Ancient tomb excavation traces

The existence of "Zhang Banxian" was originally a legend passed down from his ancestors. He was revered and admired in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and gathered many powerful disciples.

In his youth, he participated in tomb raiding activities with his ancestors' "Mojin Men" (a group of tomb raiders), and was a master of finding veins and exorcising ghosts, known as "Half-Immortal." His Taoist arts were so powerful that even figures like Cao Cao revered him as a deity. Later records further mythologized him, giving him the ability to ascend to heaven and traverse the earth.

But at the height of his fame, he vanished without a trace. Some say Zhang Banxian died in an ancient tomb. Others say he was immortal, renounced the world, and chose to live in seclusion. Still others say he became obsessed with Taoism and went to seek the path to immortality.

Although I don't know his ultimate fate, it's still incredibly exciting to meet such a legendary figure under these circumstances. Chen Yi and I exchanged a glance, our shock unspoken, until Bao Cai asked us, "Are you two alright? You're still spacing out in a place like this?"

I snapped out of my daze and really wanted to smack Bao Cai on the head and tell him: "You little brat, don't you know you gave that little Taoist priest an awesome title, making him known as Zhang the Half-Immortal for over a thousand years!" However, there was no time to share this excitement right now, because the place we were in wasn't the cave with murals I had seen before. In the midst of the confusion just now, I had forgotten how I got here.

Once I was fully awake, I looked around and my hair stood on end.

In the dim, ever-burning light, the space seemed mysterious and eerie. I murmured to myself, overwhelmed by the sheer awe I felt; I couldn't believe I was in a place entirely made of bronze.

I walked slowly through this magnificent room, filled with deep admiration. All the exquisite carvings here must have required the skill of a hundred or so artisans. What attracted my attention most were the four women standing on each of the bronze walls on the east and west sides of the space. They had delicate features, stood high above, wore deer antler hats, and held various ritual implements and wine vessels. The implements were inlaid with blue and red gemstones and contained a substance resembling clay.

Seeing soil in such a place struck me as odd. Just as I was about to pick it up and examine it closely, Chen Yu quickly told me to stop, saying that it was best not to touch the strange things I had seen in the tomb, as there might be poisonous or dangerous substances mixed in.

Chen Yi's reminder made me stop, but the presence of soil in the sacrificial vessels was truly perplexing. However, I didn't dwell on soil, which is the most common substance in real life, and continued studying the shaman statues. Their lower bodies were integrated with the bronze walls, while their upper bodies stretched outwards, creating the effect of fairies about to take flight—they looked incredibly lifelike.

The young Taoist priest beside me looked at the bronze statues very intently, as if he had noticed something. He said, "Their expressions are very devout, as if they are performing a prayer ceremony."

I nodded, agreeing with his thought. As I was observing their features, my face met the eyes of one of the witches, and for a moment, my mind went blank, like the sound of random radio waves.

"Hiss..." I slapped my forehead a few times. The young Taoist priest asked me what was wrong, and I said it was nothing. But in the midst of this headache, my eyes caught a glimpse of something. It was those bronze statues, dressed in dark purple robes, holding sacrificial implements. In their sleeves, I could vaguely see knives hidden inside.

Among them was a particularly alluring woman. She held a bloodstained knife in one hand and a human head in the other. The head was disheveled, pale and bluish-white, and looked extremely ferocious. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Chen Tiao!

I took a step back, constantly reminding myself: it's an illusion, just an illusion.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping for breath. My sweat soaked the bronze-cast ground, but then it turned into bright red blood. Just as I was about to break down and my legs wouldn't obey me, a soft hand grabbed my chin and lifted my face higher and higher.

The woman in front of me was very fair-skinned, with arched eyebrows and watery eyes; she was a stunning beauty. She smiled slightly at me and then raised the sickle in her hand.

Beautiful things are always accompanied by cruelty. I screamed, and then, with a surge of courage from who-knows-where, I pulled out my gun and aimed it at her forehead. A loud "bang" rang out, and blood gushed from her face like a burst dam. She didn't fall; her eyes were fixed on me, as if she were smiling. I struggled to my feet, and heard her deep voice behind me. I turned around in terror. It was that familiar phrase: "Those who dare to trespass into the tomb will have their bones rot and be forever condemned to the abyss..."

"Haha..." With a piercing laugh, the dark figure, exuding a chilling aura, vanished, leaving me only with a gasp of shock and disbelief. The smile on her lips was familiar, like... My heart skipped a beat. It was the layered shadows I'd seen in the outer cavern. How could this be? I was terrified. Who were these people? Why did I keep seeing these illusions?

Confused, I stood frozen in place. The young Taoist priest continued studying the bronze wall beside me, as if my earlier bewilderment existed only in my mind, while my body remained unresponsive. This realization sent a chill down my spine. I wondered if something had gone wrong with my mind. But then I remembered the hallucination I had when I saw the stone gate in modern times, which had manifested in our journey through time. Suddenly, I felt that perhaps this was a harbinger of doom. If it came true, we would all die a horrible death!

"No...it can't be that coincidental..." I muttered to myself, thinking that I've been too sensitive lately, so I keep unconsciously falling into a state of confusion.

The young Taoist priest noticed something was wrong and asked me what was wrong. Just as I was about to explain, Bao Cai exclaimed, "Old man, young master! There's that...that flying bird and swimming fish on this bronze door, and that sentence!"

Birds and fish are all too familiar to us, but that curse is etched into my memory. My original purpose in coming here was to unravel all the mysteries and return to the modern world. But the tomb I'm in now isn't the Stone Gate Tomb that led me there, so my hopes are temporarily dashed.

I walked over to Bao Cai. Directly in front of us were two enormous bronze doors, their somber atmosphere carrying a chilling aura, like gateways to another world. They exuded a faint coldness, seemingly possessing some kind of magic that compelled one to reach out and touch their patterns, to feel their historical imprints.

"That female demon has such strange and bizarre tastes. The man-eating vine clearly feeds on human blood, so why does she always use that pattern? And these birds and fish, they look so weird! Tsk tsk, what kind of taste and fetish is this!" Bao Cai scolded.

The Miao shaman, hands clasped, snorted coldly and said, "You don't understand, yet you criticize my ancestors!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi interrupted, "Your ancestors had the same taste as you. Tell me, what kind of bird is this?"

The witch rolled her eyes at Chen Yi, about to retort, when the young Taoist priest stood behind us and said, "This is a phoenix, one of the Five Phoenixes. Legend says it is unwavering in its love and can even go to the underworld for love..."

"And what about the fish?" I had clearly developed absolute trust in the young Taoist's extensive knowledge.

"Its tail is long and flowing, like a thin veil...like a shark's tail..."

"A mermaid's tail? Is it a mermaid?" I asked.

The young Taoist priest nodded and said, "It should be... but the legend of the mermaids has always been tinged with a tragic tone..."

His words reminded me of the poignant love between the high-ranking Chu witch and the musician Wu Xia, a love that could never be fulfilled. She used the phoenix as a metaphor for herself and the lowly mermaid to represent the musician Wu Xia, then combined these two images to symbolize their reunion.

This made me understand why there are so many bizarre patterns in the artifacts unearthed by the ancients that are hard to understand. Their existence may have a deeper meaning, just like the patterns on this bronze door.

Upon seeing this, I felt fortunate to be able to experience the thrill of excavation in this era, because in modern times, we cannot correctly interpret some patterns, and at times like these, we really need contemporary people to step in and explain them to us.

After a moment of clarity, Chen Yi analyzed that the place they were in was the true antechamber, and the place beyond this bronze door might be the main coffin chamber of the Chu witch.

But the thorny problem we face now is that this door is so huge and heavy that even a dozen Chen Tiao wouldn't be able to move it open. Having no other choice, we discussed the matter and all agreed that the method to open the bronze door is some kind of ingeniously designed mechanism, and that it's located in this anteroom.

After this study, we began our search in this space. However, Chen Yi looked very unwell. I asked him if he was feeling unwell, and he shook his head, saying no. But I remembered that he had encountered poisonous bamboo slips at the Qin Master's Tomb, saying that the poison could take effect at any time. While I was concerned about his condition, I was also worried about our ancestors outside. They had not followed us and I did not know if they had escaped danger.

This thought made me slightly agitated. Just when I was at a loss, I looked at the square space and suddenly felt that it was like an enlarged version of a "ding" (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel). The ding was covered with various fine cloud patterns, which originated in the Warring States period and symbolized promotion and good fortune. Its shape was somewhat like a sandalwood plate.

At the top of the bronze wall on the east side were dragon-like patterns. I stared at them for a while, then realized something and quickly looked south. Sure enough, I exclaimed, "A bird! The Vermilion Bird!"

Bao Cai, who was standing nearby, was startled and asked me what I had discovered. I excitedly ran to the west and exclaimed, "The Four Symbols! Divine beasts!"

"The Four Symbols, divine beasts?" Chen Yi was confused by my question and glanced at the four walls.

I stood in the middle of the front room and explained, "In Han Chinese mythology, there are four divine beasts, each governing one of the four directions. The Azure Dragon is in the east, the White Tiger in the west, the Vermilion Bird in the south, and the Black Tortoise in the north."

Chen Yi stroked his chin, frowned, and said, "I know that, but what's the connection between them and the mechanisms?"

I asked, "Do you know which of the Five Elements they correspond to?"

The young Taoist priest seemed to have grasped something, saying, "The Azure Dragon belongs to wood, the White Tiger to metal, the Vermilion Bird to fire, and the Black Tortoise to water!"

I nodded and said, "That's right, but there's still one thing missing!"

Upon hearing this, the young Taoist priest frowned slightly and said, "Earth?"

"Yes! The earth element located in the center!" I said.

Upon hearing this, Bao Cai's eyes lit up, and he interjected, "Belongs to Earth, could it be a Qilin?"

The young Taoist shook his head and said, "The status of the Qilin and the Dragon cannot be compared. The fifth spirit among the four divine beasts is the Yellow Dragon!" As he spoke, he looked at Bao Cai's feet.

Bao Cai noticed that all four of us were looking at him and asked in confusion, "Why are you all looking at my feet?"

Chen Yi said, "Oh dear, I'm not looking at your feet, I'm looking at the patterns on your feet!"

"A pattern!" Upon hearing this, Bao Cai quickly moved aside. At his feet, within a circular pattern, a majestic dragon soared upwards through the clouds. It was cast using an intaglio technique, the pattern recessed below the surface. Strangely, it held a human head in its mouth. Originally, this pattern looked somewhat eerie, but in ancient times, it had many meanings. For example, it could represent a dragon playing with a pearl (the human head representing the pearl), or it could be that the tomb owner wanted to deter tomb robbers, so they decorated with various frightening patterns, like the rhinoceros lurking in the cracks.

"So now... what do we do now?" Bao Cai stammered.

The young Taoist priest and I exchanged a smile. He squatted down and examined the yellow dragon pattern in the center of the front room closely, saying, "There's a little bit of soil on it; someone must have used this method before."

Having obtained further verification, I confidently put down the cloth bundle behind me, took out the grave-digging tools I had been carrying for a long time, and then walked to the White Tiger position on the west side. From the bronze witch's sacrificial implements, I dug out a little soil, but as soon as I touched the soil, I felt very strange.

The young Taoist priest noticed my confusion and asked what was wrong. I said, "This soil looks fresh..."

"New?" Chen Yi exclaimed in surprise, "How is that possible? This tomb dates back to the Warring States period, at least several hundred years ago. How could there be new soil? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" As he spoke, Chen Yi walked to my side. He had just picked up a handful of soil when his expression changed, and he muttered, "This soil... how could it be like this?"

The young Taoist priest stared at the bronze statue and said, "There's only one possibility for the existence of new soil..."

When he said that, I gasped, and everyone in the room turned to look at him, as if waiting for an answer.

He turned around meaningfully, his gaze sweeping across the front chamber before stopping. He said in a deep voice, "Besides us, there are other living people in this ancient tomb!"

Upon hearing this, Bao Cai froze for a moment, then, with a naturally terrified voice, exclaimed, "Ah! Other living people? Who...who is it?"

The young Taoist priest remained expressionless and said, "I don't know... This is just my guess, but what I am sure of is that this living person is very familiar with the tomb, and he knows how to open the bronze door."

After listening to the young Taoist's analysis, I was slightly surprised. He was a meticulous and intelligent person, and his thinking was often very profound, so everyone took his speculation as the final answer. At this moment, a strange feeling instantly filled the entire front room, and the five of us fell into an uneasy silence. I pinched my ear, thinking that we couldn't know for sure why there was fresh soil here in the short term, or if, as the young Taoist said, there were other living people here. But for now, we had to try placing the soil on the Yellow Dragon pattern to see if we could open the bronze door of the Black Tortoise position.

Just as I was about to start using the soil, my eyes caught sight of the Miao shaman. She stood frozen in place, her expression complex. I asked her what was wrong, but her eyes darted away, and she whispered, "Nothing..."

"Nothing?" I looked at her, thinking that although I, Feng Liu, am not a psychology major, I have seen countless people. Judging from her appearance, she obviously has something on her mind. I pondered to myself: This tomb belongs to the ancestors of the Miao girl. She must know something. Could it be the soil? Is there something wrong with the soil?

Before I could even ask what was going on, Chen Tiao, who was scooping up some soil beside me, said, "Not bad, you charming young master. You received a lot of instruction from Grandpa Doctor when you were young, and now you've already taken on the role of a tomb raider so quickly!"

Distracted by him, I laughed and replied, "Boss Chen, you're really joking. Do I really need my grandfather to teach me such a simple question? Just a little thought is all it takes!" I nodded my forehead. Just as we were bantering, the eternal lamp in the tomb's antechamber suddenly began to flicker, its flame dancing and trembling. My first thought was that I was being bewitched again. But then I heard Bao Cai call out, "Wh...what's wrong?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the ever-burning lamps went out in an instant. On the west side, in the direction of the White Tiger, where the four bronze statues of witches were located, a muffled sound suddenly came out. Something slowly opened, revealing a dim yellow light.

I swallowed hard, my mind blank in the face of this sudden scene.

Chen Yi was the first to recover his senses, exclaiming in shock, "Damn, it's a Taoist sect!"