Chapter 1: The Mysterious Albino
It was the summer of 1998.
At the time, Luo San was just a freshman at Chengdu University, and to pass the time between classes, he joined the University Paranormal Society, an underground club that had existed at the university for many years and aimed to uncover the truth behind all unusual events. That afternoon, Luo San hurried to the Arts and Humanities Building in the eastern part of the university as instructed by the club’s instructor, Shi Wuji.
Shi Wuji has been acting strangely these past few days. During Society meetings, he often seems to be in a daze and talks to himself about Chengdu. Shi Wuji told Luo San and Shen Yuan to go to the Arts Building and emphasised that they must not tell anyone about it.
‘Have you finished?‘
’As planned.‘
’How is it going at Haiyan?”
Luo San suddenly heard the two men talking, and looked up, only to see two albinos in front of him: their hair was silvery white, their complexions were reddish white, and their eyes were a faint green.
As soon as they saw Luo San, the two lowered their heads warily and walked quickly away.
The reason Luo San was so concerned about the two albinos’ unintelligible words was that there were so many albinos at S University. You could see them walking in groups of three or five at any time on campus, and these albinos were different from ordinary albino patients.
Albinism is a genetic disease characterised by a lack of pigment in the skin and its appendages. Patients usually lack melanin in the skin, hair and eyes, which is why their eyes appear to have no pigment in the retina, with the iris and pupil appearing pale pink. They are sensitive to light and always squint when looking at things. The albinos at S University are not at all sensitive to light, but their eyes are a pale green.
Luo San once asked members of the society to investigate the background of these albinos, but was given even more shocking news: these albinos are all from Wuyishan City in Fujian Province.
Wuyishan is only 60 kilometres from Luo San’s hometown of Jianyang City in Fujian Province, so he is no stranger to the place, but he didn’t expect there to be so many albinos there.
For this reason, Luo San once proposed to Shi Wuyi to investigate the albinos, but was rejected by Shi Wuyi on the grounds that: I will let you investigate a shocking major event in a few days, so put aside these minor matters about the albinos for now.
As for what the earth-shattering event was, Shi Wuji kept his mouth shut.
‘Hey, those two students in front, quickly help stop that dog.’ Hearing a sudden shout from behind, Luo San turned his head and saw a dog running in the direction he was in, with a bone in its mouth. A police officer was right behind it, shouting at the two albinos as he chased them.
The two albinos were walking side by side, but when they heard the policeman shout, instead of stopping the stray dog, they immediately moved to either side, allowing the dog to pass between them and come to Luo San. Luo San didn’t think twice, but stood in front of the dog. The stray dog saw someone blocking its path and immediately charged diagonally into the bushes. It managed to get past, but the bone in its mouth fell off.
It was a human thigh bone, the surface muscles and skin had been completely removed, and there were numerous cracks on either side, with bamboo skewers stuck in the cracks.
Law San was about to crouch down to take a closer look when the police arrived and leaned over to pick up the bone.
‘How did this thing get discovered by the police?’
“Be careful, don’t talk about this here.’
Luo San vaguely heard the two albinos talking, and his doubts grew. At that moment, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts: ‘Xiaosan, why are you here?’
Luo San turned his head and saw that the person asking was Yan Qingbo, a member of the club who had become a police officer after graduation but had continued to participate in club activities. He had obviously come for the bone, so after listening to Luo San’s reply that he was going to the liberal arts building to do some work, he didn’t say anything else and looked down at the bone.
‘The bone has been boiled and smashed with a hard object. What are these bamboo skewers for?‘ the policeman asked Yan Qingbo.
’I don’t know, probably related to the case. Never mind, let’s collect this bone and the ones found earlier by the Funan River and take them back for examination.‘
’If I’m not wrong, these bones should be…’
‘Okay, let’s go.‘ Yan Qingbo suddenly interrupted the man and turned to Luo San and said, “Xiaosan, you go ahead. We’ll be in touch.” He then gave Luo San a wink.
’What the hell is going on?’ Luo San was still thinking about what had just happened, but he had already walked to the front of the Arts Building.
Unintentionally, Luo San bumped into someone. This person was Shen Yuan. Perhaps she had walked too quickly, her cheeks were flushed, and a few beads of sweat were hanging from the tip of her nose. She was a junior student and also a member of the school’s Paranormal Society. After reprimanding Luo San, the two got into the elevator.
As soon as they got out of the elevator, Luo San smelled a blood smell. Just as he was wondering about it, Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale and her footsteps inexplicably quickened. In the long corridor, all you could hear was the sound of their footsteps.
The source of the blood smell was the meeting room of the school’s Paranormal Society.
Standing at the closed meeting room door, Luo San quickly glanced inside. The door was closed, and three yellow papers were stuck to the lintel. There were some strange red patterns drawn on the yellow papers, and the patterns were drawn in blood, the colours were still quite vivid, so it could be seen that they had been drawn not long ago.
Luo San leaned over the door crack and looked inside, but saw that the room was in a mess, there seemed to be blood on the floor, and the situation in other places was not visible.
A few minutes later, the police rushed over, and Yan Qingbo was among them. He didn’t have time to greet the two, and just glanced at the lintel of the meeting room before his face immediately changed. He turned to one of the policemen and whispered, ‘Boss, it’s another yellow paper case.’
‘What? Are you sure?’
‘Of course.’
‘Hurry up! Break down the door!’
Although the two men’s voices were low, Luo San and Shen Yuan still heard them clearly. What kind of case had scared these two policemen so much?
The door was broken open, and Luo San almost vomited when he took one look: the conference room was in disarray, but it didn’t look like it was caused by a fight; the floor was covered in blood, and Shi Wuji’s entire body was soaked in it, too, in a strange position. His head was held high, his hands were tied behind his back, his feet were tied together and turned behind his back, and his entire body was face-down on the conference table. Luo San noticed that Shi Wuji’s legs were very strange, so soft that they seemed to have no bones in them. He was about to walk into the meeting room to take a closer look, but was stopped by the police and taken aside to make a statement. As he left, Luo San heard the captain muttering, ‘Another chicken. What is the conspiracy here?’
After a long afternoon of trouble, Luo and Shen were finally able to leave. ‘I never thought that Professor Shi would die in such a tragic way.’ After walking out of the door of the Arts Building, Luo San took a few deep breaths and said, ‘I hope Yan can solve the case soon and bring the murderer to justice.’
‘It’s useless to rely on them. Didn’t you hear them say that this is a series of cases? If they had any clues, Professor Shi would still be alive. I think we should find Yan Qingbo and ask him in detail.”
Yan Qingbo arrived in the evening. He looked obviously exhausted. When he saw Luo San and Shen Yuan, he kept yawning: ’If you want to ask about Professor Shi, I’ll tell you the truth. Professor Shi’s case is not an isolated incident, but part of a serial murder case.’
The death of Shi Wumu was the seventh case in this series of serial murders. The earliest case occurred in May, and the victim was a retired cadre. That day, after receiving the police call, Yan Qingbo immediately rushed to the scene. From a distance away from the door, he could smell a strong bloody smell, and the several pieces of blood-stained yellow paper stuck on the lintel of the door told Yan Qingbo that this case was not simple.
Although he was mentally prepared before entering the door, Yan Qingbo couldn’t help but feel queasy in his stomach the moment he saw the dormitory. The scene was exactly the same as the scene where Shi Wuwei was killed today. What was even more shocking was that the victim’s throat had been cut, his chest cavity opened, and his arms and thighs cut open. Three ribs, two arm bones, and two thigh bones were removed, and the police have not been able to find them yet. Later, the autopsy by the forensic pathologist revealed that the fatal injury of the deceased was a knife wound to the throat. It seems that the murderer first cut the deceased’s throat and the carotid artery on the neck to drain the blood of the deceased, and then cut open the deceased’s chest, arms, and thighs to remove the bones, and finally smeared the blood on the body of the deceased.
Considering that none of the belongings in the victim’s home had been touched, and that the investigation had found that the victim had no enemies, the police initially concluded that some cult members were performing strange rituals, based on some unburned blood-stained yellow paper found at the scene and some blood-stained yellow paper found on the lintel of the victim’s home.
After this, five more murders occurred around S University. Although the victims were of different identities, they were all covered in blood when they died, in the same strange positions, and all had the same bones missing. Burnt yellow paper ash and yellow paper stained with the victim’s blood were also found at the scene.
Therefore, the police concluded that these cases were committed by the same person or group of people, and classified them as serial murders committed by a cult. From the information they had gathered, there was nothing in common between the victims, so it was difficult for the police to find the murderer’s modus operandi, and they were at a loss as to how to solve the case.
“Something this bad has never happened in Chengdu before, so you must keep this a secret and be careful yourselves.’
‘Brother Yan, do you have any clues about the murderer? Have you found out what cult the ritual belongs to?‘ Luo San suddenly had a thought: Could this case be related to the albinos?
’Over the past period of time, we have looked up a lot of information, but we have never found a cult that could have held a ritual like this. By the way, this afternoon, we found a black rubbish bag by the Funan River containing three ribs, two arm bones and two thigh bones. We can be sure that they were taken from a dead person. But what’s strange is that, of all the bones, only the thigh bones have been carefully prepared. Not only has the flesh been neatly removed, they’ve also been boiled and skewered. The other bones are just as they were.’
‘Yan Ge, let me ask you something. Have you heard of the sea eye?‘
’Sea eye? I’ve heard of it.‘
’What is the sea eye?‘
’How should I put it? The sea eye is like a spring. Underground spring water rises to the surface through the spring, and the sea eye is the same. It is a channel for the sea water in the ocean to enter the ground.‘
’There can’t be a sea eye in Chengdu, can there?’
‘Legend has it that Chengdu has a sea eye. It is said that beneath a Buddha statue in Daci Temple in Chengdu is a sea eye. At night, when it is quiet, if you put your ear to the top of the statue, you can hear the sound of waves from the bottom of the earth.‘
’Is this true?‘
’Of course it’s not true. It’s just a legend. Xiaosan, why did you suddenly ask this?‘
’Because I saw two strange people on the way to the Arts Building today.’ Luo San immediately told Shen Yuan and Yan Qingbo about the albinos he encountered.
After listening, Yan Qingbo said with a grave face, ‘Xiaosan, those albinos must be related to the serial murders. It’s late today, so I’ll go find them tomorrow to investigate. It’s just that why did they mention the Eye of the Sea? Never mind, I don’t want to think about it. We’ll find out what’s going on tomorrow when we find the albinos. You guys get some rest. Shen Yuan, be careful when you go back.’
Chapter 2 Wuyi Province
After Yan Qingbo left, Shen Yuan did not go back, but stayed and exchanged relevant information with Luo San. Finally, he said to Luo San, ‘If you want to find out what cult is doing evil, the only way is to go to Professor Wu.’
Professor Wu is not surnamed Wu and is not a professor. But everyone at S University knows him. He is a legend at S University, an eternal campus myth. He wears only a T-shirt, shorts and slippers all year round, and only puts on a raincoat when it’s particularly cold. His hunched figure, carrying a thermos and clutching books, has become a symbol of S University.
Twenty years ago, Professor Wu came from the countryside of Ya’an to S University and became an auditing student. Over the past 20 years, he has taken all the courses from junior college, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, covering mathematics, English, Chinese, history, folklore, French and Russian. Studying has become his only life. Occasionally, he would help sweep the school cafeteria or work part-time in a restaurant, but only to earn a living. No one knows his purpose for entering S University, although he says his purpose is to study.
He is a mysterious character who seldom interacts with others, but he has become friends with Luo San.
In Professor Wu’s dormitory, Luo San briefly introduced the serial murder case. Professor Wu asked in return, ‘What do the victims have in common?’
‘Nothing.’
‘That’s not right. Ask your friends at the police station again. Are they all born in the year of the rooster?’
Luo San immediately called Yan Qingbo.
‘Yan Ge, let me ask you something: were the victims of the serial murders all born in the year of the rooster?‘
’How did you know?‘
Luo San glanced at Professor Wu: “We have a genius.”
’Where? I’ll be right over.”
A few minutes later, Yan Qingbo arrived. Professor Wu asked him about the crime scenes in person: ’Then there’s no mistake, the victims were involved in the chicken divination ritual!’
‘Chicken divination?’ Luo San and the others had never heard of it before. Professor Wu took out a few books from the shelf and explained as he showed them to the three men: “Chicken divination is an ancient primitive religious ritual commonly used by the Yue ethnic group in China, and it is still popular among some ethnic minorities. This article makes it very clear.”
A robust rooster is used, and the cockcomb must not be broken. The shaman holds the chicken in silence, paying respect to heaven and earth, worshipping the gods and enjoying the offerings, and praying for blessings. The chicken is then killed, and joss paper is dipped in its blood. The feathers from the chicken’s neck are removed and stuck to the paper with blood, which is then affixed to the shrine or lintel. When cooking the chicken, the feet are tied behind, the head raised, and the chicken posed as if it is about to fly. Two chopsticks are inserted into the back of the chicken to set the shape, and it is served on the altar after cooking. After the shaman has burnt the blood-soaked paper money, he pulls out the chicken’s thigh bone and scrapes off the fascia on it. He reveals the blood pore and inserts a sharpened bamboo skewer or cactus thorn into the pore in the direction of the pore. He then holds the two ends of the thigh bone with his index finger and thumb so that the inner arc of the thigh bone is pressed against it. The chicken bone and the skewer above it form a hexagram. Finally, the shaman inspects it again and again and gives an explanation.
‘There are at least four similarities between this serial murder case and the chicken divination. First, the posture is the same. Second, the deceased were all born in the year of the rooster, and although the chicken divination is slightly different, it also uses a chicken. Third, there was a lot of incense ash and paper ash at the crime scenes, and the chicken divination ritual also involves burning incense and praying. Finally, and most importantly, in the chicken divination ritual, the leg bone of the chicken has to be removed, and in several of the murders, the leg bones of the deceased were also removed.’
Professor Wu paused here and said, ‘I just don’t know what they’re trying to do.’
‘Is it related to the Sea Eye?’ Luo San kept thinking about the Sea Eye.
‘Sea Eye?’ Professor Wu’s face changed colour, but he quickly recovered, ‘How is this related to the Sea Eye?’
Luo San immediately told Professor Wu about what happened in the afternoon.
“Wuyi Min? Why would they care about the Sea Eye?’
‘What did you say about Wuyi, Professor Wu?‘
’Wuyi Min, a branch of the Qimin tribe at the junction of the ancient provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Later generations called them Wuyi Min because their area of activity was the Wuyishan area. Ancient Min people had the characteristics of ‘red hair, fair skin, broken hair, tattoos and chiselled teeth’. Among these, ‘broken hair, tattoos and chiselled teeth’ are common characteristics of the peoples of southern China. However, the characteristics of ‘red hair and white skin’ were unique to the ancient Min people. Some scholars believe that the real ancient Min people did not have the characteristics of ‘red hair and white skin’, but rather ‘grey hair and red skin’.
‘In other words, the group of albinos on campus are actually ancient Min people, and they can indeed be described as having “grey hair and red skin”.
’Well, not all ancient Min people had ‘grey hair and red skin’. It should be a unique characteristic of the ‘Wuyi Min’ among the seven ancient Min tribes.‘
’Why?’
‘The Wuyishan Chronicles from the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty records that Peng Zu, a wise and virtuous minister in the Shang Dynasty, also known as Lao Peng, lived in seclusion on this mountain, practising health preservation techniques and living to the age of 770. He had two sons, named Wu and Yi, who also lived here. Some say that the mountain got its name from this. The leader of the Wuyi tribe was Peng Zu, who lived to the age of 800. Legend has it that at the end of the Shang Dynasty, Peng Zu and his two sons Peng Wu and Peng Yi retired to the famous mountains and clear waters of Fujian, living at the foot of Manting Peak, eating lingzhi and drinking from waterfalls, cultivating their health and leading their sons in developing the six-six strange peaks and three-three beautiful waters of Wuyi Mountain, driving away the tyranny of tigers and wolves, and driving the development of the entire Wuyi Mountain. Since Peng Zu and his sons developed Wuyi Mountain, later generations named the mountain Wuyi Mountain, and it has been used ever since. The Pingchuan Peng Family Genealogy of Wuyishan City also has similar records.‘
’If we connect Peng Zu’s ‘Wuyi Min’ with the ancient Min people who had ‘white hair and red skin’, we will find that everything becomes clear. I suspect that it is precisely because Peng Zu had ‘white hair and red skin’ from young to old that people mistakenly thought that he was long-lived, and over time the story of Peng Zu’s longevity and living to the age of 800 spread. And with the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Yue people moved south into northern Fujian, and the ancient Min people were driven out and assimilated. Perhaps a part of the Wuyi Min, hiding in the deep mountains, preserved a purer lineage, which is why there are more albinos in Wuyishan.‘
’Wait, Professor Wu, there’s a question,’ Shen Yuan interrupted, ’Didn’t you say that chicken divination was used by the ancient Yue people? How could the Wuyi Min adopt it?’
‘Chicken divination was indeed a method used by the ancient Baiyue people, and later, due to ethnic integration, it was used by most ethnic groups in South China, including some Han Chinese members.‘
’If it’s Wuyi Min, what were they doing here, from Fujian to Chengdu?‘ Shen Yuan asked.
’It must be the Sea Eye,‘ Luo San answered.
’Xiaosan, the Sea Eye is just a legend,‘ Professor Wu said.
’But I clearly heard them mention the Sea Eye today.’
‘Then it might just be a code name for their operation.‘
The two were about to argue further when they heard Yan Qingbo whisper, “I wonder if it has anything to do with this pattern?”
’What pattern…’ Professor Wu’s question was interrupted by a ringing mobile phone. At that time, mobile phones were not yet common, and most people used pagers. Shen Yuan was one of the few people who used mobile phones.
Shen Yuan answered the phone and listened in disbelief.
‘Girl? Whose phone is this?‘
’It’s Professor Shi.‘
’How is that possible?‘
’It really is his voice. I haven’t hung up yet, so listen.‘
It was indeed Shi Wumu’s voice on the other end of the line, but the voice seemed to come from hell, repeating the same two words over and over: Chengdu.
’Chengdu?’ Professor Wu frowned, ’What the hell is this son of a bitch trying to say?’
‘This should be the key to the matter Professor Shi wanted us to investigate, and it must be related to Professor Shi’s death. In the last few days before he died, Professor Shi kept saying the words ‘Chengdu’ over and over again,‘ Shen Yuan asserted.
’What’s the phone number. Call back quickly,‘ Yan Qingbo reminded.
Shen Yuan called back as instructed, but all he heard was: The number you have dialed is a disconnected number.
’I’ll go back to the unit immediately and ask someone to check. I’ll come back if there’s any news.’
Yan Qingbo wrote down the number and hurriedly left, leaving Luo San and the others looking at each other.
Chapter 3: The Red Vest
A mist that came from nowhere had enveloped the campus. In theory, there should be no mist in the summer, but this summer in Chengdu was full of mist from time to time, but it wasn’t heavy. When the sun came out during the day, it dispersed cleanly, but at night, it made everything so hazy and looked especially eerie.
On this strange night, eerie music was playing in a dorm room on the first floor of the new dormitory in the east district of S University. A voice was telling the ghost story ‘Red Vest’ that had been circulating at S University for a long time. The voice belonged to a cassette tape. It was dark in the dormitory, and the girls were hiding under the covers, shivering and holding the covers tightly while listening to the ghost story with bated breath.
The Red Riding Hood is a ghost story about the Si Da Si Jiao. Si Da Si Jiao was divided into the East and West Districts at the time. The East District had four teaching buildings, and Si Da Si Jiao was the oldest and most haunted of them all. Built during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the building was surrounded by hundreds of tall trees, enveloped in a green canopy that kept the place cool no matter the time of year. The teaching building has four floors, all with wooden floors painted red, which creak and groan underfoot. Together with the long corridors, the dim lighting and the high ceilings, the building gives off a creepy, eerie feeling. The always locked attic on the fourth floor and the never opened women’s toilet on the first floor add to the spooky atmosphere, making it the source of all ghost stories. One of the most notable ghost stories is the Red Vest:
Xiao Jing had just started at the university and was in her first year. You know, university starts in September, so it was still very hot. So Xiao Jing chose to go to the very cool Sijiao Building to study. She chose a small classroom on the fourth floor that could only accommodate a few people. The classroom was empty, with just a few tables and chairs, and on the blackboard at the front of the room were a few large, cursive characters left over from the previous class. In the quiet classroom, no one disturbed her, and Xiao Jing gradually immersed herself in her studies. After an unknown period of time, she suddenly felt like going to the toilet. Unexpectedly, the toilets on the second to fourth floors of the entire teaching building were all full, so she had to go to a female toilet on the first floor. As soon as she entered the cubicle, she heard a noise outside the wooden door. A strange voice drifted into the toilet: ‘Red vest… red vest… do you want a red vest?’ Jing thought it was a prank by a classmate to scare her, so she didn’t look and just said, ‘Sure, give me one!’ The voice outside laughed, ‘Hey, are you sure?’ Jing was even more certain that it was a joke after hearing this. ‘Okay! I’ll give you…’ After that, there was no more sound. Xiao Jing couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of panic at this situation. As soon as she left the toilet, she quickly got up and went back to the dormitory. As she passed by the large classrooms, she noticed that they were still full of people at this time of day, but there seemed to be a deathly pallor on everyone’s faces. The whole classroom was quiet, except for the occasional rustle of pens scratching on paper and the sound of insects chirping outside the window. Even though Xiao Jing was not afraid, she still felt a chill, and quickly walked out of the fourth teaching building…
The next day, after her classmates woke up, they saw that Xiao Jing was still asleep in bed. They went to her bedside to call her, and when they lifted the quilt, they saw only a pool of blood. Later, the school authorities found Xiao Jing’s body in the women’s toilet on the first floor of Si Jiao, but Xiao Jing was bright red all over, and the skin on her upper body was gone, as if she were wearing a red vest.
After this, many students died in strange ways, so the school authorities had to invite a master to seal off the women’s toilet where Xiao Jing died and the entire attic floor of Si Jiao, and paint the floor of Si Jiao red… So I advise everyone, if you hear someone selling red vests in Si Jiao, don’t ever agree to it!
The sound of the tape cut off abruptly, and there was dead silence in the dormitory. After a long time, someone asked in a low voice, ‘Is this true? The women’s toilets and attic in the fourth teaching building are really always closed, and the floor is also red.’
‘The fourth teaching building is very problematic. I also heard that something big happened when this teaching building was built?’
‘What’s the big deal?’
‘It’s said that a lot of people died. As for what happened, I don’t know.’
“You guys, do you feel the temperature suddenly drop.’
‘Don’t scare me.‘
’She’s telling the truth, I feel the temperature drop too.‘
’No way, is it really that spooky?‘
’Don’t be paranoid, it’s just the window that’s open.”
Everyone looked out onto the balcony, and in the light of the street lamp, they could indeed see the curtains, which had been tightly closed, now flapping in the wind. A gust of cold wind blew in, along with a stench that made everyone gag.
‘Xiao Liu, go close the window.‘
’Yes, you’re brave, and you were the one who noticed the window was open.”
Xiao Liu, whose full name is Liu Fufeng, is a member of the school’s paranormal society and has always been brave. At this time, because everyone was urging her, she walked to the window, but saw that one of the windows was wide open, and there was something on the windowsill that looked like a towel. Liu Fufeng picked it up casually. The sensation in her fingertips was quite strange: it didn’t seem to be a piece of cloth, the surface was very slippery, and there was also a very viscous liquid that felt unpleasant on her fingers.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she unfolded the object. A blood-curdling smell hit her face. With the help of the dim streetlight, Liu Fufeng finally got a good look at the object: it was a piece of human skin.
Yan Qingbo was in Professor Wu’s dormitory, telling everyone what he had found out: ‘That number doesn’t exist, I don’t know how it came through. And I went back to look at Professor Shi’s body again, and I can conclude that it must be him. Damn, if I weren’t an atheist, I’d say it must be a ghost…’
Just then, his phone rang again.
‘Something’s happened in New Hall.’ After hanging up, Yan Qingbo ran outside.
Luo San and the others followed.
After Yan Qingbo had revealed his identity, the dormitory manager immediately took them to the dormitory where the incident had occurred.
Inside the dormitory, Liu Fufeng was alone, holding a human skin in his hands.
‘Liu, what happened?’ Yan Qingbo asked.
‘Nothing much, just someone playing a prank, putting a human skin on our windowsill.’
“A human skin on your windowsill is still a trivial matter? Liu, I know you’re brave, but now is not the time to be brave…’
Luo San did not wait for Yan Qingbo to continue, and reached out to take the human skin in his hands.
It was a skin peeled from the upper body of a person, intact from the neck to the waist, except for the arms, like a piece of clothing.
Looking at the human skin in front of him, Luo San could not help but think of the scene he saw in the Arts Building this afternoon. The murderer in both cases was equally ruthless, except that the skin peeler in front of him was even more ruthless than the serial killer.
‘Professor Wu, what do you think? Could this be another incident caused by a cult?‘ Yan Qingbo asked.
Professor Wu shook his head, pondered for a long time, and then slowly said, “Red Riding Hood.”
’Red Riding Hood?‘
’Yes, Red Riding Hood,’ Liu Fufeng said, ’Just now, the whole dormitory was listening to the tape about Red Riding Hood. I didn’t expect that as soon as we finished listening, I noticed that the window was open, so I got out of bed to close it. I found this on the balcony.’
‘This is it. After the murderer committed the crime, he took the human skin and tried to find a place to get rid of it. When he passed by your dormitory, he heard the tape of ‘Red Vest’ being played in the dormitory, so he simply threw the human skin onto your windowsill. It’s just that they killed someone and made so much trouble.
‘Maybe it’s the same as the serial murders, they want to obtain great powers. Never mind, let’s not talk about that now, we must act immediately.’ Luo San anxiously said to Yan Qingbo, ’Yan Ge, the albinos are the serial murderers, and it is very likely that they are responsible for this incident as well. We must act immediately and arrest them.’
‘Xiaosan, it’s the middle of the night, how am I going to arrest someone? How am I going to report to the leader? Ask him for someone? I know you’re anxious, but everything must follow procedure.’ Although Yan Qingbo said this, he still patted his chest and promised that as soon as he went to work tomorrow, he would ask the leader for instructions and try to act as soon as possible.
Professor Wu then comforted Luo San: ’You can’t just arrest someone whenever you want. Xiaosan, just calm down. Everyone else should go home and get some sleep, and we can talk about anything tomorrow. Alright, let’s go back first, Xiaoyan still has to work.‘
As everyone was leaving, Liu Fufeng suddenly stopped Shen Yuan and asked, “I heard that something happened to Professor Shi?”
’Yes. Tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock sharp, in Room 314 of Teaching Building 4, members of the Paranormal Society will gather to discuss Professor Shi’s death.’
The physics building at S University is an old building. Because of its grey-black exterior walls and dilapidated doors and windows, it always gives people a sense of gloom and horror, especially at night. The yellowish light, reflected in the surrounding lush green belt, adds an even more terrifying atmosphere. Even though there is a more than 10-metre-high statue of Chairman Mao made of white marble in front of the physics building, it cannot suppress people’s fear of the gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.
Luo San was distracted, so he was still walking aimlessly on campus and unknowingly arrived in front of the physics building. Tonight, in front of the physics building, the dim yellow light was as usual spilling onto the road in front of the building. The willows along the road dragged long, dark shadows, and their thin branches, like ghostly hands, shook in the wind from time to time, casting streaks of black silk on the ground. In front of the Chairman’s statue, everything was dim and yellow.
A shrill cry pierced the silent night sky. Amidst the cry, a white figure dashed out of the bushes next to the lotus pond like an arrow, and pounced onto the white stone platform in front of the chairman’s portrait. Following the figure of the white animal, Luo San saw that there was a person wearing a bright red shirt on the stone platform. Everything in front of him gave Luo San an ominous feeling.
The white figure was a white fox. It was beside the man in front of the Chairman’s statue, spinning around non-stop. Suddenly, it turned its head sharply, glanced at the distant Sijiao, and a flash of alarm crossed its yellow eyes. It quickly sprang to its feet and ran off into the distance.
Almost as soon as the white fox disappeared, two dark figures came running quickly from in front of Sijiao and stopped quietly in front of the Chairman’s statue. They were two middle-aged men.
‘Over here!’ The red-clad figure in front of the chairman’s statue obviously caught the attention of the two men. One of the taller men looked at the red-clad figure and said, “He’s dead.” The shorter man also leaned down and intently observed the red-clad figure. After a while, the shorter man looked up and said, ’What a brilliant technique. There were no wounds on the body before death. The skin was peeled off after death, but I don’t know what method was used.’
‘My lord, who on earth would dare to do such a thing under the jurisdiction of the Great Tang Empire?”
Luo San was taken aback when he suddenly heard this. The title “my lord” had disappeared from China almost a hundred years ago. While Luo San was still in a state of shock, he heard the short man say, “I don’t understand yet.”
The short man said this, bent over the corpse and continued to observe it, while also searching the body. In a moment, Luo San saw that the man seemed to have found a wallet or something.
‘So his name is Luo Tian! A student from the History Department of the School of History and Culture, Class of 1997, University of S. Sir, the student ID card of this student says that his ID number starts with 3521. Which province is that?‘ The tall man suddenly asked with a puzzled look on his face.
’It should be Jianzhou, the starting point for purchasing the train ticket written on the student ID card is from Chengdu to Wuyishan. Wuyishan is under the jurisdiction of the Jianzhou prefect.’
The prefect of Jianzhou? Luo San suddenly felt his head wasn’t working properly. Who were these two people?
‘I think this student is very strange,’ the short man said, staring at the corpse.
‘Why is he strange?’
‘His appearance.’
‘His appearance is indeed strange, but with due respect, that’s just a disease and doesn’t mean anything.’
The short man didn’t say anything else, but seemed to be lost in thought. After a long time, he said, ‘It’s not just a disease. You should notice that his surname is Luo. More importantly, judging from his smart appearance, he obviously wasn’t just hanging around on campus, and it’s even less likely that he was a student finishing up his studies. He must have come here for some purpose.‘ The little man said this, and suddenly fixed his gaze on the pile of clothes next to the corpse, and began to search through them again. “Ding!” A metal object fell from among the clothes. The little man bent down to pick it up, and his face became extremely serious.
’My lord, forgive my ignorance, what’s the problem?’
‘It’s a snake! You’ve forgotten, 57 years ago, during the revolution, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Daoyin Sect, had a divination that said 57 years later, someone from the southeast would come, and it’s almost 57 years now.‘
’Are you saying that this student Luo Tian is the ‘someone from the southeast’ that Li Zhi Ming was talking about?‘
’Maybe. At the time, the late emperor probably thought that this meant someone from the southeast would intervene at that time. In fact, there have been many people like him at the university over the years. This is enough to show that Li Zhi Ming’s words have come true, that the ‘guest’ has arrived at S University and is involved in this matter. The snake on the necklace is a rare species that is said to exist only in legend. It has always been revered as a sacred object and totem in the Wuyi Mountains in the southeast. This kid comes from the Wuyi Mountains and has this necklace, so he must definitely be a member of the Wuyi clan. This matter is of great importance, and we must report it to the governor immediately.’
The short man said, looking up and returning his gaze to the corpse. The corpse’s left hand, clenched into a fist, caught his attention.
‘Wu Sima, it looks like there’s something in his hand. Maybe there’s a clue.’ The tall man, called Wu Sima, immediately switched on the small flashlight in his hand, but the corpse’s left hand was clenched so tightly that, despite his best efforts, he could not open it.
‘My lord, I am incompetent.‘
’This matter is of great importance, and there is no room for disrespect for the corpse.’ The short man felt for a knife on his body, raised it high, and chopped down hard. But just as the knife was about to reach the corpse’s left hand, the short man’s hand suddenly stopped, and his body tilted, falling to the ground.
The Wu Sima on the side was stunned by the scene in front of him, and hurriedly walked over to help the short man up, anxiously asking, ’Prefect, what happened?’
‘My neck… seems to have been bitten by some kind of poisonous creature. I feel weak all over. You… you must chop off that hand and take me back.‘
’Yes, sir.’ Wu Sima immediately raised his sword and tried to chop at the corpse, but suddenly, as if he had seen a ghost, he stopped and cried out in alarm, ’Sir! There’s a snake on the corpse!’
The short man, who was called the Prefect, looked up at the corpse and the snake on it with a start, and exclaimed in alarm, ‘Quick, take me back. This is a specially trained five-footed snake.’
Wu Si Ma picked up the short man and backed up carefully, stepping out a long way before he dared to run.
After seeing the two go far away, Luo San walked up. The scene in front of him left him speechless and stunned.
On the stone platform in front of the chairman’s portrait, the corpse had white hair and skin as white as paper, but a peaceful smile on its face. From the arm up, the entire upper body was a deep red, the skin had been peeled off, and the pale flesh underneath was soaked in blood, which was indescribably strange. From a distance, it looked just like the body was wearing a red vest. On the corpse’s chest, where the skin had been peeled away to reveal the blood-red muscles, a small snake was now sitting, its head raised high, facing Luo San. On the ground was the necklace that Wu Sima had not had time to take with him. The pendant was a small snake coiled up, spitting out its tongue, looking incredibly realistic. Unlike other snakes, this one looked particularly short, out of proportion to the size of its body, and had two horns growing from its forehead.
Luo San was afraid of disturbing the snake, and like Wu Sima, he slowly backed away.
In front of the phone booth, Luo San dialed Yan Qingbo’s mobile phone: ‘Brother Yan, I found out where the human skin was peeled from.’
Chapter 4: The Three Strange Cases
It was just after 9am. As requested by Shen Yuan, the members of the school’s Paranormal Society gathered in the fourth teaching building. After learning about the murder of Professor Shi, Luo San briefed everyone on what he had witnessed the night before: ‘Yan Ge said that the victim was skinned alive.’
‘Ah!’ There was a burst of shocked voices in the classroom.
‘Who is the murderer?’ Shen Yuan was most concerned about this.
“At the moment, there are no clues.’
‘Right, Xiaosan, didn’t you say last night that you wanted Yan Ge to investigate the albinos? Now he can use this case to investigate the albinos thoroughly.‘
’It’s too late. The albinos have disappeared.”
This morning, when the police investigated the “albinos” on campus, they discovered that the “albinos” on and around the campus seemed to have disappeared overnight. Some roommates only knew that their roommates suddenly got up in the middle of the night to pack a few simple things and then left.
‘Why did they leave? If we can’t find them, then our clues are completely cut off, aren’t they?‘ The one speaking was He Wangyu, a member of the school’s paranormal society, a junior at S University, from Yibin, and a clean-looking, gentle person.
’It’s not cut off. I accidentally heard a lot of things last night,’ Luo San then told everyone again what he had heard in front of the chairman’s statue last night.
‘The Great Tang Empire? How is that possible?‘
’What era is this? What ancient official positions are there?‘
’The Tang Dynasty is at least more than a thousand years ago, don’t tell me that the Tang royal family still exists underground.‘
’Xiaosan, are you sure you heard it clearly?”
Luo San noticed that the only person in the group who did not interrupt was Shen Yuan. She kept pretending to be careless and carefully observed everyone in the group. Mu Shigu’s face changed when it came to the mention of the Great Tang Empire. Mu Shigu, like Luo San, was a freshman at S University. He was from Jiangxi Province, and like his surname, he was quiet and reserved. Coupled with his short stature and dark skin, he rarely attracted attention, and in the Paranormal Society, he was also one of those dispensable characters.
‘Last night, the two people from the Great Tang Empire also mentioned something else. They said that 57 years ago, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Dao Yin Sect, once said that 57 years later, a guest would come from the southeast. So they think that Luo Tian is that guest.”
Luo San glanced around and saw He Wangyu’s brow furrow slightly, and subconsciously clenched the pen in his hand. Luo San suddenly noticed that He Wangyu’s skin was rosy white, even whiter than the naturally fair-skinned women.
‘The guest comes from the southeast. This is really strange.‘ Nan Qingyi is also a freshman at S University, from Zhejiang, handsome and sunny, but a bit short.
’I wish I knew,‘ Luo San sighed, “but I wonder if something happened at S University 57 years ago that would lead to such a prophecy.”
Nan Qingyi nodded and said, “It’s possible. We can deduce that there is a huge secret hidden at S University.”
’What secret?’ Shen Yuan interrupted,
‘I don’t know what the secret is yet. But it must be a very important secret. Think about it: the albino travelled thousands of miles to come to S University, and that person from the Tang Empire was still active at night on campus, not to mention the third party that caused the red vest incident. It would be strange if S University didn’t have a secret.‘
’Exactly. That’s what I think too, and the secret may be the Sea Eye, or at least related to it.’ Luo San agreed, adding his own analysis.
‘The most important thing for us is to find out what this secret is. Does anyone here know anything about that incident 57 years ago?’ Nan Qingyi said, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the group.
Everyone present shook their heads.
‘Then we’ll have to go through the school archives. Liu Fufeng and He Wangyu go to the school library’s overdue newspaper reading room and look through the reports about S University from 57 years ago. Mu Shigu and I will go and ask the elderly people, Shen Yuan and Luo San, and you will go to the school archives. If you have no objections, let’s get started right away. At 3pm, we’ll meet here and compile all the clues we’ve collected to see what secrets we can find out.’
Everyone agreed and turned to leave.
After everyone left, Shen Yuan said to Luo San with a serious expression, ‘We don’t need to worry about what happened 57 years ago for now. I believe these incidents are much more important than what happened 57 years ago.’
Shen Yuan took out three stacks of paper from her bag and said, ‘There are three incidents in total, and each one is quite strange.’
Luo San asked as he took the paper, ‘Why didn’t you tell us yesterday?’
‘Because I returned to the dormitory in the early morning and saw a letter on the bed, and the letter was these three stacks of paper.‘
’Who sent it?‘
’Professor Shi.‘
’It’s Professor Shi again. He seems to have known long ago that he would be killed. Shen Yuan, I think there is something very strange about this.‘
’I naturally know this, but this is not the time to discuss it. You should first take a look at the information.”
The first stack of paper seems to have been copied from some notebook, and that notebook is clearly quite old. The handwriting on the paper is exquisite, and it is obviously from a woman’s hand. The paper reads:
Yi is called Wu Yingyu, and she is a native of Chengdu. I will tell the story from Yi’s perspective. But when I first heard Yi’s story, I just thought she was trying to attract attention, because the story was really too strange to be believed. But looking at Yi’s expression, I gradually realised that what Yi was saying might be true. Because I understood that if she had not experienced the tragedy of losing her beloved in front of her eyes, she would not have been able to show that expression when telling the story.
Luo San understood after reading the first paragraph that this note should have been written by someone in the 1920s or 1930s, because the use of ‘伊’ to refer to ‘she’ and the use of the word ‘底’ to refer to ‘的’ are all distinctive signs of that time. After understanding this, Luo San continued reading:
Yidi’s home was in the southeast outskirts of Chengdu. Unlike the city, there were large fields and ditches, interspersed with clumps of bamboo, and within the bamboo were individual households. Yidi’s home was in the middle of the bamboo forest. Yidi had grown up in the midst of the fields, poor but content and happy. She also had a childhood sweetheart, Erwa. When Yi was 17, Erwa’s family came to Yi’s parents to propose marriage, and Yi’s parents agreed, just waiting for the right time to let the two get married. If that incident had not happened, Yi would have spent a quiet life with Erwa, surrounded by grandchildren when she was old. But on that stormy night when Yi was 18, all of that became a pipe dream, and Yi was left with eternal pain.
It was a night in the summer of 1921. After a day of hard work and dinner, Yi and Erwa planned to go for a walk. The summer heat had subsided, and a cool breeze blew in from the Jinjiang River nearby. The air was filled with the fragrance of the earth and the fresh scent of plants. Various insects and frogs in the fields sang non-stop, and every now and then the sound of bells from the local school could be heard. In Yidi dialect, it is even more beautiful than the bells at my home in Banei. Of course, I didn’t know about the bells in Banei until I started working as a helper in my family’s home.
In this environment, Yi and Erwa unknowingly walked further and further away, until they arrived in a field. It is said that this place was once a large mansion, but it was abandoned for some reason and eventually became a field. At the edge of this field, for some reason, there is a huge stone. The stone is more than 3 metres high, less than a metre wide and less than a metre thick. The most peculiar thing is that the bottom of the stone is completely black, except for a long strip in the middle of the stone, about an inch wide, which is multicoloured from top to bottom. Yi and Erwa sat next to the stone chatting, oblivious to the fact that the sky had changed. They didn’t know when, but the sky had filled with dark clouds. By the time Yi and Erwa realised it was time to go home, the rain had started in earnest. Yi and Erwa had no choice but to take shelter in the straw hut beside the fields where the farmer kept watch at night. The rain lasted for half an hour, during which time the thunderstorm was more intense than they could have imagined. The sky was full of dancing silver snakes and the earth shook with loud rumbles. Fortunately, summer rain comes and goes quickly, and in no time the sky cleared and the bright moon appeared.
With the moonlight, Yi and Erwa got up and went back. After the rain, the path in the field was muddy, so Erwa walked in front to explore the way, and Yi followed closely behind. In order not to slip, Yi kept looking at the ground while walking carefully. But just then, Yi Di Erwa let out a cry of alarm. Yi looked up and saw that Yi Di Erwa’s entire body had sunk into the ground, with only one hand sticking out, as if trying to grab something. Without thinking, Yi pounced on her, reaching out to grab Erwa’s hand, but she didn’t grab anything. Yi Di Erwa suddenly disappeared right in front of Yi’s eyes, sinking into the ground.
Yi searched the ground like crazy and suddenly noticed that there was a puddle on the ground. Yi immediately reached down to explore it, but found that it was unfathomable. Despite this, Yi still searched like crazy for all kinds of things to probe into the puddle. This was because Yi understood that her boyfriend had disappeared into this puddle. However, Yi’s efforts were not rewarded at all, and Yi’s Erwa was still nowhere to be seen.
When she came to, it was already late at night, and she was surrounded by people with torches, who were none other than her and her Erwa’s family members. According to her, everyone dug in the puddle for a long time, but they couldn’t find her Erwa. After dawn, some neighbours of the family also came to help. Everyone got dozens of metres of rope, hung a heavy object on one end, and put it into the puddle, but they found that the rope had sagged to the end, but it wasn’t yet at the bottom of the puddle.
Later, the Yi family and the Erwa family gave up, but Yi did not. That evening, Yi was tied up and taken home. Yi’s father locked Yi in the house and forbade her to go out, but early the next morning, Yi finally found an opportunity to escape and immediately went back to the puddle. However, she never found the puddle again. The unfathomable puddle had disappeared overnight, just like Yi’s Erwa. At first, Yi was worried that she had looked in the wrong place, but she clearly remembered that the bottom of the puddle was next to the huge rock. Now that the rock was there, but the puddle was gone. It turned out that the bottom of the puddle was clearly a flat area.
After hearing the news, many people rushed over to check it out. No one understood why the bottom of the puddle had suddenly disappeared. Later, an old man said that there had never been a bottom to the puddle in this place. Now that a puddle had suddenly appeared and then disappeared, it must be that the Dragon King had come out for his own offerings, and Yi Di Erwa had unfortunately become the Dragon King’s offering. When the news spread, the people in the surrounding area were afraid of this field, and no one dared to rent it to farm it anymore. The owner of the field had no choice but to let it go to waste. Yi, however, could never forget Yi Di Erwa and spent all day wandering in the field. Yi’s family was afraid that something would happen to Yi, so they sent Yi to our family through an intermediary to help with the work.
Now I am attending Huaxi Union University, which is what you said, and I went to the place you mentioned today, just to have a look. It has long been deserted, but among the weeds, I did see the huge stone you mentioned. But when I asked about the waterhole, no one wanted to talk about it, as if everyone was afraid of something. Perhaps when science advances, all these mysteries will be revealed.
‘What do you think?”
Shen Yuan seemed to have been thinking about this for a long time, and analysed it without hesitation: ’First, the place where it happened is in the southeast suburbs of Chengdu, and the bell of Huaxi Medical University can be heard, so it is naturally not far from Huaxi Medical University, so it is most likely S University under our feet. Second, the reason for this puddle incident needs to be investigated in depth before we know. However, I suspect that the thunderstorm that day and the appearance of this puddle should be related. What do you think?’
‘I agree with you.’ Luo San did not wait for Shen Yuan to reply, and immediately pulled out the second stack of paper. This stack of paper was also a photocopy, and the words on it were written in tiny handwriting, so it is thought that the original paper was not recent. The paper records another Chengdu-related event:
Southeast of Chengdu County, there is a large mansion that is said to be occupied by the spirits of the dead. It is said to cover several hectares and stand alone in the middle of a field. The locals call it the ‘mansion of the dead’ and no one dares to go near it. Even if they pass by in the daytime, they walk in groups, and at night they avoid it like the plague. I once asked the villagers and learned that the year the house was built is no longer known, but it is believed to be at least a thousand years old. Some even say it was built in the Han Dynasty. Since then, it has survived thousands of years without being destroyed by fire or the scourge of bandits. This is no mean feat in a remote mountain valley, let alone in a busy city. According to ancient legend, when the bandit Li broke Chengdu during the Jin Dynasty, he wanted to burn down this house, but before he could light the fire, he collapsed to the ground. This happened three times, so no one dared to do it again. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the bandit Zhang broke Chengdu, he heard about this house and wanted to burn it down again. He led his troops there, and when they were about to light the fire, he ordered them to retreat, as if they were under a spell.
What’s more, there was no sign of life in the house: no lights at night, no smoke from the kitchen in the daytime, and a general air of death. The gates were always closed, and no one ever came in or out. There was a certain villager, known for his bravery, who got drunk one day and said to himself that there was nothing to fear in an uninhabited house, so he climbed over the wall and looked in. After saying this, he left and never returned for the rest of the day. When people looked for him, they found him asleep in the fields. He didn’t speak when asked, and didn’t answer when questioned, and looked like a lunatic. Since then, no one has dared to peek again. Some say that this house is inhabited by a ghost, and that the living should avoid it, for if anyone gets too close, their soul will be incomplete. I once looked at it from a distance of more than 20 zhang in the middle of the hot sun, and it was just as the villagers said, with no sign of life. Could it really be a haunted house? I just thought I’d write it down.
‘These should be the notes of a Qing person. The location is again southeast of Chengdu. The previous story mentioned that the incident took place on the ruins of a large mansion southeast of the outskirts of Chengdu. Combining this with the notes, I suspect that the tomb recorded here may be the ruins of the mansion recorded in the previous story. It is really hard to believe that this mansion could have existed for more than a thousand years, or even two thousand years. However, I believe it is real. As for the people who lived in the mansion, I don’t think it would be a haunted mansion. That’s an outrageous claim. I think that inside the mansion, there may have been a group of people living in isolation, but they had an extraordinary power, which is why the entire mansion has survived for so long. But this leads to another question: how did such a mansion, which had existed for so long, come to be destroyed? Who was responsible? We won’t know the answers to these questions until we investigate.’
‘These two incidents may be related to Professor Shi’s death, but what is the connection between them? And it’s been so long, I’m afraid it will be difficult to investigate.‘ Luo San frowned.
’Yes,’ Shen Yuan nodded, ’but this third incident may be easier to investigate.’
The third stack of papers contains copies of several newspapers, which record an incident that happened a few days ago in the western part of Chengdu. This strange incident attracted the attention of many media outlets in Chengdu, and the one that reported it most thoroughly was the New Shu Bao. According to the New Shu Bao, the incident happened a few days ago, on 23 June 1998. The New Shu Bao reported:
Why did the centuries-old well suddenly become murky? Why is there a boulder at the bottom of the well? Why did the stone at the bottom of the well suddenly sink? Yesterday, a centuries-old well in a residential courtyard on Shisun Street in the western part of Chengdu suddenly became murky, and it still gave off a pungent stench. The well, which had been crystal clear and the water sweet and delicious during the day, suddenly became unbearably murky. The boulder at the bottom of the well also suddenly sank, causing many people to speculate. In response, the relevant experts said that it is impossible to explain this for the time being, and further investigation is required to determine the detailed cause.
On-site witness: ancient well turns over
Yesterday morning, the reporter saw on the scene that the ancient well with the anomaly was located in a small courtyard with several towering ancient trees. The well was on the side of the courtyard. The well is not large, with a diameter of only about two feet. It is carved from a single piece of stone and has been polished until it is smooth. Many parts have sunken in, and it can be seen that the well, like the courtyard, is quite old. The reporter looked down from the edge of the well and discovered that this well was really extraordinary. Although the well opening was very small, the inside became wider and wider as you went down. The bottom of the well, more than ten metres from the ground, was almost five or six metres wide. At this time, the water at the bottom of the well was constantly churning as if it had been boiled. The water was yellow due to some unknown object mixed in. As the water churned, a fishy smell assailed the nostrils. Although the well water had become turbid and kept churning, the reporter could still see a one-foot-square stone exposed on the surface of the water at the bottom of the well.
A strange thing about the ancient well: a huge stone at the bottom
‘What’s going on? It was fine yesterday…’ Liu Sufeng, a great-grandmother who has lived in this courtyard for generations, stood by the well and sighed. Grandma Liu told the reporter that the courtyard has a history of several hundred years, and the well has been there since the courtyard was built. For a long time, the people living here have relied on this well for all their domestic water. The water in the well is clear and sweet, and there is always plenty of it, no matter the season. The most peculiar thing about the well is that there is a long, rectangular stone in the centre of the bottom, sticking out more than two metres. No one has been able to explain this stone for a long time. It is just there, at the bottom of the well. Maybe the person digging the well hit the stone when they were more than ten metres down, but they didn’t want to give up on the well they had already dug so deep, so they kept digging.
Two strange things about the old well: the well water became muddy and the boulder sank
Liu Tai Po said that this well also recorded her happy childhood memories… But yesterday morning, this happy memory was completely destroyed. At that time, Liu Tai Po went to the well to draw water and wash her face as usual, but as soon as she arrived at the well, she smelled a strange smell. When she looked in, she found that the water in the well was constantly churning, and the stone that had originally been two metres above the water surface was now only a head remaining. At first, Granny Liu thought that the water level had risen because of the heavy rain the night before, but soon she realised that the water level was still as high as usual. Seeing the water in the well, Granny Liu immediately went back to the house and woke up her husband. She also woke up many of the neighbours in the courtyard. Old Mrs Liu went back to the well again, put a bucket in the well, and drew up a bucket of water. Just as she pulled the water to the mouth of the well, she was overcome by the smell of the water and finally managed to get the water up with great difficulty.
Is the water from the ancient well seawater?
‘Look, the well water is right there,’ said Old Mrs Liu, pointing to a wooden bucket surrounded by a crowd of people. The water in the bucket was yellow, with some algae-like things floating in it, as well as some transparent small pieces that looked like fish scales. A Mr Liu, who claimed to be a folk science enthusiast, said that he had just tested the well water and found that it had suddenly become salty, with a composition very similar to seawater. As for the transparent small pieces, they were fish scales. However, Mr Li, who was with him, privately said that one could not believe what Mr Liu had said, as there was no basis for his words.
In response, the relevant expert said…
‘It is not unusual for well water to suddenly become hot and cloudy, as has happened elsewhere. What is strange is why the boulder in this well suddenly subsided. Another thing is the words of Mr Liu, the amateur scientist. If his tests are true, then this well is really strange.’ Luo San said as he lit a cigarette, ‘We can assume that the first two things happened at S University, so they are directly related to the big secret at S University. And Professor Shi was also killed because of this secret. The problem is that the third incident seems to have nothing to do with S University.‘
’Yes, there is no direct connection with S University, but there is a similarity with the first incident, which is that both incidents are related to two things: water and boulders.”
Luo San suddenly thought of something else: ’Not only that, the appearance of seawater in this third incident must also be related to the sea eye. Shen Yuan, let’s go to Shizun Street right away.’
‘No, Xiaosan, let’s split up. You go to Stone Spire Street, and I have to go to the school archives.’ Shen Yuan mused, ’What happened 57 years ago was quite extraordinary, so I can’t help but pay attention.’
‘Okay, I’ll take care of Stone Street.’ As Luo San turned to leave, he was filled with Shen Yuan’s words: “What happened 57 years ago was quite extraordinary, so I have to pay attention to it.” How did she know that what happened 57 years ago was extraordinary? Luo San couldn’t help but glance back at Shen Yuan. The classroom, with no lights on, was dim under the hazy sky, and Shen Yuan, sitting in the corner packing her things, seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist.
When he reached the stairs, Luo suddenly remembered that he had left a book in the classroom, so he turned back. Just as he reached the classroom door, he saw Shen Yuan staring absently at a jade pendant in his hands and muttering, ‘No matter what you turn into now, we’ll always be together, won’t we?’
Chapter 5: Shicun Street
Shimeng Street is in the west of Chengdu. Luo San found the courtyard that had been reported in the media without much difficulty. The well was in the centre of the courtyard. Luo San leaned over the well and felt a cool breeze. The heat of the summer day had dissipated somewhat. Looking down through the well, he saw a few clumps of fern growing on the well wall. The leaves were damp and slowly dripped water to the bottom of the well, making a distant sound. The well had returned to its usual appearance. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom of the well, where a huge stone with only one end showing and a bucket that had fallen to the bottom because the rope had broken were clearly visible.
‘Excuse me,’ said an old man, appearing at the well with a camera. He pushed Luo San aside and, as if there were no one else around, kept taking photos of the huge stone at the bottom of the well. As he took the photos, he kept muttering to himself, ‘Stalagmite, stalagmite, I’ve finally found it.’
Stalagmite? What’s that? This street is called Stalagmite Street, could it be because of this stalagmite? A whole bunch of questions suddenly popped into Luo San’s head. Seeing that the old man was about to leave after taking his photo, Luo San stepped forward and stopped him, asking, ‘Sir, what is this stalagmite you were talking about?’
The old man didn’t answer Luo San’s question, but asked, ‘Young man, do you like Du Fu’s poems?’
Luo San was puzzled by the old man’s sudden question and hesitated, ‘No, his poems are too sad.’
The old man nodded and said, ‘No wonder you don’t know what a stone column is. This stone column is very famous in Chengdu, but modern people don’t know much about it. Du Fu even wrote a poem about it called “Stone Column”.
The old man told Luo San that “Stone Column” was written by Du Fu when he was a guest in Chengdu:
‘You don’t see the twin stone pillars on the western side of Yizhou City?
They have been passed down since ancient times as the eye of the sea, with traces of waves etched in the moss.
They often tremble in the rain, and this is hard to explain.
I fear they are the tombs of the prime ministers of old, with standing stones as a marker that still remain today.
Alas, the common people are easily deceived, just like a lowly official fawning on the supreme ruler.
The political situation is in disarray and out of control, and they just sit back and watch the downfall of the dynasty while receiving generous favours.
Alas, the stone stalks have a false reputation, and later generations did not know their true identity.
How can a strong man throw himself into the sky, so that no one doubts his true identity?
“Legend has it that the stone stalks originally had six roots, but by the time of the Tang Dynasty, only two remained. Lu You of the Song Dynasty still saw two stone stalks, but they disappeared later. I only learned from the newspaper the other day that there is actually a remnant of a stalagmite here. Legend has it that what is suppressed under this stalagmite is the sea eye, and once this sea eye is moved, the entire Chengdu will turn into a country of lakes. Du Fu did not believe in this theory of the sea eye, and he believed that this should be the location of the tombs of ancient kings, queens, generals and ministers, and the stalagmite is just a sign of the tombs. However, most ancient Chengdu people did believe that it was the sea eye.
This stone column is indeed related to the sea eye, but Luo San wanted to ask the old man more, so he said, ‘Chengdu is located inland, so how could there be a sea? And why would there be a sea eye?’
The old man nodded and said, ‘You’re right, but the people of Chengdu believe in this. There is a legend that has long been passed down in Chengdu about why Chengdu doesn’t have four divisions of the night. Legend has it that in earlier years, Chengdu was a vast expanse of water known as the Western Sea. The residents could only live on the slightly higher ground around them, which made life extremely inconvenient. So the residents begged the heavens to give them a better piece of land. Later, a fairy had mercy on them and sprinkled the ashes from the incense burner, instantly filling the entire Western Sea with land. However, there wasn’t enough ash, and some places weren’t filled in, which became the sea eye. The sea water gushed out of the sea eye in an unstoppable stream, and it looked as if it was going to flood Chengdu again. The people of Chengdu gathered huge stones and Buddha statues from all over to fill in the sea eye, but there was still one place that could not be filled in, so they had to ask the immortals for help. The immortals then assigned a tortoise to plug the sea eye, but the tortoise was unwilling to do so. The immortals had to tell it, ‘You only have to plug the sea eye for one night. When it’s four o’clock in the morning, you can leave.’ Upon hearing this, the tortoise went to plug the sea eye. The immortal then turned to the people of Chengdu and ordered them not to strike the fourth stroke of the night watch from then on. As a result, the turtle would never hear the fourth stroke of the night watch and had to keep plugging the sea eye forever. It is still there under the East Gate Bridge in Chengdu to this day.’
The old man went on and on, saying, ‘There are many legends about sea eyes in Chengdu. Apart from the stone pillar, there is also a sea eye rumoured to exist at Taziba in Tianpeng Town, Peng County, Chengdu, and there is also a sea eye rumoured to exist under the big Buddha statue at Daci Temple in Chengdu city centre.’
“Sir, so you also believe that there is a sea eye in Chengdu? And this stone pillar is the sea eye’s guardian stone?’
‘Of course I don’t believe that,‘ said the old man. “The stone pillar is actually a remnant of the ancient Shu people’s stone culture.”
’Stone culture?”
Seeing Luo San’s puzzled expression, the old man explained: ’In terms of archaeological culture, the relics of stone worship from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age are widely distributed, from the Atlantic coast of Europe southwards via the Mediterranean coast, from the Caucasus in Asia via Iran and India to the Pacific Rim region of China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and even the Pacific islands and the American continent. It is generally referred to in archaeology as the ‘megalithic culture’ because it is characterised by megalithic structures such as stone huts, stone circles, stone platforms, stone walls, stone carvings and stone chambers. As for the worship of megaliths in Shu, it needs to start with the ancestors of the ancient Shu people. According to historical records, the ancestors of the ancient Shu people were descendants of Zhuanxu, the great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. They originally lived in the mountains upstream of the Minjiang River. The first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, lived in a stone room in the Min Mountains. After Zangong moved from Shushan in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River to the Chengdu Plain, he still retained the awe his ancestors had for the mountains and large stones. Therefore, even though there were no large stones produced on the Chengdu Plain, they were still transported from other places, and large stone buildings in different forms were used to express their worship of their ancestors and their living environment. This has resulted in the deep-rooted worship of large stones in Shu. For the people of Shu, the worship of large stones embodies a combination of the worship of their ancestors and their living environment. It is a rather unique form of worship in the religious system of the people of Shu.”
The old man spoke eloquently: ’There are many such stone relics in Chengdu, which are divided into solitary stones and stone arrays. Solitary stones are concentrated in Chengdu, and the main ones are stone pillars, Tianya stones, Dijiao stones, Zhiji stones, and Wukuai stones. Stone rows, or stone lines, are also known as stone arrays. For example, there is the Daba Array in Xindu, the Eight Array Diagram in Shuangliu, and the Flying Stone in Xinfan.‘
’Sir, I still don’t understand. How are these big stones related to the sea eye?’
‘In the history of ancient Shu, there was once a great flood, a flood similar to those in the reigns of Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun in Chinese history. The entire Chengdu Plain was almost submerged in water. It was during the Du Yu Dynasty of the ancient Shu Kingdom. King Du Yu was unable to control the flood, so a man named Beiling took on the responsibility of flood control and expanded his power in the process. He overthrew the Du Yu Dynasty and established the Kai Ming Dynasty. Some of these stone relics may be the marks left behind by Beiling during the flood control process, so they are related to the sea eye.’ After the old man finished speaking, he looked at the sky and hurriedly said to Luo San, “Young man, I should go now, I can’t talk anymore.”
After talking with the old man, Luo San felt that it was a worthwhile trip. At least he understood that the stone in the well turned out to be a stalagmite, and it was said that what was suppressed at the bottom was the sea eye.
Back at school, Shen Yuan told Luo San that all the school archives from 57 years ago had been taken.
3 o’clock, classroom 314, Building 4.
Luo San, Shen Yuan, Mu Shigu, Nan Qingyi, He Wangyu, and Liu Fufeng all frowned…
‘I can’t find any noteworthy archives. Someone has beaten me to the punch.’ Shen Yuan’s gaze coldly swept across the faces of the people present.
Liu Fufeng said angrily, ‘The newspapers from Chengdu and Chongqing 57 years ago have all been taken away in advance.’
‘Could there be a traitor among us?’
‘No,’ He Wangyu shook his head, ‘Those newspapers weren’t torn off recently, it looks like they’ve been torn off for a while.’
Luo San noticed that Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale when he heard this.
“57 years ago, there was a strange incident at University S that shocked the whole of Sichuan, and even the whole country.’
‘What kind of strange thing?‘ Everyone’s spirits lifted when Nan Qingyi said this.
’We found an old man who told us that 57 years ago, there was a murder at Sichuan University that killed hundreds of people. The Nationalist government was extremely nervous at the time, and I heard that it was settled at the cost of countless lives. After that incident, there was a prophecy that 57 years later, the murder would happen again and Chengdu would once again be in chaos.‘
’What exactly was the murder 57 years ago?’
‘I don’t know. The person who knew the answer got a phone call in the middle of the story and had to rush to the hospital,’ added Mu Shigu. “But we can go and see him again tomorrow.”
Nan Qingyi took two newspapers out of her bag: ’Because the murder happened at Sijiao, we think this report must be related to the tragedy 57 years ago.’
One of the news items was a story entitled ‘A boulder blocks the road, halting the construction of the S University’s main teaching building’ that had appeared in the Xinxin News on 26 August 1933. The story said:
Yesterday, construction of the new campus of National S University was halted. A natural boulder, over three metres high and over a metre wide, was found where the teaching building was to be built. As the boulder was in the way, it was difficult to build the teaching building, so the university ordered the workers to destroy the boulder, but they failed. Yesterday afternoon, dozens of labourers gathered in front of the stone to destroy it. However, the boulder could not be pushed over, and no foundation could be seen when it was dug. Explosives were used to blast it, but the boulder remained unmoved, with only a crack visible on it. According to the farmers in the surrounding area, this stone has been here for a long time. It shakes when pushed lightly, but it seems to be deeply rooted in the ground, so it is hard to understand why.
When he saw the word ‘boulder’ in this news article, Luo San’s heart stirred, and he remembered the boulder in the first case that Shi Wuji had asked them to investigate. He couldn’t help but glance at Shen Yuan, and saw that Shen Yuan was also turning his head towards him, giving him a look, before turning his gaze to another newspaper article. It was ‘The National S University Apologises to Relatives of Missing Female Students’ from the Huaxi Daily in April 1937:
Yesterday, the university apologised to the relatives of the two missing girls. The university said that the purpose of a university is to educate students, cultivate national character and enlighten the people. The university is entrusted by the parents to educate their children and therefore has a responsibility to protect them. However, the incident was strange and resulted in the disappearance of the two girls. The school’s head of discipline was negligent, and the school is also to blame. Therefore, the school apologised to the relatives of the girls and paid 3,000 yuan in compensation. It is reported that before the two female college students disappeared, they both appeared in the first teaching building of S University, and then they disappeared without a trace. In response, the school said that it will rectify as soon as possible…
‘The first teaching building is now the S University East District No. 4 Teaching Building,‘ explained Nan Qingyi. “Mu Shigu and I agree that both of these incidents predate the 57-year-old murder case, and both are related to the No. 4 Teaching Building, so they should be the prelude to that case.”
’We have no clues about the stone, but we have found some information about the disappearance,’ Nan Qingyi deliberately lowered his voice, ‘This missing girl case may be related to the toilet on the floor below that never opens. Mu Shigu and I went to collect the background of this matter after seeing this news, and found that it is not that simple. Although the location where the two girls disappeared has not been determined, the last place they went before they disappeared was the women’s toilet on the first floor of the Sijiao building. And that women’s toilet was immediately locked up permanently by the school after the disappearance of the two girls.’
‘That toilet was closed because of this incident?‘ Liu Fufeng said in surprise.
’Yes, Liu, what’s wrong?‘
’I just suddenly remembered the story of the red vest, which said that this teaching building was closed after the red vest incident.‘
’Those are just the nonsense made up by bored people,’ Nan Qingyi said, ’that women’s toilet is very strange. Someone once tried to open the door of the women’s toilet, but found that no matter what method was used, the door would not budge.’
Luo San was about to ask further, but saw Yan Qingbo push open the door and rush over to everyone without taking a seat. ‘Sorry, I’m late. Shit, I was suddenly called away to work on a case…’
Yan Qingbo paused halfway through his sentence, his eyes scanning Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu. After a long while, he said, ‘You two went to see an old man this morning?’
‘Yes, how did you know?‘ Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu looked at each other, wondering why Yan Qingbo had asked such a question.
’Wait and go to the unit with me. Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal, just a statement.‘ Seeing that the two were a little shocked, Yan Qingbo explained, “The old man you went to see this morning was found dead at home at noon…”
’Right, why did you go to see him?’
‘We asked him about some circumstances 57 years ago. But before he could tell us in detail what happened 57 years ago, he was called away by a phone call.’ Nan Qingyi thought for a moment and said, “That phone call was made by the murderer, the purpose of which was to call him away in time to kill him.”
After listening, Yan Qingbo sighed: ’It’s the case 57 years ago again. After listening to Luo San’s story about the red horse last night, I had a bad feeling that the 57-year-old curse would appear again.’
‘What do you mean by ‘curse’?‘ Nan Qingyi’s eyes widened.
’Ever since I became a cop, every year there have been people who have died violently, all in the same way, being bitten to death by a pack of dogs. Just last year, a young man…’ They all had one thing in common: they had all investigated the case that happened 57 years ago.
Yan Qingbo hadn’t finished speaking when He Wangyu stood up abruptly. ‘This is too dangerous. We could lose our lives at any time. Classmates, we can’t investigate this matter anymore! There’s no need to risk our lives, is there?’
‘I agree,’ said Mu Shigu. ‘We don’t need to take this risk.’
“I agree with He too. You shouldn’t investigate this matter anymore. Those people have no humanity. Over the past year, whenever I thought about the young man who was bitten to death last year, I felt a rash.
‘Yan Ge, stop,’ Shen Yuan’s face was frosty. ’Yan Ge, I know you are good to us, but Professor Shi is the head of our society, and if he dies, we have to do something for him. As for He Wangyu and Mu Shigu, if you are afraid, you can quit, but at least I will continue.’
Nan Qingyi, Luo San and Liu Fufeng all supported Shen Yuan, so Yan Qingbo had to ask everyone to be careful. He Wangyu also said, ‘Since everyone is determined, I will go with you. But everyone really has to be careful.’
Yan Qingbo slammed his hand down on the table and said, ‘Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu, come with me to the police station for an investigation. Everyone else, just continue.’
Chapter 6: Ancient Yue’s Blasphemous Scripture
After everyone had left, Shen Yuan took out a paper package and placed it in front of Luo San: inside were three small beads. The beads were round and smooth, and it was impossible to tell what material they were made of.
‘What are these?’
“I don’t know either, but I have a feeling that they are not ordinary. I have seen these beads many times before, but I don’t usually see them. They usually appear after heavy rain in the summer.’
‘That’s strange,’ Luo San picked up the bead and looked at it closely, and his mind quickly began to race: the beads appeared after heavy rain, and the scene after heavy rain was so familiar. Yes, wasn’t the puddle in the first case Professor Shi asked them to investigate only appeared after a summer thunderstorm? And, as Shen Yuan analysed yesterday, the location of that puddle was within the university. Could it be… Thinking of this, Luo San immediately spoke to Shen Yuan, ‘Could it be that you suspect the exact location of that puddle is near the Fourth Teaching Building?’
‘Yes.’
“Do you know the exact location of that puddle?’
‘Follow me.‘ Shen Yuan did not directly answer Luo San’s question, but stood up and walked out of the classroom. Following Shen Yuan, Luo San came to the end of a corridor on the first floor.
’Look at the floor.”
Following the direction of Shen Yuan’s finger, Luo San saw a faint water stain on the floor of the corridor. Strangely, the water stain was very shallow and faint, and it did not look like it was formed after water was poured onto the floor. Instead, it looked like it was formed after water seeped up from the ground. Why would there be water seeping up from the floor of this classroom, and why was it only in this one place? Luo San looked around carefully. The water stain was at the end of the corridor, next to the women’s toilet, which was as famous as the attic of the S-building and the Si-teaching building. If it were an ordinary day, Luo San would have thought that the water stain was formed because the rainwater had seeped into the women’s toilet during the heavy rain earlier and seeped out on the floor. But now his opinion was completely different: ‘It was formed after the puddle appeared.’
‘That’s what I think too. I’ve seen water stains in this place many times, and every time it was after a summer thunderstorm. The puddle in the first thing Professor Shi asked us to investigate might be here. The boulder reported in the newspaper in 1933 should be nearby.‘
’Er,’ Luo San hesitated, ’maybe we can go and see Professor Wu, he might know something.’
‘Something that happened 57 years ago?’ Professor Wu frowned when he heard the reason for their visit. ’I really don’t know about that. Xiaosan, as you know, my main purpose here is to study, not to pry into strange and unusual things.’
‘As for the stone you mentioned, I’ve never heard of it either. Chengdu is a flat city that doesn’t produce stones. The stones in this city, such as Tianya Stone, Zhiji Stone, stone stalagmites, stone mirrors, and Wukuai Stone, are all recorded in historical books. But this stone you mentioned, at least in my impression, I have never seen any records of it, so it most likely doesn’t exist.’
‘Actually, there are records.‘ Shen Yuan then gave Professor Wu the three cases left by Shi Wuji and told him about the current investigation. Luo San also told Professor Wu about the discovery on Shisun Street. He just felt that Professor Wu looked very strange after seeing these records and listening to their stories, but he quickly returned to normal.
’Professor Wu, what do you think is going on? Is the legend of Haiyan in Chengdu really related to the turtle spirit controlling the water? And what about the stone at University S? What’s the story there? And what about the toilet?‘
Professor Wu didn’t answer Luo San’s questions, but after a long pause, he looked up at the two and asked, “Are you really going to investigate this matter?”
’Yes,‘ they answered in unison.
’In that case, I’ll be frank with you. This matter seems very complicated. It seems that someone has been guiding you to investigate this case.‘
’Who?‘
’Shi Wuji.‘
’Professor Shi is dead.’
‘That’s why it’s strange. He’s dead, but he can still keep directing you.‘ Professor Wu said, tearing open the envelope and turning it over so that Luo San and Shen Yuan could both see. On the inside of the envelope were a few lines of lightly written words in pencil, along with a symbol.
’Professor Shi’s handwriting,’ Shen Yuan recognised at once that it was written by Shi Wuji. The lines of words read: ‘The huge stone in the south of the city is very strange and supernatural, but it is not mentioned in historical records. Perhaps it has remained in the mansion for so long that the mansion has become ruins and the stone is only now known to the world. After the rain, the deep pit looks similar to a stone pillar. The well in Shuimian Street in the west of the city is unusual, so there must be something about the stone pillar. If you two see this writing, you should go to Shuimian Street immediately to find out more. The boulder in the south of the city may be related to the stone stalks. It concerns an unusual event that happened 57 years ago and is related to ‘Chengdu’. ‘Chengdu’ is where the country’s pulse is located, but no one knows where ‘Chengdu’ is. This map is the only clue.”
Below the word is a symbol, which is the map Shi Wuwei was talking about. The symbol is in the shape of a semicircle with a cone in the middle and three horizontal bars inside, like a mountain.
‘The giant stone in the south of the city is similar to a stone pillar. It seems that we don’t have enough information. As for what Chengdu is, isn’t it this city?‘ Luo San muttered to himself, then paused for a moment and said, “No, Professor Shi put quotation marks around the two characters, which means that there is another meaning to ”Chengdu’. Could it be that this symbol represents ‘Chengdu’? Professor Wu, what do you think?’
Professor Wu was in a daze, and when he heard Luo San ask him, he came back to his senses: ‘The word “Chengdu” appears for the second time. Last time, it was “Chengdu” in his phone call to the girl. As for what “Chengdu” is, I really don’t know. But this pattern, well, it was unearthed from Sanxingdui.’
Sanxingdui is an ancient Shu civilization site in Guanghan City, next to Chengdu. Due to the large number of cultural relics found there and the fact that it is incompatible with Central Plains culture, forming its own system, and also having almost no connection with later Shu culture, the reason for its disappearance is unknown. Therefore, there are many speculations about the origin of this civilization. Some people think it is a Western Asian civilization, some think it is a civilization born and bred in ancient Shu, and others think it is an alien civilization.
Professor Wu thought for a moment and said, ‘Last time, didn’t the policeman say that a symbol was found at the scene? Ask what it is.’
‘Okay.’ Luo San called and asked, and told Professor Wu, “This is the pattern.”
Professor Wu nodded and said, “Then ask him if he found anything else.”
Yan Qingbo at the other end of the phone seemed to have heard what Professor Wu said, and before Luo San could say anything, he said, ’The albino who died early this morning was clutching something tightly in one hand. There were two characters on the skin of the palm of his hand. They weren’t written or carved, but seemed to have grown out of the flesh…’
‘What are the characters?‘ Luo San knew that there was another clue and couldn’t help but feel a surge of energy.
’Dujing.‘
’Reading the scriptures? Which two characters?‘
’Three dots of water, a word that sells, Dujing, the scriptures.‘
Professor Wu pondered for a long time and said, “The legend of Haiyan is not only related to the tortoise spirit controlling the water, but may also be related to an ancient legend.”
’What legend?’ Shen and Luo asked in unison.
‘The ancient Yue Du Jing!‘
’What is the ancient Yue Du Jing?‘
’I also read it in some miscellaneous books. The Du Jing is a legendary book that records the topography of rivers, mountains and rivers in ancient China. It is said that after Yu the Great pacified the world, he gathered the princes of the world at Maoshan in Zhejiang Province to make a common alliance. He collected information from all over the world, summed up his experience in flood control, and learned about the geography of the nine provinces. Because it was written in ancient Yue script, later generations called it the ‘Ancient Yue Dujing’. In this book, in addition to the customs and mores of the various ancient Chinese ethnic groups and the geographical situation at the time, it also records many secrets that are no longer known. Once someone masters and cracks these secrets, they will have the ability to destroy the entire Chinese world.‘
’How is that possible?’
‘Yes, many people think it’s impossible, and say that the book of sacrilege is nothing but an illusory legend. But the legend of the book of sacrilege has never stopped for thousands of years, even though no one has ever seen the real book of sacrilege.’ Professor Wu looked out of the window at the dim road and said thoughtfully, ’People who believe that the book of sacrilege exists either want to destroy China or are worried about its demise. As for those who don’t believe it exists, it’s because they don’t believe in a world they don’t know. Although I have never seen the book of blasphemies, I believe it exists.‘
’But the book of blasphemies is a book that records the mountains and rivers of China. Chengdu has neither large mountains nor large rivers. This place has nothing to do with the book of blasphemies, no matter how you look at it.’
‘No. The Du Jing is definitely related to the current case. It is recorded in the Huayang Guozhi: Chengdu was once known as a low-lying area with deep springs, and was the source of the four rivers. In other words, Chengdu is a low-lying area with abundant groundwater, and is the source of the four rivers: the Yangtze, the Huaihe, the Jialing and the Minjiang. Judging from Chengdu’s geographical location, the city is at most related to the Yangtze, and it is hard to believe that it is the source of the four rivers. There must be an inexplicable relationship between Chengdu and the four rivers.”
Luo San straightened his thoughts and said, ’The first of the four rivers may be related to the sea eye. Therefore, the secret is in the Dujing. If we find the Dujing, we can unlock all the secrets, but at present, we don’t have that possibility. So we can only start from the outside, from that huge stone.’
Chapter 7 The never-opening women’s toilet
Clouds were gathering in the sky, silver dragons were dancing, and a heavy rain was about to fall. Luo San looked at the sky in front of him, feeling restless. He had already called Shen Yuan four times, but she had not answered. Time was running out, and if he waited any longer, he was afraid he would miss the opportunity to discover the secrets of the Fourth Teaching Hall. Thinking about this, Luo San called Shen Yuan’s dormitory and asked someone to tell her, ‘This is Luo San. I’m going to the Fourth Teaching Hall.’ After hanging up the phone, Luo San packed up briefly, took an umbrella and dashed into the heavy rain.
When he left Professor Wu’s dormitory in the afternoon, Luo San had a brainstorm. He thought that since there had been cases of students going missing at S University before, would there be any more in the future? So he went to Yan Qingbo and, after much persuasion, managed to obtain a record of the missing persons cases at S University over the past 50 years. When he got the record, Luo San was shocked because in the past 50 years, there have been as many as 40 people who have gone missing from S University. It is obviously abnormal for so many people to go missing from a university in a city. What is even more abnormal is that most of the statements from friends and classmates of the missing people talk about the last place where the missing person was seen being Sijiao; the missing cases all occurred during summer thunderstorms.
Luo San decided to go to Sijiao to take a look at the thunderstorm tonight.
The sky was full of thunderclaps, which made Luo San jump and fall to the ground when his feet gave way. The thunder and rain suddenly stopped.
What was this place? Could this be the location of the student disappearances in recent decades? Luo San carefully felt his way forward, but before he reached the wall, a hand reached in, grabbed him and dragged him out.
Luo San felt a bright light, and when he looked, he realised that he was still in the woods outside the Si Jiao. The person who had pulled him out was Shen Yuan.
It turned out that Shen Yuan had returned from the bathhouse and immediately rushed to the Si Jiao. With the light, Shen Yuan saw Luo San clinging helplessly against the wall of the Si Jiao, sheltering from the thunder and rain. A bolt of lightning struck unexpectedly, and Shen Yuan couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw that where Luo San was standing, only two feet were left dangling outside the wall.
The thunder in the sky continued to rumble, and Shen Yuan looked at the solid wall and pounded on it in vain. Suddenly, she felt her hands slapping against the wall suddenly go empty, as if she had reached into water, and disappeared before her eyes. So she reached in and felt around, just catching Luo San’s arm, and dragging him out.
‘What was it really like in there?‘
’It was dark. I couldn’t see or hear anything from the outside. I could just hear some strange noises…‘
’What noises?‘
’I’m not sure. It sounded like waves.”
Shen Yuan saw Luo San’s expression and gritted her teeth, ’I’ll go in and have a look.’
Shen Yuan said, and switched on her torch. She felt around the wall, and finally found the air-like wall. She took a deep breath and stepped inside. Luo San followed her in. The landscape behind the wall was revealed in the light of the torch. When Luo San saw the structure, he couldn’t help but laugh. This place was obviously a toilet, and from its layout of only squat toilets and no urinals, it was still a women’s toilet.
The ceiling of this toilet is more than three metres to four metres high from the ground. It turned out that there used to be a window, but it was later sealed up. However, what was strange was that these bones were only scattered, and none of them were complete human bones.
Luo San glanced at Shen Yuan, but saw that she was looking at the door of the toilet. Luo San reached out to pull the door, but found that it was as solid as iron and wouldn’t budge.
Next to one of the walls of the women’s toilet stood a huge boulder more than three metres high, the base of which was deeply embedded in the ground. ‘If I’m not mistaken, this should be the boulder that the news report said had been unable to be moved and was blocking the construction of the fourth temple.’ Luo San said to Shen Yuan as he leaned down to take a closer look at the stone. The stone had a smooth surface and was completely one piece. It was a dark green-black colour throughout, except for a one-inch-wide strip in the middle that was multi-coloured. The roots of the stone were deeply embedded in the ground, and it was hard to tell how deep they went.
Luo San stood up and tried to push the stone. He used very little force, but the stone swayed slightly. Suddenly, he got his strength together and pushed the stone with all his might, but the boulder did not move.
‘What kind of broken stone is this?’ Luo San curiously surveyed the stone, and suddenly he noticed that the crack in the stone seemed to have widened a little. He was about to lean closer to take a closer look when Shen Yuan’s flashlight suddenly moved away.
‘What’s wrong?’ Luo San looked up discontentedly, but saw Shen Yuan listening intently with a serious face.
Shen Yuan said to Luo San, “Go over there and push the stone.”
Although he didn’t understand, Luo San went over and gently pushed the stone. Just as he pushed it, the sound of waves came from under the toilet seat.
‘Where is this water coming from?‘ Luo San asked.
Shen Yuan did not answer.
’I’ll go out and find something to test the depth of the water.”
Luo San brought in a few stones and threw them into each of the three squatting positions.
The third squatting position was bottomless.
After repeated observations, Luo San found that as long as he pushed the boulder, the crack on the boulder would suddenly grow larger, and the rain and wind outside would also become more urgent.
Luo San walked towards the wall of the invisible door again, but ‘bang’, he hit it. Because he had walked in a hurry, the impact was quite strong, and he immediately covered his head and squatted down.
‘Why are you so careless? Where did you hit it? Are you hurt?’ Shen Yuan asked, leaning over.
Luo San did not answer her question, but nervously said, ‘The wall is blocking it, and the door is gone.’
Shen Yuan reached out and patted the wall all over, and sure enough, the door was gone, and there were hard walls everywhere.
In the dark toilet, Luo San and Shen Yuan sat facing each other. In the past two hours, the two of them had tried every possible method, but they could never find the invisible door. ‘I’m so stupid, how could I have not thought that the door would close.’ Shen Yuan picked up a branch at random and lashed out at the ground.
‘It’s not your fault. Seeing such a strange place, it’s only natural to be careless for a moment. You’d better not blame yourself. Calm down first and find out if there are any other ways out,’ Luo San comforted.
After hearing Luo San’s words, Shen Yuan let out a soft sigh, but didn’t say anything. Luo San understood what she meant. The so-called exit was nothing more than self-comfort. There was no exit at all. Thinking about this, he said uneasily, ’I’m sorry. I didn’t think that my momentary curiosity would drag you into this.’
‘It’s not your fault. In fact, I’m the one who dragged you into this. If I hadn’t kept dragging you to investigate this case, you wouldn’t have gotten involved.‘
’Shen Yuan!‘
’Yes!‘
’I’ve actually been meaning to ask you a question: who exactly are you? You seem to know a lot about the case that happened 57 years ago, and it seems like you have a lot of secrets?‘
’So why didn’t you ask?‘
’Because you didn’t say.‘
’Do you really want to know?‘
’As long as you’re willing to tell.’
‘Okay, since I can’t go out, I’ll tell you. Actually, my surname is not Shen, it’s Chen.’ In the darkness, Shen Yuan’s voice was not loud, but seemed to carry a hint of resentment and a hint of helplessness. As she spoke, she took a necklace off her neck and handed it to Luo San. It was a necklace made of small red stones, with a golden bell the size of a peanut as a pendant.
‘What is this?’ Luo San looked at it for a long time, but couldn’t make anything of it.
Shen Yuan didn’t answer immediately, but slowly recited a passage: ’Protected by bloodstone, guided by the golden bell, the Xiangxi Walker, accompanied by the corpse. I am a descendant of the Feiye branch of the Xiangxi corpse-driving family. From the day I was born, my life was sealed… Originally, I could have avoided being with corpses, but because of what happened 57 years ago, it changed the fate of our entire family, and I lost the opportunity to choose…‘
’Wait a minute,‘ Luo San suddenly interrupted Shen Yuan.
’What’s wrong? What’s that sound?’ Shen Yuan was very confused by Luo San’s interruption, but soon she understood the reason why Luo San had suddenly interrupted her. Because at this time she heard the sound of the waves under the toilet seat, which had been faint until now, suddenly becoming apparent. Without thinking too much, she turned her head and switched on the flashlight in her hand. Under the flashlight’s beam, Luo San was stunned by the sight before her. The water in the toilet seat was rapidly rising. At this time, compared to when they had just seen it, the water level had risen by more than a foot and was about to overflow.
‘Rushing…’ The sound of waves echoed in the dim room, sounding inexplicably eerie. Just a few minutes had passed, but the sound of the waves, which had been faint before, was now so loud that it almost drowned out the sound of the two men’s voices. The water in the toilet cubicle had also risen to the floor. Looking at the water that had risen to his ankles, Luo San understood that if he didn’t think of a way out quickly, the entire toilet would fill with water. So he reluctantly patted the walls of the toilet.
Unconsciously, the water had risen to the waist of the two of them. Luo San suddenly felt a bright light, and then Shen Yuan let out a scream. With the light of the flashlight, Luo San saw in front of her that a person was swaying up and down with the current, seemingly already a corpse.
It was a man, floating face down on the water. How could such a person suddenly appear in such a confined space? A series of thoughts flashed through Luo San’s mind, but he really couldn’t figure it out. So he looked at Shen Yuan, who was also looking shocked and confused.
‘Turn him over and take a look?’ Luo San suggested to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan didn’t say anything, just nodded. Luo San then gestured for Shen Yuan to stand back a little, and then reached out and flipped the man over. It was a middle-aged man, perhaps only in his forties, with long, dark hair that clung to his plump face; he was dressed quite decently throughout, and looked like someone who had been pampered for a long time. It was basically certain that this man was dead.
After confirming that the man was dead, Shen Yuan was not afraid and immediately began to examine the body. Soon, she was seen taking a wallet out of the body and handing it to Luo San, before burying her head in the body to examine it further. Luo San opened the wallet and found an ID card inside. The photo on the ID card vaguely showed that it was the man in front of him. The name was Dongfang Bai, a 45-year-old from Wuhou District, Chengdu. Luo San continued searching in the wallet, and soon found a supermarket receipt.
‘Shen Yuan, come and take a look at this,’ Luo San called happily as he looked at the receipt.
Shen Yuan frowned, waded through the water with difficulty to Luo San’s side, and asked, ‘What’s so happy about it?’
“Look, look at the date,’ Luo San pointed to the date on the receipt and asked Shen Yuan to take a look. The date was exactly the same as the day. Shen Yuan was very clever and understood Luo San’s meaning at once: ‘If we have been stuck in here all this time, the corpse would suddenly appear here, which means there is another space that can be accessed from here. If we fight for it, there may still be a chance to save him. The most important thing is that the receipt on the corpse is dated today, which means he must have died today before floating here. In that case, the journey may not be long.’
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.‘
’The key is where the exit is?‘
’Of course it’s here.‘ Luo San pointed his finger at the flooded squat toilet seat and said, “The water came from here, so the exit must also be here.”
’It’s bottomless in here! Are you a good swimmer?‘
’I’m just OK at swimming. The point is that if we don’t give it a go, soon this toilet of ours will also be bottomless.’ Luo San looked at the water that had risen to his chest.
‘Then let’s get ready to go. Before we do, there’s something I need to explain. First, this place may be a world we’ve never encountered before, so when we’re down here, no matter what, don’t leave me…‘
’Not just me, no one should leave each other down here,’ Luo San interrupted Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan looked at Luo San and sighed, ‘Okay. Hold my hand and we’ll jump together. One, two, three.’ As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, the two of them immediately jumped into the squat toilet. Luo San felt that everything was just as expected. Wherever his feet touched, there was nothing but emptiness. Even though he was in the water, he couldn’t feel any buoyancy. It seemed that the water around him, just like his body, was constantly falling, without end.
Suddenly, Luo San felt a bright light, and at the same time, his hand was violently pulled by Shen Yuan. Luo San did not have time to see where the light came from, and immediately turned his head to look at Shen Yuan, but saw that Shen Yuan was also looking at him in surprise, obviously also curious about the sudden bright light. The light came from above, and Luo San was about to take a closer look when unexpectedly, a current of water rushed in, and the two of them were swept back into the darkness.
The water kept gushing upwards, and the two men felt their bodies being swept upwards with the water. After a while, Luo San felt the water suddenly rushing diagonally, and he was also swept aside against his will. With a bright flash of light, the two men fell heavily in the woods outside the Sijiao, with the body of the man named Dongfang Bai lying beside them. The water did not continue to gush out of the toilet, as if the door had been closed again.
“How could this be?’
Shen Yuan shook his head and said, ‘I don’t know either.’
Luo San was about to say something else when he heard a commotion around them. The police had arrived.
Chapter 8: The Wild Dog Pack’s Assassination
‘Yan Ge, I really have to thank you this time. Otherwise, Shen Yuan and I would probably be in the police station for questioning.’ At 3am, Luo San and Shen Yuan came out of the police station together, looking tired as they thanked Yan Qingbo. Thanks to Yan Qingbo’s help, the police had just believed that the deaths of Dongfang Bai and the two of them were unrelated.
Yan Qingbo yawned and waved his hands, ‘Xiaosanzi, it was a small favour, so don’t be polite. But then again, who did you offend?’
‘What do you mean?’
“What do I mean? You don’t think it was a coincidence that the police just appeared outside Sijiao, do you? We only rushed there because we received a report. The person who called the police obviously wanted you two to be arrested as suspects. Who has such a grudge against you?’
‘It’s not a grudge, it’s because someone doesn’t want us to be free.’ Shen Yuan looked worried. ’When we were discussing the 57-year-old murder case yesterday, didn’t we say that someone doesn’t want anyone to investigate what happened 57 years ago? The people who called the police are the same people. They want us to be locked up as suspects, so that the Paranormal Research Association will probably give up investigating the 57-year-old case. This time, they have failed in their plan, and they definitely won’t let go. Xiaosan, our situation will be very dangerous, so we have to be careful in the future.’
‘Okay, I’ll be careful.’ Luo San looked thoughtful. ’Shen Yuan, Yan Ge, I still have two questions that I can’t figure out. How did those people know that we would come out of that place? And how did the door suddenly open when it had already been closed?’
‘The first question is easy to explain. They were waiting outside the whole time, and when you came out, they immediately called the police. As for the second question,‘ Yan Qingbo shook his head, “I don’t know either.”
’Forget it. Never mind this question. Sigh!’ Luo San sighed.
‘Xiaosan, perhaps I can speculate using the information we have as police. Dongfang Bai was from Wuhou District, but lived in Jinniu District, northwest of Chengdu. Judging from the body, he died between 8 and 10 pm last night, but we also found a receipt from a supermarket on him dated 9:56 pm last night. There is a more than 90% chance that he left it after making a purchase, so he was killed after 9:56 pm last night. And the supermarket shown on that receipt is located near Dongfang Bai’s residence in the west of the city. According to our investigation, that residence is the first crime scene. You saw Dongfang Bai at 10:11. At that time, he was in the women’s toilet of University S. From the time of his death to his appearance at University S, there was a maximum of only 17 minutes. I don’t think the murderer had to transport him from the west of the city to the southeast of the city in such a short time to throw him into the ground. Therefore, Dongfang Bai should have been thrown into the ground near his residence in the west of the city.‘
’West of the city?’ Luo San gasped.
Shen Yuan also looked grave: ‘If that entrance is in the west of the city, that would be terrifying.’
‘How terrifying?’
“Last night Xiaosan and I didn’t get a good look, but we can basically be sure that the underground is a body of water. If that entrance is in the west of the city, that would mean that the entire underground of Chengdu is a connected body of water, a huge connected body of water. The city where we have lived for generations is floating on the water, isn’t that terrifying?’
‘How is that possible?‘
’It’s just a guess, and we certainly hope it’s not true.‘
’Whether it’s true or not, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Aren’t you two tired?’ Luo San yawned, “I need to go back to the dormitory and get some sleep.”
After returning to school, Luo San felt extremely sleepy. His legs were floating as he walked, and now he just wanted to get some sleep as soon as possible. After dropping Shen Yuan off at the dormitory building, he hurried to his own dormitory. Suddenly a noise overhead caught Luo San’s attention. He looked up and saw several goshawks perched high in the trees, motionless, their fierce gaze like electricity directed at the ground, as if waiting for something. Luo San looked for a while, thinking there was nothing to see, and turned his gaze away. However, he saw a few wolf dogs and several feral dogs not far away chasing each other, barking lowly non-stop. Luo San looked at the pack of wolf dogs, but saw that the few wolf dogs and even the wild dogs were also looking at him, and their gaze actually revealed bursts of ferocity. Luo San immediately walked quickly towards the path at the side, trying to bypass the pack of animals. And at that moment, he heard a rustling in the bushes beside him, and the branches kept shaking, as if there were countless things inside.
Luo San stopped in his tracks, afraid to go any further. Because in front of him, countless snakes appeared as if out of thin air, surrounding him and motionless. And among the snakes, there were many king cobras, which were well-known for their fear-inducing appearance. They stood upright, with their heads flattened and wide, and kept spitting out their tongues.
‘Hoo!’ A gust of wind came from behind, and Luo San turned his head to see a wolfdog leaping high and charging at him. Luo San instinctively swung his fist at the wolf dog, but it was avoided by the wolf dog. In front of him, the wolf dog’s big mouth was about to close in on Luo San’s neck. In that split second, there was a gust of wind overhead, and the wolf dog let out a mournful cry and fell to the ground. Luo San saw that one of the wolf dog’s eyes was gushing bright red blood, which, coupled with its ferocious appearance, made it look especially hideous. Although it had lost an eye, the wolfdog did not pay any attention to the eagle hovering in the air. Instead, as soon as the eagle landed, it sprang up and pounced on Luo San again. A dark shadow flashed past Luo San’s eyes, and the wolfdog let out a whimpering sound as it landed. However, at this moment, there was another gust of wind behind him, and the other wolfdog had already pounced on Luo San…
All the wolfdogs and wild dogs seemed to have gone crazy and rushed towards Luo San recklessly. But all the snakes seemed to have gone mad too, and they all sprang up, shooting like arrows towards the dogs. Once they had latched onto their prey, they never let go. The king cobras, on the other hand, remained motionless, spraying mouthfuls of their highly toxic venom at the dogs. In the sky, birds of all kinds had gathered, also rushing towards the dogs like members of a death squad. For a moment, the dogs whimpered, and blood mixed with fur rained to the ground.
Even so, all the dogs still relentlessly pounced on Luo San, although they were stopped again and again, although their eyes had been pecked out, although they had been poisoned, and although their bodies were bloody and mangled. Luo San watched all this in a daze, while the passing students also stared in amazement at Luo San, who was at the centre of the pack.
Finally, everything returned to silence. All the wild dogs lay motionless and dying, while the snakes began to retreat rapidly, leaving only the birds in the sky hovering. Luo San was unharmed, but he was covered in blood and still in shock.
‘Xiaosan, are you okay?’ As Luo San was in a daze, Shen Yuan ran all the way to him. Seeing him covered in blood, Shen Yuan’s voice was tinged with alarm and trembled slightly, her eyes flashing with anxiety and concern. It turned out that after returning to the dormitory just now, the more Shen Yuan thought about it, the more uneasy she became, so she rushed out of the dormitory to chase after Luo San. At this time, Shen Yuan’s cheeks were flushed from running, which made her skin even whiter, and she was breathing rapidly from the intense running, but to Luo San, it looked like she was breathing in fragrance. Looking at Shen Yuan in front of him, who was panting and asking questions, Luo San felt like the happiest person in the world. But then he quickly came back to his senses and said to Shen Yuan, ‘I’m fine, but I’m covered in the blood of those dogs. Those dogs were coming at me, but they were repelled by the snakes and birds. I’m just wondering why those dogs were coming at me.’
Hearing Luo San’s words, Shen Yuan’s face suddenly became grave. ‘Let’s go. It’s not convenient to talk here, come with me,’ said Shen Yuan, pulling Luo San away from the school grounds.
‘From now on, no matter day or night, you are not allowed to leave my side for one step,’ Shen Yuan said to Luo San without any room for negotiation while waiting for a taxi outside the school gates.
“Why?’
‘Don’t ask me why, I don’t want to talk about it now. Just do as I say.‘
’If we don’t leave each other’s side, where will we live?‘
’We’ll rent a room.‘
’Rent a room? How…‘
’Okay, don’t ask.’ Shen Yuan interrupted Luo San, pulled open the door of the taxi that had stopped in front of them, and quickly got into the taxi.
The taxi soon pulled up in front of a hotel, and Shen Yuan really did go inside and rent a room, so Luo San had no choice but to follow her in.
‘Xiaosan, now you can ask whatever you want to know,‘ Shen Yuan said to Luo San after closing the door and carefully surveying the room.
’Staying here tonight? That’s not quite appropriate, is it?‘ Luo San still couldn’t get used to the idea.
’What? I don’t mind, so why do you?‘
’That’s not what I meant. Don’t get me wrong,’ Luo San hurriedly explained when he heard Shen Yuan say that. ’I’m just worried about the rumours, and how they might affect you.’
Shen Yuan was silent for a long time before she spoke: ‘Thank you, Xiaosan. But these things don’t matter to me. Okay, don’t dwell on this anymore. Just listen to me from now on and don’t leave my side. I know you’re going to ask why.’ Seeing that Luo San seemed about to ask again, Shen Yuan interrupted him immediately, ‘A year ago, my boyfriend and I went to investigate something that happened 57 years ago, but a few days later, he was killed by a pack of wild dogs, a pack of dogs controlled by someone. If it weren’t for the snakes and birds today, you would have already died on the spot.”
After listening to Shen Yuan’s account, Luo San realized that a year ago, Shen Yuan had set out to investigate the case from 57 years ago with her boyfriend Xiao Ziyu. However, on the second day of the investigation, Xiao Ziyu suddenly appeared in front of her and took off a jade pendant from his neck and hung it around her neck. It was not without pathos, but with a firm gaze, he said to her, ‘The flowers I gave you before were all useless, but this is different. You wear it well and never take it off. As long as you wear it, no one can harm you. The events of 57 years ago can only be carried out quietly now. The school is full of all kinds of people, so you have to be careful. If something happens to me, just pretend you didn’t see it. Take care of yourself while I’m gone. Oh, and keep this. You might need it.’ The boy said this and then stuffed a worn-out notebook into Shen Yuan’s hands.
After saying these words, which seemed like his last words, the boy immediately turned around and left. “Hey…” Shen Yuan wanted to call out to him, but he only stopped in his tracks and turned back, saying, “Remember, from now on you don’t know me.” The look in his eyes was still desolate but firm.
That afternoon, Shen Yuan heard someone say that a boy was walking on campus when he suddenly encountered a pack of mad dogs and was bitten to death on the spot. Hearing this news, Shen Yuan’s tears poured down. This was the first time she had shed tears since she was ten years old, for a boy who gave up his life to protect her safety.
‘I see. Shen Yuan, I’m sorry.‘ Luo San saw that although Shen Yuan seemed to be fine on the surface, there was a sadness in her eyes. He knew that he had stirred up her sad memories, and he wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how.
’You don’t need to be sorry. If anything happens to you, I’ll feel bad. After all, I knew that this matter was dangerous, but I dragged you into it anyway. He was the one who got dragged into this and died in the beginning, and if something happens to you, then I…‘ Shen Yuan didn’t say any more, and although Luo San understood what she meant, he didn’t know how to say it. For a moment, there was dead silence in the room.
’By the way, Shen Yuan, those dogs were being manipulated, as were the snakes and birds. Who was the manipulator?’ Luo San finally found a topic to break the almost suffocating silence.
‘I don’t know either. It just seems that the situation is more serious than we thought.”
As the street lamps outside the window lit up one by one, a heavy rain came unexpectedly, and the raindrops pattered on the window glass. Several flashes of lightning streaked across the night sky. The loud rumble of thunder woke Luo San up. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already past 8 pm. He had slept the whole day away.
Vaguely, Luo San heard sobbing nearby, so sad and plaintive. Turning his head, Luo San saw Shen Yuan holding an old book and weeping, her shoulders shaking as she cried out in such sorrow and helplessness. Luo San suddenly felt an urge to embrace her and comfort her, but he finally just quietly reached for a tissue and handed it to Shen Yuan.
Chapter 9: Doomsday Crisis
Due to the heavy rain, the two of them didn’t want to go out, so they ate instant noodles in the hotel while watching TV. At this time, the news was broadcasting some of the day’s hot events. Luo San listened while thinking about the events of the past few days, when suddenly the TV came to life with the words, ‘Today, a giant green-furred turtle suddenly appeared on the Funan River, leading a parade of over a thousand baby turtles down the river, triggering a crowd of onlookers.’
Luo San immediately turned his attention to the TV. Due to the heavy rain over the past few days, the water level of the Funan River had risen sharply, and the river was yellow and muddy. Just above the murky surface of the river, a large green object was floating. As the camera zoomed in, the green object on the river surface was a huge green-haired turtle, with a body that was four metres wide. Around it were nearly a thousand green-haired turtles of various sizes, with the larger ones the size of a washbasin and the smaller ones only the size of a palm. These green-haired turtles surrounded the huge green-haired turtle like the stars surrounding the moon.
The giant green turtle on TV drifts downstream with the baby turtles, and after a while, it turns around and swims upstream. From the TV screen, you can see that the location is around Dongfeng Bridge. Because of the appearance of the giant green turtle, the two sides of the river are full of onlookers, talking and arguing. Occasionally, someone shouts at the giant turtle, but it seems to have not heard, and continues to float with the baby turtles. Suddenly a black object appears on the screen, flying straight at the giant turtle and smashing onto its back with a loud bang, bouncing up and down. The giant turtle continues swimming without even looking up, as if it were all irrelevant. At this point, the TV camera pans to the crowd of onlookers, and a middle-aged woman, beaming, speaks with exaggerated language directly into the camera lens: ‘This turtle has been here since this morning, floating on the water’s surface the whole time, never sinking. I have never seen so many turtles this big in my life. Do you think something is wrong?”
The TV screen then switched to a middle-aged man talking enthusiastically into the camera: ’This giant turtle is so huge, and the Funan River is not wide, with a depth of no more than two metres, so it is impossible for such a huge turtle to survive. So I conclude that this giant turtle is an immigrant, and it should have entered the Funan River from Leshan along the Yangtze River, and then travelled up the Funan River to Chengdu…’
‘No way. There’s a dam on the Funan River. How could this green-haired turtle have climbed over the dam and got here?’ A woman on the TV immediately interrupted the man.
An argument broke out between the two, and the TV camera recorded it all. Suddenly, an old man appeared on the TV screen, ragged clothes, white hair, looking like a madman, pushing and shoving people on the riverbank: ’Disaster is coming, it’s coming soon, what are you still looking at? What are you still looking at? Go home quickly, go home quickly to see your family for the last time. No one can escape, everyone must die, everyone must die.‘
The old man rambled on and on, repeating the same words over and over again. The reporter caught up with him, but he didn’t get anything out of him. So the TV screen changed again, and at that moment, Luo San saw the figure of an albino flash across the TV screen.
’Shen Yuan!‘
’Stop shouting, I saw it. We’ll go to the scene right away.’
‘Lu tou na hu dai yu. Lu tou na hu dai yu. Lu tou na hu dai yu…’ As they left the riverbank, Luo San kept repeating this strange sentence.
It had completely darkened when the two of them arrived at the riverbank. Although there were street lamps, the river surface was still pitch black and they could see nothing. Even so, the riverbank was still packed with people who had heard the news. In this dim environment, Luo San and Shen Yuan were unable to find any trace of the albino, but they did run into the crazy old man they had seen on TV, walking around in circles and shouting, ‘Disaster is coming, disaster is coming soon, Chengdu is going to collapse, what are you still looking at? What are you still looking at?…’
‘Chengdu?‘ Luo San and Shen Yuan exchanged a glance and immediately stepped forward to stop the old man. “Sir, what do you mean by that? What is going to bring disaster? What exactly is ”Chengdu’? Why do you say that ‘Chengdu’ is going to collapse?’
The old man lowered his feet, looked at Luo San and Shen Yuan with a smile, and suddenly pointed his finger at their noses, laughing strangely, ‘Lu tou na hu da yu, Lu tou na hu da yu…’
Luo San heard him repeat this sentence over and over again, and tried to ask something else, but the old man turned around and walked away. All the way along, he kept pointing at the people passing by and muttering the phrase ‘Lu tou na hu da yu’.
‘Lutou Nahu Dried Fish?‘ Luo San muttered, turning his head to look at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan shook his head: “I don’t know what it means either. Maybe it’s a curse, a curse related to Chengdu.”
’A curse? Never mind, never mind, this kind of thing will make people think of death. Let’s just go ask Professor Wu.”
As soon as the taxi stopped in front of the dormitory where Professor Wu lived, Luo San immediately jumped out and went straight to the dormitory, pushing the door open. Inside the dormitory, Professor Wu was reading a book. Luo San’s appearance seemed to startle him, and the book in his hand dropped to the ground with a ‘pop’.
‘Damn it, don’t you know how to knock?’ Professor Wu saw Luo San come in and grumbled while hastily gathering up a large pile of books on the table. ‘Go ahead, what else do you want from me?’
‘We have made a new discovery.’ Luo San didn’t wait for Professor Wu to finish tidying up before immediately telling him about his experience after parting with Professor Wu yesterday afternoon.
‘I’ve been saying for a long time that you shouldn’t keep investigating the 57-year-old murder case, it’s too dangerous. Now you’ve been targeted, and although you’ve escaped this time, you won’t be so lucky next time.’ Professor Wu said this, and suddenly stared at Shen Yuan, ’Girl, you and Xiaosan investigated this together, how come those people only bothered Xiaosan and didn’t bother you.’
‘I don’t know either. You can’t be suspecting me. If I wanted to do Xiao Sanzi harm, there were plenty of opportunities, why would I need to get a pack of dogs involved?‘
’It definitely wasn’t Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, you’re being paranoid.‘
’I was just asking casually. Xiao Sanzi, what’s your hurry? Never mind that, what was that strange sentence you just said?’ “Lu tou na hu daiyu.” Luo San was afraid that Professor Wu wouldn’t understand, so he wrote out the words specifically.
‘Rutou Nahu Daitai Fish?‘ Professor Wu muttered, and fell into deep thought.
’Xiaosanzi, you wrote that sentence incorrectly.’ While Luo San was racking his brains, Professor Wu had already found several books from the shelf and handed Luo San a few words written on paper.
Luo San saw that the words written on the paper were six characters: Rutou Nahu Daitai Fish.
‘What does this mean?”
Looking at the passage, Professor Wu did not directly answer Luo San’s question, but handed him a book.
It was a story from the book “Yizhou Ji” (Record of Yizhou) during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, collected in the “Taiping Yulan” (Comprehensive Survey of the Taiping Era).
There was an old woman living in Qiongdu County. She was poor and lonely, and every time she ate, there was a small snake in her bed, wearing horns on its head. The old woman felt sorry for it and fed it. It grew a little, then a little more, until it was more than a meter long. The old woman had a fast horse, and the snake killed it by sucking its blood. The old woman was furious and told the snake to leave. The snake said, ‘Under the bed.’
The king immediately dug up the ground, but the bigger it got, the less visible it became. The king vented his anger and killed the snake. The snake then moved the king with words of wisdom, saying angrily, ‘Why did you kill my mother? You must avenge my mother.’ After that, every night, they could hear the sound of wind blowing for about 40 days. The people were shocked when they saw each other and said, ‘Your head is suddenly wearing a fish!’ That night, the 40-li area and the city suddenly sank into a lake at the same time, which the locals called the ‘Sinking River.’
‘That’s where the saying comes from. In this story, the meaning is quite easy to understand: the entire Qiongdu County was going to sink, so when the people met, they noticed that the other person’s head had turned into the shape of a fish’s head. But what does this have to do with Chengdu?‘
’The Qiongdu County in this story disappeared in the Han Dynasty, having sunk completely under the water. The lake that formed above it still exists today, and it is now the Qionghai Lake near Xichang. We find this story amazing, but the historical facts are not. The disappearance of Qiongdu County and the emergence of Qionghai were caused by an earthquake that caused the entire city to collapse.
‘ “You mean, the old man was referring to an earthquake like this when he said that?”
’That’s what he meant. He said that Chengdu would collapse and no one would escape, which means that Chengdu will face a strong earthquake and the entire city will sink into the lake.’
‘Xiaosan, Professor Wu, this is just the ravings of a madman. You can’t be serious?‘
’I believe what he says. Girl, do you think I’m old enough to believe in the ravings of a crazy old man for no reason? I believe him because, first, he is definitely not just a crazy old man, and second, because all the signs point to disaster befalling Chengdu.‘
’What signs?’ Luo San and Shen Yuan asked in unison.
‘The giant green turtle.‘
’Giant green turtle? What kind of omen is that?‘
’It’s not the first time a giant green turtle has appeared in Chengdu. According to historical records, whenever a giant green turtle appears in Chengdu, a major disaster is sure to follow. Li Furong wrote about something similar in his book ‘Yingyi Nang’ at the end of the Kangxi period. Wang Shizhen also talked about this magical giant turtle in his book ‘Longshu Yuwen.’
‘How could an earthquake cause a city to sink underwater?’ A voice suddenly sounded from the doorway. Luo San turned around and saw that it was Yan Qingbo pushing his way in. ’Professor Wu, I don’t quite agree with your theory that a major disaster will happen in Chengdu. You’d better give me a convincing reason, or I’ll take you to the police station for spreading rumours. Haha… Every day you’ll be punished to help me with my research. Hahaha…’
‘The Book of the Later Han only records that Qiongdu County ‘sink[ed] and became a swamp’. As for how it sank underwater due to an earthquake, the historical record does not mention this.’
Seeing that Professor Wu was getting more and more serious, Luo San couldn’t help but ask worriedly, ‘Professor Wu, what do you think is the likelihood of a major earthquake occurring in Chengdu?’
‘Fifty percent, I guess.’
‘That means there’s still a fifty-fifty chance that it won’t happen.’
‘There’s a fifty percent chance that a major earthquake won’t happen, but there’s a possibility that other disasters will occur, such as floods, massive floods that will turn the whole of Chengdu into a country of swamps. That would also be in line with what the old man said, “Your head will suddenly be wearing a fish”.’
“So are we just waiting to die?’
‘Of course not,‘ Yan Qingbo interrupted. “We can escape to other places.”
’If it’s a major earthquake that can bring down the entire city of Chengdu, then it’s useless for you to escape anywhere. The earth will be destroyed. This is what the old man meant when he said that no one will escape.‘
’Professor Wu, what do you mean? The 1999 doomsday legend? It’s only 1998, okay? You should wait another year to proclaim the end of the world.’ Yan Qingbo was still not convinced.
‘If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten that the end of the world is approaching. This disaster in Chengdu may be the beginning of the apocalypse, or it may be part of it, or it may even be the whole thing.‘ Professor Wu saw that everyone was dejected, so he quickly changed his tone, “Of course, there is a way to avoid this disaster. It all depends on what we do.”
’Professor Wu, are you saying that this disaster can be avoided?’ Luo San anxiously urged, ’Then hurry up and tell us what to do, and see if we can help?’
‘I don’t know either. We’ll just have to take things as they come.‘
’Yan, why did you suddenly come to see Professor Wu?‘ Shen Yuan, who had not spoken up until then, suddenly interrupted.
’It’s about a few stones.‘
Chapter 10: A Remote Phone
’Stones? Are you talking about the stone in the women’s toilet in Building 4?‘
’Shen Yuan, don’t just focus on the stone in the women’s toilet in Building 4. These stones of mine are all famous in Chengdu.’
It turned out that since the previous day, a strange thing had been happening in the southern suburbs of Chengdu: a large number of stray dogs had been flooding into the park, roaming around inside and occasionally attacking visitors. The park management sent a large number of people to try to drive the dogs out, but with little effect.
The park management had no choice but to report the matter to the police. At this time, the police also received a report of a large number of stray dogs flooding into a courtyard on Shimen Street, which was the same courtyard where strange things had happened at the well the other day. After connecting the two cases, the higher-ups felt that the problem was more serious and demanded that the cause be immediately identified. Yan Qingbo and his colleagues then went to the southern suburbs to find out what was going on.
In the southern suburbs park, they heard from a sanitation worker that a few days ago, while he was cleaning the park, he heard someone asking where the Five Stone was.
According to the sanitation worker, the group was made up of more than ten men, and they asked everyone they met where the Five Stone was. Everyone they asked told them that the Five Stone was in the north of Chengdu, a place name.
Later, the group finally found the Five Stone. It was said that in the past, there were five stones stacked together, but now only one stone was partially exposed, so it was not easy to find.
The sanitation worker also said that after they left, a man who had been sitting by the pond got up and made a phone call. It seemed that the content of the phone call was to tell someone named ‘A Mo’ that the Five Stone Rocks had been exposed and to be careful of the Zhi Ji Stone in the Cultural Park.
Soon after, a large number of stray dogs appeared in the park, gathering in the exact location near the Five Stone Rocks.
“This whole thing is weird to the bone, so I plan to ask Professor Wu to help me find out what the background is for the Zhi Ji Stone and the Five Stone Rocks,’
‘In fact, this involves not just the machine stone and the five stones, but also the stone pillars,’ Professor Wu said seriously to the three of them. ’You know that Chengdu is a plain, and there are no stones here. These stones all came to Chengdu from elsewhere. Archaeologists call it the ancient Shu Dashi cultural site. But judging from the historical records, these stones are far from being just a Dashi cultural site…’
Before Professor Wu could finish his sentence, Yan Qingbo’s phone rang. After answering the call, he said to Luo San, ‘I’ve found something. Let’s go out for a while.’
The four of them went to Tianya Stone South Street in the east of the city. The street lamps had broken down at some point, and the entire alley was lit up like daytime from time to time by flashes of lightning. There were all kinds of stray dogs gathered in groups of two or three on the street, and the ground was covered in dog poop.
The four of them hid in the darkness and saw a black car speeding up and stopping in front of a dilapidated wooden bungalow.
The front door of the car opened and a man quickly got out, opened the back door of the car with an umbrella, and said carefully, ‘Your Highness Qi, we’re here.’
The King of Qi got out of the car, looked up, looked at the door number, and snorted lightly, ‘Governor Kang is good at finding places, I’d like to see what kind of tricks he can play.’
The King of Qi quickly walked into the dilapidated wooden bungalow. Luo San and the others quietly walked to the other side of the bungalow, from where they could see everything in the room. The King of Qi wore a silver mask on his face, and with his robes on, it was impossible to tell who he was. Everyone in the room was kneeling on the ground. The middle-aged man leading the group said respectfully, ‘Your servant, Commander of Yizhou, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Military Region Kang Changsheng, and all the officials in the household, greet Your Highness the King of Qi.’
‘Skip it.‘ The king of Qi didn’t even look at Kang Changsheng and the others, and went straight to a place in the room covered with a canvas.
’What is that?‘
’Your Highness, this is precisely the reason why I asked you to come here at this hour today. Your Highness, please look…’ Kang Changsheng said, and ordered someone to remove the canvas. A stone appeared in front of Luo San and the others. The stone looked no different from an ordinary stone, more than two metres high, with its roots deep in the ground. At the bottom of the stone, there was also a brick-built groove…
Kang Changsheng stood up, walked up to the stone, and while stroking it, said, ‘Your Highness, this is not an ordinary stone. It is the Tianya Stone, a famous giant stone in Chengdu…’
Seeing that the King of Qi was not answering, Kang Changsheng introduced it: ‘The Tianya Stone is a strange stone in Chengdu. It is 2.13 metres high, 0.48 metres wide at the top and 1.05 metres wide at the bottom, and 0.27 metres thick. Ming Lu Chen’s ‘Miscellaneous Records of Shu’: ‘Tianya Stone is located next to Baoguang Temple at the east city gate, and is covered by a pavilion.’ Your humble servant can confirm that the Tianya Stone recorded in the ‘Miscellaneous Records of Shu’ is this stone. Regarding the origin of this stone, ancient legends say that it is one of the stone railings of the Heavenly Palace, or that it is something created by Nuwa to mend the sky. However, your humble servant believes that these are all the words of the ignorant masses and cannot be trusted. The real key is that this stone is deeply embedded in the ground and its roots cannot be seen. In his essay ‘Man Ji’ (Random Notes), Zhu Bingqi of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) wrote that Tianya Stone is located in the eastern part of Shucheng, two zhang (about 3.3 metres) high and half a zhang thick, buried in the soil, and that if you tug at it, it will shake, but if you shake it, you can’t find its roots. Apart from what is written in ancient books, in reality, it is also difficult to see the roots of this stone. Someone once wanted to uproot it, but after digging for several days, they still couldn’t see its roots, so they gave up.
‘Anything else?‘ the King of Qi asked.
’In addition, it seems to be radioactive. The Yijiu Biography once described Tianya Stone as follows: ‘If a person sits on it, their feet will swell and they will not be able to walk. Even now, no one dares to set foot on it or sit on it. Just now, someone was asked to try it, and it is true. The most crucial point about this stone is that once someone digs at it, it will cause strange movements of wind and thunder.’
‘Hmph!’ Qi Wang stared coldly at Kang Changsheng and said, ’My father sent me to Chengdu not to help him collect strange stones. You should know what will happen if you can’t give me a satisfactory answer tonight.’
‘This is my subordinate, Fei Jishi. He has studied the ancient Yue Du scriptures for many years and has made some progress. Let him talk to Your Highness in detail.”
The King of Qi looked coldly at Fei Jishi, who was standing next to Kang Changsheng, and slowly said, ’The Dongfang family has misled my empire for a hundred years. I have already punished them on behalf of heaven and had them executed in their residence in the west of the city and buried in the eye of the sea. I hope you will not become the second Dongfang.’
‘I understand,’ replied the chef, lying on the ground. “This stone is actually one of the sacred stones that protect the source of the Nine Provinces…”
Kang Changsheng suddenly interrupted him, saying, ’Your Highness, please move. There are many inconveniences here. Please come to the palace, and I will report in detail.’
When Luo San and the others snuck back to the main road, the Qi King’s car had already left a long time ago, and the area around the stone was heavily guarded, making it impossible to find out what was going on. So the group discussed it and returned to Professor Wu’s dormitory.
‘The Qi King of the Great Tang Empire and the Yizhou Governor have both been mobilised, and the people who drove the wild dogs have also appeared near these few stones. It seems that these stones in Chengdu are not simple.’ As soon as he sat down, Luo San eagerly expressed his opinion.
‘Those stones are not simple. They are all surrounded by mysterious legends. There used to be temples on top of stones like the Zhiji Stone and Tianya Stone, and ordinary people would go to these temples to pray for safety when they had a minor injury or illness.’
Professor Wu took out a few books and threw them in front of everyone. ‘These stones have similarities and differences, so let’s start with the stone pillars. When it comes to stone pillars, we can’t leave out Du Fu’s “On Stone Pillars”. Xiaosan, why don’t you read “On Stone Pillars” again.’
“Oh, okay. Don’t you see the twin stone pillars at the western gate of Yizhou City? It has been passed down since ancient times that they are the eyes of the sea, with traces of waves etched by the moss. It often gets wet in the rain, but this is hard to understand. I fear it was once the tomb of a nobleman, and the standing stone is still there as a marker. It is a pity that the common people are so easily deceived, just as the humble official flatters the emperor. The political changes have gone astray and lost their way, and they just sit back and watch the downfall of the empire while receiving favours. Alas, the stone stumps have a false reputation, and later generations don’t even know about them. How can a strong man throw them into the sky, so that people don’t doubt the roots?’
‘There are two key points to note in this poem. The first is that it has been passed down since ancient times as a line from Haiyan. The meaning of this line is that the bottom of the stalagmite is the eye of the sea. As for what the eye of the sea is, I will explain it in a moment. The second is that I need to explain the line ‘When it rains a lot, it often gets chilly, and this matter is difficult to understand and discuss in a daze’. What is difficult to understand here is the word ‘chilly’. ‘Chilly’ is the ancient Persian name for a gemstone, which is a Chinese transliteration of the Semitic or Arabic language. Ancient Chinese classics often used ‘瑟瑟’ to refer to precious stones or ‘真珠’. After the Ming Dynasty, it mainly referred to artificially made coloured glass beads or fired material beads. Once we understand the meaning of ‘瑟瑟’, we will know very clearly that the meaning of this verse is: small beads often appear near the stalagmites after rain. Du Fu didn’t understand this either, so he said, ‘This matter is confused and difficult to understand…’
“Professor Wu, is it true that small beads appear on stalagmites after rain in the summer? Could it be that Du Fu was mistaken?’ Hearing Professor Wu’s words, Luo San naturally thought of the small beads that Shen Yuan had picked up outside the Si Jiao, and couldn’t help but eagerly want to know more.
“It is recorded in many ancient books that small beads appear around stone stalks after rain. For example, in Duan Chengshi’s “Youyang Zazhu Xuji” volume 4, “Bianwu” chapter, it is mentioned: In Shushitong Street, after heavy rain in summer, small multicoloured beads often appear. The ‘Chengdu Records’ also mentions: ‘In the land of stone stalks, after rain there are always small beads, some green and some yellow like millet, and there are also small holes, through which you can thread a silk thread.’ There are many records like this, and I think many people have seen it with their own eyes. Even I think that Du Fu lived in Chengdu for many years, and the stone stalks were located on the necessary passageway for him to enter and leave the city, so he should have seen these small beads with his own eyes after rain in the summer. Unfortunately, the stone stalks are gone now, otherwise we could also go look for these small beads.’
‘You don’t need to look for them, I have them here,‘ Shen Yuan said, taking out the small beads wrapped in paper that he had picked up outside the Si Jiao.
’Are these real? Where did you pick them up?‘ Yan Qingbo held a bead in his hand, looking incredulous.
’Outside the Si Jiao forest on the S University campus,’ Luo Sandaizai Shen Yuan replied, ‘Of the three things Professor Shi asked us to investigate, the first one was a case about a puddle by a boulder. We found that the boulder is located in the women’s toilet of Sijiao. Every summer when it rains heavily, not only will there be these small beads next to the boulder, but also a bottomless puddle will form.’
“It seems you have gained a lot. In the “Record of Chengdu”, it is said: ’The stone shoots are two or three feet long. Every summer in June when it rains heavily, they often become sunken as a hole in the ground, with clear water. If you measure it with a bamboo pole, it is unfathomably deep. If you tie a rope to the stone and throw it down, the further you throw it, the more it goes on. After three or five days, it suddenly disappears. In the Jiayou spring, a bullock cart rolled over the ground and suddenly sank, and you couldn’t reach it even if you measured. The explanation for this miraculous situation in the Chengdu Records is that the elders were very surprised, which is why there is the theory of the eye of the sea. In other words, the locals found this puddle very strange, which is why there is the theory that there is an eye of the sea under the stone. The ‘Records of Customs’ says that the people of Shu said: ‘To the west of our state there is a stone pillar, a heap of heaven and earth, to keep the eye of the sea still, for if it moves, there will be great floods.’ In other words, the stone pillar to the west of Chengdu city was built by heaven and earth to keep the eye of the sea still. If it moves, there will be great floods.
“So the puddle at the stone pillar is exactly the same as the first case Professor Shi asked us to investigate?’
‘Exactly. That’s why Shi Wumu said that the stone pillars and the boulders of the four religions are of the same origin. Okay, let’s talk about the other stones. Now let’s talk about the Zhiji Stone. I think we should start with a poem. Xiaosan…‘
’Get lost. Just get to the point. Don’t start with a fucking poem again.’
‘That son of a bitch majored in Chinese literature, what a vulgar person,‘ Professor Wu complained. “Forget it, let’s get straight to the point. This branch machine stone…”
’B…B…‘ Professor Wu was interrupted again by Yan Qingbo’s phone. “What? There’s something going on at the branch machine stone. Okay, I’ll be right over.”
’Stop for a second. Stop the car.‘ As the taxi passed Hejiang Pavilion, Professor Wu suddenly told the driver to stop the car.
’What? I’m waiting for someone over there?’
‘Aren’t you interested in the stone stalagmites? I’ll show you the stone stalagmites now,‘ said Professor Wu, getting out of the car and walking towards a small garden next to Hejiang Pavilion. “This is Sishu Garden, which was built during the comprehensive renovation of Funan River.”
’The stone stalagmites can’t be here, can they?’ Luo San asked in surprise, quickly scanning the entire garden with his eyes. The garden was very small, surrounded by greenery, with a few two-metre-high boulders towering in the middle, from which water was constantly spouting.
‘The stone pillars are not here, but this Si Shu Garden was built using the stone pillars as a creative idea.’ Professor Wu looked at the giant rocks, “The combination of stone and water obviously uses the legend of the sea eye.”
For a moment, no one spoke, and they all looked at the rocks in silence.
‘I suddenly have a question. From what I saw at the Si Shu Garden just now, there are six boulders here. I also remember an old man telling me that there were originally six stalagmites, but only two remain, and in the end only half of one is buried in the well. What’s going on?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask Professor Wu as they got into the car.
Professor Wu hesitated for a moment before answering: ‘I don’t know what’s going on either. But science fiction writer Mr Tong Enzheng has an idea in a novel called “Stalagmite Xing” that you can consider: that the stalagmites are a kind of message receiver left on Earth by an alien civilisation. Every so often, they will return to the universe, and over thousands of years, they have fired a few into the sky one after the other. The rest have been left behind due to damage. They are made of a special material that just looks like stone, but is full of high-tech stuff inside.’
“Do you think this explanation is credible?’ Luo San did not quite agree with this explanation.
‘It’s somewhat believable.’
Soon the car arrived at the Cultural Park. The police officer on the scene told Yan Qingbo that when they responded to the call, they found a foreign man and approached him to ask a question, but the guy turned around and ran. After being stopped, a powerful bomb was found in his backpack. The police were worried about a problem, so they sent a large number of officers to conduct a comprehensive search inside and outside the park and nearby. Finally, they found trampling marks under a small hill that was completely sealed off.
‘It’s here,‘ the policeman led Yan Qingbo and the others to a small hill in the park.
’What is it?‘ At this moment, a flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and Luo San noticed that there was a pavilion on the top of the small hill, and there was an object shining brightly inside the pavilion.
’The Zhiji Stone,‘ Professor Wu replied after looking in the direction Luo San was looking.
’A powerful bomb was just found up there, and it has now been disarmed. Hurry up and go take a look,’ Yan Qingbo urged.
There was a path leading to the pavilion at the top of the hill, but the sides of the path were overgrown with weeds, making walking difficult. The area was desolate and rundown.
After finally arriving at the pavilion, Luo San finally saw the Zhiji Stone. At this time, it was under the protection of a glass cover, standing on a base with the words ‘Zhiji Stone’ written on it, absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth, and the light of the sun and the moon. The reflected light Luo San saw just below the hill was emitted by the glass cover inside the pavilion.
The stone is over five feet high, purplish in colour, nearly a metre wide, and has flaked in places. There are also many small holes in the surface, and near the base there is a pit the size of a bowl, the mouth of which is smooth, as if the stone was once soft and someone dug a piece of it out like tofu.
‘Professor Wu, why don’t you tell us about the origin of this stone? That way, it might be easier for us to make a judgment.‘
Professor Wu nodded and insisted on starting with the poem: “The poem ”Minghe Pian’ by Song Zhiwen from the Tang Dynasty contains the lines ‘Minghe kewang bu keqin, yuan de cheng cha yi wenjin, geng jiang zhini zhiji shi, hai fang chengdu mai bu ren’, which is about the Zhiji Stone. This stone is far more famous in Chengdu than the Stonehenge or Tianya Stone. The Jingchu Suishi Ji (An Account of Seasonal Customs in Jingchu) tells the story of Zhang Qian, who was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to find the source of the Yangtze River. Zhang Qian travelled for many months by boat until he arrived at a place with a city wall like a prefecture, where he saw a woman weaving in a room and a man leading a cow to drink from the river. Zhang Qian asked where he was, and was told to ask Yan Junping. At the same time, the woman who was weaving gave Zhang Qian a stone to bring back. After Zhang Qian returned, he went to Shu and asked Yan Junping, but Yan Junping said to the stone, ‘On such and such a day of such and such a month, a guest star entered the constellations of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Could it be you?’ And Dongfang Shuo identified the stone Zhang Qian had brought back as the Weaver Girl’s support stone.
Professor Wu paused for a moment and continued: ‘What I just said is only the origin of this stone. In fact, the spiritual power of this stone does not lie in its origin, but in its powerful strength. Du Guangting’s ‘Taoist Miracles’ from the Tang Dynasty describes the miraculous nature of the stone in the following way: ‘The Zhiji Stone in the Chengdu divination shop… The Grand Prefect, Guang Gong, was curious about strange things and collected many antiquities. He ordered workers to take a piece of the stone and use it to make a vessel to show its strangeness. While the workers were carving, they suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the side of the stone, and this happened three times. The king knew that it was a magical object and no longer dared to take it. To this day, the marks of the engravings remain. He then had someone dig underneath it, but there was a sudden wind and thunder, and the space became dark, so he dared not violate it. In other words, this stone, when someone tried to carve a piece off it, the worker inexplicably fainted three times. When someone tried to dig its foundation and excavate it, there was suddenly a wind and thunder, and the world became dark.
‘This stone is actually related to the giant stone in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings Academy, and whoever tries to do anything to it will trigger unusual changes in the weather and the sky,’ Luo San interrupted.
Professor Wu nodded: ‘That’s right. In fact, there is a similar record about the stone in the book Taoist Miracles. Okay, let’s continue talking about the Zhiji Stone. In the past, this stone was always located on Zhiji Stone Street next to Kuanzhai Alley. A temple was built on the street to worship this stone, and many locals used to come here to burn incense and make wishes, hoping to be protected by the sacred stone. In 1958, the stone was moved to the Cultural Park.’
‘This stone has such a big story?‘ the policeman exclaimed.
’What was the purpose of the foreigner who wanted to blow up the stone?‘
’I was thinking that if an ordinary person tried to dig at the foundation of the stone, it would trigger lightning and cause the sky and clouds to change colour. And if it were blown up, would it not trigger an unprecedented disaster?”
Luo San immediately understood: ’You mean that blowing up this stone could trigger a major earthquake?’
‘There is that possibility. But,‘ Professor Wu suddenly laughed, “they miscalculated, because this stone is fake.”
’Fake?‘ Everyone was shocked.
’Yes,’ Professor Wu’s smile grew even wider, ’I just told you that if you tried to dig this stone, it would trigger lightning and cause the sky to turn black, but this stone was moved here, and in 1958 there were no particularly big disasters in Chengdu.’
Professor Wu looked around: ‘Have you noticed? There are no stray dogs here. At this time, there were quite a few stray dogs gathered near the Tianya Stone, the stone pillars and the Five Stone, although it is not known what the people driving the stray dogs were aiming for, but it is enough to prove how much they valued those stones. However, this stone seems to have attracted no attention, only the idiot foreigner who knows nothing about it values it so highly.’
‘So where is the real Zhiji Stone?‘
’The Zhiji Stone should still be in its original location and has not been moved. It is likely that someone with great powers, under the guise of relocation, had a fake Zhiji Stone placed on the rockery in the park, so that people would mistake it for the real thing. The person who did this was very clever and did it without leaving a trace, and it is likely that they had the support of the government at the time.’
Chapter 11: The Sea Eye
‘You have already heard about the supernatural aspects of the Tianya Stone, but I would like to add a few words about this stone.’ After returning to the dormitory, Professor Wu, despite being pressed by everyone to tell them about the supernatural aspects of the other stones, did not bother to take a sip of water and immediately told everyone about the supernatural aspects of the other stones. ’According to the Sichuan Tongzhi, the Tianya Stone is on the west bank of the Fu River. Its stone enters the ground for an unknown amount, and it is more than six feet high and more than five feet around. If someone digs it, there will be strange phenomena such as wind and thunder. In other words, if someone tries to move the Tianya Stone, there will be abnormal weather such as strong winds and thunder.
‘Another stone that can control thunderstorms.’
“Hmm. Finally, let’s talk about the Five Stone. The Five Stone is not the Five Stone Street Office in the north of Chengdu, but a stone located in the southern suburbs park. Volume 14 of the “Comprehensive Collection of Books Ancient and Modern: Kun Yu Dian” records: To the west of the Wanli Bridge in the south of the city, there are five stones stacked on top of each other, more than one zhang high, and twice as wide. Legend has it that there is a sea eye beneath them, and in the past, when people tried to lift the stones, storms would suddenly appear. This theory is also mentioned in the book Yibu Tanshi.”
For a moment, Luo San and Shen Yuan both digested the overwhelming amount of information they had received.
In the end, Luo San spoke up, ’Who put these stones here? Could it really be the legacy of an alien civilisation on Earth? If that’s the case, what was the purpose of them leaving these stones, and why did they choose Chengdu?’
‘These stones were probably left at the same time by some kind of civilisation unknown to us, either an extraterrestrial civilisation or the legacy of the ancient Shu, Sanxingdui civilisation, the latter being more likely,‘ Professor Wu replied. “Don’t forget, when Shi Wuwu gave you the three cases, the key word he left behind was ”Chengdu’. And the key pattern that deciphers the word ‘Chengdu’ is from Sanxingdui.‘
’What the hell is ‘Chengdu’?’
‘Who knows? But one thing is for sure: Shi Wuji said that Chengdu is the centre of the country, so Chengdu must be closely related to these stones, and it is even possible that Chengdu is one of these stones.‘
’Could it be the Tianya Stone?‘
’It’s hard to say. We need to continue our investigation.’
Shen Yuan let out a long sigh: ‘The appearance of the giant turtle in the world is a sign of a great disaster, whether it takes the form of an earthquake or a flood, and it is related to the underground waters of Chengdu. Since it is related to water, the sea eye is something that deserves our special attention. Judging from the records in the historical books, the sea eye seems to be a source of danger that needs to be suppressed, so the five stones and the stone stalagmites are the suppressing stones of the sea eye. But what is the sea eye?’
‘From what we know so far, the only way to find out more is to go underground.”
Outside the window, there was a barking noise. In the light of the street lamp, Luo San saw He Wangyu being chased by a pack of stray dogs. Luo San hurriedly called to him to come up, but He Wangyu didn’t answer and darted into the corridor.
As soon as he entered the house, He Wangyu complained, ’I told you not to investigate what happened 57 years ago, but you didn’t listen. I don’t want to stay in this school anymore, I’m leaving.‘
Luo San quickly stepped forward to stop him, but He Wangyu pushed him away and yelled, “What do you want me to do! Just because I went with you to investigate this bullshit case! Stop it, don’t investigate anymore, little brat, do you want me to encounter a stray dog attack again? Do you want something to happen to Shen Yuan? I’m telling you, Liu Fufeng has gone missing!”
’What? Liu is missing? When did it happen?’
‘Today I went to Si Jiao on purpose. On the way back to the dormitory, I passed through the bushes outside Er Jiao and accidentally found Xiaoliu’s backpack. I was about to go over when a stray dog jumped out.‘
’Let’s go take a look. Could you please show us the way?‘
’No, don’t try to drag me along. I’m not going to follow you guys any more.’ He Wangyu looked at Luo San and the others in alarm, speaking as he backed away, pulled open the dormitory door with one hand and ran off.
Luo San and Shen Yuan had a brief discussion on the way to the second teaching building, but they could never find a clue.
Shen Yuan suddenly said, ‘Xiaosan, I always feel that He Wangyu is a bit suspicious.’
‘Not only him, Mu Shigu also seems fishy. Last time when the Paranormal Society was meeting, when I mentioned the Great Tang Empire, his expression was quite strange.’
“Er, Xiaosan, does that mean we have to carry out our future investigations behind their backs?’
‘No need. We can tell them anything we find out. We just have to stir the water up as much as possible, so that the fish won’t stay in it…‘
’Shen Yuan, Xiaosan.’ Along the way, Luo San and Shen Yuan were chatting while looking for Liu Fufeng’s school bag. Suddenly someone called out their names, and both of them were taken aback. They turned around and saw that it was Mu Shigu who had called them.
‘Be careful, someone’s up to no good,‘ Shen Yuan whispered to Luo San.
’I know, you too,’ Luo San whispered back, then raised his voice, ’Mu Shigu, what a coincidence, why are you here too?’
‘I heard He Wangyu say that Liu Fufeng had disappeared. You two didn’t listen to him and insisted on investigating the matter again, so he asked me to come over and talk some sense into you. I know it’s useless trying to persuade you, but seeing you risk your lives like this, I feel like I’m not being a good friend, so I’ve decided to come over and investigate with you.‘
After half an hour of searching, the sharp-eyed Shen Yuan finally found the backpack.
’Let me see what clues there are in her backpack,’ said Mu Shigu, and he grabbed the backpack.
Suddenly, Mushigu let out a ‘hee hee’ laugh. Luo San let out a low cry of alarm, suddenly noticing that his arms were not responding to his commands, and that all of his organs seemed to be leaving his body.
Why was it so cold? Where was he? Why was there only the sound of rain? Luo San tried hard to open his eyes, but found that his eyelids were too heavy to lift. Vaguely, he heard people talking around him. Although their voices were drowned out by the sound of rain, Luo San still vaguely heard an old and terrified voice say, ‘How could this be? Why is this happening? You guys check properly, did everything dry up? 57 years later, guests came from the southeast, guests came from the southeast, the evil spirits have returned, the evil spirits have returned. Could it be that the prophecy is really coming true?‘
’Replying to Third Uncle Gong, apart from these two people, everything else on the scene has dried up,’
Luo San was almost beside himself when he heard the voice of the Third Uncle Gong: ‘Why are they fine and why haven’t they turned into mummies? Tell me, why? And where did the other person go? Tell me, tell me.’
‘Third Uncle Gong, just now there was suddenly a fog, and it dispersed after ten seconds. By the time we arrived, the scene was already like this.’
‘Fog? You mean you saw a fog?’ Third Uncle Gong almost shouted.
“Yes, it was a fog.’
‘Did you go into the fog?‘
’No, we didn’t have time.‘
’Pack up. We can’t stay here any longer. Before the snake species come back, bury them all in the sea eye and get it over with.”
Immediately, Luo San felt two people lift him up and run quickly away. In a moment, the two people stopped and Luo San felt that it suddenly became quiet around him.
At that moment, Luo San heard a voice say, ’It’s such a pity to die so beautifully.’
Pretty? Luo San suddenly understood that they were talking about Shen Yuan. It seems that Shen Yuan, like himself, is also dead. It turns out that people are conscious after death. I just don’t know what Shen Yuan is thinking now. Does she know that I’m dead?
Luo San was thinking when he suddenly heard another voice: ‘This toilet is really strange. Who designed it at the time and put the sea eye here?’
‘Cut the crap, hurry up and throw them in,’ the other voice urged.
Luo San felt his body suddenly go weightless. With a ‘whoosh’ sound, his body hit the water and quickly fell downward. Luo San struggled to open his eyes, but all he felt was his body falling non-stop.
Luo San subconsciously grabbed Shen Yuan’s hand. Feeling that they were still falling, and not knowing how long they had fallen for, Luo San finally felt like he had fallen into a body of water.
Although he guessed that there must be a body of water under Chengdu, when he opened his eyes, he was still shocked by the size of the underground body of water!
It was completely an underground ocean. Luo San was thinking when he suddenly felt the water around him rushing. He pulled Shen Yuan to him to try to stabilise himself, but Shen Yuan’s body suddenly became incredibly heavy, dragging him rapidly downwards.
The two of them quickly descended, and when it became dark again, Luo San gave up his last efforts. Never mind, just sink… Before Luo San passed out, he seemed to vaguely see an object approaching.
When Luo San woke up, he found himself lying by the edge of a pond.
Shen Yuan was sitting next to him, looking worried, and when she saw him wake up, she forced a smile on her face.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing?’ Shen Yuan immediately turned her head away.
‘Right, what just happened?‘
’You really don’t remember what happened?‘
’Not at all.‘
’It’s actually nothing, just that you suddenly fainted, and then a giant turtle appeared and had a fight with a group of white fish, driving them away. After that, the turtle carried us up. You just never woke up, so I was a little worried about you.‘
’Right, I clearly remember being injured, so how come I can’t see any signs of it?’
‘Maybe you’ve got it wrong. You were unconscious just now, so maybe the injury was just an illusion.‘
An illusion? Luo San didn’t ask any more questions, but surveyed the surroundings.
Chapter 12: The mystery of the women’s book
The pond in front of them seemed to be located in the garden of a house. It was already afternoon, and the house was quiet.
’Let’s go look around the four sides,‘ Luo San said, trying to stand up, but Shen Yuan held him back: “What’s the rush? Let’s rest for a bit.”
’But…’
‘Just keep me company, okay?‘ Shen Yuan looked at the ripples rising in the pond.
’Xiaosan, what is the life you most hope for?‘ Shen Yuan lay on the grass and looked up at the sky through the gently swaying willow branches overhead.
’Me? I don’t have any hopes. I’ll just go with the flow.‘
’I just hope that I’m not a member of the Feiyemon, then I can honestly be an ordinary little girl and live the ordinary life I like.’
Luo San turned his head, and although he could only see half of Shen Yuan’s face, he could still clearly see her sadness. He comforted her, saying, ‘In fact, you can completely withdraw from this matter, just ignore it. Then won’t you be able to live an ordinary person’s life?’
‘It’s not that easy. I can never get away from this matter.’
‘Why?’
“Because 57 years ago, in that incident, the head of the Flying Leaf Sect died an unnatural death. Due to blood-sucking, future generations must be involved in this matter.’
‘What exactly happened 57 years ago?”
Shen Yuan turned her head and looked at Luo San, and said indifferently, “Since you want to know, I’ll tell you.”
The people of the Flying Leaf Sect all had the surname Chen and originated from Western Hunan. In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong killed countless people in Sichuan, and the entire population of Sichuan was sparse. Therefore, the entire Chen family moved to Longchang and took root here, becoming a large clan. The Chen family developed a set of corpse-driving techniques based on the original corpse-driving techniques of Western Hunan, which could not only drive dead bodies, but even living people.
Shen Yuan told Luo San that in fact, corpse-driving was not as simple as the legend would have it, where a talisman is placed on the forehead of the corpse and a bell is rung to guide the corpse forward. In fact, from a modern perspective, corpse driving is a highly sophisticated science. First, the corpse must be soaked in a special potion to prevent it from decaying temporarily. At the same time, a type of bacteria is implanted in the corpse. Once the bacteria enters the corpse, it will multiply rapidly within the body. When its population reaches a certain level, it can control the corpse’s limbs. When it hears the bell ringer’s bell, it will reflexively drive the corpse to jump. Once the bacteria leaves the corpse, it will die immediately.
The Feiye Gate’s corpse-driving technique innovated on the basis of the Xiangxi corpse-driving technique, and developed pills that can contain the bacteria without killing it, making the bacteria easy to carry. When implanted in the corpse, it only needs to be fed through the corpse’s mouth.
As an outsider and located in the remote Longchang County, the Feiye Gate did not know about the major events in Sichuan for a long time, which greatly affected the development of the Feiye Gate. It would have been enough for the Feiye Sect to leave Longchang County and go to Chengdu to develop, but everyone in the clan believed that Longchang County was the lucky place for the Feiye Sect and that it could never be moved. For this reason, starting in the Yongzheng period, the then Sect leader had to send his youngest brother to Chengdu, where he settled under an assumed name and instructed him and his descendants to always keep a lookout for news about the Feiye Sect.
This younger brother of the Feiye Sect leader is the direct ancestor of Shen Yuan. Later, the Feiye Sect gradually declined, and only the branch living in Chengdu managed to support itself. However, this branch has always had a small population, with only one male in each generation, and in Shen Yuan’s generation, there was simply only one daughter. As a result, Shen Yuan completely lost his options.
“What about the blood-eating bacteria?’
‘Blood-sucking bacteria is also a type of bacteria. It was first invented by the Feiyemon clan during their long migration into Sichuan as a way to recognise their own. At the time, it was used to allow clan members to find each other no matter how far apart they were. However, it later mutated, and if the person infected with blood-sucking bacteria does not get the antidote, they will gradually rot with age and eventually die in pain. The most terrifying thing is that this blood-sucking disease is hereditary.’ Shen Yuan’s tone dropped, ’In the incident 57 years ago, the leader of the Feiye Sect disappeared with the secret recipe for the antidote to the blood-sucking disease. Since the blood-sucking disease had already been planted a long time ago, Shen Yuan could only keep looking for it.’
‘Don’t think like that. There’s nothing in this world that can’t be solved. Just like me, I grew up looking like a stupid bird, but I’m still living my life.’ Luo San said, and brought his large nose close to Shen Yuan’s face.
Looking at the face in front of her, which strongly resembled a bird, Shen Yuan smiled. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and said to Luo San, ’Let’s go. We’d better go back to school.’
‘Leaving already? Not even looking at this place?’ Luo San said, and without further ado, he took Shen Yuan’s hand and walked towards the front courtyard of the mansion. “This place must be connected to the Sijiao. If we don’t figure it out and just leave, I’m afraid we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives.”
Without saying a word, Luo San took Shen Yuan and walked towards a room. This room seemed to be a study. On the side by the window, there was a desk with a pile of letters on it, and next to it was a bookshelf.
Shen Yuan looked around the room, while Luo San took the opportunity to browse the books on the shelves. He didn’t expect to find them to be all books on linguistic research, with a particular focus on the study of ‘women’s books’. However, it was clear that the owner of the books had read them very carefully, because every book Luo San opened had been marked with red pen. But this kind of book did not interest him, so after a while Luo San threw the book back. Just as he was about to look at something else, a book on the shelf caught his attention again. It was a book called ‘A Collection of Essays on the Study of Baiyue Culture’. Since his conversation with Professor Wu the other day, Luo San’s interest in the Baiyue tribe has increased greatly. Flipping through the cover of the book, he saw that the author had also drawn many places inside. One of the articles was particularly marked in red, as if the owner of the book attached particular importance to it. The title of the article was: ‘On the ancient Yue culture phenomenon reflected in the composition of the “female book” characters’. In the margins of this article, the following words were written in red: ‘Since the “female book” is a remnant of the ancient Yue script, if we understand the meaning of the female book, we can more or less understand the true meaning of “desecrating the scriptures”. My son, remember this and do not forget.’
‘Nüshu’ is something Luo San knows about. It refers mainly to a system of written symbols that was passed down among women in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province, and the surrounding area of Xiayang Township, Daoxian County. This system of written symbols is not known to the local men, and no one learns it. Only the women learn and use it. The women call the system of written symbols they use “nü shu” (women’s script), and the Chinese characters in common use in society are called “nan shu” (men’s script). As for “du jing” (blasphemous scriptures), Luo San quickly associated it with the “Ancient Yue Du Jing” mentioned by Professor Wu. However, judging from the meaning of the article, it turns out that ‘nü shū’ is the remnant of the ancient Yue script, and the owner of the book also believes that this is the key to unlocking the ‘Ancient Yue Sutra’, so he specifically wrote down words of advice to his son.
Luo San was thinking about it when Shen Yuan suddenly pulled him and pointed to a photo on the wall and said to him, ‘Xiaosanzi, look at that photo.’
The photo showed a plump middle-aged man. Luo San immediately remembered the middle-aged corpse he had seen in the women’s toilet at Sijiao, and it looked exactly the same as this man.
‘This is the residence of that Dongfang Bai. It seems that he drifted from the pond here to the women’s toilet at Sijiao.’
“Xiaosan, there are so many letters here, let’s look for a while, maybe we can find some clues.’
‘Okay, I’ll go through them right away,‘ Luo San said, immediately starting to go through the letters stacked on the desk. But when Luo San turned his attention to the desk, he suddenly noticed that the letters on it seemed to be in disarray, just like the books on the shelves.
’Someone has gone through these letters before we arrived. I think that person is the murderer of Dongfang Bai. But what was his purpose in coming here?’
‘I think it might be related to this,’ Shen Yuan said, handing a letter to Shen Yuan. After taking the letter, Luo San immediately unfolded the paper and began to read it. However, the content of the letter made him feel a chill down his spine the more he read. The letter read:
The guilty subject, the Duke of the Orient Bai, begs for your divine peace. Since the year Bingwu, when my great-grandfather, Dongfang Hanqing, happened upon the ‘Ancient Yuedu Classic’, I have been blessed by successive emperors. My great-grandfather was honoured with the title Duke of the Orient, and my father and I inherited the title. However, we have failed to live up to your grace, and have made little progress in deciphering the text. We have misled the country, and even if we were to die in the most painful of deaths, we could never atone for our crimes. However, Your Majesty is the true dragon son of heaven, who has always been blessed by heaven; our Great Tang is truly the most powerful country in the Celestial Empire, and we will not tolerate the bastard offspring of a foreign country. Therefore, with the grace of heaven and the revelation of God, I have finally understood the ultimate truth of the ‘classic’ recently. This is also Your Majesty’s great blessing and the good fortune of the Great Tang. Your servant humbly requests that Your Majesty grant him the power to act on his own authority. In no more than three days, everything will be ready. If Your Majesty personally carries out divine punishment, purging the world and clearing the eight directions, the Great Tang dynasty will enjoy a long and prosperous reign…
“The letter was dated the day before yesterday, so it is estimated that the Eastern White was killed before he had a chance to post it. His killer was the King of Qi.’
Shen Yuan did not reply, and kept passing some letters over, which were even more incredible, because, to be precise, they should not be letters, but imperial edicts. Because the beginning of each letter was in the precise format of an imperial edict, just as they appeared in ancient costume dramas; and even the paper of the letter was specially bright yellow.
After quickly scanning the letters, Luo San discovered that the most frequently used word in these imperial edicts was ‘Ancient Yuedu Scripture’, followed closely by S Dasijiao. Some of these imperial edicts were from a long time ago, while others were more recent. What could be seen was that as the years progressed, the tone of the imperial edicts became increasingly severe, accusing the people of the Dongfang family of incompetence.
‘It seems that the people of the Eastern family have studied the ‘Guye Du Jing’ for generations without results, and recently they have achieved results, but they were killed. Let’s look for clues.‘
The two searched for a long time, but found nothing.
’Forget it. Let’s take these things back first,‘ said Luo San, placing several books and letters together, and then finding a bag in the study and putting them all in.
’Go back and read!’ Shen Yuan understood.
‘Well, Shen Yuan, take another look. If there’s anything else we need to find, let’s look for it and leave immediately. We haven’t seen a single person here for so long, which is very unusual. We must hurry.’ Luo San gave instructions while tidying up the letters and documents on the table.
A few minutes later, the two left the study carefully and walked towards the exit. Although they didn’t encounter anyone along the way, Luo San and Shen Yuan did not dare to go out through the front door. Instead, they went back the way they had come, to the pond, and climbed over the wall to leave the mansion. Fortunately, there was only a dead end outside the wall, and no one was there at the moment. Once they were out of the alley, Luo San immediately began looking for street signs. He was eager to know what kind of place this was. Finally, he saw the name of a street he was familiar with: Yingbin Avenue. Luo San knew that Yingbin Avenue was already located in the far west of Chengdu, and was also a long way from the Second Ring Road in the city centre. Apart from the Jinniu Hotel, which was used for receptions and conferences, most of the area was farmland. He never imagined that Shen Yuan and he would be swept here by the underground current. It seemed that the entire underground depth of Chengdu should be an unfathomable underground ocean.
The two of them dared not return to the school during the day, but went to the hotel instead.
After changing into the clothes they had just bought, Luo San and Shen Yuan quickly fell asleep. I don’t know how long it was before Luo San was awakened by the thunder outside the window. Turning his head, he noticed that Shen Yuan was still asleep, so he lay in bed and organised his thoughts.
The people of the Tang Empire wanted to crack the ‘Guye Dujing’ because of the great secret hidden in it. Professor Wu said that once someone knows the secret, they will have the power to destroy the world. Is this true? Is this secret related to the impending catastrophe in Chengdu?
Thinking about all these questions, Luo San decided to give Yan Qingbo a call and ask if he knew anything about what happened last night. The police should have received a report.
The police did receive a report, and it happened to be handled by Yan Qingbo, so as soon as he heard that Luo San and Shen Yuan were eyewitnesses to the incident, Yan Qingbo immediately rushed over.
By the time Yan Qingbo arrived, Shen Yuan had already woken up, so Luo San recounted what had happened last night. After listening to Luo San’s account, Yan Qingbo didn’t say a word for a long time, and it was only after a while that he blurted out, ‘Is what you’re saying true? You two are back from the dead?’
‘Of course it’s true. I remember the group of people saying that both of us had been dead for a long time.‘
’I only remember the first half of it. After I got close to the schoolbag, I fainted.‘
’I did hear them talking, and they said that apart from you and me, everything else at the scene had dried up, and that one person was missing. I think that person was Shigu.‘
’Dried up?’ Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale. ’How did it dry up?’
‘Let me tell you.’ Yan Qingbo then told the two of them what he had seen at the scene.
It turned out that in the early hours of the morning, the police had received a report that something strange had happened at S University, so Yan Qingbo and his colleagues rushed to the scene. The first thing he saw at the scene immediately stunned him. He saw that all the shrubs, weeds and trees on the ground covering dozens of square metres had withered, as if they had been exposed to the scorching sun for dozens of days. What was most shocking was that there were hundreds of snakes at the scene, also all withered. This withering was even more bizarre, as it seemed that all the moisture and nutrients in the snakes’ bodies had been sucked out, leaving only the bones and snake skin. Apart from the snakes, there were also one or two dogs at the scene, which had withered in the same way. Even the land had become desertified.
Since it happened in the early morning, the police were unable to find any witnesses and could not find out what had really happened at the scene. However, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the relevant departments imposed a news blackout on the matter and cleaned up the scene before the students went to class. Samples of the items at the scene were taken and handed over to an investigation team made up of experts at all levels in Chengdu for investigation.
‘There is no result yet, but the authorities are worried that it might be some kind of biological weapon. I also think that only a biological weapon could have caused such a result. Didn’t Xiaosan just say that the group mentioned that there was a brief fog at the scene? I think that fog was a biological weapon. I think that’s what happened. After the dogs failed to kill you last time, the people who had set the dogs on you decided to try again. They sent Shigu to lure you over to them, and he put poison in your bags so that you would faint when you smelled it. Then they sent the dogs to bite the two of you, who wouldn’t run away, but the snakes showed up just in time to protect you. The snakes and dogs fought with each other, and the situation was at a stalemate. So they brought out the biochemical weapons to kill you, but they didn’t expect you to still be alive. So they had no choice but to throw you into the sea eye.‘
’It sounds like it makes a lot of sense. Yan Ge, what are you waiting for? Go arrest Mu Shigu.‘
’It’s not that easy. Without evidence, how can I arrest someone? I’d better have another colleague go to his dormitory and call him to the police station for investigation.’
‘Thanks, Yan Ge. From what I’ve heard, thick fog and desolation seem to be major features of the 57-year-old case, so the guy called San Shugong was shaking when he heard about thick fog and desolation. They must know something about the 57-year-old case. It would be great if they would tell us about it.’
Yan Qingbo saw that he had understood most of the situation, so he got up to take his leave. Before leaving, he told Luo San, ‘You have escaped death twice, but next time I’m afraid you won’t be so lucky. Take care. Okay, I’m going to go find Professor Wu.’
“Yan Ge, wait for us. We’re going to go find Professor Wu too.’
Chapter 13: Diexi Earthquake
‘Damn it, you’re still alive. Xiao San, you’re really something.’ When he saw Luo San and the others, Professor Wu put down the paper in his hands, stood up quickly to greet him and Shen Yuan, and then turned to Yan Qingbo, ’Yan, have you found out anything about that Indian devil? What did he want to do by blowing up the plane?’
‘No result. All we know is that the Indian devil is from New Delhi, named Bahru, an international student studying at S University. Although he only came to China last year, he is an expert on China, proficient in not only Mandarin, Sichuanese, Hunanese, Cantonese, Zhejiangese, and Fujianese, but also Chinese history, especially ancient history. What’s most impressive is that Bahru is also quite knowledgeable about ancient Chinese characters, and his skills are not inferior to some of the old professors. According to Bachru’s classmates, he rarely communicated with his classmates, and spent all day either buried in the library or exploring Chengdu. Although he didn’t communicate with his classmates, he had excellent relationships with some researchers of Chengdu folk customs and history. That’s all we know so far.‘
’Speaking so many dialects, familiar with ancient history, and mastering ancient Chinese characters? This Indian devil seems to be stealing my thunder, which puts me under a lot of pressure. Really a lot…’
‘Professor Wu, don’t flatter yourself,‘ Luo San interrupted. “I think this Indian devil came prepared. I always feel that his academic research direction and what he did in Chengdu should both have a very strong purpose, closely related to his attempt to blow up the Zhiji Stone last night.”
’I thought of that too. He studied in Chengdu, made friends with folklore and history scholars, and travelled around, naturally to uncover the secrets of the Zhiji Stone. But I can’t think of what his purpose is in being familiar with the dialects of many places, ancient history and ancient Chinese characters.’
‘Their goal is the Ancient Yue Du Jing,’ said Luo San, taking out the Collection of Essays on Baiyue Culture Research, which he had taken from the Bai residence in the afternoon, and finding the article “On the Ancient Yue Culture Phenomena Reflected in the Composition of the Nüshu Characters,” and handing it to Professor Wu.
Professor Wu finished reading the article in one go, along with the accompanying notes, without missing a word: ’Xiaosan, quickly give me the Du Jing?’
‘I didn’t find it. If I had, I would have given it to you already. I believe that you can solve the problem with just one look, there is no need for us to investigate so hard.‘
’Heh heh,‘ Professor Wu laughed proudly a few times, “flattering me is useless. Now that we don’t have the blasphemous scripture in hand, we can only continue to investigate. By the way, where did this thing come from?”
’It’s a long story,’ Luo San immediately told Professor Wu about his experience from last night to today.
‘Are you saying that the Chengdu underground is a huge ocean?‘
’Yes, it is a huge ocean.‘
’You said you saw a kind of fish underground. What did that fish look like?‘
’It was very big. Silver-white, with no scales visible, and otherwise similar to an ordinary fish,‘ Shen Yuan added.
’White and scaly-free? It really is! Come and have a look at this report,’ said Professor Wu, pointing to a piece of paper on the table that he had just been reading.
Luo San saw that the paper was exactly the one Nan Qingyi had copied from the library the other day. It was a newspaper dated 26 August 1933, which carried the news that ‘construction of the S University’s teaching building has been blocked by a huge rock blocking the road’. Luo San’s gaze quickly flashed over the newspaper, and suddenly he noticed a sentence on it that had been underlined in red by Professor Wu. Luo San read it and was immediately captivated by the sentence: ‘The officials and gentry often say that in the silence of the night, you can faintly hear the sound of the tide underground.’ Those were the words from another news story in the newspaper, one that neither Luo San nor Shen Yuan had noticed before. The story reported the news of a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake that had struck Diexi, Mao County, Sichuan Province on the afternoon of 25 August 1933. And it was this news story that Professor Wu wanted them to read.
‘There is the sound of a tidal wave underground, there is the sound of a tidal wave underground…’ Luo San kept repeating this sentence while carefully reading the news about the earthquake. However, because Nan Qingyi had not paid attention to this news while photocopying, only a small part of the news was copied. The news above only described that in the afternoon of that day, a major earthquake occurred in the Diexi area of Mao County, and the entire Diexi town (i.e., the urban area) sank underground, and the original location of the town had become a sea (i.e., a lake). There was no more information above.
‘Professor Wu, is there any more information about the Diexi earthquake?‘
’Of course,’ said Professor Wu, enthusiastically describing the situation of the Diexi earthquake.
Before the earthquake, Diexi was a town in the north of Mao County in Sichuan Province, about 30 kilometres from the city. It had more than 100 households. At the time of the earthquake, the Songli, Mao, Maomou, Wentun Reclamation Supervision Office of the 28th Nationalist Army had a public security bureau in Diexi because the town was close to the confluence of the Heishui River, handling all disputes. The town faces the Minjiang River and is backed by high mountains. It is about 5 kilometres from the riverbank to Diexi Town, which is on a slope. The terrain outside the town is flat, about 10 kilometres in diameter, and you can see deep caves of various sizes everywhere. The high mountains are sheer on the back, with no trees or vegetation. According to local people, there is a small hole halfway up the mountain, about the size of a washbasin, the depth of which is unknown. If you throw a stone into it, thick smoke will immediately rise, straight to the sky, forming a black cloud. In an instant, hail will fall, and people will often be injured if they cannot avoid it in time. The officials and gentry often say that in the middle of the night, when it is quiet, you can faintly hear the sound of water underground.
The then magistrate of Mao County wrote an exhaustive account of the earthquake: On the afternoon of the day the earthquake struck, there was suddenly a roaring sound like ten thousand horses galloping that grew louder and louder, like the sound of the waves of a huge storm sweeping in from the sea. The staff of the military garrison and the county government all ran out together in less than three seconds. Many people were unsteady on their feet and fell along the way, crawling quickly; some were helped out and were dumbstruck, not knowing what had happened. Then a long row of horizontal houses in the county government collapsed with a loud crash, fortunately without injuring anyone. The three ancient pagodas were planted during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and can be embraced by 10 people. Even the trunk shakes to the branches on all sides, like a command flag. Seeing the thick smoke rising from the four mountains, the dust and fog filled the sky, darkening the sky and blinding the ground. There were few people to be seen, and the rumble of the earthquake still continued. Some said it was a volcanic eruption, and that the end of the world had arrived for our generation. There were many people sobbing. After a while, it calmed down a little, and the sun and mountains could be seen a little more clearly. Then we heard the sound of walls and houses collapsing all over the city, and there were continuous cries for help. Another hour passed, and people could stand and walk again. Those reporting the disaster gathered at the county government building, all looking at each other, dejected. They discussed what to do on the spot, but they had no good ideas. They used the telephone to ask people on the upper and lower roads, but no one answered for a long time, and they knew that the lines had been cut. The next day, telephone operators set off to repair the lines. They went south to Weizhou and Wenchuan, and found that the lines were working there, so they knew that the disaster was not serious there. They went north for just over 10 li, and the mountains and rivers were so close together that there was no way through. They knew that the north road was the main earthquake zone. About a week later, refugees came over the mountains and across the rivers. They learned that the area around Diexi had suffered heavy losses, but they did not know the details. Later, refugees came to Jixian County in an endless stream. The tragedy was so tragic that it was truly hard for people to bear.
After the disaster, Diexi, which was originally a highland about 10 li from the slope, had become a sandbank at the same level as the river. The entire land and population of the town had fallen into an abyss, and almost no family was spared. A deep ditch appeared at the foot of the original mountain. After measuring it with a rope, it was about tens of zhang deep. All these poor lives slept at the bottom of the ditch…
The disaster not only directly caused a large number of deaths due to the earthquake, but also because the dam formed by the earthquake broke, which claimed the lives of a further 25,000 people.
Halfway up the mountain, there is a bottomless cave with an eerie sound of underground tides. After Luo San put these things together again, he basically formed this view: there is also an underground ocean under the ancient city of Diexi, and because this ocean is relatively close to the surface, people can hear the sound of the tides at night when there is no one around. It is very likely that this underground ocean is not an isolated existence, but is connected to the underground ocean under Sijiao. It can even be said that the underground ocean in Diexi is controlled by the underground ocean under Sijiao, and the key to this is the boulder in the women’s toilet of Sijiao. Because when the earthquake struck, it was this stone that blocked the workers‘ path, and the workers struck it and blew it up with dynamite. In other words, the stone triggered the 7.5 magnitude earthquake due to the huge external force, taking the lives of tens of thousands of people.
’Since Chengdu has an underground ocean, other places must also have one. Therefore, although Xiaosan’s view that there is an ocean underground in Diexi is very bold, I support it.’
‘That’s what I think too, otherwise I wouldn’t have shown you this news.‘
Luo San’s view that there is an ocean underground in Diexi was unanimously supported by Yan Qingbo and Professor Wu. Professor Wu also pointed out: “The entire Sichuan province is a huge underground body of water. The reason I say this is because of the white scaly fish that Xiaozi saw in the Chengdu underground ocean. As far as I know, that type of fish can only be found in one place. That place is Diexi Haizi.”
’Diexi Haizi? What is that?’
‘Haizi means lake. The so-called Diexi Haizi is a lake formed after the Diexi earthquake. Since its formation, Diexi Haizi has been home to a species of scaly white fish. Despite the high altitude and the scarcity of plankton in the lake, the fish thrive and grow in huge numbers. It is said that the largest fish can grow up to two metres long. Legend has it that this fish is the incarnation of the Zuozhi Qiang people who were buried at the bottom of the water along with Diexi City. This branch of the Qiang tribe lived together in Diexi, and the entire tribe disappeared in the earthquake.‘
’A stone thousands of miles away can create the fate of a town and make a tribe disappear. This is incredible. As a police officer, I would never believe it if I hadn’t experienced it myself.’
‘In that case, the Indian’s objective is clear. He must have discovered the secret of those stones and wanted to blow up the Zhiji Stone to trigger a massive earthquake. The massive earthquake foretold by the appearance of the giant tortoise might be referring to this.’ Shen Yuan suddenly interrupted, and everyone suddenly had an epiphany.
Shen Yuan, however, looked thoughtful. ‘Professor Wu, you mentioned several times that the appearance of a giant turtle in the world is an omen of man-made disasters, not natural disasters. May I ask if all appearances of giant turtles in the world are omens of man-made disasters? And is there any instance where a giant turtle appeared in the world without a major disaster occurring?’
‘As far as I know, in the history of Chengdu, whenever a giant tortoise appeared, it was a sign of a man-made disaster. And the only time a giant tortoise appeared without a disaster beingfalling was during the Kangxi period. Girl, why are you asking all these questions?‘
’I was thinking, now that this Indian devil has been caught, does that mean a major earthquake will not come?‘
’Things are never that simple. Shen Yuan, the bomb that the Indian devil placed at the Zhiji Stone was extremely sophisticated and powerful. It seems that the Indian devil does not have a professional background in bomb-making, so it is very likely that he was not working alone and that there must be a group behind him. Catching him alone will not help if he refuses to talk, and the others will continue their destructive activities.‘
’Brother Yan, you can report this situation to your leaders and ask them to send more people to guard a few more stones, so that we don’t have to worry about them causing damage.‘
’Xiaosan, why are you so insensitive? I’m just a lowly nobody, and if I say it, who will believe me? No one will believe me. There’s an ocean under Chengdu, no one will believe that.‘
’So what do we do now?‘
’Well, we’ll have to ask Professor Wu.‘ Luo San noticed that Yan Qingbo’s expression was strange when he said this.
’How would I know,‘ Professor Wu asked in surprise.
’Of course you know, I’ve had you investigated. Professor Wu, no, I should say Mr. Yin Yinke,’
Chapter 14: The enlightened royal family waits for generations
‘Yin Yinke?’ Luo San and Shen Yuan exclaimed, ‘Yan Ge, what’s going on?’
Yan Qingbo looked coldly at Professor Wu: ‘All along, I have felt that there is something wrong with Professor Wu. He has been too eager to get involved in this matter, which is unlike his usual style of doing things. So I quietly investigated him. I found out that his real name is Yin Yinke and that he is from a rural area in Ya’an City, Sichuan Province. Over the years, he has been studying at S University and has hardly worked, yet he still has money to live on, which is hard to believe even with the support of some students. So I had someone investigate his hometown in Ya’an and found out that he has a wife and son. His wife passed away a few days ago, and his son has been supported by his family and is already in university. And that university is S University.’
‘Could this be a coincidence?‘ Luo San knew that Professor Wu had his own secrets, but he was very unhappy with Yan Qingbo’s tone.
’Do you think it’s reasonable to abandon his wife and son to study at S University? And the rest of his family was willing to support his son and raise him to be a university student, is that reasonable? None of this could be a coincidence. Yin Yinke, you tell me, what is your purpose in going to Chengdu?’
‘Purpose, purpose. My purpose in going to Chengdu?‘ Professor Wu looked up, his eyes glistening with tears. “Who wants to abandon their wife and children? Who wants to stay on this campus for decades? Who wants their son to follow in their footsteps and continue to live an inhumane life? But do I have a choice?”
’Why don’t you have a choice?‘
’Because I am a descendant of the ancient Shu enlightened dynasty, the ancestor Beiling.’
‘What enlightened dynasty? What Beiling?‘ Luo San and Shen Yuan asked in unison.
Professor Wu sighed and said, “With the current education, how can these young people be so ignorant?”
’Nonsense, I’m not from Sichuan, so why should I understand the history of your ancient Shu? Get to the point. What is your purpose?’ Shen Yuan said coldly and impolitely.
‘Girl, don’t be so impatient.’ Over the next period of time, Professor Wu told Luo San and Shen Yuan in detail about the history of the ancient Shu Kingdom. The history of ancient Shu has always been said to have three kings and two emperors. The three kings were Zangong, Bai Kun and Yu Fu, and the two emperors were Wang Di Du Yu and Cong Di Bei Ling. The Records of the Kings of Shu states that the three kings of Shu, Zangong, Bai Kun and Yu Fu, ‘lived to be hundreds of years old’. Of course, Zangong, Bai Kun and Yu Fu are not the names of the kings of Shu, but the names of the ancient Shu dynasties. The three kings of Shu ‘lived to be hundreds of years old’ refers to the fact that the three ancient Shu dynasties each had a reign period of several hundred years. As for Wangdi Duyu and Congdi Beiling, they are generally referred to as the Wangcong Erdi (literally ‘Wang Emperor and Cong Emperor’). In fact, the Wangcong Erdi were not of the same clan. Wangdi was an ancient Shu native who founded the Duyu Dynasty in ancient Shu history, while Congdi Beiling was a native of Chu who founded the Kai Ming Dynasty in ancient Shu history.
‘Thousands of years ago, our ancestors led their tribesmen from Chu and travelled up the river to what is now Leshan in Sichuan, where they founded a kingdom and settled down. At first, our tribe was very small, and the land we fought off the local indigenous people to claim was minimal. Slash-and-burn agriculture, fishing and hunting were the daily lives of our ancestors and their tribesmen.’ Professor Wu seemed to be lost in his own memories.
At that time, the Chengdu Plain was under the rule of the Duyu Dynasty, and no water conservancy facilities such as the Dujiang Weir had been built, so the floods wreaked havoc. Wangdi Duyu was a useless fellow who had no idea how to control the floods, causing widespread flooding and disaster for the people of the entire Shu Kingdom.
As a native of Chu, Bei Ling was an expert at flood control. When floods became a problem, he led his people to control the floods in Leshan. When Wangdi Du Yu heard of his deeds, he made him prime minister in charge of flood control. Bailing led his people to travel all over the Chengdu Plain, fighting floods everywhere, and finally solving the problem. Because of his achievements in flood control, Bailing, although not a native of Shu, was unanimously supported by the people of the country, drove away Duyu, and founded the ancient Shu Kai Ming Dynasty, which lasted for hundreds of years and had the largest national territory. Unfortunately, in the late Warring States period, the Qin army, a fierce army, destroyed his country and destroyed his ancestral hall.
Do you know what it’s like to lose your country? In 316 BC, the last king of my enlightened dynasty and his son led the army to fight the Qin army at Jiameng Pass, and both died in battle. In fact, the king already knew that with the strength of Shu, he could not fight against the powerful Qin. So the king chose two reliable people to accompany his young son, left Chengdu, and settled in the Xichang area. This is because the Qiong people there were allies of the enlightened dynasty.’
Later, the royal family of the Kai Ming Dynasty were either killed or fled by the Qin king, and in the end, only the young son of the last Kai Ming king was left. And this branch stayed in Sichuan forever because they had to guard a secret of their ancestors, the tortoise spirit.
‘What secret does the last king of Shu want you to guard?’ Luo San asked.
“That secret is the Eye of the Sea.’
‘The Eye of the Sea? Again? Why is there an ocean under Chengdu?‘
’Hmph! You are a frog at the bottom of a well. The world unknown to humans is vast. How do you know that what is said in textbooks now is necessarily correct? There are exceptions to everything, and everything is possible,’ Professor Wu lectured. ’So don’t ask such childish questions in front of me. I can’t answer your question of why there is an ocean underground either. What I can tell you is that this is a secret that our family has kept for thousands of years.’
From Professor Wu’s mouth, Luo San and Shen Yuan learned that, apart from the stone in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings Academy, the strange stones in Chengdu, such as the stone pillars, Tianya Stone, Zhiji Stone, and Wukuai Stone, were all related to the flood during the reign of Emperor Wangdi Duyu. It was a flood comparable to the one during the reign of Emperor Shun in the Central Plains. The surging waves flooded the Chengdu Plain. Although the Chengdu Plain had been prone to frequent flooding before, it had never experienced a flood of such magnitude.
After travelling from Chu to Leshan, where they had hoped to live a good life, Beiling was exhausted both physically and mentally by the flood. At this time, a group of Qiong people found them. The Qiong people were a tribe that worshipped large stones and lived in the area of present-day Xichang. At one time, their sphere of influence reached as far as the Qionglai Mountains. Today, Linqiong Town in Qionglai City, which is under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, is said to have been a stronghold of the Qiong people as they entered the Chengdu Plain.
Bailing originally thought that these people were just ordinary messengers and only intended to receive them briefly before sending them away. However, upon seeing them, he discovered that these uninvited guests were of great importance. The reason was that the five people who had come were all tribal elders, one of whom was also the tribe’s shaman. The shaman was dressed in the strangest way imaginable. He was tall and had a high nose bridge, clearly different from the other Qiong people, except that he wore a large hat that covered the part above his nose.
These uninvited guests simply made a request of Beiling: if Beiling would agree to do one thing for them, the Qiong people would tell him how to control the floods and help him conquer the floods and ascend to the throne of the Shu kingdom. Beiling knew that further north in his own land there were even wider plains, and he wanted that land, but with so few people, it was just a thought.
Professor Wu’s narrative does not mention how Beiling was persuaded to agree to this, but only the end result: the Qiong people joined forces with the Peng and Pu tribes to spread the news that Beiling was good at flood control. Soon afterwards, Wangdi Duyu formally appointed Beiling as prime minister, in charge of flood control. It was easy to control the floods, because the Yulei Mountains blocked the Minjiang River’s flow and the river channel was not smooth. Beiling led his people to excavate the Yulei Mountains and open up the river channel, so that the Minjiang River’s water could quickly drain away. After the floods receded, the Qiong people transported ten huge stones to them.
Once the stones reached the Chengdu Plain, the Qiong people immediately erected them on a wasteland in the area of the current Chengdu city centre. At that time, the floodwaters had just receded, and there were basically no living creatures on this wasteland. The ten huge stones looked particularly strange. Six of them were lined up together to form the later Stone Pillars, while the other four became the later Tianya Stone, Wukuai Stone, Zhiji Stone and Dijiao Stone.
On the evening of the day these boulders were erected, the tortoise spirit stood on this wasteland and silently gazed at the stones. The wasteland was vast and open, with 10 boulders standing like pillars, forming a strange pattern. It was also on this evening that the tortoise spirit saw another boulder that had long existed on this wasteland, the one that was later installed in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings.
It was a strange stone, buried deep in the ground, bottomless. Several strong young men stepped forward at the same time, but they could not budge it. The strangest thing was that the surface of the stone was colourful and smooth. Beiling stroked the stone gently, because he understood that from this moment on, the fate of their clan would be forever linked to this stone.
That night, under a full moon, the Qiong people’s shamans held another ceremony, except this time, Turtle Spirit was asked to hand over the tortoise shell, which symbolised the sacred object of their clan. The Qiong people’s shamans smashed the tortoise shell and buried it under the 11 boulders, mixing it with the blood of the Turtle Spirit clan.
Just a few minutes later, the earth shook violently, the sky suddenly became dark, and the entire world was enveloped in sand and dust that rose from the ground, making it difficult to see in the near distance. Fortunately, the earthquake ended after a few minutes. The huge boulder that had suddenly appeared in the wilderness not only did not fall during the earthquake, but also seemed to have endless roots in the ground, so that no matter how it was shaken or knocked, it did not move. And once someone tried to dig it up or break it, it would cause strange movements of wind and thunder.
After all this, the Qiong people told the turtle spirit that the boulder in the barren land had existed since the beginning of time, and no one knew its name or how deep it went underground. All they knew was that the stone held down the eye of the sea. If the stone holding down the eye of the sea was damaged, the water from the eye of the sea would gush out, and not only Chengdu, but the entire Kyushu region would become a country of swamps. However, the stone that held the sea eye was very unstable, so the water of the sea eye often gushed out, causing floods on the Chengdu Plain. For this reason, the Qiong people specially selected ten huge stones from the mountains and laid a great formation around the stone that held the sea eye. Through this formation of huge stones, the strength of the stone was enhanced, making it unbreakable. However, this stone circle needed someone to live on the Chengdu Plain to guard it, and the Qiong people were used to living in the mountains, so they chose the Beiling people to undertake the task of guarding the stone circle. Of course, the reward for this task was the throne of the Shu Kingdom for hundreds of years. The Beiling people made their choice, ushering in an enlightened dynasty that lasted for hundreds of years, but they also acquired a permanent duty for their descendants: guarding the stone circle. And if they break their oath to protect the stone circle, all the members of the tribe will be filled into the eye of the sea and remain there forever.
Because of this, the Kai Ming dynasty has always sent clan members to guard the stone circle. Even to better protect the stone circle, the ninth generation of Kai Ming formally moved the capital from Xindu, to the north of Chengdu, to the current Chengdu city. However, the time when the country fell and the family died finally came. In order to keep their oath and protect the stone array, the young son of the last Kai Ming king and his two subordinates fled to Ya’an and sought the assistance of the Qiong people. However, the Qiong people only agreed to escort them back to Chengdu and build houses in Chengdu to resettle them, but they would not help expel the Qin people and restore the Kai Ming dynasty.
So the young son of the last king of the Kai Ming dynasty and his two subordinates returned a few years later when Chengdu had calmed down a little. By then, the king of Qin had already sent Zhang Yi and Zhang Ruo to build the Chengdu city in Chengdu. The Qiong people settled the young son of the last king of the Kai Ming dynasty in a house built outside the southeast of Chengdu city. It was a large mansion, and in one of the rooms in the mansion was hidden the town stone of Haiyan.
Perhaps fearing that this was not enough, the Qiong people used some unknown means to make it impossible for ordinary people to see the mansion or approach it. So the young son of the last enlightened king and his descendants lived in the mansion for more than 2,000 years. For 2,000 years, they were allowed to leave the mansion and travel the world, but they were not allowed to make friends, because any friend could reveal the existence of the mansion. They also had little company from their relatives; they were all carried to this mansion shortly after birth. In order to keep the family secret, the Beiling family lived in Yaan for a long time. Once they got married and had children, the first son would always disappear from home under the pretext of death and be secretly sent here. This way of life would have continued forever, but as the years passed, the concealment function of the mansion gradually weakened, becoming more and more visible. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the mansion’s special protective function had completely disappeared. In 1911, a fire destroyed the entire mansion, leaving only the stone monument standing between heaven and earth.
‘A haunted mansion in the south of the city.’ Luo San suddenly realised, ’The mansion of the young son of the Enlightened King is that large mansion in the southeast of Chengdu, which is also the one mentioned in the third case that Shi Wuji asked them to investigate.
‘Yes, that’s right. At that time, that mansion was already known as the Yin Mansion, and we simply went along with the flow and changed our surname to Yin, so my real name is Yin Yinke.‘
’Why did the Yin Mansion catch fire, and how did you get to Ya’an after the Yin Mansion caught fire?‘
’The Yin Mansion was set on fire by someone. I don’t know who set it on fire. At that time, our family was already very sparse, and there were only three people living in the Yin Mansion. When the fire broke out, they tried to put it out, but when they saw a crowd of people rushing in, they immediately understood that their time had come. In order not to reveal the secret they had guarded for thousands of years, the three of them committed suicide.’ A hint of sadness could be heard in Professor Wu’s words, ’Although they are dead, the task of protecting the sea eye town stone by our clan has not ended, but has fallen to the heads of our descendants of the Yin clan who have lived outside for a long time. First, it was my great-grandfather, then my grandfather, my father, and then me. I stayed at University S for more than 20 years, and during that time, I didn’t dare to look for a job, for I was afraid that it would affect my mission of guarding the town stone…”
Two thousand years of waiting and loneliness requires a great deal of perseverance for a family. Luo San believes that during this process, there must have been many people who longed to escape the control of fate, but in the end, they were unable to do so, or they collided fiercely with the train of fate, and were smashed to pieces. The world is full of uncertainty, and people are so helpless in the face of fate.
While Luo San was thinking about all this, Shen Yuan asked a question that left Luo San baffled: ‘Professor Wu, are the huge stones that the Qiong people transported really huge stones?’
“From the outside, those things are definitely stones, but from the role they played later, those things are definitely not stones. I just don’t know what to call these things, so I still call them huge stones.’
‘What do you think they are?‘
’Something high-tech, just far beyond our understanding.‘
’Could they really be the legacy of an alien civilisation on Earth, as Mr Tong Enzheng said in his article ‘Stalagmite Xing’?’
‘That’s possible, but I’m more inclined to think they’re the remnants of a previous civilization on Earth. The history of the Earth is not as simple as we now imagine. I’ve never believed that our civilization is the only one on Earth. Before the period of history in which we know there was civilization, there should have been civilization, or even more developed civilization. Some of the incredible things we encounter now are the remnants of the previous generation of civilization, or even the previous generation of civilization. For example, archaeologists have found bullet holes in some dinosaur fossils, and there are also rubber-soled shoeshine imprints on trilobite fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago. There are also nuclear reactors that are still working and batteries that are still usable that were discovered in uranium ore formed hundreds of millions of years ago and in coal mines. None of these things should belong to that era, but they do exist. Apart from the possibility that an alien civilization has visited the earth, there is only one other possibility: there were other civilizations in prehistory, civilizations that were more highly developed than ours…’
‘Wait,‘ Shen Yuan interrupted Professor Wu. “If there really was a previous generation of civilization, then why did that civilization disappear? Why is there so little left of it that we have found? And if it really was the previous generation of civilization, then how do you explain how the Qiong people knew about the previous generation of civilization?”
’No one knows how prehistoric civilizations died out, but one thing is certain: the Qiong people did not know about the previous generation of civilization. It was the Qiong shaman who knew about it. In the records left by our ancestors, the impression of the Qiong people’s shaman is very deep. He believes that the Qiong people’s shaman is not a human…‘
’If not a human, then what is it?‘
’A god. First, our ancestors believed that the Qiong people’s shaman, although they did not see his face clearly, they intuitively felt that he looked different from us, that he was not a character that should exist in this world, but a god. Second, our ancestors believed that only gods possess that kind of power, the power to control the heavens and the earth. Modern research also shows that the so-called gods were not fictional, and there is at least historical evidence for them. I think these gods were people from a previous civilization. They either migrated to other planets with their civilization and stayed behind on Earth, or they survived the destruction of their civilization. They were unable to rebuild their civilization, so they had to rely on people from later civilizations to fulfil some of their wishes. For example, they asked them to build stone circles and so on.’
‘The legacy of a previous civilisation? This is incredible. Professor Wu, to be honest, what you said was very impressive, but I don’t agree with it,‘ Luo San said, shaking his head.
’Xiaosan, whether you believe it or not, the facts are here. Take the women’s toilet in Si Jiao, for example. It is a completely separate space from our world. And this space naturally formed after Si Jiao was built.‘
’Naturally formed?’
‘Yes. Everyone says that the women’s toilet in the fourth teaching building was closed by the school after a girl went missing, but the truth is that a janitor saw two girls go into the toilet that day and they never came out. When she tried to lock the door, she went to urge the two girls, but found that the door of the toilet could no longer be opened. So she leaned over the crack in the door and looked into the toilet, but found that the light was on but there was no one in the toilet. The janitor immediately reported the incident, and the school sent a large number of workers over that night. The workers found that the door was not closed tightly and seemed to be able to be opened with a casual push, but no matter what method was used, the door would not open. Helplessly, they had to break down the door. But when the door was broken down, they discovered that there was another door inside, and that door is the one we see now. The school was unable to solve this situation and had to announce that the girls‘ toilet would be completely closed for safety reasons due to the disappearance of a girl. In fact, this is not the first time a unique space has formed around a boulder. Back when the tomb still existed, the room that hid the boulder was also impossible to enter.
’How can this be?‘
’This is because the location of this boulder is unique and has a self-protection function. As long as there are buildings around it, it can use the building as a carrier to form a unique space around it. This image can only be understood as a remnant of a highly developed civilisation of the previous generation. No other explanation will work.‘
’Professor Wu, since this space was formed by the boulder for self-protection, why does it open during thunderstorms?‘
’Xiaosan, I’m not omnipotent.‘
’Professor Wu, since the Qiong people specifically built houses and used methods to protect the town stone of the sea eye, what measures did they take for the boulders in the stone array? Because I have read in the literature that there were originally six stone pillars, but now there are only two left, and now there may only be half of one left in someone’s well. Do you mean that only this town stone needs to be protected, but the giant stones in the stone array don’t need to be protected?’ Luo San asked a bunch of questions again.
Professor Wu has always been a good teacher, and since he has already spoken up at this point, he told Luo San and the others without reservation what he knew.
When the youngest son of the last enlightened king returned to Chengdu from Yaan, the Qiong people’s request of his family had changed from guarding the entire stone array to just protecting the Haiyan Town Stone. The youngest son of the last enlightened king had once gone into the city disguised and checked at the stone pillars, only to find that only three of them remained, and the other three had disappeared without a trace. For this reason, he had specifically asked the Qiong people who had come to contact him, but the response he received was that there was no need to care about such things. He really had no desire to care about such things. Because Chengdu was not peaceful at the time. As the Qin people had not been in control of Shu for long, most of the Shu people were not obedient. In order to appease the Shu people, the Qin king first made Tongguo, a member of the royal family of Shu, the marquis of Shu, and appointed Chen Zhuang as prime minister. However, a few years later, Tongguo and Chen Zhuang rebelled against the Qin and re-established the state of Shu. Soon after, Tongguo was killed by Chen Zhuang, who was in turn killed by the Qin king. After this, the Qin king made Tongguo’s son Yun the marquis, then killed him, made Yun’s son Wan the marquis, then killed him 15 years later. At the same time, in order to prevent a rebellion by the people of Shu, the Qin king ordered Zhang Yi to build a city wall in Chengdu during this period. Shortly afterwards, various versions of legends about the huge stones that make up the stone array began to circulate in the city, and these can basically still be found in various documents today. Thanks to these legends, the huge stones began to be protected by the people and even the authorities.
‘I have always suspected that the rumours about these stones were deliberately spread by the Qiong people in order to make the world believe that these giant stones are inviolable sacred objects. However, it is clear that their purpose has not been achieved, and the stones in these stone circles have been damaged to a greater or lesser extent over the millennia. It is just strange that the power of the Haiyan Town Stone has not been affected over the millennia. It is only in the past century that the power of the Haiyanzhen Stone has suddenly weakened, and it has become very vulnerable to external forces. This was especially the case in the 1930s and 1940s,’ Professor Wu sighed, ’At that time, the new campus of Sichuan University was under construction. In order to prevent the university from affecting the stone during construction, my great-grandfather specifically approached the university authorities and asked them to avoid the stone during construction. The university authorities took the matter very seriously and carefully investigated the situation. However, my great-grandfather did not dare to tell them the truth, but only said that this stone was located in an important position on the Chengdu Plain, and that once it was damaged, it would be detrimental to Chengdu and Sichuan. After hearing this, the school authorities promised. However, not long after, my great-grandfather died in his own home. It is said that his death was extremely tragic, and we have never known who did it. After my great-grandfather died, my grandfather quietly came to Chengdu and found a way to enter the construction team building the Si Jiao, and became a coolie carrying sand.
‘On the afternoon of 25 August 1933, while my grandfather was busy working, he suddenly heard several loud bangs coming from the town’s stone. He hurried to the scene and saw thick smoke and dust next to the town stone, and the air was filled with a pungent smell. Other labourers said that in order to repair the teaching building, the school had requested that the stone be removed, but they had used a lot of explosives and still couldn’t blow it up. My grandfather noticed that the town stone had been split open by the explosion, and that the crack went all the way down to the ground. Next to the town stone stood a man with a disappointed expression on his face.
“While everyone was talking and discussing what had happened, everyone suddenly felt the ground shake beneath their feet. Everyone at the scene became panicked and started running around. My grandfather noticed that at the moment the earth shook, the crack in the town stone slowly closed up and became very, very small, so small that if you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t be able to see it at all. That night, someone said that there had been an earthquake in the Songpan and Mao counties area. The next day, my grandfather read in the newspaper that the earthquake had been very strong and that the entire Diexi town had collapsed. But that was just the beginning, because the earthquake caused landslides and landslides blocked the Minjiang River, turning it into a series of lakes. After a period of time, these lakes burst their banks, flooding countless towns and claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people.’
‘It seems that the town stone in Haiyan does matter. The Indian devils‘ ultimate goal must be it.’
‘That’s right. The Indian devils’ goal is precisely the giant stone.’ A voice suddenly sounded outside the door, and then a person pushed the door open.
Chapter 15 Huang Xingyi’s Son
The person who came was Nan Qingyi.
‘So you’re all here,’ Nan Qingyi smiled at everyone, ‘then I don’t have to look for you one by one.’
‘Nan Qingyi, what do you want?’ Shen Yuan looked at Nan Qingyi warily.
Nan Qingyi ignored Shen Yuan and turned to Luo San: ‘Xiaosan, those people who drove the dogs away didn’t hurt you again, did they?’
“How did you know about the incident where I was chased by the dogs?’
‘That night, I sent the flock of birds.‘
’You did?‘
’Of course. Using birds is a specialty of our Luoyue tribe.‘
’What is the Luoyue tribe?‘
’The Luoyue tribe is a branch of the ancient Baiyue tribe, which lived in the Guangxi and Guizhou regions. Later, they migrated south to Southeast Asian countries and started the entire Southeast Asian civilization.’ Professor Wu’s old problem had returned. ’The question is, what are you Luoyue people doing in Chengdu?’
Nan Qingyi leaned towards Professor Wu: ‘There have been strange things happening in Chengdu recently, especially the appearance of the giant turtle, which is a sign that a great disaster is about to happen in Chengdu. If we don’t do something to stop it, China will definitely perish, and the end of the world will surely come.’
‘I know, the end of the world in 1999, I knew that a long time ago.’
“Professor Wu, you’re joking, you know that I’m talking about the disaster facing Chengdu.’
Professor Wu listened quietly to Nan Qingyi’s words, but still did not say anything.
Seeing this, Nan Qingyi took a piece of cloth out of his pocket and handed it to Professor Wu with both hands: ‘Professor Wu, the source of the Nine Provinces is in imminent danger. If you don’t believe me, please read the ’Guye Dujing.’
‘The Ancient Yue Du Jing?‘ Professor Wu exclaimed, and with trembling hands he took the cloth. It was covered with strange symbols, apparently printed from something.
’Is this really the Ancient Yue Du Jing?‘ Luo San asked, looking at the symbols on the cloth, which looked like hieroglyphs.
’Of course.‘
’Why did you bring it out to us?‘
’Because the source of the nine provinces is in danger.‘
’What is the source of the nine provinces?’
‘The source of the nine provinces is the centre of China. If it is damaged, the entire country will disappear.‘
’Kid, where did you find this thing?’ Professor Wu interrupted the conversation between the two, staring intently at Nan Qingyi.
‘I got it from the Tongmenghui.‘
’Tongmenghui?‘
’Yes. If you still don’t believe me, please come with me to a place where I can explain it to you.‘
Luo San and the other two exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
’This is the house my father bought for me in case of emergencies, but I’ve never lived here before,’ Nan Qingyi said as he led the three men to a house in a small community near the west gate of S University.
It was a quaintly furnished house with tatami mats and mahogany furniture in the living room. In the centre of the living room wall hung a strange banner, like a nine-square grid, with nine blue squares and white in the centre and around the edges. On either side of the banner were portraits of two men. The man on the left was wearing a suit, with a heroic face and a high, curled moustache. On either side of the portrait was a couplet: ‘Without the public, there is no republic; where there is history, there must be such a person.’ The man on the right is also dressed in a suit, with a short moustache on his upper lip and an elegant appearance. Next to him is another couplet, the upper line of which reads: If I am allowed to speak passionately, I will say that China will sink together with your indomitable spirit, crying out in lamentation at Fan Juming, who rode in a plain white horse and carriage to nowhere; if you lower your standards and focus on the pros and cons, how can any country bear to see the Great Wall crumble on its own?
Seeing that the three were staring at the flag and portraits on the wall, Nan Qingyi said, ‘The flag is the “well” flag. At the beginning of the Republic of China, there was endless debate about what flag to use as the national flag. The “well” flag was proposed by Huang Xing and Liao Zhongkai, and it symbolises socialism.’
‘Who are these two people?’ Luo San asked, pointing to the portraits next to the ‘well’ flag.
‘The one on the left is Mr Huang Xing and Huang Keqiang,’ Professor Wu replied, ‘veterans of the Tongmenghui, and heroes of the founding of the Republic of China. The couplet beside the portrait was written by Zhang Taiyan. The person in the portrait on the right is Mr. Song Jiaoren and Mr. Song Dunchu. After the assassination of Mr. Song in Shanghai, the leader of the Democratic Party, Tang Hualong, wrote the above couplet. Mr. Song was indeed a rare talent in the Chinese nation in a thousand years. If Yuan Shikai could understand the contemporary trend, not expect the imperial system, and let Song Jiaoren form a cabinet, then the name of China’s Washington or the ‘Father of the Republic’ of the Republic of China would undoubtedly be Yuan Shikai. And the entire history of the Republic of China may have been rewritten.‘
’Mr. Song was the person my great-grandfather most respected in his life. I remember my great-grandfather once saying that when he was young, every year on March 22, my great-grandfather would hold a memorial service, and every time, the old man would kneel for a long time, unable to get up, crying bitterly.‘
’So Huang Xing was also someone your great-grandfather admired,’ Luo San said.
‘Of course, but that’s not the only reason.’ Nan Qingyi nodded and shook his head again, “My great-grandfather was Huang Gong’s adopted son.” In the astonished gaze of Shen Yuan and the others, Nan Qingyi recounted a thrilling piece of history.
In the winter of 1905, Chen Tianhua, a member of the Tongmenghui who had written revolutionary texts such as ‘A Sharp Turn’ and ‘A Warning Bell’, died by throwing himself into the sea in Japan. Among his belongings, in addition to a ‘suicide note’, there was also a box addressed to Huang Xing. Inside the box was a gold tablet wrapped in linen and a letter. It was a piece of gold platinum one foot square, with words densely engraved on the surface.
Chen Tianhua said that this piece of gold platinum belonged to Hong Xiuquan, who had long hair and a rebellious appearance. No one knew where Hong Xiuquan had obtained this gold platinum. Although Hong Xiuquan had obtained this gold platinum, he did not know the words engraved on it at all. It was only because this gold platinum was well made that even Hong Xiuquan knew that it must be extraordinary. However, all Hong Xiuquan could do was hold the gold plate in his hands and dance around like a madman in front of the crowd, fooling everyone with false claims of being spoken to by the Heavenly Father.
Before the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom capital, Hong Xiuquan died of illness, and the gold plate fell into the hands of Hong Quanfu, the nephew of Hong Xiuquan, the left heavenly general of the Heavenly Kingdom, Yingwang, and the 3,000-year-old Hong Quanfu. After the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Quanfu went into hiding and fled, working as a cook on foreign ships for decades. In the 28th year of the Guangxu reign (1902), Xingzhonghui members Xie Zhantai and Li Jitang conspired in Guangdong and Hong Kong to rebel against the Qing dynasty. This rebellion was not reported to the Xingzhonghui, and it was all connected with the Hungmen. The comrades mobilised were also all Hungmen members. Xie Zhantai and Li Jitang considered that Hong Quanfu was the nephew of Hong Xiuquan and had held a high position in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so he had influence in the Hungmen. Therefore, they invited Hong Quanfu to join them and appointed him as the ‘General of the Southern Guangdong Xinghan Army’ of the ‘Great Ming Dynasty Shun Kingdom’. The Great Ming Dynasty Shun Kingdom advocated a democratic political system, and it was agreed that after the success of the uprising, Dr. Yung Wing would be appointed as the temporary president of the government.
However, due to the deliberate leak of the information by the foreigners who had agreed to sell the guns, Hong Quanfu once again ended up in the South Seas. Before leaving, he handed the gold tablet to Xie Zhantai, who later entrusted it to Chen Tianhua through a third party. Chen Tianhua studied it diligently but was unable to discover the secret of the gold tablet. It was not until 1904, when he returned to Hunan with Huang Xing to prepare for the Battle of Changsha, that he discovered that the writing on the gold tablet was similar to that used by the women in the mountain villages. So in his spare time while preparing for the uprising, he searched everywhere for this strange writing, studied it, and finally deduced, based on his understanding of just a few words, that the gold tablet was a record of the mountains and rivers of China. One of the sentences reads: ‘In the southwest of the country, the Bai people…to the west…the source of the Dujiangyan. This is the source of the nine provinces. Oath! Forever keep this…’
This text made Chen Tianhua feel that there might be a huge secret hidden in the Jinbo. However, just as he was planning to continue to study the matter in depth, the Battle of Changsha was leaked due to a lack of secrecy, and Chen Tianhua and Huang Xing fled to Shanghai and then to Japan. In Japan, there was very little research material, and Chen Tianhua’s research made little progress. He did not tell anyone about this, until the end of 1905, when Chen Tianhua was prepared to die in order to persuade the others. Only then did he leave a will, informing Huang Xing about the Jinbo and its source and what he knew.
Huang Xing was the secretary of the Tongmenghui at the time, and he was in charge of all the affairs of the association while Sun Yat-sen was away. Huang Xing naturally attached great importance to the gold ingot when he received it, but on the one hand it was uncertain whether the records in the gold ingot were true; on the other hand, the Tongmenghui had only been established for less than half a year at this time, and the elites of the association were going to various places to either promote the revolution, lobby the secret societies, develop comrades, or raise funds for righteous causes. Under these circumstances, Huang Xing could not attend to anything else. So he finally decided to hand the gold ingot over to Sun Yat-sen and ask him to decide.
As Huang Xing was unable to leave Japan, he handed the gold ingot to Tongfang Hanqing, a member of the Tongmenghui, and enclosed a letter to Sun Yat-sen, in which he described in detail the origin and hidden secrets of the gold ingot. Unexpectedly, after Tongfang Hanqing left Japan, there was no news from him, and he simply disappeared.
After learning about this, Sun Yat-sen flew into a rage. He initially planned to search for it everywhere, but considering the great significance of the gold tablet, it was finally agreed that the matter of the gold tablet be kept strictly confidential and limited to the smallest circle of people in the Tongmenghui. Huang Xing was responsible for retrieving the gold tablet or finding the secret of the gold tablet.
However, after 1906, Huang Xing was unable to find a moment of peace due to the revolution. To ensure that the matter of finding Jinbai was not forgotten, he entrusted it to his adopted son Nan Longzhang. Although Nan Longzhang was not a member of the Tongmenghui, he had followed Huang Xing for many years and felt obliged to accept.
In 1907, Nan Longzhang secretly swore allegiance to the Tongmenghui and became the only secret member of the Tongmenghui whose identity was known only to Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing. He then set off on the road to find Jin Bo, carrying Jin Bo’s rubbing. At this time, there was still no news of Dongfang Hanqing, and there was no news of Jin Bo either. He wanted to follow the clues on Jin Bo to find the source of the Nine Provinces, but found that there was insufficient information to do so.
Nan Longzhang racked his brains trying to understand where the place referred to in the text on the gold tablet was. So after several years of travelling, he settled in Hunan. Here he began to study the Nüshu script in peace and quiet. This was undoubtedly a daunting task, especially in an era when there had been no research results on Nüshu. For this reason, Nan Longzhang travelled all over Jiangyong County in Hunan Province and the neighbouring Xiajiang Township in Daoxian County, where Nüshu was popular, and even married and had children in the area, just to find out more about Nüshu from the local women. A few years later, he finally connected the words on the gold plate: In the southwest of the country, there lives a people called the Bai. Tens of thousands of li to the west, to the east of Qiongdu, to the north of the Bai, to the south of Heishui, to the west of Shifeng, the mountains carry the sky, the earth gives birth to rivers. This is the source of the nine provinces. Alliance! Forever keep this.
However, this passage only caused Nan Longzhang to be even more confused. Literally translated, it means: ‘To the southwest of the national capital, there lives a people called the Bai Min… And tens of thousands of miles to the west of where the Bai Min live, in a place located to the east of the Qiong people, to the north of the Bai people, to the south of the Heishui River, and to the west of the Shifeng, where the mountains soar into the clouds, bearing the sky, the earth gave rise to the source of the river. This is the source of the nine provinces. I swear an oath to protect this forever.
Nanlongzhang studied this passage in order to follow the clues on the gold plate to find the source of the nine provinces, but now he finds that although this passage marks the location of the source of the nine provinces, due to insufficient references and related information, he is still unable to ascertain the location of the source of the nine provinces. First, the most critical question is where is the ‘country’ referred to in the phrase ‘southwest of the country’? What era’s country is it? Which ethnic group’s country is it? Without resolving these questions, the next step of work simply cannot be carried out. The second problem that needs to be solved is that Bai Min and Hei Shui are both recorded in the Shan Hai Jing, but no one knows their exact location, and it is also unknown whether Bai Min and Hei Shui here are the Bai Min and Hei Shui in the Shan Hai Jing. It is even more difficult to find out the truth about Shi Feng. On the one hand, it is because Shi Feng is not found in ancient books, and literally, it is not certain whether it is the name of a place, a country or a tribe. The last question is: What does the phrase ‘mountains carry the sky, and the earth gives birth to rivers’ mean? If a mountain towers into the sky, that is understandable, but the meaning of the phrase ‘the mountain bears the sky’ is that the high mountain bears the sky; ‘the earth gives birth to the source of the river’ is also difficult to understand. Du means a water bubble, and it also refers to a large river. The source of the river naturally has something to do with water, but the meaning of the words is that the earth gives birth to the source of the river, which is completely inconsistent with the five elements. In Nan Longzhang’s opinion, this is simply impossible.
Because of these few lines of characters, Nan Longzhang spent more than 20 years. During this period, he heard news of his adoptive father Huang Xing from time to time. At one moment, he said that he had failed in his uprising in Guangzhou and had fled; at another moment, he said that he was rushing back to the country to Wuhan to take charge of commanding the revolutionary army against Yuan Shikai’s new army; at another moment, he said that he had gone to Japan again because of the failure of the Second Revolution; at another moment, he said that he had broken with Sun Yat-sen because of the Chinese Revolutionary Party… Events outside were constantly changing, and Nan Longzhang could only silently pay attention to them. Usually, he could only concentrate on the research of Jin Bo, but he never achieved anything. Just as he was almost desperate, had once again gone to Japan, and then that he had broken with Sun Yat-sen over the Chinese Revolutionary Party… Nanlongzhang could only silently observe the constant changes in the outside world. Usually, he could only concentrate on the research of Jinbo, but he never achieved anything. Just when he was almost desperate, a sentence in the ‘Huayang Guozhi’ suddenly opened up his thinking. The sentence was: Chengdu, known in ancient times as a damp and humid place, has deep springs and is the head of the Four Dus.
‘In this way, my ancestor found the word ‘duyuan’ in this sentence and, with a ‘let’s give it a try’ mentality, came to Chengdu.’
During his time in Chengdu for more than a year, Nan Longzhang collected legends and historical anecdotes from all over, but he couldn’t find the right door to enter. Until one day in 1933, he saw a man on Shisun Street in the west of the city. Nan Longzhang glanced at the man, forced down his excitement, and followed him quietly. That man was exactly the person he had wanted to meet for more than 20 years – Dongfang Hanqing.
Chapter 16: Destroying the stones
‘Just like that Indian devil did, they have already started destroying the stones of the stone circle. Didn’t you know?‘
’When did this happen?‘ Yan Qingbo asked in surprise.
’Just now. Five stones in the southern suburbs park have been destroyed, so I hurried here to ask Professor Wu for help, I’m afraid it’s too late if I’m late.‘
’What exactly happened, and how do you know?’ Although Nan Qingyi had said a lot, Shen Yuan still looked at him warily.
‘We have been keeping a close watch on everyone in the Dongfang family. Recently, we discovered that Dongfang Bai, the sole descendant of the Dongfang family, often goes to Nanxiao Park, Shisun Street, Zhijishi Street, and Tianyashi Street, and every time he keeps looking at a few stones. So I investigated the background of those stones and discovered that they are not simple…‘
’We know,’ Shen Yuan interrupted.
‘Uh, okay, I’ll skip it. In order to keep tabs on Dongfang Bai’s movements, I’ve developed informants in all the places where these stones are located, and have asked people to keep an eye on everything around the stones. Tonight, my informant told me that someone had infiltrated the South Suburbs Park, but before he could react, the Five Stones were destroyed.’
40 minutes ago, it was raining heavily, and Nan Jiao Park was full of puddles. The park had already closed, and the Five Stones, which had looked so smooth during the day, were now surrounded by a soft white light. The leader was a middle-aged man with a face like a child’s, all the organs squished together, while the people behind him were a motley crew, some with typical European and American looks, some with Indian looks, it was like an army of eight nations.
The leader shouted, ‘Do it.’
A young man stepped forward, deftly placing several bombs around the stones, then waved for everyone to stand back. At that moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and fell squarely on his head. The young man didn’t even have time to grunt before he fell to the ground, blackened and dead.
The middle-aged man who had given the order shouted, ‘Everyone, stand back, I’ll detonate it myself.’
After everyone had stepped back, the middle-aged man detonated some other bombs. At that moment, another thunderbolt fell, landing on his head. But by then, he had already pressed the detonator, and with a loud boom, the middle-aged man fell to the ground, while only the surface of the boulder cracked.
Seeing that two people had been killed and five stones had only been damaged on the surface, with no harm done to the inside, an Indian-looking man ordered the others in fluent Chinese: ‘Bring the most powerful bomb.’ In an instant, numerous bombs were stacked on top of the five stones, and ‘boom!’ the thunderclap and the bomb exploded at the same time. Then there was another loud noise, and a ball of fire fell from the sky, turning several people into charred corpses.
When the smoke cleared, the five stones were still intact.
The Indian cursed and shouted, ‘Bring it.’
A man behind him immediately handed him a gun-like object and a stand. The Indian placed the gun on the stand, and for some reason, a white light shot out from the gun and landed on the five stones, making a loud noise and sending countless fragments flying from the stones. Then the Indian told everyone to quickly leave.
At that moment, thunderclaps fell one after the other, blinding the informant and deafening him. After a long while, he noticed that the gun had actually withstood the thunderclaps and the white light was still shooting out. Finally, after a series of booms, a pit more than three metres wide and several metres deep was formed where the stones had been, and the pit was full of fine stone powder. At this time, under the bombardment of the thunder, the gun had also begun to smoke, and the white light it shot had become increasingly thin. The remnants of the stones in the pit continued to explode, and it seemed that all the thunder in the sky had converged here. Finally, after the last round of concentrated bombing, the white light from the gun disappeared completely, and at this time, the five stones had completely disappeared.
The Indian recovered when the thunder stopped rumbling overhead. He instructed someone to put a fake stone in its place and then told one of his men, ‘The Five Stones have been destroyed. Report to the Commander-in-Chief.’
One of the entourage immediately pulled out his mobile phone and made a call: ‘Commander-in-Chief, the Five Stones have been destroyed…’
After watching the group tidy up the place, the informant rushed back to the office and reported everything to Nan Qingyi. After hearing the news, Nan Qingyi hurried to Professor Wu’s place.
‘So the Five Stones have been destroyed,’ said Professor Wu, looking out of the window and listening to the increasingly loud thunder. A worried look came into his eyes, ‘Yan, how do you police do things? I thought you said you had arranged for someone to guard the stones?’
‘According to my informant, those policemen were all taken down.‘
’Is it really the will of heaven to destroy Chengdu?’ Professor Wu muttered to himself.
At this moment, Nan Qingyi’s phone suddenly rang. After answering the call, he didn’t say a word, as if the person on the other end of the line was anxiously reporting something to him. His face grew increasingly gloomy, and after a long time, he hung up the phone in despair: ’Apart from the Tianya Stone, all the other stones have been destroyed.’
‘How do you know all this?‘
’One of my people has spent more than ten years working his way into the Tang Empire. He was the one who just called.‘
’Why didn’t he report this before the Tang Empire people moved? It’s too late to say anything now.‘
’You think he doesn’t want to? That organisation in the Tang Empire is not only secretive, but also tightly organised and strictly hierarchical. He is just a small person, and has no way of getting in touch with the upper echelons. If it weren’t for the fact that the Datang Empire needs a lot of manpower tonight to destroy the Five Stones, the Tianya Stone, and other stones, he would never have been able to get involved and find out about this.”
It turned out that Tang Changsheng, the governor of Yizhou of the Datang Empire, followed the advice of Feiji and transferred officials from the prefectures of Yizhou, Lizhou, and Kui County to form five action teams to go to various parts of Chengdu to destroy the Five Stones, the Tianya Stone, the Zhiji Stone, the Stone Stalagmite, and the Dijiao Stone.
Kang Changsheng personally led the team that destroyed the stone at the corner of the city, which was located in the old house of the Eastern Bai family in the west of the city. Like the other stones, this one also had a legendary supernatural power, but because it was submerged in history, it had long been unknown. It was not until Fei Jishi uncovered the secret of the source of the Nine Provinces that this stone attracted attention.
According to Nan Qingyi, Kang Changsheng sat in the mansion earlier, while keeping tabs on the four task forces, and destroyed the stone at the corner of the city. The action team he sent to the southern suburbs park was the first to report back. After hearing that the matter had been successfully completed, he excitedly ordered his entourage that all units should immediately destroy the stones according to the original plan, and asked everyone to bear in mind that once the stones were destroyed with explosives, it would cause thunder and lightning to strike from the sky, and weapon No. 1 would need to be used to avoid the might of the heavens. The so-called weapon No. 1 is a weapon that looks like a gun and emits a white light. It is extremely powerful and was brought by a few Indians in the empire for this operation. Kang Changsheng values these weapons very highly and has specially arranged for personnel to use them. Only a few people in the entire Yizhou Governor’s Office know the principle of this weapon.
The destruction of the cornerstones went smoothly. After destroying the cornerstones, Kang Changsheng sat in the hall, looking at the rain, which was getting heavier and heavier. A smug smile appeared on his face, and he said confidently that the five cornerstones had been destroyed, and that the remaining cornerstones, stone pillars and supporting stones would also be destroyed immediately, provided that nothing unexpected happened. A few days later, a major disaster would occur, and when the Tang Dynasty was restored, everyone involved would be granted hereditary titles.
Before Kang Changsheng could finish speaking, good news came: one group reported that the Zhiji Stone had been successfully destroyed, while another reported that the Shishun had also been destroyed.
The team operating in Tianya Stone South Street had not reported back, and later it was reported that there had been a problem with Tianya Stone, as if it had been stopped by some force. According to Nan Qingyi, they were rushing to Tianya Stone South Street.
‘Professor Wu, we must act now, or I don’t know what will happen,‘ Nan Qingyi urged after recounting what had just happened.
’There’s no rush, Nan Qingyi. First, answer me this question: You say that the people of the Great Tang Empire have discovered the secret of the source of the Nine Provinces. What exactly is the source of the Nine Provinces?‘
’I don’t know, and neither have my people. If I knew, why would I need to come to you for help? I beg you, if you are Chinese, please hurry.’
Luo San noticed that as soon as he heard this, Professor Wu’s face flashed with murderous intent, but then he still hesitated: ‘It’s not easy to take action. Without knowing the location of the source of the Nine Provinces, we cannot take targeted measures. Right now, only the Tianya Stone has not been destroyed, and all the other stones have been destroyed. As soon as the Tianya Stone is destroyed, a major earthquake will occur, and the entire city of Chengdu will sink underground and become a flooded country. There is no time left. Even if there is time, we don’t know where to go to find a solution to the problem.’
‘Find the descendants of the Qiong people and ask them what these stones are all about. Besides, the ‘Gu Yue Du Jing’ also mentions the Qiong people, so it would be a good idea to go and find them,’ Luo San suggested.
‘Descendants of the Qiong people? The Qiong people disappeared from the historical record forever at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. No one knows where they went. When the protective power of the ancestral tomb weakened, our clan once searched for the Qiong people everywhere, but we didn’t find out anything…‘
’But a people can’t just disappear into thin air. They must have left something behind.’
‘Xiaosan is right. Professor Wu, don’t hesitate any longer. Let’s go find the Qiong people.‘
Professor Wu pondered for a long time before answering, “The Qiong people did leave something behind, but even if we find it, we’ll most likely not find anything.”
’What is it? How do you know if you’ve looked for it? We can’t just give up.‘
’Fine, let’s continue like this. Everyone set off together to Xichang to find the Qiong people.’
After some preparation, at 1am, everyone was already in the car that Nan Qingyi had obtained, except Yan Qingbo. Along the way, Professor Wu told everyone about the history of the Qiong people. In ancient Chinese history, the Qiong people, also known as the Qiongdu Yis, were a mysterious and unpredictable people. The vague records of historians from past dynasties have left behind only trivial fragments. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Qiong people originated in Qiongdu (present-day Xichang in Sichuan Province) and spread out from there in all directions. Eventually, their territory extended from Shu Prefecture in the north to Yelang and Dian in the south. Among the ancient ethnic minorities in southwestern Sichuan, the Qiong people were strong enough to keep pace with Dian and Yelang. Sima Qian once recorded, ‘From Dian in the north, there are a dozen or so chieftains, and Qiongdu is the largest.’
The Qiong people were a martial and generous people with a fierce folkway. During times of war, the Qiong people often mobilised the entire clan. Because of this, the Qiong people were obsessed with expanding their territory and always tried to infiltrate along the banks of the Dadu River, once reaching the Qionglai Mountains in Chengdu. Qionglai Mountain was originally called Zhuoshan. When the Qiong people arrived at this mountain, the mountain was high and the road was long, and it was not easy to climb. When other southwestern barbarians saw the Qiong people coming from this mountain, they changed the name to Qionglai (Qionglai) Mountain. The Qiong people also established the town of Linqiong here. When the tyrannical Qin dynasty conquered Shu, most of the ethnic minorities in Shu became vassals of the Qin. Linqiong, which had been the gateway to the Qiong people’s northern country, was seized by the Qin and Linqiong City was established. The Qiong people retreated to their home base of Qiongdu. After entering the Han Dynasty, the Qiong people continued to rebel, but in the face of the powerful Han army, the rebellions quickly ended in disintegration. Eventually, the Han army advanced deep into the heart of the Qiong people’s homeland of Qiongdu and established Yuexi County. The next major rebellion of the Qiong people was at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, during the reign of Wang Mang, who usurped the throne. The Qiong people’s leader, Ren Gui, killed the Yuexi prefect, Mei Gen, and made himself King of Qionggu, leading the Qiong people to once again declare independence. This uprising was quickly suppressed by the rulers, and after that, the Qiong people never recovered and disappeared from the historical record. The only thing left behind are hundreds of ancient tombs made of huge stones, known as the Dashi Tombs. ‘The only way to find traces of the Qiong people is to start with the Dashi Tombs,’ Professor Wu’s tone was full of uncertainty.
Gradually everyone became tired, and Luo San fell asleep in a daze. Vaguely, Luo San heard Professor Wu answer a phone call. He didn’t care, changed his position, and continued to sleep.
‘The Tianya Stone has also been destroyed.’ In the morning, after everyone woke up, Professor Wu immediately reported the bad news. Yan Qingbo had told him that in the early morning. In order to keep in touch with Professor Wu and the others, Yan Qingbo had specially given Professor Wu a mobile phone. After receiving the news that the Tianya Stone had been destroyed in the early morning, Yan Qingbo immediately informed Professor Wu.
Since the appearance of the group of dogs on Tianya Stone South Street, the police had arranged for two policemen to wait in the room where the Tianya Stone stood. The two men were ordered to stay here only because of the requirements of their leaders, and they had nothing to do themselves, so at this time, they were both sleepy and yawning. Suddenly, a plump policeman heard a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door, and immediately patted the other, thinner policeman next to him,
‘What is it, sleeping?’ The thinner policeman was very sleepy, and although he was awakened, he complained in his mouth.
‘Shh!’ The plump policeman whispered, ‘There’s a sound outside the house.’ He said, leaning closer to the crack in the door and looking outside, but saw that the heavy rain outside the door had stopped at some point. On the narrow road, several men in black were peeking around suspiciously. Seeing that there was no one around, they squatted down on the street edge and dug with their hands on the curb. Soon, several people buried an urn-like object in the ground, stood up and quickly left.
“There’s something going on. Let’s go take a look,’ The fatter policeman suggested, and the thinner policeman nodded. The two quietly opened the door and carefully made their way to the street. The bright moon was in the sky, but the Tianya Shinan Street was still dark. The two arrived at the place where the black-clad men had buried something earlier, and saw that there was indeed an excavated mark on the ground. Since they had no tools, the two could only dig with their hands. Although the place looked like it had been dug, the soil was very firm, and the two had a hard time digging. At that moment, the two suddenly heard a slight sound of footsteps. They looked up nervously, but saw that the street was empty. Could it be an illusion? The fat policeman looked at the thin policeman, but saw that he was also looking around. Could it be one of those things? Although the fat policeman had dealt with criminal cases for a long time, he firmly believed in ghosts. At this thought, he couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine, and hurriedly said to the thin policeman, ‘Forget it, let’s just go back to the house.’ The thin policeman shook his head and said, ‘We’re both policemen, what are we afraid of? Keep digging.’ The fat policeman had no choice but to continue digging. The two men dug for a long time, their fingers blistered, but they never saw anything on the ground.
Suddenly, there was a loud series of thunderclaps in the sky, and the two men looked up, but they saw that the sky was starry and there was no sign of thunder. However, the two men clearly heard a loud thunderclap rumbling overhead, and amidst the thunder there was the sound of something breaking. Just as they were wondering, they heard a heavy breathing sound coming from nearby. It didn’t come from one person, but seemed to come from more than ten people. The fat policeman couldn’t help but become more and more scared, and the skinny policeman no longer pretended to be tough, whispering to the fat policeman, ‘Let’s go back to the room.’
The two of them immediately stood up and walked back. Back in the room, the two of them hurriedly closed the door and let out a big sigh of relief. However, the fat policeman immediately felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had been drenched in water. Looking up, he saw that although the roof was dilapidated, not a single drop of rain was falling. However, his body felt as if it was constantly being doused in water, and in a few moments, it was drenched, just as if it were pouring outside without an umbrella. The two men hurriedly looked around for somewhere to take cover, but water was pouring down from everywhere. In no time at all, they were soaked to the skin, completely drenched. The fat policeman suddenly remembered that an old policeman had once told them that people who died tragically would have a lot of resentment in their hearts, and if that resentment couldn’t be released, it would repeat the process of death over and over again at the place where they died. Could this be happening to them? The fat policeman looked at the skinny policeman in alarm, but saw that he was also looking panicked. ‘Could it be those things?’ the fat policeman whispered. The thin policeman gave him a fierce glare and said, ‘Keep your voice down, do you want them to come back?’ The fat policeman didn’t shut up, but asked in a trembling voice, ‘Do you think a dog will appear and bite us?’
‘Shut up,’ the thin policeman said, a look of fear flashing in his eyes, his voice shaking.
The fat policeman was even more panicked, and dared not speak at the moment, keeping close to the skinny policeman and not daring to take a single step away. The skinny policeman had no choice but to stand close to the wall. He found that standing in this place seemed to hide from the rain that came from nowhere. The fat policeman said, ‘Are we running into a wall of ghosts?’ The skinny policeman nervously nodded and said, ‘It’s possible.’ ‘I heard that a wall of ghosts can be broken by urinating, so why don’t we try it?’ the fat policeman asked cautiously.
‘That’s good. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let’s give it a try.’ The skinny policeman said, and started to act, but he was so nervous that he couldn’t squeeze out a single drop of urine. The fat policeman had been so scared that he was about to wet his pants, but now he too couldn’t squeeze out anything. Just as they were getting anxious, the two suddenly heard the door creak. They turned their heads to look at the door, but saw that it was closed properly and hadn’t moved at all. At that moment, they heard a sound of footsteps again. It seemed that more than ten people had passed by them, but when they looked around, there was no one in the room. The two men were so scared that they turned pale. The fat policeman held onto the clothes of the thin policeman tightly and stuttered, ‘What was that?’ ‘Don’t pull me, what else could it be?’ The thin policeman was already scared to death, and when the fat policeman pulled him, he became even more annoyed, but he kept his voice down. The fat policeman immediately dared not speak. The two of them stood against the wall, not daring to move.
It was still pouring with rain in the sky. A man rode past Tianya Shinan Street on his bicycle, hurrying to work. This was the road he took every day.
Driving slowly along the dim and narrow street, the man looked up and saw two people standing outside a house in the darkness. Startled, he lost control of the bike and it veered, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud. The man scrambled to his feet and rode off as fast as he could.
Two policemen, one fat and one thin, had been standing close to the wall. They suddenly heard a loud noise and looked up to see a man on a bicycle fall to the ground in the street. He was getting up in a panic, as if he had seen a ghost, and hurriedly walked away. The two policemen looked at what was happening in front of them in amazement. A second ago, they were still inside the house, but now they found themselves standing outside under the eaves, and it was still pouring with rain. The two of them didn’t know what had happened, and it took a while for them to come back to their senses. They realised that they were both soaked to the skin, and hurried back inside. However, they saw messy footprints on the floor inside the house. The footprints were wet, and it was obvious that they had brought water in from outside. The Tianya Stone in the centre of the house was intact, but in the corner of the house, someone had dug a deep pit. The two of them walked closer and discovered that the pit was surprisingly one they had dug themselves.
‘Why don’t I understand?‘ Nan Qingyi frowned after listening to Professor Wu’s account.
’What’s not to understand?’ Professor Wu looked meaningfully at Nan Qingyi, ’The two policemen encountered a wall of ghosts and were actually hypnotised, creating illusions before their eyes. Then the people from the Great Tang Empire took advantage of the fact that they couldn’t see the real situation and destroyed the Tianya Stone.’
‘Isn’t the Tianya Stone still at the scene?‘
’Xiaosan, don’t you remember what happened during the destruction of the five stones? At that time, there was also a thunderbolt that exploded above the stone, something made a cracking sound, and in the end, a fake stone appeared at the scene. So I conclude that the Tianya Stone has been destroyed.’
Nan Qingyi anxiously said, ‘If the Tianya Stone has been destroyed, does that mean the source of the Nine Provinces has been completely broken?’
‘No, not yet. If the source of the Nine Provinces had been completely broken, there would have been a major earthquake in Chengdu.’
‘So what do we do now?’
“Go to Xichang and continue to look for the Qiong people.’
Chapter 17 The Qiong People of Dashi
It was only around 10am the next morning that Luo San and his party arrived at the banks of the Anning River, dozens of kilometres from Xichang City. The Anning River originates from the Yalong River, flows through Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan, and empties into the Jinsha River to the south. Standing on the banks of the Anning River, Luo San saw a series of ‘big stone buns’ made of huge boulders, which looked like they weighed tons, or even dozens of tons.
‘Are these big stone tombs?‘ Luo San looked at the big stone bales in front of him and really couldn’t associate them with tombs.
’Of course they are big stone tombs. Xiao Sansi, do you have any questions?‘
’I was just wondering, with so many tombs being looted in China, how come no one has looted these tombs?’ Luo San’s question made Shen Yuan and Nan Qingyi both look sideways at Professor Wu, hoping to get an answer from him.
‘That’s because on the one hand, no one knows that these things are tombs,’ Professor Wu’s answer was quite simple. Because the locals did not know the history of these “boulder bags,” the ancestors of some villages in Liangshan Prefecture were Han people who moved into the Anning River basin during the Qing Dynasty’s Huguang Filling of Sichuan, and they were far less ancient than these ’boulder bags.’ Seeing the puzzled expression on Luo San’s face again, Professor Wu continued to explain: ‘In 1974, archaeologists Tong Enzheng and Zhao Dianzeng excavated a Neolithic site in Xichang and opened a “big stone bag”, which unearthed a large number of earthenware and human bones, thus concluding that the “big stone bags” were originally some very ancient tombs. It was also discovered that this type of tomb was built with stones to form the tomb chamber, and the top was covered with boulders. Since then, archaeology has called them stone tombs, and it has also been determined that these tombs are the tombs of the Qiong people.‘
’Stone tombs, indeed they are stone tombs. Any random stone is bigger than all of us put together,’ Luo San laughed bitterly, ’what are your brilliant ideas on how to proceed with the investigation?’
Nan Qingyi looked at the large stone covering the chest and said with confidence, ‘That’s easy! Our clan has many people in Sichuan, and there are a few here as well. Get some cranes here, and these stones will be no problem.’
‘That’s great,’ Luo San patted Nan Qingyi’s shoulder in appreciation. Professor Wu and Shen Yuan looked expressionlessly at the large stone covering in front of them.
An hour later, several cranes arrived, accompanied by dozens of workers. A middle-aged man walked up to Nan Qingyi and bowed, saying, ‘Everything is ready, Bu Mo. The excavation of the stone tomb will be carried out in the name of the archaeological team of the County Cultural Bureau.’
‘Well, Nan Yi, come over here. Let me introduce you. These three are all my friends. This Professor Wu knows a lot about the Qiong people. Wait a minute. Listen to what he has to say,’ Nan Qingyi instructed.
Nan Yi and the others immediately stepped forward and respectfully said to Professor Wu, ‘We are at your disposal.’ Professor Wu smiled and nodded to Nan Yi, ‘You are welcome.’ As he spoke, his eyes swept the inside of Nan Yi’s elbows, where he saw a mark. A strange expression flashed across his face, but he immediately asked with a smile, ‘Is it true, Nan, that your family has always lived here?’
‘…’ Nan Yi was taken aback by Professor Wu’s sudden question and said, ‘No! We moved here ten years ago on the orders of the clan patriarch to investigate Jin Bo.‘
’Oh, I see.’ Professor Wu said with regret, “I was hoping to learn more about the Qiong people’s tombs.”
After Nan Yi left, Nan Qingyi said to the three of them, ’I’m sorry to have embarrassed you. Thanks to my great-great-grandfather, I’ve become a cloth-like person in the village, so the clan members all treat me like this. I can’t get them to loosen up.’
‘Isn’t the cloth master very awe-inspiring…’ Luo San heard that Nan Qingyi was the cloth master and was excited to ask something, but was interrupted by Professor Wu: “Since ancient times, heroes have come from young people. Nan is so young and is the cloth master of the tribe. He will surely accomplish great things in the future. We will rely on you for the excavation of the Dashimen tomb in front of us.” Professor Wu said, smiling slightly at Nan Qingyi, ’We don’t need to pay attention to any archaeological procedures, we just need to use a crane to remove the stones.’
Nan Qingyi nodded and shouted to Nan Yi in the distance, ‘Let’s get started.’
Following the crane, Luo San arrived in front of a large stone tomb. It was only then that he could see clearly how large these stone tombs were. The largest tomb looked to be at least 20 metres wide, 30 metres long, and 3 metres high from the outside. The smallest was also 10 metres wide, 20 metres long, and 2.5 metres high. The stones that made up the large stone tombs were a few tons in weight, and the largest ones were tens of tons. Just now, when I was looking from a distance, these tombs were just big stone bales, but now when I look from up close, I find that there are huge stones standing in front of and behind the bales, as if they served a special purpose.
Luo San was about to walk around the large stone tomb to take a closer look, but was suddenly pulled by Shen Yuan. Luo San turned his head, but saw Shen Yuan staring into the distance. Following Shen Yuan’s gaze, Luo San saw a man standing on the hill across the river, arms folded, looking over towards them. ‘Is there a problem?’ Luo San asked in a low voice.
‘For some reason, I always feel that person is no ordinary person.’ Shen Yuan had excellent eyesight, and even though there was a river between them, he could still see that person’s gaze constantly lingering on the construction site. “Xiaosan, I feel that our trip to Xichang has been too smooth, and I’m sure…” Shen Yuan wanted to say something else, but stopped because of the noise around them.
Shen Yuan was right, everything had been too smooth before, so problems were beginning to appear now. The workers brought by Nanyi were arguing with Nanyi. After a while, Luo San and the others realised that these workers were all local villagers, and as soon as they heard that they were going to dig up the boulder packs, they all stopped working. ‘These boulder packs are where the ghosts rest, we shouldn’t disturb them. If we dig up the boulder packs and disturb the ghosts, everyone will die,’ the elderly man in charge said to Nanyi with a grave expression.
‘Yes, don’t disturb the ghosts!’ “No matter what you want to do, don’t disturb the ghosts!” “No matter how much money you offer, it’s not okay.” The crowd clamored. The elderly leader also said earnestly to Nanyi, “Young man, you can do archaeology, but it’s not right to dig up a family grave, not to mention that this tomb is indeed not simple.” “Yes, be careful of having sons with no anuses,” the others chimed in.
No matter how Nanyi tried to persuade them, most of the workers, except for a few, quickly left. Just when Professor Wu and the others had given up hope of excavating the stone tomb, Nan Qingyi once again demonstrated the strength of the Luoyue people. Half an hour later, nearly a hundred more workers hurried over and, without saying a word, quickly got to work. Amid the roar of the crane, a stone tomb was opened, but nothing was found. So everyone placed their hopes on the tomb next to it. They saw a huge stone weighing several tons on the top of the tomb being lifted. As the huge stone was about to be moved off the top of the tomb, the steel cable tied to the stone suddenly broke, and with a loud noise, the stone fell back onto the top of the tomb.
“Quick, go and replace the cable right away,’ Nanyi commanded, and several workers quickly climbed to the top of the boulder and began to re-tie the steel cable. Soon, the steel cable was re-tied, and with a clicking sound, the cable was once again taut, dragging the boulder slowly upward. Suddenly, a bright flash of light flashed, the steel cable snapped, and the two sections of steel cable snapped back, just hitting the heads of the two workers, who did not even have time to grunt before they became ghosts.
‘The ghosts in the tomb have come out, everyone run.’ After realising that the bright light came from the tomb, someone shouted, and this triggered even more panic among the nearly 100 workers, who were already panicking because of the death of their companions and the sudden change in the weather. In the panic, the workers left one after the other. However, at this moment, a gust of wind blew by, raising a cloud of dust, and everyone couldn’t help but cover their eyes.
Amidst the dust, Luo San lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and turned his head in the direction of Shen Yuan. He was about to see if Shen Yuan was in front of him when he saw a hand reach out and firmly grasp his hand. Relying on the feeling of the hand in his palm, Luo San knew it was Shen Yuan’s hand. Luo San’s heart fluttered, and he wanted to say something, but Shen Yuan dragged him behind her. ‘Stand behind me and don’t move,’ Shen Yuan whispered. Although Luo San felt that it was unbecoming for a woman to drag him around like this, he understood that Shen Yuan was doing it for his own good, so he didn’t say anything for the time being. He tried his best to look around, but all he could see was the blinding yellow dust, which was even more so than before.
After a while, the strong wind slowly died down. The workers, all of them covered in dust and in a state of panic, immediately began to run back and forth along the road as soon as the wind died down. No matter how Nan Yi shouted, no one was willing to stop.
When the yellow dust in front of her eyes dispersed slightly, Shen Yuan immediately focused her attention on the mountain across the river. However, she saw that the man across the river was gone, and there was no sign of him on the surrounding slopes or riverbank. Luo San, who was standing behind Shen Yuan, guessed what she was looking for when he saw her expression. He looked around at once, trying to find the man’s figure somewhere else. However, he heard Nan Qingyi laughing beside him, saying, ‘No need to look, that guy has long since disappeared. But we can force him to show himself.’
‘Not bad,’ said Professor Wu. ‘We have easily opened all the other tombs, but this one has taken a lot of trouble, so there must be something strange about it. If we open this tomb, the person will definitely appear. And this person must be related to the Qiong people.‘
’Now that the crane is useless, what else can we do.‘
’Xiaosan, I naturally have a way,‘ said Nan Qingyi, and took a box from his hand. Inside the box was a bronze bell. Seeing the bronze bell, Professor Wu couldn’t help but change his face and cry out in shock, “Qu Shandu.”
’Yes! This is exactly Qu Shandu.’
‘What is the Qushan Bell?’ Luo San asked curiously.
Professor Wu answered on his behalf: ’This Qushan Bell is a Qin Dynasty relic. It is said that the First Emperor obtained it from the immortals. It is called the Qushan Bell because it has the function of driving mountains. The First Emperor used this bell to build the Great Wall. After the Qin Dynasty fell, the bell disappeared without a trace. I never thought it would appear now.’
Nan Qingyi listened to Professor Wu’s words and continued to explain: ‘When the First Emperor conquered the Baiyue region, the Qin army took this bell with them because the Baiyue region was full of deep mountains and narrow valleys. However, during the battle with my Luoyue tribe, the bell was lost in the mountains and forests and was obtained by my tribe. After repeated exploration, I finally understood how to use it. In fact, there is nothing magical about the Shanshan Bell. It just emits ultrasonic waves that are inaudible to humans but extremely destructive. However, these waves are harmless to humans.‘
’Can this really repel mountains?‘ Luo San looked at the small bell in Nan Qingyi’s hand and still didn’t want to believe it.
’To find out if it can repel mountains, just watch.’ Nan Qingyi gently shook the Shanshan Bell.
Although he saw the Mountain-Repelling Bell flip up and down, Luo San didn’t hear a sound. Could this be the Mountain-Repelling Bell? It can’t be broken. Luo San’s doubts were quickly dispelled, because his gaze, like Shen Yuan’s and the others, was focused on the largest stone on the top of the stone tomb. That stone weighed tens of tons, and at the moment it was swaying like a small stone blown by the wind, swaying and swaying, slowly moving towards the edge of the tomb. However, Luo San noticed something wrong after a few glances, because the huge stone was shaking less and less, and later it only slightly trembled. Nan Qingyi also seemed to be struggling, shaking the driving mountain more violently.
‘This is useless now,’ Professor Wu shouted, indicating for Nan Qingyi to stop. ‘You immediately arrange for someone to prepare gasoline and a high-pressure water gun. We will use the method of excavating the mountain when Li Bing controlled the water.’
Nan Qingyi was very clever. As soon as he heard Professor Wu’s plan, he immediately understood and immediately instructed Nan Yi and the others to go and buy gasoline and high-pressure water guns.
In no time, both supplies were ready. Professor Wu instructed everyone to pour gasoline all over the stone tomb and immediately set up the high-pressure water guns for preparation. At the command of Nan Qingyi, a fierce blaze engulfed the entire tomb. After the fire had burned for more than 20 minutes, all the high-pressure water guns began spraying water on the stone tomb.
The huge stones on the stone tomb had been almost melted by the fire, and now that they were doused with cold water, they suddenly cracked into countless small pieces with a loud ‘cracking’ sound. Seeing this, Nan Qingyi shook the Dushan Duo even more violently. The fragments of the boulders flew up one after the other. Without the support of the largest boulder, the other boulders swayed as well, and the entire stone tomb began to fall apart. In no time, the entire stone tomb’s burial chamber was revealed.
Everyone was shocked when they entered the tomb chamber, except for Professor Wu. The tomb chamber was white and empty, with no coffin, no gold or silver jewellery as expected, and no large quantities of armour or weapons. There were just a large number of scattered white bones at the bottom. There were at least hundreds of skeletons, but they were all in a mess, and none of them seemed intact.
‘Has this place been robbed?‘ Luo San asked, looking at the bones and the small amount of earthenware around them.
’No, this tomb has never been opened before,‘ Professor Wu said with certainty. “This is a secondary burial of the Qiong people’s burial customs, which means that many years after a person dies, their bones are collected and reburied. This method exists among many ethnic groups in our country.”
’Even if no one has been in here, what could there be in this tomb? It’s obvious at a glance, there are no secrets,’ Luo San said dejectedly, ‘Professor Wu, I’m afraid we won’t find any clues here.’
‘It’s not that there are no clues at all. There is something wrong with the skeletons here,’ Shen Yuan said as he crouched at the end of the tomb chamber and looked at the skeletons.
Luo San, Professor Wu, and Nan Qingyi walked to the end of the tomb chamber and saw six skeletons lying on the ground. The three of them immediately saw what was wrong. The skeletons in other places were all randomly piled up, but the skeletons here were all six of them neatly arranged.
‘The bones are black, so they must have all died of poisoning. Judging from the situation, it is very likely that they committed suicide by taking poison,‘ Professor Wu said after taking a look.
’Such a large amount of manpower and resources was invested in building such a large stone tomb, gathering so many bones here, and then committing suicide here by taking poison. What was the purpose of the Qiong people?‘ Nan Qingyi glanced at the bones and asked his question.
’It is too difficult to answer this question, and the entire historical community does not have an answer,’ Professor Wu replied, ‘Historians have never been able to figure out why the Qiong people spared no effort in building these megalithic tombs, even though they were constantly at war with all the surrounding peoples, and they were constantly on the move, living in a difficult situation. And the stones used in these tombs, especially the huge stones on top of the tombs, are several tons, or even tens of tons. Nowadays, it is rare to see such huge stones along the banks of the Anning River, and there are none around. No one knows where the Qiong people found these huge stones. Perhaps, as the locals say, the stone tombs are the resting place for the souls of the Qiong people. Those who died in battle, in particular, needed a place to rest. So even though the Qiong people suffered heavy casualties in battle and very few survived, they still invested a lot of manpower and resources in the construction of the stone tombs. This was perhaps determined by the Qiong people’s concept of the soul and their concept of death. They wanted to use huge stones to build up an impregnable tomb, so that the dead would not be disturbed in any way.
‘Professor Wu, I suddenly have a question. These Qiong people later mysteriously disappeared from history. Could it be that, like these people in this tomb who committed suicide, after basically all the people in the tribe had died, they carried the bones of their people into the tomb, sealed it, and then committed suicide inside, thus causing the entire tribe to disappear from people’s sight? If that’s the case, then where are we going to find clues to the Qiong people?’
Professor Wu smiled and said, ‘Never mind, as long as we find the man who is fighting against us.’
‘That’s right,’ Nan Qingyi said, ‘this man will stop us from excavating the Qiong people’s tombs, so he must be related to the Qiong people. We will definitely find clues from him.’
‘In that case, let’s go. Is this place so nice to stay?‘ Shen Yuan said and walked away directly. However, at this moment, the stones that had fallen to the ground on the large stone tomb returned to their original positions one after another.
There was darkness in front of them.
’What’s going on?‘ Nan Qingyi exclaimed.
’The stones have returned to their original positions?‘ Luo San touched the surroundings of the tomb.
’Why is this happening? How did these stones return to their original positions?’ Nan Qingyi looked extremely shocked. ’What kind of stones are these?’
‘These are not stones, but something made of stone-like material using high technology. I suspect that it is a material with memory function, no matter how small the particles are, they will reassemble according to the original position. Now I am more certain that the Qiong people’s shamans should definitely be the legacy of a civilization on earth, otherwise it is impossible to have such high-tech materials.”
Professor Wu laughed, knocking on the tomb wall. In this small, enclosed and dark space, Luo San felt an inexplicable suffocation. Suddenly, his heart became extremely agitated. A burst of anger rushed from his lower abdomen to his chest, which Luo San could not suppress. Just then, he felt his right hand being grasped by a soft hand. Shen Yuan whispered in his ear, ‘Xiaosan, relax.’
Luo San followed the advice and took a few deep breaths before feeling a little better. However, the question of how to get out still troubled them.
At that moment, everyone felt the tomb chamber become extremely hot, and the temperature rose many times over in an instant.
‘Wow, it’s hot!’ Luo San reached out to touch the tomb wall, but as soon as he touched the stone wall, he immediately retracted his hand, as it was burnt. His face became grave, and he anxiously shouted, ‘No, it seems like it’s burning outside. Nan Qingyi, it’s not possible that your subordinates are doing something evil outside, is it?’
“Of course not, we’re still inside, how could they do that?’
‘Then what’s going on?‘
’Could it be that this tomb has activated the incineration function itself, trying to burn us to death inside?‘ Shen Yuan speculated.
’Then why not burn inside?‘
’Xiaosanzi, are you stupid? If it burns inside, won’t these bones be turned to ash as well? Naturally, it burns from the outside, and can burn us to death, but it has no effect on the bones in the tomb.‘
’This is not the time to discuss this, let’s quickly figure out how to get out.’
‘There may be a passage here.’ Professor Wu, who had run to the end of the tomb at some point, suddenly spoke up.
Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, everyone immediately rushed to the end of the tomb. They saw that there was a multi-coloured stone on the ground at the end of the tomb, covered in mud. It seemed that the stone had originally been buried in the soil, but because the water from the high-pressure water gun had just rushed into the tomb, washing away the mud on its surface, it had been revealed.
Luo San and the others didn’t know what it was, and Nan Qingyi wanted to ask for an explanation, but Professor Wu didn’t explain, he just took out a needle and pierced his middle finger, dripped the blood on the five-coloured stone, and quickly drew a strange figure, which looked like a snake. The blood that made up the pattern gradually faded as if it were seeping into the stone. Slowly, the entire pattern suddenly came to life, really like a snake, wandering around the stone. In a moment, there was only a sound of ‘ka ka’ resounding. The stone, which originally did not have any cracks, cracked open from the middle. The crack grew larger and larger, eventually revealing a deep cave. A passage with countless steps extended into the endless darkness. A cool breeze blew from the cave, and everyone was overjoyed. It seemed that there was another exit down here.
‘Professor Wu, what kind of magic is this?’ Luo San asked curiously.
‘This is not magic. This is a kind of lock that the Qiong people are used to using. My blood is just the key.’
‘High-tech again?’
‘Mm.’
‘Doesn’t the blood of other people work?’
‘Of course not. It must be the blood of a descendant of the enlightened royal family or the blood of the Qiong people.’
“That’s amazing.’
‘This is not the time to talk about this, let’s hurry up and go,’ Shen Yuan urged the others, and took the lead down the steps. Luo San and the others followed suit.
The passage on the steps was only over a person’s height and two people wide, so the four of them walked slowly along it. Luo San had originally thought that the steps would lead deep underground, but after only five or six minutes of walking, they reached the flat ground. In front of them was a cave the size of a football field. This was a natural cave, with the top of the cave tens of metres above the ground, but it had been artificially carved, so the ground was extremely flat. The walls of the cave were densely covered with small grottoes, the lowest of which were several metres above the ground, and it seemed that things were stacked inside them. At the end of the cave was another passage, from which came the faint sound of dripping water. In the centre of the cave was a huge conical stone pillar, rising from the ground and connecting the bottom and top of the cave. Apart from that, there is nothing else in the cave.
‘There are signs of flooding on the cave walls, but the flood marks only reach the bottom of the lowest grottoes. I think that part of the cave was once submerged in water.’ Professor Wu looked around and then pointed back at the grottoes on the cave walls and said to everyone, ‘We should go up and take a look at those grottoes. But how?’
‘I’ve got a grappling hook,’ said Nan Qingyi, taking out the tool he had brought with him. Professor Wu successfully entered a grotto. Just as the others were about to go up, Professor Wu shouted, ’No need to come up, it’s too narrow.’
After a while, Professor Wu came out of the grotto and told everyone, ‘Inside there is just a skeleton. Then there are some pottery shards scattered about, probably from the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period. They are very different from the pottery of the Central Plains, so they must be the pottery of the local ethnic groups. The only strange thing is that there are also some shells here. Judging from the size, they are probably sea shells.’ Professor Wu said, and took a few shells to show everyone.
Why are there sea shells here? Luo San immediately had this question after seeing these shells. Professor Wu seemed to have seen through this and immediately explained to everyone, ‘You must be wondering how there could be sea shells in Sichuan, a landlocked place. In fact, in Sichuan’s archaeological discoveries, sea shells have been found before. During the Sanxingdui excavation, archaeologists unearthed more than 5,000 shells. According to research, all of those shells came from the Indian Ocean, and they were deep-sea shells from the Indian Ocean. Don’t be surprised. In ancient times, exchanges between different regions may have been much closer and more frequent than we think. It is very likely that the Sanxingdui people interacted with people from the Indian subcontinent. The sea shells here may also be the product of exchanges between the Qiong people and the ancient people of the Indian subcontinent.’
These discoveries may be useful to archaeologists, but to Luo San and the others, they are useless. Because there is no way to know the relationship between the ocean and the Qiong people through these things, let alone find a way to protect the source of the Kyushu.
Professor Wu then discussed with everyone, ‘Why don’t we keep going? That passage should lead to the entrance.’
Nan Qingyi, Shen Yuan, and Luo San all remained silent. Nan Qingyi was unwilling to accept this, hoping that they could discover some clues here. After all, the Qiong people spent so much effort creating this cave, they wouldn’t just make it without any purpose. This cave must be useful. Shen Yuan and Luo San looked at the cave, especially the stone pillar in the centre, and thought of the ocean under the Four Teachings Land. In that ocean, there was also a stone pillar like this one here, except that the pillar was much larger and taller.
Luo San glanced at Shen Yuan, and the two of them looked at the stone pillar at the same time. Luo San soon noticed that the pillar was divided into four sections, each of which was much smaller than the one above it. The top of each section seemed to be a platform, forming a total of three platforms, except for the last section, which was directly connected to the top of the cave. Professor Wu saw Luo San looking at the stone pillar and couldn’t help but observe it carefully as well. After just a few glances, he noticed something extraordinary about the pillar: if the topmost section of the pillar was removed, it would resemble a three-level altar.
When Professor Wu told the others about this, they all became excited. ‘Let’s go up and take a look, maybe we can find clues,’ Nan Qingyi said, voicing everyone’s thoughts.
On the first platform, there were only traces of burning and the bones of cattle and sheep. The second platform was the same, except that there were some huge tortoise shells left behind. Everyone pinned their hopes on the third platform. When they reached the third platform, they discovered that it was only about 20 square metres in size, with no traces of burning, but with a skeleton lying on it. Everyone carefully walked onto the platform and looked closely at the skeleton in front of them. The skeleton was tall, with a high nose and prominent cheekbones.
After looking at the corpse for a while, Luo San looked up at the cave ceiling not far above his head. He was stunned when he saw that there was actually a painting there. The colours were very pale, and when they were on the ground, it was dark in the cave, so he hadn’t noticed it. Now that he was closer, he could see it clearly.
The painting, which appeared to have been drawn with coloured stones, depicted a group of people fishing for a living in the middle of an expansive ocean. The lines of the entire scene were quite thick, and it was basically just a freehand sketch, but one person had drawn it very carefully. That person had a strange face, bulging eyes, a tall, large nose, and shoulders that were slumped. The most peculiar thing was that the person in the painting also had a short tail. In the middle of the ocean in the painting was a towering mountain peak that reached up to the sky.
Luo San immediately understood that it depicted the ocean beneath Chengdu, but what was the story of the people in the painting? Various thoughts flashed through Luo San’s mind. The Qiong people disappeared from the historical record during the Eastern Han Dynasty, so did this mean that in the ancient times before that, there were people living in the ocean beneath Chengdu? The Qiong people had never been to the centre of the Chengdu Plain in their lives, so how did they know about the ocean beneath Chengdu, and build a miniature version of it thousands of miles away from Chengdu, in the Anning River? Could it be that that was the Qiong people’s homeland? And why are the people in the painting so strange, especially with their eyes and tails?
‘Sanxingdui Big Standing Man?’ At this moment, Nan Qingyi also saw the painting, and when he saw the portrait on the painting, an exclamation came out of his mouth.
‘What Sanxingdui Big Standing Man?’ Professor Wu, who was buried in the white bones, heard Nan Qingyi’s exclamation and looked up and asked. Luo San pointed to the painting on the cave ceiling for him. Professor Wu looked at it for a moment, lost in thought, unable to speak for a long time. After a long while, he said, ‘Gorgonians! This is the Gorgonian people that historians have been looking for for many years. I never thought they would appear here.’ Professor Wu looked at the painting blankly, then suddenly leaned over and began to rummage through the bones. It was clear that Professor Wu was very excited, his hands shaking the whole time. Soon he stopped what he was doing, gently setting the bones down, as if he were afraid of messing them up. Following his gaze, Luo San saw a few small bones under the buttocks of the skeleton. Luo San subconsciously looked up at the portrait in the painting and suddenly understood that those were exactly what the skeleton itself had. This person should be the same as the person in the painting, someone with a tail. Luo San just didn’t know why Nan Qingyi would call it the Sanxingdui Big Man, and Professor Wu would call it the Gorgon Man…
Professor Wu seemed to be very excited by the discovery in front of him, and it took a long time for him to calm down. He told Luo San and the others about the history of the Sanxingdui Dali People and the Gorgon People. The bronze Dali People is a landmark cultural relic unearthed at Sanxingdui. The statue is 180 cm high and 260.8 cm high. The statue is made by segmental casting and is hollow, divided into two parts: the portrait and the base. The figure wears a tall crown and is dressed in three layers of clothing with narrow sleeves and half-sleeves. The clothing is intricately decorated with a predominance of dragon patterns, complemented by bird, insect and eye patterns, and a checkered belt ornament. The hands are held in a ring-like grip, with the arms slightly embracing in front of the chest. He wears anklets on his feet and stands barefoot on a square pedestal in the shape of a monster. The overall image is dignified and solemn, as if it is showing a powerful person with supernatural powers performing magic. The square platform on which he stands can be understood as the altar or sacred mountain of the Taoist temple where he performs magic. And his appearance is similar to the human figure in this pattern.
The Gorgons were a mysterious ethnic group in ancient Shu history, only found in the legends of the Qiang people. There is an ancient legend among the Qiang people: in ancient times, the ancestors of the Qiang people had many major migrations, and in one of them they came to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River with their cattle and sheep. Here, surrounded by mountains, there was abundant water and grass, and the climate was pleasant. The Qiang people were about to settle down when they suddenly encountered the Gorgans and a fierce battle for land began. The Qiang people were defeated time and again and were about to abandon the land and flee when they suddenly received a revelation from the gods in their sleep. They made new weapons from dolomite and wooden sticks and tied wool around the neck of each member of their tribe as a sign of identification. When they fought the Gorgans again, they finally defeated them. Since then, the Qiang people have lived and worked in peace and contentment here. And because of this, the Qiang people have always regarded white stone as sacred. But since then, the Gorgs have disappeared from the pages of history. This was a fleeting people, but if that was all there was to them, they would not be mysterious. The real mystery lies in their appearance.
The Qiang epic ‘The Great Qiang-Gog War’ describes what the Gog people looked like. From these descriptions, it can be seen that the Gog people were strange people with bulging eyes that could not look straight ahead, tails, and short, powerful bodies. When their tails gradually withered, they knew their time was near and they lay down in their tombs to die.
“However, nowadays, no one anywhere has bulging eyes and a short, powerful body with a tail like the Gog people. Has thousands of years of evolution made modern people no longer have the physical characteristics of the Gorgonians? Or did the Gorgonians disappear in a war with the Qiang people? Did the Qiang people caricature the appearance of this hostile people and the losers? Or did such people never exist? Historians have debated this endlessly. Most people are skeptical about the appearance of the Gorgonians, especially the fact that the Gorgonians had tails, which historians have always considered impossible, and on this basis they feel that the Gorgonians did not exist. Professor Wu said that because paleontologists and archaeologists believe that the evolutionary history of mankind can be divided into four stages: early hominids, late hominids, early homo sapiens and late homo sapiens. Of these four ancient human species, only early hominids had tails, just like the Gorgons. However, early hominids lived 3 to 2 million years ago, and it is impossible for people from that era to have survived until the time when the Qiang people migrated into the Min Mountains.
The Qiang migrated to the Min Mountains because, after the Shang dynasty destroyed the Xia dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, they persecuted the tribes that had been dependent on Xia. The Qiang, who had been living in northwestern China, were one of these tribes. The Qiang were therefore forced to migrate southwards to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. This is well documented in history, and it is also true that the Qiang people worshiped white stones as sacred objects. Therefore, some scholars believe that the ‘Qiang-Gog War’ is not groundless. The Gog people existed, and evidence of their existence has been found in historical records and archaeological discoveries. In the historical record ‘Huayang Guozhi Shu Zhi’, there is such a record: There was Shu Hou Zancong, whose eyes were vertical, and he first lived in a stone room on Min Mountain. Scholars believe that the description of vertical eyes refers precisely to the prominent eyes of the Gorgons. In other words, the first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, was a Gorgon. With the excavation of the Sanxingdui civilization, a large number of bronze masks with prominent eyes were unearthed, also providing archaeological evidence of the existence of the Gorgons. On this basis, many people believe that the Gorgons were the ancestors of the ancient Shu people. Because the legendary Gorgons, the masks from Sanxingdui, and Zangong in the classics all share a common characteristic: prominent eyes! At the same time, the archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui also prove that the origin of the Sanxingdui civilisation was the Min Mountains, where the Gorgans lived. This is because the orientation of Pit 1 at Sanxingdui is 45° west of north, and the orientation of Pit 2 is 55° west of north, both facing towards the Min Mountains. The large ceremonial building at Yangzi Hill in Chengdu from the same period also faces 55° west of north, also towards the Min Mountains.
‘In other words, the skeleton in front of us is that of a Geji person. Does that mean that the Qiong people were Geji people?’ Luo San asked after listening to Professor Wu’s account.
‘No, the ancestor of the Qiong people’s appearance, the tortoise spirit, has seen it and there is nothing special about it. And we also noticed the bones in the tomb just now, the nasal bone and cheekbone are not like this one.’ Professor Wu paused and continued after a moment of contemplation, ’Among the Qiong people that the ancestor has come into contact with, the only one that is suspicious is the shaman, because he has always covered most of his face. I think the covered part is the long eyes that distinguish him as a Gorgon from the Qiong people. He doesn’t want other people to see his face.‘
’In other words, the Gorgons are the remnants of a previous civilization?‘
’You could say that.‘
’In other words, if we find the Gorgons, we can uncover all the secrets.‘
’In theory, yes, but where do we find the Gorgons is the problem?’
‘The man outside, just ask him and you’ll find out about the Gorgonians.”
It was easy to get out. In no time at all, the group had burrowed out of the mountainside by the Anning River. The exit was a small cave on the mountainside, suspended on a vertical wall several metres high. The entrance had been specially disguised, so that from the outside there was no sign of the cave’s existence. The stone wall where the cave entrance was located was completely barren, with the cave opening up neither above nor below, so naturally no one would discover it. Professor Wu seemed to appreciate the ingenious setting of this cave. As soon as he set foot on the ground, he kept saying, ‘This cave is really well-made. No wonder no one has discovered this place for thousands of years.’
Luo San noticed that although the four of them were still by the Anning River, they were already a long way from the ancient tomb they had just excavated, and had walked to the other side of the Anning River. The man they had just seen was standing not far in front of them.
The man was of average height, with an old face, and seemed exhausted. After a long time, he revealed a look of both joy and sadness on his face: ‘Who are you?’
Professor Wu looked at the man in front of him, bowed, and said, ‘Descendant of the Turtle Spirit, Yin Yin Ke, I have the honour to meet you, my master. I am sorry for the intrusion just now, it was really rude.’
‘You really are the descendant of the tortoise spirit. You really are the descendant of the tortoise spirit.’ The man sat down on the ground with a thump, laughing and crying uncontrollably. After a long while, he stopped laughing and immediately burst into tears again. He laughed and cried like this for a long time. Professor Wu did not interrupt him, but just quietly watched him, his face also showing a sad expression.
At first, Luo San did not understand what had made the man so crazy, but soon he understood the man’s feelings. He knew that this man must also, like Professor Wu, have carried the burden of his family for thousands of years. Ever since he could remember, he had shouldered this heavy burden like a mountain, a burden that was bound to consume his life’s energy, and he had waited hopelessly for fate to take its course. Thinking about this, Luo San looked at Shen Yuan, but saw that she was also feeling sad.
Luo San looked at Shen Yuan and knew that she must have remembered something unhappy again. However, he did not know how to comfort her. At that moment, the man’s mood had calmed down, but he did not get up. He still sat on the ground in a carefree manner and said to Professor Wu, ‘My surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Yi.’
As soon as Fengyi finished saying his name, he immediately said with emotion, ‘It’s been 3,000 years, and finally you’ve come… 3,000 years, generation after generation of people, lingering here between the mountains and rivers of this peaceful valley, waiting here, waiting for you to appear. Can you understand the pain involved? 3,000 years!’ Fengyi’s voice choked up as he said this.
‘…’ Professor Wu was silent for a long time, and after a while, he said with a sigh, ’The Tortoise Clan has also been waiting for 3,000 years. Your family may have an end, but our guardianship will never end. For 3,000 years, we have been as lonely as you, with the same heavy responsibilities. Even when we sleep, we are afraid of revealing the secrets of the clan if we talk in our sleep. We can certainly understand your pain. But today is not the time to discuss your family’s suffering. I am here to prevent the impending catastrophe in Chengdu. If possible, I hope to get everything you know.’
Feng Yi glanced at Shen Yuan, Luo San and Nan Qingyi, and hesitated. Professor Wu’s gaze swept over Shen Yuan and Luo San, paused for a moment on Nan Qingyi, and finally seemed to make up his mind: ‘Everyone here can be trusted. Can you tell me about the history of your Qiong people, and in particular how you became involved with the Eye of the Sea?’
Chapter 18 Qiongdu
It was only after a long while that Feng Yi opened up.
It turned out that the real name of the Qiong people was Qiongdu, but when the Han people recorded them in their books, they simply shortened it to Qiong. ‘Qiongdu is actually a compound word, an ancient translation of our ethnic name in Chinese. It only makes sense when put together, but it makes no sense at all when taken apart,’ Feng Yi said with a bitter smile. The real meaning of Qiongdu is ‘people of the loess’.
‘Loess people?’ Professor Wu asked in surprise, as this was the first time he had heard this name.
Feng Yi nodded affirmatively: ’That’s right, loess people. There has always been a legend in our tribe that we were created from loess by the shamans of the Qiongdu people.’
‘If the Loess made the people, does that mean the shaman in your tribe is God or Nuwa?’ Hearing Luo San’s question, Professor Wu gave him a disdainful look and criticized, ’Little San, don’t be so shallow. Using Loess to make people is found in the creation legends of many ethnic groups. As for Nuwa, she is only a legend from the Central Plains.’
Feng Yi, however, ignored the two and continued talking to himself: ‘According to legend, a long, long time ago, there was a great shaman with supreme magical powers who could summon the wind and rain and move mountains and seas. This great shaman came from nowhere and went to nowhere, except that he stopped halfway by the shore of Qionghai in what is now Xichang and used loess to create the first person of the Qiongdu tribe.
‘This was a woman, the first leader of the Qiongdu people. Later, the great shaman used loess to create a group of men and women, who formed the first generation of ancestors of the Qiongdu people. I am their 213th generation descendant. After creating our ancestors, the great shaman floated away and disappeared without a trace. But he left behind ten small tribes of people to teach the Qiongdu people how to live. Since then, the people of these ten small tribes have lived with the Qiongdu as their shamans.
“These shamans were highly skilled, and under their leadership, the Qiongdu people continued to expand their territory and increase their land area, and their sphere of influence once reached the Qionglai Mountains beside the Chengdu Plain. But here, they were blocked by the ancient Shu Kingdom on the Chengdu Plain. Facing the ancient Shu Kingdom, the Qiongdu people’s shamans not only stopped the expansion of their territory, they did not even have a single battle with the ancient Shu Kingdom, but just quietly guarded it. They waited until the end of the Shang Dynasty in your Han Chinese history books. King Wu of Zhou led the surrounding vassal states to overthrow King Zhou of Shang. In that war, the Yufu Dynasty, which was then dominant on the Chengdu Plain, sent elite troops north to the Central Plains to participate in the Battle of Muye. At this time, the Yufu Dynasty’s military power on the Chengdu Plain was greatly weakened. Under these circumstances, the shamans led the Qiongdu people to take advantage of the situation and attack the Chengdu Plain, destroying the Yufu Dynasty. The last Yufu king was killed in battle around the Zhan Mountain. Your Han history books say that the Yufu king Tian Yu Zhan Mountain ascended to immortality and left.’ Fengyi laughed when he heard this, ‘These history books are really something, saying that he ascended to immortality when he died.’
Fengyi suddenly sighed, ‘Although we Qiongdu people won the war against the Yufu Dynasty, we were unable to establish ourselves on the Chengdu Plain before the Zhou people led the Yufu troops that had been sent north to attack the Chengdu Plain. The Qiongdu people were forced to retreat to the Qionglai Mountains. The Yufu army, which had returned to the Chengdu Plain, was unable to gain a foothold after the Zhou people left, and retreated from the Chengdu Plain under the challenge of the indigenous people of the Chengdu Plain. The severely weakened Qiongdu people were unable to enter the Chengdu Plain again at this time, so the entire Chengdu Plain entered a period of chaos, and no one was able to ultimately establish a great power on the plain, until the appearance of the Duyu Dynasty.
‘This seems strange now. During the establishment of the Duyu Dynasty, the people of Qionglai, especially the shamans, did not take any opposing measures. On the contrary, they seemed to cooperate with the establishment of the Duyu Dynasty and fixed their eastern sphere of influence near the Qionglai Mountains. However, towards the end of the Duyu Dynasty, the attitude of the shamans completely changed. Not only did they actively send troops to seize the land of the Duyu Dynasty, but when there was a major flood on the Chengdu Plain, some of the shamans led a group of people to Leshan, where they reached an agreement with the Beiling people living there, helping the Beiling people to gain power and establish the Kai Ming Dynasty. The Qiongdu people then began to withdraw from the Chengdu Plain.
‘After that, as the surrounding ethnic groups grew in power, especially after the Qin and Han dynasties, the power of the Central Plains moved south, and Qiongdu gradually retreated to the Xichang area. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped power and established the Xin Dynasty. He implemented discriminatory policies against the surrounding ethnic minorities, demoting the Qiongdu king to the title of Qiongdu marquis. As a result, the last Qiongdu king, Ren Gui, rebelled, and the people of Qiongdu suffered a catastrophe. After the war, only the elderly and children were left in the tribe, and there was only one shaman left, who was seriously injured.
“The shaman chose a young Qiongdu man and passed on all his knowledge and scriptures to him, asking him to swear an oath to protect the secrets of the Qiongdu people for generations and to wait for the arrival of the Beiling people, to tell them the secrets of the Eye of the Sea and to go with them to protect it. This young man was my ancestor.
After the shaman had explained everything, he built the last large stone tomb above the entrance to a cave that they considered sacred. This tomb is the one you just entered. He then entered the cave and sat waiting for death to come. Many of the Qiongdu people also followed him into the tomb and committed suicide. The younger ones who were left scattered, and the Qiongdu people disappeared from history.
After listening to Feng Yi’s story, everyone had a basic understanding of the history of the Qiongdu people, but there were still many things they didn’t understand. Luo San’s biggest question mark was, what was the purpose of the mysterious sorcerers’ alliance with the Qiongdu people, who were probably in the most primitive state at the time? Was it just to help the Qiongdu people expand their territory? Why did they keep trying to enter the Chengdu Plain at first, but then give up on that plan later? Was it just for the Sea Eye, or was there some other purpose?
‘Are these shamans with you for the sake of the Eye of the Sea?‘ This question was preemptively asked by Professor Wu.
’Not exactly,’ Fengyi continued, carefully driving while narrating, ’According to the ancestors, the shamans of the tribe were related to the Eye of the Sea. At the beginning of the founding of the Kai Ming Dynasty, the shamans set up ten boulders on the Chengdu Plain to guard the Eye of the Sea town stone, and occasionally sent people to Chengdu to check on the condition of the ten boulders. However, after the Qin people entered Chengdu more than ten years later, the shamans no longer entered Chengdu regularly.”
Feng Yi paused after saying this, and no one interrupted, waiting silently for him to continue. Sure enough, Feng Yi continued, ’In the era when the Qiongdu people were not at war, the Qiongdu shamans began to move around and searched extensively within the territory controlled by the Qiongdu people. They were searching for underground caves. After a long period of searching, they finally found an underground cave in the Anning River Valley. I think you must have been inside already, otherwise you wouldn’t have come out from the other side of the river after entering the tomb chamber.”
Luo San and the others nodded. Feng Yi continued, ’As you can see, apart from the central stone pillar, there seems to be nothing unusual about that cave. And it is usually half submerged in water, but the clan’s shamans attach great importance to it. They used the central pillar to build a three-tiered altar, and when the water in the cave receded, they levelled the cave floor and carved a large number of grottoes into the four walls of the cave. After completing this work, some shamans lived in the cave during the week, while a small number of clan members took turns to contact the Qiongdu people from the outside world. And after their deaths, those grottoes became the final resting place for the shamans. However, most of the shamans continued to travel around, continuing to search for underground caves, and gradually distancing themselves from the Qiongdu people. In the end, the number of shamans was very small, which led to the Qiongdu people’s defeat in the final battle against the Wang Mang Xin Dynasty.”
Having said that, Feng Yi paused again, and after a long while, he said, ’I have never been able to figure this out. It seems that although the sea eye was important in their eyes, it was far less important than underground caves, which is why they kept searching for them.’
‘That’s because they may have originally lived in underground caves, but for some reason they moved out at a later date. However, they have always longed to go back or find similar underground caves to live in,’ said Professor Wu. ’I think that underground cave must be regarded as their promised land, so no matter how they migrated, the surface of the earth was not their promised land. Because of this, they handed the important task of protecting the sea eye to other ethnic groups.’
‘How do you know?‘ Feng asked in surprise. Professor Wu then introduced Feng to the rock paintings he had seen on the cave ceiling.
Feng was silent after hearing this
’There is one thing I have always been curious about,’ Professor Wu picked up the conversation again after a while, ’that is, historians think that you seem to have been constantly building dolmens, even during the war, when a large number of people died, while this work was also being carried out. What was it for? How could there be so much manpower to build these tombs.’
‘The reason for building the stone tombs is that we are made of loess, and after death, we need to be protected by the stone tombs from being soaked by rain, so that our bones will not be lost.‘
’…’ Hearing such an explanation, Luo San, Shen Yuan, and Nan Qingyi were speechless for a while. It was Professor Wu who explained that for the ancients, death was as important as life, or even a more important matter. Therefore, the Qiongdu people, who had determined that they were made of loess, used to greet death by building stone tombs.
However, Luo San still couldn’t figure it out: ‘Why do you believe that you are made of loess?’
‘We were originally made of loess, so there is nothing to believe,’ Feng Yi seemed quite displeased.
Professor Wu hurriedly said to Luo San, ‘This is very normal. Primitive ancestors usually choose an animal, plant or even an inanimate object as their ancestor and worship it as a totem. For example, the ancient Yue people used birds and snakes as totems, the Dongyi tribe used birds as totems, the Shang tribe used swallows as totems, and some ethnic minorities in the southwest used bamboo as a totem, believing that their ancestors were born from a piece of bamboo, and some used gourds as ancestors.’
Luo San looked at Feng Yiyi, who was still frowning, and asked Professor Wu carefully, ‘Although you think I’m ignorant, I still want to ask: their legends are so similar to the creation of humans by Nüwa, so are they related to the legend of Nüwa creating humans?’
‘Shit…‘ Before Professor Wu could finish his sentence, Feng Yi interrupted, “Are you talking about the legendary Nuwa who kneaded loess to create humans? I have also researched this legend and it is indeed very similar to our clan’s legend, but I don’t know if there is a connection.”
’No,’ Professor Wu categorically denied, ’Nuwa’s hometown is generally accepted to be in the Shandong and Henan area, and there is no way it could be connected to Xichang in the far southwest.’
‘Could it be that the Nuwa people migrated to Sichuan and brought this legend with them, thus…‘ Luo San glanced at Feng Yi and didn’t say any more.
’This is unlikely. The Central Plains peoples recorded in history books, with the exception of a few minorities such as the Miao and Li, rarely migrated south, and the Xichang area has no connection with these two peoples, so your theory of migration cannot be established.’ Professor Wu concluded, ‘Xiaowei, you don’t need to bother with the Nuwa thing anymore. Feng and the others from the Qiongdu people should be local people, and the clan’s shaman should be a Gorgon.’
‘Gorgon? What’s that?’ Feng Yi had never heard of the name Gorgon before.
Professor Wu did not directly answer his question, but instead asked, ‘The shaman in your clan should look very strange, right?’
‘How do you know?‘ Fengyi nodded and said, “The shamans of our Qiongdu tribe definitely look strange. Not only do they not look like locals, but if they were drawn based on the descriptions of our ancestors, they wouldn’t even look Chinese.”
’What? Not Chinese? What do they look like?’ Luo San asked in surprise, but quickly recovered, “They look like Gorgons.” Professor Wu shook his head wordlessly and said, ’Xiaosan, your reaction is not really slow.’
‘Look! These shamans look like this.’ Fengyi took an old sheepskin out of his bosom and handed it to Professor Wu. Shen Yuan and Luo San leaned over to take a look. They saw a portrait drawn on the sheepskin. The person in the portrait really looked like the one on the rock painting on the cave ceiling: bulging eyes, high cheekbones, high shoulders, and a clearly defined face. It really was a Gorgon!
Professor Wu then told Fengyi all about the Gorgon people. When Fengyi heard that the clan’s shamans might be remnants of a previous civilization, he suddenly understood: ‘No wonder they’re so powerful, it turns out they mastered advanced civilization.’
‘Brother Feng,’ Professor Wu seemed to have thought of something, and shouted at Fengyi, but then suddenly stopped and looked at Fengyi, ‘Your surname is Feng?’
‘Nonsense. My name is Fengyi, not Feng, so what if my surname is Yi?’
“Hey, I’m sorry, sorry. I suddenly remembered something, and my head can’t turn around.‘ Professor Wu smiled awkwardly, “Brother Feng, have you always had the surname Feng?”
Upon hearing this question, Luo San thought Feng Yi would be even more angry, but Feng Yi’s reaction was unexpected. Feng Yi said solemnly, “The people of Qiongdu originally did not have surnames, but later, following the clan’s shamans, they all took the surname Feng…”
’You mean those shamans all had the surname Feng?‘
’That’s right, they all had the surname Feng.’
‘Xiaosan, it seems you may be right,‘ said Professor Wu, leaving Luo San and the other three people baffled.
’What do you mean?‘ Luo San asked.
’According to legend, Nüwa was the leader of a tribe with the surname Feng. All the shamans of the Qiongdu tribe have the surname Feng, so it is really possible that they are from the Nüwa tribe or a subordinate tribe of the Nüwa tribe. I just can’t figure out why the Nüwa tribe would move to Sichuan…’
‘Wait. Let me think about it.’ Luo San interrupted Professor Wu, and after organising his thoughts, said, ’In other words, the Qiongdu shamans were Nüwa people, remnants of a previous civilisation. They migrated from the Central Plains to Sichuan and helped the Qiongdu people expand their influence. At the same time, these shamans were the legendary first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, and the Gekai people recorded in the Qiang people’s history books?’
‘Yes,‘ Professor Wu nodded, “from a speculative point of view, this is fine. But for empirical evidence, more archaeological proof may be needed.”
’The question is how all this relates to the Eye of the Sea,‘ Nan Qingyi interrupted impatiently, “We are not here to do archaeology, our aim is to find a way to protect the Eye of the Sea.”
’Well, that’s true,’ Professor Wu said apologetically to Feng Yi, ’Brother Feng, what is the secret of the Eye of the Sea?’
‘I don’t know either,‘ Fengyi replied simply.
’Damn you, didn’t the shamans tell your people to wait for us, the Turtle Spirit Clan, to arrive? If you don’t know the secret of the Eye of the Sea, then why are you waiting for us?‘
’Has the Shaocheng in Chengdu disappeared?‘ Fengyi suddenly asked without any sense of direction.
’Shaocheng?’ Professor Wu was taken aback by Fengyi’s question and quickly responded, ’Shaocheng is still there, but the city walls have long since disappeared.’
‘That’s right. Since Shao Cheng no longer exists, it’s time for you to come to me.‘
’Wait, can you please speak more clearly?’ Professor Wu suddenly realised that he couldn’t understand Feng Yi’s words.
Feng Yi still didn’t give Professor Wu a direct answer, but instead asked in return, ’Do you know the legend of Zhang Yi building a city?’
‘Of course I do.’ Naturally, this kind of historical question was no problem for Professor Wu, and he immediately replied, ’The historical records state that after the Qin destroyed the Shu Kingdom in 316 BC, they sent Zhang Yi to Chengdu in 311 BC to build a city wall to prevent Shu people from rebelling. From the records we have today, we don’t know whether Chengdu had a city wall like those in the northern cities during the Kai Ming dynasty. We only know that when Zhang Yi built the city wall, every time he built a section of it, the wall would collapse. This happened again and again, and in the end Zhang Yi was at his wits’ end. At that moment, a huge turtle emerged from the river and crawled around Chengdu before returning to the river. The people at the time were superstitious, and when the city walls kept collapsing, they thought it must be an unusual event or a sign from the gods. So Zhang Yi consulted a shaman, who told him that if he wanted to build a city wall in Chengdu, he had to follow the tracks of the turtle, otherwise the city wall would never be built. So Zhang Yi built a city wall along the tracks. For this reason, Chengdu is also known as Turtle City or Turtle-shaped City.
‘You’re right. Do you know who the sorcerer was?‘
’Who? Could it be that the sorcerer was the sorcerer of your Qiongdu tribe?‘
’Yes,’ Feng Yidian nodded, ’it is said that when Zhang Yi was building the city walls, several of the ten stone pillars in Chengdu had already been damaged, so the sorcerers came up with this way to protect the sea eye. As long as the Chengdu city walls exist, the sea eye will be safe. But once the city walls are destroyed, within a hundred years, the sea eye will surely flood. In order to ensure the existence of the Chengdu city walls, the sorcerers also told Zhang Yi that he must ensure that the location of the Chengdu city remains unchanged and that the name of the city remains unchanged. It is said that this requirement was conveyed by Zhang Yi to the King of Qin, and later became known to emperors of successive dynasties as a secret imperial text. Because of this, Chengdu has been able to maintain the same location and name for more than 2,300 years since its founding.
‘No wonder Chengdu has maintained the same city layout surrounded by two rivers. That’s the reason,’ said Professor Wu, suddenly alarmed. ’The city walls of Chengdu’s Shaocheng were gradually demolished after the Republic of China was established, and it has been more than 90 years since then. It will soon be a hundred years. In that case, the flooding of the sea eye will be something that will happen very soon. Flooding of the sea eye? Isn’t that an earthquake?’
‘What earthquake?’ Fengyi asked in puzzlement.
Professor Wu then told Fengyi about their previous speculation that the appearance of the giant turtle omen meant that Chengdu might face an earthquake.
After hearing this, Fengyi shook his head: ’The words passed down from our ancestors only said that after the power of the protective stone array of the Haiyan Town Stone wanes, the sea will flood, not only will Chengdu become a country of lakes, but the whole world will be submerged in floods.’
‘Could it be that we have guessed wrongly? But the Diexi earthquake did occur at the same time as the damage to the Haiyan Town Stone. If it is a coincidence, it is too coincidental.’ Professor Wu muttered to himself, and suddenly slapped his thigh, ’We guessed correctly, it must be so. With the protection of the stone circle, the destruction of the Haiyan Town Stone will not cause the sea to flood, but only cause an earthquake. However, once the stone circle is damaged, and the Haiyan Town Stone is destroyed again, it will cause both an earthquake and the sea to flood.’
‘Professor Wu, why do you think the people of the last civilisation left these things behind, to cause us trouble?‘
’Who knows. Now that the stone array has been completely destroyed, it’s time to figure out how to remedy the situation.‘
At this point, Nan Qingyi suddenly interrupted and asked, “You’ve been talking about the Haiyan Town Stone, what is this Haiyan Town Stone?”
’The Haiyan Town Stone is a stone in the women’s toilet of the Sijiao. In 1933, when the Sijiao was being built, this stone was damaged, which triggered the Diexi earthquake that day…’
‘Right, Brother Feng, what else did your ancestors leave behind?‘ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted Luo San.
’Yes,‘ Feng nodded, “the clan’s shaman left my ancestors here to wait for you, but did not explain any more secrets of the sea eye. He only said that once you came, he would take you to Diexi.”
’Diexi! I should have thought of this place earlier,’ Professor Wu suddenly realised.
Chapter 19 Tomb of the Silkworm Tribe
Diexi is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Mao County, the largest Qiang ethnic minority settlement in China, at the foot of the Min Mountains in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Diexi City was an important ancient border town. It was a key transport hub that controlled the western plains of Sichuan and provided access to the arid Songpan region, Qinghai and Gansu. It was heavily guarded throughout the ages. According to the Maozhou Zhi (Maozhou Records), Zhenling County was established here in the sixth year of the Yuan Dian period of the Han Dynasty (111 BC). In the early Tang Dynasty, it was known as Jizhou, and in the Ming Dynasty it was known as Diexi Qianhu Suo. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Wei, and in the Republic of China it was under the jurisdiction of Maoxian County. Diexi City was built during the Zhenguan period. In the eleventh year of the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial envoy Ding Yu went to recover the old land and ordered the commander Tong Sheng to rebuild it. It was one zhang high, with a circumference of 300-odd zhang and four gates. It was repaired during the Chenghua period. During the Republic of China, Diexi was under the jurisdiction of Mao County’s Diexi District, and the city was quite prosperous with merchants gathering there. At 15:50:30 on 25 August 1933, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Diexi. The central part of Diexi collapsed almost vertically within a few minutes of the earthquake, and the single-step-like earthquake slide reached a distance of 500-600 metres. Diexi City and the 21 nearby Qiang villages were completely destroyed. The surrounding peaks collapsed; they blocked the Minjiang River; and 11 dammed lakes were formed. The death toll was close to 10,000. This is the famous ‘Diexi Earthquake’ in Chinese history. After the earthquake, Diexi County disappeared, and Diexi Haizi appeared.
Luo San felt the need to go to Diexi because the earthquake that occurred here was closely related to the sea-eye stone in the women’s toilet in Sijiao. Professor Wu told him to go to Diexi for a more direct reason. Diexi was formerly known as Zangling, and legend has it that it is the tomb of Zangong, the first king of ancient Shu. With the confirmation that Zangong and the Qiongdui shaman belonged to the same tribe, it was naturally impossible not to go to Diexi, the tomb of Zangong, to find the secret of the sea eye. Although this place has also been submerged forever, it is still necessary to visit it.
Nan Qingyi was very efficient and quickly found vehicles and a large amount of diving equipment, and even a large amount of weapons. So the convoy set off in a grand manner.
‘I had previously speculated that the Qiongdu people’s shamanic tribe, also known as the Ten Winds, originally lived in underground caves, and that they lived in an underground cave with the lower part immersed in seawater and almost no land. But they later left the underground cave, and from the fact that they later searched for underground caves in various places, their departure must have been forced. What forced them to leave, in my opinion, was the rising water level in the cave, because the cave water level in the rock paintings was very low, but when you entered the underground ocean, the entire cave was filled with water. So they began to migrate, first in Diexi, but when they encountered the Qiang people, they moved to the Chengdu Plain, where they founded the Sanxingdui civilisation. I just don’t know why the ancient Sanxingdui kingdom later collapsed, and they had to be displaced again, scattering to all directions in search of underground caves. But in the process, they did not forget to protect the sea eye…’ Professor Wu squeaked and squawked all the way.
Luo San didn’t listen carefully to the rest of what Professor Wu said, because he was thinking about what the Qiongdu tribe’s shaman would leave them visitors at Diexi. But he was so tired that, in a daze, he fell asleep as the car swayed.
Transportation from Xichang to Mao County is not convenient, so after a day, they have only travelled about half of the way. Seeing that the sky is darkening, Feng Yi parks the car on the side of the road and finds a clean place to rest for the night. Nan Qingyi is well prepared, and the car is fully equipped with dry food, water, tents, and more.
After dinner, Luo San lay down in his tent, his eyes slightly closed, listening to the chirping of insects and birds outside the tent. The events of the past few days flashed before Luo San’s eyes. There had been so many things that had happened in the past few days, so many that Luo San had been completely overwhelmed. The Professor, whom he had always regarded as a poor old man, was actually the descendant of the Enlightened King, and Shen Yuan, whom he had long secretly loved, was also from the ancient Feiye Sect. Then what else is impossible around him? How many secrets among them does he not know? Which of his acquaintances will get involved in the Eye of the Sea next? Luo can’t bear to think about it.
Luo San shook his head as if that would make the unhappy things in his head go away and start thinking about happy things. A pretty face appeared in his mind, smiling sometimes, sometimes cold and elegant, sometimes resentful, sometimes staring at him with caring eyes, sometimes looking at him anxiously. Thinking of Shen Yuan, a smile appeared on Luo San’s face. Luo San liked spending time with Shen Yuan, listening to her talk, and watching her every move. Whether it was the cold and aloof Shen Yuan, or the tender Shen Yuan who was always concerned about him like an older sister, Luo San was attracted to both. Luo San himself could not understand why every time he saw Shen Yuan, he always had an urge to protect her, even though Shen Yuan never seemed to want his protection. Instead, every time there was danger, she was always in front of him, blocking the danger. But every time Luo San went on an adventure with Shen Yuan, he would always try his best to protect her. It seemed that deep down inside, he was always worried that if he didn’t protect Shen Yuan in time, he would lose her forever.
He heard Shen Yuan’s sighing voice in the distance, and Luo San suddenly opened his eyes wide, listening carefully, afraid that he had heard it wrong. But then he heard footsteps outside the tent, followed by the lifting of the tent curtain by a pale hand. Outside the tent, Shen Yuan bent down, poking her head in and saying, ‘Xiao Sanzi, you’re still awake, aren’t you? Come for a walk with me.’ ‘Okay,’ Luo San agreed without a second’s thought, and immediately stepped out of the tent.
It was already dark outside the tent. The red-faced sun was only half visible in the sky, as if it were reluctant to go down. The flaming clouds in the sky were painted in colourful hues, as beautiful as a painting. On the other side of the sky, a pale moon had already risen, silently watching the night army gradually take over the entire sky. The air was filled with the sweet smell of earth and wild grass. Not far away, the babbling of a stream could be heard, mingling with the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects in the fields, adding to the tranquillity of the valley in the mountains.
Luo San and Shen Yuan walked side by side and arrived at the stream. Standing on the bank of the stream, the two of them were silent. After a long while, Shen Yuan said, ‘If only it could always be like this.’
Luo San was momentarily stunned, but immediately understood what Shen Yuan meant, and replied, ‘Away from intrigue, away from the world, away from hatred, in this ethereal place like Zen, indifferent like Taoism, and picturesque like a painting, without having to be oppressed by the weight of a thousand years of national responsibility, without having to be bound by the decades-long curse of the family, this is indeed the most wonderful thing.’
‘No longer bound by the decades-old curse of the family. Xiaosan, you’ve said it so well.’ Shen Yuan turned her face to look at Luo San, her eyes shining with a strange light, but she quickly regained her composure and said quietly, ’But is it possible?’
‘Of course it’s possible!’ Looking at Shen Yuan’s despondent expression, Luo San’s heart inexplicably ached, and without thinking, he answered, “I believe that it won’t be long before we solve the problem of the sea eye and can remove the restrictions of the blood-sucking curse on you.”
Luo San’s comfort did not seem to bring Shen Yuan any consolation, and from her clear and bright eyes, Luo San saw a hint of deep sorrow in her clear, bright eyes. The last rays of the setting sun reflected on her face, giving off a feeling of sadness. She gave a forced smile and said to Luo San, ‘Xiaosan, what would you do if one day we became enemies?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, how could that happen?’ Luo San said nonchalantly.
‘I’m just saying what if.’
“There are no ifs in this matter.’
The sky had completely darkened, and a solitary icy moon hung in the sky, its cold light pouring down between the heavens and the earth like water, onto the nameless stream in the western valley. The stream sparkled with silver light, murmuring and resounding, and pouring over the girl, whose long hair blew in the mountain wind. The girl was tall and graceful, silently sad, and looked at the boy in front of her and said, ‘Xiaosan, don’t be so serious, I was just asking casually.’
‘There have been so many accidents these days, and I’m afraid I can’t take the shock. It would be terrible if we became enemies.‘
Shen Yuan looked at Luo San and said after a long while, “Forget it. We won’t talk about it anymore. Xiao Sanzi, the main reason I asked you out today is actually to ask you a favour.”
’What is it?’ As soon as Luo San heard Shen Yuan’s words, he immediately gathered his thoughts and said with a serious expression.
Shen Yuan turned her head and looked at the river sparkling in the moonlight, her back to Luo San, and said, ‘Xiaosan, we’ll be arriving in Diexi tomorrow, and I don’t know what difficulties we’ll encounter. Maybe I’ll die at any time…’
‘You definitely won’t…’
‘Don’t interrupt me,’ Shen Yuan interrupted Luo San without turning her head, and continued, ‘Xiaosan, listen carefully. I’m asking you a favour. If I die and you don’t, that’ll be your good fortune. In that case, after I die, please cremate me and bury me beside the rare mountain stream in this deep mountain valley. You can engrave the tombstone like this,’ Shen Yuan paused for several seconds before saying each word clearly, ’Tomb of Shen Yuan of the Xiao Men Clan.’
Luo San heard Shen Yuan’s words clearly, especially when Shen Yuan said the last sentence. Each word was like a knife slashing his heart. Although it hurt, Luo San nodded to show his agreement.
‘Xiaosan, you’re not going to help with this?’ Shen Yuan asked again.
Luo San was taken aback and realised that he had only nodded without saying anything, and Shen Yuan had asked the question because she was facing away from him and could not see his movements. So he quickly spoke up, ‘If this really happens, I will definitely do as you ask.’
‘Xiaosan, you are a good person. Thank you,’ Shen Yuan said in a calm tone of voice, ‘then I will go back first, and you should get some rest too, as you will be travelling early in the morning.’ Shen Yuan said this, and walked past Luo San with her head down, without looking at him again.
As he watched Shen Yuan’s back, Luo San suddenly found himself in a state of suspended thought. He didn’t know what had happened to make Shen Yuan suddenly and inexplicably seek him out to say these things, but his intuition told him that it should be related to what happened in the underground ocean.
What exactly happened in that ocean? Luo San pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, took a long drag, then crouched down and stared at the stream. He didn’t know how long it took, but eventually the cigarette case was empty. Luo San looked at the cigarette butts on the ground, stood up, stamped his numb feet, and staggered towards the tent. That night, Luo San didn’t know how he finally fell asleep, and when he woke up in the morning, his head was dizzy.
The car was driving on a winding mountain road, as if walking in the clouds. Looking up, there were mountains; looking down, there were rivers between the mountains. In between, there were iron cables crossing the rivers, ancient market temples, and Qiang village watchtowers passing by the windows flashed past. Professor Wu watched the scenery outside the window with great interest, occasionally exclaiming in admiration; Luo San absent-mindedly looked out the window, occasionally agreeing with Professor Wu; Shen Yuan, with an expression of ice on his face, looked out the window, silent the whole way.
‘We’ll be there after this mountain pass,’ Fengyi said to the group after stopping to ask for directions. Sure enough, after passing through a mountain pass, the group saw the four characters ‘Diexi Ancient Town’ written on the roadside sign.
The air was tinged with the coolness of water. Luo San noticed that the place where he was standing was a hillock, and at the foot of the hill was Diexi Haizi. The emerald green lake, more than ten kilometres long, was nestled in the green and black valley, as tranquil as a virgin, as calm as a mirror, without any ripples or waves. If he had not known its history beforehand, Luo San would never have imagined that beneath this beautiful lake lay an ancient city that had swallowed up more than 10,000 human lives. Gazing into the distance, Luo San felt as if he could see the afternoon of 25 August 1933. Without warning, the ground began to shake violently. The originally flat ground cracked during the shaking, like a river during the spring thaw. In an instant, the fields and villages lost their previous appearance. The towering peaks sank as if they had been stripped of their underlying support, while the low-lying ground suddenly lifted. Within the few short minutes when the earth shook violently, the ancient town of Diexi suddenly sank. The people who had lived here for a long time simply did not have time to run, and they sank into the ground along with their homes, which they had lived in for thousands of years. Desperately, they looked up at the sky, which was receding instantly, while the roar of the underground ocean came to their ears. The surging floodwaters flooded Diexi and everything in its path. When all was silent, the once prosperous Diexi Town had completely disappeared from the map, leaving only some remnants on the ground and the indistinct ruins of the town submerged at the bottom of the sea that had formed on its original foundations.
No one was interested in searching for anything on the shore, because everyone understood that the secret about the sea eye left by the Qiongdu tribe shaman must be in the sunken Diexi town in the sea, or even in the underground ocean beneath the town. Standing by the sea, the group discussed for a while before finally deciding to enter the sea as soon as possible, as it was still early.
After discussion, 10 people, including Nan Qingyi, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, Shen Yuan, Luo San and Nan Yi, entered the water, while the others waited on the shore. Nan Qingyi is very resourceful. Ever since he knew that they would be entering Diexi Sea, he had arranged for people to purchase underwater equipment. By now, everything was in place.
‘This is a wireless underwater communication system, which we can use to communicate underwater. This is an underwater thruster, which allows us to move quickly underwater, saving a lot of physical strength. This is an underwater surveillance instrument, which allows us to see within a certain range in the dark underwater. This is an underwater pistol, which we can use in case of danger. This is a diving suit…’ Nan Yi introduced them one by one.
Among the group, Feng Yi and Professor Wu had extraordinary underwater skills due to their family’s millennial heritage, and Shen Yuan had also been forced by her father to master almost all the martial arts since she was young because of the Leaf Blades Sect’s curse. Luo San, on the other hand, had never had any professional training before, but now found that he was actually more at ease underwater than on land. As for Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi, and the others, they were already familiar with diving.
So, after everyone had dressed and equipped themselves with all kinds of underwater equipment, they immediately began to prepare to dive into the water.
When he reached Luo San, Shen Yuan said to him as usual, ‘Be careful, protect yourself, and don’t forget what you promised me.’ Luo San felt a pang of sadness in his heart, nodded, and said, ‘I will. You must be careful yourself, I don’t want to have to set up a tombstone for you.’ With that, he entered the water.
Although it was midsummer, the water in the sea at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres in the Min Mountains was bone-chillingly cold. The ground at the bottom of the lake was not only very steep, but also covered in silt. Luo San walked with long, uneven steps, stirring up the silt that had accumulated over the years. The silt floated up and filled the water in front of him, blurring his vision. Fortunately, Shen Yuan’s figure was not far away, which gave him a sigh of relief. However, just as Luo San let his guard down, Shen Yuan’s figure suddenly disappeared from his sight. ‘Shen Yuan!’ Luo San called anxiously, ignoring the slippery ground, and quickly rushed forward. He took a few steps, but then his foot fell through, and he immediately fell. Due to the buoyancy of the water, Luo San’s fall was not very fast, although it was not very graceful. Luo San saw Shen Yuan not far away. At this time, she had already adjusted her body into a head-first position and was slowly falling downward. Luo San couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, and he also wanted to adjust his body, but after flailing his arms and legs for a long time, he was still head-first, and the whole person’s descent speed had increased a lot. In no time, he had fallen in front of Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan saw Luo San fall head-first and had to reach out a hand to push him a little, putting Luo San back in a head-up position.
Luo San nodded in thanks, but when he saw that Shen Yuan had already turned his head to look elsewhere, he had to look down at his feet with a sad expression. The ground was not far below his feet, and what caught his eye was a scene of ruins, collapsed walls, rolling rocks, and even some utensils for living and production, scattered among them, all covered with a thick layer of silt. Streaks of scaly white fish passed through his eyes, hastily avoiding him when they saw someone coming. These fish are indeed the same as the ones Luo San saw in the bottomless ocean at the Four Teachings.
As soon as he set foot on the ground, a layer of silt immediately rose in front of his eyes, making it difficult to see. Luo San tried hard to look, and saw that the bottom of this sea was in a mess.
‘How can we find clues when it’s in such a mess?’ Luo San was thinking, but then he saw Feng Yi and Nan Qingyi and the others also arrive at the bottom of the lake. Looking at the scene in front of them, they all frowned.
Professor Wu glanced at the scene before him and said to the group over the walkie-talkie in a calm voice, ‘Diexi used to be the place where the Zuozhi Qiang, a branch of the Qiang people, lived. The Qiang and the Gekis were mortal enemies, so I don’t think there will be any clues to the Gekis here. From the clues we have so far, there must be an entrance underground in Diexi that connects to the underground caves where the Gekis lived. Now all we need to do is find this entrance and go from here to the underground caves.’
Diexi Ancient Town is not a large town, but it is not easy to find this hidden entrance from thousands of years ago in this dark place under the water where silt is constantly being raised, especially since there is no written record to show that this entrance has not been discovered by the Qiang people over thousands of years. This is enough to show that the Gorgons had already sealed this entrance when they fled in defeat in a major battle with the Qiang people. It is not easy to find such a place.
Luo San walked aimlessly at the bottom of the sea, with the floating mud in front of him. Looking around, he saw skeletons pressed between the broken walls. They either maintained the posture of running, or they had fallen to the ground without having time to run. As he walked, Luo San seemed to see the tragedy of that year. In his ears came the loud noise of the sky and earth collapsing, and the cries of panic and disorientation. In a trance, the ground beneath his feet shook violently, and in the vibration of the huge crack, the earth split open. Luo San’s feet fell through, and he plunged headlong into the crack. Seeing that the entire person was about to fall into the bottomless abyss, a soft but powerful hand reached out, grabbed his wrist tightly, and with a forceful pull, dragged him up.
‘You saved my life again, thank you,’ Luo San said to Shen Yuan in a dazed state. Suddenly, he noticed a problem, ’Where is the water at the bottom of the lake? No, why aren’t we at the bottom of the lake?’
In front of him was a narrow street with a row of bungalows on each side, operating various shops. Due to the shaking of the earth, the street was full of people running in all directions. The earth shook violently and made a loud noise, the wind and sand rolled in, the ground cracked open everywhere, opening and closing suddenly. In his ears were the cries for help of the people and the crowing of chickens and dogs.
‘This is not the time to talk about this, just watch your step.’ The earth continued to shake violently, cracking into pieces in the shaking, with deep and unfathomable ravines criss-crossing the surface. Faced with this situation, even Shen Yuan was terrified, and she grabbed Luo San’s hand tighter and tighter. Luo San felt the unease in the hand of his owner, so he slightly tightened his grip on Shen Yuan’s hand. Shen Yuan suddenly looked back and glanced at Luo San and said, ’Stay close to me.’
Shen Yuan was in front, Luo San was behind. As the earth shook, the two swayed and stumbled from one ravine to the next, trying to find a wider place. In front of them were people running in panic, and from time to time someone would fall into the ravine. Suddenly a huge rock appeared in a ravine. The rock was square and seemed unnatural. Luo San felt unusual at first sight, but at this time he was not allowed to take a closer look because the ground beneath their feet was shaking even more violently. It seemed that an even more intense earthquake was coming. The violent shaking made it impossible for the two of them to stand upright, so they had to lie on the ground. After waiting until the violent shaking had subsided, the two men stood up in a daze and saw that they were standing on a piece of ground just big enough to stand on, surrounded by gullies that were nearly one meter deep and two meters wide, and were still expanding.
‘We have to jump to the other side immediately,’ Shen Yuan said to Luo San, looking at a larger open space on the other side.
‘Okay!’ Luo San nodded, but looking at the gullies in front of him, he didn’t have a clue what to do.
Shen Yuan felt the same way, but she knew that if they didn’t try, the two of them would be trapped up here, which was not what she wanted.
‘Follow me, I’ll count to three, and we’ll jump together.’
‘Okay.’
“One, two, three, jump.’ As soon as Shen Yuan said ‘jump’, Luo San immediately jumped forward, barely managing to put the tips of his feet on the edge of the land on the other side. In an instant, his entire body lost its balance and he fell backwards. In a panic, Luo San quickly let go of Shen Yuan’s right hand, which was tightly clasped, but found that his hand was still being held tightly by Shen Yuan’s left hand, pushing him forward with great force, while Shen Yuan’s other hand pushed him under his back.
‘No good,‘ Luo San suddenly realised what Shen Yuan was trying to do. He immediately clenched his right hand, which had already been released, just as he caught Shen Yuan’s hand, which was about to let go. His right hand immediately sank, and the whole person fell backwards and fell into the ravine. In a hurry, Luo San reached out his left hand and clung tightly to the edge of the ravine above his head.
’Xiaosan, let go,’ Shen Yuan shouted at Luo San.
‘You know I won’t,‘ Luo San said, while he struggled to hold on to the edge of the ravine with his left hand, and increased the strength of his right hand.
’Xiaosanzi, please let go, there’s no need for this,‘ Shen Yuan’s tone had turned to pleading.
’I won’t let go,‘ Luo San smiled indifferently, but his face quickly changed as Shen Yuan’s hand slowly began to slip from his grasp.
’No,’ Luo San suddenly felt a moment of confusion.
‘Ow!’ A howl came from Luo San’s mouth. Vaguely, Luo San seemed to hear a voice saying, “A Yuan, I will never let anything happen to you.” Immediately afterwards, he noticed that the earth had returned to its calm state, and even the split in the ground had healed, as if nothing had happened. They were still at the bottom of the lake, and Wind One, Professor Wu, Nan Qingyi, and the others were standing nearby, looking over in confusion.
‘What happened?‘ Luo San was about to ask Shen Yuan, but heard Shen Yuan let out a cry, covering his left arm with one hand, his face contorted with pain.
’What’s wrong! Did it hurt you?’ Luo San crouched down and gently took Shen Yuan’s hand, ’I don’t know where the strength came from just now, I suddenly threw you up, but I didn’t expect to hurt you.’
‘It’s fine, it’s probably dislocated,’ Shen Yuan whispered as she lowered her head.
After a while, Shen Yuan sighed and looked up, seeing that Professor Wu had already walked up to her. She immediately said indifferently, ’Can you set bones? My hand may be dislocated.’
Chapter 20 Underground Cave
Everyone was curious about the sudden earthquake that had just occurred and then suddenly disappeared, and after Professor Wu had cured Shen Yuan’s dislocated left hand, they began discussing it.
‘What just happened? The earthquake suddenly occurred and then suddenly disappeared, as if it had never happened at all,’ Nan Qingyi asked.
Luo San looked around again. The bottom of the sea was still calm, just as it had been when they first arrived, as if the earthquake had just been a dream for the ten of them. What on earth was going on?
Professor Wu already had an answer at this point: it turned out that there had been no earthquake just now. It was just that the earthquake that occurred back then had caused tremendous damage, killing thousands of people. The residual brainwaves of the people who died formed a powerful force of thought that had not dispersed for thousands of years. Whenever someone from the outside entered here, it caused the earthquake to happen again. I think it was because everyone entered the bottom of this sea and triggered that force of thought, which caused the earthquake to happen again.
‘You mean everything that just happened was like watching a movie?‘ Feng asked.
’Not exactly,’ Professor Wu shook his head and said, ’watching a movie only lets you see the scenes and hear the sounds, but just now, in this special environment, what we felt was the real situation of the earthquake. In other words, in this environment, the 1933 earthquake has happened again. Although the outside world cannot feel it, if those of us inside cannot escape, we will definitely die.’ Professor Wu paused for a moment, and then continued, ‘If Xiao Sanzi hadn’t screamed just now, I’m afraid we would have been buried underground in the ancient town, just like the Zuozhi Qiang people from decades ago. Xiao Sanzi is our saviour.’
Professor Wu looked at Luo San meaningfully as he spoke.
‘What, I was the one who screamed?’
“Don’t you know?’
‘Well. I was only thinking about saving Shen Yuan, and then I felt a bit dizzy, and then I noticed that everything had returned to normal.‘
’Never mind that, now it’s important to find that entrance,‘ Nan Qingyi urged.
’Just now I saw a stone that was very strange, and it is very likely to be the entrance,‘ Luo San said.
’Where is that stone?”
Luo San looked around, and everything at the bottom of the lake had changed over the years, not to mention that he had only glanced at it in a hurry just now, so he could only roughly point to a location.
That area was quite large and not easy to find. Professor Wu, however, pointed confidently at the scaly white fish swimming in front of them and said, ‘If our guess is correct, and these fish came from underground caves into this lake after the earthquake, then it means that the force that sealed the entrance back then was severely damaged in the earthquake. Perhaps Brother Feng and I can use our blood to find it.’
‘Good,’ Feng said with delight.
“The lock on that entrance will definitely recognise our blood.’
Bright red blood flowed from their fingers and drifted in the water, slowly drifting in one direction. The crowd immediately followed and swam over. The blood finally stopped in one place and slowly sank into it.
‘This is the place,’ said Professor Wu, and together with Feng Yiyi, they quickly dug at the bottom of the lake. Finally, after digging more than a metre of soil from the surface, a huge rock was revealed, with the blood, like flames, planted between the rocks, constantly swaying.
Professor Wu and Feng Yiyi both floated up to the top of the rock at the same time and began to grope and tap at it. At first, Luo San thought that the two of them were just randomly banging on the stone, but he soon discovered that every movement and position of the two of them banging on the stone seemed to contain a mystery. After a round of banging, the rock suddenly began to move: the centre of the rock suddenly cracked open, and the surface of the rock rolled away from the centre like a carpet, until finally the entire rock opened up like a stone box. In the middle of this stone box was a fist-sized, multicoloured stone. The surface of the stone was crystal clear like jade, and the inside was full of colourful light, which was very beautiful. The only flaw was a crack in the exact centre of the stone.
‘That’s right, this is the stone lock that seals the entrance. If this stone lock had not been damaged, no external force would be able to get in,’ Feng Yi said, reaching out and nudging the stone a little, which only slightly shook.
Feng Yi once again bit his finger and quickly smeared the blood that was quickly flowing on his finger on the colourful stone. The blood did not disperse with the water flow when it got on the stone, but instead seeped into the stone and blended in with the stone’s own colourful colours. Gradually, the five colours merged into one, and then a sound of ‘click’ was heard, and the stone cracked open from the middle.
‘Okay. Open…‘ Fengyi said excitedly, but he froze halfway through because the stone cracked from the middle, and the stone below it also cracked in half. However, what was exposed underground was not an entrance for people to pass through, but a solid piece of land.
’How can this be?’ Fengyi asked, looking at the hard soil in front of him.
Luo San looked at the soil in front of him and understood the problem after a little thought: this entrance should also be a sea eye. The sea eye in Chengdu only opens during thunderstorms, and I think this sea eye will only open during thunderstorms. But what should I do now? Do I have to wait here for thunder and rain? Luo San looked up at the sky above the water with a depressed expression. Suddenly, he felt a bright light, followed by a muffled sound. He looked around, but it was still calm all around. Only above his head did another bright light flash, followed by another muffled sound. It turned out to be raining.
‘This rain has come just in time,’ Luo San couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
Sure enough, everything turned out just as Luo San had predicted. In just a short while, the land, which had been as hard as iron and could not be planed open no matter what method was used, suddenly became soft and quickly sank, forming a huge tunnel in no time. The tunnel extended horizontally, and from the hole, faintly visible was the light inside.
Seeing all this, Luo San could not help but be stunned, and a familiar scene suddenly came to mind: Xanadu. It was through such a small hole that the Wuling fisherman entered Xanadu, so could there be a Xanadu here that no one knows about? Perhaps in such a place, Shen Yuan would no longer have to suffer from the curse of his family. Luo San was thinking about this when he heard Shen Yuan tug him and whisper, ‘Xiao Sanzi, what are you thinking about? We should go in.’
‘Oh, okay,’ Luo San agreed and swam into the tunnel with the others. The tunnel was quite wide, and it would not be a problem for several cars to drive side by side. As the group swam along the tunnel, they could only feel the road beneath their feet slowly extending downward, as if they were always going deeper and deeper underground. After swimming for an unknown period of time, Luo San gradually felt the cave in front of him brighten up. Luo San knew that ahead of him was the homeland that the Gorgi people, the Qiongdu tribe’s shamans, could not forget for a long time. Luosan looked at Professor Wu and Fengyi, who were swimming side by side, and couldn’t help but wonder if these two people, who had inherited part of the culture of the Gorgi people, had also inherited the Gorgi people’s blood. He wondered how they felt about this underground cave where the Gorgi people had lived for countless years.
Luosan soon had no time to care about the feelings of Professor Wu and the others, because the moment Professor Wu and Fengyi swam out of the tunnel, they stopped. Luo San hurriedly swam up to them, wanting to ask what had happened, but was stunned by the sight before him: all he could see was an endless expanse of ocean, while he and Professor Wu and the others were underground at the bottom of the sea; not far below was soft sand and gravel and all kinds of shallow marine animals and plants, and the seabed gradually extended into the depths. Above their heads was a blue sky, with a red sun hanging high in the azure sky.
‘How is this possible?’ ‘This sun, this sky, how is there such a world underground? How is this possible?’ Luo San ignored it all, just staring blankly at the sky above his head. Like Professor Wu, he couldn’t believe it was real, but everything in front of him was so real that he had to accept the reality: there was an underground world hundreds of kilometres underground in Sichuan, from Chengdu to Mao County. Like the world we live in now, this underground world has a sky and a sun, but there is no land, and most of the world is submerged in water.
It really is a paradise.
The group just kept looking until Shen Yuan suggested to them, ‘It’s not good for your health to stay in the water all the time, let’s go up and have a look.’
‘Yes, I’d like to see what that sun is all about,’ said Luo San, and he struggled to swim to the surface. It wasn’t far to the surface, and after a few minutes, the sea was in sight. The creatures in the sea had never seen a human before, so they didn’t panic when they saw Luo San and the others. They swam past them one after the other, and in particular, the turtles, each the size of a wheel, swam around Luo San, swimming back and forth, showing extraordinary affection.
After surfacing, Luo San quickly removed his diving equipment and took a big breath, feeling instantly refreshed. Is the air different here too? Luo San took another deep breath and indeed felt that the air here made him feel extra clear-headed.
‘The oxygen content of the air here is much higher than on the surface,’ Professor Wu said as he carefully breathed in the air, ‘Everyone here must be careful, because we still don’t know how things will be different here from the world we know.’
‘Yes. We should be careful and see if there is any land.‘ Luo San said, and looked around. Sure enough, there seemed to be a shore at the end of the sea on the right.
’Is there land there?’ Luo San asked the others as he floated on the water.
Professor Wu looked in the direction Luo San was pointing and sure enough, he saw what looked like a piece of land in the distance.
‘Shall we go and have a look?‘ Professor Wu asked for the group’s opinion.
’Of course we should go. Otherwise, what are we going to do, search in the middle of the sea? We don’t have that much time.‘ Feng Yidao said, “The entire underground cave is almost submerged in water. If the shamans left any clues here back then, they must have left them on that piece of land.”
’Then there’s no need to waste any more words, let’s go,’ Shen Yuan said, and swam forward with all his strength.
‘Send 30 more people immediately with equipment and weapons to enter the water.‘ Nan Qingyi swam towards the land while giving orders to the people on the surface through the underwater communication facilities.
’It’s still comfortable on land,’ said Luo San. After arriving on shore, he just lay on the ground, stretching out, which made Professor Wu shake his head and say to Shen Yuan, ’Pull Xiaosan up. We should split up and go inside to take a look and look for clues.’
Luo San did not wait for Shen Yuan to speak, immediately braced himself with his right hand and rolled over to sit up, trying to stand up. But as soon as he straightened up, he let out a surprised sound and stopped.
Seeing Luo San’s unusual situation, Shen Yuan immediately crouched down and asked with concern, ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I was jostled by something,’ said Luo San, while quickly shoveling away the sand on the ground. As the sand on the surface was removed, a white bone-like object was revealed on the ground. It seemed that a large part of it was still buried in the sand. Seeing this, Luo San immediately grabbed one end of it and dragged it outwards, but he fell over immediately. However, this allowed him to see clearly what he was holding in his hands: it was a piece of ivory.
At this point, Professor Wu and the others also gathered around. ‘Strange! Strange!’ Professor Wu shook his head while looking at the ivory, muttering to himself.
Shen Yuan also chimed in: ‘Yes, it is strange. How could there be ivory on land in such an underground cave?’
‘Could it be that the Gorgons used the ivory for sacrifices?’ Luo San said. ’Didn’t Professor Wu say that the Sanxingdui site was excavated and a large quantity of ivory and sea shells were found? I have a thought. Since our inference is that the Sanxingdui civilization was founded by the Gorgons, and since this underground cave was the earliest place where the Gorgons lived, then this underground cave is actually the source of the Sanxingdui civilization. So I speculate that the ivory and sea shells in the Sanxingdui civilization probably came from the land and sea here respectively.’
‘You mean those elephants lived on this land in front of us in this cave?‘ Shen Yuan asked.
’Maybe not exactly. We previously speculated that this cave was flooded. Perhaps in the past, when the water level was not so high, there was still other land in this cave, and the elephants may have lived on that land.‘
’Stop, stop,’ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted the discussion between Luo San and Shen Yuan, shaking his head and sighing, ’Do you know why I said it was strange? You just keep talking about it here and there.‘
’Aren’t you surprised to find ivory here?‘ Shen Yuan and Luo San asked in unison.
’Of course not,’ Professor Wu said with a satisfied expression on his face. ’If this ivory is really what Xiaosan said it was, a Gorgon sacrificial offering, then there is nothing strange about it. What is really strange is the ivory itself. Now look at the ivory and see if you notice anything unusual.’
Luo San and Shen Yuan immediately focused their attention on the ivory again. What was different about the ivory in their hands? Luo San wiped the sand off its surface, and the ivory’s true appearance was revealed in its entirety. The white ivory, reflecting the sunlight, looked exceptionally crystal clear. Suddenly Luo San realised where the problem lay. The ivory was too white, so white that it looked as if it had just been plucked from an elephant’s body, and an ivory that had been buried in the ground for thousands of years would never look like this.
When Luo San told Professor Wu about this discovery, Wu nodded in satisfaction and said, ‘Yes, that’s the problem. This ivory is not a relic from ancient sacrifices, but was buried in the soil recently, not more than ten years ago.’
‘Not more than ten years?’ Although Luo San could see that the ivory was very new, he still couldn’t believe it was that new.
‘How is this possible? Could there be people here who performed sacrifices ten years ago?’ Shen Yuan couldn’t understand it either.
‘It wasn’t a sacrifice, they were killed and left here.’ Before Professor Wu could say anything, Fengyi in the distance answered.
The group then noticed that after Fengyi had come ashore, he had not been with the others, but had been looking at something on his own. At this time, he had dug more than ten pits of various sizes on the beach, revealing a large number of bones buried under the sand. The bones were those of animals as small as hares and pheasants and as large as tigers, leopards and elephants, all of which had been buried in the sand.
Who killed and buried so many animals here? Luo San wondered.
‘Could it be that the water level in this underground sea suddenly rose, flooding the land and causing the death of these animals in large numbers?’ Luo San guessed.
‘They weren’t drowned,’ Feng said in a resolute voice. ‘Look at the bones of this elephant, they are densely covered with gnawing marks.’
Sure enough, there were dense gnawing marks all over the bones. The gnawing marks were not very big, and the group did not know what animal had caused them.
‘I believe that the secret of everything lies in the jungle. Let’s hurry and go into the jungle to find clues,’ Shen Yuan said.
As soon as he heard that they were going to go inside, Luo San began to survey the land in front of him: this land in the underground cave was actually just a concave area on the inner wall of this huge cave. Even so, this concave area, due to its huge area, had soil and groundwater on it, and over the millennia, all kinds of plants and animals had survived here. The ginkgo trees, which were tens of metres high and surrounded by several people, and the branches and leaves of the yew trees were towering and lush, shading this place and giving it a hint of coolness. Under the towering trees, all kinds of ferns, shrubs, and weeds grew luxuriantly, making it impossible to find a path. Occasionally, there would be a path wide enough for a person to stretch out one foot, a path left by beasts or birds as they passed through day after day.
The group split into two teams and headed into the depths of the jungle separately. Luo San, Shen Yuan, Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi, and some of their entourage were one team.
The path in the jungle was quite difficult to walk on. Walking knee-deep in weeds, the thorns and vines at their feet made it difficult to move. Fortunately, Nan Qingyi’s clan was clearing a path ahead of them, so everything was going well.
The deeper they went into the jungle, the darker the light became, and the denser the vegetation grew. But strangely, in the jungle, they could see trees as thick as a bowl being cut down in the middle and fallen to the ground, rotting for a long time. Luosan looked around as he walked, hoping to find some clue to the Qiongdu people’s shamans, but all he found along the way were trees, and trees, and trees. The tall trees, the plants that had been growing and dying for thousands of years, seemed to have covered up all traces of humans. But Luosan did not give up hope of finding something, and instead, he broke off a piece of bamboo and poked at things on the ground along the way, hoping to find some clue. Suddenly, Luo San felt the end of the bamboo pole poke into something hard. At first, Luo San ignored it, thinking that it had just poked into a stone in the soil, but then the bamboo pole poked into another hard object. Luo San crouched down and used the bamboo pole to shovel the soil on the ground away. Beneath the soil was a rock, rough and irregular, but clearly with signs of polishing. Luo San quickly removed all the soil around the rock, and beneath that soil were the same few stones.
‘Found anything?‘ Shen Yuan’s voice broke Luo San’s thoughts.
’Hm!‘ Luo San nodded, pointing the stones on the ground at Shen Yuan while quickly stirring the soil with his hands. “These stones were obviously laid here by someone. This is a passage.”
’Clean up the stuff on top.’
Following Nan Qingyi’s suggestion, the group quickly cleared a place, and the scene suddenly opened up. What came into view was a road more than three metres wide, built with irregular stones, leading into the depths of the jungle.
The clue to the sea eye left by the Gorgonians should be in the depths of the jungle, otherwise they would not have built such a road. Luo San thought to himself, and immediately signalled Shen Yuan to send a signal to Professor Wu and the others.
Shen Yuan, however, shook his head: ‘No hurry. Let’s walk a little further into the jungle, and when we see what’s really there, we can signal them.’ With that, Shen Yuan walked along the stone path into the depths of the jungle, waving his hands to signal Luo San and Nan Qingyi to follow.
At that moment, however, a signal flare appeared not far away. This meant that Professor Wu and the others had discovered something.
“Let’s go take a look. I hope it’s not just a path like the one we found.’
Professor Wu and Feng Yi did not disappoint Luo San and Shen Yuan, because what they discovered was far more than just a road…
Chapter 21: Guardians of an Underground Civilization
‘Beneath your feet are three paths, three meters wide, made of gravel. The gravel comes from here, simply polished and processed with crude means. These paths lead in all directions, and currently we don’t know what use they serve,’ said Professor Wu to Luo San and Shen Yuan as he stood in front of one of the stone paths. The stone path in front of them was the same as the one Luo San had seen earlier, except that several paths extended in all directions into the eerie darkness of the jungle. I wonder if those paths will meet again deep in the jungle, and if something even more important is waiting for them there.
The source of those three paths is that small hillock more than 30 metres high. Professor Wu saw Luo San looking at the hillock and immediately pointed at it and said to Luo San and Shen Yuan, ‘This hillock, apart from the surface soil, is made entirely of huge rocks, and there are scorch marks in some places. I think it is an altar.’ Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, Luo San and Shen Yuan immediately shifted their attention from the stone path to the hillside. The rocks on the hillside were enormous, comparable to the huge stones that made up the Qiong people’s stone tombs in the Anning River Valley. Compared to the paving stones, these stones seemed to have been carefully polished. Not only were they smooth and regular in appearance, but they were also of uniform size, stacked neatly together to form the hillside before them. Upon closer inspection, Luo San realised that the small hill was actually round in shape, with a large base and a small top, and that the top was basically flat. Judging from this shape, it really looked a lot like an altar. On the front of the hill was a row of steps that led from the ground to the top of the hill. Luo San followed the steps to the top of the hill and looked into the distance along the direction of the three roads, but found that his line of sight had been completely blocked by the dense branches and leaves, and he could not see the situation in the distance at all. With no choice, Luo San had to turn his attention to the top of the hill.
When he first saw this hill, Luo San felt that it was strange, but he couldn’t say exactly what was strange about it. It wasn’t until he stood on top of the hill that he finally understood. The strange thing about this hill was that, in the entire jungle, including the plants in other parts of the hill that were quite lush, the top of this hill, which was only 400 square meters wide, was a bare, barren piece of land. Even if the top of the hill was made up of a single smooth, hard boulder, over the course of 2,000 years, the elements have not left any marks on it. The tenacious life of plants has not left moss and other organisms on the boulder, and even the fallen leaves of thousands of years have not visited here to leave the dead leaves to finally turn to dust.
‘It’s strange, isn’t it? This place is just a bare patch of ground.’ Just as Luo San was staring at the ground at the top of the slope, which was even spotless, Professor Wu suddenly appeared behind him and spoke.
Luo San nodded and asked, ’Do you know what the reason is?’
‘No.‘ Professor Wu said, shaking the ashes from his cigarette. The ashes, with sparks flying off them, fell silently onto the rock. Just as they were about to land on the surface, they suddenly swirled and drifted upwards, as if caught in the wind, and gradually flew higher and higher, drifting further and further away, finally disappearing from the top of the slope.
’So it was the wind. What exactly caused it?’
‘This is the legacy of a previous civilisation. Don’t look at it with modern thinking, I can’t find an answer anyway.‘ As Professor Wu was speaking, Nan Qingyi, who was not far away, suddenly shouted, “Come quickly.”
What Nan Qingyi had discovered were some lines on the ground, crisscrossed with dots of various sizes.
’Could this be some kind of rune?‘ Nan Qingyi asked Feng Yi.
’No.‘
’Then, could this thing be a map?’ Luo San hesitantly said what he was thinking.
Shen Yuan nodded and said, ‘This is a map, and it is a map of the land beneath our feet.’ Shen Yuan pointed to a small dot on the cloth and said to the group, ‘Look, there is a small dot here, and three thin lines extend from it. I think they are the three roads in front of us.’ The group looked up and saw that the three roads in front of them were indeed the same as the three lines marked on the map.
‘It seems that Shen Yuan was right. Then let’s see what else is marked on this map,’ said Professor Wu, leaning his head closer and studying the map carefully.
The crisscrossing thin lines on this map are presumably the stone roads, and the dots dotted at the intersections of the thin lines are presumably individual hillsides. Luo San counted and found that there are a total of 9 dots marked on the map, and these 9 dots are arranged in a grid pattern. The one in the centre is much larger than the others, and I think it is a special place.‘ What does this line refer to?’ Shen Yuan’s words attracted everyone’s attention to a thin line at the edge of the map. That line is located outside the small dot representing the hill where Luo San and the others are currently located, and it crosses the entire map.
Professor Wu looked at the line and mused, ‘It is possible that it refers to that thing.’ He then stood up and pointed to a place not far from the hillside, saying, ‘There is a strange section of earthen wall there, about three metres wide, and the length is unpredictable. I think it is the thing referred to by this line.’
Luo San looked as far as he could see, but since it was already dark in the jungle, and the branches and leaves of the luxuriant vegetation blocked the view, he couldn’t see anything at all. The group had to walk down the hillside and, under Professor Wu’s guidance, arrived at the section of wall.
In the undergrowth, a dirt wall about a metre high and three metres wide could be faintly seen. Due to the leaves piled up on the surface of the dirt wall, the group could not see the true appearance of the dirt wall at all. Nan Qingyi immediately asked the clan members to go up and clear it. In a short while, the group finally saw the true appearance of the dirt wall. The bottom of the dirt wall was irregular, but the top surface was surprisingly smooth and flat.
‘What is it for?’ the people looked at each other in puzzlement. Logically, a wall of this width would be like a city wall built for this place, but the height was too short. But if it wasn’t a city wall, then what was this wall used for? Could it be a threshold built by the Gorgi people?
Just as the people were wondering, they suddenly heard a rustling sound, and the bushes in front of them began to shake non-stop, and even the ground trembled slightly. Luosan looked around three or four times, but saw groups of animals such as pheasants, hares, snakes, and even wild boars all running out of the jungle, each one terrified, running past Luosan and the others without stopping, as if there was something terrifying outside the jungle. The group were looking at each other in amazement when they heard even louder splashing and cracking sounds coming from the jungle, and the shaking of the ground beneath their feet became even more violent, as if a group of animals with huge bodies were running.
Lo San could vaguely see the bowl-sized trees in the jungle, falling with loud cracking noises. As the trees fell, a group of animals with bodies the size of small hills poured out. Bucket-sized feet, huge bodies, long snouts…it was a herd of elephants. Could it be that all the animals were fleeing because of the herd of elephants? Lo San quickly dismissed this idea, because the herd of elephants was also as frightened as the group of animals that had just passed by.
‘Quick, let’s run up the hill,’ Professor Wu called anxiously, taking the lead and beginning to run up the hill. Everyone followed immediately, because if they didn’t get to the top of the hill before the elephants arrived, they might all be trampled to death by the frightened elephants.
Standing on the hill, everyone was still panting when they heard a rustling in the jungle. Gradually they saw that it was a dark mass. It was a group of mice the size of little pigs. Looking at the black tide of mice, Luo San couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine. Suddenly, he felt Shen Yuan next to him tremble slightly. He turned his head and saw Shen Yuan, whose face was pale, looking at the constantly surging mice at the foot of the hill, her hands clenched tightly. Luo San silently reached out and took Shen Yuan’s hand. Shen Yuan immediately squeezed his hand tightly. ‘Don’t worry, we still have so many people, these mice are not a problem,’ Luo San comforted softly.
Shen Yuan’s lips were tightly closed and she didn’t say a word. It was obvious that she was still quite scared. Luo San couldn’t help but smile to himself. Girls are just like girls. Even Shen Yuan, who had dealt with corpses since she was a child, was inexplicably afraid of these mice.
Soon Luo San’s attention shifted back to the rats. Unlike the animals that had previously run past, these rats were fast runners, but they were not in the least bit flustered. They could be described as orderly, and they were closing in from three directions, converging here as quickly as a tide. Along the way, those animals that were slower runners, or those that got stuck between the trees, were quickly overwhelmed by the tide and in an instant became a pile of bones. Luo San finally understood what had caused the gnawing marks on the elephant bones he had seen on the beach earlier. The rat colony kept gathering towards the shore, forming a huge encirclement and gradually driving all kinds of animals towards the shore.
‘It seems that these rats are very clever. They want to drive all these animals to the sea to drown and then nibble them one by one. Damn, these are not rats, they are a group of rat demons,‘ Professor Wu sighed.
’Why are these rats so big?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask.
Professor Wu shook his head and said, ’There are records of giant rats all over the world, but those giant rats often survive on some deserted islands. Some are caused by nuclear tests, and some are caused by pollution. But I really don’t know what caused these giant rats here.’
As he spoke, the rat pack closed in on the fleeing animals, who were huddled together on the shore, in a panic, with the sea on one side and the rat pack on the other. It looked as if they were about to be overwhelmed. But then the rat pack suddenly stopped.
Luo San was astonished to discover that the rats had stopped in a very strange way. They had all stopped in front of the section of the earthen wall that Luo San and the others had been wondering what to do with.
The sight before them was eerie. A section of earth wall with no visible edge ran through the entire jungle. On one side of the wall were the black rats, motionless like a mountain range, not even making a sound; on the other side were a group of frightened animals of all kinds, from elephants to hares, all like lambs about to be slaughtered, helplessly staying on the jungle outside the rocks, by the shore.
‘What are they going to do?’ Luo San looked at the group of rats, motionless, and couldn’t help but exclaim.
‘It is a bit strange. They should have immediately gone up and eaten all these animals, so why are they not moving?‘ Professor Wu was also puzzled.
’Could it be that they are waiting for something?’ Shen Yuan asked.
Before Shen Yuan finished speaking, everyone saw commotion among the animals outside the earthen wall. Soon, the animals began to run back desperately, rushing back into the earthen wall regardless. However, the rats on the other side of the earthen wall like soldiers defending a city, did not retreat, and one after another, they piled on top of each other, forming a black, more than two-metre-high wall. Once an animal crossed the rocks, it would immediately fall into the rat wall and be gnawed to the bone. After a few rounds, countless bones had accumulated inside the rocks. The rats climbed among the bones and continued to hold their ground, while the animals, contrary to their usual behaviour, charged crazily, no matter how many corpses had accumulated in front of them.
What on earth was causing these animals to panic like this? Luo San was puzzled. In the distance, he heard a faint rumble. He looked as far as he could see, but all he could see was the rough waves on the distant shore, surging in like a mountain of water, instantly drowning the slow animals. In the blink of an eye, the tide reached the distance of the earthen wall. For a while, the animals outside the earthen wall rushed even more desperately towards the inside, but they were unable to break through the blockade formed by the rats. And in the face of the surging tide, the rats were not at all moved, and they always stayed in front of the rocks. Everyone felt strange. Could it be that these rats could swim, or were they trying to perish together with the animals?
A few seconds later, the first wave of the tide had already reached the earthen wall and was about to cross it and drown the mice, but the mice remained unmoved. Could it be that these mice were truly fearless? Just as Luo San was wondering, the earthen wall suddenly shook a little, as if a sleeping giant had stretched after being awakened. Then, the section of earthen wall began to rise slowly in a slight tremor, as if growing out of the ground. At first, the growth was slow, but with the arrival of the second wave, the growth rate suddenly increased. Within a few seconds, the wall grew from less than 3 metres high to 40 metres high. The surging tide slammed against the wall, but the 3-metre-wide wall did not budge.
‘Resting earth, that’s a wall made of resting earth, that’s why it grows when it meets water,‘ Professor Wu suddenly exclaimed, “I understand, this wall was built by the Gorgon people to prevent the sea from surging inland.”
’Resting earth? Is it the resting earth that Dayu’s father used to control the floods?’ Luo San looked at the wall, which was growing taller and taller, with great interest.
‘Yes, that’s the stuff. I always thought it was just a myth, but I never expected it to actually exist. Could it be high-tech again? No, I have to get some.‘
’Don’t be stupid, okay,’ Nan Qingyi roared, “don’t you see what’s going on?”
The situation could only be described as extremely critical. Because the rat colony began squeaking and squealing, retreating from the side of the earthen wall and gathering around the small hill where Luo San and the others had set up camp. Their goal was clear: they wanted to kill the intruders. Everyone became nervous. Luo San even felt Shen Yuan’s hand in his palm tremble slightly. Luo San squeezed Shen Yuan’s hand to show his support, but his heart was also racing. Not only were there a lot of mice, but they seemed to be under the command of someone. Even though everyone had weapons, they were afraid that they would not be able to escape from such a large group of mice.
Luo San’s intuition was not wrong. Soon, after the rats formed a circle by the small hill, with a loud squeaking noise, the rats began to swarm towards the top of the hill. Luo San could clearly feel Shen Yuan’s hand tremble in his palm. He decisively pulled Shen Yuan behind him, let go of her hand, took a gun from Nanyi, and nervously looked down the hill.
‘Fire.’ With a command from Nanyi, there was a loud gunfire all around. Luo San also pulled the trigger. The huge recoil made him unable to adapt for a while, but soon he got used to it. The gun in his hands sprayed bullets like rain, shooting at the rat pack. One by one, the rats fell down screaming. In an instant, the hill slope was already full of rat corpses. However, the rat pack continued to charge forward without delay, stepping on the corpses of their companions and continuing to climb upwards.
Seeing this, Nanyu waved his hand, and countless incendiary bombs soared into the air and landed among the rats. The flames temporarily blocked the rats’ path, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of burning. The rats retreated like a tide. Just as Luo San excitedly thought that the rats had begun to retreat, he noticed that they had begun to gather in the west and quickly launched another attack.
The western defence was indeed the weakest, so the rat pack quickly closed in on the mountainside, moving quickly towards the top under a hail of bullets.
‘Reinforce the west.’ Before Nanyi could finish speaking, countless accelerants had been dumped onto the western hillside, mixing with the black rats. The next second, the entire hillside was already ablaze. However, the rats seemed to have been prepared for this, and at the moment the accelerant was poured, they quickly retreated, so that although the entire hillside was a sea of flames, not many rats were burned to death. The rats that had retreated from the hillside had now flocked to the east.
After a few such incidents, there were very few hand-held nukes and weapons left in the hands of Nan Yi and the others. Luo San realised that this was an extraordinary group of rats, with unified command behind them. Luo San thought to himself that if he could find the commander of this group of rats, he might be able to make the rats scatter. At that moment, he immediately looked around, eager to find something. However, what came into his eyes was still the dark jungle, and the large group of mice. But Luo San still looked on with undying hope. The light in the jungle had become darker than when Luo San and the others first arrived. After looking around in this kind of light for a while, Luo San felt his eyes become unbearably sore, so he couldn’t help but rub them. However, he quickly stopped what he was doing, because he suddenly saw two red flashes in the depths of the jungle. Luo San immediately widened his eyes and looked into the depths of the jungle. Sure enough, in the depths of the jungle, there were two red lights. As these two red lights rotated, the rat army also immediately rotated in the direction of the attack.
It seems that this is the commander of the rat army, Luo San thought excitedly, and was about to point it out to the crowd when he heard Nanyi shouting, ‘Bu Mo, we can’t hold back any longer. We must send you and a few friends away first.’ Nanyi then said to his people, ‘Everyone, we will do our best to get Bu Mo and his friends out of danger.’
Professor Wu kept shaking his head: ‘This is out of the question. Let’s think of another way.’
‘What other way is there? If we don’t charge down, we’re all dead. If we charge down, there might be a chance.’
‘Retreat the defence line, concentrate to the east, and prepare to escort Bu Mo and his friends down the mountain,’ Nanyi shouted.
‘Maybe it won’t come to that,’ said Luo San, pointing at the red light deep in the jungle. ’That’s the leader of the rat pack. If we just kill the big rat, everything will be fine.’
‘Nonsense, it’s so far away, far beyond the range of our guns. Brothers, tighten the defence line and concentrate towards the east.”
But the rat pack obviously wasn’t going to give them that chance. Even as they were talking, they were already approaching the top of the hill, and there was no chance of them breaking out.
At this moment, Fengyi, who had been hiding and keeping quiet, suddenly spoke up: “I’ve found something over here, hurry and concentrate over here.”
Fengyi’s discovery was a protruding, round object on the top of the hill, like a button.
‘This is a switch, although I don’t know what it’s for, but now there’s nothing to lose, we have to give it a try,’ said Wind One, and quickly gave the button a few taps before pressing it. After a rattling sound, a hole appeared on the platform, and a strong wind blew out of the hole, blowing everyone off their feet. A few men who were concentrating on fighting the rat pack were so distracted that they were blown down the mountain and quickly turned into white bones.
The wind in the cave seemed endless and grew more and more violent. At first, Luo San and the others could barely hold on, but in the end, the wind blew them closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. Just as everyone was about to fall to their deaths and be gnawed to bone by the rats, a long, loud screech suddenly came from the sky. The sound didn’t seem loud, but it shook everyone’s eardrums.
The sound stopped after a long time, and the crowd was surprised to find that the wind had stopped and the rats had stopped their attack. Luo San noticed that the two red lights deep in the jungle were now shooting up into the sky.
The sky suddenly became brighter, and the setting sun became radiant, like the rising sun. Opposite him, the moon was looking across the sky, its silvery white light not inferior to the sun’s.
‘The sun and the moon shining together?’ These were the first words that Luo San thought of, but the next second, Luo San didn’t know how to describe the scene in front of him. The sun at the horizon began to sway slightly, and it took a while before it stopped.
Since the sun and the moon appeared in the sky at the same time, the temperature suddenly became scorching, and the jungle was humid and stuffy. In the depths of the jungle, a white gas began to slowly flow on the ground of the jungle. Gradually, the gas became more and more, slowly flowing towards the small hill where Luo San and the others were standing.
The rat pack surrounding the hillside squeaked, seeming to panic, but still maintaining their neat formation. Gradually the white gas flowed into the rat pack, and the numerous rats were submerged in a white haze. The squeaking of the rat pack grew louder and louder, and the neat formation became disordered. However, the squeaking of the rat pack grew quieter and quieter. Luo San noticed that wherever the white gas passed, except for the exceptionally tall trees, all the ordinary trees turned yellow.
‘No good, there’s something wrong with those gases,‘ Luo San just shouted this out, and saw that the rat pack was now completely in disarray. The rats that had originally stood still began to run towards the top of the hill.
’Everyone go underground,’ Nan Qingyi decisively ordered.
The underground was a passage more than 10 metres wide, leading to an unknown destination. Without thinking much about it, everyone ran forward, chasing each other. The rats followed closely behind. Nan Yi and the others stopped from time to time to scan back, but the effect was getting smaller and smaller. The passage was packed with rats, coming like a tide.
Luo San ran in the dark, not knowing how long he had been running. He felt that his steps were getting slower and slower, and his legs were like lead, making it difficult to move. The rats had stopped chasing them at some point, and they did not come after them anymore. The others seemed to realise that the rats had stopped chasing them, and their steps slowed down one after the other, and they eventually sat down on the ground.
After a long while, Feng Yi suddenly asked, ‘Since there are so many rats here, why haven’t they eaten all these animals and plants?’
Professor Wu replied thoughtfully, ‘These rats are not as simple as we think. I’m afraid their actions today are not just for predation.’
‘What then?’ Feng Yi couldn’t understand.
“If it were for predation, they could have eaten all these animals on the way, and they would not have needed to make such a big fuss and go to such great lengths to drive the animals to the shore. I suspect that the purpose of these rats is to reduce the number of animals in the jungle, and for this reason, they carry out such operations regularly. Before the sea water rises, they drive these animals out of the jungle, so that the number of animals in the jungle will be greatly reduced, thus ensuring the ecological balance of the entire jungle. This is why we see so many white bones on the beach by the sea. These rats should be the jungle guardians left behind by the Gorgonians.‘
’Then will these rats come after us?’ Luo San asked worriedly.
‘I don’t think so. If they wanted to, they would have already done so.’ Professor Wu stood up and looked around. “There must be something about this place that keeps the rats away.”
Hearing what Professor Wu said, Luo San began to look around. It turned out that they were in an underground passage. The underground passage was more than 10 metres wide and 10 metres high, extending straight ahead, leading to who knows where. The passage was made of stone, each stone carefully polished and smooth.
‘What’s going on above ground?‘ Professor Wu suddenly asked.
Nan Yi shook his head: “I don’t know. The entrance has been blocked by rats. We’ve lost contact with the people by the lake. If we want to get out, we have to keep going forward. There’s no other way.”
’Then let’s go quickly.’
Chapter 22: The Return of Shifeng
‘Professor Wu, do you know what that white gas is?‘
’Xiaosan, I’m not omnipotent. Don’t ask me everything. But I guess it might be something like miasma.‘
’Can miasma make trees wither?‘
’I said I’m not omnipotent, don’t ask me everything.‘
’…‘
’Professor Wu, this place is so strange, do you think we’ll encounter creatures on the ground that we’ve never seen before?‘
’Xiaosan, can you stop asking so many things.’
The underground passage seemed endless. Everyone walked silently forward, only Luo San occasionally remembering something and pestering Professor Wu. After the battle just now, they had lost more than ten people. Nan Yi looked very sad and walked silently in the back, while Nan Qingyi was still very anxious and walked quickly forward. The only way for everyone to keep up with him was to run quickly forward.
It was only after walking for a full six hours that Luo San saw a slight change in the passage ahead.
A hall of several thousand square metres appeared at the end of the passageway.
It was an open-air hall, and if the group looked up, they could see the azure sky, dotted with stars and a full moon. The hall was empty and could be seen in its entirety at a glance. At the other end of the hall was a passageway leading forward.
‘I don’t know where that passageway leads, so it seems like we’ll just have to sleep here tonight,’ Nan Qingyi said to the group in frustration.
‘Good!’ Everyone was tired and eager to get some sleep, so they agreed to Nan Qingyi’s suggestion.
After eating the dried food, Luo San quickly fell asleep in his sleeping bag. After a while, he was suddenly awakened by a sound. It was Professor Wu’s voice, and he could only hear Professor Wu muttering, ’The burden of the enlightened royal family over the past thousands of years has finally ended in my hands, so good, so good…’
It seems that Professor Wu was dreaming. Luo San listened, then closed his eyes again, preparing to fall asleep again, but heard Shen Yuan exclaim in alarm, ‘Xiaosan, how could it be you? How could it be you? No, it’s impossible…’ The sound stopped here, and after a long while, Luo San heard Shen Yuan exclaim in joy, ‘Xiaosan, I told you it was a misunderstanding, it couldn’t be you.’
‘Slay the dragon!’ At that moment, another voice suddenly sounded. Luo San recognised it as the voice of Nan Qingyi. Luo San wanted to hear what else Nan Qingyi would say, but after saying those two words, Nan Qingyi never spoke again.
What did “slay the dragon” mean? What had Shen Yuan dreamt about? What was me, and what wasn’t? Luo San thought about it for a long time, but still couldn’t figure it out. He fell asleep again, confused.
When Luo San woke up again, the sky above him was still dark, and the moon was in the centre of the sky, spilling its silvery light across the world. Luo San fell asleep again.
After an unknown period of time, Luo San woke up again, but found that everyone else was still asleep, and the sky above him was still dark, and the moon seemed to have moved only a little.
Luo San closed his eyes again, but this time he could not fall asleep again, because he found that he was in high spirits, and his stomach was rumbling. Luosan remembered that he had eaten a lot before going to bed, but now, looking at the sky above his head, it seemed that it had only been three or four hours since then. Why was he so hungry? Luosan couldn’t figure it out. He also couldn’t figure out another problem: why couldn’t he sleep, while everyone else was sound asleep, not even murmuring in their sleep as they had just been?
Bored, Luosan took out his mobile phone and played with it, but when he looked at the time, he froze.
The time on the phone said 10:30 a.m. on June 30th. Luo San clearly remembered that they had entered the water on June 29th, and when they went to sleep, he had specifically checked the time, which was 11:30 p.m. on June 29th. If the time on the phone was correct, that meant they had been asleep for 11 hours, but if it was 10:30 a.m., why was it still so dark.
Luo San understood that there must be something they had not noticed. And in solving this problem, all he could do was wake up the others as quickly as possible.
Everyone was sleeping very deeply, and it took Luo San a lot of effort to wake everyone up. After listening to Luo San’s situation, everyone looked at the dark night sky and unanimously decided to quickly leave.
The group walked forward from the opposite side of the hall, and that corridor was just like the one they had just come from—it was as far as the eye could see. They had no choice but to keep walking, hoping to escape the darkness as soon as possible. But the darkness followed them everywhere. Several hours later, they were still running through the dark corridor.
‘Are we going to be trapped here?’ Professor Wu lamented as he walked.
‘Most likely, we won’t be able to get out in time. We’re already trapped here,’ Fengyi replied. ‘It doesn’t matter to us old folks, but it’s a pity for the young people,’
‘We won’t be trapped to death,‘ Shen Yuan suddenly spoke up, with a hint of joy in her tone.
’Girl, you’re telling the truth.‘
’Of course.‘
Professor Wu looked at Shen Yuan, but saw her crouching on the ground, looking at an object on the ground.
’This is a button from my shirt,’ Shen Yuan pointed to a button on the ground and said to the others, ’I don’t know when this thing fell off, but I saw it appear on the ground in front of me twice.’
‘What does that mean?‘ Professor Wu asked.
’It means that this thing appeared before me before I got there?‘
’This is a button from your shirt. If it fell off you, it would at most fall not far in front of you, but it would never appear twice in front of you. Unless…‘
’Unless I have been there before.‘
’You mean we are going in circles.‘
’Exactly.‘
’Why is that so? What should we do now?‘
’I think we are hallucinating,’ Luo San interrupted.
‘That’s possible.‘
’If it’s an illusion, what should we do?‘
’Pain. Make yourself feel pain.”
After everyone had cut themselves, they found themselves standing in a hall, but everything had changed. It was a circular hall with nine sculptures around it, and next to them was a sculpture. The sculpture was a giant human figure with a sharp face, prominent eyes, towering shoulders, wearing a round collar shirt, standing with his legs apart, his hands raised high, as if supporting a crystal clear object; the figure’s hair was braided and tied at the back of his head.
‘What is the sculpture holding in its hands?’ Nan Qingyi asked.
‘It looks like a piece of jade,’ Professor Wu replied.
‘It is jade,’ Feng Yi said. ’I once heard that one of the tribes of shamans had jade as their totem. It is said that this tribe can use jade to communicate with the heavens, the earth, and the gods. At the same time, because jade is the thing most similar to the human soul, they can use jade to create all illusions. Last night when we stepped into that hall, we had actually already arrived here. It was just unfortunate that as soon as we entered here, we were enchanted by the illusion and kept circling in this hall.’
Upon hearing Fengyi’s words, Luo San looked around and indeed saw that the ground was full of footprints circling the hall.
‘Let’s go and see the other sculptures,’ Professor Wu suggested enthusiastically.
The group then walked towards the next sculpture. The sculpture was shaped like the previous one, except that it was holding not a jade, but a lump of something unrecognisable in its hands.
‘That’s clay,‘ explained Feng Yi. “We Qiongdou people are made of loess. It is said that the great shaman who created the Qiongdou people came from a tribe of shamans whose totem was loess.”
’Loess as a totem?‘ Luo San had a flash of inspiration. “Professor Wu, do you think the Xirang was made by this tribe?”
’Xiaosan, you’re right, it’s very likely,’
Nan Qingyi interrupted, ‘The Ancient Yue Du Jing says that the origin of the Du is the soil. Could it be related to this people?’
‘I don’t know about that. Hey, what’s this?’ Professor Wu suddenly exclaimed, looking at his feet.
There was nothing under Professor Wu’s feet, just an ordinary stone slab, but Professor Wu’s feet had sunk into the stone. Professor Wu struggled to stand up, but he didn’t sink any deeper.
‘Quick, someone help me pull me out.’ Hearing Professor Wu’s cries for help, Luo San tried to step forward to help, but found that the ground beneath his feet was empty. His feet also began to sink into the ground. Luo San felt his whole body sinking lower and lower. He wanted to call for help, but found that Shen Yuan, Feng Yi, and Nan Qingyi were all struggling, and Feng Yi had already sunk below the chest into the ground.
‘Don’t move, we’ll come to your rescue,’ Luo San suddenly heard Nan Yi’s voice. He turned his head and saw that Nan Yi was fine and throwing over a rope.
Luo San reached out to catch a rope, turned around and saw Shen Yuan by his side. He quickly grabbed the rope with one hand and held Shen Yuan with the other. Nan Yi and the others pulled with all their strength, and Luo San’s body was half dragged out. Just as they saw him about to be dragged out of the ground, the strength at the end of the rope suddenly disappeared, and Luo San immediately sank back into the ground. It turned out that the people at the end of the rope had also begun to sink into the ground, too busy to help themselves. At present, there were less than ten people left who had not sunk into the ground, and these people became at a loss as to what to do in the face of the strange scene before them.
Feng shouted loudly, ‘Run far away, take the rope with you. If you run far away, you will be fine for the time being.’
Nan Yi and the others immediately ran far away.
‘A little further, a little further, okay, stop, start pulling us.’
A few minutes later, Luo San and the others were pulled out. However, there were four people who could not be rescued in time, and everyone watched as they sank into the stone slab. Looking back at the scene just now, everyone was still shaken.
‘Uncle Feng, what kind of place is this, so strange?‘ Nan Qingyi asked.
’If I’m not mistaken, this should be a place of worship for the Shaman tribe. The nine statues represent the nine branches of the Ten Wind Clan, and the objects in their hands are their totems.‘
’I thought there were ten branches of the Shaman tribe, so why are there only nine?‘
’There are ten tribes of the Shaman tribe, but one of them is in a leadership position, so it’s not included here.’
‘I see.‘
’This place is too dangerous. We must find a way out as soon as possible.‘
’Brother Feng, it’s rare to find such a good place, it’s a pity not to look at it for a while and then leave.‘
’Are you crazy? The totems on each sculpture are set up, and walking in front of them, I wonder what danger there will be. Just now a piece of jade and a lump of soil almost got us killed, and now you want to get everyone else killed again?‘
’Brother Feng, just take a look again, just take a look from a distance, what is it exactly?’
Feng could not persuade Professor Wu, so he had to ask him to stand far away and look.
Luo San’s gaze swept across the hands of the sculptures. The third sculpture was holding a stone in its hands; the fourth sculpture was holding a horn and tusk; the fifth sculpture was holding a three-legged crow in its hands, and around the crow was a circle of something like flames. Professor Wu said that it was the sun-shaped ‘three-legged crow’ from the Central Plains region. The sixth statue has nothing in its hands, but it still raises its hands towards the sky. The seventh statue has a carved bird in its hands, while the eighth statue has a large rat in its hands. The ninth statue holds a large snake in its hands. The snake is tens of metres long and as thick as a bucket. A huge head rests on the shoulder of the statue, spitting out a long tongue.
‘This shamanic tribe and Sanxingdui must have come from the same source,‘ Professor Wu explained as he looked at the statues. “The bulging eyes, the round-necked clothes with chicken hearts, and the braided hair are all features of the statues from the Sanxingdui civilisation. And the stones, jade, ivory and other objects held in the statues” hands are also the things that make up half of the cultural relics unearthed from Sanxingdui.’
‘The problem is, what’s the point? We still know almost nothing about the source of the nine provinces,’ Nan Qingyi complained.
‘Well, we did find something. We at least identified the location of Shifeng.‘
’The location of Shifeng? Professor Wu, are you sure you found the location of Shifeng?‘
’Yes. The ‘Book of the Ancient Yue Dujiang’ records: ‘In the southwest of the country, there live the Bai people… tens of thousands of li to the west, east of Qiongdu, north of the Bai people, south of Heishui, west of Shifeng, the mountains bear the sky, the earth gives birth to the source of the Dujiang. This is the source of the nine provinces. …‘ Nan Qingyi did not mean to say that his great-grandfather had always been puzzled by this south of Shifeng. Now it seems that Shifeng refers to the ten Qiongdu tribes of shamans with the surname Feng, and Shifeng’s west refers to the source of the nine provinces, which is to the west of the ten Feng tribes’ place of residence. At first I thought that the ten winds referred to the underground where the ten wind tribe lived, but then I thought that the ancient Yue Du Jing was produced in the early Xia Dynasty, and at that time the ten winds had long since left the ground and gone to the surface. The only thing on the ground related to the ten winds at that time was Sanxingdui. As I just said, Sanxingdui and the ten winds have the same origin, and there is a 90% chance that it was founded by the ten wind people. The Shifeng in the ancient Yuedu Sutra refers to Sanxingdui. Chengdu is southwest of Sanxingdui, in roughly the same direction. All that remains is to find the location of the black water and the white people, and we can roughly determine the source of the Kyushu.‘
’Then let’s set off and continue to search for clues.”
Chapter 23: Seeing “Chengdu” again
It took everyone quite some time to get from the hall to the ground, because there was only one passage leading from the hall to the ground, and it was made up of hundreds of steps. The group walked for half an hour before they suddenly saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Just then, the underwater communication system came through with the voice of the Nanjingyi people: ‘Bu Mo, where are you? Please reply if you receive this.’
‘We are deep in the jungle and have just come up from underground. Where are you?’
‘We are above the sea.’
“Then why aren’t you coming here? What are you doing?’
‘Bu Mo, it’s not that we’re not coming, but we’re blocked by a wall and can’t get in from the sea. We’ve been trying to contact you since yesterday afternoon, but we haven’t been able to get through.‘
’Okay, enough of that. You can stay outside for now, but keep in touch.‘
’Do you think we have a chance of getting out of this jungle? That wall is terrifying.’ No one had thought about this question before, but now that Luo San had brought it up, everyone became worried.
Professor Wu thought for a moment and said to the group, ‘That wall should only be temporary. Once the water recedes, it will be fine.’
‘I think so too,’ Nan Qingyi said, ‘Let’s just take a look at the current situation.’
In front of them was a huge square paved with countless boulders, seemingly endless. In the centre of the square was a high platform. The platform looked square, but it was hard to tell how big it was. The entire platform was made of rocks, with huge boulders forming the countless steps up and down the platform. Those steps extend from the bottom of the platform upwards, and there are countless levels. At the end of these steps, there seems to be another platform, followed by countless more steps, which eventually disappear into the boundless darkness and are never seen again.
“It is said that King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty built the Lu platform, which led to the fall of his kingdom. That Lu platform was also said to be extremely high, but compared to this, it is like a small village compared to a large city. If we climb to the top of this platform, do you think we can reach the stars?’ Professor Wu looked at the tall platform in front of him and asked everyone excitedly, but no one responded. Feng stared at the platform in a daze, his expression solemn. After Luo San helped Shen Yuan, who was exhausted, sit down, he began to look around. Gradually, Luo San walked to the edge of the square. Standing here, he realised that the square they were on was not on the ground at all, but in midair, nearly a hundred metres above the ground. Looking more closely, Luo San discovered that the square was just one of the platforms on the high platform.
Standing on the edge of the platform and looking out, Luo San discovered that he had a panoramic view of the entire jungle. Vaguely, he could see roads extending in all directions through the jungle, like a network. At the points of this network were a few bare spots. Luo San knew that those places should be like the small platforms they had just seen in the jungle, with stone-piled slopes that were barren of vegetation, so when he stood here at a high altitude, it looked particularly clear. And at the end of the jungle was the sheer rock face, almost reaching the sky, blocking the surging sea at the end of the jungle.
As his gaze swept across the vast boulder square, the high platform towering into the sky, and the seemingly endless steps, Luo San suddenly remembered the altar he had seen in the cave at the bottom of the tomb of the Qiongdu people in Xichang. That altar was so similar to the high platform made up of numerous steps in front of him. So, is the end of this high platform also like that altar, the top of the cave, which seems to be just a few hundred metres above the ground? If so, is this platform also an altar? Is the source of Kyushu or the secret of the sea’s eye left on this altar? Luo San’s mind could not help but come up with a lot of questions, and he knew that the key to solving these questions was to follow the countless steps and climb to the top of the platform, where the answers to these questions would be found. But looking at the steps, which seemed to go on forever, Luo San could not help but feel a little scared.
At that moment, Nan Qingyi suddenly shouted at the crowd, ‘We don’t have much time, let’s hurry up and go up.’ With that, Nan Qingyi had already turned around and stepped onto the first step of the high platform. ‘Damn it, climbing such a high place,’ Professor Wu cursed, but he didn’t stop walking towards the high platform. Luo San and Shen Yuan had no choice but to follow the crowd and climb upwards.
Along the way, Luo suddenly noticed a strange problem. The stone path that they had seen at the beginning of the jungle was paved with gravel and had not been polished. It seemed that the Gorgi people did not have much energy to do this work. However, the stones used here to build the steps were not only huge, but also polished very smoothly. The moonlight reflected on them, and they looked like water, reflecting the sky’s reflection. Luo did not understand why the difference between the two was so great and the contrast so stark. Was it because this high platform was particularly important? Or was it because of some unexpected catastrophe that the Gorgonians had no time to finish building the crisscrossing network of roads and had to leave hastily, leaving behind these crude roads? Although he knew that this would probably remain a mystery forever, Luo San still tried to think about these questions and try to solve these mysteries. Although this may not be important or even related to the secret of the sea eye, thinking about these questions made him not notice his almost powerless legs and made his steps lighter as he climbed the mountain.
But Luo San couldn’t hold on any longer, so he stopped halfway, took a breath, squeezed his already swollen and aching legs, and took the opportunity to look around, hoping to see something. However, it was already dark, and in the darkness, all he could see was the dark jungle.
After a short rest, Luo San continued to walk upwards. However, Professor Wu in front of him stopped complaining and sat down on the steps, pounding his legs while saying to Nan Qingyi, who had already rushed ahead, ‘Nan, this is no way to go on. If we keep climbing like this, I’m afraid no one’s body can take it.’ Seeing that Nan Qingyi wanted to argue back, Professor Wu immediately added, ‘Even if we have enough stamina, but the food…’
Professor Wu suddenly stopped talking, lowered his head, stared at the step under his buttocks with a strange expression, and then his buttocks felt like they had been burned. He jumped up and kept slapping his buttocks.
‘What’s wrong now?’ Nan Qingyi asked impatiently.
‘It’s hot! It’s hot!’ Professor Wu answered while slapping his buttocks and pointing at the stone on the step that he had just sat on.
The pattern of that rock was originally the same as the other rocks on the steps, but now it had turned red, as if it had been burned through, and there was a misty vapor rising from the rock, enveloping the red rock and giving off a strange aura.
Shen Yuan and Luo San looked at each other, not understanding, and immediately turned their heads towards Professor Wu to hear his opinion on the rock. Unexpectedly, Professor Wu was also looking aghast.
While the three of them were in a state of shock, patterns began to emerge on the rock. They exchanged glances and immediately excitedly gathered around.
The patterns on the rock were presented in relief, arranged in three rows on the rock, with eight patterns in each row, each pattern different. These patterns were all outlined with simple lines, and it looked like they were not paintings of scenes or objects. Each pattern did not look like a realistic picture, but rather like a character.
‘They look like Chinese characters. Professor Wu, do you recognise any of these characters? Could they be heavenly books?‘ Luo San looked at the patterns but didn’t recognise any of them, so he had to ask Professor Wu.
Professor Wu was staring at the characters on the rock intently, and it took him a while to turn back to Luo San after Luo San had asked twice, “What did you say?”
’I asked you if these could be heavenly books,’ Luo San said patiently.
Professor Wu, unusually serious, said, ‘This is indeed heavenly writing, and I only know a little about it.’
“So what is it really? What do these diagrams mean? Are they related to the Eye of the Sea?’
In the face of Luo San’s barrage of questions, Professor Wu did not give a direct answer, but continued, ‘Historians and archaeologists have long had a question: the ancient Shu kingdom created a brilliant civilization. In particular, the Sanxingdui civilization, which lasted from 4,500 to 3,000 years ago, not only left behind huge city ruins, but also an unparalleled bronze culture. Logically, since the ancient Shu kingdom had such a developed civilization, it should have had its own writing system. However, neither documentary records nor archaeological discoveries have ever found evidence of the existence of a writing system in the ancient state of Shu, until the appearance of the Bashu pictographic script. In 1995, more than 60 small square seals were unearthed in Xingjing, Ya’an, Sichuan, which caused a sensation in the archaeological community. These small seals are about an inch square, made of copper, and most are round, while a few are square, rectangular, semicircular, oval, crescent-shaped or in the shape of a mountain. The entire seal weighs only a few grams, and there is a button on the back for threading, making it very easy to carry. Unlike other seals, the face of the seal does not have any writing on it, and only mysterious patterns and symbols are engraved in relief. In fact, long before this, mysterious ‘Ba Shu seals’ of this type have been unearthed in some parts of Sichuan, and they have also been found in Sanxingdui. Experts and scholars call the patterns and symbols on these seals ‘Ba-Shu pictographic language’. Some speculate that they may be like bronze inscriptions, and belong to the hieroglyphs left over from ancient times in Sichuan, but no one can decipher them.”
Professor Wu paused for a moment, took a drag on his cigarette, and continued, ’I have been at S University for many years, and I can only recognise a few of them, and that is just a guess. As for the symbols on this rock, I don’t recognise any of them.’
Luo San and Shen Yuan were feeling disheartened, but at that moment, Feng Yi, who had been lagging behind the others, caught up and glanced at the writing on the rock. He suddenly said, ‘I do recognise what the symbols on this mean.’
‘Really?’ Professor Wu asked, clutching Feng Yi’s shoulders as if he had found a treasure. ‘Do you really recognise Bashu pictographic language?’
‘Is this called Bashu pictographic language?‘ Feng Yi said indifferently, “I just know that these are the symbols on a parchment that has been passed down in my family. My skills are all recorded in these symbols, so I know what they mean because I had to learn them since I was young.”
’Good, good!’ Professor Wu’s excitement was evident, and he kept saying “good” before he reacted and urged Feng Yi to quickly decipher the text on the rock.
Feng Yi leaned over and stared at the pattern on the rock, and everyone stared at him with bated breath. However, after Feng Yi had only looked at it for a moment, he let out a gasp and his face suddenly became grave. He only saw the three lines of the pattern quickly scanned, then looked up and said to the group with a serious expression, ‘Something bad is going to happen.’
‘What?’ Everyone’s hearts tightened.
‘The meaning of the pattern on it is: There is a tribe that is unkind, and our king waged war against it. Although he won, the tribe destroyed Chengdu and it was instantly flooded. We went through countless hardships before we found this land of plenty here, and at the same time we found this land and built this high platform so that our people could offer sacrifices to the almighty sun. However, this caused the wrath of the heavens. Shortly after the platform was completed, the sea level rose again. Although the shamans built a wall to seal off the water, the sea surged skywards and flooded back in, destroying the land of joy. The tribe had to flee in panic. To protect the tribe’s sacred objects from harm, the shamans placed an evil curse before they left: ‘Whoever sets foot on the platform will be swept away by the raging sea and lose everything.’
As soon as Feng finished speaking, the crowd immediately started talking.
‘We have now ascended this high platform, which means the sea is about to flood in? The entire platform will be submerged?’ This was Luo San.
‘Hurry and put on your diving suit,’ said Nan Qingyi.
‘Chengdu? Chengdu? Mountains bear the sky, and the earth gives birth to springs. Destroy Chengdu, and you will cause a flood of thousands of li. What is the connection between these records, and what is Chengdu really?‘ This was Professor Wu, muttering with a frown.
’Since they are worried about the clan’s sacred objects being violated, then the clan’s sacred objects must be at the very top of this platform, and we will find out if we go up there.’ This was Shen Yuan.
Feng Yi ignored the din of the crowd and looked into the distance. At this time, the place where they were standing had already left the jungle far below them, and the view was extremely open. He hadn’t paid attention to looking towards the coast just now, but as soon as he glanced there, he let out a cry of alarm, ‘Forget all that useless talk, let’s run up there.’ With that, he took the lead and ran up the cliff at a furious pace.
Although they already sensed the extreme danger, Luo San, Shen Yuan, and Professor Wu still reflexively turned their heads and looked back. At the end of the jungle, the original rock face could no longer be seen, but a waterfall stretched across, almost flush with the dark sky. It looked as if the Milky Way had opened up and the surging water was pouring down. Although it was far away, the faint sound of the water still came. The water pouring down the waterfall converged into a surging flood, rushing towards the depths of the jungle with great momentum. The lush jungle at their feet, which had not yet been submerged by the flood, was now black, and faint sounds of pine needles could be heard. Everyone quickly realised that those were not the sounds of pine needles, but the sounds of a swarm of rats running. In the brief moment when Luo San and the other two looked back, the rats had already rushed straight under the high platform and started to leap towards it.
Without Luo San having to urge them again, this time the group did not hesitate and quickly ran upwards. And beneath their feet were countless giant rats.
The group climbed upwards as hard as they could. After running for a short distance, they looked back and saw that a large group of rats had also rushed to within a few hundred metres of them. The flood had already reached the square where they had been standing, and in an instant it had flooded the entire square. The rats that had not been able to climb onto the high platform were being swept upwards rapidly, caught up in the flood. The crowd did not dare to stop, and they quickly ran upwards again.
After a while of running, Luo San noticed that Shen Yuan next to him had slowed down significantly and had pulled away from him. He stopped and looked back, only to see that Shen Yuan’s forehead was covered in fine sweat, his face pale, and he was stopping in his tracks, resting one hand on his leg and the other on his chest, gasping for breath.
Luo San walked up to Shen Yuan, half-squatted down and said, ‘Come on, I’ll carry you.’
‘Don’t be silly, how can you carry me if we’re not on flat ground?’ Shen Yuan firmly refused.
‘No, you must go, otherwise what will you do if those rats charge up?’ Luo San also firmly rejected Shen Yuan’s request.
Shen Yuan looked down and saw that the flood had risen to a distance of less than 40 metres from them, while the rats charging at the front had already run to a distance of less than 20 metres from them.
‘Quick, put on your diving equipment,’ Nanyi shouted at this moment.
However, the flood had already risen to a height of less than 3 metres from them, and the group of rats was less than 1 metre away. Luo San was about to continue running a few steps upwards when he heard Shen Yuan scream. He turned his head and saw a group of huge rats pounce on Shen Yuan’s feet. Although the rats were too busy to pay attention to him at the moment, Shen Yuan was still so scared that he jumped and screamed, completely forgetting that he should continue running upwards. Luo San had no choice but to use his free hand to expel the giant rats, but at that moment the flood engulfed the two of them before they could react.
At the moment when the flood was about to reach their feet, Luo San held his breath in time and quickly reached out his hand, tightly grasping Shen Yuan’s hand. In the next second, a wave hit, and the two of them slammed into the high platform. Luo San felt only the pain of his bones being broken. Then a current washed them away from the platform, and they were swept helplessly by the waves in the flood. Just as Luo San was worried that the flood would carry him away to an unknown place, he saw a set of steps in front of him. Without thinking, Luo San immediately reached out and grabbed the steps tightly. At the same time, with his other hand, he pulled Shen Yuan to his side, and they were able to stand on the steps at an unknown location on the platform.
However, Luo San soon realised that staying underwater was not an option, so he pointed upwards and pulled Shen Yuan with him as they struggled to swim upwards together. As the current kept carrying them upwards, the two of them were able to rise quickly. Suddenly, Luo San felt a dark patch not far above his head, but he couldn’t see what it was. Just as he was about to take a closer look, the current had already carried them towards this dark patch. When he got closer, Luo San saw that the dark object was moving constantly. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a group of mice. Luo San was so scared that he involuntarily wanted to move away, but he found that there were mice all over his head, densely packed and layered, covering the water surface tightly. There was really no other way, so Luo San had to pull Shen Yuan up to the surface.
‘Xiaosan, over here,’ Professor Wu’s voice shouted from a distance. Luo San turned his head and saw Professor Wu sitting in a car, leaning out the window and waving at him.
The car quickly drove over and picked up the two of them. In the car, Shen Yuan could no longer hold back and vomited all over the floor. Luo San waited until Shen Yuan felt a little better before surveying the car in front of him, which was even bigger than a bus: ’What kind of car is this? How did you drive it down to the ground?’
‘This is a vehicle that I temporarily transferred here after hearing that it was going to come underwater. It is amphibious and most importantly, it can dive.‘ Nan Qingyi said.
’Your clan is really very powerful,‘ Shen Yuan said coldly.
’Haha,’ Nan Qingyi laughed, ’for decades, our clan has been working hard for the source of the Nine Provinces, and we have been able to have our own people in various fields. Today’s incident is just a trivial matter. If we want to start a war, we can. For example, if the Great Tang Empire dares to start a rebellion, we can go to war with them.’
Shen Yuan did not say anything else. There was a moment of silence in the car. Luo San looked around, but saw that the flood had submerged the entire land. In the distance were vast, boundless waves, while near the people, the water was black with rats. These rats, which were the size of small pigs, seemed to always know the power of the collective, with each rat linked to the next, so that they all floated on the surface of the water. In the centre of the group of mice is a mouse the size of a calf, with red glowing eyes like torches under the dark sky.
Not all the land was submerged by the flood. Amidst the raging waters, there was a place that had survived, and that was the uppermost platform of the high platform. The flood roared, but it could never rise above the platform, and not a single drop of water could enter the platform. The mice were now tightly clustered around the uppermost platform, but none of them dared to climb onto the platform.
‘Let’s go up to that platform and take a look,’ Luo San suggested to the others.
The car drove towards the platform and soon arrived in front of it, but from the vehicle, the group could not see clearly what was on the platform.
‘Lower a boat down, I’ll get a little closer to the front. Also, everyone put on their diving equipment in case of an emergency,’ Nan Qingyi commanded, and Nan Yi quickly released a boat onto the water. Luo San and the others put on various equipment and got into the boat.
The dinghy moved a little further towards the platform, and now Luo San could see clearly: the platform was also the size of two basketball courts. It was paved with blood-red rocks, and the surface was as smooth as a mirror. It was blood-red all the way to the eye, and under the starlight of the dark night, the whole platform looked like a pool full of blood, exuding a strange and mysterious atmosphere. Apart from that, there was nothing on the platform. There was nothing around the platform, but it seemed as if there was an invisible wall. But everything was stopped outside the wall: the rat pack stopped here, the water flow stopped here, and now Luo San and the others also stopped here.
Everyone just quietly looked at this invisible wall, and for a while, no one knew what to do.
‘Puff!’ No one expected Luo San to break the deadlock. After everyone had stared at the air for more than ten minutes, Luo San couldn’t help but spit on the invisible wall. Before anyone could react, the small mouthful of saliva quickly flew towards the platform, and the four of them stared at it without blinking. But just as it was about to cross the invisible boundary, they heard a hissing sound, as if it had hit something extremely hot, and it immediately turned into a puff of smoke.
‘No way, that was so dangerous,’ everyone was shocked. Luo San knew in his heart that this incident alone showed that there was a hidden danger on this platform. It was impossible for everyone to just charge into the platform like this, and the invisible wall would definitely roast them to death.
Luosan bent down, waved his hand, and heard a creaking sound. A huge rat flew towards the platform. The rat shrieked in the air, and was about to cross the border of the platform when suddenly a rat leaped out of the water and pounced on it like lightning, biting its tail and dragging it down. With a splash, they both fell into the water, and the other rats quickly came forward and bit them, preventing them from sinking. Everyone watched in awe, completely unable to believe that these mice were so loyal to one another. They also gave up on the idea of using these mice for further experiments. But they had no idea what to do next.
Just as everyone was at a loss, they suddenly heard squeaking behind them. They turned around and were instantly terrified. The mouse, the size of a calf, had been behind them for some time, its blood-red eyes bloodshot eyes, staring at them intently. Its sharp nose was less than half a metre from their faces, emitting a suffocating stench. A few whiskers by its nose trembled with each breath it took.
The sudden appearance of such a rat left everyone frozen in place, unable to move. Shen Yuan was already afraid of rats, and now she was so scared that she went pale and her whole body trembled.
The giant rat’s big red eyes slowly rolled, and suddenly it opened its mouth wide and let out a ‘hoo’ sound, exhaling sharply. A stench assailed the nostrils of everyone present, and they all covered their noses. At that moment, the giant rat suddenly stuck its head forward, its big mouth opening and closing. Its two rows of teeth, sharp as knives, closed rapidly, and Luo San’s right hand had already been bitten into the giant rat’s mouth, and it looked as if it was about to be broken in half. Just at that lightning-fast moment, ‘da da da…’ a burst of gunfire sounded, and the people on the side, such as Nan Yi, could no longer hold back and opened fire.
However, no one expected that although the giant rat looked decrepit and its body was large and clumsy, it was extremely agile. Everyone only saw a dark shadow flicker before their eyes and heard a ‘whoosh’ as it disappeared, along with Luo San. Where the giant rat had originally been, there was only a hole left, and the bullets fired by Nan Yi and the others fell into this hole one after the other.
Luo San’s neck was tightly wrapped around the giant rat’s tail, and he was dragged into the water against his will. The giant rat moved so fast that Luo San didn’t even know what was happening. He felt a tightness around his neck, his vision darkened, and his body was pulled downward, disappearing into the water. When he felt the tail wrapped around his neck, he understood that he had been dragged into the water by the giant rat, and that he could be strangled at any time. For the sake of his neck, Luo San dared not struggle, and obediently swam deeper with the giant rat. But Luo San was very puzzled, and he couldn’t figure out what the rat wanted. Why didn’t it strangle him at once, but drag him here underwater? Why him, and not someone else? Having arrived underwater, where did the rat want to go? Why did it grow so big?
The giant rat didn’t care about Luo San’s unanswered questions. It just kept dragging Luo San deeper and deeper. Its huge body was as agile underwater as a small fish. Its head bobbed up and down, its tail swung back and forth, and it moved swiftly through the water like a torpedo.
Luo San quickly recovered from his initial panic and began to observe his surroundings as the giant rat moved. The giant rat was actually circling, and the centre of the circle was the high platform. The giant rat spiralled down around the high platform, and soon arrived on a huge platform. Luo San could now see clearly that the high platform had three floors, and the current platform was precisely the second floor. On this platform, there were nine sculptures, just like the ones he had seen in the underground hall, only much taller, more than ten metres high.
The giant rat dragged Luo San to a stop on this platform and began swimming towards a place on the platform.
Suddenly, a current of water came from above, carrying tremendous force and rushing towards Luo San. Behind that current of water was a black object more than ten metres long, which was hurling towards him with lightning speed. Seeing that he was about to collide with the black object, Luo San felt his neck tighten as the giant rat dragged him rapidly downwards. The black object just grazed past his head, and the current it created hit him in the face, causing him to feel severe pain. Luosan noticed that the black object looked dark from a distance, but when he looked closer, it was covered in patterns. What kind of monster was this? Luosan was thinking about this when he suddenly felt his thoughts freeze. Because a few metres ahead, there was a huge plow-shaped head, which was spitting out a long tongue and staring at Luosan with big eyes. Behind this head was a body tens of metres long. It was a giant python, with a body two feet thick and tens of metres long, covered in dull patterns.
Despite its large body, the python moved with astonishing speed. Luo San was terrified, and kept thinking about how to escape, but the python was so close to him that he had almost no chance of escape.
The python stared at Luo for a while, its head shaking slightly, then opened its mouth and pounced like lightning.
At that moment, there was a loud gunshot behind him. Luo looked up and saw that it was Professor Wu and the others who had chased after him. The only people who came were Professor Wu, Fengyi, Shen Yuan and a few clansmen from the Nanqingyi. Nanqingyi and Nanyi did not come down.
The bullet entered the python’s body firmly, and although the python’s skin was coarse and its flesh rough, the bullet only penetrated less than an inch into its body. But this seemed to have thoroughly angered the python. The monster was seen shaking its body non-stop, trying to shake off the bullet stuck in its body, while roaring ‘hiss’ and twisting its head, pouncing on Professor Wu and the others.
‘Wo’ At this moment, a long howl that shook the heavens and earth pierced the quiet night sky, coming from the surface of the water. The sound of the howl, like the roar of a dragon and the cry of a tiger, shook the heavens and earth, and even at the bottom of the deep sea, its sound caused the waves to fluctuate.
The moment the python heard the long howl, it twisted its head and, like an arrow, dashed straight for the surface.
And the giant rat, after hearing the howl, also left Luo San behind and quickly headed for the surface.
What was going on? Why did they all run away at the sound of that voice? Luo San knew that the sound was the same as the one they heard the day before. Although the sound was not loud, it could be heard no matter how far away it was.
‘Are you okay?‘ Luo San was thinking, and Shen Yuan, who was still in a state of shock, asked while swimming over.
’I’m fine. What was that sound just now?‘
’I don’t know either,’ Shen Yuan said, and had already swum up to him.
Luo San tried to recall every detail of what had just happened: what the giant snake had done when the sound had appeared. Its long body seemed to tremble slightly, and a trace of fear shone in its eyes, so that it gave up the delicacy on its tongue.
As Luo San was thinking, he suddenly felt the water flow under his feet change rapidly. He hurriedly looked down, but saw that the rocks on the platform were now rapidly changing positions. These huge rocks were like a Rubik’s cube being juggled, constantly changing positions. Luo San felt curious and couldn’t help leaning over and swimming downstream. However, as soon as he got close to the platform, he noticed something was wrong. Not all the rocks on the platform were moving in parallel. After moving in parallel to a position, some of them moved up and down, and then continued to move in parallel. These stones moved to form a whirlpool. When he tried to pull himself away, he found that he had already fallen into a whirlpool, swept by the current towards the inside of the platform, and crashed heavily onto an object. Then he was swept by the current and carried deep underwater, while the top of his head had been sealed by a huge rock since he did not know when.
In the darkness, he vaguely saw a lot of huge things moving around him. Luo San was swept horizontally by the current, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous, not knowing where he would go. However, at this time, it was dark all around, and he had no choice but to resign himself to fate. Gradually, Luo San felt a red light appear in front of him. Upon closer inspection, he realised that he was being swept through a long, narrow tunnel by the current, and the red light came from the end of the tunnel. Soon, the current carried him out of the tunnel, and the view opened up before him.
It was a huge cave. Looking up, he could just see the sky, which was as big as the mouth of a well, with a solitary, icy moon hanging in the sky, dotted with a few sparse stars. The walls of the cave were made entirely of brown rocks, but the rocks all gave off a reddish glow, illuminating the entire cave in red. At the bottom of the cave was another deep pool of water, and the water in the pool, reflecting the red light, looked as strange and beautiful as blood. And at that moment, he was floating above the water.
This water is extraordinary. Luo San was thinking when he suddenly felt a force beneath him, supporting him as he rose. Luo San looked down and saw that he was standing on the head of a sculpture. Looking around, he saw that the other eight sculptures on the second platform of the high platform were all standing and slowly rising from the water, gradually floating above the water’s surface. Shen Yuan and the others were all standing safely on the shoulders of the sculptures. Then the water in the cave began to rise. Luo San slowly stood up from the top of the sculpture and looked up, and saw the sky above him getting bigger and closer.
After ten minutes or so, the view suddenly opened up again. The sculpture had risen out of the cave. Luo San looked around. In the distance was a scene of turbulent waves, while in the near distance was a dark mass of giant rats floating on the water. Just below them was the third platform they had been on earlier. The protective shield around the platform seemed to still be effective, as neither the flood nor the giant rats had been able to enter. Nan Qingyi and the others were standing outside, looking at him in surprise.
The sculpture continued to rise, and the dark blue sky was right in front of them. The dark blue of the sky was like water, flowing slowly, calmly and gently. The stars dotted in the water-like sky were so bright, twinkling like the reflection in the water under the night sky. The icy moon was also close at hand, its mercury-like light spilling out into the sky and falling on people, seemingly giving them a sense of coolness. Luo San noticed that the moon here was different from those elsewhere. On the ground, the moon is only a dark shadow in the sky, but here the laurel tree and toad in the moon are clearly visible. Looking at the bright moon in front of him, Luo San felt that his originally chaotic emotions slowly returned to tranquility. In front of him were only the moon, the stars, and the dark blue sky.
The sculpture was still rising, gradually drawing closer to the sky. Luo San slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch the star that was so close, but when he did, he felt that his hand was cold and empty, and his fingers passed right through the star. Just as Luo San was surprised, the sculpture continued to rise, and it had already reached above his head. The next second, he noticed that his line of sight had gone above the sky.
Chapter 24: Candle Nine Yin
Above the sky was a huge cave. The sky, like a pool of water, formed the bottom of the cave, while the top of the cave was an unknown distance away. Vaguely, one could see small holes distributed above, with light shining in. At the top of the cave were several inverted stalactites, and on these stalactites hovered a snake-like object. The object seemed to be thousands of zhang long, slowly moving between the stalactites. If you didn’t look closely, you could hardly see it moving. The object had a huge, snake-like plow-shaped head, with only one round eye on it, which was one meter in diameter. The round eye was bright and clear, and it was precisely the moon that Luo San saw in the sky. The object was unevenly covered with scales, twinkling and twinkling, and they were precisely the stars that dotted the sky. It turned out that the star and the moon just seen on the sky were in fact the reflections of the glowing objects on the body of this object on the sky.
This snake-like monster aroused Luo San’s interest, and he began to look closely. He looked along the monster’s head and back, and finally Luo San’s gaze fell on the monster’s head.
After just one look, Luo San covered his mouth in horror: the monster had no tail, and where there would have been a tail, there was another head. And on top of that head was still an eye, only it was closed at the moment.
Suddenly, a distant sound came from midair, as if something had fallen from the cave ceiling. Luo San looked up, but saw a stone falling in midair, making a loud noise as it hit some protruding stalactites along the way. Soon the stone fell, hitting the monster. Although the stone was not large, it had fallen from a great height and caused the monster’s body to shake. It opened its mouth and let out a deafening long howl. With that long howl, a strong wind gushed out of the monster’s mouth, accompanied by ice and bone-chilling cold, and rushed towards the entire cave. Luo San suddenly felt the sky and earth suddenly become cold, and his entire body was almost frozen. Immediately afterwards, he was blown up into the sky by that huge gust of wind, and fell from atop the sculpture. In a panic, he reached out and grabbed at everything, finally grasping something that looked like a rope, and only then was he not blown off the dozens of metres high sculpture by the strong wind. But the wind was fierce and seemed to never let up. Although he had a firm grip on the ‘rope’, he was suspended in the air, swaying with the wind. What made him even more frightened was the piercing cold in the wind, which had numbed his hands. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. Just then, Professor Wu’s voice came from above him: ‘San-zi, reach up.’
Luo San looked up and saw Professor Wu not far above his head, lying on his stomach and holding out his hand. Luo San reluctantly reached out and was grasped by Professor Wu, who lifted him up.
After standing on the shoulders of the sculpture, Luo San noticed that the ‘rope’ he had just grabbed was actually the tail of a giant rat on a sculpture.
After standing still, Luo San noticed that Feng Yijun was standing on the side, silently looking at the sky, his face growing more and more solemn. Professor Wu told Luo San that just then, after a long howl from a beast in the sky, the stars and moon seemed to suddenly change colour. In particular, the full moon suddenly moved out of position, before quickly returning to its original position. Immediately afterwards, a strong wind blew up from the sky. If the shoulders of the sculpture had not been broad enough, and if they had not been hugging it tightly, they would have been blown up into the air long ago. What was even more strange was that snow suddenly started falling from the sky. In the blink of an eye, the whole world had gone from midsummer to midwinter.
Everyone looked at the snow falling from the sky and couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. ‘Damn, this crazy weather, how can it snow just like that?’ Professor Wu cursed.
Feng Yiran said, ‘This place is basically another world, so how can we predict the weather here based on the weather on the ground?’
‘You’re right,’ Professor Wu agreed, but he couldn’t help swearing, “The question is how long this damn weather is going to last, and whether we’re going to freeze to death here as a result. By the way, San-zi, what are you daydreaming about over there?”
Luo San raised his head and tried to look through the sky to see the monster in the cave above the sky, but all he could see were the stars and the moon, motionlessly hanging in the sky. In other words, the monster had returned to peace. Luo San couldn’t help but remember that the moment the monster raised its head just now, what was underneath its flat head was a human face. That face had all the features, a smile, and looked very strange. This made Luo San feel incredibly terrified, but also curious. In order to understand, he told Professor Wu and the others what he had just seen.
Feng Yi just listened quietly, as if it were none of his business. Professor Wu, however, was excited to hear it. As soon as Luo San finished speaking, he immediately asked, ‘Are you sure that the monster had a snake’s head, not a human head?’
‘It wasn’t a human head,’ Luo San nodded affirmatively, and then added, ‘It was just a human face under the snake’s head, in the jaw area. You could only see it if it lifted its head.’
‘What does the human face look like?‘ Professor Wu’s hands were shaking with excitement.
Luo San had no choice but to patiently describe the face to Professor Wu again.
’It really is him,’ said Professor Wu, looking up at the bright moon hanging high in the sky after listening to Luo San’s description. He said to himself, ’All this time, I’ve thought it was just a myth, but today in this underground world, I’ve discovered that these myths are our history.’
‘Professor Wu, don’t keep us in suspense, what exactly is that monster?’ Shen Yuan couldn’t help but interrupt and ask.
Professor Wu was not offended, and said with a serious expression, ’If I’m not mistaken, that thing is the Candle Nine Yin. The Candle Nine Yin, also known as the Candle Dragon, is also written as the Flying Dragon.’
According to the Shan Hai Jing Da Huang Jing, there is a mountain called Zhangwei Mountain, located beyond the North-West Sea and north of the Red Water. There is a god there with a human face and a snake body, red in colour, straight eyes and riding a dragon. It never sleeps or eats, and its eyes are always open. It is the god of the wind and rain. This is the Candle Nine Yin, also known as the Candle Dragon. Another record in the ‘Book of the Sea’ says: The god of Zhongshan is called Zhuoyin. It regards day as day, sleeps as night, blows as winter, and calls as summer. It does not drink, does not eat, does not rest, and its breath is the wind. It is thousands of li long, in the east of Wushan, and its appearance is that of a human face with a snake body, red in colour, living under Zhongshan Mountain. In other words, Zhu Long is a monster with a human face and a snake body, red in colour, living under Zhongshan Mountain in the extremely cold north. It is very powerful. Whenever its eyes open, the long night becomes day; whenever its eyes close, day turns into night. It can blow the clouds together and cause heavy snow to fall, turning it into winter; and with a breath, it can make the sun burn brightly, turning it into summer. It always crouches there, never eating, never drinking, never sleeping, never breathing, because if it breathes, it will become the long wind.
‘The monster you just saw is slightly different from the description in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but we can be sure that it is the prototype of the Candle Nine Yin in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. And we can speculate that the eye on the other head is the sun we saw the other day, and the sun, moon, and stars in the underworld are actually the eyes and scales of the Candle Nine Yin.’ Professor Wu paused suddenly when he got to this point, and after thinking for a while, he said, ‘Xiaosan, the Candle Nine Yin is usually unceasing in its roaring, so why did it suddenly let out such a loud roar just now?’
“There seem to be some small holes at the top of the cave, leading directly to the ground. Somehow, a stone fell and hit the monster, the Candle Nine Yin, so it let out a roar.’
‘I see.’ Professor Wu listened thoughtfully, then lowered his head for a long time. When he looked up, he said, ’Xiaosan, do you remember this incident about Diexi Ancient Town? It is said that there are many small holes on the mountainside not far from Diexi Ancient Town. The holes are about the size of a washbasin, and it is not known how deep they are. If you throw a stone into them, thick smoke will immediately rise, straight to the heavens, forming a black cloud. In an instant, hail will fall, and people will often be injured because they cannot avoid it in time. I think those holes are connected to the cave where the Candle Nine Yin is. The strange things that happen when you throw a stone are mostly because the stone lands on the Candle Nine Yin’s body.’
‘Are there really such animals in this world?‘ Luo San’s question was answered, but a bigger question followed.
’Maybe it’s not an animal…’ Before Professor Wu finished speaking, everyone heard a long howl coming from beneath their feet. The loud sound shook their eardrums.
Luo San looked down and saw a tens-of-meters-long fish wriggling on the turbulent surface of the water. It raised its huge head and let out a long hiss into the sky. In the sky, another giant python was flying through the sky, passing over Luo San’s head. A few drops fell on Luo San’s hair. He touched it with his hand, and it was slimy and smelled fishy. He brought it close to his eyes and saw that it was a bright red, probably the blood that had dripped from the giant python that had just flown past.
With a ‘pop’, the giant python that had just been flying in the sky fell into the water, splashing up a sky full of water. When the water droplets fell, the surface of the water was already a deep red. The giant python fell into the water, but it did not resurface for a long time. Luo San then turned his head to look at the giant fish that was still swimming on the surface.
This time, Luo San looked clearly. The fish’s head was different from the heads of ordinary fish. It was bulging high above the eyes, and there was also a high bulge where the nose would be. The whole thing didn’t look like the head of a fish, but more like the head of an alligator or a dragon. Thinking of the word dragon, Luo San couldn’t help but look more closely at the fish in front of him. Not only was the fish’s head different from ordinary fish, but the strangest thing was that on either side of its forehead, there were bulges of flesh that looked like two horns. Unlike a dragon, this fish has no whiskers on its head.
At this moment, the dragon-shaped giant fish is above the water, raising its head high and roaring into the sky, as if it knew that beyond the void and watery sky, there was an animal hundreds of times larger than it, gathering at the height of the nine heavens and occupying infinite glory.
The moon in the sky did not move at all. Luo San could imagine that upon hearing the roar of the dragon-shaped giant fish, the human-faced monster Candle Nine Yin must have not even raised his head, but continued to slowly move his huge body, as if running like a machine with a long-established program.
Candle Nine Yin’s attitude also seemed to anger the dragon-shaped giant fish, which let out an even more fierce roar that resounded through the heavens and earth.
Hearing this sound, Luo San finally understood why the giant python had suddenly abandoned everyone while they were underwater. It turned out that it had heard the roar of the dragon-shaped giant fish and knew that something was about to happen, so it hurried over to protect them. It just didn’t expect to be met with the dragon-shaped giant fish’s vicious attack.
Luo San was pondering when he saw the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly move, let out a painful cry, and finally lowered its head, which had been raised high, and twisted its body with all its might. The huge body slapped the water, sending up a huge wave more than ten metres high. Through the spray, Luo San saw that the giant python, which had disappeared for a while, had appeared again at some point, and was now tightly wrapped around the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, its blood-filled mouth locked onto the lower jaw of the dragon-shaped giant fish. It turned out that the python knew that it would be difficult to win in a head-on confrontation, so it sank to the bottom of the water and waited until all its wounds had stopped bleeding. Then it submerged itself beneath the dragon-shaped giant fish. At that moment, the dragon-shaped giant fish naturally thought that the python was dead, and its goal was the Candle in the Sky above. So the python took this opportunity to launch a surprise attack and succeeded in the battle.
The fight between the dragon-shaped giant fish and the giant python just now took place underwater, and Luo San and the others did not see it. Now this fight on the surface of the water naturally attracted Luo San’s attention. However, he did not care which side would win at this time. He was concerned about what kind of dragon-shaped giant fish it was.
Thinking about this, he turned to Professor Wu and asked, but even though Professor Wu had read extensively, he had never heard of such a fish. Could it really be a unique product of this underground world? Luo San looked at the two animals fighting in front of him and suddenly thought of the inscription he had just seen on the steps of the high platform. The inscription mentioned that the Shifeng tribe was at war with another tribe. Could the dragon-shaped giant fish be the totem of that tribe? It was very possible.
Luo San’s thoughts were quickly drawn back to the fierce battle in front of him. The waves on the surface of the water in front of him were getting even more violent. The giant python kept constricting its body, wrapping the dragon-shaped giant fish so tightly that it could be heard clicking. The fish was struggling desperately, but no matter how hard it struggled, the python’s body just got tighter and tighter. The wound on the lower jaw of the dragon-shaped giant fish, where the python had bitten it, was getting bigger and bigger, and you could almost see the bone.
At this point, the struggle between the fish and the python had reached a fever pitch. The python’s body was wrapping itself around the dragon-shaped fish tighter and tighter, and had already sunk deep into the dragon-shaped fish’s body. Seeing that the dragon-shaped fish’s body would be broken off, at this moment, the dragon-shaped fish suddenly let out a shocking roar. The sound was different from the long howl the dragon-shaped fish had made earlier, but rather the roar of a beast, like the roar of a tiger. After the roar, everyone suddenly saw the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly open its mouth wide, and a huge head shot out of its mouth like lightning, biting at the giant python’s seven inches. Immediately, the surface of the water turned red. The giant python’s vital spot was injured, and its mouth immediately loosened, allowing the dragon-shaped giant fish’s jaws to escape, but the giant python’s body did not loosen, but instead tightened even more. The head that was protruding from the dragon-shaped giant fish’s mouth bit harder and harder. The fish and the python fought like this, and finally the python could not hold on anymore, slowly loosening its body, and finally floating helplessly on the surface of the water. The head did not let go, but kept nibbling at the python’s seven inches, until it had nibbled the entire python in half.
‘Ooh!’ The head opened its mouth wide and roared once again at the bright moon in the sky. The face, covered in blood, and the teeth, still stained with the python’s flesh and blood, were chilling to behold. What was even more shocking was that the head actually had a human face: thick eyebrows, closed eyes, a high nose, a wide mouth, the only thing missing were ears.
It was a human face again. Seeing human faces on two monsters in one day was almost too much for Luo San to accept, but everything in front of him was so real that he had no choice but to accept it. Looking at everything in front of him, his head was in a mess. Suddenly, he heard Professor Wu muttering next to him, ‘The Di people live in Jianmu West. They are human-faced and fish-bodied, with no feet…’
Luo San knew that Professor Wu must have remembered the record in the Classic of Mountains and Seas again. Human face and fish body, no feet, this does match some of the characteristics of the dragon-shaped giant fish in front of him. Could it be that this record in the Classic of Mountains and Seas really refers to this dragon-shaped giant fish? Luo San looked at Professor Wu with a questioning expression. Professor Wu explained, ‘This is a record from the Shanhaijing Hai Nanjing. The Shanhaijing records many countries, which were actually tribes. The people in these countries had strange appearances and possessed animal features. In fact, most of these so-called people were portraits of the totems, ancestral gods or clan emblems of these tribes. The image of the Di people recorded in the Shanhaijing is also the image of their totem. I originally thought that if these totems could not be seen in reality, like dragons, they were imaginary animals created by our ancestors. But from this fish in front of me, at least the totem of the Di people’s country is real.‘
’Di people? Is it the Di people who founded the Former Qin?‘ Shen Yuan asked.
’It may be a nation, but it may not be,’ Professor Wu said, ‘The Di people in Chinese history books are now generally referred to as the Di and Qiang together. In fact, they should be a separate ethnic group. During the period of the Five Barbarians’ invasion of China, they established several regimes in northern China, including the Former Qin Dynasty founded by Fu, which unified northern China and invaded the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south for a time. From the available data, it seems that the historical Di people overlapped with the Di people in the Shanhaijing in terms of their range of residence. The Di people are said to have once lived in the Min Mountains, upstream of the Minjiang River, which is the same area as where Diexi is located. The Di people in the Shan Hai Jing also lived in this area. Because the Di people’s country was in Jianmu, and according to the Huainanzi Zhui Xing chapter, Jianmu was in Duguang. Duguang was the Chengdu Plain, and Jianmu was west of the Minjiang River. Therefore, some experts and scholars who study the ancient Shu civilization say that the Gorgons were actually the ancestors of the Di people. The shape of a human face and a fish body refers to the fish in front of you.‘
’But you said before that the Gorgons were the Shifeng tribe? How could they be the Di people?’ Luo San asked.
Professor Wu smiled slightly and said, ’Originally, I didn’t understand, but now I do. The Gorgon people were not a monolithic group. They were internally divided into the Ten Wind Tribes and the Di People Tribe. Many of the living habits and cultures of these two tribes were the same, but they fought a war over the right to supreme leadership, which ultimately destroyed the paradise where they lived. This forced the Ten Wind Tribe to first establish a settlement here, and then later migrate to the ground. Starting from Diexi, they migrated along the Minjiang River to the Chengdu Plain, and eventually created the Sanxingdui civilization. As for the Geji people who fought the Qiang people in war, most of them were a branch of the Di people. They were also driven away by the Qiang people and moved to other places.‘
’I’ve always wondered, since the Geji people were a remnant of a previous civilisation, how they were defeated by the Qiang people?‘
’Because the Qiang people had the help of the gods.‘
’Are there really gods?’
‘Maybe, or maybe those gods were people from a higher civilisation.‘ Professor Wu said this, then changed the subject, and sighed slightly, “I never thought that the war between these two tribes would extend to the totems.”
’Maybe the war between the totems caused the war between the two tribes.’ Feng Yi looked at the dragon-shaped giant fish on the water and said.
Professor Wu was taken aback by Feng Yi’s words, and then nodded, ’Yes, yes, Feng is right. In ancient times, these totems had supreme power. Especially unique totems such as giant pythons and dragon-shaped fish had supreme power and influence. A war between them might even trigger a tribal war…‘
’You’re wrong,’ Fengyi coldly interrupted Professor Wu, ’This is not a war between the python and the fish, it’s a war between the fish and the Candle Nine Darkness you mentioned.’
Above the water, the head sticking out of the mouth of the dragon-shaped giant fish was tirelessly roaring at the setting moon in the sky. It seemed that Feng was right, and the enemy of the dragon-shaped giant fish was the high and mighty Candle Nine Yin. However, Candle Nine Yin seemed to pay no attention to the dragon-shaped giant fish at all, and the bright moon still hung in the sky, not moving at all.
Suddenly, the dragon-shaped giant fish roared again, and dived into the water with a splash, disappearing without a trace. Everyone looked at each other, puzzled, and stared at the water, trying to figure out what had happened. But the surface of the water was unusually calm, so calm that in the distance, where the water was not covered in mice, the reflection of the moon and stars in the sky could be seen clearly. Shen Yuan suddenly saw the moon waver. At first she thought she was seeing things, but when she looked up at the sky, she saw that the moon had indeed moved again. Had another stone hit Candle Nine Yin? Or was Candle Nine Yin sensing something unusual?
Shen Yuan was pondering when she suddenly heard the sound of waves behind her. Turning around, she saw that a group of fish had suddenly appeared in the water, which was originally full of rats. The rats were obviously unable to compete with the fish in the water and were decimated in no time.
‘There seem to be all kinds of fish in this group. How can this be?‘ Shen Yuan asked in puzzlement.
’The big fish just now is their leader,‘ Feng Yi said lightly, without looking up as he kept his eyes on the fish.
’This big fish challenged Candle Nine Yin unsuccessfully, so why did it go after the rat group and bully the weak? It really doesn’t seem like a hero,’ said Professor Wu. ’Even if it leads the fish to eat all the rats, it can’t do anything to Candle Nine Yin.’
Shen Yuan immediately looked up at the sky after hearing Professor Wu’s words, and then said in disbelief, ‘No! The moon is now swaying slightly in the sky, and there is something unusual about Candle Nine Yin.’
Wind One and Professor Wu looked up at the same time, and saw that the moon was swaying up and down, left and right, and from time to time, blurring everyone’s eyes.
‘What on earth is he doing?‘ Professor Wu asked.
’He’s commanding the mice to fight,’ Fengyi said, and at some point had directed his gaze back to the surface of the water. At that moment, the situation on the surface of the water had changed. The mice had gone from fighting individually to fighting in unison. Every few mice turned their tails inward, forming a circle with their heads facing outward to form a unit of battle. These countless units of battle then formed an even larger unit of battle, and the larger unit of battle then formed an even larger unit of battle. In this way, the fish that had originally invaded the rat pack were quickly divided into individual encircling circles and eliminated one by one. Soon, the fish pack was at a disadvantage.
‘There must be more sophisticated formations underwater, but unfortunately I can’t see them,’ Professor Wu praised and lamented, ‘This Jiu Yin is really not simple.’
But before he could finish speaking, he noticed that the rat pack was once again in turmoil. It turned out that the huge dragon-shaped fish, which had disappeared from the surface of the water for some time, had suddenly reappeared. It leaped up and down in the water, both above and below the surface. Its body was already huge and unbearable, and once it leaped, it set off huge waves of more than ten metres. For a while, the rat pack had found it relatively difficult to float above the surface of the water. Now, once it was hit, the defensive and offensive formation it had constructed immediately disintegrated. The fish, big and small, took this opportunity to gobble up the rats indiscriminately.
Although Luo San was just sitting back and watching the fight, he felt that the dragon-shaped giant fish was ugly and came from an evil place. He didn’t want it to win. Now that he saw that the rat pack was defenseless again, he couldn’t help but worry secretly. In his anxiety, he couldn’t help but look up at the bright moon in the sky, but it swayed a few times. Then a very faint but piercing sound came to his ears, and in an instant, he saw the rats squeaking and screeching, leaping out of the water one after the other and pouncing on the dragon-shaped fish. They opened their mouths and bit, never letting go once they had a hold. Although the dragon-shaped giant fish was still leaping above and below the water, in a short while it was covered in rats, and almost no skin was visible. Even the human head sticking out of its mouth was now covered in more than ten rats, and although it roared repeatedly, it was helpless.
Seeing this, Luo San smiled, but unexpectedly the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly swung its body and plunged into the water like an arrow. Professor Wu stared at the water for a long time, but saw that the dragon-shaped giant fish did not reappear. Instead, the bodies of many rats floated on the surface, but each had its intestines torn out and its stomach ripped open, apparently killed by the fish in the water. I think all the rats on the dragon-shaped giant fish must be dead by now. As Luo San pondered, he saw the schools of fish that had been fighting with the rats suddenly scatter in all directions. The rats on the surface of the water were wondering why the fish had retreated when they suddenly felt a huge suction force from the water below them. They were helplessly caught up in the current and swept into the whirlpool. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what had happened. However, they saw that the whirlpool dissipated in no time, and a current rushed out of the water. A large number of mice flew into the air with the current, only to fall back down and float on the water’s surface, rising and falling with the waves. They were obviously dead. Then the whirlpool appeared in another place, and a large number of mice were sucked into it again.
Seeing this, Luo San finally understood that the whirlpool was the work of the dragon-shaped giant fish. It had eaten its fill of the rats on the surface of the water and now simply hid underwater to launch attacks, leaving the rats with nowhere to go. Luo San couldn’t help but curse inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. He could only watch as the number of rats on the surface slowly dwindled.
While the dragon-shaped giant fish was wreaking havoc, the fish swarm followed closely behind to clean up the battlefield, devouring all the remaining mice. In no time at all, there were very few mice left on the surface of the water. The dragon-shaped giant fish leapt out of the water and swam towards the platform.
Everyone’s attention had been focused on the battle between the fish and the rats, and they had not noticed the subtle changes that had taken place on the tenth platform. The water level on the platform had originally been lower than outside, but now the water inside and outside was now at the same level, and the platform was covered with the corpses of rats and fish. The invisible wall had disappeared!
Sure enough, the dragon-shaped giant fish swam to the front of the platform and paused for a moment before leaping in, as if it were unchallenged, and its huge body entered the platform. At this time, the platform was all water except for a circle of rocks around the outside. The nine sculptures were just floating on the water. The dragon-shaped giant fish’s leap was astonishingly powerful. The sculpture that Luo San and the others were standing on was suddenly knocked over by the dragon-shaped giant fish, and it collapsed with a loud noise. The group was caught off guard and suddenly lost their footing, sliding off the sculpture and falling straight into the water.
Chapter 25: The Sun in the Sky for Ten Days
When Luo San floated to the surface, he looked around, but saw only Professor Wu and the others, but no Shen Yuan. Without thinking, Luo San dove into the water and looked around, finally seeing Shen Yuan not far away, desperately trying to swim upstream, but she seemed to have cramps. Luo San hurriedly swam to her and supported her as she floated to the surface.
After settling Shen Yuan, Luo San noticed that the huge dragon-shaped fish was rapidly heading downstream.
‘I’ll go take a look,’ Luo San said, without waiting for anyone to stop him, and dived again. Holding his breath, Luo San descended rapidly. He could see that the walls were all crimson rocks, and the water in front of him was also the same shade of red. As Luo San adjusted his body to swim faster towards the depths, he inadvertently glanced at the sun in the sky. Looking at the sun in the sky through the blood-red water and the platform like a well mouth was already a special experience, but what Luo San saw greatly exceeded his expectations. The sun in the sky looked the same in the water as it did from the ground, except that in the middle of the sun was a black bird. The sun was surrounded by ten thousand rays of light like a fiery ball, but in the middle was a black bird, which was obviously out of place. The bird, Luo San knew, was a crow, and it was a three-legged crow.
A three-legged crow? That phrase suddenly popped into Luo San’s head. Luo San knew a bit about ancient myths, and he knew the saying of the ancients: ‘In the sun there is a three-legged crow, and in the moon there is the essence of a toad.’ However, he had only ever seen the modern educators’ explanation of “in the sun there is a three-legged crow” in textbooks as sunspots. Therefore, he never paid attention to this myth, and he never thought that he would actually see the three-legged crow in the sun here today. Luo San thought that the sculpture he just saw was holding a circle in his hand, and there was a three-legged crow in the middle. At that time, Professor Wu was also surprised that this myth from the Central Plains appeared here. Now it seems that this so-called legend from the Central Plains culture may have spread from here. He just doesn’t know how many more surprising things there are in this place.
Just as he was rambling on, the huge dragon-shaped fish disappeared from view. Luo San looked around three or four times, but suddenly the dragon-shaped fish came out of the shadows and bit at him. Without a second thought, Luo San immediately fired several shots at the dragon-shaped giant fish’s head. The dragon-shaped giant fish dodged the attack with a flash, but it was still wounded. The intense pain immediately aroused the dragon-shaped giant fish’s anger, and it roared, once again pouncing at Luo San. However, the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly stopped moving, looked up at the sky, a flash of panic in its eyes. Its huge body hurriedly turned away, shaking its head and tail as it swam like an arrow to the depths. Luo San quickly reached out and grabbed the fin of the dragon-shaped giant fish, and his body leaped forward, landing on the dragon-shaped giant fish’s body.
As the dragon-shaped giant fish sped forward, Luo San looked up at the sky, but saw that at some point, ten suns had appeared above the small well-like sky. The ten suns were all standing above the sky like fiery balls, and even though there was so much water between them, the intense light shining down was still quite strong. There was a bird in each of the ten suns. It was too far away to see what kind of bird it was, but the birds in the ten suns were arranged vertically, as if they were ten birds perched in the trees.
Luo San knew that during the excavation of Sanxingdui in earlier years, a bronze sacred tree had been discovered, and on the tree stood ten birds, just as Luo San saw today under the water. Experts and scholars studying the ancient Shu culture all believe that this bronze sacred tree is the mythical Fuso sacred tree from ancient Chinese mythology. The Fuso sacred tree is located in the middle of the East China Sea, and the sun rests on it. Every day, it sets out from this sacred tree, travelling from east to west across the sky, and returns to the sacred tree after sunset. In the past, everyone thought that this explanation could indeed explain the strange shape of the bronze sacred tree, but they never imagined that the prototype of the bronze sacred tree was actually the scene seen underwater when the sun was in the sky for ten days.
What was happening on the surface? Were Shen Yuan and the others okay? Luo San contacted Professor Wu on the surface via the equipment.
It turned out that after Luo San entered the water, the protective cover of the platform suddenly failed, and Professor Wu and the others joined Nan Qingyi and Nan Yi and stayed in the small boat. After a while, Professor Wu suddenly felt his body beginning to warm up. He knew that it must be the work of Candle Nine Yin, so he looked up at the sky. He didn’t know when the moon had set in the west. In the east, a red sun had risen. At that moment, a long howl like a dragon’s roar came from the sky. After the howl, the cold and dampness disappeared, and the weather suddenly changed from midwinter to midsummer. It was still early morning in midsummer, and the weather was not very hot. However, the coolness was much more comfortable than the cold of last night.
‘It’s finally warm,’ said Professor Wu, before he saw the nine sculptures that had been floating on the water beneath his feet suddenly leave the water and quickly rise into the air. Even when they reached the sky, they did not stop, and in a short while they had all disappeared into the sky.
‘What the hell is the Nine Yin of Candles up to now?’ Professor Wu looked at the red sun in the sky and muttered to himself.
After the nine sculptures disappeared into the sky, they were no longer visible. Everyone could only see that there was only a red sun in the sky. At first, the light was weak, but it suddenly burst into ten thousand rays, directly dazzling the two people’s eyes and causing their bodies to heat up from the sun.
‘Damn it,’ said Professor Wu, wiping the sweat that had already started to appear on his forehead, “this damned weather changes faster than a woman’s face.”
Feng Yi ignored Professor Wu and just held up a hand to indicate that Wu should stop talking, while his eyes were fixed on the sky. Professor Wu followed Feng Yi’s gaze and saw that in the sky, apart from the round, red sun, there were actually a few faint, disc-like objects. At first glance, they looked like the clouds that had appeared in the winter sky in Chengdu, but they were dull and featureless, like the sun.
‘What are these things?’ Professor Wu asked.
‘The sun,’ Feng Yi’s tone was still so flat, but to Professor Wu it sounded a little panicked.
‘What’s wrong? Brother Feng, is there something wrong with this sun…’ Just as he asked this question, Professor Wu noticed that the originally very faint, very faint disc had now turned into a golden, shimmering sun, also hanging high in the sky. He roughly counted and found that, together with the original sun, there were now ten suns in the sky. And these ten suns all shot out scorching rays of light, illuminating the boundless sea surface and immediately causing a burst of water vapour to rise.
In less than a minute, Professor Wu felt as if all the moisture in his body had been baked away, and he was hot and thirsty. The hair on his head and eyebrows gave off a burnt smell and turned to ashes under the glare of the ten suns.
‘Quick, hide under the water,’ the wind shouted at him as Professor Wu was at a loss as to what to do.
Professor Wu looked at the reflection of the ten suns in the water and then at his own skin, which was a deep red from the sunburn. He let out a cry of anguish, immediately climbed onto the raft and dove into the water. At this point, the water was no longer cold, but at least it was better than exposing his body to the ten suns.
However, even though they were hiding in the water, they still felt the burning pain of their skin all over their bodies. The whole person was dizzy from the sun and their mouth was dry. Professor Wu occasionally buried his entire body in the water and only looked up after a while. But every time he looked up, he noticed that the sun’s rays were even more scorching than before. ‘I finally understand how miserable it was for the unfortunate Emperor Yao when there were ten suns in the sky. Alas! I never thought that I would be able to see ten suns in the sky one day in my life, and even if it means dying, it would be worth it,’ lamented Professor Wu. Unexpectedly, Fengyi picked up the conversation from the side and said, ‘Death is certain. This time, we definitely won’t be able to get out alive.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Professor Wu had only said it casually, but he didn’t expect Fengyi to give him a death sentence, and his heart trembled.
Fengyi reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, dove into the water, and drank to his heart’s content before looking up and saying, ‘Ten days and all at once, burning up jade and stone alike.’ After saying this, Fengyi sighed and didn’t say anything else.
Professor Wu didn’t quite understand, so he asked again, ‘What’s the origin of this saying?’
Without looking up, Feng answered, ‘The saying was said by the clan’s shaman…’ Feng Yi told Professor Wu that shortly before his death, the last shaman of the Qiongdu tribe, after teaching Feng Yi’s ancestor everything he had learned in his life, repeatedly told Feng Yi’s ancestor that they must wait in the Anning Valley for generations, waiting for the descendants of the Enlightened tribe to come and work together to find the secret of the sea eye. The shaman told Fengyi’s ancestor that there was only one circumstance under which they could abandon this vigil, and that was when the ten suns appeared simultaneously and everything was destroyed, because in that case, no one would ever know the secret of the sea eye.
‘Why?’ Professor Wu’s voice trembled as it raised an octave. If the secret of the sea eye could never be known, then there would be no end to their suffering.
Feng glanced at Professor Wu, his eyes rarely showing a hint of pity. Helplessly, he said, ‘I don’t know why either. Maybe it means that when ten suns appear in the sky at the same time, everything will be destroyed, including the secret of the sea eye, which will be destroyed forever.’
‘Ten suns appear, destroying everything. Ten suns appear, destroying everything.’ From the walkie-talkie, Professor Wu was still mumbling to himself, his voice full of desolation. Luo San also felt a pang of sadness. Luo San comforted himself and continued on. After a while, Professor Wu’s voice came over the walkie-talkie again: ‘Xiaosan, look at the sky.’
The scene in the sky had changed again. The tree that had been home to the birds was gone, replaced by a huge fireball. Around the fireball were nine three-legged crows, circling the fireball and spinning non-stop.
‘What’s happening on the water?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask when he saw this.
Shen Yuan told Luo San that it turned out that just now the ten fireballs in the sky quickly changed positions, gradually coming together. No matter which direction you looked from the ground, the ten suns had merged into one sun, except that this sun was more than twice as large as the original sun. Once the ten suns had gathered, their light also immediately converged in one place. Tens of thousands of beams of scorching light converged into a beam, directly shining onto the third platform, while the rest of the place was only illuminated by some residual light. The originally blue and pure sky slowly turned dark green, and at some point, large patches of dark clouds appeared, covering most of the sky. The temperature suddenly dropped, and the suffocating heat from earlier was gone. The occasional cool breeze brought a pleasant coolness.
“I originally thought that the expression “ten days and ten suns” must refer to ten suns appearing in the sky at the same time, drying up everything between heaven and earth,’ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted, ‘But now that there are ten suns, the light is concentrated in one place. I don’t know what will happen, so you have to be careful. Oh no, there’s been another change,’ said Professor Wu, suddenly exclaiming.
It turned out that in just a few seconds, the sky and earth were dark again. The dark blue sky was tinged with black, like a dim dusk. In the midst of the darkness, only a round sun, blazing like a fiery ball, hung high in the sky. The light from the sun was strangely concentrated into a beam, like a giant flashlight, shining directly onto the surface of the water. The water hit by the beam quickly evaporated and misted up, and the surrounding area was extremely hot. However, outside this area, the temperature was extremely low, and gusts of cold wind brought a chill. Everything between heaven and earth was tinged with a sense of the bizarre. It was as if it were a harbinger of the imminent destruction of the entire world.
“Xiao… Xiaosan… How do you feel underwater? You…be careful…‘ Shen Yuan admonished.
Luo San suddenly felt Shen Yuan’s voice tremble a little. “Shen Yuan, what’s wrong?”
’Nothing…nothing, I just feel cold.”
It turned out that the light beam had shrunk again, becoming even smaller than the diameter of the round sun in the sky. Although it was dazzling and made it impossible to look at, it seemed that the light and heat were concentrated in one place, and the chill between heaven and earth was immediately palpable.
After listening to the two men’s introduction, Luo San knew that the situation was critical. He also felt that the giant dragon-shaped fish was going like lightning, sometimes turning left and right underwater, sometimes rising, sometimes surging downward. This high platform was not a completely hollow setting. There were many passages and spaces inside, densely packed together like a maze. The giant dragon-shaped fish was shuttling through these passages and spaces.
The dragon-shaped giant fish seemed extremely anxious, and its speed was getting faster and faster. Unconsciously, Luo San felt his body burning up as well. Burning up? Luo San suddenly felt that something was wrong. Even if his body was getting hotter, it was impossible for him to feel this hot underwater. This burning sensation was caused by the surrounding water. The water around him had become hot! Luo San had seen before the scene of ten suns gathering together and shining directly into the water, but he had not expected the sunlight to be so strong, strong enough to bake so much water. Luo San now understood why the dragon-shaped giant fish was so nervous. It had long since known that when the ten suns appeared in the sky, the water in it would boil, so it wanted to achieve its goal before the water was boiled. Just what was its goal?
After passing through a wide tunnel, the dragon-shaped giant fish twisted its body and turned right, but after advancing a certain distance, it stopped at an intersection. Ahead were the entrances to three parallel passages. The dragon-shaped giant fish hesitated for a moment and entered the entrance to the passage on the right. This was almost a vertical downward passage, and the dragon-shaped giant fish was even more like an arrow leaving the string and like thunder in such a passage.
It’s hot. The water around him is already very hot, burning his skin and causing it to tingle. Although this is not enough to cause harm to the human body, Luo San is worried that it will not be long before the water is hot enough to roast him along with the dragon-shaped fish. Thinking about this, he hopes that the dragon-shaped fish will speed up.
The tunnel is dark, and Luo San can only vaguely see a dark object in front of him. The dragon-shaped fish’s body lags behind for a moment, and its speed suddenly slows down. Luo San soon understood why the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly slowed down. The channel in front of him was no longer filled with water, but was instead filled with a dark mass that occupied the entire channel. The dragon-shaped giant fish was doing its best to squeeze its body into the dark mass, but it seemed to be having a hard time doing so. It took a long time to squeeze in just a small part of its body, and its huge tail kept swinging outside, sending up huge waves. Wave after wave came, and although Luo San did not fall off the dragon-shaped giant fish, he was also tossed around and became dizzy.
After a while, most of the dragon-shaped giant fish’s body had entered the black object, and the waves finally subsided. Luo San also came to the black object, and it was only then that he could see clearly that the dark object was slimy to the touch, with soft, sticky tentacles, which were obviously silt.
At first, Luo San did not understand why this silt would make the giant dragon-shaped fish so difficult to move. But once he tried it, he immediately understood the reason. This soft, slimy silt was actually incredibly tough, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not get even half an inch into it. Fortunately, he was lying on the giant dragon-shaped fish, and could use its strength to pass through this opening.
The dragon-shaped fish was still struggling to move forward. Its mouth was wide open, and the strange human head sticking out of it was quickly devouring the mud in front of it, creating a path for itself. Then it flapped its fins, wriggled with difficulty, and moved forward. The thick mud slowly closed in around it, and the mud in front of it seemed to have no end. The dragon-shaped giant fish had swallowed a lot of silt, and its entire belly was bulging. It was getting more and more difficult to move forward in the silt, which was closing in faster and faster. It looked as if the silt was about to completely engulf the dragon-shaped giant fish’s huge body, but then the monster suddenly let out a loud roar that shook the heavens and earth. Amidst the roar, it kept writhing its body, and gradually, its four claws emerged from its belly. With its claws, the dragon-shaped giant fish immediately swung its four sharp claws, propped up its huge body, and quickly moved forward.
With its four sharp claws, the dragon-shaped giant fish finally poked its head out of the silt layer. In front of it was a wide passage, the passage was empty, there was nothing in it, not even water.
The dragon-shaped giant fish opened its huge mouth, and countless black clods of mud were spat out of its mouth. After spitting out all the mud in its stomach, the dragon-shaped giant fish began to prepare to run forward. However, just as its claws snapped onto the ground of the passage, a series of clicks sounded in the long, dark passage. Amidst the sound, the walls of the passage, which had originally been incredibly hard and complete without a single crack, gushed forth countless streams of fiery lava, flooding the entire passage.
The lava began to rush towards the dragon-shaped giant fish, and the scorching heat turned everything around it into a light mist. The dragon-shaped giant fish was not fazed in the slightest, and opened its mouth wide. A jet of cold water spurted out, surging like a huge wave towards the lava. After a hissing sound, the entire tunnel was filled with a thick mist, and the scorching heat dissipated. At the same time, the huge human head of the dragon-shaped giant fish poked out of its mouth, and a loud roar shook the water mist and made it retreat. Then there was a ‘whoosh’ sound, and a jet of black substance shot out of the human head’s mouth, passing through the water mist and spreading over most of the cooled lava on the surface. In no time, it formed a path. The dragon-shaped giant fish immediately stepped forward, and the jet of black substance from its mouth continued to shoot out, and in no time it had passed through the lava tunnel like a bird.
Luo San followed closely behind, and at the end of the lava tunnel, there was no tunnel, but an expanse of ocean. The ocean was calm and peaceful, with a few seagulls occasionally gliding across the surface. Above the ocean, there was a piece of land. The land is covered in dense forests, with thick shade and lush vegetation of all kinds. Elephants and other animals roam in herds through the jungle, while a group of people with high noses and bulging eyes, and shoulders that stick out, are working on the land. Above the sea, there is also a group of people with high noses and bulging eyes, and shoulders that stick out, working on the sea, rowing boats and fishing. In the sky hangs a fiery ball, in the centre of which is a crow with three claws…
Luosan noticed that the dragon-shaped giant fish stopped in its tracks and silently looked at everything in front of it, at the ocean, the land, every drop of water in the ocean, and every grain of soil on the land. After a long time, it sniffed the water in the ocean, then looked up and sniffed the air in the sky. It looked up, its eyes wide as it looked at the round sun in the sky, and a flash of excitement suddenly appeared in its eyes. The strange human head also poked out of the mouth of the giant fish, and a smile of relief appeared on the terrifying face. After a long time, the dragon-shaped giant fish leaped into the water with a splash, swimming with its head shaking and its tail waving. Sometimes it swam like an arrow to the depths of the water, and sometimes it rushed out of the water like a flying fish. After a while, the dragon-shaped giant fish began to swim to the depths of the water, staying quietly under the water, motionless, as if it were asleep.
Luosan watched all this and always felt very strange. At the moment when the dragon-shaped giant fish seemed to fall asleep, he finally understood that all they had encountered along the way were the great arrays set up by the Ten Wind Clan. First it was the mud, then the rocks, and now the dragon-shaped giant fish should be encountering jade. What he had just seen should be the hometown of the dragon-shaped giant fish transformed from jade. He just couldn’t figure out why he could see something that was only supposed to be seen by the dragon-shaped giant fish.
Suddenly, the dragon-shaped fish woke up as if from a dream and tried to swim away, but found that it could no longer move. At that moment, the vast ocean disappeared, and what appeared before Luo San was still a wide passage. Inside the passage were a few ivory tusks arranged in a strange formation. In the centre of the passage was a huge, translucent and crystal-clear jade stone. The dragon-shaped giant fish and he were now in the middle of the jade stone, completely integrated with it, as if they had always been in it. The dragon-shaped giant fish was trapped and unable to move a muscle. The human head that protruded from its mouth was frozen in place with a terrified expression.
Everything seemed to have come to a standstill. Luo San noticed that the only thing that had changed was the body of the dragon-shaped fish, which was quietly changing colour. The original colour of the dragon-shaped fish’s body was green, but now it looked as if it had been dyed, and the colour was slowly fading away with the water oozing out of the dragon-shaped fish’s body. As more and more water oozed out of the dragon-shaped fish’s body, the whole body gradually turned grey, and then from grey to white. The water did not gather around the dragon-shaped fish, but seeped into the jade. In no time at all, the entire jade was covered with large and small stripes and bubbles. At that moment, the dragon-shaped fish made a sudden effort, and the entire jade suddenly fell apart. The dragon-shaped fish struggled out of the jade and immediately took four paws and ran forward, walking with great anxiety.
Around the corner was another passage. It was empty.
The dragon-shaped giant fish took a gentle step, and was about to take the second step when a gust of wind suddenly blew up from the flat ground. The dragon-shaped giant fish, with a body length of tens of metres, was also caught up in the wind and thrown into the air, tumbling backwards, and finally crashing heavily onto the ground with a loud bang. Cracks appeared on the surface of the hard rock passage. This fall was not easy for the dragon-shaped giant fish either. Its huge body struggled for half a minute before it slowly stood up, and its huge human head stuck out of its mouth, emitting a shrill roar. The dragon-shaped giant fish then dug its four claws deep into the rocks in the ground and slowly walked forward step by step. The wind was still strong, but this time the dragon-shaped giant fish was prepared. The wind only made it move slowly, but it could not blow it away again. A few minutes later, it passed through the passage.
Ahead was a circular hall, incredibly vast, measuring tens of thousands of square metres, all built from huge stones. The dome of the hall was hundreds of metres above the ground and was also made from rocks. On the dome were painted in different directions soil, rocks, jade, ivory, three-legged crows, wind, carvings, rats, snakes, etc. In the centre of the dome, however, was a pattern with a circle in the middle like the sun, surrounded by birds.
In the main hall, there are all kinds of objects stacked up, stone bells, stone drums, stone bowls, stone basins, stone knives, stone axes…in short, all kinds of stone tools for production and life, almost piled up in every corner of the main hall; in the main hall there are also jade cong, jade zhang and all kinds of jade ware, piles upon piles of ivory… The most numerous are all kinds of sculptures, standing people, sitting people, people with their hands raised above their heads, people with their hands placed in the centre of their foreheads, and all the human figures without exception have high noses and bulging eyes.
As for The dragon-shaped giant fish paid no attention to any of this and quickly strode towards the centre of the hall. The centre of the hall was empty, but the dragon-shaped giant fish strode straight towards it, hurrying along. After a few strides, it was close to the centre of the hall, where a small box stood out so prominently. The box was made of stone, only about a foot square, and the surface was covered with crude patterns that looked like words or figures. The box was less than three metres from the dragon-shaped fish. A hint of joy flashed in the dragon’s eyes, its mouth opened wide, and a strange human head poked out of its mouth and lunged at the box like lightning. At that moment, a beam of light shot down from the ceiling of the hall. The human head was caught off guard and the beam of light pierced its neck. ‘Oww!’ The human head let out a painful howl, but it didn’t dodge and lunged at the box.
That light beam was actually emitted from the round sun in the sky, except that at this time the beam formed by the round sun had been condensed to the thickness of a chopstick, was extremely hot, and was still dazzling after penetrating thousands of metres of deep water and rock formations. The light seemed to have a mind of its own. It did not dodge the injured human head, but immediately turned towards the box in the centre of the hall. The dragon-shaped giant fish seemed to have anticipated this, and its huge body leapt forward, blocking the box. At the same time, the human head bent down to the belly of the dragon-shaped giant fish, picked up the box in one bite, and then retracted into the fish’s mouth like lightning. At that moment, the burning light beam had already penetrated the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, creating a large hole in the ground. The dragon-shaped shook, braced itself on all fours, and soared into the air, fleeing in the opposite direction. However, after missing its target, the beam of light shot back up and hit the strange pattern in the centre of the ceiling of the hall. The beam of light, as thick as a pair of chopsticks, hit the centre of the pattern and immediately began to fill the entire pattern like water flowing along the lines of the pattern. The ancient pattern shone with a brilliance that was enhanced by the injection of light. The central circle shone like the sun, emitting a blinding light that illuminated the entire hall. The birds surrounding the pattern also seemed to come to life at this time, rapidly circling the central circle. As this pattern rotated, countless beams of light seemed to be flung out, injecting light into the various patterns on the dome. For a moment, all the patterns on the dome shone with brilliance.
This happened in less than a second, but in that split second, the dragon-shaped fish had leapt hundreds of metres, but it did not have time to escape the hall successfully, as a pillar of light shot out from the circle in the centre of the pattern on the dome, enveloping the exit and the exit was enveloped in a pillar of searing light. The nine birds surrounding the circle suddenly broke free from the dome and darted towards the dragon-shaped giant fish. Although it deftly side-stepped the attacks on its vital spots, it still had nine holes in its body. The wounds were burned by the light beam and there was no blood at all, but the dragon-shaped giant fish’s violently shaking body showed the pain he was suffering. But that was not the end of it. The nine birds turned around and flew back, swooping at the dragon-shaped giant fish. At the same time, all the patterns on the dome above the fish detached themselves from the stone wall and, with dazzling light, swooped at the dragon-shaped giant fish.
The dragon-shaped was completely enraged. It roared and took a few steps towards the exit of the hall, ignoring the burning attacks in front of it. Mud, stone, jade, ivory, and gale force wind passed through the body of the dragon-shaped fish, but it didn’t care, just taking big strides towards the exit of the hall. The was just a few dozen metres in front of him, and it only took two steps to cross it. However, at that moment, the silver-glowing snake swam around on the ground for a while before suddenly wrapping itself around the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish; the huge eagle circled once around the dome before swooping down with its sharp beak and talons at the dragon-shaped giant fish’s head; and the giant rat bit down hard on the dragon-shaped giant fish’s lower jaw. But the dragon-shaped fish still struggled to take a step forward, until the three-legged crow cut across its neck with dazzling heat. With a loud bang, the dragon-shaped fish’s huge head fell off its neck and crashed to the ground, and its huge body also collapsed with a loud bang, hitting the beam at the exit of the main hall and sending up a pungent smell of burning.
Like lightning lightning, a dark shadow shot out from the dragon-shaped giant fish’s headless neck and quickly fled down the passage. It was a snake, nearly 20 metres long and a foot thick, but it had a human head, and the human head was holding a box in its mouth.
In the all the patterns quickly left the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, gathered together like thunder, and slammed into a barely noticeable bulge in the northwest corner of the hall. A few seconds later, a loud boom came from the top of the hall, followed by another loud noise like thunder. The hall shook violently, and finally the dome of the hall cracked open, and countless boulders crashed down…
Chapter 26: A human head and a snake body
In the began to collapse, Luo San turned around and started running back the way he came. He knew that if he wanted to avoid being smashed to a pulp in the rain of falling boulders, there was only one safe place, and that was the quagmire. If he could burrow into the mud, he might stand a chance.
The passage outside the hall was also beginning to show signs of collapse, but as the passageway was larger than the hall, the rocks had not yet started to fall. Luo San ran quickly with Shen Yuan in his arms, finally reaching the muddy swamp.
In front of the muddy swamp, the mud spewed out by the dragon-shaped giant fish was slowly merging with the muddy swamp to form a single mass. There was only a small hole in the middle, and Luo San, holding Shen Yuan in his arms, managed to squeeze into it with difficulty. In a moment, all the mud gathered and covered his entire body. Fortunately, he reached out and pushed open a small hole in the mud, so that he could barely breathe. At that moment, huge boulders fell one after the other, crashing onto the mud with a loud noise, but Luo San only felt a slight pressure. Luo San secretly felt relieved, thinking that he had finally escaped. However, then realised that the mud had wrapped itself tightly around his body, and that he could not move his hands or feet at all. It was almost impossible for him to get out of the mud. Luo San became anxious, and just then, he felt that he was having difficulty breathing because he was trapped in the mud. No, I have to think of something immediately. Luo San was anxious, and did his best to break free from the mud, but no matter how hard he struggled, his hands and feet could not move at all. Gradually San gradually felt himself losing consciousness.
After an unknown period of time, he heard a voice with a hint of crying in it shouting, ‘San-zi, are you here? San-zi, are you here? Answer me, answer me quickly.’
‘I’m here, Shen Yuan, I’m here,’ San tried to speak, but he was unable to do so.
And just here, he heard Professor Wu shouting, ‘Girl, it’s useless for you to be like this, come back quickly, we’ll think of another way.’ However, it seemed that Shen Yuan hadn’t listened to Professor Wu’s words, and she was still shouting, ‘Xiao Sanzi, answer me quickly. Xiao Sanzi…’
Hearing Shen Yuan’s voice, Luo San felt a pang of heartache, his veins suddenly bulging. He shouted, and the mud around him quickly dried up and became powerless. Finally, Luo San made a slight effort, and the mud cracked in half.
Out of the quagmire, Luo San looked around and saw that the towering floodwaters had completely receded. The high platform had turned into a pile of ruins, and in an area of tens of thousands of square metres, the scattered boulders were piled up to a height of more than 100 metres. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, Nan Qingyi and the others were not far ahead, but none of them had noticed what had happened here until Luo San greeted them.
“Little San’ heard Luo San’s voice, and Shen Yuan turned around and stared for a moment, immediately screaming and rushing forward, hugging Luo San and crying and laughing. Luo San was at a loss, while not far away, Professor Wu and Feng Yi were staring at him with evil grins on their faces, making him even more embarrassed, and he didn’t know what to do with his hands. After a long time , Shen Yuan’s mood finally calmed down a little. Luo San patted her back gently and whispered in her ear, ‘Professor Wu and Feng Yi are both looking at us.’ Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan immediately flinched as if she had been electrocuted, reached out to wipe away the tears on her face, and with her usual cold expression, she said to Luo San, ‘What on earth happened to you just now? How did you come out of here?’ Her words revealed her concern.
Luo San hadn’t answered Shen Yuan’s question, Professor Wu rushed over: ‘San-zi, you’re lucky. So many rocks fell, but you’re still intact?’
‘Luckily, I happened to hide in this mud. How about you guys?’
‘Us?’ Professor Wu waved his hands repeatedly, ‘Luckily, luckily, staying on this car, we didn’t suffer much damage.’
‘What were you looking for?’
‘Looking for you,’ Professor Wu said.
“No sorry to have worried you,‘ Luo San said, and told Professor Wu and the others about his experience underwater.
’You mean there was a box?‘ Professor Wu asked as soon as Luo San had finished speaking.
’Yes?‘
’What kind of box?‘
’I don’t know, but the huge dragon-shaped fish went to get it, so it must be a box with some kind of secret.‘
’Where is it now?”
Luo San looked around and roughly pointed in a direction.
That was the direction the human-headed snake-bodied monster had fled. Luo San just didn’t know if the human-headed snake-bodied monster had been buried under the boulder or had escaped to heaven. However, Fengyi quickly gave him the answer, because he was holding a box in his hand, which was covered in indistinct flesh and blood but was intact.
‘Where did you find it?’ Luo San was very surprised that there was not a single intact thing on the entire square, so how did the box remain in such good condition.
“From got it out of there.’ Feng pointed to a pile of bloody flesh on the ground, then looked at the box again.
The surface of the pile of bloody flesh was in a mess, but Luo San could still tell from the tiny, colourful patterns in the flesh that it was the corpse of a giant python. Among the pile of bloody flesh, he could only see a human head that was about a metre in size. The human head with two metres of hair, and a face complete with eyebrows, nose, eyes, ears and mouth, although it had been smashed to pieces and looked incredibly strange.
Feng Yi said, ‘I think when this monster couldn’t escape, it swallowed the box in its mouth, curled up its body, and buried its head under its body. Therefore, although its head was smashed and deformed, the box is still intact.’
“What What kind of box is it that this human-headed, snake-bodied monster would value so highly that it would risk its life to seize and protect it?”
Feng Yi gently stroked the patterns on the box and said, “Originally, this was a box that could unlock the secrets of the Qiongdu people’s shamans, but now it is useless?”
Professor Wu exclaimed in alarm, “Why do you say that? What secrets are there in this box?”
Feng Yi handed the box to Professor Wu and said desolately, “The secrets are engraved on the box.”
Professor Wu Professor Wu took the box and looked at it, only to discover that it was engraved with the pictographic language of Bashu: ‘What do all these words say?’
‘The destruction of Chengdu caused a massive flood, and our homes were no longer there. Before fleeing in panic, all the civilisation created by our ancestors was permanently sealed underwater. Apart from that jade, nothing else can be opened.’
“Jade ? Inside this box? Without waiting for Fengyi to reply, Professor Wu immediately tried to open the box. Little did he know that although the box was less than an inch thick, it was ingeniously designed with a tight fit between the top and bottom. Professor Wu fiddled with it for a long time, but was unable to find a way to open the box. Suddenly, he accidentally touched a pattern on the box, and heard a light sound of ‘ka’. Ten bumps the size of soybeans suddenly appeared on the lid.
Professor Wu knew that these bumps were the key to opening the box, but there were ten of them, and he wasn’t sure which one was the key. He had to ask for help and looked at Fengyi. Fengyi took the box and gently pressed on the ninth bump, and the box popped open silently. The box was empty, because apart from a depression, there was nowhere to store objects. At this point, the depression was empty, with nothing in it. The depression was very shallow, only half a centimetre thick, the size of a baby’s palm, and it is thought that the jade mentioned on the surface of the box was previously placed in this position.
“Feng Brother Feng, was the box empty when you opened it just now?”
Feng, upon hearing Professor Wu’s question, closed the box and said, “Of course it was empty, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here in a daze.” While Feng was speaking, the box in his hand quickly returned to its tightly closed state.
Luo San carefully recalled the appearance of the indentation in the box, suddenly had a bright idea, snatched the box, opened it, and looked at it again carefully. The appearance of this indentation seemed to have been seen somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember for the moment. Now that he was looking at the indentation again carefully, he finally remembered that the jade in the indentation was the same jade that Shen Yuan was wearing.
“Shen Yuan, give me your jade.‘ Although Shen Yuan didn’t know what Luo San wanted to do, he still took off the jade hanging around his neck and handed it to Luo San as he said. However, at that moment, Professor Wu reached out and grabbed the jade in his hands: “Xirang jade, girl, where did you get this jade?”
’What is Xirang jade?‘
’It’s your ancient jade,‘ said Professor Wu.
’Xirang How do you know the name of this jade? And what is the origin of this jade?‘
’Let’s talk about that later,’ said Professor Wu, clearly understanding what Luo San meant. He turned to Feng Yi and said, “Brother Feng, open the box.”
The box opened. Professor Wu once again compared the shape of the indentation in the box with the Xirang jade, and the two were indeed identical. Professor Wu took a deep breath and slowly placed the Xirang jade in the box. The emerald ancient jade and the indentation fit perfectly. As soon as it was placed in the indentation, the colour immediately became the same as the box, and it was impossible to tell the two apart. The four of them looked at each other, not knowing what the deal was, so they had to bury their heads again and stare at the box.
‘Look, what is this?’ Luo San pointed to a place on the inside of the stone box and asked. When everyone looked closely, they saw that the inside of the originally smooth stone box now faintly showed a striped pattern. ‘Look, there’s one here too,’ Luo San shouted, pointing to another place. Soon everyone noticed that more and more lines were emerging on the inside of the stone box.
‘Open the box completely,’ Feng Yi told Professor Wu.
Professor Wu did as he was told, opened the box, spread the top and bottom pieces apart, and put them together again.
“This is a map?‘ Luo San asked, surprised to see the surface patterns of the entire inner surface of the stone box emerge when the upper and lower pieces of the box were opened and placed together, looking like a map.
’Yes. This is exactly a map.‘ Feng Yi stared at the map intently without blinking, and suddenly reached out and pointed to a pattern on the map that was generally the same shape as the Shixiangyangyu, saying, “The secret entrance is here.”
’What secret?‘ Shen Yuan and Luo San asked in unison.
’No No!‘ Feng Yi did not answer, but instead let out a loud cry and struck out like lightning at the stone box. Suddenly, Professor Wu lost his grip and the stone box fell to the ground, closing together. Professor Wu did not know why Feng Yi was acting like this and complained, “Brother Feng, what are you doing…” Before he could finish speaking, a blinding flash of light flashed before his eyes, landing on the stone box. The stone box turned into a wisp of blue smoke and disappeared from everyone’s sight.
’My My jade!‘ Shen Yuan exclaimed.
’The map is gone. What do we do now?‘ Nan Qingyi anxiously asked.
’Don’t argue,’ Feng Yi shouted in a low voice, “the jade is here.” He then spread open his clenched hands. In the palm of his hand was the Resting Land jade. “Be careful of that light,” Feng Yi pointed to the beam of light in the sky without daring to raise his head.
The Resting was originally thin, and placed in the stone box, it was basically fused with the stone box. There was nowhere to start if you wanted to take it, so the crowd really didn’t know what method Feng Yi had used, nor did they know how Feng Yi had managed to fuse the Resting Land Jade into a stone in such a short period of time.
‘Luckily, Brother Feng’s methods were good, and the jade is fine,’ Professor Wu couldn’t help but praise.
‘It’s just that the map is gone, so what do we do now?’ Nan Qingyi was still concerned about this issue.
“I I’ve written it down,‘ Feng Yi said indifferently.
’Written it down?‘ everyone said in unison, their tone full of disbelief.
Feng Yi did not answer, or rather, he did not bother to answer.
’Then what secret was Feng Laoshi talking about just now?‘ Nan Qingyi asked again.
’The secret of the Shi Feng tribe,‘ Feng Yi said, and then stopped. “This is not a place to linger, we must leave as soon as possible.”
’Are you are you worried that ‘when ten days have passed, jade and stone alike will be destroyed’? Professor Wu asked. ‘I think the Qiongdu people’s prophecy is just meant to scare people. What do you mean by “jade and stone alike will be destroyed”? Everyone is fine.’
Fengyi scoffed, ‘If it weren’t for that man with the snake’s body and a human’s head who sacrificed himself to protect it, this box would have long since turned into water. The jade and the jade all burn together, and what burns is this box and the jade inside. Just now, I thought that the ten days had already let this box go, but I didn’t expect that once the jade and the jade were together, it still alarmed it. If it had been a few seconds slower, this jade would no longer exist. We’d better pack up and leave quickly.’
At that moment, the sound of cars suddenly came from the front.
Everyone fixed their attention and saw that four underwater cars were speeding towards them.
‘Nan Qingyi, did you call for cars again?’ Luo San asked.
‘Well, I’m worried about a lack of manpower.’
‘Tell them not to come over, we’ll get in the car and leave immediately,’ Feng Yipaid to Nan Qingyi.
Chapter 27: Heaven Crumbles, Seas Turn
Everyone After everyone had boarded the car, Feng Yitai said to Shen Yuan, ‘By the way, girl, I want to ask you a question. How did this jade come to be in your possession?’
‘My boyfriend gave it to me before he died.’
‘Your boyfriend? Isn’t that Luo San?’
‘No, it’s not me,’ Luo San answered awkwardly.
‘My boyfriend’s surname is Xiao, but he died last year.’ Shen Yuan simply told everyone the whole story of Xiao Ziyu’s death. Luo San had only known a little about it before. Now that Shen Yuan had told the whole story, he could not help but secretly admire Xiao Ziyu’s true love. Looking at Shen Yuan again, although her tone of voice was calm, her eyes were red, and he knew that this story had once again touched the deepest pain in her heart. He felt distressed and wanted to go up to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say. At that moment, Nan Qingyi broke the silence: ‘Do you really not know what kind of person this Xiao Ziyu is?’
“I I think it should be a descendant of the Xiao family of Guankou.‘ Professor Wu answered for Shen Yuan, “The Xiao family of Guankou is a secretive family in Dujiangyan City. They are the best at water control techniques, and the family sits in Guankou to protect the safety of the ancient Dujiang Weir. As for the immortal jade, it is the family treasure of the Xiao family of Guankou. For more than 2,000 years, it has always belonged to the Xiao family of Guankou. I just didn’t expect this ancient divine jade to come from here…”
’Wait wait,‘ Luo San suddenly interrupted Professor Wu, “I have a few things I can’t figure out. Since this jade was originally placed here, how did it later appear in the world above ground? Why is this jade called the Resting Earthen Jadeites? And how did it end up in the hands of the Guankou Xiao family? Professor Wu, I know you’re better than a computer, so explain it to me.”
’Just You son of a bitch, you ask a lot of questions,’ Professor Wu scolded, but was happy to explain to the group, ’I can’t answer the first question, but I can talk about the second and third. According to ancient records, the Xirang Jade was obtained from the Xirang during the time of Yu the Great’s flood control. There is a black spot in the jade, which is suspected to be the Xirang. This jade is said to possess inexplicable magical powers because it was obtained from the Xirang. Legend has it When Yu the Great was fighting the floods, he wore this jade close to his body, and it helped him break rocks and open up the river, and it was this jade that gave him the strength to do it. After Yu the Great had finished fighting the floods, no one knew where this jade went. It disappeared for 2,000 years, and then the Xiao family of Guankou found it at the bottom of the Baoping River during the annual repairs to the Dujiang Weir. The Xiao family recognised it as the ancient jade of the Xirang according to the ancient book illustrations, and used it to protect the safety of the ancient Dujiang Weir. Therefore it has always been passed down in the family as a treasure, and only the heir can obtain it.‘
’So this jade has such a history.‘ Shen Yuan sighed and stopped talking. Luo San knew that she was thinking about Xiao Ziyu again, so he tried to change the subject, but he heard Nan Qingyi ask again, “This Xiao Ziyu is dead, so didn’t anyone from the Xiao family come looking for him?”
’This I don’t know.‘ Shen Yuan was extremely reluctant to talk about this matter, but reluctantly answered Nan Qingyi’s question. However, Nan Qingyi ignored Luo San’s murderous gaze and continued to ask, “Then he didn’t say what this jade was used for? I’m sorry, but this jade is of great importance, I have to ask?”
’No.‘
’There is no need to dwell on this jade anymore. Let’s quickly go and unlock the secrets of Shifeng according to the map,‘ Luo San said. “Uncle Feng, where should we go according to the map?”
’Southeast south-east.‘
’Is it also on land?‘
’Are you stupid?‘ Professor Wu scolded, “People say that all the civilisation created by our ancestors has been permanently sealed under the water, so how could it be on land.”
’I I was thinking that if it is on land, it will be very troublesome to find.‘ The ground in front of them was in a mess. A few hours earlier, there was a lush, luxuriant jungle, but it had been uprooted by the rapidly receding flood and swept away into the ocean. As a result, what was presented to everyone’s eyes was an open, flat plain. On the plain stood several small hillsides, which were the altars that Luo San and the others had seen before.
’One one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The eight altars and the platform just now form a nine-palace shape, just as we saw on the map.‘ Professor Wu looked at the platforms and couldn’t help itching to go, and said to the three of them, “Everyone, let’s go to each altar and take a look, maybe we’ll find something.”
Feng Yibai gave him a cold stare and said indifferently, “There’s no time.”
’It not take long.’ Professor Wu saw that Feng Yibai still ignored him, so he turned to Luo San and said, “Luo San, there must be some unsolved mysteries of the Gorgon people there. Why don’t we go take a look.”
Before Luo San could reply, Feng Yibai shouted, “That’s enough! This is not the time to play with your archaeological stuff.”
Professor Wu was about to say something, but he heard Feng Yibai shout, “Everyone be careful, the driver is speeding up.” The driver accelerated as instructed. Everyone’s body immediately leaned backwards, but Professor Wu and Shen Yuan were agile, and they were able to stabilise themselves after a momentary sway. Luo San was not so lucky, and immediately fell on his back. Fortunately, he was tough, and after rolling over, he stood up again, patted his bottom and asked Feng Yi, ‘Uncle Feng, it seems we are not in a hurry, right?’
‘Not in a hurry?’ Feng Yi snorted, ‘Just look at the sky.’ Before before anyone looked up, he shouted again, ‘Sit down properly.’
Luo San poked his head out the window and looked up at the sky. He saw that the beam of light as thick as a pair of chopsticks had split into nine beams of light several dozen metres thick above the inky sky. The nine beams of light were in a square formation and shone evenly on the original positions of the eight altars and high platform. Luo San didn’t know what would happen when the light beam shone on the high platform, but he could clearly feel that a new storm was about to come. Sure enough . A few seconds later, the ground beneath their feet roared. ‘Everyone sit down! Don’t stick your heads out the windows, I’m closing the doors and windows,’ the driver yelled, and before anyone could react, he accelerated again and the car sped towards the coast.
The scenery flashed past, and not far ahead was an altar. Luo San stared wide-eyed, trying to see what was happening when the light hit the altar. But just at that moment, Shen Yuan behind him let out a cry of alarm, and Luo San quickly looked back, only to see Shen Yuan looking back in panic at the distant plains. At some unknown time, the plains had cracked open, crisscrossed with ravines, and the ravines were continuing to expand, dividing the entire plain into pieces. One of the 50-centimetre-wide fissures was following their car closely, and its width was rapidly expanding.
“This is…‘ Luo San was about to ask Shen Yuan, but then he realised that the crack was actually right under their feet, just hidden by the car. Once the crack was wider than the car, everyone would fall into the bottomless ravine. To confirm his thoughts, Luo San turned his head and looked forward. Sure enough, there was also a crack in front of the car.
’I’m going to prepare to dive underwater, everyone sit tight,’ the driver instructed the group as he once again accelerated the car.
Not far the plain had begun to collapse, and the crack under the car was already a metre wide. The driver, his face pale, was holding on for dear life. Suddenly, not far away, another car rolled over and fell into the crack. Before anyone could react, another car on the right fell into the crack.
‘It’s okay, don’t worry,’ Luo San comforted Shen Yuan, taking her hand in his.
Shen Yuan nodded: ‘I’m fine, don’t worry.’
A hundred away was the ocean, and at the current speed, it would only take a few seconds to reach it. But at that moment, everyone felt their feet sink, and the car began to fall. However, the car was originally speeding rapidly, so even though it was falling, it was still rushing forward. As a result, Luo San and the others only felt like they were diving towards the abyss.
It’s over . This is it, my life is over. Luo San let out a low sigh, but then he saw Shen Yuan turn around and look at him, smiling sweetly. Since meeting Shen Yuan, Luo San had never seen her smile like that before. At this moment, seeing her smile, he felt that she was incredibly beautiful, and he no longer cared about anything else around him. He couldn’t help but smile back.
“Xiao San…‘ Shen Yuan suddenly spoke, and Luo San was about to listen to what she had to say when he heard a loud bang and the car plunged into the water. After a while, the car started to operate underwater and quickly headed out to sea. Luo San looked around and noticed that the long crack was filled with water. It seemed that the sea water had poured in through the crack, saving their lives.
’Looks like it seems that the heavens do not wish to forsake us.‘ Having survived the ordeal, Luo San could not help but be overjoyed. He smiled and looked at Shen Yuan, only to see that she was also smiling at him.
’Right, what were you trying to say to me just now?‘ Luo San asked.
’No, it’s nothing,’ Shen Yuan lowered her head and withdrew her hand, which Luo San was still holding.
With her hand was empty, and Luo San’s heart felt as if it had been gutted. For a moment, Luo San really wished that he and Shen Yuan were always in danger together, so that there would never be any distance between them; because once they were safe, Xiao Ziyu would forever become an insurmountable chasm between them. But Luo San quickly dismissed the thought from his head. He could not bear to see Shen Yuan in danger, even for a second. As for Xiao Ziyu, he would just have to go his own way. ‘The outcome doesn’t matter to me, I just want you to be safe,’ Luo San said to Shen Yuan in his heart.
For a while, neither spoke, sitting silently in the car as it rapidly travelled through the ocean, swimming southeast. That direction was Chengdu.
The car was moving quickly underwater and gradually entered the centre of the ocean. The ocean here was peaceful, and everyone’s tense nerves relaxed. Only Nan Qingyi was still in contact with Nan Yi and the others. Three of the five cars had lost contact, and Luo San knew that most of those cars had been destroyed long ago during the escape.
After a long time, Nan Qingyi finally gave up and turned his attention to the map: ‘Uncle Feng, what exactly is that map drawn?’
“It’s It’s hard to explain, so I’ll just draw it. Anyone got a piece of paper and a pen?”
A few minutes later, a map appeared before everyone’s eyes.
In the centre of the map was a dot, and nine lines extended from the dot on the water surface in all directions. At the end of each line was another dot, only much smaller than the central dot. Four of the dots were far apart, while the remaining five were closer together, with one even directly above the central dot. Apart from there are also five symbols on the east side of the map, which are exactly the same and I don’t know what they are. There is another symbol to the north of the central dot. And below this symbol, there is another symbol next to it, which everyone recognises as the appearance of Shen Yuan’s Resting Earthly Jade.
‘What does this mean?’ Nan Qingyi asked first.
‘This should be a map of the entire underground ocean,’ Feng Yi explained. ‘The dots represent the exits of the underground ocean. look at the five close dots, don’t they look very much like the distribution of the entrances and exits of the Chengdu Urban Inner Sea Eye? This dot in the northwest is the entrance and exit of the ancient town of Diexi in Mao County.’
‘And what do these lines represent?‘
’These lines should represent the routes, from the centre of the map to each of the entrances.‘ Feng Yi did not wait for Nan Qingyi to speak before continuing to explain, “These five identical symbols represent the meaning of God…”
’God?’ Nan Qingyi asked in puzzlement, ’Didn’t you say that the Shifeng tribe were considered gods by the backward Qiongdu people and other tribes? Could there be a civilisation that they consider to be gods?’
‘Judging from all the signs, it is very likely that there is. Do you remember when I told you about the ‘Great Qiang-Gog War’ that records the deeds of the Gorgons? It mentions that in the beginning of the war between the Qiang and the Gorgons, the Gorgons were dominant, but then the gods gave the Qiang a revelation, which ensured that the Qiang successfully defeated the Gorgons. I said at the time that the gods here were most likely a more advanced civilisation of humans.’
‘A higher civilisation. Why did they choose to live underground instead of on the surface?‘
’No one really knows the real reason, but from the current situation, one possibility is that the higher civilisation chose to live underground because the surface is not the only habitable area on Earth, and these higher civilisations are native to the underground. Another possibility is that their civilisation moved underground after being damaged on the surface, and although the ecology on the surface recovered later, they had become accustomed to living underground. There are many examples of this…’
‘What does this last pattern, which looks like the same as the one on the Jade of Peace, mean? And what does the symbol above it mean?‘
’I suspect that this pattern marks the location of the Shifeng Clan’s secret, and that only the Jade can open it, as stated on the box. Now all we have to do is find that place. As for the symbol above it, it means homeland. Okay, take a break, it’s a long way to Chengdu.’
The car was speeding through the water. Everyone was asleep except the driver, and Luo San was wide awake, staring out the window. Through the headlights, he could see schools of fish swimming quickly ahead. He watched them with interest, hoping to recognise familiar species, but unfortunately, apart from the white scaleless fish, none of the others looked familiar.
Luo San turned his head in disappointment and looked out the window on the side of the car. The window was dark on one side, and he could only vaguely see groups of fish passing by. Suddenly the car jolted, and Luo San looked back and saw a huge dark shadow appear in the window.
‘Oh my god, what is that?’ the driver asked as he turned on the car’s tail lights. Behind the car was a white scaleless fish more than ten metres long, which was obviously stunned and confused by the lights.
Shen Yuan and the others also woke up here, and they all asked what was going on, but they were soon stunned by the sight before them: countless fish rushed towards the car like headless flies, and after hitting the car, they kept going.
‘Something’s wrong, something must have happened?’
‘The fish are all running this way, so something must have happened at that place just now.’
“Let’s follow the fish and escape.’
Amidst the crowd’s chatter, the car suddenly accelerated forward.
Soon, everyone realised that something was wrong: the ocean in front of them had suddenly become narrower, with only a narrow channel hundreds of metres wide, and the fish were rushing into this channel.
‘Bu Mu, what do we do now?’ Nan Yi asked Nan Qingyi for advice.
‘I don’t know what kind of world lies ahead. What if we can’t get out if we go in? Turn around and go back to see what’s going on behind us.’
“This?’
‘What this and that, turn around immediately.‘
’Nan, we’d better follow the fish. Animals have a stronger instinct to escape than we do.‘
’There’s no need for that. Turn around immediately.‘
The car made a U-turn and once again sped off into the dark ocean.
Panicked fish swarms surrounded them, colliding violently with the car from time to time. Everyone sat in the car, worried, waiting for an unknown fate ahead.
’It’s hot,’ Shen Yuan whispered, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her hand. Luo San then felt that it was indeed a bit hot, probably because so many people were crammed into one car. But at that moment, Feng Yida suddenly shouted, ‘No good, the water in front may be even hotter. Let’s turn around quickly.’
‘Turn on the temperature monitoring device outside the car,’ Nan Qingyi did not order a U-turn, but gave the driver such an order.
‘41 degrees,’ the driver quickly gave the temperature of the ocean outside the car.
‘Nan, turn the car around quickly,‘ Professor Wu urged.
’If we go any further, we’ll only be heading for certain death,‘ Feng said.
’Bu Mo, let’s go back. The source of the Kyushu is what matters,”
Nan Qingyi’s face was ashen, but he still refused to turn the car around.
Just then, the driver shouted, ’Bu Mo, the temperature outside the car is rising rapidly. It’s now 42 degrees, no, 43, no, 44, it’s already 45…’
The temperature on the thermometer kept rising, and in the blink of an eye it had reached 60 degrees. Many of the fish around the car had turned white, and the rest were too weak to escape.
Nan Qingyi still refused to give the order, staring ahead with his eyes: ‘What on earth is going on there?’
‘What else could it be? It must be Jiu Yin the Candle who wants to boil this ocean,’ Feng Yidao said.
‘Can he possibly boil such a big ocean?’ Nan Qingyi was quite disdainful, ‘There must be something strange about this.’
‘What is that?‘ Luo San suddenly noticed a small light in the darkness ahead.
’I don’t know,’ Professor Wu shook his head.
The light quickly grew larger, and the ocean in front of them became brighter. Everyone’s attention was drawn to it, until Feng Yi shouted, “Turn around, turn around quickly, that’s the Candle Nine Yin.”
The driver no longer waited for Nan Qingyi’s order, quickly turned around and sped forward. At this time, the temperature outside the car had reached 70 degrees. Everyone was sweating profusely and kept urging the driver to hurry. Fortunately, the car was not slow, and soon it was in front of the long, narrow passage again. Without hesitation, it drove into it. Countless schools of fish swam in the passage, and the underwater car kept crashing into the schools, fighting its way through. However, the passage ahead was getting narrower and narrower, and the underwater car could not help slowing down due to the obstruction of the schools of fish.
Luo San anxiously looked back: it was already quite bright behind him, and the light was getting bigger and bigger. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but urge, ‘Rush faster, or it’ll be too late.’
No need for him to urge, everyone knew the situation was critical. However, the current situation was that the fish were crowding in front, and the underwater car was having a hard time moving forward.
The temperature outside the car had already reached over 80 degrees, and although the cooling system in the car was turned up to the max, everyone still felt like they were sweating like rain.
At that moment, the intercom system in the car picked up the voice of someone in another car: ‘Bu Mo, the front of the tunnel is blocked.’
‘What?’
‘The front of the tunnel is blocked with a metal bar we don’t know how to get past. The fish can get through, but the car can’t.’
‘Try to get it open immediately.’
‘We can’t get it open without tools.’
“Use the gun to sweep it, crash the car into it, whatever you can think of, you must get it open.’
‘Yes.‘ Then the crowd heard a loud bang, followed by several more.
’Hurry. Speed up, give me a head start,’ Nan Qingyi shouted.
The passage was getting narrower and narrower, with only 20 metres of width ahead, and Luo San could vaguely see the taillights of another car. Finally, after a minute, the car reached the end of the passage.
Huge metal bars divided the passage into small cells, which made it possible for fish to pass through without any problem, but impossible for huge cars to do so. The car in front had already been badly damaged, but it seemed to have had little effect.
Nan Qingyi took the intercom system and yelled, ‘You hit the upper left corner, we’ll hit the upper right corner. When I yell one, two, three, we’ll hit together. One, two, three, hit.’
With a loud bang, the car body shook violently, and the metal mesh trembled.
‘Again.’ Nan Qingyi glanced back at the increasingly bright tunnel behind them, and said, ‘One, two, three, crash.’
After several crashes, the metal mesh finally loosened, and Nan Qingyi exclaimed in delight, ‘Quick, again.’
Finally, after a loud bang, the metal mesh collapsed with a crash.
‘Quick, rush past.’
The car quickly rushed past, speeding towards another unknown world.
‘Now we have to drive as fast as we can, otherwise that thing will catch up with us,‘ Nan Qingyi said into the walkie-talkie.
’Yes,’ came the curt reply from the other end of the line.
The car drove rapidly forward, and the temperature outside the car dropped rapidly. Suddenly Luo San noticed that the other car had not followed. Nan Qingyi obviously noticed this and yelled into the walkie-talkie, ’Nan Ren, what’s going on? Answer me.’
Nan Ren’s voice came over the walkie-talkie: ‘Bu Mo, the car broke down after the last collision. You guys go ahead, don’t forget our great cause. I can’t talk anymore, Zhu Jiu Yin is catching up, but I don’t think he can get through the hole, he’s too big, ah…’
Chapter 28: The 1998 Flood
Candle Nine Yin really could not pass through the narrow hole as Nan Ren had said, and eventually returned in vain. Seeing this, Nan Qingyi suppressed his grief and said to the others, ‘We will now go directly to the underground ocean in Chengdu and find the secret of the Shifeng tribe, the source of the nine provinces, as soon as possible, to console the many brothers of our Luo Yue tribe who died tragically.’
Everyone wanted to quickly resolve this matter, so they all nodded in agreement.
The car found the right direction and began to speed towards Chengdu again. However, a few minutes later, the car suddenly came to a halt.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘The engine has failed.’
‘It can’t be that bad, can it?’ Luo San exclaimed.
‘This car is a new product. It has been underwater for too long and has just been hit too many times, so…’ the driver replied.
‘So what do we do now?’
No one answered, and the car, which had lost its braking function, began to sink.
“Everyone put on their diving equipment. Our people will repair it. If that doesn’t work, everyone get out and just wait for their fate.’
The repair of the car did not go well.
Luo San said, ‘Damn, if we don’t die from cooking, we’ll die from drowning.’
‘I don’t care, dying is a relief anyway, it’s just a pity about Xiao Sanzi, he’s still a virgin,’ Professor Wu had a wicked smile on his face, and it was a good thing he could still smile.
‘This is not the time to talk about that, let’s think of something quickly,’ Shen Yuan frowned.
‘Xiao Sanzi, how did you get out of the sea last time you went to the bottom of the sea,’ Professor Wu immediately put on a serious expression.
‘It seems that both times we were carried out by the current.‘
’Current? Brother Feng, give me the map.‘
Professor Wu took a look at the map and pointed to the lines leading to the dots on the map, saying, “These lines can save us. If I’m not wrong, these lines actually refer to underground currents. Through these currents, we can quickly reach the next exit.”
’At present, the closest one to us is the exit at Diexi, but Zhu Jiu Yin is guarding there, so we can’t get through,’ Feng said.
‘So we can only go somewhere else.‘
’How can we find those ocean currents?‘
’Hey hey,‘ Professor Wu smiled proudly, “look up.”
A group of fish not far above their heads were moving quickly with the current.
’Is that the ocean current?‘
’It should be. It’s a last-ditch attempt, but let’s give it a try. And judging from the direction, it’s not flowing towards Diexi.”
Professor Wu was right, it really was an ocean current, and the group was swept along rapidly. However, everyone was unsure where this ocean current would lead them. Even if it led to that exit, if it wasn’t a thunderstorm, how would they reach the surface from that exit? After an unknown period of time, Luo San suddenly found himself being drawn into a passage. Gradually, a glimmer of light appeared at the front of the passage. Luo San couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. Sure enough, a few minutes later, there was a sudden bright light in front of them. Everyone had already come up from underground. Although they were still underwater, there was a bright light above their heads.
When Luo San surfaced, he looked around and saw before him a vast lake, with water and mountains reflecting each other in the water.
‘What is this place?’ Luo San asked.
‘Qionghai,’ Feng Yi replied.
Qionghai? Luo San suddenly remembered what Professor Wu had said: During an earthquake in the Han Dynasty, the entire county of Qiongdu fell under the water and became Qionghai. How did it get so far away? How is this Qionghai connected to the underground ocean? On second thought, he immediately understood that, like Diexi, Qionghai should have been formed when the earthquake caused the city to sink underwater, triggered by damage to the rocks in the women’s toilet of the Sijiao Temple. Since Diexi is connected to the underground ocean, Qionghai will naturally be connected to the underground ocean as well. And it is very likely that the Qiongdun shaman came from the Shifeng tribe and followed the ground to Qiongdun.
At this point, Professor Wu said excitedly, ‘Qionghai is indeed related to the underground sea, just as I thought. It seems that the dot in the southwest on the map refers to this place. By the way, Feng, what are you thinking about?’
Feng was as usual, deep in thought. At this moment, he suddenly heard Professor Wu ask, and he was momentarily stunned. ‘Uh, I was thinking that the rain is getting heavier and heavier.’
‘What’s wrong with heavy rain?‘
’The sea eye is flooding.‘
’What?‘
’Didn’t I say it already? The destruction of Shaocheng in Chengdu will cause the sea eye to flood in about a hundred years. Now that the stone array has been damaged, the flooding of the sea eye is a foregone conclusion. I just don’t know what terrible things will happen.”
Luo San suddenly thought of the words of the crazy old man by the Funan River: ’Will Chengdu also fall like Qiongdu County and Diexi Ancient Town, with fish on your head?’
Professor Wu and Shen Yuan obviously had the same question in mind, and both of them looked grave.
‘We’ll go back to Chengdu immediately,’ said Luo San.
‘Yes, let’s go back to Chengdu, enter the underground ocean from Chengdu, and crack the secret of the Ten Wind Tribes according to the map first, to see if we can find a way to stop this from happening.’
“I’ll contact the car right away and rush back to Chengdu immediately.’
Chengdu…
The sky was still overcast in the early morning.
After being woken up by a loud thunderclap, Luo San had no more sleep. After a quick wash, he turned on the TV to watch the news. As it was still early, the morning news was reporting on some of the hot topics from the previous day. The TV screen was full of news about flooding across the country, with Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and the northeast all seemingly affected. This flood was threatening to become the biggest flood disaster in China in the 20th century.
As he watched all this, Luo San’s ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger: this flood must be related to the sea eye.
So he woke Professor Wu up and told him what he had in mind. Professor Wu was fast asleep, but as soon as he heard Luo San’s words, he was instantly wide awake: ‘Go find Yan Qingbo right away and ask him if he has been paying attention to anything in this area lately.’
‘You’re back, is everything alright? What did you find out?’ Yan Qingbo asked non-stop as soon as he appeared. Professor Wu had no choice but to give him a general introduction to the situation and then asked about the recent weather.
Yan Qingbo looked tired, as if he hadn’t had enough sleep: ’I’ve also noticed the situation you mentioned. I’ve been paying attention to the weather in the past few days. It’s been raining heavily for some time, and when I came here just now, there was already a lot of standing water on the road. The city is already flooded, and the drainage facilities can’t cope. And the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and even the Pearl River and Songhua River basins have also been hit by heavy rain.”
At that time, floods occurred in northeast China, East China, South China and other places, and they were all once-in-a-century disasters. In the Yangtze River basin, the Poyang Lake water system broke out in floods, and the water levels of the Fuhe, Changjiang and Xinjiang rivers have all exceeded their historical highs. Floods also occurred in the Dongting Lake water system, and the floods from these two lakes flowed into the Yangtze River, which exceeded its warning water level. The Yangtze River basin flood disaster has already taken shape. Since 28 June, heavy rainfall has been occurring in Sichuan and other places upstream of the Yangtze River, which is bound to further increase the flood risk. In the Songhua River basin in the northeast, the flood risk has also become apparent due to the rapid rise in the water levels of the Nenjiang River and the Nomin and Gan rivers upstream. In the southeast, torrential rain in the Minjiang tributary basin has caused the water level of the Minjiang main stream to rise, creating a flood risk. In South China, the Xijiang River in the Pearl River basin has also burst its banks.
‘So serious.‘ Professor Wu let out a gasp after hearing this, “This must all be related to the destruction of the stone array. It seems I was wrong from the beginning. I thought the fish on the hat in Rutou foretold the fall of Chengdu into a lake, but I never imagined it meant the whole country would be submerged under water.”
’The whole country?’
‘Yes. The whole country. After the disappearance of the small city, the power of the town to control the Eye of the Sea mainly comes from the stone array. Once the stone array is destroyed, the Eye of the Sea will flood. The result will not only be the submersion of Chengdu, but also the submersion of the whole country, and even the whole world. This is what the old man meant when he said that no one can escape.‘
’Judging from the current situation, it’s not as bad as the whole country being flooded, is it?’ Nan Qingyi asked incredulously.
‘I think it’s because of the Zhiji Stone and the Haiyan Town Stone?‘ Luo San interrupted.
’What Zhiji Stone and Haiyan Town Stone?‘
’The Zhiji Stone in the Cultural Park…‘
’Right now we have to find a way to stop this from getting any worse.‘ Professor Wu interrupted Luo San,
’Go underground immediately.‘
’Enter through the women’s toilets in the Si Jiao?”
Professor Wu glared at Luo San: ’Find somewhere else.’
‘The South Suburb Park?‘
’It’s not private enough. The fewer people who know about this, the better.‘
’The well where the stone pillar is?‘
’No, that’s not good either.‘
’I have a place in mind,‘ Nan Qingyi interrupted.
’Where?‘
’The residence of Dongfang Bai in the west of the city.’
The residence of Dongfang Bai in the west of the city was originally the Yizhou Governor’s Mansion of the Great Tang Empire. However, after Dongfang Bai was stripped of his title by the King of Qi, the place was no longer used as the Governor’s Mansion. Only a small number of people remained, so when Luo San and Shen Yuan came out of the pool in the back garden of the residence that day, they did not see a single person. After the new Yizhou Governor led the crowd to destroy the cornerstones in the courtyard, only a few people guarded the residence. During the days when everyone was away in Xichang, the Nanquingyi clan had successfully captured the place and made it a stronghold in case of emergencies, and they never expected it to come in handy today.
By the time everyone arrived, the rain had gotten heavier. Although Dongfang Bai’s residence was located on higher ground, it was an old courtyard with poor drainage, so the courtyard, gutters, and open passages were all filled with water. Luo San and the others waded to the pond behind the courtyard. From a distance, Luo San could see that there were quite a few people gathered around the pond, all of them staring at the pond motionlessly. It wasn’t until he got closer that Luo San saw that the original lotus flowers, water hyacinths and other aquatic plants in the pond had long been emptied, and a deep trench had been dug in each of the four corners of the pond.
Nan Qingyi saw that everyone was at a loss, so he explained, ‘Underneath this pond is a sea eye, which everyone has known for a long time. We originally planned to drain the water from the pond to expose the sea eye, so that we could observe it in time. Therefore, these four deep trenches were dug around the pond. Little did we know that the water in the pond was endless and could not be drained no matter what. And since last night, the rain has gotten heavier, submerging the entire pond in water, making it even more difficult to drain the pond naturally.”
Luo San asked curiously, “So what are everyone still doing?”
Nan Qingyi said, “Since 4 am this morning, our clan has arranged for two brothers with excellent swimming and physical skills to dive into the water and enter the ground through the sea eye. To facilitate the two brothers” ascent, I attached nearly 10,000 meters of rope to each of them. After the two men entered the water, they were initially still connected to the surface, but then there was no more contact. We waited for two hours, but the two men did not appear. We pulled the rope up, but there was no one at the end of the rope. However, there was bloodstain on it. Although we knew it was dangerous, two more brothers disregarded the danger and went deep underground, but they never returned. I think it is too dangerous under the sea eye.’
Just as they were talking, the three suddenly heard the screams of the crowd coming from the other side of the pond. The three rushed to the edge of the pond and saw a sudden surge of red water in the depths of the pond. As the red water spread out, the crowd saw a faint figure at the bottom of the pond.
‘Quick, send two people down to take a look,’ Nan Qingyi ordered.
The two young men plunged into the water with a splash and surfaced a moment later, paddling with one hand while dragging something with the other. When they reached the edge of the pond, the crowd saw that the thing they were dragging in their hands was a person, except that only the upper body was left, and the part below the waist was gone.
‘It’s Nan Zhong,’ a man exclaimed in shock after seeing the appearance of the corpse.
Luo San and the others immediately surrounded it. They saw that the corpse’s eyes were wide open, as if it was still in a state of shock, and that its waist seemed to have been cut off by several sharp blades, the wounds clean and bloody.
‘Xiaosan, what do you think did this?’ Nan Qingyi asked.
Luo San thought for a moment and said, ’From the wound, it seems that Uncle Nan’s lower body was cut off by a sharp blade. But the sea eye has existed for thousands of years, so how could there be a sharp blade under it? I really can’t figure it out.’
‘Then could it have been an animal?’ Nan Qingyi asked in return.
Luo San shook his head and said, ’If Uncle Nan was injured by a huge animal, I really can’t think of what kind of animal could take the entire lower body of a person into its mouth and bite it off in one bite, and the wound would be so even.’
Nan Qingyi was silent, but he heard Nan Yi say, ‘Bu, Nan Zhong went down with a video camera, and it may have recorded something.’
After Nan Yi said this, Luo San noticed that although Nan Zhong only had half of his body left, his right hand was tightly holding the video camera, which was wrapped in a plastic bag.
It took a lot of effort for the crowd to remove the camera from the corpse’s hand. There was only one file in the camera, and Nam Yi played it for everyone to see. At first, there was a scene of a pond, presumably filmed on the shore while testing the camera. Then the screen shook for a while, and a dark scene appeared on the screen. A man was feeling his way forward underwater, the same man who had gone into the water with Nam Zhong. Soon after, a hole more than one metre in diameter appeared in the screen. The man in the screen stopped in front of the hole, turned his head and spoke a few words, as if he was asking something. Then the man jumped into the hole, and the screen shook a bit, and the whole screen darkened. It seems that Nam Zhong also jumped into the hole.
All the people could see was the camera rapidly advancing forward, presumably the two of them falling rapidly downwards along the hole. Suddenly the screen brightened, and after a splash of water, an endless ocean appeared in the frame.
‘The ocean! How can there be an ocean? It’s underground, isn’t it?’ one man exclaimed, but as soon as he saw Nan Qingyi staring solemnly at the camera recording, he immediately shut up.
The screen swayed up and down for a while before stopping. The camera slowly pans upwards, but what appears on the screen is a sky with a red canopy. There is no sun in the sky, but there is a large bright red patch in the red canopy, and the water near the bright red patch is bubbling. Then the camera pans slowly downwards, turning to the bottom of the water. Suddenly the screen becomes dark, and an unfathomable expanse of sea appears on the screen. In the sea, fish of all sizes swim around, and occasionally there are a few huge turtles. Suddenly, the man who had gone into the water with Nam-chung appeared in the frame. He was swimming hard, waving his arms to signal Nam-chung to follow. Nam-chung quickly followed, and as the camera advanced, the crowd saw the man swimming towards the distance in the direction of a huge dark object that could be faintly seen.
‘What is this?’ Luo San was suddenly alarmed. Such a huge object did not seem to be a creature of the sea, it could only be the remains of a human. Suddenly the screen shook violently, and the camera began to advance rapidly. Luo San noticed that from the picture, the man in front of Nan Zhong was not swimming, but the whole person was moving forward rapidly. The current, they hit the current. Luo San immediately understood what was going on. Suddenly, he had an ominous feeling. Sure enough, a few seconds later, several flashes of cold light flashed across the screen, and then the screen suddenly turned red, and the picture began to shake violently. As the red on the screen began to fade, what came into view was a large, large piece of mangled corpse. From the screen, one could see countless cold lights spinning rapidly in the distance, forming a halo, sending up countless water sprays, and the camera lens kept shaking. It was only after several minutes that the cold light disappeared from the lens. When the lens stopped shaking, all that could be seen at the end of the screen was still that dark object standing motionless.
Then the camera began to sink downward, and the image became darker and darker. All kinds of fish, plankton, and large fish slowly entered the frame and slowly left. Luo San knew that at this time, Nan Zhongding must have been cut in half, so the camera was only sinking with his body. For the next half hour, the camera’s image showed nothing but a slow descent, with only the fish in the image changing. Suddenly, Luo San noticed a huge object appear in the camera’s image. It was like a thick, long pillar standing in the distance. As the camera slowly sank, the object appeared to become thicker and thicker and closer and closer. Nan Qingyi stared at the screen, afraid of missing a single detail, but at that moment, the screen suddenly went black.
‘What’s going on?’ Nan Qingyi frowned.
“Bu Mo, I think the camera ran out of power after filming underwater for a long time, so it couldn’t record the following images.’
‘Forget it,’ Nan Qingyi sighed, “everyone, what do you think it could be?”
Luo San was taken aback, but quickly understood that Nan Qingyi was asking about the pillar-like object in the picture, which had also aroused his curiosity. However, he was not sure what it was, but he heard Feng Yi reply, ’It seems like a mountain.’
‘Mountain.‘ Nan Qingyi only said one word, then pondered for a long time before speaking again: “Professor Wu, do you know the reason why Chengdu was named?
”Why do you ask?’
‘I suspect it has something to do with the source of the nine provinces.’
‘That’s impossible.’ Professor Wu said, but he continued to speak eloquently, ‘It is impossible to determine when Chengdu was named. The name Chengdu is generally believed to have appeared in the 29th chapter of the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, in which it is written: ‘The governor of Shu built ice breakers and dams to protect against the harm of the Mo River and built a city in the middle of the Erjiang and Chengdu’. And in unearthed cultural relics, the name Chengdu appeared as early as the late Warring States period: the inscription ‘Chengdu’ can be found on the blade of Lu Buwei’s halberd unearthed in Qingchuan, Sichuan. There is also a record of ‘Chengdu’ in the bamboo slips unearthed from the Qinshihudi tomb in Shuihudi: ‘Deliver to Chengdu via the county, and the prefect will deal with it’. As for the meaning of ‘Chengdu’, the earliest explanation of the two characters is in the Song Dynasty scholar Yue Shi’s Taiping Huanyu Ji (Volume 72). Yue Shi believed that Chengdu was named after King Tai of Zhou, who stopped at Qixia from Liangshan, and founded Chengyi in the first year and Chengdu in the second year, hence the name Chengdu. However, this is only one theory. Other scholars believe that Chengdu’s Cheng is the name of a tribe that became the name of the tribe. As for the meaning of the word capital, there are many theories. Some believe it means the capital city, some believe it means a place where water gathers, and some believe it means the intersection of two rivers in Tibetan. Still others believe that capital is simply the place, and Chengdu is the place where this tribe lives. Another opinion is that the two characters Chengdu are a transliteration of the Shu dialect into Central Plains script. The ancient Shu dialect pronunciation of Chengdu is equivalent to the modern Mandarin pronunciation of dudu, and the ancient Shu dialect pronunciation of the character Shu was also like the modern Mandarin pronunciation of ‘du’. Then, the meaning of the two characters Chengdu in the Shu dialect is Shudu. That’s all I know.‘
’Is that all? Are there any other theories?‘
’That’s all I know.’
Chapter 29: The Mountain that Holds the Sky
After returning to the house, everyone gathered together and reviewed the content of the underwater footage taken by Nan Zhong.
After a long time, Nan Qingyi said, ‘Everyone still remembers the record in the Ancient Yue Du Jing: In the southwest of the country, the Bai people live… tens of thousands of miles to the west, east of Qiongdu, north of the Bai people, south of Heishui, west of Shifeng, the mountains hold the sky, and the earth gives birth to the source of the river. This is the source of the nine provinces. Oath! Forever keep this. There is not a single word in it about the Eye of the Sea. The Eye of the Sea is only a trivial part of the source of the nine provinces, which is far more important than the Eye of the Sea.
“So what do you think the source of the nine provinces refers to?’
‘Chengdu.‘ Nan Qingyi ignored the expressions of confusion and surprise on everyone’s faces when they heard these words, and said again, “The source of the nine provinces is Chengdu.”
’Xiaonan, I don’t understand. What exactly do you mean by Chengdu? Do you mean the city beneath our feet, or the ‘Chengdu’ that repeatedly appears in the words of the Ten Wind Tribes under Diexi?’
‘Of course it’s the latter,‘ Nan Qingyi said, “Although the founder of the Han dynasty came to Chengdu and made some discoveries, and although he had a certain understanding of the meaning of the phrase ”born of the soil and water’, he did not fully grasp its meaning. As for the phrase ‘mountains bearing the sky’, he was even more unable to understand it, until one day he saw this sentence in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: ‘In the great wilderness there is a mountain called Chengdu, bearing the sky.
‘In the middle of the great wilderness, there is a mountain called Chengdu, which carries the sky.‘ Luo San repeated this sentence in his mind, trying to understand its meaning, but he heard Nan Qingyi continue, “Just now, Professor Wu told me that the Shiji was the earliest book to record the word ”Chengdu’. That’s not true. The word ‘Chengdu’ was recorded in the Shanhaijing long ago. And this record coincides with the words on the gold plate. The sentence ‘Mountains bear the sky’ can be explained by this sentence from the Shanhaijing, while the sentence ‘Water gives rise to springs’ can be explained by the phrase ‘Chengdu was anciently known as a land of dampness and low-lying swamps, and since ancient times its springs have been deep and plentiful, making it the foremost of the Four Deltas’ from the Huayang Guozhi.
After a moment’s thought, Luo San realised that Nan Qingyi’s explanation made sense, but he couldn’t understand where ‘Chengdu’ was. But he heard Nan Qingyi continue to speak to himself, ‘From the scene just captured by the camera, Chengdu is beneath the eye of the sea. It’s that thing that looks like a mountain.’
In an instant, all the clues came together, and Luo San suddenly understood. Shi Wuji had asked them to investigate those three things, and the key word he left behind was also ‘Chengdu’, and he had left behind a strange symbol. Now that he thought about it, the three-tiered altar in the cave beneath the Anninghe Riverside Stone Cemetery and the three-tiered platform beneath Diexi Haizi were almost a reproduction of that symbol. Both the two ruins and the symbol come from the Shifeng tribe, and the place where the Shifeng tribe originated should be the underground ocean in Chengdu, so there should also be something similar in shape to the symbol in the underground ocean. That thing is the mountain just seen in the video, which is also Chengdu.
Luo Sanzheng was thinking about it when he heard Nan Qingyi say, ‘I have decided to go down and find out what is going on.’
‘Bu Mo, this is absolutely not allowed,‘ Nan Yi dissuaded, “under the sea eye, it is extremely dangerous. Bu Mo is the leader of the tribe, how can he risk his life. If something happens, how can we explain it to our ancestors.”
’Uncle Yi,’ Nan Qingyi turned around, knelt to the ground before Nan Yi, and said with a sad tone, ’this matter concerns the safety of the Chinese people, if I don’t go, who will? Do you want to let all the uncles and brothers die for me? After all, this is our family matter.’
Nan Yi was silent for a moment, and after a long while of pondering, he said, ‘Then choose some good men and go into the water. Be careful.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ said Luo San. ‘I’ve already gone down twice, after all.’
‘I’ll go down too,’ said Feng Yidao.
‘And me. The enlightened royal family is deeply involved in this matter, so I can’t not go down.’
“I’ll go down too. I have the jade that unlocks the secrets of the Ten Winds, so I have to go down.’
‘I’ll wait for your good news up here,‘ Yan Qingbo said.
’Yan, don’t forget what I told you,‘ Professor Wu said. Yan Qingbo nodded and said, “This person doesn’t exist.”
’How can this be?‘
’I don’t know, but there must be something strange about this. I’ll keep an eye out. You have to be extra careful when you go underwater.”
Luo San was confused by the conversation between the two, and asked a question, but neither Wu nor Yan answered.
Luo San then had to ask Yan Qingbo in a whisper, ‘Have you heard any news of Liu Fufeng?’
Yan Qingbo shook his head: ‘No, there’s no news at all. Not only is Xiaoliu missing, but Mù Shigu has also disappeared. Only He Wangyu comes to see me from time to time to ask about everyone’s situation. That guy is so timid. But I always feel that he’s not being honest, as if he’s trying to find out about us.’
‘Exactly, I feel like he’s an albino.’
“Why?’
‘His skin is pale and rosy, and sometimes his eyes have a hint of green… Okay, I’ll stop. Let’s go.’ Luo San was about to continue, but Shen Yuan was already urging him to go.
In addition to Luo San, Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, and Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi also selected twenty of his best men to accompany everyone into the underground.
After everyone had finished packing, they followed Luo San into the water. Luo San, with a thick rope tied around his waist, slowly stepped into the water. As soon as the water reached his head, he dove under the water with a mighty splash. It was dark underwater, but luckily he had become accustomed to being underwater over the past period of time, so it was just like being on the ground. He slowly swam forward and soon arrived at the hole in the middle of the pond. This was the Eye of the Sea. Luo San swam into the cave, only to feel a darkness before his eyes. It was as if he was in a slanted tunnel, slowly sliding downward. Looking back, he saw the shadows of the others wavering behind him, as if they had also entered the cave.
Soon, Luo San felt a light not far ahead. The light got closer and closer, and suddenly there was a flash of light. He charged forward, and immediately steadied himself. But as soon as he had stabilised, he was knocked aside by the people rushing down behind him.
When everyone had descended, Nan Qingyi waved his hand to indicate that everyone should remain still. Luo San took the opportunity to look around. He noticed that he and the others were currently in a vast expanse of water, where all kinds of fish and other creatures swam freely. He looked down, and it was dark and bottomless, and the same was true when he looked around. Looking up, however, he saw that more than ten metres away from everyone was a blue sky. There was not a single cloud in the sky, so most of the sky looked incredibly pure blue without a hint of colour. As far as the eye could see, there was only a red patch not far away, which looked even redder than the red seen in the camera. In the other direction, there seemed to be a very thin, chimney-like object reaching up to the sky. Luo San looked down the object, but saw that the object became thicker and thicker as it got lower and lower. However, due to the obstruction of the water, he could not see clearly where the object reached underwater. But he keenly sensed that it was the mountain-like object he had just seen in the camera.
At this moment, Nan Qingyi waved his hand, signaling everyone to follow him. Immediately, he turned on the underwater propeller and quickly approached the object. The object didn’t seem far away, but it actually took the group half an hour to get within a few dozen metres of it. Here, Nan Qingyi waved his hand, and everyone stopped. This was the best place to observe the object. Luo San saw that the object did indeed reach up to the sky, disappearing completely into it. It was just like the Monkey King’s cudgel, which pierced the sky in one fell swoop and reached up to the heavens. Luo San noticed that the object was only three metres thick at the point where it met the sky, and it got thicker and thicker the further down it went, all the way to the depths of the ocean. There was something strange about the point where it met the sky. Just now, Luo San had seen the sky elsewhere as such a pure blue, but the sky near the object was multicoloured and mixed in colour.
After looking at it for a while, Luo San continued swimming forward, and Nan Qingyi also beckoned the others to follow. This time, they arrived in front of the object. Luo San reached out and felt it, only to feel the slimy texture of the tentacles. He scratched away the surface of the object, revealing the material inside, which was cold stone. After scratching for a while, Luo San discovered that the object was actually made of a single piece of rock. Luosan carefully felt around the stone, and suddenly he noticed that there was a crack about a few millimetres in size, which seemed to run the entire length of the rock. Luosan remembered that the sea-eye town stone in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings also had a crack. Judging from the direction and position, the boulder in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings should be the part of the mountain that protrudes from the ground.
While Luo San was thinking, he saw Nan Qingyi wave his hand, beckoning everyone to continue diving underwater. Gradually, it became darker and darker, and the rock became larger and larger. At this time, looking up from below, it looked like a towering mountain peak. At this point, Luo San stopped, because he was already certain that this was ‘Chengdu’.
At that moment, a group of white scaleless fish swam towards the group, forming a siege against them. Nan Qingyi saw that the big fish were not coming with good intentions and immediately signalled for everyone to be on their guard.
Luo San and the others did not move, and neither did the big fish, as the two sides just faced off against each other. Luo San looked around nervously, but saw that the big fish were constantly gathering towards this side. ‘No good, these beasts are going to surround us,’ Nan Qingyi shouted through the walkie-talkie, and with a wave of his hand, everyone began to head upstream. At that moment, all the big fish rushed towards the group as fast as lightning. Nan Qingyi and the others seemed to have never expected that these big fish were so huge in size but so fast in speed. They were at a loss for a moment, and in an instant, the bodies of three people lay on the ground, and the blood and bodies attracted the big fish to scramble for them.
Luo San felt a dark blackness before his eyes and a sharp pain in his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the two eyes of the fish right in front of him, and its mouth was tightly biting his shoulder. He endured the sharp pain, shouted, and held his gun and fired several shots at the fish’s head. The huge body of the fish swayed for a moment, releasing its huge mouth, and it fell silently to the bottom of the water. Luo San just let out a sigh of relief when he suddenly felt a splash behind him. He immediately looked down, and without looking, raised his gun and shot. Immediately afterwards, he felt a weight in his hand, and the big fish started to sink. Luo San hurriedly struggled to swim to the side, but as soon as he stabilised his position, two more big fish pounced on him. Luo San couldn’t help but feel a surge of murderous intent, and he slammed the trigger, but at this time there was no more bullets in his gun. Luo San then remembered that the underwater gun could only fire a few rounds at a time. Without thinking, Luo San immediately swung the butt of the gun and smashed it against the head of one of the big fish, but the fish dodged it and another fish was already in front of him. At that moment, Luo San heard two gunshots, and the two big fish died. He turned his head and saw Shen Yuan.
Seeing that there were no fish around, Luo San quickly loaded the gun and then looked around. He couldn’t help but groan inwardly when he saw the situation. Nan Qingyi, Feng Yi, Professor Wu, and the others were all exhausted, Shen Yuan was in danger, and many others had been injured.
Luo San hurriedly swam over to help Shen Yuan deal with the two fish surrounding her. Shen Yuan let out a sigh of relief, then raised her gun and shot behind Luo San. At this time, the gun in her hand was also out of bullets. Large fish continued to come from all directions. Everyone wanted to escape, but they were unable to move as nimbly as the fish in the water, so there was nowhere to escape to. At this time, Luo San saw a group of giant turtles swimming over and quickly entangling themselves with the large fish. The large fish were unable to pay attention to him for a while, and Luo San and the others immediately let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, Luo San suddenly felt a huge current rushing up from below, and he was helplessly swept upwards with the current. The current was so strong that it suddenly rushed Luo San upwards for dozens of metres. In a hurry, Luo San tried to stabilise himself, but because the current was so strong, his body simply did not obey him. While struggling, he had already been washed to a distance of only a few metres below the canopy. Seeing that he was about to hit the canopy, Luo San did not think twice and immediately put out his hands and pushed upwards. With a bang, his hands hit the canopy, instantly numbing his arms. His body shook violently, and his blood and qi churned. It was only after a while that he calmed his internal energy and looked around, only to see that everyone had also been hit against the canopy and was disoriented. What made Luo San feel lucky was that no one was injured, and the big fish had disappeared without a trace.
At this time, he heard Nan Qingyi say on the walkie-talkie, ‘Get out of here quickly. We just saw a huge black object in the camera, so let’s go take a look.’
After swimming northwards for more than ten minutes, Luo San did indeed see a huge object not far ahead. In the dim ocean, it looked dark and murky. Just now, in the camera, Luo San did not see clearly what the object was, but at this time and location, he could see quite clearly that the dark object looked like an endless wall, incredibly tall, with its top next to the blue, pure sky, while its bottom seemed to be floating in the water from the current location of Nan Qingyi. What on earth was it? Everyone had the same question.
‘I’ve decided to go up and take a look,’ Nan Qingyi told the others. ‘But Nan Zhong and the others were killed on their way to investigate this object. For safety reasons, Nan Xiao, you go back to the surface and report everything you just saw to Nan Yi.’
‘Isn’t there an underwater intercom?’ Luo San suggested. ‘You can just tell Nan Yi directly through the intercom.’
‘The underwater intercom equipment can give a general idea, but the more detailed the information I want to give to Nan Yi, the better. In that case, only someone has to go up there.”
Luo San was about to say something else, but behind him, Professor Wu pulled him. He turned his head and saw Professor Wu shaking his head at him. Although he was full of questions, he had to stop asking.
Looking at the disappearing figure of the man, Nan Qingyi decisively waved his hand to indicate that everyone should follow him. Luo San swam quickly ahead of the group, carefully surveying the situation around him. The ocean was quiet at the moment, with only the occasional jellyfish and fish swimming past. Luo San swam for a long time, and the situation remained the same. The object was getting closer and closer to everyone, but no matter how Luo San looked at it, it still looked like a wall.
Although nothing had happened, Luo San’s heart was still on edge, because he didn’t know when the current that was pushing Nan Zhong and the others towards death would strike. But the current never appeared. Could it be that the current only appeared by chance? Luo San had this thought in his head, and couldn’t help but let go of the tension in his heart. But at that moment, he felt a strong force behind him, and he suddenly realised that things were not good. Just as he was about to make a move, a powerful current rushed up, carrying him forward. Luo San found that although he was doing his best to try to go backwards, he could never do it, and instead, he was rushing forward at an ever-increasing speed. Fear! Luo San felt an unprecedented fear, but after all, he was used to being carefree and remained clear-headed, carefully observing his surroundings. From afar, he saw the circle of white light ahead of him. He suddenly realised that no matter how big the circle of light was, it had boundaries, and as long as he escaped beyond the boundaries of the circle of light, he would be fine. Thinking about this, he hurriedly yelled into the intercom, ‘Dive down, dive down.’ He then did his best to adjust his body and used the underwater propeller to dive downward. This only took a matter of ten seconds. Luo San only felt that his entire body was being washed forward while diving downward, and the circle of light in front of him was getting closer and larger. Seeing that there was only a distance of a few metres left, he did his best and dove downward, his scalp passing close to the circle of light. Luo San felt a sharp pain in his waist. He reached down to feel, and when he did, he noticed that his clothes had been torn where his hand had touched them, and there was a gash in his waistband. Fortunately, the wound was shallow, and he was still able to hold on. Luo San did not care about his own injuries, and hurriedly looked up to see several people already caught in the circle of light, their bodies and heads separated. Some had their heads chopped off, some were cut in half, and some were cut in half at the chest. Luo San immediately saw that Shen Yuan and the others were not inside, and he let out a sigh of relief. When he looked back again, he saw that Professor Wu, Shen Yuan, Feng Yi, Nan Qingyi, and the others were all safe and sound because they had followed behind and listened to Luo San’s warning and dived down early.
The group discussed the situation with heavy hearts and decided to continue swimming towards the wall-like object in the distance. No one knew what dangers awaited them in the distance or what this object they had seen so far might be. But they understood that they had to go and find out.
Chapter 30: Underwater civilisation
After swimming forward in the water for more than ten minutes, Luo San and the others finally arrived in front of the wall-like object. The object was hundreds of metres high, directly against the sky, and its ends extended into the dim distance, making it impossible to know how long it was. Various creatures and microorganisms were attached to the surface of the object, and it felt slimy to the touch. Scrapping away the surface attachments, Luo San saw the rocks inside. Knocking with his hand, the sound was dull and seemed very heavy.
As he slowly swam upstream under the canopy, Luo San realised that he had been wrong all along. The canopy and the ‘wall’ were not one and the same, and there was a gap of more than two feet wide in the centre of the two. Luo San looked inside through the gap: the object that looked like a wall was indeed a good name for a wall, but it was not an ordinary wall, but a city wall.
The city wall was more than 20 metres thick. Inside the city wall, Luo San was facing a street that was more than 50 metres wide. On both sides of the street were neat houses, all with high gates and big walls. And in the distance, the entire city was full of streets and alleys and houses. Except that it is now all submerged in water, with the occasional fish swimming about, the whole city is deathly quiet. It is impossible to know how big the city was, but just from the seemingly endless city walls, one can tell that it was extraordinary in scale. The strange thing about this underwater city is that it is floating on the water. If the city were like a ship, it could certainly float on the water, but now that the whole city has sunk into the water, how can it still float on the water?
Luo San had even more questions in his mind: How did such a city come to be under the Chengdu city? Who were the owners of the city? Why did they choose to build a city under the water? There was no land here, so how did they survive? Were they an underwater people? Was the underwater city always under the water, or did it originally float on the surface? Did the city have a gate? Were there people in the city now? If there were no people, why had they abandoned the city?
While Luo San was racking his brains, the group had already started swimming towards the city. The only way to enter the city was through the gap at the top of the city wall. The gap was only two feet wide, but it extended more than 20 metres into the city. The group had to crawl on all fours to pass through the top of the city wall and reach the end of the other side of the wall. Looking down from the wall, Luo San noticed that the city wall was more than 30 metres high. Comparing the height of the outer city wall, Luo San immediately understood that there should be huge space beneath the ground of this city, and perhaps this was the reason why the city floated on the water. However, at this time, Luo San did not want to delve into this question, and what he was concerned about was the other situation in the city. So he started to go downstream.
However, after only going downstream for a few meters, Luo San gradually realized that something was wrong, because the pressure on his body suddenly decreased. He stopped and looked up, only to see that the sea water above his head was slowly receding. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu and the others looked on in amazement.
‘Ebb tide?’ Luo San suddenly thought of this question.
The sea water receded quickly, and Luo San and the others were swept along by the current and brought to the edge of the city wall. There were numerous small holes in the wall, each about a metre in diameter, through which the sea water flowed. In no time at all, the sea water had receded from the entire city.
Luo San found himself standing in the street, on hard ground that felt like rock, although it was covered in silt.
The street beneath his feet ran straight ahead, seemingly without end. The street was wider than he had expected, but it was covered in mud. Although the street was empty, there were all kinds of objects discarded here and there. Luo San picked up one at random, but it was a two-handled pottery jar. Then he picked up another object, but it was a stone pot. Along the way, Luo San picked up objects at random and put them down at random. The objects discarded along the way were all daily utensils such as pots, bowls and ladles. They were mostly stone or pottery, but there was not a single metal object. Luo San couldn’t help but marvel in secret, but he didn’t stop walking, but walked towards the houses along the road.
On both sides of the road were rows of courtyards, all with high walls and gates. In particular, the gate was 4 metres high and wide. Some courtyard gates were closed, while others were wide open, revealing the messy scenes within at a glance. Luo San walked up to a courtyard with a half-closed gate and reached out to push it open, but upon doing so, he noticed that the gate was extremely heavy. Upon knocking it with his hand, he discovered that the gate was actually carved from a single piece of rock. It seemed to be a city that was dominated by stone tools but had no metal, he thought, and stepped into the courtyard. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he felt that the roads in the courtyard were uneven, paved with cobblestones. The first courtyard had no houses, just a spacious dam, with a row of unusually tall sheds on each side. The door to the second courtyard was just the normal size, with an ivory tusk embedded in the lintel. Although the original colour of the tusk could no longer be seen, its shape could be seen. Stepping through the door, Luo San noticed that ivory was everywhere: ivory sculptures and ivory utensils. The inside of the house was the same as the street outside: all kinds of utensils were scattered on the ground, as if the owner had left in a great hurry. After walking around for a while and not finding anything of interest, he left the house with the others and continued exploring.
The straight street stretched on and on, long and cold, with an air of death, as if it would never end. The courtyards on both sides looked the same. It took Luo San half an hour to walk before he saw a tall object in the distance, a hundred metres high, rising from the ground and ending in a straight top in the sky. The group couldn’t help but quicken their pace and walk towards the object.
At the end of the road was the object. It was a triangular pyramid-shaped building, somewhat similar to the Pyramid of the Sun in the Mayan civilization, except that the Pyramid of the Sun only had a platform at the top, while this pyramid-shaped building had three platforms, with the uppermost one continuing onto the sky. On the three sides of the triangular pyramid-shaped building, there are three sets of steps leading to the top, and at the bottom of each set of steps is connected to a wide road. On both sides of each road are houses and courtyards, but each of these houses and courtyards is different. Luo San noticed that there was a road on the left and right sides of his road. The first house on the right side of the road was dark and smooth, as if it were glazed, and it seemed that the entire house was made of pottery. However, apart from this house, the other houses on the street were still made of stone, but all the utensils on the street were made of pottery, not a single stone one, let alone iron. And the first house on the left street was crystal clear, actually made entirely of jade, and on this street, the abandoned utensils were mostly made of jade, but some daily utensils were made of stone and pottery.
Luo San immediately realised that the strange building in front of him was an altar. It must have been the place where the people living in this city worshipped on a daily basis. As for streets like Jiutiao, and the fact that each street used different utensils, it must be that the nine tribes of Shifeng each lived in a different street.
‘Home.’ Luo San suddenly heard Fengyi utter these two words. He immediately understood that this city was the Home marked on the map, which was also the place where Shifeng lived.
At this moment, he heard Professor Wu say, ‘This is the homeland? No wonder, the Shifeng tribe must have lived in this floating city in the past, but then the sea rose and flooded the entire city. Although the city will appear above water at low tide, it is no longer habitable. The Shifeng tribe had no choice but to flee in a hurry, which is why the place is in such a mess. Let’s go to the altar.’
Nan Qingyi started walking up the stairs first, but when Luo San saw that he had just set foot on the first step of the altar, he immediately jumped to the right, then jumped to the right again, but before he could stand firm, he jumped to the side again, and then he rolled back. At this time, Nan Qingyi had already fallen onto another street. Luo San saw him stand up, look around, and walk towards one of the houses. The crowd hurriedly followed, but on the way, they saw Nan Qingyi rolling around on the street for a long time before he got up.
The crowd immediately rushed over and surrounded him.
‘Nan, what just happened? You were jumping around there,’ Professor Wu asked.
‘What, you didn’t see it?’
‘See what?’
‘Elephants, rocks, dirt?’
“What are you talking about? We only saw you jumping around.’
‘No way, did I see a ghost?”
It turned out that Nan Qingyi had just started to climb up to the altar. However, just as his feet set foot on the first step of the altar, a loud elephant roar suddenly came from midair, and an elephant weighing tens of tons charged down. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and quick-handed, and he leapt to the right, narrowly missing the elephant’s trunk as it landed. He looked back in shock, but the elephant was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, he heard a rustling sound behind him. Looking back, he couldn’t help but groan inwardly. Countless amounts of sand rushed towards him like a mudslide. In a hurry, he had no choice but to leap to the right again. However, as soon as he landed, he heard a rumble. Looking up, he saw countless boulders whizzing towards him. He had no choice but to leap to the side again with all his strength. However, when he landed on the steps, there was no chaos above him. Had they finally run out of tricks? Just as this thought crossed his mind, he realised that he was wrong. A torrent of rushing water appeared out of nowhere and washed him away. When the water current disappeared, he realised that he had landed on one of the streets. At the end of the street was the altar, so this must be one of the nine streets that faced the altar. However, everything on this street seemed a bit strange. There were jade houses, pottery houses, and stone houses, and there were all kinds of discarded objects on the street. The three streets that Nan Qingyi had just looked at were all dominated by a single type of object, but this street seemed to combine everything. He was suddenly curious, so he walked towards one of the jade houses. However, before he reached the door of the house, a rapid current of water gushed out, washing him to the door of the house on the opposite side, and from the opposite house another current of water rushed out, washing him back. In this way, Nan Qingyi bounced back and forth between the two doors like a rubber ball, spinning around dizzy. Finally, he retreated to the end of the road, and Professor Wu and the others chased after him.
‘It seems that these settings only work on those who want to enter the altar, but not on others,’ said Professor Wu, leaning over to pick up a stone pot that had been abandoned on the road and throwing it at one of the steps of the altar. With a clang, the stone pot landed on the step, bounced slightly, and fell back down. The crowd waited to see what would appear, but after waiting for a long time, they did not see anything strange leap off the steps.
‘You see, as long as we don’t go up there, we won’t see what happens,’ said Professor Wu.
‘No. The stone pot is fine, so perhaps there is no supernatural power in this passage.’ Nan Qingyi said, and then came to the steps, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped onto the first step. The moment his foot touched the ground, Nan Qingyi regretted it. The stone pot he had just thrown was nowhere to be seen on the steps. What was going on? Before he could react, his vision went dark and a fishy smell assailed his nostrils. Nan Qingyi escaped with great difficulty. At the moment of his escape, Nan Qingyi saw clearly that what was pouncing at him was a giant python.
‘Maybe your blood can work,’ Shen Yuan suggested.
Shen Yuan was right. After Feng Yi had dropped a drop of his blood on a step, nothing unusual happened, and everyone arrived safely at the altar. Standing at the top of the altar and looking down, everyone looked down. There were steps leading into the interior, but it was shrouded in a thick white fog.
The group stepped up the steps, and in the white, where they could not see anything, they walked for a long time before suddenly feeling a bright light again. They were already in a palace. The palace was not very big, with five rows of chairs. There was only one chair in the first row, three chairs in each of the second to fourth rows, and two chairs in the fifth row.
‘These chairs are arranged very carefully,’ said Professor Wu as he looked around. ‘There is a sculpture on the back of each chair. The first row is the sculpture of the Candle Jiu Yin, and the second to fourth rows are the totem sculptures of the other nine tribes of the Ten Wind Tribe. As for the sculpture on this chair in the fifth row, I don’t know what it is either.’
The sculptures on the two chairs in the last row are very strange. One is a pale-faced man with a smile on his face; the other is a yellow-faced man with a gloomy expression.
‘What do you think these two human heads represent? Aren’t there only ten tribal clans? Why are there two strange human figures?’ Luo San asked.
‘This is our Qiongdu,’ Fengyi pointed to the yellow-faced man with a gloomy expression.
“Qiongdu?’
‘Yes. Among the things passed down by our family is this symbol. But we never show this symbol to outsiders, let alone carve it out.‘
’Why do you people from Qiongdu all have a sallow complexion? Right, because you are made of loess. But why are you so gloomy? Look at this portrait of someone else, he is smiling so happily.‘
’Every ethnic group has its own characteristics. The people of Qiongdu are born with a tragic fate.‘
’Then which ethnic group does this happy person represent?’
‘White people,‘ Professor Wu replied.
’I asked about ethnic groups, not races.‘
’That’s what I meant.‘
’I don’t understand.‘
’Stupid. White people are an ethnic group. The Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions the country of the white people, and the Classic of the Ancient Yue states that the people to the east of Qiongdu are white. We used to think that Qiongdu and the Bai people referred to people living on the ground, but now it seems that they are all living underground.’ Professor Wu said, frowning, ’But there is one thing I don’t understand. If Shi Feng lives in this city, where do Qiongdu and the Bai people live? And where does Heishui refer to?’
‘If I’m not mistaken, the answer can be found in this place,’ said Nan Qingyi, pointing to a rock on the ground next to the fifth row of chairs. “Judging from the layout, there should have been another chair on top of this rock, but it was removed later. However, there are words on the rock.”
Wiping away the dirt on the surface, the words on the rock quickly appeared, and they were again in the Bashu pictographic language.
Fengyi read them out as he looked at them: ’Black Water, carved by the gods from the Fuso tree, resides to the north of Chengdu.’
As he read this, Feng Yi suddenly stopped and said to the others, ‘It seems that the words in this part were carved later.’
‘Just tell us what it means,’ Nan Qingyi urged.
‘Tyrannical and ruthless, he killed Shi Feng. The gods sent him to the underworld, but he refused to go, so they chased him away.’
‘So the Heishui people also live underground. North of Chengdu, that means north of that mountain. Have you noticed if there is any land north of that mountain?’ Luo San asked.
‘No.‘ Everyone shook their heads.
’Where do they live then?‘
’Not only the black water, but also the settlements of the Qiongdu and the Bai people are problematic.‘
’Just look again under the other chairs to see if there are any words,’ Feng Yidao said.
Sure enough, there were words in front of each chair. The word for Qiongdu was: Qiongdu, created by the gods from loess, resides to the west of Chengdu. The word for the Bai people was: Bai, carved by the god of water, living in the south of Chengdu. The chairs of the Shifeng tribe also had words under them, but they didn’t indicate what the god had used to make them. They just stated the name of the tribe, such as Yufeng, Shifeng, Diaofeng, Mangfeng, etc. The word under the chair carved with the pattern of the Jiu Yin was ‘Houfeng’.
“Houfeng, what does this mean?’
‘Xiaosan, you really are full of questions. The meaning of Houfeng is actually Fenghou. In ancient times, Hou meant king, so Fenghou means the king of the Feng clan,‘ Professor Wu replied.
’How did you know that the two characters had to be switched?’
‘In ancient times, there were two language systems in the land of China, as we can see from various historical records. For example, one record says that emperors such as Yao and Shun were called Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun, and kings such as Yu the Great and Qi were called Xiahou Yu and Xiahou Qi. In this language system, titles are placed before names. At the same time, there is another type of linguistic system that also deserves our attention in the historical records, which is to place the name before the title, such as the Yan Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, the Emperor Yao, and the Emperor Shun. Obviously, ‘Houfeng’ belongs to the former linguistic system. Once you understand this, you will naturally know the meaning of Yufeng and Shifeng.’
‘Could it be that the language system of Xia Hou Qi originated here?‘
’That’s a very real possibility.‘
’Guys, don’t just talk about useless things, time is running out, let’s find clues,‘ Nan Qingyi urged.
’This isn’t useless, if we figure this out, it’ll be like sorting out the origins of the Chinese nation, which will be very helpful in finding the source of the Nine Provinces.‘
’Er, Professor Wu, is what we’re talking about really that important?’ Luo San asked in surprise.
Professor Wu gave a wry smile: ‘Of course. Come to think of it, Fuso and Guixu both appear in the records of this underground civilisation, and from what we can tell, this underground civilisation predates the civilisation on the surface. In other words, the myths and legends that we used to think originated in the Central Plains all originated here, and we must re-examine the locations where the myths took place.’
‘The problem is, we don’t have that much time right now,’ Nan Qingyi said anxiously.
‘Xiao Nan, don’t…‘
’How about this, let’s search here immediately to see if there are any clues, and then go out to find the land where the Heishui, Qiongdu, and Bai people live,‘ Fengyi suggested.
’There’s no need for that,’ Nan Qingyi flatly rejected the proposal, ’The source of the Nine Provinces is now obvious, it’s Chengdu. Let’s just go out and take a look at Chengdu.’
‘If we can’t decipher the civilization of the Shifeng tribe, what’s the point of going to Chengdu and just looking?’ Feng’s words left Nan Qingyi speechless.
After exiting the altar, the group stood on the top of the altar and looked south. They could see that ‘Chengdu’ was towering between heaven and earth, which was extremely spectacular. To the east of ‘Homeland’ were three islands. Although they were called islands, they were floating on the water and were currently rising and falling with the waves.
‘There is something strange about these islands. Should we go up and take a look?’ Professor Wu suggested.
‘Let’s go,’ Feng said.
The city walls were too high, so everyone had to squeeze through the small drainage holes to get outside the city and then leap into the sea and swim towards the island.
Gradually, everyone swam to an island. The island did not have any foundations and was completely floating on the water. The island was not very big, only about one square kilometre, with plains and mountains, pavilions and towers scattered at random, but all covered in silt, with all kinds of aquatic plants and animals attached to it. Of course, all of this is commonplace. What makes this island different is that, apart from floating on the water, there is also a windmill that towers over the land. The windmill is in the centre of the island, and a series of trenches extending from the side of the windmill seem to be an irrigation system.
The group walked around the island, but didn’t find anything. Just as they were becoming discouraged, Shen Yuan suggested, ‘There are two more islands up ahead. Let’s go and have a look. We might find something.’
These two islands were also quite small. One was not much different from the first one except that it did not have a windmill, while the other had a tall mountain at its northern end.
Although this island had been submerged for countless years, and the surface had long been covered with sediment and various aquatic organisms and microorganisms, Luo San could still vaguely see what it had looked like back when it was like a fairyland. Luo San sighed and said, ‘If these islands had not been submerged, they would really have been a paradise on earth.’
‘A fairyland?‘ Professor Wu pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned to Luo San and said, “Luo San, I remember you saying that there were many giant turtles underwater, and the deeper you went, the bigger the turtles got, right?”
’Yes. Why?‘
’Nothing, just asking.‘
In the meantime, the group had arrived at the foot of the island’s peak, which was not very high. The group quickly climbed to the top of the peak and discovered that there was a deep pit in the centre of the peak.
’What is this?’ Nan Qingyi asked, looking at the pit.
‘Volcano,‘ Luo San said.
’Little San, you really have no common sense. This island floats on the water. You don’t think there would be a volcano on an island without any foundation, do you?‘ Professor Wu gave Luo San a hard slap on the head.
’Er. I hadn’t thought of that. Then what would this place be?‘
’What this place is used for, only the gods know,‘ Feng Yi suddenly blurted out.
’The gods?’
‘On the map, there are three symbols representing the gods on the east side of the homeland, and they should be these three islands. If I’m not wrong, these three islands are where the gods live.‘
’Unfortunately, the gods haven’t left anything here,’ Professor Wu sighed, “never mind, let’s go back.”
The group walked to the edge of the island and were about to go into the water one after the other when suddenly a huge current rushed over. In a hurry, Luo San jumped back, slamming heavily into Shen Yuan’s body.
‘Sorry,‘ Luo San hurriedly apologised.
’It’s fine, what happened?‘ Shen Yuan asked in shock, looking out at the sea in front of them.
Luo San looked back, but saw that the sea above them had suddenly become turbulent, surging in one direction. Several members of the Nanquan tribe who had already jumped in earlier were all swept away by the sea.
’Let’s go to the top of the mountain to see what’s going on,’ Professor Wu said, and he took a few steps and ran towards the peak.
Standing on the top of the mountain, Luo San saw that on the east side of the island, a huge whirlpool had appeared without warning. The whirlpool had a diameter of nearly a kilometre and was thousands of metres deep, but it was still expanding non-stop, like a black hole, sucking everything around it in, including several members of the Nanqingyi tribe.
Seeing the whirlpool’s growing power, Luo San couldn’t help but worry about the safety of the island.
‘Professor Wu, do you think this island will also be sucked into the whirlpool?’ Luo San asked in between breaths.
‘I don’t think so. This whirlpool must not be the first time it has appeared. This island has been here for so many years and has never had any problems, so it will be fine now.‘
’How do you know that this whirlpool is not the first time it has appeared?‘
’If I’m not mistaken, the place where this whirlpool is located is the Guixu mentioned in the Bashu pictographic language that we saw in front of the black water seat just now. The legend of Guixu is a bottomless valley in the sea, where all the waters converge. The Liezi Tangwen mentions…there is a great abyss, which is actually a bottomless valley. It has no bottom, and is called the Guixu. It is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing.‘
’When will this thing disappear? Do we have to stay here forever?‘
’I hope it won’t be for long. If it takes a day, we’re in trouble.’
Fortunately, the whirlpool came quickly and went just as quickly. After more than 20 minutes, it disappeared.
Nan Qingyi, still in shock, said to the others, ‘Let’s go, let’s get out of this hellhole. Let’s hurry and find the secret of the Ten Wind Tribe. I’ve thought it through. Isn’t there a pattern of the Resting Earth Jade marked on the map? That pattern is under the “homeland”. Let’s go immediately to the bottom of the “homeland” to look for it.’
‘Homeland’ is suspended in the water, and there is nothing else under it. Everyone can only hope for the bottom of “Homeland”. The bottom of Homeland is made up of a single piece of rock, smooth and flat, now attached to various microorganisms, slippery and impossible to see its original appearance. It is not easy to find any clues here. Luo San then suggested that Shen Yuan take out the Restoring Jade to see if anything could be discovered.
The Jade of Resting Earth did indeed possess mysterious powers. As soon as Shen Yuan took it out, everyone noticed that the jade was emitting a faint dark green light, and the inside of the jade was flowing like water. The black dot in the middle of the jade was swimming around inside.
Suddenly, the Shiyang Yao jiggled in Shen Yuan’s palm, and then it flew up. Luo San quickly reached out and grabbed the jade.
‘Luo San, let go of it. Let this jade take us to the secret of Shifeng,’ Professor Wu said, stopping him.
‘No,’ Luo San said, gripping the jade even tighter. But when he saw everyone staring at him in surprise, he was about to ask what it was, but then he felt dizzy and lost consciousness.
Chapter 31: The Ten Gods
Luo San woke up, but found himself lying in a hospital bed. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi and the others were by his side. When they saw him wake up, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but be overjoyed: ‘Little San, I’m so glad you’re awake.’
‘What happened to me?’
‘You don’t remember?’
“I only remember grabbing the jade and you all looking at me in surprise. I don’t remember anything after that.’
It turned out that when Luo San grabbed the jade, Professor Wu tried to stop him, but Luo San refused point-blank. Not only that, but Luo San’s expression became hideous. Everyone was shocked to see this, and they were at a loss as to what to do when they heard another cry of alarm. They looked back and saw that the cry had come from a member of the Nanqingyi clan. Everyone looked in the direction he was looking, and saw that the Homeland had begun to shake non-stop, but there was no water flowing around it, so it was obvious that the Homeland was not shaking because of the water.
Just as everyone was wondering why the Homeland was shaking, it shook even more violently. This time, everyone understood that the force of the shaking came from within.
The violent shaking made the Homeland seem like it was about to fall apart. Finally, a piece of rock fell off the bottom of the Homeland, which originally looked like it was made of a single piece of rock, and flew towards the crowd. Everyone hurriedly avoided it, but saw Luo San reach out instead and pat the resting Yutang Jade on the rock. As soon as the rock came into contact with the immortelle jade, it immediately became the same as the immortelle jade, completely dark green.
Just as everyone’s attention was focused on the rock, Professor Wu noticed that the bottom of the ‘homeland’ had lost a piece of rock, and a large hole had appeared. Seawater was pouring into the hole continuously, and at the same time, the bottom of the ‘homeland’ began to fall apart. In an instant, the ‘homeland’ began to sink rapidly. Everyone was being pressed down by the ‘homeland’ and sinking rapidly.
At that moment, Luo Si saw a wave of water gush out from the rock in his hand. The water was not very strong, but it lifted the entire ‘Home’. Taking this opportunity, everyone scrambled to escape from the bottom of the ‘Home’.
After escaping from the bottom of the ‘Home’, Professor Wu urged everyone to quickly swim upstream. At this time, a large amount of water rushed from the direction of the Guixu, and the sea began to rise again. Therefore, everyone quickly swam upstream. Seeing that they were about to reach the sky, Shen Yuan, who was sharp-eyed, suddenly let out a cry of alarm. Everyone looked in the direction she was looking, and saw a tiny bright light in the depths of the sea to the west. At this moment, everyone felt that the surrounding sea water had become warmer.
‘This Candle Nine Yin is really persistent, he has followed us all this way.’
“Most likely, he was somewhere else just now, and it was the appearance of the Restraining Earth and Jade that attracted him here. Let’s quickly think of a way to escape.’
Everyone quickly swam towards ‘Chengdu’. Although they knew that by doing so, they would be even closer to Candle Nine Yin, the exit in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings near Chengdu was the only way they could escape for a short period of time.
Since they were escaping for their lives, everyone’s speed had undoubtedly increased. In less than ten minutes, everyone had arrived in front of ‘Chengdu’, and the entrance was not far above their heads. However, the temperature of the seawater had already begun to burn. The sea monster was getting closer and closer, and it was approaching rapidly.
‘Hurry, hurry,’ Professor Wu yelled, urging everyone to swim towards the entrance above their heads. The entrance was very small, only big enough for one person to pass through, and it was vertical. Nan Qingyi told Luo San to go first, but Luo San refused, insisting that everyone go first.
‘Xiao Sanzi, stop messing around. We’re here because of this rock, and if you don’t go first, what if you die and this rock is destroyed? Why don’t you give the rock to Professor Wu and let him go first?‘
’I’m not giving this rock to anyone,‘ Luo San said in a low voice, completely different from his usual self.
’Then you go first.‘
’You go first.‘
’What’s the fuss? If we had more time, we would all have gone,’ Professor Wu yelled, ’Girl, you go first.’
‘Yes, Yuan, you go first.‘
’No, we go together.‘
’Nonsense, I’ll go first.’ Fengyi said and swam towards the cave entrance.
The cave entrance was extremely small, and it was difficult to stretch one’s hands and feet inside, so Fengyi had a hard time swimming upstream. After he had managed to enter the passage, Professor Wu did not mince matters and entered the passage, followed by Nan Qingyi and his clan members, and finally Shen Yuan and Luo San.
Struggling to advance through the tunnel, the group had no idea what was happening beneath them, but they could clearly feel the water getting warmer and warmer, and their exposed skin was burning. Shen Yuan looked down, and saw that the hole beneath her feet was much brighter than before. At this moment, Luo San disappeared.
‘Xiao Sanzi, where are you?’
Luo San did not answer, but the others started asking:
“Girl, Xiao Sanzi, what’s wrong?’
‘Shen Yuan, what’s Little San doing now?‘
’Damn, this kid is really strange.‘
At that moment, everyone heard a long shout coming from the depths of the ocean, the cry of Candle Nine Yin.
Not long after hearing the sound, a wave of heat came from below, and the group of people were swept up by the heat and floated to the surface one after the other.
’What is this place?’ Fengyi asked as he got up from the squat toilet.
‘The female toilet of the S University’s fourth teaching building.‘
’Toilet?‘
’Don’t worry, no one has used it for decades.‘
’Is this also the Eye of the Sea?‘ Feng Yi suddenly saw the stone in the female toilet as he spoke, “I understand, this stone must be the part of the ”Chengdu’ that protrudes from the ground.‘
’This is the part of the ‘Chengdu’ that protrudes from the ground?‘ Wu Professor didn’t say anything, but Nan Qingyi asked.
’I think if it’s correct, it must be.’
‘Then this stone must be the Haiyan Town Stone that Xiaosan mentioned,‘ Nan Qingyi said excitedly. “Why is it so quiet here? Professor Wu, you seem to know this place very well.”
’It’s okay.‘
’What’s going on in this place?‘
’Let’s talk about it later. Xiaosan’s still missing.”
One by one, the people came out of the squat toilets in the women’s bathroom. The last one was Shen Yuan. When the others reached out to pull her, they found that she was unusually heavy.
‘I’m holding Xiao Sizi, so be careful.‘
Luo San was unconscious when he was pulled up, but he was still holding onto the rock tightly.
’Hurry, let’s go.’ As Luo San was unconscious, Shen Yuan anxiously felt around the wall and quickly discovered that the invisible door was still open.
After leaving the women’s toilet, Shen Yuan immediately took Luo San to the nearest Chengdu Seventh Hospital. At the hospital, Luo San was fine except that he was unconscious. They had to lie on the bed and observe him.
‘Where is the stone?’ Luo San asked after listening to everyone’s story.
‘It’s in your arms.’
After hearing Shen Yuan say this, Luo San realised that he was still holding the stone tightly. So he sat up and checked the stone.
The stone was carved with nothing but a cloud.
The pattern was outlined with simple lines, and the whole shape was indeed no different from a cloud. Apart from that, there was nothing else to find out. Everyone couldn’t make head nor tail of it. Luo San stared at the cloud without blinking for a long time. After a while, Luo San felt the cloud move a little, as if it were a real cloud. He couldn’t help but feel a stirring in his heart. When he stared at the cloud again, it was motionless again. Luo San knew that what he had just seen was not his own dazzling, but that the pattern of the cloud was really strange. So he once again stared closely at the Tu’an case. Sure enough, soon after, the cloud in front of him once again began to move. This time, Luo San dared not be distracted, but stared intently at the flowing clouds. Gradually, Luo San felt that the clouds in front of him were flowing and changing faster and faster, and there were more and more clouds. The whole person felt as if they were in the clouds. Slowly, Luo San seemed to have travelled through the thick clouds and saw the scene below. It was an endless expanse of water, with three small, green, tree-covered islands scattered across the azure surface. On one of the islands, a huge windmill was turning in the windless air, with something like grooves extending from it in all directions. At that moment, the sea suddenly rose in waves, and the three islands actually swayed and moved with the waves.
Not far to the east of the three islands, Luo San saw the city. From this high vantage point, he could clearly see the huge city floating above the water, with its streets and people the size of beans. Looking further east, Luo San saw a mountain rising up from the sea and reaching up to the clouds. The top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds, adding to its sense of mystery. The peak became thinner the higher it went, and Luo San first thought that it was connected to the huge rock in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings Building. However, that peak was different from what Luo San had seen, appearing much rounder, while the peak Luo San had seen was flat. At the same time, Luo San also noticed that the azure sky and the peak were connected by a piece of azure sky, which was not a motley colour like what he had seen in the Underground Ocean a few days ago. It seems that the motley colours appeared later. Just as Luo San was thinking this, he suddenly saw two small islands in the distance, propelled by the tens of metres high giant waves, rushing towards the mountain peak with a force that could overturn the mountains and the seas. ‘Ah!’ Luo San couldn’t help but let out a cry of surprise, but in the midst of the cry, the islands had already crashed into the mountain peak. Amidst a deafening loud noise, Luo San, although in the air, could feel a violent shaking between the heavens and the earth. Immediately afterwards, Luo San saw a large hole appear at the point where the mountain peak met the sky, and countless amounts of water gushed in. Half of the mountain peak collapsed with a loud noise, and the entire mountain suddenly looked like what Luo San had seen in the underground ocean a few days ago. At this time, the sea was also surging with ferocious waves, and a large amount of water was also gushing out from the depths of the seabed. At this moment, a giant python soared into the air from one of the other three islands. When Luo San looked intently, he realised that it was not a giant python, but the Candle Nine Yin. On the Candle Nine Yin sat a person. Judging from the figure, it seemed to be a woman. Almost in an instant, the Candle Nine Yin had arrived beneath the large hole in the sky… At this moment, Luo San suddenly felt a piercing cold on his back, and he immediately shivered. The scene in front of him immediately turned into the scene in the hospital room.
‘You’re awake.’ Luo San heard Professor Wu let out a long breath, and the chill in his back immediately disappeared. He turned his head to look, but found that it was Shen Yuan standing behind him, her face still pale with shock. Luo San understood that she must have used some method to wake him up after seeing that he hadn’t woken up for a long time. He couldn’t help but smile at Shen Yuan, saying, ’It’s nothing, don’t worry.’
‘No, I’m not worried. You were staring at the picture, and in no time you closed your eyes and didn’t move. No matter what I did, you wouldn’t wake up. It really worried the girl.’ Professor Wu interrupted.
Luo San then understood what had happened, smiled apologetically at Shen Yuan, and told everyone what he had just seen.
While the others didn’t seem to mind, Professor Wu couldn’t help but sigh, ‘San-zi, the secret of “Chengdu” is in the scene you just saw. Unfortunately, you didn’t see what happened afterwards.’
‘That’s easy, I’ll just go and watch again,’ Luo San said, before suddenly stopping and exclaiming, ‘Why don’t you guys go and watch?’
‘Damn it!’ Professor Wu scolded with a smile, ‘We’ve been watching for ages and it’s all the same. Only you can see that scene. I really don’t know what kind of monster you are.’
Luo San was not offended, and smiled at the crowd, saying, ‘I’m not a monster, I’m a bird person.’ After that, he ignored the crowd and once again stared intently at the pattern of clouds. After a long time, the pattern of clouds was still just a pattern of clouds, not moving at all. ‘No, I’ve been infected by you. No matter how hard I look, it’s just a picture,’ Luo San sighed as his back ached from looking.
‘Take a break for a while, and try again later,’ Shen Yuan said softly to comfort him.
Luo San nodded, and after a while, he looked up again and continued to stare at the pattern, only this time, no matter what, all he saw was still just the pattern.
‘No more, no more,’ after a few times like this, Luo San completely lost his patience, “Mom. What the hell is this?” Luo San said, reaching out his hand and slapping the cloud pattern a few times. Unexpectedly, the pattern immediately changed again, transforming into another pattern. Then this pattern flashed for just a moment, and then it turned into another pattern. In this way, within just a minute, a total of hundreds of patterns flashed past everyone’s eyes.
‘The Ba Shu pictorial language!‘ Professor Wu exclaimed, “Brother Feng, quickly tell us what it means.”
Feng Yi didn’t seem to hear Professor Wu’s exclamation, and kept staring at the Ba Shu pictorial language that flashed past. Soon all the Ba Shu pictorial language disappeared, and only the cloud pattern remained above everyone’s heads.
’What do these Ba Shu pictorial language say?’ Seeing that Feng Yi was taking his time to speak, Professor Wu asked anxiously.
‘Let me think.‘ Feng Yi was still deep in thought, and it took a long time before he spoke, “I recognise some of the characters, but I don’t know what they mean. But they seem to be just place names or personal names, so they shouldn’t affect the overall meaning.”
’Then tell us quickly,’ urged Professor Wu.
Feng Yi immediately said, ’Since the beginning of time, the people of the Ten Winds tribe, the Heishui tribe, the Qiongdu tribe and the Bai people have lived here together. We call this place the bowels of the gods. Here, the gods built a huge city for us, where we live by fishing and hunting on the sea. There are also five islands in the sea, which we call… There are five words here that I don’t know, and I guess they are also names. No one has ever been sure of the location of these five islands, because they are all drifting. Even if we happen to come to the front of the island, we cannot get to the island, and they always avoid our whereabouts. It is said that there is a group of people with great magical powers living on three of the islands to the east of the ‘homeland’. Later, Qiongdu and the Bai were taken to other places by the gods, and only the Heishui remained with us. For a long time, the tribes lived in harmony, but in the end, the Heishui tribe became increasingly brutal and inhumane, always trying to rule the Ten Wind tribes as their slaves and occupy our ‘homeland’. They were numerous and skilled in the use of water, and for a time they gained the upper hand. But thanks to divine intervention, their leader fled to the sea and hid on two islands where Qiongdu and the white people lived. He eventually caused the two islands to crash into Chengdu, which was damaged, causing a hole to appear in the sky. Floods raged, and in the end, the gods used great magical power to seal the hole in the sky. But the rising sea water had already made it uninhabitable for us, so we had no choice but to leave.’ Fengyi paused after saying this and said, ’That’s all there is to it.’
‘Intestines? Three islands? Mending the sky? Giant turtle?‘ Professor Wu mouthed these words, pondering them hard. Suddenly, he said excitedly to the group, “I already know the secret of the sea eye.”
’You know?’ the group asked in surprise.
Professor Wu said to the group with confidence, ’Of course.’
‘Then tell us,‘ Feng Yidao said.
Professor Wu didn’t dare to keep everyone waiting any longer and said confidently, “The secret of the sea eye is in the mountain that Xiaosan saw connected to the huge stone in the women’s toilet of the Sijiao Building. That mountain is none other than the famous Mount Buzhou.”
’How is that possible? How could Mount Buzhou be in this place? That’s a legend from the Central Plains. Oh, that’s right, you said the source of the legends from the Central Plains is in this underground sea,’ Luo San said.
Professor Wu continued, ‘I had Xiao Sizi’s question before, but then I figured it out. Because I remembered a sentence from the Classic of Mountains and Seas: There are ten gods, named after the intestines of Nuwa, who turned into gods and are in the field of Li Guang. This sentence almost completely matches the situation here. There are ten gods, which refers to the ten winds, and the intestines of Nuwa are even mentioned in the Ba Shu map language just now, the intestines of the gods.’
‘Why is this place called such an odd name?‘ Luo San couldn’t help but ask.
Professor Wu smiled and said, “This is actually a very simple matter. What does this ocean look like?”
’I don’t know,‘ Luo San shook his head.
’Get to the point and stop being so evasive,’ Feng Yileng snapped.
Professor Wu was met with a rebuff, but he remained beaming, as if he was very proud of his discovery: ’This underground ocean is wrapped in this huge space, just like a womb that is nurturing life.’
‘Womb? Haha, I don’t know anything about that,‘ Luo San laughed.
Professor Wu looked at Luo San and Shen Yuan with a smile that was half-smile and said, “You will know in the future. In the eyes of ancient people, the womb was part of the intestines, so this place was called the intestines of Nuwa.”
’I see,’
‘Following this reasoning, we can conclude that the place where the legend of Nüwa took place was in this underground ocean, that is, in the bowels of Nüwa. In fact, there is other evidence to prove this. Ancient books record that Nüwa was born in the mountain of Chengzhu. ‘Chengzhu’ and ‘Chengdu’ are just a phonetic change, and the mountain of Chengzhu is Chengdu. After understanding that the legend of Nüwa took place in this ocean, then a series of legends related to it must also have taken place here. The most important legends of Nüwa are naturally the creation of humans, mending the sky and Mount Wuzhou. The creation of humans by Nüwa is easy to solve. Brother Feng said that the Qiongdu people were created by Nüwa. At first we thought that although their legend originated from Nüwa, they must have migrated from the Central Plains, but now it seems that their legend originated here. As for the legend of Tian Mian (the Sky Fixer), we can also find the answer in Sichuan. There has long been a legend in the area around Ya’an, Sichuan, that when Nüwa was fixing the sky, she ran out of stones when she got to the sky above Ya’an. So there is still a hole in the sky over Ya’an today, forming the shape of a sky leak. That is why Ya’an now gets a lot of rain and is known as the City of Rain. From the scene seen by the third son, we can see that after the mountain was hit by the island, a hole was created in the sky and the water rushed down, causing a great flood in the ocean. This all matches the legend of Gonggong’s anger at Mount Buzhou and Nüwa’s attempt to mend the sky, so I conclude that the legend of Nüwa mending the sky happened here, and that mountain is Mount Buzhou. And this is the secret of the sea eye. The secret is: to subdue the Eye of the Sea, the only way is to mend the sky again.‘
’Mend the sky again? How?‘ Luo San and Nan Qingyi asked in unison.
’How? Of course, we must learn from Nuwa and refine the Five-Coloured Stone to mend the sky,‘ said Professor Wu.
’But this is all myth, how can this be something that really happened?’ Nan Qingyi said.
‘Not all legends are based on reality. Although the story of Nüwa mending the sky is quite extraordinary, as you can see, inside Nüwa’s intestines, there is already a world of its own. If the ancients had never seen Nüwa mend the sky, they would not have created such a legend. Now we must try it no matter what, otherwise if the sea eye loses its restraint, the consequences will be unimaginable,‘ said Professor Wu.
’The question is which parts to mend and how to refine the five-coloured stone?’
‘As for what to mend, I think it’s most likely the un-mended piece of sky on Mount Zhou and the crack on Mount Zhou. The problem is how to refine the five-coloured stone underwater at the bottom of the sea.‘
’And where to find the five-coloured stone.‘
’That’s a problem.’ Professor Wu patted his head and fell into deep thought.
‘I know where the Five-Coloured Stone is,‘ said Professor Wu after a while, as excited as a child, but all he got in reply was a cold, curt “Where?”
’The Immortal Mountains in the Eastern Sea,‘ said Professor Wu, just as curtly, but when Feng Yileng gave him a cold stare, he hastily added, “According to ancient legends, in a very remote place above the Eastern Sea, there is an unfathomable bottomless abyss called the ”Returning Floods’. Thanks to the existence of the ‘Returning Floods’, all the rivers flow back to it, and the sea will never overflow. Legend has it that not far from the Guixu, there are five floating mountains in the sea, named Daiyu, Yuanqiao, Fanghu, Yingzhou and Penglai. The mountains are lofty and straight, and there are many beautiful pavilions and towers on them, which are the places where the gods live and entertain. These five mountains have no foundation, and they are like drifting boats on the sea…‘
’No foundation? like drifting boats? That’s the same as the three islands I saw,‘ exclaimed Luo San.
’Exactly,‘ nodded Professor Wu, “and Guixu is right next to that island.”
’But didn’t the Eastern Sea Immortal Mountains say there were five? Why are there only three that we can see?’ Luo San was still a little puzzled. Suddenly, he came to a realization, ’Oh, that’s right, plus the two immortal mountains that crashed into Mount Buzhou. Then why are there only three that we can see now? Were they sunk?’
‘Maybe. That’s just what the legend says. Because the five mountains have no foundation, they are gradually drifting towards the cold, dark north pole, where the sun doesn’t shine and the moon doesn’t reach. In order to save the five immortal mountains and save them from their predicament, the sea god Yuqiang found 15 giant divine turtles and ordered them to form groups of three. Each group would have one divine turtle carrying one of the immortal mountains, while the other two would guard them. The rotation would take place every 60,000 years. At first, the immortals were very happy because the giant turtles were so loyal to their duties that the immortal mountains no longer drifted north. However, this good fortune did not last long. One day, a few giants arrived from the Kingdom of Dragon Elder, which was far away from the sea. These giants were as tall as towering trees and even when standing in the sea, they could still show half of their bodies. They usually went in and out of the sea and relied on catching giant turtles and giant turtles in the sea for food. This time, when they arrived in the sea, they saw that the giant turtles were tilting their heads, carrying huge mountains on their backs, and floating motionlessly on the surface of the sea. So they threw bait at the giant turtles. The giant turtles had not eaten anything good for tens of millions of years, and as soon as they saw the bait being held out to them, they couldn’t wait to swallow it. As a result, the divine turtles became the prey of the giants, who killed and feasted on them without mercy. Fortunately, the giants only captured the six sacred turtles from Daiyu and Yuanqiao, so Fanghu, Yingzhou and Penglai were left unharmed. Daiyu and Yuanqiao lost the support of the sacred turtles and drifted straight towards the poles with the currents and gales. The immortals living on these two immortal mountains had to move in a hurry to the other three mountains. Soon, the two immortal mountains drifted to the end of the sea and sank to the dark seabed. Since then, there have only been three immortal mountains above the East China Sea.”
Professor Wu paused here and said, ’The reason I am certain that the three islands are the three immortal mountains of the East China Sea is that, apart from the fact that they are both floating on the water and there is a Guixu nearby, another characteristic is that there are a particularly large number of giant turtles in the underground sea, which is consistent with the myths and legends.’
Feng Yileng interrupted: ‘What does the Xianshan in the East China Sea have to do with the Wusese stone? That’s the answer I want.’
Professor Wu was not annoyed: ‘Legend has it that the Wusese stone that Nuwa needed to mend the sky was taken from one of the mountains in the Xianshan in the East China Sea, in other words, one of the three small islands.’
“Go to the three islands and find the Wusese stone.’
‘The three islands are not small, how are we going to find it?‘ Luo San then asked another question.
’Legend has it that Nüwa patched the sky with a sky-patching platform,‘ said Professor Wu. “Even if there is no sky-patching platform, there should be relics related to sky-patching, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find.”
’Okay, let’s go to those three islands,’ Luo San said, and tried to get off, but was stopped by Professor Wu: ’Take a break, everyone is tired. Let’s contact Yan Qingbo and see if he has any clues about the group of people from the Great Tang Empire. Otherwise, I’m afraid that once we fix the sky, it will be destroyed again.‘
’That’s right, these two steps need to be taken at the same time,‘ Feng Yidao said.
’By the way, why isn’t Nan Qingyi here?‘ Luo San asked.
’He’s not here. He went back to find his clan,’ Shen Yuan said.
Chapter 32: The Dragon Slaying Society
It was already 11 pm when the group arrived at Yan Qingbo’s house as requested.
‘Look who else is in my house,’ Yan Qingbo said excitedly after opening the door. Behind him, Liu Fufeng was smiling and looking at everyone.
‘Xiao Liu, where have you been these past few days?’ Luo San and Shen Yuan were both overjoyed to suddenly see Liu Fufeng appear unharmed.
“I was captured. I almost didn’t get to see everyone,’ Despite the life-or-death situation, Liu Fufeng spoke very casually.
‘Who captured you?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Xiao Liu just escaped. Just now, while I was waiting for you, I got a call from her, so I let her come along.’
At this time, Professor Wu asked Yan Qingbo, ‘Have you investigated the true origins of Nan Qingyi? You said before that this person doesn’t exist.’
“Yes, he doesn’t exist. There is no information about his identity or his file. I don’t even know how he got into the school.’
‘Is there no way we can find out who he is?‘
’No, I have a friend who is a master hypnotist. He used hypnosis on the Indian ghost we caught a few days ago and found their secret. It turns out that the Indian ghost is a member of the Indian branch of the Dragon Slaying Society, and Nan Qingyi is also a key figure in the Dragon Slaying Society.‘
’Dragon Slaying Society? What kind of organisation is that?‘
’The Dragon Slaying Society is an international organisation with branches in countries all over the world. It has more than 1,000 members worldwide…’
‘More than 1,000 people? Did I hear that right?‘
’Xiaosan, don’t interrupt me, you heard it right. There are only a little more than 1,000 members of the Dragon Slaying Society. This is because the organisation is so secretive and strange that it is very strict about admitting new members. Every new member must be recommended by at least three existing members, and then formally admitted at the annual general meeting by a vote of all members. At the same time, all members must be China experts. Xiaosan, don’t keep interrupting. I’ve finished talking, now you can talk.
It turned out that the Dragon Slaying Society was founded on 4 September 1945, and its first president was a former Soviet citizen named Ablesov. In the 1930s, he served as the consul of the former Soviet government in Xinjiang, China. At that time, Sheng Shicai, the Xinjiang Border Defense Supervisor, in order to consolidate his rule and get rid of the Nationalist government at the same time, made great efforts to curry favour with Stalin, and Soviet forces entered Xinjiang openly or covertly. Ablesov was a representative figure of the Soviet forces entering Xinjiang. He gathered intelligence all over Xinjiang, determined to turn Xinjiang into a Soviet republic. Sheng Shicai also made a request to the Soviet government in 1933, when he first came to power, to have Xinjiang designated as Soviet territory in order to gain Stalin’s support and consolidate his own power. In January 1941, Sheng Shicai again proposed to the Soviet government the establishment of the Xinjiang Soviet Republic and its joining the Soviet Union, because the Nationalist government was gaining more and more control over Xinjiang. However, the Soviet Union did not agree to either proposal, out of fear of the Nationalist government and with the aim of using China to contain Japan. This greatly discouraged Ablesov, who believed that the Soviet government had missed a golden opportunity to divide up China. He decided that in his lifetime, he would use his abilities to make Xinjiang another Soviet Union republic. At this time, a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander named Dongfang Muyi from the Xinjiang Border Defense Office came to the door.
Dongfang Muyi told Ablesov that Sheng Shicai’s rule of Xinjiang was not bringing enough benefits to the Soviet Union, and that if the Soviet government supported him in a coup to overthrow Sheng Shicai, he would be willing to allow the Soviets to have more interests in Xinjiang and ensure that Xinjiang would become a Soviet republic. Dongfang Muyi also specially presented a gold tablet to Ablesov as a sign of good faith, and the name of this gold tablet was ‘The Book of Ancient Yuedu’. He said that if the secret in the gold tablet could be found, China could be completely destroyed, and all of China’s territory would become collective farms in Russia.
At first, Ablesov ignored the gold tablet, thinking it was nonsense. Dongfang Muyi had to tell Ablesov the origin of the gold tablet.
From Yan Qingbo’s account, Luo San discovered that Dongfang Muyi’s story about the origin of the golden platinum was the same as Nan Qingyi’s. Since Nan Qingyi was a member of the Dragon Slaying Society, it was not surprising that he knew about it, but whether Nan Qingyi had fabricated the story about the Southern Dragon Badge or whether it was true was still unknown. Luo San was thinking about this when he heard Yan Qingbo continue, ‘Due to opposition from the Soviet government, Ablesov was unable to support Dongfang Muyi in launching a coup. However, the unexpected acquisition of the Jinbao caused Ablesov to temporarily abandon the idea of making Xinjiang a Soviet Republic, and instead set his sights on incorporating the entire country into the Soviet Union. At this time, Dongfang Muyi, the only person who knew the secret of the Jinbao, became the first person he had to get rid of. Just as he was about to do something to Dongfang Muyi, the cunning Dongfang Muyi saw the danger and ran away in advance.
Ablyasov had no choice but to intensify his research into the contents of the Golden Plate, but with little effect. On 3 September 1945, after Japan officially surrendered to China without conditions, Ablyasov decided to establish an international organisation dedicated to the research of the Golden Plate and the eventual destruction of China. Because China was the target, the name of the organisation was the Dragon Slaying Society.
This was after World War II, when many colonial countries had gained independence. When a country is used to being oppressed, its greatest wish is to oppress other countries. There are many such extremists in South Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Western Asia. These extremists regard China as their greatest enemy, so they have joined the Dragon Slaying Society. After decades of development, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society are all over the world. Of course, there are more than 1,000 key members on the ground, who are full members. If you add in the personnel of other peripheral organisations, there are hundreds of thousands of people. Nan Qingyi is young, but for some reason, he has become the secretary-general of the Dragon Slaying Society.
Fifteen years ago, the Dragon Slaying Society discovered that the secret of the ‘Guye Du Jing’ was in Chengdu, so they sent a large number of people to infiltrate Chengdu and move around to find out what was going on. However, the investigation was slow to progress, and it wasn’t until a few months ago that they made a breakthrough and set about destroying the stone array. However, after they destroyed the stone array, they found that it didn’t have the effect they expected, so they set their sights on you.
“Damn, so we weren’t used as a pawn,’ Luo San cursed, ‘No wonder he kept leading me on.’
‘Yes. We were used as cannon fodder,’ Professor Wu said, ‘but it wasn’t your fault, it was mine. I noticed something was wrong with him from the start, but I was careless and thought we could use his various advanced equipment to find the relevant secrets. I never expected to be used by him.’
‘You noticed something was wrong with him a long time ago, why didn’t you tell me?’
“I wanted to warn you about him, but I was afraid you would give yourself away, so I didn’t say anything.’
‘How did you discover that he was problematic?‘
’His appearance.’ Professor Wu explained to him that the Luoyue people, in addition to their unique beliefs, folkways, customs, and language, also have their own unique appearance. Their lips are thicker, their noses are flatter, and their noses are larger, which is a classic garlic nose. This characteristic makes them extremely recognisable in appearance. However, Nan Qingyi, who claimed to be a descendant of the Luoyue, did not have any of these characteristics in his appearance.
‘Nan Qingyi claims to be a descendant of the Luo Yue?‘ Liu Fufeng exclaimed in surprise.
’Yes, Liu, what’s the problem?‘
’Apart from claiming to be a descendant of the Luo Yue, did he say what his status was?‘
’He also said that his great-grandfather Nan Longzhang was the adopted son of Huang Xing, and he even took us to a house…’
‘I understand, it was this son of a bitch who captured me and hypnotised me,’ said Liu Fufeng angrily. ’That day, I was captured and woke up and have been kept in captivity ever since. It must be that guy Nan Qingyi who hypnotised me and used my information to impersonate me and deceive you. Professor Wu, did you conclude that he was lying just based on his appearance?
‘No, I just started to suspect him from that moment on. But on the one hand, I thought that his ancestors were not from the Luo Yue people, and it was understandable that his appearance did not have the characteristics of the Luo Yue people. On the other hand, I thought that he was young, and even if he was lying, it would not be a problem. And I also wanted to follow the clues to find out who was behind them, so I didn’t expose him.’ Professor Wu shook his head as he spoke, as if he was still afraid of the consequences of belittling Nan Qingyi.
‘If I had just suspected him of lying at first, I could be sure of it after meeting Nan Yi and the others…‘ Professor Wu said.
’Because Nan Yi and the others didn’t look like the Lue people?‘ Luo San asked.
’Not only that, but because they were lying,’ Professor Wu said. ’Nan Yi and the others clearly entered Sichuan during the Kangxi Emperor’s Huguang to Sichuan campaign, but they insisted that they had only arrived in Xichang from Guangxi ten years ago.
‘Why do you say that?’ Shen Yuan, who had been listening quietly, suddenly asked.
Professor Wu looked at the group with a hint of pride and said, “Young people, pay attention.” Under normal circumstances, Shen Yuan might have retorted, but she had already learned that this was Professor Wu’s temperament, so she just snorted slightly. Luo San, on the other hand, said enthusiastically to Professor Wu, ’Tell us.’
‘You all know about the Huguang filling Sichuan incident, don’t you?’ Professor Wu saw everyone nod, so he continued, ’At the end of the Ming Dynasty, after Zhang Xianzhong established a puppet regime in Sichuan, he carried out a frenzied massacre of the people under his rule, causing the population of Sichuan to plummet, to the extent that there were only a few dozen or even just a few households in a county. After the Manchus entered the country, they organised a campaign to fill Sichuan with people from Huguang because the population of Sichuan was really too small. It is said that there were quite favourable conditions in this movement to encourage the people of Huguang, with its large population and scarce land, to leave their original homes and enter Sichuan to cultivate the land. However, the Chinese have always been reluctant to leave their native land. Therefore, although some people moved to Sichuan voluntarily, many more were bound with ropes and escorted into Sichuan by the Eight Banners. Along the way, the scars from the ropes remained for thousands of miles, accompanying the immigrants for the rest of their lives. Even hundreds of years later, their descendants can still be seen with a mark on the inside of their elbows, just like the ones made by the ropes back then…’
‘How is that possible? Can scars be inherited?‘ Luo San interrupted Professor Wu.
’Sichuan is a place full of miracles. Many incredible things have happened here, and there are many things that cannot be explained by science.’ Professor Wu gave Luo San a cold stare and continued, ’Nan Yi and the others all have these marks on their hands, which obviously show that they are the descendants of the immigrants. So I asked him if he had lived here for a long time, but he said he had only moved here ten years ago. Obviously he was lying, and his purpose was to hide his true identity. Alas!’
‘Professor Wu, you don’t need to blame yourself. It’s not entirely your fault. Anyway, we still have time to make plans,‘ Liu Fufeng said, “In that case, I’ll immediately arrange for my people to take down their lair. Tell me where their place is.”
After Liu Fufeng left, Yan Qingbo said to the others, “Since there’s nothing to do for the time being, let’s see what happened in Dongfang Bai’s mansion.”
’What?’
‘I have installed listening and video equipment in Dongfang Bai’s residence.’ Yan Qingbo said as he turned on the computer, which was an extremely advanced computer that Luo San and the others had never seen before. Two screens appeared on the computer, clearly two cameras in two directions installed by Nan Qingyi.
Everyone could only see Nan Yi sitting in a chair in the room with a pale face, his eyes slightly closed, looking extremely tired. Beside him stood a group of attendants, all of them diverse in appearance and colour. Although the large hall was full of people, not even a breath could be heard. After a long time, Nam Yi opened his eyes and looked towards the courtyard at the end of the hall. In the courtyard, four men were kneeling side by side, and next to them were the bodies of two other men. The bodies were in a horrible state, with almost no intact flesh on them. The four kneeling men all had foreign appearances and were also covered in wounds. Each of their faces were split open, and in particular, their eyes were both dark holes, with no eyeballs left.
After a long while, Nanyi sighed and said, ‘The Secretary-General didn’t mean to scold you when he was on the phone just now. I think the Secretary-General, out of consideration for the many years of friendship, won’t do anything to you. You all don’t have to blame yourselves too much. Instead of dying, you should atone for your crimes and capture the girl.’
Unexpectedly, the four men were bent on death, and they knelt on the ground without looking up, saying in unison, ‘We are incompetent, causing the escape of the wanted criminal. We now only seek death, and we will go to the road to the netherworld after seeing the Secretary-General once.’ These four foreigners not only spoke fluent Chinese, but also seemed to have Chinese thinking habits.
Nan Yi frowned and said, ‘Even if you are not giving me face, you should at least do it for the Secretary-General. It is only reasonable to temporarily put aside the idea of seeking death and follow me in capturing the wanted criminal first.’
‘We are incompetent, causing the wanted criminal to escape. Now we only seek death, and we will go to the path of the dead after meeting the Secretary-General.’ The four men still did not raise their heads, and in unison and word for word, recited the sentence again.
‘It was the Secretary-General’s intention to let you arrest the wanted criminal. You must not make one mistake and then try to make another.’ Seeing that the four men were stubborn, Nan Yi immediately lost his temper and shouted at them.
On hearing this, the four men did not recite the sentence again, but instead bowed and said, ‘We vow to follow the Secretary-General to the death. Since he commanded us to do so, we will obey. We do not know what the Deputy Secretary-General wishes to say.’
Nan Yi said, ‘I hope you will explain in detail to everyone here about the girl’s escape last night. Although we are not talented, if we get together, we can probably come up with a way to catch the wanted woman.’
‘Yes!’ the four men said.
‘Waiter, look after the seats!‘ Nan Yi commanded his subordinates while addressing the four men, “You four don’t have to do that, let’s sit up and talk.”
After the four men had all settled down, Nan Yi asked, “I wonder which one of you four gentlemen would like to brief us on the situation?”
’I am not very capable, but I would like to talk about last night,‘ said one of the men as he stood up. This man was tall, with a high nose and deep-set eyes.
’I remember you are Alexander, a member of our Greek chapter, right?’
‘Yes,’ said Alexander. ’That girl is the descendant of Huang Xingyi, a founding member of the Tongmenghui. She is currently the cloth mother of a Yuezu village in Guangxi, that is, the shaman of the tribe. A year ago, she led a group of people to infiltrate the inner court of S University and tried to ruin the plans of our association. The secretary-general is wise and far-sighted, and could see that the girl was up to no good. So a few days ago, he led six of my brothers to capture her by surprise. The secretary-general immediately hypnotised her and learned the secret in her heart. Then, pretending to be the girl, he contacted a few ignorant Han people and went to Xichang to plot something.‘
’I know all that. Get to the point,’ interrupted Nanyi, interrupting Alexander.
‘Yes. Before the Secretary-General left, he asked the six of us to keep a close eye on the girl. For several days, the six of us did not dare to take a single step outside the door, locked the doors and windows, did not dare to turn on the lights, took turns to rest, and kept a close watch on her. Nothing happened for several days, so we became negligent. Tonight, because it was hot and humid in the house, we opened the windows. At that time, Abraham and Mikoyan were on duty as guards. The four of us had not slept the night before because of the meeting, and we were all asleep at that time.’ Although Alexander could not see, he pointed to the two bodies lying on the ground and said in a sad tone, ’I never thought that this would cost them their lives. At that time, the four of us were sleeping soundly when suddenly we heard a noise in the house, followed by Abraham and Mikoyan’s screams. We hurriedly got up and looked out the window, only to see a large group of dark things surrounding the two of them, and the girl was also surrounded by those dark things. The four of us immediately rushed forward, but we didn’t expect that after taking a few steps, the group of things pounced in front of us. We only felt a gust of wind, and our four eyes felt a sharp pain, and suddenly our vision went dark, and our eyes were gone…’
Alexander’s words seemed to be full of anger, and Luo San and the others couldn’t help but feel scared when they heard it through the video. It seemed that these people were all martial artists, and they were all first-class masters. The opponent was able to make them lose their eyes in an instant, so what kind of ability did they have? And what was that dark thing? It was really hard to understand. Thinking about this, Luo San couldn’t help but secretly feel grateful, at least this would be a strong support.
At this time, I heard Alexander Mu continue, ‘When we lost our sight, we were instantly in a panic. We wanted to shoot to attack, but we didn’t know where our opponents were, and we were afraid of hurting our own people. And just as we were at a loss, we heard a whistling sound in our ears, like the flapping of wings, and several parts of our bodies tingled. It seems that the skin and flesh in many places had been torn off.’
Luo San saw that his body was covered in strange-shaped wounds, some of which looked like they had been pierced by sharp objects, while others looked like the flesh had been ripped off. He wondered if it had been birds that had attacked him.
Sure enough, Alexander continued, ‘Although the four of us brothers could not see anything, we had already guessed what was in front of us. We thought it was probably a group of birds, but we didn’t know why they had attacked us like that. Now I think it was probably the girl who sent them.’ Luo San thought to himself, ‘It really was as you said.’
‘Since there were so many birds and we couldn’t see clearly, we were afraid of injuring our own people and didn’t dare to shoot. Although we heard Abraham and Mikoyan’s miserable cries getting weaker and weaker, they finally stopped. There were light footsteps in the room, as if the girl was planning to escape. We immediately moved towards the door, but were blocked by the many birds. Polanski was even injured in the neck by a bird and was bleeding profusely, so the girl escaped.’
Nan Yi nodded and said, ‘It happened so suddenly, so you can’t be blamed. But how did you escape later?’
But Alexander said, ‘In the panic, I told everyone to form a circle with their backs to each other and wave their hands from the four directions, which scared the birds away. The four of us were able to protect ourselves. Later, perhaps because the girl had already escaped, the birds finally dispersed. We were able to save our lives.’
Luo San knew that Liu Fufeng had been so intent on escaping that he hadn’t meant to kill anyone. Otherwise, Nan Yi and the others would now have to speculate about what had wounded the six bodies.
In the video, the people in the hall were all speechless. Suddenly, another man among the four said, ‘The four of us have travelled around the world and killed no less than a thousand Chinese people. I never thought that one day, through carelessness, I would fall into the hands of a girl. We have missed an important mission and are certainly worthy of death. From now on, we will leave our lives and deaths to the judgment of the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General.‘ Luo San looked at the man, who was full of murderous intent, and whose face had become even more hideous due to the loss of his eyesight. He heard the man say, “There are just a few things that we have been worried about and need to tell the Secretary-General and our brothers. I humbly ask for the Secretary-General’s permission.”
’You may speak freely,’
‘Thank you, Deputy Secretary-General,’ the man said. ’The six of us have a few things to tell everyone after this battle. First, bird attacks are usually minor, but the birds were manipulated by someone, and once they engaged, they attacked our eyes and necks, so we had to defend ourselves. Second, when attacked by a flock of birds, just set them on fire, and the birds will find it hard to get close and will attack at random, and you can repel them. But last night, when we arrived late and we were blind, we could only protect ourselves. Third, the girl’s limbs were tightly bound and her mouth was gagged. If the birds were summoned by her, then the way she summoned them was too unexpected, and we must be cautious.‘
’Good. I will make the arrangements.’ Nanyi suddenly raised his voice and said, ’Come here, send the four brothers to rest, invite a famous doctor to treat their injuries. and carefully preserve the bodies of Abraham and Michael Yang.’ After saying this, Nanyi stood up and said to the four men, “Please, four brothers.”
The four men stood up, bowed, and left.
Nanyi’s gaze slowly swept over the faces of the crowd, and he said solemnly, ’Brothers, the late wish of the old chairman Ablesov will be fulfilled tonight. In a few hours, our brothers will infiltrate S University, and the target will be a stone in the women’s bathroom of S University. Once the stone is destroyed, a massive flood will completely submerge China, cleansing this filthy country and drowning all its inferior people. Then, the branches of my Dragon Slaughter Society will be able to convince the governments of the world to redistribute China’s land. It is anachronistic for an inferior race to occupy so much land.‘
’Yes, redistribute China’s land.‘
’Destroy the inferior race.’
In the video, the crowd was agitated, as if the destruction of China was a matter of seconds.
Looking at all this, Luo San and the others were filled with righteous indignation.
‘How dare the devils, do they think there is no one in China!’ Yan Qingbo sneered.
‘A bunch of clowns, destroy them,’ said Professor Wu.
‘Dream on if you want to destroy China,’ said Luo San.
‘Why hasn’t Liu Fufeng arrived yet?’ Shen Yuan, however, seemed to care nothing about this.
‘Liu Fufeng went to find her clan, so how could she be here?‘
’I mean why hasn’t she arrived at Dongfang Bai’s mansion to drive the birds into action immediately.‘ Shen Yuan’s eyes also had a murderous aura.
’Stop arguing.’ Feng Yi suddenly pointed coldly at the computer and said, “The Dragon Slaying Society is already arranging tonight’s operation.”
Sure enough, in the hall, Nanyi was telling the crowd, ’Tonight, our goal is to destroy the stone in the women’s bathroom of the Four Teachings. I will personally lead the operation to destroy it. The Northeast Asia Branch, Southeast Asia Branch, and West Asia Branch will accompany me. Brother Li Yuanhao, President of the Northeast Asia Branch, Lang Nuo, President of the Southeast Asia Branch, and Brother Joyce, President of the West Asia Branch, please lead your brothers to give it their all. Each brother should bring a flamethrower, a gun, and a helmet. You three branches should select capable personnel to form a commando unit. Each member of the commando unit will be equipped with a ‘No. 1’ weapon. The time of the operation is 11:54 tonight.‘
’Weapon No. 1? Damn, so the stones in the stone circle were actually destroyed by the Dragon Slaying Society, and they framed the Tang Empire.‘
’Shh.’ Feng Yidao said.
Luo San continued to look at the computer, and saw that Nan Yi was still making arrangements: the South American branch, the Caribbean branch, and the Oceania branch were responsible for guarding the perimeter of the Four Teachings, not letting a single fly in…
At this moment, Luo San saw Shen Yuan suddenly walk out. He didn’t care and continued listening to Nan Yi: the European branch, the North American branch, the North African branch, and the South African branch set up ambushes on all roads leading to the Four Teachings, and once someone tries to get close to the Four Teachings, they will be killed without exception.
In the blink of an eye, Nan Yi had finished deploying the troops, and everyone was about to leave when suddenly someone stopped him: ‘Deputy Secretary-General, may I ask, what are the brothers in the Chinese branch doing?’
‘They have an even more difficult task,’ said Nan Yi, suddenly looking up, “what’s that noise?”
It was birds, all kinds of birds, flocking into the hall from all directions. For a moment, the computer screen went black, and Luo San could only hear a cacophony of cries, wails, and roars, followed by the sound of doors opening, people running, and things being hit. After a while, the sounds gradually died down and faded away. Luo San saw on the computer screen that the entire hall was in a mess, with tables overturned and chairs crooked. Dozens of bodies were lying among the mess, and there were many bird feathers and droppings scattered on the ground, with the occasional corpse of a bird or two.
Luo San remembered that there had been hundreds of people in the hall just now, but now there were only dozens of people lying on the ground, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Professor Wu, however, seemed to think otherwise: ‘Operation Xiao Liu was very quick. I don’t think that son of a bitch Nanyi will be able to launch his final battle tonight. A group of us birds have killed all their elites, dead or injured.’
After a long time, the content displayed on the computer screen never changed again. Professor Wu anxiously said to Shen Yuan, ‘Girl, you immediately call Liu Fufeng and ask him about the situation of the Dragon Slaying Society. Is he still capable of fighting again tonight?’
Chapter 33: The decisive battle at Mount Buzhou
‘Damn, it’s not worth it, we actually let Nanyi escape,’ Luo San said angrily on the way to the Si Jiao. They had just learned from Liu Fufeng that six or seven of the people gathered by the Dragon Slaying Society in the Eastern White House compound had died, and the rest were also covered in wounds, except that Nan Yi had escaped. Luo San understood that as long as Nan Yi did not die, tonight’s operation to destroy the stone would go ahead as usual, and the action just now had instead given them a wake-up call. It would be even more difficult to deal with them next time.
It was already 11 o’clock, and it had been more than 20 minutes since Nan Yi had given the order to move. At Liu Fufeng’s request, Fengyi, Professor Wu, Shen Yuan, Luo San, Yan Qingbo and the others were rushing to Sijiao. Liu Fufeng’s reason was: ‘The Yue people are about to set up ambushes all around the area. If you want to watch the fun, go near Sijiao now, so that our people won’t accidentally hurt you.’
‘How could we be there just to watch? We are the key players.’ Luo San was indignant at Liu Fufeng’s words. But there was nothing he could do, because he would not be able to participate in the events of the night. He had asked everyone about mending the sky, but everyone seemed to be still afraid of going into the sea floor. Now that there was a chance to eliminate the saboteurs without going underground, naturally no one wanted to go underground again.
However, Luo San always had an ominous feeling, because Nan Qingyi was missing. At such an important juncture, where would Nan Qingyi, the Secretary-General of the Dragon Slaying Society, go? And as the host, what secret mission did the people from the Chinese branch of the Dragon Club have? Luo San couldn’t figure it out.
At that moment, Liu Fufeng appeared, and by her side was a group of people, each holding a walkie-talkie in their hands.
Liu Fufeng smiled and said to the crowd, ‘Let’s go to the classroom and wait for the fun.’
‘Don’t we need to send someone to set up defenses?’
“Defenses? I’ve already set them up. I’ve strictly deployed them around the Four Teachings, exactly as Nanyi required. Anyone who tries to enter will be killed. The entrances and exits to the Four Teachings are all sealed off. Anyone who tries to enter will be killed.’ Liu Fufeng pointed at the men with walkie-talkies and said, ‘They will keep me informed of any developments. I will definitely make sure that none of them survives.’
At half past ten, Luo San heard screams coming from all directions outside the Four Teachings. As he listened to the screams, Luo San forced himself to resist the urge to rush forward and take a good look.
After a few minutes, the screams stopped.
“Hey, everyone, report on the situation just now,’
‘Yes, Bu Mo. The enemy has not yet entered our defensive zone, but they are screaming. At first we didn’t know what was going on, but then we discovered that there were a large number of snakes on all the roads leading to the Si Jiao. The people of the Dragon Slaying Society were bitten as soon as they lifted their feet, and even if they weren’t bitten, the pythons would strangle them to death. So the Dragon Slaying Society retreated for the time being.’
‘Hm. Very well. It seems that we have strong reinforcements joining us, so what are we afraid of? But how did the people controlling the snakes know the Dragon Slaying Society’s plan?‘
’I informed them,’ Shen Yuan said.
‘You did? When did you do it? How did you get in touch with them?‘ Luo San immediately asked a series of questions.
’Although Mu Shigu and He Wangyu had both disappeared, I still called them both. For some reason, they both answered the phone. So I told them about the Dragon Slaying Society’s arrangements and hoped that they would put the country’s affairs first and send someone to support us.‘
’How did you know they were the ones driving the snake?‘
’I guessed.’
‘So they agreed?‘
’They both said that this was too dangerous and that they couldn’t help.‘
’It seems that the two of them still don’t want to reveal their identities.‘
’Hm.‘
’It’s just that which one of them is the one who drives the snakes?‘
’He Wangyu, I think. He Wangyu looks like an albino, and the totem of albinos is the snake, isn’t it?”
While everyone was talking, there was another commotion around the Four Teachings.
It seems that the Dragon Slaying Society is making a comeback.
At that moment, the walkie-talkie in Liu Fufeng’s hand rang: ‘Bumo, it’s bad, the people from the Dragon Slaying Society have obtained a large amount of sulphur from somewhere, and the snakes are beginning to scatter and flee for their lives.’
‘Arrange for the birds to attack.’
The noise around them increased, and then Luo San saw countless flashes of light appear around the Four Teachings.
There was another voice over the walkie-talkie: ‘Bumo, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society are all wearing thick clothes and helmets, so the birds can’t do any damage to them. And each of them is equipped with a flamethrower, so the birds are suffering heavy casualties. Our defence line has been torn open.’
At that moment, Luo San heard another burst of screams coming from around the Si Jiao.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Liu Fufeng.
‘Bu Mo, a large group of wild dogs suddenly appeared. Most of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society were blocked outside, but a small group still managed to break in. And the people from the Dragon Slaying Society used guns to shoot a large number of wild dogs. I’m afraid the dogs won’t be able to hold out for long.‘
’It’s okay, I’ll take care of them one by one. If they come in two, I’ll take care of the pair. Spread the word and throw the powder around. Oh, and you guys eat this.’ The last sentence was directed at Luo San and the others.
‘What is this?‘ Luo San asked, looking at the small black pill in his hand.
’The antidote,‘ Liu Fu Feng said.
’What antidote?‘
’Wait and you’ll see,’ Liu Fu Feng said, looking out the window. Just then, a bolt of thunder split the night sky. Luo San saw a group of heavily armed men running quickly downstairs, and there seemed to be dozens of them. Luo San didn’t know what Liu Fu Feng was going to do, so he just waited patiently.
Soon, Luo San heard someone shouting, ‘Why has it suddenly become so dark? Oh no, I can’t see, what’s going on?’ Then several other voices shouted that they couldn’t see. At that moment, another flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and Luo San saw that some of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society were lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while others were stretching out their hands as if they were blind, feeling around.
‘What’s wrong with them?‘
’Some have been stricken with fowl plague, others with night blindness. You’ll be the same if you don’t take the antidote beforehand. Our Luo Yue tribe has the bird as our totem, and we can not only drive birds, but also use the diseases of various birds to cause them trouble.’ Liu Fufeng said to a man beside him, ’You, take a few brothers and go down and give each of those guys a stab in the neck.’
Before Liu Fu-feng could finish speaking, Luo San saw in the lightning flash that the group of people from the Dragon Slaying Society suddenly stood up and quickly ran outside.
‘Impossible, they couldn’t have stood up or seen it,’ Liu Fu-feng could hardly believe his own eyes, ‘Quick, you go after them and see what’s going on.’
Several men agreed and chased after them.
After a while, an anxious voice came over the walkie-talkie: ‘Bu Mo, come to the lotus pond quickly, hurry, or it will be too late.’
‘Don’t worry, tell me what happened quickly.’ Liu Fufeng also ordered the person next to him, “Send a few more brothers outside to follow them, and we will wait and see what happens here for now.”
The man on the walkie-talkie told Liu Fufeng that the group from the Dragon Slaying Society had left the Four Teachings and were running quickly towards the lotus pond, which was not far away. In the centre of the lotus pond is an island with just one pavilion. Since no one can reach the island except the caretaker, the entire pavilion is now covered by dense shrubs and trees, only the top is exposed. At this time, the hundreds of people from the Dragon Slaying Society stood in a circle around the lotus pond, and immediately pointed their fingers in the direction of the island in the centre of the lotus pond. Hundreds of red flashes of light shot towards the island. Amidst the dazzling red light, there was a deafening loud noise in the sky. Amidst the loud noise and red light, the island suddenly split in half, and a blue light shot up into the sky, lifting the pavilion on the island into the air. Amidst the blue light, a swimming dragon spiralled up. ‘It’s it, the dragon vein, destroy the dragon vein, and the whole of China will be ours,’ Nanyi shouted, ‘brothers, work hard!’ ‘Yes!’ There was a thunderous response all around.
Seeing this, the few members of Liu Fufeng’s clan could no longer hold back. One of them immediately whistled, as if sending out a signal. Immediately, countless birds gathered in the sky above, dark and dense as a dark cloud. As if at the same moment, the dark cloud turned into raindrops, rushing towards the group of Nan Yi on the ground. The group on the ground immediately let out a series of screams, but soon they came to their senses and launched a counterattack. At the same time, more people pointed their fingers at the dragon, shooting streams of red light at its body. The giant dragon writhed in agony, as if it was about to collapse. ‘Bumo, bumo. We urgently need support here, or it will be too late,’ a man shouted at Liu Fufeng on the other end of the phone, seeing the situation.
‘Bu Mo, send some reinforcements,’ the man urged, seeing that Liu Fu Feng had not yet made a decision.
Liu Fu Feng did not speak, and hesitated to nod: “I always feel that something is wrong, but I can’t think of what is wrong. My intuition tells me that we should continue to stay in the Four Teachings.” Suddenly, Liu Fu Feng seemed to remember something, bit her tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood. The scene in front of her suddenly changed, and the group of people from Nanyi were suddenly in the same position as before.
‘Ghosts playing walls?’ Bu Mou understood that they had encountered a trick like ghosts playing walls. She never imagined that these guys could hypnotise such a large group of people. Liu Fu Feng couldn’t help but secretly get angry, vowing to show those people just how powerful she was. Thinking about this, she immediately whispered into the walkie-talkie, ’Those are all illusions. Those people are still in the same place and haven’t moved. Immediately execute our plan and finish them off.’
‘Yes.‘
At this time, outside the four schools, the voice of Nanyi suddenly sounded, “Friends of the Luoyue tribe, can you show yourself and talk. We are here only to seize the Han people’s land, and it has nothing to do with you Luoyue tribe, so why do you have to get involved. After we have seized the Han world, the Luoyue people can naturally establish an independent country.”
’Fuck you,’ Liu Fufeng cursed, ’if you want to destroy the Han people and seize China’s land, if you succeed, will there still be a place for us Chinese people? You’re more likely to fool a ghost. Besides, the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty of China, was established by our Yue people. Nowadays, 90% of the people in China have Yue blood in their veins. Don’t even think about driving a wedge between my Yue people and the Han people. Come here and die quickly.‘
’I’m afraid it’s you who will die,’ said a voice behind him. Luo San looked back and saw that it was Nan Qingyi, followed by nearly a hundred people.
Luo San had not yet reacted when he heard screams coming from all around him. Nan Qingyi’s men had moved in, and that was Luo San’s first reaction. But soon, he realised that something was wrong. In the darkness, another group of people in black appeared. They were like ghosts, dashing left and right in the crowd. Nan Qingyi’s men fell one after the other amid screams.
‘Quick, shoot,’ Nan Qingyi shouted, but he soon realised that there were very few people left around him. The remaining people had not even had time to raise their guns before they collapsed.
In the end, the 20 or so people remaining formed a circle and fired their guns in all directions. Luo San noticed that Nan Qingyi had disappeared.
At that moment, a loud thunderclap split the sky and fell on the top of the Four Teachings, followed by countless more thunderclaps, all of which exploded on top of the Four Teachings. Professor Wu was shocked and exclaimed, ‘No good, someone is doing something bad to the Eye of the Sea.’
When everyone arrived at the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings, they found a man already collapsed at the entrance to the invisible door.
‘What happened? Tell me quickly,’ asked Liu Fufeng anxiously as he helped the man up, completely unaware of the several bullet holes in the man’s body, from which air was already escaping. After gathering his strength for a long time, he spoke with difficulty, ‘Bumu, inside…there are several guns pointing…pointing at the door, and as soon as you go in, just sweep…’
‘Dead.’ Liu Fu Feng put down the corpse, stood up, and said to the people around him, “Go, pick up some guns.”
Soon, several clan members picked up several guns from the hands of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society. Liu Fu Feng didn’t even look at them and said to the crowd, “You, immediately start shooting inside, and use up all the bullets.”
Several clan members immediately picked up their guns and shot at the invisible door.
No bullets came out from inside, and no one appeared. Luo San and the others did not know what had happened inside.
‘Let’s go in and take a look,’ Luo San suggested.
Liu Fu Feng pondered for a moment and agreed. Luo San was the first to go in, but as soon as he stuck his head in, he felt a coolness on his forehead, and a gun was already pressed against his forehead. He hurriedly waved the hand that was still outside the ‘door’ to indicate that everyone should not follow. However, Shen Yuan still followed.
Several people were lying on the floor of the toilet, leaving only Nan Qingyi and three others. Two of them were holding guns against Luo San and Shen Yuan respectively, while the other was holding a ‘Type 1’ weapon in his hand, continuously shooting white light that landed on the stones in Haiyan Town. Meanwhile, Nan Qingyi was violently shaking the Mountain Expelling Bell. The bell shook silently, and the huge stone began to shake violently, and the crack in the middle slowly widened. Nan Qingyi said to Luo and Shen as he shook, ‘You’ve come. Don’t bother. In any case, Chengdu will be destroyed, and the flood will inundate China.’
Luo San was shocked to see this situation. Helpless, he was now at the mercy of others and could only watch as they destroyed the stone of Haiyan Town. Under the effect of the dispelling bell, one after another, terrifying flashes of lightning flashed across the sky. The giant stone swayed more and more violently, and the crack in the stone also widened to half a foot wide. It looked as if the entire stone was about to split completely.
At that moment, Luo San heard another kind of bell ringing. It was a very peculiar sound, one he had never heard before.
As Luo San listened, he saw Nan Qingyi stop holding the Shuyangyi in his hands, pull out a gun, and fire three shots. The others in the women’s bathroom from the Dragon Slaying Society fell to the ground in response, and Nan Qingyi then pointed the gun at one of his arms and shot himself in the leg.
‘Xiao Sanzi, quickly, quickly go find them and bring the rope in,’ Shen Yuan called out as he looked at Luo San, who was in a daze.
In a moment, the rope came in. Shen Yuan had Nan Qingyi bound, and then said to Luo San, who looked doubtful, ‘A few days ago, I put the medicine for controlling the corpse in his bowl and let him eat it, so that I could control him with the bell.’
‘I see. Thanks to you, otherwise the sea eye formation stone would not have been preserved. We must enter the water as soon as possible to repair the sky.”
Nan Qingyi and the others had ready-made diving equipment. Luo San, Feng Yi, Professor Wu, and Shen Yuan were all properly dressed and immediately went back into the water.
Chapter 34: Repairing the sky
To mend the sky, they must find the five-coloured stone, which should be on the three immortal mountains.
After arriving underwater, the group immediately set off for the three immortal mountains, hoping to find the ancient Nuwa Sky Mending Platform and the five-coloured stone. However, after searching the two islands, the four of them still came up empty-handed. Meanwhile, the sky above them suddenly grew dark. Looking up, the sky was not dark with clouds, but had suddenly grown dark. At the same time, there was a rumble in the sky. After a while, they heard a loud noise in the distant sky. Looking up, they saw a crack in the sky above them. From the crack, a green rock appeared. ‘The sky is splitting open,’ Luo San immediately thought of an ancient legend in his family, but soon, he had no time to care about this matter, because he knew that it must be the formation stone of the sea eye that had gone wrong, causing this anomaly.
Looking at the ever-widening crack above their heads, the four of them knew that their last hope lay on the third island. If they couldn’t find the Wusese Stone, the tragedy that had happened thousands of years ago would repeat itself. Luo San’s heart was racing. After all, the burden of mending the heavens and saving China was too heavy for him. Under this endless pressure, Luo San and the others arrived at the top of the last island. This was the fairy island with a tall mountain peak, where Luo San and the others had once hidden from the whirlpool of the Returnless Abyss.
When the group arrived on the island, they looked around, but saw nothing at the foot of the mountain. Not to mention the Five-Coloured Stone, they couldn’t even see a single stone. And in the pit at the top of the mountain, which they had already seen when they took refuge there last time, there was no Five-Coloured Stone at all.
‘Did we not look carefully enough?‘ Shen Yuan asked after searching the area.
Feng Yi shook his head and said, “It’s not our problem, we looked carefully enough. If there were a five-coloured stone on this island, it would definitely not escape our eyes.”
’Then is Professor Wu’s deduction wrong, and the five-coloured stone is not on these three islands at all,’ Luo San hesitated, ’but on the other two islands that have sunk to the bottom of the water?’
‘My speculation cannot be wrong,’ Professor Wu said with self-importance. “There must be somewhere else that we haven’t noticed.” Professor Wu looked around, trying to find evidence that proved he wasn’t wrong. However, there was nothing around the mountain. But he still searched around without giving up, muttering to himself, “It must be around here, it must be.”
Luo San shook his head helplessly and said to Shen Yuan, ’Help look for it, otherwise he won’t give up.’ Shen Yuan was about to nod in agreement when he heard Professor Wu let out a scream. The three of them hurriedly rushed over to Professor Wu, but saw that the place where he had been standing was now covered in drifting black mud, and Professor Wu was nowhere to be seen.
‘What’s going on? Did we encounter a monster?’ The three of them immediately shouted around them as this thought flashed through their minds, ‘Professor Wu, where are you?’
‘I’m here, I fell into a pit.‘ Luo San heard Professor Wu’s voice coming from nearby, coming from the black mud. He walked carefully towards the mud, and before he reached it, he saw Professor Wu come out of the mud.
’I fell into a pit and stirred up all the mud in it,’ Professor Wu explained to the others, ’this pit must have a name.’
In a short while, the mud and sand dispersed, and the group finally saw that it was a pit only the size of a person. It was thought to have been completely buried by the mud and sand, so the group had not seen it before. However, Professor Wu said that the pit must have a name, but the group did not see it. They were about to ask Professor Wu, but saw him fumbling around the edge of the pit, constantly wiping away the mud and sand around the pit.
‘I said this pit has a name, and it definitely does. It’s definitely the pictographic language of Bashu,’ Professor Wu said to the crowd, pointing to the pattern exposed next to the pit.
Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, Feng Yi immediately swam to the top and read it carefully. After a long time, he swam to the other side of the pit, feeling around carefully. In a moment, he seemed to feel something, and carefully wiped away the dirt on the surface. The crowd saw that it was a fist-sized semicircular stone. Feng Yi stared at the stone for a long time before looking up and saying to the others, ‘The mechanism for mending the sky is here.’
Feng Yi didn’t continue, but instead pondered for a long time before gritting his teeth and pressing down on the semicircular stone. The next second, Luo San felt an immediate loud roar in his ears, followed by a violent shaking of the ground beneath his feet. Then a loud noise came from the mountain peak next to him. Feng Yi looked up and saw countless mud jets spurting from the top of the mountain. At that moment, the island under their feet suddenly rushed forward. ‘It’s exactly the same as the record above,’ Feng Yi said, ‘it seems that the whole island is going to fly to the hole in the sky.’ Sure enough, the island flew straight towards the distant sky.
‘Professor Wu, is this island also high-tech?’ Luo San asked in puzzlement, looking at the rapidly advancing island.
‘Yes. And I’m afraid it’s a far more advanced technology than what the people of the earth have mastered. That island is man-made,’ said Professor Wu. ’Not only that island, but all the islands and cities are as well. As for the Jiujiu Yin we saw and the earthen walls that grow when they come into contact with water, they are also the products of high technology. Even the mountains and stone stalagmites, I suspect, are part of a huge machine. Nüwa mending the sky was actually just mending a machine.’
After Professor Wu finished speaking, he let out a long sigh. There was no trace of the usual joy one feels when discovering a great secret. After a long while, he spoke again: ‘Alas, what is the point of saying that man will conquer nature? In the end, we realise that nature is simply an incredibly advanced machine.’
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Soon, they arrived at the foot of the ‘Chengdu’.
Looking at the ‘Chengdu’ in front of them, Luo San could hardly believe his eyes. When he saw this mountain a few hours ago, there was only a small crack in the middle, but at this time, the entire mountain had become an inverted V-shaped. The bottom was split open to what width, because it had sunk into the bottomless sea, Luo San couldn’t see it, but in the immediate vicinity of the sky, the mountain had split open hundreds of metres wide. The sky had been split open by the ‘Chengdu’ and a huge hole had appeared. All around the hole, there were cracks criss-crossing the impure, colourful sky, extending in all directions.
‘A hole in the sky. A hole in the sky. Sure enough, there is a hole in the sky,’ Professor Wu muttered to himself. ’Do you know, I have always wondered why the myth of Nüwa mending the sky would say that there is a hole in the sky, because no matter what, there is no way the sky can have a hole in it. Now I understand. In the bowels of Nüwa, the sky can really be broken open.’
Luosan looked at ‘Chengdu’ and thought about how the Haian Town Stone had cracked open just a small crack back then, causing the Diexi earthquake. At this time, he couldn’t help but anxiously ask, ‘This mountain is connected to the Haian Town Stone, and it has cracked open like this. I wonder what kind of things will happen on the ground? We have to think of something quickly.’
‘Don’t worry, isn’t Uncle Feng about to mend the sky?’ Shen Yuan comforted.
The island was suspended below the huge hole in the sky. Feng Yi told the others, ‘It’s going to get pretty loud when the time comes. You should leave first and come back for me later.’
‘Are you sure you can do it alone? Let’s all four of us do it together,’ Luo San said, worried.
Feng Yi shook his head and said, ‘It says here that only one person can be present when the sky is mended, otherwise it will be a disaster. I am from Qiongdu, and my ancestors lived here, so this matter is best left to me. You should leave quickly.’
‘Okay, then hurry up and get it done. We’ll wait for you over there,’ said Luo San, and he swam over to the side, followed by Professor Wu and Shen Yuan.
After swimming to the side, Luo San looked towards the island, but saw Fengyi leap into the pit in front of him. The entire pit was only a person’s height, and Fengyi jumped into it, just level with the top of the pit. Fengyi raised his hand, reached out of the pit, and gently placed it on the sphere. For a long time, he did not press down.
He thought for a moment, then looked up and said into the walkie-talkie to Luo San and the others, ‘All the five-coloured stones are stored on this island. Just press the sphere, and the five-coloured stones stored within will melt and spew into the sky like a volcanic eruption, thus repairing the sky. This is how the sky is repaired. There are only enough five-coloured stones on this island to repair the sky once, and the person who repairs the sky must sacrifice themselves in order to do so…’
“What? Wind, don’t be so stupid,’
As soon as Feng Yi didn’t reply, the next second, all the people could see was that the tall mountain on the island suddenly burst into flames, and then the whole island began to rise, reaching up to the sky. In no time, a stream of fiery red lava spewed from the mountain, shooting up into the sky, gradually filling the hole in the sky, while the lava flowed down the cracks in the sky. At the same time, ‘Chengdu’ began to close rapidly, gradually closing together, leaving only a small gap, which was also filled by the lava.
Slowly, the island began to sink. Professor Wu looked at the island slowly sinking beneath the water and said, ‘Brother Feng, thank you. I know that you are now with the heavens and with Chengdu. You are now one with them. Thank you. We will come and visit you often in the future.’
When they returned to the surface, Luo San noticed that the rain had stopped. In the sky, a full moon was casting a silvery light on the earth, and everything around them was illuminated. The group of black-clad men had not yet left, and were carrying the bodies on the ground one by one to the women’s toilet and throwing them into the sea eyes. Seeing Luo San and the others, the leader of the group bowed to the group and said, ‘Kang Changsheng, the Governor of Yizhou in the Great Tang Empire, greets you all. I humbly thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Great Tang Empire. I have been instructed to convey to you that in the future, whenever the Great Tang Empire is needed, the millions of soldiers and civilians of the empire are at your service. As for the remnants of the Dragon Slaying Society, I have already arranged to mobilise manpower from all states to eradicate them. I believe that a few clowns like them will be unable to make a difference.’
‘Director Kang, I would like to ask why the Great Tang Empire is involved in this matter, and I would also like to ask, what exactly is your organisation?‘ Professor Wu suddenly spoke up.
’Our empire is a descendant of the Great Tang Empire. For thousands of years, we have yearned for the glory of the Tang Dynasty, but the spirit of the people has changed. As for the reason for getting involved in this matter, as long as you are a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, you should do the same, shouldn’t you?’
At that moment, the two men escorted Nan Qingyi over. Professor Wu then asked, ‘May I ask the Commander-in-Chief, what are you going to do with this kid?’
‘Kill him to appease the world and console the spirits of those who died tragically 57 years ago.’
‘How is he related to what happened 57 years ago? What exactly happened 57 years ago?’ Luo San asked.
Kang Changsheng said, ‘This story has to start with Dongfang Hanqing. I think you already know about Dongfang Hanqing, right? After he obtained the “Guye Dujing” from the Tongmenghui, he has been swindling people everywhere. First, he offered Jinbo to the empire, and the late emperor conferred on him the posts of Governor of Yizhou, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Jiangnan, and the title of Duke of Ying. The purpose was to let him quickly discover the secrets of Jinbo, so that measures could be taken to protect the country’s vital energy. Unfortunately, this man was ambitious and wanted not just the title of Duke of Ying, but the whole world. So he sent his son Dongfang Muyi to Xinjiang with a copy of the ‘Guye Du Jing’ (ancient book of alchemy), hoping to use it as a stepping stone to seize control of Xinjiang with the help of the Soviets. In this way, once he had discovered the secrets of the ‘Guye Du Jing’, he could control China on his own. He just didn’t expect that after the Soviets obtained the Jinbai, they wanted to kill Dongfang Muyi, who had no choice but to flee. After this failed, Dongfang Hanqing was not disheartened, and sent Dongfang Muyi to collude with the Japanese to smuggle Japanese biochemical weapons into Chengdu. He hoped to achieve control of Chengdu through these biochemical weapons. One day later, a strange fog suddenly appeared in the fourth teaching building of Sichuan University, causing heavy casualties. Later, the government took strong measures to stop this, and a major disaster was averted. However, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Daoyin Sect, left a prophecy that said 57 years later, someone from the southeast would come and the evil would rise again. At first, we thought the someone from the southeast was the group from Mount Wuyi, but it turned out to be this kid. He is exactly from the southeast, and his real name is Dongfang Qingyi, the descendant of Dongfang Hanqing. The Dongfang family and the Dragon Slaying Society resumed their cooperation 15 years ago. The Dongfang Qingyi’s bargaining chip for this deal was that after the job was done, the Dongfang family could control the entire southwestern region. Of course, the Dongfang family’s ambitions did not end there. It was only because the Dongfang family had not made any progress in their research on the ‘Guye Du Jing’ that recently, Dongfang Bai finally discovered part of the secret of the Du Jing and quickly informed the Dragon Slaying Society of this secret. His Imperial Highness the King of Qi, upon learning of this, immediately killed Dongfang Bai, but by this time the Dragon Slaying Society had already begun to move. In order to better keep track of their movements, His Imperial Highness the King of Qi ordered us to evacuate Dongfang Bai’s residence in the west of the city. Sure enough, the Dragon Slaying Society thought that our Great Tang Empire was incompetent and took the residence for themselves. What they didn’t expect was that we had their every move under control, including the fact that your policeman installed a camera in the residence, and we knew about it. If that wasn’t the case, how could we be here tonight waiting for the dragon hunters?’ Kang Changsheng said, kicking Nan Qingyi hard. Nan Qingyi’s face twisted in pain, but he still smiled.
Seeing this, Kang Changsheng couldn’t help but become furious: “Guards, kill him. Fill it with the sea eye.”
In no time at all, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society, including Nan Qingyi, were all thrown into the sea eye. Kang Changsheng waved goodbye to everyone and left.
Luo San watched the group go away. At that moment, he saw Shen Yuan pull him from behind. He looked back and saw the figure of Mu Shigu flash past on the road outside the Four Teachings. In the other direction, He Wangyu was also gradually growing further and further away. After they left, the dogs and snakes dispersed.
Shen Yuan’s eyes were red, and Luo San knew that she had seen the dogs and thought of Xiao Ziyu again. He was about to comfort her, but she whispered, ‘Ziyu, maybe they think that everyone investigating what happened 57 years ago is someone who wants to do harm to the country. Forgive them from the nine graves.’
Chapter 35: Epilogue
One day later, the members of the school’s Paranormal Society gathered in the wide alley in the west of the city to celebrate their success in stopping the Dragon Slaying Society’s plot. The wide alley is located in the former Shao City area, where Zhang Yi built the Chengdu City. Luo San knew that it was the demolition of the Shao City walls that triggered the ‘Chengdu’ crisis. Therefore, the choice of location for today’s gathering also had extra significance. Professor Wu was also invited to the gathering, but Mu Shigu and He Wangyu did not show up.
‘Maybe they didn’t want to show up because their identities had been revealed,‘ said Luo San.
’Hmm. That’s probably the case,’ said Professor Wu, analysing the situation. ’He Wangyu is an albino, and I think it’s very likely that he is the white man living in the underground ocean. Because of his knowledge of the Eye of the Sea, they came to Chengdu with the aim of protecting it. As for Mu Shigu’s identity, I really don’t know. But I think they are like me, people carrying a heavy burden of fate. Their aim is to protect Chengdu.’
‘I also have a question. Why did the albinos commit the serial murders?‘ “The albinos didn’t do it. The case was done by the Dragon Slaying Society,” Yan Qingbo said.
’What was their purpose then?‘
’To frame the albinos so that Musigu and the others could take action against them. I think the Red Horse Rider incident was a warning from Musigu and the others to the albinos. The Dragon Slaying Society knows that the albinos are an obstacle to them, so they want to use other forces to contain them.’
‘Damn this Dragon Slaying Society,‘ Luo San said.
’They have already been severely weakened by the combined forces of Xiaoliu’s clan and the Great Tang Empire, and have been uprooted at least domestically. I believe they are unlikely to be able to do anything more.‘ Yan Qingbo said, lifting the teacup in his hand and saying to the group, “Come, let’s drink tea in celebration of the successful completion of the great undertaking of stopping the Dragon Slaying Society’s plot.”
’Good,’
Suddenly, a sad look appeared on Professor Wu’s face. He took his teacup to the roadside and slowly poured the water from the teacup onto the ground. ‘Brother Feng, thank you. I toast you today with tea instead of wine. This is Shu Tao tea, the best tea in Chengdu. I toast you with a cup of tea, hoping that you can bless “Chengdu” to remain safe forever and that the waves of Shu Sea will never rise again.’
For a moment, everyone stopped talking and went to the side of the road, pouring their cups of tea onto the ground.
It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and there seemed to be a sense of tranquillity from the depths of history in the depths of the narrow, wide alley, isolating the noisy sounds of cars and people outside the alley.