Everyone except Fatty found his words strange. They wondered what he was thinking, claiming that the jade eye belonged to him.
I thought to myself, “If these archaeologists find out we’re tomb raiders, we’re in big trouble.” I quickly nudged Fatty and said, “Cut the nonsense. If you say less, no one will think you’re mute.”
Realizing he had spoken out of turn, Fatty fell silent. Luckily, we were all wearing gas masks, and the dim light in the temple hid our expressions, sparing us from any awkwardness.
Professor Chen and his three students were all bookworms. My biggest worry was that Shirley Yang would see through us. She was much sharper than I was and could catch on to any slip-up. Maybe she already suspected that Fatty and I were skilled tomb raiders but hadn’t said anything. At this point, I decided not to burden myself with more worries. I focused on helping Fatty attach the jade pendant to the jade eye.
The jade eye was positioned with its pupil facing up, aligned with the ceiling. The groove above seemed to match perfectly with Fatty’s jade pendant. After adjusting the jade eye a few times, it finally clicked into place with a satisfying sound. The jade eye wobbled and rolled away from its previous fixed position. The ground was bare, and it was unclear what mechanism had held the jade eye in place.
I picked up the jade eye and handed it to Professor Chen for inspection.
Shirley Yang turned on a fluorescent tube to illuminate the jade for the professor. He took out a magnifying glass and examined it for two to three minutes, shaking his head repeatedly. “I can’t tell what this is for. However, this jade eye is as big as a human head, and it looks completely natural, with no signs of human craftsmanship. It’s hard to believe that such a thing could have been made two thousand years ago.”
The Ghost Cave civilization of the Jingjue Kingdom was shrouded in mystery. Despite decades of research, Professor Chen and his team had only a limited understanding of it, mainly some basic knowledge of the ghost cave symbols and history. They speculated that this was a culture that worshipped the eye as a totem, but they only reached this conclusion after arriving at the Black Tower. At this moment, they couldn’t explain the mystery of the jade eye.
What was clear was that this grand hall, with its sixteen massive stone pillars, was a temple. Since the Jingjue Kingdom regarded the eye as the highest source of energy, it made sense to have a jade eye enshrined in the temple.
However, why did the groove on the jade eye perfectly match Fatty’s pendant, and why did the jade eye fall away from the floor once it was inserted? These questions remained unanswered.
Professor Chen asked Fatty to explain the origin of his pendant without any exaggeration or concealment, insisting on complete honesty.
Fatty had been a small-time businessman for a few years and was used to boasting without thinking. Before coming to Xinjiang, he had told the professor and others that he got the jade while fighting bandits in Xinjiang. Everyone had laughed it off, not taking him seriously. They only agreed to let him join the archaeological team because of the mysterious ghost cave symbols on the jade.
Now, under scrutiny, Fatty felt the seriousness of the situation and refrained from exaggerating. His knowledge of the jade’s origin was limited, so he recounted the story truthfully.
It turned out that Fatty’s father had participated in the revolution at the age of fifteen during the Huangma Uprising. One of his comrades, who had been in the same unit during the later stages of the Liberation War, ended up in different places after the war—one in the First Field Army and the other in the Third Field Army, both rising to the rank of senior commanders. This comrade, while leading his troops through the southwestern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, encountered a band of over a hundred bandits.
At that time, the situation in Xinjiang was very complex, with various armed groups and numerous bandits and horse thieves. It was common for the People’s Liberation Army to engage in skirmishes with bandits. In a brief but intense battle, the commander’s guard unit defeated the bandits, killing some and forcing others to flee. They found the jade pendant on the corpse of a bearded bandit leader.
As for the origin and purpose of the jade pendant, there was no way to know. Besides its unusual color and texture, and the strange symbols carved on it, there was nothing particularly special about it, so they didn’t think much of it.
Later, the commander heard that his old comrade had a baby boy, so he sent the jade, which he had obtained by chance, as a gift.
After the February Countercurrent, Fatty’s parents were affected and passed away one after the other. The commander in Xinjiang also died from illness. At that time, Fatty was only about fifteen or sixteen, an age when he didn’t understand much. In the end, the only heirloom left in his family was this ancient jade, which he cherished like a treasure. This was all he knew about the jade’s origin.
After hearing this, Professor Chen sighed, “It’s a pity that these people are no longer around. This precious jade has changed hands several times, and its origin is now impossible to trace…” He lamented the mystery of the jade eye, feeling regretful that they couldn’t uncover its secrets.
Shirley Yang took the jade eye from the professor and examined it closely, her focus intense. I noticed that since entering the ancient city of Jingjue, she hadn’t said much. I thought she might be worried because she hadn’t found any trace of her father. Her father and several other explorers had been missing for over a year, and it was hard to say if they had ever reached this place. The area was prone to strong winds and sandstorms, and the city could be buried in sand many times a year, only to be uncovered again by the next storm. Finding it this time was indeed a stroke of luck. In this vast desert, searching for a small expedition team was like looking for a needle in a haystack. She likely held onto a glimmer of hope, believing she wouldn’t feel at ease until she saw a body. The deeper she explored the ancient city, the stronger her sense of loss might become.
In the valley, she had once saved my life, and I hoped to do something for her in return. Seeing her so interested in the jade eye, I thought it was a pity that it belonged to Fatty; otherwise, I would have gladly given it to her.
Before Shirley could finish her examination, Fatty, feeling reluctant, reached out for the jade eye. Shirley quickly pulled her hand back and said, “What are you in such a hurry for? I’ll return it to you once I’m done.”
Fatty replied, “Stop talking nonsense. This jade belongs to my family. What’s the point of letting you, a foreigner, keep it forever? I’m afraid you’ll end up taking it for yourself.” With that, he grabbed the jade eye, trying to pull it back.
Seeing this, I quickly intervened, “You two, stop fighting over it! Can you give me, as the team leader, a little respect? I’ll decide. Let Miss Yang… have five minutes to look at it first.”
I was worried that Fatty and Shirley Yang would argue and accidentally break the jade eye, so I reached out to press down on the jade eye they were both holding. To my surprise, when they saw me intervening, they both let go at the same time.
I only had one hand free, and since I was pressing down from above, the jade eye was slippery and hard to grip. It fell heavily to the ground with a loud crack, shattering into eight pieces.
Everyone stared at each other in shock. Professor Chen trembled, pointing at me, “You… you you you…” He stammered for a long time but couldn’t get a single coherent word out due to his anger.
I was at a loss for words, shaking my hands repeatedly, “I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to help! I didn’t expect it to be so fragile!” As I spoke, I bent down to pick up the jade fragments, silently praying that I could piece them back together. If they made me pay for it, I wouldn’t be able to afford it; it was priceless, and even if they sold me off piece by piece, I couldn’t cover the cost.
In my panic, I was a bit dazed, forgetting whether I was praying to God or Buddha. Perhaps my lack of a fixed belief made my prayers less effective. The jade eye was heavy, and the hard stone floor had shattered some pieces into tiny bits. I rummaged around for a long time but couldn’t find all the fragments.
Fatty said, “Alright, Old Hu, it’s broken, so just let it be. Stop picking it up.” He then grabbed my arm, trying to pull me up.
I had been squatting for a while, and with my heavy gear on my back, I lost my balance when Fatty pulled me, landing hard on the ground. As I struggled to get up, I inadvertently looked up and saw, in the dim light, a large eye the size of a basin on the ceiling, shimmering with a strange glow, staring right at us.
When we entered, we had only glanced around the environment, and the dark ceiling hadn’t caught our attention. None of us had noticed when such a large, moving eye had appeared.
I quickly shone my flashlight upward. Although the temple was high, the ceiling should have been within the range of my flashlight. However, as soon as the beam hit the top, it seemed to be swallowed by darkness. Aside from the enormous eye filled with red veins, the rest of the ceiling was pitch black, and I couldn’t see anything else.
The other six people also spotted the giant eye above, and everyone felt uneasy, fearing that it might fall and injure them. They quickly stepped back.
The enormous eye turned in mid-air and then dropped to the ground. As it landed, we could see it clearly. Although it looked like an eyeball, it was actually a semi-transparent flesh ball, covered in a bluish-white substance, with a large mass of black material in the center. At first glance, it was hard not to mistake it for an eye.
Seeing this strange flesh ball, Fatty panicked and raised his assault rifle, ready to shoot. I quickly grabbed his arm, saying, “Don’t act rashly…”
Before we could figure out what this thing was, the giant eye-like flesh ball suddenly burst open with a “pop,” releasing hundreds of writhing black snakes. These snakes were similar to the ones we had encountered on Mount Zagralama, covered in black scales, each only a few dozen centimeters long, with a black growth on their heads.
The writhing mass of snakes was coated in a sticky, transparent liquid, as if they had just hatched from eggs. It was utterly disgusting, and everyone felt a chill run down their spines, instinctively taking a few steps back.
We had seen a statue of a guardian deity with a snake body and a human head in the Black Tower, which also had a similar black sphere on its head. At that time, Professor Chen had speculated that the black sphere was an eye. No wonder Shirley Yang had saved my life with her flashlight in the valley; it seemed that even if the growth on the snake’s head wasn’t an eye, it was extremely sensitive to light.
Not daring to waste any time, Fatty and I positioned ourselves in front of the others and took the opportunity to shoot at the tangled black snakes before they could disperse. Their vitality was incredibly strong; even if only their heads remained, they could still be dangerous. I fired my gun while calling out to Chu Jian to pour solid fuel on them and set them ablaze to ensure they were completely destroyed.
The flames illuminated the temple filled with massive stone pillars, and before the hundreds of black snakes could show their fangs, they were turned to char. I let out a sigh of relief, glad we had acted first. I couldn’t help but wonder if the appearance of these black snakes was related to my breaking the jade eye. Perhaps the jade eye was a sacrificial vessel, and placing the ancient jade within it completed some kind of ritual that summoned these snakes from a so-called virtual space. Whatever the case, I knew I had to be cautious if I ever encountered another jade eye like that.
I instructed everyone to check the surroundings, fearing there might be any stragglers. I also examined the ceiling closely. The stone tiles were smooth and even, and I couldn’t figure out where the giant eye-like snake egg had come from.
As I inspected carefully, I indeed discovered some unusual details. Each of the sixteen massive stone pillars in the temple had six eye patterns carved into them. The bases of the pillars were hexagonal, and on five of the sides, there were small, distinct symbols: one represented a hungry ghost, another a ram’s head, one depicted a Hu people, another a giant-eyed person, and one a guardian beast. The last side was left blank.
The stone pillars caught our attention. Professor Chen began to record the positions and types of the symbols with his pen, instructing us to rotate the hexagonal bases of the pillars. To our surprise, we discovered that beneath them were stone grooves that separated from the pillars, allowing them to be rotated with some force.
The professor concluded that these massive stone pillars were part of a temple used for rituals, and it was indeed a multifunctional sacrificial site. The hexagonal symbols at the base indicated their specific functions.
Each group of four pillars was arranged in a way that the symbols of the guardian deities faced each other. The jade eye we had encountered earlier was a sacrificial artifact, while Fatty’s ancient jade was likely a ritual tool to activate the ceremony. It was possible that there were other ritual tools as well. As for how this artifact ended up outside, we might never know. Perhaps tomb raiders or exploration teams had entered the temple of the Jingjue Kingdom, or maybe it was stolen by slaves who had rebelled against the Queen of Jingjue two thousand years ago. The truth was lost to time.
We could infer that once the ritual tools were connected, they could summon the guardian snakes to partake in the offerings. The multifunctionality of the temple was evident, as the pillars depicted not only high-ranking guardian deities but also symbols of slaves, livestock, and evil spirits. The temple might have been used for rituals to suppress evil spirits or punish slaves, with the arrangement of symbols on the pillars determining the targets of different ceremonies.
Shirley Yang asked, “Professor, this temple should be as important as the royal palace. Could there be a secret passage connecting it to the underground palace? Should we look around? We need to find the water source in the underground palace quickly, especially since Xiao Ye isn’t feeling well.”
Professor Chen replied, “I can guarantee that there is such a secret passage, but given the size of this temple, it won’t be easy to find it right away.”
Fatty chimed in, “You probably don’t know how capable Old Hu and I are. We have plenty of Soviet yellow explosives here. Why don’t you all take a break while I blow a passage open? You’ll get to see our skills.”
Professor Chen quickly waved his hands, “No, we can’t do that! These are relics of ancient civilization; damaging even a single brick is a crime.”
I thought about how I had just broken the jade eye and realized this was my chance to redeem myself. With my knowledge of geography, the five elements, and feng shui, finding a secret passage shouldn’t be too difficult. I said to them, “I believe the arrangement of the sixteen stone pillars in this temple resembles the layout of the ‘Sixteen Dragons’ in feng shui. This configuration aligns with the number of the ‘Giant Gate.’ Ancient Han tombs have used similar mechanisms. Earlier, when we observed the surroundings of this ancient city from the Black Tower, it was clear that the location had its advantages. It seems the Queen of Jingjue was also knowledgeable in metaphysics. Let me try using the technique to find the passage. I might be able to locate the secret passage, but I’m still a beginner at this. If I can’t find it, we’ll think of another way.”
Everyone agreed and waited nearby to watch. I stepped into the center of the temple, examining the stone pillars. The arrangement of the “Sixteen Dragons” wasn’t too difficult; it was merely a variation of the five elements and the twenty-four directions, adapted to the specific location. I walked back and forth between the pillars, mentally calculating as I went.
The “Sixteen Dragons” actually refer to snakes. The “Secret Art of Yin-Yang Feng Shui in Sixteen Characters” states: “The winding snake drifts, suddenly north and south.” Among these sixteen, only one that passes through the earth’s veins is the true dragon. While this sounds simple, applying it requires considerable thought. Eventually, I locked onto four specific tiles deep within the temple.
I used a small geological hammer to tap on them. Three of the tiles were solid, but one produced an empty echo. This two-meter square stone tile showed no signs of wear from frequent use, indicating that this passage had rarely been used. It seemed that explosives would be necessary to access it; prying it open would be impossible. The nearest stone pillar was likely a mechanism, but I wasn’t sure if it was still functional.
I called Fatty over to help. I placed my hand on the hexagonal stone groove beneath the pillar. If I turned it the wrong way and triggered a mechanism, it could spell disaster. I motioned for Professor Chen and the others to step outside the temple. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I explained to Fatty that we should align the empty side with the tile that might lead to the secret passage. Then, we would need to turn it five spaces clockwise, one space counterclockwise, eleven spaces clockwise again, and finally two spaces counterclockwise. We had to be precise; one move too many or too few could lead to unforeseen consequences.
Fatty replied, “Old Hu, do you think I can’t count? My grades were much better than yours back in school. Enough talk, let’s get on with it.”
I silently recited the incantation from the secret art: “Searching for the dragon for a thousand miles, seeking it anywhere, five steps in the sun, one in the shadow, open and turn.”
We both exerted our strength to turn the hexagonal stone groove, counting together with each turn. After completing the final turn, we heard a series of cracking sounds, and the stone tile beneath us sank, revealing a bottomless passageway.