Chapter 59: Raging Sea: Chain

This was truly unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated; even if it was a corpse, he had only seen ones that could bounce and jump, never one that could smile. Zhang Qiling felt a tightness in his chest, quickly took a step back, and went on full alert, ready to respond to its next move. Unexpectedly, the desiccated corpse's hand, which had been pointing at the sky, suddenly moved and leveled to point east. At the same time, the entire room dimmed, and the night pearls on the ceiling, for some unknown reason, went out instantly.

When they entered, they had already turned off their flashlights to conserve batteries. This sudden darkness made the others scream in fright. Zhang Qiling noticed that though the room had dimmed, it wasn't pitch black. He quickly looked up and saw that the four night pearls closest to the walls hadn't gone out, like dim streetlights on a dark street, illuminating only a small area. At that moment, Li Sidi's trembling voice came from the side: "There are~are~faces on the wall!"

Zhang Qiling jolted, quickly turning his head, and saw that on the yellow plaster brick wall illuminated by the eastern night pearl, the light and shadow had shifted, and a huge, pale human face had appeared out of nowhere.

Zhang Qiling knew this was likely another trick. Somewhat annoyed, he jumped off the stone platform and walked to the eastern brick wall to take a look. He found that what was on the wall was actually a shadow painting. This kind of painting appears when light comes from a fixed angle, formed by the shadows of the grooves on the wall. If the angle of the light is wrong, the painting won't appear. But because these lines were so eerie, in a state of high tension, they could easily be imagined as a terrifying face.

He looked closely and couldn't help but feel a stir. The one before him seemed to be a narrative painting, and judging by the content, it should be showing the situation just after the Cloud Summit Palace was completed. He saw that the so-called celestial palace was actually built on a very steep mountain range, with clouds and mist wrapping around the mountaintop, enveloping the entire palace, giving the impression that it was floating in the clouds. Zhang Qiling looked at the scene of that peak, which seemed covered in white snow, suggesting a very high altitude, though he didn't know which mountain it was.

He turned his head and found that shadow paintings appeared on all four walls. He quickly turned to the southern brick wall to continue looking. This painting showed that on the cliff below the celestial palace, there were many grottoes connected by plank roads. A group of workers were using a "counterweight lever (crane)" to hoist a huge coffin up the cliff, from one grotto to the next, while the funeral procession formed a line, climbing the plank road with difficulty. Zhang Qiling let out an "ah." Could this celestial palace actually be a tomb? And whose coffin was inside? He continued walking. The western shadow painting was even stranger. The plank road on the cliff was suddenly engulfed in raging flames. This should be the tomb-guarding soldiers, after the burial ceremony, burning the only road into the celestial palace to ensure the tomb's security. This would basically eliminate any small-scale grave-robbing attempts. Neither the Southern nor Northern schools had the ability to climb a cliff hundreds of meters high at such an altitude to rob a tomb. It was impossible and unnecessary.

He had no memory of encountering such a tomb. Shocked, he hurried to the last shadow painting and was stunned, because this one was surprisingly simple: the celestial palace on the mountaintop had suddenly disappeared, leaving only a vast expanse of white snow. Not only that, even the cliff was covered in white. Though not very vivid, Zhang Qiling understood that this should be an avalanche.

He guessed that the fire might have caused the temperature to rise, loosening the snow above the celestial palace and leading to a massive avalanche. This not only buried the entire palace under white snow but also covered the whole mountaintop, turning the palace into a genuine tomb.

After seeing this, he let out a long breath. He never imagined that the Cloud Summit Palace would meet such an end. It seemed Wang Zanghai was also bitter about this; his outstanding work was destroyed by an avalanche not long after completion, enough to frustrate him until his death. No wonder he recorded this in such a secretive way. This should be the tomb of a prominent figure, so he certainly couldn't make this work public. But with his showy personality, he would surely find some way to let future generations know that among his works, there was such a magnificent Cloud Summit Palace.

The only thing still unknown was who was buried in this tomb. Zhang Qiling took a deep breath. At that moment, he saw Wenjin and two others trying to move the large mirror in the southeast corner. He found it strange and asked what she was doing. Wenjin said anxiously, "I just saw Sansheng hiding behind this mirror, and then he disappeared in a flash."

Zhang Qiling then remembered Third Uncle's matter. He hurried to help. The two-meter-tall gilt bronze mirror with "Fu" character patterns was very heavy. They used all their strength to move it half a meter. When they peered inside, they saw a square hole half a person's height on the wall behind the mirror. Zhang Qiling shone his light inside but saw only darkness, unsure where it led.

When Wu Sansheng planned the underground palace a few days ago, he hadn't discovered such a large room here. But Zhang Qiling had long known that the underground palace was not as simple as he had planned. Because a sunken ship burial is different from a land burial, involving a sinking process. During this process, the ship must remain perfectly balanced, so the symmetry of the tomb was very important. Though Wu Sansheng's plan had no fundamental errors, it was clearly top-heavy. If they sank the ship with that structure, the whole tomb would probably plunge headfirst into the sea.

At that time, Zhang Qiling hadn't bothered to show off and didn't tell Wu Sansheng. Now thinking back, it wasn't surprising that there was a passage here used for balance.

He explained this to the others and, turning on his flashlight, entered first. Because the flashlight had been on while entering the tomb, it was running low on battery. Wenjin suggested that only the front and back flashlights be on, with the others off. The stone passage was quite wide, almost allowing four people to walk side by side. Huo Ling felt uncomfortable seeing Zhang Qiling and Wenjin walking so close together, so she squeezed in. By this time, Zhang Qiling felt something was wrong. He vaguely saw something wriggling in the darkness ahead.

At the same time, the increasingly strong fragrance in the air caught his attention. It felt like they were approaching the source of the fragrance. After walking a few more steps, the smell was so strong it made it hard for him to concentrate. He turned to ask Wenjin and suddenly noticed that several people behind him had collapsed. Wenjin, touching her forehead, looked at him dizzily and fell into his arms.

Zhang Qiling knew something was wrong. He immediately held his breath, but it was too late. An irresistible drowsiness overcame him. He leaned toward the wall, gradually losing consciousness. In a blur, he saw Third Uncle squatting down, expressionless, staring at him.

The poker-face said this, took a deep breath, and fell silent. Then he said, "When I woke up, I was lying on a hospital bed. I remembered nothing, knew nothing. It wasn't until a few months later that I slowly started to recall some fragments. Then a few years passed, and I began to realize something was wrong with my body."

I wanted to interrupt and ask if he found out he didn't age, but he didn't give me the chance. He continued, "I can't tell you what the problem is yet, but three months ago, I met your third uncle. I found him very familiar. To remember more, I followed you to the Lu King's Palace." He paused, then turned to me and said, "In the Lu King's Palace, I discovered your third uncle is very problematic!" I was stunned, not understanding what he meant. He went on, "The golden silk manuscript you took from the bronze coffin is actually a fake. Your third uncle had already swapped it out."

I was shocked and shouted, "Nonsense! Wasn't it you who swapped it?"

The poker-face glanced at me indifferently and said, "No, it was your third uncle himself. He and Da Kui dug a tunnel from behind the tree straight to the bottom of the coffin. That's probably why Da Kui had to die."

I felt a chill run through my body, more nervous than ever. Though I still wanted to side with Third Uncle, my mind was like a bolt of lightning, and countless images flashed. I remembered how Da Kui was poisoned, how Panzi was still conscious before climbing the tree but deeply comatose when we saw him on the ground, and how Third Uncle had already carried the gasoline canister over before Fatty and I could crawl out of the crack.

I couldn't bear to think further. I felt like everything in the world was turned upside down. I didn't know who was telling the truth and who was a liar, and whom to believe. My mind was in chaos, and I couldn't help muttering, "No, no, it's not that simple. There's no motive. Why would Third Uncle do this?"

The poker-face said faintly, "If that person really is your third uncle, there indeed is no motive. But——" He sighed.

I didn't understand what he meant, but somehow I seemed to believe him. I gave a bitter smile. I had been wondering how much Third Uncle had been lying to me. Now I had to think about how much he hadn't lied about.

I really hadn't expected things to take such a turn. But on second thought, thinking about this now was useless. Whether who is true or false, it only matters after we escape. If we die here, knowing the truth won't help.

With that thought, I quickly steadied myself and tried to relax. At that moment, I saw Fatty had walked to the stone tablet, crouching clumsily, raising a delicate pinky finger, and combing his hair while swaying. I frowned and shouted, "Damn Fatty, what the hell are you doing now? Can't you give it a rest?"

He turned his head and said in a woman's voice, "This empress dowager is combing her hair~. Combing won't kill you, so what's the fuss?"

I was utterly helpless and asked him, "Combing your hair? Do you also want to go see that Heavenly Gate?"

Fatty said: "Of course, how could I, Lord Fatty, possibly miss such a spectacular sight? Besides, you see, it wasn't easy for us to come down here, and that woman has run off, so it seems our commission is hopeless. No matter what, we have to dig out a few night pearls. As they say, if you have money, you don't rob tombs; if you rob tombs, you don't come back empty-handed."

I cursed: "So after listening for so long, all you heard was 'night pearls'?"

He wasn't convinced and said: "Hey, you really can't say that about me. There's another very important reason why your Lord Fatty wants to enter this Heavenly Gate. Do you know what it is?"