The substance known as “corpse cocoon” was unearthed a few years ago in southern Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, but they were all about the size of a washbasin. Some resembled jade, while others looked like amber, with dried-up small animals or the bodies of children wrapped inside; there were few adult bodies. These items were generally discovered as burial goods, and no one knows how they were made.

According to ancient texts, this substance might have been used by alchemists during the pre-Qin period as a medicinal catalyst. It is said that they would immerse pregnant women who were less than a month along in a medicinal liquid until they died, then place them in a jar and bury them for seventeen years. When unearthed, the child inside would turn into a corpse cocoon. The outer layer is said to be the petrified substance of the placenta, and the amber color you see is actually the result of the amniotic fluid inside solidifying. Some people also claim that this is a type of embalming technique, where the body is wrapped in a special resin made from a mixture of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs to prevent moisture loss.

I had heard of the existence of such things, but due to their immense value, I had never handled them before. Now that I saw one, I wasn’t sure how to approach it. To ease the atmosphere between me and Boss Wang, I tentatively asked him a few questions.

Boss Wang told me that many years ago, when his great-grandfather was a high-ranking official in Hong Kong, he had seen treasures brought by wealthy immigrants fleeing the Japanese wars, including amber corpse cocoons.

There are large and small corpse cocoons, and the contents vary. Some are like ordinary insect amber, while others contain human bodies. His great-grandfather once saw a corpse cocoon with a little girl inside, about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in red, with her eyes closed as if she were peacefully sleeping, looking very lifelike.

Feeling pity for the girl, he took the opportunity when the boss wasn’t paying attention to burn it. At that time, amidst the chaos, the boss didn’t notice, but that night he had a dream in which the little girl in the red dress came to him, bowed her head, and thanked him.

Later, Boss Wang himself got into the antique business and encountered such items, but this was the first time he had seen one this large, where the contents were unclear.

I found it a bit surprising. Could it be that the “benefits better than the tomb of Qin Shi Huang” that Li Pipa mentioned referred to this? It couldn’t be! Although this item is indeed quite rare, it certainly doesn’t reach the level of being “better than the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.”

Boss Wang also found it strange, but he believed the information in “He Mu Ji” was reliable. He crouched down and carefully pressed against the surface of the amber, trying to see if there was anything extraordinary inside that was fused within the amber.

The amber was secured by a bronze chain, and he and I couldn’t both walk to one end at the same time, or we would lose our balance. So I stayed in place, holding onto the bronze chain, watching to see what he might discover.

Boss Wang looked up and down several times but still found nothing. He only mentioned that there seemed to be a layer of liquid flowing inside the amber, affecting its transparency. Aside from the black shadow, there was nothing else inside.

Looking around, I saw a pitch-black abyss below, with no signs indicating that one could climb down. At the top of the bronze tree, the mysterious object inside the coffin was this piece of amber.

We both fell silent, unable to say a word. Although this amber is valuable, it is so heavy that we can’t lift it with just the two of us. Everything here is meaningless to us; I can let it go, but Boss Wang, having come this far and with so many people having died, is certainly feeling very frustrated.

After a moment of silence, I felt that the issue lay with Li Pipa’s words, so I asked Boss Wang if Li Pipa had revealed anything on the way here, even if only a little. Given Li Pipa’s personality, he doesn’t seem like someone who can keep secrets, so he should have let something slip.

Boss Wang’s expression changed slightly as he said, “You have a good eye; Li Pipa is indeed not a tight-lipped person. However, strangely enough, this time he has been particularly secretive. I remember he only kept telling us that once we got here, we could have whatever we wanted and not to worry. He didn’t say anything else. This person likes to play the mystic and often dodges our questions like this.”

“Once we get here, we can have whatever we want,” I repeated, feeling puzzled. This statement seemed strange, as if it had some deeper meaning.

Then, a thought suddenly struck me, and I exclaimed inwardly, “Could it be that way?”

Boss Wang looked at me with a strange expression, confused about what I was thinking.

I excitedly scratched my head, my mind racing: Li Pipa said “once we get here,” which carries ambiguity. Perhaps they all misunderstood his meaning. The key point is that “to get here” means it’s not about what you can obtain, but rather that you must first reach that place. Once you’re there, you can have whatever you want!

In the materials that Old Master Qi provided me, I had seen a photo of cave paintings depicting a bronze tree, with many human-shaped figures kneeling beneath it. Many people believe that it represents ancient people praying for a good harvest. However, based on some pictographs captured in the photo, it seems they were making wishes. The records indicate that ancient people would wish upon this bronze tree and offer blood, and their wishes would come true.

This may seem like a superstition, but when I thought of Li Pipa’s words, I couldn’t help but connect the two.

Could it be that Li Pipa’s purpose in coming here is to believe that this bronze tree truly has the power to help people fulfill their wishes?

I suddenly wanted to laugh but couldn’t. If that were the case, it would indeed be an enormous benefit beyond compare. No worldly gain could ever be worth even a fraction of this benefit. However, this is fundamentally impossible. If this person truly had such a purpose, it would seem too unbelievable, and naturally, he couldn’t make that clear; otherwise, who would follow him?

I shared my thoughts with Boss Wang, and to my surprise, he didn’t find it amusing at all. Instead, it seemed he suddenly recalled something and said, “No, that’s not quite it. There may actually be some possibility to that.”

I gasped and thought, “No way,” and asked him how that could be.

He said, “Just now, when the two of us fell from above, as soon as I hit the ground, fearing you would ambush me, I immediately ran toward the center of the fog. At that moment, I also saw these bronze chains. However, when I passed through the middle of the chains, I didn’t fall; the ground was solid. But when I tried to ambush you the second time, I stepped into a void, and there was already a hole below. I thought I must have misjudged it in the fog and didn’t pay much attention at the time. Now that I think about it, it seems like that hole appeared out of nowhere.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He replied, “What I mean is that when I first stepped on that spot, I thought there should be a coffin pit below, but when I stepped there, there wasn’t one. Then, when I tried to step there a second time, the coffin pit appeared. Does that count as my wish being fulfilled?”

I looked at him skeptically, thinking how could such a thing be possible? Was he confused after I hit him?

Seeing my disbelief, Boss Wang said, “It’s true. I’ve always found it strange that ‘The River Wood Collection’ has never been wrong. If Li Pipa mentioned this benefit, then he must be very confident; perhaps there really is such a possibility.”

I frowned, still unconvinced. In psychological terms, Li Pipa’s statement meant that once you reach this place, your subconscious can influence the surrounding environment, turning the imaginations within your subconscious into tangible objects.

If that’s the case, then the bronze tree really has such power, and everything we see now could be something we’ve created ourselves. The bronze tree wasn’t originally like this; the cave wasn’t originally like this; the corpses here weren’t originally like this.

If the owner of ‘The River Wood Collection’ knew about the bronze tree’s god-like ability to materialize things while climbing or interrogating the ancestors of the She people, then Li Pipa must have also wanted to obtain this power, which is why he incited these people to come to this place.

With this premise, Li Pipa’s words could be explained, but everything else becomes chaotic. This place is now a world where subconscious and reality intertwine. What is the true form of the bronze tree? What does this place look like?

Isn’t this situation too bizarre? Could it really happen?

When we climbed up, many things, like the monkey wearing a chi gu mask and the cavities in the rock walls, might be things we’ve manifested ourselves.

At first glance, this kind of power seems great, but upon further reflection, I feel an inexplicable terror. Human thoughts are uncontrollable. For example, if you possess this power and watch a horror movie, after watching, you might find the corpses from the movie hanging from the ceiling fan behind you, dripping blood. Or, if you walk through a cemetery, you might…

Perhaps those trained in psychology can control this power to some extent. Wouldn’t that mean they could control the world? Wait—suddenly, I thought of something.

The bronze branch that Lao Yang and the others dug up should also be a totem of this kind of wishing tree. His cousin secretly brought that bronze branch out; could it be that he knew this tree had such power? But how could he have gone mad? Now that the branch is in Lao Yang’s hands, does he also know the truth behind this matter?

I looked at the tree beside me and suddenly thought, if this is true, then I could make a wish on this tree to find out what is really going on. I immediately laughed; how could I possibly believe that? It was just a slightly larger piece of bronze, after all—

As I thought of this, I suddenly felt something unusual. A series of thoughts rushed through my mind, and my heart skipped a beat. I quickly turned my head and stared at Boss Wang.