I was at my wit's end and genuinely wanted to toss the blind fortune-teller down into the crypt. However, seeing the high regard this sightless soothsayer held among the villagers, confronting him would inevitably offend many people. What irritated me most was that I had finally managed to quell the militiamen's superstitious beliefs using a sugar-coated barrage of cash, only for this blind man to pop up now and spout nonsense, making every single one of those militiamen contemplate retreating.

Furious, I snapped at the blind man, "What exactly is down in this crypt? Why don't you tell us so we can hear it? If it doesn't scare me to death, you best clear off and cool down somewhere."

The fortune-teller's expression grew haughty, and he addressed me, "Look at you, look at you, acting on impulse, aren't you? If I scared you, youngster, to death, this old man would have to pay with his life. Come here, let this elder feel your physiognomy." Saying this, he reached out and began kneading my face, regardless of my consent.

As he felt my face, the blind man muttered to himself, "Generational inherited trigrams, esoteric facial readings beyond compare; a bamboo tube holds heavenly secrets, a few copper coins divine all matters. Feeling the bones to gauge a man needs no speech; status, high or low, is instantly known..."

He suddenly grew puzzled. "Strange. Mortals' spirit apertures are locked like a snake's coils, destined for the rank of a feudal lord. It seems, honored sir, you are no small official of the imperial court..."

The blind man’s absurdity made me laugh in exasperation. I was currently operating as a private entity, pretending to be a government official here. I had no idea how he learned this, and now he was using it to bluff me. No one in my family had ever attained the level of a feudal lord—in modern terms, someone of that stature would be a provincial governor, or at least a major regional commander in the military. I had barely managed to be a company commander at most. What absolute nonsense.

I heard the blind man continue, "If you do not pursue an official career, you are destined never to rise. If you truly wish to enter the crypt, you must take this old man with you. Without my guidance, even if you walk in upright, you will surely come out horizontal."

Shirley Yang, who had been listening for some time, walked over and stood beside the blind man, saying, "Do you perhaps believe this is an ancient tomb down there, planning to descend with us pangolins to grab some glory and unearth a couple of rare artifacts? If so, say so; if not, then not. We don't have time to play games with you. If you utter one more empty phrase, we'll toss you out immediately."

Shirley Yang’s directness startled the blind man. He lowered his voice and whispered, "Shhh~~ Quietly now. Could it be that the young lady is also one of us? From your words, perhaps you are a Mojin Xiaowei? I took you all for men of official standing. It seems the Mojin lineage has truly been blessed with talent lately. Since you are not outsiders, I won't hide it from you. Hah, in my youth, I was a renowned Xieling Lishi across Hunan and Hubei. But when I was young and raiding tombs in Yunnan, I lost these two 'windows' [eyes]. I ended up stranded in this desolate backwater, making a living by telling fortunes. Being old and alone, I... I just want to go down and get a small share, earn a few loose silver coins, so this elder can afford a simple coffin board when my spirit departs."

Shirley Yang was so frustrated she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She glanced at me, and I shook my head, firmly refusing. This old rogue was just trying to scare us; in the end, he turned out to be just another tomb robber. This crypt didn't seem like an ancient tomb, and even if there were artifacts, we certainly wouldn't let him benefit from them.

Though the blind man's eyes saw nothing, his mind was sharp, and he understood the intentions of both myself and Shirley Yang perfectly. He quickly turned to me and said, "I possess a copy of the <(Xiangdan) Zimi Diyantu>. If you are willing to share the bounty, and give me one of the artifacts you unearth, this atlas shall be yours."

I questioned the blind man, "I’ve heard of this map. It’s supposed to be a ley-line chart. Due to the manufacturing process, there might only be one in existence in the world—since it’s such a treasure book, why don’t you sell it instead of trying to trade with us? It’s probably a fake—a worthless reproduction. Do you take us for fools, old man?"

The blind man admonished me, "I am an elder, can you not show me a modicum of respect? Calling me 'old man' repeatedly, indulging in such sharp retorts, won't people mock you for disregarding seniority? Ahem. This Qingwu Divine Map was once acquired at the cost of my life. But secret arts of geomancy have always been closely guarded secrets. Who besides a true Mojin Xiaowei who understands the 'Dragon Seeking Incantation' could decipher the mysteries within this map? If it fell into the hands of the uninitiated, wouldn't my ancestor blame me for wasting a heavenly gift? So, what say you? Whether we agree or not rests on your single word."

I thought to myself that too much time had already been wasted. Lingering with this blind man would do us no good. I needed to placate him first and deal with things after Professor Sun was rescued. I told the blind man, "It's a deal. We'll do as you say. Even if there are no artifacts inside, I can pay you for this <(Xiangdan) Zimi Diyantu> of yours. However, you cannot accompany us down. Furthermore, you must cooperate by saying a few encouraging words to the militiamen, so they aren't too scared to descend and ruin our grand plan."

The blind man was highly cooperative. He immediately called the militiamen over and spoke to them, "This crypt is no ordinary place—when Qin Shi Huang toured the realm, he once encountered an immortal alchemist in this very cave, hence he erected a stone stele at the mountain front to record the event. Later, the Hegemon-King Xiang Yu of Western Chu, and Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang of Han, both hid from severe government crackdowns within this cave. At that time, they were both commoners, but merely because they entered this Immortal's Cave, they later rose to power, established hegemonies, and secured the great foundation of the realm. This is an ancient precedent dating back to the pre-Qin era—what is the obscured term? (Only the bottom half of the character '' is visible, which also looks somewhat like the bottom half of ''; only the 'running radical' is visible for the second character, making it impossible to reconstruct). Brothers, are kings and generals born to their station? I see you, though mere militiamen, all possess the bearing of great bears and the gaze of eagles, displaying the aspect of generals. You might as well investigate this crypt; future glory awaits, allowing you to partition territories..."

I saw that it was nearly enough; letting the blind man continue would become unreliable. I quickly waved my hand, signaling the three militiamen I had appointed to prepare the lifting baskets. I was lowered down first with the militia platoon leader. The remaining four militiamen and Shirley Yang would follow in succession.

The platoon leader and I lit torches, each holding a rifle. We descended below the coffin shop. Raising my torch, I looked up; the crypt entrance was about twenty meters below the shop. The fissure appeared to be a natural formation, showing no signs of artificial work. Below was an extremely wide passage, seven or eight meters high and over ten meters wide, paved throughout with large rectangular stones. Water droplets seeped from the walls, and standing within it felt chilling to the bone.

The soil and water conditions in the Gutian area are deep, and groundwater is rarely encountered. Here, at only twenty-odd meters underground, the seepage was quite severe, likely related to the unique geography of Shibeidian Village. The basin was already low-lying, and coupled with the rainy season, this explained the water. If this were truly an ancient tomb, most of the objects in the underground palace would likely have been ruined by water.

The geological fault line was very clear. Besides the fissure we used to descend, there were many other breaks in the tunnel, suggesting this area lay on an earthquake belt. Fortunately, although the tunnel’s construction was simple and crude, it was extremely sturdy, showing no signs of imminent collapse.

The militia platoon leader pointed towards a spot not far off and told me that the first time he came down, he saw a stone platform there with a long, rectangular stone box resting on it, weighing about twenty pounds. When taken out, it contained six ancient jade beasts, crimson as blood. I hadn't seen that set of stone-casketed jade beasts; they were currently kept by the village committee. I asked the platoon leader, "What is it like further inside?"

The platoon leader shook his head. "The stone platform was inside a structure roofed with stone. There was no path further ahead, but there was a hole in the floor of the stone room, very deep. I shone my flashlight down, but couldn't see the bottom. I only felt a gust of wind rising from within that made my skin crawl. I didn't dare look longer and ran back with the stone box. Oh, and I heard the sound of water down there."

At this point, the others who were behind us had also descended into the crypt. Seeing that everyone was present, I took a headcount and instructed them not to fire their weapons casually; they must wait for my order. They needed to get a clear view first to avoid accidentally harming Professor Sun or the other archaeologist.

There were seven of us in total: myself, Shirley Yang, and the four militiamen led by the platoon leader. We carried four rifles and lit three torches. With more people and weapons, and the prospect of earning a two-hundred-yuan labor fee, everyone’s courage bolstered, and we followed me into the depths of the tunnel.

This grand but not excessively long tunnel was clean, containing nothing extraneous—not even a single rat. As we walked, we cupped our hands around our mouths and called out for Professor Sun, but in the empty tunnel, apart from echoes and the sound of dripping water, there was no other sign of life.

Reaching the end, there was indeed a stone house just as the platoon leader had described, about the size of an ordinary dwelling, constructed from interlocking, round stones. The doorway was semi-circular and completely open. Although clearly man-made, it possessed an air of natural formation. Such architecture is rarely seen in historical records. Could it be that the blind man was right—that this was a place where immortals practiced alchemy?

I asked Shirley Yang if she could discern the purpose of this stone structure, but she, too, had never seen anything like it. We passed through the doorway and entered the room; here, too, it was completely bare save for a stone slab bed.

The stone bed was flat and smooth as a mirror, unlike the stone slabs found in ancient tombs. After scrutinizing it for a long time, we couldn't make sense of it. On the floor of the stone room was a square opening—the entrance to a tunnel sloping down at a forty-five-degree angle. It was very deep. I shone my flashlight inside, unable to see the end. There was an artificial, gentle slope that allowed one to walk down. Professor Sun had likely gone this way. I called out several times, but received no response.

I had no choice but to lead the group down, leaving two militiamen to guard the entrance, just in case. We followed the ramp, padded with broken stones and earth, downward for a long time until we heard the sound of flowing water. I worried Professor Sun might have fallen into the water and drowned, so I hurried ahead. When everyone reached the bottom, we found an artificially excavated cavern. In the center of the floor was a small pool of water; under the flashlight beam, the water was pitch black, bottomless, and we couldn't tell if it was running or stagnant. Above it hung several large iron rings, from which dangled numerous massive iron chains sunk deep into the pool. Strangely, these chains were dark and heavy-looking, not resembling iron, yet we couldn't immediately identify their material because they showed no signs of rust.

The end of each massive chain submerged straight into the pool seemed to be tethering some colossal object. Just as we moved closer to examine it, those thick chains suddenly shuddered violently, disturbing the calm pool water and sending ripples spreading outwards.