"Hurry up and pack your things. We need to get out of this cursed place." Jonathan, finally sobered up, paced anxiously in place. Fear was written across his face, deeply unsettled by the threat of a curse.
O'Connell tried to calm him. "It's already so late. Traveling through the desert at night is nothing but a death sentence."
Evelyn, however, was the one most determined to stay. "This is the greatest archaeological discovery of the century! As for the curse—so long as we don't trigger it, we'll be fine."
After speaking, she turned her gaze to Wes, hoping for his agreement.
"I don't know if the curse has been triggered or not." Wes shook his head.
In the original events, Evelyn had recited an incantation from the Book of the Dead, awakening Imhotep and setting everything into motion.
But now everything felt too coincidental, as if some unseen hand was deliberately guiding these events to unfold.
Wes wanted to know if his interference could change anything.
"For now, it really isn't the right time to leave Hamunaptra. Let's discuss everything tomorrow morning."
The next morning, Evelyn and Jonathan broke out into a heated argument.
Evelyn wanted to stay and continue the excavation, but Jonathan, terrified of the curse, insisted they had to leave no matter what.
In the end, Evelyn managed to persuade him—or rather, the treasure hidden in the necropolis persuaded him.
"Before nightfall today, we must leave," Jonathan declared solemnly inside the tomb. "No matter how much treasure there is, you need to stay alive to spend it. And we agreed, didn't we? All the treasure we find belongs to me!"
That was the real reason Jonathan stayed.
The group returned once more to the chamber where Imhotep's sarcophagus rested silently.
"No wonder his coffin was buried beneath the feet of Anubis," Evelyn remarked. Seeing O'Connell and Jonathan's puzzled looks, she explained, "Only the most unforgivable sinners were entombed at the feet of the god of death."
"An affair with the Pharaoh's concubine, murdering the Pharaoh, and attempting to break the boundary between the underworld and the living to resurrect the dead—each of these is a grave sin. This high priest brought his fate upon himself."
She sighed, then began examining the sarcophagus.
Upon close inspection, she discovered a mechanism engraved with scarabs that perfectly matched the mysterious box they had found earlier.
Excitedly, she took out the box and fitted it into the mechanism. As expected, the box was the key. With a soft twist—
Click… crack! The sound of ancient gears echoed, followed by a grating noise that made everyone's teeth ache. Slowly, the ancient sarcophagus creaked open.
What puzzled Wes was that, despite the known curse, neither the cautious O'Connell nor the cowardly Jonathan attempted to stop Evelyn's actions.
As the lid fully opened, they were met with the sight of an intricately carved inner coffin shaped like a human figure. Evelyn explained to O'Connell that the sacred inscriptions had been chiseled away, meaning the occupant would be cursed for all eternity.
Impatient Jonathan, however, didn't care about such details. He snatched the key from Evelyn's hands, shoved it into the lock of the inner coffin, and eagerly turned it.
With a loud creak, the inner coffin swung open.
Inside was the desiccated corpse of a mummy—the remains of Imhotep. His mouth was twisted wide open in a ghastly snarl, proof of the unimaginable torment he must have endured in his final moments.
Evelyn leaned in with intense curiosity, carefully examining every detail without letting anything escape her eyes. On the inside of the sarcophagus lid, she even discovered clear scratch marks—evidence that the person inside had been mummified alive.
From the scarab remains found within, she realized that the mummy's owner, Imhotep, had been executed through the Curse of the Scarabs.
"The Curse of the Scarabs is the most vicious punishment in ancient Egypt. It was usually reserved for the most heinous of criminals. I've never seen a record of anyone being sentenced to it in the texts I've studied. It's said to bring unimaginable disaster."
Evelyn vividly explained her discovery to the others.
Her thoughts were consumed by the shocking revelation, and her mind began racing with speculations about the origins and meaning of such a cruel punishment.
Jonathan, on the other hand, had no interest in history whatsoever. In his eyes, only glittering treasures were worth paying attention to. His eager gaze swept the area around the sarcophagus, concerned only with whether there were valuable burial goods to be found.
"There's gotta be something worth money here, right?" Jonathan muttered to himself as he rummaged through the coffin's contents, hoping to uncover treasures. But Imhotep, being a criminal of the highest order, would hardly have been given lavish grave goods.
Finding nothing, he turned away in frustration to search elsewhere, seemingly forgetting all about the curse, intent only on tracking down valuables.
The night in Hamunaptra was eerily quiet, broken only by the occasional whisper of the wind.
Jonathan grew increasingly dejected, grumbling endlessly about his bad luck.
Meanwhile, the Americans were far more fortunate. One of them strutted over smugly, hugging a sacred urn, and mocked Jonathan and the others.
"Looks like your luck isn't too great. We, on the other hand, have found plenty of good things."
This only made Jonathan feel even worse.
At that moment, Wes Elwin moved into a corner and recited an incantation, attempting to summon The Book of the Dead.
Strangely, nothing happened.
He soon realized that The Book of the Dead was itself an ancient magical artifact, most likely protected by enchantments that prevented it from being summoned through ordinary magic.
Wes had no choice but to track down the American who had taken the book. Since he hadn't interacted directly with them upon arrival, he didn't know exactly which American had it. For now, he simply found a spot nearby to watch and wait.
By chance, Evelyn noticed one of the American professors struggling to open a heavy book. Its cover was made of a hard, glossy black stone carved with strange symbols and patterns. The cover also had a locking mechanism identical to the one on the mysterious chest. She instantly realized that the book in his hands was The Book of the Dead.
A bold idea flashed across her mind.
Evelyn decided that once the American fell asleep, she would quietly approach and steal the book.
Taking advantage of the night, she crept toward him cautiously. Her heart pounded violently, and her breath grew shallow with tension. Carefully, she slid The Book of the Dead out from his arms. For that moment, she nearly held her breath, terrified of waking anyone.
"You know," came a voice suddenly, "what you're doing is called stealing."
Just as Evelyn was about to leave, the supposedly sleeping O'Connell spoke.
°°°
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