Chapter 76: A Space of Two Inches
Following in the footsteps of Master Long Er, Jiang Xian was able to enter the treasure house of Shenzhou for the first time.
It must be said that as a world-class auction house, the strictness of Shenzhou's treasure house is astonishing. First of all, you must be accompanied by Elder Long when entering. And you must enter your fingerprints and irises in front. After verification, you can open a sixteen-digit password door that is half a meter thick. Only then can you see the silver passage leading to the treasure house.
Alloy materials were used to build this silver road. It was about seven meters wide and five meters high—enough to move 99.99% of the collections. Electronic surveillance cameras were lined up one meter apart, monitoring everything here from three angles: left, right, and top. Jiang Xian tapped the wall with his fingers, and Elder Long smiled and said, "Don't try. A bullet hitting it will only make a two-millimeter dent at most."
"The entire passage is made of this alloy. Do you see the hole above? That's the fire alarm. This alarm leads directly to the Yanjing garrison. You should know the details of Shenzhou. They used to be linked to the military, and now they say they are decoupling, but it's not so pure."
"Even if there are bombs here, they can't blow down these walls. At most, they will deform them. I heard that this 30-meter passage alone costs hundreds of millions. Once something happens inside, the monitoring personnel outside will immediately close the door. There is no other way out here." He said leisurely: "So, who do you think can take something out here?"
Jiang Xian took a look and had to admit that unless someone was stealing from the company, and it was a high-level official like Mr. Long, the things inside would not be able to escape.
"I forgot to tell you. After the fire alarm sounds, the Yanjing garrison will arrive within 20 minutes. And these holes will emit a poisonous gas, which I personally prepared. It is enough to make people live a life worse than death but not dead. No one has the antidote except me." Long Lao stood in front of a big door with arrogance, and entered the password under the supervision of two bodyguards: "I am responsible for building the entire treasure house. Anyone who dares to come here to steal the treasure is underestimating me, Long Er."
Swish… As the door opened, there were rows of rooms inside, marked A01-A10. Elder Long said casually: "These are arranged by category. Some are calligraphy and paintings, some are antiques, and some are rare stones. If it weren't for Mr. Song's nod, the level of the exploration team leader would not have reached here."
They stood in front of the gate of A03, and several guards were responsible for opening it. Suddenly, the inside was bright!
It was a room that was a hundred meters wide, with all kinds of rare treasures neatly arranged inside, including a ten-foot-tall glazed coral tree, a blood-red bracelet with lifelike Buddha images carved on it, and rows of exquisite bronze chimes... But the most eye-catching thing was the huge bronze tripod in the center.
This is exactly the one Jiang Xian saw in the underground palace of the First Emperor. At that time, it sat on the thousand-meter steps, like an emperor overlooking the world, and the water flowed below like a silver waterfall, like soldiers waiting for inspection. Now, it stays here quietly, even if it is surrounded by treasures, it is like a silent king, even if it does not say a word, the eyes of the viewers naturally fall on it.
The combination of ruggedness and refinement, the majestic beauty of classical style is like a tide blowing in your face. Jiang Xian's fingers gently brushed over the bronze tripod, and he could even feel the gene called "antique" in his body moaning in ecstasy.
"It could be one of the Nine Cauldrons." Elder Long said in a deep voice, "Legend has it that the First Emperor buried the Nine Cauldrons in his mausoleum. And you see, the patterns on it are mainly for sacrifices. The most important events in ancient times were sacrifices and wars. A vessel that can record sacrificial scenes must have a high status."
Following Elder Long's hand, Jiang Xian's eyes involuntarily looked at the front of the tripod. There, there was a carving of a towering tree, but the strange thing was that the tree had no crown, it was... broken.
broken?
Jiang Xian's eyes flickered slightly, and he looked carefully. This ancient tree was so tall that the people around it were so small. According to the proportion, it was probably tens of meters thick. However, it was like a sword, and the trunk was cut in two. The cut was not flat, but towering like a cone. At the top, there stood a...coffin?
He was not sure if it was a coffin, but it looked too much like a coffin, with an irregular square shape. Under the tree, a giant snake was coiled. And beside it, countless feathers were scattered.
"How to tree?" Jiang Xian thought quickly in his mind: "But... the How to tree should be guarded by the black bird and the soaring snake, why is there only the soaring snake and no black bird now?"
"And... there is a Heshu tree here. Is it because... Qin Shi Huang did find the Heshu tree? But he found that it was broken? It could no longer bear fruit? So... he built Penglai and went out to sea to search for immortals?"
"Where is this place?"
"Are you looking at this?" At this moment, Elder Long's voice appeared beside him. He squatted down and said in a deep voice, "This tripod is not for sale, but I am puzzled by the pattern on it."
"The Qin people are descendants of the Shang people, and their totem is the black bird. Why are they worshipping giant snakes here? And... using a broken tree as a totem pole is unheard of in Chinese history. There are no trees that big in the world."
"According to the painting level of the Qin Dynasty and our research, the paintings of the Qin Dynasty would be exaggerated, but not distorted to this extent. Maybe... there really was a tree several dozen meters thick at that time."
Jiang Xian nodded, staring at the pattern intently, stroking it inch by inch. He was not thinking about what Long Lao said at the moment, but what Dao Sanming said.
In this small space, there is a stairway to eternal life...
Combined with the other party's previous crazy search for utensils with bird and snake totems, this square inch... may very well refer to the square inch in the painting, which is an inch of land and a measure of the sky!
Suddenly, his hand touched something and a slight "click" sound was heard. The eyes of Long Lao and Jiang Xian lit up instantly, and they took a step back together, suppressing their expectations and ecstasy, and looked at the cauldron solemnly.
The tripod was two meters high and three meters wide. And at this moment, right in the center of the painting, with the "coffin" as the base point, it actually...split apart in all directions!
Swish... the surrounding copper sheets were like living things, revealing... a red color behind them!
When... a few seconds later, a crisp jingle sounded. Elder Long stared blankly ahead, and after a few seconds he murmured, "Actually... there really is such a treasure?"
"How is it possible..." Jiang Xian couldn't believe his eyes at all. This shock was like a fruit core. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that the legend...actually became a reality before his eyes.
The room was dead silent, with only the heavy breathing of the two men. The next second, Long Lao rushed forward, stroking the cracked area with trembling hands. There was a mirror.
It was a bronze mirror, you could feel it. It was one foot long, completely embedded in the bronze tripod, with flying black birds carved around it. And in the center... it actually clearly showed the internal organs of Elder Long! More thorough than an X-ray! Clearer than a glass mirror!
No one dared to speak, because they both knew the name of the mirror: in the ancient Qin Dynasty legend, Qin Shihuang had a treasure called "Qin Wang Zhaogu Mirror", which could reflect the internal organs of the human body with unparalleled clarity.
Everyone knew that this was definitely a legend. Where did X-rays come from more than 2,000 years ago? But... now their worldview was almost shattered by this mirror.
"The Qin King's Bone Mirror... This is the Qin King's Bone Mirror!" Old Long suddenly raised his head, his eyes red, and rushed to the door, pressing the button desperately.
This discovery is too terrifying, it is something that cannot be explained by any super-era contact! It is a discovery that is enough to shock the whole world!
Jiang Xian looked at the mirror in disbelief, but he was not shocked so much as he was wondering: Why is this mirror here?
In his mind, the topography of the Qin Shi Huang Underground Palace quickly came together, and a few seconds later he discovered that the location of this tripod was exactly opposite the Nine Palace Flying Stars! Although it was hundreds of meters away!
Mirror... picture... Jiang Xian pursed his lips and quickly mobilized his thoughts. They are all for seeing... eyes... yes, eyes... see...
A sudden inspiration came to his mind, and he raised his head: "Could it be that... the Nine Songs and Twelve Gods need to be examined with the Qin King's Bone Mirror to discover the hidden clues? Rather than inferring according to the age or dynasty?"
He wasn't sure if that was the case.
Using the Qin King's Bone Mirror to look at the Nine Palace Flying Star Diagram is not a difficult condition to achieve - the murals in the underground palace are still there, so it is not impossible to find someone to copy them.
What matters... are the consequences of doing so.
After discovering a treasure like the Qin King's Bone Mirror, the Shenzhou Treasure Room must be even more strictly guarded, and even the country's top leaders will come to take a look. This kind of thing is destined to be a national treasure. In other words, if he wants to come and see it next time, then it will definitely be under the eyes of countless people.
If he finds something in the photo, he will be questioned! If he goes to explore, a large number of archaeological teams will follow him. If any secret is known, it will never fall into his hands!
This is an opportunity that can change humanity, how could it be the turn of a mere dying person?
"No... I can't just wait!" He raised his head suddenly. His thoughts just flashed through his mind, but in fact it only took four or five seconds. Before he could come to a conclusion, he instinctively stood up and shouted, "Master Long Er!"
Long Er Taiye turned around in confusion, only to see Jiang Xian shaking his head, his eyes seemed to have a thousand words in them. His hand that was about to press the last number paused involuntarily.
"Don't open the door." Jiang Xian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to Old Long.
"Please show some mercy, Mr. Long!"
"You are..." Elder Long was very perceptive. He looked between Jiang Xian and the cauldron, took a breath, and said with certainty: "Curse?"
Jiang Xian raised his head and nodded with difficulty.
Long Er Taiye looked at the last number of his men, then looked at Jiang Xian, and then looked at the gate. After a few seconds, he sighed, cursed inwardly, and walked back quickly.
"What's going on?" He stared into Jiang Xian's eyes. "You know, it's my fault if I don't report this. The exploration has just ended, and soon there will be a large number of experts working with me to review it. There's no way to avoid it!"
Jiang Xian closed his eyes, biting his lips until they turned pale. There were some things he didn't want to say to Master Long Er.
He is old, and his heart is already with China. He knows, and China will know sooner or later.
And the family standing behind Shenzhou is not something he can shake... No, even if the entire antique world joins together, they cannot shake the other party in the slightest!
But now... I have to say it.
"There may be some magical medicine in this world." Jiang Xian slowly opened his clothes: "And this is the only solution to my curse."
Master Long Er's eyes slowly widened, and he saw... the black death butterflies that were supposed to be combined together actually disintegrated into a small piece!
He looked at Jiang Xian's chest with great complexity, then slowly moved up to see his face. His lips moved and he sighed: "What are you going to do?"
"Three days." Jiang Xian pulled up his clothes and said, "Give me three days! Let me use the bone mirror first! I will always remember your kindness!"
