Ghost Blowing Lantern II

Professor Sun said that the cave was too wet and everything in it was destroyed. Although Feng Shigu, the Taibao of Guanshan, behaved strangely, he was a master with strange arts after all. How magical is Guanshan Zhimi? Why was the tomb site chosen in such a dark and humid place? We are probably looking in the wrong place again.

I also felt that something was different. When I took off my gas mask, I could hear the faint sound of water flowing deep in the rock formations. It seemed that there was a water system such as a Yin River or an underground lake deep in the rock formations. There was no real "mountain viewing experience". As a reference, it is difficult to determine whether the cave under the "silver screen iron wall" is the entrance to the "Dixian Village Ancient Tomb".

After thinking about it for a moment, I made up my mind to continue venturing into the depths of the cave. I could only care if I could see it clearly with my own eyes, so I said to everyone: "In our team, there are Captain Mo Jin, as well as experts from Fengwo Mountain and others." Experts in deciphering ancient texts, it’s just that there is no ancient tomb in Dixian Village in the world. As long as there is such an ancient tomb, there is no need to worry about not being able to find it. It’s pointless to make random guesses now. We might as well follow the cave to the depths to see what happens. Everyone shows off their tricks on the road."

After I said that, I half held the "gold steel umbrella" in front of me, holding the "wolf eye flashlight" and stepped down the stone steps first. The rest of the people followed closely behind. Everyone knew that the future was uncertain, so they couldn't help but carry ten With a sense of caution, the movement speed is very slow.

The cave is wet, with water dripping everywhere. The terrain is high and low, and the simple stone steps dug by humans are intermittent and sometimes absent. There are caves within caves, and there are forked roads around from time to time, but there is only one stone step path.

As we walked to the deepest point, the phosphorus material in the rock formations gradually increased, and the flickering will-o'-the-wisps dazzled people's eyes. Occasionally, one or two snakes and rats living underground jumped past me. Seeing this scene, I felt even more confused. Above and below, ant food soaked in water is taboo for those who are buried. Therefore, in the auspicious land that truly hides the wind and accepts water, insects, ants, snakes and rats will never appear.

On second thought, the message left by Captain Feng before his death only mentioned that the place where the Divine Brush Painting Gate opens is the entrance to the "Dixian Ancient Tomb", but this is the "entrance" left to the descendants of the Feng family, maybe It is not hidden in front of the "tomb gate" of the ancient tomb, but unconventionally hidden outside the ancient tomb. The interior of the "Coffin Gorge" mountain is full of natural caves and mines. Even if this cave really leads to the ancient tomb, it is not known. How many miles does it take to get there.

Just when I thought of this, I suddenly heard the sound of water in front of me increasing. After turning a corner in the natural tunnel inside the mountain, the grotto suddenly became open. The cave was filled with a large amount of groundwater. The dark water surface was glowing with scales, and the water exposed There are clusters of stalagmite-like rock pillars, and the way forward is blocked by the lake deep underground.

Although we can't see what's going on in the far distance of the lake, we can tell from the sound that there may be waterfalls or springs at the far end of the underground lake, which are constantly pouring the Yin River into the lake area. The waves are flat like a mirror from a distance, and the bottom of the lake is a stagnant pool, filled from above. The incoming groundwater is discharged through the caves around the pool.

The stone steps in the cave were submerged in the water, and there were no roads to go around. The only way forward was to wade through the water. The fat man threw stones to test the depth of the lake, then rolled up his sleeves and rolled up his trouser legs to get ready to enter the water.

Professor Sun said to me from the side: "Are we going to swim across? I...I don't know how to swim."

I said awkwardly: "Master Jiu, are you a landlubber? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Otherwise... you could discuss it with Fatty Wang. He has more meat and is more buoyant. Maybe he can take you to swim there."

How could the fat man be willing to take on such a hard job? But whenever there is an opportunity, as usual, he must first flaunt himself: "Fat Master, I am just a brick in the construction of the four modernizations. I can carry it wherever it is needed... Why does Lei Feng carry the old aunt across the river? What does it mean for me to carry Master Jiu and swim on his back?" Then the topic changed: "But then again, to be honest, my swimming ability has really deteriorated a bit recently. Mr. Sun Jiu, look at this underground lake, which is so deep that you can't even touch the bottom. Let's swim halfway, If you encounter a water ghost emerging from the water and grabbing people by the ankles in the lake, don't blame me for being unjust. At that time, we can only look after each other, so I have to ask you in advance what your plans are. Wontons or flat noodles?”

Professor Sun said angrily: "What are wontons and flat noodles? Are you going to throw me into the river from the middle of the road? You are calling this killing the donkey."

The fat man said: "Fat man, I am an honest and upright man. Let me tell you in advance that people in the dark do not do secret things. The lake is cold and deep. There may be dangers under the water. If you are not willing to let the water The ghost dragged you into the water as a substitute. I will give you a knife in the heart of your old man in advance, and then I will escape. It is better than both of us dying in the water. How can you think of the fat man's painstaking efforts to follow others? Don’t you understand?”

While Professor Sun was timidly embarrassed in front of the underground lake, Shirley Yang said to me: "We don't have airbags, so swimming with heavy weights is not an option, and Yaomei'er can't swim either. If we really want to swim across this water, we can only Leave her with Professor Sun, or... find a way to find a vehicle that can cross the water."

In fact, I was very aware that the situation under the water was unknown, so I had no intention of going directly into the water to swim. I used the light of my flashlight to search nearby. When the beam flickered, I saw some vague and peeling paintings on the rock wall. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be related to According to Professor Sun's analysis, the figure described as "Wuyang King" may be the "Longchuan King". Let's call it "Witch" according to folklore. "Ling Wang", in the mausoleum area of ​​"Coffin Gorge", various relics of the ancient tomb of King Wuling of Yishan can be seen everywhere.

I saw that most of the petroglyphs that had fallen off were mostly execution scenes, depicting various torture methods such as "cutting in half and dismembering the body." I thought to myself, this is strange. Could it be that this underground water hole does not lead to an ancient tomb? But an ancient "execution ground"?

After careful consideration, it is not necessarily true. According to the description of the ancient burial system in "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique", there was a kind of tomb in the Bashu Wuchu area, that is, Sichuan and Hubei areas, in ancient times, using the rare master-slave overlay. There are two types of burials: "accompanying" and "martialing". Most of the people buried as victims are people with relatively low social status, such as "slaves, craftsmen, and prisoners." The animals were killed or buried alive.

In master-slave stacked tombs, the place where the bones of these martyrs are buried is called a "mass burial cave". There are usually eighteen caves for mixed burials, so it is also called "eighteen mass burials". The main structure of the ancient tomb The capital should be built on a central axis, and the best part of the ground should be taken to build the underground coffin chamber and the underworld palace as the "Eighteen Mass Burial Cave" for the burial of martyrs. It was buried under the tomb passage and coffin chamber.

The Feng Shui situation is ever-changing. The master-slave laminated tombs generally have the Yin River running through them from the bottom. As mentioned in the "Book of Changes", "the dragon leaps over the abyss", the aura of the mountains and rivers in this "Dragon Tower Palace" is created from the bottom up. The mass grave below the ancient tomb is a sinister cave. Judging from what you can see in front of you, the "Guanshan Taibao" left a path in the eighteen mass burials. If you want to enter the ancient tomb above, you can only go through it. Crossing the Yin River.

There are a total of eighteen mass burial caves. Most of them are areas near the caves where the underground lake accumulates water, where "criminals and captives" are buried. I asked Professor Sun to come over and take a look and asked him if this was possible.

Professor Sun never drew conclusions easily due to his personal habits. At this time, he said that what I said was reasonable. This kind of system did exist in ancient times. Although no one has ever excavated such tombs, there is a lot of evidence in historical materials that can be used as a basis. If you can find a large number of bones of buried prisoners, there will be no mistakes.

So we continued to search along the rocks beside the water, and found many cracks in the cave wall, which were full of scattered human bone residues. Only the teeth and skulls could be identified, and there were also strings of shackles and chains, all of which were made of human bones. Come and collect the prisoners in rows and build them into one place. The "Eighteen Mass Burials" are a place where grave robbers do not attack. There are no valuable weapons. Maybe the "Guanshan Taibao" has not touched the bones of these prisoners. , only eaten by insects and rats.

Based on a rough estimate based on the scale of the terrain, there are at least a thousand corpses buried in the dozens of rock crevices in the mass grave caves. There are also dozens of simple pine coffins lying horizontally and vertically on the ground, and they are all tied with The chain seems to have been condensed deep in the rock crevice, and it has not been dispersed yet. When a living person comes closer, you can't help but feel a chill in your heart.

Although Yao Mei'er was extremely courageous, she still felt a little scared when she saw the terrifying situation. She asked me if there were any ghosts in the world.

I saw that the cave was filled with the bones of the martyrs, and I guessed that this time I had really entered the lowest level of the ancient tomb. When I was conjecturing the specific structure of the ancient tomb in my mind, Yao Meier unexpectedly asked me this question.

I wonder why people who are new to kick-fighting would ask this question? I remember that when we were in Nanhai, Guchai also asked Uncle Ming this question, but I would not answer like Uncle Ming. I told Yao Meier that there is nothing to be afraid of. No matter whether there are ghosts or not, I can't prove it now. You see, everything in this world is unpredictable and strange, and there are often earth-shaking and bizarre things happening unexpectedly. Even if you don’t see it with your own eyes, it’s hard for you to believe it when others say it. But why do people often talk about ghosts and gods in the world? , I think it’s all because people are unfair. If there is no such thing as injustice in the world, what’s there to be afraid of even if there are ghosts everywhere?

When I said this, I suddenly felt emotion in my heart and laughed at myself: "We have a road to heaven that we can't take, and there is no way to hell. We can't live a good life, but we travel through mountains and rivers, racking our brains to get into the ancient tombs of Dixian Village." In this place, deep down, I still find this kind of action particularly refreshing, are you a bit addicted to fighting back and forth?"

The fat man complained: "Old Hu, you are so stupid. How many times have I told you before that ghosts will always be there, are you afraid of them being like a bunch of birds? Besides, can you not devote yourself to your career wholeheartedly? How can you say it is addictive? If you put it like that ...I'm so sorry for our enthusiasm for the gold mining business." He shined a flashlight into the mass grave and said: "Look, isn't there a coffin? The top of the coffin is thick and wide, and it floats when water comes in. I Let's see if I can be an assault boat user..." As he spoke, he jumped into the rocks and dug through the old and broken pine coffins. He wanted to dismantle a few pieces and build a raft, and use local materials. It was better than going back to the gorge to move them. Hanging coffin.

In the coffins near the prisoners' bones, most of the corpses were nobles with status among the prisoners. However, as those who were buried as martyrs, they did not get any preferential treatment. Those ancient pine coffins were extremely simple and had been entangled with chains for many years. It falls apart, and there is no intact coffin board available.

The fat man kicked several thin-skinned pine coffins to pieces one after another. When he was able to crowd around others, he kept talking. He asked Professor Sun as if he was looking for trouble, what should I do if there is no suitable coffin to make an "assault boat"?

Professor Sun didn't seem to hear what he said. He didn't get angry and said casually: "Well... this... this stacked burial cave is a mixed burial area. The coffin presses the body, and the bones are buried in the coffin. I used to be in Henan When I was working, I once saw rectangular wooden piles on the bottom floor of the burial cave during an excavation."

I looked on with cold eyes, thinking that Mr. Sun Jiu had spent the rest of his life on searching for the Book of Heaven in the tomb. He made a desperate move and decided whether to win or lose. He actually turned a blind eye to the fat man's actions. Yiyan, most of the time before, he simply pretended that he could not see or hear. At this time, he even hinted to the fat man to go to the depths of the mass graves to find well-preserved wood. I couldn't help cursing secretly that this guy really was "Fake Taoism", although they sympathize with the ups and downs he has encountered in his life, they can't help but look down on his personality a little bit.

The fat man rummaged around on the ground for a while, but he didn't see any wooden stakes. Instead, he found six or seven red coffins with "cinnabar lacquer and solid gold". They were also wrapped with iron ropes. The coffins were decorated with secret-colored shells and depicted a child born with a steel beard. The god, with half a bloody devil falling from his mouth, bit into it like a roast chicken, which looked very bloody and cruel. Looking at the shape of the lacquered coffins, they were all coffins from before and after the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Everyone felt that this was strange. How could there be a Ming Dynasty lacquer coffin hidden under the mass grave of prisoners in the Wuyang King Ancient Tomb? I don't know what's weird. Could it be that the Earth Immortal Sealed Master was buried here in ancient times?

Professor Sun jumped down and took a look, and said that the bottom of the mass grave had been changed into a "tomb well", which was a custom in the Ming Dynasty. This "well" was different from the "well" of Jinjing and Jade Burials, and its shape was not a "well", but it just meant "Bury without burial" means, because the Ming Dynasty continued the system of living sacrifices in the Yuan Dynasty, so the people buried in the "tomb well" must have been martyred alive. You see, these red lacquer coffins are all painted with "Zhong Kui" "Eat ghosts" is used to suppress ghosts. I don't know who was buried in the "earth immortals", but nine times out of ten, they were suffocated to death in the coffin.

I nodded and said: "The old site of this tomb has been occupied by Guanshan Taibao. Master Feng was good at numerology in ancient times. He must have followed the ancient Feng Shui method and still nailed the living people in the coffin and buried them here. He refused to use the mausoleum area." There is no trace of wind and dew inside, and the red lacquer coffin is well preserved, so we can use it as a vehicle to cross the water."

Floating coffins is originally an activity done by the Western Hunan Pavilion, commonly known as "carrying up the sedan chair." I once heard a similar legend told by Blind Man Chen. The coffins wrapped in several layers of vermilion lacquer are all watertight and seamless, leaving no seams. In order to prevent ghosts from coming out, the living people are locked inside and suffocated to death. Naturally, there is a lingering resentment in the coffin, so it floats without sinking. However, this is a folk saying. In fact, the so-called "coffin hiding ghosts" can The phenomenon of "crossing the Yin River" is mostly related to the filling of rotten air in the coffin.

At this time, it was very time-consuming and labor-intensive to dismantle the coffin boards. It was better to use the method of lifting a sedan chair and use the coffin as an "assault boat" to cross the water. Everyone had no other choice but to follow the ancient method. If you can't do it, you are not sure. The scarlet lacquer coffin is extremely heavy. This is called "dead and heavy." The dead people who "die without turning" have all their Qi blocked and are far heavier than the living. But there is a saying that " "Folk remedies can cure serious illnesses." Sometimes, if you don't believe in folk remedies, it won't work. If you drag the coffin into the water, the coffin won't sink.

Speaking of these folk remedies, many of them were spread from some religious sects in the old society. Those "taobaos and mistresses" who acted as magic sticks in those days often used them to fool the people, but they are really effective here. And the effect is amazing. For example, if you are blinded by the wind and have sand in your eyes, spit immediately and you will be back to normal immediately; another example is "hiccups", which can be cured by drinking seven sips of water in one breath, even if you drink one more sip or one sip less. , just drink seven sips of water.

The folk remedies of these " Taibao and Shi Niang" are difficult to explain in modern medicine. Even they themselves may not know the reason. They only speculate that they are wonderful methods passed down by the immortal family to help the world. After liberation, they were not included in the training manual of barefoot doctors. Without these folk remedies, I have never seen all kinds of strange "local methods" in my life, so I was more confident about crossing the water with the sound of the sedan chair, so I jumped on it first to test the buoyancy. Although the coffin was not much wider than the canoe, it was The water flow in the underground lake is stable, so it is not difficult to paddle on it.

One lacquered coffin was not enough for five people, so another one was dragged into the water. Shirley Yang and I took one of the coffins, and the other three people lay on the other coffin. No one had ever experienced crossing the water in a coffin. Experience There is no way to talk about it, that is, relying on the courage of many people, otherwise who would have the courage to cross the Sheyin River in a coffin containing ancient corpses and ghosts alone? Although I consider myself to be a cruel and courageous person, I often have the illusion in my subconscious that something seems to be moving in the coffin beneath me. Occasionally, a fish will come out of the water near the lacquered coffin and make a "swish" sound. There was a soft sound, and there were will-o'-wisps floating on the water. It was like entering the ghost land of the Styx. In this weird and unpredictable atmosphere, the surrounding darkness seemed even more dangerous. I couldn't help but feel my heart in my throat.

Everyone used engineering shovels to paddle through the water, looking for the sound of water and moving forward. The two lacquered coffins were still floating very steadily for a while. Suddenly, they saw a will-o'-the-wisp flickering violently dozens of meters away. In the pale light and shadow, a piece of black fish spine could be vaguely seen. The wing-like thing, the surface of the underground lake also looks black, but there are many bright spots on the thing, as if it has thousands of eyes. It is floating on the water at the moment, and the "floating coffin" supported by the three fat men "Xing Jiao" is getting closer and closer.

The fat man stretched his neck and raised the flashlight to look at it to see what was in the water. I wanted to remind him to be careful, but before I could say anything, I saw the thing suddenly jump out of the water and into the air. (To be continued. If you want to know what happened, please log in. There are more chapters. Support the author and genuine reading!)