I asked Fatty to light a candle, and the three of us walked to the nearest cave. We placed the candle at the entrance, and I looked at the flame, which was rising straight up. I said to Fatty and Big Gold Tooth, “This cave is a dead end. There’s no airflow here. Let’s check the next entrance.”
After saying that, Big Gold Tooth and I turned to leave, but Fatty stayed put. I turned back and asked, “Are you coming or not?”
Fatty pointed at the cave entrance and said, “Old Hu, take a whiff. What’s that smell? It’s strange.”
I was busy looking for another cave with airflow and hadn’t noticed any smell. Seeing Fatty sniffing at the entrance, I asked, “What smell? It could be the stench of black widow spider. Don’t sniff too hard; you might get poisoned.”
Fatty waved us over. “No, you two come here and smell. It’s really good! It smells just like chocolate!”
“Chocolate?” As soon as Big Gold Tooth and I heard that word, our stomachs immediately growled. How could there be chocolate in this cave? I was confused, but the thought of chocolate was too tempting for the three of us who were starving. Even Big Gold Tooth, who was barely hanging on, perked up at the mention of “chocolate,” his eyes shining. I didn’t want to go over, but my legs seemed to have a mind of their own, and I took a few steps toward the entrance.
I took a sniff, but there was no chocolate smell. I said to Fatty, “Are you going crazy? Is it the burnt wood from that temple over there?”
Fatty replied, “No way! Get closer; the smell gets stronger the nearer you are to the entrance. Mmm… it’s sweet and fragrant. Damn, is there a chocolate cream tree growing in there? Let’s go in and see if there’s anything to eat.”
Big Gold Tooth nodded eagerly. “That’s right! It really is chocolate! Old Hu, you’ve got to smell it; it’s coming from this cave!”
Hearing Big Gold Tooth say that made me curious, so I stepped a bit closer and took a sniff at the entrance. A rich aroma of milk mixed with cocoa hit me hard. The wonderful smell made my wounds feel less painful, and I felt energized, my body relaxing. I couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn, that smells amazing! It’s like… like an angel’s kiss!”
Unable to resist any longer, the three of us held up the candle and stepped into the dark cave. It was narrow, only about two meters high and three or four meters wide. The rocks inside were oddly shaped, resembling gnarled tree roots.
Fatty, like a big hunting dog, led the way, sniffing around for the source of that delightful scent. Suddenly, he pointed to a rock in the cave. “It’s coming from here!” After saying that, he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, looking like he wanted to take a bite.
I placed the candle next to the rock and, along with Big Gold Tooth and Fatty, examined it. The large stone looked like a tree trunk, with a brownish-yellow exterior that seemed to be coated in a layer of bark. Some parts were semi-transparent, and the surface was covered in colorful, cracked patterns. When the candlelight hit it, the patterns seemed to shimmer, and the rich fragrance was definitely coming from this stone.
Fatty couldn’t help but reach out to touch it. He sniffed his finger and said to me and Big Gold Tooth, “Old Hu, Old Jin, just touching it makes my finger smell like chocolate. Can we eat this?”
I had never seen such a strange stone before, so I shook my head in confusion. “I dug around in Kunlun Mountain for years and saw all kinds of weird rocks. This looks like a fossilized tree trunk; it probably isn’t edible.”
After being quiet for a long time due to the shock, Big Gold Tooth suddenly got excited and said, “Old Hu, we’ve hit the jackpot! Isn’t this the Fragrant Jade? It’s also known as Golden Fragrant Jade.”
I asked Big Gold Tooth, “Golden Fragrant Jade? I’ve heard people say that if you don’t recognize Golden Fragrant Jade, it’s hard to find, and it’s worth a fortune. I thought it was a beautiful young lady! But honestly, the unique fragrance of this stone is just as captivating as any young woman.”
Not sure if it was the magical scent of the Fragrant Jade or the prospect of treasure, Big Gold Tooth, who had been feeling down, suddenly perked up and said to us, “This is a royal treasure! It’s been found in ancient tombs before. It first appeared during the Qin and Han dynasties, and it was rare in ancient times, so not many people recognized it. This thing has endless uses; the drier the environment, the stronger its fragrance. There’s even a poem that praises it: ‘In the world, flowers cannot speak, but now we see jade that gives off fragrance; the creations of the heavens are hard to fathom, and the wonders are endless.’ I once had a small piece that someone dug up, but it was tiny compared to this one…”
Fatty, hearing that it was a treasure, quickly asked Big Gold Tooth, “Old Jin, how much is this big piece worth?”
Big Gold Tooth said, “The larger the original piece of Fragrant Jade, the more valuable it is. The outer skin is also a rare medicinal material. I estimate that this big piece, given its quality, is definitely top-notch. It could at least be traded for a small imported car.”
I said to Big Gold Tooth, “Master Jin, this place is close to the temple with the bronze tripod. Could this Fragrant Jade be a burial object?”
Big Gold Tooth thought for a moment and replied, “It doesn’t look like it. I think this is a natural original stone. If it weren’t for the small part of the outer skin that had peeled off, we wouldn’t even be able to smell it. Look, there are no signs of artificial excavation in this narrow cave, and the other stones on the ground are all gnarled like tree roots. I believe these are all naturally formed fossils.”
I said, “It seems this is an unclaimed object. Since that’s the case, let’s take it back with us. Who would have thought that while trying to find treasure, we’d stumble upon this? We were unlucky to find an empty tomb and not bring back any burial objects, but thankfully our ancestors are watching over us, so we didn’t come back empty-handed. After all the scares we’ve had, it’s not a total loss.”
Fatty had been waiting for me to say that. He bent down to pick up the Fragrant Jade, but Big Gold Tooth quickly stopped him, saying, “Don’t just grab it like that. We need to find something to wrap it in. If only we had some cloth.”
I looked around. Fatty and I were practically naked, our clothes were burnt for light, and Big Gold Tooth had half of his pants torn off. Among the three of us, he was the only one still wearing a shirt that was already worn thin.
We only had a few candles left, and we were all hungry, so we couldn’t linger. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to search for other original stones or fossils nearby.
Seeing that the candle in my hand had burned down halfway, I put it in a paper lantern and had Big Gold Tooth take off his tattered outer shirt to wrap the Fragrant Jade. Fatty carried it as we made our way back through the narrow cave.
When we returned to the larger cave outside, we saw that the temple with the bronze tripod had been completely burned down, and there were still some flickering embers among the charred ruins.
In the darkness, we could no longer see our surroundings. I said to Fatty and Big Gold Tooth, “Just because no other Black Widow Spiders came out doesn’t mean they’re all gone. Maybe their kind just got scared off by the fire. Now that the flames have died down, they might come back. We can’t waste any more time; we need to find a way out quickly.”
Fatty lamented, “It’s a shame about that big tripod. The bronze should be fireproof. Let’s go back, fill our stomachs, and come back with some tools to move it. After all this digging, it wouldn’t look good to leave without bringing back a single burial object.”
Big Gold Tooth replied, “Fatty, you might as well give up on that. That tripod probably weighs over a thousand pounds. The three of us are empty-handed; how could we possibly move it? Besides, even if we did manage to bring it back, we wouldn’t be able to sell it. That kind of thing is a national treasure, not something ordinary people can sell. Only the state can collect it. It’s better to leave it where it is. We’ve already struck it rich with this big piece of Fragrant Jade; that’s a windfall in itself. Let’s not stir up more trouble.”
Both Fatty and I knew that Big Gold Tooth was a crafty businessman, but he was also a veteran in the antiques trade. He had a good grasp of what could be bought and sold. A tripod like that, no matter how much money you had, was too hot to hold. You could earn a fortune, but you could also lose everything in a bad deal. So even though Fatty was reluctant, he had no choice but to let it go.
Using our memories from earlier, the three of us felt our way along the stone walls of the cave until we reached the next entrance. I told Fatty and Big Gold Tooth to hold their breath while I took out a small piece of candle from the paper lantern to test the airflow at the entrance.
As soon as I held the small piece of candle at the entrance, the flame immediately tilted in the opposite direction of the cave. I put the candle back in the lantern to illuminate the area and felt around the entrance. I didn’t sense any strong airflow, but the candle’s tilt indicated that this entrance wasn’t a dead end. Even if it didn’t connect to the outside, there was likely a large space behind it. It could be a passage for those Black Widow Spiders to hunt. As long as there was airflow, we had a chance to escape these caves.
So, I held the paper lantern in front to lead the way, while Fatty and Big Gold Tooth carried the Fragrant Jade. As we crawled into this cave, perhaps the scent of the Fragrant Jade had a magical effect on us. Although we were still very hungry, we felt energized and clear-headed. The three of us were thrilled to have found a treasure, and we couldn’t wait to celebrate once we got out of the cave.
This cave twisted and turned, with ups and downs, and in some narrow spots, only one person could pass through at a time. As we continued, the cave became even more winding and steep, with slopes at angles of forty to fifty degrees.
While walking through the cave, I suddenly felt a chilly breeze blowing toward me, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. I urged Fatty and Big Gold Tooth to pick up the pace, thinking we were close to the exit. After moving a little further, the darkness suddenly brightened, revealing a tunnel that connected to the outside. I stretched my head out first to check if anyone was around, and once I saw it was clear, the three of us crawled out, completely naked. Just as we reached the outside, Fatty suddenly said to me, “Old Hu, there’s a human face growing on your back!”