Peerless Dancer

Chapter 3: The Eerie Discovery

Even though we deal with ancient corpses daily, coming here at night still gives us the creeps, especially since it’s just the three of us women.

“You deal with dead bodies every day and still have so many superstitions!” Long Hui said as she pulled us into the room without further ado.

We had no choice but to follow her through the maze of cubicles until she stopped in front of a corpse covered in a white sheet. In a grave tone, she said, “Wu Lan, you need to brace yourself!”

Before I could react, she whisked the sheet away.

How was I supposed to brace myself for this?

I stood not far from the head of the corpse and, upon seeing it, I froze. Despite my extensive experience, I found myself trembling uncontrollably!

It was a female corpse, dressed in lavish attire and adorned with elaborate decorations. The body was remarkably well-preserved, said to require no special materials or tools for maintenance, a rarity in archaeology.

She appeared as if she had just passed away, her face lifelike, with a faint smile on her lips. It was this lifelike appearance and the almost living smile that sent chills down my spine.

Because the woman, in terms of stature, height, and facial features, looked exactly like me. It was hard to believe, as if I was seeing myself dressed in ancient garb, lying there asleep.

Even more bizarre was the smile. It's not unusual for two people to look alike despite having no blood relation, but to have an identical smile? That’s unheard of! Especially for an ancient corpse whose era remains unknown.

Long Dan quickly hugged me tightly, covering my eyes with her hands. But it was too late; I had already seen everything clearly. I also noticed that the corpse wore the same * necklace around her neck.

My mind went blank!

Long Hui said, “I was afraid of scaring you, so I told Ben Ben to say it was a painting, but you didn’t believe it!”

Long Dan urgently interjected, “Cousin, now’s not the time to argue about that. Tell us, what’s going on?”

Long Hui pulled the sheet back over the corpse. We exited the room and entered the lounge.

In my daze, it seemed that as Long Hui covered the body, the corpse winked at me! My goodness!

Long Hui poured us some water and said, “This was discovered a month ago in the Shen Zhui ancient city. Everyone thought she looked like you, but no one dared to say it because it was too bizarre and eerie. Not even Long Dan knew. We purposely sent you on a 20-day business trip to Shenzhen to keep you from finding out and potentially getting affected.”

Seeing my lack of reaction, Long Hui continued, “I thought about it for a long time and decided to tell you. I felt there might be something strange and significant about you that could help us understand. You are involved; you have the right to know. Maybe knowing will help.”

Long Dan, who had been listening intently, suddenly exclaimed, “Wait!”

Her voice was suddenly loud, piercing the quiet night, jolting me awake and redirecting my attention from Long Hui to her.

“Did you notice something?”

“What?” Long Hui asked in surprise.

“That corpse isn’t wearing earrings!”

“What?” Long Hui almost jumped, “But Wu Lan... Wu Lan has six piercings in her ears!”

Long Hui stared at my ears. I used to have six piercings, though I now only wore one pair of earrings. The holes were still there.

Long Hui said, “Stay here, I’ll be right back!” and dashed out.

I smiled bitterly, “Looks like I’ll dream of that white-robed figure again tonight. Maybe another big event is on its way tomorrow.”

Long Dan reassured, “It’s okay, Wu Lan! I’m your lucky star, and you’re my lucky charm.” She rarely called me by my name, and it touched me deeply. She only used my name when things got dangerous.

Forcing a smile, I said, “I hope so!”

As we spoke, Long Hui returned and said, “There really aren’t any piercings. How strange! According to modern science, this woman died in her thirties. She was beautiful and clearly from a noble family, given her attire and burial items. No deadly virus was found, so how did she mysteriously die?”

“Can we identify her?” I had regained my composure.

“No! That’s the strangest part. Given her burial standards, she was of noble birth, but there’s nothing to confirm her identity. The burial items are ordinary, each with a known origin. The only peculiar thing is an inscription on her coffin, but it’s in an undeciphered script.”

“Can you get me a copy of the inscription?” I asked.

“Of course! I took photos of everything,” Long Hui said excitedly, “This concerns my cousin’s best friend. How could I not be extra cautious?” She took out a pocket-sized camera.

I laughed, “Do you often sneak lab materials without anyone noticing?”

Long Hui chuckled, “Stubborn! How else would you see them?”

She displayed the images of the coffin’s inscription. They were full of strange symbols and mystical patterns resembling, yet not quite, animals.

My heart skipped a beat! Long Hui, seeing my reaction, nudged Long Dan, “She’s ahead of you! She can even read the Shen Zhui script! You’ve been outwitted!”

Long Hui assumed we had a competition to see who could decipher the Shen Zhui script first.

But I wasn’t smiling. After examining the images, I remained silent.

Long Dan nudged me, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

I looked at both of them, shrugged, and said, “I only understand a bit. It vaguely praises the woman’s beauty. Long Hui is wrong. I’m smart, but not enough to decipher what experts couldn’t.”

On the way home, neon lights outside the car window showcased modern civilization’s brilliance and human ingenuity.

Pretending to sleep, my mind was a jumble.

I recognized the coffin’s script. Perhaps no one else could, because it was a script I invented using my mother’s dialect and altered phonetics. I used it during my archaeological fieldwork to mark things. I called it the ‘Bie Wen.’

My self-created script appeared on the coffin of a woman who looked exactly like me!

Back home, I turned on my computer and opened my thesis.

My thesis was about the Shen Zhui Kingdom, covering everything from its origins, customs, and beliefs, to the lives of royals and commoners, totaling over 600,000 words. It was the first comprehensive study of the Shen Zhui Kingdom, based on years of archaeological research and a wealth of artifacts.

I encountered many issues while writing it.

I listed these unresolved problems, like why a tomb filled with exquisite offerings, untouched by grave robbers, had a wall painting crudely defaced. Or why some inscriptions were altered with childish doodles.

These bizarre problems often consumed my thoughts, leading me into daydreams.

For instance, could someone have traveled back in time to alter these?

Long Dan scoffed at my fantasies, “You think it’s ‘Back to the Middle Ages’?”

Our academic approaches were polar opposites: she required evidence for every claim, while I relied on intuition.

This difference led to frequent debates, neither of us yielding.

Staring at my computer, I drifted off, haunted by the woman’s mysterious smile.

In my dream, the familiar white-robed figure approached. His face was blurred. This time, he didn’t draw circles but poked around with a stick as if searching for something.

I asked, “Who are you?”

He stopped, stood up, and walked towards me. I tried to see his face but couldn’t.

He lit a cigarette and blew a long smoke ring at me. In the haze, I vaguely saw him smile—a familiar smile.

I couldn’t place him.

“Who are you?” I shouted.

He remained silent, turned, and walked away. After a few steps, he looked back and smiled again. I suddenly realized, “I know! You’re…”

“Hey! Wake up! Stop dreaming, wake up!”

Long Dan’s voice pierced through, shattering my fleeting revelation. I opened my eyes to find her in her pajamas, shaking my head.

“What are you doing?” I snapped.

“You fell asleep here and had a nightmare! No good deed goes unpunished!” Long Dan grumbled as she left.

I shook my head, trying to recall the dream and identify the man, but I couldn’t.

I yelled at Long Dan’s door, “Nemesis! Foe!”