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墨書 Inktalez
"Go up from here!"
The hand touched the Jianmu, a massive tree deeply embedded in the ground. It was unknown when it had died, perhaps tens of millions of years ago, or even earlier, as it sank deep into the earth due to geological changes. The roots of this Jianmu seemed to extend downwards endlessly. Just looking at this part of the trunk was enough to leave one speechless.
Ancient Bai Ren carved a path along the stone wall, following the Jianmu upwards, and built several structures around it. One can imagine that the Bai Wang must have put considerable thought into finding such a place for his tomb deep underground.
The two walked on the spacious stone steps, heading upwards. There were many openings carved through the stone wall, leading upwards. They continued to climb until Zhou Jun could no longer hold back and sat down: "Wow, how high is this damn place?"
Bai Yujing looked up but still couldn't see the top. After climbing for most of the day, they were still at the trunk level and had not reached the top or canopy. However, more importantly, the stairs were constructed in a very winding manner. Given the difficulty of excavation and construction conditions at that time, creating such a path leading to the top was beyond imagination.
"Let's sit down and eat something!"
Zhou Jun and Bai Yujing sat at an opening in a cave and began to eat. Zhou Jun looked down with a flashlight but couldn't see the bottom of the abyss. Then he looked up again and still couldn't see the top.
"We're stuck in limbo here; this tree looks terrifyingly huge from below, and climbing it makes me still unable to believe it's real. How can there be such a big tree!" Zhou Jun patted the Jianmu, which produced a sound and texture like steel. He had previously tried to pry off a piece with tools but only managed to leave shallow marks with his knife after sawing for a long time, so he gave up on that idea.
"This feels like a mineral vein, just grown into the shape of a tree?"
Zhou Jun remained troubled by this thought. Bai Yujing looked up: "Stop dwelling on that. I estimate that Bai Wang is buried right above us, probably at the canopy of this tree. The Bai Ren liked to bury things on cliffs; look at those murals and previous statues. Bai Wang likely did the same, wanting to experience that elevated feeling."
Zhou Jun immediately replied: "Bai Ren Xuan Guan was also buried on a cliff; perhaps it's a habit passed down from then. This Bai Wang must have come down from heaven and wanted to bury himself higher up to be closer to those deities!"
Bai Yujing nodded: "What you said makes quite a bit of sense; it might really be like that!"
The two continued to climb higher, and many of the stairs had collapsed. In some places, there were gaps that could not be connected. Bai Yujing and Zhou Jun had to rely on their strength and climbing skills to scale the rock walls. In many areas, they were several meters apart, making the ascent quite nerve-wracking.
Although they had no idea how high they were from the ground below, it was estimated to be several hundred meters. If they fell, it wasn't just a matter of life or death; even leaving behind a complete corpse would be fortunate. They might not even be able to collect the remains and would need a shovel to do so!
Both of them were experienced climbers and made their way up intermittently. The structures above gradually became more elaborate. Near Jianmu, some large stones and protruding areas had been used as anchors to create small caves, inside which many coffins could be seen.
Bai Yujing climbed up along these formations and finally reached the first such cave. Upon seeing the coffin inside, he noted that even at such a high altitude, it was sheltered from wind and rain, yet it had already collapsed; after all, wooden structures do not last long.
Zhou Jun and Bai Yujing entered together and took a moment to rest inside. Bai Yujing opened the coffin and saw a desiccated corpse dressed in silk, commonly referred to as "boke." The clothing was adorned with patterns.
Zhou Jun glanced at it and said, "This outfit has both upper and lower pieces? Didn't ancient people wear wide robes?"
Bai Yujing thought for a moment and replied, "During the Zhou Dynasty, that custom hadn't developed yet. At least not during the Western Zhou period. Back then, adults wore garments that consisted of an upper garment and lower skirt, known as 'yichang.' The style where they are connected is called 'shenyi,' but this type of clothing was generally worn by boys; adults wouldn't wear this!"
Bai Yujing examined the corpse again. "This should be clothing from the Western Zhou period. Bai Wangji was conferred the title of Bo Marquis by Zhou Wuwang. It seems he also followed Zhou customs in terms of attire. This person was likely an official under the Bo Marquis; he shouldn't be a general since generals would typically be buried in armor!"
At that moment, Bai Yujing's foot hit something that clinked. He immediately shone his flashlight on it and saw an object resembling a basin with two ears and simple patterns.
"Wow, a Bronze Gui! A bronze artifact from the Western Zhou period!" Bai Yujing instantly recognized what it was.
Zhou Jun squatted down to examine it closely. "A bronze artifact from the Western Zhou period? I can't touch this; it's troublesome. Let's see if there are any other jade artifacts or something similar; that would be better!"
Bai Yujing quickly placed it into Zhou Jun's backpack. "Just take it for now; after all, the backpack is empty. It wouldn't hurt to bring it back as a display piece for collection purposes. We can't sell it, but we can certainly keep it privately!"
Bai Yujing was worried that Zhou Jun would stop him from taking things later. There must be quite a few treasures up there. The two of them took a look, and it might just be the biggest haul Bai Yujing had ever had from his adventures!
Bai Yujing then looked around. Aside from a bronze bell, there were only a few pieces of pottery left, which were large and worthless, so they had to give up. The two of them abandoned the cave tomb and continued to climb upwards.
Zhou Jun had never done anything like this before and felt nervous. "Is this really okay? Aren't we essentially grave robbers?"
Bai Yujing was not pleased. "What grave robbing? This is called archaeology, officially recognized archaeology! Don't you know? It's about discovering and protecting cultural relics!"
Zhou Jun asked quietly, "What if Team Leader Qian finds out?"
Bai Yujing immediately replied, "Come on, why are you worried about her? She doesn't care about this kind of thing. She's not part of the law enforcement; this isn't her responsibility. We're risking our lives here, so what's wrong with taking a little something? Don't worry, once we get up there, she won't be able to search our bags. We'll take as much as we can carry, and she'll just pretend not to see it!"
Originally, the mountain path seemed extremely desolate, but at that moment it suddenly became interesting. Both of them were looking forward to what other things might be up there.
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