Chapter Thirteen: The Small Coffin

The most pleased among us at that moment was undoubtedly Fatty. The fellow nearly hummed a tune all the way back to where we had entered, then began sorting through his backpack.

I glanced back, then whispered, “Can you be serious for once? We should hurry up and find the way deeper inside.”

Fatty scoffed, “What could be more proper for a Gold Touch Captain than arranging funerary goods?” He casually picked up an item beside the stone couch. “Don’t worry, I’ve already got an idea of the route down. Let’s secure ourselves here first, and once we’re in the underground palace, we can look for something worthwhile.”

“What? You found the entrance?” I stared at him in disbelief.

Fatty was momentarily troubled, noticing that the funerary goods around us were all quite large, and seemed less interested in responding.

Peanut spoke then, “Everything in the seven brick chambers is identical. Although it seems strange, it actually makes it easier to expose the mechanism for the entrance. If we find anything different among the chambers, that’s likely where the mechanism is hidden.”

Fatty suddenly looked up, “Peanut’s got brains. I’ll tell you, I already found the place—it’s behind the stone couch in the fifth chamber, there’s a crack there, unlike anywhere else.”

I felt a bit uneasy, “If you already knew, why didn’t you say so earlier? Did you forget those three are still trapped inside?”

Fatty put down a clay jar and glared at me, “Coming out of a place like the King of Yelang’s tomb, how have you not learned anything?”

“How have I not learned?” Of course, I had—damn, but at this moment, I really couldn’t come up with an answer.

Fatty walked to the side door, sneaking a glance behind, then said to me, “Think about how those people looked when they first arrived—did they seem like they were here to rescue anyone? They were scared by Yang Lang’s words. Now that they’ve recovered, they’re seizing the chance to do their own thing. Look at us—we’ve been sent away, haven’t we? They’ve already surveyed this area, so by having us come here, they can continue their work over there. Since they’ve made their intentions clear, why should we butt in?”

Fatty was right, but I still didn’t get it. “Didn’t Professor Chen ask Peanut to come with us?”

Fatty sighed as if disappointed. Peanut smiled, “To them, I’m the most helpless. Fatty’s right—my uncle and his team have their own plans.”

“Do you know their real purpose?” I asked.

Peanut shook his head, “Honestly, I didn’t expect to run into my uncle here. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the archaeology team’s internal matters. But I think it might relate to his research. Even though this tomb isn’t as grand as the previous one, once it’s reported, it’ll attract worldwide attention. Some archaeological work must be done at the site itself. So, I suspect they’re using the search for people as an excuse and conducting actual research.”

“I didn’t expect your family to be so complicated,” I said with a bitter smile.

Thinking about it, Peanut’s theory seemed plausible. Not just in archaeology—in any scientific field, the first discoverer always gets the most academic prestige and benefits. It’s similar to tomb raiding: the first one in always gets the most spoils, but for tomb robbers, going in first means risking all the traps.

With this reasoning, my eagerness to save people and explore the tomb faded. I sat down and watched Fatty fiddle with the funerary objects.

After a few minutes, I noticed Fatty hadn’t taken the last item. “What’s wrong? Sudden pangs of conscience?”

“Tut, these are too big, and the craftsmanship is mediocre. They won’t fetch much if we sell them. Besides, since all the chambers are the same, if they suddenly come over and notice something missing, I’d be in big trouble. Better to wait until we’re further down and find something more suitable,” Fatty said, then walked forward to look ahead. “Hey, when do you think they’ll be finished? Maybe we should just go and tell them.”

I couldn’t stand his attitude. “Why are you only thinking about taking funerary goods? If you tell them now, all your scheming will be exposed. I’m warning you—Zhuge Xuan knows our background. If you piss her off, Yang Lang and those two guards will have you tied up and hauled to the police station.”

“Am I afraid of them? Hmph, those scholarly types—I’d scare them witless with a sneeze,” Fatty retorted.

I didn’t bother arguing. Still, I was getting impatient myself; having come all the way from Chengdu, I couldn’t just sit here smoking.

Peanut walked over to the stone couch, seemingly examining the dragon-eyed phoenix. Fatty and I were sitting on the floor, smoking, when Fatty suddenly gave me a look, signaling with his chin toward Peanut.

I understood—he wanted me to ask Peanut about his purpose here and the connection to the King of Yelang’s tomb. But Peanut had already made his position clear earlier in the tent, so I just shook my head helplessly.

Lately, I’d learned that asking others often yielded nothing. Even if they told you the truth, you might still be confused. So, I resolved to try figuring things out myself. The more I knew, the better I’d be able to judge whether my father was telling the truth when he spoke to me.

Seeing me unmoved, Fatty kicked me. I was about to retaliate when Peanut suddenly turned around sharply. “Fatty, come help me.”

His voice was barely audible but urgent, catching both of us off guard.

Fatty respected Peanut deeply, so he immediately stood and went over. “What’s up?” he asked.

I wanted to go too, but Peanut gestured toward me, “Yuan Jie, keep watch outside.”

Apparently, Peanut wanted me to stand guard, so I leaned against the door, pretending to smoke, but kept my eyes on Peanut and Fatty.

Peanut moved to one side of the stone couch and whispered, “Let’s lift it.”

“Huh? Really?” Fatty was puzzled. “You want to take this thing out and sell it? It’s... definitely valuable, but I’m afraid we’d get shot by the police before making it halfway out.”

Peanut shook his head, “There should be something underneath.”

Fatty grunted, said no more, and moved to the other side. Together, they lifted the stone couch with ease—it must’ve weighed several hundred pounds, but the two managed it quietly.

Fatty was about to wipe his sweat when his face suddenly changed.

From where I stood, I saw that beneath the couch was a hidden compartment nearly as large, and inside it sat a large wooden chest.

At that point, it was impossible to stay still at the door. Seeing that the others in the chambers weren’t making much noise, I walked over.

On closer look, I immediately recognized the wooden chest for what it really was.

“Damn, they actually hid a small coffin here,” Fatty whispered. “Brother, how did you spot the problem?”

“Something inside seemed to move.”

Peanut’s words made my head spin. Last time he said that, the three of us nearly lost our lives. This time, who knew what awaited us?

Fatty and I lost any desire to open the coffin, but Peanut crouched by the compartment and began checking if the coffin was sealed.

“Peanut, are you sure it’s safe to open it like this?” Fatty asked, not without worry.

“Yeah, what if there’s something inside again?” I chimed in.

“We’ll be here a while longer. If we don’t figure this out, we might face even greater danger. Still, I don’t think there’s much risk inside,” Peanut said.

“But didn’t you say something moved in there?” I stared uneasily at the coffin. I’d heard that little ghosts were the most dangerous—who knew if a small corpse would be even fiercer.

Peanut placed his hands on either side of the coffin. With a gentle lift, the lid came off soundlessly.

Fatty and I stood by, hearts pounding, hands instinctively reaching for the weapons hidden in our clothes.

But when I saw what lay inside the coffin, my mind went numb.