(End of this chapter)
Chapter 97 The Prophet's Chamber
Upon entering the tomb, everyone discovered that it was a square tomb chamber of about ten square meters. On the ground was an ancient stone box. This stone box was completely different from the black stones that could be seen everywhere in Jingjue City. It was gray and very simple, with a unique shape that we had never heard of or seen before.
The stone box is more than half a meter high and more than a meter long. It is made with extremely fine craftsmanship and has several stone paintings carved on it. I don't know what it was used for.
The archaeological team was so engrossed in examining the peculiar stone box that they failed to notice the two people sitting cross-legged on either side of it. As they approached, they were startled when their flashlights were suddenly shone on them, causing the team to drop their lights. The stone chamber plunged into darkness, and then the fat man shouted, "Two zombies!"
Seeing this, Mo Mo shone his flashlight over and everyone realized that the two people sitting cross-legged beside the stone box were actually two desiccated corpses.
The remains, one old and one young, had turned dark brown. The old man's beard was still faintly discernible, and he was wrapped in sheepskin. The other body appeared to be that of a young child. They were both sitting cross-legged, seemingly guarding the strange stone box.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but Hu Bayi was clearly startled. After all, he knew how dangerous the zongzi the fat man had mentioned were. So he said to the fat man, "Don't mention zongzi so easily in the future. It's terrifying! These two are clearly almost fossils. They've been dead for at least a thousand years. Damn, this place was originally a tomb."
However, Hu Bayi regretted it as soon as he said it, since the members of the archaeological team all knew a little about tomb raiders.
Sure enough, after listening, Professor Chen said earnestly, "It's good that young people are ambitious, but they can't go astray. Don't waste your precious time."
Hu Bayi knew that he could no longer hide their identities, so he lowered his head and stammered, unable to speak.
Shirley Yang was even more furious when she saw this, saying, "You old Hu, you still want to hide it from me? You three are clearly tomb raiders."
Mo Mo quickly distanced himself, saying, "I'm not a tomb raider. I've only had the idea, but I haven't taken any action yet, so I'm not one."
"Master Mo, you're so disloyal! Didn't we agree to stand together through thick and thin? You're going to be remembered for your infamy forever!" Fatty Wang Kaixuan shouted.
"Alright, now's not the time to talk about this. Let's hurry up and find a way out. We're trapped in this stone chamber, and if we can't find a way out, none of us will get out alive," Professor Chen interrupted Mo Mo and the others.
Everyone thought it made a lot of sense, so they all turned their attention to the stone box in the middle.
The fat man patted the stone box and said, "I wonder which two poor bastards were buried in this small tomb. Apart from the sheepskins on their bodies, there wasn't a single decent burial item. I guess there's nothing good in here."
Shirley Yang carefully examined the patterns carved on the stone box, then suddenly looked up and said, "Do you remember the 'Great Tang Records on the Western Regions' that I mentioned before? It mentions Mount Zaglama."
Hu Bayi replied with some doubt: "I remember, it seems to be said to be a sacred mountain, where two ancient saints are buried. But it can't be just this old man and the young man, can it? This tomb is so simple, it doesn't match the status of the ancient saints."
Shirley Yang replied, "This tomb does not contain the saint. This child is the saint's disciple or son, who is called a prophet. This old man is his servant."
Hu Bayi asked curiously, "How did you know that? Does the carving on the stone box say that? Is there anything else on it?"
Shirley Yang called everyone to look at the stone box: "The dozens of patterns carved on this stone box are an ancient prophecy. The composition is very simple, and the symbolic features are very obvious. I think I can understand part of it."
Professor Chen asked anxiously, "What did it predict? Did it say where the secret passage in this stone chamber is?"
Shirley Yang shook her head and said, "No, this prophecy doesn't seem to be very accurate. The prophet said that after he died, no one came to this tomb until one day, eight people accidentally opened this stone box..."
The fat man counted: "One, two, three, four... There are nine of us here, which shows that this prophet's predictions are inaccurate. He's probably just a charlatan who deceives the world."
Hu Bayi stared at the remaining eight people and said, "If the prophet isn't a fraud, this prophecy might not be referring to us. But there's another possibility... there's one of us here who isn't human."
Compared to the others, Mo Mo was probably the most unsettled among them. He hadn't expected that the prophet would actually predict his arrival. However, Mo Mo was still unsure whether these were the prophet's words or something added to this world later. If they were truly the prophet's prediction, then this world was far more complex than he thought.
"Since the first stone box didn't yield any clues, let's look at the second one!" Before anyone could react, the fat man opened the second stone box.
When the box was opened, it contained an ancient parchment book. Shirley Yang picked up the book, held it in her hands, and said as she looked at it, "These are all drawings by ancient sages, and it seems to contain a lot of information about the Ghost Cave."
Since none of them had experienced the dangers of the original story, it's likely that if given another chance, only a few would return. However, they are now trapped and can only hope that this picture book will show them a way out.
Shirley Yang said, "You have to look at it from the beginning to understand the whole story, otherwise you might not be able to decipher the final picture. The beginning part tells of a sacred mountain in the ancient Western Regions, which is the Zaglama Mountain where we are now. This mountain is surrounded by rivers and has a lot of flora and fauna. Four tribes live here..."
Although everyone was extremely anxious, they could only listen attentively as Shirley Yang began to explain.
Shirley Yang continued, "Good times don't last. People discovered a bottomless cave in the Zaglama Mountains. No one could reach the bottom, and everyone wanted to know what kind of world lay within. One of the four tribes had a high priest who commissioned the creation of a jade eyeball, hoping that through the power of the true god, he could see whether this bottomless cave was auspicious or evil. However, a large-scale ritual not only failed to reveal what lay beneath the bottomless cave but also brought disaster. First, the high priest went blind and died a violent death. Then, a strange serpent appeared nearby, threatening the safety of people and livestock. These serpents were numerous, each with a strange eye on its head, and their venom was extremely potent, killing countless people and animals. The four tribes elected two saints favored by the true god, who, along with their warriors, killed the mother serpent. This was a monster with a human head, a snake's body, and four limbs. It would hatch eyeball-like eggs, each of which could produce hundreds of serpents. If they were allowed to multiply, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Everyone was amazed upon hearing this. The fat man couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, there really were such strange snakes with human heads in ancient times! Luckily we didn't encounter them, or they would have been really difficult to deal with."
After listening to the fat man's words, Shirley Yang said, "It is likely that the story of the ancient sage eliminating the snake is true, but the snake-beast with a human head and a snake body may not actually exist. Ancient people often exaggerated and mythologized important events. For example, the war between the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor in China and Chi You may have been just a battle between hundreds of people from different tribes, but in ancient records, it was depicted as a magnificent war that even involved gods and beasts."
After listening, Hu Bayi gave a thumbs-up and praised, "Indeed, a brilliant idea. What will happen next? Could you please tell us as soon as possible?"
After listening, Shirley Yang rolled her eyes at Hu Bayi and continued, "The snake beasts were wiped out, and the sage threw the snake corpses into the bottomless pit at the foot of Mount Zagrama. The sage learned through divine oracle that this cave was a cave of calamity, and the jade eyeball had already opened the door to disaster. After that, a prophet was born in one of the tribes, that is, this child with prophetic abilities. Hmm... Next is the prophet's prophecy about Mount Zagrama. After the tribe's sage died, he was buried in Mount Zagrama. The prophet can predict major events thousands of years later through rituals, but his range is limited to the vicinity of Mount Zagrama. This may be because the tribe's sage, who was regarded as a god, was buried here. The prophet's abilities were all bestowed by the two sages and the true god."
Finally, they got to the point. Everyone listened intently to Shirley Yang's words. Whether they could get out of this hellish place depended on the prophet's prediction. The answer to survival and death was about to be revealed, and the group's hearts began to race slightly.
Shirley Yang said, "Don't be so nervous. I just flipped through it, and there seems to be some revelation in the back that can help us leave Zagrama. However, we need to combine it with the previous content for further consideration. Don't rush, let's take it one step at a time."
Shirley Yangyang continued explaining the prophecy in the parchment: "The prophet foretold that eight hundred years after his death, his tribe, to escape disaster, would have already migrated to the far east, and a new tribe would arrive at Mount Zaglama. This tribe came from the western desert, and they discovered a ghost cave in the mountains. The tribe's shamans claimed that this was the dwelling place of the demon god. This tribe was the predecessor of the Jingjue Kingdom. The Jingjue Queen had a pair of ghost eyes that could see into the underworld. She mastered the ritual of summoning the evil spirit of the black snake with the jade eye sacrificial vessel, and used it to conquer more than ten neighboring countries. Their atrocities angered the true god, who gave this mountain and the surrounding area to the devil. The desert swallowed their city, and all the people and livestock of this country, as well as the evil spirit of the black snake in the ghost cave, would be buried deep underground."
Shirley Yang continued, "Finally, there was the revelation for those of us who entered the Prophet's Tomb... The revelation foretold that eight survivors would enter the tomb due to a landslide, one of whom was a descendant of the Sage's tribe, and among them was a terrifying being, a being comparable to a god."
Hu Bayi asked curiously, "Descendants? Does that mean having the bloodline of that ancient tribe? Since it didn't specify who it is, I think you're the most likely candidate. Otherwise, why didn't Fatty and I dream about the Ghost Cave? And you might have inherited some of your tribe's precognitive abilities, allowing you to see in advance where you're destined to go. As for gods, do such things really exist in this world?"
The fat man agreed, saying, "That's right, the descendant of the prophet is definitely Miss Yang. Old Hu, we didn't notice before. Her nose is a bit hooked, and her eyes are slightly blue. We thought it was because she had been in America for a long time, but now it seems that she inherited her ancestor's bloodline. She's not Chinese at all. As for gods, I think only Master Mo is somewhat like one, mysterious and unpredictable. But if Master Mo is a god, Old Hu, we'll be rich. If Master Mo gives us a few pills of immortality, we'll be rich."
Mo Mo was speechless, thinking to himself, "This fat guy really guessed right." After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't have the elixir of immortality, but I do have a few Tiger Back and Bear Waist Pills. I just don't know if you can handle them."
"Wow, Mr. Mo, you have such good stuff! Please give me a dozen when we get back," the fat man exclaimed after hearing this.
Hu Bayi was afraid that Fatty's words were too impulsive and would anger Shirley Yang again. Moreover, Mo Mo and Fatty's conversation had gone a bit off-topic, so he quickly said, "This background is really bizarre. But why do you have the surname Yang?"
Shirley Yang was also somewhat unable to accept this, shaking her head and saying, "I don't know. My family has been Chinese for generations. Maybe it's my mother's bloodline. My maternal grandfather's hooked nose is quite obvious... Regardless of who the descendants mentioned in the prophet's revelation are, it doesn't matter now. The most urgent thing is to leave here as soon as possible. The later revelation shows that the saints will point out a way to escape for their descendants. But never drop the parchment book on the ground. When the parchment book falls to the ground, that's when the sandstorm will begin. At that time, the yellow sand will once again engulf the ancient city of Jingjue and Mount Zaglama. This time, the sacred mountain will be buried by the sea of sand until the end of time."
Hu Bayi quickly reminded Shirley Yang, "Whatever you do, don't let this parchment fall to the ground, or a huge sandstorm will immediately sweep it up and bury the sacred mountain along with it before we even leave. What else is on the cover?"
Shirley Yang said, "This is the last part; there's nothing more. The Sage will point out an escape route. See if there are any clues on the Sage's remains."
Mo Mo narrowed his eyes, because the page in the original story that was blank actually had something drawn on it, but only Mo Mo could see it. The content on it made Mo Mo even more interested in this world.
I didn't get home until 7 PM tonight, so this is the only chapter I have today. This is after I wrote most of it last night. I'll try to finish it tomorrow. As someone who gets carsick, I spent the whole day changing vehicles – from buses to public buses, then to the high-speed rail, then back to buses again. I felt awful. I'll definitely never travel far again unless absolutely necessary.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 98 Leaving the Desert
The last page of the picture book contained only a few simple sentences, but despite their brevity, they revealed a great deal of information. At least, they gave Mo Mo a general understanding of some things and some basic changes in this world.
There are three sentences in the picture book. The first sentence reads, "Outsider, please do not disrupt the workings of this world, for doing so will bring you endless disasters." It carries a slightly warning tone.
The second sentence reads, "If you can help them and facilitate their progress, we will reward you handsomely," which has a hint of enticement.
The last sentence is quite interesting. It says, "Enter the Ghost Cave, become a Heavenly Gifted One, and bring other Heavenly Gifted Ones in. I will reward you with an exceptionally generous reward, including a small world." Entering the Ghost Cave means entering another world. Becoming a Heavenly Gifted One and leading other Heavenly Gifted Ones in is essentially a world invasion. Strangely, this world did not resist and even took the initiative to help. This is quite intriguing. However, Mo Mo did not have much information, so he could not speculate.
However, Mo Mo knew that as long as he continued his adventure with Hu Bayi and the others, he would definitely be able to remove that veil of mystery, see his true face, and thoroughly understand the truth of the matter. Of course, the premise was that he could not reveal his strength, because once his strength was exposed, there would be no fun left.
Mo Mo's mind raced. Just then, the fat man patted Mo Mo on the shoulder and said, "Master Mo, among us, you and Old Hu are the most knowledgeable about feng shui and such. Have you found a way out?"
After being shoved by the fat man, Mo Mo came to his senses and said, "I do know a little, but these things weren't built according to these principles at all. No matter how good I am, I can't tell! I'll keep looking and see if I can find any revelations from the prophet."
So the nine began a thorough search, but after looking several times, they found nothing. There were no clues, symbols, pictures, or writings on the prophet's body. The fat man, impatient, even rummaged through the prophet's remains, but still found nothing.
The prophet's remains were in a seated position, cross-legged, with one hand resting beside the stone casket and the other hand flat on his knee. There was not even a gesturing hand. Apart from the clothes that had decayed into powder and a sheepskin covering his body, there was nothing else on him.
The group searched their surroundings again, looking for any hidden mechanisms or secret passages. However, the tomb was carved out of a rocky mountain, its walls made of solid rock with some small cracks in certain places. A slight breeze could be felt when they reached in, suggesting the tomb wasn't far from the mountaintop. But without explosives or tools, carving an escape route through the rocks was virtually impossible. Even with explosives, they had to be careful; the tomb wasn't large, and if the explosives were too powerful, they might be blown to bits instead of finding an exit.
The only entrance to this tomb chamber is the crack through which they entered. There used to be a stone door there, but when they came in, they didn't pay much attention to the tomb passage outside in order to avoid the countless falling rocks. It was only because of the crack in the mountain that the escape crevice and the tomb passage were connected, which allowed them to enter. However, this path has now been blocked by rocks, and it is absolutely impossible to go back and find the tomb passage to get out.
Everyone was in a panic, but Mo Mo remained calm as always. After all, they were not far from the mountaintop. If he really went out, he could probably punch through the mountain wall. Moreover, Mo Mo knew that the prophet's final revelation was about to arrive.
Sure enough, just as everyone was anxiously searching around, a sudden tremor came from beneath their feet, and a series of faint cracking sounds emanated from the mountain. The sounds grew louder and louder, and the ground tremors intensified, indicating that the landslide had accelerated. Although it wasn't caused by the explosives used by Hu Bayi and his crew in the original series, this place had been there for a long time, and a large portion of the mountain had been hollowed out. Once it collapsed, it would be a complete collapse, and it was only a matter of time.
A violent tremor shook the tomb, and three large cracks appeared in the tomb chamber. One crack was on the ground, and the other two were on the left and right sides of the tomb chamber, large and narrow enough for a person to pass through.
Everyone was somewhat helpless at this sight, while the fat man cursed directly: "******, three choices? This kid is playing us for a fool. Let's split into three groups. It's better for three of us to get out than for us to all be buried in this mountain."
Shirley Yang pointed to the prophet's remains and said, "The prophet has shown us the way!" Her voice trembled as she could not contain her excitement.
When everyone looked down, they saw that the large crack in the ground had caused the stone casket to sink halfway in, and the prophet's remains were lying to one side, with his right hand pointing directly at the large crack on the left side of the tomb.
Just as everyone was thanking the prophets and saints for their protection, Mo Mo had already pulled Ye Yixin to the large crack on the left, and Ye Yixin had been pushed inside by Mo Mo.
The fat man, with his sharp eyes, spotted it immediately and exclaimed, "Master Mo, you're not being loyal! You ran off again!"
Hearing the fat man's words, Mo Mo walked forward without turning his head, protecting Ye Yixin and saying, "You guys are stupid. Don't you see what the situation is? If you want to express your gratitude, you should go outside first!"
Meanwhile, the falling rubble from above the tomb grew larger and larger, creating a continuous rumbling sound, making it impossible to stand inside. Fortunately, although there were many of them, they were all quite agile, and Ye Yixin, who needed the most care, had already been taken away by Mo Mo beforehand, so none of them were injured and they all successfully ran into the large crevice.
After crawling through the crack on the left side of the tomb wall, I hadn't gone far when a dazzling white light appeared, and the long-lost sky appeared above my head.
The drop from the mountaintop was only a few meters, but the mountain was shaking violently. Cracks appeared in the rocks, and the ground was covered with loose stones. It was very difficult to slip and fall with each step. If Mo Mo hadn't been there to protect her, Ye Yixin would probably have fallen off the mountain long ago.
After Mo Mo led Ye Yixin to the top of the mountain, Fatty also came out. Seeing this, Mo Mo quickly threw down a rope and had the others pull on it. Finally, relying on this rope, the remaining people all climbed up.
Just as Hu Bayi, who was at the back, climbed up, the stone wall behind him collapsed with a loud crash, splitting the entire Zaglama Mountain in two. The huge arched ceiling of the Ghost Cave could not withstand the pressure and continued to collapse, smashing the stone beams that originally held the Queen's coffin, as well as countless treasures and giant-eyed stone statues, into the bottomless Ghost Cave.
The Ghost Cave is like a demon opening its gaping black maw on the earth, devouring everything inside the mountain. The collapsed mountain fell into the Ghost Cave and disappeared without even a ripple.
By the time everyone reached the summit, the setting sun over the desert had become blurred. A gentle breeze carrying fine sand swept by, casting an ominous shadow over the world. Old Man Anliman had once said that this kind of wind was a sign that a black sandstorm was coming, and that the prophet's prediction of the end of Zaglama had finally arrived.
It was only then that Shirley Yang realized that her backpack had been slashed at some point, and the parchment book inside was missing. Shirley Yang was filled with regret. The prophet's prediction was clear: when the parchment book fell to the ground, a sandstorm that would engulf Mount Zagrama would occur.
The breeze carrying fine sand was the best proof of this. Seeing this, everyone rushed down the mountain without taking a break. The side of the mountain closest to the ancient city of Jingjue had completely collapsed, and the huge, hollow half of the mountain was now covering the Ghost Cave, sealing the entrance forever.
The side of the mountain where everyone descended was the entrance to the Zaglama Valley. According to the group, after coming down, they would cross the valley to meet up with Anliman's camel caravan, since the sandstorm had already begun and without camels, No. 11 would not be able to get out on his own.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they heard the sound of hooves echoing in the valley. Anliman, an old man, looked flustered and was shouting loudly, trying to drive the camels away.
Upon seeing this, the fat man shouted, "Old man, all your oaths are bullshit!"
Anliman was also surprised to see Mo Mo and the others at the entrance of the valley. He quickly said, "Praise be to God. It seems that our encounter here was arranged by Hu Da again."
No one had time to say much to him. They each found a camel and climbed on. After Mo Mo helped Ye Yixin onto the camel, he said, "Anliman, the black sandstorm is coming. There's no way to avoid it. You should quickly lead everyone that way."
Without further ado, Anliman mounted his camel and led the group forward.
The sky had completely darkened. This time, it was a whirlwind, its eye resembling a ghostly cave in the mountains. The wind was gradually intensifying, and the sand stung their faces. Old Man Anliman hadn't expected this sandstorm to arrive so quickly; there had been no warning whatsoever. Apart from the ruins of Zaglama and the ancient city of Jingjue, there was nowhere to hide in this vast desert. But since it was a whirlwind, the farther away from the eye, the safer it would be. He just needed to find a direction and keep running. Whether they could escape depended entirely on Old Man Hu's mood.
Just as everyone was running forward, strange sounds came from behind, like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves, or like the surging of the sea. Instantly, a strong wind arose, and a strong wind carrying sand and dust swept across the sky. In addition, it was dark and the visibility was extremely low. Although they covered their mouths with headscarves, countless sand and stones still entered their ears and noses.
After running a considerable distance, the camels gradually became unresponsive. Anliman stopped the caravan. At this point, no one could hear what anyone was saying. He made a few hand gestures and gathered the frightened camels into a circle.
After Mo Mo and his group stopped, they built a sand wall on the spot, hid among the camels, and then covered the camels' eyes with blankets to prevent them from being frightened and escaping. Everyone also wrapped themselves in blankets and huddled together.
Fortunately, everyone had moved away from the eye of the storm. This was already the edge of the sandstorm. If the sandstorm was so fierce at the edge, the eye of the storm might tear people to pieces.
The next day, the sandstorm finally stopped. When they got up, they found that although Mo Mo's appearance had prevented them from losing too much water, the remaining water would only last for two more days. Just when everyone was at a loss, Anliman shouted, "Hu Da's envoy!" A white figure appeared on the sand dune not far from them.
It turned out to be the white camel that Mo Mo and his companions had seen before arriving in Xiye City. It was leisurely strolling on the sand dunes, slowly heading west.
Old Man Anliman was so excited that he could hardly speak. The appearance of the white camel in the cursed black desert meant that the ancient curse had been lifted and Hu Da had reclaimed the desert. Following Hu Da's messenger, they would surely find water.