Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 5 Nine Turtles and Snakes
To our surprise, the tortoise shell as big as the Eight Immortals Table is not composed of several small tortoise shells, it is a whole, a huge intact tortoise shell.Under the sunlight, the surface of the tortoise shell has a faint blue light, just like the ancient time that has passed away.

I grew up so big, and the biggest tortoise I ever saw was only the size of a washbasin. It was caught by my grandfather in the Yellow River, but my grandfather later released the tortoise.He said that the tortoise had lived in the Yellow River for at least a hundred years and had already become a spirit. It was a spirit beast, and it could not be hurt, or it would be bad luck.

I turned around and asked my grandpa, "Have you ever seen a turtle this big?"

Grandpa reached out and touched the hard turtle shell: "I have walked on the Yellow River for more than [-] years, and I have never seen such a big giant turtle. But the old river worker of the Yellow River once told me about a 'Nine Turtles Carrying a Snake' The weird thing about this kind of giant tortoise is mentioned in it!"

Gu Meidi became interested, put down his work, and pestered his grandpa, saying, "Grandpa, grandpa, I want to hear the story of the nine turtles carrying a snake!"

For the request of "future granddaughter-in-law", grandpa would naturally not refuse. He pulled a small bench and sat down, and slowly narrated in his unique hoarse voice: "In the early days of the Republic of China, there was a year when the Yellow River flooded. After the water passed, the fishermen found a thick gray-white tree trunk on the water. It was strange that there were white scales growing on the tree trunk, shining in the sun.

The fishermen were very curious, so they rowed over to see what was so strange about the thick trunk.When the fishermen came close, someone threw a hook and hooked it to the tree trunk, wanting to take a closer look.Suddenly, the tree trunk moved strangely.At this moment, the sharp-eyed fishermen discovered in horror that it was not a tree trunk at all, but a giant gray-white python with a wheel-sized snake head sticking out of the water, spewing misty water mist.

Those fishermen were all terrified, they had never seen such a big python.The giant python is more than 20 meters long and as thick as a water tank. It is covered with silvery white snake scales. Its eyes are as bright red as blood and are as big as an adult's fist.The scarlet letter flies wildly in the air, making whirring noises, which is extremely frightening.

The fishermen didn't dare to move, they just watched the giant python drift past in front of them.What is puzzling is that the giant python didn't even twist its body, so how could it drift along the water?No wonder everyone regards it as a tree trunk.

However, when the giant python drifted by, some careful fishermen found a row of huge black shadows under the giant python's body, and they didn't know what it was.

A few daring fishermen paddled their boats and followed them quietly. After a distance of nearly one kilometer, the giant python slowly emerged from the water, and the row of black shadows under the giant python were also looming in the water. .

The fishermen finally saw it properly, and the row of black shadows turned out to be nine giant green-armoured turtles connected end to end.The nine giant tortoises lined up, and the one behind was biting the tail of the one in front, like skewers connected in series.And the gray-white giant python was lying comfortably on the backs of the nine giant tortoises, letting them float on its back.

Regarding the phenomenon of giant tortoises carrying snakes, no experts and scholars have been able to give a reasonable explanation until now.

Later, someone said that the gray and white python was not an ordinary python, but the Dragon Prince from the Yellow River.The nine giant tortoises are the guards beside Prince Long, and they are responsible for carrying the giant python to the mouth of the Yellow River.At the mouth of the Yellow River, that gray and white giant python will become a dragon! "

Gu Meidi and I were speechless. There are too many unexplainable phenomena in the natural world. Will that giant python turn into a dragon?No one can tell.

I took the shovel and hammer out of the toolbox: "Okay, now let's open the coffin and have a look!"

Gu Meidi squatted on the ground, holding a magnifying glass to observe carefully. She reached out and knocked on the coffin, and there was a dull echo from inside the coffin.

Gu Meidi showed surprise on his face: "Tsk tsk! This coffin is made of gloomy wood!"

Gloomy wood is a very precious wood. Earthquakes, floods, and mudslides buried all living things on the ground in low-lying places such as ancient river beds. Under the action of bacteria and microorganisms in a state of hypoxia and high pressure, it has undergone a carbonization process that lasted tens of thousands of years. It has both the elegance of wood and the charm of stone, and is known as "Oriental sacred wood" and "plant mummy".Coffins made of shady wood can be moisture-proof, anti-corrosion, and insect-proof. In addition, its own value is precious. Therefore, in ancient times, only royal nobles could be buried in yin wood coffins after death.The gloomy wood has also become a symbol of nobility, and ordinary people have no such qualifications at all.

Gu Meidi and I looked at each other. Since this coffin is made of dark wood, it means that the person in the coffin is most likely a royal nobleman.It seems that our trip was not in vain, and we actually harvested a royal coffin.What dynasty is this coffin from?Who is the person in the coffin?All of this will have to wait until after the coffin is opened to make a conclusion.

I took the hammer and walked around, but I didn't find a gap where I could strike. The yin wooden coffin is like a natural whole.I couldn't help being surprised, isn't this a coffin, just a complete piece of gloomy wood?
"Tuobagu, come and see here!" Gu Meidi waved at me holding a magnifying glass.

I walked over and squatted beside her, and she pointed to the inside of the end of the tortoise shell, where a small silver ring was set.Because the ring is inside the tortoise shell, it's hard to find.

"What is this?" I asked suspiciously.

Gu Meidi said: "It's like a small mechanism, let me try to pull it!"

I nodded: "Be careful!"

"How did you become a mother-in-law, step aside and look at me!" Gu Meidi rolled up his sleeves, stretched out his fingers to hook the buckle, and pulled it out forcefully.

There was silence for two seconds, and then I heard a weird rattling sound coming from inside the coffin. I stood by the side with a hammer in my hand, watching the dark wood coffin vigilantly. Killed it with a hammer.

"Look! Look!" Gu Meidi exclaimed happily.

I saw a drawer-like inner coffin slowly sliding out from the center of the coffin. I widened my eyes and opened my mouth in surprise.The design of this yin wood coffin is simply ingenious. There is an inner coffin embedded in the yin wood coffin. There is a mechanism installed in the coffin. Once the mechanism is activated, the inner coffin will slide out of the coffin like a drawer. It is very delicate. .

We gathered around and saw a young man lying quietly inside the drawer-like inner coffin.After so many years, the young man is still lifelike, with clear facial features, intact skin and flesh, without the slightest rot.At first glance, I thought he was just sleeping soundly.I poked lightly with my fingers, and found that his skin was still a little elastic. It seemed that his body was well maintained in the dark wood coffin.

This young man has a long and narrow face, a strong nose bridge, deep eyes, a hedgehog helmet, black armor, and a curved Lengyue knife in his right hand.Even though he has been sleeping in the coffin for thousands of years, we can still feel the strong murderous aura emanating from him.

I was slightly taken aback, the image of this ancient corpse was somewhat different from what we had imagined. We originally thought that the person in the coffin must be a relative of the emperor wearing a dragon and a phoenix, but we did not expect it to be a warrior with a weapon in his hand.

I said: "Judging from his clothes, this man should have been a warrior in his lifetime! But he was definitely not an ordinary warrior, otherwise he would not be able to enjoy the royal treatment of a shady wooden coffin!"

"En!" Gu Meidi nodded: "His appearance is obviously different from that of the Central Plains people, and I think he is closer to the people of the Western Regions!"

Wearing sterile gloves, we touched the ancient corpse from head to toe, but we didn't find a single burial object, which was beyond our expectations.

Gu Meidi suggested to me: "Let's turn the ancient corpse over and have a look!"

I nodded in agreement, because some ancient people liked to put their treasures under their bodies when they were buried.

Grandpa found a straw mat, and Gu Meidi and I carefully lifted the ancient corpse out of the inner coffin, laid it flat on the straw mat, and then helped him turn over.

Gu Meidi and I have a tacit division of labor and cooperation. I reached out to touch the bottom of the coffin, and Gu Meidi reached out to touch the back of the ancient corpse.

To my great disappointment, the bottom of the coffin was empty and there was nothing.

At this moment, Gu Meidi called me over loudly, and I was overjoyed: "Did you find the funeral objects?"

"No!" Gu Meidi shook his head: "He doesn't have a single funeral object on him!"

"Ah!" I sighed heavily, "It's hard to guess the age of the ancient corpse without the funeral objects!"

"But it's not completely undiscovered!" Gu Meidi pulled down the armor on the ancient corpse's back by half an inch, then pointed at the back of the ancient corpse's neck: "Look here!"

I leaned over to take a closer look, and saw a tattoo on the back of the ancient corpse's neck.It was a lifelike eyeball, like a living eye growing on the back.The pupils of the eyes were a strange turquoise color, and there was a gloomy and piercing gaze faintly revealed in the pupils, which made me shiver for no reason.

I didn't dare to look at the eyeball tattoo again, so I turned my head and asked Gu Meidi, "Do you know that people of any nationality have eyeball worship or eyeball totems?"

Gu Meidi shook his head: "In the knowledge base stored in my brain, I really can't find any records about eyeball tattoos!"

If there is something that Gu Meidi doesn't know about, then it must be very difficult.I took out my mobile phone, took several photos of the ancient corpse, and passed them to Professor Ye, hoping that the knowledgeable Professor Ye could find the answer.

After busying for a long time, we couldn't find any more useful physical evidence, so we had to temporarily put the ancient corpse back into the coffin, and wait for Professor Ye's reply before making a plan.

(End of this chapter)