Riding alone thousands of miles
"What is on this piece, and what about this one?" Big Head pointed to another stone tablet and asked.
"The He Luo Diagram!" I exclaimed, "How could it be the He Luo Diagram."
In the modern world, with the continuous development of science, ancient oriental cultures like the He Luo Diagram have gradually declined. However, in ancient times, these two mysterious patterns had a profound impact on the culture of that era.
It is said that Fu Xi, based on the He Tu and Luo Shu, created the Eight Trigrams. There are many records about the He Luo Diagram in the "Shang Shu" and the "Yi Zhuan." Concepts such as Tai Chi, Eight Trigrams, Zhou Yi, Liu Jia, Nine Stars, Feng Shui, Yin Yang, and the Five Elements can all be traced back to this. "The river connects to Qian, emerging from the celestial cover; the Luo flows to Kun, spitting out the Earth symbol." It must be said that the He Luo Diagram holds extraordinary significance for ancient Huaxia.
"Do you think... Qimen Dun Jia and He Luo Diagram were passed down by the Bashu ancestors?" Xiao He raised a question.
"Those people must have had incredible powers." Big Head marveled.
I sighed and said, "Qimen Dun Jia and He Luo Diagram belong to the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. To trace their true origins, no one can say for sure. Let's not make baseless assumptions and avoid unnecessary troubles."
Although I verbally expressed skepticism, my mind was already in turmoil. These artifacts appearing here indicated the ancient existence of the Bashu ancestors, far beyond my imagination. The stories within must be extraordinarily intricate.
"Come and see," Hansheng said softly.
We approached the edge of the courtyard, with three sides suspended over a bottomless underground rift. Hansheng lit a flashlight and made us look down. Below was a thick, inky darkness, and the flashlight's light couldn't reach the bottom.
"Can't see anything," Big Head muttered.
"Don't blink, focus on one spot," Hansheng reminded.
"It's mist," Xiao He exclaimed.
I also saw it; beneath the rift was not endless darkness but a dense black mist. According to Hansheng, if we stared at a fixed point, we would notice the mist was not static; it rolled up and down like waves of clouds. I was astonished; it seemed the rift was not infinite, possibly concealed by this "barrier."
"Why is there mist here?" Big Head questioned with a puzzled expression.
I shrugged, thinking to myself that I had never experienced such a bizarre situation. Hansheng, however, stared into the distance and said, "It's not mist; it should be miasma, and there are living creatures inside."
"Wait here for me," Hansheng said. He crossed the stone beam and went to the head of the lying statue, searching for something.
"What is he looking for?" Big Head wondered.
"He must have a reason," I replied.
They lit up with bronze lamps, revealing an astonishing scene. We were wrong; the temple wasn't at the highest point but rather an "exit." The ancient temple behind us was covered in thorns, spikes hung with tattered black things, and bloodstains flowed down the wall.
We were standing in the backyard of the ancient temple. Behind the lamp man was a large toon tree, its branches adorned with red ropes and bells. Besides the ancestral temple, three sides faced bottomless abysses, and two large stone tablets stood in front.
"Look at this." Big Head pointed to one of the stone tablets and exclaimed, "What is this thing?"
On the tablet were densely packed meridians. I took a quick glance and was utterly shocked. It was the complete Qi Men Dun Jia formation, or even if incomplete, it included most of the formations that had long been lost.
"It's incredible; how could there be a complete Qi Men Dun Jia here?" I remarked. Qi Men Dun Jia was simplified into seventy-two formations during the Yin and Shang dynasties. Were the Bashu ancestors even more ancient than that time?
Under the dim light of an illumination shell, we saw that the stone beam extended to a hideous head at the forefront, resembling a hornless dragon.
Xiao He exclaimed, "It's a Ba Xia!"
I recalled the record about Ba Xia, "Sixth son of the dragon, turtle-like appearance, likes to carry heavy loads." So, the soldiers commanded by the "Engineer" were for this Ba Xia?
"Does anyone think... Qimen Dun Jia and He Luo Diagram were passed down by the Bashu ancestors?" Xiao He raised a question.
"Those people must have had incredible powers," Big Head marveled.
I sighed and said, "Qimen Dun Jia and He Luo Diagram belong to the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. To trace their true origins, no one can say for sure. Let's not make baseless assumptions and avoid unnecessary troubles."
Although I verbally expressed skepticism, my mind was already in turmoil. These artifacts appearing here indicated the ancient existence of the Bashu ancestors, far beyond my imagination. The stories within must be extraordinarily intricate.
"Come and see," Hansheng said softly.
We approached the edge of the courtyard, with three sides suspended over a bottomless underground rift. Hansheng lit a flashlight and made us look down. Below was a thick, inky darkness, and the flashlight's light couldn't reach the bottom.
"Can't see anything," Big Head muttered.
"Don't blink, focus on one spot," Hansheng reminded.
"It's mist," Xiao He exclaimed.
I also saw it; beneath the rift was not endless darkness but a dense black mist. According to Hansheng, if we stared at a fixed point, we would notice the mist was not static; it rolled up and down like waves of clouds. I was astonished; it seemed the rift was not infinite, possibly concealed by this "barrier."
"Why is there mist here?" Big Head questioned with a puzzled expression.
I shrugged, thinking to myself that I had never experienced such a bizarre situation. Hansheng, however, stared into the distance and said, "It's not mist; it should be miasma, and there are living creatures inside."
"Wait here for me," Hansheng said. He crossed the stone beam and went to the head of the lying statue, searching for something.
"What is he looking for?" Big Head wondered.
"He must have a reason," I replied.
They lit up with bronze lamps, revealing an astonishing scene. We were wrong; the temple wasn't at the highest point but rather an "exit." The ancient temple behind us was covered in thorns, spikes hung with tattered black things, and bloodstains flowed down the wall.
We were standing in the backyard of the ancient temple. Behind the lamp man was a large toon tree, its branches adorned with red ropes and bells. Besides the ancestral temple, three sides faced bottomless abysses, and two large stone tablets stood in front.
Without me saying anything, Xiao He had already loaded the illumination shell and fired it at a diagonal angle. The illuminating fuel burned at the highest point, radiating a dazzling light, imprinting an even more magnificent and incredible scene in my mind. I believe everything seen
today will be unforgettable for a lifetime.
We initially thought that the temple was at the highest point, which is why it was pitch-black around. That was only half correct.
Under the illumination shell, a bottomless underground rift like a giant dragon lay in front of us, winding on both sides without an end in sight. And we, this temple, were situated on the back of a gigantic stone statue. The stone statue was lying next to the rift, with half of its body hanging over the edge.
We began walking towards the ancient temple and started climbing its back. It's hard to imagine how large this giant beast is. How much manpower, material, and wealth were consumed to construct such a massive stone creature? I couldn't help but feel a chill; this level of architectural ability exceeded the level it should have been at that time. How did the ancient Bashu ancestors create this?
We were now standing on the neck of the stone beast. At the forefront was a large stone beam extending out. At the end of the beam was a hideous head, which, from my angle, looked like a hornless dragon with its head raised.
Xiao He exclaimed, "It's a Ba Xia!"
After his remark, I instantly remembered the record about Ba Xia, "Sixth son of the dragon, turtle-like appearance, likes to carry heavy loads," which indeed matched the characteristics of Ba Xia. So, the soldiers commanded by the "Engineer" to dig were for this Ba Xia? Could we infer that the mysterious corpse in the ancient temple was also taken away by the Engineer?
"Come and see." Big Head suddenly shouted at us.
In front of the stone beam, there were two stone tablets. Big Head stood in front of one and shouted, "Good heavens, what is this thing?"
On the stone tablet were densely packed meridians. I took a quick glance and was utterly shocked. I couldn't believe it, rubbing my eyes and muttering, "Am I seeing things correctly?"
"Hurry up, I'm so anxious." Big Head urged beside me.
I calmed down a bit and pointed to the stone tablet, saying, "Remember the Qi Men Dun Jia I mentioned when we were trapped in the Stone Forest? In its early days, there were more than four thousand formations. Later, through the efforts of Feng Hou, Jiang Taigong, and Zhang Liang, it was refined into the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations we see today. And what's carved on this stone tablet is the complete Qi Men Dun Jia formation, no, even if it's incomplete, it includes most of the formations that have long been lost."
It's incredible; how could there be a complete Qi Men Dun Jia here? Qi Men Dun Jia was simplified into seventy-two formations during the Yin and Shang dynasties. Were the existence of these Bashu ancestors even more ancient than that time?
In my mind, scenes flashed by like a passing panorama—Qi Men Dun Jia, Yellow Emperor, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Kunlun Mountains, various ghost tribes. All of this seemed to have surpassed my imagination. My head hurts...