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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, Liuzi suddenly shouted, "Look! There are people! Damn... it's a corpse!"
Everyone was startled by his voice, and seven or eight beams of flashlight light flickered chaotically. In the confusion, someone accidentally stepped on my foot, causing me to wince in pain and break out in a cold sweat.
Following Liuzi's flashlight, I saw two corpses kneeling against the wall on our left, their heads drooping. The flashlight beam shone on them, but they remained motionless; they must have been dead for a long time. Strangely, neither their clothes nor their bodies showed any signs of decay... Not rotting? Could it be a thousand-year-old corpse?
A chill ran down my spine, and I instinctively took two steps back, my palm slick with cold sweat around the flashlight. Just as I was about to retreat further, A Li suddenly exclaimed, "Hey! There are more up ahead... and here too! All headless!"
A Li's shout sent a wave of panic through the already tense group. Third Granduncle Master, however, remained composed and tried to steady everyone: "Don't panic! They are dead; we are alive! If anyone should be afraid, it's them! Now turn your flashlights to full brightness and keep your weapons ready. Liuzi, take out the wind lantern!"
As all the lights illuminated the room, it gradually became as bright as day. We saw that surrounding the tomb chamber were ancient figures kneeling with their hands behind their backs, facing us with their backs against the wall. There was about a meter of space between each pair. Eight were on each side wall, two by the tomb entrance, and four on the opposite wall—making a total of twenty-two.
Twenty-two corpses that showed no signs of decay!
Beneath our feet was an arched White Jade Stone Bridge with no railings on either side. There were five semicircular bridge openings below; the middle one was larger and tapered towards both ends. The bridge surface was wide, measuring two meters at its widest point and narrowing to about one meter in the center. There was no water beneath it; four supporting columns stood on either side of the bridge, two meters from the front and back walls and one meter from the side walls.
At that moment, we realized these were not living people or even corpses; they were ancient bronze statues. Their color closely resembled human skin tone, and combined with the dim lighting earlier and our own fears, we mistook them for undying corpses. A Li’s mention of "headless corpses" wasn’t entirely wrong either; these bronze figures all had their heads bowed low against their chests, exposing only their necks. In poor visibility conditions, it was easy to misinterpret them.
"Damn it! What headless ghost! Next time look more carefully; scaring people can actually kill them!" Liuzi's courage seemed to grow as he began to scold A Li.
A Li shot back at him, "Aren't you also dead? What's with the attitude!" Without giving Liuzi a chance to respond, he followed me and Old Qiao down the bridge toward the bronze statues.
The Bronze Statues, when viewed up close, resemble children. One has a topknot tied with a hair ribbon, and his hair is quite short. He is dressed in the attire of the Qin people, kneeling on the ground with his knees together, hands respectfully resting on his thighs. His head is bowed, nearly touching his chest, and one must look up from below to see his face.
Indeed, it is a boy, half-closing his eyes. His chubby cheeks and straight line of a mouth reveal that he is not dozing off but rather tense.
The second Bronze Statue is a girl, her hair styled in two topknots, also kneeling in the same formal manner as the boy. Her face displays an extreme expression of fear. Further back are more boys and girls, all maintaining the same posture and expression. I confirmed with the eight Third Granduncle Master across from us; they were in the same state. The remaining two Old Qiao at either end were checked as well, yielding the same results.
It seems this place is meant for some significant ritual. But what kind of important ceremony requires so many boys and girls?
Could it be… a sacrifice?
I recall reading in Journey to the West about an episode where Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie transformed into a pair of young boys and girls to serve as offerings, primarily to subdue demons. But here, with so many young boys and girls, could they all be intended as sacrifices?
This is clearly slaughter!
At that moment, A Li asked me, “ Brother Qian Yi, how could there be so many young boys and girls here?”
I shared my earlier speculation with her. Meanwhile, my junior brother, A Chen, and Liu Zi gathered around me, even the Third Granduncle Master across from us stared intently. This made me feel somewhat embarrassed but undeniably a bit vain; no wonder Old Qiao enjoyed showing off—there’s a certain charm to it.
As I spoke, inspiration flowed rapidly. I began to fabricate various theories about offerings—sacrificing pigs and sheep, young boys and virgins—all things I had picked up from television dramas during my idle university days. Finally, I concluded: “So this must be an Ancient Sacrificial Platform where ancient people performed rituals on the stone bridge—perhaps to pray for rain or ward off disasters. Ultimately, it would depend on the will of the ‘gods,’ selecting one pair or all of these kneeling boys and girls as offerings—killing them.” I mimicked a throat-cutting gesture.
Just then, flames suddenly erupted from the back of the boy’s neck. Everyone gasped in shock and instinctively recoiled. Almost immediately after, flames shot out from the necks of several nearby boys and girls in succession like an infectious disease; within three seconds, all twenty-two children in the tomb chamber had flames blazing at their necks.
At that moment, someone—either Liu Zi or my junior brother—shouted in terror: “Ghost… there’s a ghost!” The fear distorted their voice into a high-pitched squeal that was neither masculine nor feminine. Suddenly struggling from behind, they were held down by A Li: “You coward! If your aunt isn’t afraid, what are you scared of?”
I don't believe there are really any ghosts in this world; if there are, it's just people scaring themselves. After all, no one has the ability to see or touch them. If someone did see or touch one, then it wouldn't be a ghost anymore.
I steadied my nerves and leaned in closer to take a look, but my heart began to race uncontrollably. When I finally saw clearly—what a shock! It turned out that on the napes of these young boys and girls, there was a double-layer lampshade, colored bronze, shaped like a water jug, about three inches high with thick wrists. Both the inner and outer sides contained liquid; the inner layer seemed to be oil, while I couldn't tell what the outer layer was.
I had been so preoccupied with wondering why they were here that I completely overlooked these details. I let out a sigh of relief: "It's nothing; there's a lamp behind them."
Liuzai looked around and, seeing that nothing strange was happening anymore, relaxed as well. "What does this mean? Are they planning to roast the offerings?"
At that moment, Third Granduncle Master across from us smiled and said, "This is called an everlasting lamp, also known as the 'Eternal Flame.' Unless the oil runs out and the lamp goes out, it cannot be extinguished by human breath. What you see here are all Copper Men serving as Lamp Stands."
"What?" Liuzai questioned in disbelief. "Lamp Stand?!" He turned to me, and we exchanged a stunned glance. "Aren't they... aren't they offerings?" His face flushed bright red.
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