Mountains and seas can be flat

It took them a long time in the cobwebbed burrows to find their way along the river.The river has only one direction, but there are stone pillars and stone curtains everywhere, separating the land into fragments.And many places that could have been passed through were firmly glued by sticky and slippery spider webs.They had to pierce and hack with copper swords to know whether the road behind was open.

In the process of finding the way, Fang Zheng confirmed some speculations more and more.

First of all, the temperature here is very low and it is far from the ground.Only the jade pillars in the river and the occasional small stalactite hanging statues on the dome prove that there have been artificial traces, and they have also been occupied by various non-photosynthetic algae. .

This also made Fang Zheng more and more sure that in the past 60 years, this underground world has never been opened to people again.Even when Shun built the tomb, it was mostly used as a passage.After all, Shun was "tired to death", and he was a simple emperor in the records.The descendants of Jiuli also said that they did not see many people at that time.

I'm afraid that at that time, no one explored everywhere like Fang Zheng.

This is the first time it has shown its wild and untamed face in front of humans.This closed underground world has existed for an unknown amount of time, and the evolution laws of many creatures are completely different from those on land.Although there is no light, the competition for survival is still fierce and fierce.

Fang Zheng found that the most obvious feature of the creatures here is that they are both plant and animal. For example, a dark blue species hanging by the water, like an aquatic pitcher plant, has not only the roots, stems and leaves of basic plants, but also one that can A "cage" that catches small bugs.

Another example is a kind of fish with roots, and the swimming range does not exceed its root system; another example is a kind of jellyfish that can bloom; there is even a kind of square sign that thinks it is a stone, but when you sit on it, you find it is a ground sloth. Its paws and torso were as rough as bark, and it was unknown whether it was too lazy or had been sleeping for too long. Half of its body grew in the mountains. Fang Zheng quickly jumped away, but it couldn't move.It's really hard to imagine how to live on weekdays.

Fang Zheng found traces of the water level rising on the stone wall, which is very fresh, and it has been decades.It must be related to Dayu's flood control.It was also affected by floods here, otherwise the biological level estimation is more complicated.In addition, Fang Zheng also found a shape similar to a fossil bone on the edge of the rock formation, but he could not dig it out without tools.

A question that puzzles Fang Zheng is: whether it is as small as plankton, or ground sloths buried in stone piles, or animals and plants at other levels of the food chain, if photosynthesis is not used, where does the heat energy required come from?It must be geothermal.It is incredible that it can also produce oxygen, and the oxygen content is so sufficient.

The jade pillars stood in the middle of the stream. Fang Zheng touched the pillars again, but there were no grooves that could be opened, only some uneven marks.Fang Zheng wrote those traces to Lian Feng, and Lian Feng said that they were "instructions" from Emperor Yao Yu.Many old people in the Yu Dynasty can chant.

For example, the engraving on a pillar reads: All things have their uses, so that they each have a suitable environment.

This statement is very reasonable, but it has not been recorded. Fang Zheng reasonably speculates that this is the original material of the so-called ancient sage books "Three Graves" and "Five Canons". It would be great if the adoptive father could see it with his own eyes... …

There is a particularly thick jade pillar in the middle, with many characters engraved on it. Lian Feng translated it to Fang Zheng. In layman's terms, it is the "wish" of Emperor Yushun.

——May the four seasons be restrained and the five elements be harmonized; may the vegetation be nourished, and the metal and stone be used; may the birds and beasts be strong and fat; Children will not be orphans, women will not be widows; may the rainbow not appear, nor the demon star move.

Fang Zheng was moved. For the first time, he felt that the Taoyuan of the three generations in ancient times was not empty talk. Only such an emperor could be worthy of the "big mountain and sea country" and his father's expectations for this era.

"Emperor Yao Yu is a good king. Except for the bow you must take, don't take anything away." Fang Zheng said to Lian Feng.

Lian Feng bit his lip, his face showed a trace of confusion, and for the first time, he confided to someone the thoughts that hovered in his mind like poisonous juice:

"However, brother Zheng, you said that no matter how great a person is, no matter how many achievements he has made, he is still just a tool in the eyes of the superiors. Back then, Lord Yi was ordered by Emperor Yao Yu to remove ten evils and die a narrow escape...was it also a tool? Yao Is Emperor Yu really a sage?"

After being abandoned by Yu Yi, Zifeng's mental strength has been depressed for a long time, and he no longer believes in everything praised by the former superiors.

Judging from the instructions engraved on the stone pillar and the records in historical documents that Yu Shun was the sage king who led the enlightenment of people's wisdom in Confucian culture, Fang Zheng naturally wanted to reverse Lian Feng's extreme thoughts, and said: "Of course, Emperor Yao Yu is the leader of everyone. A virtuous gentleman who is praised by everyone." Fang Zheng blurted out without hesitation, "He worked so hard. His heart poured out his blood for the world, and his spirit scattered his form for the world..."

As soon as Fang Zheng said it, he was stunned, he could still recite it.

Zifeng was dumbfounded, "Brother Zheng, how do you know Emperor Yao Yu is working hard? Who said the last two sentences."

Fang Zheng thought helplessly, this cannot be told to Lian Feng.

Those two sentences were said by Kangxi, a rare virtuous monarch in the last twilight of the feudal dynasty, and his evaluation of the king who first embraced the Central Plains in ancient times, across a long time and space, was written in Kangxi's posthumous edict in his later years.The adoptive father once told Fang Zheng.

"This is what another sage said." Fang Zheng thought about his words.

"Why haven't I heard of it?" Lian Feng asked persistently.

Fang Zhengdao: "This world is so big, you Star Sacrifice may not know everything."

If it is a holy king, everyone should know about it.For the first time, Zifeng had a ridiculous idea in his mind: Is what Fang Zheng said really something from "this world"?

Fang Zheng didn't pay attention to Lian Feng's doubts. He stared blankly at his own reflection in the water. He was especially rebellious when he was young. I'm about to throw up.Today, without thinking, I blurted out what I had been contemptuous of and doubted back then, and used it to convince others...

"The heart pours out its blood for the world, and the god spreads its shape for the four seas. The emperor has no place to rest, no place to retreat or hide. The only thing is to do his best. Only when someone really does this can he be famous in history." At that time, the adoptive father saw Out of Fang Zheng's disbelief, he explained, "When you grow up a bit, you will know."

Fang Zheng was filled with emotions, and he reached out to touch the image in the water.

...do I still have a chance to be the person you expect?

……I have no idea.

Fang Zheng felt that he had changed, he couldn't know exactly what it was, he just felt that the empty place in his heart seemed to be filled with something.

The cold black undercurrent in Zifeng's heart was also dispelled a little bit. He thought about Fang Zheng's words in a daze, and thought of what the teacher said "there will no longer be such a holy king anymore"... He unexpectedly burst into anger. And denied it, depressed for so long.Doubting the three generations of sages, doubting the glory of the warriors, almost doubting that the teacher is a villain.If Fang Zheng hadn't said those words in time, he might have been depressed and doubted more and more deeply.

Zifeng's teacher is Dayi.

After 50 years of guarding the Yu Dynasty, the hero Dayi who killed the "ten evils" ushered in the division of the territory and split the map. He could only hold a war bow in his young age, and joining seemed more "in line" with the ideal of a virtuous monarch A certain side...but found that fifty steps laugh at a hundred steps, and there is no such emperor as Yao, Shun and Yu anymore.Dayi put down his bow and resigned as Da Siwei, but at this moment he was chased and killed by his eldest disciple sent by the other party.It's not that they dare not challenge young and strong people, it's just that in such a day, so what if you win, so what if you lose?There's no end in sight, no meaning in sight.

In the last days of Dayi’s life, he adopted a very young boy, who had good talent and brains, but was too animalistic, so he also taught him many precious things with the extra compassion and softness of the old man... …Maybe he didn't understand it at the time, but he memorized it in his little head, and it will be useful in the future.

Zifeng felt sour, he almost threw away the most precious thing.

His heart was sad and soft, and he instinctively leaned over to hug Fang Zheng, buried his head in his arms, trying to absorb some warmth.Fang Zheng was in a daze, his mind was extremely unstable, and he hugged him firmly before he could react, he reached out to embrace Lian Feng after hesitation.

The warmth brought by body contact will give people the illusion that the two embraced each other extremely weakly at that moment, like two hedgehogs with their bellies stuck together, with all the spikes and coldness on their backs facing each other. The world, soft and vulnerable parts close together.

"Brother Zheng." Lian Feng's voice was a little choked up, "You are so kind."

"What are you crying for?" Fang Zheng's nasal voice was also a little thick.

Lian Feng rubbed his head in his arms and shook his head. Fang Zheng felt as if he was hugging a big fluffy dog ​​in his arms. They didn't speak to each other anymore. They maintained this close posture in silence and gradually calmed down. .Fang Zheng thought in disbelief that Lianfeng was the one who took the initiative to ask for a hug, but he himself seemed to have been healed, he had accumulated the energy to go on the road again, and there was a rare tenderness in his heart.

"You are fine too." Fang Zheng patted his head.

Lian Feng was very happy after being praised, his eyes sparkled.He felt that he was getting closer to Fang Zheng.

They continued to walk forward, and Fang Zheng finally saw slightly larger animal statues. They stood on both sides of the river, covered with gray and dark blue plants, some of which were broken, and the statues were all anthropomorphic beasts with animals. The head and the body of the man, holding different utensils.

The stone statue is about half the size of Fang Zheng, and it is not high, but its majestic shape is better than that.Fang Zheng recognized the heads of snakes, bears, deer, goats, monkeys, and monsters that were not easy to identify.They hold large cold weapons such as daggers, spears, axes, chisels, awls, and sickles, as well as living utensils such as pikes, fish darts, and thrown stone balls.

"Why are the stone sculptures built on both sides of the river?" Fang Zheng watched carefully, but there was no inscription on the stone sculptures, and the shape also reflected the life of people at that time plus the imagination of totem worship.

Lian Feng said: "Because the human soul must go out of the water. It is said that in the earliest times, people came from the water."

Fang Zheng was taken aback by this simple but precise statement. Only with the knowledge of biological evolution and geological changes did later generations speculate that life first originated in the sea.However, although people in ancient times did not have this kind of scientific discovery, they had an almost intuitive and accurate cognition.

"So the jade pillars are also built in the stream..." Emperor Yao Yu's instructions are engraved on it, and a soul walks this road while reviewing its life experience.It can be seen that there is a rising water line on the top of the cave. It may have been completely submerged during the great flood, but the more the jade is washed in the water, the brighter it becomes.Timeless and fresh.

However, Fang Zheng also gradually began to have a doubt: so far, no traces of large-scale metal use have been seen.How did the above people get sick from heavy metal poisoning?

Suddenly there was a buzzing sound above the grotto, and walking forward, Fang Zheng found that the stream finally flowed out of a slightly larger cave, the cave became wider, and he swam out of the cave along the flowing water.After going ashore, I came to a fairly wide underground area.There is even a "sky", which is deep purple, and if you look closely, it is the plant vines that generate oxygen through geothermal heat.At the same time, some electric sparks were crackling in the sky, and then Fang Zheng realized that it was a natural magnetic field reacting with some ions in the air.

The magnetic field affects the "sense of direction" in the body.The creek also turned into countless trickles in this area, interweaving the ground like a net.The jade pillars that served as a guide also disappeared, replaced by many incomplete wooden structures that were washed away by the flood.

Fang Zheng had to admit that after walking for a while, he was lost by the lack of sense of direction and the disordered magnetic field between the dark purple "sky curtain" and the densely woven water swamp.

Lianfeng walked a lot more lightly.I don't know if the natural magnetic field has an effect on Lian Feng's strange bones, Lian Feng looks refreshed.The speed of recovery here exceeded his expectations.

Suddenly Fang Zheng had an idea, and took out the pointed end from the copper mask of the backpack. Although the north and south poles were not written on it, it contained some iron or nickel powder, which was a simple magnet.Although it cannot be used to guide the way in the magnetic field, it can find magnets in the direction they are attracted.

The pointed end was firmly sucked to the ground. Fang Zheng thought it was no wonder that the backpack seemed to have increased in weight. The ground they were stepping on contained a lot of natural magnetite, and this area was full of it.

Suddenly Fang Zheng felt the ground shaking, and a deafening sound thundered in his ears, almost shattering Fang Zheng's ears.That should be the source of the faint rumbling sound that Fang Zheng and the others heard below when they were on the platform above.Listening closely, it sounds like someone is beating a gong in a large basin, and this circular magnetic field is that basin.And the source of the central voice—

Fang Zheng has seen many animals of terrifying size in this era, and this is the first time he has worried about the size of that thing.

It's not big, on the contrary, compared to the thunder it released, it's too small. After seeing so many behemoths, Fang Zheng felt even more frightened.

It's normal for a colossal monster to make a loud noise, but such a small thing, with its vocal organs stretched to death, is the size of its body, how can it be so loud?

It was about the size of a chicken or a cat, with pig ears, long purple fur, and six legs.

Fang Zheng began to recall and compare nervously. What kind of strange thing is this in "Shan Hai Jing"?

Adapted from the translation of "Huainanzi" (Chen Guangzhong, Zhonghua Book Company edition)