The moment I saw that gleam in Sun Fatty's eyes, I knew he had set his sights on those luminous pearls embedded above us.
Sure enough, he struck his Zippo and hurled it into the air with force. The windproof design lived up to its name—the flame soared dozens of meters and still didn't go out.
Sun Fatty's throw was no joke. The lighter shot up some forty to fifty meters. By its flickering light, we could clearly see that the sky and stars above were an illusion.
Roughly fifty meters overhead was a vast ceiling, painted in pitch black with some unknown pigment and inlaid with radiant gemstones. From below, without external light, the scene was indistinguishable from a true starry night sky.
The lighter eventually hit the ceiling and bounced back down. Sun Fatty didn't even move to retrieve it. He simply stood there, neck craned, staring dumbly at the artificial constellations overhead.
"Hao Tou, where's Old Qiu?" Po Jun looked around but saw no sign of Qiu Bulao.
Director Hao gestured toward the far side of the lake. "He went ahead to scout, see if there's a way out."
I glanced in that direction—it was nothing but a mirror-flat expanse of black water. Not a shadow of anyone. "Hao Tou, how did Director Qiu get across? Is there a bridge? And what is this place?"
"How the hell should I know?" Hao Wenming snapped, shooting me an annoyed look. Then he added with a grunt, "What do you think I am—omniscient?"
Just as he finished speaking, a fireball burst from the center of the lake. It shot upward like a flare, slamming into the ceiling before shattering into several smaller orbs of flame—like a miniature firework.
The burst snapped Sun Fatty out of his trance. He stared at the drifting embers and muttered, "Fireworks? Must be New Year's…"
"New Year?" Po Jun laughed. "You think this is a festival? That's Qiu Bulao's signal flare."
Hao Wenming kept his eyes on the last flickers of fire. Once they faded completely, he turned to us and said, "Qiu Bulao's found something. Let's go."
With that, he began walking toward the water.
"Hold on, Hao Tou," Sun Fatty called out, stopping him. "Shouldn't we leave someone here to watch the entrance? In case something changes on Director Qiu's side, we need an escape route."
Director Hao shot him a cold glance and snorted. "Stop wasting time. We're all going."
Sun Fatty grimaced and reluctantly followed him toward the lake with the rest of us.
"Hao Tou, you're not saying we have to swim across, are you?" I stared at the lake, a chill creeping down my spine. I've always had bad luck with water—first the water ghost when I was a kid, then those desiccated corpses in the Water Curtain Cavern, and now this subterranean lake beneath the desert. I was starting to develop full-blown hydrophobia.
"Swim?" Hao Wenming smirked at me. "Not exactly. We're walking."
Then, to my disbelief, he stepped directly onto the surface of the lake and walked forward ten paces—standing steady atop the water as if it were solid ground.
What kind of sorcery was this? Treading mist? Skimming water on a reed? While I was still gaping, Po Jun followed suit, walking across the lake like it was nothing and standing beside Director Hao.
"Lazi, hurry up!" Po Jun waved us over.
"You've got to be kidding me," I stared wide-eyed. "We don't have your kind of skills! Dasheng, why don't you go first?"
Sun Fatty leaned forward to peer into the water and muttered, "Forget it. I'm built like a damn anchor. I'll sink instantly." Then to Director Hao, he said, "Hao Tou, seriously, neither of us can pull that off. Why don't you and Po Jun go ahead? We'll stay here and keep watch."
Before Hao Wenming could speak, Po Jun interjected, "Just step on it, both of you. You're not going to drown. The water's barely ankle-deep—your shoes won't even get wet."
Was he serious? From where I stood, the lake looked like a bottomless void. I glanced at Sun Fatty—he too was frowning at the surface, hesitant.
"Not to be rude, but can you two move already?" Hao Wenming finally snapped.
There was no avoiding it now. Sun Fatty and I looked at each other, then cautiously stepped forward—and sure enough, just as Po Jun had said, the water only came up to our soles. This enormous underground lake, ominous and vast, turned out to be eerily shallow.
"See? I wasn't lying. Let's go," Po Jun said, grinning and beckoning.
We followed Director Hao toward the spot where the flare had been launched. Sun Fatty shuffled up beside Po Jun and asked in a low voice, "Dajun, how did you know the water was so shallow?"
Po Jun didn't even pause. "You two still lack experience. When in doubt, follow the Director's lead—where he steps, you step. Here's the most basic rule of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation: when you hit a wall, find your superior."
Sun Fatty gave a dry laugh. "That's just common sense, isn't it?"
Po Jun shot him a glance. "I'm telling you so that if shit really hits the fan, you'll know exactly which direction to run."
We walked on for another ten minutes across the lake before a white, mist-shrouded structure emerged on the horizon. There seemed to be a figure standing next to it. As we drew closer, we saw it was Qiu Bulao, pacing slowly around a massive, circular, alabaster-white stone platform.
He didn't seem the least bit interested in briefing us. Director Hao was used to his ways and simply circled to the opposite side, quietly examining the monolith with him. The two said nothing—Qiu Bulao eventually sat on the ground and stared at the structure in silence, as though something was deeply troubling him. Hao Wenming occasionally raised his phone to snap a photo, leaving the three of us standing off to the side, ignored.
Sun Fatty and I originally wanted to step forward and join the fun, but Pojun reached out and stopped us."Wait until those two have reached a conclusion. That's the Bureau's rule," he said.
After a while, the two directors still showed no sign of stopping. Sun Fatty couldn't hold back any longer and asked Director Hao, who was closest to him, "Director Hao, what is this thing? Have you figured it out yet?"
Director Hao didn't even lift his head. He was feeling around the stone platform with his hands, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
Sun Fatty didn't take offense. He turned to Qiu Bulao and said, "Director Qiu…"
Before he could finish, Qiu Bulao snapped, "Don't bother me. Look for yourselves." He seemed to be sulking, his eyes fixed on the stone platform.
Since Director Qiu had spoken, the three of us moved closer and gathered around the platform.
Up close, the details were much clearer. The stone platform was about three meters in diameter and a meter and a half tall. Although I wasn't an expert on stonework, I could still tell that the platform was made of white marble. As for its purpose, we'd have to wait for the two directors to weigh in.
Finally, Director Hao withdrew his hand. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he looked across at Qiu Bulao and said,"Not to brag, but this isn't from the Great Yuezhi Kingdom."
Qiu Bulao nodded solemnly. "No, it's not."
Director Hao's smile widened. He slowly added, "Could it be... from the Ancient Zhi Kingdom?"
This time, Qiu Bulao didn't even bother to nod. He just grunted, "More or less."
Director Hao gently patted the marble platform while sneaking glances at Qiu Bulao. The crow's feet at the corners of his eyes were all bunched up from his grin."It's the... Moon-Embracing Jade Coffin, isn't it?"
Qiu Bulao shot him a look. "Yeah, I misjudged it. Happy now?"
I couldn't help cutting in, "Directors, can't we speed this up? Just say it all at once and let's find a way out of here already."
Watching Qiu Bulao admit his mistake had obviously put Director Hao in a good mood—he became more talkative. He gave the jade platform a tap and explained,"This jade platform is called the Moon-Embracing Jade Coffin. It was used exclusively for the kings of the Ancient Zhi Kingdom after death."
That triggered something in Sun Fatty's mind."Then what about the Corpse-Fixing Bronze Coffin up top?"
That question caught Director Hao off guard. According to his earlier theory, the Zhi King Bai Jie had been murdered, and his body placed inside the Corpse-Fixing Bronze Coffin. But if that's true, then who—or what—is inside this Moon-Embracing Jade Coffin in the same tomb?
Now that Sun Fatty mentioned it, Director Hao was clearly unsure. He started blinking rapidly—his eyes fluttering like windshield wipers.
I tapped the top of the jade coffin and said, "Isn't the solution simple? Open it and we'll know exactly what's inside."
"Hmph!" Director Hao shot me a sideways glance."What the hell do you think you'll know? You think Director Qiu and I are amateurs? If it were that easy, I would've opened it long ago." He let out a breath and added,"This Moon-Embracing Jade Coffin is the most intact one ever found. A similar one was discovered in Inner Mongolia, but they encountered a serious issue while trying to open it. Due to a technical mistake, the corpse and burial items inside were almost completely destroyed."
"A serious issue? It's just a coffin. How difficult can it be?" I thought Director Hao was exaggerating.
"Now that's some spirit," Qiu Bulao chimed in with a grin and gave me a thumbs-up. "Why don't you give it a try—see if you can open it."
How hard could it be? Just push off the lid and reveal the guts inside. And even if I couldn't do it myself, we had Pojun—he was like a utility tool on legs, worth ten men in one.
But as I circled the jade coffin, I started to realize something was off. The entire structure, lid and all, was carved from a single block of jade. It was seamless—not even a hairline crack.
I walked around it a few more times but still found no sign of a gap. I shook my head and said,"Director Qiu, there's no way this is a coffin. It's clearly just a solid piece of jade—no seams at all. You'd need a specialized stone-cutting machine to open this thing."
Qiu Bulao replied,"You're not wrong. This is the Moon-Embracing Jade Coffin. The one discovered in Inner Mongolia was identical to this. X-rays showed a corpse inside, along with more than fifty burial artifacts. At the time, just like you said, they used a jade-cutting machine to slice open the top. But as soon as the contents were exposed to air, everything burst into flames. In less than a minute, the unidentified corpse and most of the artifacts were burned to ash."
Sun Fatty gasped,"So you're saying this really is a hollowed-out piece of jade? How did the Ancient Zhi people even get a body inside? Shouldn't we call in professionals from the Cultural Relics Bureau to open it?"
"You think there's anyone more professional than the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation?" Qiu Bulao stared him down.
Director Hao stepped in to ease the tension, "Old Qiu, let's check the surface again. Maybe there's some clue."
Sun Fatty said, "Director Hao, um… my stomach's acting up. I need to take care of something."
Director Hao didn't even lift his head. "Do it here."
His response made all our faces sink. Even Qiu Bulao looked a little green. Sun Fatty clutched his stomach and said,"Director Hao, my stomach's been really bad lately. Even against the wind, the smell would get to you. I don't want to torture you guys."
Qiu Bulao took charge for once, "Go farther out. Stay alert. If anything happens, fire a warning shot."
Sun Fatty grinned and nodded, "Got it. I'll go far enough that it won't stink up the place." Then he turned to me and said,"Lazi, come with me, yeah?"
I was absolutely unwilling. "Are you out of your mind? You're going to take a dump—why would I tag along?"
"I'm afraid of the dark," Sun Fatty winked. "Two's safer. And hey, if you need to go later, I'll go with you too."
That gave me the creeps. "Sun Dasheng, you're not… y'know… into guys, are you? I'm really not your type. You and Pojun make a better match—tall and burly, a couple made in heaven."
Pojun wasn't having it. "Screw you! Why drag me into this? Lazi, you're the one with the pretty face. You go."
Director Hao was growing impatient. "Lazi, just go with Sun Dasheng. The sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back."