bad seeds - Chapter 7
"To enter the Holy Chamber, one must look to this diagram."
This is clearly a map.
However, this map does not mark any directions or reference points, and it is unclear where to find the "sanctuary".
When we unfolded a map of Qinghai Province and compared it with the map, everything became clear. Those two irregular shapes were actually the outlines of the twin lakes, one fresh and one salty – Lake Kruk and Lake Tosu, without any discrepancy.
The fourth sheepskin was covered with a huge snake, and a man holding a sword stepped into the snake's mouth and cut open its heart—I still clearly remember the Neolithic site I discovered more than a week ago on the shore of Lake Kruk. This picture was exactly the same as some of the patterns on the stone carvings I found at that time. There has been no news about that site since then—a Neolithic farming village, unconventional iron tools, mysterious and ancient nomadic people, legends of divine boxes and demons. I couldn't sort out the subtle and complicated threads hidden in all of this for a while.
I didn't mention this strange thing to Ye Tong.
The last piece of parchment was another map. Although its contents were as complex as a maze, the entrance and destination were clearly marked with circles, making it much easier to understand than the previous map. However, there were no text markings on this map, and it was unclear where it would be used.
Of the five parchments, the only one we figured out was the location of the "Holy Chamber" marked on the third one. After lunch, we set off for Lake Crook, a small lake I had visited many times. It was like an ancient fairy, becoming more and more mysterious.
When Ye Tong and I left this small village near Delingha, we thought we would never come back here again in our lives.
Chapter Four - The Sanctuary
Ye Tong and I arrived at the area south of Kluk Lake and north of Tosu Lake around 3 p.m. The sky began to darken and sandstorms started to rise.
Walking through the Gobi Desert in windy and sandy weather is extremely dangerous. Apart from the oddly shaped hills of varying heights, there were no other clues around us, so we had no choice but to find the nearest hill to take shelter from the sandstorm.
We squeezed into a narrow crevice in the hill, where the wind and sand still lashed at our faces, stinging us. We had to breathe carefully, because every time we opened our mouths, a mouthful of sand would come out.
Ye Tong began moving deeper into the crevice, tugging at my clothes to signal me to follow. After walking about four or five meters, the crevice began to widen, and the sound of the wind and sand subsided. A dim band of light formed not far from the crevice opening, where the wind and sand raged. This place, however, was an ideal shelter from the wind.
The cave was pitch black. Ye Tong and I turned on our flashlights and looked around. It seemed there was still a path leading deeper into the cave, so we continued forward. The path began to slope, seemingly leading underground. After walking a dozen steps, the passage seemed bottomless. Ye Tong started to get scared, and I didn't want to be in danger before we found the "Holy Chamber," so we turned back.
Just as we emerged from the sloping passageway, Ye Tong and I simultaneously shone our flashlights onto the ceiling above the cave. Ye Tong suddenly gasped in surprise:
"Jibu!"
The ceiling of the cave was as smooth as if it had been polished, and in its very center was carved a strange symbol.
This symbol suddenly seems somewhat familiar to me.
Ye Tong was still staring blankly at the symbol, lost in thought. I took out my laptop from my backpack and looked through the photos I had taken at the excavation site of the ancient village of Kruk Lake. The dozen or so photos of the wall carvings from various angles immediately brought back my memories—the wall carvings, the wall carvings with six human figures.
Each human figure has a symbol at the bottom right corner, and the symbol at the feet of the second human figure from the left is extremely similar to the symbol found on the ceiling of the cave.
Ye Tong suddenly snatched the laptop from her. Staring in astonishment at the carved patterns, she asked:
"How did you get such a photo? Where was it taken? This is a picture representing the six great gods worshipped in our tribe!"
After I told Ye Tong everything about my interview at the Crook Lake ruins, she explained to me the meaning of the various symbols and human figures in the wall carvings:
“Our tribe worships six gods, whom we call the ‘Six Great Gods of Demilch.’ The first symbol from the left in this painting represents ‘Gudom, the god of light,’ the second is ‘Jibu, the god of wisdom,’ the first from the right is ‘Boy, the god of flight,’ the second is ‘Sijika, the god of fire,’ the third is ‘Diro, the god of water,’ and the tallest one in the middle is the head of the six gods, ‘Leseer, the god of prophecy.’”
"So your ancestors were a tribe that farmed around Lake Kruk, but why do your people say you are a nomadic people who wander around?" I asked.
“I haven’t heard my people talk about these things either. You know, a nomadic people’s memories of their ancestors are always vague. I think it’s because the land around Lake Kruk later became desertified and no longer suitable for farming, so our people started to roam around.”
“I also saw the image of walking into the snake’s mouth and cutting open its heart on the wall carvings of the ruins. That might be the so-called ‘exorcising demons’. It’s amazing that your tribe had this mission more than 8,000 years ago and it has been passed down to this day. Every few hundred years, a ‘warrior’ is really selected. It’s quite a serious matter. Could it be that ‘demons’ really exist?”
"I don't know either." Ye Tong seemed a little hesitant. "Let's look for the 'Holy Chamber' first. With these clues, it shouldn't be too hard to find it."
The wind outside the cave gradually subsided, and the sky began to brighten. Dust floated in the air and danced with the wind. The vast Gobi Desert remained as desolate as ever, concealing countless mysteries.
Looking around, we saw five hills of different shapes, about three or four hundred meters apart, arranged in a plum blossom pattern, with a very low hill in the center.
We headed straight for the hill, and when we got closer, the hill was surprisingly high.
It's not even as tall as a person, let alone a cave entrance.
"Hey, has the cave entrance been buried by sandstorms?"
"Impossible! Look at this!" Ye Tong shouted.
Following the direction of Ye Tong's finger, one can discern the blurry symbols carved on the sedimentary rock. After thousands of years of erosion and weathering, they are as inconspicuous as some ordinary cracks. These are the symbols representing the "God of Prophecy," the head of the six gods.
"What's the name of your 'god of prophecy' again?" I asked.
"Come here!" Ye Tong shouted.
Suddenly, the hill shifted nearly a meter, revealing a dark hole.
Ye Tong and I looked at each other in bewilderment.
This kind of plot, which originally only existed in movies like Indiana Jones, actually happened to ordinary people like me and Ye Tong.
Things are getting increasingly bizarre.
The moment I crawled into the hole, I suddenly had a very ominous premonition.
Not long after we entered the cave, the small hill above the entrance moved back to its original position on its own. The cave was completely dark, so Ye Tong and I turned on our flashlights.
We had to walk through a rather narrow passageway, which was very steep, and we had to be extremely careful to avoid the danger of slipping.
The “Holy Chamber” is deep underground; we’ve already walked several hundred meters.
I remained silent, my mind filled with doubts. If all of this was real and not a hoax, it would be too incredible—the magical voice-activated door at the entrance alone made me feel as if I had entered an ancient Arabian fairy tale world.
When I finally stepped onto the sandy ground at the bottom of the cave, I was immediately stunned by the sight before me, so much so that Ye Tong bumped into me from behind and almost knocked me to the ground.