Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner - Chapter 35
With Ma Nan saying this, Qin Ge naturally had no more doubts, and the two quickly arrived at the entrance and climbed the steps.
The Starry Sky Platform is entirely constructed of stone, so despite enduring thousands of years of wind and rain, it remains as solid as a rock. Following the passage, they quickly passed through the first platform. Qin Ge's flashlight beam shone through, revealing faint traces of stone carvings on the stone wall on one side of the high platform.
The central stone platform is the tallest, resembling a castle, with three connected stone walls. Only on the east side is there a low wall about half a person's height, which is completely unobstructed, offering an extremely wide view. Standing here, you can see the waves gently surging, and the faint starlight falling on the sea surface seems to be magnified many times over. The seawater is entwined with the starlight, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Ma Nan and Qin Ge had no time to appreciate the scenery; they had to find clues about the Ba people on this Starry Sky Platform.
This constellation platform is not large, only a dozen square meters. It has walls on three sides, and there are murals on the walls. When Qin Ge shone his flashlight on it, he could only see that they were simple lines outlining shapes. Because of the limited light source, he could not see them clearly at first.
Ma Nan took the flashlight from Qin Ge's hand, still trying to make out the contents of the murals. Qin Ge knew this work had nothing to do with him, so he stood by the low wall and gazed into the distance.
On the south wall were murals depicting "Pangu Creating the World" and "Nuwa Mending the Sky," while the north wall featured "Shennong Spearing Medicine" and "The Majesty of the Yellow Emperor." The west wall depicted "Cangjie Inventing Characters" and "Shun Plowing the Mountains at Lishan." Ma Nan was quite knowledgeable about ancient Chinese mythology. Although the flashlight couldn't illuminate the entire image, he quickly grasped the meaning from a glimpse. If this Starry Sky Terrace was indeed built under the supervision of Zhang Heng during the Han Dynasty, then these three sets of murals actually encompassed three important periods in human history before the Han Dynasty.
The legends of Pangu creating the world and Nuwa mending the sky tell of how, with the creation of heaven and earth and the human realm, life was born.
The legends of Shennong's medicinal whip and the majesty of the Yellow Emperor represent humanity's experience of a divine realm. Shennong is also known as the Yan Emperor, and he and the Yellow Emperor are considered the ancestors of the Chinese nation.
The stories of Cangjie inventing characters and Shun cultivating the land at Mount Li symbolize that humanity has broken free from ignorance and begun to move towards civilization.
Although Qin Ge quickly figured out the meaning of these murals, they were all well-known myths and legends, and the carvings were old, obviously not from recent years, so they must be unrelated to the clues he was looking for.
Could the clues be hidden inside the other two high platforms?
Ma Nan quickly dismissed the idea. The composition of the three stars of Antares resembled the positions of the three high platforms, so Ma Nan suspected that the observatory was named "Antares Platform" rather than "Star Platform." The Ba people wouldn't mistake the stars associated with Fuxi, and the clues must be hidden within the middle platform.
Perhaps there are some details on this mural that I haven't noticed, Ma Nan thought.
He examined the murals more closely, moving the beam of his flashlight inch by inch. Sure enough, it didn't take long before he discovered something unusual. In the lower right corner of the "Cangjie Invents Characters" mural, there was a small figure, about an inch square, with an animal face and a human body, standing on two dragons. His hands were clasped together, holding up an octagonal symbol.
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Ma Nan was familiar with the little figure with a beast's face and a human body, standing on two dragons. Half a year ago, he had seen the same pattern on a piece of jade. However, the little figure on the jade was holding a bone-like weapon aloft with both hands.
This little figure is Zhu Rong, the god of fire in ancient mythology.
According to legend, the fire god Zhurong guards Mount Heng in the south and is an assistant to the Fire Emperor of the East. His magical weapon is a scale rod, and he is in charge of summer.
Six months ago, Ma Nan saw Zhu Rong on that jade artifact, holding a bone in both hands. The jade artifact was called Chi Zhang, left by his adoptive father Ba Rong to his third younger brother Xie Dongcheng. Xie Dongcheng was a well-read man, yet he ran a butcher shop on the streets of Tianjin, a reclusive master. After his research, he determined that the bone symbolized the Thunder God's Hammer, a sacred object of the Ba people.
Now, on this Star Platform, Zhu Rong has changed the symbol in his hand, which immediately caught Ma Nan's attention.
First, how did the fire god Zhurong appear in the "Cangjie Invents Characters" illustrations? Although both Zhurong and Cangjie are mythological figures from the same period, Ma Nan has never seen any connection between them in any classical texts. Also, what is the significance of the symbol that Zhurong is holding up here?
Just as Ma Nan was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Qin Ge call his name from the low wall. He hurried over and saw Qin Ge leaning against the wall, staring intently at something.
"Do you see a boat over there?" Qin Ge asked.
Qin Ge had excellent eyesight, and he asked the question simply because he found it strange that a boat was floating in the sea at that moment. Ma Nan immediately saw it too; on the dark sea, a small boat was gently bobbing with the waves, swaying constantly. From above, if it weren't for the scattered starlight, the boat would almost disappear into the darkness of the sea.
The boat wasn't big, somewhat like a lifeboat at a beach resort. But lifeboats should all be securely tied to the shore at this hour, so why was it drifting alone at sea in the early hours of the morning? Moreover, there was clearly no one on board, which is why the small boat was left to drift with the current.
"Maybe the lifeboats at the bathhouse weren't properly secured and were blown away by the wind," Qin Ge muttered to himself, then shook his head, clearly dissatisfied with this explanation. Just then, he and Ma Nan simultaneously heard some sounds.
The sound was faint, mingled with the roar of the waves. But it was undeniably real, as if carried by the wind to their ears.
Qin Ge and Ma Nan exchanged a glance, both listening intently to the source of the voice. Soon, they both headed down the steps leading to the third observatory on the south side.
The sound came from the passageway connecting the two observatories.
Qin Ge and Ma Nan now recognized the sound as a clear ringtone, and both guessed it was a cell phone ringing. But on the Starry Sky Platform at this early morning, there couldn't possibly be anyone else besides them, so how could a cell phone be ringing?
The phone was on the bluestone step, and the red signal light was still flashing.
Qin Ge rushed forward, grabbed the phone, and opened the flip. He immediately knew it was a modified phone; not only did the screen not display incoming calls, but even the buttons below were sealed off.
Qin Ge frowned, realizing that both she and Ma Nan were part of someone else's plan.
He handed the phone to Ma Nan, who hesitated for a moment before bringing it to his ear to answer.
"You've arrived at Xingxiutai. Although it's a bit later than I expected, you haven't disappointed me." The voice on the phone sounded very old.
"Is the ship on the sea related to you?" Ma Nan asked bluntly.
"That ship was obviously prepared for you." The person on the phone chuckled. "You've found this place, which means you've obviously cracked the locked-room murder mystery. I told you, the clues to Chu Yan's whereabouts are hidden in the mystery of that death, so I won't go back on my word. Now, I'll return Chu Yan to you."
"Where is Chu Yan on that ship?" Ma Nan was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected finding Chu Yan to be so easy.
"That's right, you guessed it. Dealing with smart people is just so refreshing."
The voice on the phone suddenly turned stern, "Solving the mystery of the locked room and finding the Star Altar are only the second level of the game. Now, you must start preparing to enter our third level."
Ma Nan remained silent, knowing that the Ba people would never return Chu Yan to him so easily.
"Besides Chu Yan, there are some explosives on the ship. You know, of course, that your adoptive father used these explosives to kill Batu and so many of our people. When the game begins, I will give you three minutes. If you cannot reach the ship and drop the bomb within the allotted time, then Chu Yan will cease to exist in this world."
Ma Nan subconsciously turned to look at the small boat in the sea, and some beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.
"I'll give you three seconds to prepare. The timer will start the moment I hang up the phone."
"Wait!" Ma Nan shouted. "Why? Tell me why you arranged all this. Wouldn't it have been easier for you to just kill Chu Yan or me?"
"You'll understand soon, because we might meet soon."
Before Ma Nan could say anything more, the call was already disconnected.
The call ended, and the timer started. The explosives on the ship will detonate in 3 minutes.
Ma Nan glanced at his watch, then sprinted off the stage. Qin Ge, unaware of the situation, could only follow him. Ma Nan's face was terribly grim, almost desperate. He knew he couldn't save Chu Yan within three minutes.