Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Thirty-Five – The Armory

I lifted my gaze and saw that the path ahead ended in utter darkness, but I could just make out a staircase descending into the shadows. I nodded to Li Kun, signaling him to be on alert, then began to move forward cautiously.

When we reached the steps, I said to Li Kun, “Stay sharp. If that monster shows up again, shoot immediately. If we can’t take it down, at least drive it back.” Li Kun nodded in understanding, and I began to descend the stairs.

Li Kun led the way, with me following close behind. The staircase wasn’t very long; before long, we reached the bottom. I shone my flashlight ahead, revealing a fork in the path. Two narrow passages branched off, one to the left and one to the right, separated by a thick wall in the middle.

Li Kun turned to me and asked, “Old Liu, which way should we go?”

I thought for a moment, oriented myself, then pointed to the left passage. “If we take the eastern branch, we’ll leave the bounds of this small hill. Let’s go this way.” I gestured to the other tomb passage. Li Kun nodded, and together we walked into the right-hand corridor.

The corridor was oddly shaped—narrow at the top and wide at the base, about two meters across. The floor and walls were constructed from blue stone slabs. When our flashlights swept across them, an eerie greenish hue flickered over the stones, making the atmosphere even more unsettling.

Walking through that corridor, we felt the strange chill intensify; the deeper we ventured, the colder it seemed, though perhaps it was only our imagination.

After advancing some forty meters, a round, moon-shaped doorway appeared ahead. Li Kun turned to me, saying, “Old Liu, could this be some kind of secret chamber? We’ve only seen stone doors so far, so why is there a moon gate here?”

I replied, “Don’t worry about what this place is for now. Since we have to go through, let’s hurry up and find out what’s inside. I can’t shake the feeling this place is familiar.” This last sentence wasn’t meant for Li Kun, nor was it idle chatter.

Not long ago, I had dreamed of this very place, though I couldn’t be sure if it matched the scene from my dream.

With that, I quickened my pace toward the moon gate, only slowing when I stood before it. I raised my arm, signaling Li Kun to halt, then pulled a crowbar from his backpack and hurled it toward the moon gate.

The crowbar clattered across the floor and rolled inside. When nothing happened, no traps triggered, I relaxed. Nodding to Li Kun, we hurried forward together.

Standing before the gate, I looked up. The moon gate was about two meters high, formed from milky-white stone. Though centuries of dust had settled on it, the quality of the stone was evident—it must have been a rare and precious material, even in the Song Dynasty.

I said to Li Kun, “Old Li, stay alert. Don’t lose your head if that three-eyed serpent-man appears again.” Li Kun acknowledged, and we both stepped through the gate.

Beyond the moon gate, we found ourselves in a vast burial chamber. Li Kun and I swept our flashlights around, and the sight that met our eyes made us both gasp.

But it wasn’t horror that seized us—it was astonishment. We were standing inside an enormous armory!

Li Kun and I exchanged glances. Swallowing nervously, he said, “Old Liu, have we struck it rich?”

I nodded. “More than rich—we’ve hit the mother lode.”

All around us, weapon racks lined the walls and filled the central aisle, each one laden with all kinds of weaponry.

I approached a rack lined with small hidden weapons. But the moment I saw them, all my excitement vanished and my face fell. I picked up a six-pointed throwing star; it was so corroded that, with barely a squeeze, it crumbled into rust and fragments, leaving only a pile of oxidized iron as evidence it had ever existed.

Unwilling to give up, I rushed to another rack displaying four long, sheathed swords. Seeing they still had their scabbards, I secretly hoped they had survived the centuries.

I picked up one of the swords from the middle shelf and gripped it tightly—it didn’t disintegrate in my hand. Encouraged, I gripped the hilt with one hand and the scabbard with the other, trying to draw the blade. But no matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

I sighed, silently admitting that it was hopeless. After all, so many years had passed since the Song Dynasty, even the strongest weapons would fall victim to time—especially iron ones.

Just then, I heard the clatter of metal hitting the ground. Li Kun’s voice came from the other side: “Damn it, after all that, everything in here is junk. What rotten luck.”

I joined him, saying, “Come on, don’t complain. Think about how many years it’s been since the Song Dynasty. Unless a master craftsman made these with the finest materials and sealed them with special techniques, nothing could survive this long. Most of this stuff was probably just the tomb owner's collection of playthings.”

Li Kun sighed. “Looks like there’s nothing of value here after all.”

He swept his flashlight around again, but suddenly stopped and exclaimed, “Hey, Old Liu, look over there!” He pointed to a spot not far from me.

My curiosity piqued, I turned in the direction he indicated. As soon as I saw it, I was reminded of the armory from my dream.

Excited, I hurried over, Li Kun close behind. After a few quick steps, we both stopped, and Li Kun asked, “Old Liu, if we sold that thing, how much would it fetch?”

I replied, “Forget selling the whole thing—even a small piece would set us up for life.”

In front of us stood a colossal stone platform, over four meters long and about half a meter wide.

Atop the platform lay a massive spear, nearly five meters long, its entire body a brilliant emerald green.

Swallowing hard, I approached the spear and ran my hand along its shaft. The sensation was as intimate as caressing a lover’s skin.

Li Kun examined it closely. “Old Liu, is this…?”

Before he finished, I said, “This spear is made entirely of imperial jade—emerald. The craftsmanship and carving are so exquisite that even with modern techniques, it would be impossible to create such a priceless treasure. In fact, calling it priceless doesn’t do it justice. You could buy a small country with this thing.”

You couldn’t blame us for our shock. Even today, imperial jade fetches astronomical prices. A single ring could sell for a fortune—let alone a spear nearly five meters long.

The spear rested silently atop the massive stone platform. Its carvings were flawless, perfectly symmetrical, and the long spearhead looked razor-sharp. Two dragons wound around the shaft, as if they were coiled protectively about the weapon.

When our flashlight played over the spear, the emerald veins glimmered. Even a tiny fragment would attract a frenzy of wealthy buyers, let alone the entire spear.

But there was no way we could take it out now; we’d have to plan to retrieve it on our way out.

I said to Li Kun, “Let’s leave this treasure here for now—it’s not going anywhere. When we leave, we’ll figure out how to bring it with us. Even if we can’t get the whole thing out, we’ll at least take a piece.”

Li Kun nodded. “Fine by me. When the time comes, even if I have to drag this thing out, I’ll do it. With this, we’ll never have to rob another tomb—we can just travel the world.”

I grinned. “Exactly. And each of us can find a foreign wife, too.”

Li Kun chuckled. “Absolutely. I hear there are countries where you can have several wives. I’m going there for sure.”

He started fantasizing aloud, and seeing him lost in his daydreams, I smirked and teased, “What about Tian Tian?”

He faltered, then said, “Oh, I really like Tian Tian. She suits me, and we get along well. I’ll just bring her with me.”

I laughed. “But if you marry all those wives, aren’t you afraid Tian Tian will get jealous and take them all out at once? Don’t forget, she’s a special forces woman—not much less dangerous than us.”

Li Kun replied, “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If it comes to that, for true love’s sake, I’ll settle for just Tian Tian.”

I said, “Wow, Old Li, I’m impressed. You’d give up foreign wives for Tian Tian.”

Li Kun scratched his head. “Honestly, I never thought about it before. It was only when you mentioned it that I realized—ha!”

I laughed. “Alright, let’s see if there’s anything else worth taking. This thing’s way too big for us to handle right now, but maybe we’ll find a few smaller, better-preserved pieces to bring back. We can’t leave empty-handed, after all.”