Chapter Thirty-Six: The Secret Passage within the Tomb Chamber

At this moment, the old pagoda tree was absorbing the soul energy of the yin spirits to heal its wounds. Pagoda trees are inherently linked to the yin, and it is widely believed among the common people that ancient pagoda trees are among the favorite haunts of yin spirits. Whenever Zhou Yi and Baozi approached the old tree, the yin spirits would instinctively move away from them, though they struggled and could not truly leave, as if they were bound to the tree itself.

“Brother Yi, someone’s already dug here. Should we go down?” Baozi had already reached the entrance of the tunnel and was poised to investigate, but still turned to ask.

“Let’s go. Be careful.” Zhou Yi could already imagine most of what lay below without descending himself. He was not entirely certain, because he had yet to see it with his own eyes.

Baozi tied the rope securely and descended into the tunnel. Suddenly, a shrill scream echoed up from below—it was unmistakably Baozi’s voice. Zhou Yi could not hesitate; he leaped into the tunnel after him.

The passage had been dug straight down. The mouth was narrow, and the excavation had cut through one of the old pagoda’s main roots. Zhou Yi hadn’t realized the tunnel was so deep when he jumped in, and out of concern for Baozi, he followed quickly. But just as he landed, Baozi cried out again, this time right beneath him.

“Get up, you’re crushing me.” As it turned out, Baozi hadn’t expected the shaft to be so deep. He’d lost his grip on the rope and plummeted down, crying out in fright. Before he could gather himself, Zhou Yi landed on top of him.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Zhou Yi asked with concern. Though they often teased each other, now was not the time for horseplay.

“I’m fine! Brother Yi, this is a tomb.” Baozi stood up and looked around. The space was a square burial chamber, its walls built of blue bricks. The tunnel’s entrance opened directly into the main chamber, and a rotting, musty smell filled the air.

In the center of the chamber stood a coffin, its lid flung aside, clearly looted by others in the past. This was exactly the situation Zhou Yi most dreaded, for the coffin might once have held the Flaming Essence.

The Flaming Essence is of the yang, the focal point for suppressing the yin spirits of Zhuolu. Over many years, the continuous pressure of the yin would inevitably weaken the yang energy, so those who arranged the formation would plant an ancient pagoda tree above the chamber. In the cycle of the five elements, wood generates fire; thus, the old pagoda would provide wood energy to nourish the Flaming Essence’s yang, creating a harmonious cycle.

“Anyone can see it’s a tomb. Let’s see who lies in the coffin,” Zhou Yi said, peering inside. He immediately frowned. The body was that of someone recently deceased, lying face-down as if dragged forcibly into the coffin.

“Give me a hand—let’s get him out.” Zhou Yi and Baozi had been training in Xuanming Qi for half a year. With their skills, they no longer feared ordinary corpses.

They hauled the body out, but despite having steeled themselves, an uneasy feeling remained. The man had died a terrible death—eyes bulging, pupils dilated, nostrils flared, his expression twisted in terror. Clearly, he had been scared to death.

Aside from this body, there were no other remains in the coffin—just scattered burial gold and silver. The Flaming Essence, which should have been here, was nowhere to be found.

“Which key are we supposed to find here?” Baozi tried to lighten the mood, seeing Zhou Yi’s spirits flagging.

“If I’m not mistaken, what we seek is the Flaming Essence. This man was scared to death, and there’s no other body in the coffin. Doesn’t that tell you something?” Zhou Yi pressed a hand to his forehead, almost talking to himself.

Though the outcome was as expected, that did little to soften his disappointment.

Baozi did not reply, but began tapping on the burial chamber’s walls. There were no carvings here—nothing to distinguish it from an ordinary underground room, save for the presence of a coffin and the absence of a door. The location itself was the only oddity.

“Stop searching. There won’t be any mechanisms,” Zhou Yi called out, seeing Baozi still tapping the walls.

“Qing Dynasty tombs are usually sealed with cement or reinforced brick. What’s this?” Baozi asked.

At his words, Zhou Yi looked up. The ceiling was formed by the intertwined roots of the ancient pagoda tree—no reinforced walls, no fill soil, only blue-brick walls below. Seeing this, Zhou Yi finally grinned.

“Let’s get searching, no need for flattery,” Baozi chuckled.

With no fill soil above and the roots holding the ceiling, it was clear the tree had come first, the tomb later. This chamber could not have been dug out of nothing; there must be a hidden passage. Presumably, to prevent the fill soil from blocking the wood energy from reaching the Flaming Essence, they had left it out.

“I found it, Brother Yi!” Baozi used a gold ingot to tap the wall, and the hollow sound confirmed a cavity beyond.

But even after searching for a long while, they found no mechanism.

Zhou Yi tapped on the opposite wall, which also sounded hollow. Both side walls led somewhere—where could they go?

“It's hollow here too. Which side do we try first?” Zhou Yi asked, wisely seeking Baozi’s input at this crossroads. Yet this led to a dispute: Zhou Yi had chosen the east wall, which, by the principles of the Eight Trigrams, is associated with Zhen and considered ominous. Baozi’s side was the west wall, associated with Dui, considered auspicious.

“Let’s try my side first. If we find nothing, we’ll try yours. How about it?” Baozi insisted.

Normally, Baozi deferred to Zhou Yi, but on this point he was adamant. Perhaps instinctively, he knew nothing good would come from the east wall—an urge to seek fortune and avoid disaster.

“Very well, we’ll do as you say. If there’s nothing, we’ll check the other side,” Zhou Yi conceded. Baozi grinned. “I’ll break open this wall. Stand back.”

Baozi, having trained in Xuanming Qi, had never had occasion to show off before Zhou Yi. Now he wanted to demonstrate his progress, and Zhou Yi was happy to watch.

Baozi gathered his energy, exhaled sharply, and punched the wall, causing it to collapse. A wave of miasma surged out. Zhou Yi quickly pulled Baozi back, shouting, “Be careful!” The poisonous air brushed past Baozi’s face, a faint wisp slipping unnoticed into his nostrils.

Both men hastily held their breath and scrambled up the rope to escape the chamber. “The miasma is too thick in there. We’ll wait for it to clear before going back down.”

By now, it was early in the evening. The miasma would likely disperse by dusk. The two men sat under the pagoda tree, ate some dry rations, rested, and then, refreshed, descended once more into the tomb.

Note: The Eight Trigrams referenced here are the later heaven arrangement, differing greatly from the earlier heaven trigrams. This is for narrative purposes only.

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