World Tibet Bureau

Lang Zai smiled and replied: "Okay! Come with me quickly!"

In addition to Lang Zai, there is another villager named Xiaoli.

The two of them led the way with ropes and tools, and Xia Xi and I followed behind.

Several people walked a long way around the river, passed a bridge, and then climbed a mountain.

This is the side of the cliff mountain. There is a small road, which was probably taken by the villagers during the cliff burial in the past. It is not difficult to walk.

Lang Zai and Xiao Li walked very fast.

I can definitely keep up, but Xia Xi is suffering because his broken leg has just recovered. It is still difficult to climb this kind of mountain road. He is out of breath all the way, so let's go slower.

The three of us had to stop to smoke and wait for him.

Lang Zai smiled and said, "Brother Xia needs to exercise more."

I asked them: "Do we all practice cliff burial here?"

Xiaoli replied: "This has always been the case in eight villages across ten miles, including some villages in Gan Province across the mountains."

I asked again: "Do we have any magical legends about cliff burials here?"

Xiaoli was more talkative than Langzai and said to me: "Yes! We have a Wuxian Cave here. Legend has it that after a king of Chu failed in ancient times, in order to avoid being chased, the king of Chu and his wife brought gold and silver jewelry from the palace and hid them all in the cave. They entered the cliff cave and lived in isolation from the rest of the world."

"A few years later, when the King of Chu got old, he told his subordinates that he had understood the way of heaven, and asked everyone to go to the top of the cliff cave to cut down trees, make a coffin, and place the coffin in Wuxian Cave. He lay on the coffin During the meeting, he told his subordinates that after he died, the desolate land under the mountains would become fertile, the dry riverbeds would be filled with trickling streams, and the bare mountains would be covered with plants that could be soaked in water, that is, tea leaves, forever. If there is another war and chasing troops, let all the subordinates go down the mountain to live."

"After saying these words, King Chu died soon. After the subordinates saw that King Chu was dead, his soul appeared and ascended from the coffin to heaven, and the entire cave wall became golden. The subordinates followed the instructions of King Chu. Shan, found that everything he said was true, and they lived here. We are all descendants of King Chu, so the younger generations began to practice cliff burial after the death of the old man."

"This story is called 'The King of Chu Returns to Wu Xian', and everyone here knows it, both adults and children."

at this time.

Xia Xi also came up and asked, "Did King Chu's gold, silver and jewelery subordinates take them down to the cliff cave?"

Xiaoli replied: "No! My subordinates have land, rivers, mountain treasures, and tea leaves. These are endless jewelry. What do you want those gold and silver jewelry for? There is no place to exchange them!"

Xia Xi asked again: "Where is Wuxiandong?"

As soon as this word comes out.

Xiaoli and Langzai were stunned at the same time.

Lang Zai said: "The older generation has said that Wuxiandong is in this cliff, but we don't know where it is specifically."

Xiaoli chuckled: "I guess it's on the cliff downstream of the river, because one time I was fishing, I touched an iron lump. Some people said it was an antique."

Xia Xi and I looked at each other.

Similar to the legend of "The King of Chu returns to Wuxian", in our land, every village probably has a similar story. The story about becoming an immortal and so on is not very credible. After all, future generations will not pay attention to the deeds of their ancestors. Relying on mythology alone cannot show pride, but it is not unusual to find corresponding ancient tombs among these rural legends.Bian Wu once told me that there is a mysterious sect among the tomb robbers, which outsiders call the "Academy Sect". They usually do not go out into the wild to search for dragons and find pulses. Instead, they specialize in collecting genealogies, songs, and folk tales from various places. After getting it, behind closed doors and studying the history, we can often accurately discover the existence of ancient tombs, one shovel after another, and the coincidence rate is incredibly high.

However, this sect is not something ordinary people can do. The people in it are basically highly educated intellectuals.

I asked: "Where is Tie Liaoda now?"

Hearing this, Xiaoli picked up the shovel next to him and pointed to the place where the iron head of the shovel meets the wooden handle: "No! It's right here."

Anyone with experience in rural life knows that after using farm tools such as shovels, hoes, and awls, the iron tools and wooden handles often fall off after a period of use. At this time, a sharp iron lump is often stuck inside and hammered tightly, so that the tools will not fall off. separation.

The iron knot Xiaoli mentioned played such a role.

Xia Xi and I glanced at each other a few times, and we could see the surprise in each other's eyes.

Because this is a piece of "Tou".

Shu is a kind of weapon, also called "pestle" in ancient times. It was invented in the Shang Dynasty and common in the Han Dynasty. It usually has a long bamboo handle and an edgeless bronze or iron blunt head. It is a kind of blunt weapon.

Some people may not understand that since it is a weapon, why is it not sharp?
Because when Shu was first invented, it was not for soldiers, but for generals.

The general stood on the chariot, shouted loudly, beat the war drum, pointed the shu in his hand forward, and the soldiers began to charge into the battle. It was a kind of baton.

Battle, servitude, retirement...

The word "service" means that a person holds a pen and directs others to fight or do things.

Judging from the remaining overlapping, intersecting, and extending cloud patterns on the surface of the head, there is no doubt that it belongs to the Han Dynasty.

Because the patterns before the Shang Dynasty preferred central symmetry, while the Chinese patterns pursued grandeur, simplicity and variety.

I feel so sad in my heart.

A good knife was sharpened and flattened by Xiaoli and used to make a spade plug. It was basically useless!

Lang Zai said to Xiaoli: "Don't brag, that thing is just a piece of iron!"

We said nothing and continued to walk up the mountain with them, but both of us had doubts in our hearts. There were actually heads of Han Dynasty fish found in the river. There was a high probability that Bian Wu and others had entered the tomb of King Chu.

to the top of the mountain.

Lang Zai and Haoli began to make copper rings on the top of the mountain, as well as a small iron roller hoist, then put on thick ropes and lowered the ropes from the top of the cliff.

By the time this was done, it was already 07:30 in the evening.

We looked down from the top of the cliff.

I saw many villagers gathered by the river, holding torches and blazing fire. (End of chapter)