Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The swift horse galloped like the wind, and before the sun set, Lin Ning and Yuan Yueming arrived at Hetuala. The two found a secluded inn, handed a lump of silver to the innkeeper, and requested two guest rooms. This inn was located on the eastern side of Hetuala, somewhat remote from the county town, so it usually had few guests. The innkeeper was overjoyed to see business coming in and quickly instructed his staff to add firewood to the rooms and prepare dishes like braised beef, chicken stewed with mushrooms, braised pork ribs, and spicy shredded meat—specialties of the North. After finishing dinner, Lin Ning and Yuan Yueming returned to their rooms to rest, exhausted from the previous night's ordeal and the day's labor.
After a night’s rest, both regained their strength quickly. The next morning, after having breakfast at the inn, Lin Ning and Yuan Yueming left. They decided to first visit Yongling at the foot of Qiyun Mountain in the northwest of Hetuala. A few years ago, Lin Ning had accompanied Yuan Yueming to Yongling when she was still known as the Princess of Yue Ming County. They soon arrived at the foot of Qiyun Mountain. From a distance, Lin Ning gazed at Yongling and noticed that it looked exactly as it had before—still shrouded in a dense presence of soldiers guarding the tomb area. Judging by their numbers, there were at least ten thousand soldiers stationed there. Even if treasures were hidden here, it would be nearly impossible to take them away.
Lin Ning suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Hu Xueyan about treasures. Hu Xueyan had told him that Nurhaci would not easily hide treasures in his ancestral tomb because it would attract too much attention. Although heavily guarded, if someone were to successfully rob it, it would be a great disrespect to his ancestors. Nurhaci would not take such risks. The reason he displayed that treasure poem so openly in the main hall must have been to lure potential tomb raiders into a trap! Lin Ning also remembered Hu Xueyan warning him about whether there were villages named Tianshi Village, Dili Village, Renhe Village, or Jishi Village in Hetuala; if such villages existed, then treasures would likely be hidden there.
With this thought in mind, Lin Ning turned to Yuan Yueming and asked, "Junior Sister, you lived in Hetuala for many years; do you know if there are any villages or towns with names like Tianshi, Dili, Renhe, or Jishi?" Yuan Yueming shook her head and replied, "I haven't heard of any." Lin Ning felt disappointed and unsure of what to do next. Just then, a middle-aged man dressed as a farmer passed by them. Lin Ning called out to him, "Hello there! Are you from Hetuala?" The farmer replied, "Yes, I’m a native of Hetuala. What can I do for you?" Lin Ning asked, "Do you know what villages or towns are in Hetuala?" The farmer recounted all the place names in Hetuala with great familiarity; however, none contained any words or phrases from that seven-character poem. Lin Ning frowned deeply in disappointment. He thanked the farmer who looked at him with confusion before walking away.
Just when Lin Ning felt lost about what to do next, Yuan Yueming suddenly said, "Senior Brother, there's a particularly strange place about ten miles south of Hetuala City where I used to play as a child. There’s a mountain called Nanshan; its peak has been flattened and built into a large square shaped like the Taiji diagram of the sixty-four hexagrams using stone blocks. Let’s go check out Nanshan and see if it could be where the treasure is hidden." Hearing this from Yuan Yueming ignited hope within Lin Ning's heart. They hastened their pace and reached Nanshan in no time.
Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, meticulous Lin Ning noticed that this mountain was covered entirely with yellow sand while the surrounding land was black soil. Looking around, he saw that the entire mountain was barren without a single tree growing on it; however, many trees flourished on the black soil below. Lin Ning concluded that such stark differences between the mountain and its surroundings must have been intentional—this mountain certainly concealed some unspeakable secret.
They tied their horses to a large rock at the base of the mountain and quickly made their way up to the summit; their footprints were clearly left on the soft sandy path. In less than half an hour's journey, they reached Nanshan's peak. Just as Yuan Yueming had described, the top of this mountain had been leveled into a square constructed with neatly arranged stone blocks according to the Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram from I Ching. This square measured over twenty zhang in length and width with a Taiji diagram about two zhang in diameter at its center.
At the center stood an iron flagpole approximately ten zhang high; although no flag was hung from its top, three rectangular blocks of white jade were connected by an unknown flat rod made from some material. This flat rod stood only about half a zhang tall but appeared translucent under sunlight—Lin Ning felt as though it might just be a refraction of light rather than an actual object.
Surrounding this square was a one-zhang high mound made of yellow sand. Observing the entire structure of the square deeply engaged Lin Ning’s thoughts as he softly recited an old poem composed by Yehe: "Jurchen heroes emerge from Jianzhou; thirteen remnants rise like dragons...". Suddenly enlightened as if struck by lightning, he exclaimed aloud: "I understand now! The treasure must be hidden at the positions indicated by 'Qian' and 'Kun' on this sixty-four hexagram diagram!"
Yuan Yueming felt equally enlightened upon hearing Lin Ning's words and joyfully said: "Your deduction must be correct! But how do we determine where 'Qian' and 'Kun' are located on this Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram?" After pondering for a moment, Lin Ning replied: "The Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram actually evolved from the Eight Trigrams Diagram found in I Ching; each trigram represents different directions—Qian is south while Kun is north."
Yuan Yueming added: "However, there are two versions of Eight Trigrams: Pre-Heaven (Xiantian) and Post-Heaven (Houtian). In Pre-Heaven Trigrams 'Qian' is due south while 'Kun' is due north; whereas in Post-Heaven Trigrams 'Qian' is northwest while 'Kun' is southwest. Which version should we use for our search?"
Lin Ning remained silent for a moment before saying: "Since Pre-Heaven Trigrams came first historically speaking, let’s search directly south according to this Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram first." Yuan Yueming agreed: "Alright then! We’ll follow your lead."
They walked towards the sand mound directly south of the hexagram diagram; Lin Ning took out his black gold short knife—a precious tool capable of cutting through iron—and effortlessly began scraping away layers of sand and stone that were about one zhang thick until they uncovered a solid stone door beneath. The door was remarkably smooth without any scratches indicating it had never been opened before nor did anyone know what lay hidden behind it.
Lin Ning carefully ran his hands over the stone door hoping to find some irregularity that could reveal its mechanism but was disappointed when he found nothing unusual after thoroughly inspecting it! Knowing that ordinary stones have hardness similar to iron's strength he decided to test his black gold short knife on it instead. The knife indeed did not disappoint him—it swiftly carved out an opening more than half a zhang high.
At noon when sunlight shone down upon them through this opening facing northward into darkness within they could see that this cave wasn’t very large—approximately three or four zhang long and over two zhang wide—yet completely empty inside. Cautiously stepping into this cave Lin Ning suddenly felt countless arrows shooting towards him from all directions as soon as his left foot landed inside! He quickly raised his Sunlight Blade to block incoming arrows which glinted coldly as they fell onto either ground or walls producing crisp sounds before he hastily retreated outside.
Yuan Yueming was startled by this sudden turn of events breaking out into cold sweat as she grabbed hold of Lin Ning anxiously asking: "Senior Brother! Are you alright? Were you hurt?"
Lin Ning steadied himself saying: "I’m fine! This cave isn’t even where 'Qian' points!" Although no treasure was found within this cave those cleverly set traps confirmed his belief that treasures must indeed lie somewhere on this mountain.
Yuan Yueming stammered nervously: "Then... where exactly is the true 'Qian Gate'? Could it be located northwest?"
Lin Ning replied: "Since we’ve ruled out Pre-Heaven Trigram's southern direction let’s try searching northwest according to Post-Heaven Trigram." They proceeded towards northwest direction confirming their bearings precisely forty-five degrees before using his black gold short knife again which soon cut open another stone door similar in size to previous one.
However unlike before Lin Ning did not recklessly enter this cave again; instead he picked up one large stone piece cut off from door throwing it inside only for it trigger yet another trap causing arrows once more flying towards entrance! Disappointed Yuan Yueming sighed: "How come there’s still no treasure here?"
After failing twice at opening caves Lin Ning realized he must have misjudged things since neither southern nor northwestern caves yielded any treasure thus neither northern nor southwestern caves corresponding with 'Kun' positions could possibly contain any either! While aware treasures surely lay within one among these sixty-four caves he knew they couldn’t act recklessly anymore—they needed accurate identification before proceeding further since traps hidden inside wrong caves could prove deadly!
Having wasted considerable time attempting two entrances already afternoon had arrived with winter days being shorter sunlight dwindling low—they reluctantly sealed both cave entrances again using rubble before covering them back over with previously scraped yellow sand once everything was done darkness enveloped them as sun sank below horizon exhausted they hurried back down towards inn.
Early next morning driven by thoughts about treasures even before dawn broke around Chen hour both Lin Ning & Yuan Yueming rose early—the sky appeared dimly cold without any sunlight almost hinting snow might fall soon!
Lin Ning turned toward Yuan Yueming saying: "Junior Sister although today’s weather isn’t favorable we shouldn’t let it deter us from heading back up Nanshan—we’ll continue searching today hoping for new discoveries!"
Yuan Yueming replied: "What you say makes sense! Let’s hope we uncover something new upon reaching Nanshan today!" After hastily finishing breakfast they departed from inn arriving once again at foot of Nanshan where yesterday’s footprints remained clearly visible still intact.
Lin Ning remarked: "Now I understand why yellow sand covers Nanshan—it’s likely patrols come through here regularly seeing these tracks would alert them someone visited recently! Today we must erase our footprints both going up & down avoiding leaving traces for patrolling soldiers."
He instructed Yuan Yueming walk ahead while he followed closely behind extending left hand sweeping across ground with his sleeve—his formidable internal energy easily smoothing out both their tracks along path leading up towards summit reaching Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram flatland atop mountain where snowflakes began falling thickly around them.
Both scrutinized carefully examining every detail surrounding hexagram diagram hoping for fresh insights yet despite searching tirelessly throughout day no new findings emerged forcing them back toward inn once more feeling disheartened after another fruitless venture!
Observing Yuan Yueming's weary disappointed expression Lin Ning encouraged her saying: "Don’t lose heart! Even though we didn’t find anything today we did learn why entire Nanshan is covered in yellow sand—tomorrow will surely bring new discoveries!" However even after two more days passed they still returned empty-handed!
Comment 0 Comment Count