Volume 3 Volume 22, Chapter 22: Continuing to climb

I saw that Lao Yang’s expression was wrong, and a strange feeling flashed through my heart. Lao Yang startled me, and suddenly reacted, shivering and standing in place.

We both hurried over and asked him what he was trying to do.

Lao Yang looked at the tree and then at us, puzzled: “I don’t know either. It’s really strange. Just now, as soon as I saw this tree, it was like a habit. I suddenly wanted to climb it.”

Climb it? I looked at Lao Yang I looked at Lao Yang suspiciously, looked up at the tree, and thought to myself, “You’re not a monkey, so why are you climbing a tree?” I asked him, “Are you infected by the momentum of this thing?

Lao Yang shook his head and said, ‘I don’t know.’

Liang Shiyu looked at the bronze tree and said, ‘This thing is so big, it’s a bit evil. Let’s be careful when we look at it and try not to touch it.’

Lao Yang nodded in agreement. I held up a torch and walked toward the roots of the bronze tree.

Bronze The bronze tree is a rare cultural relic. I remember that it was unearthed in Sanxingdui, but I don’t think it has been found anywhere else. I also learned a little bit about it from documentaries. The archaeological community has not reached a conclusion on the cause of this phenomenon, and there are many theories.

Looking closely, you can see that the surface of the bronze tree is not smooth, and it is covered with the totem of the two-body snake, which symbolizes the divinity of the bronze vessel.

Liangshi After looking at it for a long time, he said to me, “This big thing is probably a sacrificial vessel. It’s from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but I don’t know what it was used for in the rituals. It’s too old, beyond my knowledge.”

This is very close to what the old man told me before I came. However, the Shang and Zhou dynasties were about 600 years for the Shang and 522 years for the Zhou, which adds up to more than 1,100 years.

I asked if he could be more specific and tell me which period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties it belonged to?

Liang Shiyu spread his hands and said there was no way: “This thing can’t be seen with the naked eye, so I can only guess for you. You can see that the rust is dark gray, so it may be one of tin bronze, lead-tin bronze, or lead bronze. The other 50% I can’t say, and you know the rules of our profession. I know that these are already good, and I can only guess further.”

Doing ancient There is a dividing line in the dynasty of the ancient bronze industry. A large number of antiques were made after the Song Dynasty, and there were few antiques before the Tang Dynasty. There were even fewer antiques from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The industry does not have much knowledge of this kind of thing.

After listening to him say so much, I still had no idea. I asked, “Then according to the Western Zhou Dynasty, can you give a judgment on the level of bronze craftsmanship in the Western Zhou Dynasty? Can this kind of thing be cast in theory?”

Liangshi said, “I can’t answer this question. I only know that bronze vessels at that time had to be made from clay models (clay molds). Theoretically, as long as the clay model can be made, it is possible to cast the finished product. However, this thing is too large. I’m afraid it can’t be made with traditional craftsmanship.”

Lao Yang asked him, “Master, do you think this thing might be a relic of a prehistoric civilization? I read in the newspaper that iron nails were found in coal mines hundreds of millions of years ago. This thing is so big, I don’t think the people of that time could make it.”

Master Liang Master Liang shook his head: “Young masters, I really don’t think so. From 1000 BC to around 1 AD, it was called the Age of Miracles. Many impossible things were built at that time, such as the Great Wall, the pyramids, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, and the Babylonian Tower. If you say that this bronze tree could not have been cast, then it is hard to say. After all, our ancestors already knew how to cast bronze at that time. When the emperor gave the order, the people below worked hard with their heads covered, and it was not impossible to use it for decades.”

Master Liang Master Liang has a point, but at that time, the metallurgical industry was low, so was there so much bronze to use? Qin Shi Huang only had twelve golden men made after gathering the world’s soldiers. This tree, I’m afraid, could have made hundreds. Where did so much bronze come from?

I thought about it and couldn’t figure it out, but I did think of something else. We When we were eavesdropping on Li Pipa, we heard him say that the things in this ancient tomb were better than those in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, but we didn’t see anything good all the way down here.

Although this tree is enough for a thousand junk collectors to work for a lifetime…

He must have written something in his “River Wood Collection” that attracted him here. He has seen many treasures, and what could make him say that? This thing must be extraordinary. But what is this thing and where is it here?

Logically , this should be the center of the entire tomb or a miracle. If there is something good, it should be around here. But apart from this tree, there is definitely nothing here that someone like Li Pipa would find interesting… Wait… a tree?

I thought, and suddenly a flash of inspiration came to me. I looked up at the top of my head and thought to myself: Could the thing that attracted him here be hidden on this bronze tree?

This This huge bronze tree was an extremely huge project for the ancestors of the ancient Snake Kingdom. It could be said to be a miracle. It is hard to guarantee that their king would not have his tomb built in the place they considered closest to the gods. If this is indeed an ancient tomb, the coffin of the tomb owner should also be on the bronze tree, and all the funerary objects should also be on it.

I told the other two people about my idea, and they all thought it made sense. I asked them, “Since that is the case, do you want to climb up and take a look?”

Lao Yao Of course he agreed, saying, “We’ve come this far, what’s the big deal about climbing a few steps? There are so many sticks up here, it’s like climbing stairs, and it doesn’t take much effort.”

I didn’t mind climbing for a while, but just now the old master had been roasted by the fire and was exhausted. If we left him there, we’d have to take care of him, and we really didn’t have the energy for that.

I turned I turned around and wanted to tell him to wait for us below, but I saw that he rubbed his face hard and then patted me on the back: “It’s okay, it’s the last hurdle, we have to go see it!”

I saw that his eyes were determined, so I knew I couldn’t persuade him, and there was no need to make a useless attempt. I tightened my backpack, raised my torch, and said to Lao Yi, “Then let’s continue.”

Lao Yi He took the gloves from his bag, and was the first to step on the branches of the bronze tree and start climbing. I and Liang Shiyu followed his example, following the order of his footsteps all the way up.

The branches above were not too close together, and it was quite easy to climb. Lao Yan reminded us to pay attention to the next move and not to accidentally step on an empty space.

Climbing up against the bronze tree, I could see more clearly. These branches were cast at the same time as the trunk, and the joints were flawless, without a trace of forging marks. However, what surprised me was that the gap between the two snakes above was very deep, as if it had been carved all the way to the depths of the trunk.

Because we were too concerned about our movements, we soon became sweaty and panting. I looked looked down and found that I could not see the bottom of the pit, only the faint light of the fire altar by the door. At this height, it looked like an endless abyss.

After climbing for a while, Liang Shiyi was exhausted. I called out to Lao Yang to stop, and gestured to him to take a break.

Liang Shiyi He was so exhausted that his sweat was pale and his feet were trembling so much that he could hardly stand. I was sitting on a branch, and my feet dangling in the air were also very insecure, so there was no way to rest well.

Old Itch Seeing that we were too nervous, he threw us some dry food to chew on, and said to us, “You can’t do this. There are still a hundred meters up here. With this kind of stamina, we might have to spend the night in the tree. Otherwise, Lao Wu, why don’t you tell us a dirty joke to relax?”

I was so tired that I didn’t even want to talk, and I scolded, “Go, aren’t you tired? Look Your shivering calves. If you want to tell dirty jokes, tell them yourself. I don’t have the energy.”

Lao Yao took a bite of the corn cake and said, ‘I’ll tell you, but you have to answer me a question first. Lao Wu, you said that if we find this thing and notify the government, can we name it after us?’

I I really don’t know anything about this. I turned to look at the cool master, who gasped and waved his hand: “Master Itchy, have you ever heard of anything called Wang Ermazi Fangding or Zhao Tugen Sanjiao Gu? Historically the discoverers of national treasures have always been farmers and construction workers. It would be interesting to name it after them. We don’t mean to discriminate against the working people, but Chinese names are not like foreign names. You can’t just use them. Don’t you think it’s a bit cold?”

Lao Yang thought about it and thought it made sense. He asked, ‘At least give me the right to name it, right? Whoever discovers an island can name it after the first discoverer, right?’

Liang Shi Master said, “That seems to be the rule, but I haven’t really studied it.”

I asked Lao Yang, “Why ask these questions? You haven’t even made a profit yet, and you still want to reap fame and fortune. Don’t you think that a person can’t find a place like this by chance? What you do is obvious.”

Lao Yang said, “I think this thing is quite interesting. What name should you give to such a big copper pillar? You give it a thought, so that we can all say the same thing when we brag about it later.”

I didn’t want to think about these silly ideas anymore, so I said to him, “You were the first to find it, so you should name it. I’m not in the mood.”

Lao Yang looked up and said, “As soon as I saw this thing, a word popped into my head. Look at this pillar. How about calling it ‘I love a piece of firewood’?

I said angrily, “Have you watched too many movies with no substance? You love a piece of firewood, and believe it or not, you’ll be struck by lightning if you go out with that name?

Lao Yang laughed, and the cool counselor shook his head in delight.

After we finished eating, we had regained a lot of strength, and Lao Yang urged us to continue on our journey. I lifted my foot and was about to walk, but suddenly I noticed something wrong underneath.

Lao Yang frowned: “Could it be that the wind here blew it out?”

I shook my head and said no, this fire altar has such a big flame, it’s many times more professional than the one I made, it’s impossible for the wind to blow it out, is something wrong down there?

Just thinking about it, suddenly the whole copper tree shook slightly, as if it had been hit by something, and the cool master took a deep breath and asked what was going on?

Old itch made a gesture to us to be quiet, then put his hand on the copper wall in the shape of a trumpet. After listening, his face changed drastically, and he whispered to us, “Damn it, it seems that something is coming up!”