Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Human Effigy

"How vicious!" "This is nothing but the work of a tyrant. Let's go down, raid his nest, and scatter his ashes to the wind; consider it avenging that child."

Touching those chains, rusted and pitted with copper oxidation, one could still imagine the sheer bloodshed of those days through this veil of antiquity. Slaughter, blood, and death—these were the main themes of that era. It is no wonder that all kinds of legends describe that civilization being wiped out by a great flood. Has human nature, inherently evil, truly vanished from these ancient ruins along with history?

"The ancients were like this. Sacrificial offerings were not the chicken, duck, fish, or meat of today, but humans. Women, children, prisoners of war—in the barbaric, ancient times, survival was the sole objective. Rulers needed to use blood to stimulate the hormones of their warriors. These were all sacrificial victims. Such sins were not only committed here; they occurred on every piece of land across the world."

I asked, "Old Gu, you are well-versed in such matters. Do you understand the significance of this?"

"The snake. Ancient people worshipped this creature. Not just in Asia, but in Africa and Egypt as well. Wasn't Nuwa a human with the body of a snake? The snake is also the natural creature closest to the totem of the dragon. In my opinion, the remains of this snake were likely captured by humans for sacrificial purposes. It is just a pity for that child."

"Well, masters, are we going down, or are we going to keep sightseeing here?" The Fatty’s remark reminded me. I checked my watch; it was already past ten in the evening. There were only nine hours left until our seven o'clock appointment with Lord Long. I said, "Gentlemen, time is running out. We must bypass anything that is irrelevant to our goal."

The Fatty glanced at the hollow center of the pillar and began scratching his scalp. "How are we supposed to get down this thing? Young man, you've been here before—how did you go down last time?"

Ye Qiu looked down, and I saw his expression turn troubled. "I’ve forgotten. It’s just a blurred image in my mind. It seems I just went down like this."

"Wow, you're kidding, right? Kid, I see you have extraordinary skills. Did you learn the Gecko Technique or something? This isn't like the sewers outside; if your grip slips, you're dead."

Cha Wenbin suggested, "Use a rope. How long are the ropes we brought?"

I replied, "No more than thirty meters. I threw a stone down earlier to listen for the sound; I suspect our rope isn't long enough."

Ye Qiu proposed, "This pillar is only about twenty meters high. I don't think the underground palace should be too deep below the surface. Let me go down first."

Cha Wenbin agreed with Ye Qiu's assessment, saying, "That works. He is agile, after all." I tied a stopper knot in the rope and secured it to the tree root above; it was sturdy enough. The rest of the rope dangled down into the hollow of the pillar. Ye Qiu chose to descend head-first—a move that left him no room for retreat. Should anything happen, getting back up would be difficult.

The Fatty warned, "You..."

"I prefer to see the danger rather than have it appear behind my back."

He wrapped the rope around his waist once, hooked his feet around it, and slid down like a monkey. The technique made my heart race.

Ye Qiu descended with incredible speed, disappearing from sight in moments. Within half a minute, he signaled us from below, flashing his flashlight upward three times.

The Fatty said, "It's safe! Let's go!"

I had more to consider. Both Old Gu and Cha Wenbin possessed the temperament of scholars, and this kind of work truly did not suit them. Fearing danger, I suggested, "Perhaps Wenbin and Old Gu should stay behind. This kind of work is really not for you two."

Cha Wenbin, however, said, "Old Gu should stay; his age and stamina are issues, and staying above allows him to provide support. Also, Fatty, you stay as well. In case we need someone to pull from below, you are the strongest here, and the diameter of this pillar is not large—it wouldn't be convenient for you to get in."

"It is indeed not suitable for my old bones to go down. Just take some photos and bring them back for me." Saying this, he handed his camera to Cha Wenbin. After taking it, Cha Wenbin looked at me and said, "Xiao Yi, follow behind me."

"All right," I agreed. If I think back to that day, if I had truly gone down, I might not have had the chance to sit here and chat with everyone today. Fate is arranged that way; everything is destined.

It was necessary and essential to leave two people above. Old Gu was too old, and someone needed to be responsible for the safety of the ropes. This line of reasoning was correct. However, how could the Fatty be content staying above? If he could be well-behaved, he wouldn't be the Fatty.

Just as I was preparing to descend, the Fatty slipped in ahead of me. As we parted, he looked at me with a grin and said, "Young Master Xia, you’re an educated man—don’t get mixed up in this. This is the trade I specialize in; either way, I’m more suited for it than you."

His stunt changed the plans. It wasn't that I didn't want to go down; it was that I had to stay behind for the sake of everyone's safety.

"Be careful, and take care of Wenbin!" That was my final instruction to him.

What happened later, I only know from what Cha Wenbin told me. There was a layer of silt at the bottom that reached the ankles, which is why the rock I threw didn't make a sound. Everything inside had likely been submerged in water originally.

The area of the entire underground palace was roughly the same size as the surface. According to Cha Wenbin, the wealth piled inside was countless; anything scooped up from the silt glinted with gold, which delighted the Fatty. With one in his left hand and one in his right, stuffing every available space on his person, he looked every bit the nouveau riche.

The palace was relatively level. On both sides stood rows of human figurines. Strangely, none of the figurines had heads, and there were no detached parts on the ground, as if they had never been fired with heads in the first place. Following the line of figures, there was a central passage. At the end of the passage was a coffin chamber, slightly elevated above the ground. It was visible to the naked eye, barely dozens of meters away—even a child could run there in one breath.

Cha Wenbin told me it was the largest coffin he had ever seen in his life. I had once accompanied him to the Changsha Museum, where we saw the intact Mawangdui female corpse. That coffin was as tall as a floor and a half, constructed entirely of wood without a single nail. Yet, he said the coffin below was roughly twice the size of the Mawangdui one!

The underground palace was very quiet. Aside from the Fatty's silly chuckles, Ye Qiu and Cha Wenbin remained silent.

Intuition—it is a strange sixth sense. Some people are very accurate, while I belong to the category with poor intuition. But Cha Wenbin and Ye Qiu both belonged to the former.

Danger! Danger permeated the place! The two looked at each other, not daring to take a step forward. Cha Wenbin whispered to the Fatty, "Do not touch a single thing here."

The Fatty, somewhat unwillingly, threw out everything he had stuffed into his pockets. At that moment, Cha Wenbin felt half of that oppressive atmosphere lift. He took out three incense sticks and lit them. He handed one to the Fatty and one to Ye Qiu. Unexpectedly, Ye Qiu merely glanced at them and declined, saying, "I only believe in myself. The heavens do not favor me."

Cha Wenbin said no more. He simply raised the incense above his head and bowed three times, saying, "Forgive us for intruding upon the rest of our ancestors. It is truly a last resort. If we have offended you by visiting today, please show mercy. The cause of a past life leads to the fruit of today. Since it was ordained that I should come, I count this as a fate spanning a thousand years. I offer a stick of Shangqing incense as a gesture of apology."

He then pulled the Fatty along to bow three times toward the coffin. During this time, Ye Qiu kept staring at the human figurines. Suddenly, he remarked, "One is missing."

The Fatty was startled by this and asked tremblingly, "What's missing?"

Ye Qiu pointed to the figurines ahead and said, "There are eighteen on the left, but only seventeen on the right. One figurine is missing."

China places great importance on symmetry. How could a figurine be missing in a tomb of such specifications? The Fatty laughed it off. "Kid, don't make a fuss. It's been so many years; it's normal for one to have fallen over or been destroyed."

Ye Qiu shook his head. "It's not normal. Haven't you noticed that the degree of age on these figurines is different?"

The Fatty shone his flashlight and observed them carefully. It seemed that just as Ye Qiu had said, the figurines closer to the coffin had parts that were already cracking, while those closer to where they stood were more complete, and even the layer of mud on them seemed much fresher.

Cha Wenbin had already lit a candle earlier, known as a "lamp of eternal light." In places like this, ordinary light sometimes cannot reveal the truth; one must use the glow of fire.

He gave each of them a candle and said, "It must be an illusion. The silt here is so thick, it might have been washed away by water. Don't scare yourselves. Turn off your headlamps, hold the candles in front of you, watch your footing through the candlelight, walk side-by-side, and do not scatter."

They walked with heavy, uneven steps, as if through a muddy field. They had walked no more than seven or eight meters when Cha Wenbin felt something trip him as he lifted his foot. He applied a little force, pulling the object along with him. Looking down, he saw something like a strap on the instep of his foot...

Note: Good night.