The three of them were silent for a moment, and the joy of seeing the entrance for the first time was quickly replaced by the worry of the unknown. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Let's go. It was Wan Guohou who broke the silence, he took his mobile phone and walked in first, followed by K1. Yue Shuluo picked up the handbag on the ground and hurriedly followed.

It was a rectangular hall with a height of more than five meters, and each of the four corners had a stout stone pillar, on which was a majestic dragon.

On each side of the entrance, there is a small stone platform. On the stone platform on the left is a carved set of balls, and on the stone platform on the right is a circle of small stone figures. The stone figures are about the same size as ordinary mineral water bottles, and they are dressed differently and have different expressions. The stone figures were all fixed on the stone platform, and the Marquis of Wan Guo counted them, and there were twelve in total. And in the middle of these stone figures, there is a long groove that is not much larger than the common USB flash drive, and the bottom of the groove is carved with exquisite patterns.

A few steps ahead, there is a stone arch bridge, and the pond under the bridge has long since dried up. The arch bridge is about five meters long, with steps hewn at both ends, while two rows of stone human figures stand on the deck. They were about the height of a real person, clad in armor and armed with weapons, apparently the emperor's garrison.

Wan Guohou sighed, the weapons in the hands of these soldiers were staggered and crossed, obviously not wanting anyone to cross the stone bridge. At the end of the stone bridge, there were five huge knives hanging from the roof, each with a scalloped blade that was so wide that it hung down to the ground. Although these heavy giants have been rusted over the years, they still reveal a sharp and intimidating indifference.

"Master Hou, come on. K1 stood near the soldiers in the front row, pointed under the bridge and shouted, "What is this?"

Wan Guohou took a picture of his mobile phone. The pond under the bridge is covered with a black metal mesh so small that only a baby's finger can pass through it.

"Master Hou, do you know about this?" K1 asked.

Wan Guohou shook his head, he turned his gaze to the stone bridge, "You see, the railing of the stone bridge is carved like a city wall, and there are still soldiers standing on the bridge, so there should be a moat under this bridge." He touched his beard, "I don't know if this metal mesh was laid by people in the past, or if it was always called Hanako's shop." But no matter who paved it, we'd better stay away. ”

He retreated to the entrance, walked to the stone platform on the left, and began to study the intricate ivory set of balls. The size of this tooth ball is about the same as the larger lead ball, and the outermost carving is the grand occasion of Qin Shi Huang Feng Zen Taishan. Each layer of the tooth ball has three round holes of various sizes, the smallest of which is smaller than a person's tiny fingernail.

There are four stone ridges shaped like fangs on the stone platform where the tooth balls are placed, which just stuck the tooth balls in the middle. And in the very center of the stone platform, another stone shaft is embedded in the tooth ball. Wan Guohou guessed that such a design could not only lock the tooth ball, but also allow the tooth ball to rotate.

"It's ivory, it's all cracked. Yue Shuluo observed for a while, "It seems that there are five layers?"

"This underground palace was built in the Ming Dynasty, and the ivory has been left for hundreds of years, and it is normal to have cracks. Wan Guohou replied. "The technology of the ivory carving set of balls was not developed in the Ming Dynasty, and the fifth layer was already very top at that time. In addition, I have the impression that the ivory carvings in Suzhou have been famous since ancient China, and it was not until the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty that they gradually gave way to the ivory carvings of Guangzhou. ”

"It's pretty good. K1 also shook his head and looked at it, "Each layer of carved things seems to be different, huh, are they glued together?"

"Of course not. The brilliance of this ivory ball is that it is carved from a single piece of ivory. Wan Guohou explained, "Therefore, the ivory carving set ball is also called the 'ghost work ball', which means the magic ball." ”

"There are so many layers of carved ivory and the pattern is so fine, when the carving is finished, then the eyes must not be blind?" K1 said in surprise.

Wan Guohou said indifferently, "If you can chase endless scenes, you can see extraordinary people." ”

K1 didn't understand Wan Guohou's words, but when he saw the latter's solemn expression, he thought that he admired the tooth ball very much. With that in mind, he moved a little closer. Seeing the intricate and detailed pattern of this tooth ball, and thinking that Wan Guohou said that it was carved from a whole piece of ivory, he couldn't help but stretch out his finger and pluck it slightly.

The tooth ball immediately spun a few times. K1's eyes were sharp, and when he saw the abnormality, he immediately shouted: "Master Hou, there is something in it!"

Wan Guohou put his mobile phone close to the tooth ball, and sure enough, he saw a round dragon in the innermost part of the tooth ball, and he was greatly surprised, "What does this mean?"

"Could this dragon be the key?" K1 guessed, "We smashed the ball so we could get the dragon out?"

Yue Shuluo couldn't help but laugh, "K1, if you smash the ball, the dragon will be destroyed, have you forgotten that the dragon is also part of the ivory ball?"

"Oh, yes. K1 scratched his head, "So, how do you get the dragon out?"

"I can't take it out. Wan Guohou said. He observed for a moment, "This dragon is carved into the innermost ivory ball, and it cannot be taken out unless there is a delicate tool that can dismantle the ball. ”

Yue Shuluo observed for a while by the light of her mobile phone, and gradually had an idea, "Master Hou." What if we didn't have to take out the dragon at all?"

"You say. ”

Yue Shuluo gently turned the tooth ball, "Look, this dragon's eyes seem to be able to move. ”

Wan Guohou stared at it for a few seconds and nodded, "You are very observant. ”

Yue Shuluo smiled modestly, "Is it possible that we can solve the mystery here by making the dragon's eyes move?"

"How?" K1 glared at her, "and you don't take the dragon out, you want it to move its eyes, it's not your pet." He pointed to the smallest round hole where the dragon's eyes were, "unless your fingers are as thin as toothpicks." ”

Yue Shuluo pursed her lips and smiled, she opened her handbag and took out the bangs clip, "Is this okay?"

K1 was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Manager Yue, you're so smart!" He took the toothpick-thin bangs clip from Yueshuluo's hand, and couldn't help but poke it into the ball.

"Wait. Wan Guohou stretched out his hand, "Give it to me." He handed his phone to K1, "Shine on it." ”

K1 did as he was told, only to see Wan Guohou concentrate on gently flicking the tooth ball a few times, so that the smallest round holes in each layer overlapped. This way, he can get a better view of the ivory dragon's head. Then, he straightened his bangs and inserted them into the hole.

The bangs clip was originally made of a thin metal strip folded in half, but at this moment, Wan Guohou broke it into a straight line, which was more conducive to its function.

Wan Guohou hung his wrist and held his breath, while K1 and Yue Shuluo looked at him with a daze. He slowly moved the clamp of his bangs until he touched the dragon's eyes, and then he gently moved his fingers and pressed it.

I saw that the tooth ball instantly sank down and was firmly buckled on the stone platform, and then, there was a "click" sound from the top of the heads of the three people. The trio looked around warily, but no mechanism seemed to be triggered, and, after a few seconds, the sound was gone.

Wan Guohou took the bangs out of the ivory ball in disappointment and handed it to Yue Shuluo. He looked at the latter's hand and suddenly asked, "Does it still hurt?"

Yue Shuluo shook her head gently: "I'm fine, thank you, Master Hou." ”

K1 saw that the two of them were in love with each other, so he came to Wan Guohou's side, pretended to be pitiful and said, "Master Hou, why don't you care about me?"

Wan Guohou glanced at him, "Where do you hurt?"

K1 didn't expect the other party to really ask himself, he was stunned for a moment, and his eyes rolled, "My mouth is dry and my throat hurts." ”

"If your throat hurts, you don't talk much. Wan Guohou replied slowly.

Yue Shuluo couldn't help laughing, "K1, if you're not afraid, you can go to the artificial waterfall just now to look for it and see if there is any water to moisten your throat." ”

"Forget it, it's all collapsed, so I'm not going. K1 said angrily.

At this time, some gravel suddenly fell from the ceiling, and the three of them hurriedly stood against the wall, only to hear a "boom", and a big black bird fell from the sky. After smashing through the ceiling, it slowly fell to a height of about one and a half meters above the ground before stopping.

"Is this a crow?" K1 asked, surprised.

Wan Guohou shone his phone towards the ceiling, only to see a rusty copper chain hanging from the blackbird, "This is not a crow." You see, it has a long snake neck and a beak like an eagle's beak, and this is a phoenix. ”

K1 leaned his face to the bird's head, "I don't read much, don't lie to me, isn't the phoenix all over color?

Wan Guohou lightly touched the bird's body, and then looked at his fingers, "There is actually no dust, and the seal is good." He said to K1 unhurriedly: "During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a man named Wang Jia wrote a book, which recorded in detail the story of Qin Shi Huang's reception of the 'people of Wanqu'. A man from Wanqu said that in his country, whenever it is sunny, there will be black dragons and phoenixes flying in the sky. In addition, he also told many whimsical-sounding stories that sounded fantastical, and Qin Shi Huang was very happy to hear them, so he made him a national teacher and humbly asked him to teach him the immortal art of immortality. ”

K1 suddenly opened: "So, this phoenix is black?"

"It's just a symbol. Wan Guohou explained, "Actually, the Qin Dynasty valued black because Qin was a water virtue. ”

Before K1 could understand, Yueshuluo had already asked the next question, "But, isn't the phoenix generally used to refer to the queen?"

Wan Guohou shook his head, "At the earliest, the phoenix referred to auspicious things, and of course it could also mean the emperor. It was only later, with the evolution of history, the dragon gradually became the symbol of the emperor, and the image of the phoenix was gradually 'feminized'. Strictly speaking, the phoenix is the male, and the phoenix is the female. ”

His gaze swept over the soldiers on the bridge, "If my guess is correct, behind the giant Yue, opposite the phoenix, there should be a totem representing the emperor, or a statue of the emperor." ”

"Then how do we get there? This row of weapons is clearly not letting us go. K1 looked at the stone bridge and was a little worried.

He looked at the stone man on his right again, "I don't know what these things are for." ”

Wan Guohou suddenly smiled slightly, "Chief Moon, do you know the official system of the Qin Dynasty?"

Yue Shu was stunned, "I don't remember, I may have learned it in history class before, but unfortunately I returned it to the teacher." ”

"This may be the Three Princes and Nine Princes. You see, these stone figures are all civilian clothes, and they should represent different official systems. Wan Guohou said in an orderly manner, "The emperor is supreme, and the three dukes below him are the prime minister, the imperial lieutenant, and the imperial historian. Jiuqing refers to Fengchang, Tingwei, Zhisu Neishi, Dianke, Lang Zhongling, Shaofu, Weiwei, Taifu, and Zongzheng. ”

Yue Shuluo looked at Wan Guohou in surprise, "Master Hou, you are simply a historian. ”

Without waiting for Wan Guohou to answer, K1 said proudly: "Of course, Hou Ye is a living encyclopedia, except for the guqin you play, I haven't seen anything that Hou Ye doesn't understand." ”

Wan Guohou said disapprenously: "Encyclopedias can't talk about it, but I do read a lot of history books of various countries. His eyes flashed, "Take history as a mirror, and you can know the rise and fall." Everything that has happened has a pattern to follow, and this is the charm of history. ”

"So, after reading so many books, have you found a pattern that can change the doomed tragedy?" Yue Shuluo thought of her affectionate and amorous father.

"I found it. Wan Guohou said meaningfully, "But if you change the tragedy of this second, it will cause the comedy of the next second to become a tragedy." ”

Yue Shuluo was stunned, she recalled this sentence and found that she couldn't refute it.

"My lord, will you wait a while?" K1 crossed his waist and stood aside. "The phone doesn't have a lot of power, and the flash can't be brightened. ”

Wan Guohou glared at him, "I think that these twelve stone men are the incarnation of the Three Princes and Nine Qings. ”

K1 listened to Wan Guohou's reasoning, and felt like he was listening to a lecture, he was extremely bored, and pulled his beard one by one, "Master Hou, then how should these stone men be used?"

Wan Guohou took the mobile phone from his hand, then walked to the bridge and shone on the soldiers, "Six rows, also twelve, don't you think this is too coincidental?"

"What's the coincidence, didn't you say that Qin Shi Huang had twelve golden people, isn't this just right, twelve on the platform, twelve on the bridge, buy one get one free. K1 said sullenly.

Wan Guohou didn't speak, he turned his head again and stared at the phoenix for a long time.

Suddenly, he handed the phone to K1, then grabbed the phoenix's wings and pulled it outward.

This behavior startled K1 and Tsukishu. As soon as they were about to question, they saw the phoenix raise its neck. Then, it opened its mouth, Wan Guohou reached over, and a stone tablet the size of a USB flash drive fell on his hand.

K1 laughed: "Master Hou, how did you find out?"

"The posture of this phoenix is obviously fluttering its wings, but the wings are sandwiched on the sides, which is unreasonable. Wan Guohou walked to the side of the stone pavilion, "The stone tablet in its mouth should be the answer to the mystery." ”

The stone plaque is embossed with patterns on one side and engraved with small characters on the other. He waved his hand and motioned for K1 to take a picture of his phone. Under the illumination of the flash, a few lines of text are clearly visible: "The world is one, the body is the eternal soul." ”

"This may be a trap, are you ready?" Wan Guohou looked at the two of them. After receiving an affirmative answer, he put the side of the inscription on the stone tablet face up and put it into the groove of the stone platform.

But it was quiet, nothing happened. Wan Guohou looked at the stone tablet and pressed it down again.

There was a clanging of iron and gold, and the soldiers removed their weapons and made way for the middle of the stone bridge.