Chapter 3 Mural Paintings of Mount Kinabalu

Chen Rui and the others walked with Wang Dali for about ten minutes before they reached the exit of the cave, which was next to a dense pine forest. The forest is overgrown with weeds, and it seems that no one has been here for a long time.

"The building in front is the Pure Yang Palace. Out of the woods, Wang Dali pointed to an inconspicuous earthen house in front of him and said. "What? This is the Pure Yang Palace?!" exclaimed Lin Jiajia, who had been silent. She directly expressed the thoughts of Chen Rui and others, after all, the earthen house looked like an abandoned house, and it had nothing to do with traditional ancient buildings.

Lin Jiajia's reaction was already expected by Wang Dali, and he said calmly: "Don't look at its devastated and crumbling appearance on the outside, but in fact, there is a hole in the inside." Everyone still didn't believe it, and Zhu Wen even directly asked Wang Dali to return the money. "If you are not satisfied with the scene inside, I will not only return all the money to you, but also compensate you fifty yuan each. Wang Dali patted his chest and reassured.

Seeing that Wang Dali swore so much, several people didn't do much entanglement, and came to the front of the building one after another. Wang Dali took out a bunch of keys from his trouser belt, skillfully selected and opened the door. The layout of the earthen house is indeed better than it looks on the outside, but it is not as evil as Wang Dali said, Zhu Wen grabbed Wang Dali, obviously preparing to get his money back. "Don't be too anxious. Wang Dali shook off Zhu Wen's hand and stood beside a broken stone statue in the room, and he inserted his finger into the rosette of the stone statue. "Click", a crisp sound came. After about ten seconds, the statue slowly sank, revealing a staircase.

Several people were dumbfounded, this kind of scene on TV was actually staged in front of their eyes, and they were really surprised. "Let's go. Wang Dali reminded a few people and took the lead in entering the stairs. Chen Rui and the three of them glanced at each other, and everyone's eyes were full of anticipation.

According to Wang Dali, this tunnel was discovered by his ancestors before the liberation, and their family was still here to escape several times of devils' sweeps, and it was really extremely hidden.

The tunnel was a bit stuffy but very dry, and after walking for a while, a few people got used to the environment. The four of them were standing in front of a wooden door, with a large hole in it, and through the light of the flashlight, they could vaguely see the general situation in the room. Zhu Wen couldn't wait to push the door in and wanted to find out, just now he saw a corner of the landscape mural from the doorway, this kind of mural painting style he had seen in the grottoes of Dunhuang, very similar I don't know who made it.

Chen Rui and others then entered the room, and Wang Dali took out a brighter flashlight from his backpack, and the scenery in the room was completely displayed in front of everyone. The room is about ten square meters in size, about two meters high, and is surrounded by beautiful murals. The roof and floor are carved with a regular pentagon, and the outer corners of the pentagonal shape on the ground have a stone cushion, and in the center of the cushion there is a stone table, which is very simple.

Zhu Wen took out his camera and took pictures one after another, and kept whispering: "Oh my God, these murals are simply exquisite! Lin Jiajia also took out her mobile phone and took a few selfies, but unfortunately there was no signal here and couldn't send it.

Zhu Wen's words piqued Chen Rui's interest, and he also observed the murals on the wall. The content on the mural is roughly telling a story, and the content of the story is simple. Legend has it that a long time ago, there were five immortal mountains on the sea, and the mountains were full of gods and spirit animals. The immortals live freely in these fairy mountains, but these fairy mountains do not take root, and whenever there is a storm on the sea, the fairy mountains move with the wind. Finally, the gods on the mountain sent a representative to meet the Emperor of Heaven, and the Emperor of Heaven gave fifteen giant tortoises, which took turns to carry the fairy mountain. Unexpectedly, a giant came, and this giant was as tall as the sacred mountain, and he threw up his fishing rod and fished away six large turtles in succession, causing two of them to sink to the southernmost and northernmost seas respectively.

"Isn't this the legend of China's five sacred mountains? Chen Rui recalled the books he had read, and he vaguely remembered the names of the two sunken sacred mountains, namely "Daiyu" and "Yuanqiao". Chen Rui was thinking about something while admiring the mural, and suddenly Zhu Wen exclaimed as if he had discovered something.

"Chen Rui, look! Zhu Wen stretched out a finger and pointed at the villain in the painting and shouted. The three of them all followed Zhu Wen's fingers and saw several winged portraits carved on the mural, which were rare but could be seen everywhere in the mural. "What's the matter? It's just the artist's technique. Chen Rui was a little puzzled. "That's not right!" Zhu Wen's voice trembled a little, "You may not know very well, this part is not the person in the story in the painting!

Chen Rui and Wang Dali didn't understand what Zhu Wen said about the donor, and they all looked at each other. The donors were the ones who painted these frescoes, and as a sign of their piety, they painted portraits of themselves and their family members on the stone walls. Academically, these portraits are referred to as 'offerings'. Lin Jiajia explained word by word, it seems that she is really a student of the history department, otherwise it is impossible to know such cold knowledge.

"Yes, what Lin Jiajia said is completely true. Zhu Wen affirmed, "This kind of artistic technique often appears in ancient paintings, such as the murals of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. Lin Jiajia nodded, confirming that what Zhu Wen said was completely correct.

"Could it be that these murals are really made by immortals?" Wang Dali muttered, and then he shook his head vigorously to dispel this absurd idea.

"Forget it, don't think about it anymore, won't we know when we go out and notify the cultural relics bureau in the province here." Chen Rui reminded, and then sat on the stone mat. Although Wang Dali was unhappy in his heart, he knew that the felony of destroying cultural relics was a serious crime, so he did not object. Except for Zhu Wen who continued to take photos, the three of them all sat on the stone mats to rest, and Lin Jiajia gave the two of them some knowledge of Dunhuang murals.

After listening to Lin Jiajia's narration, Chen Rui fell into thought. Chen Rui immediately overturned this speculation, and according to Wang Dali, his ancestors had seen these murals when they took refuge here, and it could not have been made in recent years, unless Wang Dali was lying. But he has no motive to lie at all, and Chen Rui is not an outlaw who resells cultural relics, so Wang Dali has no need to lie at all.

"Gollum", Wang Da used the alcohol stove to boil a pot of water and poured a small glass for everyone. "Zhu Wen, come over and drink some tea. Chen Rui greeted. Zhu Wen just finished shooting a group of murals and was about to rest for a while, when he heard that there was tea and hurriedly rushed over.

"You're really ready for everything!" Zhu Wen teased Wang Dali. Wang Dali ignored him and boiled a pot of water again. "Ah, hot, hot!" Zhu Wen's hand shook, the plastic cup in his palm was thrown out, and some tea was poured on the other cushion.

Suddenly, the cave shook violently, the wooden door creaked, and the tunnel outside the room was filled with falling rocks and crackling sounds. The tremor became more and more intense, and the dust accumulated on the roof fell one after another, and the house was in chaos in an instant. "It's an earthquake!" everyone exclaimed, all ready to get up and avoid the danger. "Strange, why can't I stand up!" Lin Jiajia said with a crying voice, she thought that she couldn't stand up with numbness in her legs at this time. Lin Jiajia hurriedly cast a pleading gaze to Chen Rui and the others, hoping that they could take them to a safe corner, but the next scene disappointed her.

"I, I can't stand up either!" the three big men said in unison. "It seems that there is some force adsorbing, and I can't lift my feet at all!" Zhu Wen described. The people felt the same way, and they couldn't help but feel like they had seen a ghost, and they ignored the earthquake instead.