Chapter 12: The Tower Tomb

“Fang, could it be that we’ve stumbled upon something big, and the tombstone is just a decoy?” Xiao Zhao asked, puzzled as he followed along.

“I’ve heard a legend that the tomb of the town’s guardian general has never been found. Could it possibly be here?” Fatty Fang hesitated before suggesting this.

I watched quietly, thinking to myself, “Fang, you really don’t know how to feign knowledge. The epitaph is clear enough—it’s the grave of a woman who bore nine children.”

“Da Hu, get up, let me show you a trick,” Fatty Fang said with newfound interest as he climbed out of the pit.

I couldn’t help but smile at Fang’s thin, mantis-like frame.

He picked up a hammer and began prying at the blue bricks of the tomb’s entrance. “Today, I’ll teach you something. These tomb doors have hidden mechanisms; only by finding the last sealing brick can you open the door.”

Fang tapped at the four corners of the tomb’s door with his hammer until he found a brick in the middle that sounded different.

“That’s the one!” Fang declared, striking it hard.

“Thud, thud, thud.” After three hits, the brick sank inward and fell into the tomb.

“See? That’s the mechanism stone,” Fang said, handing the hammer to Da Hu. “Start prying from the side of this brick, and the door will open.”

I felt a sudden gust of wind rush out from inside the tomb, causing the tarp to flutter.

“Learning something new from Brother Fang,” Da Hu said as he took the hammer. “Watch this, little KS.”

“Bang, bang, bang!” Da Hu swung his arms, and the brick wall began to shake.

With a crash, a large chunk of bricks fell from the upper half of the wall.

This time, I saw clearly that a wave of cold air surged out from the tomb.

“Damn, it’s so cold,” Da Hu said from below.

I saw Fatty Fang standing behind Xiao Zhao, the cold air blocked by him.

Fang covered his mouth with his hand, and I immediately held my breath—this was a time to learn from experience.

“Man, this smell is awful,” Xiao Zhao waved his hands in front of his face, trying to disperse the odor.

Fang still covered his mouth, and I continued holding my breath.

But after ten or so seconds, I couldn’t hold it any longer.

“Cough, cough, cough,” I coughed while turning my head, trying to breathe the air behind me.

Yet the smell beneath the tarp was the same—a stench like pork intestines stewing with sauerkraut, filling my throat.

Fang moved first, crawling out from under the tarp.

“Cough, cough,” he coughed violently before saying, “Xiao Fang, turn off the flashlight. Everyone come out for some fresh air. This smell is unbearable.”

I saw Fang crawling out and quickly dropped the shovel handle to follow.

“Brother Zhao, give me a hand. The smell down here is unbearable,” Da Hu called out from under the tarp.

I climbed out, taking deep breaths of the fresh air.

The two under the tarp kept struggling for another full minute before emerging.

They collapsed onto the ground, gasping as if they hadn’t breathed properly in ages.

“Fang, why does this pit smell like rotten sauerkraut?” Da Hu said between breaths.

“Obviously, it’s the smell of decaying corpses. I think there’s more than one in there,” Fang said, sitting on the ground and staring at the bulging tarp.

“Xiao Fang, pull back the tarp to let the smell out.” Fang rummaged through his backpack as if searching for some treasure.

I tugged hard and pulled the tarp aside, letting the stench from the pit spread outward. We stepped back ten meters.

After a few minutes, Fang returned to the edge of the pit, holding a candle, and descended inside.

Now that the tomb door had been knocked down, he stepped over the remaining bricks and entered.

“Damn, it’s a pagoda tomb,” Fang’s voice came from within. Da Hu, following him, asked excitedly, “Fang, is a pagoda tomb a good thing?”

“Da Hu, we might be in for a fortune. A pagoda tomb is a fake tomb. The small, inconspicuous one above is to hide the identity; the real treasures lie beneath. If this is the town’s guardian general’s tomb, we’re set.”

Hearing this, I felt a surge of excitement. Since we were already grave robbing, the bigger the haul, the better.

I leaned into the entrance. It was a five-meter-wide round ding-shaped tomb, with a one-meter-tall square tombstone inside.

Fang was using a flashlight with Da Hu to pry at a perforated stone slab beneath the tombstone.

Seeing Xiao Zhao and me enter, Fang called out, “Come help quickly. The real tomb lies beneath this stone slab.”

We immediately joined in. A crowbar tied with a rope was slid into the hole. The four of us used three shovel handles together to lift the slab.

We all exerted ourselves, and finally, the stone slab moved, inching open.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew out the candle.

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t studied much in school, but I had read plenty of miscellaneous books and heard many dark tales.

I remembered that if a candle goes out inside a tomb, it’s considered an omen of danger.

“Brother, the candle went out!” Xiao Zhao exclaimed.

Fatty Fang glanced at him, struck another match, and relit the candle. “Stop fussing. It’s just a draft. If it happens down there, then you can tell me.”

“Da Hu, lead the way with the flashlight. Xiao Zhao, hold the candle. Our little crew’s first time going down a tomb shaft—follow me and practice your courage,” Fang began to command, as if the tomb belonged to him.

After arranging everything, he turned to me. “Man, you’re really lucky. First time going down and you hit a big one. If we strike gold, you better treat us to a month’s worth of food and drinks.”

“Yeah, Xiao Fang’s got mad luck. I’ve been with Fang for a while and we’ve opened five or six shafts, but this one’s the real deal,” Xiao Zhao added.

“Fang, if there’s a big haul, I’m moving into the city. Then we can drink and feast together every day,” Da Hu said with a silly grin.

My heart pounded. This place was where that woman had entered when summoning Huang Liulang’s spirit.

My mind churned, but thinking of the stone around my neck gave me confidence. She was afraid of me when I was seven; nothing would happen now!

I steeled myself, thinking, “Damn it, we came all this way. With so many of us, nothing’s going to happen. Next month’s food expenses depend on this.”

Da Hu was already descending the steps, with Xiao Zhao behind him holding the candle carefully, shielding it from the wind.

Fatty Fang followed, clutching a cloth bag.

“Follow me, everyone. There has to be more to this pagoda tomb. Today, big brother will show you something special,” Fang said proudly, as if he were an experienced guide.

I looked at the short, skinny Fang in front of me. I used to wonder how he got the nickname “Fatty Fang.” Now I knew—it was all bluff.

While descending, Fang said, “These tombs have a feature: the upper part is a fake tomb with an unremarkable epitaph, but the real epitaph is below. Then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”