Apart from me, everyone else found the Fatty’s words strange. What was wrong with this guy? How could that jade eyeball become his? What was he thinking?

I muttered to myself, “If these archaeologists knew we were actually in the business of tomb raiding for the Mojin or Faqiu schools, it would be a disaster.” I quickly reached out and gave Fatty a sharp flick on the neck: “Why all the nonsense? Say less and nobody will think you’re mute.”

Fatty knew he’d spoken out of turn and shut up, not saying another word. Fortunately, they were all wearing dual-filter gas masks, and the temple was dark, so no one could see anyone else’s expression, which avoided some unnecessary awkwardness.

Professor Chen and his three students were all bookworms. My biggest worry was being seen through by Shirley Yang. Her mind was infinitely sharper than mine, and she was quick on the uptake; a slight slip-up wouldn't escape her. Maybe she had already figured out that Fatty and I were seasoned tomb raiders, but simply hadn't said anything. Since things had come to this, I wouldn't burden myself further, so I stopped thinking about it and helped Fatty fit the jade pendant onto the jade eyeball.

The jade eyeball was oriented with the pupil facing upward, directly toward the ceiling. The recess directly above seemed to align perfectly with Fatty’s jade piece. After shifting the jade in several different directions, it finally clicked into place with a kacha, locking in. The jade eyeball wobbled, rolling away from its previously fixed position. The ground was bare; who knew what mechanism had held the jade eye in place just moments before.

I picked up the jade eyeball and handed it to Professor Chen, inviting him to examine it.

Shirley Yang switched on a fluorescent tube to illuminate it for Professor Chen so he could see more clearly. Professor Chen took out his magnifying glass, turning the object over and over, pondering it for two or three minutes, continuously shaking his head: “This… I can’t tell what it’s for. However, this jade eye is as large as a human head, entirely natural, with no visible signs of artificial work. One might even say that two thousand years ago, artificial technology couldn't have created this.”

The cave civilization of the Jingjue Kingdom was too mysterious. Professor Chen and his team had poured decades of effort into their research but had only managed to grasp limited information, only developing a preliminary understanding of some of the cave script symbols and history. They had inferred that this was a people who practiced spiritual worship centered on the eye as a totem, a conclusion only reached after arriving at the Black Tower. At this moment, explaining this mysterious jade eye was naturally impossible.

What could be determined for now was that this hall, with its sixteen colossal stone pillars, was a temple. Since the Jingjue people regarded the eye as the highest source of energy, enshrining an eyeball in the temple was logical.

But why was there a recess on this jade eye that perfectly accommodated Fatty’s jade pendant? And why did the jade eye, fixed to the floor, detach naturally the moment the pendant was inserted? These matters were incomprehensible.

Professor Chen asked Fatty to recount the entire history of his jade pendant, without any concealment or exaggeration, demanding nothing but the unvarnished truth.

Fatty, having been an independent operator for several years, usually spoke without thinking, boasting and exaggerating whatever came to mind. Before coming to Xinjiang, he had even told the professor and the others that he acquired the jade while fighting bandits in Xinjiang. At the time, everyone had laughed it off, taking it as a joke. It was only because the jade bore inscrutable Ghost Cave script that they agreed to let him join the archaeological team heading to Xinjiang.

Now, under serious questioning, Fatty saw how solemn everyone was and dared not fabricate tales. His knowledge of the jade’s origins was also quite limited, so he laid out everything he knew, word for word:

It turned out that Fatty’s father had joined the revolution at the age of fifteen during the Huangma Uprising. He had a comrade-in-arms. By the later stages of the Liberation War, these two comrades, who had originally been in the same squad, were separated—one in the First Field Army, the other in the Third Field Army—both eventually rising to the rank of Army Group Commander, high-level military leaders. Fatty’s father’s comrade, when the People's Liberation Army’s First Field Army entered Xinjiang, had led his troops through Niya on the southwestern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. En route, they encountered a band of over a hundred bandits.

The situation in Xinjiang at that time was complex, with countless stragglers from various armed factions, as well as a large number of bandits and horse thieves. Thus, engagements between the PLA and bandits were common. In a brief but fierce skirmish, the commander's guard regiment routed the bandit gang; some were killed, others fled. They eventually found this jade pendant on the corpse of a bearded bandit leader.

They had no idea about the jade pendant’s origin or purpose, other than noting its unusual color and texture, and the strange symbols carved upon it. There was nothing else particularly remarkable, so they didn't pay it much mind.

Later, this commander heard that his old comrade had a big, fat son and sent the jade, acquired inadvertently, as a gift through an intermediary.

After the February Countercurrent incident, Fatty’s parents were persecuted and passed away one after another. The comrade stationed in Xinjiang also retired due to illness. Fatty was only fifteen or sixteen at the time, an age completely ignorant of such matters. In the end, the only heirloom left in the family was this ancient jade, which he kept like a treasure. This was the entirety of his knowledge regarding the origin of that jade stone.

Professor Chen sighed after hearing the account: “It’s a pity these people are all gone now. This Jingjue jade has passed through several hands; its source is impossible to trace now…” He murmured with regret, deeply lamenting his inability to unravel the mystery of the jade eyeball.

Shirley Yang took the jade eye from the professor’s hand to examine it. She focused with intense scrutiny. I noticed she hadn't said much since entering the ancient city of Jingjue. I thought perhaps she was worried because, despite finding the ancient city, she hadn't seen any sign of her father. Her father and his fellow explorers had been missing for over a year; it was difficult to say if they had even reached this place. Moreover, this location was at a mountain pass, subject to frequent strong winds and sandstorms. The entire city was likely buried by sand countless times throughout the year, only to be uncovered by the next wind. Our finding it this time was sheer luck. To find a small exploration team in this vast desert was like searching for a needle in a haystack; how could it be easy? She held onto a sliver of hope, needing to see a body to be truly at peace. The deeper we explored in the ancient city of Jingjue, the stronger her sense of loss likely became.

I owed her my life once in the valley; I hoped to do something for her if the opportunity arose. Seeing her interest in the jade eyeball now, I wished that ancient jade belonged to me so I could just give it to her.

Before Shirley Yang could finish looking, Fatty grew impatient and reached out to take it back. Shirley Yang pulled the hand holding the jade eye back slightly and told Fatty, “What’s the rush? I’ll return it once I’m done.”

Fatty retorted, “Enough nonsense. This jade belongs to our family. What’s the meaning of letting a foreigner look at it endlessly? I’m afraid you’ll look so intently that you won’t be able to pull your eyes out.” Saying this, he grabbed at the jade eye and tried to snatch it back.

Seeing this, I hurriedly intervened: “Don’t fight, both of you! Can you show some respect to me as the leader? I’ll decide—let Miss Yang look for five minutes first.”

Fearing that Fatty and Shirley Yang would struggle and break the jade eyeball, I spoke while reaching out to press down on the jade eye held by both of them. Unexpectedly, the moment I intervened, neither of them wanted to struggle anymore, and they both let go simultaneously.

I only had one hand extended, still pressing down from above. The jade eye was round and large, slippery to hold. Unable to grip it securely, the jade eyeball fell heavily to the ground with a loud pacha, shattering into eight pieces.

Everyone stared at each other dumbfounded. Professor Chen trembled, pointing at me: “You… you you you…” He stammered for a long time, too enraged to form a complete sentence.

I couldn't defend myself and waved my hands repeatedly: “I didn’t… I was just… this was well-intentioned of me, I didn't expect… damn it, how is it so fragile?” As I spoke, I reached down to pick up the jade fragments from the floor, silently praying that they could somehow be stuck back together. If they made me compensate for it, this was a priceless treasure; even selling myself piece by piece wouldn't cover the cost.

I was truly flustered and my mind was blank. I forgot whether I was praying to Hu Da, God, Chairman Mao, or the Buddha. Perhaps the lack of fixed faith resulted in lackluster prayer efficacy. The jade eye wasn't light, and the stone bricks below were hard; some parts had shattered into powder. I fumbled around on the ground for a long time and couldn't find all the fragments.

Fatty said, “Alright, Old Hu, it’s broken, so *** it’s broken. Stop picking it up.” He then tried to pull my arm to make me stand up.

I had been squatting for too long, and my anxiety didn't help. The geological pack on my back was also heavy. When Fatty pulled me, I lost my footing and plopped down onto the ground. As I struggled to get up, I unintentionally looked up and saw, in the dim light, a washbasin-sized eye on the temple ceiling, flashing with a strange luminescence, staring directly at us.

When we entered, we had briefly scanned the surrounding environment. It was pitch black above, and we hadn't looked closely. Nobody noticed when such a huge, moving eyeball appeared.

I hurriedly shone my flashlight upward. Although the temple was high, the area on the ceiling should have been within the beam of my flashlight. Who knew that the moment the light hit the top, the beam seemed to be swallowed by darkness? Apart from that giant eyeball filled with red veins, the rest of the ceiling was pitch black; nothing could be seen.

The other six people also saw the monstrous eye overhead. They all sensed trouble, fearing the strange eye might fall and injure them, so they quickly backed away.

The giant eye rotated once in mid-air and then settled smoothly onto the ground. Only then did we clearly see that although this thing resembled an eyeball, it was actually a semi-transparent ball of flesh. Its exterior was covered in a whitish-blue substance, enveloping a large mass of pitch-black matter in the center. At a glance, it was no wonder anyone would mistake it for an eyeball.

Seeing this bizarre flesh ball, Fatty panicked, lifted the assault rifle from his back, and prepared to shoot. I quickly pressed his arm: “Don’t act rashly…”

Before we could figure out what this thing was, the giant eye-like flesh ball suddenly split open with a poof, releasing hundreds of entangled black, monstrous snakes. These snakes were the same as those we encountered in the Zaghulma Mountains: entirely covered in black scales, only several tens of centimeters long, with a black nodule growing on the top of their heads.

Piles of these strange snakes writhed together, covered in sticky, translucent slime, looking as if they had just hatched from eggs—utterly disgusting. Everyone’s scalp tingled, and they involuntarily retreated a few more steps.

We had seen a statue of a snake-bodied, human-headed guardian god in the Black Tower, which also had such a black sphere on its head. At the time, Professor Chen hypothesized that this black sphere was an eye. It was no wonder that in the valley, Shirley Yang’s flashbulb saved my life in a moment of crisis. It seemed this lump on the snake’s head, even if not an eye, was extremely sensitive to light sources.

The scene in the valley had left a deep impression on us. These unidentified strange snakes, relying on their powerful bodies, could leap several meters into the air, and their venom was incredibly potent; a single bite meant no time for rescue—immediate death.

Taking advantage of the delay, Fatty and I stood in front of the group, seizing the moment while the black snakes were still entangled to shoot them. Their vitality was extremely strong; even with only a head left, they could still cause harm. As I fired, I shouted to Chu Jian to pour solid fuel on them and ignite it to burn them to death completely.

The firelight illuminated the entire temple of massive stone pillars. Hundreds of black snakes were charred into coke before they could even display their fangs. I let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, we struck first. Did the appearance of these black snakes have something to do with my shattering the jade eyeball? Or was the jade eye a sacrificial artifact, and inserting the ancient jade completed some ritual that guided these strange snakes out of that so-called virtual space? Whatever the reason, in the future, I must never take such jade eyeballs lightly.

I told everyone to examine the surroundings, fearing any stragglers, and carefully scrutinized the ceiling. Everywhere was flat stone brick; it was impossible to figure out where the snake eggs resembling a large eyeball had come from.

This careful inspection, however, did reveal some unusual details. On the body of each of the sixteen colossal stone pillars in the temple were patterns of six eyes. The base of each pillar was a perfect hexagon. Five sides were carved with a small, distinct symbol: hungry ghost, sheep’s head, Hu people, giant-eyed person, guardian beast. The sixth side was left blank.

These pillars drew our attention. Professor Chen recorded the direction and type of these symbols one by one. We tried rotating the hexagonal stone bases beneath the pillars and discovered that underneath was a stone trough, separate from the pillar shaft, which could be turned with force.

The professor said it was confirmed that this building with its large stone pillars was indeed a temple used for sacrificial rites, and moreover, a multi-functional sacrificial site. The symbols on the pillar bases indicated its uses.

These pillars were arranged in groups of four. Their current configuration had the symbols of guardian gods facing each other diagonally. The jade eyeball we just saw was a sacrificial artifact, and Fatty’s ancient jade was the implement to initiate the rite. It was possible there were other implements as well. As for how this implement ended up outside, that would probably never be answered. Perhaps some tomb robbers or exploration teams had entered this temple of the Jingjue Kingdom before, or perhaps slaves revolting against the Jingjue Queen two thousand years ago had stolen it—we couldn't know.

It could be inferred that once the implements were connected, they could summon the monstrous snakes, regarded as guardian deities, to receive sacrifices. Furthermore, calling it a multi-functional temple was because these pillars depicted not only high-ranking guardian gods but also slaves, livestock, and evil spirits at the lowest tiers. The temple might also have been used for ceremonies to suppress evil spirits or punish slaves. Different ritual objects were determined by rearranging the symbols beneath the pillars.

Shirley Yang asked, “Professor, this temple should be a place as important as the Royal Palace. Could there be a secret passage here leading to the underground royal chambers? Shall we search everywhere? Little Ye’s health is poor now; we must find the water vein in the underground palace as soon as possible.”

Professor Chen replied, “This old man can guarantee there is such a secret passage. However, since it is a hidden passage, and this temple is so vast, we won’t find it in a short while.”

Fatty interjected, “You two bosses, as the saying goes: take a man’s money, solve his troubles. You probably don’t know how capable Old Hu and I are. Don't we have all this Soviet dynamite? You all step outside to rest; I’ll blast a passage for you to witness our methods.”

Professor Chen hastily waved his hand: “No reckless action! These are all relics of an ancient civilization; even destroying a single brick is a crime.”

I thought that since I had just shattered the jade eyeball, this was my chance to atone. Knowledge of mountains, rivers, geography, five elements, and Feng Shui was all within my grasp; finding a secret passage wouldn't be hard. I said to them, “I see the arrangement of the sixteen pillars in this temple is identical to the Sixteen Dragons penetrating the Earth layout. This arrangement aligns with the principle of the Great Gate. This type of mechanism was used in Han Dynasty tombs. Earlier, observing the surrounding topography of this ancient city from the Black Tower, we saw it commanded supreme geographical advantage. It appears the Jingjue Queen was also a master of metaphysics. Perhaps I should try to locate a passage in the temple using the technique of Dividing Gold and Determining Position. This method might reveal a secret passage, though I am only a novice. If I fail to find it, we can consider other options.”

Everyone agreed upon hearing this and stood by to watch. I stepped to the center of the temple and observed the surrounding pillars. Actually, this layout of the Sixteen Dragons penetrating the Earth wasn't overly difficult; it was merely a variation on the twenty-four directions according to the Five Elements, adapted slightly for the different location and context. I walked back and forth between the pillars several times, calculating silently in my mind.

These Sixteen Dragons penetrating the Earth are, in essence, snakes. The Sixteen-Character Secret Art of Yin-Yang Feng Shui states: “Winding snake floats and drifts, suddenly north and south.” Of these sixteen, only one that pierces the earth's veins is the true Dragon. This sounds simple, but in practice, it took considerable thought. Finally, I fixed my target on four floor tiles deep within the temple.

I tapped them with a small geological hammer. Three responded with a solid sound, but only one echoed hollowly. This large stone slab, two meters square, showed no signs of wear from frequent movement along its edges. It seemed this passage was rarely used. Unless blasted, it couldn't be pried open. The nearest pillar was the mechanism, but I didn't know if that mechanism was still functional.

I called Fatty over to help. I placed my hand on the hexagonal stone trough beneath the pillar. If I turned it the wrong way and triggered some mechanism, all would be lost. So, I instructed the others, including Professor Chen, to retreat outside the temple. I wiped the sweat from my brow and told Fatty: first, align the empty side with the tile that might conceal the secret passage; then, prepare to push it clockwise five intervals, then counter-clockwise one interval, then clockwise eleven intervals, and finally counter-clockwise two intervals. Not more, not less, or who knew what would happen.

Fatty said, “Old Hu, do you think I can’t count? My grades in school were much better than yours. Enough with the nonsense, let’s turn it.”

I silently recited the incantation from the secret art: “Search a thousand miles for the Dragon, seek it left and right; follow the Yang for five steps, the Yin follows one, open and turn.”

We both exerted our strength to turn the six-sided stone trough. We counted aloud with each interval turned. After turning the final interval, we heard a series of loud gā bēng bēng sounds, and the stone tiles on the ground sank away, revealing a bottomless tunnel.