Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 6

Suren guessed what I was thinking and nodded with a sly smile.

I took her left hand, thought for a moment, and tapped it: "That's all?" Her hand was soft, almost boneless, which made my heart flutter. I'm not a puritanical abstinent; I have all the physical reactions a young man should have when he sees a beautiful woman.

She nodded.

I had assumed that since the surgeon had mentioned the data so earnestly over the phone, there would be a thick diary entry, but instead, it was just a few words. If I had known this would happen, wouldn't it have been easier to say it over the phone? Why did I have to make Su Lun come all this way?

Suren tapped again, saying, "My brother wants me to pretend to be your girlfriend so we can go into the pyramid together."

Having such a beautiful young woman as a girlfriend is more than I could ever want, even if it's just "pretending." I lightly pinched the back of her hand, a mischievous smile playing on my lips. Suren's face flushed instantly, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

Based on my understanding of Gu Ye, he's definitely capable of planting a listening device in my tent.

I took Suren's hand and we stepped out of the tent, slowly walking westward. In broad daylight, the special forces soldiers in the camp were not letting their guard down at all; within ten meters, there were always soldiers carrying submachine guns flashing by.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, especially since this is the territory of the scalpel. I believe that Gu Ye will not do anything out of line.

"Surren, is there really no other information?" After leaving the camp and confirming that the other party's eavesdropping device was no longer working, I cautiously asked Surren.

“That’s it. My brother said that in the diary left by the King of Tomb Raiders, only these few sentences mentioned the Crocodile God. The rest of the handwriting was messy, and he spent a long time piecing it together, almost to the point of exhaustion, but he still couldn’t figure out what it meant. That’s why when you mentioned the drum sound on the phone, he connected it with the Crocodile God and told me to come over and stay by your side so that we could look after each other.”

I hesitated, weighing whether to tell her about hearing the greeting, when suddenly the air around me vibrated violently, and a sharp gust of air pierced my eardrums without warning. A hoarse, gloomy voice slowly groaned: "Come on, come on... The time... The time..."

The sound was absolutely coming from the direction of the pyramids; I swear on my life. My God, I sensed the call of the Crocodile God once again.

Volume One: The King of Tomb Raiders

The First Egyptian Tomb

— Chapter 13 — Climbing to the Top of the Pyramid —

"Did you hear that sound?" I cried out, my voice distorted with excitement. I pointed westward, where the setting sun hung suspended atop the pyramid's spires, like a fading fireball, emitting an arrogant yet dejected glow. I saw my fingertips, bathed in the golden light of the sunset, the same color as the Pyramid of Giza.

My voice was so loud that several special forces soldiers standing on high ground looked over at the same time, their submachine guns also golden.

Suren remained calm and immediately took out a small telescope from his pocket, aiming it at the pyramids.

After a moment, she lowered her binoculars and gently shook her head: "No, I neither heard nor saw anything."

I felt like I was going crazy, because the drumbeats and the summoning calls rang in my ears at the same time, possessing an increasingly powerful and mysterious force. A dizzying sensation swept over me, and my body went limp, sitting down on the sand.

Suren quickly squatted down, placing her hands on my Baihui acupoint on the top of my head, and whispered, "Don't be impulsive, calm down, calm down, take a deep breath..." It felt as if two extremely cool forces were slowly flowing into my head from her palms, quickly circulating through my meridians and permeating my limbs. The churning blood in my chest was gradually suppressed. I tried my best to remain clear-headed, sitting cross-legged in meditation, using the most authentic Wudang Taoist cultivation techniques to force my mind to concentrate and eliminate distracting thoughts.

After several breaths, the drumming and calling sounds disappeared, and my heart, ears, and mind were clear and tranquil, all distracting thoughts were cleared away.

“Hoo—” Suren let out a long breath and muttered to himself, “Brother is right. There is a strange potential in your blood. You are most easily tempted by that Crocodile God, just like the Tomb Raider King back then.”

I can guess that the Scalpel siblings have many secrets they're keeping from me, but honestly, who doesn't have a few, or even a dozen, secrets they'll never reveal? Even though we're on the same path, there's no need for them to tell me everything.

Su Lun's forehead was beaded with sweat, and she was taking out a white handkerchief to gently wipe it away, her posture alluring.

"Just now, were you using the most profound qi and blood guiding technique from Indian yoga?" I asked tentatively. That kind of technique is similar in essence to the ultimate internal energy cultivation in Chinese martial arts.

Suren smiled and said, "Yes, my master has studied all the martial arts in the world in great detail. What I just used was only a very basic beginner's technique of yoga guidance. I made a fool of myself in front of Brother Feng."

There are always higher heavens and more capable people.

I have never dared to underestimate any fellow martial artist, much less the elderly, women, children, or monks and nuns, for martial arts prodigies often emerge from these four groups. Moreover, Su Lun has a teacher who is unparalleled in the world. If she hadn't been there to help me just now, I fear I would have suffered a qi deviation and died.

I turned my gaze back to the pyramids, and suddenly made up my mind: "Suren, I want to go to the pyramids and take a look. Maybe...maybe we'll find something!"

Suren handed me the binoculars, then asked hesitantly, "Actually, doesn't the effect observed through the binoculars explain everything?"

I took the binoculars and held them to my eyes, only to discover that they were a special tool with infrared night vision capabilities. I couldn't help but admire her thoughtfulness. The first time I heard the sound of drums was at night. With this kind of binoculars, even in the pitch black of night, I could clearly spot moving objects on the pyramids.

In the footage, the pyramids are serene, while the setting sun slowly descends, its light gradually dimming.

I suddenly laughed: "Suren, what's on the far side of the moon?"

She was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

This question is actually one of the propositions that philosophers often use as analogies. The far side of the moon forever hides unknown mysteries. When we see the moon with a circular frame, the image of it obtained through astronomical telescopes will constantly change as it rotates and revolves.

Therefore, we don't know where its far side is and where its near side is. The best way to find out what's on the far side of the moon is to go up there and see for ourselves.

“There’s an old Egyptian saying: ‘To know the taste of a pear, you have to taste it yourself,’” she murmured in reply.

Egyptian culture shares many similarities with the ancient Chinese civilization, such as the similarity in certain hunting and production tools, and in certain philosophical and proverbial expressions related to daily life.

I remember when I was in college, there were a few international students from the United States who always liked to use the "plate tectonics" theory to stubbornly try to combine the four ancient civilizations of the world together. Their fallacies often made the history professors laugh so hard they lost their dentures.

For example, one of their most absurd arguments is that: "The four ancient civilizations—Ancient Egypt, Ancient Babylon, Ancient China, and Ancient India—were originally united as a large ethnic group in a primitive society, sharing a common cultural system and religious beliefs. Later, due to devastating disasters on Earth, perhaps a massive upheaval like a meteorite impact, this large ethnic group split apart based on its geographical location..."

"Brother Feng, I respect your opinion!"

Suren interrupted my thoughts, got up and walked back to the camp. Less than half a minute later, the Hummer's engine roared to life. Immediately, this super off-road vehicle, used by the US military, sped out of the camp and stopped beside me. In the driver's seat, the petite Suren looked dashing, like an invincible dragon warrior from ancient mythology, while the rugged off-road jeep beneath her was the raging dragon tamed and controlled by the dragon warrior.

"Go—" I jumped into the passenger seat, and the engine noise suddenly increased by dozens of decibels, and we rushed out like a wild horse.

The wind blew against his face, carrying the lingering heat of sand baked by the sun, stinging his skin. On this narrow, makeshift road, Suren easily accelerated the Hummer to over 200 kilometers per hour, while simultaneously turning on the CD player on the dashboard. From the high-powered, concealed speakers installed around the vehicle, Michael Jackson's hoarse vocals immediately filled the air.

Jackson's music is more accurately described as "screaming" than "songs".

The wind was so loud, coupled with the roar of engines and the screaming of singers, that my ears were almost completely deafened. Fortunately, the distance was only 500 meters; I could just grit my teeth and get through it. Looking back, I saw a swirling, billowing cloud of dust rapidly moving, completely obscuring any sounds from the campsite.

I wasn't surprised that Gu Ye didn't jump out to stop Suren's actions. At such a short distance, he could have easily seen everything we did through his binoculars. That was fine too. My target was the back of the Tuli Khan Pyramid, a place out of sight of the people in the camp, which would allow me to avoid Gu Ye's surveillance.

Volume One: The King of Tomb Raiders

The First Egyptian Tomb

— Chapter 14 — A Glimmer of Hope Amidst the Mountains and Rivers —

Ten minutes later, the car arrived at the foot of the Turkham Pyramid.

"Go to the back!" I yelled, my ears nearly deafened by the noise.

Suren turned the steering wheel, and the car veered to the right, heading around to the back of the pyramid. While Turkham is famous within the Egyptian pyramid complex, it has no real tourist value. Visitors come only to see the bare, towering pyramids; there's nothing else to see. As a result, it has gradually been forgotten by the tourism authorities, and the plaza and makeshift road that were once built in front of the pyramids have been severely damaged by the strong winds and sandstorms.

Suren thoughtfully drove around the tower three times before suddenly braking on the back of the tower.

The dust kicked up by the car continued for a long time. I covered my nose and looked up at the spire. The brownish-yellow pyramid stood silently in the increasingly dim sunlight, utterly unremarkable. Sand filled the crevices of the massive stones on the pyramid, but there was not a single weed in sight.

“I don’t think we’ll find anything. Brother Feng, they’ve studied the Earth Crack Sweat very thoroughly. They’ve done all the surface exploration, including the calculation of the shape and size, and the analysis of the soil and rocks. And the result was…” She spread her hands and shrugged.

Being with such a beautiful woman in the vast desert was an unprecedented experience for me.

"Really? Really, there won't be any more discoveries?" I jumped out of the car, placing one hand on the pyramid. I really hoped the drumming and calling would ring out again; at this close range, I could easily find the source of the sounds. Unfortunately, there was no sound. Standing at the foot of the pyramid, even the howling of the desert wind seemed much quieter.

The massive stones on the tower are severely weathered; in some places, a light touch will cause the stones to immediately turn into powder and fall off in a flurry.

These massive stones, each weighing over ten tons, are said, according to the latest research, to have been cast by the ancient Egyptians using a technique similar to that of concrete bricks. I find this explanation very interesting and quite convincing. Think about it: didn't our own Qin Dynasty also invent the technique of firing clay into bricks to build the Great Wall?

Therefore, the technique of "bricks" is by no means a unique invention of the Chinese. The huge stones used to build the tower are simply another form of "bricks".

Looking at the dilapidated exterior of the Pyramid of Turks, a new question arose in my mind: "How could such a simple pyramid have remained unconquered for so many years?"

I gazed northward at the magnificent Great Pyramid of Giza. Under the vast sky, it stood proudly like an unparalleled monument in the desert, seemingly destined to shine as brightly as the sun and moon, and to perish with the heavens and earth. Undeniably, the Great Pyramid of Giza is a miracle of Earth's architectural history. Therefore, to this day, scientists remain in a cautious stage of exploration, hesitant to rashly open the passages leading to its interior.

As for the Pyramid of Turkham, it didn't receive that kind of high-level treatment. Given the Cairo government's indifference, I think that with modern drilling technology, it could be completely dissected within a week.

"Should we go up to the top and take a look?" Suren skillfully took out two coils of nylon rope, each about the thickness of a thumb, and a military crossbow from the back of the car.

I smiled and said, "You've already been up there before?"

Suren smiled knowingly, bent down to tie the knot, raised the crossbow, pulled the trigger, and with a whoosh, the crossbow bolt flew out and pierced the five-meter-high tower with a hiss. The nylon rope then drooped down.

"Please?" She waved her hand and tossed the nylon rope to me.

During the car's journey circling the pyramids, I indeed found nothing, not even its entrance. The pyramid's body is rounded, like a large, square chimney. If one really wants to find something, it seems the only options are the top and the bottom, truly living up to the idiom "going to heaven and earth."

I gripped the end of the rope, took a deep breath, and leaped into the air. My feet landed on the pyramid's structure, and using the "scorpion climbing upside down" technique, I quickly ascended to a height of five meters.

laugh--

Suren fired a second crossbow bolt, this time landing eight meters above my head. With the help of the nylon rope, I rose again and easily reached the top of the tower.

At this moment, I stood on a five-meter square stone platform. The stone beneath my feet was hard and spotless, as if the north wind had swept it clean. I steadied myself and looked down. All the stones had a cold, gray hue, like scorched ruins that had settled into this strange color after the passage of time.

I stomped my foot hard, a childish gesture even I found childish, as if stomping my foot could shake the ground and open a passage into the pyramid's interior.

According to available data, the signal responses from ultrasonic detectors can depict the structure of the burial chambers inside the pyramids. However, what's puzzling is that this structure is not constant; rather, the detection results change significantly every so often. Even more strangely, scientists' attempts to drill into the pyramid's surface with hard metal are always blocked by some invisible, flexible barrier when they reach a depth of about one meter, making further progress impossible.

"Have you found anything?" Suren called out from below.

I waved my hand, resignedly preparing to retreat the way I came, and glanced one last time in the direction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Suddenly, I noticed a flash of silver light on that huge pyramid, as if someone had turned on a powerful flashlight in the dark.

The light was fleeting, like a flash of lightning, so brief that when my retina perceived it, I was momentarily bewildered, wondering if it was my imagination. The sun was already setting, and the day's tour of the Great Pyramid of Giza was over; no one would linger there in the evening. Besides, even if someone were there, they wouldn't be carrying a powerful flashlight.

My unusual behavior aroused Suren's suspicion, and she exclaimed again, "What's wrong? Have you discovered something?"

I don't know what's wrong with my thoughts. Suddenly I felt dizzy and muttered to myself, "What am I doing here? What am I doing here?" A wave of dizziness washed over me, my shoulders swayed, and I almost fell straight off the top of the tower. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to my knees on the stone platform.

The feeling was like waking up for the first time after being heavily drunk, remembering nothing, only constantly asking myself, "What happened to me? What happened to me?" In my mind's eye, the pyramid beneath my feet was spinning rapidly, and my body felt like it was immersed in the very eye of a tornado, unable to see anything around me. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my throat, and my throat was so dry and parched that I couldn't even cry for help.

I strained to lift my head, towards the direction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the place that shone with silver light.

"Brother Wind, Brother Wind, hold on!" Suren grabbed the rope and climbed up quickly like a monkey, gripping my hands tightly around my pulse points.

"Brother Wind, Brother Wind..." Her voice sounded distant and ethereal, as if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. Moreover, my vision was blurring and expanding. Unable to hold on any longer, I suddenly fainted.

Volume One: The King of Tomb Raiders

The First Egyptian Tomb

— Chapter 15 — Temporary Amnesia —

I gradually regained consciousness. The sky was still a hazy gray, but as time went on, dusk had fallen. I looked up again towards the Great Pyramid of Giza, but my vision was extremely blurry.

"Brother Feng, are you alright?" Suren still gripped my wrist tightly, her expression showing concern and anxiety.

For a moment I was dazed, and the events that had just occurred seemed extremely vague to me. I murmured, "Suren, how did you get up here? Wasn't I just about to go down?"

Suren looked at me with a puzzled expression, pursing her lips: "Let's go down, okay, let's go down."

I looked down at my feet and stomped my feet hard. Actually, I was repeating the same action that happened before I felt dizzy, but that stomping was already erased from my memory.

"Suren, I feel like... stomping your feet hard would make you sink into a pyramid, do you want to try it?"

Suren was taken aback. Unlike me, he didn't stomp his feet. Instead, he squatted down and slowly felt around on the stone platform with both hands. The ancient Egyptian pyramids had reached the pinnacle of ingenuity in their use of passage mechanisms. Some small protrusions or buttons, once activated, could often cause drastic changes.

Suren touched the stone platform all over, even asking me to lift my feet so she could touch the spot beneath my feet. Finally, she stood up, looking wary: "Brother Feng, stop joking around, let's go back."

I sensed something was wrong, so I followed Suren down the pyramid using ropes and slowly climbed down, finally standing on the ground again.

"Brother Feng, just now on the tower, I saw you swaying, as if you'd been hit by a sniper rifle, and you almost fell. What happened?" Suren climbed into the jeep, looking at me with a serious expression. Her hand was pressed against the side of the dashboard; if I wasn't mistaken, there was definitely a pistol, a throwing knife, or a crossbow hidden there.

I raised my hands high, confessing calmly, "It's nothing, I don't know anything, I was just a little dizzy, and then you came up the tower—tell me, what exactly did I do just now?"