The exit of the underground palace finally appeared. At this time, what surprised us was that the entire sacrificial temple also underwent a sudden change. Hundreds of sarcophagi around the altar disappeared in an instant, and the altar we were standing on also changed.
The entire ground has become flat, which means that the cube we are standing on now is the floor of the temple.
The sacrificial temple became empty due to the disappearance of the sarcophagus and the sinking of the altar. By the light of the flashlight, we saw many relief stone carvings on the walls of the temple, and a human-shaped statue appeared on the back wall.
Liu Dong pointed his flashlight at the statue and said, "That is the appearance of Queen Jingjue. Lao Fei, you can go and take a look. On this stone statue of the Queen, she has a huge one eye."
Fei Fan and all of us walked over, and all the flashlights were focused on the face of the stone statue. Sure enough, the majestic queen actually had a big single eye open in the middle of her forehead, looking so frightening.
Fei Fan repeatedly wondered: "What's going on? The illusion I saw in Jiuliandun claiming to be Queen Jingjue clearly had three eyes. Could it be that... Queen Jingjue and the "City of Time"
What's the connection between those one-eyed creatures?"
Minister An interrupted Fei Yifan's words at this time and said: "Old Fei, I believe that when we enter the underground palace to conduct a detailed investigation, the mystery will be revealed sooner or later."
Fei Fan and Liu Dong both nodded. Liu Dong added: "I inspected the reliefs on these four sides last time. They depict some scenes of the Jingjue tribe's daily life, including production, hunting, and sacrifices."
Minister An nodded and said: "Then we don't have to look any further. I believe the underground palace will give us all the answers."
Liu Dong said: "Yes, the space of the underground palace is unusually large. Last time we entered the underground palace, we were attacked inexplicably not long ago and had to withdraw. This time, we hope to conduct a detailed and thorough survey. However, everyone must
Be careful, there may be some kind of creature in the underground palace, we must avoid being suddenly attacked like I was last time."
Liu Dong's words made everyone a little nervous. There is still a living thing in the underground palace that has been buried in the ground for thousands of years. So how does this living thing survive? What kind of living thing is it? With doubts and speculations, we
I sorted out my equipment, stuffed myself in the temple, and prepared to enter the underground palace.
When they came to the entrance of the tunnel, Liu Dong said: "This tunnel has stone steps going down, and then there is a very wide corridor. Follow the corridor straight forward and you will enter the underground palace." After saying that, he jumped down and waved for us to follow.
.
Instructor Shui signaled Jiao Yiming and I to follow Liu Dong, with the experts in the middle, and then she joined the other comrades. Jiao Yiming and I then went down to meet Liu Dong first, and then led the way.
As soon as we got down to the steps, I was worried about whether there would be a mechanism in the secret passage, so I was cautious and extra cautious when going down. However, Liu Dong came once and led the way nonchalantly. When we got to the end of the stone steps, our eyes suddenly opened up and appeared.
A corridor was built that was five meters wide and about three meters high.
The corridor is no longer surrounded by black stones, but is made of yellow adobe bricks. Due to being in a closed underground environment for a long time, it emits an unpleasant and strange smell. Liu Dong told us that this kind of
Square bricks are rectangular earth bricks used to build city walls in the ancient Western Regions. They are made of rammed earth, cow dung, cool sand, etc., which are dry and strong and will not crack for a long time. The top of the corridor is built in the shape of a round arch. At this time, we
We also found many bright and strange murals carved on the four walls.
The strange thing about the murals is that what appears most often is a black swirling underground cave, with spiral circles outlining its unfathomable depth. Almost every mural has such a underground cave. In addition to underground caves, there are also underground caves.
Queen Jue wore a veil and led her tribe to either light torches, sing and dance in front of the cave, or bring live animals to offer sacrifices in front of the cave, cut the live animals and then throw them into the cave. As you look further back, the content of the mural is
A lot has changed. A blue eye-like object actually appeared in the black hole. Queen Jingjue still wore a veil, and her expression and face could not be seen, but her people were lying in front of the cave, prostrating and worshiping. It seemed that they were
When the eye-like thing that appears in the cave is some kind of god or divine object, worship it.
The environment in the corridor is estimated to be due to millions of years of being closed and the air is not circulated. The colors of the murals are as new as before and have not peeled off at all, which made Minister An and experts excited to see it.
Minister An said that as far back as the early 19th century, the ruins of ancient cities in Xinjiang discovered by foreign explorers also contained a large number of murals, almost all of them with religious themes. Unfortunately, the government did not protect them at that time, and they were all completely looted.
It was lost to foreign countries. I didn't expect that such a complete preservation could be seen here. Moreover, this is the oldest and most mysterious exquisite mural among the thirty-six countries in the ancient Western Regions. If it could be excavated and sorted out, it would be enough to shock the entire world today.
We all walked and looked at it, and stopped in front of the last painting. The cave in this mural was no longer black, but a slender staircase appeared in the cave, spiraling downwards around the cave wall.
.
Dr. Lin said to Minister An: "Minister An, do you think this cave is really natural? I think it is impossible for manpower to dig such a huge deep cave that goes straight up and down."
Minister An said: "Yes, this cave is the sacred mountain cave passed down by the Jingjue tribe. It is said that the Jingjue tribe came out of this deep cave, and then established the ancient city of Jingjue, and then prospered."
I remember hearing them once say that the legendary Jingjue clan came from underground. I didn’t think much about it at the time, thinking it was purely a fabrication and conjecture of the ancients. Now that I have seen the things on the murals, it seems that they are not mystical, but I haven’t seen them.
Before, I really couldn't imagine that there was such a huge underground cave.
Dr. Lin then asked again: "Dr. Liu, you said that the Jingjue tribe claims to be the Ghost Eye tribe. If they really come from the dark world underground, are they still human beings?"
Liu Dong said: "This...for example, the world's races include black people in Africa, white people in Europe, and yellow people in Asia. Even underground races like Chi You appeared in ancient Chinese legends. I
I think the Jingjue tribe should also be a type of human being."
Minister An said: "Let's stop guessing now. Maybe everything will be answered when we actually find the cave."
At this time, the corridor has reached the end. In front of it is a yellow brick wall, and a huge stone door blocks our way. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Liu Dong, only to see Liu Dong
He looked at the stone door in astonishment, shook his head in disbelief and said: "It's strange. When we came here, there was no such stone door. When we walked out of the corridor, there was an extremely spacious underground space. How did this... stone door come out?
"
Fei Fan said unhappily: "Old Liu, did your mother remember it wrong? You were the one who led us in. How could you not remember this stone gate?"
Liu Dong was speechless and didn't know what to say.
At this moment, Dr. Lin suddenly exclaimed: "No! Who saw those two Uyghur soldiers? And me...that Mr. Su...Mr. Su."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. When they looked around, sure enough, the "insect-turned" Mr. Su and the two Uighur warriors Parhati and Eskar were nowhere to be seen. The corridor was very wide and there was no place to hide people.
In the corner, I could see more than ten meters away with my flashlight. How could three people suddenly disappear?
A strange atmosphere suddenly enveloped the entire corridor, and everyone felt an inexplicable sense of fear in their hearts.
Dr. Lin was probably worried that her father was missing, so she suddenly shouted: "Su Wenxiao!" Her shout echoed loudly in the underground space, which really shocked us all.
Immediately afterwards, Dr. Lin shouted several times in succession, but there was no movement at all in the entire corridor. The two Uyghur militiamen and Mr. Su seemed to have never been with us and disappeared without a trace.
Instructor An Shui comforted and stopped Dr. Lin from shouting. Minister An frowned and said, "When we entered the underground palace, who saw the three of them following us?"
Instructor Shui said without hesitation: "I watched everyone go down the tunnel with my own eyes before following them. I am sure they went down the tunnel and entered this corridor."
Professor Liu Boheng nodded and said: "Then it seems that there is something wrong with the corridor. Old Liu said that there was no stone gate and wall at the place where he walked out of the corridor, and now Mr. Su and the two guide militiamen also suddenly disappeared, which shows that there must be something wrong with the corridor.
There is a mechanism or other exit. Maybe...the three of them entered another passage."
Liu Dong murmured: "How... is this possible? We didn't find any other passages. Besides, I... I came once and I didn't find anything wrong in the corridor."
Minister An waved his hand and said decisively: "Don't talk anymore. Is there any problem with the corridor? Let's go back and walk again. Everyone, pay attention to your companions around you and don't lose anyone again. In addition, look at the sides and the ground to see if you can find them.
Get a clue."
Everyone agreed with Minister An’s suggestion, so everyone cautiously walked back along the corridor. In less than ten minutes, we came to the entrance of the underground palace again, but we didn’t find anything wrong or anything wrong.
There was a fork or other exit in the corridor, and everyone felt a little weird. So how did Mr. Su and the three of them disappear?
At this time, Jiao Yiming ran up to the entrance of the underground palace and entered the temple to take a look. He did not look for the missing three people. Everyone felt completely at a loss. After some effort, he even said to himself: "He
Damn it, is there a ghost?"
His words added a hint of panic to everyone's hearts. Just when everyone was helpless and suspicious, a strange sound suddenly came from deep in the corridor, followed by a low call: "Comrades...
"
Everyone was delighted at the same time. This was exactly the call issued by the Na'vi militiamen. Minister An quickly responded: "We are here." With a wave of his hand, everyone hurried to the location where the sound came from in the corridor.
When our flashlight illuminated the Uyghur militiaman Parhat, he said to us in a panic: "Eskar and Mr. Su have been taken away..."
Everyone was shocked, and Minister An quickly asked: "What did you say? Arrested? Arrested by what?"
Parhati covered his face with his hands, squatted down suddenly, and said, "Ugh..." "It's the devil! There are so many devils..."
Everyone looked at each other, devil? Where did the devil come from? Where did Parhat and the three of them just go? Where did Parhat come from? It seems that only Parhat can explain this series of questions.
Come.
Minister An squatted down, grabbed the extremely frightened Parhati's shoulders and whispered comforting words: "Don't be afraid, it's okay now, we are all by your side. Can you tell us where the devil is? Let's go rescue Mr. Su.
and Eskar.”
Parhati raised his head and pointed at the yellow earthen wall beside him with still frightened eyes: "It's right here, right here..."
Everyone was confused for a while. This was a wall. There was no passage. How did they get in? At this time, Fei Fan seemed to understand something. He walked over and touched the mural on the wall with his hand. Suddenly he pushed hard.
I saw a mural on the entire wall sinking silently on one side and flipping over on the other side. Everyone finally understood that the mural was alive and a reversible side flap.
.
When the wall panel turned over, a dark space was revealed inside. Napashatti hid behind me in fear and screamed: "The devil...the devil is inside..."
I quickly turned around, patted his back, and asked in a low voice: "Pashhati, tell me, what does the devil look like?"
Pashat's eyes were still confused and dull with fear, and he murmured: "The devil... is so long, a black... big snake..."
Big snake? Everyone finally understood. It turns out that the devil Pashat mentioned is a snake. It seems that Pashat and other ethnic minorities in remote areas still respect nature and have an innate instinct for snakes, spiders, even wolves and other natural animals.
Fear and call these things gods or devils.
"It's a big snake, what should we do now? My...father is still inside, let's find a way quickly." Dr. Lin said anxiously.
Minister An lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and said: "Since this big snake can capture Mr. Su and Eskar, it must be quite big. We...we have lost modern weapons such as guns. We want to save them."
I'm afraid it will be difficult for them."
Everyone was silent after hearing his words.
Pashadi was still hiding behind me, looking at the overturned earth wall with great fear in his eyes, muttering the word "devil" inside. I felt uncomfortable in my heart, and couldn't help but say: "No matter what
, we should just leave them alone. We can't just let the two of them be eaten by the big snake."