As the sun peaked over the horizon, Mo Hu opened his eyes and admired the view of the brilliant and colorful sunrise. The picturesque sight allowed him to feel at peace, as the last week was hectic, not only had he been watching the door constantly, but his body had gone through many changes. After every meal, Mo Hu had to experience the uncomfortable warmth and the cleansing required afterwards. Even though he could mentally cope easily, the ability to endure physically was challenging considering he was only twelve.
Ready to show his determination, Mo Hu approached the door.
'How should I go about this and what are all the lines and markings on the door,' he thought to himself.
After studying all the runes on the door and moving his hands across the stone, there was a moment when his hand touched a certain pet of the door and suddenly he heard and felt the movement of the door. To his surprise, the door yielded easily, granting him access to the mysterious chambers.
'What the hell is going on? Why did it open so easily?" He thought to himself, 'This could be a trap, many tombs on Earth were protected by traps if the person buried was important enough.'
He opened the door fully and using the sunlight looked inside the chamber.
The door didn't lead to a room but to a tunnel and the light from outside couldn't illuminate the end of the tunnel. Mo Hu returned to the campsite, prepared three torches, lit the first one using the coals in his fire pit and proceeded through the door into the tunnel. The flickering light danced upon the entrance of the tunnel and Mo Hu noticed more runes on the sides on the wall, right next to the door.
'This was probably a warning or a instruction for who wanted to enter,' he guessed, 'it odd that it's not the same language as what people speak now. It's either an older language or from a different region.'
He continues to advance through the tunnel when it opens into a room. The first impression was that this place was old, as he found a table and a set of chairs made of stone in the room but they were very dusty. As he looked around, he noticed three doorways, one on the left, the right, and in the back. Walking to the right, his eyes swept the room nothing nothing of significance. Disappointed, Mo Hu backtracked and entered the left room, but this room was like the first room, barren.
'Did someone enter this cave first and take everything?' He pondered, 'Well, one more room to go.'
Making his way to the room in the back, he entered not expecting anything at this point. However, as soon as he entered, he immediately perceived someone sitting in the middle of the room.
"I'm sorry sir, I did walk in but only out of concern, I tried to intro…," Mo Hu spoke quickly as he began to panic only to stop when the figure in the room hadn't moved yet.
'What's going on here?' He wondered and slowly walked towards the man. As he closed the distance, his eyes were drawn to a perfectly preserved skeleton wearing tattered red and white robes atop a large velvet cushion. The cushion seemed to placed in the middle of the room and it was surrounded by more characters of the strange language he found at the tunnel's entrance. The only other notable observation was a stone in the back which smelled of incense.
'Well, that's everything in this cave. I should bury this senior and give him a proper burial.' Mu Hu decided.
As he started to leave through the main room, Mo Hu observed a wall filled completely with more of the same characters and stopped to quickly see its contents.
'Now isn't the time to study this,' he thought, 'my first priority is to lay the senior to rest and I can come back after.'
Once he came outside again, he noted that only a hour has past, so he retrieved his shovel and strolled around the cliff until how found a quiet location and began to dig. After ten minutes of digging, he discovered that his body had strengthen greatly compared to his first landing on the island. The task that he has estimated to take a few hours was completed in an hour and a half. He brought a stone to serve as the marker and etched a respectful message to the unknown man.
'I wonder who he was and why he was in that secluded cave? And what was the purpose of those strange characters that adorned the floor and walls?' Mo Hu contemplated and only finding more questions than answers.
Mo Hu returned to the camp and using his memory, he started to craft a coffin. Many hours later, he looked at the finished product and was pleasantly surprised that it looked well enough despite the lack of tools usually needed for this task. He finally made his way back to the skeleton and bowed his head after setting the coffin down.
"Senior, excuse this offense but I have properly prepared your final resting spot. I will have to move you now so please excuse me," Mo Hu announced.
After stated his intentions, he carefully moved the skeleton into the coffin but as he went to place the right arm into the correct position, he heard a noise that sounded like a small but heavy object had hit the bottom of the coffin. Taking a moment to search, he quickly found a ring and after studying it, he discovered it was covered in the same language as the cave.
"Senior, I'm not aware if you have a will or family so I will hold onto this and transfer it back to them should they come here to search for you." Mo Hu promised.
He lifted the coffin and transported it to the grave that he prepared previously. He lowered the coffin into the hole and started to cover everything in dirt. One hour later, he stood in front of the grave, and in a soft and reverent voice he prayed for the man's soul to find eternal peace. Then he lit the incense, and as it burned, he imagined the smoke carrying his prayers and the man's soul to heaven.
'How ironic that I, who was atheist in my prior life, is performing this ritual for another,' Mo Hu contemplated, 'I guess my own experience of crossing over has made me see things differently. '
Looking back one last time, he turned back and returned to his campsite.