Merchant of the Underworld

We were back near the human candle again, and Li Mazi sighed and said, "Brother Zhang, you said we found the pagoda but not the ancient tomb. What should we do?"

Now, Li Mazi and I are in the same situation as having finally returned home only to find that we didn’t bring the key.

But there is no point in sighing after I have reached this point. I have adjusted my mentality and am ready to continue observing!

I have been to Shaolin Temple before. The Buddha statues inside are arranged according to the hierarchy of the Buddhas in the Western Heaven. But why are the Buddha statues here in such a mess?

I don't believe that the people who built the pagoda would put the Buddha statues like this for no reason. What's the reason? Could it be related to the entrance to the ancient tomb we are looking for?

As I looked at it, I suddenly discovered that this underground pagoda was round in shape, somewhat Islamic-style.

This is contrary to Buddhist architecture. Although this is the ruins of ancient Loulan, even if the inland culture spreads to the Western Regions, it will not be so different.

It seems that the people who built the pagoda must have ulterior motives!

For some reason, I suddenly remembered a report I had read: The report pointed out that an ancient tomb was unearthed in Shaanxi, and a pagoda sat above the ancient tomb.

At first, the researchers only discovered the pagoda. However, one of the old professors studied the ancient Buddhist culture very deeply. He found that the placement of the Buddhas in the pagoda did not comply with the regulations of Buddhism, so he became suspicious and finally discovered the Buddha. Tomb below the tower.

So will the pagoda in front of us be the same as what was reported?

In Buddhism, the placement of Buddhas has its own specific rules, which are as strict as the ancient hierarchy.

Thinking of this, I made a bold decision!

Although I don’t know how the old professor in the report discovered the ancient tomb, I decided to try my own method.

I tried to push the Buddha statue closest to me, and then I realized that the Buddha statue was hollow and not as heavy as I thought.

Then I discovered the words engraved on the back of the Buddha statue.

"When the Buddhas in the Western Heaven are in chaos, dark clouds cover their eyes; when the Buddhas in the Western Heaven return, the dark clouds disperse."

I was overjoyed when I saw this, and then tried to look at other Buddha statues. Finally, I found that every Buddha statue had the same words engraved on it. It seemed that my guess was right!

"Brother Zhang, what are you busy with there?"

Li Mazi asked in surprise when he saw me pushing the Buddha statue around.

"Mazi, if you still have the strength, help me push some Buddha statues."

I just observed carefully that the positions of these Buddha statues are not all wrong, but a few of them are wrong, and even people who don't know how to do it can't tell it at all.

"Brother, you can actually carry such a heavy thing. I'm not that capable. After all, I still have injuries on my legs!" Li Mazi shook his head repeatedly.

"The Buddha statues are empty, just help me move a few."

I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with him now. Since my guess may be correct, I naturally want to verify it!

Li Mazi's eyes widened when he heard this, and he looked at me in disbelief.

"I didn't lie to you!" I replied.

As if he wanted to verify what I said, he didn't care about the injury on his leg. He eagerly climbed to the nearest Buddha statue and pushed the Buddha statue half a meter away with both hands.

"Damn, this isn't pure fucking gold."

Li Mazi sighed in disappointment, and I was as frustrated as he was. However, we are still disappointed, and we still need to practice based on our guesses, which is related to whether we can find the Han tomb.

We moved all the Buddha statues that were placed in the wrong order and rearranged them in the normal order.

Just after placing it, I heard a roar, and suddenly everything was empty under Li Mazi and I!

I once again experienced the feeling of being a trapeze artist, but this time I felt more happy. Since there is a secret passage below, it is most likely an ancient tomb.

After landing, I looked around with a flashlight and found that this was a place similar to the front desk, with a path paved with white marble next to it.

"This must be an ancient tomb."

Li Mazi's eyes instantly went straight when he saw the tomb passage made of white marble. I couldn't help but get excited. I helped Li Mazi up and covered his mouth and nose with the gas mask I bought.

This ancient tomb has not been ventilated for who knows how many years, and it must be very sinister inside. Fortunately, I bought a gas mask in advance, otherwise I would probably have been poisoned to death before I even walked in.

After getting ready, I supported Li Mazi and walked slowly inside.

Most of the cemeteries in the Han Dynasty were the same. There were two side chambers where the maids and livestock were buried, and the middle chamber was the main chamber where the bones of the tomb owner were stored.

As expected, not long after we left, we saw that the space in front of us was divided into three parts. The left and right sides were the ear chambers, and the main tomb chamber was hidden in the deep darkness.

"Brother Zhang, what do you think will be inside?" Li Mazi asked.

Li Mazi's question stumped me. I always sell nefarious items, or go out to pick up business, but this is the first time I've entered an ancient tomb.

"Whatever it is, let's look at it before talking." After I said that, I helped Li Mazi and went to the right ear chamber first.

There should be candlelight in the ear room. I searched around and found a candlestick in the recess of the wall.

I don’t know what material this candle is made of, but it’s still usable after all these years, and the wick is surprisingly not weathered.

After I lit the candle, the ear chamber instantly became brighter. When I looked up, I saw that there were things like fish scales piled under my feet.

These things are dark brown, shining like obsidian, and they are piled up like hills.

"What the hell is this?"

Li Mazi asked in confusion. I walked up to the hill with a frown, picked up one of the pieces and looked at it carefully. I felt like I had seen this thing before.

I seem to have smelled the fishy smell it gave off somewhere.

Suddenly, I remembered the mysterious old man I met in the ghost market. This was what he was holding in his hand. What on earth is this?

"Brother Zhang, let's go and see the other ear room."

Li Mazi's voice came, I nodded and put aside the question for the time being, and then walked towards the second ear chamber.

I lit the candle as usual. Although this ear room did not have the mountains of fish scales, the scene in front of me was even weirder.

There are six corpses in the ear chamber. They are wearing skirts that look like snake skin. From this, it can be judged that these six corpses are all women, and they should be the maids buried with the tomb owner.

But what's with the snakeskin-like clothes they're wearing? I have never heard of the custom of using snake skin to make clothes in the Han Dynasty.

I walked to the corpses and touched their skirts with my hands. I felt that the skirts were soft to the touch, even softer than the best silk in Suzhou.

"Brother, do you think this hairpin can be sold at a good price?"

Just when I was studying the materials of the clothes worn by the corpses, Li Mazi actually took away some of the accessories from the six corpses. I helplessly cursed: "Li Mazi, you are greedy for money again!"

After hearing this, Li Mazi shrugged his shoulders, as if he was just jealous of money and wanted to do whatever he wanted.

While we were making eye contact, Li Mazi's eyes suddenly became very frightened.

I was slightly startled and thought to myself, could it be that there was something behind me?

I quickly turned around and was shocked to find six corpses wearing snake skirts standing up, their dark eyes staring at me.

Damn it, it’s a fake corpse, and it’s a corpse from a thousand years ago!

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