Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 25

A thought flashed through my mind, and I understood what was happening. I yelled in panic, "Oh no!" and, brandishing my bronze sword, rushed to the girl's side, grabbed her arm, and ran swiftly to the other side of the pool. At the same time, I shouted to the young master, "Run! This place is about to collapse..."

Seeing me running fast with a girl in one hand and a bronze sword in the other, the young master quickly slung his crossbow over his back and chased after me, complaining, "Old Xu, you're fucking dishonest!"

On the other side of the platform was another white stone bridge, its destination unknown. Just as we left the white jade platform, a loud crash came from behind us. In a moment of panic, I turned around and saw the once magnificent white jade platform completely collapse, sinking into the dark water. The white stone bridge we had been standing on, having lost its support, was also rapidly collapsing.

The dark pool was so vast that it seemed to have no end, and we had no idea where the white stone bridge led. There was no time for us to think; I grabbed the girl and ran forward as fast as I could.

"Brother Xu, I can't run anymore... I can't move..." The girl was being pulled by me, and she could barely breathe.

"We have to run, even if we can't!" I had no mercy for her and dragged the girl along, running for our lives. The stone bridge behind us was collapsing rapidly, and I could hear the young master's heavy breathing behind us, like he was pulling a broken bellows. But to survive, we had to run.

"Old Xu, how much longer...? I... I can't run anymore..." the young master said from behind.

I said fiercely, "If you want to live, then fucking run!" In fact, I was also panting heavily, but I knew that if the three of us relaxed our guard, we would probably lose our lives here today.

Running—that was my only thought right now. I grabbed the girl and ran forward as fast as I could. I guarantee that if those long-distance runners saw the three of us like this, they would die of shame.

I don't know how the three of us ended up in an open space. Anyway, the moment we stepped off the white stone bridge, the girl plopped down on the ground, and the young master behind her tried to sit down too. But in this situation, if we relaxed, we'd all be doomed. So, I grabbed the girl and glared fiercely at the young master, saying, "Just a few more steps, just a few more steps..." As I said this, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.

I pulled the girl along and walked several more steps before I finally relaxed. Suddenly, an indescribable weariness washed over me, and my legs felt swollen and painful. The young master, hands on his knees, tongue lolling out like a hanged man, gasped for breath and asked, "Old Xu, where is this place?"

I glared at him, annoyed, and said, "How would I know where this is?"

The girl sprawled on the ground, looking utterly disheveled, and gave a bitter smile. "Brother Xu, I've discovered that living is truly hard..."

I shone my flashlight around, and apart from a small pool of water not far away, the area was completely empty. It didn't resemble a cramped tomb chamber; it was more like an empty plain. However, we both knew in our hearts that this was underground, and there couldn't possibly be a plain here.

The flashlight beam seemed even dimmer, illuminating very little distance and making it impossible to see anything clearly. Seeing that the maid and young master had rested for a moment, I hurriedly urged, "Get up, let's go!"

The young master sighed and asked, "Old Xu, which way are we going?"

I shook my head and didn't speak. How would I know which way to go? After resting for a while, the girl finally stood up and once again fully demonstrated her professional ethics as an archaeologist. She asked me for the bronze sword to see what it was all about.

I smiled and handed her the ancient sword. The girl stroked the lightning and bird-script patterns entwined on the bronze scabbard, her expression one of utter fascination. I don't know why, but seeing her like this, I couldn't help but recall the desolate, helpless sigh I let when I drew that bronze sword, and those words:

The Eight Trigrams and the Sixty-Year Cycle, divine secrets and hidden mechanisms, the transformation of snakes and dragon bones, the flaws of heaven and earth...

The girl said she didn't know what the bird-script writing meant; perhaps it was the name of a sword. If they knew what kind of sword it was, they might be able to determine its era and its connection to the dragon coffin at the bottom of the Yellow River.

I agree with the girl's point of view. The young master leaned over and offered his opinion, "Hey Old Xu, is that white jade platform just for burying this ancient sword? Were the ancients out of their minds? To build such a huge and magnificent tomb just for a sword?"

I had the same question in my mind. The girl simply stroked the ancient bronze sword for a while, then suddenly reached for the hilt and tried to pull it out. But she couldn't budge it. I smiled; the sword was very tight. I hadn't been able to pull it out the first time either, it took me a lot of effort. I immediately took the bronze sword from the girl, pulled it out with force, and handed it back to her.

When the girl saw me draw the ancient bronze sword, she couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Just now, we were all in a life-or-death situation, and none of us paid much attention to this ancient sword. Now that the sword is drawn again, not only the girl, but also the young master and I, our eyes lit up noticeably.

"Damn it, Lao Xu, you've struck it rich. This, this is a divine artifact..." the young master stammered.

"Damn it," I rolled my eyes at the young master. With the maid here, how could I possibly keep something like this? Sure enough, the maid also rolled her eyes at the young master. She carefully examined the ancient bronze sword, which was still gleaming with a cold light after a thousand years, and after a long while, she said, "Brother Xu, tell me, what material is this sword made of? How come it's still so sharp after all these years?"

I just severed that strange-looking black iron chain with a single sword strike; the girls all witnessed it. The sharpness of this ancient bronze sword is beyond doubt.

The girl looked at it again, finally sheathed the sword, and handed it to me, saying, "Brother Xu, what do you plan to do with such a divine weapon?"

What to do with it? I smiled wryly. In my heart, such a rare treasure should not be sold; the best course of action would be to donate it to the country. But if I were to donate it to the country, what would I say if they questioned the origin of the sword? I couldn't very well say that I acquired it through tomb raiding, could I?

"Let's talk about it after we get out of here!" I replied absentmindedly. We were now trapped in a completely unknown underground world, and whether we could get out was uncertain. Why bother with a bronze sword? The young master took the bronze sword from my hand and examined it for a moment. Finally, his gaze fell on the hilt, and he exclaimed with delight, as if he had discovered a new continent, "Old Xu, look! What's this?"

I froze, then walked closer to examine it. The pattern on the hilt had a vaguely familiar feel to it, as if I'd seen it somewhere before. I thought for a moment, and it dawned on me: wasn't this the same pattern carved on the Yellow River Dragon Coffin? Could it be that this ancient bronze sword held the key to breaking the curse beneath the Yellow River Dragon Coffin?

The girl had been so focused on admiring the ornately decorated bronze sword that she hadn't noticed it while holding the hilt. Hearing this, she curiously leaned closer and, seeing the sword, exclaimed with delight, "That's right! Perhaps we've stumbled upon the key to breaking the curse. Not only is the building material of that white jade platform the same as the dragon coffin, but this ancient sword must also be connected to it. Perhaps this is why Liu Qu chose this place for his tomb. Once we find his epitaph, we'll know the truth."

Seeing the girl and the young master's joyful expressions, I felt a strange unease in my heart, as if this matter was definitely not so simple.

The young master turned the bronze sword over to look at the other side. On this side, the hilt and grip area were not decorated with carved patterns, but with four bird-script characters.

The young master presented the item to the maid and asked, "Girl, look at these four characters. Do you recognize any of them?"

The girl looked at it, frowned, and said, "This character... seems to be the character '天' (tian, meaning sky). As you know, I don't understand bird seal script; I only learned a little bit from the professor before..."

sky!

The girl said the character was "天" (tian, meaning sky), and I felt a thunderous boom in my ears. The moment the ancient bronze sword was drawn, a desolate and helpless sigh seemed to echo in my heart. And those cryptic words flashed through my mind again—

The Eight Trigrams and the Sixty-Year Cycle, divine secrets and hidden mechanisms, the transformation of snakes and dragon bones, the flaws of heaven and earth...

"Heavenly Crippled and Earthly Imperfect!" I blurted out. The girl was stunned, tilted her head, and asked me, "Brother Xu, what are you saying? What heavenly crippled and earthly imperfect?"

"Nothing," I shook my head repeatedly. What just happened was incredibly strange; it was just an illusion created by the formation. How could it be such a coincidence that this sword is really called "Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Imperfection"? Why would such a perfectly good ancient bronze sword have such a bizarre name?

I said, "Let's not study this sword anymore. If we can get out of here, we can study the ancient sword later. Now, let's see where we are."

The young master handed the bronze sword to me again. We all looked at the girl, "Which way?" Of the three of us, the girl was clearly the most knowledgeable about ancient tombs, even though she had only ever explored dirt graves before, she was still much better than the young master and me. However, faced with this place, the girl was at a loss. In the end, we followed my original plan and continued forward, adapting to the situation.

The girl took out a compass, wanting to determine the direction. I said, "Don't bother. Even if it were new, it'd be useless here underground, let alone after being submerged in water for so long. Since there was a Bagua formation on the white jade platform earlier, there must be some interference here. Otherwise, this tomb's structure wouldn't be anything special."

The young master didn't believe it, but after taking out the compass and looking at it, he sighed and gave up.

In the darkness, we could only walk by feel. I noticed that the ground here was completely different from the white stone bridge we had just crossed. Clearly, the white stone bridge and the white jade platform were made from materials transported from elsewhere, while this was probably just the original stone from the mountains.

The girl held the flashlight, and the three of us walked for about five or six minutes. Suddenly, as I looked up, in the dim light of the flashlight, I saw a blurry shadow, vaguely resembling a human figure. I was startled, but quickly calmed down. After all, I'd seen this kind of thing many times before; they were mostly just bronze statues, nothing to be alarmed about.

"Brother Xu, ahead..." The girl, shining her flashlight, had naturally spotted it too. I quickly reassured her, explaining my thoughts. However, the young master objected, taking the crossbow from his back. The three of us cautiously approached the dark figure. As we drew closer, I was almost certain it was another bronze-level humanoid. Suddenly, the flashlight in the girl's hand dimmed and then went out without warning.

"What's wrong?" I asked in surprise.

The girl quickly banged the flashlight twice. The flashlight flickered on again, then dimmed again. Thankfully, it didn't go out completely.

"Do you have a flashlight?" I asked the young master. Underground, without a flashlight, it's practically impossible to move an inch.

"Yes, but mine doesn't have much power left either, so let's use it sparingly," the young master said with a wry smile. All three of us knew how important a flashlight was to us.

I nodded. The girl said she had a spare battery, but she wasn't sure if it would still work. The young master and I were overjoyed. To be honest, this was the first time either of us had ever done this kind of tomb raiding, and we'd only heard bits and pieces of the Southern Raiders' methods. After all, the Southern Raiders' rule was that you had to leave the tomb within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. But how long had we been inside?

Perhaps those rules only apply to ordinary small earthen graves. A tour of such a large imperial tomb would take more than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, not to mention the numerous traps and the search for funerary objects. The girl slapped the flashlight again forcefully, and it suddenly shone brightly, as if in a final burst of light.

The girl instinctively shone the flashlight forward. Due to phototropism, we all looked ahead. But what we saw startled us. Just moments ago, the three of us had clearly seen a dark figure standing not far in front of us, but now, the surroundings were completely empty; there was no one there at all.

Initially, the three of us thought the figure was just another bronze figurine or a bird-shaped vessel, and didn't pay it any mind. But now, with this sudden turn of events, a chill ran down our spines. Could it be that something unclean is involved again?

There would absolutely be no living creatures in such an ancient tomb—except for the three of us. Therefore, anything that could move was naturally not a good thing.

I glanced at the maid, then at the young master. The maid was deathly pale, holding a flashlight in one hand and clutching my clothes tightly with the other, clearly very dependent on me. The young master, on the other hand, had already taken down his crossbow and was nocking bamboo arrows, ready to pounce. What will be, will be; I steeled myself and continued forward.

After taking five or six steps forward, the girl unconsciously leaned closer to me. Now we could see clearly that on the flat ground lay a skeleton that had turned into a skeleton, and it was incomplete. Only the head and chest remained of the skeleton; the rest was nowhere to be found.

As she approached, the girl shone her flashlight on him carefully, then frowned and said, "This person was executed."

The young master asked curiously, "How did you know?"

I could see it myself. This skeleton only had the upper part, while the lower part was nowhere to be found. It was normal for an ancient corpse that was thousands of years old to not be intact. However, this skeleton was a bit special. The cut where the spine was broken was clean, obviously cut by a sharp weapon. I didn't know whether the skeleton was damaged after death or whether it was subjected to extreme punishment before death.

"So, it's called being cut in half at the waist?" The young master pointed with a bamboo arrow and gestured the location. "How cruel!" The maid had already explained the reason to him, and the young master wasn't stupid; he immediately thought of being cut in half at the waist.

I said it wasn't certain; perhaps it was deliberately disturbed after death. The girl asked me what to do now. I knew she was scared; that sudden black shadow had probably frightened her. If it were a monster, it would be a tangible thing, and there would be ways to deal with it. But this ethereal entity was beyond my control.

I made a quick decision and continued walking forward, ignoring it. In truth, I wasn't entirely sure myself. After all, all three of us had seen that dark figure earlier, but now, as we got closer, all we saw was half a corpse.

"Look!" the girl suddenly said, pointing ahead as she spoke.

I followed the girl's finger and looked in the direction she was pointing. Not far ahead, there was another corpse, but only the torso remained; it had no head. In an instant, a chill ran down our spines. We couldn't understand why these mutilated remains had been abandoned here, without coffins or burial. And, strangely enough, it didn't seem like a burial pit.

I know that in ancient times, slaves were not even as noble as cattle, sheep, or horses, so their burial was often hasty. Many slave burial pits unearthed in various places contain haphazardly piled-up corpses. But at least there should have been a pit; where are they simply dumped on the surface like this?

I shared my thoughts. The girl thought for a moment and said, "This place was originally underground. Perhaps these people were craftsmen who built the tomb, and to prevent them from revealing the tomb's location, they were killed here."

I think the girl has a point. Our purpose isn't archaeological research, so we don't need to study these things. The three of us huddled together and carefully continued forward. Unexpectedly, the further we went, the more corpses we encountered, and all of them were incomplete. In one place, we even saw dozens of skeletons piled together, some headless, some missing limbs, and some, like the first corpse, that the young master had described as being cut in half at the waist.

I gripped the ancient bronze sword tightly in my hand; my palm was icy cold. For some reason, the phrase "Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Imperfection" suddenly flashed through my mind again.

My God, mutilated corpses! Could it be that the so-called "imperfections of heaven and earth" actually refer to these incomplete corpses? The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became.

The further we went, the more corpses we saw on the ground. Several times, we had to step over the dense mass of corpses. Although the girl was used to seeing ancient corpses, she couldn't help but feel afraid in this situation. The young master held the bamboo arrow in his hand, biting his lip tightly. For some reason, none of the three of us said a word.

"Look, what's that up ahead?" the young master suddenly exclaimed.

In this vast underground world, his shout startled me. At the same time, I forgot to scold the young master for his overreaction; I was also stunned by the sight before me.

Following the flashlight in the girl's hand, we looked over together. The mutilated remains seemed to end there. About five or six meters ahead, another set of tall stone steps appeared. The steps were very high and long, with an exceptionally majestic presence.

"Quick, go take a look!" The young master was a little impatient, and he gave me a push, saying, "There's something good this time, so don't try to take it from me, hehe."

I was both amused and exasperated. Our fates were hanging in the balance, yet he was still thinking about ancient artifacts. This was no ordinary greed; it was just a bronze sword. Even if it was a divine artifact, how could I possibly keep such a thing for myself? If I were to leave, it would only bring me endless trouble.

After stepping over several more mutilated corpses, we made our way up the stone steps.

Upon reaching the top, the young master, maid, and I exchanged bewildered glances, speechless for a moment. We were all awestruck by the majestic grandeur of the stone steps. The discovery of the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang had shocked the entire archaeological community; if everything unearthed here were to be discovered, it might eclipse the splendor of the Egyptian pyramids.

For a moment, I was speechless. I couldn't understand why ancient people so admired elaborate tombs. Was preserving the body really that important?

The girl shone her flashlight, but the light flickered and was very dim. Even looking as far as we could, the three of us couldn't see the end of the stone steps. The white jade platform over the pool had already left us in awe. But compared to these stone steps, the white jade platform over the pool was utterly insignificant.

No, it's more like a thatched hut than a palace.

I don't know what the young master and maid are thinking, but that's at least how I feel.

The young master looked up at the seemingly endless stone steps and, using his rich imagination, said, "Old Xu, do you think this might be the real master's tomb, and what we just saw was merely a weapons mound?"

The girl nodded, saying it was possible. In ancient times, especially for seasoned generals, personal weapons were sometimes more important than life itself. If it was an emperor who seized power on a swift campaign, it was very likely that he would have his personal weapon buried with him after his death.

I understand the girl's point. If one's personal weapon is to be buried with the deceased, then it should be buried with the tomb owner. Why then a separate white jade platform? Moreover, the white jade platform is so far from the tomb owner, which seems quite illogical. I don't know why, but I always feel that this ancient bronze sword I'm holding has an inexplicable strangeness. And since the stone platform built over the pool is made of the same material as the Yellow River Dragon Coffin, is it possible that the owner inside the Yellow River Dragon Coffin is the true owner of this sword?

So, is there a tomb at the top of these stone steps? If so, who is buried there?

Just now, when we were at the pool, I clearly felt that the long, black iron chain was obviously trying to suppress the ancient Qingtong sword. If that's the case, then the idea of the bronze sword being buried with the tomb owner is completely unfounded. I voiced my thoughts, which naturally drew sneers from the young master. The maid suggested, "No need to play games here, let's just go up and see for ourselves, shall we?"

The stone steps felt very weighty, and unlike the steps on the white jade platform we had just seen, these steps had no ornate decorations whatsoever; they were just ordinary bluestone steps. Even so, their ancient grandeur was overwhelming, deeply moving us modern people.

I counted the stone steps as I climbed upwards. The girl said, "No need to count, there are definitely eighty-one steps like this. I just don't know what it's like at the top."

Nine is the ultimate number, and the concept of "nine times nine equals one" implies the unification of the world. The girl said that this was especially important in the tombs of emperors throughout history. I didn't believe her, but I still counted up step by step. When I reached the last stone step, sure enough, it was exactly eighty-one steps. However, just as I stepped onto the last step, I almost screamed, lost my footing, and fell down the stairs.

This is a high platform, quite spacious. No! It's extremely large, so large that I wonder if the entire inner wall of the mountain was hollowed out when this tomb was built?

The stone steps are semi-circular, built against the mountainside, where a tree-like stone sculpture stands, its natural formation or later carving unclear. However, this alone wouldn't have been enough to frighten me. Countless branches and leaves spread out from this enormous stone tree, extending for about five or six meters above us. But this stone tree has no leaves at all; instead, they serve as leaves—black coffins hanging from its branches.

The girl shone her flashlight upwards, and all we could see were layers upon layers of haphazardly stacked tree trunks. Countless black coffins hung from these trunks. For a moment, it was impossible to tell exactly how many black coffins there were.

"My God!" the young master exclaimed. To be honest, we were all stunned by this amazing scene. It was the first time we had ever discovered such a burial system.

Beneath the stone tree, on the high platform, lay a completely different scene. Four bronze figures kneeling on the ground carried a massive coffin. To our astonishment, on the coffin, there was an oval-shaped, tent-like structure made of some unknown fabric. Despite being over a thousand years old, this fabric had not decayed or turned to ash.

The maid looked at me with a flashlight, and the young master looked at me too. I was equally uncertain and didn't know what to do. After thinking for a while, I decided to first examine the coffin under the tree to see whose tomb it was and what its connection was to Liu Qu, the King of Guangchuan.

Ultimately, our task now is to find a way to return to the tomb of Liu Qu, the King of Guangchuan, as soon as possible, find his epitaph, and study it to break the curse of the Yellow River Dragon Coffin.

For some reason, I felt an inexplicable tension. To make matters worse, the flashlight in the girl's hand flickered on and off again. She patted it a few times, but the flashlight only emitted a faint, firefly-like glow. Frustrated, she pulled out spare batteries from her backpack. We had all been in the water, and everything was soaked, but thankfully, the batteries were from the supermarket; she had put them in a plastic bag and packed them into her backpack.

For the first time, I am grateful for these plastic convenience bags that cause white pollution.