Chapter 10: The Secret of the Parchment Map

I had nothing to do at night, so I took out the map sent by Mr. Dong and took a closer look, according to Mr. Dong, this is a sheepskin map unearthed in the tomb of a Pakistani nobleman in Fengdu, and I was given a copy of the original size.

Some experts believe that it may be a treasure map, because when Qin destroyed Pakistan, Fengdu was the central capital of Ba, and overnight, 100,000 soldiers and civilians suddenly disappeared without a trace, including the treasures and wealth of Pakistan, and the Qin army found nothing when they were stationed.

The map depicts many peaks and river valleys, and although the topography is somewhat similar to the sinkholes and crevices examined today, there are no huge potholes and crevices.

But is there such a possibility, when the map was made, there was originally a huge and far-reaching karst cave here, and then one day it suddenly collapsed and became what it is now, as Professor Wan said, the formation of the sinkhole and the crack may be the result of the sudden collapse of the water flow constantly eroding up and down.

I immediately became excited, could it be that this map is drawn in the sinkhole, and today I did find a treasure in the sinkhole cave, so it seems that there should be similar treasures hidden in the caves that we have investigated and will be investigated, that is to say, the cave group in the area of the sinkhole is the place where the treasure was hidden when the country was destroyed, and I immediately thought of the story about the treasure hunt of the three disabled people.

However, there are two questions: first, Fengdu is hundreds of kilometers away from Kuicheng, and the transportation in ancient times was not developed, how could it be possible to move the people to carry the treasures so far to hide; second, what is the matter with the white bones in the cave, as if they have experienced a great war, everything is messy, and it does not look like hiding at all?

However, two questions can also be understood in this way: although the map was found in Fengdu, in fact, the treasure was originally in Kuicheng, didn't Mr. Dong say that Kuicheng may have also been the capital of Pakistan? Then it is not surprising that there are a large number of treasures here; and the white bones in the cave are the result of fierce battles inside, it is likely that when the treasure was hidden, there was civil strife in the escort team, and some people wanted to steal the treasure, so there was fierce infighting, and the result of killing each other left many corpses.

In any case, it is quite possible that there are ancient treasures hidden in the nearby caves, and the French have been investigating behind our backs for the past few days, could it be related to these treasures?

The expedition team received a call that the equipment to detect the dark river was ready and would be transported by special car today. The French were delighted that the boot-tickling expeditions of the past few days had made them miserable, and now that the equipment was about to arrive, the mystery of the underground river of the Dragon Bridge could be revealed.

This morning, except for Secretary Zhao and Pharaoh Er, who were stationed at the station, the others went to the Longqiao River to familiarize themselves with the terrain, and after the equipment arrived, they began to explore the operation, and the main target was the Yin River under Longqiao.

Since I didn't have a specific task in the morning, I just walked around the neighborhood by myself. Passing through the bridge and walking towards the lower reaches of the river, I met the three cows and two cowherders, and chatted with them, hoping to catch some clues.

So he asked, "Where do you live?"

"It's in Qinjia Village, Pohou. My brother replied.

"Have you ever seen a pattern like this on a nearby stone wall?" I handed them the tiger I had drawn in my notebook.

"I haven't seen it. The two brothers replied at the same time.

"Who are you in your family now?"

"There was only my grandfather and my mother at the head of the house, and my father built a house in the town. ”

"Can I come to your house for a while?" I pinned my hopes on his grandfather.

"Yes, it's been a long time since we've been to a guest!" the younger brother seized the opportunity to speak again.

"What about the cows?"

"Just bolt it here. "The elder brother had tied the ox rope to a tree trunk, and the younger brother was jumping up and down to lead the way.

The child's house is located on a low slope with a mountain and a river, and there is a dam in front of the house, which is a good seat from the perspective of feng shui. What surprised me was that the hall and the wing room were actually blue brick houses with eaves and tiles, although they were very dilapidated, but they could give a glimpse of the previous situation of the owner's house. On the left side of the wing house is an adobe cattle pen and pigsty. Outside the hall, a woman was arranging a grain stick, and inside the door, an old man was holding a cigarette stick and smashing the leaf cigarette.

"Grandpa, auntie, hello, is it okay to sit at your house?" The people in the mountains are simple, and there is no need for polite words.

"Rare guests, rare guests, rare guests who can't be invited, sit, sit. Three times in a row, two sitting, it shows that their family has not had a distant guest for a long time, and grandpa coughed twice to welcome.

"Uncle Qin's health is fine, how old are you?" I think the main breakthrough is in this old man, looking at his silver beard fluttering and fairy wind bones.

"Fortunately, this year's wax moon turns eighty-two. It was the peasant woman who answered, and the old man said twice.

"Your house is good, and the feng shui here is the best. "While complimenting, I want to find out about their family history.

"This house was built before liberation, and it is already dilapidated. His grandfather (great-grandfather) was a teacher here, and his grandfather was also a lifter. The peasant woman's answer was as I wished. "Her grandfather ......"

"Ahem. Grandpa's incessant dry cough interrupted the peasant woman's genealogy introduction, there may be something that is not good to tell outsiders, or it may be that the family is embarrassed.

"No wonder your two children are smart, and they are still scholars. "I appropriately changed the subject.

"I heard that the big boy said that you are going to the Longqiao River to explore the caves, and there are foreigners, which caves have what probes, and there are no gold and silver treasures. The old man finally spoke.

"Maybe there is something more important than gold and silver treasures. I didn't bother to explain to him, but I didn't hear "You city people are full of things to do."

"Are all the people in this village surnamed Qin? Does it have anything to do with Qin Shi Huang?" I knew that this question was ridiculous, but I still threw out this burden.

"Ahem, ahem, most of the people in this village have the surname Qin, but it is not Qin of Qin Shi Huang, it is Xizao Qin. The old man was interested, and his tone showed a knowledgeable look.

"There are very few people with the surname Qin in Kuicheng, why is it so concentrated here with you?" I think there may be a story in this.

"In the past, it was even more, it was the surname of our Tujia people, who lived in this area since ancient times, and moved a lot of people from other provinces in the Ming and Qing dynasties, which is no longer pure. The old man's chatterbox seemed to be opened.

"Tujia, is there any connection with the ancient Ba people?" I led the topic to the road of design.

"The Tujia family is actually the descendants of the Ba people, not only our surname Qin, but also several other surnames. "The old man is actually a well-educated Confucian.

"Did your people worship tigers in the past?"

"On the contrary, our ancestors have been enemies of tigers for generations. "I was disappointed that the answer didn't fit my assumptions.

"Then do you know why Tiankeng is called Xiaozhai?"

"I don't know, but it's said that there used to be a stockade there. ”

"Has the sinkhole been called any other before?"

"Listening to the ancestors, the sinkhole was actually called "Bawang Cave" a long time ago, and it is said that there was once a Ba chieftain, but this is just some legends, and you can't believe it all. ”

"No, the sinkhole is just a big pit, although there are several karst caves in it, but they are all very small, it can't be the place where the chief lives, it's almost the same as the Bawang pit. "But I immediately remembered that those strange weapons and bones did look like the place where the Ba people lived in ancient times, but how could that place live thousands of troops and horses.

"That's why I say it's a legend, and I can't take it seriously. The old man stated again, afraid that I would think he was making it up.

"Are there any other place names with the word 'ba' nearby?"

"It doesn't seem to be there now, it wasn't very clear before the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is said that many old place names have changed since then. ”

"It is also said that there is a deep stream in the innermost part of Tianjing Gorge, and there were tigers in the past, which seems to be called the White Tiger Stream. "When I finally heard the name of the tiger, I became excited.

"Have you been there?"

"Few people have been there, the road is very dangerous, they are all cliffs, it is said that there are more than ten meters long pythons inside, there were hunters who went in to hunt before, but they didn't see it out, and no one dared to go in the future. ”

The clue was broken again, and the old man's leaf cigarette was finished, and I handed him a paper cigarette, but he pinched off the filter before lighting it and sucking it.

After drinking a cup of tea, it was close to noon, to see if there was no valuable information to dig up, it was estimated that the expedition equipment had arrived, so he got up and said goodbye, Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin both said that they were welcome to sit again when they were free, I gave the rest of the cigarettes to the old man, and the two little guys followed me to lead their cattle.