Buddhist Pagoda Ghost Tomb

Chapter 4

She didn't know how long she had run, from one end of the town to the other, before she finally stopped, panting as she said, "Luckily I'm fast..." Before she could finish speaking, a horn suddenly sounded. She looked up and saw the RV parked not far away. Caesar stuck his head out and laughed, "Miss Qin, you're very fast, you'd be perfect as an explorer."

At that moment, Qin Wen had an urge to bang her head against a wall. She patted herself down, pulled a tracking device from her bra, and threw it hard on the ground: "Disgusting!"

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in your flat chest." Caesar smiled wickedly. Qin Wen really wanted to kick him in the face, but escaping was more important. She roared, "Just you wait!" and turned to rush back into the crowd. Caesar smiled and rolled up the glass. "Anyway, it's still early, I'll play with you a little longer."

Qin Wen stopped in front of a young Uyghur woman selling raisins. Looking around, she knew she couldn't escape the clutches of that thug today. Gritting her teeth, she asked the woman, "Excuse me, do you speak Mandarin?"

The RV slowly pulled up in front of Qin Wen. Caesar stared in surprise at her, who was sitting on the street eating lamb skewers with a burlap veil covering her head: "Why aren't you running away anymore?"

"I've thought it through." Qin Wen shoveled all the mutton off the bamboo skewer into her mouth, walked over, picked up his sleeve, and wiped her mouth. "I agree to go dig up the grave with you."

Caesar looked at his oil-stained sleeves, his face darkening: "What do you mean by digging graves? It's an adventure."

"It's all the same anyway." Qin Wen opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. "But I have a condition."

"What are the conditions?"

"We'll split the contents of the tomb fifty-fifty."

Caesar's face darkened further: "You want to raise the price on the spot?"

"Yes," Qin Wen answered decisively, shrugging her shoulders. "You can disagree, and we can go our separate ways now."

A cold glint finally appeared in Caesar's eyes: "Miss Qin, do you really think you can negotiate with me?" Before he finished speaking, a withered hand suddenly reached out from behind Qin Wen with incredible speed. She instinctively raised her hand to block, but Caesar's large hands had already firmly grasped her wrists. The thin, bony hand shoved something reeking of a foul stench into her mouth. She was shocked and tried to vomit, but the thing melted instantly in her mouth, flowing down her throat, causing her stomach to immediately spasm.

As soon as Caesar released her, she vomited violently, but nothing came out. Her face turned deathly pale, and she turned around abruptly to see a short old man sitting in the back cabin, a sinister smile on his wrinkled face.

"What...what did you feed me?" Her body trembled slightly, her face filled with fear. Caesar started the car and sneered, "Let me introduce you. This is Jeff Manra, a master of sorcery from Southeast Asia."

Black magic!

Qin Wen's face was ashen. "Jiangtou" is a form of witchcraft prevalent in Southeast Asia, very similar to, yet different from, the Gu poison of the Miao region. According to folklore, Jiangtou originated from Hinduism. It is said that when the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang traveled to India to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he passed the Tongtian River in Annam (present-day Vietnam), which flows into the Mekong River in Siam. A turtle spirit transformed into a ferryman and submerged halfway into the river, intending to kill Xuanzang. Although Xuanzang survived, the scriptures he sought sank to the bottom. Fortunately, his disciples retrieved them, but only a portion of the Mahayana scriptures were recovered. The remaining Hinayana prophecies were carried into Siam and presented to the Siamese king. It is said that these prophecies are what we now call Jiangtou.

Qin Wen didn't know much about black magic, but she knew very well that being affected by it would be worse than death!

“Miss Qin, the spell I cast on you is very simple. As long as you stay within two miles of the young master, you will be safe.” Manra’s attitude was extremely respectful, but her tone contained a strong threat. Qin Wen desperately held back her tears and asked, “What will happen if I leave?”

Manra smiled sinisterly: "In your heart lives a scorpion. As long as you are more than two miles away from the young master, the scorpion will eat your heart, bite through your chest and crawl out."

Qin Wen felt ice-cold all over and couldn't say a word. The usually optimistic and strong woman finally began to sob softly in the face of life and death. Manla was still smiling: "Miss Qin, please rest assured, as long as you help the young master get that thing, this old servant will definitely help you get the scorpion out."

Qin Wen didn't speak, biting her lower lip to stop herself from crying out, until it bled profusely.

Caesar drove intently, sand swirling in his face and hitting the windshield. He kept a long face and remained silent.

Wearing Situ Xiang's police uniform, Yin Li waited anxiously in the corridor of the police station. "Xiao Wen, where are you? Do you know how worried I am about you?"

At least send someone to let me know you're still alive.

She had talked to Dona, but Dona didn't understand what it was either. She only knew that nearly a hundred years ago, her great-grandfather had saved a foreigner who was in trouble in the desert. In order to repay their life-saving grace, the foreigner gave them the only sheepskin map he had.

It seems the thread has broken again.

“Xiao Li.” Situ Xiang walked out of the office with a heavy expression. “We have already posted the missing person notice online. However, you should be prepared that hundreds of people go missing here every year, but less than 10% are found.”

Yin Li's heart skipped a beat, and she gripped his hand tightly. Even if the odds were zero, let alone ten percent, she would still give it a try.

Situ Xiang looked at her with heartache and said, "Where are you staying now? Let me take you home first."

“I was kicked out of the hotel and have nowhere to go.” Yin Li smiled bitterly. Situ Xiang hesitated for a moment and said, “Then I’ll find you a place to stay. We’ll inform Qin Wen’s parents tomorrow.”

“Her parents are both abroad.” Yin Li shook her head. “I have no idea how to contact them.”

"Anyway, we can talk about it tomorrow. You need to rest." Situ Xiang comforted her while putting his arm around her shoulder. "I'll take you to my friend's house."

Yin Li nodded. As soon as the two walked out of the corridor, they saw a Uyghur woman in traditional clothing rush in and say to a policeman who was working, "I want to report a case. Someone has been kidnapped."

Upon hearing the word "kidnapping," Yin Li trembled inexplicably. Perhaps a woman's intuition is truly accurate. She looked at the Uyghur woman in surprise, and a policeman quickly asked her to sit down, saying, "Please don't rush, tell me slowly, who has been kidnapped?"

“A girl who came to visit from the mainland.” The Uyghur woman looked anxious but seemed like a kind person. “She said her name was Qin Wen, and a man named Antonio Caesar kidnapped her to take her to the Sacred Pagoda Cemetery to rob graves!” As she spoke, she took out a brooch from her clothes. “This is what she gave me…”

Before she could finish speaking, Yin Li pounced on her and snatched the brooch from her hand. Suddenly, she felt an urge to cry. No doubt, this was indeed Xiao Wen's gift, a present she had bought for her in Kashgar.

"Where is she?" Yin Li grabbed the woman excitedly. "Tell me, where is she?"

“Don’t worry,” the woman said quickly. “She gave this to me yesterday morning when I was at the market outside Wuer Village. She heard I was coming to Karamay City and asked me to give this brooch to a girl named Yin Li who was staying at the ‘Future Hotel.’ I went there, but the hotel staff said she had already left, so I had no choice but to report it to the police. You must be Miss Yin Li. Please, you must go and save her! That kidnapper is too crazy; he actually wanted to go to the sacred Buddhist cemetery! He will surely be punished by Allah!” As she spoke, she began to pray softly.

Yin Li looked at Situ Xiang with hope, but saw that his face was pale and his brows were deeply furrowed. At this moment, she realized that the once noisy police station had suddenly become quiet, and everyone was looking at them with a trace of fear in their eyes.

"What's wrong?" Yin Li felt a chill run down her spine. Situ Xiang pulled her to a secluded spot, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Xiao Li, if Qin Wen really was taken to that place, I'm afraid..."

Yin Li gasped: "What kind of place is that?"

“It’s a long story,” Situ Xiang said. “The Sacred Pagoda Cemetery is a cemetery composed of pagodas. Legend has it that it was the burial place for all the people of the ancient Sek tribe, the Volgili tribe. They were Buddhists, and their bodies were cremated and buried in the pagodas after death.”

Yin Li looked at him, puzzled: "It's just an ordinary cemetery, is there anything wrong with it?"

Situ Xiang frowned even more deeply: "The Volgili are a peculiar people living deep in the Gurbantünggüt Desert. They once created a brilliant civilization, but around 500 BC, they suddenly disappeared from the Western Regions. This disappearance was not due to war or environmental changes, but rather they vanished overnight. Historical records about them are scarce, and historians even doubt whether such a Buddhist kingdom ever existed. In the 1920s, foreign archaeologists entered the desert and discovered the ruins of a Buddhist kingdom. The unearthed artifacts showed that it was the capital of the Mano Kingdom established by the Volgili. But they discovered a strange phenomenon."

Yin Li frowned: "A strange phenomenon?"

“Everything in that ancient city was in perfect order. There was food on the tables, farm tools in the fields, and many half-built fortifications contained construction tools and water jugs. But…” He paused, “there wasn’t a single skeleton.”

You mean...they've all vanished into thin air?

"No, the team of archaeologists discovered a sacred Buddhist stupa cemetery not far from the ruins of the Buddhist kingdom. It contained tens of thousands of 'stalagmites,' which is exactly the number of people in the Mano Kingdom."

Yin Li felt a chill run through her chest. 'Pagoda' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Buddhist stupa.' The saying "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda" refers to the idea that saving a life is superior to constructing a seven-story pagoda. In Buddhist legend, 'pagodas' were originally burial places for believers. It is said that when Shakyamuni was alive, his disciples asked about his afterlife. He took off his robe, folded it neatly, placed his alms bowl upside down on the robe, and finally inserted his staff into the bowl. He told his disciples that after his death, he should be buried in such a structure. This is why relics are enshrined in pagodas. As for the many pavilion-style pagodas in China, they are products of integration with Central Plains culture and have long lost their original meaning.

If the people of Mano Kingdom all received some kind of summons at the same time and died in the Buddhist cemetery, then who built their tombs? Or did they know from the beginning that they would die and prepare their burial places in advance?

"So what?" Yin Li still didn't understand. "Even if it's strange, it happened more than two thousand years ago."

Situ Xiang let out a long sigh: "That happened three years ago. A few tomb raiders wanted to rob the Buddhist pagoda cemetery. We received advance warning and sent a team of police officers to arrest them, but..." A trace of pain flashed across his face, "none of them came back."

V. Devil City

Yin Li was shocked, as if struck by lightning: "Did they fight the tomb raiders and die inside?"

“No, they’ve disappeared. We can’t contact them. Later, the chief sent another team of police officers in, but they didn’t come back either.” Situ Xiang spoke with difficulty, as if recalling a painful event. “This incident even alarmed the military. A team was sent in, equipped with radios, state-of-the-art weapons, and communication tools. They thought everything was foolproof. But three days after they entered the desert, headquarters suddenly received their distress signal, and then there was no further news. The military even sent a helicopter, but it crashed suddenly while flying over the cemetery. Nobody knows why.”

Yin Li felt a chill run down her spine. Could that Buddhist pagoda cemetery be like the Bermuda Triangle in the desert?

"In the end, this matter had to be left unresolved." Situ Xiang slammed his fist against the wall. "My best partner... died in there too!"

Yin Li was speechless and could only stand there blankly. So, Xiao Wen had absolutely no hope of returning? But... why did the kidnappers take Xiao Wen into that death cemetery? Could it be... that Xiao Wen held the key to unlocking the secrets of the cemetery?

Is that possible? Xiaowen is just an ordinary college student. Although she was born into an archaeological family, she has almost never been to Xinjiang in the past twenty years, let alone to a cemetery!

She gritted her teeth; even if it was hell, she would bring Xiaowen back!

She turned around and walked towards the police station exit, but Situ Xiang grabbed her arm: "Where are you going?"

"Go and bring Xiaowen back!" Yin Li said through gritted teeth. "I must stop them before they enter the cemetery!" Situ Xiang stared at her intently for a long time before finally saying, "I'll go with you."

Yin Li gazed quietly into those icy green eyes. No one knew if they would ever return, yet he was willing to go with her. What reason did she have to refuse?

The two men stared at each other, as if trying to see into each other's hearts, when a cough suddenly sounded behind them. Startled, they immediately snapped back to reality: "Chief..."

"This is a police station, mind your manners!" Leda glanced at the two of them with displeasure, then looked at Situ Xiang and said, "Situ, I knew you couldn't let go of what happened back then. You'll have to go and explore that cemetery sooner or later. Fine, I won't stop you. I hope you come back alive."

Situ Xiang smiled but didn't answer. No one was sure they would come back alive.

"Let's go," Situ Xiang said to Yin Li. "Time is life, and we still have a lot to prepare."

"Situ, kid." Leda suddenly called out to him. He turned around and saw something coming towards him. He quickly caught it and found it was a car key. "Kid, my Hummer H1. You don't have to come back, but you have to bring the car back for me!"

Situ Xiang smiled and said, "Thank you."

Yin Li wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Could the Hummer H1 be that discontinued, legendary off-road vehicle with superb performance? This bureau chief is really generous, over 700,000 yuan!

Qin Wen sat on the bed in the carriage, eating potato chips and reading "War and Peace," as leisurely as if she were attending a school summer camp. Caesar remained seated at his desk, looking at her strangely. Was she really the same Qin Wen who had cried and been so scared yesterday that she couldn't sleep all night?

It seems that old saying is indeed true: women can change their minds faster than turning the pages of a book!

"Could it be..." he hesitated for a moment, then said, "Aren't you really afraid of the scorpion that lives in your heart?"

"I'm scared, of course I'm scared." Qin Wen glanced at him sideways. "Does being scared mean I have to cry all the time?"

Caesar was speechless. He turned on his computer, intending to go online, when the car suddenly jolted and stopped. He frowned and asked Manra, who was driving, "Uncle, what happened?"

"It seems like we just ran over something," Manra said expressionlessly.

Caesar was taken aback: "What do you think it could be?"

Manra slowly turned her head, her face filled with a terrifyingly eerie expression: "It's a person."

The atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became strange. They had been traveling in the desert for a day and had almost entered the heart of the desert. The ground temperature had reached fifty degrees Celsius. Who could walk here?

“Young master, this old servant will get out of the carriage to take a look,” Manra said. Caesar raised his hand to stop her, opened the carriage door, and said, “I’ll go. You keep an eye on her.”

As soon as the car door opened, a huge wave of heat rushed in like a flood. Qin Wen couldn't help but frown and raise her hand to shield her eyes. Caesar looked carefully under the car and saw nothing but sand.

His face darkened. Manra's intuition couldn't be wrong. Could it be that the thing had burrowed into the sand?

"Are you done yet?" Qin Wen asked impatiently. Being exposed to the sun like this would cause her skin to develop freckles. Caesar frowned, returned to the car, and said to Manra, "Let's drive."

Manra didn't move: "Young master, something has been brought into the car."

Before he could finish speaking, Qin Wen's expression changed. Caesar was startled and felt a cold wind sweep from behind. He quickly turned to the side, and a gleaming dagger grazed his waist before sinking heavily into the mattress with a dull thud.

A dark shadow flashed past, disappearing like water through the crack in the carriage door. Qin Wen stared dumbfounded at the knife stuck in front of her. Caesar's expression was grave. He looked around and asked, "What attacked me just now?"

“A shadow…” Qin Wen’s eyes were filled with terror. “I just saw… a shadow, a shadow cast on the wall, holding a knife…”

A shadow? Caesar turned around and looked at Manra in surprise. Manra also looked surprised and bewildered. No one knew what that shadow was.

“Night demon? Is it a night demon?” Manra murmured. “In my hometown, there is a kind of demon that only appears at night. They are the shadows of evil people, and they roam the streets and alleys in the dead of night, feeding on the souls of mortals.”

"Don't make wild guesses!" Caesar shouted. "It's noon, there's no way there could be any Night Demons! Uncle Manra, keep driving!"

The young master gave the order, so Manra had no choice but to remain silent. The car started moving again, kicking up a cloud of dust that blotted out the sun. Qin Wen was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Why did you become a tomb raider?"

Caesar glanced at her: "There's no why, it's just a matter of following in one's father's footsteps, nothing more."

"As far as I know, tomb raiders never have a good ending." Qin Wen looked at his handsome face and thought that such a good-looking person should be a star, not a tomb raider. "You have a sinister aura about you, almost like a dead person. A man's biggest fear is choosing the wrong profession. You don't lack money, so why risk your life to raid tombs?"

Caesar sneered, walked over, grabbed her chin, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes: "Are you lecturing me?"

"Let go!" Qin Wen roared, kicking him in the groin without hesitation. He easily dodged, grabbed her wrist, and pinned her down. Just as Qin Wen was about to struggle, she suddenly saw his icy, chilling eyes. Her heart trembled violently, as if she had fallen into an ancient iceberg, and every hair on her body stood on end.

“I’m warning you, you’d better not be so clever.” He said, each word like a knife cutting into her skin. “My principle is not to hit women, and I don’t want to make an exception for you.”

Qin Wen's eyes curved into a cold smile: "I'll give you three seconds to let me go, or I'll break my own leg. You don't want to take a lame woman to rob tombs, do you?"

Her eyes were resolute, and Caesar had no doubt that she had the courage. He snorted coldly, stood up, and threw the Shang Dynasty jade pendant at her: "This is the payment I promised you. After you get that treasure, I will give you another Shang Dynasty antique. You'd better not meddle in other people's business."

"Who cares!" She snorted, glanced at the jade pendant, and stuffed it into her pocket. Whatever, might as well take it.