Chapter 203 The Graverobbers Journal (1/2)

The coffin Father and I were peering into had damaged so badly that its sides were littered with holes and slits from neglect and disrepair, from which the fluids and watery flesh were seeping out like vomit being belched from a person's mouth. But what was inside left my mouth agape with surprise! There was a body lying inside!

The body lying inside looked nothing like the rest; it was a man who had died only recently. A brown-copper rag bundled a bun on his head, as was the common fashion for men in the Ming Dynasty, but he was looking positively horrified as if he was screaming for his life when he died. The gaunt and scrawny man, short in height and small in girth, had green and purple wounds all around him. A closer inspection revealed that those were bite wounds; Jiangshis, no doubt. But who had left him here in this coffin?

A thin smile lined across Father's lips. Saying nothing, he continued walking, heading towards the dark corridor at the end of the hall.

I thought about the fresh-looking firepit outside the cave. Clearly, this corpse belonged to the man who camped there. But who he was, I wondered. Was he a peasant from the village nearby? Or a grave robber hoping to plunder some gold and riches?

I was still grappling with the mystery of all this when I noticed Father's step slowed to a careful tread as if he had discovered something. I walked past his shoulder to find out what was it this time and I saw something lying on the ground. However, it was too dark for me to make out what it was.

Father strode to that thing and I followed just behind. It was a bundle made of something leathery. As we drew closer, we saw that it was not so much a bundle than a bag. A large leather bag that could have filled something the size of a basketball. Father crouched to study. He opened the bag and found everything inside the bag were neatly arrange and organized.

He took out something that almost made me double over with laughter. It was a book. A book of erotic illustrations! Father chuckled and shook his head, tossing it aside snidely and rummaged for something else.

This time, he took out some flasks. Porcelain flasks containing medicine. But they were all unmarked and we knew nothing of what was inside them. But Father seemed hardly concerned by them. He dug again and found a little booklet and a letter. He frowned and delved again and finally found a little bundle wrapped in white rags.

He unfurled the little packet and found some dried buns. I stared at Father incredulously. He's looking for food! But it was hardly surprising; Father and Mother, despite their state of divinity, still have to maintain their physical bodies and that requires the sustenance of food.

Father gave one of the buns to Mother and he began nibbling on another. But he seemed rather unpleased; the bun must taste bad. But as he munched, he kept himself busy by riffling through the pages of the little booklet.

This was hardly anything bawdy or obscene. The first page bore only the words of a name, ”Zhao San'er' – The third son of Zhao. This could be the name of this booklet's owner, although one scarcely thought over. Father continued to the next page and found some dates and some entries; this is a journal. He skipped to the end and read through the final pages and found nothing mildly informative and instructive.

But before he could slam the lid of the booklet shut, something caught his eye and he stopped. I stooped down to see what was it and saw written on the page was an entry saying, ”The seventeenth year of Chongzhen Emperor's rule; the eighth day of the fourth month on the lunar calendar. Confirmed sighting of a tomb in the mountains.” Father flipped to the next page and it said, ”The seventeenth year of Chongzhen Emperor's rule; the ninth day of the fourth month on the lunar calendar. A party of five including me were led by two peasants from the village at the foot of the mountain. We traveled through the woods at the northern face of the mountain and we found the entrance.” A strange foreboding lulled over me that very instant. What is this all about?! I looked towards the direction of the coffin where the fresh corpse laid and everything dawned upon me finally!

So I was right; whoever the owner of this journal was, he and the dead man now lying in the coffin were graverobbers! The owner of this booklet must have kept this journal to make notes and this leather bag must be his bag of tools!