In an instant, the sound of machinery whirring echoed from the bottom of the coffin, and before my third uncle could react, they heard a loud “clang” from the darkness where the water emerged, as if something heavy had fallen into the enormous iron vat they had seen earlier. In the enclosed space, the sound was deafening, causing his heart to tighten in fear.

My third uncle quickly withdrew his hand, disregarding the filth, wiped it on himself, and turned the flashlight toward the direction of the iron vat, thinking to himself that this was bad news.

This place was different from the ground; if a rock fell and blocked the tomb passage, or if sand poured in from above, there would still be time to dig a way out. But here, within the coral reef at the bottom of the sea, if any mechanism trapped them, it would be certain death—there would be no way out, and they would have to choose their final resting place directly.

On the side, Jie Lianhuan was also startled because the vibration had transmitted from the coffin. He thought the coffin would undergo some change and quickly retreated far away.

Although my third uncle had a deep-seated hatred for Jie Lianhuan and wished he could cut him down, he couldn’t just let his relative run wild. He shouted at Jie Lianhuan to stay still, then jumped into the iron coffin and cautiously approached the iron vat, wanting to see what mechanism had been triggered and what had fallen into the vat.

The iron vat was less than twenty steps away, and soon he reached one side of it. By this time, he could no longer hear the mechanical sound of the mechanism; it seemed to have stopped operating. My third uncle swallowed hard and shone the flashlight above the iron vat, discovering that there was a trapdoor set into the ceiling of the tomb. This was what we call a “ghostly empty step.” Such mechanisms in tomb ceilings often contained extremely heavy stones; once triggered, the heavy objects would fall and crush anyone beneath them. However, what fell from above was not a massive stone, but two enormous iron chains that dangled down into the iron vat.

My third uncle was taken aback, wondering what kind of mechanism this was, as it didn’t seem to be a trap designed to deter tomb robbers. The triggering mechanism was inside the coffin, and whatever fell into the iron vat couldn’t possibly kill someone. What could this be?

Thinking of the illogical aspects of this tomb, my third uncle felt even more puzzled. He steadied himself, took out his dagger, bit down on it, and cautiously leaned over the iron vat to look down along the iron chains.

As he looked, he saw something strange lying at the bottom of the iron vat. Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was two dark, claw-like pipa locks, securing a skeleton entangled with the iron chains, its limbs broken, and it appeared to be a sacrificial slave.

The skeleton was extremely robust, dressed in tattered bronze scale armor, with a peculiar skull. The pipa locks were fastening the skeleton’s collarbone; one collarbone was already broken, while the other still hung firmly in place.

My third uncle was greatly astonished, pondering that the use of pipa locks on the collarbone was an ancient form of torture, designed to restrict a prisoner’s freedom. In ancient times, skilled martial artists could not be restrained by ordinary locks, so they would use collarbone locking methods. Once the collarbone was pierced, it became extremely fragile, and excessive force would cause it to fracture. The reason the collarbone is called the “collarbone” is because of this very reason.

The skeleton had rotted almost completely, with even the bones covered in dead scales, seemingly ready to crumble at the slightest touch. My uncle used a flashlight to examine it closely and noticed that the shape of the skull was unusual; not only was it larger than that of an ordinary person, but its length was also twice that of a typical human skull. My uncle couldn’t quite describe it, but he instinctively thought it resembled a large banana.

Inside this ancient tomb, there was such a strange skeleton, which was truly bizarre to the extreme. Judging by the structure of the burial chamber, it was clear that the skeleton had long been suspended from the ceiling. If any mechanism inside the coffin was triggered, this skeleton would suddenly drop down, which was indeed clever.

But what was the purpose of this? If it was a theft-prevention mechanism, it was terrifying yet harmless; could anyone who could reach this underwater tomb really be frightened away by a dead person’s bones? Moreover, this suspended skeleton was clearly not an ordinary corpse, so what exactly was it?

My uncle’s imagination was severely lacking, and amidst his shock, he had no clear ideas. However, his mind was racing, and in an instant, he thought: could this horrifying skeleton be a transformed zongzi (sticky rice dumpling)? The iron chain was as thick as a bowl and had a pipa lock, indicating that whatever was locked up had immense strength in life. He had long heard that there were people in the Miao region who could raise little ghosts and walking corpses in the underworld. Could it be that the tomb’s owner had used a pipa lock to secure a corpse that had already transformed, keeping it as a guard dog?

The skeleton had already rotted nearly to dust; even if it were indeed a zongzi, it had long since turned to ashes and posed no threat. My uncle, filled with curiosity and a bit of courage, decided to climb onto the iron vat to take a closer look. He even called out to Jie Lianhuan to come over and take a picture of this thing so he could ask about it later.

However, Jie Lianhuan did not respond, and my uncle naturally didn’t mind. He continued to climb into the vat, only to find that the inside was coated with a layer of dust that had drifted down from the ceiling of the tomb. As he stepped in with his wet feet, he suddenly slipped, spinning around on the wall of the vat and crashing directly into the pile of bones.

The bones were already brittle, and when he fell, they scattered even more, almost turning into fragments. My uncle hurriedly sat up, adjusting his flashlight to see that he had landed right in the embrace of the skeleton. The deformed skull hung next to his head, and upon impact, it shattered, revealing the interior of the cranial cavity. A large mass, resembling a beehive, was stuck to the inside of the cranial cavity, covered with what looked like pearl-like insect eggs.