“Wait.” Zheng Rong stopped Xiang Yu. “Going in like this could be fatal.” Ugos crouched down, took a small sample of mercury, and carefully sealed it. “Looks like we can’t go any further. We need to go back and get gas masks...” Zheng Rong said, “I have a solution.”
He reached for a cylindrical staff on the side of Lance’s pack, resembling the kind of scepter used by ancient shamans. Slinging the staff behind his back, Zheng Rong drew out the Staff of Moses. “This is ridiculous,” Ugos said in disbelief. “No,” Joseph interjected. “Not at all.” The head of the Staff of Moses emitted a faint glow. Zheng Rong explained, “It can part liquids, so it should also repel any vapors. Stay close to me.” The mercury reading on Ugos’s air analyzer dropped steadily until it reached zero.
“Don’t stray too far from me. I suspect the Staff of Moses has a limited range of effect,” Zheng Rong warned. “Let’s move.” The group advanced slowly along the edge of the mercury sea. Xiang Yu’s armor, with its tightly bound scales, clinked softly as they walked. “I wonder how he managed to gather so much mercury,” Lannie remarked. “Mercury has always been mysterious,” Joseph replied. “In the West, it was used for alchemy. In Asia, it was used in medicine. Emperors loved to collect it, and it’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” Joseph lifted Ugos’s small glass vial, and the mercury inside rolled like a living liquid.
“The enemies are starting to approach us; it seems they’ve found another way in,” Jin Pul-ai said worriedly, staring at the computer screen where dots of light were moving ever so slowly toward the hidden tomb chamber. “It’s okay,” Zheng Rong assured her. On the edge of the mercury sea stood a massive bronze figure, towering above them, holding a large stone broadsword that pointed to the center of the sea. Lance shone his xenon flashlight. “I think we’re standing by a circular lake. Look across.” “Yes, the mercury pool is surrounded by twelve golden figures,” Zheng Rong confirmed, adjusting Lance’s wrist to change the angle of the light. The team gasped in unison. “I think we’re in the right place,” Zheng Rong murmured.
The chest of the golden figure in front of them bore carvings of the symbols from the Ten Commandments. “Symbols from the Wheel of Fortune, here?” Joseph exclaimed. “I thought they were just a pattern.” “They are,” Zheng Rong muttered. “The place on the chest where the symbol is carved... seems like it can be pressed. Li Ying, if you please.” Zheng Rong handed the grappling gun to Li Ying, who fired it upwards, hooking it around the arm of the golden figure. Li Ying leaped, swinging from the rope in an arc. “Press it?” “Everyone back up,” Zheng Rong instructed. “Give it a try.” Li Ying swung like a pendulum across the chest of the golden figure and kicked the symbol, forcing it to sink inward with a rumbling sound.
“Get down!” Zheng Rong ordered. The team backed away, and Jin Pul-ai said, “They’re getting closer to the hidden tomb chamber, but why are they all stopping outside?” In the next moment, the deafening sound of mechanisms activating drowned out the voice of the Korean girl, as the chests of all twelve giant golden figures lit up simultaneously. The ground shook, and the golden figures all extended their hands. “Oh... this can’t be a good sign.” The scene trembled, and Joseph stumbled backward, nearly falling. With another loud crash, all the golden figures released their weapons, which plunged into the mercury sea, sending up pillars of silver spray. The ripples from where the stone weapons fell spread outward, intersecting and then dissipating. The surface of the sea glimmered with silver light.
The giant stone broadsword that sank into the sea resurfaced like a raft. “Go!” Zheng Rong commanded. “Get on.” The team leaped onto the massive sword, which was 20 meters long and 5 meters wide, like a narrow ship. It carried everyone slowly toward the center of the sea.
Simultaneously, twelve stone weapons surfaced from different directions and moved toward the center of the sea at the same pace.
“As long as we’re in the mercury sea, we’re safe,” Zheng Rong said. Lance nodded. “Mechanical killers could be corroded and melted by mercury. The sea conducts electricity and magnetism.” Lance fired the magnetic cannon at the surface of the sea, the blue light of the blast rolling across the endless expanse of mercury like a tangled electric web, spreading clusters of magnetic energy that surged back and forth. “They haven’t entered; they’re all gathering outside the chamber,” Jin Pul-ai observed. “Smart,” Zheng Rong commented.
A large mechanical moth landed outside the tomb chamber, retracting its wings, and lowered an alloy pupa from its abdomen. The alloy pupa squirmed to the edge of the mercury sea, burrowing in and slowly sinking.
“I've always found it hard to understand why the Mayan weapons are all insect-like,” Jin Pul-ai said as she closed her laptop, shivering. “That’s normal,” Ugos said sympathetically. “Though they may look disgusting, it's an inevitable result of billions of years of evolution on Earth.” “Insect ancestors existed on Earth long before humans evolved,” Ugos said, pulling out an amber fossil with a trapped fly inside. “Amber from the Amazon basin,” Zheng Rong noted. Ugos nodded. “Their survival strategies are highly scientific and easily adaptable to changing environments. Insect compound eyes can capture information from multiple directions, their flying speed is incredibly fast—almost unattainable for humans. Even if one day all humans go extinct, insects will still survive.” “Like ants,” Zheng Rong said. “An ant can lift six times its body weight, which is unheard of among mammals.” “There are exceptions,” Joseph joked. “Humans, for instance. Like our friend Rain—he’s a strong ant.” Everyone laughed, and Xiang Yu smiled without a word.
The twelve weapons—a bow, halberd, spear, axe, sword... all of them—slid across the surface of the mercury sea at the same pace, heading to the exact center. Zheng Rong looked up, noticing the stars moving across the ceiling of the tomb chamber, twinkling brightly. “The raft we’re on,” Zheng Rong remarked, “might be guided by the forces on the ceiling.” As he spoke, everyone looked up. They saw twelve glowing symbols slowly moving toward the center of the ceiling, their target being the center point. “Where are they getting their energy?” Joseph asked, puzzled. Zheng Rong shrugged. “Maybe it’s magnetic energy, or kinetic energy generated by the flowing mercury. Who knows.” “That’s impossible,” Ugos said. “If the flowing mercury in the tomb is generating cyclical kinetic energy, it would be a perpetual motion machine, which is absolutely unattainable.” Zheng Rong nodded. The twelve weapons slid toward the same point, colliding with a thud. The stone weapons leaned against each other and became still on the sea’s surface. The stone blades interlocked to form an outer ring, leaving a hollow space in the center.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“What does this mean?” Lance frowned. Zheng Rong looked up and saw that the symbols on the ceiling were converging at a single point, overlapping, and casting a beam of light. “Shhh—” Zheng Rong said. “Everyone step back. Something’s about to come out.”
The beam of light from the ceiling pierced into the mercury sea, making the liquid boil like a pot of bubbling water. Jin Pul-ai’s computer showed a massive light point converging at the center of the circular mercury pool. But she was no longer looking at her screen. She was staring at the sea in stunned silence. The mercury poured down like a waterfall, forming lines that revealed a large stone platform.
The stone platform, supported by its base, rose with a rumble from the sea.
“Take photos,” Zheng Rong ordered. The white lights behind them flashed repeatedly. The stone coffin was square-shaped, and as the mercury flowed away, symbols etched into its sides were revealed—strange and foreign runes covered its entire surface.
It was like a mysterious, unsolvable letter, accompanying them throughout their adventure. Joseph diligently copied the markings while the other team members curiously examined the stone coffin. “There isn’t the medicine you’re looking for,” Zheng Rong said. “Only this coffin.” Xiang Yu shook his head. “That item is not medicine.” After copying all the symbols around the coffin, Joseph said, “Now we have two rubbings for comparison. Once we leave the Qin Emperor’s tomb, we must head back to Northern Ireland immediately.” “You think there’s a connection between the two texts?” Zheng Rong asked. “Absolutely,” Joseph replied. “But it’s best to refer to them as ‘patterns.’ I suspect they might not actually be writing.” Zheng Rong frowned, and Joseph shook his head slowly, hesitating. “It... lacks the basic characteristics of written language used by intelligent beings. This is my area of expertise. It’s difficult to explain.” “So, they might just be decorative flourishes? Even the stuff on the columns with the Ten Commandments—just the playful designs of alien gods...” Zheng Rong speculated. Joseph gave up arguing. “Fine, call it what you will. Deciphering this might take a long time, and we’ll need computer assistance. Anyway, once this expedition is over, you’d better head back immediately.” Zheng Rong did not respond. He glanced at Li Ying, and their eyes met briefly before turning away.
After Joseph finished taking photos, everyone’s curious gazes turned to Zheng Rong, as if expecting him to announce a new decision. Zheng Rong stared at the stone coffin and calmly asked, “Shall we open it?” Xiang Yu’s voice was deep, “Open it.” “Oh no—” Lannie couldn’t take it any longer. “I didn’t come here to grave-rob! This is insane.” “I also advise against it...” Ugos said hesitantly. “We’ve already damaged enough of one of the world’s eight great heritage sites...” Zheng Rong turned his gaze to Joseph, who propped his chin on his hand, deep in thought. “What do you think is in the coffin?” “The medicine Xiang Yu is looking for, isn’t it?” Zheng Rong said coldly. “That’s disrespectful to the dead... but I don’t know him anyway. Aren’t you afraid there could be a terrible trap inside... or...” Joseph trailed off. “I’ll open it myself,” Xiang Yu declared. “Why are you so insistent on disturbing his grave?” Li Ying asked suddenly. “You wouldn’t understand,” Xiang Yu replied coldly. “He does,” Zheng Rong said, aimlessly flicking his flashlight. “He once also wanted to dig up the military’s ancestral graves...” “Enough,” Lance interrupted. “Ladies, please step back,” Zheng Rong instructed. “Open the coffin.”
Lance used a laser to cut the four corners of the stone coffin, and with a hiss, mercury spilled out, forcing everyone to step back. “You’re too rough,” Ugos muttered. “Talk to us about roughness when you pay for the terracotta warriors you smashed,” Zheng Rong retorted. “Move the lid.” Xiang Yu strained, his muscles bulging, and lifted the lid of the coffin, tossing it through the air. It flew with a whoosh and splashed down onto the mercury sea. After the loud crash, Li Ying frowned as if hearing something unusual, causing everyone to pause. “Death Knight, did you hear something?” Zheng Rong asked. Li Ying pointed to the ground, lost in thought.
“Continue opening.” The stone coffin was broken open, revealing a second layer. The coffin consisted of twelve layers, each with a cover engraved with an alien rune. Xiang Yu pried open each layer and threw the covers into the mercury sea, one layer after another. “Did you record the sequence of the symbols?” Zheng Rong asked. “I’ve got photos of them. My memory’s pretty good too,” Joseph replied. “I think I might have a guess about what these symbols mean.” “What is it?” Zheng Rong asked. “Not sure yet, just a preliminary hypothesis. I’ll analyze it more carefully when we’re back,” Joseph said.
When the final layer of the stone coffin was broken, Joseph suddenly realized something and turned to look. “Oh... no, Zheng Rong, look at this.” Joseph nudged Zheng Rong with his elbow. All the coffin lids that Xiang Yu had thrown into the sea, each with its twelve symbols, were now quietly floating on the surface, circling the central stone coffin to form an eerie ring.
Zheng Rong stepped forward. In the final layer of the coffin, the mercury slowly drained away, like a living liquid, flowing down from the edges of the stone platform into the sea. At the center of the stone platform lay a silver corpse.
The camera shutter clicked with a flash, a blinding white light reflecting off the body. Zheng Rong angrily shouted, “No photos!” Joseph was stunned as Zheng Rong’s heart pounded violently. He took a deep breath. All around them was a deathly silence. Xiang Yu, in one swift motion, drew the Dragon Coiling Halberd from his back and said in a low voice, “Move aside.” “Are you going to desecrate the corpse?” Zheng Rong murmured. “Don’t. He’s been dead for two thousand years.” “Is that Ying Zheng?” Lance asked suddenly. “The First Emperor who unified all of China?” Zheng Rong hesitantly looked at the corpse. “Maybe. I can’t tell the age.”
The mercury slowly receded, revealing the face of the corpse. Soaked in mercury for nearly two thousand years, the skin showed large patches of rust spots, with a considerable amount of mercury remaining inside the body. This preserved the contours of the eyelids, facial features, ears, and lips as they were thousands of years ago. The corpse’s hands were folded over its chest, holding an object. “Wait a minute,” Li Ying raised his hand. “What is that?” The mercury slowly flowed away from the body’s feet, and as it receded, a hint of gold was revealed in the object the corpse held. “Gold?” Lance frowned. “No, it’s not gold,” Ugos murmured. “Gold dissolves in mercury; it couldn't be preserved like this.” “Maybe it’s an alloy. It looks like a helmet?” Zheng Rong suggested. “Surprisingly, there aren’t any traps.” “That item is a Qin Dynasty royal helmet,” Xiang Yu said. “Let me shatter the corpse, and you can examine it.” “Should I take it off and see? Maybe when you pull it, the mercury corpse will pounce on you,” Li Ying suggested. Zheng Rong’s hair stood on end, terrified that the corpse of Ying Zheng might suddenly open its eyes, just as Li Ying said. “Are you scared?” Li Ying taunted. Li Ying stepped forward, reaching to pull the metal object from the corpse’s grasp. Zheng Rong took a deep breath. “No, Li Ying, come back.”
Xiang Yu shouted in a deep voice, “Don’t touch it!”
The corpse’s ten fingers were tightly clenched. Li Ying hooked his index and middle fingers around the edge of the metal helmet and gave it a pull.
With a slight tug, bright red blood flowed slowly from the corpse’s nostrils, ears, the corners of its mouth, and under its eyelids. The droplets trailed down the silver face, dripping onto the stone platform.