At that moment, it felt like half the cave was on fire. The flames crackled loudly, and I finally realized that the triangular cave was actually a man-made structure, entirely built from wood. To keep the wood strong, it seemed they had mixed in substances like pine resin and animal fat, coating the wood with it.
This wooden building was about the size of seven or eight houses. I had no idea what it was used for. Surrounding the wooden structure were countless corpses, both human and animal, all drained of moisture by the black widow spider. It was as if the bodies had undergone a dehydration process. Even though the corpses were wrapped in the leeches’ silk, you could still see the horrific expressions of pain twisted on their faces from the suffering they endured in life.
As the wood burned and collapsed, I saw three massive fireballs writhing in the flames. After a while, they became still, and I couldn’t tell if they had been burned to death or crushed by the falling debris, slowly turning into charred remains.
Fatty, Big Gold Tooth, and I were still in shock, wanting to run far away, but our legs wouldn’t cooperate, so we had to sit down where we were. The sight of the raging fire left us pale and speechless. What was this wooden and stone structure? Why had the black widow spider made it their lair?
Suddenly, Fatty pointed at the fire and said to me and Big Gold Tooth, “Old Hu, Old Jin, look over there! There’s a human face!”
Following Fatty’s gaze, we saw a gigantic face emerging from the flames, much larger than the face formed by the patterns on the back of the black widow spider, and even bigger than the carved faces on the stone coffins.
The face in the fire was illuminated by the flames, adding an eerie quality to its already bizarre expression. It was located in the center of the building, revealed as the surrounding structure burned and collapsed. It turned out to be a massive bronze tripod, with a strange human face cast into its body.
Fatty asked me, “Old Hu, is this part of that ghostly tomb?”
I shook my head and replied, “It shouldn’t be. It’s possible that ancient people worshipped this cruel human-faced spider as a god and built this temple in their lair to honor it. Back then, slave were treated as less than human, and who knows how many slaves were sacrificed to feed these black widow spider. Today, by destroying their lair, we’re doing the right thing.”
The ghostly tomb from the Western Zhou period was likely connected to this altar with the human-faced tripod.
It’s possible that after the ancient tomb was destroyed, this place remained hidden deep in the cave, allowing it to survive. But all of this had become dust in history; only those studying the Western Zhou period might know a bit about it.
I turned to Fatty and said, “Let’s stop discussing useless things. Are you hurt? We need to carry Big Gold Tooth and get out of here quickly. There might still be living black widow spider around, and if they attack us now, we’ll be left with nothing but our underwear and won’t be able to defend ourselves.”
Fatty replied, “Isn’t it a waste to leave now? Once the fire dies down, we can find a way to get that bronze tripod out. If we can bring it back to Beijing, it could be worth a fortune.” He then nudged Big Gold Tooth, asking, “Old Jin, are you coming around?”
Big Gold Tooth, still dazed and shocked from the impact, stared blankly at the fire. After a couple of nudges from Fatty, he finally snapped back to reality and said, “Ah, Fatty, Old Hu, I didn’t expect us three brothers to meet again in the… underworld. Where is this place? Have we crossed the Naihe Bridge (In folk beliefs, there is a legendary bridge that leads to the Underworld.) already?”
Fatty replied, “Are you confused? We’re not dead yet! As long as we’re alive, we’ll keep suffering. But I have good news: there’s a bronze human-faced tripod in that temple… Oh no, I hope it doesn’t burn!” He stood up, wanting to get a closer look.
I called out to Fatty from the ground, “Can you just sit still for a moment? We’re practically naked here, and you’re still thinking about that pile of scrap metal!
Fatty’s eyes lit up, completely ignoring what I said. The flames were intense, and after taking a few steps forward, he couldn’t stand the heat and had to back away. He accidentally stepped on a corpse that had been drained by the Black Widow Spider, lost his balance, and fell right onto the dry body.
The corpse had been dead for who knows how long, its mouth gaping wide and its eye sockets reduced to two dark holes. Fatty landed face-to-face with the corpse, and even though he was bold, he was still startled. He let out a shout, pushing against the corpse to try to get up.
In his frantic attempt to push the corpse away, Fatty inadvertently pulled something off its neck. Feeling something in his hand, he lifted it up to take a look and discovered it was like an animal’s claw, shining in the firelight, dark and transparent, with a circle of gold thread embedded in it. He turned to me and said, “Old Hu, do you think this is a Mojin talisman?” After that, he started rummaging around the corpse, saying, “Hey, there’s a whole bag of good stuff here…”
As he spoke, Fatty pulled out a cloth bag from the corpse’s arms and began shaking out its contents onto the ground, eager to see if there was anything valuable.
Big Gold Tooth lay on the ground, his eyes wide open, clearly in shock and still not fully aware of what was happening. I felt sore and achy all over, almost falling apart. Although I was worried there might be more giant human-faced spiders nearby, I couldn’t leave immediately. When I saw Fatty suddenly find a Mojin talisman on a nearby corpse, I asked him to toss it over for me to take a look.
Fatty was busy examining the items in the corpse’s arms and casually threw the Mojin talisman in front of me. I picked it up and examined it closely. The talisman was dark and transparent, shimmering with a glossy sheen in the firelight. The front was sharp and pointed, and the conical bottom was inlaid with several loops of gold thread, forming a “ground-penetrating pattern.” The words “Mojin” were engraved in ancient script on the talisman. Holding it in my hand, I felt a slight chill, and it had a very solid feel to it.
This was definitely a genuine Mojin talisman, made from the sharpest claws of a pangolin, first soaked in wax for forty-nine days and then buried a hundred meters deep in the Dragon Tower to absorb the earth’s spiritual energy for eight hundred days. Only then could it be made into a legitimate certificate for a tomb raider. I had only seen a real Mojin talisman once, owned by Shirley Yang. Big Gold Tooth had once given me and Fatty two fake ones, and the difference was clear when compared to the real deal.
This talisman had belonged to the corpse. Could it be that he was a predecessor who had dug a tunnel in the Fishbone Temple? He must have also been trapped in the ghostly tomb, with no way to advance or retreat. In the end, he discovered the secret of the living creatures but was ambushed by the Black Widow Spider, just like us. Alone and caught off guard, he had no chance to escape and ended up dying here in a tragic and unclear manner. Thinking of this made me feel quite sad.
Fatty approached me with a bag of items and said, “Old Hu, what are you thinking about? You should check out what these things are; they all came from that corpse.”
I took the items Fatty handed me and examined them one by one. The cloth bag was like a treasure pouch, filled with various small items, including seven or eight candles and a couple of folded paper lanterns. These candles were worth their weight in gold to us; we had nothing for lighting except a lighter. I told Fatty to keep the candles and lanterns safe, as we would rely on them when we made our way out of the cave.
The treasure pouch also contained a few old German dry batteries, but no flashlight; in addition, there were three small red pills. Seeing those pills surprised me. Could they be the secret medicine used by ancient tomb raiders? In ancient tombs, there were often corpse poisons, and generations of tomb raiders passed down a complete set of recipes for making red pills. Taking one before entering a tomb could neutralize the corpse poison, but it wouldn’t work against stale air. It was only effective when opening coffins and being in close contact with corpses to prevent the poison from entering the body. Unlike modern times, where gas masks can protect even the eyes, ancient protective measures were much less advanced. No matter how tightly you covered yourself, your eyes had to be exposed. If the coffin was well-sealed, the corpse would decompose inside, leaving its toxic essence trapped. This corpse poison could harm the body through the senses, causing significant damage. However, it was only effective against corpse poison; for other harmful gases, different methods had to be employed, such as ventilating the tomb or sending animals in first to test the air.
However, the principle of this medicine is to use poison to counteract poison, and it also has a certain level of toxicity itself. Long-term use can lead to osteoporosis. While it doesn’t have a significant impact on the body, it is more harmful than beneficial, so it should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
These red pills are called “Chidan,” also known as “Honglian Miaoxin Pills.” The specific ingredients used to make them have long been lost. Some experienced tomb raiders still have the habit of placing a Chidan pill in their mouth before opening a coffin, believing it helps protect them.
In the treasure pouch, there were also a few items I couldn’t identify, as well as a simple compass for navigation and a piece of saltpeter, which is also known in traditional Chinese medicine as “Disha” or “Beidi Xuan Zhu.” It is spicy, bitter, very warm, and non-toxic. This is used to prevent headaches and fainting caused by poor air quality in ancient tombs. In such cases, inhaling a bit of crushed saltpeter can provide relief, similar to the effect of Shirley Yang’s alcohol-soaked gauze.
Finally, I discovered a long piece of steel wire, a small knife about three inches long, a small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, a bottle of brain tonic, and something I was most familiar with: a black donkey’s hoof. There was also a roll of ink line, both the ink line and the black donkey’s hoof were used to deal with corpse transformations.
Fatty asked me, “So, Old Hu, do you think any of these strange items are valuable?”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing particularly valuable here, but a few items could be quite useful. From this treasure pouch, we can imagine the style of a past tomb raider. This person must have been a predecessor who dug tunnels in the Fishbone Temple, just like us. It’s a shame he met such a tragic end here, probably over thirty years ago. Since we’ve come across him, we shouldn’t let his remains rot here. You should take his bones and burn them in the fire. Hopefully, he can bless us from the afterlife and help us leave safely. We should burn these items with him too.”
Fatty agreed, “Alright, I’ll take care of that. But since we’ve killed those giant human-faced spiders today, it’s like avenging him. So, these items can be our reward. Who knows, we might be able to sell them for a good price in the antique market back in Beijing.”
I replied, “That’s not a bad idea. After all, none of these items are particularly valuable, especially this Mojin talisman. It’s fireproof and won’t burn, so we might as well keep it since we need it. The rest really isn’t worth much. A few Chidan pills are probably expired, and we won’t be able to use them. Let’s let this treasure pouch go with its owner.”
When Fatty heard there was nothing valuable, he lost interest. The corpse didn’t weigh much anyway. He took the Mojin talisman pouch and tucked the corpse under his arm, walking over to the burning temple. He tossed the tomb raider’s corpse into the edge of the fire.
I turned my neck, feeling the bruises and scrapes still painful, but my limbs were starting to move freely again. I nudged Big Gold Tooth beside me and asked how he was feeling and if he could still walk.
Big Gold Tooth’s injuries were similar to mine, mostly scrapes, and he had a nasty bump on his head. Half-conscious and dazed, he nodded slightly, moving his jaw, which made him wince in pain.
I called Fatty back, and the three of us discussed how to leave the cave. We had been dragged far by the Black Widow Spider and had lost our sense of direction. Locals said that beneath Longling, there were all kinds of caves. However, as I looked around, I realized we were not in a typical karst landscape but rather in a dry, loess accumulation structure. This indicated that we were in a complex geological area with mixed terrain.
Folk legends are often based on half-truths. There had been frequent reports of people and livestock going missing nearby, likely related to the Black Widow Spider’s lair. Those who disappeared, along with their sheep, were probably dragged in here to be eaten, rather than getting lost in a maze-like cave.
Right now, we had no food, no clothes, and no tools. Every minute we delayed increased the difficulty of our escape. This underground temple housed a massive bronze tripod with a human face. The tripod was used during the Western Zhou period for ancestor worship or to record significant events for future generations. It seemed this underground temple was connected to the ancient Western Zhou tomb. It was possible that the tomb owner had worshipped the Black Widow Spider in life, which is why a temple was built near his tomb to house a nest of giant human-faced spiders. After his grave was destroyed, no one fed the spiders with slaves anymore, and they began to hunt and reproduce on their own. I wondered if there were more of them lurking around besides the few we had already encountered. If even one or two more appeared, it could cost us our lives.
At that moment, the fire had weakened, and in the flickering light, I could vaguely see several caves surrounding us. We definitely needed to choose a path to escape, but we hadn’t come to a conclusion about which cave to take. I thought that since the Black Widow Spiders had to go out to hunt, there must be an exit nearby.