Chapter 16 2
At a fork in the cave, Mu Linfeng stopped and looked into the caves on both sides. He found that the caves in front, behind, left and right looked similar, as if they had been modified by someone. He felt like he had been wandering around in these caves.
Mu Linfeng marked the entrance of one of the caves. Because , he did not mark the entrances of the caves he had passed. Mu Linfeng felt a little regretful. If he had marked them all, this might not have happened. At least he would know that he had been to those caves.
While Mu Linfeng was making the mark, Gao Hongjin walked into the cave on the right to check the situation. The cave was curved, so he could only see within a few meters. Gao Hongjin then walked forward a few steps to see what was on the other side of the bend.
Gao Hongjin had just walked forward a few meters when he suddenly noticed a dark object on the ground not far away. He focused the light beam of the overhead light on the shadow and saw clearly that it was a person lying there. Gao Hongjin suddenly felt his scalp tingling and he shouted at the top of his voice: "Lin Feng, come here quickly, there is a dead person here..."
Hearing Gao Hongjin's terrified cry, Mu Linfeng and Wen Yinqiu were stunned, because the entrance to the cave was blocked when they came in, so how could there be someone inside?
The two of them didn't have time to think and hurriedly ran towards Gao Hongjin's location.
Mu Linfeng came to the corpse lying on the ground. He knew it was not a modern person just by looking at the clothes. The soles of the shoes on his feet were hand-made thousand-layer soles, and he was wearing a buttoned double-breasted jacket and wide-waisted pants. No one had worn such clothes for at least thirty years.
The person on the ground could no longer be considered a person, but rather a pile of bones wrapped in clothes. His head was tilted to one side, revealing his white teeth, and his hands were shaped like eagle claws, indicating that he seemed to be crawling forward before he died.
After walking around the corpse, Mu Linfeng said softly, "Judging from the clothes and the degree of decay of this person, he should be from before the liberation, at least before the reform and opening up. Judging from the wear of his teeth, he is about twenty years old."
Gao Hongjin suddenly asked, "Did this person come in to look for the tomb of King Heng?"
"If it was a tomb robber, there must be other people. Maybe some villagers nearby got lost after entering the cave out of curiosity."
"Brother Mu, was this person trapped and died here?" In fact, everyone knew the answer to Wen Yinqiu's question, but they just didn't want to say it out loud.
Mu Linfeng nodded without saying anything. He looked at both ends of the cave and said to himself, "Why is the cave here a little strange..."
"What's so strange?" Wen Yinqiu asked hurriedly.
Mu Linfeng still didn't answer. He walked towards a cave a few meters ahead. This cave was straight, and you could see the end. There was also a smooth stone wall blocking the way.
Looking at the stone wall blocking the cave, Gao Hongjin said in surprise: "Hey! Why are we back again?"
Wen Yinqiu said immediately: "No, this is not the cave we were in. There were many burnt bats on the ground in that cave. There is nothing here. It is very clean."
Looking at this cave that was exactly the same as the previous one, Mu Linfeng seemed to understand something. He stood there motionless, frowning and lost in thought.
"Lin Feng, why aren't you talking?" Gao Hongjin asked curiously.
Wen Yinqiu waved at Gao Hongjin, signaling him not to disturb Mu Linfeng. Wen Yinqiu could see that Mu Linfeng must have made an important discovery.
Mu Linfeng pondered quietly for a while, then said softly: "I think I know what's going on..." As he spoke, Mu Linfeng retreated back to the cave entrance he had come in from, then pointed to the right and said, "If my guess is correct, there should be a similar cave over there."
"Oh, then let's go over and take a look." Gao Hongjin said as he took the lead and walked in the direction Mu Linfeng pointed.
The situation was exactly as Mu Linfeng had said. The three people walked forward for more than ten meters along the winding tunnel and came across another cross cave entrance. One of the caves was the same as the previous one. After entering for more than ten meters, it was blocked by a smooth stone wall.
"What's going on!" Wen Yinqiu said in surprise as she looked at the end of the cave. She was stunned for a moment and then asked, "Brother Mu, how did you know there is another cave like this here?"
Mu Linfeng did not answer Wen Yinqiu. He looked at the cave in front of him and said, "If my guess is correct, there should be eight caves that are exactly the same."
Gao Hongjin suddenly laughed and said with sudden enlightenment: "I see, you mean these caves are arranged according to the Bagua?"
Mu Linfeng nodded slowly and said solemnly: "To be precise, these eight caves are the eight gates in Qimen Dunjia."
"Qi Men Dun Jia!" Wen Yinqiu said in surprise. She seemed unfamiliar with the term. She continued, "Why does it sound like something scary? Brother Mu, what exactly is Qi Men Dun Jia?"
Mu Linfeng said slowly: "Qi Men Dun Jia is not a mechanism. It is the largest secret art in China. It can also be said to be the only secret book in the world that focuses on controlling the opponent. In ancient times, it was called the emperor's study. The secrets are extremely secret and must not be disclosed to outsiders. If ordinary people steal it, they will be beheaded once they are discovered. Therefore, it is a secret among secrets. Due to the terribleness of Qi Men Dun Jia, the master only taught it to his disciples in person, and it was passed down in a single line. Nowadays, there are very few people who can really understand it..."
"Ah! Is it really that powerful?" Wen Yinqiu had a look of astonishment on her face. She seemed to still have doubts about what Mu Linfeng said.
Gao Hongjin said to Mu Linfeng anxiously: "Linfeng, let's not worry about what it is for now, just tell me how we can get out of here!"
Wen Yinqiu also said repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Brother Mu, how can we leave here?"
"The eight gates in Qi Men Dun Jia are Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, Jing, and Kai. Among them, there are three lucky gates, Xiu, Sheng, and Kai. I think as long as I find one of the lucky gates, I can escape from here..."
Before Mu Linfeng finished speaking, Gao Hongjin said anxiously: "Then hurry up and find it, what are you waiting for?" At this point, Gao Hongjin couldn't help cursing again, "Damn it, I didn't know I came in just now, why is it so difficult to get out now?"
"I just came in by accident. The caves here are arranged according to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams. It's not easy to get out again. I guess these eight doors are both the entrance and the door to the underground palace..."
Mu Linfeng said as he took off his backpack and took out the compass passed down from his ancestors: "Thank goodness I brought it with me, otherwise it would be really troublesome."
Looking at the copper compass in Mu Linfeng's hand, Wen Yinqiu asked in confusion: "Brother Mu, can this thing help us find a way out?"
Mu Linfeng smiled and explained: "The real content of Qimen Dunjia is the magnetism in nature, the effects that occur every year, month, day, and hour, and the changes that occur in all things under the influence of magnetism. Our ancestors simplified the very complicated changes so that they can be calculated with this small compass. This is called the unity of all changes."
Wen Yinqiu sighed, shook his head and said, "Ah, the more I listen, the more confused I become. Besides, I can't understand how this thing can trap us here. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe these things at all..."
Gao Hongjin showed an experienced look: "Xiao Wen, you have lived abroad since you were a child, and you don't know much about the things left by our ancestors. Take some time to let Lin Feng tell you about the Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams. This thing is amazing."
Mu Linfeng glanced at Gao Hongjin and said, "Why don't you tell Xiaowen about it?"
"Hey, it's not that I don't know how to do it. Those who are capable should do more work, hehe..."
Mu Linfeng put his backpack back on, and then said to the two of them as he walked forward, "If my guess is correct, this curved passage should be circular, and there may be another layer inside. Let's check along this passage first, and after we have a general understanding of the situation, we can decide which passage to go out from."
Wen Yinqiu followed closely behind Mu Linfeng, wanting to see how he found the way out, and asked as they walked: "Brother Mu, what did you mean by the gate of life and the gate of death? Why are there so many doors here?"
"Actually, this is easy to understand. Some of these doors lead to the underground palace of the mausoleum, and some lead to the outside. The magic of it is that the doors leading to various places are changing, some are real and some are virtual. This is why we can't find the way out after entering. The purpose of this design is of course to protect the mausoleum from being harassed. If you don't understand the situation and rush in, you will either be trapped inside and unable to get out, or you will break into the dangerous door and be killed by some mechanism..."
Mu Linfeng stopped talking before he could finish. Wen Yinqiu almost bumped into him and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong?"
Mu Linfeng didn't say anything, but pointed to a passage on the left. There were five or six people lying in a mess inside. The most terrifying thing was that two of them were beheaded, and the others had arrows stuck in their bodies. These people were also skeletons, but from the big braids behind their heads, they were obviously from the Qing Dynasty. They had axes, ropes and other things around them, and they looked like a group of tomb robbers.
Wen Yinqiu couldn't help but cover her open mouth with her hands. She knew in her heart that these tomb robbers must have died after entering the evil door that Mu Linfeng had just mentioned.
Gao Hongjin, who was following at the end, also saw the miserable scene in the cave and said in a trembling voice: "What kind of hidden weapon have they been hit by? Lin Feng, you must not bring us into such a dangerous place..."
Wen Yinqiu hurriedly waved his hands at Gao Hongjin and said, "Brother Gao, please don't say such unlucky words."
Mu Linfeng said nothing, but waved to the two of them, signaling them to follow him quickly. Ten minutes later, the three of them returned to the cave with the dead bat.
Wen Yinqiu said to Mu Linfeng, "Brother Mu, I counted and there are exactly eight such caves. Each cave is almost the same, and there are stone walls blocking the caves."
Mu Linfeng looked at the compass in his hand with a calm mind. There was a diagram of the Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams engraved on it. The needle in the middle was shaking from time to time. He suddenly asked, "What time is it now?"
Wen Yinqiu looked at his watch and said hastily, "It's exactly three o'clock in the afternoon."
Mu Linfeng's brows gradually twisted into a knot. Judging from his expression, it seemed that the situation was not good. Wen Yinqiu hurriedly asked: "Brother Mu, what's wrong? Is there anything wrong?"
Mu Linfeng said in a heavy tone: "At this time, the fire in the five elements should be strong, but the compass shows that the water is strong and the fire is weak, which is exactly the opposite of what I imagined..."
"Lin Feng, don't worry about whether we are strong or weak, you just need to take us out." Gao Hongjin said nonchalantly.
"If the strength is reversed, the calculated results will also be opposite. If you enter the evil door, you will probably end up with your head and body separated like the few people we just saw..."
Before Mu Linfeng finished speaking, Gao Hongjin shouted, "That won't work. I still want to keep my head to eat. The little cripple is smart and stays at home to enjoy his life. I really regret following you to find the Hengwang Mausoleum."
Wen Yinqiu didn't bother to pay attention to Gao Hongjin. She looked at Mu Linfeng with trusting eyes: "Brother Mu, is there no other way?"
Wen Yinqiu's words seemed to remind Mu Linfeng. He said softly, "Let me think about it. Although we haven't entered the Hengwang Mausoleum yet, we must be very close to the underground palace..."
At this point, Mu Linfeng suddenly slapped his forehead and said with sudden enlightenment: "I understand. There is a trick in our Mu family's ancestral tomb-viewing skills called the theory of positive and negative. The yin and yang and five elements in the tomb should be exactly opposite to those outside. When the fire is strong above, it should be weak below."
Gao Hongjin still asked a little worriedly: "Lin Feng, are you sure? This is not a joke. If you make a mistake, it will be too late to regret it."
Mu Linfeng pondered for a moment, took out a small deerskin bag from his jacket pocket, and took out the dragon bone needle used to find dragon points. He pinched the red thread with his fingers, let the dragon bone needle hang in the air, and then began to walk forward along the winding passage.
After passing several forked cave entrances, Mu Linfeng stopped at the entrance of a cave and saw that the dragon bone needle hanging in the air was tilted in the opposite direction of the cave.
Mu Linfeng checked the compass in his left hand again, then pointed at the cave and said, "We should be able to get out from here."
Gao Hongjin shone the headlight on his head in the direction Mu Linfeng pointed. Although the light of the light had dimmed due to a lot of electricity consumption, Gao Hongjin could still see that the end of the cave was blocked by a stone wall.
"Lin Feng, you must have miscalculated. There is no exit in this cave. It is blocked by a stone door."
Mu Linfeng ignored Gao Hongjin's words and walked into the cave. Wen Yinqiu followed him into the cave without saying a word...
Gao Hongjin looked at the two people's backs in dismay, thinking that you really won't turn back until you hit the wall, I will watch you come back here, but what Gao Hongjin didn't expect was that the two people in the cave were getting farther and farther away. He looked closely and found that the stone door blocking the cave had disappeared at some point. Gao Hongjin was immediately frightened and broke into a cold sweat. He suddenly felt that there seemed to be something in the dark cave behind him that wanted to catch him, so he quickly raised his legs and ran forward.
"Wait for me..." Gao Hongjin shouted while desperately chasing the two people in front.
