Chapter 59: Main Text Chapter 60: Fork

Main text Chapter 60 Fork

Fork

Again we've run into a ghost-blowing lamp? It can't be that sinister, besides we're still crawling through the long robber's tunnel, the tomb's underground palace is still far off; I touched the simple gas mask on my mouth, it shouldn't be my breathing and movement that put out the candle.

Could there be a draft in the robber tunnel? I took off my glove and tested around, but didn't feel any strong airflow; never mind that, let's try lighting it again.

I struck a match, wanting to relight the candle, but found the ground before me empty; the candle that had been stuck in the ground had vanished. My scalp tingled. I had thought that entering the tomb from the robber tunnel, as before, would be as easy as reaching into a bag, but this time I truly ran into a ghost. Right before my eyes, the candle, in the moment I was distracted, disappeared into thin air.

I reached out and touched where the candle had been; it felt hard, but it was a flat stone slab. Where did this slab come from?

I didn't have time for much, pulled off my gas mask, patted Pangzi's leg and said: 'Hurry back, this robber tunnel is not right.'

Da Jin Ya was panting behind, lying prone; hearing my words, he hastily curled up, turned around and crawled back. This time it was hard on Pangzi, who couldn't turn in the tunnel, so he had to drag the rope tied to two large geese backward, supporting himself on his elbows, crawling backward.

We turned around and had crawled back less than five meters when Da Jin Ya ahead suddenly stopped. I asked from behind: 'What's wrong, Master Jin? Grit your teeth and hold on; crawl out to rest—now is not the time to catch your breath.'

Da Jin Ya turned his head and said to me: 'Lord Hu… there's a stone door ahead blocking the way; we can't get out.' His face had turned ashen from fear; just being able to speak was no small feat.

I used the wolf-eye to peer past Da Jin Ya at the path ahead of the tunnel; sure enough, there was a flat large stone slab. As I had passed, I had examined each step carefully and found no mechanism like a stone groove; the tunnel walls were just packed earth. I don't know where this heavy stone slab came from, but it stood flush before us.

Seeing no way to retreat, staying put wasn't an option, so I signaled Da Jin Ya to turn back again, then pushed Pangzi from behind to make him crawl forward.

Pangzi, not understanding, seeing us go forward then back, shouted angrily: 'Lao Hu, you damn well want to work me to death! I can't crawl anymore; if you want to keep crawling, crawl over me.'

I knew we had encountered something out of the ordinary; I couldn't say exactly what it was, but we absolutely could not stop, and I had no time to explain to Pangzi, so I urged repeatedly: 'Why all the nonsense? Just go forward when I tell you—crawl ahead, quickly, obey orders.'

Pangzi heard my tone was off and realized the situation might have changed, so he stopped complaining, hurriedly dragging the two geese forward and crawled ahead in a rush for nearly two hundred meters, then suddenly stopped.

I thought he was tired and wanted to rest, but I heard Pangzi ahead say to me: 'Damn it, Lao Hu, there are three tunnels ahead— which one should we drill into?'

'Three tunnels?' Robber tunnels have always been a single passage; I've never heard of a fork. Even if I grew two more heads, I still couldn't figure out what's going on.

I had Pangzi crawl into the straight-ahead tunnel, clearing the fork so I could examine the three connected tunnels. I came to the middle, and Da Jin Ya followed, crawling over. He was so exhausted he could barely speak; I gestured for him not to worry, to rest here first, and after I figured out the three tunnels we'd decide what to do.

I carefully examined the three tunnels ahead; these three tunnels and the one we had drilled into formed like a crossroads. The wall of the straight-ahead tunnel was the same as before— neat and smooth, dug with ease.

However, the other two sides were dug in a rough, haphazard manner, showing that the diggers were in a great hurry, yet their technique was basically the same as that of the neat tunnel. This section of the tunnel is piled with a lot of earth, evidently accumulated when those two passages were dug.

I wondered if this might have been dug by the patron who funded the Fish-Bone Temple; perhaps after breaking into the robber tunnel he went into the underground palace to take treasures, his retreat blocked by a stone door, unable to return, so he dug these two side tunnels trying to escape.

Such speculation wouldn't yield anything; I had Pangzi and Da Jin Ya stay put and rest, I tied a long rope around my waist, then crawled into the left-hand tunnel to scout; if anything happened, I'd blow the whistle so Pangzi and Da Jin Ya could pull me back.

Just as I was about to go in, Da Jin Ya reached out and grabbed me, taking a gold Buddha amulet from his neck and handing it to me, saying: 'Lord Hu, wear this; it's been consecrated, so even if you encounter something unclean it can also protect you.'

I took the gold Buddha and examined it; it's quite old, an antique. I told Da Jin Ya: 'This gold Buddha is valuable; better keep it for you two as protection. The robber tunnel is sinister, but it doesn't seem to be a haunting; perhaps it's some kind of mechanism we've never seen. I'll go check the two side tunnels; I'll be fine, don't worry.'

Da Jin Ya was no longer as panicked as before; he grinned, slipped his hand into his collar, and produced over twenty pendants— all Buddha, Bodhisattva, Guanyin types, plus some Daoist paper talismans. The pendants varied in material: gold, jade, ivory, jadeite, each different. Da Jin said to me: 'I still have a bunch more, all consecrated; no matter how many unclean things come, they don't faze them.'

I thought, no wonder this brat insists on going into the underground palace, unafraid— it turns out he has these treasures as backup. I told him: 'That's right— fearing ghosts doesn't stop one from grave‑robbing, and grave‑robbing doesn't fear ghosts. I'm just worried we've encountered something beyond common sense; that would be tough to handle, but for now we can't be sure. Let me check this tunnel first, then we'll talk.'

Having said that, I took the gold Buddha Da Jin Ya gave me and hung it around my neck, thinking to myself: 'I've handled plenty of antiquities lately, my eye is sharper than before; I see this consecrated gold Buddha isn't fake. Damn it, I'll hold onto it for now— last time he gave me and Pangzi two grave‑robbing talismans, both cheap knockoffs; maybe my previous unsuccessful attempts at grave‑robbing were because I wore those fakes, angering the ancestral master. Such counterfeit goods are worse than none; not wearing them might be better than wearing fakes. When Da Jin Ya gets us genuine grave‑robbing talismans in exchange, I'll return this one; for now treat it as a deposit.'

In this tunnel I could already clearly feel a draft, the airflow strong; it seems to connect somewhere, so we don't need to worry about air quality. I instructed Pangzi to keep using the same contact signals as before.

Pangzi and Da Jin Ya stayed behind to rest; I went left to scout, the rope connecting us in the middle prevents us from getting lost; if either side runs into something, we can tug the rope or send word by whistle.

All arrangements made, I put on my gas mask, lit with the wolf-eye, and lowered myself into the left-hand tunnel. This tunnel was obviously dug in a great hurry, narrow and difficult; only one person can crawl through. If one's mental fortitude is a bit weaker, it's easy to feel oppressed by the low ceiling, as if buried alive underground, leading to a mental breakdown.

I worried the deep tunnel might have stale air, and didn't dare linger, since the gas mask only shields mouth and nose from harmful gases, while eyes and ears are exposed; if there were toxic miasmas, they'd enter through the five senses and seven orifices, and with eyes unprotected one could also be poisoned.

The narrow underground cavity made me lose all sense of direction and distance; going by feel I hadn't crawled far before I ran into another heavy stone slab ahead. The thickness of this fallen slab cannot be estimated; it seems to have grown together with the surrounding earth, not buried later, and its size cannot be determined— the exit is completely blocked.

At the end of the robber tunnel the space suddenly opened up; evidently the earlier digger had tried to excavate an exit downward or around the sides, digging deep all around, but that huge stone slab seemed boundless, making it impossible to find an entry point and dig a passage out.

Being trapped wasn't the first or second time; though strange, I wasn't discouraged. I immediately crawled back the way I came; seeing me return, Pangzi and Da Jin Ya asked, 'How is it? Where does it lead?'

I roughly recounted what I'd found at the tunnel's end; all three were puzzled, unable to comprehend. Could this massive stone slab have grown naturally in the earth? Yet it is so neatly formed; carving such a slab weighing several thousand pounds by hand would also be extremely difficult.

What's strangest of all is that when we first entered the robber tunnel we didn't notice this stone slab; it only appeared out of nowhere on the way back. Legends say tombs have many mechanisms, but this isn't just powerful— it's downright weird.

Now we still have two tunnels ahead: one goes downward, the other is similar to the narrow tunnel I just entered; I expect the situation inside is much the same— also blocked by a stone slab, with no way around.

Still, I'm the sort who won't give up until I reach the Yellow River— damn, that saying isn't very auspicious; we're not far from the Yellow River, so are we supposed to lose heart? Then it's 'no coffin, no tears.' But this is a grave‑robbing tunnel, not far from the tomb's underground palace, where coffins naturally exist; we've truly reached a dead end— the Yellow River and its coffins are all gathered.

I daren't think further; right now I fear most is scaring myself. I rested a few minutes, then, just as before, I drilled into the right‑hand tunnel; whether it too is blocked by a big stone, only a look will tell— if this route is cut off, I'll have to devise another plan.

I crawled to the end of the narrow tunnel, and sure enough there was still a huge stone; I couldn't help wanting to curse loudly, but then I suddenly noticed something unusual here.