Originally, dead bodies were the most ordinary thing for Chen Pi A Si. Not to mention the dried corpses that came out of graves, he had killed so many people that he probably couldn’t even count them. When he turned over and saw a corpse, he felt a sense of relief and thought to himself, “What unfortunate soul died here? You’re already like dried squid and still trying to scare people.”

Even with such thoughts, Chen Pi A Si still had an iron pellet in his hand. His skill in throwing iron pellets was something he had trained himself since childhood. He could hit the target every time and his speed in throwing was incredibly fast; an ordinary person might not even see the motion of his hand before getting blinded by the shot.

Looking at the attire of the Miao person, it was clear that the corpse had been dead for at least two or three years, if not ten. The clothes were mostly tattered, but thanks to the dense ferns and creeping vines that wrapped around it, some characteristics of Miao clothing were preserved. However, despite being exposed to the sun and rain, how was it that the body hadn’t completely decayed but instead seemed a bit dehydrated?

The belly of the corpse was still moving, and the more Chen Pi A Si looked, the more uneasy he felt. A person like him had his own unique way of doing things; if it were me, I would have definitely run away. However, Chen Pi A Si believed in striking first. In a moment of thought, he had already fired three iron pellets, all hitting the corpse’s belly. He thought, “No matter what it is, I’ll just kill it.”

The iron pellets had immense force, almost splitting the corpse in half. As the lower half fell away, Chen Pi A Si saw a mass of yellow unknown goo inside, wrapped around numerous eggs. Many of the eggs had already hatched, and a pile of white worms were wriggling inside. Surrounding them were some things he was very familiar with—beehives. Then, from the gaping wound of the corpse, a large number of yellow hornets crawled out.

Chen Pi A Si cursed under his breath, realizing he was unlucky; it turned out that the yellow hornets had made a nest inside the corpse. Yellow hornets were highly venomous and extremely aggressive, and now he was in trouble.

As a layer of black mist rose, the yellow hornets began to swarm. In a moment of panic, Chen Pi A Si quickly dug out the folding shovel he always carried with him, scooped up a handful of wet mud from the ground, and slapped it against the wound of the corpse, sealing off the swarm of yellow hornets that were pouring out. Then he turned and ran.

The yellow hornets that had already emerged rushed towards him. He flailed his clothes to swat them away while running aimlessly. Fortunately, his quick action with the shovel only cost him a few stings. When he finally stopped to catch his breath and brushed off the remaining yellow hornets from his body, he realized he had no idea where he had run to.

Chen Pi A Si pulled out the stingers stuck in his body, wincing in pain, while still wondering how yellow hornets could make a nest inside a human corpse. These venomous wasps typically built their nests underground, like ants. In the deep rainforests of Guangxi, one could sometimes see beehives that looked like small hills. Others might think they were ant nests, and upon opening them in search of ants, they would find themselves enveloped by a swarm of bees.

In places like Guangxi and Yunnan, there were many things about insects that the world didn’t understand, and Chen Pi A Si could only blame his bad luck. As he dealt with his stings and surveyed his surroundings, he suddenly froze after climbing over a hill.

A massive stone tower lay at the base of the hill before him, estimated to be hexagonal in shape (indistinguishable), exuding an imposing presence with its wide eaves and broad beams. Scraping away the moss and entwined plants on top, he found that the intricate stone carvings on the tower were exquisite, but it was evident that the tower had been burned, with all parts showing black scorch marks, likely from a fire.

The body, top, and finial of the tower had all cracked and fallen to the ground, breaking into several pieces. Due to the weight of the tower, a significant portion was pressed deep into the rainforest soil, with countless trees crushed beneath it.

Chen Pi A Si, experienced in such matters, knew that a tower generally consists of an underground chamber, a base, a body, a top, and a finial. The finial at the very top should have elements like a Sumeru pedestal, an inverted lotus, a bowl, a circular wheel, and a jewel. There might also be a canopy, a halo, a crescent moon, and a jewel above the circular wheel. In short, there should be a jewel-like object at the top of the tower, which would be quite valuable.

He made his way to the finial beside the tower. It seemed that when the finial fell, it might have struck a massive “spruce” tree along the way, causing it to break mid-air and its top to plunge into the ground, shattering the Sumeru pedestal. Chen Pi A Si assessed the damage and concluded that the jewel had likely become a “jewel cake” and was rendered useless.

Returning to the base of the tower, he found a half-broken wall still standing. Crawling inside, he encountered a chaotic scene of rubble, with the underground chamber surely lying beneath. Unfortunately, not only had this place been sealed off during the tower’s construction, but it was also covered by a large amount of debris and broken bricks from the collapse above. With just a folding shovel, it would take him at least six months to dig into the underground chamber.

Chen Pi A Si glanced at his compass. It was evening when he descended, and the sky had grown quite dark. Now the moon was up, and without a torch, he had walked so far that he had no idea how to return. It seemed he would have to pretend to be lost and wait for the local tribesmen to come to his aid. With that in mind, he first gathered broken branches and dry leaves at the tower base to start a large bonfire to attract attention, while climbing to the highest point of the tower’s base to see what the surroundings were like.

From what he had observed from “Sleeping Buddha Ridge” and what he could see now, he deduced that the area he was in was characterized by a chaotic growth of trees. The ground was likely lower than the surrounding area because, during the filling of the underground chamber with “mixed fill,” the special climate of Guangxi had resulted in overly moist soil that had not compacted well. As moisture seeped down, many bubbles formed in the soil, and with significant vibrations, the mud layer collapsed like a puffed bun.

With this reasoning, Chen Pi A Si concluded two things: first, the underground chamber was large but not deep; he could definitely reach it in less than twenty minutes. Second, the soil should be relatively loose, requiring minimal physical effort.

At this point, he hesitated, contemplating whether to enter the underground chamber now or return later. It seemed that coming back wouldn’t be too difficult. However, like all tomb raiders, Chen Pi A Si knew that with something down there, it would be impossible to resist his curiosity.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and thought, “Damn it, I want what’s down there! If that group of temple folks finds this place, I’ll kill them all and toss them into the underground chamber—no one will ever know.”

Chen Pi Ah Si unfolded his folding shovel. He didn’t bring a Luoyang shovel and had no way to pinpoint the location, and the pagoda was indeed a rare object. There was no coffin inside, and even if he could determine it, there was none. Relying on his intuition, he began to dig a hole along the base of the pagoda.

Before long, he reached the ceiling of the underground palace. It wasn’t made of stone; it was a wooden ceiling made from a whole tree trunk that had been squared off. He was overjoyed and used a saw to cut off a corner. The fallen wood piece dropped into the underground palace, and soon he heard a thud. He hurriedly shone his flashlight inside.

The “Mirror Palace” was symmetrical, meaning that however many layers the pagoda had above, there should be the same number of layers in the underground palace below, making it extremely deep. Looking down from above, there were no floors between the layers; the very bottom was pitch black.

When he shone the flashlight, he saw a mass of white mist-like substance, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was. Chen Pi Ah Si recalled what the Miao people had said about the monsters being sealed beneath the pagoda, and a hint of worry crept in. However, this worry quickly vanished as excitement surged within him. He felt that the air in the underground palace was fine and, with his feet resting on the wooden ceiling, he executed a “hanging gold hook” move, head first, into the underground palace, putting all his weight on his feet.

Once inside, he adjusted his position and shone the light on the other side of the wooden ceiling of the underground palace. This type of underground palace was functional and didn’t shy away from setting traps like ancient tombs or having excessive decorations. After scanning around, he found that on the other side of the wooden ceiling, at the ceiling position, there were numerous scriptures.

The scriptures were carved into the wood and sealed with vermilion lacquer, written in Sanskrit. Chen Pi Ah Si barely recognized a few Chinese characters, so he couldn’t understand the scriptures at all. However, he instinctively felt that these should be related to suppressing demons or subduing monsters, and he couldn’t help but wonder if something truly was sealed down there.

Looking further down, he could see more clearly. Each layer had a circle of protruding extensions, and from above, each layer looked a bit like a staircase. On each layer, there were life-sized, colorful sculptures of arhats, intricately crafted and vividly colored. All the sculptures faced downward, gazing at the very bottom of the underground palace. There were more than a dozen layers in total, filled with various poses of arhat statues, totaling over a hundred.

The nearest arhat statue was not far from him. Hanging upside down, Chen Pi Ah Si suddenly felt a chill when he saw the expressions on the arhat statues. It turned out that all the arhat statues were showing their whites of the eyes, with an indescribable eerie expression, different from what he usually saw.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the reflection from the flashlight was too intense due to the lifelike colors, creating an illusion. However, as the beam of his flashlight swept over, the arhat statues instantly appeared extremely menacing, as if their expressions had changed, looking terrifying. He couldn’t help but wonder if the designers had intended for them to look that way.

Thus, while looking at these arhats, Chen Pi Ah Si felt very uneasy, yet he didn’t understand what he was truly afraid of, leading him to have thoughts of retreating. He continued to move his flashlight around underground, hoping to see something beyond the arhat statues. At that moment, his hand suddenly stiffened, and the beam of light from the flashlight froze on a particular spot.

At a protrusion about six or seven levels above him, he spotted a strange statue of an Arhat. This statue was different from the others; its face was not looking down but was raised, directly facing Chen Pi A Si, staring intently into his eyes. When the beam of the flashlight illuminated it, it revealed a grotesque white face. If it weren’t for the fact that it was motionless, he would almost think he had encountered a ghost.

Chen Pi A Si was instantly frightened to the point of feeling cold all over, unable to move even a muscle, and he felt his legs begin to weaken, causing him to slide downwards.

Speaking of ghosts, Chen Pi A Si was not really afraid. Having killed so many people, he could be said to be extremely sinful, yet he had never encountered even one of them seeking revenge. However, people from his era had varying degrees of superstitious beliefs, and Chen Pi A Si believed that he had survived all these years thanks to the protection of his ancestors.

(People need to have some belief; those in the underworld often worship Guan Gong. Tomb raiders from the northern schools worship Zhong Kui, while those from the south generally do not follow this practice, but around Changsha, there is a saying that they worshipped “Huang Wang” for a period of time.)

(What is Huang Wang? Huang Wang refers to Huang Chao, the one from “The City is All Covered in Golden Armor.” Why worship this person? According to the elders, there are a few reasons. First, he can be considered the champion of murder. It is said in folklore that Huang Chao killed eight hundred thousand people, and those who count are doomed. What does this mean? It means that his killings were measured; he did not consider his task complete until he had killed eight hundred thousand. There are also stories, whether in notes or as a form of localized folklore, that Huang Chao is the reincarnation of a certain Arhat (not Yi Jianlian). This figure, to save his mother, released eight hundred thousand starving ghosts from hell, so the Buddha allowed him to reincarnate, killing them back one by one. In other words, he returned to recruit migrant workers for the Buddha.)

He was not afraid of the statue’s face looking up, but the fact that this face was so coincidentally directed at him made him feel uneasy. Could it be that the builders at that time had calculated that he would come down from this position to dig a hole, and specifically placed this thing here to scare him?