We, seven of us, navigated through the ruins, carefully avoiding areas that had collapsed. After a long trek, we reached the center of the ancient city. The streets here were quite wide, and although they were covered in yellow sand, the layout was still visible.
However, aside from the leaning black tower, there were no other large buildings in the area. There wasn’t even a decent house, just crumbling earthen walls.
Professor Chen suggested that the palace might be underground due to the excessive sand in the city. He proposed that we climb the black tower to see if we could spot the entrance to the underground palace from above.
The base of the tower and most of an arched stone door were buried in sand. The black tower was made from large stones from Mount Zaglama, standing six stories tall and slightly tilted, yet still very sturdy. The materials used were quite rare, and at the very top, there was a black, olive-shaped stone ball.
Professor Chen put on his reading glasses and looked up for a long time. He then used binoculars, muttering to himself, “Right, why didn’t I think of this before?”
I wanted to ask him what he hadn’t thought of, but he suddenly crouched down and squeezed through the tower door, seemingly eager to confirm something. We quickly followed him inside.
The walls of the tower were covered in strange carvings of Ghost Cave People, and each level had a black stone statue. The first level featured a stone sheep, which was rather ordinary. The second level had a stone figure of a person, about the same size as a human, with a high nose and deep-set eyes, kneeling inside the tower. The third level surprisingly displayed the giant-eyed stone figure we had seen while hiding from the sandstorm in the nameless small town.
Professor Chen stopped and said to us, “It seems my guess was correct. The source of those giant-eyed stone figures found in various places is the Kingdom of Jingjue, and the material is that black stone from Zaglama.”
Sa Dipeng asked, “Professor, what is this tower for? Why does each level have a statue?”
Professor Chen replied, “I suspect this black tower was used to display the status of the ghostly figures. Each statue represents a different rank. The first level is for livestock. If I’m not mistaken, there should be another level underground, housing the hungry ghosts of hell. The second level represents ordinary people, including all the nomads from the Western Regions, whose status is just above that of cattle and sheep, akin to slaves. The third level features the giant-eyed figure. I noticed that the stone ball at the top of the tower resembles an eye. The giant-eyed figure and the eye-shaped totem symbolize this people’s worship of eyes. Let’s hurry up and see what’s at a higher status in the Kingdom of Jingjue.”
Fatty chimed in, “Even someone like me can guess this. I bet there’s definitely a statue of the queen up there.” With that, he rushed ahead to the fourth level.
I followed closely behind, but to my surprise, the statue on this level had a snake body and a human head, with strong limbs. The hind limbs were beast-like, while the front limbs were human, holding a sword and shield. The face was male, fierce and glaring, resembling the wrathful deities found in temples. There was also a black ball at the back of the statue’s head, similar to the strange snakes from Mount Zaglama.
By this time, Professor Chen and the others had also made their way up. Upon seeing the bizarre statue, they exclaimed in wonder, “This seems to be the guardian deity of the kingdom. It also has an eye-shaped black ball on its head. It appears the Ghost Cave People truly believe that eyes are the source of all power. The guardian’s status is even below that of the queen, indicating that the Jingjue queen has indeed been deified. Let’s go check the fifth level to see if it’s the queen’s statue.”
Just as we were about to ascend, Ye Yixin suddenly came to her senses, stirred by the morning breeze blowing through the tower. Shirley Yang took out a water bottle and helped her drink some fresh water. Although she still looked very weak, she was much better than when she was unconscious. Her dehydration was still quite evident, but at least her life was no longer in danger. Now that she was awake, with proper treatment using cold saline solution over the next couple of days, she would be fine.
We were all eager to see what strange things were at the top of the tower and to search for the entrance to the underground palace, so we helped her up to the fifth level of the black tower.
As I climbed the short staircase to the fifth level, I considered various possibilities, but I never expected it to be completely empty. There wasn’t even a base for a statue; the walls were just covered in more intricate inscriptions.
I asked Professor Chen, “Is this level damaged? Or has it been robbed?”
Professor Chen hesitated for a moment before replying, “It’s hard to say. We’ll need to check the level above to understand what’s going on here.”
The stone statues in the black tower piqued everyone’s curiosity, and we hurriedly climbed the stairs to the top level. At the highest point of the tower stood a black throne, upon which sat a statue of a woman. She was dressed in luxurious clothing, and her face was carved to appear veiled, obscuring her features. However, it was clear at a glance that this statue resembled the depiction of the Jingjue queen found in the murals of the tomb of Prince Gumo. It was a full-body statue of the queen.
Everyone began to speculate about what the queen might have looked like.
Unable to come up with an explanation, I asked, “What’s the queen hiding? Why doesn’t her statue show her true face?”
Fatty replied, “To me, it seems like a mystery for the sake of mystery. They call her the most beautiful woman in the Western Regions, but she’s probably just an ugly hag. Otherwise, why hide her from view? But I must admit, her figure is quite decent; the proportions are good.”
I told him to have some decency; after all, she had been dead for two thousand years. Why judge her appearance? Look at the things in this city and how similar they are to the legends. What if the queen really was a monster? She could very well jump out and bite you! Let’s not make wild guesses; let’s hear what the professor has to say.
Since we reached the sixth level of the black tower, Professor Chen had been silent, connecting the clues in his mind. Now that he had thought it through, he responded to our inquiries, saying, “I mentioned earlier that this stone tower likely symbolizes a hierarchy, with clear distinctions from high to low, representing nobility to commoners. The citizens of the Kingdom of Jingjue were primarily composed of the Ghost Cave People, a race that has long been extinct. No remains of them have ever been found, so we can’t deduce their origins or background. So far, our biggest discovery is that this race worshipped eyes as totems. This is a significant breakthrough in the study of ancient Western Region civilizations. With this evidence, many puzzles that have troubled scholars for years will be solved.”
Fatty then asked, “But why is the fifth level empty?”
Suddenly, I recalled what Shirley Yang had said in the tomb of Prince Gumo and blurted out, “A virtual space!”
Professor Chen nodded slightly and said, “Exactly. Above the guardian deity is an indescribable virtual space, and the queen seems to preside over it, as if she completely controls this unknown realm. The eye-shaped totem at the top of the tower indicates that the queen’s power also comes from her eyes.”
Hearing this, everyone felt a chill. Could it be that such a space, beyond human understanding, truly existed? And that the queen could control this otherworldly realm with her eyes? Was she really a monster? At least she was already dead.
Professor Chen noticed that everyone seemed a bit anxious, so he continued, “There’s no need to worry. Ancient rulers often used myths to deceive the common people, which helped solidify their power. Just like the emperors of the Central Plains, who all claimed to be the sons of dragons, ordained by heaven. In reality, it was just a way to fool the masses. It’s not surprising that this queen never revealed her true face and played tricks. However, these ancient relics hold great value for studying historical cultures, and this stone tower is of significant importance.”
Seeing that there was nothing but statues inside the black tower, we looked down at the entire city. The ruins of Jingjue City blended seamlessly with the yellow sands of the desert, and the outline of the ancient city resembled a giant eye.
After observing, Professor Chen asked me, “Hu, you have a good understanding of Feng Shui. What do you think about the Feng Shui of this city?”
I thought to myself that our priority was to find the water source in the palace. Why was he asking me again? Did he think the queen’s tomb was directly beneath the palace? I carefully examined the surrounding geography.
I pointed to the northern Zaglama Twin Peaks and said, “Professor, look at those black mountains. They resemble a black dragon in the desert, but unfortunately, they are broken in the middle, turning one dragon into two snakes. In my humble opinion, the valley in between was artificially carved out, and the stone extracted from the mountains was likely used to build the black tower and the stone figures in the city. Ancient emperors would start preparing their tombs as soon as they ascended to the throne. If this ancient city indeed has underground water veins that correspond with the Zaglama Mountains, it would create a balance of stillness and movement. I believe the Jingjue queen was an exceptionally intelligent person who understood that the black dragon was inauspicious, so she mobilized people to sever and pin it down, ensuring it would guard her tomb forever. This city thus became an excellent treasure site. If the queen’s tomb is truly within the city, it must be quite grand. However, one thing puzzles me: you mentioned that her palace is underground, but I think the tomb is also underground, which seems a bit cramped.”
Professor Chen praised, “Indeed, you have a keen insight. I believe both the palace and the tomb are underground in the city, but they are not cramped together. They might be divided into three levels: the upper level is the castle, the middle level is the palace, and the deepest level is the tomb of the Jingjue queen. The Kingdom of Jingjue was powerful, commanding hundreds of thousands of slaves from surrounding small nations, and they could even carve a valley out of the Zaglama Mountains. The construction of the underground palace and tomb, though grand, is certainly feasible.”
It is said that explorers have visited this ancient city more than once, but the shifting sands have completely obscured their traces. Some of them may have entered the underground palace, but there’s no way to confirm it, nor can we tell where they might have entered.
Knowing that the royal city was right beneath us but unable to find the entrance was incredibly frustrating. We searched through the streets and ruined houses until we finally discovered a stone building that stood taller than the ordinary houses. It was also covered in a layer of yellow sand, making it hard to spot at first glance.
This seemed to be the only clue we had. We hurried over, and the building appeared to be a temple, constructed from the black stones of Zaglama. The stone door was shaped like a giant beast with its mouth wide open, and a large amount of yellow sand had piled up at the entrance. Fatty and I dug a passage through the sand, and everyone put on gas masks, using cold smoke torches to light our way.
The stone hall was quite grand, with sixteen massive stone pillars, but the entrance was blocked by sand, and there was none inside.
At the deepest part of the hall, there was a jade eye resting on the ground, with natural red threads and a blue pupil that was strikingly lifelike.
I was taken aback; this object must be worth a fortune. Just seeing it and touching it would make the perilous journey through the desert worthwhile. It was truly a treasure, and I never would have imagined such a thing existed in the world.
Fatty couldn’t contain himself and wanted to take the jade eye and put it in his backpack. However, no matter how hard he tried, the eye seemed rooted to the floor, not budging an inch.
Professor Chen, worried that Fatty might accidentally damage this ancient artifact with his strength, quickly pulled him back and warned him not to touch it. Shirley Yang noticed a peculiar groove on the jade eye that closely resembled Fatty’s family heirloom jade pendant. She said to Fatty, “Why don’t you try placing your jade pendant in that groove? It looks like it might be a mechanism.”
Fatty was overjoyed. He pulled out his jade pendant from his pocket, pushed everyone aside, and eagerly inserted the pendant into the groove of the jade eye. “If this fits, then this big eye is mine! Anyone who tries to take it will have to deal with me. Damn, this is a real treasure! Hu, we’re really going to strike it rich this time!”