The fat guy thinks I’m crazy. At this moment, of course, I could just crawl out directly, bring a large group back, and search however I wanted. But I insisted on searching here first.
The human-faced bird can only consume the feces of the monkey, and this dependency between the two species was first observed in the waterways of the Seven Star Lu Wang Palace. I had seen that bell from the Warring States period, and it was no longer a rare sight.
I don’t know who built the Yin Shang royal tomb at the foot of Changbai Mountain, but it dates back to the same period as the Seven Star Palace. Clearly, such technology was disseminated in that era.
After Wan Nu Wang entered the underground, he was met with the demon flower. I’ve heard various legends about it, and I wonder if he found some long-lost knowledge within the Yin Shang royal tomb.
The monkey is a scavenger; apart from large beasts, they generally prey on amphibians and rodents like rats and frogs. Therefore, many of the small bones found underwater are quite tiny, while the larger bones are from bigger prey that the human-faced birds have brought.
After searching for a long time, I found a dozen human bones, but the nasal bone of Chen Pi Si’s fourth uncle had been cut, so it was easy to recognize. There wasn’t a single skeleton among them. I came to the base of the mountain, where there were many nail marks.
The number was vast. The fat guy asked me, “Were they made by birds?”
I shook my head; bird claws are three-pronged, but these nail marks were made by finger-like appendages without roots. They must have belonged to either the human-faced monkeys or humans. However, the claws of the human-faced monkeys are not that large.
“This is not a good omen,” the fat guy said. “It seems someone came here just like us, but didn’t crawl out.”
I scratched the rock with my hand, leaving no trace behind.
These marks were not the kind that could be made by ordinary nails. If something here was trying to crawl out, and it was human, the situation was very abnormal.
“When my grandfather was dying, he insisted on being cremated,” I said coldly. “The skin of Old Lady Huo and the lifespan of Chen Pi Si are both somewhat strange.
The people from the Old Nine Doors, whether from the Ping San Men or the Hou San Men, all had abnormal physical conditions in their old age. I wonder what they experienced during the largest tomb-raiding activities in history.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m thinking, what would happen if my grandfather wasn’t cremated?”
If Chen Pi Si wasn’t cremated, his body should have been brought here. If he had the same constitution as my grandfather, then maybe I could understand why my grandfather insisted on being cremated.
“You all go out first,” I said, looking into the darkness beside me. I want to go in and see where this passage leads.
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