The Lost Tomb Vol. 3

Chapter 6: Main Hall of the Spirit Palace

The spirit palace's main hall was the main part of the tomb aboveground, and it was also the largest in size. After entering, the first things we saw were the large stone pillars lining both sides of the spirit path,(1) which ran down the middle of the hall. Each of these pillars was about five meters in diameter. I recalled the scene depicted in one of the shadow paintings in the undersea tomb where a group of workers was using a type of hoist to pull a huge coffin up the cliff. Everything here had presumably been brought up the same way, even though it seemed impossible when thinking about those steep cliffs we had climbed up earlier.

In the darkness between the pillars, we could vaguely see large black statues of slaves holding lamps, behind which was more darkness. For some reason, when we pointed our flashlights behind them, the light didn't reflect off of anything, as if there was a void. We didn't see any funerary objects either.

Fatty pulled out a fire stick, clearly intending to light the lamps, but I told him not to—one of the main reasons why this building was still standing and hadn't collapsed was because of the low temperature. If a large number of lamps were lit, the ice on the roof would melt and may cause a small collapse. So, it was better not to.

We relied on our flashlights as we moved further into the darkness. Everyone seemed to be affected by the environment and didn't speak, as if they were afraid of waking something in this place. Our surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the echo of our footsteps and our heavy breathing filling the air.

Ye Cheng was the least experienced among us. After taking a few steps, he couldn't stand it anymore and said, "It's so fucking quiet. Why do I feel cold all over? The quieter it is, the more panicked I feel. Let's talk. It's not like we're thieves—"

But before he finished speaking, Poker-Face motioned for him to shut up and Fatty whispered to him, "Don't bother coming up with any stupid ideas. Is that not exactly what we are? Little Brother's ears are sharp, but if you're chattering away, he can't hear if there are any mechanisms. Are you willing to risk it?"

When Ye Cheng heard that there might be a mechanism here, he quickly covered his mouth and looked around nervously, for fear that a hidden weapon would coming flying out of the darkness.

"Don't be so nervous," Monk Hua said. "This is a place for worship. Eastern Xia's rulers likely came here to offer up sacrifices every year, so there's little chance of there being any mechanisms. Plus, so much time has passed. You don't need to worry."

"Nonsense," Fatty argued.

I smacked him and told him to quit messing around. Just now, he had told the others to stop talking but continued to talk himself.

The outside of the ice dome was so thick that it would have been difficult to re-open once it was sealed closed, and the plank road had been destroyed long ago. These two things showed that no one had planned to come back here after the spirit palace was sealed off. It was impossible for Monk Hua not to have thought of this, but there was no need to add unnecessary panic by bringing it up.

We continued walking for about five more minutes before we reached the center of the main hall. A jade platform appeared in front of us, surrounded by four huge copper wine vessels shaped like birds with human heads. On the platform itself stood a large black statue that was neither a person nor a Buddha. Instead, it looked more like a spiral pillar covered in lichen. No one could tell what it was, but we all agreed that it looked very strange.

"What the fuck is this?" Fatty asked Monk Hua. "Shouldn't there be a statue of the tomb owner in the main hall? Did the tomb owner really look like this? Isn't this... a big leech?"

Monk Hua said, "In Eastern Xia's religion, this may be what they imagined their head god, Tengri, to look like...."(2)

"This god looks so ugly," Fatty muttered to himself. "How is it any different from a wooden club used to wash clothes?"(3)