Chapter 552

Ahmed now regretted agreeing to take the task. If he had refused the director's order at that time and insisted on going to helgada for vacation, the consequence would at most be to come back and be trained, and now he must face unknown dangers. This is obviously not an ordinary murder.

"Professor Alef, did you know anything before you came?" Ahmed asked tentatively, looking at the empty sarcophagus and the deep cave.

"No, I don't know anything like you," said Alef, "but now I know a little."

"What do you know?"

"No mummy has been found since the discovery of Khufu pyramid. The tombs of Pharaoh and queen are empty. It is said that the pyramid has long been looted by tomb robbers." Alef said, "In fact, we haven't found Pharaoh's body in any pyramid so far. All the mummies were found in the valley of kings. I always have a question. Why did the emperors of the ancient Egyptian Dynasty make the tomb so conspicuous? It's not obvious to tell the tomb robbers to steal it. My baby is here! Now I know, the pyramids on the ground It's a cover. Its underground palace is the real tomb. "

"Then why is the coffin empty?"

"Then go down and have a look."

Ahmed said, "well, I'll go first and you'll follow me. Abdullah, you can stay here if you're afraid."

Abdullah stood up and said, "no, sir, I'm not afraid. I just... I'm not ready. I swear in the name of my father and grandfather that Abdullah Rashad Rashid buzibrahi izgerahi zisharasha mudzhile is a brave soldier and will not be a deserter. If you don't believe it, I'm willing to go ahead!"

Ahmed thought for a moment and decided to admit the bravery of the lovely scenic spot administrator and let him go ahead. This was not to let Abdullah be cannon fodder, but that he could have time to make a more correct judgment in case of danger.

Climbing into the sarcophagus, there was a steep downward slope. There were a lot of blood on the ground and the corners on both sides of the slope. Not long after going down the slope, he entered another stone chamber.

This stone chamber is much larger than the one above, but it is not square, but a regular pentagon. Many murals are also painted on the wall. There is a sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber, and five stone tablets stand around the sarcophagus.

Professor Alef's eyes were completely attracted by the five stone tablets, while Ahmed walked to the corner of the stone chamber, where there was a body.

Different from the above, the corpse here was treated very clean, the internal organs had been completely removed, and the whole abdominal cavity was empty, but it was certain that the heart was still there. The excavated face hole was also cleaned, and the dead's eyes and brain were missing. The whole head was like an empty pumpkin.

As like as two peas as like as two peas in the five corners of the stone, they were all dead alike, and placed in the same place. Their feet were pointing to the walls of the stone room, and their heads were facing the sarcophagus in the center, which seemed to be a sacrificial ceremony.

This overturned Ahmed's speculation about the murderer. It was impossible for the beast to arrange the bodies so neatly.

He carefully examined the surrounding of the stone chamber, and found no other passage except two vents on the wall. Therefore, he looked at the sarcophagus in the middle.

Alef was still looking at the stone tablets. While looking at them, he said to himself, "this is not a holy script, not ancient Egyptian characters. Damn, I don't know any of these words. It's too strange!"

From the first tablet to the fifth tablet, he looked puzzled: "it's really hieroglyphics, at least a little like the holy script. Is it Chinese characters? No, no, it's impossible. How could Chinese characters appear in the Pharaoh's tomb four thousand years ago! Hey -" he turned and shouted, "who of you knows Chinese?"

Ahmed shrugged and said in his heart, how can anyone here understand Chinese? Aren't you a professor? Aren't you an archaeologist? If you don't know, who else knows!

When Alef was disappointed, Adula suddenly stood up and said with a little confidence: "I think I may know a little Chinese."

"You?" Ahmed was surprised. "Do you know Chinese?"

"Just a little," said Abdullah. "Tourism officials say that all people working in the scenic spot should learn a little Chinese if... If they want to make money for Chinese tourists."

Alef nodded and said, "come and see what's written on this monument."

Abdullah straightened up, stood in front of the monument and looked at it for a while, but his face soon showed a confused and puzzled look.

"It's not Chinese," he said.

"Are you sure?" Alef asked.

"Although my Chinese is not good, I'm sure it's not Chinese characters, at least not today's Chinese characters. If it's an ancient character engraved on a turtle shell, I don't know it. I heard from the Chinese people that most of them don't know it either."

Alef was a little disappointed, but he soon got excited again, "Ah, that means we have found a new text, an ancient text different from the holy script, which is a major discovery in the history of civilization! This tomb is a new discovery. No one has come in before. These texts and murals are well preserved without any problem. I and you will be as famous as Shang Boliang!"

Ahmed didn't care about immortality. He reminded, "Sir, you may have forgotten that we are now at the scene of a murder. There are five bodies here. Together with those in the aisle, seven tourists were killed."

Alef was stunned for a moment, as if he had only known about it, and said, "well, nothing. Just a few people died."

"How many people are dead?! that's easy to say!" Ahmed thought there was something wrong with the scholar's mind. "Don't you think we are in danger?"

"Danger? Oh, yes, danger. There is no danger in doing anything! But since everyone is dead, it means that the danger is over, isn't it?"

Alef said and ordered the two soldiers, "open the lid of the coffin."

The sarcophagus was bigger than the one above. The lid was well covered and looked very heavy. It took two soldiers a lot of effort to push it away.

Ahmed and Abdullah were ready with pistols, but Alef looked relaxed and turned to read the words on the stone tablet.

The coffin lid was removed in half, and no monster jumped out as expected. Ahmed approached and saw a human mummy lying in the coffin, with a gold mask on his face and a blanket inlaid with many ornaments.

Although Ahmed thought the mummy was a little strange and suspected that there were ghosts in it, he knew that it was the most precious cultural relic and should not be touched easily, even if the director gave him the authority to make a decision at the moment. He thinks it's better to let the archaeologists around him make a decision.

As like as two peas on the coffin, he said, "ah, it's perfect. It's just like Tutan Camon's mask!"

Then, he made an unexpected move and reached out to pick up the mask.

There was no Pharaoh's head under the mask, only a pile of sackcloth.

He picked up the blanket again. There was also a pile of linen under the blanket, and there were many scattered things piled there like stones.

"This... What's going on?" Ahmed felt incredible.

"Do you know what this is?" Alef took a piece of linen from the sarcophagus, held it with his fingers and shook it gently.

"What is this?"

"This is the shroud of the Pharaoh's mummy."