Third Volume 29, Chapter 29 Approaching

The old coolie pointed at me with his chin, his face full of contempt. I cursed in my heart, you traitor, I have taken care of you all the way here, but I never thought you would treat me like this. If I had known, I would have killed you right away to avoid future trouble.

The fat old board took out a solid fuel lantern from his backpack, lit it and placed it on the ground. This thing is used when climbing high-altitude snow-capped mountains. It can both illuminate and warm, and suddenly the entire cave was lit up. Then he took out a few compressed biscuits and threw them to me. When doing these things, the muzzle of the short rifle in his hand was always pointed at me.

I took the biscuits he threw to me and felt inexplicable. I thought to myself, “What is this song about?” At that moment I threw the biscuits back at him and said, “Buddy, if you want to kill us, just kill us. Why are you talking so much nonsense?”

Liang Shiyi smiled and turned to the fat boss, saying, “I told you, Qingtou is Qingtou. He still doesn’t understand the situation.”

Wang Lao board shook his head and threw the cookie back to me, saying, “Youngster, when you’re out on the streets, you have to be smart. I gave you something to eat, but I didn’t plan to move you. If you act like this, you’ll get killed if you run into someone with a bad temper.”

This person compared to the old Thai, the temperament is completely different. The old Thai looks like a ruthless killer at first glance, but this fat boss is very amiable and looks very relaxed. However, the kick he just gave me was very powerful, not the kind of kick that an antique boss could give. I have no idea what his identity is.

Wang Lao Wang looked at me and seemed to read my confusion. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and continued, “I’m different from Lao Tai and the others. I’m a businessman. In the business world, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.”

Liang said, “Mr. Wang, why don’t you just tell them the truth? These two guys can’t think straight. The kid with the surname Wu is easier to talk to. When the sleeping kid wakes up, I’m afraid it’s going to be a mess.”

Wang board laughed and said to me, “Okay, I’ll be honest with you. I’m a businessman, I don’t like guns and knives. You can see for yourself that even if you don’t end up in my hands, it’s going to be hard for you to get out. Lao Tai is already dead, so there’s no point in dealing with you. Think about it, do you want to cooperate with me? I’ll take care of you, you won’t lose out, you’ll make money.”

When I heard this, it was exactly what I had said to the cold-blooded master. His mother came back to me every few hours. What a change of fortune!

Seeing that I didn’t say anything, he handed me another cigarette and said, “It’s okay if you don’t agree. I’ll give you some equipment so you can go down by yourselves. But you’re carrying a sick person. Have you thought about how to get there?”

He was telling the truth, and I was actually a little tempted to listen. But then I thought, if he has equipment and weapons, why does he need to cooperate with me? This is is tantamount to setting up a business and letting others make money? There must be a conspiracy. These itinerant actors are too calculating. You see, the cool counselor followed us all the way here with a flattering face. As soon as he found an opportunity, he immediately took the lead. We were not prepared at all. Compared to them, we are really too inexperienced. They must have a specific purpose in asking me to cooperate.

My My thoughts flashed through my mind, and I already had a plan in mind. I had to agree to their terms first, just like when the cool counselor followed us, and then find a way to escape later. Moreover, as he said, if I wanted to safely bring Lao Yi down, I would need at least one more person’s help. I was too weak to do it alone. These two people obviously looked down on me, just like the mistake I made at the time. I was sure I could find an opportunity to turn the tables on them, at least get a gun.

Thinking my face softened, and I pretended to hesitate, asking him, “Okay, even if what you say makes sense, I can cooperate with you, but you must first let me know what you need me to do.”

Wang Lao Wang was relieved and gave a wink to the cold counselor, who patted me on the back and said, “Those who know how to adapt to the times are the best. Little Brother Wu, since you have agreed, we are still on the same side. I won’t hide anything from you, and I will naturally tell you what I know. But this is a long story. How about we talk while we eat?”

I looked He leaned over, and I really wanted to strangle him, but I glanced at the muzzle of the gun in Wang’s hand, which was still pointed in my direction. I suppressed my anger and forced a smile, saying, “Please go ahead.”

Liang Shi Master Liang looked at the copper tree outside and said, “Speaking of this thing, it’s really something. According to the records in the ‘He Mu Ji,’ the copper tree was first discovered in the 13th year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty…”

After Li Pipa died, in a very short time, Master Liang had already carefully studied the chapter in the “He Mu Ji” about this tomb , carefully studied it. The “River Wood Collection” is a kind of note, written very casually, sometimes in sign language, sometimes in Chinese, and a small part is written in a language that no one knows. As for this section, most of it is written in sign language. Now on the mainland, there are no more than 20 people who can read sign language, and Master Liang is one of them.

There are three things recorded in sign language There are three things recorded:

The first thing is that in the 13th year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a mine supervisor at a government mine in the Taibai Mountains reported that a prospector had discovered an ancient bronze pillar, the base of which seemed to have dug into the bottom of the mountain, with no sign of reaching the bottom, and it was not known how deep it went into the ground.

This was a hot topic in the area. Some said that the pillar was alive and that the more you dug, the deeper it went, and that you would never reach the bottom. Others said that it was the handle of the axe that Pangu used to split the sky, and that if you dug any deeper, you would find the axe itself. Some even said that it was a nail that the Jade Emperor had driven into the ground to hold the dragon vein of the Qinling Mountains in place, otherwise the dragon vein would fly up into the sky. The copper pillar, which has been buried for 800 li, cannot be dug up any further, or all of China will be in trouble.

Soon, a group of mute soldiers received a secret order to go to Mount Taibai to confirm the authenticity of the legend, but this group of mute soldiers mysteriously disappeared (it is estimated that they may have been killed by the Shu people guarding the tomb). Four months later, another battalion of mute soldiers received a secret order. This time they found the bronze tree and led 3,000 death row prisoners to take over this Taibai Mountain, seal the mountain and camp, and continue to dig.

The second thing is that in the spring of the 18th year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, they dug for four years and three months. The 3,000 prisoners dug all the way up to the cave where we are now, and all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. They didn’t dig up the roots of the bronze tree, but they did dig up a stone box with dragon patterns, which was hollow inside. It contained something, but there was no gap, and they couldn’t open it no matter how hard they tried. They dared not move it, and sent the box to the palace.

The third The third thing is very brief. At the end of the 18th year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was recorded in the “He Mu Ji” that the emperor bestowed a reward, adding a second-class title, and each person was awarded 100 taels of gold to reward the entire camp.

(The text The text ends here, and the rest is all unknown writing. I don’t know if there is a special meaning to it, but it’s a shame that the cool master can’t read it.

The cool master told us that the other boss, Li Pipa, can read this stuff, but when we asked him what was written below, he absolutely wouldn’t say. It’s so mysterious, and I don’t know why.

At the end of Wood Collection》Finally, there is a paragraph of Chinese characters recording the climbing process. If we go higher from this position, there will be a plank road around the cliff wall, which was originally prepared for the emperor to see at the end. Unfortunately, when it was almost at the top, it could not be repaired, and when the plank road was being repaired, people often fell off the cliff for no reason, and it was never resolved.

We After we climbed out of the cave, Mr. Wang handed me a pair of binoculars and used a strong flashlight to illuminate the way for me. After adjusting the focus, I could indeed see that not far above, there seemed to be a few sections of wooden plank road stuck on the cliff face, winding up and down. Our flashlight had a weak power supply and couldn’t shine that far, so we didn’t notice it at the time.

Mr. Wang board meant that if we could reach the plank road, we could save a lot of effort by climbing along it, but there would definitely be something strange on the plank road.

I didn’t I’m not as optimistic as he is. I looked through the binoculars for a long time, but I couldn’t see clearly what these plank roads looked like. The light here is too dim, and the edges of the plank roads seem to be wrapped in something like the roots of plants. It’s very different from the steel plank roads that I’ve climbed in tourist areas. The “River Wood Collection” was written during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it’s been a thousand years since it was passed down to the present day. It’s unclear whether these plank roads are intact, let alone whether they are sturdy.

Wang Lao board said that when this was built, it was used for the emperor to tour, not for temporary planking for mining, so the materials and workmanship must have been very particular. Many of the ancient buildings from the Han Dynasty are very sturdy, so he thinks there is no problem. If it really doesn’t work, we still have a lot of ropes. With these planking, it will be much easier to climb.

He said it very decisively, not giving anyone a chance to negotiate. I cursed in my heart and had to refrain from commenting. He and Liang Shiyi and the old man had a brief discussion and decided to let me rest for another 15 minutes. Then the fat boss took me up, and Liang Shiyi and Lao Yang stayed here.

I had just slept and my energy had recovered a lot. I also ate something. Boss Wang also sat down and chatted with Liang Shiyi in Cantonese. I didn’t quite understand, but I roughly knew what they were talking about, which had something to do with the unicorn essence that the fat boss had mentioned. I had I had a knot in my heart about this matter, thinking that since my relationship with them had apparently improved, I should take the opportunity to ask them clearly. I asked Master Liang, “What exactly is this Qilin Jie? Will it do any harm?”

Master Liang said, “You don’t need to worry about this at all. I didn’t tell you everything just now because I was saving something for myself, in case you ran away and wanted to use it to save your life. Now that we’ve officially formed an alliance, I’ll tell you so that you won’t feel uncomfortable.”

Qilin is a blood clot made from the blood of the unicorn. It is a very precious Chinese medicine, but it is not the blood of a real unicorn, but the sap of a plant called the unicorn blood vine, also known as the blood snake vine, which is only found in the south.

The longer the unicorn blood is stored, the better it works. In the beginning, it only had some ordinary functions and was generally used in medicine, but in Chinese medicine, there is also a rare use, which is to be used to fumigate corpses. In ancient times Some ethnic minorities and some mountain villages had the custom of placing a piece of Qilin Jie on the navel of the corpse during burial. This could expel the corpse’s yin energy, and although the corpse would rot, it would not attract maggots.

As the years passed, the Qilin Jie gradually turned from dark red to black, and the older it got, the darker it became. At a certain point, its properties would change, and it would become so soft that it would melt in the mouth. After people ate it, evil insects would not come near, and even mosquitoes would not dare to find you in the summer.

Of course This is just a legend, and the cool teacher only heard about it from others. Today, seeing this for the first time, he began to believe that there was such a thing. As for whether there would be any side effects, there is no relevant record. However, traditional Chinese medicine is generally very low in toxicity. He told me not to worry: “Instead of thinking about this, I think the most troublesome thing is the worms. The ‘River Wood Collection’ records that when the excavation was carried out, no such masks were found. I am not sure whether it was a trap set by the ancients or the hands and feet of the people who killed thousands of people outside. You you still need to be careful when you go up, don’t be careless.”

We took a break for a while, but Lao Yang still hadn’t come to his senses. The fat boss took off his equipment and gave it to me. I put on my tactical headlamp and took the rope on my back, continuing to head up to the edge of the plank road.

According to common sense, it wasn’t far to reach that plank road, but in reality there was always a hint of helplessness. The distance we could see was always much closer than the actual distance. We expected to reach the top in an hour, but we barely reached the bottom of the plank road half an hour later.

Only then I realized that the fat boss was right. The plank road was very well preserved, not because the emperor wanted to walk on it, but because it was always being repaired. There was still a layer of bamboo scaffolding outside, which was very moisture-resistant and still very strong after hundreds of years of corrosion. You could still hear the resilient crunching sound when you walked up.

Here should be very close to the ground, with many tree roots hanging down from the cliffs on the sides, like intertwined plants winding around the side railings. Some of the roots are so thick that they are like the tentacles of an octopus blocking the plank road. There are several sections where the entire plank road is wrapped in roots, making it almost impossible to find a foothold. We had to use a machete to cut a path or simply climb over.

Because of the roots of the trees had cracked the rocks, and stones were falling from time to time. We held our heads while walking carefully, and it actually felt more tiring than climbing.

We kept walking, not knowing how many times we had gone up. A very large gap appeared in the trail ahead, nearly ten meters away, because the rocks on the side had cracked and collapsed. I gestured the distance and said to Mr. Wang, “There’s no way to jump over it. We’ll have to use the rope.”

At this point It had been almost an hour since we had set off, but looking down from above, it didn’t seem like we had come very far. It seemed impossible to reach the top of the tree in an hour. We had climbed too quickly before, and our physical strength had been depleted. This vertical cave was very cold and very damp. After walking this section, all my clothes were soaked with sweat, and it was very uncomfortable to have them stick to my body. It would take a while to dry them thoroughly, and it was easy to get sick. We had to find a way to get warm. We found a tree root hole that was covered with a plank walkway. Mr. Wang took out a solid lantern and hung it on a tree root with a knife. I took off my clothes and dried my underwear first, then ate something. Mr. Wang looked very serious. While talking to me, he used a strong flashlight to shine on the copper tree across from us. After shining for a while, he said to me, “Look, you can already see the top. What is it?”

I took I took a look through the telescope. There were only about ten meters above me, and that was already the top of the copper tree. From the top of the hole, many roots hung down, blocking the entire area. I could barely see it. It was wrapped in a large mass of roots, and a large number of roots were winding down the copper tree. It was really hard to see what was inside.

The plank road that surrounded The plank road that surrounds the cave wall is much higher than the top of the copper tree. This is different from what is recorded in the “River Wood Collection.” It is possible that after years of excavation, the heavy copper tree has a tendency to sink back into the rock formation. Over the centuries, its height has dropped below the plank road.

These The roots hanging from the top of the cave may be the giant banyan trees that we saw from the top of the Golden Fish Mountain when we arrived. Now it seems that their root system is even more spectacular than their branches and leaves. These pale ghostly claws, twisted together like a twist, are like a giant hand grasping this copper pillar, trying to pull it out of hell. It is also like a huge totem covered with fossilized giant snakes, giving people goosebumps.

I was I was so absorbed in the view that I didn’t hear the fat boss say to me, “You see how thick the tree roots are? This means that the rock above should be the topsoil. This is a natural cave. The ancients couldn’t have come in through the mountain to worship. There must be a cave system that leads to the outside. If it’s not good, we won’t have to go back the same way.”

I heard I heard a hint in his words, and I was overjoyed. If we didn’t have to go back the same way, that would be a wonderful thing. But this natural cave was certainly not a peaceful place. Whether we could get out at that time would have to be decided separately. Mr. Wang pushed me and said, “This is the situation at the top of the copper tree, but look at those root piles. It seems that there is a bronze statue. It’s too far away to see clearly. Let’s go somewhere else to take a closer look.”

I followed followed his finger and looked in the direction he was pointing. I saw two bronze sculpted arms in the roots below the top of the column. They were very similar to the slightly enchanting statue ruins we saw in the Jiazigou. However, at that time, its face was blown up by tomb robbers. I had a very strange sixth sense at the time, always feeling that there was something wrong with this face. Now I’m just looking at it, what does this guy look like?