No toques a mi hombre

Capítulo 6

Jenny was more easygoing. Seeing that things had come to this point, she stopped worrying and suggested that we find a place to have some fun and relax that evening. Perhaps once we were more relaxed, the problem would naturally resolve itself. We naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

That evening, Dunzi had booked a table in advance at the Heaven on Earth entertainment club in Huanglong. We drank 12-year-old Chivas Regal while enjoying the wonderful performance by the band and artists on stage. Perhaps infected by the atmosphere, everyone's bodies involuntarily swayed to the rhythm of the crowd on the dance floor. Finally, Dunzi simply invited Jenny to squeeze into the center of the dance floor with him and dance to the music. Abao and I remained in our seats, drinking and chatting.

But for some reason, I couldn't shake the thought of the white jade seal. I kept thinking about it, and my head felt a little throbbing. So I went to the restroom to wash my face and clear my head. As soon as I looked up and saw myself in the mirror, something suddenly occurred to me. I thought about it carefully and realized I was right, so I happily ran back to our private room.

By this time, Dunzi and Jenny had returned, both seemingly having had a great time. Perhaps because they had sweated so much, they were both very thirsty, as they were devouring the fruit from the fruit platter. They were quite surprised to see me rush in. When I told them that I might have found a proper way to observe that luminous phenomenon, they were all very excited, and quickly settled the bill before returning to Dunzi's antique shop.

As soon as I entered, Dunzi eagerly asked me what was going on. So I smiled and said, "According to ancient records, there was an item called a 'light-transmitting mirror' in ancient times. Do you know it?" Dunzi and Abao both shook their heads. Then Jenny said, "I think I've read about this before. A light-transmitting mirror looks similar to an ordinary bronze mirror used by people in ancient times. However, when the light shining on its surface is reflected onto a wall, people can see that the light and shadow on the wall are exactly the same as the raised and recessed patterns cast on its back, as if the pattern on the back is projected onto the wall through the mirror."

"That's right, this is the light-transmitting mirror I was talking about." I said excitedly, "But in fact, this kind of light-transmitting mirror is not actually transparent. Through the research and verification of experts and scholars, it was finally discovered that its projection principle is actually very simple. The craftsmen who made the light-transmitting mirror deliberately made some uneven patterns on the surface of the mirror, and the pattern is exactly the same as the pattern on the back of the mirror. However, these patterns are made so fine and smooth that they cannot be seen with the naked eye unless observed with a high-powered magnifying glass." I paused for a moment and continued, "It is precisely because of the unevenness of the mirror surface that when it reflects light onto the wall, it presents the same pattern as the back of the mirror."

Dunzi still seemed not to understand what I was saying, and looked at me with a puzzled expression, saying, "What do you mean by what you're saying and the glowing phenomenon of these two white jade seals?" "Of course." As I took the two white jade seals into my hands, I asked Abao next to me to turn off all the lights in the room.

"I suspect that the outer surfaces of these two jade seals have undergone special processing, which is not visible to the naked eye." Using the faint moonlight streaming through the window, I applied a little acidic solution to the two white jade seals as I explained, "But when the white jade seals emit light, if we project the light and shadow onto a flat surface, we can see what we want to see." With that, I picked up a piece of white paper and slowly moved it towards one side of the two seals. After trying three sides, I finally saw a hazy light and shadow projected onto the white paper from one of the sides of the white jade seals.

30. Mysterious Dot Array

I was incredibly excited to see that my prediction had been confirmed. Jenny and the others were also extremely excited, repeatedly shouting "Long live victory!" Afterwards, I had Dunzi hold the stamp while I carefully adjusted the projection distance between the paper and the stamp.

After careful adjustments several times, we finally found the optimal projection distance. The light and shadow projected onto the white paper were also much clearer than before. We initially thought it would be a detailed map or description of the treasure's location, but when we got closer to take a closer look, we realized it wasn't like that at all. Several dots were clearly projected onto the white paper, half solid and half hollow. It looked more like a square Go board and Go pieces.

"What kind of map is this?" Dunzi asked, puzzled. I was also confused and looked at Jenny. Jenny seemed to know nothing about it either. "Things seem to be getting more and more complicated," Abao said with a frown.

I carefully observed the dotted patterns projected by the two seals and copied them onto another sheet of paper. Then I studied the two dotted patterns closely. In terms of appearance, the two patterns were very similar, both composed of roughly the same number of solid and hollow dots.

The first image has fewer dots; I counted 55 in total, 25 solid and 20 hollow. There are four solid dots in the upper left, three hollow dots in the center left, and eight solid dots in the lower left. There are nine hollow dots at the top, five in the center, and one at the bottom. There are two solid dots in the upper right, seven hollow dots in the center right, and six solid dots in the lower right.

The second image has a relatively larger number of dots. There are sixty-five dots in total. On the far left are eight solid dots, and a little to the right are three hollow dots. On the far right are nine hollow dots, and a little to the left are four solid dots. In the middle, at the top are seven hollow dots, below that are two solid dots, then five solid dots, then five hollow dots, then five solid dots, then one hollow dot, and at the bottom are six solid dots.

These dots, some solid, some sparse, some odd, some even, seemed to be arranged according to some very orderly pattern. From a distance, they looked like a diagram of an array composed of dots. Dunzi glanced at them and said half-jokingly, "So there's no treasure map at all. It looks more like the Big Dipper Formation of the Seven Immortals of Quanzhen. Could it be that people have mistakenly passed down a military formation diagram left by our ancestors as a treasure map through generations of oral tradition?"

His mention of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen Taoism reminded me. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the two diagrams looked remarkably similar to some of the illustrations in the book *Five Planets Divination* that the patrolling Taoist priest had taught me. *Five Planets Divination* is a remarkable book compiled by combining the Five Elements of the I Ching with celestial layout. Its thought is profound and extensive. It fully utilizes the dialectical unity of Yin and Yang in the I Ching, combining astrology with divination techniques. It links the seventy-two stars with the sixty-four hexagrams, allowing one to predict good and bad fortune by observing astrological signs.

Perhaps these two dot matrix diagrams have some inherent connection to the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams. Thinking this, I took out my copy of *The Five Planets Divination* and carefully examined them. I discovered that the layout of the dot matrix was quite ingenious, especially the first diagram. Whether horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, the sum of the three groups of dots on it was always fifteen, quite consistent with the Nine Palaces divination rules. However, its details differed from the star charts drawn in *The Five Planets Divination*. It seemed that the transformations of these star charts were derived from these two strange dot matrix diagrams, and their core ideas seemed to surpass even those in *The Five Planets Divination*.

These two diagrams seem to have a significant origin, possibly being the source of the "Five Planets Divination" book. The creator of "Five Planets Divination" may have seen these two diagrams, or similar ones, and then combined them with star charts to compile this extraordinary Taoist book.

Seeing that it was getting late, I made several copies of the two peculiar dot matrix drawings I had hand-drawn and gave one to each of Dunzi and the others. We agreed that we would split up over the next few days, whether by researching or asking around, to try and figure out the origins of these two drawings. Then everyone went their separate ways.

On my way home, I thought about it. Since these two strange dot matrix diagrams might have some connection with the "Five Planets Divination," the Taoist priest who taught me the "Five Planets Divination" might have a better understanding of these diagrams. With that in mind, I decided to go to Zhenyuan Temple again and ask the Taoist priest about the relevant matters. Perhaps I would find it quite rewarding.

The next day, I trekked through mountains and rivers, carrying the two dot matrix diagrams I had drawn, and arrived at Zhenyuan Temple. The patrolling Taoist priest was very pleased to see me. After a brief exchange of greetings and small talk, he asked about my recent progress regarding the white jade seal. So I told him about obtaining the two dot matrix diagrams from the jade seal, and also mentioned that, based on my observations, these two diagrams seemed to have a strong connection to the *Five Planets Divination*. After saying this, I took out the two dot matrix diagrams I had brought with me and handed them to the Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest took the drawings, glanced at them briefly, and immediately smiled and told me, "Your judgment was absolutely correct. These two drawings do indeed have a significant origin." As he folded the drawings and returned them to me, he continued, "These two drawings are indeed closely related to the Five Planets Divination. If we trace their origins, these two drawings should indeed be the source of the Five Planets Divination."

Upon hearing that the Taoist priest knew about the two diagrams, I was overjoyed and immediately asked, "What exactly are these two diagrams? What secrets do they hold? And how did they become the origin of the Five Planets Divination?" Seeing my eagerness, the Taoist priest patted my shoulder and said, "Don't rush, let me tell you slowly. These two diagrams are said to have existed since ancient times. The first one, with sixty-five dots, is called the 'Hetu' (River Diagram), and the second one, with fifty-five dots, is called the 'Luoshu' (Luo River Diagram)."

31. Luoshu River

"There are many different legends about the origin of these two pictures, but the most common one is," the Taoist priest paused slightly before continuing, "that long ago, there was a place called Mengjin on the banks of the Yellow River north of Luoyang. One year, a huge monster crawled out of the Yellow River. This monster was exceptionally large; it could swallow a living person with one mouth, and when it rolled around, all the crops in the fields would be ruined. From then on, the fields here gradually became barren, and the people suffered greatly, unable to make a living."

The Taoist priest continued, "The monster was causing such trouble that everyone had nowhere to live, so they had to seek help from Fuxi. After listening to everyone's stories, Fuxi quickly took his sword and came to the riverbank to subdue the monster. But the monster turned out to be the dragon-horse from the Yellow River. Seeing Fuxi standing before him wielding his sword, it knew it couldn't escape and immediately prostrated itself, begging Fuxi to spare its life. It promised to bring Fuxi a treasure from the Yellow River if he released it. Fuxi said he didn't need any treasure, only that the dragon-horse would stop harming the people. The dragon-horse agreed and then submerged into the river. A few days later, it indeed returned with a jade tablet to present to Fuxi. Fuxi couldn't immediately decipher the black dots and patterns on the jade tablet, only knowing that it was a treasure from the Yellow River, so he named the jade tablet 'Hetu' (River Map)."

"After that, Fuxi and the dragon horse formed a deep friendship. Fuxi often visited the dragon horse. One day, Fuxi carefully examined the patterns on the dragon horse's body and pondered the patterns on the Hetu diagram. He immediately understood the Bagua diagram. It is said that Fuxi also wrote a book called the Yijing based on his knowledge of the Bagua. Later, it was improved by King Wen of Zhou at the end of the Shang Dynasty and became the Yijing of today, which has been widely circulated ever since."

After listening to the explanation from the Taoist priest, I nodded repeatedly and said, "I see. So where did the 'Luoshu' come from?" The Taoist priest replied, "As for the 'Luoshu,' it all started with Yu the Great's flood control efforts."

"One summer, Yu the Great opened the Dragon Gate to dredge the river. The lake formed south of the Dragon Gate by the Yi River flowed into the Luo River. As the lake gradually became shallower, a turtle the size of a millstone emerged from the bottom. Yu the Great's men saw it and hurriedly drew their swords to cut it down, but Yu the Great stopped them. Seeing that this sacred turtle had never done anything bad to the people, Yu the Great released it into the Luo River. Not long after, one day, the entire city of Luoyang was shrouded in a thick fog. Yu the Great led his men to the banks of the Luo River to inspect the water conditions. Suddenly, a beam of five-colored light rose from the foggy Luo River. Then, the fog in the air dissipated. Yu the Great looked closely and saw that where the light had risen, a sacred turtle had emerged, the very same turtle he had released a few days earlier. And the light was emanating from a jade tablet carried on the turtle's back."

"It turns out that the spirit turtle that was rescued that day, in order to repay Yu the Great, presented this jade tablet to him as a token of gratitude for not killing him. Since this jade tablet came from the Luo River, Yu the Great named it the 'Luo Shu' (Luo River Writing). There are fifty-five red characters in the 'Luo Shu,' none of which Yu the Great recognized. After repeated contemplation, he sorted out nine aspects of its content, including calendar systems, grain cultivation, and the formulation of laws. Later, based on the nine major principles of the 'Luo Shu,' the ancients compiled a scientific code of law—the 'Hong Fan Pian' (Great Plan). This book has been passed down to this day."

I nodded to indicate that I understood. The Taoist priest then continued, "Because the legends of the 'Luoshu' and 'Hetu' are quite similar, and their core ideas are also very close, people later regarded them as the earliest prototypes of the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams. The 'Five Planets Divination' that I am passing on to you is also a remarkable book written by an ancient Taoist master based on the ideas of the I Ching, combined with the laws of astronomical changes. Fundamentally, the I Ching was born from the 'Luoshu and Hetu,' and the 'Five Planets Divination' was born from the I Ching. Therefore, the root of the 'Five Planets Divination' is the 'Luoshu and Hetu.'"

“No wonder I see many similarities between the star charts in the *Five Planets Divination* and this ‘Luoshu Hetu’,” I exclaimed, suddenly realizing. The Taoist priest smiled and nodded in agreement. “So what secrets does this ‘Luoshu Hetu’ hold, and how is it related to the treasure map of the Tomb Raider General?” I asked again. The Taoist priest pondered for a moment, then replied, “I’m not entirely sure. However, since the Tomb Raider General hid the secret of this treasure location within this ‘Luoshu Hetu,’ we can deduce that its mysteries must be closely related to the changes in the *I Ching*.”

After listening, I felt that what the Taoist priest said made a lot of sense, so I asked him for information about the principles of the I Ching and divination. When the Taoist priest heard that I was asking him about the principles of the I Ching and divination, he did not answer my question immediately. Instead, he thought for a moment before saying, "The principles of the I Ching are the soul of Chinese martial arts and the root of all classics. Its ideas are profound and unfathomable, and its theories encompass all things. It cannot be explained clearly in a single word or phrase, nor can it be understood in a day or two."

I nodded after listening. The Taoist priest continued, "The soul of the so-called *I Ching* lies in the word 'Yi' (易). Yi means change and transformation. All things in heaven and earth are constantly changing, with yin and yang interacting. Only when heaven and earth are in harmony, and yin and yang are in balance, can all things be born according to the Dao. This is the principle that the *I Ching* expounds." As he spoke, the priest picked up a cup of tea from the table, took a slow sip, and continued, "The ideas of the *I Ching* can be applied everywhere, just like drinking tea. You can't be too hasty or too slow. If you're too hasty, the tea will be too hot; if you're too slow, the tea will cool down and lose its flavor. The *I Ching* also explains the principle that a balance must be reached between heaven and earth, yin and yang, for everything to go smoothly and auspiciously."

After listening to the Taoist priest's words, I felt I had benefited greatly. So I decided to go back to my lodgings first to study and research the Book of Changes, and then see what progress Jenny and Dunzi had made.

Back in Hangzhou, I first called Dunzi. He said he was at the library and had found quite a few clues, and invited me to come over and take a look. About an hour later, we met at the Zhejiang Provincial Library. Dunzi was hunched over a desk in the library, copying and writing, with a large pile of books and materials in front of him.

As soon as he saw me, he quickly pulled me to sit down in the seat next to him. Then he pushed a notebook in front of him towards me and said smugly, "Brother, I finally know what these two pictures are." "The Luo River Map and the He River Map," I replied calmly. "So you already know everything?" I nodded with a smile, and then briefly explained how I had asked the patrolling Taoist priest for advice. Dunzi listened with a hint of disappointment and said, "I thought I could figure things out before you this time, but I didn't expect you to have a benefactor."

I smiled and said, "However, just knowing what these two pictures are isn't enough to solve the mystery of this treasure trove. We need to put in some effort to carefully study the principles of the I Ching contained within them, and find out the underlying laws before we can possibly locate the treasure." Dunzi laughed and replied, "I've been thinking about that for a while now. See if these books on I Ching diagrams will keep you busy for a while?" He then gently patted the large pile of books and materials on the table. I saw that they were mostly books explaining the principles of the I Ching, such as *Zhouyi Jizhu*, *Yijing Tujie*, and *Lianshan Kao*, and I smiled and said, "Dunzi understands me best."

32. Initial Signs

Two days later, Jenny rushed to Dunzi's antique shop, telling us she had made a major discovery. At that moment, Dunzi and I were engrossed in studying the *I Ching*, but its profound and all-encompassing philosophy left us struggling to find a way to unravel the mystery of the treasure map on the white jade seal. Hearing Jenny's words, we were instantly jolted, all our previous frustration vanishing. Dunzi immediately asked Jenny for details, saying, "Miss Jenny, you said you've found an important clue, what exactly is it?"

Jenny smiled, took a stack of documents out of her bag, threw them in front of us, and said, "Here, this is it." Dunzi and I picked up the documents and saw that they were the photos of the manuscript of the Tomb Raider General that Jenny had shown us before. We were completely baffled, so I asked, "Aren't these the manuscript photos you showed us before? Did you find some new clues in these photos?" Jenny nodded and said, "Yes, I've been studying these manuscripts for many years, but I still can't understand the strange patterns on them." As she spoke, she picked up a few manuscript photos, pointed to some of the figures on them, and continued, "Later, I looked for related clues based on the two patterns you drew from the light projected from the white jade seal. After a period of investigation and research, I finally understood that these two figures are the so-called 'Hetu Luoshu.' Just then, I suddenly remembered that the composition of the 'Luoshu' and 'Hetu' was somewhat similar to the patterns on some of the manuscripts, so I took out the manuscripts and the 'Hetu Luoshu' to compare them. And sure enough, I saw something."

She spread all the manuscripts out on the table, then quickly picked out several photographs of manuscripts with special patterns, and lined them up in front of me and Dunzi. We carefully examined the patterns in each photograph and found that they did indeed resemble the 'Luoshu and Hetu' that we had seen. However, these patterns were drawn with squares or lines, instead of using dots like the 'Luoshu and Hetu,' and each pattern was not complete; they all seemed to be only parts of the 'Luoshu' or 'Hetu.'

Jenny then added, "Take a closer look and see if you can find any commonalities among these partial 'Luoshu' and 'Hetu' diagrams?" "Commonalities?" Dunzi looked at them several times and said, "I still can't figure it out." "Stop being so mysterious and tell me what the secret is," I said bluntly.

Seeing that we had all surrendered, Jenny stopped teasing us and said with a smile, "These past few days I've carefully compared these patterns with the 'Hetu Luoshu' and discovered that if you replace the squares and lines with hollow and solid dots, these patterns are almost all part of the 'Hetu' and 'Luoshu,' and each missing part corresponds to a dot of the same nature. For example, if the missing part is a solid dot in a certain section of the 'Hetu,' then there will never be a missing hollow dot, and vice versa."

After listening to Jenny, I looked closely and found it to be true. So I asked, "And then, what else did you find?" "That's all I found. Now it's up to you to figure out what you can deduce from it." Jenny smiled and replied, "But I suspect that these incomplete parts happen to be complete numbers. Could these numbers be related to clues about the hidden treasure?"

Hearing Jenny's words, I suddenly remembered studying these manuscripts carefully at my place some time ago. I had translated most of the content, but a small portion of the text seemed chaotic and incomprehensible. Since it was chaotic, it meant disorder, and finding the order meant finding some kind of sequential arrangement. Could these numbers be that lost reading order? Shouldn't these words be read in a specific order, not the conventional one, to be understood? Thinking this, I looked more closely at the photographs of the manuscripts with strange patterns and realized that these patterned manuscripts were precisely those I couldn't read properly, those with chaotic and incoherent sentences. Then, it dawned on me, and I exclaimed, "I know!"

When Jenny and the others heard that I had made a new breakthrough, they quickly gathered around to ask what new clues I had discovered. So I pulled out those previously undecipherable, jumbled manuscripts and said, "When I was studying these manuscripts before, seventy or eighty percent of the content had already been translated and explained, mostly about ancient Yin-Yang numerology, astronomy, and the layout of burial sites. But the remaining twenty or thirty percent was still jumbled and incomprehensible. Now that Jenny has said this, I wonder if this jumbled content shouldn't be read in our usual reading order, but rather in the order of the numbers contained in these strange patterns?"

After my explanation, everyone else agreed. So I arranged each manuscript on the table according to the numbers shown on its diagram, following the nine-palace order derived from the I Ching hexagrams. Then Jenny asked, "So, which manuscript should we start with?" I smiled and deliberately asked Dunzi, "Dunzi, what do you think?" Dunzi thought for a moment and said, "Since it's arranged according to the nine-palace order of the hexagrams, we should naturally look at it according to the order of the hexagrams. The first hexagram in the I Ching is Qian, so let's start with the Qian position." I smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Now that the page order of the manuscript is set, should the order of the words on each page also follow this pattern?" Jenny asked, looking at the photograph of the manuscript in its ordered sequence. "I'm not entirely sure either, but let's try it out for now." After saying that, I started to find the words on the first manuscript one by one in a nine-square grid, while Dunzi wrote them down in order with a pen.

After about half an hour, we finally found all the characters. Dunzi counted the characters he had written down on the paper and said, "There are thirty-two characters in total, but there are no punctuation marks. I don't know where to pause."

I took the paper from his hand, carefully looked at the written words, pondered for a moment, and then said, "The ancients generally liked to write poems to record events. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, quatrains and regulated poems were not yet mature. At that time, people generally liked to write poems with four characters per line. I remember Cao Cao had a poem called 'Watching the Sea,' which was written with four characters per line."

I recalled for a moment, then recited: "I stand on the eastern cliffs of Jieshi to gaze upon the vast sea. How calm and boundless the waters are! How lofty the mountains and islands stand! Trees grow in abundance, and grasses flourish. The autumn wind is bleak, and the waves surge high. The sun and moon seem to rise from within it. The Milky Way shines brightly, as if emerging from its depths. How fortunate I am! I sing this song to express my aspirations."

When Dunzi heard me say that, he imitated me, looked at the white paper with thirty-two characters written on it, and read it aloud in four-character pauses: "The tortoise lies on the Si River, the sparrow dwells on the Wu Mountain. From the Deer Terrace, one can see the primordial chaos. Frosty stones form the gate, and gnarled trees block out the sun. The Ba Snake coils up, and strange beasts observe the sky."

Dunzi read aloud with obvious excitement. We were overjoyed; all our hard work over the past few days had finally paid off. Jenny was so moved that she shed tears. She said that if her grandfather were still alive, he would be so happy.

The secret of the treasure map has been revealed. The remaining task is to follow the clues described in the poem to find the location of the tomb raider's treasure.

Thirty-three, The Journey

Next, to save time, we quickly divided the tasks. Dunzi and I were responsible for figuring out the approximate location of the treasure based on the treasure poem, while Jenny and Abao were responsible for preparing the equipment and treasure hunting gear. Before parting, Dunzi specifically reminded us not to forget to prepare a few gas masks.

The poem's first two lines, "The tortoise lies on the Si River, the sparrow dwells on Mount Wu," contain two place names. Based on these names, we first searched online. We thought this would give us a rough idea of the county or city where the treasure was located, but to our surprise, we discovered that Si River is actually a place name in Shandong Province, while Mount Wu is a place name in Chongqing. This confused Dunzi and me. How could one treasure location appear in two different places?

"Could it be that there's more than one location for the treasure?" Dunzi asked me, puzzled. I shook my head and said, "That doesn't seem logical. This one treasure location is already very well hidden and reliable; there's no need to create another one." Dunzi nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right. Then why are there two place names here? Are those two old tomb raiders just bored and deliberately using place names to trick us?"

When I heard Dunzi ask that, I suddenly seemed to realize something, so I said, "Do you think the Sishui and Wushan mentioned in this poem might not be the Sishui and Wushan we know now?" Dunzi seemed even more confused by what I said, so he asked, "What do you mean?" "I mean, the Sishui and Wushan mentioned in this poem might be a different Sishui and Wushan altogether, not the Sishui in Shandong or the Wushan in Chongqing." I paused slightly and then added, "Our country has a vast territory and countless mountains and rivers. Many place names are repeated, especially for small mountains and rivers, where the probability of duplicate names is very high. Perhaps the Sishui and Wushan are just a mountain peak and a small river in a certain place."

After I explained it this way, Dunzi began to understand and nodded repeatedly, saying, "That's the only way to explain it; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense." But after a while, Dunzi seemed to have thought of something again, so he asked, "Then how can we find out which Sishui and Wushan are being referred to?" Actually, I had already anticipated that he would ask this, so I smiled and said, "The old way, go to the library and check the local history." After saying that, I grabbed his hand and we walked out the door together.

Two days later, Jenny and Abao had prepared all their equipment. Dunzi and I also looked up several places in the library's local history books that were said to be near the Sishui or Wushan Mountains. After careful analysis and elimination, we finally decided on a place called Yelanggou in the Nianzishan area, where Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang meet. Once everything was ready, we hurriedly boarded a plane heading north.

The plane could only fly to Qiqihar; the remaining journey to Nianzishan could only be done by local bus. These buses usually had four seats per row, with an aisle in between. Dunzi and I sat in one row, while Jenny and Abao sat in the row in front of us. All the seats were already taken, but it seemed there were more locals than passengers, so the entire bus was filled with almost the same Northeastern accent.

The four of us sat in the car chatting, admiring the beautiful rural scenery outside the window. Unlike the south, where the fields stretch as far as the eye can see, with vast expanses of lush rice paddies dotted with mirror-like ponds, here the countryside is a boundless expanse of rolling plains. Often, we could drive hundreds of miles without seeing a single village. At the edge of the plains stretched a continuous mountain range. These majestic mountains were unlike the foothills of the south; their continuous grandeur and imposing shapes were something the southern foothills could never match.

Having grown up in the south, I had never seen such majestic mountains or such vast, boundless plains. Driving along, I was completely immersed in the enchanting northern scenery outside the car window. Dunzi, on the other hand, was busy gnawing on a braised chicken leg, seemingly oblivious to the view outside the window, except for the food.

The car had been driving for over an hour. I was tilting my head to look at the scenery, and my neck started to ache, so I wiggled it a few times to loosen it up. Just then, I noticed an old man across the aisle looking pale, sweating profusely, and nauseous. So I nudged Dunzi, who was sitting by the aisle, with my elbow and said, "Look at this old man next to you, he doesn't seem to be doing well." Dunzi turned around and looked at the old man, then asked, "Sir, are you feeling unwell?" "Yes, my head is really dizzy, and my stomach is churning. I feel nauseous," the old man replied weakly, his eyes half-closed. Hearing this, we figured he was probably carsick. So I took out a first-aid kit from my bag, took out two motion sickness pills, and had Dunzi hand them to him. Seeing that we had the pills, the old man thanked us and took them, swallowing them with his own tea.

After about ten minutes, the motion sickness medication took effect, and the old man's complexion gradually returned to normal. He was even able to exchange a few words with us from time to time. We chatted with him for a while and learned that he lived in the Nianzishan area. He had just returned from visiting his youngest son's grandson in Qiqihar. Because he rarely travels far and usually relies on a donkey cart for transportation, he became extremely carsick as soon as he boarded the bus.

When he heard we were going to Wolf Gully, his relaxed expression turned tense. He said Wolf Gully was a spur of the Greater Khingan Mountains, basically a primeval forest. There were many wolf packs there, coming from the Mongolian border. Every year, there were numerous reports of people who strayed into Wolf Gully and were devoured by the wolves. Then he asked us why we wanted to go to that desolate place.

Dunzi looked a little nervous after hearing this, and couldn't think of a reply for a moment, so he couldn't help but turn around and look at me. I smiled at Dunzi, and then said to the old man, "Grandpa, we are engaged in biological research. This time we went to Wild Wolf Gully to observe the activity patterns and living habits of the Mongolian wolf pack, so as to better protect the ecological and natural environment of this area."

Hearing my explanation, the old man finally relaxed. Dunzi, on the other hand, kept secretly chuckling to himself, and whispered to me, "You're really something, kid. You can lie without even thinking, haha." "Stop laughing," I said, glaring at Dunzi to tell him to tone it down and not let anyone see through our act. At this moment, Jenny and Abao probably overheard our conversation and started laughing heartily with their heads down.

Then, the old man invited us to Nianzishan to stay at his home for the night, and then he would find someone to take us to the border of Wild Wolf Gully. We were naturally overjoyed to hear that we had a place to stay for our first stop, and that a guide would lead us into the mountains. I said, "Grandpa, thank you so much! We were worried about not having a place to stay for our first stop." "Don't mention it," the old man replied with a smile. "I should thank you for the pills. I feel much better now. Otherwise, if this car had driven all the way to Nianzishan, it would have worn out my old bones." He continued, "We mountain people rely on these mountains for our livelihood. You're taking such a big risk to go into the mountains to study the wolf packs, protect the mountains, and protect the environment. That's protecting us. You're all wonderful people; God will bless you." Hearing the old man say this, I felt a little embarrassed, my face flushing. Dunzi, on the other hand, was already laughing so hard he couldn't speak.

34. Nianzishan

The car bumped along for four or five hours through the desolate wilderness before entering the mountains. It slowly climbed over towering peaks along the narrow, steep mountain road, finally stopping beside a stream in a valley. The old man pointed to the highest peak outside the window and said, "This is the main peak of Nianzi Mountain. Because the summit is made of bare, massive rocks, resembling a giant millstone, it's called Nianzi Mountain."

I looked in the direction he pointed and saw that the mountain range here was very unique. The mountains were tall and continuous, seemingly without end. The mountains were covered with dense shrubs and coniferous forests. Once a person entered these mountains and got lost, there was no way they could ever get out.

The old man then led us off the vehicle and along a muddy path beside the stream. Along the way, he told us many stories about Nianzi Mountain, especially a particularly moving legend. He said that long ago, this area was a plain. Later, Qin Shi Huang, in his quest for immortality, summoned nine demonic dragons from the underworld to battle the immortals of Penglai Mountain. Just as the nine dragons were about to win, the Jade Emperor somehow learned of this. He ordered Erlang Shen and the Giant Spirit to move several giant peaks from the Taihang and Kunlun Mountains, imprisoning the nine dragons beneath them. From then on, these continuous mountain ranges that imprisoned the dragons came to be. The main peak was originally called Nianlong Mountain (Dragon-Piercing Mountain) because during the feudal dynasties, people regarded the dragon as a symbol of the emperor. Later, when Emperor Qianlong came here to hunt, he heard the name and felt that Nianlong Mountain was unlucky for him, so he changed the name to Nianzi Mountain (Mountain of Millstone). The name Nianzi Mountain has remained to this day.

As we walked, the old man tirelessly told us about the stories and customs of the Nianzishan area. We were gradually drawn in by the beautiful scenery and the simple, honest people. Only Dunzi seemed uninterested. Perhaps he felt he hadn't had enough to eat on the bus; along the way, whenever he saw ripe wild fruit growing on the roadside trees and weeds, he would pick a few and eat them with relish.

After walking for about half an hour, we finally saw a few scattered houses on the other side of the stream. I counted about seven or eight houses. At this moment, the old man pointed to one of the houses and said, "Look, that house is our home."

Arriving at the old man's house, we discovered it was an old-fashioned dwelling. It consisted of three large brick rooms, a woodshed, and a kitchen. Outside was a very neat courtyard, surrounded by a wall made of piled stones, about a person's height. The old man's wife was also a hospitable person. Seeing that the old man had brought us, guests from outside the mountains, back home, she was very polite, inviting us to sit on the kang (heated brick bed) before going to fetch water and cook.

As we cracked open the sunflower seeds the old man had grown himself, we chatted with him and began asking him if there were any places nearby called Sishui and Wushan. After listening, the old man thought carefully for a long time and said, "There is a small river south of Wild Wolf Gully. The people here call it 'Corpse River,' and it seems that it was indeed called 'Sishui' a long time ago."

Upon hearing the words "Corpse River," Dunzi felt uneasy and immediately asked the old man why a perfectly good river would have such a strange name, as it sounded very ominous. The old man frowned and replied, "You don't know this, but for some reason, the river south of Wild Wolf Gully is always black, and its banks are almost barren. Animal carcasses often float downstream." He paused briefly, then continued, "According to the older generation, nine demonic dragons imprisoned under Nianzi Mountain harbored resentment and transformed their venom into a poisonous pool. The water in the 'Corpse River' flows from that pool. Later, because the pronunciation of 'Si' and 'corpse' is similar, the locals gradually stopped calling it 'Si River' and instead called this river, where corpses float on its surface year-round, 'Corpse River.'"

After hearing this, Dunzi seemed not to believe that such a strange thing could happen. He muttered to himself, "Where in this world are there any demonic dragons? Those animal corpses were probably chased by wolves and fell into the river to drown." After saying that, he cracked open a peanut and put it in his mouth.

Then Jenny asked, "Grandpa, have you ever heard of a mountain called 'Wushan' in this area?" "'Wushan'?" The old man frowned and thought for a long time, but he couldn't remember such a name. So he shook his head and said with a smile, "There are Pear Mountain, Hat Mountain, Beimang Mountain, and so on in this Nianzishan area, but I have never heard of a mountain called 'Wushan'."

Hearing the old man's words, I began to worry. Had we come to the wrong place? But according to our investigation, this was the most likely location for the tomb raider's treasure. According to local historical records, other places with "Sishui" in their names, let alone "Wushan," were just plains without any mountains. Only this place had the highest probability. Thinking this way, I stopped worrying and decided to take it one step at a time.

Darkness falls quickly in the mountains, and evening arrived in the blink of an eye. We ate the Northeastern farm-style dishes the old lady had prepared for us while planning our next steps. After dinner, as the four of us rested in the courtyard outside, Jenny asked me, "Sinan, what do you think our next step should be?"

I pondered for a while and then said softly, "The first two lines of the treasure poem, 'The tortoise lies on the Si River, the sparrow dwells on Mount Wu,' suggest that the sparrow, according to my deduction, should be the Vermilion Bird of ancient times, and the tortoise is naturally the Black Tortoise. In ancient times, there was a saying: Eastern Azure Dragon, Western White Tiger, Southern Vermilion Bird, and Northern Black Tortoise. So the Black Tortoise represents the north, and the Vermilion Bird represents the south. In this light, the approximate location of the treasure should be north of the Si River and south of Mount Wu." I paused for a moment and continued, "Although we don't yet know the location of 'Mount Wu,' we already know the location of 'Si River.' Let's go to the north bank of 'Si River' and then make our next plans." Everyone agreed.

Just as everyone was chatting in the courtyard, a girl suddenly ran in from outside. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. She hurriedly ran into the house, calling out as she went, "Aunt Zhang, is my uncle back?"

Hearing the shouts outside, the old man came out of the house. Seeing the girl, he smiled and said, "Hehe, I just got back this afternoon. What's wrong?" "It's terrible! Brother Li is possessed again. I've come to your house to borrow a donkey cart to go to the mountains and ask a shaman to come back and exorcise the evil spirits for him," the girl said hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, the old man's smiling face vanished instantly, and he hurriedly ran to the livestock shed on the side of the yard to hitch up the donkey cart.

Hearing the voices outside, the old woman rushed out of the house, shouting as she ran, "What's going on? She's been possessed three times in just a few days. Old man, it's getting late and the road is difficult to travel. Why don't you accompany Yingzi? It's not easy for a young woman to travel all that way."