bit stealing game

Chapter 16 The Archaeological Team’s Story Night

In Egypt, like most other countries, Friday is Sunday and there is no work on this day. So we follow the local customs and Friday is the only day off every week.

Since we don’t have to get up early the next day, Thursday became a movie and story night for our archaeological team. With the infusion of new blood this year, we resumed this traditional activity that has lasted for a year.

A bunch of archaeologists gather together, and everyone's life experience can be discussed for a long time. The domestic archaeological resources are really rich, and archeology is not a popular profession, so every professional is moving everywhere. The leader of the excavation

His experience is second to none in the country, and there is no place in the world where he has not been shoveled. He is usually a person with a lot of jokes. Maybe he was tired from picking up people today, so he sat on the sofa after dinner, smoking and listening to our nonsense.

Teacher Wen poured tea for everyone with the three nods of the Phoenix, thus kicking off tonight's story session.

I contributed a story I heard.

A friend from Germany once studied at the University of Jerusalem, and she went there specifically to study biblical archeology. It is said that strange things happened in the underground palace of a church south of Rome. She and the team members who went with her all encountered copies of themselves.

His body is entirely his own speech and behavior, and there is no difference at all except for killing his own people.

"When she told me this, I felt like my whole body was on fire."

Lou Shiqi was better than tearing me down, saying there was nothing terrible about it.

I stared at him: "If your most trusted companion may be someone else pretending to be someone else, he or she may harm you if you stick by your side. What's even more frightening is that you can't tell which one is your real friend."

"But this is unlikely to happen, such as human cloning." Teacher Wen said while adding tea.

"I don't know either." I shrugged, "Biblical archeology, nothing happened."

"Then how did your friends go back?" Lou Shiqi asked.

"How could God let His people be defeated by evil? He must have escaped with the power of faith."

Everyone laughed it off. I didn’t think this story was true. After all, when it comes to this kind of faith issue, it’s better to be sincere.

The team leader pressed the tobacco leaves in his pipe and said that they would use cattle and sheep to worship before excavation. Although archeology is mainly for research and not for profit, it still disturbs people's peace and shows respect. I once went

We passed the archaeological site where the leader was at, at the foot of Tianshan Mountain. The scenery was great, but the conditions were difficult.

Lou Shiqi became excited when he heard about the Tianshan Mountains. "Have you ever gone to Kunlun Mountains for archaeological research? I heard that there are many ancient animals and plants there."

"Have you read too many Classics of Mountains and Seas?" Teacher Wang looked down upon him.

Lou Shiqi smiled sheepishly and said that he had been interested in myths and legends since he was a child. Kunlun Mountain had always been the protagonist in these stories, so he naturally yearned for it.

Under Lou Shiqi's expectant gaze, the team leader shook his head.

"Qijia and Siba are basically close to the Qilian Mountains and have some connection with the Central Plains culture, but it cannot be proven that they are the Kunlun Mountains in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Basically, the archeology in that area was done by QH Province in the late 1990s.

At that time, they also discovered a Stone Age settlement at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, and it almost made it into the top ten archaeological discoveries of the following year." The team leader meant that he did not make the top ten that time. "I also didn't make it into the top ten at that time.

Not long after I started working, I wanted to get involved in the aura of that construction site. This discovery that could fill the cultural gap was very groundbreaking at the time, but no one expected that this project not only did not enter the top ten, but was also stopped.

.”

Now when I mention the Qilian Mountains, I get very nervous. I don’t know if there is any relationship between this suspended archaeological project and the geological survey planned by Plan 279. Then I think about it, they are eight feet apart in space and time.

Lou Shiqi asked: "Then do you think the archaeological team may have discovered ancient life in Kunlun Mountain?"

I was actually quite curious about this sacred mountain, so I looked at the leader expectantly.

The team leader waved his hand: "As archaeologists, don't just listen and read every day. Have you read the excavation report of Kunlun Mountain? If all the Kunlun Mountains were excavated, all the archaeologists in the country would not be able to do it in ten lifetimes.

Finished. And if there really are any ancient beasts, we will definitely run faster than you."

Lou Shiqi nodded solemnly.

Unexpectedly, besides being fascinated by the story, he turned around and told us an incredible story.

According to Lou Shiqi himself, his family is from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Although it is not like the exorcism of corpses in western Hunan, which is a world-famous activity, there are also strange legends.

"My hometown is in the mountains of Guizhou. It's the kind of mountain that has no name. When I was a child, the old people in the village often said that there was a mountain nearby that was very evil. The animals in it used to run out of the mountain and run rampant in the village.

Originally, it was quite normal for animals in the mountains to come to places where humans live to look for food. At first, everyone didn’t take it seriously. They just drove the cattle and sheep back into the pen and closed the door and guarded the door. But the animals in this mountain are different.

.They are not here for food, they don’t even smell the livestock. They are here for something else.”

Lou Shiqi is well versed in the essence of storytelling. He first whets our appetite and then begins to gasp for breath.

I urged him: "Then what are they running for?"

Lou Shiqi lets us guess.

Teacher Xin said: "There are mountains over there in our hometown, and the animals come down to eat piglets when they are short of food and drink. Sometimes herbivores even come to steal food. There is a mutual connection between humans and animals in the process of living together.

Through the process of domestication, they also know what is available in human society."

Teacher Ji was very convinced by his colleague and senior, and agreed: "It is very common for some animals to go to the village to look for nutrients because they cannot obtain enough nutrients from the natural environment."

"When I was doing archeology in the snowy area, the relationship between Tibetans and animals was even closer. They knew what the animals needed and were willing to provide it to them. I even saw red pandas coming to Tibetan homes to beg for food." Teacher Wen used his words.

Guangpu told us about Tibetan people and nature. "They are really the kind of people who have one mouth for themselves and one mouth for animals."

But none of these answered Lou Shiqi's question, which made him very proud.

"If it is in line with the habits of animals, then there is nothing to worry about. But those animals, whether they are wolves, bears, or even wild boars and deer, have come to the village. They will take away the villagers' farm tools, cooking utensils and pots

The bowls and pans were taken away. Some people also saw a wolf biting an iron pot in the village. It did not let go when people chased it, and kept chewing the pot. The villagers themselves did not want to hurt the wolf, fearing that the wolves would retaliate. But that

The scene was too horrific. The wolf's mouth was bloody and it continued to chew, so the villagers had no choice but to beat it to death.

These were all told to us by the old people. I was young at the time and had never seen them with my own eyes, so I didn’t take them seriously. One night there was thunder, and I was woken up and went outside to use the toilet. There are many toilets in rural areas.

In the backyard. As soon as I passed by, I heard the cry of a child.

There are giant salamanders in the mountains near my home, and I have seen them too, so at first I thought it was the giant salamanders that were calling. But the giant salamanders usually move around streams, but the sound seemed to come from my yard, and it was very loud.

It’s clear. In the 1990s, there were no lights in the countryside at night. I was scared and wanted to take a look. When I followed the sound, I saw a giant salamander shouting and biting the rake we put outside the sheepfold with its mouth. The giant salamander

It has no chewing function, which is equivalent to hitting the iron rake with its mouth, and the blood is stained. I was frightened, and ran back to the house to tell my grandfather. My grandfather asked me to go to bed first, and he went to take a look. But the next day

No one mentioned this incident. Later, I went to the sheepfold to check and didn't see the giant salamander, but the rake had been removed.

At first I thought all this was just an illusion at night, but what happened next made me have to believe that what the old man said before was true. Because later on, wild beasts did come into our village, and I also encountered them.

.

They are very purposeful and can even be said to be rational. A leopard passed by me. If it was hungry, it could eat me in one bite. But it didn't. That was the only time I saw a leopard.

So beautiful. It went straight to someone else's house, and seemed to have bitten some farm tools. And the most terrifying thing is that this biting problem is contagious. If you have ever seen a bamboo rat gnawing its cage crazily, you will

Now you know what evil nature is.

Later, people in the village couldn't stand this kind of thing, so some people went into the mountain with cattle and sheep. At that time, people were still superstitious. They thought it was the mountain god who was angry, so they went to sacrifice. But they were also infected with the disease.

.These people either chewed the guns they brought until their mouths were full of blood, or they threw themselves on the fence when they came back. There were no doctors who could treat this disease at that time, and they were just tied up when they were sent to the city. It seemed like the same thing happened behind the man.

As soon as I got the chance, I choked on my spoon and died.

The custom in my hometown is that dead people are buried in the mountains, but no one dared to go into the mountains when something like this happened. There was a corpse exorcist from a foreign land who did not believe in evil and took them into the mountains. The corpse exorcists

There was no problem when they came out, but within a few days the dead people came back to life in a strange way. They didn't hurt anyone when they returned to the village, but they still looked for iron things to eat. Later, everyone was so scared that they no longer dared to use iron tools.

, those wild beasts and people who came back from the dead never came again, and I was picked up by my family."

I almost got goosebumps when I heard it. It’s so fast to catch up with the pet cemetery.

"Why is that mountain so evil? So what's going on? Apart from bamboo rats, is anything else infected in your house?"

Lou Shiqi was so frightened by his memories that he shivered.

"At that time, I didn't pay attention to whether other things were infected. Those bamboo rats were raised by my grandfather. When they got sick, I was so scared to death that I didn't notice anything else. I didn't know why they ate those things.

He paused briefly, "But did you know that pandas were once called iron-eating beasts*?"

I nodded. When I heard it for the first time, I was still wondering why pandas couldn't be associated with such a domineering name.

Lou Shiqi continued: "It is said that the panda was once Chi You's mount. It was so brave that it could eat the enemy's weapons alive, so it was called the iron-eating beast. I was wondering if the behavior of these animals is related to the legend of the iron-eating beast."

My memory of ancient mythology only existed when I was a child. Now when I heard Lou Shiqi mention it, my interest was aroused again. I couldn't help but look at him with admiration and gave him more tea.

Teacher Wang couldn't see how ignorant we were. "This kind of story is just to deceive you, a half-hearted person. Only in the Shang and Zhou dynasties did we use copper and iron together. How could there be iron tools in ancient times? There are still iron-eating beasts, so what can we eat?"

Yeah. Besides, if Chi You really invented it, then everyone here would be waving iron weapons, how could he still lose?"

Teacher Wen added: "The person who came back from the dead may have been misdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. We have also had this situation there. A mother dreamed that her daughter said to her for a week after her daughter was buried: 'Mom

, I can't breathe.' When she told others at first, they told her that it was because she missed her daughter too much. Until the seventh day, she didn't dream about her daughter again, and the mother panicked. She asked the village chief to take care of her daughter.

People went to open her daughter's coffin and found deep scratches on the inside of the coffin board. In fact, her daughter was not dead before she was buried. She was suffocated to death later."

Lou Shiqi and I shivered at the same time.

The words of archaeologists are based on reality, which is very real and especially scary. Moreover, there is a hospital downstairs, and when I see people crying and fighting, I feel Max's sense of immersion.

"A lot of phenomena can actually be explained, but people tend to make associations in the situation at that time." The leader said slowly, holding a pipe on the side, "Salamfish prefer to lay eggs during thunderstorms. You may have encountered one that day.

Female fish running along the water. Those so-called iron-eating animals may be in need of supplementary nutrients. Giant pandas’ food is mainly bamboo, which does not provide enough nutrients. So they occasionally break into villagers’ homes and lick iron pots.

In fact, it is to replenish salt. The panda's teeth are second only to those of tigers, and can even bite into iron pots. Ancient people did not understand the reason for this, because these behaviors thought that giant pandas were interested in iron pots and other foods containing salt or other nutrients.

He was interested in things, so he called it an "iron-eating beast." As for the abnormal phenomena of the animals that Shi Qi just mentioned, firstly, it is because of the reasons I just mentioned, and it may also be because of the uneasiness of the animals caused by special geological activities.

.And people didn’t know enough about nature at that time, and they might think in the direction of strange forces and chaos. Do you still feel that your previous experiences are difficult to understand now?"

It may be that the sequelae of childhood shadows are relatively large. Lou Shiqi argued: "But there is no need to hurt yourself if you replenish elements! The giant salamanders and leopards I saw with my own eyes had their mouths full of blood."

Teacher Liang, who had been listening silently, now asked Lou Shiqi a soul question: "Did you eat poisonous mushrooms at that time? I remember that you have this eating habit."

As Lou Shiqi silently closed his mouth, the second half of the night talk turned into a late-night gourmet party. After the end, everyone dragged their stomachs that were beginning to resist and went back to their rooms to rest.

No matter how active I was while listening to the story, I didn't sleep well at night anyway. The disadvantages of sleeping alone appeared when I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. I did some mental work for a long time before crawling out of the safe bed and pouring water to calm my shock.

The archaeological team's station in Luxor has a layout of two three-bedroom apartments connected together. I live in the room at the end of the three-bedroom apartment on the west side. Next door is Teacher Xin's room, and then I pass by Teacher Wang and Teacher Ji's rooms in sequence.

Lou Shiqi sleeps in a room converted from the kitchen, next to the bathroom. Our living room here has been converted into an office, where everyone usually works.

There were a few teachers who lived in the other house, and their living room was responsible for eating and other duties. So if you wanted to drink hot water in the middle of the night, you had to go through several empty rooms.

I put on my clothes and was fumbling for the light switch when I suddenly heard someone talking in the dining room. It seemed to be the leader's voice. He lowered his voice as if he was talking on the phone.

It was past three o'clock at night in Egypt, but it was already morning in China.

I didn’t mean to listen to the wall. But today the team leader went to the airport to pick up someone, and his mood has been low since he came back. Even when he was chatting about mountains, he wasn’t very active. After waiting for a while, the team leader’s phone call didn’t show any sign of ending, so I

I felt sleepy again, so I simply lay back down and continued to sleep.

The next day it was my turn to make breakfast, and I rarely got up earlier than other team members. When I went to the kitchen, I passed by the office area and saw the team leader sitting at the table reading something. The smell of cigarette smoke in the room made me unable to hold back.

He started coughing.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" The tour leader glanced at me and got up to open the window.

"Today it's my turn to make breakfast. We were chatting too much before going to bed yesterday, so I just wanted to make more delicious food."

The leader nodded, as if he had just realized that it was already seven in the morning. I wondered if he had been sitting here for most of the night. Even with the smell of cigarette smoke, I could tell that the time was definitely not short.

As I put the beef slices into the frying pan, I thought about what made the team leader so embarrassed.

Records about iron-eating beasts can be found in various ancient books, such as the "Shenyi Jing": "There is a beast in the south. Its horns and feet are the size and shape of a buffalo. Its fur is as black as paint. It eats iron and drinks water. Its dung can be used as a weapon. Its sharp

Like steel, it's called biting iron."

(End of chapter)