Ancient tomb excavation traces

I don't know when that corroded, deathly face appeared, but I'm certain this guy meant no harm. I saw him lurking in the grass, his eyes fixed on us with hostility and coldness. It wasn't a good feeling. We stared at each other for a while before the strange man moved first. As his upper body rose from the grass, I noticed he was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt with a black collar adorned with wavy red embroidery—from a distance, it resembled the color scheme of a Chu-style lacquer painting.

Looking at his clothes, I realized that the strange man was not a savage, but someone who lived in seclusion in the mountains, like the villagers in "The Peach Blossom Spring".

Unexpectedly, he simply ran away without making a move, but I felt he wasn't the kind of wild beast that would abandon its hunt and leave. Watching his strange figure disappear into the deep forest, I suddenly felt he might be a messenger, a little devil about to bring us bloodshed.

My heart began to feel uneasy. It was like finding a centipede on my bed. Even though it ran away, you still felt that the bed was creepy and no longer a place to sleep.

The young Taoist priest shared the same view, saying that judging from the strange man's attire, he seemed like a barbarian. Since we were here, he must have considered us enemies, and if we didn't leave soon, there might be unpredictable dangers. He urged us to get up and not stay in this exposed area.

In fact, I didn't know much about the term "barbarian," but Bao Cai knew quite a bit. He explained to me softly, "Young master, the barbarians should be the Miao people of our time!"

Upon hearing this, I suddenly realized, thinking to myself: No wonder his clothes seemed so unusual to me; he's a Miao person. Then, a crucial point dawned on me, and I quickly exclaimed, "Miao! He's a Miao person!"

Bao Cai, taken aback by my call, looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "Yes, Miao person, what's wrong?"

I said, "Do you remember Liu Hua and Tie Niu? The ancestors they kept talking about..."

Bao Cai didn't understand what I was trying to say and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I said, "Could those Miao people just now be the ancestors of Liuhua and Tieniu?" I made a bold assumption, feeling a sense of excitement as I unraveled the mystery.

Bao Cai said, "There are too many Miao people, what are the chances of such a coincidence..."

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure about this sudden answer either. However, comparing the location where we had the accident with our current location, they seem to be quite similar. Tie Niu said they live in the mountains and are un-assimilated Miao people, so the strange-faced Miao people we saw earlier could very well be Liu Hua's ancestors. But one thing is inexplicable: we're now going to the Chu tomb that the seven tomb raiders entered. Normally, we shouldn't encounter Liu Hua and Tie Niu's ancestors, unless the two tombs are in the same area!

As I thought about it, I realized that this conclusion was too strange, and I didn't know why I would connect the Miao people and the ancestors of Tie Niu, but I just had such a strong premonition.

As I was deep in thought, Bao Cai waved his hand in front of me and said, "Young master, don't think about it... Whoever they are, it has nothing to do with us, but... if we don't leave soon, it might become a problem."

Seeing Bao Cai's worried and uneasy expression, I thought to myself, "He's right. After all, we're complete strangers to them." Besides, if my assumption is correct, then the Miao people from earlier must have known about the Chu tomb. The reason they live here is probably to protect their revered ancestors. This reminded me of the human-shaped stone carvings I saw in the stream. I wondered: could they have been made by the Miao people? And were those alluring flowers meant to scare away those who wanted to visit the ancient tomb?

All the mysteries churned in my mind, and that strange face vaguely surfaced in my head, giving me a chill just thinking about it. Before long, we set off on our path through the forest. The sky had darkened, turning a mysterious, eerie blue. I dared not use the bicycle light I'd brought from the modern world anymore, because if we reached the Chu Tomb and there was no light at all, we'd truly be groping in the dark.

As we walked, the young Taoist priest looked worried. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he hadn't expected to encounter barbarians in this place. Seeing his somewhat apprehensive expression, I quickly asked, "Are these barbarians very powerful?"

The young Taoist priest asked in surprise, "Brother Feng, you don't know about barbarians?"

I felt a little embarrassed by his question, because in our time, the Miao brothers and sisters were in the same big family as us, so how could we talk about who was more powerful or not? I had even traveled to a Miao village before and had a good impression of the Miao people.

Seeing that I didn't speak, the young Taoist priest asked me with a puzzled look, "Brother Fengliu, you saw that person's face just now, didn't you?"

I said yes, his face was too strange. The young Taoist priest said, "Didn't you notice the back of his head?"

Bao Cai and I both shook our heads and asked the masked man what was wrong with the back of his head. The little Taoist priest said with a solemn expression, "There's a hole on it..."

"Kong?" I asked, puzzled.

The young Taoist priest walked ahead on his own, giving us another chilling answer: "It shouldn't be called a hole, it should be called a wormhole!"

"Insect eye!" Bao Cai and I exclaimed in unison upon hearing this.

The young Taoist priest stopped and turned back, saying, "The barbarians' strength lies in the Gu worms they raise. These things are very sinister. If that person comes looking for us, we'll be in trouble."

When I heard about Gu worms, I felt my scalp tingle. I always thought it was just a legend, but I never expected it to actually exist.

There are many folk tales about Gu worms, but they are all incredibly mystical. For example, the most powerful one I've heard of is the Golden Silkworm Gu. Its legend is that twelve kinds of poisons are placed in a sealed container and allowed to kill each other. In the end, the strongest one devours the other poisons and refines a golden body, becoming the king of Gu worms.

I've heard that this kind of poisonous insect, once it enters the stomach, will devour a person's internal organs. Expelling it is no easy task, because this thing is extremely strange; it can survive fire and drowning. If this monstrous concoction enters a person's body, they truly cannot live or die. Thinking of this, I shuddered, realizing that if that strange person really came looking for me, I would be doomed.

Thinking this through, I quickened my pace. The young Taoist priest said the strange-faced man might be a Gu worm feeder, offering his body to the Gu worms. Hearing this, I imagined the scene and suddenly remembered a report my old friend had forced me to read during dinner. It mentioned an African maggot that supposedly likes to nest on women's unclean underwear, thus parasitizing the chest and forming a lotus-like nest. If the back of that strange man's head was like that too, then for someone like me with trypophobia, I'd have to gouge out my eyes.

By this time, it was getting dark. We had encountered hostile Miao people in the forest, and we didn't want to start a fire, but it was really hard to find our way. With no other option, I took out a lighter from my down jacket. This was Lao Tiao's treasure. When the young Taoist saw this thing, he kept asking me what it was and how it could start a fire by itself. I lied to him and said it was an ancient treasure called a fire starter, and he believed me.

We walked very carefully, not daring to set up camp anytime soon. To be honest, the closer we got to the tomb, the more uneasy we felt. However, walking in the forest at night wasn't as carefree as it was shown on TV and in movies. The three of us decided to rest for a while. The young Taoist priest still had water in his bamboo jar, which we shared. He then picked some wild berries for us. To be honest, seeing those things made my mouth water, and I had absolutely no appetite.

Just then, a bird chirped a few times in the tree branch, flapped its wings, and flew away, leaving an empty echo. Our hearts were already pounding; only after confirming it was just a bird that had flown away did we breathe a sigh of relief and lower our guard.

Bao Cai said he was going to pee in the wild, and I jokingly told him to be careful not to get grabbed by some dirty thing. He took it to heart and insisted on relieving himself behind the tree we were leaning against.

A strong stench suddenly filled the air. I turned around and cursed. Inadvertently, I saw a shadowy figure moving behind a tree ahead. Then, something suddenly swayed to my left, and I heard a "whoosh" from the bushes.

The atmosphere froze instantly. I glanced at the young Taoist priest, who whispered, "We're in trouble..."

I nodded and slowly stood up. Just then, Bao Cai, who was behind the tree, asked us what we were doing and why we were making such a rustling noise. He didn't seem to care about his voice. When he returned to our spot, we looked at him with extremely serious expressions. He realized something was wrong and asked us tremblingly, "What... what's going on?"

I said, "Something's up, get the knife ready..."

He was completely stunned at this point, so he drew his knife very quickly without thinking at all. To be on the safe side, I took out my gun, while the young Taoist priest used his peach wood sword. The three of us took our positions, ready for something uncertain to appear in the darkness.

The enemy is in the shadows, while we are in the open. If they are wild beasts, then we've wandered into their territory, ready to become their sumptuous dinner. If they are Miao people, then we might as well be eaten by wild beasts…

Just then, the whistling sounds in the darkness increased, and then shadowy figures appeared before us. My heart skipped a beat, and I thought to myself: It's like what I didn't want has come to pass!

By the faint firelight, we saw what was behind the tree—the Miao people! They wore dark blue robes, their faces as pale as melting wax, and most unsettlingly, their shoulders slumped, their heads unusually large, making them resemble bizarre stone sculptures. One of them was particularly striking—a woman. She wore a purplish-black robe embroidered with ornate patterns, appearing like a noble goddess. However, her hairstyle was peculiar, her head styled in a complex high bun adorned with numerous headdresses, including silver flowers and hairpins. Judging from her attire and cold expression, I imagined this woman held a very high position among the Miao people, for beside her was a remarkably beautiful deer.

Looking at these Miao people up close, my mind was in a mess. Only one sentence from the young Taoist priest cleared my thoughts. He lowered his voice and reminded me, "This woman must be a witch!"

Speaking of the shaman, I couldn't help but connect her to the Chu tombs. In Chu shamanistic culture, two things are supreme and considered to coexist: the shaman and deer antlers. In the eyes of the Chu people, deer antlers could connect heaven and earth and were a powerful assistant to the shaman. Therefore, the appearance of this shaman and the deer confirms a hypothesis—these people were indeed the ancestors of Tie Niu, guarding their ancestral tombs. As for who those ancestors were, that remains unknown… And those human-shaped stone sculptures, as the young Taoist priest said, represent a form of worship. The presence of a shaman among them must have implied a desire to guide souls to heaven. Therefore, like most of the tomb guardian beasts unearthed in Chu tombs, these human-shaped stone sculptures were meant to protect the deceased tomb owners.

As I speculated, the witch said something we couldn't understand to the strange-faced man beside her. I saw a fierce glint in her eyes, and I couldn't help but grip the gun in my hand tighter, thinking that if the situation became critical, I would fight them to the death.

But things were worse than I expected. As soon as the witch finished speaking, those strange-faced men suddenly turned around. At that moment, I heard a gurgling sound, followed by a strange smell emanating from them.

The smell made me feel nauseous. Just then, Bao Cai suddenly cried out, "Oh my god... that person's head... head!" He was so frightened that he couldn't speak coherently. My gaze fell on the six Miao people standing in a row next to the witch. I could see that their scalps were covered with dense wormholes, with many slightly flattened, dark red worms growing in the fleshy holes. The sight was creepy, like a close-up shot of a beehive in an "insect world" on TV.

I got goosebumps watching this, and Bao Cai was already dry heaving beside us. But before we could think any further, the young Taoist priest yelled at us, "Back off! They can control Gu worms!"

Upon hearing this, I shuddered, but before we could retreat, the worm had already flown out of the hole in my brain. This was the first time I had ever known that a Gu worm could fly!