Inside the small building
I must say that the structure of the platform building surprised me.
At first, when I saw this small building from the outside, I felt that the height of this three-story building was a bit beyond the specifications. Each floor was about five meters high, and the style was a bit rough and clumsy.
As one might imagine, it might be filled with dusty file bags and old lacquered wood drawers, and the heavy reddish-brown desk might be stacked with the kind of thick glass used in the 1970s and 1980s, with paper itineraries and yellowed photos pressed inside.
As for those treasured murals that were recovered, we probably need to dig out a well-preserved password box from the dust and debris.
But now when I enter the building and look up, I realize that the entire building has no partitions and is shaped like a straight chimney.
A banyan tree that was cast out of stone, about fifteen meters high, very long and narrow, with only bare branches extending outwards with a metallic sheen.
The steps spiraled up around the banyan tree, all the way to the top of the ceiling. There was a skylight there, projecting light down through the colorful glass barrier. The ground we lay on was made up of the tangled roots of the metal banyan tree, with a lifelike and complex root system, but it was very smooth and flat.
Apart from that, there is nothing.
Rather than a platform building, it is more like a strange square tower nailed in the center of the town.
As if by some strange coincidence, I subconsciously recalled the scenery that I had seen in a hurry while sitting on the bus, and the layout of the entire town slowly emerged.
It is a very neatly planned scroll.
It looks like... a ship.
Together with the stone buildings that are said to emerge only after the fog, scattered and crowded like reefs, the town is like a pointed boat sailing through the reefs and then captured in a frozen moment.
The platform at the center should be green because of the lush vegetation if you look down from a high altitude. It looks like the main cabin, or like a huge mold spreading on the ship.
Above the mold, the thing lingering in the grass on the platform looked like a mushroom that had just emerged. Under the transparent umbrella, countless spore-like human heads and limbs were slowly surging.
When night falls, will this small building become a lighthouse to guide ships?
In the face of this vision, I actually felt a distorted and harsh beauty.
At this time, Zhang Tianyi seemed to have rested well. He tapped the floor with his knuckles, indicating that I should climb the stairs to the top of the tower to see the murals by myself.
"What about you?" I asked subconsciously, "Is it like opening a treasure chest on a sunken ship, where each person can only go up once?"
Strangely, Zhang Tianyi continued to tap the floor lightly without answering me.
I felt a little nervous and turned over to look at him, but before I could take a closer look, I could hear his heavy breathing. Zhang Tianyi had fallen asleep just like that.
At this time, you can see that there are still some dark circles under his eyes due to lack of rest.
I laughed in silence, thinking that this guy is not made of iron. Fortunately, it seems that he is still my brother, not an imposter.
The small building is so small that there is really no need to pull it up for an explanation. I looked around and found two props in the corner that looked particularly familiar.
One is a folding chair that almost hit me on the head, and the other is a head-mounted mining lamp.
The things were just laid out like that, with some mineral water bottles and compressed biscuits neatly and symmetrically placed side by side next to them.
However, I didn't see any cleaning tools.
I felt a little surprised and curious, and looked around to confirm that the building was really clean and spotless.
It's strange, wasn't there someone who came to clean all the time not long ago? But then I would have to carry a bunch of cleaning tools every time, which is a bit troublesome no matter how I think about it.
Or is it that the whole town is covered with dust, but only this small building is a natural paradise that is not contaminated at all?
I shook my head and immediately rejected the idea, planning to go up the stairs and take a look at the details.
I called Zhang Tianyi a few times, but he seemed to be sleeping soundly, so I didn't disturb him. I turned around and checked the iron door that we had locked. After confirming that it was safe, I let Zhang Tianyi rest alone. I raised my head lamp and held it in my hand as a boxing glove for self-defense, and walked up the spiral stairs.
As soon as I stepped on it, I found that this staircase was very uncomfortable.
For ordinary stairs, the rising angle and the height of each step probably have standard values, so people won’t feel too tired or cramped when walking on them.
The width of the step is also within the range that one foot can fully step on, so that one will not step on empty space with no place to gain leverage.
But the steps here are high and narrow, and there are no handrails. During the entire spiral upward process, the width of the steps is only the width of a palm.
I'm not complaining, but I just feel that this is not a place for people to leave.
After looking at it for a long time, I stared at the cast banyan tree in the middle, and then I turned my body sideways, leaning my back against the wall, and pointing my toes sideways to face the banyan tree.
This is feasible.
But the upward climb turned into walking sideways like a crab, which was really awkward.
Perhaps, the person who designed this spiral staircase and small building wanted to put all the focus on the banyan tree in the middle?
If you want to reach the top of the building, you must maintain this posture and circle around the banyan tree, worshiping it in circles. At this time, except for the banyan tree, the physical nature excludes the possibility of seeing other things in your field of vision.
Is it some kind of barbaric worship ritual or a protective measure that has yet to be deciphered?
I couldn't come up with an answer for the time being. I just maintained a strenuous posture and moved slowly along the wall, turning on the miner's lamp in my hand and examining the details of the banyan tree.
I have to say that the workmanship of this thing is really exquisite and lifelike, and the veins and wrinkles on the branches and bark are clearly visible.
For a moment I doubted whether there really was a banyan tree inside, but when I knocked on it with a miner's lamp, the sound was muffled with a faint echo, proving that it was hollow.
Yes, if it is solid, not to mention how huge the project is, it would be difficult to cover the cost of the materials even if it costs a huge amount of money.
I tried to measure it with my arms again. The extended branches were about 60 to 80 centimeters long and of varying thicknesses, while the trunk of the banyan tree was only as thick as one person could hug.
It is completely different from the banyan trees I saw by the lake in the valley.
If you look more closely, you will see that at the end of the banyan tree's branches, there are even some new buds ingeniously formed.
I was amazed at the banyan tree in front of me, which looked like a work of art. Out of caution, I tried to touch the bottom of its branches.
No dust either.
The touch of metal is very delicate and has a hint of coolness.
After scanning the area with the light, I found that there was indeed no dust accumulation in the many blind spots on the banyan tree within the visible range.
All of a sudden, many speculations came to my mind. As I walked, I suddenly felt that the wall behind me was not very flat.
How to put it, it's like there are some faint lines.
I subconsciously touched my back and felt the rough texture. An idea suddenly popped into my mind and I quickly turned around on the high and narrow steps.
To the naked eye, it looks like there is just an inconspicuous small building wall behind it, painted with some common white putty that is peeling off.
“…No way.”
I said to myself, unconsciously my breathing became lighter, somewhat nervous, and I scratched it lightly with my fingernail.
First, there is a layer of wax-like substance. Then, there is a very fine powder scraped from the putty.
Below that, a touch of almost bright color jumped out.
I stood there for two seconds, then suddenly pulled my hand back as if I had received an electric shock, rubbing my thumb back and forth. My heart almost jumped out of my throat, and I almost cried out.
It's a mural.
The mural that was said to have been broken into pieces, weighed and sold as scraps, and then restored, was actually on the wall of the small building before I had even started looking for it.
I almost tumbled down the stairs in a panic, returned to the bottom of the building, and looked up to take in the entire building again.
The wall is fifteen meters high, and the entire surface area of the cylindrical wall added up, could it be that mural?
I never thought that what I was looking for was such a huge thing, and an inexplicable awe and retreat surged up in me.
And, how do we see this?
Asking me to peel off the camouflage coating on the walls of this small building with my fingernails would be a bit too much.
Moreover, looking at the barely visible bright color from afar, even though it had not been oxidized and discolored after being exposed due to the secondary treatment by the Zhang family, I still couldn't help feeling a bit dry in the mouth.
This, this is too much. I came here to see evil spirits and see strange things, but I was not told to do this. If I mess up...
Seeing Zhang Tianyi still sleeping, I felt a sense of helplessness for the first time in my life, like a young boy who couldn't stand or sit. Finally, I gritted my teeth and sat down next to Zhang Tianyi, deciding to sleep through the difficulties, closed my eyes and fell to the ground, clearing my mind.
At the same time, my curiosity could not be stopped, and I kept saying, maybe there is a backup on the top of the tower? Maybe there is a sketch of the panoramic view of the mural next to the county annals, why not climb to the top to take a look.
At the very least, it's good to observe the metal banyan trees here.
Various questions were fighting in my mind, making me toss and turn. I wanted to jump up and study something first. But as soon as my mind started to work, that gorgeous thing would linger in front of me, as if it had a fatal magic that completely occupied the space for other things.
What is hidden in that mural?
Why is it placed like this in the small building on the platform? Is it the complete picture that it displays? Does it have any special message?
While I was daydreaming, I suddenly heard something very faintly, as if it was crawling slowly.
It was dragging a heavy object, that was for sure.
Could it be that the tunnel where the broker and Xu You raced in their wheelchairs actually had one or two branch roads connected to the vicinity of the small building?
However, the voice seemed deeper.
I simply lay down a little more, put my ear completely against the cold metal floor, closed my eyes and listened.
The sound came from directly below, and the crawling speed was not very fast, as if it was not adapting well. Then, the sound came closer and closer, and suddenly disappeared quietly.
I held my breath and listened for a while, feeling a vague sense of urgency. It seemed that there was something I needed to figure out right away.
"Brother?" I quietly woke Zhang Tianyi up. His eyes were out of focus for a second or two before he woke up and stood up with the help of the banyan tree branch. There was some sweat on his forehead, as if he had just had a nightmare.
I pointed to the ground and mouthed the words to him.
"Listen."
He was silent for a moment and shook his head, indicating that he had heard it when he woke up.
So, he knew what that thing was? I was surprised and thought it didn't make sense. We all have brains, and I'm not dumber than anyone else. How could I be one step behind him? It's impossible.
"Shu, come." He seemed to move his lips silently, and I couldn't read his lip reading completely.
After looking at each other without any tacit understanding, Zhang Tianyi smiled bitterly.
The next second, he slowly let go of the banyan tree branch he was holding and tapped it lightly with his bent fingers.
No sound.
I was stunned and felt a little dizzy. I reached out my hand stiffly and knocked on a random branch.
The muffled echo disappeared.
The hollow banyan tree suddenly became completely solid, and the moment I touched it with goosebumps, it became warm.
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