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墨書 Inktalez
“Sacrifice? Hmph, have you ever seen a sacrifice made of bronze? Sacrifices are meant to shed blood!” Third Granduncle Master retorted.
“Then what’s the point of this Lamp Stand? Why go through all this trouble?” Liuzi was still haunted by the earlier scare, desperately trying to convince himself that he wasn’t cowardly, but that this thing was just too strange.
“Fool! I’ve told you countless times to read more!” Third Granduncle Master shot Liuzi an exasperated glare. If only they weren’t so far apart, he would have slapped him. “This human-shaped Lamp Stand is called Deng Nu. It’s quite common in ancient tombs and symbolizes the identity and power of the tomb owner, especially in the noble and feudal tombs of the Qin and Han dynasties, as well as in General Li You's Tomb, where it can be found almost everywhere.”
Old Qiao, feeling overshadowed by Third Granduncle Master ’s explanation, looked rather deflated. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he pointed at a Deng Nu nearby. “Look at the double-layered lamp bowl around its neck! The inside contains lamp oil, while the outside holds water. When the lamp oil heats up and vaporizes, it ignites the wick. The outer layer of water serves to cool and regulate the temperature, ensuring that the light remains constant. Also, if you lean in and sniff the wick, do you smell that sour odor?”
One of the disciples hurriedly leaned in to take a whiff and grimaced. “Damn, it’s both sour and stinky! What is this?”
Old Qiao chuckled with satisfaction, clearly pleased that he was the only one who could explain this. “That’s specially treated vinegar! Soaking the wick in vinegar helps cool it down and keeps the light burning steadily. Of course, eternal light is merely a beautiful wish; any material combustion requires air—specifically oxygen. Once the tomb chamber is sealed and the oxygen is consumed, the eternal lamp will extinguish until someone reopens the tomb and brings in fresh air to reignite it.”
With Old Qiao’s explanation, everyone suddenly understood and began to observe with renewed interest.
However, I suspected that the principles behind the eternal lamp were far more complex than Old Qiao suggested; otherwise, this technology would have spread widely alongside its astonishing discoveries, much like candles or flashlights today. The reason it hasn’t been widely adopted or even known might be due to some key technology having been lost over time.
What we were seeing now could very well be one of only a few remaining examples in the world. This feeling was truly indescribable; words could hardly convey even a fraction of it. Only those who had truly experienced it would understand.
Noticing my disciple's unusual expression, I deliberately stepped away from the group to stand alone before an eternal lamp, lost in thought. I knew he was likely succumbing to his old habits again—getting restless about something he shouldn’t touch—so I walked over to remind him: “You better behave! Don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you! This place isn’t like outside; if something goes wrong, no one will be able to save you.”
He shot me a glance. “ Senior Brother, do you think so little of me? Even if I were a thief, I’d still have my principles! This piece of junk? I wouldn’t want it even if it were given to me!”
I scoffed. “Then what are you looking at?”
He grinned mischievously. “I’m looking at the thread around this Deng Nu’s collar; it looks like Jin Si!” He scraped off a thin layer of golden powder with his dagger and examined it closely under his flashlight. It indeed appeared to be gold.
His eyebrows twitched with excitement as he prepared to scrape more off. I nervously glanced ahead and quickly stopped him: “Don’t mess around! If you trigger any traps here, we’ll all end up as your sacrifices!”
The disciple's subordinate moved swiftly. In just two seconds after speaking, he had already scraped off several layers. He pushed my hand aside without looking up and said, "What traps are here? Senior Brother, keep watch for me and don't make a fuss. We'll split it eighty-twenty!"
I pressed down on the dagger. "Don't move recklessly; I'm not joking! My right eyelid is twitching, and I have a bad feeling about this—"
Just as I finished speaking, someone suddenly called out from across the bridge. Everyone froze and turned to look. It was A Chen, who stood hunched over in front of a Deng Nu, one hand pressing on the lamp bowl while the other held a dagger, its tip resting against the bottom of the bowl. It looked like he intended to pry the eternal lamp out entirely.
"Hmph..." The disciple glanced at me and shouted at A Chen, "Kid! I haven't even made my move yet, and you're already so eager! But you can't just pry that lamp bowl out like that; you need to use this—" He pointed to his own head.
A Chen had no response, but Liu Zi shouted first, "Who the hell are you calling brainless? It's just a few broken lamps; if I want to pry some out, I'll pry some out! What business is it of yours?"
The disciple crossed his arms and provocatively said, "Then go ahead and pry!" He appeared confident, clearly having done this before.
Liu Zi, not understanding the disciple's intentions, couldn't foresee this. He cursed and pulled out his dagger, ready to force his way through. Nearby, Old Qiao A Li hurried to stop him: "No, no! You can't recklessly damage the structure of the tomb; the owner will hold us accountable!"
"Accountable? The bastard's already dead; let him complain to King Yan!" Liu Zi was filled with bravado, and neither could hold him back. Just as the dagger was about to touch the lamp bowl, a powerful hand suddenly grabbed Liu Zi's wrist and held it in mid-air—it was Cold Bench.
"You bastard—" Liu Zi was about to explode when Third Granduncle Master shouted from across, "Shut up! Come see what this is!"
Only then did everyone realize something was wrong; A Chen hadn't said a word since entering!
"Hmph!" Liu Zi yanked his hand free and rushed over in three steps to join Third Granduncle Master and A Chen. Old Qiao and A Li exchanged glances before following suit. At that moment, I suddenly noticed that one of the eternal lamps near Cold Bench had gone out. However, since he showed no reaction, I moved toward A Chen.
There were no new wounds on A Chen's body, his skin showed no signs of poisoning, his consciousness was clear, and his breathing was normal. Yet he couldn't move or speak at all. It was as if he had been frozen in place.
Third Granduncle Master used his dagger to pry one of A Chen's fingers off the lamp bowl. His palm seemed glued firmly to the rim of the bowl. Through an extremely fine gap exposed by his finger, I saw something resembling a White Glass Ball beneath the lamp bowl. Its surface appeared murky rather than pure white; the cloudy substance moved back and forth like dark clouds, with part of it adhering to the palm of A Chen.
Could this be what immobilized A Chen?
A Li suddenly had an idea and said, “A Chen, is it that thing below that has you stuck? If so, blink once; if not, blink twice.”
A Chen quickly blinked heavily once.
A Li looked at the others and then asked A Chen, “Do you know what’s down there?”
A Chen first blinked once, then after two seconds, blinked twice, perhaps only half understanding.
Third Granduncle Master said, “Don’t worry about that for now; just move your hand away.” He then called for Liu Zi to help pull A Chen’s hand.
Liu Zi was incredibly strong, with muscles all over his body, yet even after several attempts, he couldn’t budge A Chen’s hand. It was pulled so hard that it turned red, and a few drops of blood began to flow from his palm, as if his flesh had already fused with that thing. A Chen’s eyes filled with tears, but he still didn’t make a sound.
I said, “This reckless approach won’t work. Qiao Master, do you have any ideas?”
Old Qiao was good at many things but had one flaw—he was too immersed in his own role. When faced with a problem, he had to show off first and flaunt his skills before getting down to business. This drove everyone mad with urgency while he remained calm and collected.
Old Qiao stroked his beard, enjoying the attention of the crowd: “I do have a method, but… it requires some blood.”
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