“Ahh!” But just then, Wang Feifei suddenly let out a shriek, staggering backward a few steps until she fell onto the ground, her face turning pale with fright. She pointed tremblingly at the coffin lid, unable to speak clearly: “Hand… hand…”
“Huh?” Liu Dashao turned his head in surprise. Although he had been focused on the ceiling just now, he hadn’t heard any sound from inside the coffin. Why was this girl reacting so strongly?
“Feifei, what’s wrong with you?”
“Hand… hand…” Wang Feifei’s chest heaved as she gasped for breath, her face flushed bright red.
“Hand? What hand?” Liu Dashao frowned.
“Just now, when you were lifting it, I saw it clearly,” Wang Feifei stuttered, “from inside the coffin, a hand suddenly stretched out and rested beneath the coffin lid.”
Following her gaze, Liu Dashao looked cautiously several times, but unfortunately, he saw nothing.
“Debiao, did you see anything just now?” Liu Dashao decided to ask Fan Debiao. Although the fat guy was a bit strange, sometimes he could be quite observant.
“No!” Fan Debiao blinked.
Meanwhile, Old Diao had already cut through the nylon rope and pushed the outer coffin lid aside. Although still covering the coffin, it could now be slid down the grooves to open it.
“What happened?” Old Diao dusted off his hands and walked over, his expression dark and uncertain. He had clearly heard Wang Feifei’s scream and was visibly shaken.
Liu Dashao withdrew his hand from around Wang Feifei’s waist, equally perplexed. “She seems scared. She said she saw a hand come out and then retract.”
“From inside the coffin?” Old Diao’s eyes narrowed.
“More or less,” Liu Dashao nodded.
“That shouldn’t be. This is only the outer coffin. There’s still another inner coffin inside,” Old Diao murmured thoughtfully.
“Maybe you were mistaken, Feifei?” Liu Dashao patted Wang Feifei’s hand gently.
“No… I really saw it. There was a hand, so pale and white, and then suddenly it disappeared,” Wang Feifei shuddered in fear.
“That’s strange,” Old Diao rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Man, could it be another one of those mummies like back at the Bodhisattva Mountain, and even a king mummy?” Fan Debiao suddenly recalled something.
“Shut up! Don’t keep talking about mummies. If you want mummies, eat some rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. Talking about such ominous things,” Liu Dashao scolded him.
“Enough noise. We should proceed with caution. Young Master, Clay Figurine Zhang, Fan Debiao, come with me and check what secrets are hidden inside the coffin. Zhong Kui, you and the others stay here on alert. Everyone, get ready and be prepared,” Old Diao said calmly.
“Understood, Master!” Zhong Kui saluted with a fist, then stepped aside to issue orders. Many readied their firearms, while others brandished Luoyang spades and meijian dao (a type of knife). Several even unwound ropes, prepared to entangle any mummy should one appear. The space was narrow and crowded; they couldn’t afford any hesitation—they needed to strike first to avoid casualties.
Gently pushing the coffin lid, Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao slowly moved away. Turning around, Liu saw Old Diao standing beside the coffin, eyes fixed inside, motionless. Clay Figurine Zhang wore his usual solemn, aged expression, one hand always kept behind his back, no one knew what he was holding. Yet in the silence of the tomb chamber, Liu Dashao clearly noticed Fan Debiao’s breathing quickening. Standing up and looking inside, Liu Dashao was equally stunned. Anyone looking inside the coffin would have been shocked too. Indeed, water—there was water filling the inner coffin entirely.
Of course, this wasn’t muddy water accumulated from long-term exposure to rain after burial, but a light purple, semi-transparent liquid. At first glance, it appeared smooth and silky, almost like a new shower gel recently launched by a company. Touching it would likely feel sticky. But the surprise had just begun. The tomb’s occupant was actually floating in this liquid, gently bobbing up and down with the subtle ripples, emitting a delicate fragrance. This scent wasn’t fresh like jasmine, but more like a natural feminine aroma, one that instantly dispelled all fatigue upon inhalation.
Even more shocking than the scent was the corpse itself. It was neither mummified nor repulsive. Instead, the body was clad in a bagua Taoist robe made of a fabric that was neither quite gauze nor silk. The material was extremely thin, resembling cicada wings. At a glance, one could faintly discern the occupant’s flawless, delicate skin and even hints of private areas. Although the corpse’s face was covered with a silvery mask, her graceful figure and snow-like skin clearly revealed her gender—a woman, an exquisitely beautiful one, likely no older than thirty. Seeing the remarkably well-preserved body, Liu Dashao momentarily felt as if the woman was not dead at all, but merely sleeping like a beauty awaiting a prince’s kiss to awaken her. Of course, that “prince” certainly wouldn’t be himself, nor would it be that fatso Fan Debiao.
Fan Debiao, half his body leaning over the coffin lid, nervously looked around, fearing a mummy might suddenly jump out and devour him. Seeing Liu Dashao standing motionless, he widened his eyes in alarm. “Master, are you frozen?”
“Master, are you frozen? Did the mummy scare you silly?”
“Man, he really is stunned? Uncle Diao, your nephew’s gone mad.”
Liu Dashao ignored Fan Debiao completely, until the third time he shouted, when he finally shook his head and sighed in astonishment. “Never would I have imagined that such a perfect woman could exist in this world.”
“Man, so he’s not stunned—he’s just smitten!” Fan Debiao exclaimed in curiosity. Unable to contain himself, he tossed the coffin lid to Clay Figurine Zhang and leaned forward to peek inside.
Then came a loud cry, and he nearly toppled into the coffin.
“This… this is just too bizarre! This is a corpse?!” Fan Debiao stammered after a pause, still unable to believe what he had seen.
“It’s not the tomb occupant that’s bizarre,” Old Diao, watching silently, finally spoke, “it’s those who buried her who were truly strange.”
“This tomb must be at least a thousand years old by now. In such a long time, humidity, temperature, heat, natural erosion, and decay would have turned even a well-preserved corpse into dust. Yet this body remains perfectly intact, even submerged in water all this time. How could her skin not rot?” Clay Figurine Zhang’s voice had risen several octaves, his usual expressionless face betraying his shock.
Old Diao nodded in agreement, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, seemingly deep in thought. “There’s something wrong with this water.”
“I was thinking the same,” Clay Figurine Zhang replied. Circling around Fan Debiao, he examined the coffin lid again and suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! Now I understand!”
Both Old Diao and Liu Dashao’s eyes lit up. “Did you find something?”
“See for yourself!” Clay Figurine Zhang shoved the outer coffin lid, tilting its underside into view. Before them appeared a series of strange, irregularly arranged characters, scrawled together with messy strokes, interspersed with symbolic patterns of stars, the Big Dipper, mountains, and rivers.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage