Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 44

I crouched down and got close to Fujika's face. I saw her nostrils rising and falling slightly with her breathing, and her long eyelashes trembling nervously from time to time.

She was really just asleep; apart from the bizarre location where she was sleeping, there was nothing unusual about her other expressions or movements.

I took a deep breath and tentatively called out in a low voice, "Miss Fujika, Miss Fujika, wake up..."

She didn't react at all, simply breathing and falling asleep naturally.

I raised my voice and gently tapped the jade coffin wall, making a dull "thump, thump" sound. She still didn't react and couldn't hear me at all. The tapping sound echoed and collided against the well wall, gradually spiraling and overlapping towards the well opening, converging into a terrifying echo.

Those tomb-robbing tools were completely useless, because what sealed Tengjia was just a long, transparent jade plate that was roughly the same size as her body, with a wide, transparent handle on each side. I reached out and grabbed the handle, weighed it briefly, and pulled hard, lifting the jade plate up.

All sounds disappeared, whether from the headphones or from the ancient well; it was utterly silent.

The golden armor gleamed brightly, stinging my eyes. I steadied myself and tentatively called her name again: "Miss Tengjia, Miss Tengjia... I am Feng, here to take you back to camp..."

I had been paying close attention to the movements around the jade coffin and was prepared to respond to the strange summoning sound at any moment, but there was no sound until I put down the jade tablet and reached out to check Tengjia's breathing. Her breathing was normal, and I could clearly see her chest rising and falling slowly; she was completely asleep.

Suren and Tina sighed almost simultaneously through their earpieces: "Ah, this is incredibly bizarre! If only we could wake her up, her experience would rewrite a new era in humanity's exploration of 'wormhole' theory."

I put my hands under Tengjia's neck, picked her up with force, put her in the iron box, and sat down against the side of the box.

By this time, the jade coffin was empty. I discovered that the spot where Teng Jia had lain had been carved out of a solid piece of jade, creating a human figure that could almost be described as "tailor-made." The jade slab was about one centimeter thick, completely free of impurities, like a piece of the purest, flawless glass produced on a modern assembly line.

"Brother Feng, please evacuate the scene as soon as possible!" Su Lun's worry was clearly revealed in his voice.

I was slightly disappointed because the exploration at the bottom of the well had ended completely without any unusual events occurring. The lower half of the jade coffin was a mostly opaque gray, meaning that even if it wasn't the bottom of the ancient well, the world behind it was impossible to explore.

I looked up at the well opening, and at the end of my line of sight, there was only a dim, yellowish spot the size of a bottle cap.

"Is that all? There must be another mechanism at play. Take a close look at that jade coffin. If all else fails, use a directional micro-blast to break it open and see what's underneath!" Cheney's peculiar habit of "getting to the bottom of things" kicked in again. It seemed he wouldn't give up until he got to the bottom of it.

I stood on the jade coffin, circled the stone wall, and gently touched the elegant calligraphy.

There were no hidden doors on the stone wall for Tengjia to enter or exit; it seemed that the only way she could enter the ancient well was through the entrance covered by the huge gold ingot. I took a camera off the iron box, zoomed in to the maximum, and scanned the stone wall inch by inch, not missing a single detail.

I don't know what the point of doing this is, but intuitively I feel disappointed with this underground adventure. It's as if after all the effort, the reward is nothing more than a fleeting, colorful bubble that only looks pretty.

There was nothing unusual on the well wall. When the camera was focused on the four seams between the jade coffin and the stone wall, Cheney began to mutter to himself without stopping, as if he was pondering some difficult question.

These four seams, each two meters long, are so tight and seamless that even a small ant cannot crawl through them.

The filming lasted for five minutes, and by the end, even I was getting bored because I couldn't find any details to imagine.

I threw the camera into the metal box, squatted down in front of the human-shaped recess, and suddenly had a crazy thought: "What would happen if I lay down in it myself?"

If you want to explore the mystery of Fujika's disappearance, experiencing what it's like to lie in a jade coffin yourself would be a good way.

I took a step forward, my right foot stepping into the groove. Now, all I had to do was lie down, pull the lid over, and close it, and I would be in the same position as when I saw Fujika earlier. Both sides of the jade plate had transparent handles, naturally prepared for the person lying in the groove to close the lid themselves.

"Brother Feng, what are you doing? Get out! Get out!" Su Lun suddenly raised his voice and shouted at me.

I paused for a moment, then took another step forward, my feet landing on the soles of the groove, and dazedly prepared to sit down.

I don't know what Suren did, but a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from my headphones, almost piercing my eardrums, which woke me up from my light hypnotic state. I bent my knees and sprang away from the groove.

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng, Brother Feng..." Su Lun called out repeatedly, his voice filled with fear and urgency.

"I...I'm fine...I'm alright now..." Cold sweat slowly crept across my forehead like earthworms after a rain. It was terrifying! My actions just now weren't intentional at all; it was as if someone was hypnotizing me. Luckily, Su Lun's timely reminder prevented me from making any further mistakes.

"Then let's hurry back. The medical personnel have made the most thorough preparations. Saving Miss Tengjia's life is the most important thing." Suren's emotions calmed down, and her narration became more organized.

What will be the consequences of lying down in it?

"Who designed this jade coffin? And who is silently hypnotizing me in this hidden space, trying to lure me into making a mistake?"

I was back inside the iron box. As the steel cable tightened and the iron box slowly rose toward the wellhead, I held onto the edge of the iron box, my mind filled with a cacophony of questions.

"What if I had actually lay down in there just now?"

"Will they also lose their souls and become a vegetable? Or will they instantly arrive in another illusory world, embarking on a journey through time and space, and ultimately disappear completely in some corner of the universe, becoming a speck of dust among countless others?"

In any case, I had successfully gone down the well and rescued Fujika, so when the iron box was raised to the wellhead, all the soldiers and workers couldn't help but applaud to welcome me.

The medical staff had prepared oxygen cylinders, a stretcher, and various cardiac medications. Within thirty seconds, they had performed a comprehensive examination of Tengjia's heart and respiratory system. The outcome weighed heavily on both Su Lun and my hearts—Tengjia had become a vegetative state in the medical sense.

A person in a vegetative state cannot tell others what happened. Perhaps Fujika's miraculous experience will be sealed away with her life until she leaves this world.

The entire rescue process was automatically recorded.

As I sat in front of the monitor, replaying my descent into the well, I couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. The moment my feet simultaneously stepped into the groove looked especially eerie.

Tina froze the image at this spot, then zoomed in eight times to carefully observe the human-shaped groove.

Cheney and James were whispering to each other the whole time, and I caught them pointing at me out of the corner of my eye more than once.

“Mr. Feng, in your opinion, the chisel marks on these grooves are not very obvious. Can we conclude that the grooves are naturally formed rather than carved by axe?” Tina reached out and tapped a few times on the screen, especially the head of the groove.

The groove indeed shows no obvious chisel marks, and the transitions between the surfaces are remarkably smooth—a level of perfection that even the world's best polishing machines cannot achieve. If it is naturally formed, how can this be explained? Could it be that during the era in which the jade was formed, due to some special reason—for example, a giant air bubble trapped inside the jade—created the human-shaped groove?

Tina leaned closer to the screen and muttered to herself, "Looks like we really need a piercing explosion—"

I couldn't respond to her. In this deep desert structure, even a tiny explosion could cause an unpredictable chain reaction of collapses. If she insisted on her way, Suren and I were willing to immediately withdraw from the excavation team.

Yelan's face was ashen as he kept instructing the workers to carefully inspect the graduated steel cables. He was the only one in the entire group concerned with the depth of the ancient well; everyone else seemed to be losing interest.

After the gold was taken away, this place really looked like an empty, gloomy old house. Without the allure of the gold and silver treasure, probably no one would want to stay here any longer.

After obtaining Natura's permission, the medical staff prepared to take Tenga to the camp first.

Suren sighed regretfully, "What a pity—if she really is a princess of the Japanese imperial family, that Tanino is in for a world of trouble!" We haven't been able to find any detailed information about Tanino, so even with a thousand suspicions, we can only watch helplessly. However, based on Tanino's current behavior, I'm over 80% sure he's an imposter.

"Surren, did you sense anyone's soul being snatched away by the pyramids this time?"

Suren shook her head and smiled sheepishly, "Brother Feng, don't tease me. Last time I really felt the dragon's soul escape... Oh dear, there's something—" She pulled my arm and took a few steps to the side, then leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Brother Feng, where is the 'Soul-Returning Sand' that Yelan gave you?"

I chuckled and said, "What? You really think that sand can summon a soul?"

After the dragon became a vegetable, it was kept in an unused tent at the camp, where it was fed and watered regularly. Yelan had said that he would take the dragon back to the countryside outside Cairo after the entire excavation was completed.

Part 4: The Battle Between Heaven and Man

— Chapter 10 — The Golden Sword Worth Over 100 Million —

I never took that "soul-reviving sand" seriously. If it weren't for Suren's reminder, I would have forgotten about it long ago.

“Brother Feng, in modern medicine, the possibility of reviving a person in a vegetative state is basically zero. Why don’t we try getting some sand to see if it can produce a miraculous effect? We might as well try anything, even if it seems hopeless. What do you think?” Suren’s eyes gleamed, as if he had already made up his mind about the matter.

Chinese superstition holds that people possess a soul, and once that soul is stolen by mountain spirits or wild monsters, the person will remain in a deep sleep all day, resembling a "vegetative state" patient in modern medicine. If, through some magical witchcraft, the soul is retrieved, the patient will immediately recover and become lively and energetic again.

"What do you plan to do? Will you conduct an experiment on a dragon first?"

Suren nodded, but before she could continue, Cheney strode over with a bright smile and extended his hand to me: "Mr. Feng, can we talk in private for a moment, okay?"

The fact that Cheney and James did not leave in a state of panic after the deaths of Berenlang and Tang Weiming is enough to prove that their trip to the Egyptian desert was not just a sightseeing trip for the scalpel, but must have had other plans.

I also hope to speak with Cheney to get more information about the Pyramid of Tulku Khan. As an expert in pyramid construction, many of his theories have been published in monumental works, and translations have spread to more than 130 countries around the world.

In another tomb chamber, Cheney cut to the chase: "Mr. Feng, I have a check for twenty million US dollars here. I'd like to exchange it for something from you. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

The Citibank check was clutched in his right hand—Chenney squinted, scrutinizing my reaction. His pale face always wore a forced, enthusiastic smile, and the four gold teeth in his mouth gleamed under the light.

I have seen his face on the cover of the journal Pyramid Studies more than once, and I can even tell you exactly how many freckles he has.

"How about it?" He waved the check in his hand, making an enticing "clink, clink" sound.

I stroked my chin and forced a smile onto my face: "Twenty million? That's enough to buy twenty ultra-luxury villas outside Cairo—Dr. Cheney, I really can't think of anything I have that would be worth twenty million US dollars. Tell me, okay?"

Americans have always adhered to the principle of "profit above all else." They are only willing to invest so heavily in businesses that can earn several times more than twenty million. While US dollars are attractive, they must weigh the pros and cons carefully before accepting them; otherwise, it's not money at all, but a ticking time bomb that could shatter them at any moment.

I'm telling the truth, because even if I rack my brains, I still don't know which of my treasures is worth 20 million.

The central burial chamber fell silent for a moment as Yelan carried out Tina's orders, arranging for workers to tidy up the lighting circuits and install sufficient lighting equipment in every expansion joint.

The excavation of the Turkhan Pyramid, after a brief climax involving the giant gold ingot and the rescue of Miss Tengjia, suddenly lost its direction. Surely, Scalpel and Natura, sitting comfortably in their camp, must be feeling quite discouraged by now.

The most regrettable thing is that Dr. Tang died so mysteriously that he didn't have time to leave behind the code to start the drilling machine. Otherwise, he would probably have drilled hundreds of holes in the ceiling of the tomb by now.

“Mr. Wind—” Cheney took a step closer to me, his breath coming out hot air that smelled of cigar tobacco.

"Twenty million is just my down payment. I guarantee that once my plan is successfully implemented, you'll receive another thirty million, making it a total of fifty million. How about it? Fifty million, are you tempted yet?"

I spread my hands, completely bewildered. "Dr. Cheney, you're confusing me. Please tell me, what exactly do you want?"

In my mind, the only valuable personal possession is the worn-out diary left by my eldest brother, Yang Tian. But even if that little book were studded with diamonds, it probably wouldn't be worth fifty million US dollars.

“An ancient sword—Mr. Feng, a golden ancient sword you obtained from another dimension. If you're willing to nod your head, our deal is done, OK?” Cheney finally revealed his trump card, staring intently at me like a warhound that had spotted the perfect prey.

“Mr. Feng, Mr. Feng…” Tina was calling me, her voice urgent.

I shrugged and smiled wryly, muttering to myself, "What? What happened now?"

Tina had already strode over, her brows furrowed: "Mr. Feng, Mr. Scalpel and High Priest Natura have both sent word that you must return to the camp immediately."

"What is it?" I nodded to Cheney and quickly followed Tina toward the exit, with Suren close behind.

At this point, preparations were being made in the tomb; simply staying at the site would be of no use.

"The Desert Legion has found Lu Jiacan's Mercedes, which he drove out of the car and parked on a desert highway 15 kilometers south of Cairo. The car is in perfect condition, even the key is in the lock, but Lu Jiacan, Tang Xin, and Song Jiu are all missing. There are no signs of a struggle at the scene, so the High Priest hopes you can go to the scene and help the Desert Legion's patrol find the missing persons."

Tina walked very quickly, and spoke with extreme conciseness.

My fears have come true. Lu Jiacan must have discovered a weakness in Tang Xin's defenses, launched an attack, and ended up being countered. He didn't even consider that since Tang Xin is the future leader of the Tang Clan in Sichuan, her martial arts skills, wit, and cunning are definitely a hundred times better than those of ordinary martial artists.

"That's all?" I asked, puzzled. Lu Jiacan escorted Tang Xin away from the camp yesterday; how could it be that news only came now, a whole night later? Given the experience and composure of the others, wouldn't they have noticed something amiss before discovering the empty car?

Tina shook her head: "I only received the message over the phone. The High Priest will explain the details to you."

I slowed my pace slightly and walked alongside Suren, whispering Cheney's words to her.

She raised an eyebrow, then suddenly realized, "No wonder! Someone must have observed the battle taking place at the top of the pyramid from the camp's watchtower yesterday. But how could that sword be so valuable?" She was utterly astonished by the offer of fifty million US dollars.

We had now reached the entrance to the tomb. Dr. Cheney followed us out, a forced smile on his face: "Mr. Feng, I hope you will carefully consider our deal. There's an old Chinese saying, 'Once this village is gone, this shop will never come again'—good things don't fall from the sky every day, do they?"

He patted his suit pocket, and the huge check inside made an enticing "clinking" sound.

Suren turned around and smiled: "Doctor, I know you Americans also have a saying, 'There's no such thing as a free lunch.' I guarantee that if you can offer fifty million, the same item would fetch at least four times the price if you took it to Sotheby's for a public auction, right?"

These words struck Cheney squarely at his weak point, instantly wiping away the smug look from his face.

Tina had already strode ahead of me, and I stopped and looked coldly at Cheney: "Doctor, unless you tell me the origin of this sword, business is off."

I have two college classmates who are interning at Sotheby's. They can find out the exact value of this sword by sending a fax.

Cheney muttered dismissively, "Origin? Nobody knows its origin, maybe even God doesn't!"

As American Christians, God is omnipotent at all times, and Cheney's words clearly constitute disrespect for religious beliefs.

“Well then, I’m sorry I can’t comply. This deal is off. Excuse me!” I grabbed Suren and turned to leave, abandoning Cheney on the spot. I’m not short of money right now, and if I could preserve this sword and thoroughly study the patterns engraved on its blade, it would be extremely meaningful. As Cheney said, it’s a weapon from a mysterious world; perhaps there won’t be another one like it on the entire earth.