Chapter 73: The False Miracle

The space inside the stone gate was vast, easily the size of two or three football fields. I couldn’t say for certain whether this was a side chamber or the main tomb chamber, but judging by its sheer scale, I decided to call it the Tomb Chamber for now.

Beneath my feet lay piles of golden artifacts and gleaming jewels. Five bronze pillars stood in five different directions, their bases buried beneath golden sand. These pillars were crafted from the same material and with the same technique as the towering bronze pillar we saw earlier. They might have been made from the leftover scraps of that massive structure.

Fourth Brother stood rooted in place, staring upward. I followed his gaze—and what I saw left me stunned.

Illuminated by torchlight, a massive mural stretched across the distant wall of the Tomb Chamber, just a few dozen meters away. It depicted a grand, vividly colored scene of a ghostly marketplace. The mural wrapped around the entire chamber, making it the largest I had ever seen.

It appeared to float in midair. Lofty pavilions and intricately carved eaves emerged from swirling clouds, while the lower half of the mural depicted a bustling marketplace. From the market, nine flowing ribbons extended outward, each leading to a palace engulfed in flames.

It was a divine and ghostly feast of ecstasy. Every ghost was rendered with astonishing detail. I had no idea what anti-oxidation techniques the artisans had used, but the colors hadn’t faded at all. It was breathtaking. Even someone like me, who didn’t understand murals, could feel its overwhelming impact.

“So this is the Ghost Market Map. If someone dug this up, it’d definitely be considered a world wonder, right?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Fourth Brother chuckled when he heard me. He patted my shoulder and shook his head. “It’s not the real thing. The true Ghost Market Map wouldn’t be this small. Besides, this is just the beginning. Look higher. Our real target is up there.”

I looked up again and faintly saw, about a hundred meters above us, the heads of the five bronze pillars wrapped in thick iron chains. Suspended in midair by those chains was a jade coffin glowing with a faint green light.

This jade coffin was far more terrifying than the mural. In our previous understanding, a “jade coffin” was usually a wooden coffin covered with jade tiles. But this one shattered that notion entirely. I could clearly see that this wasn’t just a coffin adorned with jade.

It was a single, solid piece of jade, hollowed out from within.

I was stunned by the information Fourth Brother had casually let slip. It might not have meant much to him, but to me, it was a major revelation.

I pulled out my phone and snapped a few pictures of the mural above. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marquis Hou rolling around like a madman in the pile of gold, and a wave of pity washed over me.

Even now, he still thought he had found the real Nieyao Ghost Market Map. But if this wasn’t the true Ghost Market Map, then where was the real one?

“Old Luo! Give me a hand, let’s go up and take a look!” Fourth Brother shouted. “Gan Ji, stay down here and don’t wander off!”

He tossed me the bag containing the jade casket, then he and Old Luo each grabbed a bronze pillar and began climbing.

I was carrying Lu A’yao on my back and was just about to find a spot without gold to sit down when someone suddenly shoved me hard from behind. I wasn’t prepared at all and fell straight into the golden sand with Lu A’yao still strapped to my back, getting a mouthful of grit.

I brushed the sand from my hair and realized it wasn’t ordinary sand—it was finely ground gold dust. I scrambled up awkwardly and pulled Lu A’yao out of the pit, only to see several members of Fourth Brother’s team charging into the golden mountain at the center of the Tomb Chamber.

“After so many digs, we finally struck gold! Hahaha, this is enough money to last me a lifetime!”

The mountain of gold felt surreal. Sure, even a single piece of it would be enough to secure my future, but I remembered what Lu A’yao had said before she passed out. So I stood to the side and didn’t move.

Their backpacks quickly bulged with treasure. In the end, only I and a girl named Xiao Qi remained near the threshold. She came over, crouched down, and touched Lu A’yao’s forehead, then asked me, “Why aren’t you picking anything up?”

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I asked, “Why did you all follow my Fourth Brother in here? What are you really after?”

Xiao Qi pulled out a handkerchief soaked in alcohol from her bag and began cooling Lu A’yao’s forehead. She lowered her gaze and said, “I don’t know the full story. This operation is highly classified. When we came, Tian Yuqing only told me to handle the medical side of things.”

So she was from the Tian family.

I pressed further. “Aren’t you curious? They’ve poured so much time and manpower into this. Practically everyone from the Five Masters is involved.”

Xiao Qi smiled. “Young Master Gan, we might be around the same age, but we’re not the same. This is my tenth time going underground with a team. In this line of work, secrets are everywhere. What boss ever tells you the real purpose of a job?”

Her words left me speechless.

She glanced at me again and added, “Still, if you’re really that curious, I can tell you a little. I don’t know much, but if you want to hear it…”

My eyes lit up. “Yes, tell me!”

She shifted her position, crouched down, and looked me in the eyes. “I know they’re working on some kind of project. I don’t know the specifics, but I managed to sneak a look at the name. The project number is 4341951009, and it’s called the ‘Nine-Ring Project.’”

I’d heard of the “Nine-Ring Project” from Tian Yuqing before. It was a massive archaeological undertaking, involving a large and diverse group of participants. Among the Five Masters, the ones leading the project were likely Fourth Brother, Tian Yuqing, and Tan Qiu.

But if entering Shennongjia was, like the Gansu Dragon-Falling Corridor, one of the key nodes of the “Nine-Ring Project,” then why were there no professional archaeologists involved? Would the higher-ups really be so at ease letting a bunch of Outer Eight Gates “remnants” handle it?

Besides, Fourth Brother said he came here to find something. No matter how you looked at it, that didn’t sound like professional archaeological work.

Just then, I heard Fourth Brother’s voice echoing down from above. He called out, “Gan Ji! Bring up the casket, let me take a look!”

My heart tightened. They’d already been climbing for over twenty minutes, and I had no idea how far up they’d gone. That Chen Si had insisted on tossing his bag to me before climbing, even though I’d told him the Jade Casket was just a useless box in my hands. And now that he needed it, I had to be the one to deliver it.

I groaned inwardly. Just looking at that towering bronze pillar made my legs go weak. But I had no choice. I slung the bag over my shoulder and turned to Xiao Qi. “Fourth Brother’s calling me. I’ll go up and check. I’ll leave Old Lu to you for now.”

Before she could respond, I stepped down from the stone platform and approached the bronze pillar Fourth Brother had climbed. I picked a good foothold and started scaling it. Thankfully, the pillar was intricately carved, with plenty of places to grip and step on.

The first twenty meters went by quickly. But by the time I reached nearly fifty meters, I was starting to breathe heavily. The people below looked like ants now, while the Jade Coffin above loomed ever closer.

I clung to the pillar and paused for two minutes, my legs trembling. I forced myself to steady my breathing, then continued upward. With light shining down, the climb became much easier. For the final step, I hooked my arm around a chain and used a grotesque carved demon head as a foothold to haul myself up.

Once on top, I didn’t see Fourth Brother or Old Luo anywhere. That’s when I realized what I had thought were five iron chains were actually a set of simple suspension bridges. Each of the five chain bridges led to the Jade Coffin suspended at the center.

“Fourth Brother!” I called out.

My voice echoed through the air, but there was no response. Fourth Brother had vanished.

I looked toward the distant Jade Coffin. The other four bronze pillars were too far away to see clearly, and my voice probably hadn’t carried that far. It was likely that Fourth Brother and the others were waiting on one of the other pillars. But to reach them, I’d have to cross that massive Jade Coffin.

I swallowed hard and pulled out the half piece of Blood Jade from my pocket. Aligning it with the half hanging around my neck, I pressed them together until they clicked into place. Then I tucked the now-whole piece of Luan Bi back under my shirt.

Whoever might be resting inside that coffin—brother, sister, ancestor—I’m just passing through. I haven’t touched a single thing of yours, so please, don’t take offense.

I pressed my palms together and silently offered a few words of prayer. Then, gripping the chains of the suspension bridge, I slowly made my way toward the Jade Coffin.