Sky Eye

Author: Jing Xufeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book is a remarkable work that has been widely circulated online. Before his death, a famous criminal investigation expert left behind a lifelong unsolved mystery for his grandchildren. The grandchildren struggled to decipher what the mystery was, seeking lock experts both domestically and internationally. When the golden lock was opened, it revealed an even more thrilling story— tomb raiders discovered a "heavenly eye" on the remains of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, and it was said to emit a fatal curse. The work excels purely in storytelling, with a writing style truly in the tradition of Jin Yong, and the scenes are grand. The entire novel is completely fictional; there is no Xiao Jianan or Cui Erkua in reality, of course, and certainly no Cui Erkua raiding tombs. To this day, the Mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty remains intact in Beiling Park, Shenyang. Additionally, the entire novel contains no allegories or allusions, merely being an entertainment novel. The Mystery of Life and Death refers to the book's posthumous words: This is an extremely eerie story. The story begins with the death of my grandfather: My grandfather passed away at the age of ninety-seven. Due to his lifelong practice of martial arts, his body remained very strong, and if he hadn’t suffered a sudden thrombotic stroke, we believed he could have lived to be over a hundred. In his last moments of clarity before death, my grandfather told me a sentence, which was also his last word. At that time, he was surrounded by me, Gao Yang, and Grandma Ma, in addition to his former subordinate, Director Zhang of the Criminal Investigation Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, and the young officer Zhao Ying. Therefore, I am confident that I heard my grandfather’s last words correctly, but none of us understood what they meant. What my grandfather left behind were the two characters "kézi"! At that moment, the old man had already been in a coma for three days and, upon waking, glanced at us before fixing his gaze on my face. He then tightly gripped my hand, as if trying to tell me something, but after a long while, he made no sound. After another long pause, he spoke two words, but his pronunciation was extremely unclear. What I heard were the two characters "kézi." We eagerly awaited my grandfather to continue, as none of us knew what he wanted to tell us from the pronunciation of these two characters, and we were even more aware that this was likely his last word. After another long effort, my grandfather could no longer speak, and at this point, a sense of urgency and anger rose in his eyes. After this struggle, my grandfather was extremely exhausted and slowly leaned against his pillow, closing his eyes. After a while, I noticed that my grandfather’s left hand had left my grasp and was seemingly unconsciously drawing on the bed. After a while, Zhao Ying beside me suddenly whispered, "Old Xiao is writing!" I lowered my head and noticed that my grandfather was indeed writing something. Suddenly, I remembered that my grandfather had suffered a thrombotic stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. At that time, only his left hand could move. Because it was his left hand, the strokes were extremely blurred. I could see him writing the same two characters over and over again. After watching for a while, I gradually recognized that the old man was writing the two characters "shàngxià", the first being an upper-and-lower structure, with a single stroke on top, which should be the character for "person"; the second character had very few strokes, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make out what it was. Just as I was struggling to decipher it, a severe cough interrupted my grandfather. After the doctor provided emergency treatment, my grandfather became extremely exhausted and fell into a deep sleep. We anxiously stayed by his side, hoping he would wake up again and finish his words, but he never woke up after that sleep. During the period of arranging the funeral, I was constantly troubled by my grandfather’s strange last words. I also spoke with Gao Yang and Grandma Ma on the phone during this time. Gao Yang is Grandma Ma’s grandson and my childhood friend. Grandma Ma’s family and mine have a deep connection across three generations. On the phone, I asked them about the circumstances at the time, and like me, they heard the two characters "kézi," but they couldn’t even see the characters my grandfather wrote with his fingers as clearly as I did. After the funeral, I contacted Director Zhang to inform him that my grandfather had instructed that all his books and criminal investigation materials be handed over to the Ministry of Public Security. Director Zhang expressed his condolences over the phone and promised to arrange for Zhao Ying to assist me in clearing the belongings. Later, when I discussed the incident with Director Zhang, he confirmed the same thing. It seemed I hadn’t heard wrong—my grandfather’s last words were indeed "kézi." That afternoon, Zhao Ying came to my grandfather’s old home. Zhao Ying was my grandfather’s last disciple, having graduated from the police academy two years ago and been assigned to assist my grandfather in organizing his lifelong cases and criminal investigation materials. My grandfather, Xiao Jianan, was a famous criminal investigation expert in China. After retiring, he not only served as a criminal investigation consultant for the Ministry of Public Security but was also invited by the Ministry to write a case analysis textbook based on his lifelong experience and materials—"Analysis of Criminal Investigation Cases and Methods in China." This book received great attention and support from the Ministry of Public Security, so for the two years before his death, Zhao Ying would come to the house a few afternoons a week to assist my grandfather with his work. Before sorting through the belongings, I discussed the incident with Zhao Ying. I shared my thoughts with her, and after a moment of contemplation, she confidently told me, "We all misheard it. What my grandfather said at the end was not 'kézi' but 'hézi'!" "What?" I was momentarily stunned but quickly understood her meaning. Indeed, it was not easy to see through, but her one sentence solved the puzzle that had been troubling me for days, though I hadn’t realized it before. In fact, I had always been certain that the two characters "kézi" were completely indecipherable! If I had to provide an explanation, I could only say that my grandfather had left something or a clue for me on the "" (outer shell) of an object. However, this explanation was quite strained, as the word "kézi" is rarely used in modern spoken language and cannot convey any specific meaning on its own. If it had to be used, it could only be combined with other nouns, such as the "" of something. Even then, saying "the outer shell of something" would sound much more natural than "the kézi of something." Therefore, the two characters my grandfather said at the end could not have been "kézi." Since they weren’t "kézi," they were likely another two characters with a similar pronunciation, as my grandfather had lost some language ability at the end and it was entirely possible that his pronunciation was unclear. Additionally, after regaining consciousness, my grandfather wrote two characters on the bedsheet with his fingers. One character was an upper-and-lower structure with a person-shaped top, and the other had fewer strokes, which I had already noticed at the time. Considering these two points, along with Zhao Ying’s repeated confirmation, it was indeed correct—my grandfather’s last words were definitely "hézi"! The problem that had troubled me for days was finally resolved, and I felt a sense of relief, but only for a moment. A stronger curiosity was immediately sparked, and I thought: If it’s a "hézi" (box), then what exactly did my grandfather leave for me in this so-called "box"? What did a man who had dedicated his entire life to such a legendary profession still cling to until the very end? The thought only intensified my curiosity. Zhao Ying seemed to sense my confusion and patted my hand, saying, "Don’t worry, the 'box' my grandfather refers to might just be in this old house!" For the next three days, I and Zhao Ying worked tirelessly to sort through my grandfather’s belongings. The sorting and categorization were extremely tedious. In addition to daily necessities, my grandfather left behind over a thousand books, most of which were criminal investigation from around the world, with many in their original language. There were also collections of famous detective novels from around the world, including the English original "Sherlock Holmes" and works by Agatha Christie and Edgar Allan Poe. As for my grandfather’s handwritten materials, they were even harder to organize, as he still wrote in calligraphy with a brush, and in his cursive style, we could recognize only half of the characters in ten words. Moreover, the amount of material was enormous.