The Huai Shui God's Cave

Chapter 16

Seeing that Yang Xiaoxie was fine, we continued to move forward cautiously. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any institutions.After walking for about 400 meters, there was no way.A stone gate in front of him firmly blocked the way out.This is a whole piece of white marble, which is incompatible with the color of the surrounding tomb passages.The connection between the stone door and the wall is made of gray hemp clay.The stone gate is quite thick, firmly blocking the way forward.

The professor said: "This should be a passageway where two dragon heads are connected, but it was sealed for some reason. The white marble built at the back is a tomb material that became popular after the Tang Dynasty. Maybe it was because the dragon heads were cut off that the dragon veins here were destroyed. .The V-shaped angle between the two faucets is getting farther and farther.”

Several people were very puzzled, why there was a white marble gate in the tomb of the Warring States period, and I don't know why it was sealed here. Could it be that there is some secret in front of the corridor, and they don't want people to find out, so it was sealed?

We had to go around the three big stone balls and return to the original road, return to the fork of the corridor, and enter the passage facing southeast.

This time, we traveled about 500 meters and came to the front hall of the mausoleum.

The terrain here is very low, and because it is close to the lake, the ground is wet. The further you go, the lower the terrain and the deeper the water.There was a damp, musty smell in the air that made it hard to breathe.

At the entrance of the front hall, there is a drainage river running across it, and a stone bridge stands on it, with two iron chains on each side of the bridge.

In the idea of ​​building mausoleums in ancient times, bridges generally have two functions. One is that the moat under the bridge can drain water, because underground tombs are often stepped, and the more you go down, the more water accumulates, and the low-lying area under the bridge is dark. , unfathomable.

Another very important meaning is that the owner of the tomb believes that bridges can lead to gods, immortals, and heaven, as well as ghosts, the underworld, and hell.From the perspective of folk culture, bridges and their symbolism are even more used by people to establish connections or form transitions and mediations between humans and ghosts, life and death.

It was mentioned in "Xuan Shi Zhi" written by Zhang Du of the Tang Dynasty that the Nai River came from the underworld.In ancient China, there has always been a concept that there is a river between the underworld and the world, and the soul of the dead must pass through the concept of a bridge.

After thousands of years of decay, the bridge deck looks dilapidated.Fortunately, it is a stone bridge. If it were made of wood, it would have been impassable long ago.The steps on the stone bridge were covered with moss and looked extremely slippery.Tang Mei led the way, the professor held a bright flashlight, Lin Xiaowei, Yang Xiaoxie, Ma Chuchen and I, we lined up, carefully raised our feet and walked towards the bridge; every step we took, we had to test it with our feet in advance .

Ma Chuchen has basically regained her vitality, and she doesn't need my support, but I habitually follow her.Yang Xiaoxie turned her head, teased me softly with a charming smile on her face and said, "Dude, have you taken a fancy to this elder sister who raises a dragon, or is it because she saved you, are you going to promise me with your body?"

I pretended to be angry and was about to refute him, but I was worried that others would find out, so I could only give him a hard look. In fact, I really liked Ma Chuchen in my heart.Maybe Yang Xiaoxie is right, ever since Ma Chuchen saved me once, I have had a very strange feeling for her.

Yang Xiaoxie smirked twice, followed by another "giggle" sound.I thought it was Yang Xiaoxie who made the strange sound, and scolded: "You kid crows like a rooster, don't just make strange noises, watch your feet, don't fall!"

Yang Xiaoxie said "It's not me", then stopped suddenly, and the giggling sound sounded again.This time I was sure it wasn't him.Everyone immediately paused and became vigilant, obviously hearing it.

It was a strange sound like something rubbing against each other, and it made my back feel chilly.Ma Chuchen said, "There's something in the river!" The professor shone the flashlight to the side, and immediately a black shadow jumped up from the water with a "wow".There is an iron chain on Hei Ying's body, which is connected with the iron chain by the bridge, making a rattling sound. It turns out that the sound came from here!

At this time, several black shadows also jumped under the iron chain on the other side at the same time.As soon as I jumped, I could vaguely see that it was a merman, exactly the same as the merman in the well in the stone room, locked by the lute bone, and fixed near the iron chain of the stone bridge.Perhaps the intention of the owner of the tomb is to use them as a defense mechanism.If you want to enter the tomb, you must pass the stone bridge, and they are lying in ambush under the bridge.

I shouted: "It's a merman!" Tang Mei had already swung Yu Wang's lance towards the one that attacked the professor first, and only heard a "bang", the merman let out a miserable scream, and then fell into the trap. in the water.The rest, about a dozen or so, were obviously timid when they saw this, and they fell on the iron chains on both sides, staring at us.These sharks have lived in the dark underwater for too long, and their eyes have degenerated. Instead of staring at us, it is better to say they are listening to us with their ears.

Ma Chuchen said in surprise: "Xiao Wu, have you noticed that the eyes of these mermaids have degenerated, but the one in Shishi doesn't? Are they not the same race?"

I thought for a while and said, "I guess it has something to do with the woman on the mural. She raised the mermaid with blood. Maybe it's because of this that the eyesight didn't disappear. Otherwise, how can I help her find the man holding the King Yu?" Where's the general?"

While we were talking, an unwilling merman suddenly jumped at Ma Chuchen, probably because of our voices that attracted it.Ma Chuchen is not afraid of heaven and earth, nor is she afraid of ghosts and gods, but she is a girl after all. Seeing the disgusting mucus that is wet all over the shark's body, she couldn't help but screamed and hid beside me, but her feet were covered by that The merman grabbed it and fell weightlessly.I hurriedly pulled her with my hands.Unexpectedly, her feet were already in the air, and she was dragged down the river by that merman!

At this moment, the rest of the mermen jumped forward together.Tang Mei protected the professor and Lin Xiaowei, while Yu Wangzhang fought left and right.Yang Xiaoxie held the dagger and cursed again and again.Only the sound of fighting and the sound of sharks falling into the water can be heard, and there is chaos.

Ma Chuchen yelled again and again, flicking his feet, trying to break free from the merman's sticky claws, but because of nausea and fear, he couldn't exert his strength, and was pulled by the merman to the bridge railing, and he was about to be dragged down.I lowered my head and lay down on the ground and grabbed Ma Chuchen's arm, gritted my teeth and tried my best to drag it back, but it didn't help at all, even I was quickly dragged in.I didn't expect that merman to be so powerful, it seems that it should be the leader of this group of mermen.

Seeing that Ma Chuchen was about to be dragged down, I was very anxious.Desperate to save people, I held my strength and freed one hand to grab the railing of the bridge, and suddenly hugged Ma Chuchen's half body up to her waist, soft and soft, and my face slipped from the double peaks on her chest. However, the unique breath and elasticity of a woman made me shiver all over.At this time, I didn't have time to do more recitations, so I sat down on the ground with my own gravity and let her pass over my head, which was like saving her from the shark's claws.

Just like this, my waist was exposed, and the merman immediately bit my trousers with its teeth and dragged me down from the bridge. , I felt that Ma Chuchen grabbed me from behind, but only grabbed a corner of my clothes, and I was pulled down by the shark.In desperation, I grasped randomly with both hands, and actually grabbed the iron chain next to the railing. With the force of this grasp, I kicked the merman hard with my feet.It was kicked by me and fell into the river with a "plop", but soon jumped out of the water and grabbed my legs.I was suspended there, and the only thing I could do was to keep kicking my feet to avoid being caught by it.

At this dilemma, I heard a "boom" from the bridge deck, as if something had fallen out.I took a quick glance, and it turned out that it was a merman lying on Tang Mei's back, biting the canvas bag behind him with his sharp teeth, and the black jade seal inside fell out.

In the dark space, black jade emits a blue-green light.

Those mermen stopped suddenly, they all stopped fighting and jumped back to the iron chain.Their eyes had degenerated, but they seemed to be able to feel this dim light, and they all grasped the iron chain with their front paws, bowed down and kowtowed to the black jade.

We were very surprised, at this critical juncture, fortunately, the jade seal in Tang Mei's backpack fell out, it seems that these sharks are very afraid of this jade seal.It's just that they are slightly different from the merman in the well, their eyes have degenerated, and they can't learn human language, but without exception, this jade seal can command and suppress them like a token.

Ma Chuchen took the opportunity to pull me up, I saw that my legs were scratched with bloodstains, the trousers below the calf were all holes, the professor, Lin Xiaowei and Yang Xiaoxie had many scratches on their bodies.I was so annoyed that I took out my gun and prepared to kill this big shark with one shot.

Tang Mei blocked my gun aside, and said flatly: "They are also locked here, they can't help themselves, there is no need to be cruel!" I had to give up resentfully.

Yang Xiaoxie muttered: "I was almost killed by them, and I still protect these monsters, as if you are their master!"

Tang Mei pretended not to hear.Yang Xiaoxie was just trying to be quick-mouthed, and didn't dare to say anything else, letting Tang Mei break the iron chains on those mermaids one by one with Yu Wang's spear, and let them go back into the river.Only then did I realize that there were many small iron chains on the iron cables beside the guardrail. According to the number of iron chains, there should be at least 100 sharks, but we only saw a dozen.

I asked the question, the professor straightened his hair, breathed smoothly, and said: "After the tomb was closed, someone once entered it. This can be seen from the destruction of the mechanism that rolled the mines in front and the skeleton at the mechanism." The armor left at the scene shows that an army should have come in, and it may have been hundreds or thousands of years ago. The sharks here should have been killed by them, and the ones we saw are leftovers.”

We all felt that his analysis was reasonable, so we didn't say anything more. After crossing the arch bridge, we walked into the front hall.

3. The Secret of the Nine Cauldrons
The front hall has a very high frame, surrounded by huge stone strips. The soil in the gaps between the stone strips is brown, which should have been specially treated. Some wooden structures have decayed and become ashes, and only some rough structures can be seen. The outline and the scale look grand, but it seems that the construction was in a hurry, and some projects were stopped before they were completed.Perhaps when it was first built, it was very grand and magnificent, but after thousands of years, only a piece of desolation and dilapidation remained.

There are nine huge bronze tripods in the middle of the front hall.The ears of the tripod are turned outward, the waist is tied, the bottom is flat, and the feet are hooved.

The professor said: "During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the tripod was the most important ritual vessel, and there was a strict system of using tripods. The emperor used nine tripods, the princes used seven tripods, the doctor used five tripods, and the scholars used up to two tripods. Only Chu State used Raise the tripod to show the high or low status."

The feudal lords could only use seven tripods, but the nine tripods were discovered in this Chu tomb. It seems that the owner of the tomb wanted to dominate the world and the ambition of dominating the Central Plains, and he was unwilling to give up after death.

The professor stepped forward to take a look, and was very pleasantly surprised, saying: "Maybe it is this Jiuding who can tell us who the owner of this tomb is!"

In ancient times, the right person was the most respected, and the professor started from the right, holding a magnifying glass, and looked at it one by one.

At this time, no one spoke, quietly waiting for the professor to finish reading.The characters in the Warring States period were extremely complicated, mainly in Xiaozhuan, and I couldn't understand a single word of those bird characters.Fortunately, the professor specializes in Wuchu culture and is very familiar with these fonts.After about half an hour, the professor finally finished reading it. He sighed heavily and said, "So this is the real tomb of King Xiang of Chu!"

When we heard it, we were all surprised.Yang Xiaoxie immediately questioned, "Isn't the tomb of King Xiang of Chu discovered in Guishan, Xuzhou? Why is it here?"

(End of this chapter)