1287 Life and Death (1/2)
If Fina's heart still had at least one-tenth of the hope she had before arriving at the stone door, it entirely disappeared when she saw the faint glow of the light in the tomb of the king.
Richard had just flown into the tomb. If there was an ancient man 2,000 years old inside, he would never be so quiet, and the whole pyramid would have heard him.
Fina went into the tomb deep in thought.
Unsurprisingly, the smaller tombs were empty. Although there were countless treasures around, there were no signs of life. It was as quiet as 2,000 years ago.
A heavy stone sarcophagus divided the tomb into two areas, east and west. The ratio was about one to five. The west side was wide and was used for stacking funerary objects. The east side was relatively narrow.
Fina walked between the funerary objects. The burials here were different from those in the tomb. The amount of gold and jewels was greatly reduced, with the quality being more exquisite. In addition, there were many large and small clay pots. Some pots were shaking with the vibrations. Bread that had become black lumps and other decomposed items were also visible.
The ancient Egyptians had believed that the human soul was composed of ”cards” and ”bars.”
The ”card” was the energy of life. When a person died, the ”card” would remain in the mausoleum and rely on the food to be preserved to maintain their existence. This is why there were many pots to hold food in the tomb.
The ”bar” represented human personality, similar to the soul in the modern sense. The ”bar” was given the image of a bird, with the ability to move freely from the body and the ability to change shape. When a person did, their ”bar” would leave the mausoleum during the day and return to the mummies at night.
The last prayer written outside at the stone gate read, ”We will return in many forms.” The so-called ”many forms” referred to one's ”bar” after death.
Fina looked up at the ”air duct” on the north and south sides of the walls.
It was now noon. If her ”bar” really existed, it may have already flown out of the air duct. Perhaps that day, when it had heard sounds in the ruins of the Temple of Bastet, it might've been her ”bar” whispering to it.
However, in any case, her ”bar” would definitely return here at night and enter via the ”air duct.”
Thinking of this, Fina gave a slight smile. Would her ”bar” be happy seeing her here?
Fina jumped onto the stone sarcophagus and noticed that there was a pair of red loafers on the east side. The style was similar to modern-flip flops. It looked as if the pharaoh would suddenly push the lid open at any time and wear them out of the mausoleum.
Pharaoh's loafers had a high status in ancient Egypt. They symbolized that the pharaoh had the enemy under his feet. Thus, the pair of loafers was very beautiful and embroidered with elaborate patterns.
Fina jumped to the side of the shoe and took a closer look at it. These were her loafers.
Her claws suddenly felt the small vibrations passing through the floor. They were caused by the sudden breakage of the rocks beneath.
How long could the pyramid last? Probably not till the evening.
Knowing this, Fina squatted down and even closed its eyes. The chaotic thoughts in its head were gone at once, and its mind was clearer than ever.
It was so tired. It wanted to just rest like this!
”You are not dead. You merely left alive,” it muttered. This was the promise of the dead to the living during ancient Egyptian funerals.
It was at this time, outside the stone gate, that Galaxy heard some kind of movement and turned its head. It saw her. She smiled and waved at it. It lifted a front paw and responded.
This was her first encounter with it. The look they gave one another was like that of close friends who had known each other for many years.
She pointed to the tomb and mouthed some words. Her meaning: ”Is Fina already inside?”
Galaxy nodded.