Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Chapter 273 I Believe in Fate

Both Cui Hao and I looked nervous.

The tension of the unknown at that time.

Because we had our backs to the rope, we couldn't see who was sliding down the rope.

Moreover, the man came down silently, making only a slight noise when he landed.

This shows that his skills are not simple!

I winked at him and Cui Hao nodded slightly.

Then we both turned around at the same time.

Swish!

Cui Hao gripped the bronze stick tightly with both hands, took a horse stance, and made a sweeping motion with the stick.

As I turned around, I raised the emergency light and shone it over.

Thinking that strong light stimulation can cause the other person to be temporarily blinded.

If they really are enemies, we can seize the opportunity to strike first.

The bright light caused the man to raise his hands to shield his eyes.

One of the hands was covered with scars, and the other hand had no flesh at all, just white bones!

This... is the hand of Taoist Master Zhang!

"Lao Zhang?!" I asked in surprise.

"Cough cough cough."

Taoist Master Zhang coughed so hard that his whole body was shaking and his waist was bent like a shrimp.

"it's me."

"The rock pile collapsed, and I was worried about you, so I followed you."

I frowned and muttered to myself.

Taoist Master Zhang's injuries were so severe that it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was half dead.

He was so old and had suffered such a serious injury. Even if he took the elixir from Taishang Laojun, it would be difficult for him to recover immediately, let alone climb up and down to get here.

"You're injured so badly..."

I was about to ask, but Taoist Master Zhang started explaining first.

"It just looks serious."

"The acupuncture on the Baihui acupoint has had a great effect. I also took the life-saving pill a while ago and have recovered a lot of my vitality."

"I can't really help you, but I can be your advisor."

"When I came down, I saw piles of bones."

"Those are human sacrifices."

"The human sacrifice died with resentment... cough cough cough."

When Taoist Master Zhang coughed violently, he covered his mouth with his hands.

But blood still flowed down through the fingers.

This shows that he is seriously injured!

And he had serious internal injuries!

Most of my doubts about him disappeared immediately.

I even felt a little guilty, thinking that I was being too suspicious and had a petty mind.

Zhang Laodao was seriously injured but he rushed over to help, but I suspected that there was something wrong with him.

Even every word he just said was to relieve our psychological burden!

"Lao Zhang, you're vomiting blood!"

"Stop talking, sit down and rest."

I jumped off the platform in a hurry.

He took two steps at a time and ran over quickly to support Taoist Master Zhang.

Taoist Master Zhang gently wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his left hand, trying to quietly wipe away the blood from the corner of his mouth.

But when his left hand dropped, dark red blood mixed with saliva still slowly slid down from the corner of his lips.

It makes me feel sad.

He quickly brought the backpack and helped him sit on it.

"Lao Zhang, you have internal injuries."

"Climbing up and down vigorously and doing exercise will aggravate the internal injuries and cause vomiting blood."

"Listen to me, don't move!"

"Haha." Taoist Zhang stroked his goatee and smiled faintly.

"Life and death are determined by fate. I believe in fate."

"Master, may the spirit of heaven bless me, I will not die until the evil spirits are completely eliminated."

"Cough cough cough."

Taoist Master Zhang started coughing up blood again and his face became much paler.

He had lost all his energy and vigor, looking as listless as a dying old man.

"Old Zhang..."

When I was about to persuade him again, Taoist Master Zhang grabbed my hand tightly.

He looked at me with unwavering eyes.

"Listen to me first."

"Okay, you talk and I'll listen." I squatted in front of him and listened carefully.

"Do you know why the Shang Dynasty fell?"

The sudden question made me stunned for two seconds.

I don't know much about physical chemistry.

But after studying history with Professor Zhang for so long, I naturally know the answer to this question.

"King Wu's attack on Shang led to the demise of the Shang Dynasty." I answered with certainty.

Taoist Master Zhang smiled and shook his head.

"No, that's just the result."

"If the Shang Dynasty hadn't made its own mistakes, King Wu wouldn't have been able to take over."

"The biggest mistake the Shang Dynasty made was losing the support of the people."

"Extensive human sacrifices were offered to the gods, but they failed to bring rain, ultimately leading to a loss of people's hearts."

"King Wu has the opportunity to take his place..."

I know all this too.

Professor Zhang has talked about similar content.

It is said that there was a severe drought in the late Shang Dynasty, and the warlike policy against foreign countries led to the people's disunity and the loss of foundation.

But what does this have to do with our current situation?

Is he talking in a roundabout way about those human sacrifices and bones?

While I was pondering, Taoist Master Zhang suddenly changed the subject and said to Cui Hao, "Give me what you have in your hand. Let me see it."

Cui Hao didn't move, but looked at me.

He was worried that if he handed over the things, he would never get them back.

I took the bronze stick from him and held it in front of Taoist Master Zhang with both hands.

I didn't look at this bronze stick carefully just now, so this is a good opportunity to study it with Taoist Master Zhang.

We both looked down at the bronze stick.

To be precise, look at the gold part covering the bronze stick.

Because gold is so dazzling, it is impossible not to notice it.

The picture is engraved on the gold by chiseling.

It’s just the content of the picture that is confusing to me.

Various pictographic patterns are engraved on the left and right sides of the gold, including a circle symbolizing the sun, a crescent symbolizing the moon, water patterns symbolizing rivers, mountain patterns symbolizing mountains, and so on.

In the middle of these hieroglyphic patterns, a lifelike snake and a bird are engraved.

If you look closely, there's nothing special about the snake, but the bird has a long tail behind it.

There's something strange about an ordinary snake and an unusual bird.

What’s even stranger is that there is a sharp arrow carved on the heads of the snake and the bird!

This is what I find most puzzling.

What does this arrow represent?

It was not until many years later, when the Sanxingdui golden scepter was unearthed, that I understood the meaning of the arrow.

The golden scepter unearthed from Sanxingdui is in some sense very similar to the gold sheet covering the bronze stick I obtained.

The Sanxingdui golden scepter was also made by hammering gold into thin sheets, engraving them, and then wrapping them around a wooden stick.

It is engraved with two human heads facing each other, each with a tall crown and triangular earrings.

Then there are two birds with their heads facing each other and two fish with their backs facing each other.

An arrow is stacked on the neck of each bird and fish.

After expert research, two views were formed.

One theory is that the carved human head represents the King of Shu, the bird represents the ability to fly to the sky, and the fish represents the ability to dive into the water, symbolizing the King of Shu's power to go to heaven and into the earth.

Another theory is that the two facing human heads represent theocracy and royal power, the bird and fish are the totems of the theocracy tribe and the royal power tribe, and the pressed arrow represents the covenant between the two tribes.

Of these two views, I prefer the latter.

The pattern engraved on the golden scepter represents the alliance between the two tribes.

Let’s get back to the present.

Taoist Master Zhang looked at the pattern engraved in gold. After a moment's silence, he said softly, "It is indeed so."

"Two tribes formed an alliance here."

"Hundreds of human sacrifices were offered, prayers were offered to the gods, and solemn vows were taken."

Taoist Master Zhang grew increasingly excited as he spoke: "This is a scepter! Quickly, insert those two corners!"

"Insert it!"