adminI just understood what the fat guy meant by “nurturing energy and hiding corpses.” Then, the dull oil bottle popped up with this line, speaking in a way that made no sense. I couldn’t grasp it at first, so I asked him what was going on.
The dull oil bottle pointed at the coffin and said, “Take a good look at their heads. What’s different?”
Following his finger, I saw six heads of varying sizes hanging from the torso like a bunch of grapes. Aside from being disgusting, there was nothing particularly unusual about them. I shook my head, indicating that I couldn’t see anything. He urged me to look more closely. This time, I squinted and finally noticed a problem.
It turned out that among this pile of corpses, aside from the top head, the others seemed to lack facial features. Not only that, but they didn’t even have the basic contours of a head; they looked more like large flesh tumors growing on top.
At this point, I understood what he meant and immediately followed his train of thought, discovering that each hand’s joints seemed to be connected to a single torso. However, this torso was severely twisted, as if it had been dehydrated in a washing machine. The murky black water obscured our view, making it appear as if many corpses were twisted together.
The more I looked, the colder my heart felt. However, I still had some reservations about the conclusion. If the body in this coffin belonged to a rare deformity with twelve hands and feet, what was its origin and identity? In that era, how could such a monster have been nurtured to this size?
The fat guy also caught on to the implication and, sticking out his tongue, said, “My grandmother, is this thing even human? It’s simply a bug!”
His description was apt, though a bit cruel. I replied, “We can’t see clearly through the water; it’s too early to draw conclusions. Logically speaking, such a severe deformity is practically a monster. It would certainly have been killed by its parents right after birth and would have had no chance to grow this large.”
The dull oil bottle said lightly, “Nothing is absolute.”
I shook my head, still unable to fully believe it. The fat guy said, “You know, it’s actually quite simple. Why don’t we do as I suggest and go next door to get a few basins to scoop out this water? It would be clearer that way. Also, look, there’s a stone slab beneath these corpse fragments; let’s get that out and see if there are any unexpected discoveries.”
I became interested upon hearing this. Since entering this sea pit, I hadn’t seen a single character, and my understanding of the tomb owner was still blank. If I could understand the inscriptions on this stone slab, at least I could make some inferences, which might help our actions.
The fat guy and I quickly agreed, and without further ado, we turned back to the opposite side of the figurine path and picked out three porcelain bowls with handles. These items are priceless treasures outside, but in my hands, they were merely a return to the original state; they were what they were.
Out of professional habit, when I picked up the bowl, I unconsciously examined the clear glaze on it. To my surprise, I found that the patterns on it were all narrative illustrations.
Perhaps I was so focused on my uncle’s matters when I came in that I didn’t take a close look at these burial objects. Now that I see them, I immediately recall something that seems insignificant: after entering this coffin, my uncle, like me, only glanced at these items before going to rest. However, the others were different; they were entering the coffin for the first time, very excited, and undoubtedly studied these ceramics closely. Could there be something crucial about them?
Thinking of this, I hurriedly picked up a few bowls to examine them closely. I discovered that the paintings depicted a group of people constructing a civil engineering project—some were chiseling stones, some were transporting logs, and others were assembling wooden beams. The order in which the ceramics were arranged reflected the progress of the construction project. The more I looked, the more shocked I became, and I started to sweat. The fat guy saw me pondering over the ceramics one by one and curiously said, “Is it really that hard to pick a jar? Just choose one that feels right.”
I didn’t pay him any attention and continued to crawl and look until I reached the last octagonal bottle. The pattern on it illustrated a scene of a giant gate being struck at the waist, and after that, there was nothing more. It seemed there should be more records on other ceramics.
What I was seeing was simply breathtaking; I could hardly catch my breath. Although I couldn’t tell exactly what they were constructing just from these simple paintings, the descriptions inside suggested that the scale of this project was almost comparable to the Forbidden City. However, the structure depicted was completely different from the style of Central China. Damn it, I really couldn’t imagine where in China at that time there could be such a large building.
When I regained my senses, I wanted to tell the fat guy about this astonishing discovery. Turning around, I found myself in complete darkness; the fat guy had long since disappeared without a trace.
I was stunned and cursed inwardly. This damn fat guy, really! He left without even saying a word, knowing that I wouldn’t dare stay here alone. I casually grabbed a basin and hurriedly ran towards the opposite chamber. As soon as I entered the tomb passage, I was taken aback.
I saw that the door to the opposite chamber had vanished, reverting back to the white jade brick wall!
I realized it was due to a mechanism, but I didn’t expect the mechanism to be so swift, without a sound. Panic set in; being alone in a pitch-black ancient tomb was not something I wanted to experience again.
I calmed myself down and reassured myself that the activity in this tomb was quite frequent. As long as I could patiently wait, the door would likely reappear in a few minutes.
However, without the fat guy beside me, the silence in the tomb was terrifying; even my heartbeat sounded like thunder. The surroundings were absurdly dark, and in such a place, a minute felt like an hour. It was truly unbearable to wait patiently.
I took a deep breath and shone my flashlight at the three dark doorways ahead, but I couldn’t see anything inside. The most terrifying things in the world are always in one’s heart. Whenever I quieted my mind, I felt as if something was watching me from behind that door, sending chills down my spine.
I slapped myself to calm down, lowered my head, and walked into the ear chamber, thinking I should take another look at those porcelain pieces to avoid missing anything. Just then, I suddenly heard a chilling scream coming from the ear chamber. When I shone my flashlight, I saw a gigantic sea monkey emerging from the spring, half of its body already crawling onto the shore. That terrifying, scaled face is something I will never forget in my life.
I called out for my grandmother and sprinted down the corridor, not caring about any other traps. I closed my eyes and rushed forward. Just as I was about to reach a safe zone, I stumbled and fell right next to a jar. Luckily, I reacted quickly, rolled over, and sat up. When I looked back, I saw two glowing green eyes rushing out of the ear chamber, heading straight for me.
I gritted my teeth, grabbed the jar, and intended to smash it. The sea monkey reacted very quickly; seeing that I had a weapon, it didn’t charge at me directly but instead leaped to the top of the corridor. Seizing this opportunity, I swiftly turned left into the jade door and pushed it shut.
There was an automatic stone bolt at the bottom of the jade door. Once the door closed, the bolt sprang up automatically. The sea monkey outside screeched and violently slammed against the door several times, clearly very unwilling to give up. I knew that the material of this door was extremely sturdy, and a flesh-and-blood creature couldn’t break through it. I took a deep breath to steady myself. When the sea monkey saw that it couldn’t break through after slamming for a while, it actually tried to squeeze through the gap in the door. Seeing its large head pushing in, I felt a surge of anger, raised my gas gun, and fired a volley of darts into the gap. I didn’t know where I hit it, but I heard the sea monkey let out a terrible scream and jump back far away.
I wasn’t sure if the door next door connected to this tomb chamber, so I quickly loaded another dart and turned on my flashlight and miner’s lamp, illuminating almost the entire tomb chamber. When I looked around, I was startled to find that this was a gigantic circular tomb chamber, and in the center was a massive pool of water. My feet were standing right at the edge of the pool, and one more step would definitely lead me to fall in.
In the middle of the pool floated a huge object resembling a foot bath, quietly resting at the center. I recognized the paintings and reliefs on it and realized that it must be a coffin. I couldn’t help but laugh; the tomb owner really had a unique idea, crafting his coffin to look like a bathtub. It seemed he must have loved taking baths in his lifetime.
I shone my light into the water, only to find that it seemed unfathomably deep. I had no idea how deep it was; it might even reach the bottom of the tomb. As I pondered what kind of design this was, I suddenly felt an itch on my neck.
