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墨書 Inktalez
"Wait a moment, Brother Yi. Let's let the air circulate a bit; I'm worried it might get stuffy inside. We should be patient and wait here for a while; it's still safe for now." Just as I was about to go in, Jiao Ba called out to me.
We were all huddled at the bottom of the cave when I suddenly asked Mai Lao, "Mai Lao, what exactly is going on with those Qing Army Corpses?"
"I’m not sure either. There was a sudden storm, and after we took cover from it, the sky turned blood red. It was then that these Qing Army Corpses crawled out from underground. It's unimaginable that so many dead were buried at the foot of this mountain," Mai Lao said solemnly.
"It's not strange to bury these people; we've already investigated and found that all the bodies in that large graveyard are from the Ming Dynasty. That's the key point—why would Ming people be buried alongside Qing Dynasty individuals? Is there something wrong here?" Jiao Ba said, looking coldly at Mai Lao.
"I want to know that too. How could people from the Ming and Qing Dynasties be buried on the same deserted island? Who lived here first?" Mai Lao pondered, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"In my opinion, the Ming people must have arrived here first. That Tomb Mound is proof of that; someone was buried after they died, indicating what the situation was like back then. As for those Qing Army soldiers, they were collectively thrown into a pit. If they hadn’t crawled out from underground, who would have known there were corpses buried there?"
"As soon as these two groups of Corpses met, they began to fight each other incessantly. I suspect that during their lifetimes, these Qing Army soldiers discovered this island and wanted to occupy it, which led to this conflict," Changshan said calmly and confidently.
"Even if that's true, why did these Ming people choose to live on this island?" I asked Changshan.
"Well... I can't think of a reason right now. Why they lived on this island before and how they ended up in such a dire situation are crucial questions. This must be one of the secrets hidden by this small island," he replied.
Jiao Ba chuckled coldly and said, "Don't worry; the secrets of this island won't stay hidden for long. Someone will eventually reveal them to us."
"What do you mean by that, Jiao Ba?" Jenny asked, somewhat confused.
"Nothing much; I was just rambling. It should be about time; I'm going to take a look around," Jiao Ba said as he walked toward the entrance.
He shone his flashlight around before moving to one side. He ran his hand along the wall, feeling for something before moving to the other side and doing the same.
"Hey, Lao Ba, what are you doing?" What is he feeling around for? We should just get going.
"I found it." As Jiao Ba spoke, he pushed upward with one hand, as if activating a mechanism. Suddenly, with a loud 'boom', flames ignited above the entrance. The flames lit up one by one along the entrance, quickly illuminating the entire passage.
Jenny looked at the glowing passage in surprise and asked, "Oh my goodness, what a long passage! Where does this lead to?" The passage seemed endless, resembling a tunnel deep within a mountain.
"I don't know. Lao Ba, where do you think this leads?" I nudged Jiao Bayi and tossed the question to him.
Jiao Ba chuckled lightly and said, "Heh, if you ask me, this little path is most likely leading to a graveyard."
"A graveyard? No way, this should be an escape route!" Big Guy said skeptically.
"I'm just going by my gut feeling. This passage looks too much like those in ancient tombs. If I'm not mistaken, this mountain could very well be an entire mausoleum—a massive one at that." Jiao Ba glanced around at everyone.
After he finished speaking, everyone was taken aback, even Mai Lao remarked, "A mausoleum? Whose mausoleum would be built on a deserted island?"
"I don't know either; it's purely speculation based on everything about this island. There's a curse here and that mysterious old man who seems to be a guardian of the tomb. Plus, there's the passage at the mountain's peak. Don't you think those conditions are enough?" Jiao Ba said with an odd expression.
"What Jiao Ba said makes sense; it's not impossible. I believe this is our next destination. Perhaps all the answers lie within this mountain," Changshan added, casting a meaningful glance at Jiao Ba.
I took a closer look at the entrance of the underground passage. Above both ends of the entrance, there were small iron basins placed every meter or so, each topped with a candle. It was these candles that had illuminated the entire passage.
The passage was about three meters high and over two meters wide, shaped like an arch bridge. On both sides of the walls were large green stones adorned with patterns—not man-made but naturally occurring on the stones themselves. It was clear that these stones were not ordinary green stones.
I touched one; it felt icy cold, like touching ice cubes. It truly resembled what Jiao Ba described about ancient tombs. Could there really be a mausoleum inside? Whose tomb could possibly be so grand?
The only ones capable of building their own mausoleum within a mountain would be emperors from the Tang Dynasty; I couldn't think of anyone else with such power. Even the emperors of the Great Qing wouldn't dare to claim an entire mountain for themselves.
If the Qin Mausoleum was constructed as magnificently as a mountain itself, then perhaps this desolate mountain on the island isn't actually a mountain at all—it might originally have been a mausoleum that merely looks like a mountain, leading us to mistakenly believe it is one.
After I thought about this, I was taken aback myself. Who could possibly be the one capable of constructing a tomb as massive as a mountain? Such an enormous scale is something even emperors would envy.
Could it be the mistress of the Phoenix Pendant? Aside from her, I couldn't think of anyone else. However, one thing was clear: because it is an uninhabited island, such a grand tomb could be built here. It would be impossible on the mainland.
“Lao Ba, do you think... it’s possible that this is a tomb and not a mountain, and we are just mistakenly believing it to be one?” I asked quietly.
“Loyalty and Righteousness makes a good point. I feel it’s very possible; this is definitely not a mountain but rather a tomb,” Changshan said with shining eyes.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Jiao Ba dismissed his idea. “It’s basically impossible. To build such a large-scale tomb on this deserted island is simply wishful thinking. You all saw how big this mountain is, right? It’s unrealistic to think it could be built from flat ground.”
“Xiao Ba is right. This place is surrounded by sea, and given the capabilities of that time, it couldn’t have been built from flat land; it must have already existed on this small island,” Mai Lao agreed with Jiao Ba.
Jenny and the others nodded in agreement, and Li Xin added, “I think so too. Digging into this mountain is already quite difficult, let alone constructing such a large tomb. It’s impossible; they wouldn’t even be able to transport the materials here.”
“If there really is a tomb inside, whose could it be?” I turned to Jiao Bayi and asked.
“I don’t know, but the most likely candidates are people from the Ming Dynasty. As for who exactly, I wouldn’t dare to speculate,” Jiao Ba said evasively.
I shifted my gaze to Mai Lao and Changshan; perhaps they knew some insider information.
Changshan looked at me and said, “I feel the same way. Those Ming Dynasty corpses seem to be guarding this small island. Perhaps… the Qing Army discovered the secret of this island and had to go to war to seize something.”
“That’s quite possible. However, to unravel this mystery, we can only find out by going inside,” Mai Lao said with a serious expression.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up and go.”
Big Guy had just taken a step when he was suddenly pulled back by Jiao Ba. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you know if there are traps inside? If there really is a burial site, then this passage might be filled with mechanisms. If you recklessly go in and die, that’s one thing, but don’t drag everyone else down with you.” Jiao Ba spoke with urgency, his eyes wide and teeth clenched in frustration.
"Do you really talk like that? What do you mean it doesn't matter if I die, just don't drag everyone else down with me? How can you say that, Jiao Ba?" Big Guy felt a bit wronged; an unintentional action had led to him being scolded by Jiao Ba.
I couldn't stand it anymore. "Lao Ba, can you watch your words? Big Guy hasn't offended you, so how can you say that about him?" I cursed at Jiao Ba and quickly patted Big Guy on the shoulder. "Brother, don't be angry. He's just like that, always rambling. Sometimes I can't even be bothered to deal with him."
Big Guy glared in anger but still held back his frustration.
Jiao Ba stood at the entrance of the corridor, turned around to glance at me, and said, "I'm just looking out for you. If something really happens, it'll be too late to complain."
"Enough already, just keep your mouth shut."
I shot him a warning look. What time is it? We're still bickering among ourselves. To be honest, Big Guy isn't a bad person; on the contrary, he's quite warm-hearted and decent.
After observing for so long, even among our group—including Jenny—who knows what schemes they might be hiding in their hearts? It seems like Big Guy is the only one without any ulterior motives.
Despite Jenny's constant clueless expression, her ability to handle so many strange occurrences shows she's not an ordinary woman. The true purpose of this trip at sea has been hidden from us; every time I've asked her, she claims she doesn't know. Others might be easily fooled, but I don't buy it.
"Jiao Ba, if there really are traps here, how are we supposed to get through?" Mai Lao asked him.
But Jiao Ba retorted with a question of his own, "Don't you know how to get through?" His tone was clearly accusatory and not friendly at all.
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