Chapter 22: Falling into the Deep Pit

The sand beneath the Terracotta Figures gave way completely, collapsing in a sudden landslide none of us had anticipated. So when we fell, the three of us were caught completely off guard. The cavity below was massive. Sand flooded into my nose, pushing me downward. My chin slammed into a rock, sending a sharp jolt of pain through my body.

It felt like I hit the bottom almost instantly. I landed hard on my backside and sat there for a while, aching all over, bruises blooming across my body. I forced myself to sit up and looked around. Pitch black. Not the kind of darkness you get above ground—this was a bone-deep, suffocating black, the kind that swallowed everything.

My flashlight had slipped from my hand during the fall. I had no idea if it had fallen with me, so I dropped to the ground and started feeling around. After a while, my fingers brushed against something cold and hard—felt like a rolling pin or something. What the hell? Were the Warring States people so considerate they even buried rolling pins with the dead?

I brought it closer, but still couldn’t make out what it was. So I set it down and reached into the side pockets of my backpack, pulling out four glow sticks. I’d seen Tian Tinghan use them before, so I mimicked his motion and snapped one.

The glow stick flared to life, casting a pale green light—right onto the object at my feet. I recoiled instinctively, scrambling back a dozen steps.

Shit! That’s no rolling pin! That’s a goddamn bone!

Cold sweat broke out across my back. My hand trembled as I held the glow stick. I’d been down here for a while now, and aside from the noise I’d made myself, I hadn’t heard a single sound. That probably meant He Yu and Lu A’yao hadn’t fallen into the same place as me. The realization hit me like a punch to the gut, and I nearly burst into tears. But I knew crying wouldn’t help. This wasn’t some kindergarten spat where you could run home to mom.

I forced myself to focus, moving the glow stick around to examine my surroundings, trying to distract myself from spiraling into panic. In a place like this, imagination could drive you mad.

The space I was in was a massive hollow, roughly oval-shaped. I was on a small ledge inside the cavity, with a dark tunnel behind me carved into the stone wall. I reached out and felt the wall—roughly hewn. This tunnel must connect to the sand pit above the Terracotta Figures. I must’ve slid down through it.

My chin still throbbed. I touched it and came away with a hand full of blood. Luckily, it was just a scrape, not a dislocation. I leaned against the wall, took off my backpack, and pulled out the gauze and cotton balls He Yu had packed for me. Recalling the disinfection steps Tian Yuqing had taught me, I did my best to clean the wound.

But treating a chin wound wasn’t as straightforward as patching up an elbow or arm. I had no idea how to secure the gauze, so I just slapped on a bandage and called it good enough.

I broke off a piece of compressed biscuit, sat down, and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself and think things through. Time for a mental simulation.

First, the Terracotta Figures. The mechanism activated, then the sand collapsed. The sand layer had all kinds of holes beneath it. He Yu, Lu A’yao, and I must’ve each fallen into different ones—or maybe the two of them landed together. If they did, that’d be ideal. Two people are less likely to panic. But if all three of us ended up in separate chambers… that could be a serious problem.

I tried climbing back up the tunnel, hoping to return to the Terracotta Figures area. It wasn’t as deep up there, and even if Tian Yuqing had already left, I could use the rope to call for help and get back to the surface.

I tried three or four times, but the tunnel walls were too slick. After falling for the fourth time, I gave up.

As I ran my hand along the stone wall, I noticed something odd—the tunnel I fell through and the cavity I was in didn’t seem to be from the same era.

The wear on the cavity walls was vastly different from that of the tunnel. The tunnel had clearly been carved with modern tools like pickaxes. Could it have been made by that Tomb Raider who died in the Terracotta Figure Array?

I shook my head, pushing those thoughts aside. What mattered now was figuring out how to get out of this place—or at least make enough noise to get Tian Yuqing to send someone down. The glow stick barely lit more than two or three meters ahead. I could just make out something hanging from the ceiling, but couldn’t see it clearly.

Then I heard something rolling near my feet. I looked down—it was a flashlight, slowly rolling toward me from the left. I lifted my foot and stopped it.

Puzzled, I crouched down and picked it up. The batteries were still in place, so it might still work. I twisted it on. The light flickered once—and in that brief flash, I caught a glimpse of a massive humanoid shadow standing motionless at the far left of the tunnel I’d fallen through.

The light cut out.

Cold sweat soaked my temples. My heart pounded like a war drum, and my fingers began to tremble again. That shadow was enormous. I had no idea when it had appeared—maybe it had been there the whole time I was examining the wall. It hadn’t made a sound, just stood there in the dark, staring at me.

I thought back to the bone I’d found earlier. This cavity definitely wasn’t a tomb chamber—more likely part of a burial pit. But what could be so huge in a burial pit?

My legs had gone numb from squatting. I shifted to the right, one hand holding the flashlight, the other gripping the glow stick. I stood up, shaking out my legs, and with a trembling voice called out toward the shadow, “Ancestor, I came here by accident. I swear I won’t take a single coin or trinket. As soon as I find a way out, I’ll be gone. I’m a coward, please don’t scare me.”

I twisted the flashlight back on. This time, the beam stayed steady. The chamber lit up, and I saw a gilded, color-painted lacquer coffin (Glossy Coffin) pressed against the wall. The intricate patterns on the coffin and outer coffin shimmered faintly under the light. I turned the beam, rubbed my eyes—there was no shadow.

In a place like this, hallucinations weren’t exactly rare.

I exhaled deeply, my body sagging against the stone wall. Just then, I heard a faint rustling sound. In this dead silence, even the slightest noise was enough to send me into a panic. I tensed up again. The rustling grew louder. I strained to locate the source—and to my horror, it seemed to be coming from inside the coffin.

I nearly cursed out loud. A surge of anger rose in me—being toyed with like this was infuriating.

Turns out, when your anger hits a certain threshold, it can override fear. I don’t know where I found the nerve, but I pulled a shovel from my pack and strode right up to the coffin. I leaned in and listened closely. The rustling was still going. I was almost certain it was coming from inside.

I was still listening when—BANG! A loud thud came from within. The whole coffin shook violently, trembling three times in a row. I jumped back, dropping the glow stick. What the hell? This corpse reanimation is getting ridiculous. What, is it too weak to lift the coffin lid? I couldn’t help picturing a corpse doing sit-ups inside the coffin. It was almost funny.

Just as I was thinking that, the coffin went still again. After a moment, the noises resumed—faint and broken, but with pauses in between. Was the thing inside just lonely after lying here so long and wanted someone to chat with?

I was alone here. My earlier burst of anger and courage had already faded.

I didn’t dare open the coffin, so I sat cross-legged in front of it. “I get it, you’re lonely. I can chat with you for ten minutes, tops. Once I find a way out, I’m gone. Just… don’t scare me, okay?”

The coffin immediately went quiet. For a second, I thought maybe whatever was inside really could understand me. I was about to say more when the coffin suddenly shook even more violently. The lid nearly flew off. The muffled sounds inside grew louder. I leaned in, trying to make out the words—and caught a single, crystal-clear phrase:

“You motherfucker—!”

Huh? Did this corpse just curse at me?

Wait a second.

I sprang to my feet.

No way this was a reanimated corpse.

That was He Yu’s voice!