Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 51

“Youlian isn’t deaf, at least—not completely deaf, she can definitely hear some sounds…” I saw that her attention was completely focused on the well opening. Although she still looked listless and dazed, her body had already tensed up secretly, as if she could draw her scimitar at any moment and get involved in the battle.

"Elder, what exactly happened down in the well?" I hadn't given up hope on Sahan and still wanted to know the secret in his heart.

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed—young man, but you must remember, never covet the radiance of the 'Eye of the Moon,' never… For every beautiful temptation, there is an equally treacherous danger. Remember, remember…"

These obscure and profound words couldn't offer me any real help.

With a crisp roar as the generator started, some of the camp's lighting was restored, including the lights below the well. Thankfully, although the elevator had been blown away by the blast wave, the other facilities in the well remained intact.

At this moment, all the Rainbow Warriors were too busy taking care of themselves to come and help.

I quickly dragged the makeshift elevator back and reconnected it to the steel cable. Suren also found the tripod and remote control for the control circuit behind a military vehicle, and quickly restored the derrick to its pre-explosion state. Our practical skills were certainly no less than those of the workers led by Yelan.

I strode into the elevator, lest things get complicated and I lose confidence and have no choice but to give up.

"Brother Feng, be careful and take care!" Suren's eyes seemed to be brimming with tears.

I waved to her, and the elevator immediately began to fall into the well.

Human curiosity is truly the most peculiar driving force. At this uncertain moment when the crisis had just come to an end, I did not think of escaping or fleeing, but instead went against the wind and chose to carry out the excavation work to the end. This has become a major characteristic of my life: I will never give up until I achieve my goal.

What exactly happened down in the mine?

Currently, the well walls appear unchanged. Although many of the lighting facilities have been destroyed, they can still barely illuminate the space below. All communication facilities have failed, including my and Su Lun's cell phones. It's as if, in the instant of the explosion, all electrically powered machines lost their ability to function.

The elevator quickly descended to the bottom of the shaft. The situation in the horizontal tunnel was slightly better, with only a little over one-tenth of the lights broken.

I got off the elevator, took a few quick steps to warm up, and then started sprinting forward. It looked like a scene from a horror movie—

Right now, my mind is racing, and I have only one thought in my head: "Find the source of the earthquake. Whatever happened underground, or what is happening now, I have to find the answer. Otherwise, a whole bunch of unsolved mysteries are increasingly suffocating my mind!"

Strangely enough, the tunnel was not damaged much; at least the stainless steel support casings were still neatly and securely connected to each other.

I ran all the way to the end of the tunnel before I had the mind to stop and wipe the steaming sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.

My heavy breathing echoed in the air, growing louder and louder, as if someone were rapidly pushing and pulling an enormous bellows. I hadn't experienced this strange, heavy echo on my previous trips down the mine. Perhaps the explosion had affected the ventilation ducts Yelan had installed, causing air stagnation and resulting in such a loud, resonant breathing echo.

After pausing for four or five minutes, I stepped over the junction of the tunnel and the outer wall of the pyramid and suddenly realized that the lighting inside the tomb was more than twice as strong as that in the tunnel. The light was almost pure white, like snow, and filled the entire space in front of me evenly.

In an instant, I had to cover my mouth tightly to avoid screaming out loud—even so, I stomped my feet seventeen or eighteen times to vent my horror until my feet and calves were completely numb from the shock, and then I slumped backward and fell into the tunnel.

"This isn't the original tomb chamber! It definitely isn't!" That was my first reaction, because the previous ten-meter-square interconnected tomb chambers had all disappeared, replaced by a large, empty square.

In the center of the square, there was an empty pool about twenty meters square. Apart from that, there was nothing else to be seen. There were no 361 tomb chambers, no doorways several meters high, and no strange stone crevices between adjacent tomb chambers.

"What... happened?" I rubbed my eyes hard and pinched my cheeks hard twice.

This is not a dream, nor a hallucination, but a real event—the structure of the tomb has undergone a dramatic transformation, so bizarre that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it even in the writings of mythological novelists.

The white light comes from the pool, just like the yellow light when we first entered the pyramid. These light rays, which are close to mist, have a "diffuse and diffuse" characteristic, rather than just traveling in a straight line, so there are always blind spots that are not illuminated.

I leaned against the stone wall to get up, not daring to move forward, and observed carefully again—the plaza was very large, probably more than 150 meters away. Thinking back, if all the partition walls of the original nineteen tomb chambers were demolished, the resulting axial length would be more than 200 meters, so the exact area of this plaza with a net height of ten meters should also be about 200 meters square.

The height remained unchanged, still around ten meters. My gaze then fell on the northernmost point of the north-south axis, and I instinctively hoped that there would be a doorway or something there—but there was only an unobstructed wall...

"With such a large tomb chamber, wouldn't the upper part be in danger of collapsing at any time if there weren't enough supporting points?"

This is basic architectural knowledge: the shear strength of each building beam is limited. A 200-meter-long slab would likely break due to its own weight alone. Moreover, this is only the base of the Turkic Pyramid; there are countless burial chambers layered upon each other above it, and the cumulative weight would be an incalculable figure.

Therefore, I dare not go any further. Taking risks and acting recklessly is the kind of impulse only bored and impulsive people have. Life is only once, and I need to save it for more meaningful things.

Part 5: The Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes

— Chapter 3 - The Eye of the Moon —

Faced with the sudden and dramatic changes in the tomb, my nerves were tested from chaos to wildness, from wildness to shock, and from shock to awe.

Throughout human history, master architects have never stopped researching the hidden changes and mechanisms within architectural structures. Especially in places like treasure vaults of great significance, builders would rack their brains and exhaust their efforts to set up various mechanisms. But those small mechanisms are at most just the rearrangement of a wall, a room, or even a few doors or windows. How can they compare to the recombination and changes of an entire tomb?

Standing at the entrance to the tomb, the only thing I could exclaim was, "My God! This is beyond the capabilities of humankind on Earth! At least, it's beyond the capabilities of all known humankind on Earth..."

I stood there, leaning against the stone wall, completely oblivious to the passage of time. I was so afraid to take a step forward that I felt as if one step would send me, along with these wondrous structures, into some unknown world.

When the white light reached the gap in the outer wall of the pyramid, it stopped automatically and ceased spreading into the tunnel.

I slowly stretched out my hands, letting my palms soak in the light. I could feel a cool sensation enveloping my palms, as if I were facing the entrance to a huge cold storage.

"Is anyone there?" I mustered my courage and shouted at the top of my lungs.

There was no echo; it was as if the white light possessed a gentle quality that absorbed sound. Of course, whether inside the tunnel or the tomb, I was the only one standing there, lost in thought; there was no one else.

"Who—is—in—the—room—Dr.—Cheney—?" I thought the person who triggered the mechanism was Dr. Cheney, so I started trying to call his name.

There was still no response. Imagine if someone had stepped on the mechanism in a corner of the tomb and caused such a drastic change in the tomb's structure, that person would surely be dead and crushed into a pulp by the movement of the boulders as the mechanism twisted.

Looking down at the ground, it was still covered with various ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, unchanged from when I first entered. The ceiling of the tomb was the same. The only incredible thing was that I couldn't see a single seam between the stones, neither on the ground nor above my head.

"Without the cracks in the stones, how did the structural changes occur?" Especially those dark cracks that originally existed on the ground? After they were squeezed and pieced together, wouldn't there have to be cracks left?

My gaze lingered on the ground ten meters away, hoping to find traces of the pieces being pieced together.

But in the end, I was disappointed. The ground was a seamless whole, and all the hieroglyphs were connected as one, extending forward, as if they had been in this unified state when they were first built.

I crouched down and placed my palms flat on the ground. The stones on the ground were incredibly cold, like ice that had never melted for thousands of years, which made me shiver suddenly and quickly pull my hands back.

Right now, it feels like there's a gaping hole in an icebox in front of me, and if I step inside, I'm immediately in danger of freezing to death.

Hesitating and wavering, I found myself in a dilemma, and decided to retreat and get back to the ground first.

Just then, the sound of hurried running echoed in the tunnel. One of the people running was shouting urgently, "Who's there? Who's there?" It was Gu Ye's voice, frantic and furious, with an almost hysterical hoarseness.

I've always been skeptical of Tani's identity. Without the composure to remain calm even in the face of adversity, how could Tani have achieved his previous international renown in the archaeological world? The current Tani is nothing more than a reckless, cowardly, and selfish brute, certainly not the kind of person who can accomplish great things.

"It's...it's you again?" Gu Ye rushed forward, staring at me with a fierce, beast-like gaze.

Behind him stood the composed James. Even as he sprinted at breakneck speed, James' tie remained impeccably neat, his suit jacket buttoned high, and a friendly smile graced his face. Whether the smile was genuine or feigned, he was smiling, unlike the menacing expression typically seen on the face of a mad dog, like that of Gu Ye.

"It's me, is there something wrong with that?" I replied, leaning against the stone wall, neither humble nor arrogant.

"I have already warned you, everything in the pyramid belongs to—"

I raised my hand to stop him from barking any longer, and retreated a dozen steps into the tunnel to keep myself away from the tomb entrance, so that Tanino wouldn't misunderstand that I was going to argue with him about something.

James calmly put his hands behind his back, looked into the depths of the tomb, and gave a mysterious smile: "Mr. Feng, you're the first one here. Have you made any new discoveries?"

Judging from his tone, he didn't consider the dramatic changes in the tomb as a "new discovery," as if he had expected this step long ago.

“New discovery! New discovery…” Tanino muttered two vulgar swear words in Japanese and stepped inside.

I wanted to say something to him, but seeing how arrogant the Japanese were, I decided to hold back and quietly observe from the sidelines.

Tanino strode into the tomb chamber, seemingly unfazed by the cold, and walked straight toward the pool in the center of the plaza.

James leaned closer to me and asked mysteriously, "Mr. Feng, what's your opinion on that matter we discussed?" Amidst the upheaval, he was only concerned with the "Eye of the Moon," completely disregarding the horrific scene of death and injury scattered throughout the camp.

He and Gu Ye must have been among the second group to awaken, and the most daring and reckless of them, which is why they followed in my footsteps and went down the well.

"No problem, but you have to tell me first, where exactly is the 'Eye of the Moon' hidden?" It's not a pleasant feeling to be treated like a fool by everyone. If even James knows some secrets, then where do Suren and I stand? Are we going to be the target of everyone's attacks?

“Right there…right at the heart of the pyramid…” He pointed toward the source of the white light.

That spot used to hold that enormous gold ingot, beneath which lay a 180-meter-deep square well, and at the bottom of that well, a jade coffin of unknown origin and purpose. And now? What will it look like? Could it have transformed into a strange, 180-meter-deep pool?

Tano, who was already standing by the pool, stopped and suddenly raised his hands, letting out a joyful howl.

James smiled and said, "Look, it seems someone has already found the treasure."

Although he said that, he didn't move an inch forward.

Gu Ye's howl lasted for a full thirty seconds. He stomped his feet excitedly on the ground and pounded his chest repeatedly with his fists, making hollow, hollow sounds. He was already close to madness when he reached the pyramid entrance, and in this state, his emotions were completely out of control.

I took another step back and sighed dejectedly, "Doctor, now that the treasure has appeared, why don't you hurry up and grab it?"

James's composure greatly surprised me. With only three people present, it would be incredibly easy for whoever made the first move and seized the gem. Since he had already promised me a large sum of money to help him retrieve the gem, he should be determined to get it. How could he be so calm?

James took out a piece of chewing gum, slowly put it in his mouth, and suddenly asked a completely unrelated question: "Mr. Feng, you are Chinese, have you ever heard the legend of the ginseng diggers in Northeast China?"

I caught a faint medicinal smell emanating from the chewing gum and smiled noncommittally.

James's background is questionable, and I know that behind every famous person on Earth lies a complex and legendary story. Today, he is a respected doctor, but stripped of this dazzling halo, perhaps his past was that of a notorious bandit.

In particular, some international document forgery groups produce fake passports that are more convincing than official documents issued by governments. With sufficient funding, these groups can even utilize supercomputer hacking to seamlessly "inject" forged identity information into a country's household registration database, artificially creating a legitimate household registration certificate.

"Expert ginseng diggers don't rush to harvest their treasures after discovering them. You see, all animals and plants on Earth emit unique scents as they age, attracting venomous snakes and ferocious beasts to guard their treasures. Your ancient Chinese would call this scent 'divine aura' or 'spiritual aura,' while in America we call it 'the instinct of plants and animals to protect themselves'..."

I understand these things. If you look through ancient unofficial histories, you can always find legends like "poisonous snakes protecting Ganoderma lucidum" or "Azure dragon guarding immortal herbs".

"So, the experts will hide and spy until a reckless newbie jumps out and triggers a crisis in the server. Only then will the experts strike back and seize the treasure..." James laughed smugly, pointing far away at Gu Ye, implying that Gu Ye was the bait who willingly offered himself up.

As he chewed rapidly, the medicinal smell emanating from the gum in his mouth grew stronger and stronger.

Gu Ye was exhausted from pounding his chest and stamping his feet. He stood panting by the pool, bent over, with his hands on his knees. His body was completely enveloped in white light, making him look like a phantom, eerie shadow from a distance.

"Mr. Feng, guess what's in the pool?" James didn't show the slightest eagerness.

"Guess? You already know, why do I need to guess?" I was unwilling to be manipulated by others any longer, so I decided to take the initiative.

"Oh?" James smiled magnanimously, ignoring my question.

"Doctor, I should go back to the surface. You and Gu Ye can keep the treasure. Goodbye!" I was worried about Suren since we hadn't settled in the camp yet, so I decided to temporarily abandon my plan to enter the pyramid.

"What? You...you're not even considering the conditions I proposed?" James was stunned, probably not expecting that someone would back down under the extreme temptation of the "Eye of the Moon".

I nodded, put the flashlight in my pocket, and prepared to retreat.

"Hmm? Mr. Feng, you seem to differ greatly from the descriptions in the professors' recommendation letters? As a future tomb raiding expert, would you remain completely unmoved by a treasure vault that has already been opened?"

I picked up where he left off, and said in a low voice, extremely dissatisfied, "Unless you can give me one of the snake medicines, I'd rather withdraw than be bait for your operation. What do you say?"

A fleeting look of embarrassment crossed James's face, followed by a hearty laugh: "Yes, yes, I thought Mr. Feng possessed extraordinary skills and wouldn't need to take any antidote like I do! The medicine is here, please—"

He took a square stainless steel cigarette case from his suit pocket, popped open the lid, and handed me a stick of white chewing gum. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary piece of chewing gum, but I knew that the faint medicinal scent was definitely from the finest snow lotus grown in the shady back of Mount Everest.

Snow lotus grows on the highest peaks of snow-capped mountains, absorbing the essence of the sun, moon, stars, north wind, and snow, making it the best antidote.

I put the chewing gum in my mouth, chewed it a few times, and a refreshing and cool sensation slowly spread between my lips and teeth, instantly making me feel refreshed and full of energy.

"So, can we talk about terms now?" James resumed his formulaic smile.

I nodded. If the "Eye of the Moon" and the "super weapon" truly existed in the tomb, I would rather let the Americans take them than let the Japanese profit from them. After all, this small island nation in the vast ocean is filled with the lingering flames of militarism, which could reignite at any moment and become the flashpoint for World War III.

"Get the gem, uncover the secret of the 'super weapon'—I can grant you any request if this plan succeeds."

James seemed confident and didn't take the hundreds of Rainbow Warriors in the camp seriously at all.

"OK, I agree. But there's one last question: are you working for the Americans or the Indians?" The appearance of this snow lotus drug had shifted my attention to South Asia, specifically India. Since the US-led Desert Storm attack on the Iraqi government, India had been openly and covertly developing its own nuclear weapons and had never ceased its frenzied acquisition of "enriched uranium" internationally.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Nuclear Energy Survey, India possesses enough enriched uranium to produce more than twenty Hiroshima atomic bombs. Extrapolating from this figure, India's nuclear weapons capability is unbelievably high enough to destroy the entire Asian continent twice over.