Chapter 33: Main Text Chapter Thirty-Three: Treasure

Main Text Chapter Thirty-Three: Treasure

Beyond the gate was a narrow, long downward slope, extremely steep; Shirley Yang tossed down a flare, which rolled for a long time before reaching the bottom. At the spot where the flare came to rest, its light had become too faint to see clearly.

I sucked in a breath of cold air; if this really is a tomb passage, it's far too long. There are no corpses nearby, and if this slope had traps, those who had entered before would surely have left some traces.

Even so, we dare not be careless in the slightest; a misstep could mean being smashed to pieces. As I walked, I carefully observed the surroundings, feeling that something was off, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

Shirley Yang said to me, 'Have you noticed there's no sign of rats here?'

I nodded and said, 'Exactly, I had felt something was off earlier; you saying that made me realize the gate is half-open and there's a stone bridge connected—so how come not a single rat is visible in the underground palace teeming with them? Not only are there no rats, there's no rat droppings or fur on the ground. Could it be that the rats, relying on their animal instincts, sense that this place is a dangerous forbidden zone?'

Shirley Yang didn't answer, took a few more steps down, then turned and said, 'Can you speak frankly? Have you ever been involved in tomb robbery?'

I never expected her to ask that; I was momentarily speechless, unsure how to reply. Since everyone on this expedition is engaged in archaeological work, archaeology and tomb robbery, while similar in some sense, are fundamentally opposed—like water and fire. This matter of mine is extremely secret; how could she have found out?

Seeing my silence, Shirley Yang said, 'I was just guessing; it suddenly occurred to me to ask you this. I think you know so much about the long-lost feng shui secrets, you're familiar with all kinds of ancient tombs, even more so than with your own backyard—you really seem like someone who makes a living from tomb robbery.'

I silently cursed, 'Damn woman, just guessing wildly—you almost gave me a heart attack.'

On the surface I kept calm and told Shirley Yang, 'This is a family tradition; my grandfather, before the liberation, was a famous feng shui master in the surrounding villages, specializing in guiding people to yin graves. My father served his whole life in the army and never learned this; I merely have a hobby. You don't know me yet—I love to research, like Lei Feng's spirit of being a nail, basically I'm a researcher…' I then changed the subject to avoid further talk of feng shui and tomb robbery.

We walked for a long time and finally reached the end of the slope, but there was no way forward. The surrounding space was vast, yet there was no path underfoot; below the slope lay a platform, on which stood hundreds of stone statues with huge eyes. The edges of the platform were sheer cliffs; looking up, the top was invisible, everything engulfed in darkness.

Ahead lay an enormous underground cavity, its size impossible to gauge; even a spotlight with a twenty-meter range couldn't reach its end—had we come to a dead end? Yet a closer look at the platform's surroundings showed it bore no resemblance to the subterranean cavern depicted in the brick-and-stone tomb murals.

Shirley Yang said, 'Perhaps the queen's coffin is still below; after she was buried, the Jue people destroyed the connecting parts so that no one could disturb her rest.'

I laughed, 'That's perfect, let's just head back…' Before I finished speaking, Shirley Yang produced three flares and tossed them down from the platform, wanting to gauge the depth below.

We two lay at the platform's edge and looked down; the flares landed not far below, showing the platform's drop was only about thirty meters.

By the flare's light, I saw a vast expanse of flat ground below, piled with heaps like small hills of various gold and silver vessels, pearls, gemstones, and jade bone marrow. I exclaimed, 'Damn, all these good things are down here! It seems the coffin of the grandly buried Jue queen must also be down there. But there's no way down.'

At that moment, Shirley Yang found a rope ladder at one end of the platform, hanging from a large stone that was part of the platform, dangling from the side, with both ends fastened with old-fashioned safety locks.

Shirley Yang said, 'This might have been left by earlier explorers; the ladder is sturdy, but it's old, so let's go back to the stone bridge and fetch our own rope ladder.'

I said, 'Doing that is certainly simple, but have you considered that down there are so many jade articles and jewels—why didn't the earlier explorers who came here take them away? Those foreigners aren't anything good; nicely put they're explorers, bluntly they're thieves coming to steal from China, and as the saying goes, thieves don't leave empty-handed.'

Shirley Yang said, 'I understand what you mean: you're saying they would never enter a treasure mountain and leave empty-handed, so these treasures remain untouched because there must be some trap—mechanism or ferocious beast—below.'

I said, 'Exactly. There's no such thing as a free lunch; the simpler something looks, the more complicated it turns out to be. Do you still remember Anliman saying there's an ancient curse in the Black Desert? Whoever takes treasure from the Black Desert will be buried together with it forever in that desert.'

Shirley Yang said, 'This legend is also recorded in the Tang Dynasty's Western Regions Record; the city buried in the Black Desert is called Jieruojialai. I don't think the curse is a problem—Professor Chen and his team are archaeologists; they wouldn't casually move these things. What worries me most is your sidekick Pangzi; you'd better keep an eye on him.'

I snapped, 'How dare you say that—do we look like thieves to you? I tell you, we may be poor but our ambitions are not small; I can guarantee with my own life that as long as I say nothing here may be touched, my buddy will definitely not take anything. You'd better worry about yourself first—back in the Gengzi year, the Eight-Nation Alliance came to China, killing, looting, and burning, stealing so many of our treasures. Among those eight nations is your United States, right? What right do you have to think we look like thieves?'

Shirley Yang's face turned white with anger: 'So you're saying I look like a thief?'

Thinking that however she spoke she had also saved me, I realized my words were indeed too harsh; I swallowed my pride and offered a half-hearted apology. We then retraced our steps back the same way, neither speaking, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

Professor Chen and the others had been waiting impatiently; seeing us finally return, they hurriedly asked for details. I drew a kettle of water from the dark river, drank while describing the situation below, and Shirley Yang added a supplement.

Upon hearing that there was indeed a separate world below, Professor Chen and his students were excited; Pangzi, hearing that there were large quantities of burial goods down there, could hardly contain his joy and immediately set off to enter the tomb's gate.

I was last in line; as we entered, I felt the massive gate—if it dropped, nobody could get out—but with all that explosive, there was nothing to worry about. Reassured, I lowered my head and stepped into the tomb passage.

Everyone was busy on the platform preparing the rope ladder; I reckoned my advice would be useless at this point, so I only urged Pangzi to under no circumstances take anything from below—whatever stupid curse, I don't believe in it, but we can't let Shirley Yang catch us in a mistake; we need to bring honor to our country.

Pangzi said, 'Lao Hu, rest assured—I'm a man through and through, I won't lose face; this time, no matter what, I won't take even a single rat hair.' He then added, 'If I were to take anything, I'd wait until I come back.'

After the rope ladder was set, I remained the point man, the first to descend; I saw no sign of rats nearby and initially thought there might be some black monster snake below, which kept the rats from coming down.

But after I went down, I found the place deathly silent—not a rat or venomous snake, not even a tiny insect. The nearby rock walls were studded with many bronze lamp stands, all shaped like lamp slaves kneeling with hands holding a lamp bowl; the oil inside had long burned dry. These copper lamps stood one beside another, too numerous to count; even if you took one out to the market, given its craftsmanship, era, origin, and history, it would surely be worth a fortune.

Standing atop the heap of treasure, my heart fluttered; to hold myself back required sheer will—without discipline it was impossible. The only solution was to avoid looking at the riches and scatter my attention; I blew a whistle, and those waiting above for the signal began to climb down the rope ladder one after another.

Every person who came down was stunned by the treasure piled like a mountain; such a vast array of rare and precious objects, all gathered by the Jue from the various countries of the Western Regions back then—even Professor Chen couldn't name them all—but one thing is certain: each piece is of considerable value.

Pangzi stared, eyes wide, having forgotten his promise on the platform to me, and reached out to grab the nearest jade wine pot.