Chapter 181: The Silver Eye of Guge

After returning to Beijing, I told everyone about the incident involving my fellow sect member Zhang Yingchuan. According to his calculations, as long as I carried the Dust-Removing Pearl westward on a trip, some problems would naturally be resolved. "Encountering water leads to the middle path"—to make progress, one must go to a place with water. The first place that came to mind was the Fairy Lake suspended in the sky. As for the affairs of the Demon Kingdom, there are no historical records; only the "Poem of the Enemy-Subduing Treasure Pearl King Wuxun" sung by Tibetan poets contains relevant information. Once everything is prepared, I plan to first enter Tibet and go to the shores of Lake Laco Laamu to find my lama Ak. If the lama is still alive, he will surely help me find a divinely bestowed bard.

Shirley Yang handed me a list of equipment and supplies for entering Tibet and asked what else I needed to supplement. Some of this equipment must be shipped from the United States, while the remaining traditional tools need to be procured by Da Jin Ya. For items that cannot be bought, he is responsible for arranging custom production. At least ten days or more are required to prepare everything fully.

I said to Shirley Yang: "With you handling the supplies, what could I possibly worry about? You can think of what I cannot! However, we must prepare a large quantity of fresh ginger—at least six or seven hundred catties. For fresh ginger, we are like Han Xin deploying troops—more is always better. We will extract all of it into ginger juice and bring it to Tibet. To dig the Nine-Story Demon Tower in the snow mountains, without ginger juice, we cannot even begin."

She and Pangzi both felt puzzled. Pangzi asked: "Are we bringing so much ginger juice just to boil ginger soup? I think it would be better to bring more baijiu instead—for warmth on the snow mountains, drinking baijiu is the way."

I told him: "You haven't been to the Tibetan snow mountains, so you don't know. Earlier, our unit worked in an ancient glacier in the Kunlun Mountains. That ice, ten million years old, is so solid you cannot imagine it. Swinging a pickaxe and striking it only leaves a white dot—ordinary tools simply cannot cut those ices. But in this world, one thing counteracts another; all things have their overcoming and yielding aspects. Just as rice vinegar can corrode rammed earth, applying ginger juice to ice-chiseling tools allows them to penetrate smoothly—though certainly not as swift as cutting tofu, it saves tremendous effort. We do not know how deep the Nine-Story Demon Tower lies beneath the ice, so we must prepare as much ginger juice as possible."

A few days later, Da Jin Ya had already finished making the Faqiu seal. Seeing the timing was right, I told him: "Master Gold, you are now the head of the Sino-British Hong Kong Affairs Liaison Team. It's time to invite that Uncle Ming out to discuss terms!" So Da Jin Ya immediately contacted Uncle Ming, returned, and told me that Uncle Ming's side was waiting for us like serfs awaiting the Red Army, and that evening he would invite everyone to his residence for detailed talks.

Our entire group, totaling four people, arrived at Uncle Ming's quiet, ancient-style courtyard residence. Uncle Ming said he had already prepared everything here and could depart for Tibet at any time, but we were still missing one item for corpse suppression.

I said to him: "Although the ancestral mirror of the Legalist school is gone, fortunately I found a copper seal of the Faqiu Heavenly Official. Even if it is the Xiangxi Corpse King, being stamped with the eight characters 'Heavenly Official Bestows Blessings, No Taboos' on this seal will forever prevent it from acting up. This copper seal not only restrains corpse transformation but also wards off evil spirits and protects the mind. The evil gods in the Nine-Story Demon Tower are no exception."

Uncle Ming said: "That's wonderful! My ancestors for many generations were corpse-bearers, and having sailed ships in the South Seas for so many years, the local customs there have made me extremely superstitious about such matters. Having this item, whether or not it can be used, at least gives me courage—otherwise I truly would not dare to move against the glacial crystal corpse."

Uncle Ming took the Faqiu seal out of the box and examined it closely. I feared he might see through the deception, so I quickly gave Da Jin Ya a glance. Da Jin Ya immediately launched into a vivid fabrication about the seal's origin, speaking in vague and mysterious terms. Meanwhile, I and Pangzi chimed in with harmonies, and eventually we managed to fool Uncle Ming. After all, this seal is also an antique, and the artificial aging techniques of the Ziguai Studio are unparalleled under heaven. Although Uncle Ming has long been immersed in this field, he knows nothing about the Faqiu seal, so he was temporarily deceived.

Uncle Ming said: "Old Brother Hu, from what you're saying, your Corpse-Exhuming Officers this time are deploying three people in total—except for Gold Tooth Weakling not going, you will lead, along with this lovely lady and that fat fellow. Since you're willing to help, we will surely achieve victory swiftly and extract the glacial crystal corpse from the snow mountain! Words spoken in advance: the funerary objects in the Nine-Story Demon Tower will be split evenly between families, the glacial crystal corpse will be mine, and then you may freely pick any antique in this house as payment. Once this big deal is done, we will have enough to eat for several lifetimes, and upon returning, we can finally wash our hands in a gold basin and retire!"

I thought: In the Nine-Story Demon Tower of Tibet, there are mostly bone artifacts, little gold or jade—whether we take them or not makes no difference. The most important thing is to rely on the information mastered by Uncle Ming to locate a perfectly preserved Demon Kingdom tomb, which would surely yield some clues, enabling us to find the temple enshrining the eyeball totem.

Eager to learn the details of the Nine-Story Demon Tower, I said to Uncle Ming: "As long as equipment, instruments, and other supplies are fully prepared, we can begin operations within these five or six days. Now, could you please share the detailed intelligence resources so we can all analyze them, devise a few plans, and study them?"

Uncle Ming showed a troubled expression, saying the clues given by the museum were merely a scripture stolen from Tibet before the liberation and sold abroad. This scripture records some legends of the Guge Dynasty, among which it states that "The Silver Eye of Guge" is the distribution map of the tombs of the Demon Kingdom through the ages. The tomb burying the evil god—the Nine-Story Demon Tower—and the gate sealed by the Demon-Subduing Treasure Pearl Great King, which imprisons the demon, can both be found through clues in "The Silver Eye of Guge." If one wishes to find that demon tower, one must first go to the Guge ruins in Ali and seek revelation there.

I had served five years as a soldier at the Qinghai-Tibet border and had never heard of any Guge Dynasty ruins in Tibet. Pangzi and Da Jin Ya knew even less. Hearing this, we stared at each other, speechless.

Shirley Yang seemed to know something: "The capital of the Guge Kingdom was discovered in the early 1930s by Italian explorer Professor Duqi, who once declared it one of the most mysterious regions in the world. This news shocked the world, and many American media outlets have done detailed reports on it. Among the mysteriously vanished cities and dynasties, the Guge ruins are the closest to our era, yet their mysterious hue is no less than that of Jingjue or Loulan." (Note: The Guge Kingdom ruins were discovered in the 1930s, but official Chinese archaeological investigation did not begin until around 1985.)

The Ali region of Tibet is a little-known "secret realm"—even people who live there year-round know nothing of the mysterious "Ali." That region lies south of the Himalayas and north of the main peak of the Gangdisi Mountains, Mount Gangrenboqin. That sacred mountain is the common holy mountain of Hinduism, Jainism, Bon, and Tibetan Buddhism, and is regarded by believers as the most sacred "place of looking up."

At the foot of this mountain, which gathers all mysterious elements into one, lies a secluded area—the Ali region where the Guge Kingdom ruins are located. The Guge Kingdom was a kingdom founded by descendants of local chieftains, lasting over five hundred years, possessing a splendid Buddhist civilization. Yet how it was destroyed in a single night has no historical record, and even the well-preserved site of decapitation and slaughter, the "Headless Cave," remains. Its legendary tales are probably endless, with too many secrets awaiting explorers and archaeological teams to unravel.

Shirley Yang's knowledge of the Guge ruins extends only to this. As for what "The Silver Eye of Guge" is, she has never heard of it. But upon mentioning "eye," my heart stirred—it seems we are drawing closer to the truth of the bottomless ghost pool's curse, and all current clues now point to Tibet.

Uncle Ming explained: "The Silver Eye of Guge" is a complex, large-scale relief, with a giant eyeball as its main body. According to records in Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, this mural may document the deeds of Padmasambhava and the Demon-Subduing Treasure Pearl Great King in eliminating the Demon Kingdom. The Demon Kingdom was a nation that believed in reincarnation and worshipped evil gods. Although "The Silver Eye of Guge" resembles a giant eye, to those who understand esoteric Buddhist feng shui, it is actually a coordinate-indicating diagram. Uncle Ming's scroll contains a map of the Demon Kingdom's territory, including the evil spirit mountain and ghost lake, as well as the demon tower where the glacial crystal corpse is sealed. All this information can be found within the Silver Eye.

Uncle Ming said he had already gathered materials on esoteric Buddhist feng shui. This feng shui is far less complex than the Central Plains' Qingwu feng shui. As long as one finds a Corpse-Exhuming Officer who understands the Dragon-Seeking Formula, brings the scripture to the temples of the Guge ruins, and compares it with "The Silver Eye of Guge" for verification, the desired location can easily be determined.

After Uncle Ming finished speaking, I thought: This old Hong Kong farmer truly has deep scheming. He has given us the clues, but as long as the scripture remains in his hands, we cannot ditch him and act on our own. It seems we must first help him dig open the demon tower and excavate that ancient corpse.

I again advised Uncle Ming: Tibet is high-altitude and oxygen-deficient; many places make even ghosts feel distressed. At your age, you need not necessarily go yourself.

Uncle Ming stubbornly insisted: "For such a big deal, if I don't personally guard it, the money will still be snatched by others. Of course, this is not because I distrust you—it's mainly because I want to personally handle it, to earn money through blood and sweat, which then tastes sweet. In the past, I sailed ships for over twenty years. Don't think that being in my fifties means poor health—my condition is absolutely fine."

Seeing that nothing I said had any effect, I could only resign myself: if you're willing to go, then go—but if something happens, you must accept your misfortune. Calculating this way, this trip to Tibet will involve four people, plus we will hire a guide and some porters.

Uncle Ming said: "How could it be only four people? I still need to bring several of my close aides. Besides myself, I must bring my bodyguard Peter Huang, and also bring my wife in mainland China, Han Shuna, who is an expert in antique appraisal. Additionally, there is my adopted daughter Axiong, who is my most capable assistant. So counting: one, two, three... not counting the guide and porters, our team totals seven people. We will depart in five days, first heading to the Guge ruins at the foot of Mount Gangrenboqin."