Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

"There are many branches in the cave, and there are underground rivers."

"Decades ago, when the war was still going on, foreigners organized an expedition team to go in, but they never came out."

"At that time, the elders in the village said that they must have gone down into the underground river and been eaten by a fish monster."

"When I was young, I was curious and ran into the cave with my eldest uncle..."

Old Man Su recalled his experience of entering a cave when he was young.

He had just married at that time.

The playful and active brother-in-law took him into the cave and said that there were treasures deep in the cave and he wanted to take him to find the treasures and make a fortune.

When the naive old man Su heard that he could get rich, he immediately became excited.

The two men entered the cave holding torches.

It was fine when they first entered the cave, but as they went deeper and deeper, the biting cold wind made it impossible for the two strong guys to bear it.

Old Man Su wanted to retreat, get some thick clothes and continue exploring.

The brother-in-law disagreed and forced him to continue walking.

After walking for more than two hours, with most of the torches burned out, they arrived at the fork in the underground river.

The sound of rushing water attracted the two of them.

They squatted by the dark river with torches in hand.

The water is very clear.

Under the light of the torch, you can see the bottom of the shallow river through the clear water.

"My grandpa said there are treasures in this river." said my uncle with a smile.

"But I can't swim."

"Besides, the river is very long, and I don't know exactly where the treasure is."

When he was young, Old Man Su wanted to quit.

Just as he was about to persuade his brother-in-law to go back first, he saw a white bone in the shallows at the bottom of the river not far away.

The bones were about as long as a human thigh.

And it looks and feels like human bones.

"Brother-in-law, you, look over there!"

My brother-in-law looked in the direction his finger pointed and was also frightened by the leg bone.

Wow!

The water in the underground river suddenly became turbulent.

Many bones flowed out from the depths of the dark river along with the water flow.

Finger bones, ribs, shoulder blades, skulls...

The entire underground river looked like it was stewing bone soup, with all kinds of bones rolling endlessly in the waves.

They were so frightened that they screamed and ran out like crazy.

I didn't even notice I lost my shoes while running.

Just ran out barefoot.

After running out of the cave, he sat down on the ground exhausted and gasped for breath.

Old Man Su kept complaining about his brother-in-law.

I blame him for taking me to such a scary place. I don’t even dare to make bone soup in the kitchen at night.

But my brother-in-law grinned.

"You don't understand. That only proves there are treasures in the dark river."

"What do so many human bones mean? It means many people have gone deeper into the underground river."

"What's their purpose in going there? It must be for money!"

"Legend has it that bandits once entered the cave and hid their treasures. The amount of gold, silver, and other valuables hidden there is innumerable!"

After returning, my brother-in-law planned to enter the cave again.

But Old Man Su felt that it was inappropriate, so he told his father-in-law about it.

The father-in-law caught my eldest brother-in-law and beat him up, then locked him in the room and wouldn't let him go out.

Because of this, my brother-in-law hasn't been nice to Old Man Su for many years.

After recounting his personal experiences in his early years, Old Man Su took out his pipe and took a deep puff.

"Although I haven't seen the mermaid, the presence of so many bones proves that the mermaid must exist!"

"Oh, right. I vaguely remember that when we got to the dark river, there seemed to be something carved on the cave wall."

"At that time, our attention was focused on the underground river, so we didn't look closely."

"But according to the village elders, it should be a seal carved by the Heavenly Master to suppress demons."

Su Meng curled his lips, obviously not believing what Daxin's father said.

"That's not what my uncle said."

"He said you were a coward and ruined his treasure hunt. Otherwise, he would have become rich long ago."

"Hmph, he can make a fortune!" Old Man Su said disdainfully.

"Your uncle is such a coward right now, daydreaming all the time. If you really have the guts, let him go back into the cave and see if he dares."

I thought about my brother-in-law's personality and thought he should explore the cave again. It seemed that Old Man Su only told half of the story.

"Did your uncle never go to the cave again?"

"This one……"

Old Man Su hesitated for a moment, then said as if he had made up his mind, "He went there later."

"I brought two brothers from the same village in, but neither of them came out."

"He was the only one who escaped back, and then he just lay there in bed, refusing to eat, drink, or move, as if he had lost his soul."

"My father-in-law sought help from doctors, fortune-tellers, Taoist priests, and monks. It took more than half a month before he finally came back to life."

"Later we asked him what he had seen in the cave, but whenever we mentioned the cave, he would tremble and speak nonsense."

"Master Chen, if you are really interested in the cave, I can take you to see my uncle, but I don't think he will be able to tell you anything."

Old Man Su could see that I was very interested in the cave.

So take the initiative to do a favor.

I smiled and nodded, and asked him to leave my address.

"Okay, I'll visit you when I have time."

"I'm at your service anytime."

Leave the tomb and return to the surface.

Old Man Su took his children and grandchildren to fill the stolen hole, and Wang Hu and I left first.

In the room of the guesthouse.

I took out the Bagua jade pendant and played with it.

Wang Hu came over and stared at the jade pendant, muttering, "This jade is gray and dull. Judging from its color, it's worthless."

"The Tai Chi Bagua carving is not neat either. It's far inferior to that jade ring."

In terms of workmanship and materials, this jade pendant is indeed not as good as the jasper ring.

But I chose it for my own reasons.

The eight items in the golden well were obviously the beloved items worn by the tomb owner during his lifetime.

Considering the exquisite craftsmanship of the other seven pieces, this Bagua jade pendant seems out of place.

So there must be a special reason why it was placed in the golden well.

Considering that the two hat flowers are figures of the Eight Immortals, which are Taoist ornaments, and the Bagua jade pendant is also a Taoist theme, it can be inferred that the tomb owner believed in Taoism.

Therefore, this Bagua jade pendant, which was made of poor jade material and craftsmanship, was most likely obtained by the tomb owner from a Taoist priest.

At the very least, it is an object that has been consecrated and blessed.

This kind of item may not be worth much.

But for me who is cursed, maybe it can be of some use.

After looking at the front of the jade pendant, I turned it over and saw a vermilion dot on the back.

This is obviously the trace of cinnabar applied during the consecration ceremony.

Taoism believes that cinnabar is the most yang substance and is used in alchemy, talismans, rituals, etc.

It seems that the speculation is correct, this Bagua jade pendant has indeed been consecrated.

Later, through this Bagua jade pendant, I got to know a Taoist priest and learned that the origin of this Bagua jade pendant was not simple.

In the blink of an eye, it was early the next morning.

I pretended to be a Hong Kong businessman and went deep into the countryside to start an investment inspection trip.

I visited several counties and towns and saw highly recommended local specialties such as tea, fungus, walnuts, and salvia miltiorrhiza.

The next night we stayed in Miaowan Village.

Hong Guangxiang pointed to the mountain opposite and said, "Mr. Chen, the cave is in the mountain opposite."

"I'll take you to the entrance of the cave tomorrow, but we can't go deep into the cave."