With Dàtóu's peculiar cry, the atmosphere immediately became extremely eerie. He gestured to be cautious and whispered, "Be careful, there are others here."
I wondered if he, too, had felt a strange breeze. I asked him what was making that eerie sound. He pointed with the fluorescent rod towards a dilapidated defensive platform not far away and said, "I just saw a child run in there."
I glanced at him, and he swallowed saliva, saying, "I didn't see her face clearly, but from behind, she indeed had two braided horns."
Zhàojūn asked, "Should we go and take a look?"
Dàtóu said to wait and pulled out a black donkey hoof from his bag, stating, "Let's go. If there's a problem, we need to take the initiative."
Following them slowly, every step increased the pace of my heartbeat. When we reached the edge of the earthen wall, I was already drenched in nervous sweat. Dàtóu looked at us and signaled with lip reading, counting down silently. We all rushed into the fortification simultaneously, only to find it empty inside.
Dàtóu was suspicious, "I clearly saw her run in here."
"Then it might not be a ghost." I took a cold breath and, using lip reading, said, "Spirit."
Upon hearing this, Dàtóu nervously looked around and mumbled, "Little friend, uncles are here for serious matters. Don't cause trouble. There's an old man here, go play with him."
I rolled my eyes and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense. I don't think she means any harm. Maybe she has an unfulfilled wish and wants us to help her."
Suddenly, Zhàojūn said, "Wait a minute, when I was with this melon head, I never saw any children. Recall, did you bring something strange at some point, something that seems to be following you?"
With his words, I recalled the strange occurrence when I was with Zhàomǐn in another mine. Something inexplicable seemed to be following us.
I immediately recalled the events leading up to now. There didn't seem to be anything particularly strange. The only possible issue was when Zhàojūn and I fell into the mine at the same time. Could it be, as Zhàojūn said, that we provoked "it" down there?
Seeing me lost in thought, Dàtóu said, "Forget it, moving forward is crucial. We have limited supplies. Let's find them quickly and, if possible, head back up. We can't afford to waste time."
Dàtóu made a reasonable point, and we decided to proceed cautiously.
As we reached the first tier, the fault was dug quite steeply, about seven to eight meters high. There was no road between the two tiers, and an old hand-operated winch was used to connect them. However, upon inspection, the winch's cables were all severed, and the basket lay fallen below.
I lifted a chain, and the neatly cut iron chains, about three fingers wide, caught my attention. It seemed to be a heroic sacrifice when Yùshān retreated. I was curious, though. Whatever happened here should have been extremely tragic, yet there was not a single corpse. Who were Yùshān's enemies? Who cleaned up the battlefield?
Dàtóu examined the winch, and we climbed down using a rope tied to it. After descending, we continued, and after two more tiers, we reached the entrance of the Fox Barbarian King's tomb.
It was a rectangular well about five to six square meters in size, with a rusty iron door on top. Similarly, a hand-operated winch was installed, surrounded by scattered piles of iron tools, mostly rusted together. On the other side, many unopened wine jars were stacked. I warned Dàtóu not to think about them, as they contained the blood of black dogs.
Dàtóu, not believing it, pried open one with his dagger, releasing a foul smell that made him retch. I wondered aloud why the entrance was so uniquely designed.
Dàtóu shrugged, "Who cares? As long as it gets us down there. You two, come and help me."
After some effort, we managed to open the door slightly. Dàtóu complained about the rusty winch, and as we climbed up, he suddenly asked, "Can you figure out our current location in the tomb?"
I pondered and replied, "It's hard to pinpoint exactly, but ancient tombs usually have stone barriers. The smaller ones are about two to three meters long and wide, creating a path for donkeys to transport goods. From our current position in this corridor, it doesn't seem like a donkey path, so we most likely are behind the tomb entrance."
"So, if we continue straight down this corridor, will it lead us to the main hall?" Dàtóu inquired.
"Let's hope so."
We walked for a long time. At the end, an open jade gate appeared. Dàtóu sighed, "We're done for. Those damn Qing soldiers have probably looted everything inside. There must be many treasures."
He wasn't entirely wrong. Judging by the size and material of the jade gate, this tomb chamber should be a significant location for the Fox Barbarian King's burial, possibly the front hall where many burial items were placed.
Dàtóu entered first, and in the light of the torches, an astonishing scene unfolded before us.
A vast burial chamber stretched tens of zhang in length and breadth, almost the size of half a football field. The black stone slabs on the floor had been replaced by an eerie wine-red color. Directly opposite the jade gate stood a colossal stone statue. Its face was indistinct, but it embraced with both hands, and several iron chains connected from its shoulders to the ground around it.
"My goodness, did Jesus come to visit?" Dàtóu exclaimed in disbelief.
I nudged him and pointed to a large jar not far from us, saying, "Looks like a perpetual lamp. See if you can light it."
A perpetual lamp, also known as an eternal lamp, consumed oxygen in the tomb, preserving the corpse better. It was also said to guide the soul of the deceased home.
Dàtóu approached and exclaimed, "Oh, it really is a lamp. This old Fox Barbarian King was quite extravagant. Look at the patterns on this jar. If we can't find any treasures, we can still carry out this blue-and-white dragon jar and make a good sum."
He ignited the lamp, but to our surprise, within the remaining oil, there was a dead infant. The wick was placed in the infant's mouth.