King Solomon's Treasure

Chapter 26 The Land of the Dead (1)
Three nights later, we came to Three Witches Mountain and settled down in a small hut at the foot of the mountain.The Three Witches Mountain is located at the end of Solomon Avenue, and the three mountains form a triangle.In addition to the three of us, Fratta also followed, taking care of us along the way, mainly Gude of course.Accompanying them were Inverdus, Gagul, some bodyguards and servants.Gagul sat in the sedan chair, cursing non-stop.The three mountains—or rather, the three peaks—are formed by the uplift of the Earth's crust.As I said, the mountain is a triangle.We are right on the bottom edge, with one peak on the right and one peak on the left.The next morning we watched the sun rise over three towering peaks in a breathtaking view of a lifetime.The three peaks stand tall and straight into the sky, and the peaks are covered with snow.Purple wild heather grew on its slopes, and Solomon's Road stretched like a jade belt to the foot of the middle peak before disappearing about five miles from us.That's where the road ends.

How excited we were when we set off, I leave it to the reader's imagination.For this astonishing treasure, 300 years ago, the Portuguese old Das West gave his life, and his descendants repeated the same mistakes.We suppose that George Curtis, Sir Henry's poor brother, was also killed.What will be our fate now that we are getting closer and closer to the treasure?We have overcome all kinds of difficulties and dangers before, are we just as lucky this time?Bad luck befell them, old monster Gargul said.Are we also doomed?Walking the last stretch of Solomon's Way, I couldn't help becoming superstitious for some reason.Sir Henry and Good, I suppose, are like me.

We walked for an hour and a half on the heather-grown roads on both sides, walking fast with excitement, and the bearers were left behind by us.Gagul in the sedan chair kept screaming, telling us to stop.

"Slow down, white people." She opened the car curtain, revealing an ugly and shriveled face, staring at us with evil eyes, "Are you money-grubs so eager to be caught by bad luck?" She let out a horrible sound The laughter sent chills down my spine.Everyone's enthusiasm has also diminished a lot.

We kept going until a large circular crater appeared between us and the mountain.The crater, sloped on all sides, was at least three hundred feet deep and about half a mile in circumference.

"Can you guess what this is for?" I asked Sir Henry and Goode, who also stared in amazement at the terrible hole before them.

They shook their heads.

"Looks like you've never seen Kimberley's Diamond Mine. To me, this is Solomon's Diamond Mine. If you don't believe me, look there." clay. "The rock formations are the same. I bet if you go down to the bottom you'll find smooth breccia. Look there." There were a few flat slabs of age-deep slabs on the slope of a channel.Apparently this waterway was dug out of the solid rock by the ancients. "These must be stone slabs used for washing ore."

Old Darth West's map marked the crater.Solomon's Avenue bisects from the side of the pit and surrounds the entire pit.The pavement was paved with huge rocks that braced the rim of the crater to prevent it from collapsing.We quickened our pace, curious to see what the three looming behemoths on the opposite side of the pit were.When we approached, we saw clearly that there were three huge stone statues, which were probably the "Silent Mountain God" revered by Kukuana people.But it wasn't until we walked in front of the stone statue that we really felt its grandeur.

On three huge black rock pedestals, three unknown figures are carved, all in sitting positions, two stone statues are male and one is female, overlooking the sixty-mile-long Solomon Avenue on the Lucheng Plain.Each statue is about twenty feet high, and the statues are twenty paces apart.

The female stone statue is naked, beautiful and dignified, with a crescent-shaped horn on each side of the head.It is a pity that after centuries of wind and sun, the stone statue has been severely eroded.On the contrary, the two male stone statues are dressed in clothes, with ferocious faces, especially the one on our right, which is completely the face of a devil.The stone statue on the left has a calm face, but it is a bit weird, which makes us feel hairy.This kind of calm is a non-human calm, even with a bit of cruelty.Sir Henry said that the ancients believed that only the gods possessed this peaceful expression.They quietly watch the suffering in the world, if not happy about it, at least not sad about it.Three stone statues form an awe-inspiring trinity, and for centuries have sat silently here, gazing out over the plain beyond.Looking up at the "Silent Mountain God", we can't help but have a strong curiosity, who carved these three stone statues?Who dug the big hole?And who built Solomon's Highway?I stared at the stone statue quietly, and one question mark after another flashed in my mind.Suddenly, I had a flash of inspiration, and I remembered a familiar story in the "Old Testament": King Solomon lost his way following three evil gods.I still remember the names of the three evil gods: the goddess Ashtoreth worshiped by the Sidonians, Chemosh the national god of Moab, and the god Mirk worshiped by the Ammonites.I hurriedly told them my thoughts, maybe these three stone statues represent these three evil gods.

"Well," Sir Henry pondered for a moment. He is a scholar who has studied ancient cultures at the university. People call Astarte, she was a big businessman in the era of Solomon, and later Astarte became the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. The symbol of the goddess Aphrodite is the half moon on the head Horn, don’t we have this stone statue in front of us? Maybe these stone statues were built by the Phoenician officials in charge of mining. What do you think?”

While we were carefully admiring these magical ancient ruins, Inverdus stepped forward, raised his spear and bowed to the "Silent Mountain God", and then asked whether we will enter the land of death immediately or have lunch go later.Gagul is willing to lead the way if we are ready to go right away.It was not yet eleven o'clock, coupled with a strong curiosity, we decided to set off immediately.Just in case you spend too much time in the cave, I recommend bringing food with you.So, I ordered Fratta to prepare some dried meat and two gourds of water, and put them in a basket made of reeds.Directly in front of us, about fifty paces from the back of the statue, rose a cliff about eighty feet high, rising up to the base of the snow-capped peak.Xuefeng pierces into the sky, a full three thousand feet high.Then Jagul's sedan chair arrived, and she got out of it, gave us a sly smile, and staggered towards the cliff, leaning on a cane.We hurried after it, and came to a narrow arched door, which seemed to be the entrance to the treasure.Gagul stood in front of the door with a smirk on his face.

"Now, white men from the stars," she shrieked, "great warriors Inchub, Bugwan, Makumazahn. Are you ready? Listen, I lead you by His Majesty's will Find the glowing stone."

"We're ready." I replied.

"Very good! Very good! Let me put my words first, be prepared, and don't be frightened by what you see. Are you coming too, Inverdus? You villain who betrayed the master."

Inverdus frowned, and replied: "No, I won't go in. But, Gagul, you listen to me, be careful to serve a few gods, and don't play any tricks. If they lose a hair, even No matter how powerful your magic is, I will kill you. Do you understand me?"

"Listen, Inverdus. I know you too well, you love to talk big. I remember you used to scare your mother when you were a child. Now you are doing it again. You don't have to worry, don't worry, I'm alive In order to do the will of His Majesty the King. I served many kings, but in the end they all obeyed me. Hahaha! Now I will see them again soon, including Taiwala! Come on, let’s go, here is the light. "As she spoke, she took out a large gourd full of lamp oil from inside her fur cloak, with a wick stuck in it.

"Are you coming too, Fratta?" Goode asked in broken Kukuana.In fact, under the guidance of this girl, he has made a lot of progress.

"I am afraid, my lord." The girl replied timidly.

"Then give me the basket."

"No, my lord, I will go with you wherever you go."

"You will be intimidated," I said to myself, "and will only be a burden to us."

Gagul didn't say anything more, turned around and walked in.This passage can accommodate two people walking side by side.The surroundings were pitch black, and we could only walk forward tremblingly following Jagul's shrill urging voice, our hearts pounding.Suddenly there was a flutter of wings, and we were all startled.

"Hey, what's that?" Good yelled. "Someone hit me in the face."

"It's the bat," I said, "you go your way."

(End of this chapter)