On the soil in front of the building door, there is a trace extending to the back hill, which was left by someone dragging something. Baiyan Cave has a rare natural environment in Feng Shui. Originally, the temperature difference between day and night is huge in the grassland desert, but it is not obvious here. The temperature and humidity are both higher. In addition, the special ingredients in the soil have a natural preservation effect on the corpse. , most of the corpses of the dead have corpse hair like bird feathers, and it is unlikely that there will be another place like this in the world.
It is precisely because of the unique soil that the gaps between soil particles are large, so the soil is relatively loose and soft, making the drag marks on the ground very obvious. When we first arrived at the main building of the institute, we had not seen this trace. No need to ask, Lao Yangpi must have dragged the yellow leather copper box into the mountains. Although the copper box was not big, it had to be held for a long time. It will still be very difficult to walk. He dragged the steel box into the corpse cave. God knows what he will do next.
Ding Sitian always thinks of the good in everything. She thinks that maybe Lao Yangpi wants to find a place to destroy the dangerous soul summoning box so as not to cause trouble in the world. Before I saw the old sheepskin, I couldn't make a conclusion, so I just said I hope so, and then the three of them followed the trace up the mountain.
The numb and itchy feeling on my and the fat man’s hands was getting unbearable, but we didn’t dare to scratch it. Water would flow when we touched it, and we had to inhale in pain. I was afraid that Ding Sitian would be worried or blame her for causing us harm, so I didn’t dare to tell her about being poisoned, so I had to endure it forcefully, but I really couldn’t say that I could persist in this situation. when.
But what makes me most gratified is that I finally saved Ding Sitian's life. Seeing that her body and spirit are much better, the pressure in my heart has also been reduced a lot, and I walked into the door behind the research building with all my energy. hills. I don't know if this hillside is caused by landslides or artificial blasting operations. It shows a cross-section of the mountain. All the large and small caves in the belly of the mountain are exposed. There is a cave entrance supported by a huge stone man and stone beast. It is the largest among the many caves. Like a big black mouth, if you want to go deep into the cave, this huge mouth-like cave is the only way.
We helped each other and walked into the cave. Inside, the will-o'-the-wisps were phosphorescent and the scenery was vaguely visible, but it was not completely dark. There are no forks in the cave, it is extremely high and wide, the stone walls are shady and cool, and the evil wind in the deepest part of the cave makes people hairy. About two hundred steps away, there is a deep stepped cave the size of four or five football fields. The square earth platforms around it go down layer by layer, forming an inverted pyramid shape. Judging from the various tools and lighting facilities left inside, this cave is It is a large-scale excavation operation site, but the area is too big. I was worrying about how to follow the traces left by Lao Yangpi, when suddenly Ding Sitian, who was following me, swayed, vomited a mouthful of black blood, and collapsed to the ground.
Ding Sitian suddenly vomited out a mouthful of black blood and fell to the ground. Fatty and I panicked and hurriedly helped her sit down against the wall. We thought that the anaconda poison in her had been suppressed by Shugongxiang, but unexpectedly, Vomited black blood again. I felt very uneasy, wondering if I had taken too much medicine? Or does it not play a detoxifying role at all, but just delays the onset of toxicity?
But Ding Sitian struggled to stand up and continue to look for Lao Yangpi: "It doesn't matter… I just feel a little stuffy in my heart. I feel better after spitting out the blood. I will be fine after a while. Bayi, you and Xiao What kind of antidote did Fatty give me? Why do I feel the ambiguity in my mouth…" As he spoke, he stood up unsteadily and started to walk forward.
I saw that she was barely holding on, and it was difficult to judge her physical condition at the moment. Vomiting black blood was definitely not a good sign, but Ding Sitian was very stubborn, so I had no choice but to help her and continue walking forward. She asked her what she was eating. What kind of antidote was it? Naturally, he didn't dare to tell her the truth that what she was eating was the fleshy lumps on the Great Gecko specimen. He only said: "Good medicine is bitter and good for the disease, but medicines are poisonous. Of course, the medicine is not as delicious as fruit candies, and This research institute has been abandoned for many years, and although the drugs stored in the warehouse have not deteriorated, they are inevitably a bit strange. When we return to the pastoral area, I will tell you the origin of this antidote, and I guarantee that you will find it interesting."
The fat man said, "Yes, I promise Chairman Mao that you will find it interesting, so before you listen to Lao Hu's story about the antidote, you'd better review Ostrovsky's "How Steel Was Tempered" and do Very well prepared mentally.”
I glared at the fat man. Fortunately, Ding Sitian didn't understand it too well. I thought the fat man wanted her to learn from Paul Korchagin's tenacity in facing the disease, so he didn't say anything more. I saw that her face was as golden as paper and she was struggling to walk, but I knew that it would be in vain to persuade her to stay outside the cave and wait. This girl was too stubborn and would never look back easily when she was sure of something, so I had to let the fat man After carrying her on their back, the three of them walked deeper into the cave to look for the missing old sheepskin.
There are flickering lights everywhere in the heart of the mountain, like will-o'-the-wisps or ores. Through these many star-like lights, we can roughly make out the outline of this huge excavation site. The ground that has been dug up layer by layer is distributed in a ladder shape. It is difficult to see what is in the deepest part from the outside. However, in each layer of loess above, there are some corpse limbs exposed, some with half a head exposed, and some with an arm exposed. , have not yet been dug out from the soil, almost all of them have become feathers, and their hair is fluttering, as if they will crawl out of the soil at any time. Looking at a corner, you can already imagine that this excavation site used to be a mass grave. I don’t know how many ancient corpses there are.
This is probably the so-called "turtle resting place" in Feng Shui. The special soil composition makes the corpse appear in a state similar to feathering, but what's the use of this? They could not ascend to heaven after becoming immortals. So many people were sincerely buried in this corpse cave after their death. I am afraid it was also due to the ancient people's understanding and fear of the laws of life and death. They could not accept the fact that people can only live once. , hoping that life can continue in other forms after death, so this is why there are legends such as Hades and the Underworld. If there are really undead souls after death, they will see their corpses turn into such weird shapes and be dug up. I have no respect for you, but I don’t know how I will feel.
The corpses were of both men and women, old and young, and they were all dressed in strange costumes, the likes of which we had never seen before. We have seen too many grotesque corpses today. Our nerves were a little numb at first, but standing in front of the excavation site where tens of thousands of people hid their corpses, looking at the countless layers of zombies, we were still a little frightened. , no wonder it is said that this ghost yamen is like an eighteenth level of hell, where a living person will be frightened to death.
In this big cave full of dead bodies, except for the three of us, there is no trace of a living person at all. God knows what Lao Yangpi is doing here dragging the copper box. We estimate that Lao Yangpi will become a dead man. There was nothing meaningful in the pile of Huangshi pit. He probably walked deeper along the cave, so he continued walking inside along the corridor at the edge of the excavation site. On the way, he looked around anxiously and called out Lao Yangpi's name. Let him come back quickly.
Seeing that there was no one around, the fat man became more and more anxious. He always subjectively believed that Lao Yangpi had surrendered to the enemy and treason. The cave ran north-south, and walking north across a plateau was the national border. So he asked me if I wanted to take a political offensive. , to disintegrate Lao Yangpi’s psychology through propaganda. I thought to myself that this cave is too big, and there is no way for us blind people to find it like riding a blind horse. It is better to follow the fat man’s suggestion and shout first. If Lao Yangpi is hiding nearby, , maybe it could persuade him to change his mind and come out of the cave, so he nodded in agreement.
At that moment, the fat man shouted into the depths of the cave: "I'm talking about you, Lao Sheeppi. Those who fight against us rely on their craftsmanship to make a living. It's a conflict within the people. Don't ever try to join the Soviet revisionists and do stupid things that are alienating the people." Ah, that is a dead end… Bozhlev betrayed Marxism, betrayed Leninism, and betrayed the October Revolution. Moscow is crying sadly, and the Monument to the Unknown Hero is also crying… You don't want two pieces of cream. Bread is the wrong thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the wrong team, you just have to stand over again…"
I really couldn't listen anymore, so I quickly stopped the fat man. He was shouting nonsense, and his level was too low. I was about to continue promoting the policy to Lao Yangpi for him, but I was grabbed by Ding Sitian, and she pointed The foot said, "Look, there is a path going down here, and there are fresh marks left by dragging heavy objects on it. Did Grandpa Sheepskin go down from here to the depths of the excavation site?"
I lowered my head and saw that it was indeed as Ding Sitian said. In every corner of the excavation site, there were gentle stone slopes, extending into the depths in twists and turns. The stone slopes were all paved with stones. They might have been buried in the ground before. Each layer of corpses buried in the soil covered a section of it. Later, they were dug out by the Japanese. The gravel and broken soil scattered in the soil covered the slope, and there were traces of dragging things on the broken soil. , the evil wind howled in the cave, and the cool air was very clear. If the traces on the slope were left a long time ago, they would never be as clear as they are now, which means that Lao Sheepskin probably went down not long ago.
The three of us were eager to get Lao Yangpi back and leave this nightmarish Baiyan Cave as soon as possible. Seeing that we finally had a clue, we all cheered up and walked down the stone road. At this time, the feeling of looking at the corpse hole from outside the pit was different. It was getting lower and lower, almost clinging to the corpses in the loess section. The stone path was quite narrow, and the body often rubbed against the edges that protruded from the soil. The cold and lifeless touch of the dead arms and legs made people's nerves even more tense.
Even though they were scared and exhausted, no one offered to give up, and they all walked down the road. The fat man had an engineer light board hanging on his chest to explore the way ahead. The three of them held hands and slowly walked down the winding stone path. After a while, I saw that as I walked downwards, the middle section of the road became darker and darker. The deepest part looked like a huge strange mouth. It looked gray and hazy, but it was not completely black. It looked very unusual. , the fat man said to us: "How come this big pit where dead people are buried is so deep? What do you think there is in the deepest part of it?"
Ding Sitian said: "It's not a grave. There are so many corpses buried here. I'm afraid there are countless corpses underneath. This is simply a big tomb where tens of thousands of people are buried. I don't know how deep this big tomb is." What are you going to do…" After saying that, she couldn't help but worry about Lao Yangpi again, and wanted to speed up her pace, but her legs and feet were too weak to obey. If it weren't for the fat man and me pulling her, she almost fell again.
I felt cold sweat on her palms, and knew that she was worried and scared, so I thought to myself: "The Japanese devils are obviously digging deeper into this excavation site. Is there something important underneath these layers of corpses?" Something? Could it be…" I was worried that underneath this ancient tomb would be the legendary hell that blew out the foehn wind, so I had to be cautious. So I told Fatty and Ding Sitian not to worry. Even if a mouse comes out of its hole, it must be calculated first, so we must be more careful, walk slower, use our brains more, and look carefully at everything here. If we encounter danger, It's good to have a measure of advance and retreat.
Ding Sitian agreed with my point of view. She asked me: "Your grandfather seemed to be a Feng Shui master in the past. You learned a lot from him. The corpses in this big tomb are all dead and not rotten. That's what you said." Is it because of Feng Shui? They… shouldn't suddenly come to life, right?"
I knew that she was trying to get me to give her some reason not to be afraid, so I said to her: "My grandfather's tricks are all the four olds. Although in recent years I think what he said makes some sense, but It’s better not to listen to biased beliefs.” As far as I know, in addition to Feng Shui reasons, there are many other factors. After death, the body is usually rotten due to the action of bacteria, but this kind of bacteria that makes the dead body rot, It needs to live in an environment with suitable temperature and relatively humid environment. The climate is cold or the weather is dry and hot, such as deserts and snow-capped mountains. This kind of bacteria will not exist, so mummies in the desert and ice corpses in the snow-capped mountains will not rot. .
There are also human factors. For example, the deceased is buried in the coffin after death. The wood of the coffin is thick and exquisite, and the material is airtight. Lime and charcoal are placed in the coffin to prevent moisture, forming a dry and constant-temperature closed space so that bacteria cannot survive. If moved, the corpse in the coffin will not rot easily, and may become a mummy or even a wet corpse with moisture still present. In addition, there are some special cases, such as those who died of cholera, or who suffered from diseases during their lifetime and lost most of the water in their bodies before death. After death, they will quickly become mummies, which are not easy to decay and disintegrate. The shape of the mummy is shriveled, and its weight is more than half that of the new deceased. The skin is wrinkled and shrunk, generally black and light brown, and the hair and nails may continue to grow.
The rarest one is corpse wax. For example, if an obese or fatty corpse is thrown into a river or buried in a saline-alkali land, corpse wax will easily form on the surface of the corpse to prevent it from decaying, because in the water flow, the corpse produces The putrefactive substances will be washed away by the water, and the putrefactive bacteria will also be taken away by the water. The fat in the corpse will turn into something like soap, slippery and greasy, called "corpse wax". If salt and alkali invade the corpse, This greasy corpse paste will also be produced. The corpse is wrapped in corpse wax, so it is not easy to decay.
When I was in middle school, I visited an exhibition of cadaver specimens held by the Public Security Bureau. It was a popular science education to dispel superstition, and I watched it with my grandfather Hu Guohua. He said that although this exhibition is enough to popularize science and make sense, it is not comprehensive. There are too many reasons why people do not decay after death. Such a small exhibition cannot cover them all. However, the special things my grandfather said, I Naturally, I didn't dare to tell Ding Sitian, so I just told her about the ghost-blowing corpse ginseng from the popular science exhibition, so that she no longer had to worry about the dead in the grave being deceived. corpse.
However, a person with a normal imagination can easily associate with what he hears. The more scientifically speaking, the more people will associate it with some feudal superstitious legends, especially the fat man who keeps mumbling "ghost" at inappropriate times. This ghost yamen is so evil that I don’t feel anything bad when I walk in the depths, not to mention there is no ghost. Isn’t it just a pile of hairy dead bodies? What’s the big fucking deal! We were so suspicious in the cremation room that we thought there was a ghost trapped there, but in fact it was the old man who was causing trouble. It seemed that ghosts came from the mind and were not disturbed by others. Our minds, armed with Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, should not believe in that idealist theory. This is a shame, a shame for materialists all over the world! But why are we fooled again and again? It seems that the lessons of history are not always a warning to future generations. This is the objective law of class struggle, rather than being based on human will…
While the fat man was making excuses for himself, we walked in a circle to the end of the spiraling stone path. There was a hole here, which was blocked by a pile of white round gravel, with many Oriental ghost symbols pasted on it. The Japanese devils suspected that the Baiyan Cave was haunted. There were similar ghost-suppressing charms in many places, including the strange structure of the incinerator, all for the purpose of warding off evil spirits. However, the so-called haunting may just be haunted by yellow skins.
The rubble wall in front of us has been torn open, and a large hole is exposed in front of us. There is a gray light inside. We thought that this tomb was the lowest level. Who would have thought that there is something deeper below? Because of the space, we didn't dare to go in directly. We called Lao Yangpi several times at the entrance of the cave, but got no response, so we decided to go deeper because we didn't believe that the cave had no bottom.
The fat man was still the first to clear the way. He was carrying the Kangxi sword, calling Lao Yangpi's name, and walking in with one foot deep and one foot shallow. I supported Ding Sitian and followed him. After walking for more than twenty steps, the fat man suddenly stopped and whispered to us in a panic: "Lao Hu, Si Tian, who of you two said there was nothing wrong with you just now? That's so irresponsible, look ahead… then… …What are those?”
I took a few steps and looked forward, and I felt goosebumps rising on my body. I secretly thought, "Where is such a large area of ancient buildings and palaces?" Moreover, there seems to be something moving in those ancient buildings. Could it be that they entered the Yama Hall by mistake?