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Lin Ning scanned the entire square with his lively eyes. Suddenly, the shadow of the flagpole in the center of the square caught his attention. The top of the flagpole cast a shadow that formed a "☷" shape on the yellow sandy soil surrounding the square. This "☷" symbol represented the Earth Hexagram in the Bagua diagram. It was already past noon, and the sun was gradually shifting westward from its southern position. The shadow, which projected the "☷" shape, now fell on the yellow sandy soil to the northeast. This discovery thrilled Lin Ning, and he shouted, "Uncle, two junior sisters, I found the entrance to the cave where the treasure is hidden!" Upon hearing Lin Ning's claim of finding the exact entrance to the treasure cave, everyone hurried to his side. Lin Ning pointed at the "☷" shadow cast by the top of the flagpole and said, "Look everyone! The top of the flagpole is tied with three rectangular pieces of white jade. At this position, they cast a '☷' shadow. In Bagua, '☷' represents 'Kun', so this shadow must indicate where the treasure cave is located!" After hearing Lin Ning's analysis, everyone agreed with his view.
Without delay, Lin Ning took out his black gold dagger and began to scrape away the dirt. However, before he could completely remove it, they noticed that as the sun continued to shift westward, the "☷" shadow also began to move eastward. Disappointed, Lin Ning stopped and said, "I didn't consider that shadows would shift; it seems this position may not be where the treasure cave is located after all!" Indeed, as the sun continued its westward journey, the "☷" shadow moved eastward and passed over at least five or six cave entrances. Everyone was stunned; in this situation, it was impossible to determine which entrance corresponded to the Earth Hexagram.
As time slipped away, it was already afternoon. At this time, sunlight was not as intense as at noon or late afternoon. To everyone's surprise, they noticed that shadows cast on the sandy soil began to form a "☰" shape. As is well known, in the Taiji Bagua diagram, the Heaven Hexagram symbol is represented by "☰". Just moments ago, they had seen a "☷" shadow representing 'Kun'; how could it now change into a "☰" shadow representing 'Qian'? Everyone was confused by this sudden phenomenon and instinctively looked up at the top of the flagpole.
To clarify what was happening, Lin Ning leaped up and quickly climbed to the top of the flagpole like a nimble monkey. Once at the top, he realized that what appeared to be three rectangular pieces of white jade from below were actually six pieces. These six pieces were not connected to the iron pole but were embedded in a very thin yet hard and transparent rectangular crystal stone. Three pieces were set on one side of the crystal stone while three others were on its opposite side. Lin Ning's sharp mind quickly understood why sometimes a "☰" shadow appeared and sometimes a "☷" shadow did. The crystal stone was so thin that when sunlight was particularly strong, it could penetrate directly through it without casting a shadow on the ground; however, when sunlight weakened, it could not fully pass through and would leave a shadow.
Lin Ning jumped down from the flagpole and shared his findings with everyone. With an understanding of how both shadows were formed, they realized that things had become increasingly complicated. Every day from sunrise to sunset, both "☰" and "☷" shadows would fall on the sandy soil around them; there was no way to determine which direction corresponded to 'Qian' or 'Kun'. Yuan Yueming expressed her disappointment: "We thought we had found an accurate entrance to the treasure cave but ended up with nothing! After all this effort, we still have no clues!"
Lin Ning replied, "We haven't left empty-handed; at least we know that the correct entrance to the treasure cave must relate to both '☰' and '☷' shadows. It's like we've seen a window; we just need to break through that layer of paper to see inside!" Seeing that sunset was approaching, Lin Ning instructed everyone to return to their inn for rest.
After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms for rest. Lin Ning lay on his bed thinking about treasure but couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. He vaguely felt that he needed to find answers in that seven-character poem written by Yehe Lao Nu for Nurhaci. He softly recited: "Jurchen heroes emerge from Jianzhou; thirteen relics of armor rise like dragons...". Repeating this poem over and over in his mind made him ponder: "'Eight Banners', 'Eight Banners', could it be that it's referring to caves corresponding to either the eighth appearance of a '☰' shadow or seventh appearance of a '☷' shadow?" As he speculated wildly, Lin Ning sighed inwardly: "If only Xue Yin's sister were here with me now; she would surely help me find the exact location of the treasure." Thinking about Hu Xueyan brought him pain again; gradually he drifted into sleep.
In his dream, he saw Hu Xueyan walking towards him in a green gown. Overjoyed, he trembled as he spoke: " Xue Yin's sister! You've finally come! How are you?" Hu Xueyan's expression was sorrowful as she replied: "I'm not well; I know you're not either. We once naively believed we were each other's only one and that our love would last eternally! How ridiculous! It turns out that those who are infatuated are too infatuated while those who are ungrateful are too ungrateful; this world is too torturous! Why must we suffer so much? We thought we would pledge our lives together but never expected life would separate us and death would not accompany us! Only now do I understand that what is eternal is not our love; only heaven and earth can be called eternal—nothing else deserves such a term!" After saying this, Hu Xueyan gracefully departed.
Lin Ning desperately wanted to call out for Xue Yin's sister not to leave but found himself unable to speak. In panic, he sat up abruptly from his bed—everything had just been a dream again. After calming himself down, Lin Ning carefully recalled every word Hu Xueyan had said in his dream. He realized she mentioned "eternal" four times during their conversation. He then remembered that last line from Nurhaci's poem: "Unprecedented changes in heaven and earth." He sensed there must be a connection between them; Xue Yin's sister must have been trying to tell him something about where to find treasure through her dream.
Now it seemed clear that finding the exact location of the cave must relate somehow to both "eternal" and "unprecedented." Hu Xueyan had indicated in his dream that only heaven and earth could be called eternal. Lin Ning recalled something from The Book of Changes: when heaven and earth were opened up during creation, chaos became one entity—thus forming heaven and earth simultaneously at that moment in time.
In other words, heaven and earth existed from the very beginning when they formed in space-time. In Bagua diagrams, Qian symbolizes heaven while Kun symbolizes earth. When heaven and earth formed together as one entity—just like Qian and Kun—they existed simultaneously from their inception.
The profound meaning hidden within this realization suggested that when sunlight shone upon both white jade stones atop the flagpole and crystal stone below them—the first position where a "☰" shadow appeared must correspond with Qian while where a "☷" shadow first appeared must correspond with Kun.
With this flawless answer in mind—precise beyond reproach—Lin Ning felt exhilarated and could no longer sleep. He silently prayed: “ Xue Yin's sister! Thank you for helping me find out where I can enter into that correct cave! Once I find treasure inside there I hope you will also help me safely carry it out!”
The next day Lin Ning shared his method for determining Qian and Kun positions with everyone. Before dawn broke they gathered at Nanshan’s Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram square waiting for sunrise. Just after Chen hour began—a ray of sunlight cast shadows from both white jade stones and crystal stone onto a slightly northern position westward; since sunlight wasn’t strong yet—it formed a “☰” shape.
Lin Ning hurriedly marked this spot with his black gold dagger as an indication of where they should enter into their cave. Cong Rong asked: “Master Brother are we going into this spot?” Lin Ning nodded but Yuan Yueming interjected: “Brother even if today’s sunlight first casts ‘☰’ here—it doesn’t guarantee every day throughout year will show same position!”
Lin Ning replied: “Junior Sister I understand your point—you’re saying seasons will change constantly—but seasonal changes only affect length of shadows—not their positions.” Yuan Yueming further questioned: “But sunlight’s intensity also affects where ‘☰’ or ‘☷’ appear!”
Lin Ning responded: “True enough—the strength can influence positions—but if we go by that logic then locations will always vary making accurate identification impossible! I believe Nurhaci considered this when hiding treasures—only under clear weather can sunlight accurately reflect shapes like today’s bright sun.”
His reasoning convinced everyone present wholeheartedly. Cong Jiang declared: “Leader! We all understand now—let’s start opening up this entrance!”
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