The children from Zhangjia looked at the hazy statue, glancing at each other, somewhat puzzled. The teachings of the ancestral master had mentioned: what is strange? If everything is strange, then it’s not really strange. True strangeness must exist in the midst of common phenomena, where there is something different, regardless of whether you can comprehend these common phenomena.

For example, if you wake up one day to find yourself in a world without gravity, that’s not really strange because you could interpret it as dreaming or being in outer space. However, if you discover that gravity doesn’t affect anything in this world except for you, then that is strange.

Yet, the discovery of such contradictions often serves as an opportunity for many things. If this is a conspiracy, these contradictions often expose many hidden elements behind the scenes. Among the people I know, Fatty is particularly adept at identifying these contradictions. He possesses a significant cognitive advantage: he always questions the rationality of everything. In simple terms, whenever he encounters something he doesn’t understand, he feels someone is playing tricks on him; if not a person, then it must be a ghost.

The benefit of this way of thinking is that you always have a target to confront. Humans cannot face intangible fears, but once they realize someone is manipulating them, their anger provides them with extra strength. Among those who are good at spotting contradictions, Zhang Haike is quite similar to Fatty. This group of people typically possesses outstanding intelligence, each with their own strengths, but only Zhang Haike has what is called a “breakthrough” ability.

Often, we say that if someone is trying to set you up, the chance to break free usually comes before all the clues have been properly laid out. Once the clues are set and everything starts to unfold, it becomes particularly difficult to turn the tables. In other words, if you have already fallen into a trap, to dismantle an already completed scheme while being trapped yourself requires considerable wisdom and imagination.

The key lies in the observational skills to identify the weaknesses of the trap and the imaginative ability to devise a workaround. Thus, when Zhang Haike saw that object positioned squarely in the center of the tomb chamber, he knew it had to be the key. In this tomb chamber, everything was upside down, except for this one object, which was upright. Therefore, this object could provide at least two clues. First, if the layout of this tomb chamber has a special symbolic meaning, this upright object might reveal what that symbolism is. Second, if the tomb was designed with any mechanisms, then this upright object must be a crucial part of those mechanisms.

Unless the builders of this tomb intended to play with some ultra-modern design, these two points cannot be avoided. A few people dispersed, each choosing their own actions, and slowly approached the object. As they got closer, they saw that it was a bronze horse hidden in the darkness.

The copper horse is only a little over half a person’s height, entirely black, covered in protruding nipple-like spikes, making it look as if it has a skin disease. This kind of black is different from ordinary black; it’s a bit grim and mottled. To put it plainly, it’s not pure black but composed of many distinctly different shades of black. These blacks are very close to each other, making them hard to distinguish, but one can easily see the discomforting aspects at a glance.

It’s hard to tell what material it’s made of. Zhang Haike suspects it might be a type of lacquerware that has corroded to this state. This lacquerware is likely hollow inside, made from dried fibers processed with rattan, then glued and lacquered.

If it has symbolic meaning, a horse standing upside down on the roof, and the house itself turned upside down, he doesn’t see any significance in that. Even if those around him believe this setup is related to feng shui, he doesn’t particularly buy into it. However, if this is part of some mechanism, then the hollow design could be significant.

“Don’t use your legs; walk across on a steel wire to take a look,” Zhang Haike said.

The so-called steel wire is about the thickness of a mung bean, and Zhang Haike wrapped it around his waist ten times. Everyone has this wire around their waist, but only the children of the Zhang family use it. Once a person reaches adulthood, the wire can no longer support their weight.

A few people connected the wires to form one long piece, went to either side of the horse, and lifted the wire to pass it over the horse.

In this way, a person could climb on the wire and avoid stepping on the ground around the “horse,” while also checking all the details on its body. With Zhang Haike’s understanding of mechanisms, he was bound to make some discoveries.

The others looked at the youngest among them, the one nicknamed “Dumb Oil Bottle.” Because the wire itself has elasticity, and due to the torque involved, the people pulling the wire on either side needed a lot of strength, so the weight of the person on the wire had to be lighter.

Dumb Oil Bottle, being the youngest, naturally understood the situation and wanted to go up, but Zhang Haike stopped him.

“He’s too young. If he slips, we’ll all be in trouble. I’ll go. If anything happens, you all bear the consequences yourselves.”

This statement had its merit; a child in their teens is very different from one just a couple of years younger. Thirteen and fifteen are entirely different concepts.

Everyone nodded, and Zhang Haike said to Dumb Oil Bottle, “You go down to the ground first, and come back up when it’s safe.”

Dumb Oil Bottle looked at the horse but didn’t move. Zhang Haike repeated his instruction, and only then did Dumb Oil Bottle say, “I know you won’t listen to what I say, but you’re in great danger this time. You can leave a token with me, and if something happens to you, I can take it back to your parents.”

Zhang Haike frowned. Although the Zhang family has a rule not to dwell on such things, as the saying goes about a ‘raven’s mouth bringing bad luck,’ it’s easy for people to hide significant feelings inside without speaking. However, saying such things at this moment still made him uncomfortable.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because we have no clues at all,” Dumb Oil Bottle replied. “We don’t understand anything here. Even if we know a lot, it doesn’t apply to this place. We have inevitably entered the most terrifying misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding?” Zhang Haike was also somewhat displeased, both at Dumb Oil Bottle’s tone and at hearing these words come from his youthful lips.

“This ancient tomb, although it is still an ancient tomb, is completely different from all the ancient tombs we’ve encountered before. Therefore, everything we’ve learned is useless when it comes to this tomb. In other words, we are now just like ordinary people.”

The words of the mute oil bottle made Zhang Haike break out in a cold sweat. He had felt something was off for a while but couldn’t pinpoint the issue; once the mute oil bottle spoke, he understood. Indeed, the problem lay in the fact that everything he had learned and seen before was different from what lay before them.

Although they had been trying to apply their knowledge to this tomb, such as feng shui layout or mechanisms, they were essentially trying to bring this tomb back to a level they could control. The reality was that all their assumptions were forced; this was the first time they had encountered such a tomb, and all the layouts inside were enigmatic and incomprehensible.

One rule from their experience was akin to the last strategy in the Thirty-Six Stratagems: when faced with such a tomb, it’s best to give up.

Could they give up? No. The mute oil bottle was right in another sense; at this point, they absolutely did not have the courage to give up.

Fifteen or sixteen-year-old kids didn’t even know what it meant to make a painful sacrifice. They had worked hard for so long, and now that they were on the verge of success, there was no way they would give up.

My grandfather once told me: “Often, giving up is a virtue.” Of course, that wasn’t the exact wording.

One of the kids scoffed, expressing disdain, and Zhang Haike said, “Being born into the Zhang family means not caring about such things. You go ahead.”

The mute oil bottle didn’t say much more, turned around, and climbed up the wall, crawling out through the hole. After he left, the kid who had scoffed spat and said, “This little ghost just doesn’t understand.”

Zhang Haike glanced at the taut steel cable and sighed inwardly, saying, “One person goes.” After that, he bent down and leaped, stepping onto another kid’s shoulder to get onto the steel cable.

Suddenly, the tension on the steel cable increased, and the kids pulling on either side let out a muffled grunt. Zhang Haike hung upside down beneath the cable, using both hands and feet to crawl across, quickly reaching above the bronze horse.