[Candle In The Tomb]
[Episode 6]
Comrade Hu, since people in the past located their burial grounds
by reading constellations and nature
it would be the simplest for us to use Tianxing Feng Shui
if we were to discover the mausoleums on the ancient Silk Road.
Am I right?
Professor Chen.
You're the expert in this field.
Thank the gods.
They have sent such a talented man to us.
Professor, you're too kind.
This is fate.
We'll keep to scientific facts and not the gods.
Good.
Comrades.
I hereby announce...
Comrade Hu.
How should we address you?
My name is Hu Ba Yi.
Good.
I hereby announce Comrade Hu Ba Yi is officially part of our archaeology team.
Congratulations.
- Thank you. - I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Comrade Hu.
We scholars are such stinking intellectuals.
We've been too cooped up during the Cultural Revolution.
Don't take it to heart!
It's all right. Professor Hao, you're too kind.
Well done, Hu.
You're remarkable.
That is everything I knew.
It's difficult to spew nonsense with a straight face.
Comrade Hu, allow me to introduce them to you.
These three are my students.
They are joining us.
Sa Di Peng, he majors in archaeology but his other interest is aliens.
Brother Hu, are you interested in E.T. (Extra-terrestrials)?
- E.T... - Yes, E.T.
They seem all right by me.
There, there.
This is...
I'm Chu Jian and my expertise is hiking.
And...
Your hairstyle is so cool.
Thank you.
We just recruited him.
This is Xiao Ye, Ye Yi Xin.
She's one of the rare female comrades we have on an archaeology team.
It's always been my dream to study archaeology.
Nice to meet you, Brother Hu.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you all!
Mr. Hu is very knowledgeable.
Allow me to introduce you to her.
This is Ms. Yang.
She is the benefactor of research team.
She will be joining us on the trip.
She might be a young woman but she's a photographer
for the famous American magazine, National Geographic.
Hello, how are you?
Mr. Hu, let's speak in Mandarin.
You can call me Shirley Yang.
Shirley... It sounds like Sarira (a Buddhist relic) in Sanskrit.
Mr. Wang came here with Mr. Hu?
What does Mr. Wang specialize in?
This expedition to the desert is very important.
We don't need anyone without skills in our team.
It's very dangerous in the desert.
My friend is very skilled in marksmanship.
The desert is not a big deal!
I was once sent to Xinjiang to exterminate bandits!
I sent those bandits scrambling from Niya Oasis!
I've even killed the leader of the bandits myself.
This is my trophy.
The suppression of bandits in Xinjiang occurred around the founding of China.
Which year were you born in? When did you render service?
It was way back in the days.
- Listen up, I... - Comrade Wang.
Could you show me that jade pendant?
Sure, have a look!
Don't spoil it.
Ai Guo, lead them out to get ready.
Sure.
- We'll go and get ready. - Okay.
Let's go.
Comrade Wang will join the team then?
Comrade Wang.
We believe in your abilities.
You will each be paid $10,000 dollars for this expedition.
If we manage to discover Jingjue Kingdom in the desert
the wages will be doubled. What do you say?
If we find it, we get paid $20,000 dollars each?
Yes.
Jingjue Kingdom?
As for the details, we'll discuss when we get the time.
How about it?
What do you say?
All right, don't see us off.
We won't walk you out then.
Please head home to get ready for the trip.
I'll inform you when we need to set out.
Sure.
Xiao Chu!
Walk Comrade Hu out.
- Sure. - Goodbye!
The characters on the jade pendant were that of Devil's Cave.
Devil's Cave Dwellers wrote with those characters.
It's an ancient minority ethnic group in the Western Regions.
They are already extinct by now.
We will still need to research those characters on that jade.
I think that jade pendant is very likely
to be related to the secret of Jingjue Kingdom.
However, I can't confirm that yet.
Only by finding that notebook could we have an answer.
Let's hope so.
Here, let's discuss the route again.
Sure.
Sir!
Two bowls of tea, please.
Coming.
They didn't even offer us any water.
I'm parched!
Hu, how much do you think she would pay for this jade pendant?
If we were to find that ancient kingdom we get $20,000 dollars each.
What a good offer!
I've never even heard of that ancient kingdom.
Moreover, she is no fool.
If it were that easy to discover would she pay that much?
You mean to say that we won't be able to find it?
Don't get your hopes up.
Look at Professor Chen's age.
He still intends to take a trip into the second largest shifting sand dune.
An academic scholar like him can't withstand the journey through a desert.
I deliberately made it seem highly impossible for us to find the kingdom
so they can't blame us if they wish to return from a fruitless endeavor?
It's to say that we're paid $10,000 dollars to go traveling?
Gloat all you want in secret.
Sir.
- Another bowl of tea. - Coming.
- Take this? - No!
- Not even a nine? - No!
- Ten! - Ai Guo.
Professor, you're here.
You're playing poker?
Go ahead.
Comrade Hu.
Come. I need to talk to you.
Sure.
Continue with your game.
Have a seat.
- I'll dish my card out first? - Go on.
Three nines and an Ace.
- You want it? - Three Kings and a nine!
I've done with my cards!
Do you even play Three nines and an Ace now?
Isn't it just a card game?
No, he's too silly. He knows...
Xiao Ye, take my place.
I need to use the bathroom.
I'm not playing anymore.
- This sucks. - I'll take over.
The glacier of Karakoram?
Why didn't you mention the new route earlier?
We have been discussing the route all this time.
What is the matter?
- Do you have a cigarette? - Yes.
Hu...
What exactly happened?
Tell me about it.
Professor Chen said that we're changing our route.
They want us to head into the glacier of Karakoram first.
The glacier of Karakoram?
It's so cold there.
- What did you say? - I said no.
Hu, I do think that it's fine with the new route.
We'd go by one more location and have them pay more, right?
- We can't do more work for nothing. - I said no!
What's wrong?
I did my military service there.
I know how dangerous it is over there.
In 1970... I had just started my service in the army.
The army sent us to the entrance of Karakoram on Tibetan Plateau.
The entire division was replaced by engineering corps.
Many weird events took place then.
So much of that was what I still refuse to bring to my mind.
Or should I say that I don't dare to remember?
That still remained impossible to explain or understand.
One day...
my partner and I went out to deliver supplies.
When we set out the car was in a good shape.
But on our way, something happened.
Xiao Luan, drive slower.
It's all right, Squad Leader.
It's quite a smooth drive.
We should get there before dusk.
Squad Leader, what was that?
Did you see it clearly?
I didn't.
It seems to be a ray of blue light.
How could there any bug be alive in the snow?
Squad Leader, what is that?
I have no idea.
It doesn't look like a firefly.
Give me a minute.
Squad Leader, isn't it pretty?
Let's go!
We'll show this to our comrades.
What's going on?
I don't have a clue.
Start the engine again.
Hold on. Give me a minute.
Xiao Luan!
The high pressure fuel injection pipe broke.
That's impossible.
I had it examined before we left.
There's a military depot ahead. I'll ask for assistance.
Stay here and keep watch on the supplies.
- Sure. - Put your coat on. Don't get frostbite.
Don't worry, Squad Leader.
What exactly was that blue bug?
I don't know.
It was like some ladybug.
But no one could say for sure.
At dawn, I brought men from the military depot with me.
But what I saw then...
I could never ever get it off my mind.
Xiao Luan!
Xiao Luan?
Xiao Luan!
He was burned to death?
The troops came up to a conclusion...
He came across criminals while carrying out his mission.
They gave Xiao Luan a memorial service as a martyr.
But I thought then that the bug must have something to do with his death.
What happened after his death also proved that my theory was right.
You came across that bug again?
Mister Hu, Mister Wang.
Could you come to my compartment?
I'd like to talk to you.
That American eavesdropped on us.
Come in.
Come in here.
Please have a seat.
Have a seat.
Mr. Hu.
Is this the bug you saw?
Hu, is that the bug?
Yes, that's the bug.
This bug is called the "Beetle of Fire."
Literally meaning the beetle that sets things aflame.
It's only documented in records
of explorers and archaeologists worldwide.
These are just some random records.
To many, the beetle is but a legend.
Mr. Hu.
Did you really see the beetle of fire?
Yes.
Hu, could you tell us about your encounter with the bug?
One of our squads was assigned to a highly confidential mission.
They had to get deep into the glacier of Karakoram.
An incident occurred midway.
One of our comrades by the surname Zhou tripped and fell into the glacier.
- Zhou! - Zhou!
Zhou!
Watch out!
Witnessing someone set on fire and burned to death...
It was way too cruel.
The young soldiers couldn't help, but fire a few shots.
Numerous beetles of fire turned into balls
of blue flame and came charging at us.
We could only shoot at the beetles as we ran away.
That triggered an avalanche.
Run!
When I regained consciousness
I was already lying in the army hospital.
Apart from me, all my other teammates...
I don't understand why you have to change and take that route.
Didn't we agree to go to the desert?
Didn't we say that we're just searching for Jingjue Kingdom?
Exactly.
Do all Americans change their minds as easily as you do?
Comrade Hu.
Here's what.
The avalanche was triggered by a very light earthquake.
It wasn't because of your gunshots.
I read about that in an internal report.
It was also verified in a report from National Bureau of Geology.
That earthquake even caused a crack in the foothill east of Karakoram.
How is that related to our search for Jingjue Kingdom?
Years ago, a Chinese-foreign cooperation research team went to Xinjiang.
The team leader was an old friend of mine.
He was obsessed with the culture of the Western Regions.
However, on the way to search for Jingjue Kingdom
they changed the route for some unknown reason
and headed to the glacier of Karakoram.
Then they went missing.
None returned.
How would you know that they disappeared there?
The final distress signal came from the foothill east of Karakoram.
Therefore, we speculated that their disappearance is related to
the crack in the foothill east of Karakoram.
What are we going to search in that crack?
A notebook.
At the beginning of this century there was a British explorer, Mr. Walter.
It was his diary.
He had recorded how they discovered Jingjue Kingdom step-by-step.
It plays a crucial role in our search for Jingjue Kingdom in the desert.
The search for such a document isn't my only reason for going to the glacier.
I want to accomplish what my father set out to do.
I want to find out what made them go to the glacier.
I want to discover the secret of Jingjue Kingdom.
Your father was the team leader of that research team?
This is a very rare opportunity.
If we were to find Jingjue Kingdom and accomplish our archaeology research
many mysteries in history would then be unraveled.
A new insight into the culture of Western Regions could be attained.
I understand what this is about.
One of you is doing it for a relative, while the other for the research.
It doesn't really concern us.
However... it isn't that easy to turn you down.
You also said it yourselves.
This is quite dangerous.
Am I right, Hu?
How about this? Pay us a bit more?
5000.
How about that?
If so, you could get off at the next station.
I also know that it's quite risky.
Indeed, this matter doesn't concern you either.
I will go with you.
Didn't you say that you're not going? Why did you change your mind?
What on earth are you thinking?
After listening to what they said, it struck me...
I thought that after all these years
I could face the suffering of my comrades.
In fact, I couldn't.
Hu.
It's their greatest joy that you could still stay alive.
I understand that.
But I just felt that I had let them down.
All of them had reasons to stay alive.
But I was the only one who survived.
My comrades sacrificed their lives so that I could live.
Yet I don't even have the courage to visit them where they died.
I can't just ignore them.
That's why I think that I should go.
I understand.
Sure. If you're going, then we're going.
But Fatso... Heed my advice.
This matter doesn't concern you.
You shouldn't come with us.
Hu, what do you mean?
It's nothing personal. It's just too dangerous.
I shouldn't drag you into this mess.
- Do you look down on me? - Of course not.
I know that you're fearless. But I still can't take you with me.
Enough nonsense! We already came so far.
However dangerous we have to stick together!
Listen up, Hu.
In 1970, you joined the army and left.
Do you know what scared me the most?
I'm worried that a third World War would occur
and you'd be summoned to war. Then we'd never meet again.
We lost contact for a few years.
I really had a hard time trying to stay put in Niuxin Mountain.
In 1979, you were sent to the front lines.
I didn't say much in the letter, did I?
It wasn't that I didn't have much to tell you.
I had so much to say but I don't know how to tell you.
I was worried that it would jinx you and you wouldn't make it home.
You have no idea how glad I was to see the army send you home.
I was just as thrilled as your dad.
- Fatso... - Hu.
Chairman Mao once said
"There is infinite joy in struggling with heaven and earth!"
What's the big deal in a small glacier of Karakoram?
Listen up, Hu Ba Yi.
You want to leave me behind? In your dreams.
Fatso...
You're going to lose some money.
Professor Chen, be careful.
- I look forward to your return. - Thank you.
Be careful on the way.
- Stay cautious. - I will. Thank you.
- Get the task done well. - Yes!
Goodbye.
We're off!
Stay safe! Come back soon!
Keep up!
Titan, let everyone get some rest.
Everyone!
Let's get some rest here.
Comrade Ga Wa, how far do you think
we are from the ice cave that we're looking for?
Professor, don't put me in a spot.
Three hours ago, we already moved past our patrol grounds.
But the guide said that our seniors risked their lives
to open up this route to build a secret base.
It's no longer in use now.
Ga Wa!
What are you talking about?
Could you bring up the secret base so casually?
Comrade Titan, don't worry.
We won't tell anyone.
- We won't. - Exactly.
It isn't some top secret anyway.
Moreover, Professor Chen is not some outsider.
Does that mean you don't know if that ice cave really exists?
It isn't just me.
Titan is a veteran and he doesn't know either.
He might not even have come this far before.
We're just following Brother Hu.
That belonged to your comrade?
Watch your step!
Here.
Look.