Chapter 190: Shipwreck

If the bow of the ship and that pavilion had not been damaged to such an extent, the scene underwater would surely have been as magnificent as a crystal palace. But now, the entire wreck was covered with thick marine rust and dust, lifeless and dead. Especially that pavilion, already tilted at forty degrees, looked as if one more kick would make it completely collapse.

Even so, Third Uncle and the others were so shocked they could barely breathe. Such a sight—not to mention underwater, even on land one would rarely have the chance to see it. Whose sunken tomb was this, to be sunk in such a place? Drawing closer, Third Uncle noticed that the jade door embedded in the reef was enormous, over twice a person's height and four arm spans wide. Beneath the marine growth on the outer sides of the door's left and right walls, he could faintly make out two door gods carved in relief, each holding a tiger in their hands, their expressions fierce and terrifying. Third Uncle recognized them but couldn't name them. The part of the pavilion not embedded in the reef had flying eaves and a tiled roof, but most of the tiles had fallen off, leaving only the roof frame.

The jade door was half open, with a gap wide enough for two people to pass through. Inside, it was profoundly deep, with no telling where it led.

The "ancient dancing corpse" on one side had already sunk into the abyss and was completely out of sight.

Xie Lianhuan did not pause; he swam through the jade door. Gritting his teeth, Third Uncle kicked his feet hard, quickened his pace, and soon followed him inside.

Inside, there was a long corridor wide enough for six or seven people to walk side by side. Suddenly the surrounding space became cramped, but the light from their floodlights became even brighter. The feeling of deep, cold despair and fear from outside was somewhat alleviated here—finally seeing something familiar, Third Uncle calmed down a bit. Swimming forward along the corridor, out of professional habit, he roughly observed the decorations around him and found that every inch, including the floor, was carved with a continuous scene of a gathering of immortals.

At the end of the corridor, a staircase appeared, leading upward. Third Uncle turned over, swam on his back, and as he swam, he suddenly got a big shock—he realized his head had broken the surface of the water.

He was startled at that moment; it was indeed a shocking thing. Having been submerged in water for nearly forty minutes, Third Uncle had never expected there would be air inside this ancient tomb. He quickly turned over, crawled onto the steps, and scrambled up using all four limbs.

A person who has been diving for too long, once on land, will suddenly find their body as heavy as if carrying iron blocks, especially since they indeed had weighted lead blocks and oxygen tanks on them. After Third Uncle got up, he nearly collapsed; only by gritting his teeth did he keep from falling back into the water.

Stumbling up the stairs, he saw that Xie Lianhuan had already taken off his diving gear, panting heavily while shining his flashlight around the tomb chamber.

Third Uncle thought to himself, "What a greenhorn. If there had been a poison trap, you'd be dead already." But seeing that he hadn't keeled over right away meant the air was probably fine. So he sat down on the steps, took off his own diving gear, relaxed his muscles, and unclipped his flashlight to shine around the surroundings.

At the top of the stairs, where he stood, was a brick-built tomb chamber of typical Ming Dynasty style. It was not very high; one had to duck to walk. The vaulted ceiling rose in an arch, probably also with a seven-course seven-arch thickness. The joints between bricks on the tomb roof showed an iron color, having been filled with iron mortar.

In the center of the tomb chamber, celadon everlasting lamps were arranged in two rows, leading straight to the depths of the chamber. It was pitch black there. When the flashlight shone over, they found a huge black iron vat placed in the middle of the chamber, its purpose unknown, blocking the view.

Third Uncle was a bit startled at the sight. He had robbed many tombs and knew that although this chamber was enormous, its specifications were those of a commoner's, at most a wealthy landlord's. This was very strange. Given the grand scale of the outer ancient tomb, it would have taken tens of thousands of corvée laborers ten years of effort to build it. If it wasn't for a member of the imperial family or a noble, which commoner could have such a massive undertaking? Immediately, just like us, Third Uncle thought of the super-rich Shen Wansan from that era. If that was the case, following Xie Lianhuan this time had actually led him to strike a rich vein—a fortune that couldn't be earned in several lifetimes.

His heart grew excited as well. He turned the flashlight again, sweeping it over the surrounding tomb walls.

The walls of the tomb chamber were covered with a large number of murals, equally spectacular. Third Uncle shone the light around and found the murals were continuous, with almost no gaps, and the colors had not faded much.

The place was filled with moisture, so it was quite rare for the murals to be preserved this well. However, by the Northern Song dynasty, the technique of applying oil wax or egg white over murals as a protective measure was already in use, a fairly advanced craft. Such a technique must have been used here, which is why the colors now looked a bit cloudy.

Third Uncle never paid much attention to what was depicted in the murals. He gave them a few glances now but couldn't make much sense of them. He only felt they were no different from ordinary ancient tomb murals, so he pulled back the flashlight beam and turned it toward Xie Lianhuan, wanting to ask what had gotten into him earlier.

Xie Lianhuan was exhausted. While looking around with curiosity, he was panting heavily, obviously having exerted himself to the limit. Third Uncle called out to him, but he didn't respond, his full attention absorbed by the tomb chamber. Earlier, Xie Lianhuan had shaken Third Uncle off, and Third Uncle harbored some silent anger, but since they had already come to this place, it wouldn't be appropriate to lose his temper, so Third Uncle held back.

The two said nothing. Third Uncle rested for a while and then completely calmed down, his heartbeat returning to normal. He casually began preparing the tools for entering the tomb chamber. At the same time, he was cautious enough to secretly check his own and Xie Lianhuan's oxygen tanks.

As soon as he checked, he knew things weren't looking good. His own situation was still okay, but Xie Lianhuan's oxygen consumption was too high—already more than half gone.

The more experienced a diver is, the longer they can stay active underwater. Novice divers often can't control their inhalation rate; as soon as they realize they're underwater, they breathe out frantically. Compared to an experienced diver, their consumption can be more than double. Third Uncle wasn't a great diver either, but because he often estimated his oxygen levels, he was much more economical than Xie Lianhuan. At that moment, he immediately understood that Xie Lianhuan wouldn't be able to make it out.

But then, after thinking it over, Third Uncle felt relieved. Since Xie Lianhuan couldn't get out, he would have to come back in again to take him out anyway, so there was no need to rush to leave.

Meanwhile, Xie Lianhuan walked deeper into the tomb chamber. Third Uncle also got up and followed him. The two walked up to the huge iron vat.

Third Uncle stopped and approached the iron vat to examine it, but Xie Lianhuan seemed uninterested and walked straight around it.

The iron vat weighed over five tons, covered with a large number of relief inscriptions. It should have been a sacrificial vessel. The vat's feet had already sunk into the green bricks of the floor. The vat was empty, but at its bottom there was a raised carving in the shape of a fish body, whose purpose was unknown.

Third Uncle wanted to take a closer look at the inscriptions, to see if there were any characters he recognized, when suddenly he heard Xie Lianhuan let out a startled cry.

He turned his head and saw that Xie Lianhuan had already reached the end of the tomb chamber. The beam of Xie Lianhuan's flashlight illuminated a three-tiered coffin platform, on which sat a huge black carved outer coffin.

That outer coffin was almost as high as Xie Lianhuan's chest, its blackness jarring to the eyes. The surface seemed to have been polished and varnished, shining unnaturally bright. The carvings were shallow but very distinct, consisting mainly of large numbers of bird-worm seal script characters. Xie Lianhuan might have been startled by suddenly seeing the coffin; he was backing away.

The outer coffin exuded an extraordinary, overbearing aura. It should have been the main coffin of the tomb owner. Who was buried inside?

Third Uncle had seen countless coffins—not just the common red sandalwood and rice husk wood, but he had even once had the fortune to see an entire eaglewood coffin. However, this black coffin here, he couldn't tell what material it was made of. His curiosity piqued, he walked around the iron vat and approached it.

When he reached Xie Lianhuan's back, he could see more clearly. The coffin platform was made of yellow slurry bricks, stacked into a lotus-shaped circular base. Behind the coffin platform was a screen wall covered with writing, presumably an epitaph describing the tomb owner's life. But after Third Uncle gave it a glance, he felt a chill down his spine, his attention drawn to the black coffin, and he also understood why Xie Lianhuan had been frightened into retreating.

Because on top of that huge black coffin, a "person" was lying.