"You haven't said it yet, how do you know I don't believe it?" My previous prejudices about Xiao Mao slowly disappeared unconsciously, and I leaned towards him, helped him remove a roll of bandages, and said: "Tell me, what is the situation in the ancient city of Chepan, is it wrong in the historical data?" Or, there was no such ancient city at all in history? ”

"There must be one in the ancient city of Chepan, but it's just ......" Xiao Mao took the bandage I handed over, paused, and said, "It's just that it's gone." ”

"Gone? What do you mean? I was stunned for a moment: "Such a big ancient city, even if there are only ruins left, can it still disappear?" ”

"It's really gone, it's like all of a sudden it's gone overnight." Xiao Mao gestured, lest I not understand, and explained: "It means that this ancient city was still there yesterday, but today it is suddenly gone." ”

Most of the records about the ancient city of Chepan in the historical materials are true, and it is an important passage place on the ancient trade road, and later because of environmental and historical reasons, the ancient city of Chepan declined. At that time, the Central Plains Dynasty lost control and influence over the Hexi Corridor and the line from Yumen Pass to Lingling due to the weakening of its national strength. The connection between the mainland and the ancient city of Chepan has also become very small, and in the mainstream annals that prevail in the mainland, there is almost no record of some of the later period of the ancient city of Chepan.

After the decline of the Silk Road, the emergence of the Maritime Silk Road has caused a serious impact on the ancient Silk Road. The ancient city of Chepan appeared and prospered because of the Silk Road, and when the trade route declined, the ancient city of Chepan lost its meaning of existence, coupled with the continuous deterioration of the environment, it was a matter of time before the ancient city disappeared.

But such a large ancient city, even if it dies, it will take time. But Xiaomao said that the disappearance of the ancient city of Chepan was only an overnight thing.

Since then, the ancient city of Chepan has become a title and historical term, and there is no substantial evidence of the existence of the ancient city of Chepan.

Of course, these things were told to him by Xiaomao's boss. Xiao Mao's boss used to spend a lot of time and energy here in the old road of the Huyang River, and he probably knew the situation here better than anyone else.

I was a little deflated after listening to it, if what Xiao Mao said was true, then this operation was equivalent to a miscarriage from the first step into the desert. The ancient city of Chepan no longer exists, so what is the point of related actions? Fortunately, there is this space under the pottery tube, so that I can get some clues, otherwise this trip would have made me vomit blood in depression.

Is what Xiao Mao said true? I was a little skeptical at first, but suddenly, I thought about the ancient kingdom of Zhangzhung, which had also disappeared overnight.

The disappearance of the ancient kingdom of Zhangxiong is undeniable, since the defeat of Zhangxiong in Tibet and the replacement of Zhangxiong as the overlord of the plateau, this once prosperous plateau regime has disappeared.

A country of this size can disappear overnight, so it seems that the disappearance of the car plate is not worth making a fuss about.

It's just that no one knows what made Zhangxiong and the car plate disappear so completely overnight.

"If the ancient city of Chepan really doesn't exist, then what's the point of staying any longer." I looked at Xiao Mao, and my mood was a little lost: "Wait for you to rest, and prepare to go back." ”

"The ancient city of Chepan is gone, but there is a little bit of it left."

In fact, Xiao Mao accepted the task from his boss not only to lead me to the space under the entrance of the pottery pipe, but also to let me find the only remaining remnants of the ancient city of Chepan. It's just that Xiaomao didn't expect me to be so stupid.

"Follow me." Xiao Mao stood up against the wall, and then walked towards the opposite side.

I have walked through this space, and there is nothing worth noting, but as soon as Xiao Mao took a step, I felt that maybe I had not explored this space thoroughly enough.

He led me all the way to the opposite wall, which had been carefully manicured and reinforced, made of wide stone bricks. Xiao Mao looked at the wall for a while, then walked over to the sixth stone brick, tentatively reached out and pressed it.

"That place, I don't know if it's a small site left over from the ancient city of Chepan, but the ruins related to the ancient city of Chepan that can be found now are just like that."

Xiao Mao explained to me while observing the stone bricks.

In the past, the ancient city of Chepan was the place where the Zhangxiong people were most concentrated and numerous, and there was no problem for these Zhangxiong people to do business or live here, but later, as the number of Zhangzhung people increased, they asked to build a Bon monastery. Bon is the state religion of Zhang-zhung, and all Zhang-zhung people are Bonists.

However, at that time, the religious beliefs of the Central and Western Asian regions were different from those of the Zhangzhung people, and they did not accept that there was a Bon monastery in the ancient city of Chepan. For this reason, the Zhangxiong people engaged in a long period of negotiations and negotiations, and probably they paid a considerable price, and finally reached an agreement. Temples can be repaired, but they cannot be built in Chepan City.

I estimated that the huge underground works presided over by the Zhangxiong people had already started at that time, so after consultation, they built the temple near the project. Although the temple is not located in Chepan Castle, the nearby Zhangzhung people can travel from the city to perform rituals such as sacrifices.

Therefore, when the ancient city of Chepan disappeared, it was not implicated in the temples and underground works built near the city, and these two ruins were preserved.

As soon as Xiao Mao said this, I felt a little ashamed, such an important clue was in the space, but I missed it.

"It's not your fault." After Xiao Mao tentatively pressed on the stone bricks a few times, he turned his head and said to me: "The ruins are very secret, if there is no one to point out, I can't know that there is a mystery here, you can do a favor, I have a wound on my waist, and I can't make energy." ”

There is no doubt that the ruins that Xiao Mao said must have been explained to him by the boss.

I walked over, and under the command of Xiao Mao, I pushed the stone bricks hard and at a constant speed. Behind the stone bricks, there is an organic bracket, and the machine bracket is framed with the help of stones and some metals, and the dry climate of the desert allows the metal objects to escape the doom of rust and corrosion, and the bracket is well preserved.

As I slowly pushed the bricks at a constant speed, the bricks retracted at once, and I heard a few clicks, and then the upper and lower bricks parted left and right, and a door large enough for people to pass through appeared in front of me.

When the flashlight light shone through the door, I saw a long passageway. But the scene on the other side of the passage is not clear now.

"If you want to go in, you can go in and have a look, but I can't." Xiao Mao leaned against the wall, sat down slowly, and said, "The boss didn't let me in, I'll wait for you here." ”

I suspect in my heart that Xiao Mao's boss is Lu Fangding, so looking at the passage of the black hole, I naturally have rejection and doubts. If I walk into this passage, will I encounter any dangers?

"Don't worry." Xiao Mao saw that I didn't speak, and looked inside through the passage vigorously, probably guessing the doubt in my heart: "The boss won't hurt you, at least I dare to guarantee that he doesn't want you to die." ”

Xiao Mao said it so frankly, but I was so cringe, it did seem a little childish. No matter who Xiao Mao's boss is, he probably really doesn't want me to die, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to make it here alive.

If he doesn't want me to die, then the ruins behind this passage, Xiao Mao's boss has at least sent someone to investigate, and there will be no danger.

I asked Xiao Mao to wait outside, then straightened things up, bent down and slipped through the small door. The passage behind the small door is more than two meters wide and more than two meters high, and it is relatively spacious for a person to walk in it. The ground was smashed with rammed earth, and it was very stable to walk on, and the spacious and stable passage made my heart feel a lot more steady.

The passage was very long, but it was very straight, and I walked for more than 100 meters before the passage turned slightly. It took at least twenty minutes to reach the end of the passage.

The passage is directly connected to the temple of the Xiangxiong people mentioned by Xiao Mao, and when you walk out of the passage, it is equivalent to entering the temple.

It is said to be a temple, but it is actually very small. It is not easy for the Zhangzhung people to build a secret temple here and worship their gods. In those days, if there was friction between religions, the consequences would be very serious. The Zhang-zhung people obviously don't want to get into trouble, so this very secret monastery has only one Buddhist hall.

The area of the Buddha hall is not large, and if you scan the flashlight, you can see clearly. Obviously, there are also thousands of years of worshippers who have not worshipped, cleaned, and the dust can be half a foot thick, and the statue of the god to worship does not know when it collapsed.

In front of the collapsed idol, there is an offering table for incense and candles. The table is made of thick logs and has not yet decayed. I could see a stack of things on top of the dusty table.

I was very careful to gently wipe off the dust with a shovel, and what was covered in dust came into view.

It should be several pieces of skin cut into a rectangular shape, which may be yak or other animal skins. The leather is as dry and hard as iron, and after wiping the dust remaining on the skin, you can see the handwriting line by line.

These handwritings are left on the skin with the color method, and at a glance you know that it is a Zhangxiong sacrifice text.

If the Zhangzhung festival is written on different things, it will be used for different purposes. When I used to talk to Ma Kiko, he told me that the main purpose of the Zhangxiong festival is not to remember, but to "communicate" with the gods. There are very few people in the Zhangzhung kingdom who can recognize the Zhangzhung sacrifices, and they will integrate the demands of the believers, as well as the reverence and worship of the gods, record all these messes, and then burn them. The Zhangzhung people believed that after the sacrifice was burned, it could be truly seen by the gods.

These pieces of skin, covered with Zhangzhung sacrifices, must have been used to burn the gods, but for some unknown reason, the sacrifices were not burned.