Chapter 72
After the space stabilized, the stone door slowly opened. A passageway opened up, and at the end of it, the long-lost sunlight appeared.
"We are saved?" He Man said in disbelief.
"That should be it," I said.
The four of us walked out and headed towards the cave entrance step by step.
This treasure hunt was truly a life-or-death experience. Now, the four of us are heading back to the normal world, each with a smile on our face.
We went through many hardships on this trip to Baihua Mountain. Although we didn't get anything in the end, we came back with our lives.
No matter how much treasure you have, it is useless if you don’t have the life to spend it.
I was running when I suddenly stopped. Mao Jianming and the other two saw me stop and asked, "What's wrong?"
There was an escape route right in front of me, and my actions seemed extremely unreasonable to them.
"Wait a minute, I think I found something," I said.
I shone the flashlight under my feet and found something different.
Each floorboard had one earthly branch written on it, the twelve branches of the Chinese zodiac, Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, etc. I shone the flashlight toward the ceiling, and on the stone slabs above were written the ten heavenly stems, Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, etc.
I was very surprised and knew there must be a reason.
At this moment, Mao Jianming shouted, "Little sister, come and look here."
The three of us walked up to him. He was shining the light on the cave wall, on which was engraved the map of the Big Dipper.
My brain started to spin rapidly.
The Heavenly Stems are like the trunk of a tree, strong and yang; the Branches are like the branches of a tree, weak and yin. Of the ten Heavenly Stems, Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, and Ren are categorized as Yang Stems, while Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin, and Gui are categorized as Yin Stems.
Similarly, among the twelve Earthly Branches: Zi, Yin, Chen, Wu, Shen, and Xu are Yang Branches, while Chou, Mao, Si, Wei, You, and Hai are Yin Branches.
This is definitely not something the designer carved casually, it must have a deep meaning.
The treasures of Baihua Mountain are all based on the principle of heaven and earth, with heaven as yang and earth as yin. The light ahead is yang, and the darkness around us is yin. It can be said that every aspect of this place is in harmony with the principles of heaven and earth.
Among the Yang stems, only Bing fits our current situation. Bing, meaning "Bing," is like the brilliant sun, its blazing light ablaze, illuminating all things. Yin and Yang complement each other, and among the Yin branches, only one fits our situation. Chou, meaning "Kuang," represents the bending of cold air.
My heart was agitated, and I said, "Do you believe me?"
"Nonsense!" said Zhang Song.
"We might really get rich!" I said.
Among the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, I have found Bingchou. If we add the Big Dipper map in front of us, then with Bingchou as the two points, we can connect them into a line, and then take one of the Big Dipper stars as a point, and intersect with the midpoint of the Bingchou line. Then the other end of the Big Dipper line is shining on the opposite wall, and that may be where the treasure is hidden.
Among the Big Dipper, there is a star that symbolizes wealth, which is the well-known Tianji Star, and is regarded as the "Lu Cun Star Lord" in Taoism.
I walked to the opposite wall of the cave.
The line formed by extending Tianji Star and the midpoint of Bingchou Line falls right in front of me.
I shone the flashlight here and knocked three times with my hand. This is because Tianji Star ranks third among the Big Dipper.
There was a sound of stones rubbing against each other, and a crack appeared on the stone wall in front of me.
The three of them quickly gathered around us, and as we watched, a Buddhist shrine appeared before our eyes.
In the niche is a golden Buddha about one meter tall.
They looked at each other, and only I was excited inside. I'm rich!
Zhang Song reached out to grab the golden Buddha, but it was a bit strenuous. You have to know that Zhang Song was extremely strong, and even he had such a hard time lifting it, how many pounds must it have weighed?
When he moved the golden Buddha out, the whole cave began to shake.
"Run!" Mao Jianming shouted.
The four of us ran towards the cave entrance together.
The cave was shaking more and more, and stone slabs were falling down.
We ran out desperately and finally jumped out at the last moment when the cave collapsed.
Outside the cave was a pool of water. We jumped in and quickly swam to shore.
"Where is Brother Song?" I asked.
"Puff!" A head appeared on the surface of the water. It was Zhang Song.
It turned out that he was holding the golden Buddha and sank to the bottom. If he had not been so strong, he would have died in the cave.
He held the golden Buddha tightly and swam to the shore.
The three of us gathered around him. We couldn't see clearly in the cave just now, so we looked at him carefully now.
The entire golden Buddha gleams in the sun.
He Man said: "We really made it this time!"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Song lay down and breathed deeply.
"This is a Buddha statue made of pure gold!"
"Oh my god!" My heart was about to jump out.
With such a big piece of gold, we won’t have to worry about our next life.
Mao Jianming stepped forward and carefully examined the golden Buddha, his expression shifting from gloomy to cheerful. We didn't make a sound to disturb him, knowing he had made a new discovery.
"Huh." He let out a long sigh.
"What did you find?" I asked him.
"If I'm right, this golden Buddha is a truly priceless treasure! Have you heard of the Vairocana Buddha at the Longmen Grottoes?"
He Man said excitedly: "You mean?"
"That's right. Legend has it that Wu Zetian donated 20,000 strings of cosmetics money to the construction of the Vairocana Buddha, using it to enhance her political influence. In Sanskrit, 'Vairocana' means 'bright and shining', similar to the character she created, 'Zhao' (sun and moon in the sky). Now look at the features of this Buddha statue."
Mao Jianming pointed to the Buddha's head and continued, "The Vairocana Buddha's face, with its square forehead and broad cheeks, gentle features and a kind smile, aligns with historical descriptions of Wu Zetian. Furthermore, the Vairocana Buddha was built in the second year of the Shangyuan period, just as Wu Zetian was gradually gaining power."
I realized belatedly and said, "You mean, this Buddha is Wu Zetian?"
Mao Jianming nodded heavily.
Seeing his and He Man’s serious expressions, my wish of having no worries about food and clothing seemed to be dashed.
The second day.
BJ News:
Yesterday, a landslide occurred at Baihua Mountain Scenic Area in our city. According to police reports, more than ten tourists were trapped. Police from the local police station and scenic area staff quickly responded to the scene. After half an hour of emergency clearing and unblocking the road, they conducted search and contact operations and safely evacuated all tourists to the foot of the mountain. No casualties were reported.
Central News:
Ms. He Man, the new generation leader of Hongming Group, donated a golden Buddha statue that had been lost overseas. Experts believe this statue is modeled after the Tang Dynasty's Empress Wu Zetian. Crafted entirely from pure gold, it boasts exquisite craftsmanship and a vivid, lifelike appearance, earning it designation as a national treasure.
I was in the hotel watching He Man looking so radiant in the news, and I couldn't feel happy at all.
"Why, you can't bear to leave?" He Man saw that I was in a bad mood and teased me on purpose.
"Oh, my gold!" I covered my head with the pillow and screamed in pain.
The incident of Wu Zetian's Buddha statue caused quite a stir. He Man stayed in BJ for social events, and Zhang Song disappeared without a word.
It wasn't until we saw him standing behind He Man on TV that we realized he had been ordered to serve as a security guard.
Mao Jianming and I returned to Yingtan.
Lately, I haven't felt like going out at all.
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