National treasure

Everyone walked carefully along the Shinto path, and the first thing that caught Zhong Zhe's eyes were two pairs of beautifully carved golden pheasants.

When he got closer, Zhong Zhe discovered that these two pairs of stone elephants were not carved from stone at all, but were terribly realistic statues. At first glance, it was impossible to tell what kind of material was used, which seemed like a modern wax museum.

Seeing Zhong Zhe looking at the statue in amazement, Cheng Ling walked to the golden pheasant lying quietly on the right side and observed it carefully for a while, then put on his gloves and touched it lightly.

He stepped back and said to everyone, "It's a specimen. The feathers of the golden pheasant are all real. It seems that a lot of mercury and gold and silver powder were used inside and out, which should be used for embalming."

This is another anomaly, Shi Xiangsheng is not a stone carving but a living specimen.

Although it is different from the Shinto in Zhong Zhe's cognition, the general regulations are consistent, and the judgment that this way is used to pass through the gods should still be correct.

There were no more abnormalities, and everyone continued to move forward carefully.

After a dozen or so steps, two pairs of majestic black dogs appeared, one moving and the other still. The dynamic pair of dogs raised their heads and roared, reminiscent of the mythical Roaring Dog.

About ten meters away, there are two pairs of strong wild boars with long and deep tusks, as if they will charge at the people passing under their feet at any time.

About ten meters away, there are two pairs of argali sheep, which are rare in China. The two male sheep have two horns on their heads like a huge crown, and they are majestic, looking at the people under their feet with disdain.

These male and female pairs of animals are all extremely delicate living specimens without exception. Due to the closed underground environment and superb production technology, all of them seem to be about to jump off the stone platform immediately, not only the effect is comparable to today's The level of specimens in various natural museums, and under the dark and quiet atmosphere and distorted light, there is a mysterious psychological pressure.

The action team members who had never been to the archaeological site were stunned when the specimen Shi Xiangsheng appeared, and the team leader Zhang Yu couldn't help but said: "Even if you don't see any treasures, this is worth it. See it I have goosebumps, the ancients are so awesome, how did they do it?"

Zhong Zhe turned to answer him. "When these animals are alive, they are not fed with mercury-doped feed until they die, and then continue to inject a large amount of mercury into their bodies. All the muscles, bones, skin and flesh must be deeply penetrated, and it must be filled with all texture. Wait for pretreatment Afterwards, cut open the belly and fill it with gold and silver powder, which can further sterilize and preserve. There should be some other important secret methods, including special production methods, but those are completely untestable."

During the conversation between the two, the crowd moved forward a lot, and two pairs of rare white cattle came out one by one on both sides, one pair was plowing, one pair was lying still, two pairs of bloody horses paid tribute to the Western Regions, one pair was galloping, one pair Stand still.

When I got here, I saw that there were no statues in the reach of the searchlight, and there was only a whole stone wall in front of me, which seemed to have come to an end.

The divine way was broken, and everyone moved forward more carefully without knowing why.When he got to the last stone wall, Cheng Ling made a stop gesture early, calling Zhang Yu to come forward to investigate on both sides, and Zhong Zhe joined them.After a while, the three looked at each other and shook their heads.

Zhong Zhe said helplessly: "I don't see any tricks."

Cheng Ling nodded in response, "There is no agency either."

"Looks like it's really a dead end." Zhang Yu sighed beside him, ready to greet the team members to go back.

Suddenly Zhong Zhe said: "Although the stone wall is dead, this road is not necessarily a dead end."

His eyes fell on the place not far from the stone wall, about ten meters away from the last two pairs of bloody horses. Although there were no statues there, there were still four short stone platforms on the left and right.

Zhong Zhe walked close to the stone platform and stretched out his hand to Cheng Ling, as if he was asking for something. The latter tacitly handed him a tactical flashlight without asking questions.

Zhong Zhe squatted down to observe for a while, got up and explained to everyone: "Shen Tao's stone elephants were born, and there were roughly prescribed rules in ancient times. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, there were twelve pairs of emperors, and the number of princes and officials decreased in descending order.

In the twelve pairs of emperors, the six animals listed are usually lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, unicorns, and war horses.These things all have their symbolic meanings. The lion is majestic, the Xiezhi is fair and selfless, the camel is good luck, the elephant and the unicorn are prosperous and peaceful, and the horse is fighting in all directions. Obviously, they all express the power of the emperor.

This Shinto stone elephant is born. The six animals are chicken, dog, pig, sheep, cow, and horse. They are all very common domestic animals, and they are far from the six auspicious animals we mentioned before. The regulations set up here are twelve pairs strictly in accordance with the emperor's level, and these statues are made of special living specimens. From the search to the production of these animal prototypes, the wealth and energy consumed will only be a hundred times that of ordinary stone statues. Coupled with the excavation scale of the entire underground Shinto, it can be deduced that this stone path can never be built randomly, and it is only used to confuse future generations.

It must represent an emperor, and its imperial power is related to these twelve pairs of stone elephants. "

After hearing the deduction, everyone showed a sudden look, and they all felt that it was reasonable.

Zhong Zhe continued: "Have you ever heard the legend about Nuwa creating man?"

"The one who used the dirt to swing the villains all over the ground?" Zhang Yu said.

Zhong Zhe nodded, "Actually, there is another half of this myth, does anyone know?"

Everyone was wondering, Xiao Na said: "I have some impressions, it seems that Nuwa created animals while creating humans, but I read it when I was a child, I can't remember clearly."

"According to the ancient books, Nuwa used seven days to create the soul, the first chicken, the second dog, the third pig, the fourth sheep, the fifth cow, the sixth horse, the seventh day made a human, and the seventh day is also called human. day."

Thinking of the Shinto along the way, the order of all Shi Xiangsheng's display completely matched this legend, and everyone was a little stunned for a while. Cheng Ling knew the inside story, and he was not as surprised as the members of the action team. He calmly questioned: " If this divine way was built for Emperor Wa, then obviously the seventh most important creature, human being, is missing."

"That's right," Zhong Zhe said with certainty, "this brings me back to my deduction just now—this road is not a dead end, and the existence of this stone platform is for erecting people. I just checked the surface of the lower stone platform, There are obvious gaps in the countertop, which can obviously be moved.

I deduce that the way out lies on this stone platform. If you want to continue down this Shinto path, you need to pass through the stone platform to reach a deeper sacrificial place.

The next step is to find someone to try it out. "

After Zhong Zhe finished speaking, he looked at Cheng Ling, "I'm going to stand up and try it now, so as to verify the inference."

Obviously, from the current point of view, if you don't want to go back home, this is the only way.

"I'll stand." Cheng Ling immediately stopped him.

Zhong Zhe shook his head, "You can't judge if the situation changes."

Cheng Ling dismissed, "In case of danger, you can't deal with it."

The disagreement was serious, and neither of them could convince the other.

Cheng Ling looked back at the entire Shinto, and turned to Zhong Zhe with a serious face, "The first six pairs are all dead objects, what if you stand on them and become a living sacrifice?"

Zhang Yu kept nodding beside him, "It's definitely possible, I heard that the ancients were very cruel."

Zhong Zhe shook his head helplessly, "I said, this is a Shinto path, not a tomb path. It is used to guide people who enter the interior to worship, and it is a path for living people. The builders still need to pass through here to go God, how could you kill yourself alive."

"This is just an inference. After all, there are certain dangers."

"Let me try." Cheng Ling and Zhang Yu said almost at the same time.

Zhong Zhe raised his forehead, it would be great if there was any substitute.He suddenly remembered something, and excitedly said to Zhang Yu: "What about the pair of big white geese? Isn't that a living thing? Take it out and try it."

"Yes!"

Everyone took out the two tightly bound big white geese from their bags, and carried them one by one to the side of the stone platform.

"Listen to my password, and then release it together." Zhong Zhe urged.

The two team members stood ready, lifted the goose high, and waited for an order to land on the stage.

Following the exit of the word "Fang", two geese fell to the middle of the stone platform at the same time, but nothing happened.

Zhong Zhe ran to a goose rather strangely, and he poked the stone platform vigorously, except for the gaps that were still clearly visible on the surface, the entire stone platform remained motionless.

He thought for a while, then turned around and said: "It seems that only one pair is not enough, there is no other way, we must try with four empty stone platforms."

He rushed ahead of Cheng Ling and Zhang Yu and said, "I must take one, otherwise you two will be completely blind when you go down."

Before Zhang Yu volunteered to say anything, he received Cheng Ling's stern gaze.

He took a step back consciously, and sincerely warned: "Be careful."

Before standing on the stone platform, Cheng Ling checked the equipment on his body again, then walked to Zhong Zhe's side, and checked the equipment for him in the same way.

When Zhong Zhe turned back and forth and was being manipulated by Cheng Ling like a puppet, he couldn't help but whispered to Cheng Ling, "It's better to take me with you, otherwise you will get nothing if you bring them in alone."

Cheng Ling suddenly tightened the rope in front of Zhong Zhe, forcing Zhong Zhe to fall towards him, and reflexively stretched out his hands to support his shoulders, this posture suddenly became a little ambiguous and awkward.

Then Cheng Ling said unhurriedly: "Breaking my discipline and refusing to obey, does that make you so happy?"

"Do you want to hear the truth?" Zhong Zhe held back his smile, bit his lower lip and said, "Ha, I'm more happy than happy." The corners of his brows and eyes almost flew up.

"Zhong Zhe?" Cheng Ling looked down at him.

"Ok?"

"Give me the whole thing to go back, and save it to settle the accounts."