by Xu, Lei
“Master Three, how can you be so sure that this tomb is still intact? There’s no guarantee that all the things haven’t already been looted,” Big Kui said. “In my opinion, there’s probably not even a cover left on the coffin.”
Uncle Three groaned. “If this grave had been robbed by people several thousand years ago, then we’re sunk. But you can plainly see that the cave on the map does exist. This means that it was already here when the owner of the grave was buried. This cave has to be older than the grave we’re hunting for. And there’s probably more than one cave with tombs in this area. Who knows when this particular robbers’ tunnel was dug?”
“You mean to say,” I already felt the chilling significance of Uncle Three’s explanation, “everything we just crossed paths with, including the giant corpse-eater and the hexagonal copper wind chime—and anything that controls them—were possibly here before the Warring States Period?”
Uncle Three shook his head. “I am more concerned about why the owner of this grave wanted to be buried in a place where so many robbers’ tunnels were—and why did he position his plot here? Isn’t this a huge violation of taboos established by Feng Shui principles?”
Poker-face suddenly waved his hand in a signal for us to hush and pointed straight ahead. There was the deepest part of the cave, glowing with green phosphorescence. Sighing, Uncle Three told us, “We’ve reached the dumping ground for corpses.”
Chapter Six
THE UNBURIED DEAD
We stopped the boat. This was the most dangerous area of the cave, we knew, and we shouldn’t venture into it without being fully prepared for anything. Uncle Three glanced at his watch and said, “This type of carcass cave isn’t one where we can blithely come and go. In all the years that I’ve been robbing graves, this is the first time I have ever come across a place like this. I think we’ve gone right off the map by finding this hellhole.”
Panzi cut in, “Shit, Master Three. Tell us something we don’t know.”
Uncle Three glared at him and continued, “We only know what the old man wanted us to know. Is it true that only the dead boatman could guide us through here safely?” His voice grew serious. “If this really is a carcass cave, then naturally there will be danger ahead. Who knows what we might find as we go farther? Perhaps ghosts will change our course and we will be lost in this cave forever, or maybe hundreds of water demons will come to sink our boat and we will die in this black river.”
Big Kui inhaled sharply. “That bad, huh?”
“Anything could happen in a place like this. We haven’t even arrived at the grave yet and already we’ve encountered life-threatening perils. But we’re grave robbers, not even the devil can frighten us. If any of you are frightened, go find another job. In our line of work, the bizarre and the terrible are routine occupational hazards.”
Uncle Three told Panzi to hand him a double-barreled shotgun from one of the backpacks. “Look at our weapons. We’re in a much better position than anyone who came here before us. If there really are water demons here, they’re flat out of luck!”
Unconvinced, Big Kui trembled with fear. Staring at his pale, fat face, I said to Uncle Three, “How come your encouraging speech sounds so much like a ghost story? It’s not rallying your troops—look at the effect it’s having on your man here.”
Uncle Three pulled the rifle bolt. “This guy is really an embarrassment to me. I didn’t expect him to be such a useless fuckup. He was bragging like a goddamn hero before he got here.” Handing the gun to Poker-face, my uncle told him, “This gun holds only two bullets at a time. When those are gone, you’ll have to reload. The farther it has to travel, the less power the bullet carries—be sure to choose your target carefully before you fire.”
Panzi and I held the double-barreled shotguns. Uncle Three and Big Kui each had their army knives in one hand and folding shovels in the other, which they used to paddle the boat forward. Slowly we punted toward the mass of corpses that were bathed in a dim green glow.
Under the feeble light from our lamps and that mysterious green glimmer, we could see the cave become bigger and bigger. I heard Poker-face mumble words in a language I didn’t understand while Panzi cursed vehemently. And then I saw a sight that I will never be able to forget.
At the opening to this part of the cave, the green light showed us that we were entering a supercolossal natural chamber. The canal that we followed became a river, and on sand banks at either side lay many rotting, pale green carcasses. It was impossible to tell whether they had once been men or animals. Rows and rows of skulls were piled neatly in the innermost part of the cave, looking as though they had been stacked carefully by human hands. But the collections of skulls that lay farther outside were less meticulously grouped together, especially near the riverbanks where many of the bodies had not yet completely deteriorated.
All of the carcasses were covered with a thin layer of gray film, as if they had been swaddled tightly with plastic wrap. As we looked, several large corpse-eating bugs erupted from the insides of the bodies. Smaller corpse-eaters scurried over to join the feast but as soon as they arrived, the bigger ones snapped at them and swallowed them in one gulp.
“Look, you guys!” Big Kui pointed toward the wall of the cavern. We turned and saw a crystal coffin, tinged with green, mounted perpendicularly on the cave’s wall, looking as if it were floating in midair. Inside seemed to be a woman wearing a white dress, but she was too far away for us to see her clearly.
“There’s one on that side too!” Panzi pointed to the other wall. Sure enough—at the same exact spot on the opposite side hung a crystal coffin, but this one was empty.
Uncle Three gasped. “Where did that body go?”
“Could it be a zombie?” asked Big Kui. “Master Three, there couldn’t be any zombies in here, could there?”
“Pay attention, all of you. If you see anything moving at all, don’t ask questions—just shoot it,” said Uncle Three as he stared into the darkness.
At this moment, we went around a bend in the river that took us past a large pile of skulls and bones. Big Kui screamed with fear and fell on the deck of the boat. The rest of us saw a woman with her back turned toward us, long black hair falling past her waist. Her clothing was made of white feathers and the adornment on her outfit I was sure dated back to the Western Zhou dynasty.
I swallowed hard and said, “Here’s our missing corpse.”
“Stop—stop!” Uncle Three wiped a large film of sweat from his forehead. “Big Kui, take the oldest donkey hoof we have out of the bag—the black one that we brought to ward away zombies and vampires. This is the most amazing zombie I’ve ever seen and probably that anyone has encountered over the past thousand years. We need our oldest donkey hoof to jam into her mouth and take away her powers if we’re going to protect ourselves.”
No reply came from Big Kui so my uncle shouted his name again. As we looked for him, we found him lying at our feet, twitching convulsively and foaming at the mouth.
“Panzi, bring me the hoof. Fuck me, if I ever bring that fat idiot with me again, I deserve to have a zombie eat me alive.” Uncle Three grabbed the black donkey hoof from Panzi’s hands and spat on it, saying, “Take a good look at my skills, nephew. This is a once-in-a-lifetime feat. If I don’t succeed, then fire a shot toward the sky for me, so I’ll die without remorse.”
I pulled him back. “Are you sure you can do this?”
Truthfully, I wasn’t very frightened. After all, this was a new situation for me and if I gave it any thought, the sight of a woman dressed in mournful white was more melancholy than terrifying. On the other hand, in horror movies when a long-haired woman in white turns and shows her face, this is never a good thing.
Poker-face drew closer and put his hand on Uncle Three’s shoulder. “Black donkey hooves are used for conquering zombies, true—but I’m sure this thing isn’t a zombie so your hoof will be useless. Let me handle this.” From his bag he took out a long object which I immed
iately recognized as the antique weapon he had bought from Uncle Three. He opened the cloth scabbard, and inside was an ancient black sword that looked as though it were made of black iron.
Taking out the sword, he drew it across the back of his hand, then stood at the bow of our boat and let his blood drip into the river. When the first droplets hit the surface of the water, all of the corpse-eating bugs crawled out of the bodies as though they had seen a ghost. In a maddened frenzy, they scurried away from our boat. In a second, all the corpse-eaters were gone, leaving not even a shadow behind.
Soon the flow of blood completely covered Poker-face’s entire hand, which he pointed toward the woman in white. As we watched in awe, our faces frozen and blank with shock, she knelt before us. “Go—get us out of here—and whatever you do,” Poker-face muttered, “don’t look back.”
Of course I wanted to see the woman’s face but dared not risk it after Poker-face’s command—what would happen to me if I looked at a mummified countenance? Uncle Three and Panzi rowed our boat with a speed born of terror and desperation. Finally we saw an opening in the cave that looked as though it was the one we had entered earlier.
As we entered the robbers’ tunnel, I realized that although I had been forbidden to look back, certainly it would be all right to see what might be behind us from its reflection in the water? I looked and immediately lost my breath. What I saw was the reflection of something clinging to my back. I couldn’t help it—I began to turn so I could see what was on my body when something struck the back of my head and I was engulfed in blackness.
Chapter Seven
HUNDREDS OF HEADS
In a haze, I saw the woman in a white dress with her back turned toward me. Wanting to see her face, I ran in front of her, but once again I could only see her back. No matter how quickly I ran, again and again, I could never be face-to-face with her. How is this possible? I wondered, and then I realized she had no face—her body was made up of two backs with no front. My scream awoke me, and my eyes opened to see the sky illuminated by a bloodred sunset.
“Awake?” Panzi smiled, his face close to mine.
I squinted my eyes to adjust to the fading daylight. Panzi pointed to the sky. “You see that? No shit, we’re finally out!”
I touched the back of my head. “Hey fucker, was it you who hit me?”
“I had to. You’d been warned not to look back. You almost killed us, you stupid asshole.”
My memory came back in a minute. Terrified, I touched my back abruptly to see if the creature was still there. Panzi laughed. “Relax. It’s gone.”
“What was it?” I was still lost in fear.
“Menyouping says it was the soul of that woman dressed in white. She was relying on your positive chi to get her out of the cave. We don’t have all the details because he fainted as soon as he told us that much,” Uncle Three said as he paddled along the river under the open sky. “But apparently he’s had some incredible experiences. Even that zombie knelt down before him. What extraordinary power that guy has!”
I sat up and saw Poker-face leaning against Big Kui, both of them sleeping like two oversized babies. I smiled. Seeing the sky was especially comforting after the dark menace of the cave with its horrible green light. I asked, “Who is that guy anyway?”
Uncle Three shook his head. “I really don’t know. I asked my friend in Changsha to recommend an experienced helper and he sent me this fellow. I only know his last name is Zhang so I gave him the nickname Menyouping. I tried to learn more about him on the way here, but all I found out was that he was always either sleeping or lost in a trance. I don’t know his story, but the person who sent him to me has an impressive reputation in this business and I can always trust anyone that he recommends.”
The more I heard about this person, the more mysterious he became. But since Uncle Three said he didn’t know much about him, it was pointless to ask any more questions. I looked ahead into the distance and asked Panzi, “Can you see that village there?”
“Straight ahead.”
Uncle Three pointed to the dots of light in the darkness. “It looks like these people aren’t poverty-stricken. They have electricity.”
A village—I immediately thought of a hot bath, stir-fried meat dishes, and pretty women with their hair in long, fat braids. I began to feel excited. I could see the shadows of people riding mules down the hills behind the village. It looked as though they were coming to the village as well. As we came closer, I began to see that these people did not dress like country people, and I wondered what might bring them to this place.
Our boat pulled in toward the pier and a little village girl cried out as she saw us, “Look! There are ghosts!”
We stood in puzzlement, unable to ask what she meant because she zoomed away immediately. We clambered onto the riverbank. As soon as his feet touched dry land, Big Kui woke up, muttering something about the nightmare he had just dreamed, which earned him cuffs from Uncle Three and a few kicks from Panzi.
Poker-face was bleeding heavily from his wounded hand and remained unconscious. I picked him up to carry him, which was an easy job—his body was as light as a young woman’s, as though he had no bones at all.
Uncle Three grabbed a passerby and asked if there were any hotels around. The man looked at us as if we were a bunch of lunatics. “Where do you think you are? Our village has only around thirty families. Why would we have a hotel here? If you’re looking for someplace to stay, go to the village guesthouse.”
We found the guesthouse. From the outside it looked like a haunted dwelling but inside it was unexpectedly civilized with a phone, electricity, clean sheets, and—best of all—hot water. In this village, it was like finding a five-star hotel.
We all took a bath and felt terrific after we washed away the stench of corpses. Then we went out and had stir-fry for dinner, even Poker-face, who was finally conscious but with little energy. We fed him a big platter of fried pig liver to replenish the blood he had lost in order to save us. We didn’t ask him much, thinking it was better to save our questions until he had recovered his strength.
As I ate, I teased the waitress, “Big Sister, your place isn’t so bad! You have concrete floors in here and paved roads outside. Was all this construction material carried by the mules over the mountains?”
“How would that be possible? It would take the mules forever! A highway was built to pass through here a long time ago. Even Mao’s Liberation tanks came this way. Then a few years ago a landslide covered up the road and in the debris was found a huge ancient cooking pot. Many people came from all over to have a look and said it was a national treasure that dated back to the Warring States Period. Then they took the pot away because that was all that mattered—they couldn’t care less about the road. Doesn’t that piss you off? Later we in the village said we could repair it ourselves. But what kind of repairs could we make without funding? Our men worked and stopped, worked and stopped in cycles. It’s been over a year, and they’re still repairing it.”
“Can’t you travel by water? Don’t you have a pier here?”
“That was built before Liberation and nobody has used it for many years. If someone tells you to travel by water, he probably plans to murder you. You outsiders must be careful; these shoals are very treacherous. For years men have drowned in these waters and none of their bodies have been recovered. When the old people of the village talk secretly among themselves, they say that the bodies must have been swallowed by the God of the Mountains!”
I glanced over at Uncle Three and thought, that goddamn guide that you found was obviously a brigand. Embarrassed by this loss of face, my uncle took a huge gulp of beer to gain some time and then asked, “By the way, do many outsiders come to stay at your magnificent place?’
“Don’t look down on my little guesthouse. I can tell you that anybody who has visited from the outside has stayed here. Since the ancient pot was discovered, we’ve had an increasing number of visitors. There are even people plann
ing to build a villa on the other side of the mountain.”
Uncle Three leaped to his feet and yelled, “Hell, they can’t be going that far, can they?” He knew, as did we all, that anybody who built a vacation home in these remote and barren hills would have to be either overseas Chinese or grave robbers.
The waitress jumped in shock. Panzi hurriedly pulled Uncle Three back to his chair. “Master Three, you’re an old man. Don’t get so upset—it’s not good for you.” Then he said to the waitress, “Don’t mind him. He probably just thought it was peculiar.”
I heard Uncle Three swearing very quietly; then he forced a smile and asked, “Oh yes. Do you have any monuments or interesting places to visit around here?”
The waitress beamed and suddenly whispered in a conspiratorial fashion, “You gentlemen don’t look like you came to sightsee. Why, of course, you came to rob graves, didn’t you?”
None of us said a word as she sat down beside us. “To be honest, what kind of outsiders don’t come here to rob graves? If you guys really were tourists, wouldn’t all the equipment you carry be way too burdensome?”
Uncle Three looked at me, and poured a glass of beer for the waitress. “Tell us since you know so much, are you also in the business?”
“What? Of course I’m not. I heard from my grandfather that there have been quite a few grave robbers coming here these past few years who took out a lot of good stuff. But my grandfather says that the most important thing is still in the inner part of the place—it’s the tomb of a god. The gold and silver jewelry that is easily found inside the cave is nothing when compared to the treasure hidden away in the tomb.”
“Oh.” Uncle Three was very interested. “So your grandfather has gone in to the cave himself?”