Chapter VI Ancient Books
I sat on the stairs in the attic, thinking about the shape of Tianfeng Gui's hexagram in my mind. I suddenly felt that the shape of the fourth row of bookshelfs was a bit destructive to the Tianfeng Gui's hexagram, but I couldn't tell why.
I couldn't help but walk over and my eyes fell on the dense ancient books.
After standing for a while, I finally found the root of the problem. Other bookshelfs have eight grids, but the fourth row of bookshelf only has seven grids.
This situation is unlikely to be caused by the old man's mistake.
Suddenly, the wood carving words "Zhaoyang Dahuang falls on the edge of the bookshelves" caught my attention.
Grandpa’s collection of books was placed on each bookshelves according to different dynasties, and the old man used the Tai Sui system to record the year. This line of wood carvings means that the bookshelf stored ancient books from the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Logically speaking, there should be a little distance between "Zhaoyang Dahuang Lost" and "Zhang Qiandun" to indicate that this refers to two years, but what is presented to me now is a wooden carving character with the same spacing between nine characters.
I found other bookshelf to compare, confirming that my doubts were correct.
The light of the mobile phone is dark and has limited effect on details, so I touched it with my hands. Sure enough, I touched it between "Zhaoyang Dahuang Lost" and "Zhang Zhang Kundun", I touched a crack, which was particularly subtle. If I hadn't felt that there was something wrong with the spacing between the characters, I would probably think that this was the texture of the wood itself.
I knocked it with my hands, and the sound was empty.
I tried to push "Zhaoyang Dahuang Luo" and "Zhang Qiandun" up and down, and sure enough, a secret space appeared.
There is a dark yellow silk brocade box hidden inside the dark lattice.
I took out the brocade box and opened it and saw that it was the manuscript of Wang Yangming and an ancient book that I had previously determined to be a fake.
Why did this manuscript be placed in such a hidden place?
I was stunned for a while and turned my gaze to the ancient book.
The cover of ancient books has moldy looks, with a few strange symbols on it, like the title of a book. The paper behind the title page is a dark yellow that is naturally aged, like Guanyin paper, but it seems not, because from the oldness of this paper, it must be at least eight hundred years ago, and Guanyin paper first appeared more than five hundred years ago. The paper is densely filled with strange symbols written with brushes. The stitching on the edges of ancient books is new, as if it was sewn up to prevent the pages from scattering.
This made me very puzzled. Even if such a old book is damaged, someone should be asked to repair it, rather than stitching it at will.
This is secondary. What shocked me was that my grandfather actually commented on it. On the opposite side of the ancient book, the old man wrote "Zhou Yong's photo Tig".
I couldn't help but wonder even more. The stitching and notes were particularly in line with the old man's style.
The old man was obsessed with ancient books. Not to mention annotating them on ancient books, he refused to even break an annotation on them.
But at this moment, I heard a slight sound of footsteps coming from outside the study door.
I subconsciously turned off the light source of my phone and hid behind the bookshelf.
The door of the study room was pushed open, and the candlelight of ancestors enshrined in the back hall came in a little, and two figures appeared on the ground.
"I did something wrong back then, but why don't you let me go now? I have already paid my wife and children, and I have to take care of my grandson?" It was my grandfather's voice, hoarse and awkward. "Yes, if you go to Wawu Mountain to find that piece of black jade, you may solve all these puzzles. But isn't Chen Yurang's previous lessons enough?"
Chen Yurang? This is the professor’s name.
"Give up, this thing shouldn't have happened from the beginning."
I have never seen my grandfather so depressed, and the other person has never spoken.
The two of them remained silent for a while. The man seemed to have handed something to grandpa and left first. After reading it, grandpa sighed heavily and followed it out of the study.
The study room was quiet again, and I sat there, my mind was blank.
After returning to my room, I sat tiredly on the bed, but a storm broke out in my mind.
What does it mean to have already lost his wife and children? Is it because my father encountered something unexpected? But didn’t he live well? Grandma is fine too!
Who is the person who entered the study with his grandfather? It is obviously not grandma. The sound of the door outside has not been opened tonight. Could it be one of Wen Xiangyu, Zhang Jisheng and Chen Mo?
My grandson also got on it? This obviously means me. Is something going on?
Also, what does the sentence "If you go to Wawu Mountain to find that piece of black jade, you can solve all these puzzles" mean?
Suddenly, I thought of the photo the professor gave me, and quickly found it. After a closer look, the father in the photo was indeed holding a black thing in his hand. In the secret passage, the father in the ice coffin was indeed holding a black thing in his hand.
Is this the black jade that the old man said?
Countless questions came, but I couldn't answer any of them. I felt as if I had fallen into a bottomless abyss, falling and falling without end.
I rubbed my head, got up and turned on the computer, and imported all the ancient books and photos of Wang Yangming's manuscripts taken in the study to the computer.
I looked through the contents of ancient books page by page.
There are strange symbols on ancient books, and none of them are the same. I have looked up many ancient characters online, but I have not found similar characters.
Fortunately, grandpa’s notes occasionally appear on it, so I won’t be able to understand it at all.
Ancient books are about sixty years in a chapter. Each chapter is accompanied by a picture after it. The pictures are drawn very finely, but the content of the symbols is particularly short, with only a few words.
Suddenly, I found the three words "Wawu Mountain" in my grandfather's notes.
I opened my phone and searched on the web page. The geographical location displayed was in Sichuan.
I remembered that Zhang Jisheng said that Professor had also been to Sichuan a few years ago. Could it be this place I went to?
I continued to turn back a few pages, and an illustration made me stop. I expanded the photo bit by bit. In the ever-expanding picture, the gossip golden rooster picture appeared in front of me in a vague way.
My heart hopped heavily.
In an instant, I seemed to see creatures like earthworms crawling out of the computer continuously.
‘You are right, we are wrong.’
The content of the professor's letter appeared in my mind again.
I calmed down and continued to read the contents of this ancient book, but I found nothing more.
The sky was already white, but I was still sleepless.
I thought of the manuscript of Wang Yangming, which I had previously determined to be a fake, and re-examined the above content:
"I know that the time is about to be on the deadline, but I don't say it again. However, it is also strange. It is difficult for all students to believe it. In the year of Bingyin, I was exiled to the Longchang and lived in the barbarians. The way of the saints was in a state of confusion and trouble. So I sought to be quiet and sleep in the village for a long time. Suddenly, I went to a different dream. I heard that the sages taught me, and saw the rise and fall of the temple, and saw the suffering of the people, and knew the many people outside the world. I was so happy that my way was a shame for the leakage, and I was awakened in a moment. I thought about this dream for several days, and I thought it was real, and I felt that I had realized it, experienced and explored, and realized the Five Classics. The Four Sons were as lush as rivers and released into the seas. The way of the saints was as smooth as a road. This is called "the great enlightenment of the purpose of studying things and learning, and when I was sleeping, I was talking about it." Although it was absurd and treacherous, it was not a deceptive. I waited for the companions of later generations to observe it. - Wang Shouren, in the month of Gengxu in the year of Renyin, wrote in Ganzhou."
Chapter completed!