Qu Ruilin and I passed the place where those monks had just appeared, and then walked back to back, keeping an eye on both sides, toward the palace.
Standing before the majestic and imposing Duanmen Gate, I couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance.
Even with modern technology, a building of this scale could not have been completed overnight. A thousand years ago, it would have been built with the blood and tears of countless slaves.
I stood in front of the palace and carefully checked the steps to make sure there were no hidden gun holes or traps like flaps before I followed Qu Ruilin up.
"Tap tap tap!"
As soon as we stepped onto the steps, the sound of striking a wooden fish came again.
I shone my flashlight toward the city gate tower, and behind the battlements, I could vaguely see several figures.
"Bang!"
Qu Ruilin was completely enraged by the sound. He raised his pistol and fired a shot at the figure on the city wall: "Who is playing tricks on me? Come out here!"
This was the first time I had ever heard a real gunshot. Standing next to Qu Ruilin, my ears were ringing from the impact. "These monks didn't cause us any real harm after they appeared. Don't let them distract us. Let's get through the city gate first!"
Qu Ruilin gripped his pistol, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes: "You inspect the palace gates, I'll guard them!"
"Bang!"
I had just stepped into the gate of the palace when I heard a gunshot. I turned around abruptly to look at Qu Ruilin: "What are you doing?!"
Qu Ruilin pointed to the city wall: "I didn't fire the shot, the sound came from up on the city wall!"
At that moment, Wei Shengnan's voice rang out from above: "I am Wei Shengnan. Who are the people down below?"
"I am Duan Shenxing, and Qu Ruilin is with me!"
I shouted loudly, then stepped out of the doorway and saw a flashlight beam coming from the gatehouse. I held it up and shone it on Qu Shengnan: "What are you doing up there?"
Qu Ruilin pressed further, "Did you see those monks up there striking the wooden fish?"
Wei Shengnan threw the rope down from the city wall: "Come up first and we'll talk later!"
Although I didn't know why Wei Shengnan was here, it was always a good thing to meet someone I knew. After she threw the rope ladder down from the city wall, I climbed up with Qu Ruilin.
I originally thought that the palace gate in front of us, like the Duanmen gate of Li Fan's tomb, was an anti-theft measure that connected to the top of the tomb. But when I climbed up, I found that the palace gate was a simulation and did not lead directly to the top of the tomb. Moreover, it was three meters wide at the top.
Besides Wei Shengnan, Xu Hu and another young man named Cao Shang were also on the city wall.
I looked at the three people in front of me with a puzzled expression: "Didn't you fall down from the Void Tomb with us? Why are you here?"
Wei Shengnan shook her head: "I don't know what happened either. When I fell, I landed in a courtyard inside. On my way to find you, I met Xu Hu and Cao Shang. I guess there is an underground cave under the Void Tomb, which is why we appeared in different directions."
Those elusive monks had already given Qu Ruilin a mental block: "Did you just fire your gun because you encountered those monks chanting the wooden fish?"
"That's not a monk at all, it's this thing."
Xu Hu dragged over a cassock from the side and threw it at our feet.
I lifted the robe with my hand and found a wooden human head underneath, painted with colors, looking as eerie and terrifying as a paper effigy.
There is no body under the kasaya, but a skeleton made of wood and metal. The surface of the body is carved with many inscriptions. There is a gear-like thing inside the body. As the gear rotates, the arm connected to it will strike a wooden fish fixed in front.
"Is this what those monks who were striking the wooden fish earlier were talking about?"
Qu Ruilin looked at the wooden skeleton on the ground with a puzzled expression: "But how did they move? Was it some kind of mechanical magic?"
"Pretty much. This thing is a puppet from the Tang Dynasty! Puppetry originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. During the performance, the actors manipulate the puppets behind the screen while singing and playing music. Depending on the shape of the puppets and the manipulation techniques, there are glove puppets, string puppets, rod puppets, wire puppets, and so on. If you look closely, this horizontal thing that looks like a funnel is a gravimeter. It can use centrifugal force to drive gears and make the puppet's arms move."
Looking at the puppets on the ground, I instantly understood the principle behind it: "What we saw next to the burial pit before should have been marionettes. The tomb ceiling there should have had flaps. We don't know what mechanism we triggered, but it made those puppets fall down. The power that controls them is the groundwater. The flaps in the pipes are pushed by the water flow, lifting the puppets up, which is why they disappeared."
"That makes sense. The appearance of those puppets will deter tomb raiders from advancing into the burial pit, increasing their chances of drowning down there."
After hearing my explanation, Qu Ruilin's emotions finally calmed down a bit: "As a successor of the four sects, to have your Dao heart disturbed by these strange and ingenious tricks is truly shameful!"
Wei Shengnan interrupted us: "This is not the time to talk about this. Did you meet Zhao Qinghou, Song Laosan, and Zhao Bo on your way here?"
"No!"
I shook my head: "The place where Qu Ruilin and I fell was the tomb passage leading into this tomb. We didn't see anyone else along the way. If they weren't trapped inside the tomb passage, they should still be ahead of us!"
Wei Shengnan shone her flashlight on the gatehouse and the wooden puppets on the ground next to her: "Judging from the architectural style here, the legend in historical records that the evil monk plundered countless treasures in the Tang Dynasty is very likely true. I suggest we continue to explore deeper, searching for people as we go, and find the place where the burial objects were stored."
I added, "The architectural style of this tomb exceeds the tomb system that Nara-sa-po-me should have. In addition to the conventional anti-theft mechanisms, it also uses a lot of unorthodox methods. Compared with ordinary Tang Dynasty tombs, the terrain here should also be different from our understanding."
After everyone discussed the plan, Wei Shengnan led the way towards the ramp leading to the city wall: "We have already done a simple exploration of this place. There are no traps in the square behind the palace gate, and further inside is a large hall. The Duan family are experts in the operation under the tomb. From now on, the team will be commanded by Duan Shenxing, and everyone will listen to him, including me!"
As we descended the city wall, we found ourselves in a wide square. Behind the city gate lay the "sacred way" leading to the palace, lined with stone sculptures on both sides.
These statues are not the stone figures commonly found in imperial tombs, but rather some grotesque monsters. I looked at them for a long time but couldn't tell whether they were human or beast. They must be related to some Indian mythology.
"Bang!"
We had only walked halfway down the sacred path when a faint sound suddenly came from ahead.
Wei Shengnan's spirits lifted: "It's gunshots! It must have been fired by our separated comrades. There are still people alive!"
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