He got up and walked to the stone door of the tomb passage, touching the door frame. He said, “This is indeed a mechanism, and it’s quite simple—only capable of fooling children. That’s why your third uncle couldn’t figure it out twenty years ago, but can now.”

The chubby guy looked at him, seemingly having caught on to something, and said, “Little brother, if you know something, just spill it! Don’t keep me in suspense; I’m dying of anxiety here!”

The masked man replied, “Let me give you an example that will make it clear. If there are two floors in a building, each with one room, and you walk out of the room on the second floor, at that moment, I could build another floor underneath. When you come back, the room on the second floor will now be on the third floor, and the room on the first floor will have become the second floor.”

This example wasn’t very effective; the chubby guy looked confused, holding up two fingers and pondering, “One two, two one, one two one—what the hell is this one two three? The more you say, the more confused I get!”

I understood immediately. What my third uncle referred to as an elevator was actually this concept. It seemed that when he first discovered this secret, the first word that came to his mind was this one. I felt a mix of surprise and a jolt in my heart; it was indeed unexpected yet reasonable, and such a structure was not complex at all—it could truly be considered a trick to fool children.

Seeing that the chubby guy still couldn’t grasp it, I explained it to him again. Only then did he understand, suddenly losing interest and saying, “So that’s it! Damn, it really is simple. I thought there was something more profound behind it; turns out it’s just this.”

I felt a bit ashamed; I was originally studying architecture, and this mechanism was entirely within the realm of architecture. I hadn’t noticed it at all and really needed to reflect on that. It seems that one should always strive to think simply.

The masked man’s expression didn’t lighten; after carefully examining the door frame, he walked over to look at the water in the spring. His actions suggested that he still hadn’t figured something out. I asked him, “What’s wrong? Is there still an issue?”

He nodded and said, “There’s a significant contradiction between what my third uncle described and our experience. I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

I looked at him in confusion. I actually felt that his earlier statement had some inaccuracies, but I couldn’t pinpoint where. The masked man continued, “My third uncle was lying in this room and didn’t walk out of the tomb passage. No matter how the room rises or falls, he should still see this room. How could it possibly change?”

I suddenly realized he was right. He added, “Moreover, the ear chambers in ancient tombs are always symmetrically arranged; there can’t be just one. Logically, there should be another room opposite us.”

We entered the tomb passage and shone our flashlights. Opposite us was just a wall of white jade bricks, with no door in sight. The masked man pressed his ear against the wall, using two fingers to feel along the brick seams. After about ten minutes of careful probing, he came back and shook his head, indicating it was a solid brick wall.

The chubby guy, growing impatient, yawned and said, “Forget about the ear chamber. We still haven’t found the way out! Even if we know what’s going on, it won’t change the fact that we’ll end up dead anyway!”

The fat man made a lot of sense. I sighed, wondering how my third uncle managed to escape twice. What method did he use? When he came out the second time, he didn’t have any diving equipment on him. Did he really swim out from the ancient tomb while holding his breath? There must be some things he experienced that I don’t know about, but this old hand just won’t say anything. Oh, third uncle, do you know that your casual remarks might end up getting your nephew killed at the bottom of this more than ten-meter deep sea?

The two of them fell silent, seemingly contemplating the whole situation. I also thought it over in my mind. To get out of the ancient tomb, there were really only a few possible routes. One was to go back the way we came, which was obviously impossible unless our lung capacity was as great as that of a dolphin. The second was to find the secret passage left by the craftsmen, which was a feasible approach in a dry tomb, but in a submerged tomb, it might not be realistic. This was because the sunken ship tomb was constructed entirely above water before being submerged. Even if we found a passage, it would inevitably lead to the sea, and the water would serve as the most convenient barrier between the realms of the living and the dead.

The third option was the most straightforward—digging our way out. I looked up at the treasure dome and only saw piles of bricks, and I couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed that even if we could dig, it would be a massive project.

I tried to design this underwater tomb myself, considering what might be above the treasure dome according to the simplest architectural principles. It was now certain that just bricks alone could not form an airtight structure. There must be some sealing white clay in the brick joints, and there should be wooden boards with multiple layers of wax for waterproof sealing, topped off with clay.

As I thought about this, a bold idea suddenly struck me. I excitedly said to them, “Actually, we don’t need to be afraid. I estimate that we’re only about ten meters from the surface. This tomb chamber must be built quite high to accommodate the elevator mechanism, and the top of the tomb shouldn’t be too far from the seabed. If it really comes to it, we can dig straight up. The water above the submerged tomb isn’t very deep, and if we do it during low tide, as long as the sand above doesn’t collapse, we still have a chance to get out.”

The fat man waved his hand lazily and said, “We didn’t bring any tools when we came in. The upper part is all solid stone bricks. What are we going to dig with? Our hands?”

I replied, “You don’t understand. In a sunken ship tomb, most of the bricks are hollow. They can be pressed but not smashed. As long as we can find a few metal objects and hit them hard a few times, we can definitely make a hole.”

Upon hearing this, the fat man perked up and said, “Hey—this method sounds like it might work. Let’s not waste time with any more nonsense. Let’s find some tools. This tomb is so big; there must be some burial copperware in the main chamber.”

“This person is like this: if they feel certain death is imminent, they don’t want to do anything. But as soon as they sense a glimmer of hope, all their wits come into play. My mind was racing, and I quickly formulated a rough plan for how to tackle this hole. I studied architecture in college, so I’m very familiar with this kind of thing. Upon careful consideration, every aspect met the conditions. As long as we could complete the hole within those few minutes before the tide receded, the chances of escaping would be quite high!

At that moment, the mute oil bottle said, ‘There’s still a long time before the tide goes out. I don’t know if the air here can last until then; everything depends on fate.’

The fat guy jumped up and said, ‘Damn it, whether the tide goes out or not, let’s find a way to break through first! It’s too suffocating to die like this. I’d rather take my chances with a zongzi and get bitten to death quickly!’

I originally wanted to tell him that if we dug through without the tide receding, there would be at least 2 meters of water above us. If that water rushed in, we wouldn’t even have the chance to climb out. It would probably take just a few minutes for this small tomb chamber to fill up completely. However, seeing him so excited, I didn’t want to dampen his spirits.

The three of us rallied our spirits, organized our things, and headed toward the path of the figurines. As soon as we stepped out of the stone door of that passage, the three of us were taken aback simultaneously. The fat guy cursed, ‘This place is just too eerie!’

In front of us, where there had previously been a brick wall, a door had suddenly appeared. I shone my flashlight, and inside that door, I saw a gigantic coffin made of golden silk nanmu wood.”