The mouth of the cellar is about 50 centimeters long and wide, and Poplar shines down with a flashlight, and finds that its depth is only two meters at most.

But the cellar had not been opened for thousands of years, and a foul smell came up, and even the two jade hummingbirds refused to go down.

Several people could only wait patiently for a while, and Chen Xiaopang couldn't hold back and jumped down at first.

I heard him "babble" twice, and it seemed to be surprised, but there was also fright.

Poplar immediately jumped down, and the flashlight shone in all directions, and found that the cellar was only about seven or eight square meters, and the four walls were also made of green bricks.

Some antique objects are placed against the root of the wall, mostly faience or glazed pottery, but also a few kinds of porcelain and jade.

But the most prominent of them are two very delicate large vases, and a bronze tripod with a strange shape.

There is also a varnished wooden box on which a statue of a green jade more than a foot high is placed.

It is estimated that this cellar was not only a hiding place for the castle owner in case of danger, but also a treasure room for his valuables.

And between these antique objects, there are also several corpses lying or sitting against the wall.

Naturally, all that remained of the corpse was a rotten and blackened skeleton, and the clothes on the skeleton had also been corrupted to ashes, looking like broken cobwebs covered in dust.

Among them were apparently the bodies of two young children, one of the young people, and two of the bodies of adults.

The body of the youngest child was held in the arms of one of the adults.

You don't have to guess to know that this should be a family of five of the castle owners.

As for the scattered bones on the top, if they were not servants or the like, they were the other family members of the castle owner who had not had time to enter the cellar.

When Bai Yang inspected these, Ding Lingling and Tie Niu also jumped down one after another.

Seeing that the lower side was really not spacious enough, Poplar hurriedly asked the others to wait on the upper side and not come down.

But Chu Changjiang couldn't hold back, and asked Max and Chen Dalin to wait above, and he and Hongxing also jumped down.

A few people were first frightened by the bones, and Hongxing asked, "What happened? Why did they all die in the cellar, and why didn't they go out when they came in?"

This question has been mentioned before, but no one has been able to answer it.

Iron Bull said: "Could it be that the reason why they hid in the first place was not because of wild beasts, but because an enemy or an enemy came to the door, but as a result, the enemy could not open this cellar, so he could only pour poisonous gas into the cellar and kill them?"

His speculation is almost fanciful, but it is not impossible.

Bai Yang pondered and was about to answer, but Ding Lingling said: "The reason why they hid in the cellar may indeed be because enemies or enemies came to the door! But the cause of their death cannot be because of poison gas or something. Because more than a thousand years ago, there was no such sophisticated technology that could allow poison gas to be poured directly into the cellar, but the people on the ground were not affected. And when we found this cellar mouth, the green bricks at the cellar mouth were neatly arranged, which means that the enemy did not find this cellar mouth, and naturally there is no poison gas!"

"Then there is another possibility!" Tie Niu immediately said, "The enemy or enemy of this family, because they can't find a few of their family, they simply live in this castle, and this family can't get out of it, and finally the family starves to death in the cellar!"

This speculation sounds just as reasonable at first glance, but there is a big loophole.

"Don't forget the scattered white bones on the top, you can almost certainly be sure that they were eaten by wild beasts, unless you ......" Bai Yang pondered and said slowly, "Those white bones were originally the enemies of this family, but after these enemies lived in this castle, they were killed and eaten by some wild beasts, and the family had starved to death in the cellar at that time!"

Poplar's speculation should be more reasonable than what Tie Niu said, and several other people thought about it carefully, and they all felt that there was no flaw.

But Hong Xing still raised a question.

"But what kind of beast can break into the castle and kill and eat everyone? Is it possible...... Is it the enemy of the enemy who came again, and as a result, they fought each other and died to the death, and in the end, the beast came to pick up a bargain?"

"This possibility is also there!" Ding Lingling quickly said, "So let's stop guessing for now, let's see if we can find any clues from these antique artifacts!"

In fact, when they were discussing, Chen Xiaopang was already attracted by those pottery products.

Looking at the excitement on his face, it seemed that the value of these pottery products was better than that of the two exquisite vases.

But Hongxing squatted down in front of the two bones of the adults holding the children, and said, "This child is so pitiful! This adult is even more pitiful! Seeing his child die in his arms, but he can't rush out with the child, I'm afraid...... It's not just that there are enemies on top!"

As soon as she said this, except for Chen Xiaopang, who was completely immersed in her own thoughts, everyone else couldn't help but look at each other.

Chu Changjiang nodded first and said, "What the Red Girl said is reasonable! In other words, when I see my child starving to death in my arms, no matter whether there is an enemy or a beast on the cellar, I will rush out and fight hard! Even if I am eaten by a wild beast and beheaded by the enemy, it is better than watching the child go from birth to death! From this point of view, I am afraid that what is on the cellar is something that is far more terrible than a beast or an enemy!"

Everyone was lost in thought, imagining what it was so terrible that parents could watch their children starve to death in their arms, but hide in the cellar and dare not go out.

Hongxing was the least daring, and couldn't help but shudder, and said: "Forget it, it was more than a thousand years ago anyway, and it has nothing to do with us how terrible it is!"

She was anxious to get rid of the tremor in her heart, and quickly stretched out her hand to the two large vases and pointed at them, and said, "Shouldn't this be the territory of ethnic minorities? Why are these two large vases completely Han style?"

At that time, not only these small countries in the Western Regions, but also many countries in the world, the Han culture was most admired. For example, porcelain, bronze, and silk used to be very popular all over the world!" replied Ding Lingling.

Hongxing let out an "oh" and finally said no more.

Several people separated to inspect the various antiques in the cellar.

Ding Lingling was attracted by the bronze tripod, and the bronze tripod was naturally covered with dust, Ding Lingling took out an archaeological brush and carefully wiped it.

Poplar wanted to learn more about archaeology from her, so he also squatted next to her to help.

Chu Changjiang carefully held the two large vases and watched.

Hong Xing and Tie Niu were attracted by the green jade statue on the big wooden box, and Hong Xing couldn't help but say again: "Sister Lingling, why do you say that this statue looks like a Han scholar? In my opinion, it is almost the same as Zhuge Liang's! Could it be that these gods and men worshiped by the small countries of the Western Regions are the same as our Han scholars?"

She was not mistaken, the green jade statue was indeed similar to the appearance of the legendary Zhuge Liang, wearing a Han-style robe, a scholar's crown on his head, and a long beard on his chin.

It's just that what he is holding in his hand is not a feather fan, but a folding paper fan.

In front of this statue, there is a small and delicate green jade incense burner, and the incense burner is full of incense ash.

In other words, this statue is not an ordinary jade doll, but represents a god who enjoys the incense of the world.

Ding Lingling glanced back, then said with a smile: "This should not be like Zhuge Liang, but like Ban Chao! Ban Chao once sent an envoy to the Western Regions, and the countries of the Western Regions worship it as a god and man, which is not unreasonable!"

This explanation is very reasonable, and Hongxing is convinced, so she doesn't ask anymore.

Ding Lingling turned around, but couldn't help but shout Chen Xiaopang.

Chen Xiaopang immediately came over and inspected the bronze tripod with her.

Soon, Chen Xiaopang nodded and said: "This bronze tripod represents the identity of the owner of this castle, and the owner of this castle should be the supreme ruler of this ancient city!"

Although Poplar is very lacking in archaeological knowledge, he also knows that bronzes, especially bronze tripods, could not be used by anyone in ancient times, and only the supreme ruler could use them. Even princes and generals can only be gifted by the supreme ruler, and cannot be forged in private.

Ding Lingling asked Bai Yang to carefully turn over the bronze tripod, so that the bottom was facing up and searched carefully, and soon found that there were four fonts at the bottom.

Although Bai Yang didn't know those characters, he knew that it was not a minority font, but the Chinese character Qin Li.

Secretly feeling strange in her heart, Ding Lingling and Chen Xiaopang were already surprised, Ding Lingling blurted out: "Heavenly Elephant King! These four words are Heavenly Elephant King! It seems that this ancient city is the territory of the Celestial Elephant Kingdom!"

"That's good!" Chen Xiaopang also nodded with joy on his face, "It seems that this place is not far from the Black Desert Celestial Elephant Country!"

"But why are they Chinese characters? Is there no writing in the Celestial Elephant Kingdom itself?" Bai Yang asked.

Ding Lingling and Chen Xiaopang looked at each other, and Ding Lingling said: "The Celestial Elephant Kingdom can be said to be the most mysterious country among the countries of the Western Regions, and it is even more mysterious than Loulan, Jingjue and other countries! The historical records about the Celestial Elephant Kingdom are very limited, and we don't know if they have written or not, but judging from the appearance of the gods they worship are Han scholars, the Celestial Elephant Kingdom should be greatly influenced by the Han culture! So it is not surprising that they use Chinese characters!"

A thought suddenly appeared in Bai Yang's heart, and he couldn't help but be a little stunned.

Ding Lingling immediately noticed that his expression was wrong, so she asked him, "Did you think of something?"

Bai Yang nodded and said, "Lingling, do you remember, Ma Daocheng and Ma Daoxian mentioned before that they saw a living person in the tomb of the Celestial Elephant Kingdom?"

(See Chapter 153, "Notes on Destruction")