novelsite Chapter 44 Shortcut
Chapter 44 Shortcut
Warm steam filled the not-so-spacious cave, dispelling the bone-chilling cold. Once their nerves, stretched taut for so long, relaxed, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over them. Everyone collapsed onto the warm sand, too weary to even move a finger.
The fat man lay sprawled out, letting out a satisfied sigh: "I, Fatty, declare that from this day forward, the hot spring is my father... no, my mother! This warmth..."
Wu Xie leaned against a warm, cozy rock, feeling his frozen blood begin to flow again, and his thoughts gradually clearing. After resting for about fifteen minutes, his childlike curiosity kicked in, and he shifted his gaze from the misty pool to carefully examine the shelter.
The cave is small, about half the size of a basketball court. There are several natural cracks in the ceiling, through which a faint light shines down, intertwining with the beams of flashlights to barely illuminate the surroundings.
His gaze fell on the rock wall opposite the hot spring pool, where the color seemed slightly different from the surroundings, darker, and with faint traces of human intervention.
He struggled to his feet, grabbed a flashlight, and cautiously approached. Panzi tried to follow, but he waved his hand to stop him: "I'll just watch, I won't do anything."
As they got closer, they indeed found traces of smearing on the rock face, which should be murals. However, they had been severely eroded by time and dampness, the colors were dull, and the images were blurry. Only some flowing lines and indistinct human figures could be barely discerned.
"There are murals," Wu Xie whispered, attracting the attention of the others.
"What's that drawing? Can you make out anything?" The fat man lay still, only tilting his head to ask.
"It's too blurry... It looks like a woman?" Wu Xie squinted, trying hard to make out the details. "It looks like... a flying apsara? Or some kind of ritual scene. The colors are almost gone; we can only make out the general outline."
Chen Pi Asi sat on a flat rock closest to the hot spring, while Lang Feng used a towel soaked in hot spring water to apply heat to his hands. He glanced at the mural and said casually, "The Celestial Maiden Painting, it can't be too late, but it's not much earlier either."
While Monk Hua was heating canned food with a portable stove, he replied, "Fourth Master is right. Judging from the location of this hot spring and the sealing stone from earlier, this place is definitely a man-made rest area or sacrificial site. The content of the murals may be related to the beliefs of the builders."
On the other side, Panzi carefully checked Shunzi's condition. Shunzi had been too exhausted and had almost suffered hypothermia. Now, lying on the warm sand, covered with a thermal blanket, his face was still pale, but his breathing had become much more steady, and his body temperature was slowly rising. Panzi felt his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief: "His temperature is up. He's survived."
Qin Jiu sat next to Qin Yuan, sipping the warm water Qin Yuan had just boiled. His eyes darted around, glancing at the steaming pool, then at the murals Wu Xie was studying, and finally settling on the steaming pot of food, where he quietly swallowed.
The fat man couldn't stay still any longer; the aroma of food made his stomach rumble. He got up and went to wait for the meal at Monk Hua's place, his eyes still darting to the murals on Wu Xie's side. While waiting for the food, he got bored and wandered over to the murals, shining a flashlight on them to look at them.
"Tsk, this drawing... it's not even as good as the blackboard bulletins I had in elementary school." The fat man complained, reaching out his finger to pick at a dark-colored area with slightly curled edges.
Something's not right when you pick at it.
"what?"
He peeled off a small, grayish patch of mural, revealing a completely different layer of paint underneath, much brighter in color.
"Holy crap!" The fat man exclaimed in surprise, his eyes widening in disbelief. "This mural has two layers!"
This sound drew everyone's attention.
Wu Xie immediately moved closer and carefully shone his flashlight on the area the fat man had scratched. Sure enough, the surface was a blurry, dim image of a celestial maiden, so faint as to be almost unrecognizable, while the exposed part below, though only glimpsed briefly, revealed a vibrant base color and was clearly in much better condition.
"There really is a hidden layer!" Wu Xie exclaimed excitedly. "The celestial maiden image on the surface was probably added later to cover up the original murals underneath!"
This discovery piqued everyone's interest, even Chen Pi Asi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them.
The group immediately got to work. Because the surface of the mural was exposed to the humid air, the material was fragile and it wasn't too difficult to peel off. They carefully started from where the fat man had scratched it, slowly prying away the gray, decaying surface.
As the surface layer is gradually peeled away, the full picture of the underlying murals is revealed.
The scene is filled with dynamism and a chilling atmosphere. No longer are there ethereal celestial maidens, but rather brutal war and rituals.
The mural is clearly divided into several consecutive scenes. The opening scene, against the backdrop of majestic snow-capped mountains and a massive bronze gate, shows an unusually tall figure dressed in strange crowns and robes crawling out of a crack, surrounded by many simply dressed people kneeling in submission. The tall figure's face is blurred, but it seems... to have more than one pair of eyes?
The next picture shows this tall man leading an army in battle against another army that appears to be well-equipped and well-organized. The battlefield is brutal, with corpses strewn everywhere.
In the third picture, the man is defeated, and his remaining troops retreat into the deep mountains. The giant bronze gate reappears in the background.
Finally, and most extensively, in the central image, a figure lies on what appears to be an altar, surrounded by nine centipedes with countless legs. Many figures resembling shamans are performing some kind of ritual. A bronze door reappears, and light seems to emanate from its cracks, connecting to the figure on the altar.
"This is..." Wu Xie stared intently, "A war narrative painting? It looks like a story of the destruction of a tribe or a small country?"
"This is no ordinary small country." Monk Hua's expression was solemn. He pointed to some recurring, dragon-like, multi-legged, winding patterns in the mural, which were simplified versions of the centipede dragon they had seen on the sealing stone. "Look at these totems, the style of clothing, and the background. This depicts the Eastern Xia Kingdom."
"Eastern Xia?" The fat man scratched his head. "Never heard of it. I only know Western Xia."
"The Eastern Xia Kingdom existed for a very short time, established in Liaodong at the end of the Jin Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty by Pu Xian Wannu. Its history lasted only nineteen years, and there are very few historical records about it," Hua Heshang explained. "But in the underworld and in some secret traditions, the Eastern Xia Kingdom, especially its emperor Wannu, has always been shrouded in mystery."
His finger traced the tall and strange image of the Wan Nu King on the mural: "Look, all the Dongxia people in this painting, whether soldiers or civilians, have exceptionally handsome faces, and you can hardly see any old people."
Only after his reminder did everyone notice this detail. The figures in the mural did indeed have features that blurred gender and age, leaning towards androgynous handsomeness, and none of them showed signs of old age.
"Isn't this art style abstract?" the fat man said.
"Not entirely," Qin Yuan suddenly spoke up, pointing to some small scenes depicting daily life, such as fishing and hunting, along the edge of the mural. "The figures in these background scenes also don't include any elderly people. This might be a deliberate imagery, or it could be a reflection of the reality of their society."
"No elderly people..." Wu Xie murmured, "How is that possible? Unless..."
"Unless they don't grow old, or, before they do..." Monk Hua continued, his voice low and carrying an unsettling implication.
He carefully took out something wrapped in soft deerskin from the inner pocket of his clothes. Unfolding the deerskin, he found a bronze fish-shaped ornament inside. Strangely, there were two sea snakes on the fish's eyebrows.
Snake-browed bronze fish!
Monk Hua continued, "This bronze fish is inscribed with a great deal of information in Jurchen script, but unfortunately we've only obtained one part of it, and can only decipher a portion of it." He stroked the cold bronze fish. "The information, translated, amounts to only one sentence: 'The King of Ten Thousand Slaves is not human!'"
The cave was completely silent, with only the sound of the hot spring water flowing and the faint whistling of the wind.
"You mean," the fat man clicked his tongue, trying to process this information, "that the King of Wannu of Dongxia Kingdom might not be a normal person? And that his people have no elderly because of him? What kind of nonsense is this? It sounds like a myth."
"Myths are often distorted projections of reality," Chen Pi said slowly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the murals and the bronze fish in Hua Heshang's hand. "The clues left by Wang Zanghai, the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top, the King of Wannu of Dongxia, the Bronze Gate... these are not independent entities. Immortality, humph, since ancient times, how many emperors, generals, and extraordinary people have sought these two words? As for the means..." He sneered, the unspoken meaning sending chills down one's spine.
Monk Hua carefully put the bronze fish away again: "Believe it or not, I'm just stating what I know. This mural, this bronze fish, and the Heavenly Palace on the Clouds that we're searching for all probably point to the same astonishing secret."
The topic was somewhat heavy and beyond the realm of common understanding. As everyone processed this information, they remained silent for a while, quietly eating their reheated food to replenish their strength.
For the next two or three days, the group stayed in the hot spring cave to rest. The wind and snow outside were sometimes heavy and sometimes light, but they never completely stopped.
Shunzi is recovering well and can move around on his own now. They take turns keeping watch, spending most of their time resting and studying the mural, trying to find more clues about the path to the Heavenly Palace on the Clouds.
Qin Yuan used this time to perceive the cave more closely. His keen sense of energy allowed him to vaguely sense a faint fluctuation emanating from the depths of that narrow crevice on the other side of the hot spring pool, a fluctuation that resonated with his bloodline.
The fluctuation was cold and vast, carrying a mechanical precision and an indescribable oppressive force.
It is a bronze door, and behind the door lies the "ultimate".
He knew that, according to the original plot, Wu Xie and his companions would leave the hot spring cave and continue their arduous journey through the wind and snow, taking a long detour and experiencing even more dangers before finally reaching the Bronze Gate.
But he doesn't intend to take a detour.
On the afternoon of the third day, the wind outside had noticeably subsided, and the snowflakes had become sparse. Shunzi went out to check and returned saying, "The wind and snow have lessened; we should be able to continue our journey early tomorrow morning."
With their morale boosted, and after a few days of rest and recovery, it was time for everyone to start afresh.
Chen Pi began instructing Lang Feng and the others to pack their belongings, while Wu Xie and Fatty also checked their backpacks.
Just then, Qin Yuan, carrying the awakened Qin Jiu, walked to the edge of the hot spring pool and stood facing the deep, narrow crevice in the rock. "No need to go out and take a detour."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
"Master Qin, what do you mean by that?" Pan Zi asked.
Qin Yuan pointed to the dark crevice in the rock: "Go this way."
"From here?" The fat man walked over and shone his flashlight into the crevice. It was winding and deep inside, filled with moisture, and the end was nowhere in sight. "Little Blackie, this crevice looks big enough for a monkey to squeeze through. Who knows which nook or cranny it leads to!"
"That's right, Qin Yuan, this crevice is too risky. What if it's a dead end, or what's inside..." Wu Xie also expressed his concern.
Even Chen Pi frowned, clearly disagreeing with this risky suggestion.
"If Fourth Master doesn't trust us, we can proceed as planned. Wu Xie, you can go with Fourth Master; he's an old hand. We'll part ways here and meet again in the main tomb chamber," Qin Yuan said calmly, holding Qin Jiu in his arms.
"Hey Blackie, what are you talking about! It's just squeezing through a crack, right? Fatty's got you covered." Fatty jumped up the first thing he heard.