Chapter 15: The Hani Mummy

  The Hani people are one of the oldest ethnic groups among China's minority nationalities, with a long history, unique ethnic culture and ancient customs.

  The Hani people mostly live in the vicinity of Yuanjiang, Yunnan, and have multiplied and lived there from ancient times to the present. Their lives and work are all in that beautiful place like a painting.

  I could hardly imagine that I would see anything related to the Hani people in a place thousands of miles away from Yunnan, where it's always cloudy and dark. I observed repeatedly and confirmed again and again, proving that this was indeed traditional Hani clothing.

  Ma Zhe was also incredulous about this discovery. 'What on earth is buried in this cemetery, and how did it get linked to the Hani people?'

  Yunnan, it's Yunnan again. The sacrificial ritual we saw in the cave before and this Hani female corpse now are all closely related to Yunnan Province.

  The Hani people generally live in Yunnan Province, why would they come all the way to the Northeast to set up their own tombs? Ma Si Zhe was very puzzled, indeed, this is hard to understand from a normal point of view.

  It's not entirely impossible, in the south, especially in Yunnan Province, the soil is acidic, which decomposes organisms quickly, making it difficult for corpses to be preserved underground. Some people pursue the goal of having their bodies remain intact for a thousand years after death and come to Northeast China to choose a good location as their final resting place, which is not unreasonable.

  Although such things are rare, they have indeed existed. I heard from my seniors that in the early years of Northeast China, a Warring States tomb was unearthed, which was precious because it was well-preserved and showed no signs of theft. After the archaeological team hastily cleaned up the tomb chamber, everyone was stunned by what they saw: inside the coffin lay a handsome male corpse with a very calm expression, as if he were asleep. Everyone was amazed at the state of preservation of the body.

  After the surprise, everyone found that this person's dress and demeanor were very different from those of the Central Plains people. Later, after consulting the epitaph in the tomb, it was learned that this was the tomb of a son of a nobleman from the southern region.

  So, a long time ago in the southern region, there was a legend that "the north is far away and the dead are not gone", which means that by burying the deceased in the distant north, the body can be preserved for thousands of years without rotting.

  If we look at it with a more scientific perspective today, the soil in Northeast China is not like the acidic soil in the south, which can preserve corpses for a relatively longer period of time. However, it cannot truly make people last for a thousand years without rotting. The previously discovered well-preserved male corpse was just properly preserved when buried and the tomb site was chosen appropriately.

  "So that's what you're saying, this Maotai Mountain is a burial site chosen by some noble from the south in the northeast?" Jiang Liu listened for half a day and asked with confusion.

  "Whose noble family's tomb would have such an evil sacrificial site? This tomb is definitely not that simple." Ma Si Zhe looked around and examined the arrangement of the Buddhist altar, saying in a serious tone.

  I remembered my grandfather's notes, which said that the grave under Maoer Mountain was bringing bad luck because the position of the Feng Shui objects inside the tomb was incorrect, causing an imbalance of yin and yang. The completion of the reservoir was the final trigger, stimulating the evil spirit of the Feng Shui objects to drag one by one the villagers into another world.

  I thought all I had to do was put the coffin back where it belonged and the task would be complete. Now it seems it's not that simple. For some reason, Grandfather's notes didn't have much record of what was in the tomb, and I couldn't even find a way to draw on his experience.

  As for what happened afterwards, how Grandfather completed those steps and rescued the trapped villagers, there is no mention in the notes. It only writes about some things before entering the tomb and after leaving. This leaves me completely confused about the situation inside the tomb, I don't even know what to do next, can only take it one step at a time.

  Ma Si Zhe felt his way up the mummy's leg, and I grabbed his hand. "Even if she's dried out like this, she's still a woman. How can you be so rude?"

  Ma Si Zhe shook off my hand. "I'm too lazy to despise you, haven't you heard of the concept of caution? If I don't check and something unexpected happens, what then?"

  Ma Si Zhe checked around, confirmed that there were no traps on the female corpse, and used his hands to support the Buddhist altar. He lightly jumped down to the ground. When he landed, he didn't make a single sound, like a professional thief.

  He has secretly accumulated a lot of unconventional knowledge in recent years.

  Because the Buddha platform is not low, we and Jiang Liu thought to try our best not to make a sound, only helping each other. Jiang Liu first stretched out one foot, turned back to support me, then the two of us slowly moved.

  Ma Si Zhe turned his head and took a look, then let out a helpless sigh. 'I feel like I'm strolling through a nursing home.'

  "We usually don't need to walk around when we go to a nursing home"

  Ma Si Zhe didn't hear my retort and carefully examined the room with a flashlight.

  The space on the first floor is very large, with a Buddhist altar directly opposite the entrance. At the foot of the mummy's feet, there is an incense burner. The structure of the incense burner is very special and the workmanship is also very fine. The body of the incense burner is made of bronze, possibly due to its age, it has already turned green all over. The four corners of the incense burner are carved with four small ghosts of different shapes.

  In ancient times, it was common to have objects decorated with small ghosts, so this is not unusual. It's just that general tableware with ghost patterns all had some special uses. If they weren't for sacrificial purposes, then they were used to hold special **.

  I took a look at what was inside the incense burner and it was indeed ash. At least this shows that the item being stored isn't anything special.

  The incense burner has no lid on its four corners, and the body is engraved with floral patterns. The floral pattern is not special and is a common cloud pattern on bronze utensils. It's just that these four small ghosts of different shapes make people puzzled.

  Looking up again, on both sides of the mummy, there was a curtain, covered with dust and hanging with many spider webs.

  The entire first floor has several hundred square meters, but it is empty, except for the Buddhist altar directly opposite the entrance, and only the four great vajras are placed against the wall. What's strange is that this setting, which should be most present in a temple, makes me feel the most uncomfortable.

  Imagine waking up to find yourself in a completely weightless space, and you might get used to it after a while. But just as you've gotten accustomed to it, you suddenly see a car parked steadily on the ground, and what makes you feel most uncomfortable is this car that's supposed to be normal. This should be called the theory of relative abnormality - when you're in a completely abnormal space, the most abnormal thing is the normal things.

  And now for me, the existence of these four great bodhisattvas is just like that car.

  Ma Si Zhe also discovered my confusion, took the flashlight and walked to the wall. I held the gun and followed Ma Si Zhe quietly, feeling my way while keeping an eye on the upstairs, afraid of startling the people upstairs.

  "That gun was bought by me, not stolen, can't you just walk away with your head held high?" Ma Si Zhe sneered at my sneaky appearance.

  "What was bought is also illegal"

  "Don't use it then, give it to me," he said, trying to grab it from my hand. It seems that the two words "illegal" are a forbidden zone for Marx Zhe, absolutely cannot be mentioned.

  I certainly couldn't give it to him, so I shifted my body and exerted force in the opposite direction of Ma Si Zhe. As soon as I applied this force, the gun head violently collided with the foot of the Buddha statue, producing a loud metallic crashing sound. The reverberation lasted for a long time.

  Ma Si Zhe hastily pulled out his hand to support the Buddha statue, and only then did I notice that this was not one of the Four Heavenly Kings at all.

  The Four Heavenly Kings are a colloquial term, and their formal name is the Four Great Heavenly Kings. They are: the Western Direction's Upholding Heaven King, the Southern Direction's Growing Heaven King, the Eastern Direction's Clear-Eyed Heaven King, and the Northern Direction's Many-Hearing Heaven King. Some of them hold knives, some hold swords, some carry treasure pagodas, with a dignified and solemn appearance, awe-inspiring without being angry.

  The four statues in front of us are far from the image of the Four Heavenly Kings. All four sculptures are based on animals, and the one closest to us is a snake-headed human figure with a ferocious face, spitting out a long tongue, sturdy build, holding a copper ball in his hand. He wears thick armor on his body. The shape of this armor is also different from what I have come into contact with before, it is connected up and down, and there is no sign of where the connection is.

  I suddenly thought of something and immediately started rummaging through my bag. Sure enough, the copper ball that Grandpa had left me in the iron box was exactly the same as the one held by the snake-headed human statue, with even the patterns and engravings being identical.

  I'm a bit excited, for the first time I have a real sense of participation in this story. At least it can be said that I haven't gone the wrong way, and the scares and chases I suffered before were not in vain, my true distance from the story has taken another step forward.

  It's just that I haven't figured it out yet, what is the use of this copper ball. Why did Grandfather ask me to bring it with me, maybe if I continue walking I will get the answer I want.

  I carefully put the copper ball back into my bag and took out my camera to take a few pictures of the statue.

  Ma Si Zhe was surprised to see the camera. "Do you think you're a tourist or something, bringing a camera?" Actually, I had taken out the camera before in the White Bone Cave, maybe Ma Si Zhe didn't notice.

  This may be due to the habit of recording formed by my profession, and I am more used to keeping a record for future reference.

  The ones behind are not as recognizable as the first one with a snake head and human body.

  The second one has very big eyes, with a hollow and eerie gaze that makes people's hair stand on end.

  The third one's body was covered in scales, and the fourth one's hands were two pincer-like things.

  "What kind of design concept is this, it's simply nonsensical," said Jiang Liu.

  "Although they seem difficult to understand, they all have one thing in common."

  "Prototypes can all live underwater." Ma Si Zhe took over my words and exchanged a glance with me.

  Indeed, although these several statues seem unrelated on the surface. However, it's not hard to see their prototypes, which are snakes, turtles, fish and crabs, all of which can live underwater.

  Was this Tongtian Temple built to protect the local area from floods and to pray for blessings?

  Ma Si Zhe negated my idea, "Your direction is wrong. Why doesn't the blessing just openly build a temple on the ground, but instead runs to such a secretive cave? Moreover, who would put such an eerie dry corpse on the Buddhist altar?"

  As Ma Si Zhe shone the flashlight at the desiccated corpse, there was no sign of it on the Buddhist altar! Only the dusty curtains were left fluttering back and forth.

  "Cheating, cheating, you're a cheat!" Jiang Liu's words were incoherent, and he retreated backward with a stutter. Ma Siqi cursed him for being useless, and carefully walked back to the Buddhist altar.

  The mummy didn't disappear, it just fell down. It can't be seen clearly from a distance.

  The corpse had a red thread behind its neck, and it was able to stand up because of this thread. For some reason, the red thread broke, which is why it fell down. We let out a long sigh of relief and prepared to go upstairs to see if there would be any new discoveries.

  The stairs just creaked above us, and I even suspected that it couldn't bear the weight of the three of us. We had to tread as lightly as possible.

  Just now outside, the height of the lamp shadow is probably on the second floor, so we walked extra carefully. If there really is someone upstairs, then they should have discovered us three by now. Just making such a big noise downstairs and not hearing anything would be strange.

  What we are comparing now is the vigilance and speed of action. After preparing for half a day at the corner of the stairs, Ma Si Zhe stepped out and raised his gun in one swift motion, aiming straight ahead. His actions were just like those of police officers in Hong Kong dramas, with the next line of dialogue being "Surrender now, you are already surrounded", etc., etc.

  Jiang Liu flashed his flashlight a few times, but there was no one in front of him. Even so, we still had to be more careful, afraid that someone would suddenly appear from somewhere.

  Everyone was on edge when I suddenly heard the sound of someone coming down from upstairs, thud, thud, thud. The footsteps grew clearer and my breathing more rapid.

  Just as Ma Si Zhe raised his gun again at the moment it had just relaxed, the room suddenly lit up like a light switch had been turned on.

  The three of us leaned our backs together, vigilantly looking at every corner of the house, trying to find the source of light.

  After searching around, I found that there wasn't even a single candle in the house, which made it even stranger. Where did the light come from?

  Maybe it's been too long since I've seen the light, always relying on flashlights to illuminate, this kind of brightness is really long overdue. For a moment, my eyes are still not adapted, stimulated to the point of tearing up.

  Just as my eyes were getting moist, I saw two people coming down the stairs, one after another.