechanisms, their origins, shortcomings, and even the names of their inventors.

According to his experience, this mechanism must operate on the simplest principles. He knew that so-called clever spring mechanisms, wooden bows, and crossbows, regardless of how good the materials are, would have their firing mechanisms rotted and unusable after a few hundred to a thousand years. What can effectively deter tomb raiders is often the simplest layer of protective sand outside the tomb wall (once tomb raiders dig into the sand layer, the large amount of quicksand above will collapse and suffocate them, but this is also a very passive method; nowadays, tomb raiders can instead determine the actual location of ancient tombs based on the sand brought up by the Luoyang shovel and directly break through twelve layers of blue bricks from the top of the tomb).

For a mechanism to operate for hundreds or thousands of years, it is necessary to use materials that will not decay over such a long time, such as stone and living water that will not dry up. These materials are available here, and the water even provides a form of power that changes with the tides, making it more convenient to utilize.

If the tomb owner is Wang Canghai, then this person, given his obsession with and mastery of ingenious techniques, has likely reached a level unmatched by anyone else in the world.

As Zhang Qiling thought while feeling along the stone walls, he already had a vague idea in his mind that there must be an entrance on this wall. Just a moment of hesitation had caused the entrance to shift position. As he felt his way forward, he took just a few steps and indeed discovered a hidden door.

It couldn’t be this easy to find, he shook his head, hesitant to enter, and continued walking forward. The more he walked, the more puzzled he became. In this small area, he ended up finding eight hidden doors. He calculated in his mind and seemed to realize, isn’t this just the art of strange gates and escape?

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