The Autobiography of a Tomb Raider

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In the 1970s, Jilin University published a book titled World Fungi Popular Science. Due to poor sales, only the first edition was printed. On page 142 of the book, a rubbing was used to record a strange type of fungus. That fungus was the Yellow Pine Old Face, and according to local legends in the Ten Thousand Mountains of Guangxi, it was said to be used for soul summoning.

Soul summoning, a taboo in folklore, is a matter of personal belief. Although I’m not a professional Taoist or sorcerer, I’ve witnessed some things with my own eyes, and perhaps I’ll have a chance to tell you about them later.

...

Back to the matter at hand—when Old Boss mentioned soul summoning, and considering that we were inside a tomb, it sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Yi Ke, of course, wasn’t immune to it either.

Yi Ke took a step back and shot Old Boss a glare, saying, "Old Boss, could you please say something auspicious? Can’t you see where we are right now?"

With that, we all distanced ourselves from the fungi growing on the wood.

At that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled. The tomb had started by giving off the scent of sandalwood, but the "Yellow Marrow Pit" wood mountain, made by craftsmen from the Western Zhou dynasty, was clearly made of cypress wood. The reason cypress wood doesn't rot even after a thousand years is partly due to the wood's inherent preservative qualities and the protective coating on it. With these two factors, it makes sense why the wood would survive for so long.

But... where did the sandalwood scent come from?

Could it be that the coffin of the tomb owner was made of sandalwood? I couldn’t quite figure it out.

“Everyone, split up and look for places where the gaps between the wood are large enough to crawl through. That might be a hidden path left by the craftsmen for themselves,” Old Boss said, holding up his torch.

We scattered, staying about six or seven meters apart, so we could still see each other.

I moved to the southwest corner of the wood mountain, holding up my torch.

“Hmm?” I rubbed my eyes.

At first, I thought I was seeing things because I thought I saw a black shadow curled up between the gaps in the wood.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

There was nothing there but wood.

Because I was still young and not particularly brave, I started to feel uneasy and instinctively took a couple of steps back.

“Old Third, Old Boss!” I called out.

The torch only illuminated a small patch in front of me, and everything else was shrouded in darkness.

I called out again, but there was no response.

Swallowing nervously, I slowly turned around, holding the torch.

There was no one.

Yi Ke, Old Boss, Old Third.

They had vanished into thin air!

At that moment, a cold wind blew from somewhere, and my pupils widened in fear.

I shivered, yelling, “Old Third! Old Boss! Hong Jie!”

Still, no one answered. In this enclosed space, there wasn’t even an echo.

Everything around me was pitch-black.

The first thought that crossed my mind was that I had encountered the phenomenon known as "ghost wall."

When I was young, the elders in the village often talked about "ghost walls," where spirits trapped people, causing them to wander in circles and eventually perish. It was said that if you kept running around, you could end up dying from accidents, drowning, or even just going mad, always walking in the same spot.

I felt scared, cold sweat forming on my forehead.

"Yunfeng, what are you doing?" Suddenly, I heard someone speak behind me.

That familiar voice... I would never forget it.

It was Second Brother.

"Second Brother!" I turned around quickly, holding up my torch.

But there was nothing there. Just darkness.

With a pale face, I staggered back two steps and pulled out the talisman that Yao Yumeng had given me, clutching it tightly in my palm.

The small talisman box still held some of my body heat. Holding it in my hand made it feel warm.

"Yunfeng! I’m over here, hurry and find me!" came Second Brother’s voice again.

I crouched down, plugging my ears, and leaned against the wood mountain, too scared to make a sound.

I fearfully glanced around, trying to spot anyone.

With my back against the wood mountain, at that moment...

Someone suddenly tugged on my clothes from behind.

“Ah!” I was so startled that my hair stood on end. I scrambled to my feet and began to run.

"Smack." While running, I felt myself crash into something soft.

In the darkness, Old Third’s face slowly materialized in front of me.

“Yunfeng, what are you doing? Running around like a maniac! You nearly killed me!” he gasped, rubbing his chest where I had bumped into him.

The torch appeared.

Yi Ke and Old Boss were now in front of me.

Seeing them, I nearly burst into tears. I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, "Where did you guys go? Why didn’t I see you earlier?"

Old Boss looked at me suspiciously, "What are you talking about? We’ve been looking for the entrance the whole time."

I took a deep breath, "Big Brother... just now... I think I saw Second Brother..."

"What!"

"Impossible!" Old Third immediately exclaimed. "Yunfeng, where did you see him? There’s no one else here! Are you seeing things?"

"No, he’s not seeing things..." Yi Ke's face turned pale. She looked at Old Third and nodded. "I... I think I saw Second Brother too."

One person might have seen things, but now both Yi Ke and I were saying the same thing, and Old Boss frowned deeply.

"Could... could it be haunted, Big Brother?" I mustered the courage to ask.

Yi Ke, hearing me mention ghosts, paled even more.

Old Boss scanned the surroundings carefully. Finally, his gaze locked onto the Yellow Pine Old Face fungi growing on the wood.

He shook his head and spoke in a deep voice, "Don’t be afraid. It’s not ghosts." He pointed to the fungi. "If it’s anything, it’s this stuff causing it."

He looked at me, then at Yi Ke.

"Xiao Hong, Yunfeng, didn’t you two notice? You were the first ones to see the Yellow Pine Old Face and were the closest to it."

Yi Ke, quicker on the uptake than I was, glanced at the fungi and said in disbelief, "Big Brother, are you saying... that what Yunfeng and I saw was an illusion? That it wasn’t really Second Brother, but that these black mushrooms are the cause?"

"Exactly, that’s what I think," Old Boss nodded.

"After all, there are rumors that this stuff is used in soul summoning, so it’s not surprising it could have a hallucinogenic effect."

I inadvertently blurted out, "Then... Big Brother, do you think Second Brother’s ghost was really summoned?"

"You little fool!" Old Third slapped me on the back of the head. "Stop talking nonsense! We don’t even know if Second Brother is dead yet!"

Realizing I might have said the wrong thing, I quickly apologized.

Old Boss didn’t fuss over it. Instead, he said, "Forget about that nonsense. Follow me, I found something."

He led us to the northwest corner of the wood mountain.

I had noticed it too, even before he said anything.

Although the wood on the outer layer was the same, from this angle, looking into the Yellow Marrow Pit, the space inside was noticeably larger.

Compared to the compactness elsewhere, this area seemed just big enough for one person to crawl through.

From here, we could crawl into the wood mountain and enter the Yellow Marrow Pit.

Using a sharp dagger, Old Boss began prying open the outermost layers of cypress wood.

He turned to look at us.

"Stay behind me. If you notice anything, speak up immediately."

"I’ll go in first and see what’s inside."