Fan Debiao approached the coffin, and Liu Dashao said to him, “You, the old Red Guard who smashed the Four Olds, are the expert on ancient Chinese culture here. Take a look and see how we can open this coffin!”
Fan Debiao grinned slyly and rubbed his hands together. “Hehe, expert? Hardly. Just a little knowledge, that’s all.” With that, he began feeling around the coffin randomly.
After watching Fan Debiao fumble around for quite a while without figuring anything out, Liu Dashao began to doubt the fat man’s abilities.
Liu Dashao asked impatiently, “Hey, can you or can’t you figure this out? If not, we’ll have Jackson take over.”
Upon hearing this, Fan Debiao slapped the coffin in frustration and exclaimed, “Damn it! We didn’t pay our respects to Chairman Mao before entering this time—we’re just plain unlucky. This coffin is another damn sealed one.”
Upon hearing Fan Debiao’s words, Jackson mimicked his tone and said, “Cheng bi liang zhi fei yue.”
Fan Debiao was immediately confused and asked, “What the hell is ‘Cheng pi ta niang fei yue’? Is that the secret incantation to open the coffin?”
Jackson shook his head and replied, “No… no, it’s not some incantation. It’s classical Chinese—just means ‘Damn it, I’m really not happy.’ I was just expressing my feelings.”
Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao were about equal in terms of Chinese literacy. Liu Dashao had also thought Jackson was reciting some kind of incantation, and was about to ask when Fan beat him to it. He thought to himself, “Wow, Jackson’s Mandarin isn’t great, but he actually tried to use classical Chinese in front of me and Fan, two Chinese people!” He felt a bit embarrassed at the thought.
He mumbled to move things along, “Don’t get sidetracked—let’s figure out how to open this coffin.”
Fan Debiao said, “What’s there to figure out? Just use explosives. As long as we use enough, we won’t damage what’s inside.” This guy was used to blasting rocks in construction crews, so his first instinct was always to blow things up.
Liu Dashao and Jackson agreed with Fan’s suggestion. They quickly planned things out, placed the proper amount of explosives on the coffin, and waited for Fan Debiao to light the fuse before jumping down.
Fan Debiao pulled out a match from his pocket and said, “The moment of truth has arrived! Our first tomb raid is about to succeed. Comrades, get ready.” With that, he moved to light the fuse. Liu Dashao and Jackson braced themselves for the jump.
Just then, a voice suddenly called from above, “Stop! Don’t light it!” Immediately after, a dark figure struck the match in Fan Debiao’s hand, extinguishing it.
The three looked up and saw a shadow standing firmly in the middle of the stone steps.
The figure maintained the posture of having thrown something. Judging from his martial skill, he should have been Da Guoguo (Big Cricket). Liu Dashao was both surprised and delighted to see him, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
Suddenly, the figure leapt down, landing step by step from the staircase, finally landing beside Fan Debiao. At first glance, it turned out to be Cai Qingchong (Green Caterpillar). He seemed to have just survived a fierce battle, having lost all his equipment. Cai Qingchong had always struck Liu Dashao as a brute with brawn but no brains. But after witnessing that move, Liu’s perception of him had completely changed.
To be honest, Cai Qingchong’s earlier action had startled Liu Dashao and the others quite a bit. Fan Debiao, who had been at the center of it, was now drenched in cold sweat and still hadn’t fully recovered. Jackson, on the other hand, seemed indifferent, as if he had expected it all along.
Fan Debiao, realizing it was Cai Qingchong who had struck him, couldn’t help but feel angry. “You damn caterpillar! You actually dared to hit me? In the dark like that, weren’t you afraid you’d miss?”
Before Cai Qingchong could explain, another shadow swiftly descended from above—it was indeed Da Guoguo. As he approached, he shouted before even landing, “This coffin must not be opened. I had no choice but to act in an emergency.” By then, he had already reached the coffin.
Liu Dashao was about to ask something when Da Guoguo landed on the coffin, causing it to tremble slightly—perhaps it was already struggling under the weight.
Da Guoguo said, “This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go down and discuss it.”
With that, he leapt from the coffin. The others followed suit without hesitation.
The first time they fell, they were unprepared and felt nothing. This time, they jumped intentionally, and upon landing, they found the soil surprisingly soft, providing excellent cushioning. Jumping from several meters up didn’t feel particularly painful.
Once below, Jackson took out several matches from his bag, stuck them into the ground, and lit them, brightening the entire tomb chamber. Liu Dashao looked at Da Guoguo and Cai Qingchong. Da Guoguo’s shirt was torn beyond recognition, his hair disheveled, his hat and glasses gone. The refined demeanor of the former professor was completely gone—now he looked like a genuine tomb raider. Cai Qingchong looked even worse. Already injured, his bandages had unraveled into strips after the earlier commotion. From the side, he even looked a bit like a mummy.
Liu Dashao got straight to the point. “Da Guoguo, how could you and the others fight those bugs with just flesh and blood? From your appearance, aside from being a bit disheveled, you don’t seem hurt at all.”
Fan Debiao, visibly excited, added, “See? Our master thief’s skills are no joke. A few little bugs like that don’t even register.”
“Bullshit!” Da Guoguo snapped. “Back there, we were cornered and desperate. If it hadn’t been for Cai Qingchong’s secret weapon, the three of us would have died up there.”
Liu Dashao asked curiously, “Secret weapon? What secret weapon?”
Da Guoguo explained, “I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it’s a potion passed down in Cai Qingchong’s family. It has a repelling effect on insects.”
Upon hearing this, Fan Debiao slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Damn it! So all we needed was some insect repellent? If I’d known that earlier, I’d have brought some mosquito repellent. That would’ve worked better than anything!”
Liu Dashao felt a bit uneasy hearing this. He had a hard time believing that mosquito repellent could really work against those creatures. He turned to Cai Qingchong and asked, “If you had this secret weapon, why didn’t you use it earlier? If you had used it when we encountered the Chu, maybe we’d all be home by now.”
Cai Qingchong stood like a statue, coldly replying, “It can only be used once.”
Only once? Didn’t he bring more? Oh well, since they’d come this far, there was no point in asking more. Liu Dashao then turned to Da Guoguo and asked why he had stopped Fan Debiao from blowing up the coffin.
Da Guoguo replied, “You all know the layout here. The coffin doesn’t contain Zhang Jiao—it only holds his shadow.”
“Shadow?” Liu Dashao was puzzled and asked Da Guoguo to explain further how a shadow could be placed inside a coffin.
Da Guoguo explained, “I don’t mean a literal shadow cast by a body. I mean a substitute—a decoy. This layout is called a ‘Shadow Palace,’ an ancient feng shui formation used by enlightened individuals to ascend to immortality after death.”
Immortality—Zhang Jiao’s dream had been to become an immortal, to live forever. Thinking about it, Liu Dashao felt deeply moved.
Da Guoguo lit a cigarette and continued, “This formation follows three steps, known in feng shui as the ‘Three Immortal Techniques.’ The first is the ‘Nine Dragon Funeral Procession,’ but only eight dragons are visible—the ninth is used to assist the tomb owner’s ascension. However, having only eight dragons is considered extremely inauspicious, so the second step, the Shadow Palace, is used. The tomb is arranged upside down to transform the negative into the positive. The final step is the actual location of the tomb owner’s coffin, where only his coffin can be placed.”
Liu Dashao was fascinated by the tomb raiders’ feng shui knowledge. After hearing Da Guoguo’s explanation, he felt he had learned a great deal. No wonder he was considered an expert tomb raider from Hong Kong, well-versed in feng shui and mysticism. However, Da Guoguo hadn’t yet addressed the key point, so Liu Dashao asked, “Why can’t we open the coffin in the Shadow Palace?”
Da Guoguo replied, “The Shadow Palace is where the tomb’s negative energy accumulates. Anyone who opens that coffin without understanding the principles will invite endless misfortune. The corpse inside would have at least reached the ‘Green Hair’ stage (Green Hair: In tomb raiding lore, zombies are classified into seven levels, from lowest to highest: Black, White, Blue, Orange, Green, Purple, Red. A Green Hair zombie is already extremely dangerous). This chamber serves a practical purpose—it’s a tomb’s ultimate defense mechanism. If we open that coffin, even with three heads and six arms, we won’t escape disaster.”
After hearing Da Guoguo’s explanation, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but shudder. If Da Guoguo hadn’t stopped them in time, they might now be discussing the construction of the communist path with Marx himself. Fan Debiao, who hated long-winded explanations, grew impatient with all the discussion about the Shadow Palace and said, “What’s the point of all this talk? Da Guoguo, just tell us where the real coffin is. The modern socialist construction rejects unnecessary chatter.”
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