After the two of them concealed their presence, Zhang Qiling's old acquaintances—the group of masked men—arrived.
Xie Lianhuan, who had been pretending to sleep earlier, was also nowhere to be found. It was clear that due to Qiyu's interference, the plan by Wu Sansheng and Xie Lianhuan had only partially succeeded. What neither of them had expected was that Qiyu would send out a message the previous night, and "Its" people would arrive by the following day.
Upon arrival, the masked men quickly inspected the surrounding environment, but both men were hidden by Zhang Qiling's talismans, so the masked men ultimately failed to discover them.
After confirming it was safe, the group split into three teams: one entered the main burial chamber, one stood guard on the outer perimeter, and the remaining team subdued all the members of the archaeological team. Except for Qiyu, they fed everyone a red pill, including Chen Wenjin and Huo Ling.
At that moment, a man walked in from outside. He looked to be around thirty years of age, dressed in a brown trench coat with a thick head of black curly hair. He was fair-skinned with slender limbs and wore a mask. If one overlooked his eerie vertical pupils, the man could easily be considered quite handsome.
The man with vertical pupils pointed his chin at Qiyu and said, "Wake him up."
Hearing this, a guarding masked man behind him pulled a syringe from his chest and injected Qiyu with it.
Shortly after, Qiyu woke up and was dragged by two masked men before the man with vertical pupils. Upon seeing him, Qiyu looked very surprised and asked doubtfully, "Why is it you?"
The man with vertical pupils did not answer his question. Instead, he said, "Old friend, do you plan to keep wearing that mask while talking to me?"
Hearing this, Qiyu pushed the masked men aside, reached up, and peeled off his mask. From the perspective of Zhang Qiling and Wu Sansheng, they could clearly see an unfamiliar face beneath that mask.
Zhang Qiling and Wu Sansheng exchanged a glance; Wu Sansheng shook his head, indicating that he, too, had failed to notice when this person had been switched out.
Seeing his pale face—made pale by long-term wear of a human-skin mask—the man with vertical pupils suddenly smiled and said, "You went to such great lengths, yet in the end, you still have nothing to show for it. I know that head of the Zhang Family is hard to deal with, but don't you think your methods are foolish? You clearly knew how formidable he was, yet you still pulled little tricks right in front of him."
The fake Qiyu looked at him and said, "If you came just to laugh at my misfortune, then congratulations, you've succeeded."
"No, no, no, you misunderstood. I came to execute trash. But before that, I want to ask you a question," the slit-eyed man said. Seeing the fake Qiyu nod, he asked, "What on earth made you choose to retreat without a fight when facing Zhang Qiling?"
The fake Qiyu smiled as if he had suddenly thought of something amusing and said, "One day, you will face him directly as well. I just hope you can still be standing like this when that happens."
With that, he closed his eyes. There was not the slightest trace of fear of death on his face; instead, he let out a long breath, looking thoroughly relieved.
"I will, but you won't live to see it," the man with vertical pupils said, then snapped his fingers. The fake Qiyu collapsed heavily to the ground, his life or death unknown.
At that moment, the team that had entered the main burial chamber emerged from the entrance, said something in the ear of the man with vertical pupils, and then left the area, taking the archaeological team and the fake Qiyu with them.
A moment later, the two talismans lost their power and turned to ash, revealing the figures of Zhang Qiling and Wu Sansheng.
Wu Sansheng stepped into the main burial chamber to inspect it, then said to Zhang Qiling, "Wait a little longer. When the mechanisms in the burial chamber start moving, we should be able to get back to the entrance we came through."
Hearing this, Zhang Qiling sat down on the stone steps of the passageway, leaning against the wall to rest with his eyes closed. Wu Sansheng sat down beside him. Both remained silent; neither spoke.
After a long while, Wu Sansheng lost his patience. Hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, "The Zhang Family has long since ceased to exist. You could easily find a deep mountain or old forest to hide in—why on earth are you still coming to wade into these muddy waters?"
Hearing this, Zhang Qiling opened his eyes and countered, "And you?"
Wu Sansheng smiled and said, "I'm doing this for myself, and for the Wu Family."
As soon as he said this, he froze for a moment, suddenly realizing that he had asked a redundant question. If not for oneself and one's family, what other reason could there possibly be? Could it be for that absurd nonsense of longevity?
Having figured that out, he asked again, "Are you certain you want to get mixed up in this?"
Zhang Qiling nodded.
"Fine, then I'll lay my cards on the table for you," Wu Sansheng said. "Do you know about the Wang Family? The person buried in this tomb is the Wang Family's ancestor, Wang Zanghai."
Wu Sansheng turned his head back with a look that seemed to demand praise, only to find Zhang Qiling staring straight at him. Once again, Wu Sansheng eerily read the meaning behind that calm gaze: *Say something I don't already know.*
Wu Sansheng took a cigarette from the waterproof pouch inside his chest, lit it, took a drag, and slowly began: "When my father was young, he brought a handwritten manuscript out of a Song dynasty tomb. The author of that manuscript was none other than Master Bowen. It stated that while he was serving as an official in the same imperial court as Wang Zanghai, he discovered something was amiss with him. After numerous investigations, he uncovered a powerful organization operating behind Wang Zanghai, which ultimately brought about his own doom. To warn future generations, he recorded all his findings in his manuscript and hid it in a Song dynasty tomb—the very one beneath my shop."
Sighing, Wu Sansheng pulled a Snake-Brow Copper Fish from his pocket, shook it, and said, "There should be three of these. Wang Zanghai placed them in three ancient tombs, using a special technique to record an event and the location of a place. Combined with the murals inside, I suspect that place is the Clouds-End Heavenly Palace.
"Furthermore, this technique and the shape of this fish were not Wang Zanghai's original inventions. The technique for carving this information comes from 'It', and the image of the fish likely originated from Northern Mobei. The 056 project report also mentioned this fish.
"Actually, this explains a great deal: the Wang Family is merely one of 'Its' lackeys."
At that moment, the wall that had originally blocked the passageway slowly lowered, replaced by a side chamber. The movement was so slight that unless one looked very closely, the sound it made would be completely imperceptible.
Since the two of them were facing the entrance of the passageway, they witnessed this magical mechanism with their own eyes. Wu Sansheng could not help exclaiming in admiration, "This Wang Zanghai really knows his stuff..."
Afterward, the two of them put on the diving equipment left in the side chamber, exited the Seafloor Tomb, and after drifting on the sea for a while, they encountered Xie Lianhuan rowing a small boat.
By now, the sun was sinking toward the horizon, casting the glow of the sunset across the ocean surface and over the three of them.
In July of 1985, a group of mere mortals challenged the towering waves, only to be smashed to pieces. Yet this foolish behavior, like moths flying into a flame, would continue to be staged in the future.
Perhaps one day these humble mortals would no longer be able to witness the brilliance of the sun, but what of it? For tomorrow, the sun would still rise as usual.