Chapter 240: The Tomb Passage

Right by the stone wall to the left behind the door, several bluestone slabs extended from crevices in the rock. We planned to follow these slabs down to see if there was a passage at the bottom of the pit leading into the mausoleum.

Before stepping onto the bluestone slabs, I took a moment to estimate everyone’s weight. There was no telling how many years those slabs had been wedged into the rock face; they might have become incredibly brittle. Stepping on them with too much weight risked snapping them. Even if one broke, it was only a drop of three or four meters, but the bottom of the pit was piled high with skeletal remains. These animal bones were far harder than human ones, and with a bit of bad luck, they could impale a person straight through.

We finally settled on an order. I would lead the way to test the integrity of each slab first. Old Qian was unarmed, so he stayed in the middle. He Yu carried the heaviest load since he had Han Zhuo on his back, so he insisted on bringing up the rear, claiming that if he fell, he would make sure to use Han Zhuo as a cushion, saying that no one would lose any sleep over a dead man named Han.

I slapped him on the shoulder and said, “Comrade He, show a little political awareness, will you? If there really is a passage down there leading into the mausoleum, bringing Han Zhuo along means an extra pair of hands. Have you forgotten what happened to Qiao Sangui and his crew? They were classic ungrateful, short-sighted wolves. We need to agree on this now: once we’re inside, no infighting, and no more talk that undermines our unity. Only sincere cooperation will ensure we overcome all obstacles.”

When it came to preaching big principles, He Yu couldn’t beat me even if he had ten mouths. He waved me off, his gun slung over his shoulder. “Fine, fine, everything you say is right. Let’s hurry up and get down there. Can’t you see I’m already itching to move?”

We exchanged a grin. I stepped out, planting one leg on the first bluestone slab. I tested it twice with my foot, and once I found it was sturdy enough, I waved to signal them to follow.

With flashlights in hand, we descended step by step. Carrying Han Zhuo, He Yu had to be extra careful to make sure he didn’t drop him. Old Qian shone two flashlights from behind, while I, carrying only my backpack, reached the bottom easily.

Looking at the piles of bones around my feet, I shone my light further out and spotted a tunnel opening not far from where we stood. It had been bored straight through the stone wall, leading off to parts unknown.

I strode over to the edge of the man-made opening and touched the rock wall. The chiseling technique on the wall was remarkably similar to the tunnels I had crawled through in Gansu and Yunnan. I quickly called He Yu over to take a look; having crawled through the robber’s tunnel in Gansu with me, he ought to recognize it too.

He Yu came over and touched it, visibly startled as well. “Does this mean someone came in here before us?” he asked.

Old Qian leaned in to take a look as well, not quite understanding what we were talking about. He Yu and I gave him a brief rundown, explaining that we had found similarly chiseled tunnels in a Warring States tomb in Gansu and at the Myriad Infant Pagoda ruins in Yunnan. After explaining, we stepped aside to let him examine it.

Old Qian’s ancestor, Qian Chuanzi, had once traveled far and wide with Ye Yuzhu, dealing with Mojin Xiaowei and the descendants of the ancient Imperial Directorate of Astronomy, seeing plenty of their godlike skills. I figured having Qian Deli take a look would surely yield more insights than what us dabblers could spot.

Old Qian crouched down, feeling the unshaven stubble on his chin, and squinted as he ran his hands along the stone wall. He Yu and I followed behind him with heads bowed and shoulders hunched. We watched as he shuffled two steps, tilted his head, shuffled another two steps, and clicked his tongue twice. After watching him go on for a long while without any result, He Yu lost his patience.

“Hey, hey! We asked you to take a look, but you’re really treating this like your crummy Treasure Pavilion, taking your sweet time! Do you have a conclusion or not? Tell us already!”

Old Qian finally scratched his head and stood up, giving me a sheepish smile. “I’m ashamed to say it, but I’ve spent my years appraising gold, silver, and precious trinkets. Although my ancestors were well-acquainted with the Mojin Xiaowei, not much of that knowledge was passed down to me. Examining tunnels is truly not my forte.”

He Yu flared up instantly. “If you don’t know, why didn’t you say so earlier? Dammit, you’ve been staring at it for so long, you’re just wasting time!”

I grabbed him. “Calm down, let Old Qian finish!”

“I may not understand the tricks of the Mojin Xiaowei, but I can still tell which way a tunnel goes,” Old Qian continued. He pointed to a spot and beckoned me over. “Young Master, look here. If you look at the direction of these chisel marks, you’ll realize the person who dug this didn’t start from the outside.”

I leaned down close to the section of the wall he was pointing at. There were layers of chisel marks, very old and faint. If one didn’t look with extreme patience, they were almost invisible.

“Are you saying the person who dug this tunnel was digging their way out from the inside?”

Old Qian nodded and added, “Furthermore, I am becoming more and more convinced that the hexagram Gan Zhao cast in the Burial Bone Testament was absolutely correct. If not for this earthquake, this tomb should have remained buried deep underground, never to see the light of day again.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine. If my great-grandfather’s hexagram had accurately predicted this day decades in advance, it meant that before our arrival, no tomb raider could have possibly entered. Yet, upon entering, the first thing we found was a man-made tunnel. If the divination was correct and no one could get in, the only explanation for the tunnel’s existence was that someone had tunneled out from within the tomb.

But who could have come out of a sealed tomb? Could our earlier guess be right? Was that tomb door the final escape route for the builders, and the tunnel was made by craftsmen escaping being buried alive? If so, our previous theory about Liu Sanshui digging the tunnels was completely overturned. But if this new explanation was correct, why were there tunnels carved with the same technique in the Warring States tomb in Gansu?

He Yu looked back at me. From his expression, I could tell he was thinking the exact same thing.

He shifted Han Zhuo on his back. “Forget it, I don’t think there’s any point in us guessing blindly here. Maybe once we get into this old Gune’s tomb, all the answers will come to light.”

I pushed aside my chaotic thoughts. Looking back at the pitch-black tunnel through the beam of my flashlight, I no longer felt afraid. He Yu made a lot of sense. Taking the lead, I raised my rifle and stepped into the tunnel.

I had expected to trudge through at least a hundred meters of man-made tunnels, but before we had even covered twenty meters, we emerged into a winding corridor.

This passage ran perpendicular to our path, and stepping into it finally gave me the true sensation of being in a mausoleum. The entire corridor was paved with blue flagstones, and the walls were lined with stone horses, guardian figures, and stone pillars. Every three meters stood a pedestal holding an ever-burning lamp. The flames atop these lamps were still flickering, bathing the entire passage in bright, steady light.

I stared at the candles in disbelief. “This is insane. How are these lamps still lit after all these years?”

He Yu explained that the white grease in these lamps might be the “mermaid tallow^[1]” mentioned in ancient texts. It was rendered from the fat of the merfolk of the Eastern Sea to serve as fuel for the wicks. Legend had it that a single drop could burn for months, and a single lamp could stay lit for ten thousand years. It was a real eye-opener for me, and the shock of it was beyond words. I leaned in close to one of the lamps, studying it over and over. This was something most people wouldn’t see in a lifetime, yet here I was, looking at the real thing.

Happy New Year to all my readers!