Double Coffin

  Double coffins connected together: 36

  I'm a very unsuccessful person, I've taken the civil service exam many times but never passed, and now I'm almost thirty years old, still an unemployed vagabond, helping out at my grandfather's antique shop without any career of my own. I've never had big dreams or ambitions to save the world, all I want is to find a wife who loves me and live a simple life, even if it means being unknown and unremarkable, as long as I'm comfortable and content with myself.

  My parents are still in prison for tomb raiding, my grandfather was a hero of the resistance war, but he never used his own power to let those who had served him and were now military commanders come to help, and I can only continue this ordinary life.

  Until one day, the appearance of two people slightly changed my life and led me to a different path. Luo Zheng, I don't know which department he belongs to in the police force, but judging from his white shirt and the "one flower one bean" (should be a hall-level cadre) on his shoulder, he shouldn't be an impersonator. He gave me a very strange task: due to my family's history of tomb raiding, I was now asked to infiltrate an international-level gang of thieves and tomb raiders, find the Xing Hou Gui that they stole from the British Museum, as well as their buyer, and take them down in one fell swoop.

  When I finally met the leader of this gang, I found out that the so-called gang only had two people, one of whom was a woman who had a past encounter with me. I almost fell in love with her at first sight, but unfortunately, I had a mission and couldn't confess to her, so I had to pretend to be by her side, looking for an opportunity to capture her. However, slowly I discovered that this strange girl seemed to be stealing the tomb not for the gold and silver treasures inside, but was searching for something else, a very strange thing, which might appear in front of me soon.

  "We need to take this pair of connected coffins out, otherwise it will be difficult to make a move." Lin Ruoshui said, looking at the coffin inside the coffin.

  "This coffin is just the right size to fit in this outer coffin, we don't even have room to get a grip on it, how are we going to lift it?" Wu Liuqi said.

  "But this coffin is even higher than the one we have, and we can't get the tools down?" Lin Ruoshui furrowed her brow, looking at the large outer coffin and small inner coffin, feeling helpless. If all else fails, they would have to forcibly break open the lid of the double coffins.

  Just as we were still thinking of a solution, there was another loud noise, and then we saw that the connected coffins actually shook slightly, and then slowly rose from below, as if something underneath was pulling them up.

  "Is this bronze coffin empty?" Wu Liuqi said.

  I took advantage of the gap to come to Momo's side, and put my hand on her head again. She seemed to be less hot than before, and her breathing had also calmed down. Just as I was about to take off my clothes to cover her with them, Momo suddenly grabbed my hand, muttering something incoherently. It seemed like she was a bit delirious from the fever. Thinking this, I let her hold onto my hand, and gently stroked her forehead. When I was little, my mother would often comfort me to sleep like this too.

  Although I was staring at Mo in silence, my head quickly turned to the coffin that rose up on that side. The pair of connected coffins had stopped and were suspended directly above the coffin chamber. It wasn't until then that I got a clear look at the entire structure of this golden silk coffin.

  I don't know if the wood was originally deformed when it was selected, or if the two coffins were merged together after being made. The large and small coffins were placed in front of all of us, with what seemed to be animal shapes and human figures painted on them. I'm not sure if they were hunting or depicting a peaceful environment. At this point, Lin Ruoshui's flashlight shone on one corner of the coffin, where a strange animal was painted. It looked like a 'C' shape, with some extra lines extending from the top, seemingly a head of something, but it was very abstract and couldn't be accurately judged. This is the painting style of the ancients, just like creating characters, always using the simplest graphics to express the most complex meanings.

  Lin Ruo Shui stared blankly at the 'C' pattern, her face changing from calm to delight, and then from delight back to calm. However, I could see that her hands were trembling, because the flashlight was shaking constantly. Was what Lin Ruo Shui was looking for really this?

  I suddenly remembered the notebook I found in the passageway earlier, which had a lot of English on it, but also many standalone 'C's. At the time, I thought they just represented someone's name or an organization's title, but when I saw the pattern on the coffin, I suddenly realized that those foreigners who entered before us were searching for the same thing as Lin Ruoshui.

  What does this strange C represent? It must not be an English letter, perhaps it is a burial object? A burial object with commemorative significance? My mind was filled with numerous discussions, as if countless selves were talking to myself.

  "Is this for real?" Wu Liuqi seemed less excited than Lin Ruoshui, but his tone was also slightly thrilled.

  "It shouldn't be wrong, this time we won't make a futile trip, and it won't be in vain that we stole this Xinghou Gui from thousands of miles away." Lin Ruoshui had already jumped up excitedly, and the lovely girl's appearance immediately appeared before me, I didn't know she also had such a lovely side.

  "Come on, what are you waiting for?" Wu Liuqi said.

  "I'm just afraid someone will get ahead of us and take it away," said Lin Ruoshui.

  "It won't work, without the Xinghou Zun, no one can open this coffin. Look at the coffin, it's perfectly intact, where is the logic in someone opening the coffin and then putting it back?" Wu Liuqi said as he placed the ancient sword directly on the position of the coffin lid, using the tip of the sword to slowly scrape along the seam between the lid and the body of the coffin.

  I let go of Mo's hand and followed him to Lin Ruoshui's side, wanting to see the destination, what kind of zongzi would be inside this connected coffin.