Dong Xiaowei said: "It's okay to tell you. According to our inference, the sinking of the ancient city of Fuxian Lake is extremely closely related to ancient witchcraft. It can even be said that someone used the wrong witchcraft, which caused the ancient city to sink to the bottom of the lake. The purpose of my coming to Fuxian Lake is to find out who used what witchcraft in Fuxian Lake."
I looked at Dong Xiaowei and said, "Are you planning to take away such witchcraft secrets?"
"Are you a descendant of Shenmen?" Dong Xiaowei looked at me in surprise, "Aren't you doing the same thing as me?"
I had no idea what Dong Xiaowei meant by Shenmen, so I simply changed the subject: "So, even if we don't come to Yunnan, you will go to Fuxian Lake yourself?"
"Yes." Dong Xiaowei said in an understatement, "So, living is a matter of life and death. If there weren't so many mistakes, no one would die. What do you think?"
When I looked at Dong Xiaowei, I could no longer hide the coldness in my eyes: "You attribute everyone's death to fate?"
Dong Xiaowei showed a smile: "You can't accept my theory, right? The world is ever-changing, and people in the world will naturally follow the trend. When your life changes, your mentality will naturally change accordingly. This is the world."
Just as I was about to retort, Ye Xun touched me lightly: "Look in front."
A stepped high platform has appeared in front of us across the cave. At the top of the high platform stands a four-legged bronze tripod. On the lower left side of the bronze tripod is a stone throne.
Dong Xiaowei glanced back and forth between the throne and the giant cauldron several times before saying, "Wang Huan, what do you think?"
I was silent for a moment and then said: "According to common sense, the throne and the bronze tripod should not be placed side by side. The throne symbolizes the king's power and represents the supreme authority in the world; the bronze tripod is an important weapon of the country and also symbolizes the king's power. There can be a difference between the two. Coexist, but should not be placed in the same place.”
I looked at Gaotai and said, "If I guess correctly, these two things should not come from the same capital. The throne should come from the tribe that was wiped out by Zhuang Qi, and the bronze tripod should be from the hands of the Chu people."
Dong Xiaowei whispered: "You mean, the cultures of the two coexist? Is this possible?"
I said solemnly: "Nothing is impossible. Although the Chu culture is higher than the primitive tribes in Yunnan, if Zhuang Qi wants to control the wilderness with civilization, he is afraid it will take dozens or even hundreds of years to be effective. The fastest way is Witches rule the wilderness. Compared with relatively advanced cultures, indigenous people are more likely to accept the guidance of gods. But... "
I then changed the subject and said: "It is not something that can be done overnight if you want to replace another god with one god. It is understandable that Zhuang Qi combined the witch culture of Chu with local wizards to rule the Dian Kingdom. ”
Dong Xiaowei looked at me with a half-smile and said, "You only told half the truth. Go up and have a look."
I actually didn't even tell half the truth. If I am not mistaken, the throne and the cauldron are actually coexisting witchcraft rituals. The person sitting on the throne does not necessarily have to be the king of the tribe. The wizard of the tribe may also be the master of the throne.
The Fuxian Lake tribe is probably a primitive tribe with the shark as its god, and the king of the tribe is the incarnation of the shark king. In ancient tribes, it is not uncommon for wizards to be kings.
When I was lowering my head and thinking, Dong Xiaowei said: "Wang Huan, look at the words on the big tripod. Do you recognize it?"
When I looked in the direction of Dong Xiaowei's finger, I saw words engraved on one side of the tripod. I walked around the tripod twice, only to find that there were pictures engraved on two sides of the tripod, and weird and difficult to understand words on the other two sides.
I gently stroked the tripod and said, "Is this gold inscription?"
I continued: "According to historical data, the characters inscribed on bronze bells or tripods are called bronze inscriptions, or bell and tripod inscriptions. Bronze inscriptions originated from the Shang Dynasty, became popular in the Zhou Dynasty, and lasted until the Qin and Han Dynasties. Bronze inscriptions and oracle bone inscriptions are in the same line. It is similar to a picture. There are about 3,000 known characters in bronze inscriptions, and only about 1,800 characters have been successfully deciphered by scholars. I know nothing about bronze inscriptions. Even if I was given a dictionary of bronze inscriptions, I would not be able to fully understand it. Decipher the words above.”
Dong Xiaowei walked to me and said in a deep voice: "You're not telling the truth, are you?"
I said slightly angrily: "I'm telling the truth. If you send this cauldron to experts now, they may not be able to translate it immediately, let alone... "
I was only halfway through my words when I saw Dong Xiaowei's men raising their guns and pointing them at Ye Xun's head.
Ye Xun just looked at the five or six gun muzzles coldly, and then turned his attention to Dong Xiaowei.
Dong Xiaowei said calmly: "Since we are cooperating, we need sincerity. Shenmen disciples have always been well-informed, and I don't want to hear the words 'know nothing'. If you continue to do this, there will be serious consequences." things happen.”
I suppressed my anger and said: "I can only tell that this bronze tripod comes from the Spring and Autumn Period. If I am not mistaken, this should be a bronze tripod built after King Zhuang Qi of Dian."
Dong Xiaowei's eyes lit up: "How do you say that?"
I pointed to the bronze inscriptions on the tripod and said: "The Zhou Dynasty was the golden age of bronze inscriptions. Later, due to the separation of the feudal lords in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the bronze inscriptions also formed regional characteristics. Generally speaking, they can be divided into the Eastern Tu system represented by Qi and Lu, and the Qin system. , Jin Dynasty represented by the Western Earth System, and the Southern Earth System represented by Chu, Wu, Yue and other countries. The Southern Earth System's bronze inscriptions are characterized by softness and roundness, and the bronze inscriptions on this large tripod are exactly like this."
"The primitive tribes in Yunnan did not have strong bronze smelting technology, and they did not have mature writing, so I said that this big cauldron should be from after the Dian Kingdom of Zhuang Qi. I even think that the entire Gushan Secret Caves are a product of the Dian Kingdom. "
"It makes sense." Dong Xiaowei nodded, "What else do you see?"
The anger in my heart became even stronger. It is impossible for Dong Xiaowei not to be able to tell anything. From her expression, I can tell that she was sure that the bronze tripod was made by Chu people long before I opened my mouth. She just wanted to verify her guess through my analysis. That’s all.
The hateful thing is that Dong Xiaowei herself refuses to say anything. As a result, I can only become her assistant and cannot get more information from her.
Seeing that I was silent, Dong Xiaowei looked at me with a smile and said, "Wang Huan, this is not a cooperative attitude, are you right?"
As soon as Dong Xiaowei finished speaking, her men with guns took a step forward. The muzzles of their guns almost touched Ye Xun's head. Ye Xun's hands behind his back were also placed on his sides. . Is he ready to take action
I quickly coughed and said, "I think the only useful things now are the two pictures on the bronze."
I pointed to the picture on the front of the bronze tripod and said: "The first picture is obviously a scene of the natives worshiping the gods. The natives are all prostrate under the high platform, and the people on the throne look like wizards wearing masks. Of course, Or maybe it’s their god.”
I turned to the back of the bronze tripod and said: "Here. Although the scene here is roughly the same as the previous painting, there is an additional person wearing a feather crown under the throne, and the people who are worshiping on the ground have also changed from prostrate to the ground. It was changed to kneeling on one knee, which represents the change of royal power. The old king abdicated and the new king ascended the throne. So, I think this is a change of royal power in the ancient Dian Kingdom, and there is nothing special about it."
Dong Xiaowei stared at me and said, "Wang Huan, do you really think I'm a fool?"
My heart sank slightly. I really only told the truth.
Dong Xiaowei said in a deep voice: "It is true that the bronze inscriptions came from the hands of Chu people, but this tripod is definitely not from the queen of Dian, King Zhuang Qi."
Dong Xiaowei pointed to the picture on the front of the cauldron and said: "The lines of this painting are extremely rough, and some places do not even highlight the key points, which shows that the person who painted it did not go through systematic study. This painting is exactly the same as the outermost layer of the grotto. The murals are similar. This shows that the paintings on the front of the cauldron were made by native people."
Dong Xiaowei walked around to the back of the cauldron and said: "The lines of this painting are indeed crude today, but they highlight the three key points you mentioned: the new king, the old king, and the people. This painting should be from Chu Human hands.”
There was a hint of chill in Dong Xiaowei's eyes: "You have long seen the secret of this big cauldron, but you are deliberately misleading me, right? What is the real secret?"
As soon as Dong Xiaowei finished speaking, one of her men raised her hand and hit Ye Xun on the head with a gun. Before the man's head touched Ye Xun's head, the latter suddenly raised his hand and punched the man, knocking him to the ground.
The person guarding Ye Xun obviously did not expect that he would dare to fight back under such circumstances, and waited until his companion was knocked down before he wanted to shoot. But I shouted quickly: "Stop!"
"Stop!" Dong Xiaowei issued the second order.
The man who was about to fire forcibly released his finger on the trigger. Ye Xun also stopped at this time: "I don't have the habit of getting beaten for nothing. Anyone who wants to do it can try it."
I clearly saw a cold light coming out of Ye Xun's sleeves. If Dong Xiaowei didn't shout to stop, the knife in Ye Xun's hand would be sent into the opponent's stomach, and he himself would die under random gunshots.
I was so scared that I broke into a cold sweat. Ye Xun obviously doesn't know what compromise is. After being trapped, he has been thinking about dying together.
Dong Xiaowei said in a deep voice: "Wang Huan, I don't have to worry about this matter, but if you continue to cooperate without sincerity, I can't guarantee that I will terminate the cooperation. If you don't care about Ye Xun I don’t care about this anymore, do you understand?”
I originally wanted to hide the key secret of the bronze tripod, but now it seems that my approach seems naive. Dong Xiaowei is not someone who is easily deceived. When she takes the absolute initiative, it would be extremely difficult for me to deceive her.
I took a deep breath and said, "You win. The last secret of this big cauldron is not in the cauldron, but in the mask."