Великий божественный суд династии Цин

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I looked back and saw that the fluid flowing from the sandworms had almost completely covered the stone hall. Jenny and the other two were now surrounded by this liquid in an area of less than two square meters. Seeing the urgency of the situation, I quickly shouted, "Quick, come here!" Hearing my words, they knew I had found a way and quickly, one after another, pressed their bodies against the narrow strip of stone wall not yet covered by the corrosive liquid, and rushed to my side.

Time was running out for me to explain anything. I quickly crawled into the large hole in the wall, about four or five meters in diameter. The others had no other choice at the moment, so they followed me in one after another.

The strong, pungent odor in the passage made me extremely uncomfortable, giving me a nauseating feeling. The entire interior of the passage was pitted and scarred by the corrosive liquid, looking particularly grotesque and terrifying under the light of our headlamps. After walking a while longer, the passage ahead became a maze of interconnected paths, and for a moment we didn't know which way to go. At this moment, Dunzi behind me asked, "Brother Sinan, this is that monster's lair, are you confident you can get us out of here?"

59. The Mystery of the Dry Bones

I turned to look at Dunzi. Then I replied, "We have no certainty. Now that we're here, we can only leave it to fate. It's better than watching everyone wait to die in that stone chamber, isn't it?" Dunzi was speechless after hearing what I said, because under such perilous conditions, we had no choice at all.

We made our way through the crisscrossing underground passages, marking the entrances to each branch with a highlighter. Jenny also noted the approximate locations of these branches in her notebook. In this complex, network-like structure, we generally followed a left-first principle, choosing the leftmost branch whenever we encountered one to ensure we didn't repeat the same path.

About half an hour later, we clearly felt our strength waning. The pungent smell in the passage had become unbearable. I started to feel like I couldn't go on.

We rested against the uneven walls of the passage for a while. Taking the opportunity, Ah Bao took out a gas analyzer to test the oxygen content of the surrounding air. He found that the oxygen concentration was already very low; any lower and it would be difficult to reach the oxygen levels needed by the human body. "I didn't expect there to be such a monster underground in the Guge ruins," Dunzi muttered to himself. Just then, I suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the direction we had come from. It sounded like a giant tire crushing sand. "Oh no, more sandworms are chasing us!" Ah Bao suddenly exclaimed.

Upon hearing Ah Bao's words, we immediately went from relaxed to highly tense. I quickly led everyone to continue running forward through the passage. Because we were in a desperate escape, time didn't allow us to make choices and mark each fork in the road as we had before. We were practically running blindly. After running for about twenty minutes, I suddenly felt my foot slip and fell. The impact was so heavy that I lost consciousness.

I don't know how much time passed before I slowly woke up. The first thing I felt upon waking was the excruciating pain in my back; the impact had clearly been quite forceful. Since my headlamp had fallen somewhere during the fall, everything was pitch black. Then I realized I was lying on my back on the ground, with something heavy on top of me. I tried to feel around with my hands and discovered that it seemed Dunzi had fallen on top of me. I quickly shook him awake and asked if he had a spare wolf-eye flashlight. He fumbled around for a moment and pulled a wolf-eye flashlight from his pocket. A bright, cold white beam of light quickly pierced the darkness.

We shone our wolf-eye flashlight around and discovered that we were no longer in the underground tunnels dug by the sandworms we had been in. The space here was so vast that even the wolf-eye flashlight, which could illuminate over a hundred meters, couldn't reach its edges. No matter which direction we shone the flashlight, the white beam would always disappear into the endless darkness.

We were about to walk a few more steps to see if we could get a general idea of the surroundings when we suddenly heard a slight noise behind us. "Who's there!" Dunzi and I both shouted involuntarily. "It's me, A-Bao." It turned out that A-Bao, who had woken up, had seen our light and come to meet us. Dunzi patted A-Bao on the shoulder and said, "Brother, you scared me to death!" "Hey, where's Jenny?" I asked. A-Bao replied, "Maybe she's nearby. Let's look around." He then took two wolf-eye pistols out of his backpack and tossed one to me.

Fearing that any loud noise would attract the enormous monsters, none of us dared to call out Jenny's name. Instead, we each carefully searched the vicinity with our wolf-eye flashlights. About ten minutes later, I found our three lost headlamps, along with our hunting rifle, crossbow, and other weapons. Fortunately, apart from one of the headlamps being damaged, the rest of the items were still usable. Ten minutes later, we found Jenny's notebook. But we didn't find her anywhere.

Dunzi recalled, "During the escape, I clearly remember that Jenny was holding this notebook in her hand. Judging from this, she should be in this vicinity."

So, at his suggestion, we split up and continued searching within a radius of about ten meters of the area we had discovered, using the area closest to our location as the center. I discovered that this was also a man-made hall, as the floor was paved with square stone slabs carved by hand. Due to its age, a thick layer of ash had covered it. Occasionally, we would encounter one or two large, round stone pillars. They were carved with ancient Tibetan script resembling the six-syllable mantra, as well as auspicious bird and animal patterns. Although the technique wasn't particularly refined, the simple and robust carving revealed a primitive and rugged beauty.

I was captivated by these ancient carvings when suddenly I heard Dunzi scream in the distance. Ah Bao and I immediately rushed towards him. In the light of our wolf eyes, we saw Dunzi standing motionless, with a skeletal human skeleton on his back. The skeleton was perched on Dunzi's back, its two hand bones dangling from Dunzi's shoulders, constantly waving in front of his eyes. Dunzi was terrified out of his wits, unable to utter a single word.

Seeing Dunzi's appearance, Ah Bao and I burst into laughter. Dunzi, realizing he was carrying nothing more than a skeleton, quickly straightened up and tossed it to the ground. "I thought it was some ancient corpse," he said helplessly. "But how come there are skeletons here? Have we unknowingly stumbled into some prince's tomb again?"

I looked at the stone pillar behind the mound and noticed a distinct indentation, just large enough to accommodate a standing person. Perhaps this skeleton was standing in that indentation when the mound passed by and accidentally bumped into it, causing it to fall.

I crouched down again and examined the skeleton closely. Then I said, "Judging from the tattered clothing remaining on his body, it seems to be the attire of an ordinary Tibetan during the Tubo period, not that of a high-ranking official or nobleman. But..." "But what?" Dunzi asked. "But if this is the tomb of an ordinary Tibetan, how could it have such a large space? Moreover, the Tibetan people are different from us Han Chinese. In their beliefs, only sky burial, water burial, or tree burial are considered sacred. Earth burial also exists, but it is not very popular among them."

"Could this be some ancient historical site? And was the deceased just a thief who came here later to search for treasure?" Ah Bao asked after a moment's thought. Dunzi, hearing this, perked up and added, "Yes, yes, maybe this is some Tibetan king's treasure cave, and this person came to steal it. Perhaps he encountered some traps or hidden weapons, which is why he died here." "If that's the case, he should be lying on the ground, not standing in this crater in the stone pillar." My words immediately left Dunzi speechless. Just then, I suddenly felt a flash of light before my eyes, incredibly fast.

60. The Mysterious Royal Tombs

The sudden light caught my attention. I instinctively raised my hand. My action was seen by Ah Bao and the others, who knew something unusual might have happened, so they also raised their weapons, ready to deal with any emergencies.

Then, the light source flashed before our eyes again and again, seemingly approaching us gradually. "What is that?" Dunzi asked softly. I replied, "I don't know either, but the color and intensity of the light source look very similar to the beam from the wolf-eye flashlight we have."

As we were talking, a familiar figure appeared from the source of the light. The moment I saw it, I immediately thought of someone—Jenny. So I quickly called out, "Jenny, is that you?" "Ah, it's me! Are you all alright?" As she spoke, Jenny's slender figure came into view.

We quickly went over to meet her. Ah Bao asked her with concern, "Miss Jenny, where have you been? We've been looking for you for ages." Jenny replied, "I fell into the sand tunnel with you and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself lying in this vast underground hall. Just as I was about to look for you, I suddenly heard a strange sound coming from afar. It sounded like many monks chanting scriptures together." Perhaps out of curiosity, I followed the direction of the sound to see what was going on. "Monks? Scriptures? And what did you see next?" I asked. Jenny didn't answer my question directly. She said, "Follow me." So, led by Jenny, we walked in one direction.

Along the way, we encountered several more massive stone pillars. To our astonishment, on each of these pillars stood a skeleton resembling the one we had just seen. Over countless years, the clothing draped over the skeletons had long since tattered into strips of fabric and was covered in cobwebs. As we walked past them, the flowing air gently lifted the spiderwebs, making it seem as if the skeletons were swaying their garments, adding to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

Because we were in a vast, dark hall, we had no idea where we were. I only remember that, led by Jenny, we walked around four or five large stone pillars, climbed over a fallen pillar, and came to a stone wall. There was a wooden door in the wall, covered with exquisitely painted patterns in vibrant colors. There were deities, gurus, mythical beasts, and flowers and plants—all imbued with the rich colors of Tibetan Buddhism.

Because Jenny had already gone in, the door in front of us was half-open. We followed Jenny through the door and entered another spacious stone hall. In the beam of the wolf-eye flashlight, this stone hall seemed just as spacious as the previous one, but unlike the first one, it wasn't as empty. The entire hall was filled with various bone artifacts, silverware, bronze utensils, pottery, and wooden items. All the items were arranged systematically according to their category, covered with a thick layer of dust. It seemed these items hadn't been moved since they were placed there.

“I followed that strange sound here. But as soon as I stepped through that wooden door, the sound disappeared. And that’s when I found this place,” Jenny said. “Sinan, what do you think this place is?” I glanced around and then replied, “Judging from the quantity of these artifacts and the scale of this underground structure, it could be the tomb of the local Tibetan royal family.” Hearing me say that, Dunzi said, “Looks like I’m really destined to be involved with ancient tombs in this life; I can find myself in burial chambers no matter where I go.”

At this moment, Jenny thought of a question and asked, "So do you think we can still get out now?" "Since it's a tomb, we can definitely get out, otherwise so many ancient tombs wouldn't have been looted. But what I'm thinking about now is whether this Tibetan royal tomb near or below the ruins of the Guge Kingdom is related to the mystery of the Xuanjing we're looking for," I replied while pondering.

Dunzi asked, "We stumbled into this tomb by accident, so it shouldn't matter, right?"

“But I always feel that all of this happened too coincidentally. Think about it, in the Silver Eye Cave of the Guge Kingdom ruins, we found the legendary Black Stone Totem, and then entered a mysterious circular passage. After that, we came to this tomb chamber through the sand earthworm passage. Since we didn’t travel too far in the sand earthworm passage, this tomb chamber and that mysterious circular passage shouldn’t be too far apart. In this barren and desolate sandy area, two buildings built so close together must be connected in some way.” “That does make some sense,” Dunzi murmured.

Just then, Ah Bao's voice came from behind. He said, "It's a pity it's too dark here. We can't see the overall layout of the tomb chamber, otherwise we wouldn't be so clueless." Ah Bao's words reminded me. I suddenly remembered some characteristics of the structure of ancient imperial tombs, so I said, "There should be some lighting facilities. Let's quickly look around. Like lamp troughs, candlesticks, torch holders, or something like that."

After hearing my words, everyone split up and went in four different directions, searching for the lighting I had mentioned. Less than five minutes later, Jenny found a stone lamp trough placed beside a pillar. Due to its age and the dry climate, the lamp oil inside had long since evaporated. Fortunately, there were some candles made from cow and sheep fat scattered nearby. We threw some tattered fabric scraps we had collected from the skeletons into the lamp trough, then crushed the scattered candle pieces and mixed them with the fabric. I then lit the fabric to use as light.

After the first lamp trough was lit, it finally brought a bit of life to the originally dark and quiet underground palace. Our anxious mood also improved slightly. Afterwards, we lit the next eight lamp troughs we found in the same way. The nine lights illuminated the outline of the entire underground tomb, and only then did we truly feel the magnificence and grandeur of this underground palace.

The tomb we are currently in is a roughly rectangular structure, about 100 meters long and 60-70 meters wide. Because the firelight couldn't reach it, the ceiling height is unknown. This is probably the largest tomb I've ever seen. Due to its immense size, dozens of thick stone pillars of varying sizes stand within the chamber. The nine pillars arranged in a row in the center are the largest, each over a meter in diameter. Next to these nine pillars are stone-carved lamp troughs—the nine we just lit.

By the light from the firelight trough, the various objects placed inside appeared and disappeared intermittently. The shadows of the stone statues and utensils were projected onto the stone walls in the firelight. The shadows, constantly trembling with the firelight, seemed like countless eerie ghosts wandering around us.

The massive stone pillars are still carved with exquisite Buddhist patterns and scriptures in ancient Tibetan and Sanskrit. The entire tomb chamber is divided into several areas, each containing pottery jars and pottery vessels, animal bone artifacts such as bone flutes and knives, gold and silver utensils such as gold cups and silver bowls, stone sculptures such as stone beasts and figures, wooden boxes and chests, gemstone artifacts such as pearls and jade, cold weapons such as bronze knives and iron arrows with bamboo splinters, and various documents and books in scrolls and volumes. The sheer number and comprehensiveness of the items are truly remarkable.

“It seems this is just a display room for burial goods within the entire mausoleum,” I muttered to myself, looking at the sheer scale of the burial artifacts before me. “If that’s the case, then the main burial chamber of the tomb’s owner must be the size of a stadium,” Jenny said, seemingly doubtful. “Yes, that does sound unusual, but that’s typical of ancient royal tombs. Unless…” “Unless what?” “Unless this royal tomb holds other unusual secrets,” I replied thoughtfully.

61. Giant Stone Gate

"An unusual secret?" Dunzi said. "Yes, ever since I entered this place, especially after seeing that strange black stone totem, I've had a strange feeling. I feel that there's something eerie about this tomb. It's unlike any other exploration I've ever had. Coupled with the ancient legends Uncle Zashim mentioned, I have a feeling that this place hides a huge secret, a secret that might have an unusual connection to those mysterious extraterrestrial visitors."

"Extraterrestrial visitors?" Jenny seemed surprised. She asked, "How did you suddenly come up with this idea? And what's your basis for it?" I glanced at them and then replied, "Look, firstly, we can start with the mysterious 'ghostly inscriptions' we initially discovered. These mysterious symbols don't belong to any known human civilization. So, could we hypothesize that they might be a product of a non-human civilization? Secondly, the metal mechanism we found at the feudal altar—this kind of material would absolutely not have appeared during the feudal era. Could it have been created by a highly intelligent species from another planet in the universe? Finally, according to the ancient legend Zasim mentioned, the giant black stone fell from the sky. If this legend is indeed reliable, isn't that the most direct evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations? Moreover, there's the crystal chamber inside the black stone, and the computer-like control device inside—all these clues indicate the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations." At this point, they seemed to understand and began to nod in agreement. So I continued, "After going through all the clues again several times, this idea naturally came to mind. The next step is simply to find more direct evidence."

"So, the source of that 'Burial Ground Mystery Scripture' is actually from an extraterrestrial civilization, and the mystery of immortality contained within it is also a product of extraterrestrial civilization's knowledge?" Dunzi asked, his face full of doubt. I nodded and replied, "Very likely. That's the conclusion we arrived at. It's just that we can't yet definitively determine the specific content of this mystery of immortality, or whether such an eternally regenerating world truly exists in this universe."

My words did sound somewhat absurd, but upon closer examination, they all made sense, and only this explanation could clarify some of the strange phenomena we had encountered. This hypothesis truly shook the entire team.

Thanks to the light, we found another hidden wooden door in this vast underground hall. The painted and carved decorations on the door were remarkably similar to the one we had seen before. Following the same method, we opened the door and entered the next burial chamber. After finding and lighting the lamp troughs inside, yet another enormous burial chamber appeared before us. This chamber was very similar in size and shape to the previous one. The only difference was the burial goods. Several areas contained the skeletons of livestock such as sheep, cattle, horses, and camels. In one area, we also found a large number of objects resembling ivory. Due to the passage of time, these items had oxidized, and most had turned to powder.

We then passed through another tomb chamber. It was filled with a large quantity of soft, decayed, and blackened objects; after careful examination, we estimated that it contained various types of cloth, animal hides, and silk fabrics. After we finished examining this tomb chamber, a stone door, different from the wooden door we had seen earlier, suddenly appeared before us.

This is a towering stone gate, about ten meters wide and towering high. The entire gate was carved from a single block of stone. Such a massive gate would likely weigh at least tens of tons. To carve such a colossal stone gate into the royal mausoleum and then install it would be a colossal undertaking even by today's standards, let alone under the historical conditions of that time. Completing such a monumental project is truly unimaginable.

We examined the stone gate closely. We saw that it was divided into roughly three sections from top to bottom. Each section was carved with exquisite figures and animal motifs. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that each section depicted a different event. In the bottom section, nine enormous stone tablets were carved in the center. Many people were gathered around the tablets; some were worshipping them, while others were copying the strange characters inscribed on them. In the middle section, a huge rock was carved. Many people knelt devoutly around the rock, which emitted rays of light. From the center of the rock, some strange symbols were faintly projected. Several young craftsmen were carving these faint symbols onto the nine stone tablets. The uppermost section, due to its distance and lack of light, appeared somewhat dim. The specific patterns were no longer discernible; only some flame-like shapes were vaguely visible. Although dating back hundreds of years, the carvings on these two stone gates are grand in composition and exquisite in craftsmanship, truly rare works of art. Faced with such a giant stone gate, we couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

As we examined the stone door, we searched for any mechanism that could open it. Jenny, meanwhile, used her digital camera to record the patterns on the stone door.

Based on my previous experience, in the typical ancient imperial tombs, the stone doors sealing the burial chambers were usually secured with doorstops. If one could find a way to move those doorstops through the gap between the two doors using tools or ropes, the stone doors could be opened. Unfortunately, the two stone doors we see today are closed so tightly that we cannot see the structure behind them, let alone open them.

"It seems the central area of this princely tomb lies beyond the stone gate, but unfortunately, we don't know how to get in," said Ah Bao, pushing the stone gate with his shoulder. "The previous chambers were burial chambers for funerary objects, so those wooden doors were relatively easy to open. But now we're entering the central area of the tomb, and this stone gate is definitely much sturdier than those wooden doors, so it won't be so easy to open." I looked at the massive stone gate and said, "Now I can say with certainty that this stone gate cannot be pushed open by brute force. There must be some kind of mechanism set up somewhere; we'll have to look carefully."

Through the events we've experienced so far, everyone feels that we are getting closer and closer to unraveling the mystery of immortality in the sutra. Whether we can successfully open this giant stone door is a key to ultimately unlocking this secret. Therefore, after listening to my words, everyone carefully searched the tomb chamber.

Because the lamps in the tomb chamber were fueled by scraps of bone and cloth, the firelight was dim, and the burning time was short, so the light in the tomb chamber quickly dimmed. This greatly hindered our search. "Quick! Come here, there's something here!" Just as everyone was searching frantically for the opening mechanism to open the stone door, they suddenly heard Jenny's voice.

Sixty-two, nine stars and ten holes

I was secretly pleased to see that Zhenni had discovered something, and I quickly ran over to where the others were. Zhenni was standing in front of the stone wall of the tomb chamber, directly opposite the stone door. Seeing that we had all arrived, she pointed to the mural in front of her and said, "Look at this painting, it's very special, quite different from the murals around here." Hearing Zhenni's words, I carefully examined the mural on the stone wall. The entire wall was painted with exquisite patterns in several vibrant colors. Most of the scenes depicted the vassal king hunting with his ministers, performing sacrifices, and conquering neighboring states.

The main subject of each scene is usually the feudal lord himself, who exudes an aura of superiority and reflects his supreme status. However, the scene where Jenny is positioned is distinctly different from the others. It is a scene with a black background. At the bottom of the scene are the feudal lord and his courtiers. However, in this scene, the feudal lord is no longer in a dominant position, but rather prostrates himself on the ground with the same reverence as his courtiers. And in the very center of the scene is the huge black stone totem.

At this moment, a seven-colored light was emanating from the black stone totem. At the center where the seven colors converged, a white expanse appeared, within which a tall, slender black human figure could be vaguely discerned. Above the black stone, the upper half of the entire image, resembled an image of the cosmic sky, shimmering with countless stars. And it was upon this expanse that a row of neatly arranged circular holes caught our attention.

There are ten circular holes in total, each about the thickness of an average adult's thumb. They are arranged in a straight line from left to right. The rightmost hole is larger in diameter than the other nine holes, estimated to be about twice the diameter of the others.

"What are these holes for?" Dunzi, who had also noticed the strange holes, asked, "Why would you punch these holes in a perfectly good scene? Doesn't it ruin the image?" "Could they be launch ports for poisoned arrows or hidden weapons?" Abao said after examining the holes. "Look, these holes are facing the stone door. If someone tries to force open the stone door, these hidden weapons will be launched." "At first glance, that seems possible, but upon closer examination, two questions arise," I said after hearing Abao's guess. Ah Bao asked, "Oh, what's your question?" I smiled and replied, "First, if these are launch ports for concealed weapons, why are they so obvious, so easily visible? As far as I know, ancient mechanisms and concealed weapons are usually ingeniously designed and secretly placed; they would never leave the launch ports exposed without any concealment." "That makes sense," Jenny said. "Then what's the second question?" "Second, if these holes are launch ports for concealed weapons, used to prevent others from opening the stone door with external force, aren't they positioned too high? You see, these holes are at least 2.5 meters above the ground. The average person's height is no more than 1.8 or 1.9 meters. Launching concealed weapons from this height wouldn't hit anyone." I paused for a moment and continued, "Besides, we already pushed the stone door with force. No poisoned arrows or concealed weapons were launched when we pushed it." "That's true," Ah Bao said, scratching his head and smiling.

"Could these holes be from later generations drilling holes!" Just as we were beginning to ponder, Jenny suddenly exclaimed. Her words immediately drew our attention. Seeing our puzzled expressions, Jenny realized she hadn't explained herself clearly. So she smiled and explained, "I mean, these holes might not have been made when this underground tomb was built. They might have been made by criminals who stole artifacts from the tomb, the so-called tomb raiders." "Then why would they drill these holes in this stone wall?" I asked. Jenny looked at the holes, then at the giant stone door opposite, and replied, "Maybe, maybe they wanted to fix some kind of mechanical device to this stone wall, and use ropes or chains on that device to open the stone door. How come I didn't think of that!" Dunzi suddenly realized, "Didn't we just see the remains of some tomb raiders?"

"That's not right either," I replied after thinking for a moment. Dunzi hurriedly asked, "What's wrong again?" "Think about it," I explained, "if it's for fixing mechanical devices, is it necessary to drill these fixing holes so neatly? And all in a straight line? From a geometric and mechanical point of view, a straight line cannot define a plane, and the force on a straight line is unstable, so it's not secure." I continued, "Besides, I've already carefully examined these holes. The oxidation levels on the stone surfaces and the stone walls are extremely similar, indicating they were made at the same time, not later. And there's a particularly large round hole here. If it's a fixing hole for securing equipment, how do you explain this large round hole?"

After I said that, no one could immediately figure out the origin or purpose of those holes. "Let's not waste any more time. Let's look for any other suspicious places first, and hopefully find the device that opens the stone door before the light in the lamp trough goes out," I suggested.

So, for the next half hour or so, we conducted a thorough search of the underground tomb. Despite our meticulous search for clues, we ultimately found nothing. We then had to refocus our attention on the ten mysterious holes.

The fire inside the tomb had gone out, plunging the entire chamber into darkness. The four of us gathered before the stone wall, examining the ten holes again by the light of our headlamps. As we looked, I suddenly noticed that these holes were located in the sky section of the entire scene. Besides these round holes, numerous celestial bodies were depicted here, like a vast Milky Way, breathtakingly beautiful. At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind. After careful consideration, I felt it was quite possible, so I said, "I think these holes are the mechanism to open the stone door." "Oh? Why do you say that?" Jenny asked. I pointed to the holes and said, "Look, this part is actually a star map, depicting various galaxies in the universe, and these ten holes might represent the nine planets where our Earth is located and the sun." "The nine planets?" Dunzi looked surprised. I said, “Yes, this further confirms my previous speculation that the mystery of the Xuanjing is related to extraterrestrial visitors.” “Even so, how do you know it’s the mechanism to open the stone door?” Jenny asked. “Because of their arrangement,” I explained with a smile. “As everyone knows, the nine planets revolve around the sun according to their own inherent orbits. The nine planets in the solar system are actually slightly tilted to the ecliptic plane, which means that even if there is a ‘planetary alignment,’ the nine planets will not be aligned in a straight line, but scattered. The so-called ‘planetary alignment’ only exists in people’s minds. The probability of the nine planets aligning perfectly is very small, almost impossible.”

I continued, "What happened between 3001 BC and 000 BC? Scientists tell us that there were 49 instances of 'six-planet alignments' with an angle of less than 5 degrees, 3 instances of 'seven-planet alignments,' and none or no instances of 'eight-planet alignments' or higher. If we expand the angle to 10 degrees, there are 709 instances of 'six-planet alignments,' 52 instances of 'seven-planet alignments,' and 3 instances of 'eight-planet alignments.' For a 'planet alignment,' the angle would have to be expanded to 15 degrees. Even then, a 'nine-planet alignment' only occurred once in 6000 years: the upcoming 'nine-planet alignment' has an angle of 14 degrees."

63. The Underground Palace of Guge

"So you're saying this phenomenon hasn't happened before?" Ah Bao asked. "Yes, and I checked the constellation positions of some other star systems on this map. Based on the astrological methods in the *Five Planets Divination*, I deduced that the star map dates back 1,400 years. At that time, the nine planets weren't in a straight line," I said. "Therefore, I think these holes shouldn't have originally been in a line either. Someone must have arranged them into a line." "You mean these holes are movable?" Dunzi asked. I nodded and replied, "That's right, that's exactly what I mean. So I think this is very likely the mechanism to open the stone door."

After hearing my words, Dunzi and the others still seemed unconvinced. So, after a brief discussion, they finally decided to have Jenny, the lightest of the group, stand on the human form that Dunzi and Abao had created to examine the mysterious round holes up close.

Jenny slowly approached the holes. I held up my wolf-eye flashlight to illuminate them for her. Jenny carefully examined the holes. After about ten seconds, she seemed to have found a clue. She raised her right hand and gently wiped the area around the holes a few times, then loudly proclaimed to us, "I see concentric circles of tiny gaps here. There are nine rings in total, and each ring contains a hole. The largest hole is the center of these concentric circles."

Upon hearing this, I happily replied, "That's right, that's right! Jenny, start with the outermost hole. Insert your finger into the hole and then rotate it ninety degrees clockwise," I instructed Jenny. Jenny nodded after listening to me, then mustered her courage and inserted her finger into the hole, then forcefully rotated it clockwise. But strangely, despite her best efforts, the hole remained completely still.

“No, it won’t turn,” Jenny said, turning around and shaking her head. Dunzi, wiping the sweat from his brow, said, “Hey, hurry up! We can’t hold on much longer.” “Try turning it counter-clockwise,” I said. Jenny nodded and tried again as I instructed. This time, it actually worked. Jenny inserted her finger into the hole and, with a little force, rotated it to the position I indicated. Then, under my guidance, Jenny rotated the remaining eight holes to their fixed positions—the positions of the nine planets at that time. After doing all this, the mechanism didn’t start working as I had expected.

Jenny turned back to me and said, "It still doesn't seem to work." I thought about it carefully again and then said, "Put your finger into the largest round hole. See what's inside?" Jenny did as I said, put her finger into the hole and touched it, then replied, "I felt it, it seems to be a hemispherical protrusion." "Then try pressing it and see," I said happily.

Just as Jenny pressed down on the hemispherical protrusion, we heard a soft "click." Then, with a series of "click-click" sounds, I realized I had opened the massive stone door. "Quick, get to the door!" I shouted. Jenny quickly jumped down from the human ladder formed by Dunzi and Abao, and together with them, ran to the stone door.

In the light of our headlamps and flashlights, we saw the massive stone door slowly opening, shaking off a considerable amount of dust. Because of the dust, we could only see a firelight emanating from within, but couldn't make out anything else. As the door opened wider, the firelight inside grew stronger. Fearing there might be traps inside, we stood quietly outside the door until it was fully open, not daring to enter.

At this moment, I am incredibly excited. An intuition tells me that the mystery of the elusive scripture we have been searching for for so long is about to be solved. This feeling is truly indescribable; it is both exciting and worrying. Excited because we have overcome countless hardships and now finally have a result. Worried about what the final outcome of this secret will be, and what impact this outcome will ultimately have on us and even on all of humanity. Because after experiencing all of this, we all feel that the mystery of the immortal scripture we are pursuing may very well involve extraterrestrial civilizations unknown to us until now.

The sound lasted for about four or five minutes before the massive stone door finally opened fully. We stared intently at what lay inside. Only when the dust settled did we vaguely make out what was inside.

This was also a huge burial chamber. In the bright firelight, we couldn't see its end at a glance. The flickering firelight illuminated the entire inner chamber with a golden glow. After a few minutes, we confirmed that nothing was amiss, and then cautiously entered the stone door together.

As we ventured deeper, the scene within the stone gate gradually came into view. Everything we saw astonished everyone. In this vast space of several thousand square meters, the first thing we saw was thousands upon thousands of skeletons. These skeletons were concentrated in the very center of the tomb chamber, all facing the center, forming a large circular area. Judging from the postures of these skeletons, they must have been sitting in the tomb chamber in life. In the very center of these skeletons was a tall, circular platform. The entire platform was plated with gleaming gold, reflecting a dazzling golden light under the firelight.

Above the high platform, a grand pavilion was built using stone and wood. Its carved beams and painted rafters were adorned with gold and silver. The entire structure exuded a strong Han Dynasty cultural style. The carvings and painted patterns on the wooden and stone steps included dragon and phoenix motifs, thunder patterns, and cloud patterns—all bearing the strong influence of the Warring States period.

Surrounding these skeletons, ninety-nine massive pillars rose from the ground, firmly supporting the entire hall. Each pillar was carved with intricate and exquisite patterns of birds, beasts, dragons, and phoenixes from the Warring States period, and thickly gilded. About two meters from the top of each pillar, a dragon head, connected to the pillar, protruded, its mouth gaping open, flames roaring within, illuminating the entire tomb chamber in a magnificent golden glow. It seems these lamps were ingeniously designed, ensuring that the lamp oil did not evaporate even after such a long time and remained functional.

The outer perimeter of the stone pillar was piled high with countless sacrificial and burial artifacts: gold and silver vessels, bronze vessels, stone tablets and wooden carvings, animal bones and ivory, jade and pearl artifacts, pottery vessels, weapons and equipment, silk scrolls and wooden tablets, and more. These items were diverse in type, enormous in quantity, exquisitely crafted, and remarkably well-preserved; this place was truly a breathtaking underground treasure trove. It surpassed even the Faqiu Treasure Cave we initially discovered deep in the mountains. The dazzling array of treasures, the abundant gold paint, shimmered with an eerie light under the firelight. Faced with this immense wealth, we completely forgot everything else.

It took me a long time to gradually come to my senses. Just then, Jenny said, "It's strange. The architecture and objects here don't seem entirely Tibetan in style; they clearly also have elements of the Han Chinese Warring States period. Look at these cloud patterns, dragon patterns, and chi dragon patterns. These are all characteristics of Han culture, the dragon totem symbols of Han culture. Tibet doesn't have these things." "Yes, it is indeed very strange. Besides Tibetan Tantric ritual implements made of human bones and items used by the Tibetan king, there are many more Han Chinese items here," I said, picking up a bone flute from beside me and casually examining it. "Isn't this a Tibetan king's tomb? How can this be?" Dunzi was confused, scratching his head repeatedly.

Sixty-four, Helong Tomb

I glanced at the golden platform and said, "There are just too many questions now. We probably won't be able to figure it out standing here. Let's go take a look." "Okay," Dunzi replied. So, at my suggestion, the four of us started walking along a straight path leading to the golden platform in the center of the tomb.

We first passed through an area piled with bronze vessels. These vessels, of varying sizes, were arranged in a row. Having been there for a long time, their surfaces were covered in a thick layer of dust. As I walked, I casually wiped the dust off the surface of a bronze cauldron the size of an incense burner, revealing its true form beneath. It was a three-legged, round cauldron with handles. The handles were cast with flying dragon patterns and depictions of chi-tigers. The body of the cauldron was mainly decorated with cloud patterns, and above each of the three legs were cast taotie heads with open mouths. These heads, presented in relief, created different visual layers with the cloud patterns, enhancing the aesthetic appeal. The connection between the legs and the body also featured intricate patterns, while the legs themselves were relatively simple, without any other decorative designs. This bronze cauldron, with its simple and ancient design and meticulous craftsmanship, was truly a rare treasure.

As we ventured deeper, we encountered more and more rare treasures. Closer observation further solidified my belief. A significant portion of these burial artifacts dated back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, or even earlier. These items were placed in the same tomb chamber as dzi beads, Tibetan silver, and bone artifacts, all exhibiting distinct Tibetan styles. This puzzled even me, a scholarly professional. Nevertheless, I knew all the mysteries were about to be revealed, the truth was within reach. So, despite my many questions, I didn't rush to examine the burial objects. Instead, I led Jenny and the others directly to the center of the tomb chamber, filled with human remains.

When we arrived at that terrifying area, Jenny appeared quite panicked, turning her head away, unable to bear the sight. Previously, due to the distance and the obstruction of view by the thick stone pillars, this area of skeletal remains hadn't seemed as chilling as it was now. At a glance, there were only skeletons. The two dark eye sockets on each skull stared directly at us, sending a chill down our spines. Judging from the remaining fragments of clothing on these skeletons, they were wearing typical Tibetan attire. This indicated that this was likely a burial site for a Tibetan ruler from the ancient Tibetan period. But why were there so many Han Chinese artifacts in his tomb? With this question still lingering, we continued towards the golden platform in the center of the skull pile.

Just as we were about to reach the platform, Dunzi suddenly said something. He said, "Look, these skeletons seem a bit different from the others." At that moment, I had already walked to the front of the group led by Dunzi and was preparing to walk up the steps to the gilded platform. Hearing what Dunzi said, I couldn't help but turn around and look in the direction where Dunzi was.