Mysterious Country 1: Mist-Shrouded Champa,Volume 5: Chapter 7: Breathing

Yu Feiyan was frightened until her face lost color. She raised her Uzi submachine gun and fired a burst of shots at the target. But that creature moved like a whirlwind, divine in its speed. No one knew whether it passed through the gaps between the dense bullets or had already left before the submachine gun fired. Human eyes fundamentally couldn’t see its movement trajectory. By the time they reacted, it was already too late. Fortunately, the thick smoke produced by the white phosphorus grenades beside everyone was surging over. Plus this creature became slightly slower when away from the fog. When it flew and crashed before Yu Feiyan, it was blocked by the fire and smoke in mid air. But it didn’t turn its body around. It actually rotated its body and swept straight backward, suddenly vanishing into the fog. From the sound, it had already gone far away.

In such a brief time, dangers came one after another without cease, leaving no room to breathe. Everyone had narrowly escaped death. But they were still hard pressed to calm their terror. Their hearts were all pounding wildly. And they also knew that indeed as Sima Hui had previously predicted, that dead pagoda hinted at the Udumbara that produced the fog, and the flying snakes inhabiting the fog. Only this kind of “snake” was not of the python family. It was a kind of terrifying creature never heard of or seen before. Although Sima Hui was somewhat versed in the art of recognizing the nature of things, he had also never imagined that such a strange species could exist in the world. It was said that when chaos first divided, clear qi rose to become heaven, turbid qi descended to become earth. In the great wilderness, there were strange things that fed on chaos. They were called “Chi Zhui.” Their bodies were like rolling snow and turning silver. Their movement was like rising specially into the air. They had shadows but no form. Ancient people saw them but did not see them. Most likely they belonged to this category of creature. Listening to the sounds in the fog, there were quite a few of them. Presumably all those people who had gone missing in the Savage Mountain fog had been devoured by them. Not even bone fragments were left.

At this moment, the remaining accumulated water in the low lying areas was already not much. But outside the stone hall, the fog rose like a wall, no longer able to be blocked. Sima Hui, taking advantage of the blinding white light, saw that behind the collapsed section of wall in the hall, the fog was thin. He led the other three, filing out through the gap in the broken wall, temporarily leaving the dense fog filled area.

Yu Feiyan saw the fog ahead was not heavy. She took out a flashlight to illuminate. She discovered behind the hall was a withered tree entwined with old vines. The Udumbara growing from it had not yet taken shape. But the dense fog behind everyone was like a shadow following the body. There was simply no opportunity to stop and catch their breath. They only ran forward blindly. But everyone knew that this was merely the instinct of survival. In reality, struggling to escape now was completely meaningless. In no time, they would still be swallowed by the dense fog. The difference between this and sitting down waiting to be killed was only sooner or later.

Just as they were fleeing in panic without choosing their path, they saw over ten meters away, a light flickering on and off. The distance was slightly far, and they couldn’t see too clearly. But faintly, it could be distinguished. It was precisely the signal light that had appeared near that convoy of trucks. At the same time, the tactical radio transmitted a call, still repeating: “I am… inside the snake… I am… inside the snake…”

Sima Hui thought: this group of communications of unknown origin had led them to the vicinity of the Dodge trucks. Now it appeared again in the depths of the broken wall and remnant pillar ruins. What did it mean? Could being eaten by a snake be safe? In that case, he would rather put a bullet in his own temple right now. That would still be a happy ending. But on second thought, this signal seemed to have some hidden meaning. He didn’t know who exactly sent it. If the other party were good people, why wouldn’t they show themselves? Perhaps it was a trap to ensnare people. One must guard against it. But in the present situation, there was death but no life. What was there to fear? So he chambered a round in the pistol and followed the light forward.

The four were already in extreme disarray, almost rolling and crawling. They hurriedly reached the vicinity. The surroundings were still pitch black. Not the slightest bit of light was visible anymore. But before them stood a dark blue giant rock. The rock surface was bare of any grass. The part exposed above ground was as large as a hill. Its shape was like an inverted giant bowl, appearing very abrupt. The bottom was paved with broken black stone steps. And the end point was a cave. The stone gate was half closed. The cave entrance was carved into the shape of a python’s head. That was originally a towering ancient pagoda. After the seven tiered pagoda top called the “treasure umbrella” collapsed, only the cross shaped cornered pagoda base remained.

Behind the stone mound was the City of Four Million Pagodas concealed under vines. In the depths of that dark cave, it seemed to run straight through the interior of the ancient city covered with gold reliefs. The group might never be able to witness the full appearance of the Golden Spider City. But once approaching it, they could still vividly feel its heaven supporting and earth pulling grandeur. It was like a heavenly box weighing billions of jun, silently standing in this underground abyss. Although the gold cast reliefs were luxurious beyond comparison, they couldn’t conceal its intense loneliness, desolation, and abruptness. They truly didn’t know what unexpected situations they would encounter upon stepping inside. But the fog was following extremely fast. The four fundamentally had no time to look carefully. They had no leisure to look before and behind. Steeling their courage, they raised their guns and dodged inside. They immediately closed the stone door from inside. Then shining a flashlight around, the surroundings were empty of people. On both sides were smooth and cold rock walls. Without the slightest crack or fissure. Deep inside, cold wind blew. It seemed to be a secret passage. No one knew where it led.

Sima Hui let out a breath. He saw the cave was too dark inside. The flashlight couldn’t play much of a role. It was completely impossible to see clearly where they were. And the only remaining searchlight had also exhausted its batteries and couldn’t be used. So he took out a signal stick containing chemical fluorescent agent. He folded it in half at both ends, held it in his hand and gently shook it a few times. The dark green fluorescence immediately lit up.

Sima Hui held the signal stick in his hand. Taking advantage of the light, he raised his eyes to look. He glimpsed what seemed to be a small human figure at the edge of the illumination range. At a cold glance, he thought it was A Cui. Because that person also wore an American M1 steel helmet on their head. But Sima Hui quickly realized the other three partners were all behind him at this moment. He subconsciously tightened the gun trigger and fixed his eyes to look. He discovered that small person was all skin and bones, crouching in the corner with head lowered. He couldn’t see the face hidden under the steel helmet. He only saw tattered clothes, so dirty on the body that it could catch toads. In the hand was held an extinguished signal lamp. Slung across the body was a military canvas bag. Like a wooden carving or clay statue, completely motionless. With Sima Hui’s sharpness, he could completely not sense any sign of life on the other party’s body. His confusion deepened: “Was it this dead person who used light communication to lead us into the secret passage?”

Sima Hui immediately thought that earlier in the underground jungle, they had discovered a convoy of American Dodge style military trucks. The depths of the Savage Mountain rift valley were all dense plant remains. Walking into them, it was hard to even find a place to set foot. There was fundamentally no road allowing large vehicles to travel. But those American ten wheelers had incredibly appeared out of thin air. It was as if there existed special phenomena of spatial overlap and interlacing in space, difficult for people to understand.

The American ten wheelers were loaded with many military supplies. They looked like Allied transport convoys. But the personnel in the vehicles were similarly missing. Neither seen alive nor found dead. Like the British expedition team aboard the Mosquito special transport plane, they had all vanished without trace. Most likely they were all devoured by the “Chi Zhui” roaming in the dense fog. Not even the slightest fragment of remains was left.

Sima Hui and the others had lost their direction around the submerged Golden Spider City. They encountered the rapidly growing and spreading Udumbara. The dense fog suddenly rose. The four survivors were driven to a dead end. Unexpectedly, they were led into this secret passage beneath the pagoda base ruins by a group of flickering light communications.

Until this moment, Sima Hui finally saw clearly that the one who used the signal lamp to guide them to safety was actually a dead person. Looking at the deceased’s attire, he seemed to be an American military personnel missing during the counterattack on Myanmar. Guessing his identity, he should be related to the dozen or so Dodge trucks that appeared in the jungle. The reason he felt the other party was a dead person was because all living people inevitably had breath, which is breathing. So called humans take qi as their foundation and breathing as their origin. One exhale and all vessels open. One inhale and all vessels close. In the interval between one exhale and one inhale, the human body can transform oxygen into carbon dioxide. It also causes weak heat to be produced between the skin pores. This is what was called “yang qi” or “vitality” in old times. But on this small person’s body, there seemed to be no breathing. It sat silently and motionlessly, like a corpse that had died in this secret passage many years ago.

Sima Hui felt it was strange. He secretly thought: “Could it really be seeing ghosts?”

He pressed the gun trigger with one hand and held the chemical signal stick with the other. He pressed forward, wanting to use the dark green fluorescence to see clearly the face hidden under the steel helmet of that dead person.

Who knew that the moment Sima Hui moved, the human figure in the corner suddenly leaped up without any prior warning. Sima Hui and the other three exclaimed simultaneously. They all hurriedly retreated backward and raised the weapons in their hands. But before they could pull the triggers, that black shadow wearing the steel helmet had already fled toward the depths of the secret passage without looking back.

Sima Hui wanted to chase and see what was going on. But he also feared the other three would fall behind and encounter accidents. He could only suppress his urge. He saw Luo Big Tongue’s waist injury was very severe. When walking, it inevitably pulled and tore the wound open. Blood flowed down his thigh. One step, one bloody footprint. The pain made his forehead covered with cold sweat. So Sima Hui told everyone not to move rashly. They temporarily stopped in place to rewrap Luo Big Tongue’s wound.

A Cui carefully examined and cleaned Luo Big Sea’s wound. She gave him an injection of tetanus antitoxin serum. Then she told Sima Hui: “Luo Big Tongue only has a flesh wound. Fortunately, his constitution is good. It’s not serious.”

But when A Cui spoke, her face showed worry. It implied that Luo Big Tongue’s injury was not optimistic. This time it was really critical.

Sima Hui saw this and was deeply worried. But he could do nothing. At this moment, the fluorescent agent in the chemical signal stick had already dimmed and failed. Although everyone saw that the dense fog had not poured in, being trapped in this pitch black place was also not a solution. They decided to explore forward to understand the situation. They changed to using a flashlight for illumination. Following the secret passage, they walked inward about several dozen steps. They saw a stretch of downward steps. Further inside was a tunnel running straight through a rock cave. It was extremely flat and spacious. The dome like ceiling was wide and high. Several tanks could drive side by side inside without problem. Moreover, the terrain was low, causing the mud water that flowed in to slowly flow toward the depths. In the tunnel, it formed a subterranean river. On both sides were built sand banks and stone platforms.

The group of four walked into the depths of the tunnel. Judging by direction, they had already stepped into the half buried City of Four Million Pagodas. Only then did they know that there was indeed space inside. Looking at the four walls, they were all giant bricks painted with brilliant colors. No one knew what kind of pigment was used. In such a rotten and dark environment, they were still beautiful and eye catching. On those bricks were all expressionless human faces. Row upon row, countless in number. Before the walls were two rows of half kneeling stone statues. Identical faces without any change. Under the cold and rigid silence, they evaded a death aura that made people fearful. This tunnel that seemed to connect illusion and reality was like an enormous gateway. The group couldn’t imagine where its end would lead. They didn’t even dare to be certain whether it had an end.

Sima Hui walked while paying attention to the movements around him. At the same time, he asked Yu Feiyan: why did the Cham king build such a “monster” underground? Why did every brick have a human face? Could these faces all be the Cham king’s appearance?

Yu Feiyan’s knowledge of the true situation of the City of Four Million Pagodas was limited. But she had seen many Cham cultural relics and also understood some related history. Hearing Sima Hui ask about this matter, she couldn’t help but recall something. She answered thoughtfully: “Appearance? King Anu Jaya’s appearance was not like this. It fundamentally wasn’t human.”

Translation Notes:

Jun (钧): An ancient Chinese unit of weight, equal to 30 catties (about 15 kg). Used here hyperbolically to describe the immense weight of the Golden Spider City.