Ancient tomb excavation traces

A thousand thoughts were tangled together, leaving me, an outsider, unable to distinguish or understand. In my confusion, I tried to clear my mind and calm myself down. The only way out now was to get out of this place. I tried to pull at the restraints on my hands, but those who bound me gave me no hope of escape. The tightness in my wrists reminded me of the braces I wore in high school.

"This is going to be a hassle!" I muttered, and for some reason my head felt increasingly tight and my vision began to blur.

"What's going on?" I steadied myself and opened my eyes again. I saw a stone door slowly emerging from the dark space. The door stood under the gray sky, emitting a cold and eerie chill.

I stared, momentarily disoriented. Just then, the wind howled past, carrying withered leaves into the depths of hell. A heavy thud was heard, and the door slowly opened a crack. A plume of white smoke billowed out, gradually coalescing into a ghostly shadow. In that instant, a long, thin voice echoed from within: "Those who dare to trespass into this tomb will have their bones rot and be forever condemned to the abyss..."

The hollow voice carried a cold warning, and my heart suddenly tightened. I had seen this door before, in those people's yard!

Thinking of this, a chill ran through me. A deep, solitary fear gripped me. My throat went dry, and I dared not look directly at the horror before me. The slightly ajar door drew ever closer, and from within, withered, white claws, stained with the rotting marks of death, emerged from the crack. Then, I saw strands of hair, like seaweed, silently surging towards me. This feeling of helplessness was like a defenseless person facing dozens of machetes, without any ability to regenerate! But what was most unsettling was that the hair multiplied, forming a cloud of black smoke that came from all directions, constricting my throat and emanating a bone-chilling cold.

"Ugh...ugh..." My breathing became unsteady, my throat tightened, help...I kept shouting, my blood rushing to my brain as if it were about to explode.

I don't know how long I was immersed in this pain, when suddenly I heard a woman's voice, sometimes near, sometimes far, accompanied by the harmonious sound of a zither, carrying a touch of melancholy beauty. I sat up, puzzled, and asked, "Gone?"

Standing by the misty lake, with the sunset gently caressing my face and the ripples on the water, a spring breeze scatters peach blossoms from a tree. In this ethereal scene, I see a graceful woman in a robe sitting under a tree amidst the vibrant and serene beauty, her jade-like fingers playing the zither and singing softly.

Her voice was like water, full of allure. I was secretly delighted, imagining myself in an ancient heaven, with a fairy goddess standing with her back to me. I slowly approached, wanting to see her face clearly, but with each step closer, the music changed. Finally, when I was about to touch her shoulder, the music became agitated and chaotic, as if she had gone mad.

The woman was still calmly singing when the beautiful scenery around us suddenly turned into a dark, cramped room. Blood seeped from the old walls, creating an eerie scene. I was so frightened by this sudden change that I lost my composure.

The woman's singing grew increasingly mournful, eventually turning into a heart-wrenching scream. My heart felt like it was boiling in a pot of water; this agonizing feeling left me completely disoriented.

I felt a pang of despair; my emotions hadn't reached heaven, but rather plunged into hell! If my willpower had been weaker at that moment, I probably would have truly died.

However, the roller coaster's climax wasn't over yet. The entire space before my eyes began to distort, all the images spinning wildly. My head spun, and the previously dimly lit inner room suddenly went completely black. A beam of cold white light shone on the ancient woman. At that moment, the fairy-like woman I had initially admired calmed down from her frenzy. This reminded me of a beautiful, noble woman who, after committing murder, calmly attended a banquet.

I couldn't move my feet; even the strength to wriggle like a caterpillar on the ground was extinguished by the sight before me. In the cramped space, an ancient woman slowly rose, her long hair cascading to the ground, and in a strange, mechanical way, slowly turned her head toward me.

Good heavens! My longing for beauty as an art student instantly turned into despair! That wasn't a face, it was a dried-up corpse! I gasped, staring in horror at those empty eye sockets staring straight at me.

My hair stood on end, and I thought to myself: This is fucking a ghost!

The hazy smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and I could no longer see the direction of the thing. To be honest, my nerves were on the verge of snapping!

"Ryuko! Ryuko!" In my fear, I heard someone anxiously calling out to my consciousness.

"Wei Zi, I think Liu Zi has been beaten senseless. Besides, this place is airtight. If we don't get out soon, he'll suffocate."

"No, old man, there are seven of them. If we rush out now, we'll definitely get riddled with bullets. I think we should just forget about it!" A timid voice entered my mind.

"Staying in this cellar isn't a solution either. Old Tiao is right. The air here is thin. Feng Liu suffered a severe blow to the head. If this continues, he won't be able to catch his breath, and something bad will really happen. Right now, the only option is to fight those people outside head-on." Xue Wei's words were delivered with a chilling tone.

Hearing their voices, my thoughts became chaotic. In the misty, dreamlike smoke, suddenly, a pale blue hand pierced through the darkness and swept across my chest. A sharp pain overwhelmed my consciousness, and I awoke with a start, a curse rising in my throat.

At this moment, my throat is extremely dry. Swallowing gently feels like being forced to swallow a jujube. I try my best to open my eyelids, but my vision is blurry and I can't see clearly.

"Old Lao, Wei Zi... Bao Cai..." I called out softly.

"I'm here! I'm here..." Their voices were like an oasis in the desert, giving me hope. My vision slowly cleared, and overjoyed that my friends were still alive, I forced a smile and said, "Damn... you three bald thieves, so... so you weren't dead after all!"

My words silenced the three people in the air. Then, Chen Yi looked at me, a sudden smile curving her lips, and said with a sob in her voice, "Holy crap, you charming young master, you scared me to death! You were crying like a little girl while you were unconscious, and you were even calling out all three of our names!"

"Not only that! She even calls me 'Fairy Sister'!" Liu Baocai said to me with his monkey-like face.

"Nonsense, otherwise why would he be called a playboy!" the old man joked.

To be honest, this was the first time I'd ever loved their faces so much. Their words made me realize that everything that had just happened was just a dream. I raised my hand to wipe the sweat from my forehead, but the thought of that door and the ancient woman still filled me with lingering fear.

Xue Wei held the light from his bicycle in one hand and helped me with the other, settling me against the wall. When I touched my head, I realized there was a cloth wrapped around the back of my head, still faintly warm. I gave a bitter smile, knowing without a doubt that this must be from the heavy blow I received and the bleeding, done by Chen Yi.

Just then, a voice came from the corner, speaking with broken Mandarin, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

I was stunned for a moment before I realized that besides the four of us, there was also that Miao guy in the damp cellar.

"What else can we do but travel and enjoy the scenery?" Chen Yi's answer was always worldly-wise. Apart from us, he rarely revealed his whereabouts or purpose.

"Sightseeing? Ha, you've really gone to the wrong place." The guy sneered, with a hint of hostility in his voice.

Liu Baocai asked疑惑地, "What do you mean by saying we've gone to a place we shouldn't be?"

The Miao guy glanced at us and said, "Because you went into a den of thieves and saw things you shouldn't have."

Although he looked expressionless and cold, I couldn't believe that he actually believed what the old man said about us coming to this remote place to sightsee. I couldn't help but think: what a simple-minded and naive young man he is.

"A den of thieves!" Liu Baocai gasped upon hearing this.

"That's right! These wicked people want to steal our ancestors' things, but when our ancestors unleash their power, they'll be in big trouble!" the Miao man said mysteriously.

Upon hearing this, Liu Baochai shuddered and said, "Could it be that you, like us, have stumbled into a den of thieves? Ah!" He suddenly stood up, clapped his hands, and exclaimed in realization, "Then aren't we going to end up like that old man, staring wide-eyed, dead on the ground?"

"Death is certain, but how will it happen? These people are ruthless and capable of anything. However, I didn't wander in by mistake; I was captured by them."

"What do you mean?" I was completely confused. "What do you mean by 'ancestors'? And why did they capture you?"

However, my question was met with a cold response from the Miao man. Chen Yu, seeing this, scoffed and said, "I think this guy is playing hard to get. But I finally understood a little. The ancestors he mentioned are probably his great-grandparents, and we just happened to run into a group of tomb raiders. As for why he was arrested, he wouldn't say, and his grandfather is too lazy to bother with such matters. It's just a pity about that girl; I think she's not even mentally sound anymore. Sigh... so tragic..."

Chen Tiao's words sent a chill down my spine, and the eerie door reappeared in my mind. Now that I think about it, that door must have been moved up from underground by those people, which is why it looked so sinister.

At this moment, a strange, unspeakable look flashed across the Miao man's face, and Lao Tiao realized that he had seen through his weakness.

Chen Yi's eyes darted slyly at the Miao guy before he continued, "Your name is Tie Niu, right? I felt sorry for that girl, so I didn't care that they outnumbered me and fought them head-on. Now you're in a terrible state. You have to tell us what happened."

The air was still for a moment. Tie Niu glanced at Chen Yu, then withdrew his hostile gaze, looked up at the cellar wall, sighed, and said, "Things have come to this point, and I don't need to be wary of anyone anymore. I just hope that no matter what the outcome, you all will rescue Liu Hua. She's only 18 years old. To protect the secrets of her ancestors, her grandfather was tortured to death, and those people bullied Liu Hua to force me to submit." Tie Niu's voice trembled, carrying a trace of sorrow.

"How...how could this happen?" I couldn't believe those beasts would do such a thing.

Tie Niu sighed and said, "To be honest, we are Miao people who live in the mountains. Liu Hua and I spent a few years in other places, but our place has almost no contact with the outside world. A few days ago, a group of people suddenly came to our village and stole a treasure from us."

"What treasure?" Chen Yi's tone became urgent when she said the word "treasure".

Tie Niu lowered his head, looking at his fingers, and muttered, "It's a very ancient thing. Our ancestors guarded this secret here a long time ago. I don't know where those thieves got the information, found us, and stole the treasure. Afterwards, they wanted more, so they captured us, trying to force us to reveal the location of our ancestors."

"Did you tell me?" I asked curiously.

Tie Niu said, "No, Old Eight would rather die than reveal it. How can I give in just because I'm afraid of death?"

"The way they acted, that thing must be very valuable, right?" Of the four of us, if Chen Yi loved old things, then Liu Baocai was obviously a money-grubber. Seeing him get all excited when he mentioned money, I couldn't help but want to slap him on the head.

Tie Niu shook his head and said, "That thing is priceless to us. It's something left by our ancestors, passed down through generations. It's one thing for those shameless people to steal it, but for them to go to the place where our ancestors rest is disrespectful, utterly disrespectful! They will surely be cursed and punished for doing this!"

When I saw Tie Niu mention the word "punishment" at the end, his eyes were filled with hatred, and he was gritting his teeth. A chill ran down my spine. I thought that the Miao people have a strong ancestor worship, so they have all kinds of sacrifices to their ancestors. If someone is foolish enough to do something disrespectful to their ancestors, then they will really be in trouble.

At this moment, Chen Yi was probably the most anxious. He suddenly stood up, his slightly chubby shadowy figure walking past me to a corner, then squatting down in front of Tie Niu, saying, "Oh dear, enough with the nonsense, just tell me what it is!"

Tie Niu clenched his fingers angrily, glanced at Chen Yu, and said, "It's a piece of silk!"

For some reason, when he gave that answer, I got goosebumps all over my body, as if the word had some special attraction.

"Silk?" Chen Yi pinched his chin, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "Silk book! Could it be a silk book?" I saw that when he said this, his chin almost fell to the ground in surprise.

"Oh my god... Oh my god..." Chen Yi paced back and forth in the cellar, his excited appearance suggesting he had gone mad.

Tie Niu watched him pace back and forth, clearly confused. After a few steps, Chen Yi suddenly stopped, controlling his trembling voice, and asked Tie Niu, "Is there something on the silk?"

"Drawings and words I can't understand."

Upon receiving this answer, Chen Yi stared at Tie Niu in disbelief, his expression exaggerated. He opened his mouth for a long time before finally managing to close it, "Yuanling? Miao people? Silk manuscript? Could it be a silk manuscript from the Chu Kingdom? My God, that's truly a priceless treasure!"

I shook my head as I watched him go crazy, but to be honest, I was also shocked.

The "silk" mentioned here is actually a type of silk fabric, similar in function to paper. The texts and paintings on silk often reflect historical and contemporary ideas, as well as beliefs in ghosts and gods. Our research into the past relies on materials left behind by the ancients. We cannot verify the accuracy of many historical accounts. For example, the people and events recorded in the Zuo Zhuan are more or less influenced by the author's biases and perspectives at the time.

We modern people don't have time machines to travel back in time and see things clearly. It's thanks to the architecture, ruins, and tombs left by our ancestors that we can deduce things. For example, the silk manuscripts of that time describe the Five Elements, the interaction between heaven and man, calamities, astrology, and so on. These things are profound and complex. Take the Egyptian pyramids, for instance; their main structure is made of limestone, with interior chambers. This design stemmed from the ancient Egyptians' belief that the end times would come under radiation, and that going to the caves would protect them from the disaster. This wisdom left by our ancestors possesses a particularly magical value.

Furthermore, if it truly is a silk manuscript from the Chu state, it must be quite distinctive. The Chu state has a long history of shamanistic practices, deeply shrouded in mythology. Legend has it that their ancestor was Zhurong, the fire master, and some of their emperors even considered themselves shamans. Therefore, the paintings from the Chu state often have a wildly imaginative feel; for example, the depictions of deities they portray are somewhat bizarre, making one wonder, what exactly are they? Sometimes I think the creativity of the ancients far surpasses that of us today.

"Sigh..." I couldn't help but sigh. I was naturally very interested in such a treasure, but if it fell into the hands of a few thieves, who knows where it would end up.

After a brief conversation, Tie Niu looked at us with some surprise, and finally asked warily, "Who exactly are you people, and how do you know so much?"

At this moment, Xue Wei, who had been silent all along, suddenly blurted out, "We are the ones who can help you."