The Tomb of King Xian, according to the blind man, was a profoundly sinister place. As he spoke, he removed his double-lens 'Blind Man's Goggles.' Shirley Yang and I glanced at his face and felt a chill run through us—his eye sockets were deeply sunken, entirely covered in dark red scar tissue that looked like the shriveled veins of an old tree growing out from within. It turned out his eyes had been gouged out, with even parts of his eyelids stripped away.

The blind man replaced the goggles, sighed deeply, and addressed Shirley Yang and me: "Many years have passed, and though the past may seem like drifting smoke, it remains vividly etched in my memory. That final expedition to plunder a tomb, I recall it with perfect clarity. What truly shocks the senses—that is what it was."

I knew that even though the blind man often spoke nonsense, relying on smooth talk to swindle meals, his accounts of raiding King Xian's tomb were likely true; after all, not everyone knew such details. However, whether the Tomb of King Xian, deep within the Worm Valley, was truly as formidable as the blind man claimed remained debatable. I had never heard of a geomantic treasure site that was absolutely impossible to loot.

But recalling the information Professor Sun had shared—how King Xian acted secretively, revered evil gods, and practiced strange arts—suggested he was no ordinary figure. The method the coffin shop owner used—raising fish on human corpses to prolong life—was supposedly passed down from King Xian thousands of years ago. This demonstrated the ancient, dark malevolence of King Xian's deeds, far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Shirley Yang wanted to learn more about the Tomb of King Xian indirectly. She related to the blind man what we discovered beneath the coffin shop: the leaking jars used for keeping human corpses to feed fish, and Professor Sun’s deduction that this was likely an ancient evil technique inherited from King Xian of Yunnan.

(The practice of keeping corpses in jars to feed fish, known as Mìng, is genuinely practiced in Myanmar. Modern people mistakenly call it a form of Gu poison; however, they are not the same, nor is this custom found in China. Only similar evil arts existed in China’s ancient Dian Kingdom during the Han Dynasty, but these were neither Mìng techniques nor Gu poison. The name is used here for plot necessity and has been significantly altered. Because the ancient Mìng technique is profoundly mysterious and transmitted secretly through generations, outsiders rarely grasp its true nature, so only a rudimentary explanation is offered in the story.)

Upon hearing this, the blind man let out a cold snort and stroked his goatee, saying, "What kind of thing is that Professor Sun? Professor, professor—the more they teach, the thinner they get, turning scholars into skin and bones. He must be some old fool. What does that rascal know? It’s no crime not to know something, but to feign knowledge when you don't—that’s misleading the disciples."

I asked him, "What do you mean by that? Is Professor Sun wrong?"

The blind man replied, "To the best of my knowledge, the evil arts of King Xian were acquired from the Tibetan regions, originating first from what is now Gongming Mountain. It is the most ancient Mìng technique. Mìng, Gu poison, and Toujiang are ranked as the three great evil arts of Southern Yunnan. The Mìng technique has been lost for ages now; Gu poison and Toujiang are still practiced by some in the Yunnan mountains, Thailand, and Laos, but they have weakened considerably, leaving only minor tricks."

I asked the blind man, "If that's the case, then the coffin shop owner using iron chains to suspend the iron jars, feeding fish with corpses inside, is a form of Mìng? What is the significance of doing that? Can it really prolong life? Now that the owner is dead, his origins seem vague; perhaps he was a descendant of the ancient Dian Kingdom, living for thousands of years."

The blind man chuckled, "Where in the world are there demons living for thousands of years? I’m nearly your consultant now, so I might as well tell you both everything. Back then, I and six colleagues went deep into the mountains of Yunnan to plunder a tomb. For safety, we made extensive inquiries beforehand, gathering scraps of information from the elders in various villages. The bizarre jars you speak of are indeed a form of Mìng. Drowning a living person in the jar—this must be someone alive; if they die before the water fills it, it's useless. The patterns on the jar are called 'Soul-Binding Talismans' (Kānhún Fú). Legend says they trap the soul within the flesh and blood after death, a truly vicious method. The small fish swim into the jar through holes in the body, feeding on the corpse bloated by water. The deceased's resentful soul is then consumed by the fish. Before long, the body is stripped clean to nothing but bone. Those fish that eat the corpse flesh grow incredibly fast, reaching three feet in just over twenty days. Making soup with such fish—the taste is incomparably delicious; there is no finer delicacy in the world..."

As I listened to the blind man while eating, the more I heard, the more nauseous I became. I had to set down my chopsticks. I said to him, "If that fresh fish soup tastes so incredibly supreme, you must have tasted it yourself, or how would you know in such detail?"

The blind man grinned, "I wasn't fortunate enough to have that immortal soup. Anyone who drinks that soup wouldn't live past three days. Once the fish in the jar have matured, they are no longer called fish; they are called Mìng—this Mìng uses the vengeful spirits of the wronged as poison, killing unseen. Those killed by drinking the fish soup show no signs of poisoning; even at death, their faces often retain a faint smile, as if savoring the delicious soup. The more people killed, the more potent the evil art becomes. As for the ultimate degree of its power, that remains unknown. Vast as my knowledge is, there are still limits to what I have witnessed."

Shirley Yang was also frowning as she listened: "So the legends of the coffin shop stem from this evil art. That black-hearted owner possessed this sinister, lethal trick of using Mìng to take lives—King Xian, who invented this whole evil system, couldn't have been a good person either."

The blind man replied, "That coffin shop owner was just a village bumpkin. Though he knew this Mìng technique, his skill was merely superficial; how could he compare to King Xian? That’s why I advise you two to abandon any thought of raiding King Xian’s tomb in Yunnan as soon as possible. I am a living example; you must take heed."

How could Shirley Yang believe the blind man's dire warnings? She continued to press him: "Can you tell us about your journey to find King Xian's tomb in Yunnan back then? If your information proves valuable, I might persuade Old Hu to gift you an artifact."

Hearing this, the blind man immediately grew serious: "Am I someone who covets artifacts? However, since you two show such filial piety, I cannot refuse you outright. Speaking of past regrets... Ah, this is a case where trouble doesn't seek a person, but a person seeks trouble..."

Back then, the blind man had an artisan in Suzhou City restore the human skin map. After careful verification, he confirmed it depicted the location of King Xian's tomb, filling him with joy. He hadn't had much success in his previous few tomb raids, but King Xian had been a monarch of the ancient Dian Kingdom. Even for a minor southern kingdom, his tomb must hold numerous fine artifacts.

So, the blind man gathered several familiar Xieling strongmen. When these tomb robbers encountered a large tomb, they always acted collectively. The methods for raiding great tombs—whether Mojin, Faqiu, or Banshan Xieling—boiled down to a few types. The 'trumpet blasting' method: using huge shovels and picks, or explosives, to destroy the burial mound and tomb walls, digging directly into the underground palace—this was the crudest approach.

Alternatively, there was 'cutting the void' (Qiè Xūwèi): digging a robber's tunnel beneath the tomb chamber. This required the robbers to be precise; a slight deviation in angle meant they wouldn't break through.

In his younger days, the blind man specialized in raiding southern tombs. His group didn't understand esoteric geomancy; they relied only on locations recorded in county gazettes or ancient tombs with remnants of steles or burial mounds. This time, with the human skin map as a clue, the group discussed it and felt this undertaking might bring immense fortune. They decided to mobilize their entire force to dig up King Xian's tomb.

According to the most experienced tomb robber among them, King Xian's tomb wouldn't be massive, given the limited power of their kingdom. Based on the map's drawing, it should be situated in a valley, utilizing natural formations and built inside a cave. The Dian Kingdom imitated Han customs, so the king's burial must include bronze chariots and horses, honor guards, ceramic figurines of entertainers, two outer and three inner coffins in the dark chamber, a Heaven Gate above and a Spirit Path below, sixty-four eyes, suspended with one hundred and eight pearls, and surrounded by six jades and three tripods. Even a starved camel is larger than a horse; it was certain that King Xian's tomb held many treasures.

Although the human skin map was old and blurred in places, the location of King Xian's tomb could still be identified. A tributary of the Lancang River called Snake River earned its name because its winding shape resembled a serpent. The Snake River curved around the Great Snow Mountain, which locals called Aiten, formally named Zhelong Mountain, standing over 3,300 meters high. The Snake River wound its way into the towering mountain range, forming a ravine—a low-lying area. Because this ravine was perpetually shrouded in malevolent mist and teeming with insects, the locals called it Worm Valley.

Worm Valley was deep in the mountains, rarely trodden by humans. Beyond the Great Snow Mountain, the initial section was scenic and picturesque, often featuring large, brightly colored butterflies. However, the middle section was frequently covered in a white miasma that never dispersed, killing anyone who inhaled it; people could not enter. Legend claimed this white, poisonous vapor was the Mìng clouds set up by King Xian to guard his tomb, encircling it. Unless heavy rain and mountain gales dispersed the evil clouds, no person or animal could get inside—the blank white circle on the human skin map represented this vapor.

Further in was a massive waterfall—what geomancers call the Water Dragon. The entrance to King Xian's tomb passage lay precisely at the Water Dragon's 'dragon eye.' The back of the human skin map contained detailed records stating this nexus point was selected by King Xian’s Great Shaman. It was named 'Water Dragon Halo' (Shuǐlóng Yùn)—a faint, moist circle formed by the hazy mist wrapping around the nexus, named for its resemblance to the halo around the sun or moon, also called the Dragon Eye. It was subtle and vague, almost like a Buddha; visible upon a coarse glance, invisible upon close inspection—it was where the concentrated vital energy manifested as spiritual light. Because it was the foremost desirable feature, burying a body there ensured the vital energy would not dissipate, and water ants could not invade.

The Feng Shui formation of King Xian's tomb had one final, potent feature: it could never be looted—no one could enter. Such confidence likely had no equal in the world.

The blind man couldn't describe the exact conditions inside because he had never entered. His group, blinded by greed, decided to risk it despite knowing the tomb was extremely difficult to raid. They hired a local Bai guide and braved the crossing of the snow mountain into the ravine. After waiting for over ten days by Worm Valley, they caught a moment of tumbling dark clouds, heavy rain, and hail. The white, evil clouds surrounding them were blown away by the mountain wind. The blind men rejoiced and seized the chance.

To rush through this death zone before the storm passed, they ran for their lives. Unexpectedly, halfway through, the wind and rain suddenly ceased. As the clouds dispersed, sunlight streamed down, and faint white mist immediately began to rise slowly all around. The group was paralyzed—unable to run forward or backward, they panicked and scattered to save themselves. The miasma in the ravine spread rapidly; once inhaled, it instantly killed.

Relying on the light-foot skills he’d practiced in his youth, the blind man held his breath and fled with all his might. He managed to escape, but his eyes were destroyed by the toxic vapor. Fortunately, the Bai guide waiting for them at the valley entrance found him collapsed unconscious. The guide acted decisively, violently gouging out the blind man's eyeballs on the spot, which prevented the toxic gas from reaching his heart meridian, allowing him to survive by sheer luck.

After hearing the blind man's account, Shirley Yang and I felt that his group failed because they lacked necessary preparations. If they had proper countermeasures, breaking through the toxic gas shouldn't have been that difficult. The claim that no one who entered ever returned felt like an exaggeration.

Shirley Yang remarked, "Such dense miasma is indeed quite rare. It might be that the unique geography causes certain special plants to grow in the ravine, and the enclosed environment interacts with the air to create some kind of neutralizing effect. Wearing gas masks or using corresponding medication could render one immune; it might not necessarily be some shamanistic Mìng evil art."

The blind man shook his head: "No, you must not underestimate the Tomb of King Xian in Worm Valley. That's just the periphery. No living person has entered the depths for years. You can see what the world inside the miasma is like by looking at the description on the back of this human skin map."

Shirley Yang unrolled the map, and I looked with her. On the back were numerous writings and drawings. Around the King's tomb were four satellite burial pits and several ancillary tombs for close ministers. Unexpectedly, this minor regional ruler of the south had quite an elaborate setup.

One passage recorded King Xian’s description of his tomb, quoted from a celestial oracle he consulted during his life: "When the King perishes, he is interred in the Water Dragon Halo, his body dissolving to achieve immortality. The Dragon Halo is formless; unless the heavens collapse, it will be extremely difficult for outsiders to breach."

I murmured to myself, "If the sky doesn't fall, no one will ever enter the tomb? Heaven collapsing? Is that referring to a meteorite falling? Or does it mean something else? Could it only be possible to enter the tomb at a specific, predestined time?"

The blind man shook his head: "None of that. With my immense wisdom, even after all these years, I haven't figured out that riddle of 'heaven collapsing.' It’s likely that King Xian, in life, disregarded royal doctrine, worshipped evil gods (The radical for Tú [] seems to have the wrong prefix—perhaps it should have the water radical [] on the left; likely a typo, Tú []), and harmed countless lives. His tomb will eventually be looted. However, perhaps the time is not right, making success difficult. The King likely knew during his life that although his tomb was hidden, tomb robbers would eventually target it. That’s why he chose this desolate place—not only is the valley exceptionally perilous, but there might be formidable defenses inside the tomb chamber, perhaps guarded by fierce beasts. When I was young and reckless, I only chased that immense fortune. When one is involved, one is blind; looking back now, I was truly possessed, only thinking of making money, and ultimately suffered a great loss. Therefore, I give you this sincere advice: do not raid King Xian's tomb."

However, our minds were set. This trip to Yunnan was decided; furthermore, the true details could only be determined by seeing them firsthand in the Snake River Worm Valley. Simply hearing the blind man's words wasn't enough to convince us.

Shirley Yang bought the blind man's human skin map, and then we packed our belongings and returned to Beijing, planning to rendezvous with Fatty before heading south to Yunnan together to loot that legendary Tomb of King Xian, built within the Dragon Halo.