My relief was palpable when the secret passage opened. I shone my flashlight in; a flight of black stone steps slanted downward, disappearing into the gloom where the beam’s limited reach ended.

Fatty waved the five people waiting at the temple entrance inside. Seeing the open passage, everyone praised my Fēn Gē Dìng Xuè technique to the skies.

It was past noon. After a few modest acknowledgments, I told everyone to pack lightly, grab a sip of water and a few dry rations outside the temple first. We didn't know how far this secret tunnel extended, so it was best to be fully prepared before venturing in.

While eating dry rations, Sar-dipeng asked me curiously how I managed to find the passage; it was unnervingly accurate.

I explained, “A single glance at the arrangement of those sixteen massive stone pillars told me everything. This passage is laid out according to an ancient Jù Mén Zhèn Fǎ [Great Gate Formation]. Why 'Great Gate'? Because this kind of mechanism is mostly used at entrances and passageways. These mathematical arts derive from the Luò Shù [Luo River Writing] and the arrangement of the celestial stars. The mysteries within are profound; you wouldn't understand even if I explained it.”

The group rested briefly, and then I led them down the secret passage from the temple floor. Beneath the entrance, we discovered a stone lever that could be used to open the floor slab from below. These mechanisms were exquisitely designed; even after nearly two millennia, the machinery was still functional, and the principles of its construction were highly unusual. While utilizing many concepts from Yì Shù [Divination Arts], it formed its own complete system. If the Queen of Jingjue invented all of this, she must have been an unparalleled genius.

Initially, we were wary of traps within the passage. We descended with extreme caution, moving slowly and maintaining distance from one another. When we reached the end of the stone steps, the space suddenly opened up, revealing a corridor about five meters wide and three meters high, lined with Yǒng statues [Funerary Figures].

The walls around the corridor were no longer pitch black stone; they were constructed entirely of Xīyù Tiān Zhuān (ancient rectangular pale yellow earth bricks used for building city walls in the Western Regions, mixed with rammed earth, cow dung, and fine sand, dried hard and resistant to cracking over time). The ceiling was vaulted, and the walls were covered in bizarre, vibrant murals.

The most common images in the paintings were eyes—large and small, open and closed. Some depicted only the eyeball, while others included eyelids and lashes. The Jingjue people revered the eye as a totem. Since this Yǒng corridor led to the temple and was adorned with so many eyes, it was likely only accessible to high priests and rulers like the Queen. Perhaps it hadn't been used much since its construction.

The environment in this corridor was extremely sealed, with stagnant air. The colors of the murals were startlingly fresh, showing no sign of peeling, which excited Professor Chen and the others immensely.

Professor Chen remarked that in the early nineteenth century, explorers discovered ancient ruins in Xinjiang that also contained vast numbers of murals, almost all religious in theme. Unfortunately, the government at the time failed to protect them, and they were completely looted, flowing overseas. He was astounded that such perfectly preserved examples, specifically from the oldest and most mysterious Jingjue civilization among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions, still existed here—something that could shock the entire world.

Hearing the professor, I recalled the legends of the Queen being a demoness. This ancient city was deeply bizarre. If a demon truly existed here, perhaps these murals held clues. If we did encounter one, knowing the enemy was half the battle. Thus, I began examining the murals one by one with my flashlight.

However, none of the murals in the Yǒng corridor featured any image of the Queen of Jingjue. The content depicted various rituals. One showed a jade eyeball emitting light, above which a black hole appeared, from which a giant, eye-like fleshy orb descended.

Another depicted countless black, monstrous snakes crawling out of the fleshy orb, biting and consuming several bound slaves who struggled in agony.

Yet another showed black mountain peaks covered in black snakes, with all the surrounding beasts kneeling in supplication, bowing down to the monstrous snakes on the mountain.

Some of these scenes were familiar to us; seeing them juxtaposed with the depictions in the murals further confirmed Professor Chen's judgment: these monstrous snakes with black eyeballs atop their heads were revered by the Jingjue people as guardian beasts. They understood how to summon and control these serpentine creatures and frequently used living people as sacrifices to them. It was incredible that after being buried beneath the desert sands for a thousand years, these monstrous snakes still existed in the world.

We walked on, observing, and stopped before the final mural. This painting showed a massive cavern, with a narrow staircase spiraling down along the cave wall.

Shirley Yang turned to Professor Chen and asked, "Professor, do you think this cavern has any connection to the origin of the name 'Ghost Cave Tribe'?"

Professor Chen replied, "Very possibly. Look at the spiral staircase along the cave wall; it's as thin as a thread, completely disproportionate to the size of this huge pit. A sheer, straight-down geological hole like this could never have been excavated by human hands. Could this be the Ghost Cave?"

I recalled hearing them mention the legend that the Ghost Cave Tribe originated from underground. At the time, I paid it little mind, thinking it was simply ancient nonsense. Now, seeing these murals, I had my doubts. Some things depicted here we had witnessed ourselves; they weren't just fanciful drawings designed to mislead. Perhaps deep within the ancient city of Jingjue lay such a vast chasm.

Fatty chuckled, "If such a great hole truly existed, wouldn't it connect to the other side of the Earth? We wouldn't need planes to travel abroad anymore. We could just jump into this giant hole and be in America in no time."

Shirley Yang ignored Fatty’s rambling and asked Professor Chen again, "The giant-eyed stone statues of the Ghost Cave Tribe are likely their true forms. If they truly came from the dark world beneath the earth, it would explain their reverence for eyes."

Professor Chen mused, "What you say has merit. There is another possibility: this enormous cavern is the alternate realm repeatedly shown in the Ghost Cave civilization—what you call imaginary space. This might be a tangible place. In ancient times, the Ghost Cave people discovered this massive cavern. They couldn't explain why such a gigantic underground cavity existed. Despite all their efforts, they couldn't reach the bottom to see clearly. Ancients revered the power of nature; they might have worshipped this immense hole as a miracle, making offerings. They perhaps wished for their eyes to develop further so they could see the bottom. A few individuals who claimed their eyes could perceive the world at the bottom were highly respected, becoming tribal rulers or clergy. Since their authority stemmed from their sight, they viewed eyes as the source of power."

Fatty was completely won over by the professor's explanation, giving him a thumbs-up. "Not bad, Old Man. You figured all that out from just one painting and spun such a convincing tale. If you tried street vending, you could fool a ton of people and sell anything you touched."

Professor Chen was not in the mood for joking and waved him off. "These are just my subjective conjectures; they aren't definitive. We must leave the passage and see if such a grand cavern actually exists. Seeing is believing."

For some reason, hearing them discuss underground caverns made me recall my previous encounter with the Nine-Story Demon Tower deep beneath the Kunlun Mountains. I lost several comrades that time. Since then, I developed a certain trepidation regarding deep subterranean voids. I was deeply worried about the archaeological team members encountering further accidents. If it weren't absolutely necessary to enter the underground palace for water, I would pull them all out right now. Since this desert excavation had already yielded major success, abandoning the matter of the hole wouldn't be a total loss.

I said to the Professor, "A person of high standing should not put themselves in danger. You are all respected individuals; there is no need to take risks. Once we find water in the underground palace and resupply, we should leave. We have already located the ancient city of Jingjue; our mission is essentially complete. You can submit an assessment report to your superiors, and let the government handle the rest later."

Professor Chen shook his head but remained silent. He had dedicated his life to unraveling the mysteries of the Ghost Cave civilization; being this close, he was itching to continue. How could he agree? Moreover, Shirley Yang firmly believed her father's expedition team had reached Jingjue, and she wouldn't rest until she found the end of the trail. There was no way they would turn back.

Out of options, I had no choice but to follow them forward. I thought that I had done everything honorably and conscientiously; I had said what needed to be said. If anything happened, I would have a clear conscience.

The Yǒng corridor wasn't long, and there were no steps at the end—only a single stone pillar, with no visible doorway. Was this passage beneath the temple a dead end, built only to house those murals depicting sacrificial rites?

Fatty looked around, then turned to me. "Old Hu, got any tricks left? If not, let’s use dynamite."

I retorted, "Do you have any approach other than brute force? Use your brain first, then look around. I suspect the hidden door is most likely related to this solitary pillar."

This pillar, standing alone in the brick corridor, was several times smaller than the sixteen massive pillars in the temple, yet its design was identical. The base was also encircled by a hexagonal statue. The empty side faced the narrow wall at the end.

This made things simple. The tail end of the Tòu Dì Shí Lóng [Sixteen Earth-Penetrating Dragons] must be here. I had Fatty help me again, following the 'Dragon Shaking Art' (Hàn Lóng Jué) described in the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Manual, which is the opposite of the 'Dragon Seeking Command' (Xún Lóng Lìng), to rotate the hexagonal stone disk beneath the pillar.

(Busy this week, no update for now. Thanks for the votes. Next update time: Monday.)