Chapter 67 Stone Steps
I said to Da Jinya, "Mr. Jin, aren't you so cold? If I know what characteristics are, I still need to ask you?"
Da Jinya said, "Oh, look at my mouth, and I have become accustomed to it. No matter how you say it, it is just a set of rhetoric for antiques. You pretend to behave and act so well that you can make the buyer faint and convinced."
The fat man said, "That's right, Lao Jin, you are really good enough. Don't look at what time it is now. In this situation, no one can talk about the big things. There are ones to say one, twos to say two, and to be honest."
The big gold teeth said yes, and then continued our conversation just now: "I am not an archaeological mouth, and I dare not be so sure if I say anything else. However, the characteristics of the Western Zhou Dynasty's human face are very obvious. I have read the introduction in the Luoyang Museum and left a deep impression, so I dare to assert that the human face stone coffin belongs to the Western Zhou Dynasty."
The biggest feature of the Western Zhou Dynasty's human face carving decoration is that the facial lines are smooth and smooth, there is no gender characteristic, and only the ears are larger than ordinary people. However, men, women, and young and old cannot be seen from the face. In the past dynasties, only the Western Zhou Dynasty advocated thunder patterns. Looking at the bottom of the stone coffin in the underworld hall, layers of decorations are covered with thunder patterns. It can be said that this is the best proof.
On the other hand, some cultural relics unearthed during the Shang Dynasty were not found in the Shang Dynasty, including facial carvings or patterned patterns, but they all seemed vigorous, simple, smooth and smooth, and had obvious gender characteristics. The ones with round eyebrows and big nose and wide mouth were men. This was based on the legend of the emperor's four sides, human facial patterns and carvings after the Han Dynasty, and facial features were more obvious, and men had beards on their faces.
After hearing Da Jinya's words, I understood what he meant. Since the Shang Dynasty, there has been a craft of carving and casting of faces in humans. However, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, a strange genderless face shape suddenly appeared. Later, the aesthetics and craftsmanship returned to the previous style. I asked Da Jinya: "Why did this change occur during the Western Zhou Dynasty alone?"
Da Jinya said that it was unclear and had to ask an expert. Although he could see that the face carving on the stone coffin belonged to the Western Zhou Dynasty, he could not tell what the reason and background of the carving of such a strange stone face was based on.
I asked Dajinya: "What does the legend of the four sides of Huangdi refer to?"
This legend is widely circulated, and most of the people who study history and early antiques know a little about it. Da Jinya replied: "As the name suggests, Huangdi has four faces, one in front, back, left and right, each with one in length, and staring in different directions. There is also a saying, which means that Huangdi sent four envoys to inspect the four directions."
I said, "So that's it, but it seems that it has nothing to do with the stone coffin in the Nether Hall. The stone coffin worker has five human faces, and one on the cover of the coffin is facing upwards. Could the shape of the face be related to the tomb owner?"
I know that asking is a waste of time. The three of us are now like falling into a fog in five miles, and we cannot distinguish between the east, south, west and north. From the words of the Great Gold Teeth, we may not necessarily confirm that the stone coffin and these strange tomb walls are products of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Seeing that I was half-believing and half-doubted, Dajinya added a few words: "If you can find some tripods nearby, or somewhere with inscriptions engraved, then you can further confirm."
The fat man asked, "Old Jin, do you still understand the inscriptions? I haven't heard you talk about it. I didn't expect you to be so ardent. It's really a shame to see that your hairstyle doesn't match the knowledge in your belly."
The big back head left by the Big Golden Teeth touched a lot of hair oil every day, and was always teased by the fat man. When he saw the fat man talking about his hairstyle again, he remembered that his head shape had not been taken care of for a long time. He quickly spitted into his palm, wiped his hair back, and said with his golden teeth: "I don't dare to think of it, but if I find the inscription, I can still tell if it is from the Western Zhou Dynasty if I look at it."
The three of them discussed for a long time, but they didn't discuss what Zi Chou Yinwu came. The tomb passage in front of them could pass through both sides, but they didn't know where they were connected. There was a gap on their heads, and above it was the palace where the huge coffin of human faces was parked.
I said to Dajinya and Fatty, "We are so embarrassed that we can't tell where we are. However, if this tomb passage is really the Western Zhou building mentioned by Dajinya, then I can judge the great structure here. The ancient tombs of Shang and Zhou are not as luxurious as the Tang Dynasty, but are relatively large in scale. They are built with large stones and are divided into several layers, not flat structures. As soon as we entered the thief, we were blocked by a large stone wall. The thick and large stone wall is probably the outer wall of the Western Zhou tomb, which is a distance from the main tomb. But I still can't figure out why it suddenly appeared. Damn it, it's really difficult to get out this time."
The fat man said, "Old Hu, I don't think about it anymore. This is not something we can figure out. Originally, I thought that the combination of three of us could basically settle any ancient tomb. We need your skills, experience, and strength. I don't want to brag, I can at least stand up to you two..."
Big Gold Teeth said: "We don't lack technical experience and strength, but I feel that we lack brains."
The fat man said: "Lao Jin, have you never heard of three cobblers as good as Zhuge Liang? Are we not much better than cobblers?"
I said to Fatty and Big Gold Teeth: "I think there is technical experience and physical strength. We don't lack it, but we still lack a goddess, a lucky goddess. Our luck is too bad. We have to find a way to make luck when we go back. We don't have to be too lazy to be too busy with it. The more we think about it, the more we become, the more silly it is. If it is the ancient tomb structure of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the tomb passage on the bottom layer leads to the burial pit, and there will be no exit. I think it's better to go back to the upper layer of the Nether Hall and then look for the exit of the thieves."
The fat man said, "Wait, should there be any treasure in the burial pit? It's better to take two items first and then go back to find the thief hole. It's not our style to go back empty-handed, otherwise wouldn't it be a waste of work."
Da Jinya said, "Forget it, Mr. Fatty, you have thick arms and flesh. I don't know how tired you are. Both legs are filled with lead. Let's not make any trouble. According to Mr. Hu, it is best to go back to find a hole. Besides, this place is so weird. Who can guarantee that there is no trap mechanism in this tomb passage? It's too late to regret it."
Seeing that Big Jinya and I were determined to climb back to the upper floor, the fat man had no choice but to lead two geese to act with us, and suddenly said, "Hey, I said, do we have to pry the stone coffin open and see if the dead people there have such strange faces? Maybe there is a mask or something, if it is gold, it will be valuable."
Neither Da Jinya nor Da Jinya paid attention to him. In this case, I held Da Jinya and pushed him to the underworld hall on the tomb passage. Fatty and I climbed up one after another.
There was no change in the Palace of Underworld. The large stone coffin carved with a strange human face was still parked quietly in the corner. We illuminated all three flashlights and searched for the entrance of the stolen hole on the ground.
Apart from the six stone frames that were intended to be used to place Six Jades and the stone coffins in the corner, the entire Nether Hall was empty and there was nothing extra. It was unimaginable that there was a stone coffin from the Western Zhou Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty.
The fat man pointed to the place we had just climbed out and said, "Where are there any other exits here? The place we just climbed out is the thief hole that was the previous one?"
I turned on the flashlight and looked down at my feet. It was indeed the thief hole we had climbed into the first time, but why did we jump down but it was the tomb passage? Before I could think about it carefully, Big Gold Ya also discovered something: "Master Hu, look at the stone coffin, there is an extra...stairs next to the stone coffin."
Fatty and I looked at the direction mentioned by the Big Gold Teeth. Sure enough, beside the stone coffin, a stone step was unconsciously emerging. The stone steps were wide, and each layer was made of large stone strips. I walked down and looked up. The flashlight beam was swallowed by the darkness. There were black holes more than ten meters away, and I couldn't see the situation above.
I could no longer calm down, so I said to Fatty and Big Gold Teeth: "Damn, this ancient tomb is simply a ghost. The thief cave has become a tomb passage. A stone coffin from the Western Zhou Dynasty appeared in the Tang Tomb and the Underworld Hall. Now such a stone staircase has emerged again. I think we are going out. One road is going to the black, and the thief cave must not be able to go through. If this is the ancient tomb of the Western Zhou Dynasty, then this staircase next to the stone coffin should lead to the upper level of the ancient tomb, which is connected to the inlay, and maybe you can go out."
The fat man said, "What are you waiting for? I'll get up first, you two follow me." Before he finished speaking, he raised his foot and went up the stairs, took two steps, and suddenly remembered something, turned around and asked me, "Lao Hu, what did you say just now? What is the purpose of it?"
Da Jinya and I also stepped up the stairs. As I walked, I said to the fat man: "Insert, to put it bluntly, it is a tunnel. Isn't it necessary to empty the mountain to build an ancient tomb? The soil and stones taken out are moved out of the insert road. After the tomb owner was buried, he sealed the tunnel and buried the craftsmen and slaves who built the tombs alive. If you are lucky, you might find the secret path left by the craftsmen, and you can leave this ghost place."
The three of them walked while talking. After about five minutes, I suddenly realized something was wrong. When I first walked up the stone steps, I noticed that there was a crescent-shaped gap at the edge of the second stone steps, which might have been knocked off during construction. However, every time we walked upwards of twenty or thirty, we would find the same crescent-shaped gap. At first, we didn't care much, but then counted carefully and there was one for every twenty-third level.
This is by no means a coincidence. We may be wandering around in circles. I hurriedly asked Dajinya and Fatty to stop going up. If you climb up like this, you may be exhausted and will not end.
The three of them hurriedly turned downward, but the road below seemed to have no end. They walked up and down the steps very quickly and did not take any effort. However, after walking for a long time, when we were walking upwards, they said that they could not go back to the palace.
All three of them were so tired that they were panting like cows. The physical fitness of the Big Gold Teeth was not good. At this time, he was so tired that he breathed heavily and quickly, and his lungs were whispering, like a broken bellows.
As soon as I saw that if I continued, I had to let the fat man carry the Big Gold Teeth on his back. However, it was not easy to walk down the stone steps and carry the person on his back. Besides, I didn’t know whether I could walk back to the Palace. It was not a problem to continue like this, so I let the Big Gold Teeth and the Fat man rest on the spot.
The fat man sat on the ground, wiped the sweat beads from his head, and said to me: "Oh my God, Lao Hu, if you continue to do this, at most, we will starve to death in this ghost place in a few hours."
When we came to the Fish Bone Temple, we brought a lot of food, including wine and meat. However, in order to accommodate the treasures in the ancient tomb, we also had to bring some simple equipment for use. We put all the food in the Fish Bone Temple and did not carry it with us. Each of us only carried a pot of water.
Although I had eaten and drank before entering the thief hole, after so much trouble, my stomach began to bulge. At this moment, when the fat man mentioned the word hunger, the three of them were rumbling at the same time.
The situation is even more dangerous now. I rashly broke up the stone steps and was trapped on the steps like a ghost wall. I couldn't reach both sides. It would be better to find another way in the underworld hall. But it really responded to what Da Jinya said before, and it would be too late to regret it.
I sighed and secretly scolded myself for being too reckless and impulsive. If I had not had such a problem in the army, I would not have been a self-employed person now and I really wanted to slap myself twice.
The fat man said to me: "Old Hu, it's useless to blame yourself now. Even if we don't get up to this step, we have to be trapped in another place. Save some effort and think about whether there is any discount."
I thought about it and said, "This step seems to be repeated every twenty-three steps, and it is like this. Now we can't get to the end, no matter whether we are up or down..."
The fat man said, "That's over, this is a ghost hitting the wall. It's absolutely right. I can never get out and I can only be trapped here. I just wait for the next group of people who fight back to collect the corpse for us."
After hearing the fat man's words, Da Jinya felt sad and could not stop shedding two tears of sadness: "I pity my 80th mother and the 18th little girl. I can't see them in this life... If I can still have the next life, I... I will not do this anymore..."
The fat man was upset by him and said to Da Jinya: "What are you making a fuss? I regret it at this time. I have done anything long ago. I will die like a man. How many people will cry? I will break your gold teeth first."
Big Gold Teeth regards his gold teeth as treasures, almost as important as a hairstyle. When the fat man wants to break his teeth, he quickly reached out and covered his mouth: "Fatty, I have agreed to you in advance that we are all dying people. You have to leave a whole body for me. Don't wait until I'm so hungry that I can't move, and take advantage of the danger of breaking my gold teeth."
I said to the two of them, "Don't talk nonsense, you two are so stupid. No matter what you say, we can't starve to death in this ghost place. It's too cowardly to die like this. If you want to die, you have to find a happy way to die."
The fat man said, "Although that's the case, it's not easy to die here." As he said, he pulled out the paratrooper knife and said to me, "I think there are only two roads. One is to roll down the stairs and fall to death. Anyway, there is no end to the steps. Maybe four modernizations outside have been realized. We haven't rolled to the end yet. Another way is to cut the wrist. If you can't do it, I'll cut a knife for you two, and once you bleed, you'll be not far from death. I think this is the most enjoyable way."
Big Gold Teeth said to the fat man: "Pat Master, when have you become so honest? You didn't hear what Mr. Hu said? If I understand correctly, his subtext should be: We are not in desperate situation yet and will not die." He turned around and asked me: "Master Hu, does this mean what you said just now?"
I said to Big Gold Ya: "What I said just now is indeed an angry word, but now I seem to have suddenly found a clue. Please be quiet and let me think about it carefully."
The fat man and Da Jinya saw that I finally came up with some clues, for fear that they would lose this glimmer of life if they were disturbed. They both stopped talking at the same time and did not dare to breathe.
I said I was about to come up with a solution, but it was just a casual way to prevent them from arguing. At this time, I became quiet. I re-screened the scene from entering the Fishbone Temple until I was trapped on this stone stairs like a movie in my mind, completely, trying not to lose every detail.
After thinking about it for a long time, I asked Da Jinya: "In this ancient tomb, it's like we hitting a ghost and hitting a wall. No matter which way we go, something will appear inexplicably. Master Jin, have you ever heard of ghosts hitting a wall?"
Da Jinya said: "I heard of it, but I have never seen it. There was a quarrel on Di'anmen Street for a while, which made people nearby dare not pass there at twelve o'clock in the evening. Otherwise, they would not have been able to walk out of that road until dawn. I also heard some rumors from other places, but what we encountered should not be ghosts and walls? I heard that ghosts and walls are just circles, so how could they be so powerful? Besides, we have so many protective magic weapons on our bodies, how could we encounter ghosts and walls?"
The fat man also said: "Old Hu, have you forgotten that you have said that in the good Feng Shui, there will be no ghosts that will never disperse, nor will there be zombies and rice dumplings. Why do you think of ghosts hitting walls again in this kung fu?"
I shook my head and said, "I'm not saying that we have encountered ghosts and walls, but I just want to confirm that the current situation is not ghosts and walls. Then what I analyzed may be correct."
The fat man asked, "One person has a short plan, two people have a high plan, then tell me, Lao Jin and I will help you analyze."
I thought about it and said to Fatty and Big Gold Teeth: "I seem to know what we are facing, but... I want to say it, don't be afraid of you two."
Chapter completed!