Chapter Twelve: The Same

Halfway there, however, Peanuts grabbed my arm. "Mr. Yuan, we really shouldn't waste any more time."

"But I just saw a flash of light..."

Before I could finish, Zhuge Xuan shot me a cold glare. "Nonsense. How else would we take a photo if there were no flash?"

It was not her sarcasm that stopped me, but a quick, covert look from Peanuts. I swallowed my surprise.

The fat man was still uneasy, so he went over to check for himself.

"Nothing wrong. Let's go." He slapped my shoulder, then strode through the door.

Watching his back, I let out a slow breath. He had deliberately tapped the spot where I had hidden my pistol, telling me not to panic, and Peanuts' glance seemed to carry the same message.

Thinking of what those two men were capable of, I felt much more at ease. Still, as we left the brick chamber, I looked back once toward the stone couch. In my heart, I had the vague feeling that the golden gleam I had just glimpsed had not been my imagination.

After passing through that doorway and entering the second brick chamber, I immediately felt that something was off. I scanned the surroundings carefully, and my stomach lurched. The others clearly noticed the strangeness too.

"Hey, these two brick chambers seem exactly the same," the fat man said, pacing back and forth. "Damn it, they really are."

We went a little farther inside and saw once more the incense burner and a stone couch carved with a phoenix head and dragon eyes.

"There’s no reason to make both chambers identical," Zhuge Xuan said, puzzled.

But this was not especially unusual, and everyone was still thinking about the extra person Yang Lang had mentioned, so after a few glances we simply went on.

According to the fat man, we had originally had no intention of lingering in the chambers behind us, but as we went on, everyone’s pace grew slower and slower.

The second chamber was manageable. But when we reached the third, then the fourth... by the time we came to the last chamber, every face had gone rigid.

"Fuck me, no way..." The fat man turned around and looked back at the path we had come from. Suddenly clenching his teeth, he said, "You all stay here and don't move. I'll be right back."

"Hey, Mr. Cao..." Professor Chen started to say something, but the fat man had already sprinted off.

I knew exactly what he was going back to do. He was going to walk through all seven chambers again.

The seven of us stood where we were, none of us moving. More than ten minutes later, the fat man finally came running back, panting hard.

"Well?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Damn it, I've really seen something today."

At that, everyone fell silent. Looking at the stone couch behind him, Zhuge Xuan said, "These seven brick chambers are all built in exactly the same layout."

The fat man gave a bitter smile. "Same layout? They're identical. I looked carefully just now. Every single object in those seven chambers, every mural on the walls, is the same. The funniest thing of all is that the damaged spot behind the doorway of the first chamber appears in the exact same place in the others too, with the exact same marks."

As he spoke, he pointed out the damaged area to us.

In fact, we had already sensed it on the way. From the first chamber to the second, we had only felt the two places were similar, but the farther we went, the more that similarity became an eerie sameness.

In those seven brick chambers, the position of every brick, the shape of every funerary object, even the scratches on them, were all exactly identical.

As we made our way through them, the chambers' uniformity gave us the eerie illusion of traveling through time and space. Each time we passed through a side door, it felt as though we were stepping into a mirror. I was even afraid that at some point I would see, inside one of the chambers, eight people identical to ourselves. If that ever happened, I was certain I would be frightened to death on the spot.

And even if it were only my imagination, the condition of those seven chambers was enough to shock and terrify us. I could not think of any reason why the people who built this place would have done such a thing. At the time of construction, such an arrangement would not have been unusual, but by what method had they managed to keep it, through centuries upon centuries, in such a mirror-like state of sameness?

All at once, the cold terror I had felt when entering the Night-Herd King’s tomb began rising again in my heart.

"Maybe it’s just a coincidence," Professor Chen said at last, using the most classic explanation of all: nonsense, but effective.

The fat man suddenly caught on. "Right, Professor Chen. Since this is a multi-chamber brick tomb from the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Wei and Jin dynasties, there ought to be a passage leading downward. We’ve searched every place we can get to, so where’s the entrance? Didn’t you say this whole place is as big as the village above?"

"If it were that easy to find, why would we need you lot of grave-robbing... pathfinders?" Zhuge Xuan’s slip of the tongue startled both me and the fat man. I still didn’t know whether she had done it on purpose. "Satellite scanning can’t be wrong, and we haven’t even seen a coffin yet. That means there must be another entrance leading further down."

"Xiaoxuan is right."

"Yes, it must be hidden behind some mechanism." Zhang Yadong and Zhang Yaxi immediately began flattering her.

I shot them both a look of contempt, then said to Zhuge Xuan, "But everything here is the same. How are we supposed to search?"

The fat man’s eyes suddenly rolled, and he grinned. "Would be nice to have a feng shui expert here right now. Close your eyes, pinch your fingers, and everything gets solved."

As soon as he said that, Professor Chen and Zhuge Xuan both lifted their heads. Zhuge Xuan smiled with faint pride. "Exactly."

I thought, What the hell are you so proud of? Didn't you hear he's calling you a charlatan?

And then it struck me that if everyone here were grave robbers, things would be much easier. What mechanisms? What traps? Just pull out a shovel and start digging downward, wouldn't that do it?

Then Professor Chen spoke up. "All right. Yang Lang, hand out the fluorescent lamps. There are eight of us, so let's split up and search separately. Um... since Mr. Cao and Mr. Yuan aren't very familiar with our archaeological work, Zixiang, you should team up with them."

Looking at Professor Chen, I thought, So you clearly don't trust me and the fat man, and you're worried we'll pocket something, is that it? But after all his calculations, I doubt Professor Chen could have imagined that this decision would put two tomb-raiding experts together with a trainee grave robber. It was practically an invitation for the fat man to take things. I probably couldn't resist, and he, having long intended it, certainly couldn't either.

Sure enough, once Professor Chen said that, the fat man looked ready to leap for joy. At the same time, Zhuge Xuan gave me a cold smile, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

Her smile made me feel cold all over, and I quickly turned away, no longer meeting her eyes.

The fat man extended a hand. "Fine by me. Since I'm quick on my feet, why don't you all stay in these two chambers and leave the farther ones to the three of us?"

His purpose was obvious: he wanted to split the archaeologists away from us.

Zhuge Xuan smiled too. "Oh? So you want us out of your sight."

"Now, now," the fat man said with a chuckle. "It's not that. Just don't want you scholars wearing yourselves out."

While the fat man and Zhuge Xuan were covertly needling each other, Yang Lang said to Professor Chen, "Teacher, I think there's a better chance the passageway is in the last two chambers. We should search those more carefully and only take a quick look at the middle ones. If you and Mr. Cao still don't find anything, we can search inward from both ends at the same time. That should save time."

After the earlier fright, Yang Lang’s capable side showed through again. So Peanuts, the fat man, and I went back into the first chamber. Yang Lang started with us, but when we reached the chamber in the middle, he stayed there alone. We hung fluorescent lamps in each chamber, and with our flashlights the seven rooms suddenly became bright. In the distance, I could still make out Professor Chen and the others.

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