According to reason, it shouldn’t be difficult to see the face of that statue, but we were looking up from below. No matter where we went, due to the angle, we still couldn’t see it clearly. I felt frustrated, and my unease about the statue grew stronger.

Boss Wang probably felt the same way as I did; the more he wanted to see it, the less he could, and he grew anxious, his face turning pale. We changed several spots, but none were satisfactory. In the end, we decided to climb over the collapsed walkway first. The rock wall here was full of tree roots, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to climb. Besides, there were several layers of walkway below, so even if we slipped, we wouldn’t fall to our deaths; there was nothing to worry about.

We returned to the section of the collapsed walkway. Boss Wang checked the sturdiness of the hanging roots, secured his multifunctional pickaxe, and nimbly climbed up the cliff. I held the flashlight for him while cursing him for potentially falling down. Unfortunately, Boss Wang’s agility did not match his physique; in just a few moments, he had already climbed to the opposite side and jumped onto the walkway.

He turned back and tossed the multifunctional pickaxe back to me, then ran ahead, probably eager to see what was up there. I turned on my headlamp and climbed up the cliff, one hand holding the pickaxe and the other feeling my way along the roots. These roots had presumably grown for many years; they felt as hard as stone, unusually solid, and did not seem alive at all. The patterns on them resembled animal scales, and if one had poor eyesight, they might think they were looking at fossils of some ancient creature.

I climbed cautiously and slowly; halfway up, I heard Boss Wang call out, “Come over here! You can see better. It looks like there’s more than just… one statue inside that bundle of roots. I don’t know what exactly it is.”

Hearing his words, I gritted my teeth, used both hands and feet, and finally grabbed a root to swing over to the opposite side, then followed the beam of his flashlight. I saw he had already ascended three layers of the walkway and was holding binoculars, examining the situation near the copper tree. I looked in the direction he was pointing, and due to the change in angle, I could indeed see some objects wrapped in the tree roots, but it was still quite blurry.

I hurried to catch up, took the binoculars from him, and finally saw clearly that among the massive, snake-like bundle of roots, many rusty bronze arms were exposed. From the number, there should be at least four statues standing in four different directions. However, based on the exposed parts, I couldn’t accurately determine if they were all the same design; the other parts were deeply wrapped in the roots. From a rough estimate, they were quite large, probably similar in size to the stone statue we saw on the cliff.

What Lao Yang referred to as the “great benefit” couldn’t possibly be these terrifying tree roots; it must be the things wrapped inside them. But even if these statues held immense value, we couldn’t take them with us. There must be some other mysteries on the opposite side that we were unaware of; staying here wouldn’t lead to any discoveries. We had to go over to find out.

We continued along the plank road, as the distance between the cliff and the copper tree gradually decreased near the upper end of the cave, allowing us to see more clearly. At the top of the copper tree, there was a circular altar with four bronze statues facing in different directions. Initially, we thought that by changing our perspective, we could see the true forms of the statues, but the higher we went, the more disappointed we became. Their bodies and faces were tightly wrapped in the tree roots, and it seemed impossible to see them clearly without cutting away those roots.

We reached a point on the plank road that was basically parallel to the altar, and Boss Wang stopped for a moment. After observing, he said to me, “These four statues are placed at the corners, which means there must be something in the center. If we had our equipment, we could go a bit higher and use a spotlight to get a clear view. Unfortunately, all that stuff fell into the waterfall, so we can’t do anything about it. Young man, we need to get over there and see what’s up.” With that, he folded the blade end of the multi-functional pickaxe back, shaping it into a hook, and tied it to a rope, creating a grappling hook. Like a Western cowboy, he swung it a few times before throwing it out.

The multi-functional pickaxe followed a parabolic trajectory, hooking onto a tree root next to the altar on the opposite side. It wrapped around a few times and successfully hooked back onto the rope. Boss Wang tightened the rope, causing the tree root to shake slightly, startling many strange gray worms out of the gaps in the root, which scattered and fled quickly.

Boss Wang frowned and said, “Young man, it’s your turn to go first!”

I knew he was wary of those worms, and I cursed inwardly. I estimated the distance; it was much closer than when we had climbed earlier, so it should be manageable. I nodded and began to climb the rope.

After just a few steps, I couldn’t help but admire Boss Wang; he had thrown the rope perfectly. The two ends formed an angle of about sixty degrees downward. As long as I squeezed my legs around the rope, I would naturally slide to the other side without expending any effort. I glided through the air and landed on the tree root on the altar, immediately grabbing onto the roots above to steady myself.

Boss Wang made a gesture from the other side, signaling me to scout the situation first. I turned back and saw that those gray worms were not the dreaded chi gu; instead, they were a type of insect similar to cicada larvae. There were quite a few of them, but they shouldn’t pose any harm. I shooed them away and gestured to Boss Wang. He shone his flashlight around me to confirm that there were indeed no more worms before climbing up the rope.

The tree roots here were almost as thick as two or three of my thighs, intertwined and fused together at the points of contact, while the gaps formed hollow spaces. Over time, as more roots fused together, the hollows became interconnected. This was quite common in banyan tree groves; in areas with large banyan trees, entire forests could stick together, with one tree hole connecting to another, making it difficult to get out once inside, even more eerie than a ghost forest.

We clung to the tree roots and turned around, discovering that these roots were extremely ancient and thoroughly wrapped, obscuring what lay beneath. Since we couldn’t cut through the roots, we were at a loss for what to do. After a moment, Boss Wang suggested that we might be able to see something by looking through the hollows between the roots. Let’s split up and check each hole with our lights; we’re sure to find something.

I thought to myself, “It’s so thick, this is unlikely,” but he wasn’t prepared to discuss it with me; he just raised his hand for me to proceed. I faintly felt that this person was extremely violent, somewhat similar to the Wang Fatty I used to know. I wondered if they could be relatives. However, my Wang Fatty was much cuter and straightforward, while this person was too sinister.

The tree roots were tangled here, resembling a grave mound. When I shone my flashlight into the hollow cavities, I couldn’t see the bottom. We worked for a long time, sweating profusely, yet saw nothing. I even strained my back, causing me to break out in cold sweat.

Now, the two of us were at a loss. Boss Wang glanced at me and suddenly cursed, “Bastard, is that scoundrel Li Pipa plotting against me?” I was also perplexed. Since there was nothing here, why did Lao Yang emphasize it so much? He shouldn’t make such a boring joke. The problem still lay with us; where had we gone wrong?

Both of us fell silent, quietly pondering. I thought about the lies Lao Yang had told me along the way. Regardless of his motives, those lies were merely intended to lead me here, yet upon arrival, there was nothing to be seen. What was that so-called benefit that he couldn’t tell me, and even if I knew, I wouldn’t act on it? I still couldn’t figure it out.

Just as I was lost in thought, Boss Wang suddenly pushed me. I turned my head, about to speak, but he made a gesture for silence. I wondered what was going on. He waved his hand, carefully pulled me down, and urged me to listen closely to the roots.

I immediately focused and listened intently. There was no wind in this eerily silent cave, and pressed against the roots, I clearly heard a faint “de… de… de” sound coming from inside, like someone grinding their teeth from the cold.

The sound was not loud and would definitely go unnoticed if one wasn’t paying attention. It had a rhythmic quality, completely different from the sounds of a blood corpse, and it wasn’t the sound of insects crawling inside the tree.

Boss Wang whispered, “The intervals between each sound are the same, like a monk striking a wooden fish. It could be the sound of some mechanism in action. There is indeed something inside, but we don’t know whether it’s a living creature or a dead one.”

I began to break out in cold sweat; could it be that there were people grinding their teeth in these thousands-of-years-old tree roots? Had we encountered a tree demon? Just as I was about to speak, Boss Wang shook his head, pressed his lips together, raised his short rifle, and chambered a round, signaling for me to follow him quietly towards the sound. We approached a hollow at the base of a banyan tree and discovered that the sound was coming from there. Boss Wang shone his flashlight into the hole, and the sound abruptly stopped.

He glanced at me and softly said, “That’s right, it should be here. The thing mentioned in ‘He Mu Ji’ is inside, and we probably need to enter through here.”

I frowned and said, “The root system inside is very complex, much more so than the cave systems we encountered, and I don’t know if this copper pillar is hollow. If we recklessly go in, it could be dangerous.”

He nodded and said, “I understand, so we can’t both go in at the same time. One of us should go down first to scout the way.”

My heart sank, and I thought to myself, “You can’t be thinking of sending me in, right?”

Boss Wang saw me hesitate for a moment, lifted the short rifle, and said softly, “I’m too fat; you go down first. I’ll follow behind you and provide cover. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” As he spoke, he gave me a push, sending me toward the hole.

I looked down and saw nothing but darkness. When I turned back, he was looking at me with a serious expression, a cold look on his face. I gritted my teeth, put on my headlamp again, and prepared to play the role of a scout. Just as I was about to go in, Boss Wang called me back, handed me a small walkie-talkie, and said, “If it gets deep inside, use this. Go on, young man; you have a bright future ahead.”

I cursed inwardly, took it, familiarized myself with how to use it, and then put it in my pocket. I said, “Boss Wang, let’s be straightforward. I’m risking my life for you, so you have to give me some weapons. If I end up dead in there, you won’t have a chance either, right? If you won’t give me a gun, at least give me a cold weapon, okay?”

Boss Wang glanced at me warily, probably thinking I had a point. Reluctantly, he pulled a small dagger from his boot and tossed it to me, while immediately pointing the rifle at me with a smile, saying, “You see, I’m a bit forgetful.”

I caught the dagger and realized it was a long-handled hunting knife, specifically for skinning. I thought to myself that having something was better than nothing. I grumbled, lowered my head, and crawled into the hole, smelling a musty odor. I put on my gas mask and continued to crawl inside.

It was very damp inside; the bark of the tree roots was completely different from the outside—very soft, and there were many unknown mushrooms growing inside. Many cicada larvae, startled by my presence, started to flee. After crawling for a while, I suddenly froze; there were at least several forks ahead. Which one should I take?

Upon closer inspection, I noticed a mark on one of the forks, likely drawn by someone before. Not thinking too much, I crawled toward the marked fork. After advancing a few meters, the space suddenly opened up, and my upper body was already sticking out.

Hanging at the entrance of the hole, I turned on my headlamp and shone it around. This was a small hollow space, filled with intertwined tree roots. To be honest, this was just a place where the roots were a bit sparser in the entire root ball. I was puzzled as to why this situation existed when I suddenly saw a corner of a stone slab protruding from among the roots.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a massive stone coffin. There was a coffin bed underneath, now wrapped tightly. Judging by the distance I had crawled, this must be the center of the sacrificial altar—exactly what we were looking for.

I used both hands and feet to reach the edge of the exposed stone coffin, and only then did I realize how extraordinarily large it was, almost like a miniature shipping container. The edge of the coffin lid was engraved with a circle of double-bodied snakes, just like on the copper tree. The rest of it was almost fused with the tree roots, and I couldn’t discern what kind of reliefs were on top.

Boss Wang shouted from outside a couple of times. I was so mesmerized by what I saw that I didn’t respond. He thought I had gone into the copper tree and asked through the walkie-talkie, “Young man, what’s in there?”

“There’s a coffin!” I replied, trying to find a spot where I could at least sit up; lying down was too uncomfortable.

“A coffin? Can you tell whose it is?”

I cursed, “How would I know? It’s not easy to get this coffin transported here. With such a grand display, the one lying inside might just be the creator of this bronze tree.” Placing one’s coffin here probably meant wanting to be closer to the heavenly palace when ascending. I had no idea who this person was to have such grand ambitions.

At that moment, I noticed that the lid of the coffin and the coffin body were not tightly sealed together. A section of tree root had already grown into the coffin through the gap, lifting the lid slightly. I found it strange and let out a sound of contemplation.

Boss Wang, feeling anxious, quickly asked, “What’s going on?”

“This coffin… the lid is not properly closed,” I replied, crawling over to the gap. Could it be that the coffin wasn’t sealed properly during the burial, allowing the tree root to grow inside?

I thought for a moment and felt that wasn’t likely. It was possible that a small root had grown beneath the coffin lid and, over time, thickened, lifting the lid. These roots spread out in all directions; perhaps they had filled the coffin completely. The outer layer was so hard that even if the tools we had could cut through, I had no idea when we would be able to dig it out.

I crawled to the edge of the gap and shone my exploration light inside. It seemed completely empty, a hazy gray, as if the light was being absorbed by something, revealing nothing.

In archaeology, extracting the coffin from the coffin chamber is usually the most troublesome task. Proper coffins are typically tightly fitted against the coffin walls, with at most a one-centimeter gap, so this one was quite unusual, having a significant amount of space inside. It was very strange, and I wondered what the significance was. By the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty, burial customs had already matured, and even royal nobles wouldn’t use such absurd burial methods. It seemed that the historian was right; this should be a royal tomb of a minority group from that time, and this country appeared to be quite powerful, at least comparable to the Western Zhou Dynasty.

I picked up the walkie-talkie and said, “This coffin is empty; I don’t know what’s inside. My exploration light isn’t as powerful as your flashlight; it’s too dark. You can come in; it’s very safe here.” As I spoke, I crawled toward the hole I had just discovered, thinking to myself that as soon as you poke your head out, I’ll trap you and see what you can do.

The walkie-talkie emitted some static interference, and I heard a few voices coming through, but I couldn’t make them out clearly.

“What?” I asked.

With several bursts of static interference, some strange sounds came through the walkie-talkie, very noisy and completely unintelligible.

“What?” I called out impatiently again.