Before I got into the crack, I was a little worried that the drainage system inside was not controlled, and no one knew when the drainage and irrigation would happen, and if we got into it and the drainage system was running automatically, it would be like trapping both of us inside.

"It can't be that coincidental." Xiao Mao smiled: "If that's the case, our luck will be too bad." ”

I also don't think the drainage system will run very often, and if you're afraid of wolves and tigers, you don't have to do anything.

The two of them got in one after the other, and followed the road they had just walked until they reached the place where Xiao Mao was trapped before. As soon as we got here, we slowed down, Xiao Mao walked in front, I followed, walked about 20 meters away, the terrain was a little lower, and the humidity around was also very heavy.

The underground water system here is very developed, and the amount of water is relatively abundant, no one can imagine that under the barren and barren land on the surface, there is such a large water network.

The passage where the mechanism was hidden had come to an end, and beyond that, it was a relatively narrow road. I don't know where a lot of water came from, and it flowed against the ground. After a few steps for both of us, our shoes were all wet.

As we walked again, we felt unsteady under our feet, as if we were stepping on a sewer fence. I shone my flashlight downward, and the water here is much clearer than the water in Lake Ta'er, the underground water system is not polluted in any way, and there is basically no sediment, and the water is completely transparent.

Through the water at a depth of about 10 centimeters, I saw as if there were cages in the water. The cages were made of iron, crudely cast, and the iron bars on the cages were as thick as thumbs, and the two of us were now walking in front of them.

Obviously, these cages have been soaked in water for a long, long time, and the gap between the iron bars on the cages is relatively narrow, plus they are completely submerged in water, and it is impossible to see if there is anything inside the cages.

This situation is not normal, we should be walking on a small ditch, if it is really to facilitate access, fill the ditch with stones or wood, the cost is much lower than the iron cage. Ta'er Lake was not equipped to build a smelting site at any time, so these iron cages must have been transported here in batches after they were cast elsewhere.

Xiaomao and I tried to drag a cage up, but the cage may have been stuck in the ditch, and it was very stuck. We had no choice but to take a few steps forward and try a different cage.

This time, Xiao Mao used a rope to pass through the gap above the iron cage, so that it was easier to start, and I stood on the iron cage next to me, pulling the rope with both hands. But with such a strenuous effort, the feet suddenly emptied, and it may be that a few iron bars on the top of the cage were rusted and broken.

As soon as the iron bar broke, half of my leg fell into the cage, and Xiao Mao quickly pulled me up.

The broken cage was obviously loose, and the two of us worked together to drag it up. The cage was so heavy that it almost took us all into the ditch as soon as it came out of the water. We dragged the cage to the ditch with all our strength until it got stuck between two rocks.

In the light, I saw that inside the cage, there were wisps of flocculent material that were no longer recognized, wound between the fine iron bars, and under these rotten flocculents, pieces of bones loomed.

The two of us got the contents of the cage out, and Xiao Mao rubbed it with a clump of flocculents, which should be a ball of fur or something.

The bones in the cage were rotten and shattered into slag when you pinched them. However, the bones are largely intact, and the limbs, torso, and skull can be identified.

At first glance, these bones are similar to the shape of human bones, but the whole skeleton is relatively small, and the shape of the skull is quite different from that of human bones.

"Primates." Xiao Mao glanced at it a few times and said, "Ninety percent of the time, it's a primate." ”

At this time, my eyelids seemed to jump twice suddenly, and the nightmare I had a long time ago, I don't know what was going on, suddenly jumped out of my memory and came to mind.

It was when I was just involved in this big event, and I often had nightmares, in addition to dreaming of Lu Fangding, I would also dream of a monkey. The monkey was strange and couldn't tell where it came from. Later, I saw the corpse of a monkey in the earthen cave tomb of Baklang, and I burned the monkey to the ground, which is a bit strange to say, and since then, I have never dreamed about monkeys.

After a long time, I almost forgot about it, and when Xiao Mao said that the bones in the cage were primates, I immediately remembered monkeys.

"It's a monkey?"

"I guess it's been too long, and the fur has rotted like this, and only a little residue remains." Xiao Mao looked at the little hair left on his fingers and said, "Judging from the bones, I think it's a monkey." ”

I felt a little uncomfortable, the iron cage contained the monkey's corpse, which made people suspect that the monkey was still alive when it was kept in the cage, but the cage was thrown in the water, and the monkey would definitely die.

After the iron cage containing the monkey was put into the water, it may not have been taken out again, and the monkey's corpse was completely rotten, leaving only the bones that had been soaked in water for so many years.

"Each of these cages contains monkeys?" I felt a chill on my body, this ditch is not very long, according to the volume of the iron cage, if the entire ditch is paved with this kind of iron cage to pave a road, then there are at least forty or fifty cages.

"Scoop up another one and take a look."

Xiao Mao chose another iron cage that was not stuck, and the two of us worked hard to get the cage up. There is a lock on the cage, which is a strange-looking lock, which has rusted to death and can be pried open with a steel drill.

In this cage, there is still a skeleton that has been scattered, a small skeleton, white and sensen, in the light, it seems to exude a trace of white light.

Xiao Mao and I pulled up a total of three iron cages, and in each cage, there was a monkey skeleton. I straightened up and looked ahead, and the rest of the cage didn't need to be pulled up, and I could be sure that the cage was full of monkey bones.

I wondered, the people who built this place have a grudge against these monkeys? Caught so many monkeys just to kill them in an iron cage?

There was nothing else in the cage except the skeleton of the monkey, and it was impossible to find some side clues. Xiao Mao pushed the iron cage back into the ditch, shook his head, and said, "With these cages, you may not be able to see anything else." ”

These iron cages themselves were transported from other places, and it is not known when and where the iron cages were cast, so there is no basic information for speculation. Because of the bronze medal in the clay pot, I have always assumed that the Zhangzhung people built this place.

Then, these iron cages were transported by the Zhangxiong people, and the monkeys in the iron cages must have been put into them by the Zhangxiong people and thrown into the water.

Xiao Mao and I began to walk forward again, if I didn't know anything, I guess my heart would be calmer, but now I know that these iron cages under my feet are full of monkey bones, I am very unsure, my eyelids are jumping vigorously. Some of the cages are not stable in the gutter, and when I step on them, they will sway from side to side, and whenever this happens, I can't help but shine a flashlight downward.

I felt that the monkeys in the iron cage seemed to be jumping up and down, trying to break out of the confines of the iron cage.

This ditch, which is not too long, was quickly passed, and the ground behind the ditch was much drier, and there was no obvious running water.

When we walked here, we saw at a glance two neat rows of terracotta figurines on the left and right, which should be blood pottery, with eight statues in each row.

"In ancient times, many regions used nine as the pole." Xiao Mao said to me: "There are eight statues in each row here, and there are two missing. ”

"There's a cracked one in the organ, didn't you catch one five years ago, it's exactly two, so if you count it, the count will be right."

As soon as I saw these blood pottery, I felt very awkward, and the two of them stood in place, looking left and right. It can be seen that the place has been artificially trimmed, and the stone on the ground is almost smoothed, carved with many abstract lines.

Next to the blood pottery, there was some mess, like a vessel, but also like a sacrificial vessel.

I don't recognize what these sacrificial vessels are. In the past, you could occasionally see some sacrificial vessels in the Qikongqiao Market, all of which were from various periods in the mainland, which were completely different from these sacrificial vessels in front of you.

What I could make out was a two-sided drum, not too big, estimated to be about 30 centimeters in diameter, and the shape was very unique. It may be that it has been too long, one side of the drum has been broken, and the remaining side is intact.

Xiao Mao tried for a while, and felt that there was no danger, so he carefully picked up the drum that looked quite intact. There is some dirt on the drum surface, which can be scraped off slowly with a knife.

"This drum looks like a moon drum."

"What? What moon drum? ”

"The moon drum is a human skin drum." Xiao Mao shook the drum in front of me: "Human skin drum." ”

It is said that of all animal fats, only human oil forms a semi-circular meniscus when it floats on the water. Moreover, only human skin will have a faint half-moon-shaped imprint after nitration. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao led the army to fight, and sometimes the supply of military food was not available, so he used human flesh as military food. His troops called human flesh ten spiced meat, and human skin moon skin.

Drums made of human skin, to put it more obscurely, are called moon drums.

"What, scared?" Xiao Mao put the drum aside and said, "Actually, it's nothing, don't be afraid." ”

"I'm not scared anymore." I replied to Xiao Mao casually, and I was able to further confirm in my heart that this place may really be built by the Zhangxiong people.

The Zhangxiong people believe in the primitive Bon religion, and in many primitive religions, only the priests of the Bon religion will use the human skin drum as a formal ritual instrument.