Chapter 107: Reconciliation

From here, the sound was a bit different, with an echo, as if coming from a very deep place. With the rhythm of the sound, I could clearly feel the bronze chains vibrating slightly with short amplitudes, as if the other end was pressing against the artery of a giant.

This phenomenon sent a chill through me that I couldn't resist, because I didn't feel any wind blowing up from below, and the two of us couldn't possibly make such heavy bronze chains vibrate at such a high frequency. In the darkness below, what was pulling these bronze chains?

Boss Wang listened thoughtfully and quietly. Logically, he hadn't experienced such things before, so he should be more afraid than me, but his expression was surprisingly calm, as if he was judging something.

After a stalemate for a while, the sound finally subsided, and the bronze chains stopped vibrating. I inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, almost going limp on the chains.

Boss Wang still didn't react. He thought quietly for a while, took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, then pulled a small fluorescent stick from his pocket, shook it twice to activate the glow.

I didn't know what he was planning, watching him coldly. He waited until the fluorescent stick reached its brightest, then threw it down along the bronze chain. The green light fell in spirals.

The circle of light grew smaller and quickly disappeared from my sight. I thought it would keep falling until it vanished into the darkness, but suddenly, at the very limit of vision, the fluorescent stick hit something, bounced with a "thump," flew to the side onto the bronze wall, then fell again, disappearing instantly.

About fifty or sixty meters below the bronze chains, there was indeed something hanging. Unfortunately, the light from the fluorescent stick was too weak. In that brief moment, I only caught a rough outline—it seemed to be a crystal coffin, with a hint of yellow, possibly a common Shang stone coffin (a type of semi-transparent yellow stone).

Boss Wang looked up at me provocatively, then suddenly let go of the belt in his hand, lit a lighter with one hand, and began to slide down. Soon, he entered the darkness, and only a shrinking point of firelight was visible.

I hesitated for a moment, feeling uneasy for some reason. Boss Wang seemed very confident. This man was familiar with all kinds of strange objects, and it was likely he already knew what was below and intended to take it. Remembering what Old Yang had told me, I felt unwilling to let him have the upper hand. I quickly pulled out the short hunting knife from my hand and slid down after him.

The descent started fast. The tree roots that had entangled above disappeared below. In the later part, our speed slowed down. After only about ten seconds, we reached the estimated height. I saw the firelight below stop, so I quickly tightened my legs around the chain to halt my descent.

Looking down, Boss Wang had reached the end of the chain. A few meters below him was where the fluorescent stick had struck. He was leaning down, using his lighter to illuminate, but the light was too weak to see the object's full shape, only a yellow crystal-like object suspended in midair. I turned on my flashlight, and under the strong beam, the full appearance of the object was revealed.

To my surprise, hanging from the bronze chains was not a Shang stone coffin, nor even a coffin at all. It was a huge olive-shaped, amber-like stone, seemingly natural, very transparent. Under the flashlight, it reflected a golden glassy light. With just a slight turn of the flashlight, the whole space was filled with flowing colors, a magnificent sight.

The four bronze chains hanging from above were cast into the interior of the amber. Following the chains inward, one could also see a black human-shaped shadow inside, very blurry, barely distinguishing the head and shoulders. The shadow's shoulders were raised high, like two humps, and the whole figure was curled up, like a fetus in the womb.

I had never seen anything like it. For a moment, I was dumbfounded, speechless. But Boss Wang was surprisingly calm. He just observed for a moment, then slid down, trying to step onto the amber. I quickly called out, "Don't!"

Boss Wang turned around, looking at me puzzled. I said to him, "I've never seen such a large piece of amber. It might be rosin stone. If you step on it, it might break."

Boss Wang gave a contemptuous smile and said, "What do you know? This isn't amber. It's a corpse cocoon." He stepped onto it, and the corpse cocoon was indeed sturdy—it swayed a bit but nothing more.

Not wanting to be outdone, I let my feet slide down onto the amber corpse cocoon as well. I tried to put the short hunting knife back into my waistband, so I wouldn't have to handle both the flashlight and the dagger on the slippery corpse cocoon.

Unexpectedly, Boss Wang misinterpreted my intention. Seeing me come down, he crouched warily, pulled out his belt and held it across his chest, ready to fight. I was startled, and the short knife I was about to sheath was raised as well.

For a moment, the atmosphere was extremely tense. But neither of us moved, because both knew that in this place, even a small mistake wouldn't end with just a kick. Below was an abyss. No matter how strong or fierce you were, falling meant death in one or two seconds.

Boss Wang was a seasoned man of the world, able to take things up and let them go. After a moment of stalemate, he first raised his hand and said to me, "Youngster, at this point, let's both step back. No need to end up together. If either of us dies, it's good for no one. This place can't be climbed out alone."

Seeing him show goodwill first was exactly what I wanted. What he said made sense. To climb out of here, we needed at least two people. As long as we were down here, he probably wouldn't dare to touch me, or he might die even more miserably than me. But this man was very cunning, not to be fully trusted.

I slowly lowered the hunting knife and made a gesture of reconciliation, briefly explaining the radio interference incident earlier. That way, both sides could save face. After all, I had also been ready to kill him just now; it wasn't easy for him to let down his guard.

Boss Wang took out his walkie-talkie, half-doubtfully turned it on. Suddenly, a series of high-decibel static noise burst out, extremely harsh, like someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Startled, Boss Wang quickly turned off the walkie-talkie and cursed, "Damn, scared the hell out of me."

I was also half-dead with fright. We must be very close to the source of interference for the sound to be so piercing. I couldn't imagine such a terrifying sound existing. If I had to listen a few more seconds, I might lose my mind and jump down.

Boss Wang buckled his belt back around his waist and said, "This time I was wrong. You know, as a wanderer, I have to be cautious." He pointed to the bruise I had given him on his face. "Youngster, you weren't light either. We're even now. Personal grudges can wait until we get out. How about it?"

I sneered inwardly. His true nature had already shown. I was certain that once we got out, he would surely plan to kill us. Saying these things now was just a delaying tactic. But at this moment, we still needed to use each other. So I nodded and tossed him the flashlight to show balance.

We temporarily reconciled, but I still didn't dare get too close, afraid he might suddenly push me off. He obviously had the same concern. Both of us tacitly understood, while keeping an eye on each other, we carefully crouched down to examine the corpse cocoon beneath our feet. Taking the opportunity, I asked him what exactly a corpse cocoon was. Boss Wang said that corpse cocoons had been unearthed years ago in southern Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, but they were only as big as a washbasin. Some were like jade, some like amber, containing dried-up small animals or children's corpses, rarely adults. These were usually unearthed as burial objects. No one knew how they were made. Ancient records say that in the pre-Qin period, alchemists used them as medicinal guides. They would drown a pregnant woman who had not yet reached full term in liquid medicine, put her in a jar, bury it for twenty-seven years, then dig it up. The fetus inside would turn into a corpse cocoon. The outer layer was the petrified placenta. The amber color you see is actually the solidification of the amniotic fluid. Some also say it's a corpse preservation technique, using special resin mixed with Chinese herbs to wrap the body, preventing moisture loss. In his early years, when his great-grandfather was in business in Hong Kong, he saw some treasures pawned by rich people fleeing the Japanese war. Among them were amber corpse cocoons. Those with children inside were the most expensive, animals cheaper. His great-grandfather once saw a corpse cocoon with a little girl in a red dress, sixteen or seventeen, eyes closed as if sleeping, lifelike. He cried as soon as he saw it—what a sin, so tragic. In those chaotic times, he took advantage of his boss's inattention and burned it. That very night, he dreamed of the little girl in red coming to kowtow and thank him. So they say this thing is a monster. Those rich people, not knowing better, listened to feng shui masters and thought these were treasures that gather wealth, keeping them at home, only to end up fleeing.

Hearing this, I felt a bit surprised. Could this be the "great benefit" Old Yang mentioned? From a monetary value, it certainly was, but why all the mystery? Was there something else I didn't know?

The shadow inside the amber corpse cocoon should be the body. We took a general look, and the more we looked, the more it felt off. First, the shape of the body was too strange—it didn't look human at all. Second, the height was too tall. Ancient people were about 1.5 to 1.6 meters. This amber corpse, just the shadow's absolute length, exceeded 2 meters, and it was curled up. Stretched out, it would be about 3 meters.

I stared for a long time without figuring it out, and said, "Could it be a monkey? A Western Zhou-era ancient ape, quite large."

At that time, the deep forests of the eight-hundred-li Qinchuan were several times deeper than now. There were often legends of a four-meter-tall big monkey inside, called Bear Mountain Ghost, which ate humans and livestock. Later it was killed off by people. In the Ming dynasty, a few rare ones were still seen, and they were killed as ghosts. Could this inside be that kind of thing?

Boss Wang shook his head, "This bronze tree was called the Heaven-Reaching Tree in those times. It had strong religious symbolic meaning, representing a non-material world outside the human world. Do you know how expensive bronze was back then? With so much bronze, you could buy the entire Western Zhou Dynasty. Why put a monkey on top?"

Seeing he spoke with such confidence, he must know what was inside, so I asked him if he had some earlier information.

He took a breath and said to me, "Yes, I actually have some acquaintance with Li Pipa. Before we came, Li Pipa revealed some things to me. He said his ancestor climbed the bronze tree back then and saw the corpse of Banajiemu."

I was startled. Banajiemu, in Manchu mythology, is a huge pregnant goddess who governs the land. His ancestor said that, I don't know what it meant.

Boss Wang continued, "I didn't know what it meant at the time, but when I saw that the huge outer coffin chamber above was actually empty, I suddenly understood. What does it mean to see the corpse of Banajiemu?"

I was stunned, not knowing what he was trying to convey.

Seeing that I wasn't catching on, he said, "Banyan tree roots are famous for squeezing into every crack. In some places in Guangzhou, they often grow into central air conditioning ducts. For such a vigorous thing, in that coffin, it only grew close to the coffin walls. Don't you understand what that means?"

I suddenly realized, staring at him dumbfounded, and said, "You mean there was once a corpse in the outer coffin chamber above? So the banyan roots growing into the coffin couldn't grow freely?"

Boss Wang nodded. I didn't believe it: "Bullshit! How big would that corpse be? Don't screw with me here." Boss Wang said, "Young man, don't disbelieve. Think about it, could normal people like us build such a pillar?"

I still refused to believe. Boss Wang glanced at me and said, "Wait till we go up and you see the decorative reliefs on the inner walls of the coffin, the proportions between people and the bronze tree. Then you'll believe. The tomb we're looting this time isn't of our kind. It's another kind of human, a giant race that once lived alongside our ancestors but eventually went extinct for unknown reasons."

Relief proportions? I only heard the first part in my mind; the second part didn't register at all. A flash went through my brain, and I said "Ah!" to myself. Really! I hadn't noticed when looking just now. The people building this bronze tree, compared to the actual tree, were indeed not as small as us. The bronze castings next to them were only about three times their height. I had thought it was artistic exaggeration. Now thinking about it, I immediately remembered that the carving style here is very realistic—even a carved hand looks real. So could the proportions above be the real proportions of the construction scene?

So then, how tall were these people? My god, at least three or four meters tall. Then that corpse in the amber would be...

Boss Wang saw my expression shifting and said to me, "In our line of work, you'll eventually encounter things like this. Let me tell you, I have a few bamboo slips at home from who knows what dynasty. Do you know what they say? We all know how long the Xia to Shang period was. Why is it divided so long? Do you know why? Because there are no historical records! Those bamboo slips of mine were written by a Western Han archaeologist. He said that actually between Xia and Shang, there might have been another dynasty, but for some reason there's no record at all. You see, even such important things can disappear completely from history. What's so strange about a strange race disappearing?" He patted me, telling me not to think too much, and then looked again to see what exactly was inside this amber cocoon. I was stunned by his words. When I came to, he had already crouched down, carefully pressing close to the amber's surface to see the face of the corpse inside.

This place was fixed by bronze chains. He and I couldn't both walk to one end at the same time, or we'd lose balance, so I stayed where I was, holding the bronze chain, watching to see what he would find.

Boss Wang first took a look, but it seemed still unclear. He changed his angle. Suddenly, he jumped up, startled, and stepped back greatly, shouting, "What the hell?!"

Instantly the whole cocoon started swinging because of him. I was startled and pushed him, not letting him step back to my side, and asked, "What did you see?!"

Boss Wang turned to look at me, looking puzzled. He wanted to speak, his mouth moved but couldn't get the words out. Finally he said, "I don't know how to say it. Go see for yourself!"

I shone my flashlight at the spot he had just looked at. It was blurry; I couldn't see anything without getting close. I told him to stay there and not move, then walked over myself, crouched down, and following his angle, slowly looked over.

The amber's transparency was top-notch. Inside the amber I saw a face as big as a washbasin frozen there. I was stunned after just one look. An extreme chill shot from the soles of my feet straight to my forehead. Almost instinctively, I jumped up and retreated, nearly sliding into the abyss beside me.

Boss Wang looked at me with a ghastly pale face. After a long moment, he asked me, "So? Did you see clearly?"