After listening to my explanation, Jiang Man thought for a moment and asked, "Is it possible that we took the wrong fork in the road, and this isn't the path to the tomb, but another inconspicuous path that leads to the tomb?"
"The possibility is zero! Although the layout of this underground space is rather strange, the burial chamber, as the final resting place for the deceased, would certainly be made as grand as possible. How could anyone possibly place the main burial chamber behind such a narrow passageway?"
I wasn't impressed with Jiang Man's speculation, and asked Da Zhuang, "When you lifted the cloth, what was the arrangement of the skulls inside?"
Da Zhuang said sullenly, "It was pitch black at the time, so I didn't see very clearly, but they must have been stacked up, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to fall down! Also, there were patterns carved on the stone platform, but I didn't look closely!"
I heard there were patterns on it, so I walked to the stone platform and said, "Manjing, send me up!"
Manjing was incredibly strong; he lifted me up by my foot with one hand.
I climbed up the edge of the stone platform and shone my flashlight on the ground.
There are many skulls on the stone platform. Judging from their scattered location, these skulls were probably piled up in the shape of a bowl, covering the golden rooster underneath.
The original spot where the golden rooster was placed did indeed have patterns, which looked like cloud patterns on bronzeware, but there were no characters.
The monkey jumped around a couple of times below, but still couldn't see anything: "Young Master Duan, have you found anything?"
I snapped out of my reverie and looked at everyone, saying, "This place we've come to isn't a tomb, but rather an altar!"
Everyone looked at me: "An altar?"
I voiced my guess: "That's right. As we've come this far, the layout of this place doesn't look like a tomb at all. Combined with the human head and the golden rooster, I feel that the purpose of this place is to enshrine this golden rooster."
After listening to my words, the monkey squatted down and examined the golden rooster: "Young Master Duan, this golden rooster is solid, and it must weigh at least thirty or forty pounds. If such a huge project was just to worship it, it must be a treasure!"
I jumped off the stone platform and turned my gaze to the golden rooster.
This golden rooster is the same size as a normal rooster, and its workmanship is exquisite. Even the details of its feathers are carved in great detail. A ruby is set in each of its eyes, making it seem as if it could come to life at any moment.
Jiang Man looked at the golden rooster and said to me, "Duan Shenxing, do you still remember the story of Sanbao Mountain that the forest ranger Lao Zhou told us when we went into the mountains before?"
"Golden Rooster, Golden Sheep, Golden Ox!"
After hearing Jiang Man's words, I thought for a moment: "Do you think this golden rooster is related to the legend of Sanbao Mountain?"
Jiang Man nodded: "Do you remember what Old Zhou's story was about? He said that a master came here to take away three sacred objects. Is it possible that that person was actually the guardian of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, and came here only to inspect these altars? Later, he got drunk and accidentally told the melon farmer about it, which led to his death! You said these are altars. Could we combine the legend and think that there are three altars in this mountain? If we find them, we can unlock the secret of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace?"
"Everyone, return to the fork in the road. I need to check the other fork to see if there's a tomb inside!"
I waved to Manjing: "Take that golden rooster with you!"
The monkey, struggling to move its two hands, was tied up with a rope by Manjing and carried on his shoulder. Our group then returned to the outside space.
When I came in earlier, I was wearing night vision goggles, so it was difficult to see what was inside the room.
Looking into the room, I saw that the space outside was filled with densely packed stone pillars, and on each pillar was a golden nugget shaped like an egg.
These gold nuggets were larger than basketballs, extremely smooth, and refracted a dazzling light when a flashlight was shone on them.
"Holy crap! Haven't we struck it rich?"
The monkey shone its flashlight around, its mouth practically watering as it looked at the countless golden eggs in the main hall: "So many gold nuggets! Forget their cultural value, even if we melted them down, how much money would we get?"
"I've lived this long and I've never seen so much gold before!"
Seeing the gold on the pillars, Lin Que, almost as if possessed, picked up one and asked, "Big brother, can I take one with me?"
Seeing Lin Que's movement, I immediately shouted, "Don't move! Put it down!"
Lin Que was startled by me and reluctantly put the golden egg back in its place: "Brother, this is all real gold and silver! Leaving it here without taking it is a waste!"
"This stuff isn't gold at all!"
Looking at the expressions on Monkey and Lin Que's faces, I said in a deep voice, "In ancient times, pawnshops and money houses would melt silver into the shape of a winter melon to prevent bandits from stealing it. These were commonly known as silver winter melons! Each of these huge metal blocks weighed four or five hundred pounds. Even if a thief saw it, he couldn't take it! But Lin Que just reached out and picked it up. Do you think it could be made of gold?"
"Knock knock!"
After hearing my explanation, the monkey tapped the golden egg with his finger: "The sound is muffled, this thing seems to be empty! Lin Que, give me the knife, let's open one up and take a look!"
"Don't move!"
I immediately stopped the monkey: "These things are all spherical, and they would easily roll off the stone platform if placed here. But the person who put them here did not take any precautions. This could very well be a trap."
Hearing what I said, Dazhuang said from behind, "Brother, from the way you're talking, I can tell you're a veteran in this industry. Since you're part of this world, shouldn't you abide by its rules? We've already given up this territory, shouldn't you fulfill your promise and let us leave?"
"I will let you go, but not now."
Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to let them go and block our escape route: "You're right, you were the ones who tore open the chest first, so we should give way! Consider this golden rooster a loan from you; I'll return it to you once I figure out its secret!"
Dazhuang followed behind, licking his lips, and said, "When I was young, in order to earn more money, I chose to become a demolition expert in a mine, specifically in an illegal coal mine, because that place paid more! But working in an illegal coal mine is also risky, because strangers are often killed there and then falsely claimed as relatives to collect compensation, so usually two people go to work together. But I'm a lone wolf..."
I initially dismissed it as just Dazhuang's rambling, but when I suddenly heard him say those words, I felt a chill run down my spine and turned to shout, "Manjing, hold him down!"
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