Ahmed's first thought was that the Pharaoh's the Mummy had been stolen. But then he realized something was amiss: why would someone remove the shroud before stealing the Mummy? And what about the Pharaoh's golden mask—the most valuable item—why was it still in the coffin?
"What is this?" He no longer cared whether the contents of the coffin were artifacts, and picked up a black object from among some scattered gold ornaments under the shroud.
"Spices," Alef said, "Were stuffed into the Mummy along with these gold and silver treasures to preserve the body."
Ahmed frowned and tossed the spices he was holding back into the coffin.
"Do you know how the Mummy are made?" Alef asked.
"How was it done?" Ahmed didn't know why Alef was asking this.
"After each pharaoh died, a ritual was held where his body was thrown into the wilderness or a river, and the entire city was mobilized to search for it. This ritual originated from the myth of Osiris. Legend has it that Osiris was once locked in a box and thrown into the Nile by his brother. After being retrieved, he was dismembered and scattered in different places. Osiris's wife retrieved the body parts and reassembled them, creating the Mummy. After Osiris was resurrected, he became the god of the Underworld. Later pharaohs would imitate this process and hold a body-finding ritual after their deaths."
The Ancient Egypt were not afraid of death; they believed that they would be resurrected someday. So I guess this ritual began while the pharaoh was still alive.
Once the pharaoh's body, or his still-living but barely alive form, was recovered, an autopsy would begin—the abdomen would be opened, all the internal organs removed; the nose would be removed, the nasal bones and upper jawbone opened, and the brain taken out. However, they would preserve the heart, because the Ancient Egypt believed that the heart was the source of wisdom and the main distinction between the self and the object; only by preserving the heart could they ensure that the person who had come back to life was still himself.
Next, they soaked the body in brine to dissolve the grease and wash away the outer skin. After about forty days, they took the body out to dry, then stuffed the cavity with spices—the kind you just picked up—along with some gold and jewels commonly used by the pharaoh. After suturing the abdominal cavity, they applied resin to the outside of the body and finally wrapped it tightly in cloth. That's how a standard the Mummy was made."
It was as if Alef was lecturing his students in a classroom.
Ahmed was horrified. The corpse in the corner lay there, its internal organs and brain removed, only its heart remaining. If it were stuffed with spices and wrapped in a shroud, it would be a standard the Mummy.
Did the murderer intend to create a fake the Mummy by disguising the body like this?
No, that's impossible. It would be too easy to expose, and it wouldn't require that many dead people.
Or did the perpetrator deliberately arrange the crime scene this way to introduce an air of mystery and mislead the police into making a wrong judgment?
That's quite possible. For example, he initially judged that the murderer was some kind of animal that liked to eat internal organs. Although it's unlikely that a large animal capable of biting open a person's stomach would appear in this place, the inherent mystery of the pyramids makes it easy to overlook logical inconsistencies. It seems reasonable that some monsters never seen before would appear here, just like the plot in the movie " The Mummy ".
However, Ahmed was a seasoned police officer, and after reviewing the entire case, he ruled out that possibility as well.
The sandstorm only lasted a few hours. If the murderer had discovered the treasure in the underground palace and wanted to keep it for himself by killing all the witnesses, he wouldn't have had time to clean up the scene. Mysticism can only deceive people for a while. For the murderer, time is the most precious thing. He should have taken the most valuable items and made a quick escape instead of leaving the golden mask behind and going through the trouble of disposing of so many people's internal organs and the pharaoh's the Mummy.
Ahmed walked to the body in the corner and squatted down to carefully search for clues.
The incision on the abdomen of the corpse was very clean, but it didn't look like a knife cut; it looked more like it was made with an awl. Nothing else is clear, so we'll probably have to wait for a forensic examination to draw a conclusion.
Looking at the empty belly of the corpse, he suddenly had an urge to stuff the spices out of the coffin and then wrap the body in cloth. He didn't know why he thought this way, but the idea was so strong, as if someone was constantly urging him on.
He felt a cool breeze flow past the back of his neck and ears, as if something was breathing on his back.
Ahmed's forehead and back were covered in cold sweat. He turned around abruptly and saw Abdullah standing behind him.
" Abdullah, what are you doing?" he asked.
Abdullah seemed startled, pointing in terror behind Ahmed: "He... he..."
Ahmed sighed and said, "Don't be afraid, they're just dead people."
As he turned to go back, he saw that the corpse that had been lying on the ground had stood up. Right behind him, an open belly without internal organs protruded, and half a heart was still beating under the ribs. The faceless face seemed to be visible, staring at Ahmed.
Ahmed's heart pounded. However, he was a seasoned policeman who had weathered many storms, and with the authority to make on-the-spot decisions given to him by the chief before he arrived, he reacted immediately, retreating quickly while drawing his pistol and firing two shots.
The bullets thudded into the undead's body like they were hitting tattered cotton. The undead swayed slightly, seemingly enraged, and began to approach him step by step.
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted in the stone chamber, so loud it hurt the ears. He saw that the corpses in the other corners had also stood up, and the automatic rifles of the two soldiers who had come with Alef were spitting fire.
"Run!" Ahmed shouted. Firing a gun in such a confined space meant he'd be killed by his own stray bullets before even being bitten by the corpses.
He turned and rushed back towards the passage he had come from. However, whether it was due to a lapse in memory or nervousness, he bumped headfirst into a stone tablet.
Suddenly, the stone tablet emitted a golden light, and the other four stone tablets seemed to respond by emitting light as well.
The light grew brighter and brighter, so bright that one couldn't open their eyes, as if they were under the midsummer Sun.
The light, like a sharp sword, pierced through the thick stone walls and reached the outside of the pyramid, making the entire pyramid transparent.
Ahmed saw the Sun and Tushu in the sky, and on the ground was a vast sea of sand, with undulating dunes stretching endlessly, the fine sand reflecting golden light in the sunlight.
The three pyramids of Giza stand tall in the sea of sand, surrounded by many people, all of whom are enveloped in a halo, making it impossible to discern their features.
Ahmed, though standing in the underground chamber of the Pyramid of Khufu, seemed to have gained a pair of God's eyes, able to see everything on the Giza Plateau.
Then, he saw a person emerge from the crowd on the ground and walk towards the Pyramid of Khufu. Strangely, he did not head towards the entrance, but instead walked directly towards the stone wall and climbed up the outer stone steps.
Was he trying to climb to the top of the pyramid? The tourism bureau has clearly stated that unauthorized climbing is punishable by one to three years in prison. Even if he had government permission, how could he have climbed so easily? Those rocks are not easy to climb!
Even stranger, he actually walked through the stone wall and into the pyramid, as if it were not finished but a trapezoidal platform.
Oh, he went down again. But there's no path at all!
The man descended several unseen steps to reach the same height as Ahmed, and then walked towards Ahmed.
Ahmed was a little nervous, not knowing what had happened or what the man was doing.
As the man drew closer, Ahmed was finally able to see him clearly. He was wearing a suit, but because he was enveloped in a layer of gold light, the color of the suit was not visible, and his facial features were not very clear, but it was possible to tell that he was not young.
He saw that the man was holding something that looked like a red coral branch.
Even under the glaring sunlight, the coral branches remain strikingly red, like blood-stained roses offered to a lover.