An archaeological team discovered a mysterious ancient city in Lop Nur.
Due to an accident, the entire team was buried deep underground, and only the last message was transmitted:“Kua Fu killed the sun. What’s in the sky is not the sun!”
Soon after, the superior urgently called off the investigation, and the files were sealed as top – secret.
All the events that happened that year were left unresolved with the sealing.
Until five days ago, the relevant department asked me to go to Lop Nur to participate in a top – secret plan concerning all mankind…
1
In the 1950s, an unknown relic was discovered in Lop Nur, Xinjiang.
To this end, led by the state and assisted by the military, an archaeological operation with the highest level of confidentiality was organized.
The relic was located underground in Lop Nur, buried beneath the desert.
After several days of excavation, the archaeological team initially judged that the relic was an ancient civilization city with an extremely large scale.
Moreover, the ancient city was not buried by sand, but was built underground itself.
If it was really an underground city, this would be the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century, and the whole team was full of enthusiasm.
Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction, but an accident occurred.
After finding the entrance to the underground ancient city, a small team composed of archaeological experts and guards went down for exploration.
Soon after, the entire team lost contact.
Only a soldier with severely burned eyes managed to escape back with his last breath, but he was already mentally broken.
From his raving words, the team concluded that –
The exploration team had encountered an indescribable horror and had no power to resist, almost being completely wiped out.
In the end, this soldier refused to drink water and died of dehydration.
Only leaving behind the desperate and crazy scream before death:
“Kua Fu killed the sun. What’s in the sky is not the sun!”
Subsequent tests showed that a strange geological movement had occurred deep underground, and the location of the entire ancient city had shifted.
Even if there were still people alive in the exploration team, the chance of coming out was almost zero.
In the next three months, the military conducted a large – scale search, found the entrance to the ancient city again, and sent elites to investigate.
The investigation results were unknown, and the subsequent mission was urgently called off by the superior.
All relevant information was sealed as top – secret, and all the events that happened that year were left unresolved.
So nearly seventy years passed.
Until five days ago, the relevant department summoned me to participate in a top – secret plan claiming to be “related to the safety of all mankind.”
The terrifying truth buried in history slowly emerged…
2
After arriving in Lop Nur, the large force was stationed in an abandoned town on the edge.
Luo Cheng, the person in charge of this mission, did not explain the mission but took me to a special room.
The room seemed to be transformed from a container, completely enclosed, with only a two – way glass inlaid on the front.
One could clearly see inside while not being able to see outside from the inside.
“Professor Chen Hui from the Astronomy Research Institute came to Lop Nur alone five months ago to conduct solar observations.” Luo Cheng looked at the room and said, “He lost contact with the outside world less than three days after entering Lop Nur.”
“When we found him, he was already insane and couldn’t communicate effectively.”
The old man in the room was sitting alone in the corner, having fun by himself.
From my angle, I could just see the old man’s side face. His left eye was a turbid pale white: “Professor Chen’s eyes…”
“Highly burned, completely blind, unable to see anything.” Luo Cheng took over, “But his hearing is extremely sharp.”
He emphasized the word “extremely” particularly.
While I was still thinking, I suddenly found the old man turning his head and staring straight at me!
Could he judge our position just through the subtle sound…
Luo Cheng opened the door of the room with a solemn expression, “Researcher Shang, we invited you here this time, hoping that you can try to communicate with Professor Chen.”
I study history and geography. Why should I communicate with an astronomy professor?
Luo Cheng made a gesture of invitation.
I was puzzled, but still walked in.
The moment I entered, Professor Chen crawled towards me like crazy, using his hands and feet, sniffing around.
His pale face turned red with excitement:
“This is the smell. Although it’s weak, it’s right! This is the smell!”
I stepped back subconsciously, “What smell?”
Professor Chen laughed twice and then went back to the corner, fiddling with something.
I followed and saw him throwing several buttons onto the ground and then picking them up, repeating the action.
At the same time, he made “bang bang” onomatopoeia sounds from his mouth.
I frowned. Was he simulating… an explosion?
“The nuclear bomb exploded, bang bang bang!” Professor Chen’s emotions fluctuated greatly, and he suddenly became depressed, “Unfortunately, it can’t kill them…”
Nuclear bomb? Did Professor Chen break into a military base?
The country has conducted many nuclear tests in Lop Nur. In the 1960s, China’s first atomic bomb exploded in Lop Nur.
I continued to guide, “What did the nuclear bomb explode?”
“Something underground.” Professor Chen showed despair on his face, “Many people died, and none of them came out alive.”
I remembered the files I had checked when I took the mission, “Are you talking about the underground ancient city?”
“No.” Professor Chen looked dazed, picked up the water cup and shook it, “It’s something under it.”
I made several guesses in a row, “Liquid? Groundwater? Oil?”
“Guess how oil is formed?” Professor Chen was rather interested.
With my professional knowledge, I replied, “It is formed by the corpses of prehistoric marine organisms through a long – term evolution process, that is, biogenic sedimentation turns into oil.”
“Yes, corpses.” Professor Chen seemed a bit dazed, and then shuddered, “No, is He really dead?”
Professor Chen let out a painful howl, hugged his head and rolled on the ground:
“Corpses! Whose corpses are those?!”
3
Professor Chen’s condition was very poor, and he even had a tendency to self – harm.
The medical staff had to give him a sedative to make him quiet, and this communication attempt had to be suspended.
When I came out, there was a strange flash in Luo Cheng’s eyes when he looked at me.
Then he regained his calm and said with a bit of joy, “Researcher Shang, please write down the conversation you had just now. We will file it.”
I nodded and asked, “Why me for the communication?”
“Perhaps Professor Chen chose you.” Luo Cheng said meaningfully, “Your team members have all tried, but failed.”
I was delayed by something on the way, and my team came a few days earlier than me.
“Where are they now?” I asked.
“They are on a mission deep in Lop Nur. I can’t say exactly what it is.” Luo Cheng shook his head, “But please rest assured, we will protect their safety.”
“I need to know what I’m supposed to do.”
This kind of uncontrollable unknown made me feel very insecure.
Luo Cheng nodded, “We invited you here mainly for three things.”
“First, continue to communicate with Professor Chen; second, a mural will be available soon, and we need you to interpret it; third, I can’t tell you yet.”
I chose to be silent and didn’t say more.
Luo Cheng is from the military with strict discipline. Even if I forced him, I’m afraid I couldn’t get any answers.
…
The next evening, I came to the special room again.
Professor Chen was sitting straight in front of the two – way glass like a log, with his cloudy eyes wide open, as if he could see.
He was motionless, “looking” into the distance.
Perhaps hearing the movement and knowing I was coming, he said, “It’s almost dark now, right?”
“Yeah, it’s almost sunset time.” I sat down beside him.
“Sunset? Since that day, the sun has never risen again.” Professor Chen smiled self – deprecatingly, “Everything is just that the corpses have floated to different places.”
Corpses, again corpses!
In the files from many years ago, the archaeological team member who escaped had said a sentence:
“Kua Fu killed the sun. What’s in the sky is not the sun!”
I made this connection and continued to inquire, “Is it the corpse of the sun, right?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I’m not myself anymore.” Professor Chen said blankly, as if in a daze, “My time is running out.”
It’s really hard to communicate normally with a mentally disordered person.
Because you never know when the other person will blurt out a strange sentence.
I felt a bit headache and asked directly, “What did you experience after entering Lop Nur?”
Professor Chen muttered to himself, “Experience…”
“Yes, that’s right. Speak it out.” I further guided.
Professor Chen suddenly shivered, then suddenly grabbed my shoulders tightly and said something irrelevant:
“Don’t trust anyone in the town. In their eyes, you’re a monster!”
After saying that, his whole body couldn’t stop twitching, his eyes bulged, and his whole skin visibly heated up, emitting billowing white steam!
He actually fainted directly.
4
At night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Professor Chen had been isolated by the medical staff due to his abnormal changes, and no one could contact him.
This conversation, of course, would be archived as usual.
But when writing down the conversation content, I somehow omitted the last sentence Professor Chen said.
This town had been abandoned for a long time, with no original residents.
Now the people living in the town were all those participating in the so – called “plan related to the safety of all mankind.”
Except for me, weren’t they all from the military?
Why did Professor Chen say that in the eyes of the military, I was a monster?
Was it to sow discord, or was everything closely related to that underground city?
I couldn’t figure out what kind of thing could make a person who had studied the sun for most of his life have his worldview completely collapse.
Not only denying astronomy but also turning to believe in so – called metaphysics and theology.
I became more and more curious about Professor Chen’s experience in the depths of Lop Nur.
I looked at the time. It was already 4 a.m.
Since I still had no sleepiness, I simply got dressed and planned to go out for a walk.
I hadn’t walked a few steps when I found something was wrong.
There was not a single person on duty in the huge camp, to be exact, there was no one!
Except for me, there was not a single figure!
At this time, I vaguely saw some small black shadows on the distant desert, as if “wriggling.”
I took out my phone and zoomed in 100 times with the camera to see the picture clearly.
There was something moving quickly under the desert, forming slightly raised lines, coming towards the town!
I quickly hid back in my tent and observed quietly.
At a position about 500 meters away from the town, those “lines” stopped moving.
Then, people emerged from the desert one by one.
The leader was actually Luo Cheng!
How could people move in the desert like fish diving in water?
Aliens? Genetically modified soldiers? Superpowers?!
I was extremely shocked. Suddenly, I remembered Professor Chen’s reminder. A monster, to some extent, was an alien.
Compared with them, I was indeed different.
Was the military infiltrated, or was there some other reason… I didn’t know.
Under Luo Cheng’s command, everyone was very quiet, putting square objects into the largest tent.
I held my breath and was fascinated by the sight.
When I came to my senses, my heart almost jumped out!
Before I knew it, a long and thin shadow appeared outside the tent, slowly pulling the zipper…
5
The tent door opened.
In the deep darkness, I lay on the bed, squinting my eyes slightly, observing the figure. It was undoubtedly Luo Cheng.
Fortunately, Luo Cheng just took a look and then closed the door again.
After this incident, I was completely unable to sleep.
I thought I should re – examine all the information I had at present.
At least, the words of Professor Chen and the message left by the archaeological team members many years ago couldn’t be judged completely from a scientific perspective.
In the myth of Kua Fu chasing the sun, due to the severe drought, the leader of the Kua Fu tribe intended to catch the sun and make it obey human commands.
The result was tragic. Kua Fu died of thirst on the way.
But in the statements of the two people, they both pointed to the opposite view – the sun “died.”
And the archaeological team member said clearly that Kua Fu killed the sun.
What was the hidden truth? I thought I had to ask Professor Chen to get the answer.
After dawn, I got up as usual.
In this situation, I could only pretend that nothing had happened and act according to the circumstances.
During breakfast, Luo Cheng told me that Professor Chen was still in a coma and I didn’t need to communicate with him for the time being.
Throughout the morning, hysterical screams echoed in the camp.
I could tell that it was Professor Chen’s voice. He was awake but in great pain.
“Commander Luo, Professor Chen seems to be awake.” I looked at the medical tent and said, “Do you need me to go and communicate?”
Luo Cheng’s expression was solemn, with a bit of fatigue between his brows:
“No, we’ll call you if necessary.”
Boom -!
As soon as he finished speaking, a violent explosion came.
Thick smoke billowed out from the medical tent, and the medical staff ran out one after another. Fully – armed soldiers quickly gathered around.
Luo Cheng’s face suddenly changed. He took a sub – machine gun and rushed into the tent.
I stopped a nurse and hurriedly asked, “What happened to Professor Chen?”
“Professor Chen he…” The nurse looked terrified, and her voice was trembling, “He… He…”
Before she could finish speaking, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly went to the tent to check. The closer I walked, the stronger the smell of charred in the air became.
The tent was in a mess, and the ground sand had actually carbonized.
On the black – charred carbonized ground, there was a hole about one meter in diameter.
The surface of the hole wall was also carbonized, and it was bottomless. If I had to describe it, it was like a high – temperature object had rolled over.
“Did Professor Chen cause all these?” I couldn’t believe it.
Luo Cheng’s face turned livid, which was tantamount to an admission.
I realized later that the ground I was stepping on was a bit uneven. Looking down, it was a rectangular protrusion.
I used a knife to pry open the carbonized surface.
Underneath was a yellowed notebook.
6
The notebook was very old, with the military’s mark on the cover.
I looked at Luo Cheng, and he nodded, “This is the standard notebook in the army in the middle and late 20th century.”
Seeing his explanation and that he didn’t take it back, I opened the notebook.
The owner of the notebook was named Luo Jianhua, belonging to the Western Exploration Brigade, and was a squad leader in the unit.
When I saw this information, I could feel that Luo Cheng’s mood fluctuated significantly.
With the restraint unique to a soldier, he said calmly:
“Luo Jianhua was my grandfather and was also a soldier accompanying the archaeological team to protect them at that time.”
I showed respect and intended to return the notebook to him.
Unexpectedly, Luo Cheng refused, “Researcher Shang, your second task is about to start, and you are qualified to know more information about the plan.”
Having said this, he said meaningfully:
“Moreover, this was left by Professor Chen. I guess his original intention was to let you see it.”
Since he said so, I didn’t decline anymore.
As the content of the notebook was revealed, for the first time, I felt a deep – rooted fear and suspicion of the bright sun in the sky.
7
Luo Jianhua’s Notebook (1) –
When you see this notebook, I think I’m already dead.
I recorded the whole process of the archaeological team entering the underground ancient city and the exploration in this notebook, hoping to be helpful to the comrades who come later.
…
On the first day of entering the underground relic.
After walking through a cave about three kilometers long, we finally really entered the interior of the relic. This relic was much larger than we imagined.
Just the building similar to the “city gate,” even though half of it had collapsed, was still nearly 100 meters high.
Giant buildings stood inside, making us feel an unreal sense.
What was even more shocking was that what we saw was only the exposed part. The relic seemed to have suffered from turmoil, and a large part of it was buried.
In the words of the experts: “This is a truly magnificent city!”
Everything here was too big for humans. It was as if we had come to the country of giants.
In fact, that was the case.
After several hours of walking, we found the other half of the broken “city gate.” On the “city gate,” there were three ancient characters – Kua Fu Palace.
Of course, we didn’t recognize these characters.
Seeing these characters, the expert team was also a bit stunned because this kind of writing was so ancient that it didn’t belong to any known language.
Finally, it was Professor Shang Xia, the youngest in the team, who deciphered this kind of writing.
He told us that this was the Kua Fu script of the giant Kua Fu tribe, belonging to the ancient writing. According to the evolving writing paradigm, it could be inferred that it was the Kua Fu script of the Yu Dynasty.
Yes, it was the Yu Dynasty before the legendary Xia Dynasty.
Although I only graduated from junior high school, I was still puzzled. It was said that there was no definite information to prove the existence of the Xia Dynasty, so how did this Yu Dynasty come out?
But seeing that the archaeological experts had no objections, I thought it was because I didn’t read much and didn’t understand.
After learning this news, everyone was very excited.
The experts were excited about the relics of the Yu Dynasty, while I and the soldiers were proud. In the future, when we went out, we could say that our country had a history of eight thousand years.
What an honor it would be to be a super ancient civilization country.
The originally tense atmosphere became much more relaxed, but this relaxation didn’t last long.
After walking for another two hours, we came to a place called the Sun – Falling Gate.
Professor Shang Xia said that ahead was the place where the sun fell, burying the corpse of the sun.
When the experts heard this, their expressions became serious.
I and the soldiers were confused. If there really was a giant tribe, I could barely believe it. After all, history books said there were large – scale apes in the past.
Maybe they took a different evolutionary path from humans.
But even a person with a junior high school education like me knew that the sun was much larger than the earth. How could the small earth bury the sun?
I didn’t understand, but soon I did…
8
The following content was torn off, and it was impossible to know what happened next.
I had heard of Professor Shang Xia in the notebook. His lineage was a branch of my Shang family in the north.
During the Anti – Japanese War, the entire branch joined the anti – aggression struggle without hesitation.
After the war, the population of the northeast branch withered.
The only remaining clansman, Shang Xia, disappeared overnight. It turned out that he came to Lop Nur.
Luo Cheng, who was watching, was fascinated. After a while, he said, “Researcher Shang, can you feel the fear?”
“My grandfather was very afraid when he wrote this content.”
I was shocked, “You felt it too?”
The words in the notebook were written straightforwardly, and there was no expression of fear in the text, but I felt fear seeping out from every word.
I thought it was my illusion, but it turned out that Luo Cheng had the same feeling.
After a long time, Luo Cheng and I said in unison, “The fear of the sun.”
This kind of fear seemed contagious. I somehow couldn’t face the sun directly. It was very strange.
After that, we didn’t dwell on this issue anymore.
That night, Luo Cheng took me to the largest tent in the camp. Inside the tent, there were square blocks of similar sizes, which together formed various pictures.
Were these the things they brought back from the desert…
Luo Cheng said, “Researcher Shang, these are the murals we transported out from the relics. See if you can interpret them.”
I nodded slightly and started to study them.
This mural was different from ordinary murals. It not only had patterns but also a large number of ancient characters.
This kind of writing had complex strokes, and each character was very similar.
If compared, it was very much like Xixia script.
Overall, the mural told the story of a race called the “Witch Mother.”
In the distant ancient times, a meteorite from outer space fell to the earth, forming a meteorite crater with a diameter of 25 kilometers.
Soon after, a primitive man came to the meteorite crater.
Black mist emerged from the crater, and the primitive man fainted after coming into contact with the black mist.
When he woke up again, he found that he had different abilities.
…
At this point, I swallowed hard.
A chill ran down my spine, almost reaching the top of my head. I subconsciously looked at Luo Cheng.
“Hmm?” Luo Cheng looked at me, “Researcher Shang, why did you stop?”
I forced myself to continue, “The primitive man found that he could swim in the desert at an extremely fast speed, just like swimming.”
“With this ‘desert – diving’ ability, the primitive man left his original tribe and established a race that worshipped darkness – the Witch Mother tribe.”
After saying that, I observed Luo Cheng without showing any emotion.
Wasn’t the group of people led by Luo Cheng exactly the ones who brought back these murals through desert – diving?
Luo Cheng’s expression was calm, and he nodded thoughtfully.
“Sir, this is probably not my second task.” I turned my head and forced a smile, “Shouldn’t you let me carry out the real task?”
“Researcher Shang is a smart person.” Luo Cheng threw me a mask, “Put it on. I’ll take you there now.”
As soon as I put on the mask and before I could say anything, two soldiers grabbed my arms.
Then we directly drilled into the sand. I felt a dizzying spin.
We were moving rapidly in the desert!
When I could see clearly again, we were already underground.
Under the strong light, tall buildings could be faintly seen around. A group of soldiers were stationed nearby.
Directly in front was a giant torii – like building made of obsidian. On the top were three bold Kua Fu characters –
“Sun – Falling Gate”
9
“You guys…”
I had just said half a sentence when Luo Cheng interrupted me.
He reminded, “Researcher Shang, there are some things that even if you ask, we won’t answer.”
I smiled self – deprecatingly and didn’t dwell on it anymore.
Luo Cheng took me to a stone wall and said, “This is the second task.”
The huge stone wall was covered with dense Kua Fu characters. At this moment, I finally understood Luo Cheng’s intention before.
What he was testing was not my ability to interpret the murals at all, but whether I knew the Kua Fu script.
What was recorded on the stone wall was an epic – like content.
It depicted the war between two races. During the ancient Yu Dynasty, all races submitted and respected Yu Shun as the king.
However, the Witch Mother tribe nominally submitted but secretly harmed other tribes, which was detrimental to the great governance.
Shun the Great was furious and gave an oral order to the Kua Fu tribe, the enemy of the Witch Mother tribe, to exterminate the Witch Mother tribe and maintain the peace of all races.
In the early stage of the war, the Kua Fu tribe led the sun to fight, and the Witch Mother tribe was beaten back step by step.
Everything went smoothly.
But in the middle of the war, a major change occurred in the Yu Dynasty. Several large tribes were massacred overnight, and Emperor Shun disappeared without a trace.
The following content was forcibly erased.
As a result, the reading was not continuous. According to the text below on the stone wall, the leader of the Kua Fu tribe suddenly turned against them and killed the sun.
Without the advantage of the sun, the Kua Fu tribe began to retreat.
The result of the war was not written on the stone wall. Instead, at the end, there was a description of the route established according to the Eight Diagrams of Fuxi:
“Qian advances eight, Kun retreats five, Li advances one, Dui advances seven, Kan retreats four, Kun advances nine, Zhen advances three…”
This route description had a total of 108 changes in direction, which was extremely complex.
Luo Cheng carefully wrote down these changes one by one.
I really couldn’t figure out what these people were trying to do? Or rather, what were they looking for?
Just then, I found a corner of something light – yellow exposed on the sand in the corner of the stone wall.
I ran over and saw that it was actually a notebook.
Judging from the handwriting, it was written by Luo Jianhua, just picking up from the previous content.
I had a vague feeling that Professor Chen leaving the notebook seemed to be guiding something. Where would it lead?
10
Luo Jianhua’s Notebook (2) –
After entering the Sun – Falling Gate, we faintly smelled the smell of oil in the air.
As we went deeper, this smell became stronger.
Sure enough, after walking for half an hour, we found a large expanse of oil fields, stretching as far as the eye could see, like the sea.
This was really exciting!
The country was in an important period of construction. As the instructor said, oil was the blood of industry, and it was used for airplanes and cannons!
We planned to speed up the exploration process, but Professor Shang Xia suggested that we rest in place. I could tell that he didn’t look well.
Looking at that “oil sea,” there was worry all over his face.
According to the routine, we were supposed to count off during the rest, but soon we found something was wrong.
One person was missing from the team!
The soldier at the end of the line was gone. I took a few soldiers to look for him along the way, but we didn’t see a single figure. Worried about the safety of the experts, we didn’t dare to go too far.
Since the exploration was important, we had to give up the search.
But a strange thing happened. When we rested again, the missing soldier appeared.
I asked him, but he told me that he had been following the team all the time.
This was creepy. Professor Shang Xia’s face looked even worse. He asked us to take the expert team back.
I didn’t know what was going on, but his attitude was very firm.
Finally, we started the journey back. On the way back, everyone became abnormal. They disappeared one after another and then appeared again.
This situation was exactly the same as that of the soldier who disappeared at first!
I told this matter to Professor Shang Xia, who was still relatively normal at present. He asked me to go back immediately and report the situation.
He told me that these “people” in the team were no longer human.
At his strong request, I planned to leave quietly during the rest. I accidentally saw an archaeological expert who had just disappeared crawling out of that oil sea.
Then, he returned to the camp as if nothing had happened.
My scalp went numb. I thought I must pass this matter back. It was too strange down here!
But soon, I found that the way back had changed.
After walking for a while, I got lost in this underground relic. I ran out of dry food and drank up all the water.
An unprecedented sense of despair enveloped me.
Just when I was hungry and cold, I faintly saw light ahead. I rushed over like crazy.
At the end of the road, the “oil sea” was rough, with countless corpses floating and sinking.
I saw the legendary… Kua Fu!
11
This was all the content of this part of the notebook.
Luo Cheng’s eagle – like eyes looked at the soldiers around him, “Has anyone else been here? Didn’t you find this notebook?”
The soldiers looked at each other and all shook their heads.
I forced myself to take a gamble, “Sir, what exactly is this plan? Who are you people?”
Suddenly, everyone looked at me in unison.
My heart instantly rose to my throat.
“We? To some extent, we are the same as you.” Luo Cheng grinned, “Aliens.”
Sure enough, I bet right.
Since they didn’t avoid me about desert – diving, it meant they thought there was no need to hide anymore.
But new questions came up, “Aliens?”
“Do you think you’re a normal person?” Luo Cheng looked at me with interest.
I didn’t understand what he meant and waited for him to continue.
Luo Cheng waved his hand, and a soldier handed him a tablet. On it was a surveillance video. The camera was facing the direction of the room where Professor Chen was once held.
It was the scene of my communication with Professor Chen!
As the video played, my limbs went numb, and cold sweat kept breaking out on the soles of my feet.
I remembered that I used Chinese throughout the communication with Professor Chen, but in the video, Professor Chen and I were chirping, and the language was obscure.
It wasn’t any language I knew!
No wonder they asked me to write down the conversation for filing. It wasn’t that they couldn’t install surveillance or bugging devices, but that they couldn’t understand what was monitored.
“This is the Kua Fu language, the exclusive language of the Kua Fu tribe.” Luo Cheng said, “A language passed down through blood, which can’t be learned later.”
Blood inheritance? Do I have the blood of the Kua Fu tribe?
I staggered, tremblingly saying, “Are my team members really on a mission?”
“They have carried out the mission. All the places we are at now were explored by them.” Luo Cheng’s voice changed, “Now, they have been safely sent away.”
Safely sent away…
I felt a sense of relief in my heart. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my neck.
Something was injected into my body, and my body began to lose control. I fell down.
“Now.” Luo Cheng said lightly, “It’s your turn to lead the way.”
12
My consciousness fell into darkness.
I don’t know how long it passed. A warm feeling came from my hands, and soon my whole body seemed to be bathed in the sun.
It was like an out – of – body experience, watching everything from the side.
My body was lying on the ground, my hands folded on my lower abdomen, and a black – gold feather was placed between my hands.
Was it this feather that caused my current situation?
My body was emitting a faint light, and “I” actually stood up straight, like a walking corpse, facing a certain direction.
“Researcher Shang is facing the Li position. According to the direction interpreted on the stone wall, the whole army moves forward!”
Luo Cheng’s expression was serious as he commanded the team.
They actually regarded me as a locator.
Like this, I watched as I followed the large force forward. Gradually, a large expanse of oil fields appeared in front.
The deeper we went, the more oil there was. Looking from afar, it was like an ocean of oil.
Looking at the vast expanse of black oil, I felt a great sense of fear in my heart, not because I felt small, but because of the things in the oil.
In the large expanse of oil, I saw curled – up human figures!
Dense, almost covering the entire oil sea.
“Don’t get close to the Black Blood Sea, lest you wake up these Witch Mother tribesmen.” Luo Cheng reminded the team, “It’s not time to wake them up yet.”
The Black Blood Sea should be the name of the “oil sea” in front of me.
Looking at such a large number of Witch Mother tribesmen, I felt nervous, but one thing could be confirmed.
Although Luo Cheng and these people could also do desert – diving, they didn’t belong to the Witch Mother tribe.
Otherwise, the address would not be “Witch Mother tribe,” but something like “our tribe.”
I suddenly remembered that Professor Chen had said that oil was formed by corpses, and he also asked whose corpses they were.
Just as I was thinking, Luo Cheng and the others had reached the end according to the instructions on the stone wall.
On the boundless Black Blood Sea, there was a huge island.
To be exact, it was piled up with a heap of corpses. These corpses were extremely huge, hundreds of meters high.
The flesh and blood had completely decayed, but the bones still maintained the posture of holding up in their lifetime.
What the giants were holding up was a bird’s head covered with black – gold feathers. This head was so huge that it was bigger than all the giants!
Although there was only a head left, the closed eyes seemed to be just asleep.
Blazing flames wrapped around it, extremely dazzling.
“The Kua Fu tribesmen and the Golden Crow’s head! We’ve found them!”
Someone in the team exclaimed.
Luo Cheng lowered his head and found a yellowed notebook in the soil at his feet. This was the last part of Luo Jianhua’s notebook.
As Luo Cheng flipped through it, I clearly saw that three whole pages were filled with one sentence:
“Don’t kill the sun. Don’t kill the sun. Don’t kill the sun. Don’t kill the sun. Don’t kill the sun. Don’t kill the sun…”
Apart from this sentence, there were no other words.
Was it a warning? Or an admonition? Or an entreaty?
It was impossible to tell.
Luo Cheng waved his hand and ordered, “Start the robotic wolf and take Researcher Shang away from here.”
“Understood!”
13
The black – gold feather in my hand was pulled out.
My state of “out – of – body” was instantly broken, and I lost consciousness.
In a daze, I felt my body shaking.
Then, a familiar voice came to my ears:
“Shang Pei.”
I opened my eyes blankly, “Yu Mo, why are you here? Where are the others in the team?”
Yu Mo was a member of my team. He replied, “Lao Dao and Xiao Su have been safely sent out. I came to find you.”
Hearing this, I didn’t stand on ceremony and quickly exchanged information with him.
“The Golden Crow’s head you saw is fake. It’s a trap set by the Witch Mother tribe.” Yu Mo said, “This group of soldiers led by Luo Cheng are the descendants of those soldiers seventy years ago.”
“During the exploration of the relics, those soldiers were cursed by the Witch Mother tribe.”
“Although they have some of the abilities of the Witch Mother tribe from generation to generation, as they grow older, they will gradually lose their will and become puppets of the Witch Mother tribe.”
I sorted out my thoughts, “The fake Golden Crow’s head was the work of the Witch Mother tribe? What’s their purpose?”
“The Witch Mother tribe wants to escape.” Yu Mo said concisely, “Luo Cheng and the others were ordered to stop them.”
Boom -!
Suddenly, the ground shook, accompanied by a slight rumble.
“Where is the real Golden Crow’s head?” I asked.
Yu Mo didn’t say much and directly led the way.
I immediately followed. It seemed that we were constantly going down. The moment I looked up, through a film – like thing, I saw Luo Cheng and the others.
The soldiers, in groups of squads, lined up in a row, jumped into the Black Blood Sea, and kept swimming towards the Golden Crow’s head.
As they got closer, the soldiers’ eyes were burned, turning into black holes.
But they remained silent and self – destructed at the position closest to the head of the Golden Crow.
One squad after another, they went forward without hesitation.
“The relic is in a very strange barrier space that seals the Witch Mother tribe. Under the Golden Crow’s head is the only way for them to leave.”
“This exit is mostly blocked by the Golden Crow’s head. Although there are small gaps, affected by the remaining power of the Golden Crow, the Witch Mother tribe still can’t get out.”
“But the hidden danger is always there. The military dispatched Luo Cheng and them to completely block the exit.”
Yu Mo stopped, “Otherwise, if one day the Witch Mother tribe escapes, it would be disastrous for ordinary people outside.”
Luo Cheng and the others wanted to use the power of theirself – destructs to move the Golden Crow’s head.
Ultimately, to completely block the only escape route of the Witch Mother tribe.
But what they saw now was just a mirror image. The real Golden Crow’s head was below them.
Looking at the real Golden Crow’s head, I felt something was wrong, “We have to remind them quickly!”
Just then, in the Black Blood Sea, a group of stinking human – shaped things climbed out one after another.
“This kind of attire…”
My pupils suddenly shrank. They were actually the group of soldiers who had turned into puppets back then.
Behind these puppets, an old man of the Witch Mother tribe gave an order, “Kill them!”
Almost without giving us time to react, a battle started immediately.
In the chaotic crowd, the sand under our feet surged, and a figure nearly ten meters tall rushed over. His face could be vaguely recognized as Professor Chen!
At this moment, he was acting like a walking corpse, relying on instinct:
“The will of the Kua Fu… Eliminate the Witch Mother…”
Yu Mo and Professor Chen were extremely brave, and the Witch Mother tribe couldn’t defeat us for a while.
The old man of the Witch Mother tribe said in a deep voice, “Warriors, it’s time to sacrifice your lives for the freedom of the tribe!”
“Let’s open the gap and let the tribe mother rule the world!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Witch Mother tribesmen became excited.
Then, the old man of the Witch Mother tribe looked at us with a sneer, “You can’t stop anything.”
Countless Witch Mother tribesmenself – destructed around the real Golden Crow’s head, actually faintly attracting the energy of the soldiers’self – destructs!
Seeing this, a smile appeared in my heart:
Finally… it’s starting.
14
Boom -!
The two kinds of energy gathered together strangely.
This was the reason why the Witch Mother tribe designed to deceive Luo Cheng and the others. These soldiers were cursed by the Witch Mother tribe and had the power of the Witch Mother tribe in their bodies.
After theyself – destructed, the Witch Mother tribe could control this power to a certain extent.
The old man of the Witch Mother tribe smiled triumphantly, “Tear open the bones of the Kua Fu tribe and help the tribe mother escape!”
On the blazing Golden Crow’s head, black mist actually spread, and an indescribable terrifying power kept seeping out.
It was exactly the thing brought by the meteorite from outer space in the mural!
The Kua Fu tribesmen were not only holding up the Golden Crow’s head but also using their bodies to block the thing brought by the meteorite inside.
The Witch Mother tribe not only wanted to ruin the military’s plan and go to the outside world but also wanted to rescue their “tribe mother”!
What a clever two – birds – with – one – stone plan.
But unfortunately.
I clicked on the hidden miniature headset in my ear, “Sir, the fish has taken the bait.”
“Everything is ready. Let’s close the net.”
In the headset, Luo Cheng’s decisive words came.
I looked up. Luo Cheng led the last hundred or so people and all got close to the Golden Crow’s head toself – destruct!
With this help, the energy gathering had reached an extremely strong level. The corpses of the Kua Fu tribesmen were almost completely broken.
Thick black mist completely gushed out.
The old man of the Witch Mother tribe was extremely excited, “Welcome the return of the tribe mother. Now that the Yu Dynasty has long been destroyed and the gods have disappeared, it’s our time to rule the world!”
“Is that so?” I suddenly said.
Professor Chen, at the end of his strength, finally blocked many Witch Mother tribesmen, “The day to eliminate the Witch Mother… The sun will return to the world…”
This was his purpose!
Under the cover of Professor Chen, Yu Mo and I fought our way out.
The old man of the Witch Mother tribe’s face changed slightly, “What do you mean?”
“The gods have disappeared. They just fell asleep.” I said coldly, “They didn’t die.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I cut my palm.
Gushing fresh blood flowed out. Yu Mo also cut his palm and dripped the blood on my heart.
“Return of the soul. Please sacrifice to the god Kua Fu!”
In an instant, the power of theself – destructs originally belonging to Luo Cheng and the others suddenly burst into a golden light, turning into a huge giant figure!
With great power, it turned the power of the Witch Mother tribesmen’sself – destructs into its own use.
Then, it injected it into the Golden Crow’s head.
The old man of the Witch Mother tribe shouted in horror, “Who on earth are you?! What’s your relationship with the Yu Dynasty?”
No one gave him an answer.
The blazing light kept spreading. This was extremely fatal to the Witch Mother tribe, which worshipped darkness. The destructive power reduced them to dust.
The “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe, after thousands of years of wear and tear, was already extremely weak and fled in panic.
Suddenly, a clear chirping sound resounded through the world!
A three – legged young bird, all black – gold in color, flapped its wings and flew up, swallowing the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe!
The condensed virtual shadow of Kua Fu gradually dissipated:
“Congratulations on the return of the Golden Crow, the sun!”
15
The sun in the sky became the real sun.
On the day of the incident, observatories around the world observed that the sun had an abnormal black spot, as if a bird flashed by.
…
A certain military base in the west.
An old man sat at the desk, signing several documents, “Award a collective special – class merit once to the 3,451 martyrs who participated in the plan and sacrificed.”
“Pay the martyrs’ pensions at three times the normal rate, and the state will take care of their direct relatives.”
The officer who took the documents asked, “Chief, if the family members ask about the cause of death…”
“Details are confidential.” The old man sighed, “Just tell the family members that they sacrificed for the country and the people and are heroes.”
Including Luo Cheng, 3,451 people had long been prepared to sacrifice.
The previous ancestors were cursed by the Witch Mother tribe. They stood up and successfully ended the curse in their generation.
…
I assisted the military in completing the follow – up work.
We eliminated the Witch Mother tribe, released the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe from the Golden Crow’s head, and used them to give birth to a new Golden Crow.
This was a big chess game I cooperated with the military in since I participated in this plan.
Thousands of years ago, the reason why the Kua Fu tribe killed the Golden Crow was that the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe invaded the body of the Golden Crow and alienated and controlled it.
Forced by circumstances, the Kua Fu tribe used the lives of a large number of their people to trap the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe in the Golden Crow’s head.
Now that the time was ripe, it was time to kill the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe.
Moreover, after the Golden Crow died, the sun in the sky was just a reflection of its corpse.
The entire Black Blood Sea was formed by the corpse of the Golden Crow.
As time passed, the reflecting power was gradually dissipating. The global warming was a sign of this.
Simply put, it was a flash – in – the – pan.
After this period passed, if there was no new Golden Crow, humanity would face a real dark age.
So, taking advantage of the fact that there was still the power of the Golden Crow remaining in the Golden Crow’s head, we had to deal with the “tribe mother” of the Witch Mother tribe and give birth to a new Golden Crow.
As for why I knew all this?
My Shang family’s ancestors were the heads of the Shan Hai Department in the Qin Dynasty, specifically responsible for exploring mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas for Emperor Shi Huang. The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the Great Wall, and even Xu Fu’s voyage to find the elixir of life all had the involvement of the Shan Hai Department.
Although the Shan Hai Department’s glory had faded after the change of dynasties, half of the “Records of Mountains and Seas” compiled and recorded by the ancestors about what they saw and heard at that time was passed down.
Of course, it was a incomplete volume, not because of inheritance errors, but because the ancestors themselves damaged it.
Future generations didn’t know the reason. They only knew that after the ancestors led the Shan Hai Department to explore seventy – two relics of the Yu Dynasty, they inexplicably tore up the records related to the relics and then committed suicide.
Over the years, the family had never given up on completing the “Records of Mountains and Seas.”
As a member of the Shang family, during the process of investigating this incident, I found some clues and learned that there were relics of the Yu Dynasty in Lop Nur.
At the same time, I also accidentally learned about the country’s secret hidden in Lop Nur.
At first, the reason for choosing Lop Nur for the nuclear test was that there were few people there. Another unknown reason was the Kua Fu Palace.
To prevent the Witch Mother tribe from trying to escape through the gaps, the nuclear test site was selected right above the gap.
The nuclear bomb couldn’t damage the barrier, but if any Witch Mother tribe members escaped, they could be easily destroyed, which had a certain deterrent effect.
Based on all these, it led to my cooperation with the relevant department.
Achieving a win – win situation today.
16
The work was done, and I successfully reunited with my team.
On the way back, I took out a bronze hollow ball from my pocket, handed it to Yu Mo, and smiled, “This is the eighth one, right?”
Yu Mo let out an “Yeah” sound and took out a bronze ball similar to a ghost – work ball, with seven nested layers.
The bronze ball in my hand actually floated up and merged into it!
The original seven – layer hollow ball suddenly became an eight – layer one.
This hollow ball was obtained by me in the Kua Fu Palace in Lop Nur. There were a total of seventy – two such relics of the Yu Dynasty, and each had a hollow ball.
Legend has it that if you collect all seventy – two, you can know the secret of the destruction of the Yu Dynasty.
At present, all kinds of clues indicate that the reason my ancestor committed suicide was that he had insight into some unimaginable secret.
I believe there must be a connection.
The reason why Yu Mo and I could summon the heroic soul of Kua Fu was, first, that my ancestor, after arriving at the Lop Nur relics, bathed in the king’s blood of the Kua Fu tribe leader.
Although it had become much thinner through generations of inheritance, it still barely remained in my generation.
So, I could communicate with Professor Chen in the Kua Fu language.
Speaking of which, after Professor Chen entered the relics, he probably bathed in the blood of the Kua Fu tribe and was cursed by the Witch Mother tribe at the same time, which is why he became what we saw.
Second, it was because of Yu Mo. His life experience had a thousand – and – one connections with the Yu Dynasty, and he had been looking for the reason for the destruction of the Yu Dynasty.
The two of us hit it off, and he joined my team.
I believe that in the long future, at least for the remaining sixty – odd relics, we will explore them together.
I just don’t know what kind of scene it will be when the truth is revealed.
17 (Postscript)
Deep in Lop Nur, Xinjiang.
Right above the ruins of the Kua Fu Palace, in the boundless desert, an ordinary – looking young man climbed out of the sand.
Taking advantage of the night, he fled all the way.
After several days of traveling, a professional – equipped motorcade successfully met up with him.
When the people in the motorcade saw the young man, they all showed respectful expressions:
“Elder Shang Xia, you’re finally back.”
Shang Xia had no expression on his face. In the motorcade, after changing his clothes, he took out a notebook from the coat he had changed and threw it into the fire.
In the wind, the notebook flipped through the flames.
If Luo Cheng and the others were here, they would surely recognize that the handwriting in this notebook was exactly the same as that in Luo Jianhua’s notebook!
“I saw someone from the main family.” Shang Xia finally said his first sentence.
The expressions of the people in the motorcade changed slightly. Someone asked, “Does the main family suspect us?”
“Not at present.” Shang Xia shook his head, “I managed to escape by using him and leading him with a forged notebook.”
Hearing this, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
Then they immediately asked, “Elder, shall we go back to the Northeast now or?”
“Not yet.” Shang Xia got into the car directly, “First, go to Inner Mongolia… Hulun Buir Grassland.”
“What are we going there for?”
“To wait for the meteorite to fall.”
– End –
