I saw that the secret passage had opened and let out a sigh of relief. I shone my flashlight into the passage, revealing a staircase made of black stones that sloped downwards. The beam of the flashlight was limited, and I couldn’t see any further.
Fatty waved to the five people waiting at the entrance of the temple, inviting them in. Everyone praised my method of finding the passage.
By this time, it was past noon. I humbly acknowledged their compliments and suggested that everyone pack lightly. We should first step outside the temple to drink some water and eat a bit of dry food, as we didn’t know how far the passage would lead us. It was best to be well-prepared before going in.
While we were eating, Sa Dipeng curiously asked how I had found the passage so accurately.
I replied, “Just by looking at the arrangement of those sixteen large stone pillars, I knew this passage was part of an ancient formation called the Giant Gate. Why is it called the Giant Gate? Because such mechanisms are usually used at entrances. These calculations are derived from the Luo numbers and the arrangement of stars in the sky. The secrets within are quite profound, and you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”
After a short rest, I led everyone down the secret passage in the temple. At the entrance, we discovered a stone lever that could be used to lift the slab of stone from below. The design of these mechanisms was intricate; after nearly two thousand years, they still functioned, and their construction was quite unusual. Although they incorporated many principles of divination, they formed a unique system. If these were indeed invented by the Queen of Jingjue, she must have been an extraordinary genius.
At first, we were worried about traps in the passage, so we proceeded cautiously, keeping our distance from one another. When we reached the end of the staircase, we found ourselves in a wide corridor, about five meters wide and three meters high.
The corridor was no longer dark stone; it was built with bricks from the Western Regions, arched at the top, and adorned with strange and vibrant murals.
The most common image in the murals was eyes—some large, some small, some open, some closed. Some depicted just the eyeball, while others included eyelids and eyelashes. The people of the Jingjue regarded eyes as totems. This corridor connected to the temple, and with so many eyes depicted, it seemed only the clergy and rulers like the queen would have the right to enter. It likely hadn’t been used many times since its construction.
The corridor was very enclosed, with stagnant air, and the colors of the murals appeared fresh, showing no signs of wear, which excited Professor Chen and the others.
Professor Chen mentioned that as far back as the early 19th century, foreign explorers discovered many ancient city ruins in Xinjiang, which contained a large number of murals, almost all of religious themes. Unfortunately, the government at that time did not protect them, and they were completely looted and taken abroad. It was unexpected to find such well-preserved murals here, especially from the Jingjue, the oldest and most mysterious of the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions. This could truly shock the entire world.
Hearing the professor’s words reminded me of the legends about the queen being a monster. This ancient city was incredibly strange, and if there were indeed monsters, perhaps we could find some clues in these murals. If we encountered them, it would be good to know our enemy, so I shone my flashlight on the murals one by one.
However, none of the murals depicted the Queen of the Jingjue. Instead, they illustrated various rituals. One mural showed a jade eyeball emitting light, with a black hole appearing above it, from which a giant eye-like egg descended.
Another mural depicted countless black snakes crawling out of the egg, biting several bound slaves who struggled in pain.
Yet another showed black peaks covered in snakes, with surrounding beasts kneeling on the ground, bowing to the snakes on the mountain.
Some of these scenes we had seen before, and comparing them to the murals confirmed Professor Chen’s judgment. The snakes with black eyeballs on their heads were regarded as guardian beasts by the Jingjue people. They knew how to summon and control these serpents and often sacrificed living people to them. It was astonishing that these monstrous snakes still existed in the world after the ancient city of Jingjue had been buried under the sands for a thousand years.
As we walked and observed, we stopped in front of the last mural. It depicted a massive cave with a long, narrow staircase spiraling down along the cave wall.
Shirley Yang turned to Professor Chen and said, “Do you think this cave has anything to do with the name of the Ghost Cave People?”
Professor Chen replied, “It’s very possible. Looking at the spiral staircase on the cave wall, it’s as thin as a thread, completely disproportionate to the large cave. Such a deep hole could not have been dug by human hands. Could this be the Ghost Cave?”
I remembered hearing them say that the Ghost Cave People were said to come from underground. At the time, I didn’t think much of it and considered it just ancient nonsense. But now, looking at the murals, I began to doubt. Some of the things depicted in the murals were things we had witnessed ourselves, suggesting they weren’t just fanciful images meant to deceive. Perhaps deep within the ancient city of Jingjue, there really was such a great cave.
Fatty laughed and said, “If there really is such a big cave, wouldn’t it lead to the other side of the Earth? In the future, if we want to go abroad, we won’t need to take a plane; we could just jump down this big hole and be in America in no time!”
Shirley Yang ignored Fatty’s nonsense and asked Professor Chen, “The giant-eyed stone statue of the Ghost Cave People might represent their true form. If they really come from an underground dark world, it would explain their reverence for eyes.”
Professor Chen replied, “You have a point, but there’s another possibility. This massive cave could be the alternate realm that frequently appears in Ghost Cave civilization, what you refer to as a virtual space. It might very well be a physical entity. In ancient times, the Ghost Cave People discovered this enormous cave and couldn’t explain why such a vast underground cavern existed. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t reach the bottom to see for themselves. Ancient people revered the forces of nature, and they might have viewed this great cave as a miracle, worshipping and offering sacrifices to it. They hoped to develop their eyesight to see what lay at the bottom. A few claimed they could see the world at the cave’s bottom, and they were revered, becoming the leaders or priests of their tribe. Since their power came from their eyes, they regarded eyes as the source of strength.”
Upon hearing the professor’s words, Fatty was greatly impressed and gave a thumbs-up, saying, “Wow, professor, you can tell so much from just one painting! You make it sound so convincing, as if it’s all true. If you set up a stall, you could easily dazzle a crowd and sell anything like hotcakes.”
Professor Chen was not in the mood for jokes and casually replied, “I’m just making subjective guesses; I can’t be sure. We need to go out of the passage and see if there really is such a cave. We need to see it to believe it.”
For some reason, whenever they mentioned underground caves, I thought of the time I saw the Nine-Tiered Demon Tower beneath the Kunlun Mountains. I lost several comrades during that incident, and since then, I had developed a fear of deep underground caves. I was worried that something might happen to the archaeological team again. If it weren’t for the need to enter the tomb to find a water source, I would have wanted to pull them back. Since we had already achieved significant results in this desert archaeology, we didn’t need to explore that cave.
I said to the professor, “You are all respected individuals in society; there’s no need to take risks. Once we find the water source in the tomb and replenish our supplies, we should head back. Since we’ve already located the ancient city of Jingjue, our mission is complete. You can write an evaluation report for the relevant authorities, and let the government handle the rest.”
Professor Chen shook his head but didn’t speak. He had always wanted to explore the mysteries of the Ghost Cave civilization, and now that we were here, he was eager to continue. Moreover, Shirley Yang believed that her father’s expedition team had once reached the ancient city of Jingjue, and she wouldn’t rest until she found it. They were determined not to turn back.
Feeling helpless, I had no choice but to continue walking with them. I thought to myself that I had done my best and said what needed to be said. If something did happen, I could at least have a clear conscience.
The corridor wasn’t very long, and there were no steps at the end, just a single stone pillar with no entrance. Was this passage beneath the temple a dead end, merely there to display the murals of the rituals?
Fatty looked around and turned to me, saying, “Old Hu, do you have any ideas left? If not, let’s just blow it up.”
I replied, “Do you have any methods besides brute force? Use your brain; let’s take a look first. I suspect this hidden door is likely connected to this solitary stone pillar.”
This lone stone pillar standing in the corridor was several times smaller than the sixteen large pillars in the temple, but its design was identical. The base of the pillar was adorned with hexagonal carvings, and one side was empty, facing a narrow wall at the end.
This made things easier; the tail of the dragon from the “Sixteen Dragons” formation was here. I had Fatty help me as I used the “Shaking Dragon Technique,” which is the opposite of the “Dragon Seeking Order” from the Secret Art of Yin-Yang Feng Shui in Sixteen Characters, to rotate the hexagonal stone plate beneath the pillar.
“Dragon energy enters the hole; the sun only gathers when the first line is drawn, and the yin does not expand without five parts,” I calculated using the “Shaking Dragon Technique,” which was essentially just reversing the order of the previous rotation of the stone plate in the temple.
After we completed the last rotation of the stone plate, the brick wall in front of us opened with a sound. Fatty grabbed his assault rifle and charged out of the corridor, followed by the others.
Once outside, everyone shone their flashlights around. Although we were in an underground structure, the space was vast, and despite the peeling decorations, the grandeur of the past was still evident. We had indeed entered the tomb.
It seemed we were in the main hall of the tomb. The exit we came through was behind a throne made of jade. The hidden wall was crafted so skillfully that it was completely undetectable from within the hall.
We finally arrived at the legendary palace of the ancient city of Jingjue. To see everything clearly, we used all the lighting equipment we had. The throne and the floor of the main hall were made of jade. The chains of the lamps on the ceiling had rotted and broken, falling to the ground. A few sand rats scurried around in the corners, indicating that there was airflow here. Aside from some jade artifacts, pottery, wooden items, ironware, copperware, and silk were all severely damaged by the air.
For us, this situation was a mix of good and bad. The good news was that since there was airflow in the tomb, it meant it was connected to an underground water source, which meant that Ye Yixin’s life was saved.
The bad news was that the ancient artifacts in the tomb were quite damaged. Some pottery jars had crumbled to dust at a touch, and countless rusted armors and weapons lay scattered around, including curved swords, giant picks, and curved knives. The armor was adorned with various strange ethnic decorations and buckles, but the owners of these round shields and curved knives had long since lost their bones. If we searched carefully, we might still find a few incomplete skulls.
I wondered when so many sand rats had started to invade this place. Sand rats typically fed on the roots of desert plants and underground insects, and they loved to gnaw on hard objects. Many items in the tomb had been chewed away by them.
The best-preserved item in the main hall was the jade throne. At the top of the throne was a carved red jade eye, and the entire throne was inlaid with gold and silver, intricately carved with images of mountains, clouds, flowers, birds, fish, and beasts. The base was a large piece of pure white jade, which stood out remarkably in the predominantly dark-toned hall.
Seeing the dilapidated state of the place, Fatty was greatly disappointed. He plopped down on the jade throne and patted the armrest, saying, “This is the only thing worth anything. The rest should just be sent to the recycling station.”
I thought to myself that this guy couldn’t change his careless attitude no matter where he was. I needed to scare him a bit to avoid being laughed at by Shirley Yang and the others. So I said to Fatty, “Comrade Wang Kaixuan, this is the seat of the feudal ruling class. Don’t forget that you come from a revolutionary family. If you sit there, what about your principles and stance?”
Fatty laughed, “Come on, Old Hu, are you trying to act like a political officer? What year is it? You think this jade throne is worth a million dollars? … Oh, this throne is a bit too big; it would be hard to move it back without taking it apart.”
I continued, “Don’t think about how to move it back just yet. Let me tell you, this throne belonged to the Queen of Jingjue. Perhaps her spirit is wandering in this tomb, lonely and isolated for thousands of years. Now that you’re sitting here, she might just notice you and think, ‘Hey, this big guy is not bad! So much fat on him, I’ll keep him as a son-in-law of Jingjue.’”
My words didn’t scare Fatty at all. Ye Yixin, who had been barely able to walk, was being supported by Shirley Yang. When I mentioned the ghost of the Jingjue queen in the tomb, Ye Yixin rolled her eyes and fainted again.
Shirley Yang was anxious and stomped her feet, saying, “Can you two stop messing around? Hurry up and help!”
Seeing that we had caused trouble again, Fatty and I dared not bicker anymore. We went over to lift Ye Yixin and placed her on Fatty’s back. Fatty muttered under his breath, feeling a bit uneasy, “A son-in-law? I’ve never met someone so uncultured. Do you think the queen is a widow from the countryside? The husband of the queen should be called… what was it? It shouldn’t be called a prince, right?”
Shirley Yang, unable to hold back her anger, retorted, “It’s called a eunuch.”
With the recent death of Hao Aiguo in the archaeological team, the atmosphere was quite heavy, and laughter felt inappropriate. I forced myself to hold it in and joined the others in searching the vast tomb for a water source.
The underground palace of the ancient city of Jingjue was not as large as I had previously imagined. The main hall was quite spacious, but the side halls were relatively simple. The main entrance and stone steps of the front hall were completely blocked by sand. Near the entrance, a black stone ceiling had been damaged by explosives, indicating that someone had previously entered this tomb. The extent and marks of the damage were not recent; it had likely been decades, possibly even longer. It was very likely the work of the owner of that black-and-white photograph, and now this gap had long been buried by yellow sand.
After checking the side halls, we moved to the back hall, which served as the resting quarters for the royal family. There were a few jade-enclosed fountains here, but they had long since dried up. As we walked, Shirley suddenly exclaimed, “Do you hear that? It sounds like running water!”
I perked up my ears to listen, and sure enough, I could hear the sound of water flowing not far away. It seemed to be coming from behind the sleeping quarters. We quickened our pace and followed the sound to a cave at the back of the hall.
The cave was very low, and we descended deep into it, arriving at a natural stone chamber the size of a basketball court. Although it was a natural formation, it had clearly been artificially modified, with a very flat floor. In the cave, there was a small underground lake, with a raised area in the middle resembling a small island, only about ten square meters in size. The surface of the lake was as smooth as a mirror, surrounded by calm waters.
Our group had been rationed to the minimum amount of water for a week. Even in the desert, such a small amount of water was hard to endure. Seeing the cool underground water, we were eager to dive in and drink.
Shirley Yang stopped everyone, saying, “This water source has been abandoned for many years. We don’t know if it’s stagnant or flowing. Moreover, underground rivers can change course. The water now may not be the same as it was two thousand years ago. There are a lot of salts and sulfurs in the underground of the Western Regions. What if the water is toxic? Let’s take a look first.”
I took a closer look and saw several colorful little fish swimming in the lake. I smiled and said, “You’re overthinking it. There are fish in this lake, it’s flowing water and shouldn’t be toxic.”
As soon as I said this, the others could no longer hold back. They rushed to the edge of the lake and drank deeply, filling their stomachs until they felt they couldn’t drink anymore, even spilling some water as they moved.
Ye Yixin, suffering from dehydration, couldn’t drink a large amount of water at once. Shirley Yang mixed some salt into a jug of water and gave it to her little by little. We had drunk so much water that we could hardly move, so we had to rest on the spot.
I had never felt water tasted so good. I lay on the ground with my belly up, closing my eyes to relax. At that moment, everything around us quieted down, and I thought I could still hear the sound of flowing water in the distance. It seemed that there were more water veins in this tomb. The small lake where we were drinking was very quiet, and the sound of water we had heard from the back hall must have come from a more distant source, likely a large underground river, perhaps the Zidu River that flowed around the Zaglamar Mountains.
While I was lost in thought, I suddenly heard Shirley Yang exclaim in surprise. I quickly propped myself up on my hands and asked her what was going on. Shirley pointed to the raised area in the middle of the lake, indicating that I should look over there.
Professor Chen and the others also sat up from the ground. Everyone followed Shirley’s finger and saw an incredible sight.
The raised area in the lake was covered with a dense layer of green mayfly larvae, numbering in the tens of thousands. Their bodies were gradually turning grayish-white as they crawled out of their shells. The newly emerged larvae seemed to glow with a lot of fluorescence, sparkling like stars in the sky. The larvae were stretching their newly acquired wings, and soon they would be able to fly up into the air.
At that moment, countless large rats scurried into the cave from all directions. These rats showed no fear of humans, completely ignoring us as they jumped into the lake without hesitation. They swam eagerly to the raised area, greedily grabbing the freshly molted larvae and devouring them in a frenzy, leaving nothing behind in a matter of moments.
We saw many large rats swimming in the lake. It was clear that these rats often gathered here for meals; otherwise, they wouldn’t be so skilled at swimming. The thought made me feel nauseous, and I opened my mouth to vomit, expelling the lake water I had just swallowed.
After feasting, the rats swam back to the shore and scattered in different directions.
Chu Jian picked up some stones from the ground, intending to throw them to scare away the slower rats. I stopped him, reminding him of the family rule passed down from my grandfather: the people of Old Hu’s family must not harm rats. After all, these rats posed no threat to us, so it was best to let them be.
Fatty cursed, “Old Hu, this is just coddling the enemy! This water is where the rats bathe and eat. It’s disgusting! I can’t believe how much rat droppings and fur I might have swallowed just now.”
I replied, “Let’s not talk about it. The more I think about it, the more disgusting it gets. We should leave this place and find another.”
No one wanted to drink this water, so we continued deeper into the cave, searching for the underground river. There was no other way but a single passage, and the sound of flowing water came from the other end.
As we walked, the humidity increased, and the walls became damper. On both sides of the passage, there were many man-made stone chambers with iron bars and heavy locks. Inside, there were various torture devices, likely used for imprisoning prisoners, but now they had become rat nests, with the ground covered in dark rat droppings.
After walking several hundred meters into the cave, we finally saw a rushing underground river blocking the entrance. This was the Zidu River, flowing beneath the desert sands for thousands of years without ever drying up. The river was not only wide but also deep, eventually merging with the Tarim River.
However, a characteristic of the inland rivers in the Xinjiang desert is that no matter how much water they carry, they cannot break free from the desert and flow into the sea. These inland rivers and underground rivers are ultimately swallowed by the desert.
On the opposite bank, there was another large cave connected by a black stone bridge, built from the same black stones of the Zaglamar Mountain, spanning over the turbulent waters of the Zidu River.
In front of the cave at the end of the black bridge, there was a heavy gate held up by a thick iron chain, with a massive stone propping it up. Looking under the gate, the cave inside was unfathomably deep, and we had no idea what lay within.
Professor Chen was startled. “The stone door we found earlier was blown open, so someone must have been here before. This gate is so heavy and located in the deepest part of the third level of the underground palace. It’s very likely that this is the long sleep place of the Queen of Jingjue.”
In ancient times, the kingdoms of the Western Regions often placed royal tombs within the city, unlike the Han people of the Central Plains who built tombs in the mountains. We had already learned this in the ancient city of Xiye, where the tomb of Prince Gumo was located in the old city’s holy well. So, it wasn’t surprising that Professor Chen believed the tomb of the Queen of Jingjue was beneath the underground palace.
However, everyone felt that things were going too smoothly. Previous expedition teams had visited this underground palace, and the cave was not hidden, so it must have been discovered before. Could it be that those who entered the queen’s tomb all perished inside? What could be in there? Was the giant cave depicted in the murals also inside?
I asked Professor Chen whether we should go in or not.
Without hesitation, he said, “Let’s go in! I must see if the tomb of the Queen of Jingjue has been robbed or damaged. If I don’t take a look, I won’t be able to rest in peace. If my old bones are buried in there, at least I would have died in a worthy place. At my age, I don’t care about anything, but you young ones should stay back. I’ll go in alone.”
Shirley Yang was busy loading a new film into her camera and didn’t look up as she said, “Of course, I’m going too.” She spoke so casually, as if she hadn’t even considered whether to enter the tomb of the Queen of Jingjue, only whether she would be the first or second to go in.
Seeing this, I felt I couldn’t stay behind. If something happened to them, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. So, I asked Fatty to stay behind and look after the three students.
Fatty was reluctant and said, “Why does all the babysitting work fall to me? If you’re going, I’m going with you. Otherwise, none of us should go in. Don’t worry, if there are any treasures inside, I won’t take a thing.”
When Chu Jian, Sa Dipeng, and the others heard they wouldn’t be allowed in, they quickly pleaded to join. This was a rare opportunity; after traveling so far through the black desert and enduring so much hardship to reach the ancient city of Jingjue, how could they not see the most important tomb of the queen? Besides, if anything happened, they could help each other.
With everyone wanting to go, I was concerned about Ye Yixin, who was weak and often dazed. She had taken some cold saline solution and was feeling a bit stronger. “Please don’t leave me here alone,” she said. “I’m fine now, and I want to go in with you all.”
I realized this was becoming complicated. No matter how capable Fatty and I were, we couldn’t take care of five people, especially since most of them were weak or inexperienced. Only the tall Chu Jian could be of some help.
I suggested, “How about this? I’ll go in alone first to check things out. If it’s safe, we can all go in together. If I’m not back in four or five hours, don’t wait for me. Just leave this ancient tomb and get out of here.”
Fatty protested, “No way! If we’re going, we should go together for safety.”
I patted Fatty on the shoulder. “I’ll be fine on my own. I’m tough, and I can handle it. If something happens to me, you need to make sure everyone else gets out safely.”
Shirley Yang chimed in, “Enough with the dramatic talk. I’m going with you.”
I thought I misheard her. “You want to go with me? Don’t joke around. If there’s danger, I can escape alone. If you come with me, I might not be able to protect you.”
Shirley replied, “Who knows who will protect whom? Anyway, I can’t let you go into the queen’s tomb alone.” She took the sports rifle from Chu Jian, pulled back the bolt with a click, checked that it was loaded, and then chambered a round. I was surprised; she clearly knew how to handle a gun, something I hadn’t noticed before.
As we both prepared our gear, Fatty leaned in and whispered, “Hey, Old Hu, I think she’s been looking at you differently lately. Does she have a crush on you? It seems like she’s getting attached already.”
I laughed and scolded him, “I think you’re the one with bad judgment. I didn’t even notice that! I’m not interested in her; I don’t want a woman who’s too strong-willed. Besides, my family won’t expects me to bring home an American girl. They’d probably dismember me if I did!”
Fatty said, “As long as you know that, I’m just worried you might end up with someone like her. She seems to look down on others just because she has a bit of money.
I loaded the assault rifle I had picked up from the tomb raiders with bullets, strapped on explosives and a shovel, and replaced the batteries in my flashlight. I held the talisman made from pangolin claws in my hand for a moment, whispering a prayer for protection.
Just then, Shirley finished packing her gear and asked if I could figure out the internal structure of the tomb. I replied, “I’ve never encountered a tomb like this before. To understand the structure from the outside, I would need to analyze the land’s energy, assess the surroundings, find the star peaks, identify water sources, measure directions, and determine the burial site. But this tomb is beneath the city, and I’ve never seen one like it. The bridge and water at the entrance don’t fit traditional feng shui principles, so I can’t predict what might be inside. We need to be careful once we enter, especially to avoid triggering any traps. And we must watch out for those strange snakes with black eyes; they move quickly and are hard to dodge.”
Shirley nodded and stepped onto the stone bridge first, with me closely following behind. With the other five watching us, we crossed the black stone bridge and slipped under the heavy gate.