Archaeological Notes

Chapter 2 Archaeological Notes
When I was immersed in it and couldn't extricate myself, there was a sound of "pop!", but Tian Rui closed the note in her hand, and watched her return to the chair and put it back in the bag.

I looked at the scar on the opposite side, it was inconspicuous, and my complexion was covered by that scar calmly.He simply put his hands behind his neck and lay down on the chair, "We brothers don't have to hide it, let's talk about it face to face, tell me, what's the matter with me?"

The atmosphere immediately reached a deadlock.

This afternoon, when the shop on Shenyang Road in Tianjin was closing, the phone in my pocket vibrated, and I opened it to see a text message: "Cao Xuan, I don't want your grandma to pass away. At nine o'clock in the evening, I will come to Menjiao Hutong in Beijing to have a night of beer. I have something to discuss—" —Tian Palu.”

At that time, I was staring at the three words "Tian Pa 冚", but I didn't realize it, and my thinking was short-circuited for a full five seconds.When I think about it, I feel even more unbelievable. It stands to reason that in the current situation, no one would be surprised to find me, but it happened to be him—"Scar".

When I met Dao Scar, I had to recall those youthful years. We were classmates in high school, how old was he older than me.Scar was already in his twenties at that time, with a round waist and thick shoulders, and his throat was loud when he spoke. The hideous scar left on his face after a beheading was a bit daunting.Scar boasted that his girlfriend was pretty, and showed off a photo in class once, someone joked after seeing it, saying that she was better than Zhu Bajie.He suddenly became furious and broke his nose with a punch.

The two belonged to the type of different people, one had excellent grades, and the other was doing nothing all day long, dragging the class back every time he took an exam.It stands to reason that they should be the kind who don't get in touch with each other forever, but the two of them hang out together, and their relationship is so strong.It is common for him to borrow homework. He is stern enough to know my temper, and he never picks me up in fights.

Then in the third year of high school, I heard that Scar's girlfriend was killed and died a miserable death.According to rumors, the woman was a child prostitute with a child with a scar in her stomach.It is estimated that the knife scar provoked the people on the road, and the cruel method was outrageous. After the killing, the fetuses were all gouged out, and the corpses were thrown into the river.After Dao Scar received the news in class that day, his eyes were red with anxiety, he picked up a stool, and rushed out of the school gate.

Since then, he never came back. Later, it was heard that he started messing around with the society, and then he washed his hands and became a peddler, tossing antiques, and made a living in Sijiu City.

Life is like this, 30 years in Hedong, 30 years in Hexi, there is no definite number in the world.It's not even ten years, things have already changed.After graduating from university, he struggled for a few years, but failed to achieve anything. He could only open an antique shop in Shenyang Road, Tianjin, and live in a muddle-headed way.

The appearance of the scar can be said to be unexpected by me.

The two met in Beijing's Menjia Hutong, and his sister Tian Rui also came, and the three of them had a night of beer in front of an open-air barbecue stall.Talking about gourds and gossips, I feel sorry for Beijing's economy in recent years.Finally, he brought the matter back to the point, and mysteriously took out a dilapidated notebook to show me, saying that there was a big deal, and he wanted to lure me into the gang.

The cover of the notebook is made of cowhide, the kind used by the municipal office, but for some reason, a corner was burned off.The beginning is an inexplicable story. I was reading it to the point of excitement, but Tian Rui took it back, as if it meant a scar.

The content of the story can be described as absurd and uninhibited. It basically means that his father, Tian Modou, accidentally dug out an ancient tomb when he was hiding from the mountain fire in the Daxingan Mountains.Then the following story is strange, an egg is dug out, and then it is asked to fit by the zongzi, where is this?So I just read it purely as a story, but looking at Scar's face, it doesn't seem that simple.

Dao Scar took out a packet of Zhonghua cigarettes and handed me one, lit it, "This notebook was left by my old man back then. I want to go to Daxing'anling, and I specially invite you to go with me. After this is done, I will give you this number." Said After all, he stretched out three fingers to compare.

Dao Scar's parents worked for the archaeological team of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences when they were young. At that time, they could be said to be a couple of influential figures. The couple's footprints spread all over China.Although it is called geological exploration, it actually explores the hidden ancient tombs in various dangerous mountains one by one, so as to facilitate classification and archiving.In the end, the two went to Heilongjiang Province. In 1987, a huge forest fire broke out in the Greater Khingan Mountains, but the couple were mysteriously buried in the flames.When they were carried out, there were already two charred corpses. According to Dao Scar, it was this archaeological notebook that his father was holding tightly in his hand at that time.

At this time, he took out another box from his closet, put it on the table in front of my chest, and muttered to open it and let me palm my eyes.

I just glanced at it, and sighed that this thing is absolutely valuable. The body of the box is made of high-quality sandalwood, with cloud and dragon patterns inlaid around it, and a brass button connects the box cover. .Looking at its style, it seems to be the woodwork of the Tan family in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty. According to legend, an old man Tan at that time was exquisite in craftsmanship, and the boxes he made were exquisite and ingenious.It has become a hot item now, and it is easy to put it on the market for speculation, and it is easy to make six figures. It can be seen that the contents of this box are not simple.

In the antique business, artifacts cannot be passed on directly, otherwise, if there is a loss, it will be difficult to hold them accountable.I picked it up carefully, and slowly opened it, only to see a spherical fish-eye stone lying inside.

The so-called fish eye stone is not an eyeball that is buckled from the fish eye, but a gemstone of the tetragonal crystal system. It is said that when the "soul is out of the body", the fish eye stone can maintain close contact with the body and transmit information from the spiritual realm into the flesh.Many fortune-tellers use this "spiritual" gemstone for divination rituals, believing that it can enhance people's intuition, make people have clearer insights, and even predict the future.This fish-eye stone is transparent, and it looks like a glass ball to those who don't know the goods. In addition, this kind of thing is also very common in ancient tombs. I suspect that the knife scar may be poured out of which ancient tomb. of.

Scar motioned me to pick it up and take a closer look. I put on my gloves and took out the magnifying glass I carried with me to take a look at the fish-eye stone. I couldn't help but be surprised to see an ancient painting embedded in the stone.

The apophyllite is only as big as a fist, so we can see how small the painting inlaid inside is. The material of the painting seems to be silk, and one side looks like a painting. I can't see why for a while; It was recognized that it was actually a few lines of text as small as lice.

"The laba shrine, the divine fortune-telling workshop, where ghosts and monsters gather in the center; Shiyanchong, three bridges, walk slowly for a hundred steps; three kiln wheat colors, four liang of old iron, Shang Xiang escapes into the robe master. People blow lamps, ghosts light candles, and they are free. There are ancient ways, but there are none.”

I repeated it several times, but I still couldn't understand its meaning. These few lines were too obscure, so I raised my head and said to Dao Scar: "These seem to be some ancient proverbs."

Dao Scar touched the scar on his face, thoughtfully, "This fish-eye stone is a relic of my father, and I found it in his stomach. Look again, if there is any valuable information."

From the stomach?Immediately, I felt something was wrong, not because it was disgusting. I have seen fart plugs and other stinky things when I was using the receiver.I was amazed at why Dao Scar's father, Tian Modou, swallowed this thing into his stomach, not to mention how he swallowed it, and he was desperate if he couldn't pull it out?
I looked at this fish eye stone over and over for a while, my eyes were sore, and finally I couldn't see anything, so I returned it to Scar.Shaking his head, he said, "This thing is so exquisitely crafted, you must have a high-precision instrument to check what is actually painted in that ancient painting."

Scar put away the apophyllum, returned to the right track, and asked me if I dared to go through this with him.

But I still don't understand a little bit, why he invited me to Heilongjiang because he has some power in Beijing now.Scar's explanation for this is quite puzzling: "It doesn't mean that those bastards under me are all 'mud-legged', I specially invite you, a scholar, to come out, I think you were also majoring in archeology in college back then, brother... You are obliged to be busy! "

"In today's society, academic qualifications are no longer the priority. After graduating from first-class universities, there are many people who have done nothing. The streets are full of college students." Looking back at the time when I was aiming for the Quartet, but now I am reduced to a garbage dump The webmaster, can not help but feel dejected.Regarding Dao Scar's invitation to pass me this time, I made it clear to him, "To you, I'm a big pear (a layman). Could it be that you want me to accompany you to fight?"

"Hey!" Dao Scar smiled meaningfully, "Cao Xuan, I'm not talking about you, so don't underestimate yourself. You should go out to see the world while you're young. You'll never be able to make a living in Tianjin Wei. You If you don't think about yourself, you have to think more about your grandma."

This phrase speaks to my sore spot. Since the end of last year, the old man has been in poor health, and was later diagnosed with uremia in the hospital.Dialysis must be done on a regular basis, and a quick kidney replacement is the best policy. Suffering from the high price of kidney sources, running around borrowing money to make ends meet is beyond the means.If the scar appeared in time, if he was willing to pay, it would be like sending charcoal in a timely manner.

He pushed a stack of thick cowhide bags in front of me, "This 15 is a deposit, you take it to see your grandma's doctor first, and after it's done, I will give you the rest of the money."

I drank a bottle of beer and lived with my grandmother when I was a child. When I was studying in college, my tuition was saved by my grandmother selling popsicles at the school gate. I couldn't just sit idly by.I immediately expressed my attitude: "It is not impossible for me to go to Daxinganling, but I will not do things that are harmful to nature and reason. I have the minimum bottom line, which you can't touch."

Dao Scar and her younger sister Tian Rui looked at each other with a smile, and filled my wine glass again, "Brother, to tell you the truth, I did not go to Daxing'an Mountains this time to trap Lamas. My buddies, Xiaoweilang, will come forth in large numbers. There is no need for me to fight back in person. Our brothers don’t say anything out of the ordinary, but use big swords in the moon field, and openly chop (kan). This line of work is to fulfill the last wish left by my father back then, so that this wish can be fulfilled .”

"Desire?" I could tell there was a reason for his words, and I was eager to know, so I immediately asked him clearly.

His expression became foggy in an instant, and his tone sank: "Actually, my father died very strangely back then. There was a reason for the fire in Daxing'an Mountains, but the final responsibility was put on a farmer who drove a brush cutter. Obviously it was just scapegoat."

"How did you know that?" I was a little surprised by his statement, "Back then..."

"Don't tell me!" He interrupted me, "Cao Xuan, you have never been in society, and you are not deep into the water. You don't know the rules of the two ways of black and white. There are people who can confuse the public and the black and white. Back then, my old man It must be something shocking to the world that was discovered in Xing'an Mountains, so that it was secretly intercepted and killed by others."

I was so frustrated when I heard it, I simply used wine to drown my sorrows, and the two of you talked to each other, talking about some nonsense.While saying these words, Tian Rui sat silently aside, as if it had nothing to do with her.As soon as I drank, I forgot the time until twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. I guess I drank too much, and I almost fanned myself when I walked.Dao Scar asked Tian Rui to go to the hotel and open a room for me, saying that I should not go back to Tianjin at all, time waits for no one, and I will be on my way tomorrow morning.

The next day, I left quite hastily. I called Xiao Subei, the guy at the shop in Tianjin, and wired the money to him to take care of my grandma. Then I went to Harbin, Heilongjiang with Dao Scar and his party. train.

Accompanying him was a buddy of Scar, with a northeast accent, quite blessed.In winter, he shaved his head and didn't wear a hat. He was as bright as a gourd fished out of an oil barrel. There were nine scars printed on it, which were clearly visible, as if he were a monk.But people are very humorous and easy to get along with.The north wind was blowing outside the window, and it was freezing cold. I slept under the blanket and slept in the dark. When I woke up in the evening, I had already arrived in Harbin.

That night, I immediately rushed to the southern foot of Daxingan Mountains without stopping, a place called Yichun City. I took a bus for a few hours, and walked more than ten miles in the mountains, and finally arrived at the destination of this trip—the ghost village.

To be honest, I really don't understand Scar's intentions, what's wrong with being chased by a ghost?Don't pick a time, it's approaching the end of the year, and Xing'an Mountains is already covered with ice for thousands of miles, and snow drifts for thousands of miles.A few people carried dozens of kilograms of equipment in the jungle and marched through the jungle, but they didn't feel cold. Scar led the way, and we followed silently behind. Fengshan, we can accept it.

The snow was falling more and more heavily, and it was more than a foot thick. I walked with heavy steps and struggled, when Scar, who led the way, suddenly stopped and said that we had arrived.I stepped forward to take a look, and in the dimness, I saw a horseshoe-shaped mountain depression in front of me, and the lonely lights of several houses were brightly lit, like a ghost town.

When I opened my mouth, the wind and snow poured into my mouth, and I shouted loudly at Scar: "I have entered the village, where will I spend the night?"

Scar said don't worry, he has his own arrangements, and there is a place for us to stay in the village.

Just as I was about to ask again, the monk patted my shoulder and looked sideways. A lantern suddenly lit up not far ahead, and a girl in red suddenly appeared in our field of vision.

Taking a closer look, the girl was very handsome, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a red padded jacket, with a flushed face, I thought it might be the guide invited by Scar.She led us to the entrance of the col, and a lake suddenly appeared in front of it. The strange thing is that it does not freeze in winter, and it is steaming and steaming.

The monk was puzzled, so he asked the girl: "I said, big sister, how good is your place, and there are hot springs in the winter? This Gada is like a goddamn cave."

This is quite surprising to me. With the combination of high mountains and deep valleys, the surface water at the bottom of the valley may be higher than the groundwater level in the mountains. Therefore, the bottom of the deep valley may be the place where the hydrostatic pressure difference is the largest, and the upwelling of hot water should also come from the bottom of the valley. The possibility of coming out is the greatest, so most of the hot springs occur on the riverbed in the valley.I saw that the girl was quite attractive, so I asked a little confused: "Since there are such unique resources, why doesn't your village open a hot spring resort to attract tourists?"

The girl's lantern made her face a little red, she suddenly smiled and answered the question, which made people feel weird: "Cross the lake, cross Zhongxin Cliff and you will arrive at the village."

Scar looked at the situation on the lake, and obviously frowned, "Can we not enter Zhongxin Cliff and take a detour?"

"Where is it possible!" At this moment, the girl suddenly giggled, and I felt my scalp tingling, "You have to go through a cliff hole to walk by water, you like detours, and you can enter the village along the mountain, but you can only do it in the morning to the village."

"However..." He deliberately lowered his voice, "I heard that there are ghouls in the mountains, they don't smell like human beings."

After finishing speaking, the girl jumped up and down to the lake, then turned around and held the lantern, looking at us with her head tilted.I didn't quite understand, so I whispered to Dao Scar: "What's wrong?"

Dao Scar's face was not very good-looking, and he looked worried, and quietly said to me: "The old man's notes have recorded that when they entered the corpse ghost village, it was also in such a midwinter season. It is said that there is a cave of thousands of corpses in Zhongxin Cliff. , every time you go in and out, you must be led by a little girl, otherwise you won’t be able to get out once you go in.”

This was accidentally heard by the monk, and he almost laughed out loud, and said in a low voice: "Little girl? Who made the rules? What nonsense? The old men won't win? Lord, I don't believe it. With my yang energy What can I do? Besides, with the protection of the Buddha, if any dead ghost is dishonest, I will kill it with the powerful vajra palm!"

Dao Scar didn't have time to listen, and looked at the girl by the lake defensively: "When my father entered the Cave of Thousand Corpses, he almost didn't die in it. Following them, the sudden appearance resolved the crisis. The records in the notes are very general. Anyway, I think we are in danger in this business, but it is obviously unrealistic to go around the mountains and enter the village, because we are running out of time. The matter must not be delayed, and we must arrive at the corpse ghost village before dawn."

After he finished speaking, he walked towards the lake, and I hurriedly followed him. At this time, I heard Tian Rui whispering to us: "Be careful, this girl is not clean, there must be something wrong."

(End of this chapter)