Chapter 13 Exploration

  There were three people on the shore, apart from Su Qing, there were two men. One was Li Xiang police officer we met before, and the other one was a stranger. It wasn't until Su Qing introduced him that I knew he was a Japanese returnee archaeological intern named Gao Yexiong, a British-Chinese national.

  Su Qin was still brooding over the theft of the cultural relics, and the password to the safe deposit box at the Jin Hao Bank was supposed to be known only to her. But somehow, "Hei Niukou" had used some sort of trickery, possibly hypnosis, and Su Qin found herself revealing the password in a daze. As the daughter of military officers, Su Qin had grown up with a strong and stubborn personality under their influence. She felt deeply responsible for the theft of the cultural relics and decided to use her connections to track down "Hei Niukou". Along with Gao Yexing, who was skilled in martial arts, she chased him all the way to the Wu Wang Tomb, where they encountered Police Officer Li Xiang.

  Su Qin and Li Xiang suddenly bumped into the four of us, naturally very surprised. Fortunately, Youzi was quite good at handling situations, so he pretended to say that we were doing mountain climbing work when an accident happened, and we fell into a river and were washed away by the water. He described it in such detail that he actually fooled Li Xiang right in front of him.

  So everyone decided to travel together. In this unknown underground space, if there's a sudden danger, they can also take care of each other.

  While packing up, Oil Child whispered to me: "We can only temporarily follow them, once we find the trail of 'Black Button', we must find an opportunity to shake them off. One Li Xiang is already enough trouble, now there are two more archaeologists. I always feel that the woman and the intern will cause trouble."

  I said to Oil, "Don't say that, don't look at them as if they're just archaeologists, these two might be formidable. I think this place is full of evil spirits and it's always better to have more people than less, unless we absolutely have to, let's not split up."

  Youzi shook his head, clearly disagreeing with me. He didn't want to have a disagreement with me, so he changed the subject and said: "Thinking about what happened earlier, it's still quite thrilling. What are those 'ghost scriptures' anyway? Are they really ghosts?"

  "How could it be a ghost? I believe that if it were a ghost, it wouldn't be afraid of Zhou Xing's strong acid. I think that since the 'Gu technique' can't be performed without insects, then the 'ghosts' are probably also made up of them. Those dark shadows are likely to be swarms of insects piled together. It is said that in ancient times, there was a type of insect called 'Jiāo Cháng', which was a kind of demonic insect skilled in 72 transformations, and could change its size and length at will. No one had ever seen their true appearance before. Later, some alchemists risked their lives to investigate and discovered that the so-called 'Jiāo Cháng' were actually composed of countless tiny insects. These small insects, if taken out individually, can only be seen clearly with a magnifying glass. They are similar to army ants, often gathering in groups and emerging together. Once they encounter living creatures, they will drill into the creature's body through the seven orifices and devour it completely. I think that the 'Jiāo Cháng Scripture' we encountered earlier is probably the ancient 'Jiāo Cháng insect'. The ancients may have used the Gu technique to stick Jiāo Cháng eggs onto the strokes of the characters, possibly because we inadvertently triggered some kind of condition, causing the insect eggs to hatch and a large number of Jiāo Cháng insects to gather and attack us. That's why there is the phenomenon of characters gathering together to form ghostly shadows."

  Youzi originally asked casually, never thought I could tell the origin of "Quanxue Jing". At this moment, hearing me say so, he couldn't help but feel a little scared, and said to me: "Damn it, it turns out that the legend of 'eating people's words' is not just a bluff. If our character was a bit worse just now, and those Quanxue insects had crawled into our bodies, maybe they would have gnawed us down to just a layer of human skin!"

  At this time, everyone had packed up and was ready to go. Su Qin turned around and said to us: "You are a mountain climbing team, your physical condition should be very good, remember to keep up and don't fall behind." After that, she took the lead and set off.

  This is a space formed by five long caves crisscrossing each other, with a pool of water behind us and a very spacious cave in front of us. According to my estimation, there must be someone who excavated the well here for "water collection", which means that our route has not deviated from the ancient tomb, but rather is getting closer and closer.

  The main chamber of the Witch King's tomb is roughly located in the center of all the intersecting rock caves, with water veins surrounding the tomb and flowing around it, making it a place where energy gathers and wind is stored. In Feng Shui, this type of location is called "Eight Dragon Guarding the Child Hole". Generally, if a king or noble were to choose this location, they would also dig a six-foot-deep and six-foot-wide air well below the hole, using this air well to gather the earth's energy and form a protective barrier around the main chamber. This method was passed down until the end of the Qing dynasty and was given the name "Dragonfly Touching Water".

  However, this ancient tomb belongs to the cave burial and is located in a very deep underground space. It was built by utilizing natural caves and has been processed for a long time, at least before the Xia Yu period. Over thousands of years, there may be local collapses and water seepage inside, but this type of rock cave tomb has an extremely high structural stiffness, composed of many sections of solid caves, so the overall preservation condition of the ancient tomb should be very good.

  The numerous mechanisms and killing devices hidden in this tomb are likely to remain effective even after many years, thanks to the good preservation of the ancient tomb. The "Bleak Beetle Scripture" we encountered earlier is a proof of this.

  So we all slowed down our pace, carefully exploring the situation ahead. The terrain here is relatively flat, with a large space in front of us, and the cave extends far into the distance, too deep to see what's inside. After walking about 70 or 80 steps, we saw some stone statues lined up on both sides of the passageway, these statues were tall and majestic, each at least two meters high.

  I shone my flashlight carefully and thought the servants looked stern, with their heads held high and chests out, just like warriors guarding a witch king's tomb. These servants were incredibly lifelike, and whenever we walked past them, an illusion would appear, making us think they were actually alive. As a result, everyone was on edge, both wary of potential traps and quickly passing between the two rows of servants.

  Su Qin said to us: "Everyone's movements are light, don't destroy the things here, these are all precious cultural relics."

  Youzi shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying to Su Qin: "Let's take care of ourselves first, I think this place is very dangerous, at least let's ensure our own safety, don't worry about the cultural relics for now."

  Su Qin frowned and said to Youzi, "How can you say that? Personal safety is of course the most important thing, but we also cannot ignore these cultural relics. These things are the spiritual wealth left behind by our ancestors, and we must all do our best to protect them."

  Youzi heard this and coldly laughed twice, although he didn't refute again, but it was very clear that he was looking down on Su Qing's words. I knew Youzi's mood was terrible, especially after seeing Su Qing, he seemed to think that the theft of the Jiaolong Golden Coffin had something to do with her. So he inserted himself between the two and changed the subject, saying: "Miss Su, last time at the museum, I heard your explanation about the Jiaolong Golden Coffin, I'm very interested in these mysterious things, can you introduce me to this ancient tomb?"

  Su Qin nodded, and at this time, the intern named "Gao Yexiong" also took out a small notebook from his pocket, indicating that he also wanted to listen and learn.

  Su Qin said to us as she walked: "This Witch King Tomb site should be the largest prehistoric ruins discovered so far. The Jiao Jiao Jin Hao was excavated from the 'Front Mausoleum' of the Witch King's tomb, and 200 meters southeast of the Front Mausoleum is the Man Man Totem Ruins. According to speculation, this golden number may have been used by the Witch King when asking for heavenly divination, and this site should be left over from the late period of the Man Man Totem tribe. We have identified all the things in the site and found that this civilization was likely destroyed by a great flood."

  Gao Yexiong listened and recorded at the same time, asking Su Qin: "This civilization should have been very developed at that time. Their ruins shouldn't be just one place, right? Have they been found elsewhere?"

  Su Qin said: "In a certain county in Yunnan, a 'three-eyed stone beast' was once discovered, its age is roughly the same as that of the Manman Totem relics. According to local legend, in ancient times on the shores of Dianchi Lake, there was born a tribe called the 'Yashen', and the three-eyed stone beast was said to be the priest of the Yashen tribe. Although it can no longer be verified, based on various clues, we speculate that the Manman Totem tribe should belong to the same lineage as the Yashen tribe, and can even further speculate that the Manman Totem tribe was composed of shamans from the Yashen tribe, directly subordinate to the priestly institution under the jurisdiction of the Yashen queen. Therefore, I believe that this prehistoric civilization's relics should have three locations: the first is this shaman king tomb relic, and the other two should belong to the Three-eyed God relic and the Yashen Queen relic."

  I and Youzi looked at each other after listening, thinking that these archaeologists were indeed not covering things up randomly, and they could actually discover something to this extent.

  As the crowd continued to move forward, I saw that deep down there seemed to be another heavenly cave. I knew that this trip still had a long way to go, and everything should be done with caution. Let's raise our vigilance, let me and Gao Xiang take the lead, Youzi and Aixia follow behind, and the rest of you walk in between. After walking for a few steps, we saw several flights of stone stairs leading down in front of us. Further ahead was a straight passageway that extended downward at a slight incline, ending with a low stone gate. Inside the gate was very dark, and only a faint light could be seen inside, where there was a small tomb chamber.

  According to the ancient burial method, this section is called "Shengdao", connecting the outer gate of the underground palace and the sacrifice chamber. The Shengdao is only over 50 steps long, with multiple stone caves on both sides. These stone caves were all excavated by hand from the stone walls, filled with various funeral objects, including stone tools, bronze vessels, weapons, and pottery figurines.

  Su Qin walked and looked around, marveling at the sight. This occupational habit even made her forget the purpose of this trip, and she picked up her digital camera to take pictures.

  At this time, the crowd had already walked halfway through the martyr's path. The scene in front of them became even clearer. In the tomb at the end of the martyr's path, a bronze coffin could be vaguely seen, placed on a stone pedestal, with a height roughly exceeding their chest.

  I said to Su Qin, "Miss Su, don't go so fast. I think that tomb is not simple. In folk legends, corpses buried with bronze coffins are not normal things. Let's discuss it carefully before going in, we can't rush in recklessly, or we might have some accidents."

  Su Qin smiled and said, "You seem to know a lot about these rumors circulating among the people. As archaeologists, we have also studied this folk secret. It is said that only if there are signs of corpse transformation before the funeral, will the body be placed in a bronze coffin with an ancient mirror on top to suppress it and prevent the corpse from causing trouble after death. However, it's best not to believe these supernatural things too much. From a scientific perspective, the bodies placed in bronze coffins should have undergone pathological changes, which can easily breed infectious diseases. In ancient times, people would often enter this kind of cave tomb for worship and sacrifice, so they would put the body in a bronze coffin and seal it tightly to avoid contracting diseases from the corpse."

  Gao Ye Xiong listened intently to Su Qin's introduction, took out his notebook and began to take notes, and asked Su Qin: "Professor Su, the layout of this Wu Wang tomb should be a typical 'hui zi ju', with a very high degree of closure. Where we are now is between the outer and inner layouts. This sacrificial path should connect to the sacrificial chamber. The tomb owner buried inside is obviously of extremely high status. Ordinary sacrificial slaves would only be hastily buried in a pit, while those who have a dedicated grave chamber like this one, what kind of person would they be to Wu Wang?"

  Su Qin said: "Those who can have such a specification are no more than two types of people. The first type is the witch king's confidant, and the second type is the witch king's spouse. However, in their era, ability was supreme, and they would not use the witch king's hands to bury the dead, which would be a waste of talent. Therefore, the deceased in this bronze coffin should be the witch king's spouse."

  Gao Ye Xiong nodded and said: "Oh, then this should be the 'Queen's Tomb'. In the burial system, the queen's tomb will not be far from the king's tomb, generally it is close by. So to speak, the main chamber of Wu Wang's tomb should not be far from here!"

  I couldn't help but laugh at Gao Yexiong's remarks, and I thought to myself, is this really the level of a Tsinghua University student? This tomb was buried in an era that is unknown how many years earlier than the Qin and Han dynasties, so how can it be judged by ordinary burial methods? Moreover, 4,000 years ago, all tribes on earth were basically theocratic, so the identity of the great shaman was supreme at that time. In the eyes of ordinary people, the shaman king was simply a god, and the tomb of a god could not possibly be close to that of a human being. Moreover, the scale of this shaman king's tomb is unprecedented, and it is impossible for the main chamber of the shaman king's tomb to be so shallow, and it will likely be deeper.

  Youzi also had a smile all over his face and exchanged a knowing glance with me and Aixia.

  Of course, we're not stupid enough to speak out and "enlighten" him. At this moment, our identities are mountain climbers, and we can't reveal too much knowledge about the tomb, or it will arouse their suspicion.

  Fortunately, Su Qin was a responsible mentor. She said to Gao Yexing: "We can't just conclude like this. We scholars emphasize rigor and everything must be based on actual evidence. This tomb is too old, it's really hard to say what happened, we have to verify it in person before we can know."

  Gao Yexiong nodded in a chicken-pecking-rice manner and wrote another passage on his notes with flying speed.

  He walked for so long, Zhou Xing remained silent from start to finish, I don't know what he was thinking in his own "world" again. However, when I looked at him, I found that his eyebrows were furrowed again at this moment.

  I really can't stand the look on his face, this kid only has this expression when he's discovered something life-threatening. Unfortunately, this little rascal is also extremely introverted and taciturn, if you don't ask him personally, he won't take the initiative to tell you. I'm worried, so I want to alert everyone to pay attention to their surroundings, but I find that Zhou Xing's attention hasn't been focused on other places, but rather has been intentionally or unintentionally staring at Gao Yexiong.