appartement abandonné du village

Chapitre 11

Even through the hood, Wei Xian's solemn expression was visible. He took something out of his backpack, skillfully assembled it in a few steps, and it became a metal rod three meters long. A thin tube extended from not far from the handle, like a stethoscope commonly used by doctors in hospitals. At the end of the tube was a suction cup, which Wei Xian attached to the hood near his left ear.

“Follow me, don’t take any other paths,” Wei Xian told me.

The metal rod extended and struck the ground three times, each strike spaced a foot apart, before Wei Xian stepped down the last step.

I followed Wei Xian slowly forward. Wei Xian tapped three times on a horizontal line, then moved forward a foot, tapped three more times, and so on, inch by inch. This obviously hollow metal rod transmitted information from underground to Wei Xian's ears through sound. Presumably, if there were any mechanisms, this specialized tool would immediately inform Wei Xian.

"Why didn't you use it when you went down the stone steps? What if there was a trap there?" I asked.

“No,” Wei Xian answered crisply. He didn’t elaborate further, but his confident professional knowledge clearly supported his assertion.

"Actually, there shouldn't be any on this tomb passage. The real danger begins after you enter the door ahead. But it's always better to be careful."

Was it the corpse in front that made him more cautious?

The metal rod struck the marble slab on the floor rhythmically.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Slowly approaching the tomb entrance.

Although China has abundant marble production, Shanghai does not produce marble. Marble would have to be transported from nearby sources, a journey of hundreds of kilometers. Furthermore, ancient marble-producing areas were certainly fewer than they are today, so the transport distance would likely have been even longer. However, compared to a tomb of this size, transporting marble from thousands of miles away is not particularly surprising.

But why use marble? I've never heard of marble being used to build a tomb.

"Wei Xian, have you ever been to a tomb made of marble before?"

"No."

After a pause, Wei Xian added, "I've never heard of it being used on such a large scale before."

The tapping sound continued crisply, but I didn't find it pleasant at all.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Slowly approaching the skeleton.

I know I shouldn't have talked to Wei Xian.

When he listens to me and answers my questions, his hearing is definitely impaired, and he's currently relying on his hearing to determine if there are any traps ahead. This can be seen from the noticeably slower tapping speed he uses when answering my questions.

But I asked anyway.

And after asking the first time, they asked a second time.

The further I went, the more uneasy I felt. There seemed to be endless pressure in the air around me, which made my heart clench tighter and tighter through the bulletproof vest I was wearing.

Wei Xian's rhythmic tapping only intensified my unease.

I could only relieve the immense pressure by talking to Wei Xian and slightly disrupting the rhythm of my tapping.

Sun Huizu's skeleton (6)

“Wei Xian, look at the tomb walls on both sides, it seems like there are some carvings on them.” I finally spoke for the third time.

There were indeed patterns carved on the marble walls on both sides, some in relief and some in intaglio. Because the marble itself has irregular patterns, and we were walking along the central route, some distance from the walls on either side, I wouldn't have noticed them unless I had tried hard to distract myself by looking around. Moreover, the further we went, the more patterns there were.

"I don't know, or maybe it has some meaning, or maybe it's just decorative. What's wrong with you?" Wei Xian finally noticed my unusual behavior.

"I don't know, I just have a very uncomfortable feeling." Of course, I couldn't let him stop tapping, but judging from his expression, he didn't seem to have the same feeling as me.

Is this what Wei Buhui felt back then?

Wei Xian lacks intuition and doesn't believe in it.

But I have it, I believe it, because intuition saved my life.

Now, that ominous feeling intensifies with every step I take.

Wei Xian frowned: "Did you find something?"

"No, it's just a feeling."

Wei Xian's expression was not good; he must have also remembered Wei Buhui's words.

"He will one day die underground."

He didn't say anything more, continued tapping the ground, and continued walking forward.

I could only follow behind him, moving forward. I couldn't possibly retreat alone.

Sweat kept pouring out of my body.

Cold sweat.

We were only a few dozen meters from the tomb entrance.

The body was less than ten meters away.

Wei Xian finally stopped. From this distance, he could clearly see Sun Huizu's corpse, and the huge skeleton under the clothes was glowing with specks of phosphorescence.

This massive skeleton, which may have been over two meters tall in life, lay sprawled on the ground with its arms outstretched. Its dark red clothes were soaked with blood, and at least dozens of rusty arrows had riddled it with holes. There was a wound on the back of its head, but no arrow was found. From this alone, one could imagine its ferocity before death. The arrow had clearly pierced the back of its head, but it had been torn off by its own strength, although this could not delay its death.

His hands are now just pale bones, but in his right hand he is clutching a skull.

A skull that made me break out in a cold sweat but suddenly froze.

Sun Huizu inserted his index and middle fingers into the hollows that were originally the eyes of the head, holding the head in his hands. However, above the two eyes, a little above the center of the brow, there was another round hole, even larger than the eye sockets!

It was definitely not a wound caused by being hit by anything; it was a perfectly round hole with extremely smooth edges, dark and incredibly menacing.

That's why Wei Buhui is still so afraid when he thinks about that head. Wei Xian was obviously also frightened, and so was I.

What is that?!

How could it be a person?

A third eye?

Faced with this strange creature that had been dead for who knows how many years, the fear in my heart surged up uncontrollably.

Even when facing a tiger, a prehistoric behemoth never seen before, or an alien monster from a movie, I wouldn't feel this way. But this is clearly a human head, yet it has an extra eye. I can almost see that already rotting eye, faintly visible through the hole.

Is this the head of the tomb's occupant? Who exactly was the tomb's occupant?

My heart was pounding, and I couldn't catch my breath; I had never experienced anything like this before.

Forcing his gaze away, he noticed that Sun Huizu was holding a large piece of cloth in his left hand.

The Ghost Flag? Is that the Ghost Flag? It looks like only half of it is left.

And the other half? Is it in that dark tomb?

I looked at the archway, which was covered with patterns, perhaps in a script I had never seen before. The patterns were much larger than those on the tomb walls; I could still see them clearly even from more than twenty meters away.

Wei Xian walked forward again, the metal rod trembling slightly as it struck the ground.

"No, no..." I called out to Wei Xian, but no sound came out.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I tried my best to shout, but the air just wouldn't come out.

This situation is like being trapped in a nightmare.

"Don't go over there!" I finally shouted. When I said "don't," my voice was barely audible, but when I shouted "go over there," it was a hoarse roar.

Sun Huizu's skeleton (7)

Wei Xian turned his head in surprise and saw my pale face.

"Don't go over there, trust me this once, don't go over there." The sweat streaming down my forehead stung my eyes.

Wei Xian's expression turned grim: "Do you really feel anything?"

"It's a terrible feeling, it's very dangerous, we need some help, this won't do." The invisible pressure made it difficult for me to breathe.

"It's just psychological. What are we afraid of wearing this outfit?" Wei Xian also got excited and smacked the helmet twice with his hand.

"This isn't just psychological. You know I'm not someone who hasn't seen or experienced anything. I think my current situation is just as bad as Wei Buhui's back then."

"To hell with intuition!" Wei Xian suddenly roared. It was the first time I had ever seen him like this since I met him.

"Screw intuition, go ahead if you want." Wei Xian strode towards the tomb entrance, no longer using the metal rod to tap the ground to probe. He walked past Sun Huizu's corpse without stopping, heading straight for the darkness in the archway ahead.

I watched his retreating figure, yet I couldn't move an inch; I called for him to come back, but he seemed not to hear me.

Everything is just like it was back then, except that Wei Buhui and Qian Liu have been replaced by me, and the Sun brothers have been replaced by Wei Xian.

Will the outcome be the same as back then?

Wei stopped first.

He stood before the tomb entrance, just one step away from stepping inside, when he finally stopped.

He stood with his back to me for a while, and I saw his violently trembling shoulders slowly calm down.

At the last moment, he finally managed to control himself.

Wei Xian stood there for a while before turning around.

"It's unbelievable that I could ever lose control like this. If I always act like this, I'm afraid I'll really die underground one day." As he spoke, his face had returned to normal.

“You’re right. If you feel the same way, rushing in like this is too reckless. But we can’t let this trip be in vain.” Wei Xian smiled.

I saw that his hands were still trembling slightly.

He walked to Sun Huizu's remains and squatted down.

"Are you really not able to get here?" he asked me, looking up at me.

I gave a wry smile. I seemed a little better than before, but when I tried to take a small step forward, my heart clenched violently again.

Wei Xian's hands explored inside Sun Huizu's tattered clothes. Close contact with bones was a common occurrence for him and had not brought him any negative effects.

I took out my digital camera, attached the flash, switched to night mode, and started taking pictures of the surrounding scenery.

I'll gather as much information as possible to lay the foundation for my next visit, and hopefully I won't feel this bad next time.

I took several pictures of the tomb door, especially close-ups of the inexplicable patterns on the door, as well as the patterns on the surrounding tomb walls. Zhong Shutong should be able to recognize what these represent, right?

Finally, I took a close-up photo of the strange head in Sun Huizu's hand.