Mysterious Country 1: Mist-Shrouded Champa,Volume 6: Chapter 7: Dissolving in the Chamber

Qian Baoshan firmly believed that the Cham king’s corpse skin mask could bring him “luck.” No one could deny the existence of “luck.” Because which direction the scale of success and failure ultimately tilts toward, in the end, is often controlled by this extremely mysterious factor. But it is also formless and intangible. There is not even a specific standard to measure it. Hearing Sima Hui’s words now, his heart couldn’t help but feel some suspicion.

He only heard Sima Hui continue to say: “You’d better not disbelieve. There truly is a kind of power in this world that can deal with a person having good luck. That is to find a way to have even better luck than him.”

Qian Baoshan realized Sima Hui was just being sensationalistic. He finally relaxed his heart. He said coldly: “You think your luck can match the Cham king whom people must forever look up to?”

Sima Hui helplessly shook his head: “I burn vegetables, I burn rice, but I never win at mahjong. If I were truly having great luck, I wouldn’t have run to Myanmar to join the guerrillas. Even less would I have encountered you, this neither human nor ghost monster, in the deep mountains…”

Qian Baoshan said with a sinister smile: “If you cultivated some virtue in speech, perhaps after eight lifetimes you might have good luck.”

He discovered Sima Hui was continuously rambling on, seemingly deliberately wasting time. Fearing that the night would grow long and dreams would multiply, he immediately became alert. He flashed out from behind the copper lamp. Still hiding in the darkness beneath the lamp shadow. He was about to approach the opened cave. But he heard Sima Hui shout sternly: “Actually, on the Cham king’s face. There fundamentally exists no ‘luck.'”

It turned out that when Sima Hui entered the hall at the deepest part of the Golden Spider City, he saw a mural with strange content behind the stone door. He remembered Yu Feiyan once said that the Cham dynasty adopted theocratic rule. They believed in the Vedic Lord of Beasts. They distinguished noble and base by human facial appearance. Ancient pagodas and pythons were terrifying aspects, presaging conclusion and death. The reliefs around the ancient city were basically all based on this. It was as if this were a “City of Death.” And the mural behind the stone door seemed to imply that the ruler died. But why was the Cham king’s mausoleum not here?

If the Savage Mountain great rift valley was isolated from the world, covered by dense fog for a thousand years, under normal circumstances, almost no one could discover the ancient city buried deep underground. And the Golden Spider City symbolizing death had a strange form, unique in the world. Yet it was not the burial place of a generation of divine kings. What meaning did the Cham king have in painstakingly building it? Why did he want to kill all the slaves and craftsmen who built the ancient city? What secret was he concealing? The Cham king thought extremely highly of himself. He was called the person closest to heaven. But he seemed to both revere and fear the secret hidden in the Golden Spider City.

Sima Hui vaguely sensed the secret existing in the Golden Spider City. But the facts were still unclear. He had only guessed a rough outline. The few clues he had were also complex and intertwined. He still couldn’t find any thread. Although from the time of discovering the cargo loaded in the Mosquito, the several survivors of the expedition team, in their contest with Green Tomb, were always in an absolutely passive situation. They could almost see no hope. But Sima Hui after all understood Golden Dot physiognomy. He knew that fortune depended on a person’s inner spirit. He didn’t believe anyone could truly control luck. Let alone that although the Cham king’s appearance was strange, it had skin appearance but no bone appearance. Clearly not naturally born. However, Sima Hui also felt that behind the Cham king’s corpse skin mask, there was indeed some shadowless and formless thing existing. This caused the ancient corpse’s face skin to be undamaged. It was like a curse that had not dispersed for a thousand years. And this Green Tomb had heavy death aura on his body. He was absolutely not some person closest to heaven. Describing him as “the ghost closest to hell” would perhaps be more accurate. He didn’t know whether the Cham king had cast some curse on his own face, or whether there truly was a lingering spirit that had not dispersed, still gazing at his own heavenly face in the darkness.

Sima Hui knew that Green Tomb had at least three secrets on his body. First, his true face and identity. Second, the method of hiding in the Mosquito cabin. Third, the motive for deeply entering the ancient city to search for the “Corpse Eye” chamber. Why could these secrets not be known by outsiders? Perhaps there was only one reason: “fear.” Because these three secrets could all constitute direct threats to Green Tomb’s existence. Additionally, there was one matter where Green Tomb had misled the concept. That was the Cham king’s luck. If he could quickly unravel this mystery, there was still a possibility of reversing the passive situation.

Sima Hui saw that the murals around the hall mostly depicted flaying torture. All were evil arts of making gu and refining insects. Plus, back then, the grave robbers who looted the Cham king’s mausoleum discovered that the corpse had decayed, only the face remained lifelike. The thieves naturally felt their hearts grow hairy. They wanted to destroy it. But all encountered unexpected accidents. They had no choice but to seal the golden coffin. They never dared to open it again. Additionally, Sima Hui had once shot a bullet through Qian Baoshan’s head in the tunnel. If the other party truly had “luck,” he wouldn’t have been so likely to be hit by a bullet. These circumstances made Sima Hui even more certain of his own judgment. The Cham king’s face did not have “luck.” It was some kind of “curse.” Qian Baoshan moved the Cham king’s face onto his own head. The ancient curse also attached to his body. Rather than saying he was having good luck, it would be better to say he was under a curse. Any person who intended to directly destroy the “face” would be killed by the Cham king’s fatal curse. And the power of this curse was far more than this. Green Tomb precisely grasped the secret that the “face” would not be harmed. So he dared to personally enter the mountains to search for the Golden Spider City. And time after time, he turned danger into safety. Only by avoiding the Cham king’s face could there be a possibility of dealing with Green Tomb.

Qian Baoshan didn’t expect Sima Hui could see through this layer of truth. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat flustered. He saw that the dark and obscure qi sealed inside the stone cave had not yet dissipated. As long as he could seize the opportunity to hide inside, the other party would also have to worry about companions who had stepped on anti personnel mines. They probably wouldn’t pursue. So without a sound, taking advantage of Sima Hui being farther from the chamber entrance, he wanted to act first. Who knew that the moment he stood up, the four barrel hunting gun was pressed against his head. It turned out that Luo Big Tongue, A Cui, and Yu Feiyan had already surrounded him.

Qian Baoshan was extremely shocked: “How is this possible? Among these survivors, there is no military engineering demining expert. They don’t even have half professional demining tools. Having stepped on American made anti personnel mines, even immortals couldn’t escape. How could they have escaped unscathed?”

Actually, Sima Hui and the others had fought in Myanmar for many years. The matter of comrades beside them being blown to death or maimed by landmines was too numerous to count. They were all very familiar with various common old style landmines. When Sima Hui saw Luo Big Tongue and Yu Feiyan trigger the mines, his heart sank. He knew the situation was already irreversible. But his eyes had always been exceptionally sharp. He discovered these few American made anti personnel mines were somewhat wrong. Perhaps the other party, thinking he controlled the situation, became somewhat complacent and forgetful. Or perhaps although Green Tomb was the head of the underground arms trading organization, he didn’t necessarily know the performance and structure of every weapon. In short, Qian Baoshan had not closed the safety mode switch on the anti personnel mines.

This type of M series landmine produced by the United States during WWII, to prevent accidents, all had a one time insurance setting. So before burying and using them, one must first close the safety mode switch on the shell. Otherwise, once the fuse was triggered by someone, one only needed to use a dagger to scrape open the shell. Then cut the metal conduit from within. This would disarm the explosion. Sima Hui immediately went with the flow. Outwardly, he showed no emotion. He used the water cloth to wipe the mud from his shoe soles. Then threw it to A Cui. This was equivalent to sending a signal. Telling her to find a way to demine. Then Sima Hui acted according to Green Tomb’s instructions. And deliberately wasted time.

Qian Baoshan was meticulous in a hundred ways but neglected one. He only concentrated his attention on Sima Hui, who was searching for the “Corpse Eye” chamber. He didn’t expect that after receiving Sima Hui’s hint, A Cui had already cut the anti personnel mine’s detonation conduit. By the time he realized, he was already surrounded by Luo Big Tongue and the other three from the side. The matter happened suddenly. There was no longer any room for reversal or maneuver.

Luo Big Tongue’s anger attacked his heart. Without saying a word, he pressed the large caliber elephant hunting gun against Qian Baoshan’s head. He fiercely pulled the trigger. But whether due to mechanical failure or damp ammunition, it unexpectedly failed to fire. Yu Feiyan urgently said from the side: “First leave a living mouth! Otherwise, no one can get out!”

Luo Big Tongue cursed: “Leave a fucking living mouth! I only know how to dismember into eight pieces!”

He was about to throw down the gun and pull out the hunting knife. But Qian Baoshan suddenly threw that white phosphorus incendiary bomb from the dark lamp shadow. Thick smoke accompanied by blinding firelight rapidly spread. In an instant, it pulled out a wall of fire on the ground. Everyone shouted. They immediately retreated backward.

Sima Hui was located on the other side of the lamp pillar. With the other three, he formed an encircling pincer against Qian Baoshan. He was not blocked by the fire wall. Carrying the duck billed shovel, he was about to step forward. Who knew that methane gas was seeping through the cracks in the stone walls inside the cave. After gushing out of the cave entrance, it had not yet dissipated. This kind of combustible gas, if its concentration in the air exceeded seven percent, the human body wouldn’t feel anything abnormal. But as long as it encountered an open flame, it could very likely explode. The methane at the cave entrance was denser. Ignited by the phosphorus fire, it rapidly exploded and burned in the hall bottom.

Sima Hui saw that the area around the cave had burned into a sea of fire. It was extremely hot. He couldn’t approach even half a step. He had no choice but to dodge aside. At this moment, everyone saw a shocking scene: Although Qian Baoshan was surrounded by the fire wall, he still disregarded everything. He struggled through smoke and fire wanting to approach the cave. But the moment his arm stretched out, it touched the white phosphorus burning fiercely before him. The blue white flames penetrated through the skin and flesh, burning straight into the bone. His palm instantly turned into red charcoal. The pain made him hiss in a scream. He fundamentally couldn’t pass through.

Luo Big Tongue saw that it was difficult to approach. He immediately reloaded the elephant hunting gun. He raised the muzzle and again aimed at Qian Baoshan and pulled the trigger. Qian Baoshan was only focused on turning to escape the raging flames. Unexpectedly, he ran head on into the muzzle. This time, he wasn’t so lucky. In the deafening gunshot, they saw Qian Baoshan’s head splatter with flesh and blood. His entire head was blown to fragments. His body was also knocked backward by the powerful kinetic energy. He flipped over the fire wall. He fell heavily into that opened cave.

Sima Hui wanted to call out to Luo Big Tongue to avoid the Cham king’s “face.” But before he could open his mouth, Qian Baoshan’s head was already blown off by the large caliber elephant hunting gun. The methane explosion near the cave entrance dissipated extremely quickly. But the white phosphorus burned for a while before dimming. Sima Hui felt the matter was strangely suspicious. Waiting for the fire to weaken slightly, he immediately went forward to search for Qian Baoshan’s corpse. After all, that Green Tomb was unfathomably mysterious. If he didn’t thoroughly uncover all the mysteries hidden on his body, he feared there would never be peace in the future.

Sima Hui saw that the black qi in the cave gradually disappeared. He had Luo Big Tongue carry the hunting gun to block the cave entrance. He dismantled a casket containing green pearls. He tore off several strips of curtain and bound them to wooden strips. He lit them at the copper lamp to make several torches. He also soaked the water cloth in the dark spring. Preparing to search with A Cui and Yu Feiyan.

Yu Feiyan first used the submachine gun to sweep and clear the way. Only after confirming safety did she dare to descend into the cave. The three raised torches and looked everywhere. The sealed space of hundreds or thousands of years had accumulated bad luck for a long time. This caused the torches to flicker bright and dark. Sima Hui didn’t dare to be careless. He shone front and back, left and right in order. He saw that the cave like stone chamber was quite narrow. Inside, there was still a cave several meters deep. The end was a natural rock layer. There was already no path forward. One could see that several ancient creature vertebrae fossils were exposed in the rock layer. The forms were quite large. They couldn’t distinguish what they were. And the outer stone walls had no traces of being burned by fire. But everywhere were carved with strange and bizarre curses.

This cave, apart from the cave entrance leading to the hall, the interior space was nearly sealed. Although there were many tiny cracks formed by the passage of years, for humans, they were without gaps to exploit. Difficult to pass through. Apart from several broken steles in the corner, everywhere was empty and bare. Not only could they not find other exits or secret doors, but Green Tomb’s trace was also gone. Who knew whether in this pitch black cave, it was because of accumulated darkness for so long, or because some radiation existed in the stone walls and rock layers, it actually made people feel a vague pain in their heads. As if the soul within their bodies was undergoing the scanning of darkness.

The three deeply felt that something was not right. That Green Tomb seemed to have evaporated in the dark space. Or as if he were a ghost in a nightmare. He fundamentally never existed in reality. This was like “the earth turning upside down and the sun appearing from the west.” A state bizarre to the extreme.

Sima Hui frowned: “Could it be that there really is Tu Xingsun’s earth escaping technique in this world?”

He still wouldn’t give up. He had A Cui follow him to search inch by inch again. And told Yu Feiyan to carefully examine the stone carvings on the walls. Perhaps among them were recorded clues about the Golden Spider City’s exit secret passage. Perhaps they could also know what secret the Cham king had hidden here.

Yu Feiyan, using the torchlight, looked for a while. She discovered that the marks and curses on the cave walls were all a very unique ancient pictographic script. Although Yu Feiyan was experienced and knowledgeable, she couldn’t recognize a single character of this. They seemed different from any known script in the world. Probably no one could read their meaning.

And what was carved on those several broken steles belonged to the Cham dynasty’s script. Mainly derived from Pali and Sanskrit. Yu Feiyan was relatively familiar with this. Recognizing seventy or eighty percent was not a problem. She only roughly glanced a few eyes. Her heart was already shocked and uncertain. She hurriedly called out to Sima Hui: “The Golden Spider City indeed hides the Cham king’s secret. But this secret… is very likely not some specific object…”