I was in a coma for three days. When I woke up, I had been sent to the hospital. The moment I opened my eyes, I couldn't remember anything. I just felt dizzy and couldn't stop feeling nauseous and dizzy.
Two days later, the situation started to improve little by little, but I had completely lost my ability to speak. No matter what I wanted to say, all the sounds I made were weird screams.
I thought my brain was damaged and it affected my language nerves, so I was very scared. However, the doctor told me that it was just the sequelae of a severe concussion and told me not to worry.
I communicated with others using gestures like a mute. It was not until the fourth day that I reluctantly asked the doctor where I was. He told me that this was the Red Cross Hospital in the Beilin District of Xi'an. I was brought back by several armed police officers. He could not explain how they found me. He only said that I had about twenty broken bones in my body, probably caused by falling off a cliff from a high place.
I had a plaster cast on my chest and left hand, and I didn't know how badly I was injured. After hearing what he said, I realized that I was lucky. I asked him when I could be discharged from the hospital, and he smiled at me and said that within ten days or half a month, I couldn't even get out of bed.
That night, the armed police who brought me here heard that I could speak, and came to see me with a fruit basket. I asked him the same question as I asked the doctor, but he didn't know how to answer me. He just said that several villagers found me by a stream in Lantian. I was placed on a bamboo raft, and the wounds on my body had been simply treated. The doctor said that if it weren't for these treatments, I would have died long ago.
I felt strange because my last memory was the moment I fell into the water. Logically, I should have been washed onto the river beach, but how did I get put on the bamboo raft? Secondly, Lantian is about seven or eight miles away from Jiazigou. Could it be that the path we walked in the underground river had unknowingly covered such a long distance?
I made up a lie about climbing a cliff, sent the armed police away with many thanks, and immediately called Wang Meng. I asked him to come to Xi'an and bring some money and my clothes. Wang Meng arrived the next day. I paid off the medical bills and bought a new cell phone and laptop.
I asked Wang Meng how his business was going recently. He said there was nothing important, but my dad had been looking for me many times. I didn't expect it would take so long when I said that, and he might be worried, so I called home to report that I was safe, but my dad wasn't there. I talked to my mom for a few words. By the way, I asked about my third uncle's news, but there was still no news.
Everything seemed to be the same as when I arrived, I sighed.
In the next few days, I was bored and suddenly thought of Lao Yang. I felt sad, so I lay on the hospital bed, looking through the completely tattered mountaineering clothes I was wearing when I fell off the mountain, looking for Lao Yang's diary. The diary was still there, but it was soaked so that nothing could be seen clearly. I read it for a while with difficulty. When I couldn't make out anything else, I called the hospital again and went online to kill time.
I looked up a lot of information, but there is not much information about antiques on the Internet. I could only briefly describe the image of the bronze tree in my mind and sent it to some friends to see. Later, I received replies one after another. Most of them didn't know what it was, and they didn't believe my description. However, there were a few letters that were quite inspiring to me.
One of the letters was sent from the United States. A friend of my father, with whom I got along well, wrote in the e-mail that this kind of bronze tree is called a "pillar" because it is shaped like a "" (ancient musical instrument). In 1984, one was also found in a mine in Panzhihua, but it was not as big as the one I mentioned. There was only a section, and the part deep underground had completely rusted.
So far there is no documentary material that can explain what this thing is used for, but according to the Shan Hai Jing and some written narrative poems of ethnic minorities, this thing is indeed related to the activity of catching "earth dragons (snakes)" in ancient times.
"Zhu Jiuyin" should be a kind of snake living in the deep earth veins. Because it has lived in the crevice of steep rocks for a long time, it has almost no chance to look straight, so its two eyes have mutated like a flounder. The ancients used blood to draw it out from the deep earth veins, then shot it and made it into candles. It sounds unfair, but at that time, a long-lasting light source was an extremely precious thing, especially for some people who were active at night or lived in a dark cave.
I think his analysis makes some sense, but it still cannot explain why encountering the so-called "pillar" would produce such a strange and terrifying ability. I wrote back and asked him if similar things have ever happened in history?
He wrote back and handed over a fragment. It was a notebook novel, which recorded an incident that happened during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It mentioned that a blue and white stone dragon pattern box was dug out of a mine in Xi'an, and Emperor Qianlong opened it and took a look. , that night several ministers were secretly recruited into the palace, and they talked about it secretly at midnight, and then there was a fire in Qianqing Palace. Among those ministers, except for one who was famous, all the others did not die well, and were all killed inexplicably in the end.
I looked at the time, which is probably the time when the incident written in Li Pipa's "Hemu Collection" happened, which means there should be a connection. It seems that the person who finally dug out the white stone dragon pattern box and the person who knew about it People were so bad that they were silenced. The emperor was so determined to keep a secret, so what exactly was in the white stone dragon-patterned box? Could this be the origin of this ancient bronze tree?
I wrote back again to ask for his opinion, and he only replied with one sentence. You will have to dig deeper to find out.
I smiled bitterly, knowing that this was unlikely. Who knew how deep it was underneath? Maybe it took them centuries to forge this thing. Even if someone was willing to dig, I would definitely not live to see it dug out.
There are also a few letters sent to me by my second uncle. He said that the cultural heritage of ethnic minorities at that time was the decorative style of the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, ethnic exchanges were limited at that time, and transportation and communications were extremely underdeveloped, so there should be a time lag. In other words, my estimate of the time was too early. According to general rules, the Central Plains region should have been in the late Qin Dynasty at that time.
At that time, almost all activities were related to the construction of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. They hunted Zhu Jiuyin, probably to extract "dragon oil". Tribute to the emperor to refine single or similar activities. And according to geological surveys, there are also huge metal objects at the bottom of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. Surrounding the entire mausoleum, it is reasonable to say that the metallurgical technology at that time should not be able to complete such a huge project. The builders of this part should be foreign ethnic groups with particularly advanced metallurgical technology.
My second uncle is a loyal fan of Qin Shi Huang and he can relate everything to that period. I don't agree with his speculation.
A month later, I was discharged from the hospital and returned home. After tidying up, I began to sort out my mood and get back to life. I sorted out the mailbox that was almost bursting, sorted out some magazines and newspapers, and found an unsigned express.
Old Wu:
Can you guess who I am?
Yes, I am not dead, or rather, I am alive again.
I'm sorry to drag you into this, but you're the only one I can trust and I have no other choice.
Now the whole thing is over, and our relationship must end here. I'm happy to have been friends with you, but now it doesn't matter anymore.
Are you curious about what happened three years ago?
Three years ago, I went to the Qinling Mountains with a group of Liaobian people to make plates. According to the local legend, we found a tree hole in the banyan tree forest on the top of the mountain. After much consideration, we decided to take the risk and you know the whole process. Later, I was trapped in the cave.
At that time, I was in despair. Although I would not die so soon, living was more terrifying for me. Living forever in the narrow and dark depths of the mountains, with no chance of getting out, I think you have experienced that kind of pain.
I stayed in the dark for four whole months. These four months were simply hell. However, during this time, I kept thinking, and I realized that this ability was related to my subconscious mind. For example, if I wanted to open a door on a stone, I had to make myself believe that there was a door on the stone. Otherwise, even if you rack your brains, the door would not appear.
People cannot deceive their subconscious mind, so to use this ability, they must guide it, which is very difficult. I have told you before that once the guidance fails or there is a deviation, you will not know what you have materialized, which is very scary.
I kept doing things and gradually mastered some tricks, but at this time I found that this ability would gradually disappear with the passage of time. This feeling was very obvious, just like a person gradually feeling tired. I realized that if I didn't take a way out, I might starve to death here.
I was desperate and tried to use that ability to copy myself. I didn't expect it to be successful, and I was shocked. All of a sudden, I found myself outside the cave.
At that time, I didn't realize that I was a copy. All my memories were exactly the same as my original self, so when he called me, I didn't agree that I was a copy at all. He started to scold me, saying that I wanted to exist in this world instead of him, and said that he wanted me to disappear. I was very scared, and I thought the one in the hole was a monster, so I didn't care how my original self screamed in the hole, and I still found explosives and blew up the hole completely.
In fact, I do know that I was copied, but my subconscious mind doesn't want to believe it, so I chose a state of destruction. I killed my original self and then told myself that I just killed a substitute.
The powers granted by the bronze tree to people are only for a short time, so I took off a bronze branch and went out from the secret passage at the bottom of the tree, hoping that taking a part of the bronze tree would make my powers last a little longer, so that I would have a chance to escape outside. Later, my idea was proved to be correct. I went back outside and dug out the things we had dug before we got here, but I was afraid that the bronze branch would be too eyesore, so I buried it. Then I returned to Xi'an, trying to find a place to sell the things in my hands.
Unfortunately, when I was doing business, I was caught by plainclothes police at the antique stall. Later, as you know, when I returned home, my mother was gone. I did not lie to you about these things.
There are some other things I must tell you. Having this ability is not without price. My memory is very poor, and many things must be written down in advance before I can remember them. That is the sequelae of using my ability. Along the way, I could have settled you very well and let you help me complete this adventure without knowing it, but unfortunately, in these three years, I have forgotten a lot of things. I can't even remember how I got out, so there are many loopholes. I estimate that in another two or three years, I may completely lose the ability to remember.
You also have that kind of strange energy. I don't know if it will have any effect on you. You should take care of yourself. According to my calculations, this power may remain in your body for several years, but it will be very weak and almost imperceptible.
Old itch
I read the entire letter and let out a long sigh, not knowing what to say. Inside the envelope, there was a photo. It was taken of him and his mother sitting on a bench with the sea behind them. They must have gone abroad. His mother was very beautiful and young. Standing with him, they looked like a couple. I looked at her carefully, but I always felt that there was a kind of evil spirit on her mother's face, an indescribable hideousness. Maybe it was a psychological effect.
Winter had come before I knew it. I stayed in the air-conditioned room the whole afternoon, too lazy to even take a nap. I lay on a recliner in the inner hall of the "Xiling Seal Society". My feet were cold and I didn't know what to do. I was half asleep and half awake when Wang Mengpo walked in and said to me, "Boss, someone is looking for you."
I managed to react and yawned, thinking that in the coldest weather, there were still people visiting an antique shop, so he was quite proactive. But it was business after all. I got up, patted my face, and walked out with all my energy.
The air conditioner outside was low, and the cold wind made me shiver. I looked and saw that it was the girl under Uncle Hai in Jinan, shivering with cold. I thought she must have brought me a check, and my heart warmed up. I hurriedly asked Wang Meng to make tea, and asked her, "Why, girl, did Uncle Hai ask you to come?"
The little girl was called Qin Haiting, a relative of Uncle Hai. She was only seventeen years old, but already a veteran in the antique world. She nodded and said, "Oh my god, how come Hangzhou is even colder than our north?"
Wang Meng smiled and said, "It's dry and cold in the south, and it feels a bit biting, and your Jinan is not too far north."
I saw Qin Haiting was just gnawing, so I hurriedly pulled her to the inner hall, where the air conditioning was warm. I handed her a water bag to warm her hands and asked, "You are too afraid of the cold. So, are you warmer?"
She drank a few sips of hot tea to recover, but she was still tapping her feet in the room. "I feel a little better now. People say Hangzhou is so beautiful. My uncle didn't allow me to come, but I rushed to come. Who knew it would be so cold? Oh, I won't come again next time."
I asked, "Why did your uncle ask you to come? Why didn't he call to let you know?"
Qin Haiting took off her scarf, took out a letter from her purse, and said, "Of course it's business. Here's a cash check for the money for the fish-eye stone."
When I heard it was indeed the case, I took it and took a look. The price was good, so I immediately put it in my pocket and said, "Then thank him for me."
She took out another invitation and handed it to me: "My uncle Hai will also come to Hangzhou the day after tomorrow to attend an antique appraisal meeting. He asked you to go too. He has something important to discuss with you."
I asked, "The day after tomorrow? I don't know if you have time. Why don't you tell me on the phone? It's so mysterious." Actually, I didn't want to go. Antique appraisal is too boring. To people in the industry, it's just a bunch of old guys chatting there. In fact, there are not so many allusions. Whether it is true or false, you can tell in a few seconds.
Qin Haiting leaned close to my ear and whispered, "My uncle said it has something to do with the bronze fish. You will regret it if you don't go."