More than a month ago, the Badain Jaran Desert experienced a massive sandstorm. The locals didn't take it too seriously—such sandstorms happened every few years. Though the blinding yellow sand was eerie, as long as you stayed away from the desert during the storm, it wasn't particularly dangerous.
Half a month later, while conducting routine flight training, a fighter jet from the Lanzhou Military Region noticed changes in the heart of the desert. The once flat and monotonous sand had somehow gained some new features.
Because the pilot only glimpsed it briefly during high-speed flight, he wasn't certain what he saw but still reported it to his superiors…
A few days later, an archaeological team from the Gansu Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau arrived at the pilot's reported location. An authoritative archaeologist with the team identified a double-bull-horn totem found on-site, confirming this was the site of the capital of the ancient Dayuezhi Kingdom from two thousand years ago. Although some academic debates persisted—for example, the Dayuezhi were nomadic and unlikely to have large-scale architecture—almost all unearthed evidence supported that this was indeed the lost Western Region ancient kingdom of Dayuezhi.
At first, work progressed smoothly. Following the excavation along the main city, the location of the Dayuezhi royal palace was quickly determined. Just a day ago, exciting news arrived—they had discovered a cave that appeared to lead inside the palace.
That was when the three consecutive teams went missing. By the time we arrived, unexpectedly, a fourth team had lost contact as well.
Qiu Bulao walked several laps around the deep pit, then lit a cold flare and tossed it down. The crimson light finally stopped at a point more than thirty meters underground.
Sun Fatty used the flare's glow to examine the pit walls and, after hearing Captain Wang's explanation of when the pit was found, said, "Leaders, there are traces of artificial excavation in here. Could these be tomb robbers?"
Regarding this, Ouyang Pianzuo was the expert. He said, "Doesn't seem like it. This hole doesn't look like a robbing tunnel. The entrance is too large, and there's no attempt to hide it around. The target is too obvious—it shouldn't be a robbery tunnel."
Qiu Bulao gathered the Second Investigation Division team for a small meeting. Their voices were very low, and Hao Wenming and Ouyang Pianzuo deliberately kept their distance. I pretended to tie my shoelaces, squatted nearby, and barely caught a few words: "Inner Palace," "wine bowl," "Ran," and "Futu Sect."
I wanted to listen longer, but Hao Wenming called me back, "Lazi, come here! What nonsense are you snooping around for? I'm telling you, after all your hard learning, don't go ruining it all now."
I reluctantly walked over to Hao Wenming's side. Oddly, no one in the Second Division reacted to his half-joking reprimand—either they didn't hear it or pretended not to.
"Do as I say! Wang Ziheng, start." Qiu Bulao's meeting was brief. Wang Ziheng was the deputy director of the Second Division. Honestly, although I couldn't stand his arrogant manner, I respected his capability. Out of the six investigation divisions, he was the only deputy director—showing his exceptional ability.
Wang Ziheng first drew a circle on the ground, then took six small yellow flags from his backpack and neatly placed them evenly around the circle's perimeter. Finally, he took out six bronze coins and arranged them in a ring inside the circle, each corresponding to a yellow flag.
Sun Fatty was curious and whispered to Hao Wenming, "Hao, what are they doing? Setting up an array?"
Hao Wenming glanced sideways at Wang finishing the last coin placement, then leisurely explained to Sun Fatty, "He's setting up the 'Worship of the Six Directions Array.' Simply put, this array is for negotiation. The six directions represent the Six Paths of Samsara. Whatever is inside that cave can't avoid eventually returning to the Six Paths. If it's sensible, it will obey the array setter's arrangements. After the setter finishes, a ritual will be performed to pacify the spirits around the array, allowing them to reincarnate peacefully."
Sun Fatty's eyes grew wider as he said, "That's good—winning people over with virtue. Hao, why don't they teach us this Worship of the Six Directions Array?"
Hao Wenming gave him a knowing look. "Not teaching you? You want to keep coming out here negotiating with evil spirits and winning over with virtue? Or do you want to just clock in and out of the Bureau's nine-to-five until retirement?"
Sun Fatty, sharp as ever, immediately clarified, "Actually, this Worship of the Six Directions Array isn't that great. It's just like gangland negotiations. What's my background? Police! Hao, negotiation isn't really my thing."
"Director Hao, since this Bai Liu Fang formation is used for negotiation, what happens if the negotiation breaks down?" I turned to ask Director Hao. After all, negotiations don't always end successfully.
Before Director Hao could answer, Second Bureau's Deputy Director Wang demonstrated with actions. Suddenly, Wang Ziheng shouted loudly, "You wicked spirit, ungrateful!" While the three of us were still talking, the formation had already shifted. Out of nowhere, a gust of evil wind blew up. It didn't affect the surrounding environment, but it made the six small yellow flags that Wang had planted around the circle flap wildly. Even the six copper coins placed on the ground showed faint signs of being lifted by the wind.
Deputy Director Wang quickly changed several hand seals, but the evil wind didn't stop—it grew stronger. Two of the six flags had already been blown away, and the remaining four looked doomed to follow soon.
Wang Ziheng's face turned pale. He was about to bite his index finger to use his blood to reinforce the formation. Just as he put his finger to his mouth, before biting down, he was stopped by Director Qiu.
Director Qiu kicked the remaining four yellow flags away angrily, shouting, "Ungrateful fools!"
From a distance, Director Hao said, "If negotiation fails, then take action. Old Qiu, need any help?"
Qiu Bu Lao sneered, "Our Second Bureau can handle it ourselves, no need for First Bureau to bother." Then he waved his hand, and two investigators brought over two sacks, dumping the white powder inside directly into the pit.
"Director Hao, what's that stuff?" I asked, pointing at the rising white smoke.
"Lime powder, used to dispel yin energy. The cave is heavy with yin qi. Before going down, we use lime to absorb the yin energy inside and disrupt the demon's territorial advantage," Director Hao explained, eyes never leaving Qiu Bu Lao's movements.
After dumping the two sacks of lime powder, Wang Ziheng asked Team Leader Wang of the archaeology team for a large piece of canvas to cover the cave entrance. They kept it covered for twenty minutes before removing it.
Qiu Bu Lao had arranged the team to go down personally, accompanied by five investigators from the Second Bureau. Deputy Director Wang stayed at the entrance with others to provide support.
After the arrangements, Qiu took a long bundle handed to him by an investigator, slung it diagonally behind his back, grabbed the fixed climbing rope, and slid down first. The other five followed in sequence.
After Qiu and the others descended, there was no unusual sound from below. Wang Ziheng remained calm, holding the communicator, not rushing to contact Qiu immediately.
After three or four minutes of quiet waiting, a noise finally emerged from the cave—like water boiling with a bubbling sound, but much louder. Soon the sound became sharp, and after about ten seconds, it reached an extreme piercing level that felt like it could burst eardrums.
"Is everything okay down there?" I covered my ears and asked Wang Ziheng.
At this point, Deputy Director Wang lost his earlier composure; his face turned pale and sweat appeared on his forehead. The sound came fast and went away quickly too. Just as I thought my eardrums were about to rupture, the noise vanished completely.
Wang Ziheng then shouted into the communicator, "Director Qiu, how's it going down there?"
"No problem, just a minor incident…" Qiu's voice came through. Possibly because he had moved into an underground dead zone, the communicator briefly went silent before returning to normal. Qiu's voice continued: "There are many branching tunnels below. I haven't seen the missing personnel. You above also keep a close watch. If you notice anything abnormal, do not act on your own—everything follows Director Hao and Director Ouyang's instructions. Let Director Hao and I speak for a moment."
Qiu Bu Lao, initially full of confidence saying Second Bureau could handle this alone, had clearly changed tone—likely due to the loud disturbance just now. Though we didn't know what exactly happened below, from Qiu's sudden shift in attitude, it was clear the situation was more challenging than expected; at least, his tone was no longer so tough.
Wang Ziheng agreed and sheepishly handed the communicator to Director Hao. "Director Hao, you take it…"
Having been with the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation for a few months, I had some sense of Director Hao's temper. He wasn't petty but had long disliked Wang Ziheng's arrogant attitude, especially after Wang mocked Sun Dasheng on the plane, embarrassing Director Hao. Now that Director Hao and Ouyang Pianzuo were the top two leaders here, I didn't expect them to show much respect to Wang anymore.
Sure enough, Director Hao didn't take the communicator. He just glanced at Wang and said, "Tell Old Qiu that Ouyang Pianzuo and I will watch from above. Let him be confident to do whatever he needs down there."
Wang Ziheng looked at Ouyang, hoping for him to say something and ease the tension. Unexpectedly, that old sourpuss pretended not to see him, turned, and stood next to Director Hao, leaving Wang standing there.
Fortunately, Director Hao's words had already been heard by Qiu Bu Lao on the other end of the communicator. After so many years in one unit, he probably understood what was happening upstairs. "It's on you guys above then," Director Qiu said before the communicator went silent.
For the next several hours, things were quiet both above and below. The entrance to the pit was guarded in layers by Second Bureau personnel. Sun Dasheng and I walked around a few times, at first managing some light conversation with the senior Second Bureau agents. But with Deputy Director Wang standing stiffly nearby, nobody said much—just brief answers, no real chatting. After a while, Sun Dasheng started to get annoyed.
"Lazi, did you bring any food? Share some with me." Sun Dasheng said with a sour face. The last meal was airline food on the plane—rice with mushroom chicken. The taste was okay but the portions were small. After several hours of activity, it had mostly digested. Not just Sun Dasheng—I was feeling it too, my stomach rumbling.
"How would I know to bring food? Dasheng, when in trouble, find the leaders." I pushed Sun Dasheng around in a circle; right ahead were two directors whispering.
Seeing the leaders was like seeing a buffet. Sun Dasheng shuffled over, smiling at Director Hao and said, "Director Hao, no offense, but isn't it time to eat? The brothers can't hold out much longer."
Before I could agree, Director Hao's eyes snapped open. "Who are you imitating? Not me speaking, not me speaking! How do you say it? Can you say it? Who's talking, you or me? What exactly are you trying to say?" His words came fast and sharp like a tongue-twister. Sun Dasheng opened his mouth wide, momentarily stunned, unable to respond. Ouyang Pianzuo covered his mouth beside us, stifling laughter.
"Director Hao, don't take it personally. He's starving, low blood sugar, a little brain hypoxia too," I stepped in to smooth things over. Sun Dasheng grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, yeah, when I'm hungry I can't talk right. Really, not me talking—Director Hao, do we have any food?"
"Now you're imitating me?" Director Hao's eyes widened further, but since he was one of us, he couldn't really get mad. He waved his hand in a sour way and said, "There's food in the helicopter. Lazi, go help bring some, bring plenty. There are many people."
No sooner had Director Hao spoken, Sun Dasheng was already running to the helicopter. Watching his Liu Xiang-like speed, I thought to myself—he never runs this fast for a five-kilometer race; it's always me helping him finish it. Next time before a five-kilometer run, I'll starve you for two meals first.
By the time I got there, Sun Dasheng had started unloading the supplies—just several boxes of instant noodles and bread. How can you eat that? We stared at each other, unable to swallow the idea. In the desert sun, eating bread with instant noodles? No way.
Fortunately, Team Leader Wang from the archaeology team had the sense to bring several leftover buckets of drinking water and somehow managed to pull out a kerosene stove. He invited Director Hao and Director Ouyang to boil water below, making the instant noodles barely edible.
After eating, Director Hao instructed Sun Dasheng and me to relieve the Second Bureau's elite guards at the pit entrance. Unexpectedly, Wang Ziheng flatly refused, adamant that we couldn't go in. He split the Second Bureau team into three groups, rotating to eat and rest, while he himself sat with the meal bowl right at the pit's mouth.
"Damn, good intentions taken as donkey's liver and lungs—what the hell is this?" Sun Dasheng cursed as he returned to Director Hao's side. Director Hao was not surprised by Deputy Director Wang's behavior. He just sneered and said, "That's better, saves you from sunburn and heatstroke out there."
Staying here wasn't a solution, so I asked, "Director Hao, how long do missions like this usually take?"
"Hard to say." Director Hao lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. "Depends on how busy Director Qiu is down there. If he's quick, it'll be mostly done by tomorrow morning." Looks like we'll be roughing it in the desert overnight.