Notice: 函数 _load_textdomain_just_in_time 的调用方法不正确。 flixita 域的翻译加载触发过早。这通常表示插件或主题中的某些代码运行过早。翻译应在 init 操作或之后加载。 请查阅调试 WordPress来获取更多信息。 （这个消息是在 6.7.0 版本添加的。） in /var/www/html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121 The Chronicles of the Tomb Robbers归档 - 第87页 共91页 - Workgram

50 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 21 – Arrow

I saw that the arrows had almost all penetrated my body, and suddenly I felt a tremendous pain in my chest. My heart was in a state of panic, unable to believe that I was so young, having never even touched a woman’s hand, and was I really going to die in an unknown grave? If I died here, it seemed no one would collect my body even hundreds of years later. Such an ending was too tragic.

The arrows rained down like a storm, and I had no idea what was launching them; they were too fast to dodge. The fat guy used his backpack as a shield and rushed in front of us, blocking a few arrows. I gasped as I saw his back, which was already pierced by more than a dozen arrows, looking like an incense burner filled with sticks. It seemed he was definitely going to die, but for some reason, he appeared to feel no pain at all.

I remembered reading in novels about people being shot full of arrows like hedgehogs but had never seen it in real life until now, and in such a situation. I couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Suddenly, someone grabbed my clothes and pulled me forward. I was startled and turned to see it was that girl, An Ning. Her eyes were cold and terrifying, and I felt something was wrong. I quickly tried to shake her off, but she showed no mercy, driving her knee into my lower back. This hurt more than the two arrows in my chest. My body went weak from the pain, and I softened. She dragged me without saying a word toward the large jade gate in the center. I was used as a human shield, and once again, arrows struck my shoulder, stomach, and chest, causing me to nearly faint from the pain.

They say a woman’s heart is the most poisonous, and I never believed it until now. I didn’t expect a woman to be so ruthless. Just a moment ago, she had seemed like a frightened little woman, but in the blink of an eye, she was using me as a meat shield to block the rain of arrows.

Of course, I wouldn’t be so noble. I used all my strength to twist away; she wasn’t very strong, and I broke free from her grip, stumbling into the light channel. Seeing that she had lost her cover, she immediately rolled away in a swift motion, dodging a dozen arrows and glaring at me fiercely. I thought, “Damn it, how can you still have the face to glare at me?” I shouted and lunged to grab her, but she sneered at me, rolled over to the wall, and then jumped high, pushing off the wall to swiftly flip into a safe area. The entire movement was completed in the blink of an eye, clean and efficient.

I saw that she hadn’t been hit by a single arrow, and I was so angry I slammed my hand on the ground. She turned to look at me, suddenly blew me a kiss mockingly, then turned on her flashlight and sashayed into the jade gate in the center.

I was so furious I nearly spat blood, but there was nothing I could do. I had to crawl into that light channel, listening as arrows whizzed past my head and struck the walls of the corridor with metallic clangs. The rain of arrows continued for over five minutes before finally stopping. I turned to look at the fat guy, who had been shot into a ball of arrows, swaying as if he were about to fall. I hurried over to help him, but he waved his hand, signaling that he was okay, and asked me, “Little Wu, I think these arrows are a bit strange. Why does it hurt so little even though they’ve gone in so deep? Can you pull a few out for me to see?”

I also felt something was off. Why did this arrow wound not seem as serious as I had imagined? My breathing was still smooth, but I had never died before, so I didn’t know what it felt like to be shot by an arrow. The fat guy called for me to pull out a few arrows, but I really didn’t have the courage to do it. I hesitated for a long time in front of him and couldn’t bring myself to act. At that moment, Zhang Tu stood up, gritting his teeth. He had been standing behind the fat guy and hadn’t been hit by any arrows. Seeing the fat guy in such a state, he suddenly said, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

Both the fat guy and I were taken aback. Why had Zhang Tu’s voice changed, and why did it sound so familiar? Suddenly, he straightened his body, and with a crack, he seemed to grow several centimeters taller. Then, he reached out his hand, exerted some force, and with another crack, his hand suddenly extended a few inches.

I was so shocked that my jaw nearly dropped. I thought to myself, isn’t this the art of bone contraction? I had only read about it in my grandfather’s notes; it was one of the basic skills for tomb raiders in ancient times. It was used to squeeze through very narrow gaps, like the beams of a ghost palace or underground voids. I had never understood the principle behind it, so I always considered it a joke. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn’t have believed such a miraculous skill existed.

(In recent years, I heard that some people in the tomb-raiding village in Luoyang were still using this skill. They made their tunnels very small and contracted their bones to get inside. When the police passed by, they thought it was a weasel hole. Later, when they realized it was a tomb raiding tunnel, they couldn’t go down to catch anyone because by the time they dug through, the people inside had already escaped through another route. Unfortunately, this skill is very difficult to master; even if you practice it from a young age, it’s hard to achieve unless all the bones in your body work in harmony.)

He let out a breath, pulled at the back of his ear, and tore off a human skin mask, revealing his original face. I was stunned. Inside that mask was actually the Muffled Oil Bottle! I was momentarily dazed, and then I felt a surge of unnameable anger. This was too much; he could practically win an Oscar for acting! I hadn’t noticed a thing.

The Muffled Oil Bottle shook his arms, as if he hadn’t moved them in a long time. The fat guy was also speechless, and after a long while, he finally grabbed him and said, “Hey, what do you mean by this? Are you deliberately making fun of us?”

The Muffled Oil Bottle didn’t speak; he patted the fat guy and motioned for him to sit down. He grabbed the arrowhead part of the arrow stuck in the fat guy’s back, twisted it with force, and easily pulled it out. I leaned over to take a look; the fat guy only had a shallow red mark on his body and wasn’t injured at all.

While I was surprised, I was also overjoyed, vaguely feeling that I might not have to die after all. I hurriedly imitated the Muffled Oil Bottle’s actions and pulled out the arrow from my own body. It wasn’t difficult at all; I pulled one out myself in one go. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the arrowhead was designed very cleverly. As soon as it hit something, the sharp tip would retract, and several claw-like iron hooks would flip out from the arrowhead, gripping your flesh tightly.

The Muffled Oil Bottle looked at the arrows scattered on the ground and said softly, “That kick just now was intentional; that woman not only has confidence in her skills but also wants to take us all out.”

I recalled the flying kiss she just gave me, which was clearly mocking me. I was so angry that I nearly bit my tongue. It turns out that beautiful women are not to be trusted; I definitely won’t fall for this again in the future!

The fat guy had almost all of his back scraped up. He grinned and said, “Thank goodness the arrows here have lotus heads; otherwise, she would have really succeeded. Imagine if I, the great Fat Master, died with arrows sticking out of me like a porcupine—people would laugh me to death.”

I looked at the strange arrows and asked them, “Why are all the arrows here made with this type of arrowhead? Is there a reason for it?”

The Silent Oil Bottle replied, “I don’t know either, but as soon as you got hit, I recognized it as a lotus arrow. I can’t think of any other reason; maybe the owner of this tomb wanted to give us a break and let us retreat.”

I found it strange; it didn’t make much sense. However, this wasn’t the time to discuss it. That woman had already entered the main tomb chamber, and I couldn’t let her escape with the treasure so easily. I was about to rush in when the Silent Oil Bottle grabbed me and shook his head, saying, “That ghost just told us to go into the left tomb chamber for a reason. We should follow the steps. We’re on their turf now; don’t run around randomly.”

I panicked. If that woman came out and ran away, I wouldn’t know where to chase her. The fat guy said, “Don’t worry. Let’s go back and hide our diving gear. Damn it, let’s see if she can hold her breath all the way outside!”

At this critical moment, the fat guy was quick-witted. I thought to myself, how come I didn’t think of that? I nodded immediately, and the three of us hurried back to the ear chamber. When I shone my flashlight on the spot where we had left our things, I was stunned—there was nothing there—our oxygen tanks had disappeared!

49 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 20 – The Passage

Just now, all my attention was focused on that coffin, and I didn’t take a close look at the porcelain jar. I hurriedly stepped back a few paces, and the jar wobbled and rolled a few times before changing direction and rolling toward the stone door of the corridor. Finally, it hit the door frame with a “clang” and came to a stop.

We looked at each other, puzzled. Could it really be true what the Fatty said—that there was a zongzi inside?

We were stunned for a moment, hesitant to approach. The Fatty lowered his voice and said, “Everyone, this jar really does seem a bit eerie. How about we take the initiative and shoot a few darts at it?”

Of course, I disagreed and whispered, “Absolutely not. Let’s find out what it is first!”

The reason I said this was twofold. First, I could tell that this blue-and-white porcelain jar from the Ming and Yuan dynasties was definitely a rare treasure. A jar of this size is hard to come by in the world; it’s likely that smashing one would mean losing it forever. Second, I had no idea what strange thing might be inside. If it really was a zongzi as the Fatty said, we would inevitably end up fighting again. I had already expended too much energy underwater and definitely couldn’t run away.

However, we were currently in an ancient tomb over ten meters deep underwater, and I didn’t know how long the air would last. If we continued to hold back, it wouldn’t benefit us at all. This back-and-forth was hard to decide; I’ve never been good at making decisions, and I was sweating profusely from anxiety.

At this moment, the Fatty saw my indecision and said, “We can’t be sure there’s a zongzi inside. This place connects to the sea; it could be that some crabs or lobsters crawled in. There’s no need to scare ourselves here; let’s go over and take a look.”

The woman shook her head: “Our main goal is still to enter the main burial chamber. We shouldn’t waste An Ning’s time on the way. I think we should avoid it if we can and see if there are any other exits.”

When I heard this, I thought it was a good idea. I immediately checked the left and right sides of this ear chamber carefully again, but unfortunately, it was obvious that there was no second door and no holes for us to crawl through.

The Fatty was getting a bit restless and said, “At this point, we either move this jar aside or go back; there’s no other way. But I’ll tell you upfront, since we’ve made it this far, I, Wang Fatty, definitely won’t be scared back by a jar!”

I looked at An Ning’s expression; she was also very determined. Zhang Tuzi didn’t say a word, and I didn’t know what he was thinking. The three of them looked at me together, as if seeking my opinion.

I still didn’t have a clear decision in my mind. I thought that rushing in recklessly wasn’t wise, but the Fatty also had a point—many things in this ancient tomb were just self-scares. Looking at An Ning’s expression, I couldn’t help but soften my heart and said, “Alright then, let’s take it step by step. If nothing happens, we’ll let it be. If it turns out to be something troublesome, we have our four darts in hand, so we’re not afraid!”

The Fatty patted me on the back, showing encouragement. I took out the air gun, turned off the safety, and aimed at the jar. The Fatty took the lead, and the four of us cautiously moved toward the door’s edge.

I wasn’t particularly scared, just feeling a bit tense. With the diving suit on, I couldn’t sweat it out, making it extremely uncomfortable.

Just when we fat guys were about to see what was in the jar, suddenly there was a noise, and the jar actually rolled over. My heart raced, and I almost pulled out my gun. The fat guy quickly took two steps back and gestured for us not to move. We watched as the porcelain jar suddenly rolled again, this time making a direct arc and rolling into the dark corridor with a gurgling sound. We could still hear it rolling far away until it hit something with a “clang” and disappeared.

We immediately followed it inside. It was pitch black, and when I shone my flashlight, I saw that it was a straight corridor made of white marble bricks, very simple, with nothing inside. Only on both sides of the ground were two light troughs, each with lamp sockets every meter. At the other end of the corridor, there was a jade door, and there were also two slightly smaller doors on the left and right sides, making a total of three doors, all wide open. It seemed that someone had already entered, and the jar had come to a stop in the middle of the left small door, motionless.

I genuinely felt that something was strange; the jar’s movement seemed like it was leading us, as if it was about to say, “Follow me.” This was definitely a conscious action. Could it be that what was inside the jar was not rice dumplings, but a ghost?

I glanced at the dull oil bottle, but I couldn’t tell if he was nervous or scared. I had to voice my thoughts. The fat guy listened and found some sense in what I said. He couldn’t help but gasp and said, “What you said does have a bit of meaning. I also thought just now that it rolled like a bowling ball.”

I bitterly smiled inside. The fat guy noticed that I was a bit lost and continued, “Since we’ve come this far, let’s not hesitate here. Let’s just follow it and see what its purpose is. After all, whether we stick our necks out or pull them back, it’s all the same.”

Everyone nodded, and the fat guy patted me on the back, saying, “This bare stone slab road usually has traps. Wu, you take a look and see if there are any issues with this place.”

I knew it was my responsibility, so I nodded and shone my flashlight on the ground. The bottom of the corridor was covered with small stone slabs, which could very likely trigger traps. I thought that since my uncle had been to this place, if there were traps, they might have been triggered or destroyed. But if there weren’t, it could be troublesome. I reminded them and then adjusted my backpack before being the first to move forward.

To avoid traps, it was best to crawl close to the wall, but there were light troughs on both sides of the corridor, which were dark and I didn’t know what was in them. We could only walk along the edge of the troughs. I told them to pay close attention to their footing, but honestly, I had no idea myself. Every step I took had to be careful—how heavy or fast I stepped mattered. This was indeed something that required experience, which I didn’t have, so the more I walked, the more anxious I became.

After walking a dozen steps in this uneasy state, I was drenched in cold sweat. The others behind me saw how tense I was and started to panic as well. The fat guy said, “It seems that this job of avoiding traps isn’t easy. Little comrade, if you’re too tired, we can take a break.”

I didn’t have time to argue with him, so I said, “Stop shouting! If I lose focus for even a moment, we’re all done for.” Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly felt a tremor beneath my feet. I turned around and saw that a stone slab under Aning had sunk, and she was looking at me with a face full of panic.

I sighed in despair, thinking how unlucky I was. I was going to end up riddled with arrows. Just then, I heard a whistling sound as a crossbow bolt flew past her ear. Before I could react, a second arrow was already on its way, aimed straight at her chest.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Aning’s expression changed, and in a flash, she spun around and caught the arrow mid-air with her hand. The movement was so quick that it happened in a fraction of a second, and I didn’t even catch a glimpse of her shadow.

I was astonished by her skills, but there was no time to think. I felt a series of vibrations under my feet and yelled, “Get down, there are hidden crossbows!”

As soon as I finished speaking, a dozen white streaks shot toward us. I quickly ducked to avoid one, and at that moment, I suddenly saw something white and furry crawling out of the jar in the distance, quickly darting into the stone door on the left. I was about to shout, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. I looked down and realized, to my horror, that I had been hit by two arrows, which appeared to have sunk in two or three inches.

48 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter Nineteen – The Big Porcelain Jar

Corpse wax generally refers to bodies that are immersed in water or buried in moist, water-rich soil. The so-called wax is formed from the fat and minerals within the body that have solidified.

I followed the footprints and found that they extended all the way to the corner of the room, behind a large blue-and-white porcelain vase depicting a cloud dragon. My heart sank a little.

They say it’s easy to send the king of hell away, but difficult to deal with little ghosts. Could it be that there’s an underage zongzi (a type of rice dumpling)? I said to the chubby guy, “Look, these footprints only go one way; they haven’t come back. Could it be…?”

Before I could finish my sentence, the chubby guy waved his hand at me, signaling me to be quiet. I turned my head and saw the large porcelain vase suddenly wobbling by itself.

The chubby guy whispered, “That thing is hiding behind it.”

Zhang Tu had taken off half of his gear, but he hadn’t removed the belt around his waist; now he decided not to take it off at all. He brought over the oxygen tank and asked the chubby guy, “What thing?”

The chubby guy, annoyed by him, cursed, “Zongzi!”

He was taken aback: “Zongzi? The kind from Jiaxing Wufangzhai?”

The chubby guy shook his head and ignored him. I asked the chubby guy, “Can you be sure? I’ve never seen such a small zongzi.”

The chubby guy replied, “I can’t be sure either, but regardless of whether it’s a zongzi or not, we have to go take a look. Otherwise, it could be a disaster, and it won’t feel good to have this hanging over us.” Saying this, he picked up the air gun and gestured for me to follow. I thought to myself that I definitely wouldn’t go, so I shook my head.

The chubby guy sighed and had no choice but to call Zhang Tu over. This was Zhang Tu’s first time in the pit, and he was exceptionally excited. He immediately mimicked the chubby guy and walked over. The two of them formed a pincer movement towards the large blue-and-white porcelain vase.

Although I was scared, I couldn’t show too much cowardice in front of the woman, so I pretended to be brave and followed behind Zhang Tu, carefully peeking out to look.

We walked slowly, afraid that something might suddenly jump out. The chubby guy shone his flashlight first, but the large vase was too big to see anything clearly. He poked it with the air gun, and his actions reminded me of when I was a child trying to catch weasels, which made me involuntarily chuckle. After poking it five or six times and hearing no response from behind, he finally mustered the courage to walk over. Upon seeing it, he clicked his tongue and cursed, “Damn it, it’s just an empty wooden box, making me all nervous for nothing.”

We followed him over, and I saw that it was a double phoenix-carved baby coffin, only the size of a violin case. The coffin lid had already been opened and set aside, and the white base of the coffin was still in good condition, but the body was missing. No wonder the chubby guy thought it was just a box. I said, “This isn’t a box; it’s a type of coffin.”

The chubby guy was initially skeptical, but he quickly understood and asked, “Are you saying this is the coffin for that little zongzi?”

I nodded and took a closer look, noticing several holes drilled into the coffin. A black streak extended from one of the holes down to the ground, suggesting that some liquid had once flowed out of it. This scene seemed to resemble something mentioned in my grandfather’s notes.

The chubby guy carefully examined the coffin inside and out with his flashlight, then sighed in regret, “From the size of this coffin, you can tell that the child must have had quite a few good things on them. It’s a pity we don’t know where the body went; otherwise, if we pressed down on it, we might have been able to squeeze out a few pearls.”

I nodded. The children who died young or were buried as accompanying sacrifices always had many items in their coffins, most of which were carried on their bodies, especially in the bellies of the sacrificial boys, where there were often preservation beads—valuable treasures indeed.

A few of us searched around to see where the body might have gone, but after turning everything over, we found not even a scrap. It seemed that those tomb raiders had taken everything away.

The胖子 (Fatty) was unwilling to give up and wanted to open the coffin. I felt it was inappropriate and pulled him back, saying, “This coffin is different from others; it’s definitely not just for holding dead bodies. We shouldn’t touch it.”

Fatty laughed and said, “The body is gone. What are we afraid of? Are you worried that the coffin will jump up and bite me?”

Aning interjected, “Our purpose here is not to rummage through the dead’s belongings. Let’s hurry to the main burial chamber and not waste time. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Fatty knew he was in the wrong and had no choice but to comply. We went back to organize the diving equipment first. As Fatty slung his backpack over his shoulders, he suddenly glanced at me, his mouth moving as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, looking a bit embarrassed. I sighed and scolded, “Just spit it out, will you? What is it?”

Fatty said, “Do you think that little zongzi (the term used for a type of dumpling, but here it refers to the child spirit) might have crawled into that big porcelain jar over there?”

I looked at the large jar, and a thought crossed my mind—there was indeed a possibility. Fatty blushed a bit and said, “I heard a sound coming from the direction of that jar, like it was coming from inside. I thought, zongzi isn’t a mouse; how could it crawl into the jar? I thought I must have misheard. I just mentioned it casually; I didn’t mean anything else.”

I knew he was still thinking about the treasures on the body and wanted to tease him a bit. Just then, that large porcelain jar suddenly toppled over with a clatter. I froze, thinking, “Could it be that he was right?”

The four of us fell silent, nervously watching the jar. It first spun a few times in place and then began to roll toward us with a “gulu gulu” sound.

47 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 18 – A Large Amount of Hair

In the ancient underwater tomb, a strand of hair was discovered, and it was even moving. Most people would immediately think of ghosts, but fortunately, there was a stone slab in between, so even if there were ghosts, they couldn’t get through.

The chubby guy seemed unwilling to let go of that strand of hair. He took his lamp and shone it into the gap, trying to see what was behind it. I wasn’t as brave as he was; there are plenty of horror stories about hair in scary movies. So I kept my distance from the stone slab, watching to see how the chubby guy would react.

He leaned in for a closer look, and it seemed like he really did see something. He looked puzzled for a moment, then leaned in again for another look. This time, he reacted strongly, suddenly backing away as if fleeing for his life, swimming several meters away in a panic. He turned around and furiously shook his fist at us. At first, I thought he was going to hit me, but then it hit me—wasn’t he signaling us to escape?

But nothing seemed to have happened just moments ago. I reflexively turned my head back and saw that the stone slab blocking our way had suddenly risen up. A mass of black, ink-like substance was oozing out from the widening gap below. I hurriedly took a few steps back, thinking it was toxic water, but when I took a closer look, I was so scared that my jaw went slack—those black things were all human hair!

Seeing that we were slow to react, the chubby guy swam back to pull us, and only then did we realize the danger and hurriedly tried to escape. Being underwater, the more anxious we got, the more our energy was consumed, and the slower we swam. I realized I couldn’t keep my rhythm in the chaos, so I decided to mimic the chubby guy and push off the walls with my feet. It wasn’t graceful, but it was fast, especially the solid feeling of my feet on the ground.

We kicked off about twenty steps and reached a corner. The chubby guy grabbed us and pulled us to hide behind the turn, signaling for us to assess the situation first.

We gasped for air and quickly looked back. To our horror, the passage behind us was filled with hair—big, dark clumps of it. Just looking at it made my throat tighten. How many years would it take for hair to grow that long? The chubby guy cursed, picked up a spear gun, aimed at the center of the black mass, and fired. He probably thought the gun could penetrate it in one shot, but when he saw the spear fly six or seven meters before suddenly slowing down and getting entangled in the hair, his face went pale.

However, the spear did have some effect. The hair seemed to have some consciousness, retracting slightly before it began to roll. It looked as if something inside the hair was trying to come out, and we couldn’t help but feel alarmed. The chubby guy loaded another spear and prepared to get closer for another shot. At that moment, the hair suddenly contracted and then expanded violently, and I immediately saw a corpse being expelled from the deepest part of the hair.

The person was wearing a diving suit similar to ours; it could be one of the three missing. I only glanced at him and saw his nose and mouth were filled with hair, and even his eye sockets had hair protruding from them. It was clear he had suffocated to death, and his body had already swollen from being submerged in water, making him look extremely grotesque.

As I looked at the corpse, my scalp began to tingle. That hair was incredibly eerie; we needed to leave quickly. I wanted to grab the chubby guy, but when I looked up, he had vanished! I was startled and quickly turned around, only to see him far away, waving his fist at us.

I cursed inwardly, realizing that this guy had run to a safe place before warning us. I quickly signaled for Zhang Tu and An Ning to catch up. I saw that the fat guy was still complaining about our slow reactions, so I immediately kicked him in the backside. The fat guy yelped in pain and, still not satisfied, tried to rush at me. An Ning hurriedly blocked us and pointed behind. I glanced back, realizing that escaping was the priority; we could settle the score with him later.

At that moment, the oxygen meter in my hand started vibrating. I looked down and was alarmed to see that nearly half an hour had passed since we started, and with our rapid breathing, our oxygen consumption was several times higher than usual. I calculated the remaining time and realized the situation was dire. If we didn’t make progress soon, we would have to retrace our steps, or we wouldn’t have enough oxygen left. But I was reluctant to leave without finding the ear chamber that Uncle San had mentioned.

Suddenly, Zhang Tu, who had been lagging behind, scrambled to the front like a crab, grabbing the straps on our backs. He caught hold of the fat guy and told him to stop. I noticed his eyes bulging; it seemed he understood the structure of the ancient tomb better than I did. Had he actually found a clue?

Sure enough, he gestured for us to follow him. The fat guy was jumping up and down in anxiety, but since he had performed poorly earlier, we ignored him. Frustrated, he could only sulk behind us.

Zhang Tu clumsily swam back a few meters and pointed at a section of the tomb wall that was slightly recessed. It turned out that the fat guy had kicked this section of the wall in while walking earlier.

I felt a surge of excitement as I compared the surroundings. This was indeed the end of a long corridor, and the mechanism Uncle San mentioned was probably here. However, once the mechanism was activated, water would surge in violently. Uncle San had worn a helmet back then, so he was fine, but we only had diving masks now. If we got caught in the current, it could easily result in serious injury.

I glanced back to see that the creature hadn’t caught up yet, and I wanted to warn them. At that moment, Zhang Tu, oblivious to the danger, suddenly pressed the mechanism. Before I could react, a massive amount of bubbles erupted.

I realized we were in trouble. I hadn’t expected Zhang Tu’s ability to cause chaos to rival that of the fat guy. I cursed silently, but before I could get the words out, a powerful force surged from behind, shoving me hard into the hole in the wall. The water was swirling, and I immediately understood what Uncle San meant; it felt like my insides were being tossed aside, and I was crammed into a washing machine. The spinning disoriented me, and soon I couldn’t see anything clearly.

I don’t know how long it took, but when I finally came to, feeling completely disoriented and achy all over—especially my neck, which hurt terribly—I was relieved it hadn’t broken. Thankfully, my breathing mouthpiece was still in my mouth. As I focused my eyes, I realized it was pitch black all around. The fat guy and the others were below me, looking just as dazed, especially the fat guy, who was still spinning around as if he were dancing ballet.

I looked at the well wall; it was made of top-quality sweat white jade. Since such good materials were used here, I should have already reached the inner chamber of this tomb. It seemed that I might have arrived at the spring in the ear room that my third uncle mentioned. I kicked off the bottom and floated upwards, and suddenly my head felt warm as it broke the surface of the water.

Everything around me was pitch black. The light from the probe was too concentrated, illuminating only a small point. I turned off the probe light and switched to a flashlight, carefully examining the tomb chamber. The chamber was rectangular with sharp edges. Aside from the fifty-star chart depicted on the treasure dome, there weren’t many eaves or decorative carvings, giving it a simple and unadorned appearance.

There was no coffin bed or coffin here, so this should be one of the ear rooms. I looked around and seemed to find no other exits, only a stone door on the left connected to a corridor. The walls of the tomb chamber were sealed with very cheap white plaster, and there were originally some colorful murals, but unfortunately, they had been completely corroded by moisture. I could no longer tell if the paintings depicted the image of the forbidden woman.

On the floor of the tomb chamber were several accompanying porcelain pieces, only about a hundred, among which were several valuable blue-and-white dragon-patterned large jars. I also discovered some footprints on the floor, all left by wet feet on the dusty ground. They looked very fresh, likely the work of my third uncle.

I assessed the air quality and let them gradually come out of the water. After A-Ning crawled over, he first became concerned about the footprints and asked, “Did the tomb robbers leave these?”

I frowned, unsure, because I noticed among these footprints there was a very striking barefoot print. The most bizarre thing was that this footprint was very small, seemingly belonging to a child, definitely not older than three years.

I had never heard of tomb raiders bringing children along, so I called over Fatty to take a look; his experience was more extensive, and he might know what was going on.

Fatty looked a bit bewildered and said, “Don’t worry about whether it’s big or small; the footprint itself is abnormal. Take a closer look.”

I examined it again and found that there was a yellow, waxy substance on the footprint. When I scraped it off with a knife and smelled it, I couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is corpse wax…!”

46 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter Seventeen – Hair

The theft tunnel was not far from the ship. I saw that the seabed had been blasted into a large pit, and the tunnel was at the bottom of the pit. I thought to myself that it was indeed my uncle’s handiwork. We searched around the theft tunnel but found no signs of collapse; it seemed my uncle’s skills had not diminished.

I also saw several stone anchors that resembled those described by my uncle, but I couldn’t be certain they were the same ones he mentioned. The traces of the underground palace planned by my uncle were still visible. Zhang Tu and I made a mental note of the location of the theft tunnel, which appeared to be dug down towards the ear chamber, where the bricks should be relatively thin.

After searching for about five minutes, it seemed unnecessary to continue. The fat guy waved his hand at me, indicating whether we should go in now. A Ning glanced at his diving gauge and nodded.

Our equipment now was not as heavy as it was twenty years ago; we were lightly equipped. At the entrance of the tunnel, we double-checked our gear and the agreed-upon code words, confirming everything was in order. The fat guy then steadied himself and was the first to crawl in. The rest of us turned on our dive lights and followed, diving in about five or six meters.

The theft tunnel was very irregular, varying in width. As I swam and examined the tunnel walls, I grew increasingly puzzled. It didn’t look like it had been dug by humans. If it were a hole made by my uncle, it would have been neatly excavated one shovel at a time. However, the marks on the walls were haphazard, with pits and holes, resembling a tunnel made by animals.

We struggled to swim for over twenty meters, and the light from the entrance had faded. At that moment, the direction of the theft tunnel suddenly changed, going straight down. I couldn’t help but feel curious. Since we hadn’t reached the tomb yet, why change direction?

Unable to speak, I couldn’t express my doubts. We took a break at the vertical opening. The fat guy made a cautious gesture to us and then swam down first. I watched as his light continued downward until it became a small dot, and I couldn’t help but exclaim in my mind, wondering how deep it was.

At that moment, he waved his dive light below, indicating it was safe. We immediately followed one by one, and I looked at my diving gauge; we were already over ten meters deep. I had never dived that deep before and didn’t know if my body could handle it.

Below, a large space had been excavated, and we quickly saw the wall of an ancient tomb, which had a large hole in it. I was even more puzzled; the hole was so irregular, unlike the careful disassembly of bricks typical of tomb raiders. Some bricks were even cracked. The fat guy looked at me, and I looked back at him. We both blew a few bubbles, and he pointed at the broken bricks, making a monkey gesture. I understood he meant to say: this hole might have been dug by sea monkeys, not by tomb raiders.

I nodded in agreement and pointed to the underwater air gun on his back. He took it off, disengaged the safety, and swam into the hole.

This was my second time entering an ancient tomb. Although I felt a bit excited, thinking back to my last experience made me uneasy, especially underwater, where resistance was significant. If we encountered danger, escaping would not be as quick as it would be on land.

The tomb passage was much larger than I had imagined. I increased the brightness of my exploration light and switched on the waterproof flashlight in my hand, following closely behind the fat guy. Our lights were very bright, illuminating a great distance, and soon the entire tomb passage was lit up. I saw that there were indeed the human face reliefs on the walls of the tomb, as my uncle had mentioned. Moreover, these reliefs had strange animals carved on their foreheads, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. As I swam and looked around, I became increasingly puzzled; most of these animals were tomb guardians, but they all lacked eyes, which made them appear somewhat eerie.

At that moment, I suddenly noticed that one of the human faces had what looked like three snake-browed copper fish carved on its forehead. My heart tightened, and I quickly pulled the fat guy, urging him to stop so I could examine that relief. The fat guy was eager to move deeper in and was impatient, not knowing what I had discovered. He turned to glance a few times, but couldn’t make anything of it and waved his hands anxiously. I told him to wait and leaned closer to look carefully. I saw that there were three snake-browed copper fish, their heads and tails connected, forming a circular shape, each with a different design. I recognized two of them from my bag, but the third had three eyes, which I had never seen before and didn’t know what it signified. The face below the fish was different from the others; it was distinctly feminine, but due to the many things attached to it, the face appeared somewhat disfigured, which was unsettling.

I wanted to study it further, but at that moment, An Ning behind me urged me to hurry. I had no choice but to continue swimming forward. Fortunately, the carvings appeared at intervals, allowing me to catch a few more glimpses. However, I didn’t discover anything more, just a vague sense that something was off.

As I continued to look, when I counted the fifth appearance of that face relief, I noticed the issue. I recalled that on the first stone slab, the eyes of the face were closed; on the second slab, they seemed to be slightly opening; by the third and fourth slabs, the eyes were opening wider and wider. Now on this fifth slab, the eyes were almost fully open.

I began to feel uneasy and pulled the fat guy, telling him not to move forward. I took out my underwater drawing board and wrote: “The eyes of the human face on the tomb wall are gradually opening. I’m worried something is wrong!” After writing, I pointed at the wall.

The fat guy touched the face, shook his head, and wrote: “I didn’t notice, it’s just some stone reliefs; it’s definitely just solid stone. You’re overthinking it.”

I shook my head firmly and told him to raise his gun. Seeing my serious expression, he complied. In a little while, I saw the same relief appear ahead. The fat guy, somewhat frightened by what I said, stopped and shone his light on it. The eyes of that stone face were now completely open, and the face was facing forward, its gaze direct and somewhat vacant. The fat guy shone the light around, but there was no change. He mustered his courage to walk over, touched it, and then made a gesture to me indicating that everything was fine.

I swam over to take a look, and sure enough, it was just a solid piece of stone, nothing special about it. I poked its two eyes with my finger, but there was no response. I couldn’t help but shake my head in self-mockery; it seemed that this was just a gimmick by the designer of the tomb to scare off potential grave robbers, without any special meaning. I had managed to scare myself here for no reason—what an embarrassment. The fat guy patted me on the back, signaling me not to think too much and to hurry along.

We continued swimming forward. I recalled that my uncle had told me he was sucked into a spring after triggering a mechanism, but all the walls of the tomb looked the same. How could I possibly find the spot where he had bumped into something?

My mind was racing. Continuing to swim forward like this wasn’t a solution; I had no idea where this passage led, and it could very well be a loop. If we got lost inside, it would be a disaster. I thought to myself that since my uncle could see the last person at a glance, it must be a long corridor. We had just turned several corners, and there were only two such corridors. So, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find it; it would just take some time.

At that moment, the fat guy stopped suddenly. I couldn’t brake in time and bumped into his backside, thinking something must have happened ahead. I quickly focused and leaned in to take a look, only to find that the passage ended here, blocked by a stone slab.

The slab was bare, with no inscriptions or carvings on it. I felt around for a long time but couldn’t find any mechanism, scratching my head in frustration. An Ning wrote to ask me, “How can it be a dead end?”

I replied, “There should be some clever stone mechanism around here. Let’s search and see if there are any loose tomb walls.”

They all nodded. The fat guy began to knock around, checking the human face carvings carefully. I recalled all the clues mentioned in my notes, even running my dagger along every crack, but there was no progress. The stone slab remained firmly in place.

I felt a bit dejected and turned back to see how the fat guy was doing, only to find him staring blankly. I tapped him and wrote to ask, “Have you found anything?”

He looked at me with a strange expression and wrote back, “Do sea monkeys have long hair?”

I didn’t understand why he suddenly asked that and couldn’t help but laugh. I hadn’t really paid attention to whether sea monkeys had long hair; my memory was that their heads were completely bald, covered in scales.

I told him the truth and asked why he was asking that. He pointed at the wall crack, and as I followed his finger, I immediately saw that a strand of black hair was floating out from the gap between the stone slab and the passage.

I was stunned with surprise. How could this be possible? Was someone leaning against the other side of the stone slab?

The fat guy, being bold, tried to reach out and grab it, but to our astonishment, the hair suddenly retracted and disappeared back into the gap. He glanced at me and wrote, “There’s a ghost behind the stone slab.”

45 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter 16 – Meeting

I noticed the fat guy’s expression changed, and I couldn’t help but perk up a bit. Although this fat guy is not very reliable, his performance in the ancient tomb was commendable; at least he has much more experience than I do. I’ve never independently dug a pit before and don’t know if we need to have some kind of mobilization before going down, so I might as well act like a student and listen to what he has to say.

The fat guy ate a lot, his belly swelling up, and he patted it, saying, “I’ve never dug a sea pit before, so we definitely need to plan ahead to avoid being flustered when we go in. It’s definitely not the same as a dry pit. I also want to see how the equipment you prepared for me looks.”

A-Ning said, “Mr. Wang, how confident are you about this? We might as well plan ahead so we have a baseline.”

The fat guy shook his head, “It’s hard to say. Based on my experience, the sea pit has three main issues: first, it’s difficult to locate; second, it’s hard to dig a tunnel; and third, the situation inside is unclear. For the first two, let’s not think about them for now; the main concern is the third one. We don’t know if there are any ‘zongzi’ (a type of monster) inside. If there are, it could be troublesome. If not, then the sea pit is just a dry pit underwater, and it can be easily handled.”

Speaking of ‘zongzi’, I suddenly remembered what my uncle told me about the monsters encountered in the tomb passage. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it might be the sea monkey we encountered on the ghost ship today. I couldn’t help but feel a bit creeped out and said, “I don’t know if there are any ‘zongzi’, but there might be something even more troublesome.” I then shared what I saw on the ghost ship with these people. Others had already heard Zhang Tu embellish the story, but my account was much more straightforward. By the time I finished, the fat guy frowned deeply and asked, “Damn, is there really such a thing?”

I nodded and said, “There are legends about these things in many places, so it shouldn’t be wrong.”

A-Ning nodded and said, “I heard about it when I was a kid too. I thought adults were just trying to scare me into not playing by the river.”

At that moment, the boat captain interjected, saying, “No, no, you don’t understand. The fishing boats here have all seen this thing. Let me tell you, this is not some sea monkey; this is a Yaksha ghost! They are relatives of the Dragon King! If you offend them now, they will definitely come back for revenge. I think we should hurry back to the shore, buy a pig, and invite a Taoist priest to perform some rituals. Maybe he will show mercy and let us go.”

When Zhang Tu heard this, he laughed, “I say, Captain, I shot the shoulder of the Dragon King’s relative with a gun; doesn’t that make me Sun Wukong?”

The captain was so angry his face turned green, saying, “With your appearance, how could you be Sun Wukong? You’re just a Zhu Bajie!”

We all laughed at that, and Zhang Tu pinched the fat on his face, probably feeling that he did resemble Zhu Bajie a bit, and couldn’t help but feel a bit gloomy.

The fat guy laughed for a while and said, “Since there are such things in the sea, we definitely need weapons. What if the sea pit is their lair? Wouldn’t that be running to our deaths? Miss A-Ning, do you have anything like a fishing spear prepared?”

Aning said, “We have considered this situation and prepared some underwater guns, but these guns are quite large and can only fire one shot at a time. In an emergency, they might not be very useful.” I knew about these guns; they are fired using compressed gas and have an effective range of less than four meters. Fortunately, they can also be used as spears. However, the length of the gun is indeed too long to be maneuvered easily in the narrow tomb passage.

The fat guy ignored this and shouted, “No matter if they’re useful or not, we can’t have too many guns. Bring everything we can carry. Tomorrow, I’ll take the lead, Comrade Xiao Wu will follow me, and you and that bald guy will be at the back. If I see anything unusual, I’ll wave my hand, and you all stop immediately. If I shake my fist, don’t worry about anything else—just run.”

We thought this arrangement was reasonable and nodded in agreement. We then discussed some other matters. I recalled some experiences my uncle had shared with me and made a list of items for them to prepare overnight: exploration lights, daggers, fire starters, sealed bags, nylon ropes, climbing carabiners, food, first aid supplies, gas masks, and a treasure box. They were quite thorough in their preparations and even included black donkey hooves.

After giving the instructions, it was almost dawn. The fat guy said we couldn’t talk any longer; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to dive, so we needed to rest. Everyone found a place to lie down. The coconut wine had a strong aftereffect, and with the sea breeze blowing, my head felt heavy, and I quickly fell asleep, only waking up in the afternoon.

The others woke up earlier than I did and had already started preparing. I splashed my face with seawater, and at that moment, a few divers surfaced. One of them took off his breathing apparatus and said, “We found it; this is definitely the place. We also located the thief’s tunnel.”

Upon hearing this, Aning quickly asked, “Did you go inside to take a look?”

The diver shook his head and replied, “I did, but the tunnel is very long. I swam in for a while but couldn’t see the end, so I didn’t dare to go further and came back.”

Aning nodded, asked the diver a few more questions, and then turned to us, saying, “Alright, let’s get ready. Once they clear the entrance, they will call us. There are signs of a collapse in the tunnel, and they will use supports to stabilize it.”

We each went to put on our wetsuits. The fit was good for the others, but the fat guy couldn’t fit his belly in, leaving his navel exposed. Although it wasn’t very elegant, at least he managed to put it on. After checking our gear and ensuring we had everything we needed, one by one, we tumbled into the water.

44 Angry Sea, Hidden Sand – Chapter Fifteen – Fatty

Although I felt a bit surprised, I had already guessed this possibility. The people who came out of the Lu Wang Palace included Da Kui, who was dead, my third uncle, who was missing, Panzi, who was in a coma, and the fate of the Mysterious Oil Bottle was unknown. Only the fat man and I were left. This organization must have prepared for both scenarios. I estimated that the fat man was probably their first choice, and I might just be a substitute.

When the boat reached the dock, it didn’t slow down. The fat man had gained even more weight in just a few days, but his agility was still intact. He jumped onto the boat along with the group and ran a few steps before stopping. Upon seeing me, he laughed heartily, “Comrade, you’re here too! It seems our Miss An Ning has quite the influence!”

The woman, named An Ning, forced a smile at him, and it seemed they were quite familiar with each other. My evaluation of this fat man was always mixed; I didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about his arrival. However, recalling his actions in the Lu Wang Palace, which had nearly cost me my life several times, I couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

He tossed his luggage onto the deck and sat down opposite us, patting his back as he said, “You guys have been rushing me too much on this trip. By the way, have you found that place?”

The woman named An Ning shook her head, “There’s just one last point left. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be that place.”

The fat man replied, “I’ve told you before, I, Fat Master, don’t know anything about finding dragon veins or locating caves. Just notify me when you find the place. If you can’t find it, don’t blame me; I’ll still take my money. It’s the rules of the Jianghu; you southern barbarians have to respect local customs.”

An Ning sighed in frustration, “I know you don’t know. It’s already arranged; Mr. Wu will be responsible for the specific positioning.”

I was initially feeling relaxed, but upon hearing this, I was stunned. Responsible? What could I be responsible for? I hadn’t even dug a single shovel of dirt! I quickly said, “Me? Don’t you guys know where that sea cave is?”

She replied, “We can only estimate a rough location. It would be best if we could find the theft hole. If we can’t find it, the actual positioning and judgment of the underground palace’s shape will depend on you. We only have some old documents; they can’t replace the experience of a soil master. Your third uncle was very shrewd and didn’t leave any of this information for us.”

I was drenched in cold sweat. It seemed I wouldn’t be sleeping tonight; I needed to recall what my grandfather had taught me back in the day. Otherwise, once we got to that place, I would be embarrassed right away.

I had no problem with digging; if there were any issues or mistakes underwater, I could always blame it on the seawater. After all, I was a soil master, not a sea master. This area shouldn’t fall within my expertise. However, planning the underground palace was too difficult. Fortunately, although I hadn’t practiced, my theoretical knowledge was still intact.

I thought for a moment, and my earlier nervousness had eased considerably. I reassured myself that everything would work out in the end. If it really came down to it, I could just make up some nonsense about the underground palace being a bit strange.

The fat man looked at me and said, “That’s good. Everything is ready—however, since we rarely get to visit the Xisha Islands, we should have a good meal tonight to build up our strength. This treasure hunting is physical labor.” With that, he ran off to find the captain, dragging him along and asking what seafood they had on board.

Aning seemed to have no appetite, leaning to one side and not saying anything. I, on the other hand, was hungry; as soon as I heard there was seafood, my mouth watered, and I rushed over to take a look. There were plenty of Spanish mackerel, ribbonfish, and groupers. Someone said that in the waters of Xisha, half is water and half is fish, so fishing boats rarely come back empty-handed. During the tourist season, fishing in Xisha is also a very interesting activity. The fat guy insisted and coaxed the captain, who was very reluctant but still pulled out a large Spanish mackerel from the fish box and handed it to a crew member, saying, “Bring out a fish head pot.”

The fat guy didn’t know what had just happened. Seeing the captain with a long face, he was quite displeased and cursed, “Damn it, I’m not trying to cheat you out of money or rob you.”

But regardless of his displeasure, when the fish pot was served, the aroma was incredible. All my desires turned into appetite. I had never thought I would want to eat something so much like this in the city. The fat guy’s eyes lit up with greed; before the pot was even set down properly, he quickly used his chopsticks to grab a piece of fish skin and eat it, burning his mouth and making him tear up.

This pot of food was so powerful that I don’t know if everyone was really hungry or what, but all the newcomers gathered around. Even Zhang Tu, who had been sleeping at the bottom of the hold, rushed over. He sniffed and said, “Xisha is really great; we can’t even eat a fish like this in our whole lives.”

The fat guy pulled him away, angrily scolding, “Stop flattering! Don’t let your saliva drip in; it’s disgusting!”

Zhang Tu, seeing that the fat guy didn’t recognize him, hurried to shake his hand and said, “Hey, a new face! What should I call you?”

The fat guy, being straightforward, glanced at him and asked Aning, “Who is this bald guy?”

Zhang Tu’s face darkened when he heard that and said firmly, “Please call me Mr. Zhang or Professor Zhang, okay?”

The fat guy ignored him. Aning sensed the atmosphere was off and interjected, “I forgot to introduce you. This is Professor Zhang, one of our consultants this time.”

When the fat guy heard he was really a professor, he didn’t dare to be too rude and quickly shook Zhang Tu’s hand, saying, “Oh, I’m really sorry; I didn’t realize you were a cultured person. I’m just a straightforward guy, my surname is Wang, just a rough person, don’t take it to heart.”

Zhang Tu forced a smile and said, “Well, cultured people and rough people are both human. Cultured people are just rough people who have changed; it’s just different divisions of labor.”

The fat guy didn’t understand what he was talking about, so he could only smile awkwardly. Zhang Tu, not knowing when to stop, asked, “So, Mr. Wang, what do you do for a living?”

The fat guy was taken aback, feeling awkward, but he couldn’t appear too rough in front of a cultured person, so he said, “Well, to put it simply, I’m actually an underground worker.”

Zhang Tu immediately looked at him with respect and said, “So you’re a police officer, my apologies.”

I quickly stifled my laughter; damn, Zhang Tu was too verbose. The fat guy shot me a glare when he saw me laughing and said to Zhang Tu, “Stop talking for now; come, let’s taste it first.” He then urged everyone to dig in.

I ignored them and picked up my chopsticks to eat. The taste was absolutely incredible. Before I even swallowed the first bite, I was already reaching for the second.

The fat man took a few bites, exclaimed in delight, and then called for some wine. Aning said, “How could someone out here fishing possibly bring wine?” The fat man didn’t believe it, so he ran to the ship’s hold and rummaged around, laughing as he came out holding a jar of wine. When the ship’s captain saw this, he was shocked and said it was meant for the Dragon King, and he rushed over to snatch it away.

The fat man was furious: “Why are you talking so much nonsense? With this lousy wine, the Dragon King will definitely take your ship!” Saying this, he pulled out a bottle of Erguotou from his bag and shoved it into the captain’s hands. “Here, let the Dragon King try something different! This is called cultural exchange between the north and south. See? Hongxing Erguotou, a good thing! Don’t be ignorant of what’s good for you.”

The captain stood there, unsure of what to do, and the fat man took it as a yes. He tore open the seal and poured us some. The wine was indeed quite good, a famous coconut wine from the Limiang township. We feasted and drank heartily, indulging ourselves until the moon was directly overhead.

After finishing his last sip, the fat man burped loudly, slapped his thigh, sat up straight, and said, “Everyone, now that we are full, it’s time to talk about serious matters.”

43 Angry Sea and Hidden Sands – Chapter 14 – Yongxing Island

I had just climbed onto the deck when the ghost ship let out a mournful, distorted sound, as if a huge part of it had warped. I saw that the front and back of the ship were no longer on the same level, and I thought to myself that it didn’t look good. I quickly glanced at the hold and, sure enough, the keel had broken.

Once the keel broke, the ship’s hull would inevitably crack. For a ship of this size, even a single crack could be fatal. Water rushed in almost like it was flying, and I estimated that in less than five minutes, the ship would be completely submerged.

The bald man’s tense face turned pale as he said, “Our boat is coming! We need to leave here quickly!”

I turned around and saw that the fishing boat we were on had already gotten quite close, but it hadn’t docked yet. The captain on the boat was waving his hand and shouting, “How are you doing?”

The bald man picked up the woman and waved at the fishing boat. The fishermen on board cheered, and then the engine roared to life as they moved closer to us. A few fishermen were excitedly shouting; I really couldn’t understand how they had been so terrified just moments ago. These simple fishermen were indeed different from us.

The ghost ship had slowed down due to taking on water. After our boat got closer, a few fishermen jumped over. They still looked frightened, hurriedly carrying the woman back onto their boat and quickly pulling up the anchor. The captain shouted, “Start the boat! We need to get out of this cursed place!”

The captain had us lay the woman down on the deck and gestured for me to support her, then he lifted her hair.

I had mentally prepared myself, but when I saw what was there, I still gasped. Inside her hair were two curled, withered hands. They didn’t seem very long, and the skin had already begun to petrify. The ends were buried beneath a mass of flesh, and the most disgusting part was that a small human face was faintly growing on that mass, tightly pressed against the back of the woman’s head.

The captain’s expression grew serious upon seeing this. He first bowed to the thing a few times, then pulled something from his pocket and sprinkled it on the small face. The face suddenly let out a sharp scream and twisted, and he quickly drew a knife, carefully but swiftly inserting it between the mass and the scalp, prying it up and then yanking it down with force.

The thing fell to the ground, writhing, causing those watching to step back several paces. In just a few moments, it melted into a gooey mass that flowed through the cracks on the deck. I had never seen anything like it and asked, “What is this—”

He washed the knife in the seawater and said softly, “This is a human face, a vengeful spirit from that ghost ship. You just need to sprinkle cow hair on it.”

Seeing the captain’s expression, I knew he already regretted taking on this business. He kept muttering something to himself, and after checking the woman’s hair for any other things, he signaled for his crew to head to the rear cabin. Soon, the boat started moving.

By this time, the sea had calmed down. Although the dark clouds were still present, they had broken into small pieces, and sunlight shone through the gaps between the clouds, making the sky look quite magical. It seemed that this damn storm had finally passed.

After we settled the woman down, the captain climbed up to the top of the boat. I knew he was going to look around at the sea. That sea monkey is extremely vengeful, and I didn’t know if it would follow us to find an opportunity for revenge. However, the water in Xisha is very clear, and when the light is good, the visibility can reach over forty meters. If something were following us, we would definitely see it at a glance, so I wasn’t too worried about that happening.

The others got busy and ignored me as I started to run around. I had consumed a lot of energy just now, and now that everyone was still, I felt drowsy. I found a softer spot to lean against and slept for a while. When I woke up, I noticed the sun was already setting, and our boat was sailing close to the coast of an island. I saw a beautiful white sandy beach, although the sand looked a bit coarse, which might not be comfortable to walk on. Ahead of us was a dock, and it seemed we were about to dock.

I had always thought we would head straight to the next exploration point, but I didn’t expect we would have the chance to dock. I casually asked, “Where are we going now?”

Someone next to me replied, “We’re going to Yongxing Island to pick up a few people.”

I turned my head and saw the woman sitting next to me. Her complexion had already improved, and she seemed to have just woken up as well. I had little resistance to her; seeing her looking a bit sickly was actually somewhat appealing. I smiled and asked her, “Who are we picking up?”

She pointed to a distant dock where I could vaguely see a group of people with backpacks. She said, “It’s them, a few divers, and someone who’s a consultant like you. I think you must know him.”

I strained to look and thought one of the plump guys looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t remember who he was. At that moment, a boatman was already standing at the bow, shouting, “Oh, come on! Get ready, we’re here!”

The plump guy turned around and cursed, “Oh, what the hell! Let me stand here and blow the northwest wind for half an hour. Don’t you guys have any sense of time?”

42 Angry Sea and Hidden Sand – Chapter 13 – Sea Monkey

The monstrous face was almost four or five times larger than my head, and its body was hidden behind the iron door, leaving me clueless about how big it really was. The light coming through the hole in the deck was not very bright, so I couldn’t see its features clearly, and I had no idea whether it was a ghost or some kind of animal. All I felt was that this face was eerily terrifying, exuding an indescribable strangeness.

I stood there, staring at it blankly, my whole body tingling from my scalp to my toes, so scared that I could barely breathe. Damn it, my legs began to betray me again, turning soft like noodles. I struggled to back away a few steps, then remembered that the woman was still lying on the ground. Although she wasn’t a good person, it wasn’t right to just leave her to die.

I turned her over and found that her two withered hands were gone, but that didn’t matter now. If the water rose again, her head would be submerged and she would drown. I slipped my hands under her armpits and slowly began to drag her backward. There had to be a staircase at the other end of the hold that led up to the deck. As long as I could get her up there, I would have options—either jump into the sea or call for help.

I moved backward with trembling legs, repeatedly telling myself in my mind, “Stay calm, stay calm. The more dire the situation, the calmer you must be.” I inched back, my eyes never daring to leave that face.

The monster stared at me, completely still, and for a moment, all I could hear was the sound of water splashing. If it had made any movement, like turning its head or opening its mouth, I might have felt a bit more at ease. But its eyes were fixed on me, making me feel increasingly uneasy. I thought to myself that this was too abnormal. But since it wasn’t moving now, it should just stay that way and not pounce when I was almost at the staircase.

With that in mind, I decided not to look at it anymore and lowered my head to pick up speed. I dragged the woman to the foot of the staircase in just a few moments, but when I looked up, I was stunned—the staircase was so rotten that only a frame remained. I had no idea if I could climb it alone, let alone with a half-dead woman in tow. I saw that a few iron beams were still horizontal across the staircase. I pulled one of the woman’s hands and tried to climb, but as soon as I stepped, it broke, crumbling like mud.

This was quite a predicament. I glanced back and saw that the monster was still patiently waiting, remaining where it was. Now that I was in the shadows, there was a light source (the hole in the deck) between us, so I could only vaguely see its outline. This reassured me a bit. I leaned the woman against the wall, gritted my teeth, and made a strong leap, hoping to climb up first.

Unfortunately, although my hands were long, I had no strength at all. After two failed attempts, not only did I not make it up, but I also hit my mouth and felt pain that brought tears to my eyes. Frustrated, I thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a solution. Habitually, I turned my head to see if the monster was still there. It was a bad idea; as soon as I turned, I suddenly saw a huge creature that had somehow appeared right behind me, and I almost bumped into its face. Terrified, I screamed uncontrollably.

If you suddenly turn around and see someone silently standing behind you, that’s already terrifying enough. Now, seeing such a grotesque face, that kind of fear is truly beyond words. As I screamed, my body involuntarily recoiled, pressing against the wall of the cabin.

At that moment, I had a clear view of the creature, and a memory flashed through my mind like lightning. When I was a child, a classmate from the coast once told me about a fisherman in his village who caught a strange creature that looked like a person but was covered in scales. When they brought it back to the village, no one knew what it was. Eventually, they called an old man from the village, and when he saw it, he was so frightened that he nearly fainted. He shouted, “Quick, release it! This is a sea monkey! If you don’t, the other sea monkeys will come for revenge, and it will be a big problem!”

But when the fisherman heard how precious this creature was, he got a bad idea. He wanted to keep it and sell it in the city, so he pretended to release it in front of the villagers while actually hiding it in his own home. As a result, the next day, the entire family of the fisherman disappeared. The villagers felt something was wrong and searched for two whole days, finally discovering the body of the fisherman’s wife at the bottom of a cliff by the sea. Her stomach had been cut open, and her intestines were gone.

When the old man saw this, he said it was the other sea monkeys coming for revenge. He called in a feng shui master, set up an altar by the sea, and offered many pig and goat heads. It took several days of rituals before things calmed down.

My classmate even showed me a drawing of the sea monkey. He was very good at drawing such things, and the image was extremely lifelike, which left a huge impact on my young mind. I couldn’t sleep well for several days, and I still have a deep impression of that creature. Now, seeing it again, I immediately recalled everything. I just didn’t expect this so-called sea monkey to be so large.

The memory flashed by, and the monster made no moves, just staring with great interest at the woman leaning against the wall, drooling from its mouth. Fortunately, she didn’t wake up; otherwise, she might have been scared to the point of losing control.

I calmed down a bit and pressed against the wall behind me, which was also made of brittle, decayed wood. At this point, I had a plan. If I leaned back with all my strength, I would definitely be able to break a hole in the wall. This way, if the sea monkey lunged at me, I would have a place to retreat. However, the wall was the stern of the ship, and there should be a lot of machinery inside. I didn’t know if I could find something to use as a weapon.

While I was lost in thought, I suddenly heard a few creaks from the deck, as if someone else had boarded the ship. Just as I was wondering, I saw Zhang Tu jump down from a crack in the deck. As soon as this fool landed, he raised his handgun, cautiously glanced at the iron door, then turned around and screamed, “My God!”

The monster heard the call, turned its head, and suddenly let out a chilling scream as it lunged forward. The bald man reacted quickly, ducking down to avoid the first strike. With a snap, he pulled back the gun’s bolt and fired a shot. The monster let out a muffled grunt, and a wound opened up on its shoulder, causing it to leap against the ship’s wall in pain. The bald man fired a few more shots in a panic, with bullets whizzing past my head, making me shrink my neck in fear.

The sea monkey was very clever; seeing that the gun seemed powerful, it hesitated to charge again, feigning an attack before suddenly darting away in a series of lightning-fast jumps, bypassing the bald man and diving back into the iron door.

The bald man swept his gun after it, shooting a row of bullet holes into the bulkhead, and water began to pour in. The water level rose rapidly. He was filled with murderous intent, blasting away the two hinges of the iron door with two shots, then kicked the door open. I ran over behind him and saw a hole in the bottom of the ship that was continuously taking in water. The monster was desperately trying to squeeze through. I recognized the hole as the breach that had caused the ship to sink all those years ago. Now it was mostly blocked by rust, reduced to the size of a bowl. The monster, with its immense strength, charged forward and broke through a gap large enough for it to fit through, diving headfirst into the water.

The bald man was still unwilling to give up, firing a few more shots into the water. At this point, the entire ship was groaning as if it were about to break apart. I looked down and saw the water had already reached my knees. We could no longer stay here; we had to leave immediately. The bald man rushed back, shook the woman, and called out a few times, “Ning, Ning!” When he got no response, he picked her up, stepping on my back with one foot and nimbly flipping over. His foot nearly made me spit blood, and it felt as if my waist had snapped. The bald man crouched down above me, reached out his hand, and pulled me up.

41 The Angry Sea and the Hidden Sand – Chapter Twelve – Uncle San’s Lie

Seeing these words, I was almost so shocked that I felt faint. Wu Sanxing and Chen Wenjin—aren’t those the full names of my uncle and Wenjin? Could this notebook be something they left behind back in the day? But how could such a thing appear on a ghost ship?

If we assume that before this ghost ship sank, there just happened to be two people on board named Wu Sanxing and Chen Wenjin, and that they also happened to be engaged in archaeological work, and that they coincidentally came to the Xisha Bowl Reef for archaeology, the odds of such a coincidence occurring must be astronomical—enough for me to win several five-million jackpots.

I thought for a moment and realized that there was no need for too much consideration. This notebook can have no other explanation; it must undoubtedly be something left behind by my uncle and the others. Moreover, judging by the signature on it, this notebook should have been given to Wenjin by my uncle, and Wenjin used it to record the daily progress of the archaeological work at the Bowl Reef. The owner of the notebook should be Wenjin.

Then this ghost ship must be related to my uncle’s archaeological activities back then, and it might even be the medium-sized fishing boat that did not return on time.

After pondering for a moment, I couldn’t help but feel a multitude of question marks flooding my brain, and I began to feel a splitting headache.

The true intricacies of these matters are probably known only to those directly involved. What I currently know is merely the surface of these events, and it seems there is still a core that connects all of this. If that old fox, my uncle, could honestly tell me everything, I might already have a rough idea of the key to the whole matter.

Or perhaps the contents of this notebook could provide me with some clues. I initially thought about hiding it and looking at it when no one was around, but my overwhelming curiosity was unbearable. I figured that she would eventually find out about this, so there was no need to keep it so mysterious. Without hesitation, I began to flip through it.

Wenjin was a very serious person when it came to her work; every day’s record was written in the same format, clearly laid out. I saw that the first page was from their first day of departure, July 15. It listed a roster, and sure enough, the team leader was Wu Sanxing. As for that gloomy guy, I recalled my uncle mentioning that his surname was Zhang. Sure enough, there was someone named Zhang Qiling on the list. Could that be him?

Flipping further, the main content at the front detailed the process of locating and confirming the specific position of the underwater tomb, even more detailed than what my uncle had mentioned, including the types of ropes used and the reasoning process. It was truly different from my uncle, who was rather rough around the edges. I really couldn’t understand how the two of them could work together. However, I didn’t need to read through this content again; I flipped straight to the end and was dumbfounded.

In fact, I didn’t even need to read the last part; just looking at the last few recorded titles was enough to astonish me and make me curse that old bastard, my uncle, a hundred times.

I saw it written there: July 21, first entry into the underwater tomb.

Personnel: Wu Sanxing.

Progress: Clearing the left and right ear chambers and the passageway, preparing to clear the rear chamber.

Work: Using a gas pump to ventilate the tomb chamber, preparing for long-term clearance.

Artifacts recovered: Gold-thread wood double phoenix carved coffin (infant coffin).

Remarks: Emergency incident occurred; detailed record to be supplemented.

Then there was only one more record: July 23, second entry into the underwater tomb.

Personnel: All members.

Progress: None
Work: Avoiding the summer storm
Artifacts: None
Remarks: None

It turns out that before my uncle took them inside, he had already gone in once himself. With his bandit nature, he must have taken a lot of things out. What he wrote here only mentions the clearing of the left and right ear rooms and the corridor; who knows if he opened the back room! Perhaps he has already rummaged through everything in the coffin. What exactly did this old fox do the first time he went in? I couldn’t help but feel a surge of resentment.

I skimmed through the notes and saw that there should still be many useful but non-critical records inside. There was no need to examine them so closely at the moment, so I put them away and returned them to the waterproof bag, then turned to observe the woman’s reaction. To my surprise, it seemed she hadn’t noticed me at all; she was just desperately scraping away at the sea rust on the partition of the captain’s cabin.

Her movements were swift, almost as if she were smashing rather than scraping. That half piece of board had already been cleared away, and I could see that what was wrapped in the sea rust was actually steel. She continued to scrape down to the junction between the ship’s body and the partition, and I found that the edges of this partition were welded to the ship, appearing to be very sturdy. The door on top was also made of steel and had a rotating seal lock similar to a car steering wheel.

As she scraped, the woman was talking to herself, as if saying, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’ll get you out soon.”

Hearing this, I sensed something was off and realized she was a bit unhinged. I watched as she deftly cleared away the sea rust around the steel door. To my surprise, there was a layer of rubber between the door and the frame. The compartment inside seemed to be sealed. After clearing all this, the woman desperately tried to turn the rotating seal lock, but her strength was far from enough. The lock itself was very heavy, and with all the sea rust inside, it couldn’t be opened without someone as strong as a seasoned sailor. She turned it several times with no response.

I felt uneasy and said to her, “The things inside might not have been soaked in water. It’s better not to open it. What if there’s some kind of monster inside? We have no weapons on us; we’d definitely be done for here.”

She completely ignored me and continued to struggle with the lock. I shook my head; this woman was truly unreasonable, and I had completely lost my good feelings towards her.

In the next few minutes, I stood with my hands on my hips, watching her waste her effort, feeling somewhat vindicated. At that moment, she turned around to look at me, and I thought she had come to her senses. But to my shock, she suddenly let out a strange scream, leaning backward as two withered hands shot out from her hair like lightning, grabbing the rotating seal lock and applying force. Those strange hands were incredibly strong, and I immediately heard the sound of the sea rust cracking inside.

I was so scared that my scalp tingled, and I almost collapsed to the ground. This scene was utterly incomprehensible; no wonder those strange hands had disappeared—they had hidden in her hair. What had just spoken to me—was it a ghost or a human?

At that moment, the rotating sealing lock had already loosened. The woman had turned it several times and was just about to pull open the steel door when suddenly there was a loud bang, and a massive surge of water burst out from behind the door. The door was slammed open by the water, hitting her hard in the back and sending her flying. It knocked me down to the ground, and I realized that something was terribly wrong. Just as I was about to push her aside to escape, the seawater rushed in, sweeping both of us out several meters. I struggled to lift my head and saw a gigantic face covered in scales peering out from behind the door, staring directly at me.

联系客服
       
Telegram 官方频道
官方认证_防骗查询