Although Qu Ruilin and I each had our own ulterior motives, we shared a common desire to survive.
The two energetic young men unleashed their potential, putting in their utmost effort.
The threshold under my feet was narrow, making each step extremely difficult.
With all my might, I actually managed to pull the rope and heard the sound of the self-locking stone rubbing against the tomb door.
I dragged the rope with all my might until I could barely hold my breath, then I let go and put the oxygen mask over my mouth.
Qu Ruilin then took a breath of oxygen: "Is it open?"
I shone my flashlight into the hole and found that the self-propelled stone that had been blocking my view was no longer visible. I put on my gas mask and used my body to push against the stone door.
A thousand years later, the stone gate in front of us still retains its original appearance, slowly opening a crack amidst the sound of friction.
Seeing this, Qu Ruilin breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm running out of oxygen, pull me over there!"
"Wait a little longer!" I waved to him. "The iron chain and the suspended rock are falling faster than you think. I need to go in and check to make sure there are no traps inside. Then I'll connect our bodies with a rope and use the force of a running start to bring you over."
When Qu Ruilin heard that I was going to enter the tomb, he clearly didn't trust me either. He drew his pistol and pointed it at me: "Duan Shenxing, you're not planning to repay kindness with enmity, are you?"
"The carbon monoxide concentration here is too high. If you fire your gun, it could easily cause an explosion! We went through all that trouble to open the tomb door, not to die together!"
Standing under Qu Ruilin's gun, I continued, "If you want to live, you have no choice but to trust me."
Qu Ruilin hesitated for a moment, then lowered his gun, and I turned and walked into the tomb chamber.
This tomb chamber was unlike any I had ever seen or learned about before. Inside, there were two walls with only a half-meter-wide passageway in the middle, and colorful ribbons like prayer flags hung down from them, with Sanskrit characters I didn't recognize written on them.
In order to successfully bring Qu Ruilin over, I must use a running start to drag him and increase my speed, and the alley in front of me is the only road where I can run to increase my speed.
With no other choice, I could only grope my way forward, shining my flashlight under my feet to watch out for traps and tripwires.
After walking five or six meters, a pair of human feet wearing embroidered shoes suddenly appeared in front of me, and the embroidered robe barely covered the insteps.
I shone my flashlight upwards and found a woman holding a white paper lantern standing right in front of me, facing me.
The woman's face was deathly pale, and her eyes were pitch black, as if she were staring at me.
"ah!!"
I had been staring at the ground when I was startled by the woman so close to me, and I fell to the ground with a thud.
Hearing my shout, Qu Ruilin, who was outside the tomb, yelled, "Duan Shenxing, what's wrong?"
"It's okay, there are dead people inside, I was just scared!"
I stared at the motionless woman in front of me, my heart pounding in my chest.
It was also noted that the temperature inside the tomb was much lower than outside, and it was also much more humid.
Thinking of the drainage channels on the hanging stone flap, I suddenly realized that the silt in the tomb passage outside was probably not from seepage, but rather the designer deliberately introduced a spring.
The purpose was to increase the humidity in the tomb chamber and create a humid environment for the corpse.
A corpse that has not decomposed for many years is considered a "yinshi" (荫尸). According to folklore, if an ancestor's corpse does not decompose, it usually causes problems such as poor health and bad luck for future generations.
The formation of such corpses is mainly related to the soil, humidity, and earth's atmosphere at the location of the grave. For example, if the grave is located on the ridge of a mountain, or if the cemetery is at the same level as the farmland, and water flows back and forth in the cemetery, it will ensure that the corpse does not decompose, and different kinds of "tofu corpses" may even appear.
Experienced bone collectors or feng shui masters can determine whether the body inside the coffin is a "yin corpse" (a body that has been exposed to dampness) just by looking at the appearance of the tombstone. If there is moss, black water stains, or mold spots on the tombstone, or if it is half wet and half dry, it means that dampness has invaded the body.
In order to avoid this situation, people in ancient times would choose burial sites with good drainage, and feng shui originated from this.
Unexpectedly, this tomb contained a deliberately created corpse.
Then, considering the unique location of the Demon Monk's Tomb, I quickly felt relieved. I just didn't know the purpose of placing the female corpse here. Was it to serve as a terracotta figurine, or was it some unique taboo?
In this narrow tomb passage, the female corpse has blocked my way, and I must move her aside if I want to move forward.
I glanced at the half-empty oxygen canister in my hand and chanted the Rebirth Mantra to the female corpse before me: "What a vast world, without obstruction! Death and rebirth, what substitute is there? If you want to go, then go, isn't that wonderful! Living people pass by, dead people give way, sincerely recite the sutra, and deliver the souls of the departed!"
Having already experienced the Li Fan tomb, I wasn't particularly afraid of corpses. Although I was a little apprehensive, I still took out the rope from my waist, draped it over the female corpse, and tried to drag her away.
As soon as I exerted my strength, the female corpse suddenly opened her mouth wide and spat out a mouthful of black liquid at me.
Although I dodged in time, my mask still got quite a bit of this stuff on it, and I could smell an extremely foul odor.
The rope binding the female corpse was pulled by my backward movement, causing her to fall backward to the ground.
The woman's body, with its decaying clothes and shattered like tofu, contained not only bones and jelly-like gel and liquid, but also numerous steel nails.
It seems that apart from her skin, her internal organs and muscles have rotted away, and she is only held together by steel nails and her skin is used to hold up the fluid inside.
The stench in the air reminded me of a passage in the Records of Judges.
In his book "Shuzhai Laoxue Congtan" written during the Yuan Dynasty, Sheng Ruzi recorded a tomb robber named Zhu Qilian who successfully opened the Yongchang Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin.
During the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, the Song dynasty was in a precarious state, the Jin dynasty's power had been overtaken by the Yuan dynasty, and the most powerful Yuan dynasty was waging wars everywhere to gain control of the whole country. At this time, the imperial tombs were unattended, which was a golden opportunity for tomb raiders.
The first tomb robber of Yongchang Mausoleum was Liu Yu. When he was robbing the Song Dynasty tombs, his main target was Yongzhao Mausoleum of Emperor Renzong of Song. Although Yongchang Mausoleum was also damaged to a large extent, the coffin of Emperor Shizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, was not opened.
Zhu Qilian was the second tomb raider of Yongchang Mausoleum.
After prying open the coffin, he discovered that Zhao Kuangyin's body was not decomposed. He wanted to remove the jade belt tied around Zhao Kuangyin's body, but the body was too heavy to remove by force. So he came up with a plan: he tied one end of the rope under the body's shoulder and the other end around himself, and then pulled the body up while facing him, taking the opportunity to untie the jade belt.
Unexpectedly, the corpse sprayed a stream of black viscous liquid onto his face, which he could not wash off no matter what he tried. His skin ulcerated, leaving large black scars, earning him the nickname "Crimson Face".
Historical records mention a rather unique type of corpse poison. It is said that in order to prevent decay, ancient people often took highly toxic drugs before death, which helped preserve the body.
At the same time, this highly toxic drug will also corrode the entire internal organs, turning them into a liquid that remains in the body.
When tomb raiders move a corpse, the body is compressed, and liquid will spray out of its mouth like a pea shooter, which can burn the skin.
It was only then that I realized the female corpse was not there to replace the terracotta figures and tomb guardian beasts, but rather a mechanism left by the designer on the only path to pass through, serving as both a deterrent and a means of communication.
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