During the Western Zhou period, society had strict social systems and highly rigid social classes. In order to distinguish between them, family crests gradually became popular. The phrase "工之后,恒为工" means that the descendants of craftsmen will always be craftsmen.
Family crest patterns also had many considerations. Generally, the occupation determined the pattern used.
Grandmother Bai slowly said, "This family crest is exquisitely crafted, not something an ordinary craftsman could make. It should be related to the royal family, but..."
"But what?" White Ruoxue asked anxiously.
"Ruoxue, you never change your impulsive nature."
Reprimanding her, Grandmother Bai continued, "But archaeological studies have proven that Zhou culture originated around the area of Fufeng and Qishan. How could it be related to Yanmen Mountain?"
Huang Erhei continued, "Let's not worry about that for now. At the very least, we can be sure that there must be priceless bronze artifacts here."
Grandmother Bai once again focused her attention on the dragon-like, snake-like object, furrowing her brows as she looked at it intently.
With a strong aura, everyone else wisely remained silent, even the sound of Huang Erhei cracking walnuts softened considerably.
Suddenly, Grandmother Bai spoke up, saying, "I understand now. It turns out to be like this."
"Grandmother, please speak quickly, you're making Ruoxue anxious."
"This is a depiction of the Journey to the West!"
Nasal Cannon seemed confused and leaned over to ask Shì Jìngxiá, "Sister-in-law, what is the Journey to the West?"
"It means traveling to the west on a crane after death."
Nasal Cannon immediately disagreed, "That's not right, there's no crane, only a snake."
Shì Jìngxiá rolled her eyes, "Is there a lion in Lion's Head? Is there human flesh in Husband and Wife Lung Slices?"
Nasal Cannon shook his head, admitting there wasn't.
Shì Jìngxiá looked despondent, "You better stop talking."
Grandmother Bai gestured to Huang Erhei, who immediately understood and used two fingers to poke the ground.
About ten minutes later, several small holes appeared on the ground.
We were all stunned, thinking that even a drill needed to cool down.
However, Huang Erhei remained calm, dusting off the yellow soil from his fingers and saying, "The Big Dipper, with the handle pointing north."
"Incredible, you talk big, but I don't believe it." Nasal Cannon checked and indeed found seven human skulls arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, with the handle pointing north.
Grandmother Bai explained that ancient people determined the seasons based on the direction of the handle of the Big Dipper during dusk: if the handle pointed north, it was winter everywhere.
When we came up the stairs, I felt that something was wrong. At the time, Song Haizhu had been chasing us all along, and I didn't think much of it.
Now, piecing together various pieces of information, everything suddenly became clear.
"Here is the sky, we come from the mortal world, but we have never been underground."
Nasal Cannon patted my forehead, "Brother, why are you talking like Song Big Guy, not making any sense?"
Grandmother Bai looked at me, saying with relief, "The younger generation is formidable; you've figured it all out."
"万墓迷踪" recorded: there are heaven's way, human's way, and earth's way, combining the three materials into two.
This subtly implies the Feng Shui principles of heaven, earth, and humanity.
Heaven's way is fate.
Human's way is divination.
Earth's way is Feng Shui.
Only at this moment did I understand that the circular pit and the crescent pit, superficially representing yin and yang, actually concealed deeper mysteries.
If we include the concept of yin and yang gates, it becomes a Taiji diagram.
Heaven's way originally represented fate and destiny, but the person depicted on the Journey to the West image wants to defy fate and change destiny, breaking the fate of "工之后,恒为工" (descendants of craftsmen will always be craftsmen).
This person is definitely not ordinary!
Grandmother Bai loudly declared, "The Zhi Guo group, when encountering ancient people, they are all ancestors. Perform three knocks and nine bows as a great courtesy."
Everyone stood still, and Grandmother Bai continued, "Ancestors above, today's younger generation disturbs your peace, only seeking to make a living, unintentionally causing offense. Please forgive us."
Under Grandmother Bai's lead, we performed three knocks and nine bows to pay our respects to this unnamed ancient person.
The head of the Southern School, the "Eye Boss," obviously also realized this. He just hadn't found the Yin-Yang Gate. Once he did, he would kick it open, and the stairs would reveal themselves.
They decided to dig down the looters' hole, but an accident occurred.
It seemed that there was definitely another layer underground, and it was well-preserved, untouched by later generations.
After listening to my analysis, the silver-haired Grandmother Bai nodded with satisfaction.
"What... What's your name?"
"Grandmother, my name is Du Guangting."
"Guangting, you indeed have some of your master's youthful demeanor. You have a promising future."
"Don't. Grandfather is a divine figure in my heart. How can I dare to compare myself to him?"
Seeing my bad attitude and cold words, White Ruoxue wrinkled her nose and snorted at me.
At this moment, as we descended the stairs, just like above, there was a layer of soil covering the entrance to the lower level. Song Haizhu kicked it open, and we arrived at the bottommost layer.
As the light shone, a rammed earth wall appeared in front of us. There were signs of excavation on the wall, very messy and disorganized.
White Ruoxue looked and said, "It's not the work of the Southern School."
Grandmother Bai nodded, and after looking, she also frowned, "It doesn't look like the work of someone in the field. It should have been an accident, but fortunately, the wall wasn't breached."
The sound of Huang Erhei cracking walnuts abruptly stopped, and the sudden silence made everyone tense.
I whispered, "What's wrong?"
Huang Erhei's face was solemn, his two fingers already tense with vigilance as he urgently said, "Be careful, there are people here."
At the same time, the sound of footsteps grew closer.
Instinctively, I shone the flashlight and saw two people in military uniforms running towards us, each carrying an M3 submachine gun.
"Don't move, or I'll shoot."
Everyone was shocked and raised their hands.
This was a submachine gun. Even if Huang Erhei had nine lives and could defy the heavens, it would be useless to strip naked and sunbathe. His fingers, which had been tense, reluctantly bent down, and he slowly raised his hands.
Only Grandmother Bai remained calm and calmly shouted, "Yuanbao, you're much stronger than your father to dare to point a gun at me."
"Grandmother?! Oh no, Tiedan, put the gun down, they're on our side."
Liu Yuanbao's tone changed, but Grandmother Bai still recognized him.
This was a mess; even family members didn't recognize each other.
White Ruoxue, in anger, walked over and slapped Liu Yuanbao and Sun Tiedan each in the face.
Liu Yuanbao dared not speak, but Sun Tiedan glared at White Ruoxue, angrily throwing his helmet to the ground.
"Incredible, this place still has such treasures. Let me take a look."
Nasal Cannon excitedly ran over and picked up the M3 submachine gun, fiddling with it, but it was already rusty, and the bolt couldn't be pulled back.
"What a piece of junk."
He threw the gun on the ground and picked up the helmet, putting it on his head.
"This thing is not bad, and these shoes are not bad either. Where did you find them? Take me there quickly, and I'll get a set too, hehe."
For some reason, Nasal Cannon was happy, with snot bubbles forming.
"With this equipment, I'll go to the entrance of the Great Tang Furong Garden and take pictures with people. Five bucks for a photo, hehe."
Shì Jìngxiá said, "You should go to the War Memorial Hall. If you go to the Great Tang Furong Garden, you should get a set of emperor's clothes."
Nasal Cannon scratched his head, "Sister-in-law, you're right."
This guy was embarrassing.
Grandmother Bai asked coldly, "Yuanbao, what's going on?"