Ancient tomb excavation traces

"What do you mean by 'it's time'?" I was completely confused.

The ancestor walked to my side, looked at the dark, gaping hole in the sky above, and said, "The world is without light, a black dog is swallowing the sun, and yin energy is gathering. It seems something ominous is about to happen..."

"A black dog swallowing the sun?" I repeated. I had previously thought that the white light disappeared because thick clouds covered the sun, but I never expected that our ancestors would call this phenomenon "a black dog swallowing the sun."

"The black dog swallowing the sun" is actually a total solar eclipse in our time. I saw it in 2008, which was quite amazing. No wonder it was considered an ominous sign by the ancients who had not yet developed their knowledge.

Although I knew what a total solar eclipse represented, I couldn't help feeling uneasy in this place where yin energy gathered. I understood what the four women were saying, but what did they mean?

At that moment, I was on high alert. Just as I was guessing what was going on, I suddenly heard the sound of water behind me. I turned around and felt a chill run down my spine from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.

The blood in the pool began to surge on its own, like exaggerated gushing blood plasma in a movie. After gushing for a while, it seemed to be sucked in by some force, flowing rapidly there, carrying a strong bloody smell. Finally, with a "whoosh," as if a drainpipe had been installed underneath, the entire pool of blood was gone in an instant, leaving only a thin layer at the top.

"Holy crap, what's going on?!" Bao Cai grabbed me, as if he wanted to burrow into my flesh and become one with me.

I shoved him aside, pondering, "Where did all this blood go? There are no mountain spirits left on this mountain; it couldn't be the blood of a man-eating mountain, could it?" I glanced back at the four witches; rare smiles graced their faces, but those smiles were enigmatic, as if they were yearning for something bloody to happen. I thought to myself, "These four women don't seem normal at all. Why are they so hesitant? Are they plotting something?"

Bao Cai looked on in horror: "Are those evil spirits released from their cages, sucking blood?"

Faced with such a bizarre situation, I didn't even have time to think before I casually replied to Bao Cai, "A ghost isn't Count Dracula, it wouldn't choke on so much blood! Besides, where does a ghost suck blood?"

No sooner had I finished speaking than I heard a hand slapping against the wooden planks of the altar where Chen Tai was standing, followed by heavy breathing. My heart skipped a beat, thinking that Old Tai's wound was aching and he couldn't hold on any longer, so I asked with concern, "Old Tai, are you alright?"

Chen Yi stared intently at the altar, then looked at me blankly, shook his fat face, and said, "It's not me, down there!" He pointed, clearly still in shock; otherwise, given his personality, he would have jumped up long ago.

I felt like I'd been hit on the head with a club. I stared dumbfounded at the altar, which had now returned to calm. But strangely, the breathing sound from earlier was very muffled, and it sounded like a male voice!

Bao Cai suddenly said, "This is terrible! If it's not a ghost inside, it's a formidable zombie. If it's a zombie, it's probably a high-level one in the main coffin!"

I told him not to worry unnecessarily, that everything was fine, and that it would be here soon. Bao Cai is a believer in gods and Buddhas, and he was easily swayed by superstitious words, so he immediately shut up.

Sensing something was wrong, my ancestor and I led Chu Ba and the others to the foot of the altar. Chen Yi was tasked with keeping an eye on the four witches, fearing they might take advantage of our momentary lapse in attention and strike. But they just watched, keeping a distance from us, as if they were certain we couldn't escape alive.

Just as we were wondering what was happening, suddenly, the flame on the altar lamp pillars changed from yellow to an extremely intense crimson red. At this moment, the young Taoist priest leaning against the black and red lacquered wooden railing of the altar spoke up: "Go up to the altar and take a look; there are patterns there..."

Thinking that the little Taoist priest could still speak, my heart warmed, and I nodded, carefully following the ancestor up the altar. I was so focused on getting them down that I didn't notice the altar was made of catalpa wood, the king of woods. Catalpa wood is said to be imperishable for thousands of years. In ancient times, due to its resistance to decay and insects, as well as its beautiful grain, it was used to make coffins, boats, and lacquerware. It was a tribute wood and could not be used by ordinary people.

I gazed at the patterns on the catalpa wood. It was carved in relief, the outer layer of which, on a base of vermilion lacquer, was coated with bright colors like turquoise and reddish-brown. The carved figures were robust and strong, their hands outstretched, radiating intense heat, the flames enveloping phoenixes and dragons. In the world of the Chu people, the dragon and phoenix were fundamental elements of art, but underground they held deeper meanings. They symbolized Sima Yan and Mi Ling. Seeing them enveloped in flames, swirling upwards towards the clouds as if to break through the sky, this scene was depicted with rich colors, seamlessly integrated with the exquisite carving, lifelike and vivid.

What special meaning does this carving hold? The ancestor pondered for a moment, then said, "This person is Zhurong, the god of fire, the ancestor of the Chu people..." He stroked his chin, his brows furrowed slightly, and murmured, "A dragon and phoenix bathing in fire, could it foreshadow rebirth from the ashes?"

Although I know that the Chu people revered shamans and were fond of sacrifices, and had a very strong mythological belief, much like the Danes living in a fairy tale world, is the carving on this altar really just a symbol of ancestor worship? After all, "rebirth from the ashes" represents coming back to life, which feels strange in an ancient tomb.

However, this picture also symbolizes "ascension to heaven" on another level. It is likely that Sima Yan chose this place for the main coffin, which is a good place to gather wind and energy, and it is also facing the sky, so that Mi Ling could go to the sky through the mountain opening.

My ancestors and I stood up, and after the main coffin was illuminated, we discovered a giant, openwork wooden door behind the altar. The door was about ten meters wide and more than two meters high, and it was connected to the bronze wall, forming a separate room. The wooden door was decorated with images of shamanic rituals and birds and animals that worshipped nature.

Behind the wooden door, all was silent. There was no fire, and it was pitch black, so I couldn't see anything clearly, but I could vaguely make out a strange shadow standing there. I took a deep breath, drawn to the scene behind it, and was about to look through the openwork wooden door when I heard another heavy breathing suddenly come out from beneath my feet.

My ancestor and I looked at each other. This time, the panting didn't stop. It felt like a patient was on a ventilator, very heavy. There was also a strange sound in it, like the sound of water sliding when someone is taking a bath.

I was terrified, thinking, "There's a celestial dog eating the sun above. Could it be that Princess Chu had a corpse buried under this altar when she died? But how could a corpse breathe? Could something supernatural really be about to happen?"

A whole host of questions swirled in my mind like wind chimes, occasionally tinkling. In fact, the idea of ​​"the dead coming back to life" is recorded in ancient tales of the strange and supernatural, as well as in official histories. It's said that some people, after dying, regained human life, influenced by strange creatures from the underworld, and thus returned to life.

The miracle of "resurrection" has occurred not only to people who have been dead for decades, but even to those who have been dead for centuries. Many accounts in official histories corroborate this. While it's true that the ancients were often fantastical, such coincidences are unlikely. I wondered, "Could such a mysterious thing truly exist? Perhaps the person below, who was buried alive with the Chu princess, died with resentment and is now hovering between life and death, refusing to be reincarnated?" This realization struck me as a sudden realization that my scientific understanding, after this trip to ancient times, had completely adopted a "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" approach.

Just as I was thinking, the ancestor retrieved the red copper scimitar from the young Taoist priest. The four witches still didn't move, but this time their excited eyes weren't on us, but on the altar beneath our feet.

Because it happened so suddenly, they didn't move, and we had no time to deal with them. According to our ancestors, since their sharp teeth and claws had already been removed, we figured the four women wouldn't be able to do much. We could tie them up and get some answers after we figured out the panting sounds at our feet!

I had thought there was a lot of space behind the wooden door, and the coffin might be inside. But the ancestor bent down, put his ear to the catalpa wood, and said, "There's no need to go. The wooden door is probably a back chamber, which should also contain funerary objects. The place where you and I are standing is where the real person rests."

Upon hearing this, I was shocked and said, "How is that possible? If this is the main coffin, why is the breathing inside a man's? The one lying here should be Princess Chu!" I was still hoping to see Princess Chu's true face. After all, when I was hallucinating, I saw her back and thought she was a fairy.

Even the old ancestor found it unbelievable, but based on his experience, he couldn't believe he was wrong.