Chapter 32: The Resonance of Law

"Dead... it's a human skull!" I knew it the moment I touched those two eye sockets; the sphere was wrapped around a skeleton head.

"One-Mole" changed color slightly, though she reacted better than I did.

She forced a brave front and said, "Yunfeng, you're a grown man, and a tomb raider at that—what’s there to be afraid of with a skull? If Number Two were here, he’d probably try to kiss the thing."

"Move aside! Let me," she said, her willow-leaf brows knitted together as she took over.

Because I had already smashed a large crack into the sphere, she didn't need much effort; a few strikes with a stone and it fell apart.

I saw it clearly this time. My previous guess was right—the sphere indeed contained a human skull.

Parts of the skull had weathered away, but strangely, the surface was covered in layers of gilding. These gold layers were arranged in an intricate pattern, looking less like writing and more like some sort of symbolic motif.

In ancient craftsmanship, I had heard of copper gilding, silver gilding, foil gilding, gold-and-silver inlay, and gold filigree, but I had never heard of applying gilding techniques to a human skull.

The gilded ring around the eye sockets shimmered brilliantly, contrasting with the pitch-black skull to create a truly eerie aesthetic.

"One-Mole" frowned. "I saw something similar years ago when I was doing logistics for a gang in Chengde. But it wasn't a skull; it was a small piece of human finger bone. The leader of that gang told me it was from the Spring and Autumn or Warring States period."

She looked up at the trapezoidal bronze objects hanging from the cave ceiling. "Yunfeng, your aim is decent. There must be dozens of these things at a glance. Knock one down so we can study it."

"Right," I nodded in agreement.

It was too high to reach even by jumping, so I used the old method: throwing stones. I specifically picked out a larger one.

"Clang!"

I hit it on the first try. The stone struck the bronze, producing a resonant, crisp echo.

Hearing that sound, I was convinced of "One-Mole's" earlier hypothesis: these trapezoidal bronzes were ninety percent likely to be chime bells.

"Put a little more strength into it," she urged, looking up.

"Clang!" The final blow struck true.

With a splash, the chime bell fell into the river. "One-Mole" was prepared, and within a minute, she had fished it out.

We examined it together. The bronze was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, marked with patches of red and green rust. Beyond that, the waist lines, casting seams, and cloud-and-thunder patterns were all perfectly executed. It was an authentic Western Zhou piece, recognizable at a glance.

I weighed it in my hand and felt it was suspiciously light. It lifted with almost no effort.

"Sister Red, you try it. I feel like the weight is off."

"One-Mole" reached out and took it. "Huh? It’s so light. Is this not bronze?"

***

"One-Mole" was older than me and had spent her life in this trade; she had seen far more than I had. She used her fingernail to scrape at the green rust on the chime; it was flaky and fell off at the lightest touch.

Once the rust was gone, a dark greyish-black base was revealed.

"One-Mole" frowned. "It's not bronze. This is a real find. If I'm not mistaken, this is meteorite iron..."

"An iron chime?" My eyes widened in disbelief. "Sister Red, were there iron tools in the Western Zhou period? I don't think so. Are you sure?"

She shook her head. "You misunderstood. I said meteorite iron, not pig iron. Iron tools didn't appear until the late Spring and Autumn period. Simply put, meteorite iron is meteoric iron—it's from a meteorite. No wonder it felt light when I picked it up."

"One-Mole" had grounds for her claim. A few years back, in 1996, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, working with the Sanmenxia team, conducted a rescue excavation at the Guo State cemetery in Shangcunling. They discovered two rusted iron swords from the tomb of Guo Zhong. X-ray analysis revealed high concentrations of nickel, leading the national archaeological team to classify these Bronze Age swords as meteorite iron.

"Sister Red, since this is so precious, should we carry it out?" Knowing its value, a flicker of greed stirred in my heart.

I thought to myself, "Instead of leaving it in this sunless underground river, I might as well take it. It wouldn't be a waste of a treasure, would it?"

"One-Mole" looked at the chime on the ground, clearly tempted as well.

"It's not that heavy, so let's take it. I doubt anyone else will come down here for the next few hundred years." She nodded, signaling me to take it.

I took off my shirt and twisted it into a rope. Not minding the cold metal, I strapped the chime to my back, tying the shirt across my chest. I shook myself—it was rock solid.

"Does it get in the way of your chest?"

"I'm fine, Sister Red," I said, patting my back. "Carrying hundreds of thousands on my back, I don't even feel the pain anymore. It's great."

"One-Mole" laughed. "Don't rush. Once we're out, I'll find some help. We'll bring Number One and Number Three, and we'll take the whole set."

"The whole set? That would be fantastic," I tightened the straps across my chest.

We continued along the underground river. I kept looking back, feeling as if the chimes hanging from the ceiling were bundles of cash swaying in the wind, beckoning to me.

About two hundred meters later, my nose suddenly felt hot, and for no reason, I started having a nosebleed.

"Wait, Sister Red," I said, tilting my head back and calling for a halt.

"One-Mole" didn't miss the chance to tease me. "You young ones are just too full of vitality. You can get a nosebleed just from being shirtless? Hold on." She tore a strip of cloth from her own clothes. "Keep your head up and don't move. I'll wipe it for you."

"Sister Red, why are you bleeding too?" I saw that "One-Mole" had also suddenly started bleeding from the nose.

She stopped wiping my face and hurriedly tilted her own head back, using the cloth to stem the flow.

"Clang..."

Just then, a deep, metallic sound echoed from behind us. It sounded remarkably like a chime being struck.

I, carrying the chime I had taken down, tilted my head back to look.

In that instant, every hair on my body stood on end!

The underground river was bubbling incessantly. The bronze chains holding the mud-covered skulls began to pull rapidly.

Dozens of mud spheres began to sway rhythmically, striking the meteorite iron chimes one by one.

Controlled by some sort of underwater mechanical device, the skulls were autonomously performing a melody from over two thousand years ago.

"Clang."

"Dong!"

The deep, resonant sounds grew louder, as if piercing into the depths of my soul. My scalp tightened.

From less than two hundred meters away, the sound made my eyes swell, my heart constrict, and the veins at my temples begin to throb.

My nosebleed was now unstoppable; it flowed faster and faster.

"One-Mole" was in the same state, blood pouring from her nose.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and blue veins bulged on her forehead. She screamed, "Yunfeng, run! We're going to die!"

...

Many people don't know that chime bells don't make sound on their own; they vibrate when struck, and the sound travels through the medium of the air to the human ear. Hence, the "chime-bell tuning."

Years later, to understand the principle, I spent money to pose as the head of a Hong Kong art troupe and sought out Professor Wang Dan, a former technician at the National 703 Musical Instrument Factory, who had personally overseen the full restoration of the Marquis Yi of Zeng’s chime set.

I asked her if, under certain circumstances, the sound of chimes could kill a person.

Professor Wang was astonished and asked why I would ask such a thing. I said it was pure curiosity.

She eventually told me it was possible. She gave the example of how high-decibel sound can shatter a glass; chimes could do the same.

Looking back now, that was a lethal concert. The performers were dozens of skulls with gilded runes, and the instruments were a set of Western Zhou meteorite iron chimes.

And the host who invited "One-Mole" and me to listen?

I suspect it was the Marquis of Jie.