After a short rest, everyone got ready and set off on the road.
Li Er opened Guicong again, and Jiang Jin invited him to drink wine, but still found nothing new.
Qin Xuan put on the Yushu bell ring and used his flashlight to shine on Bai Hu as he walked ahead to clear the way. There were constant rustling sounds in the grass, which made Qin Xuan very uncomfortable, and he would twist his neck and shoulders from time to time.
Qin Zhaoyun was enjoying himself from behind and said, "Girl, what are you afraid of? Your pants and shoes are stuck together, nothing can get in."
"Die!" Qin Xuan scolded, "I'm not in the mood to pay attention to you!"
There was giggles coming from behind Qin Xuan, which made her feel even more irritable. She didn't go far and suddenly turned around and jumped to Qin Zhaoyun. She took off the jade tree ring and stuffed it into his hand, scolding, "You're going to die!"
Qin Zhaoyun walked forward holding the bracelet with a smile. Just as he was about to shine it, Li Er suddenly said, "There is light over there!"
The others looked at where Li Er pointed and saw a cliff. There are scattered plants growing on it, but there is a raised part at the bottom, and many vines grow on the top, hanging down to cover the raised part.
Gongsun Zhi and his brother and sister noticed something strange at first glance. The gray rocks on the cliff were all in the shape of strips, and the lines were very neat and smooth. There is a 45-degree slope to the bottom of the mountain. There is a platform five meters long and three meters wide in the slope. There is a gray boulder shaped like the sole of a foot on each side, which is two meters high. The stone surface is rough, but moss-free.
From a distance, it looks like a gray giant is sitting there, and the raised part is like a stool made of tree stumps.
Everyone came to the platform, and Li Er said that the light came from the tops of two huge rocks.
Qin Zhaoyun climbed up the boulder and found a pattern in the center of the top, which looked like a woman's long hair spread out with simple lines. But if you don't look carefully, you can only say that it is the natural texture of the stone.
He climbed up another boulder with the same pattern on it, and found that the position of his ankle was concave into a basin shape, with a deep hole with a diameter of a small bowl in the center. He shouted toward the entrance of the cave, and his voice was dull, indicating that the cave was very deep.
Li Er couldn't find any other clues, so Qin Xuan and Gong Sunzhi climbed up the boulder.
After observing for a long time, the three of them did not think of making a name for themselves.
At this moment, Qinxuan noticed the vines on the mountain wall, whose shapes were very similar to the lines on the pattern. Then I saw many dead vines and piles of dead branches underneath. Then I saw the deep hole in the depression and had a sudden idea.
"Brother, do you want us to light a fire on this? Use those dead vines."
Gongsun Zhi was stunned for a moment, then said, "You might as well give it a try."
They threw the dead vines up the boulders until they piled a meter high pile of dead vines in the inner recess. Qin Zhaoyun lit the fire, and the withered vines caught fire, and soon a raging fire broke out.
A scent of fragrance spread everywhere. Qinxuan broke off the dead vines and looked at it, and said, "I didn't expect there was a lot of grease in it. No wonder the fire is so strong."
But after burning for more than a minute, nothing unusual was seen.
Seeing that the fire was getting smaller, Qin Zhaoyun refused to give up and continued to add firewood to keep the fire going.
After about five minutes, Li Er discovered that a slightly convex part in the middle of the boulder's "toe" had changed color. Curiously, I took a closer look and found a circle of oval-shaped gaps, which were very small, and heat was constantly seeping out of them.
Li Er touched other parts of the boulder, but there was no heat. Only the oval stone surface had heat. He took out his dagger and pried the stone, and easily dug out a three-inch-thick stone strip. However, what he didn't expect was that the stone strip was connected to an iron chain!
Li Er quickly called Gongsun Zhi and his brother and sister. They were obviously shocked.
Gongsun Zhi observed the iron chain carefully. It was black with purple in it, hard in texture, the knocking sound was solid and noiseless, and there was no rust on the surface. It was actually made of stainless steel!
Li Er suggested pulling the chain, but Gongsun Zhi thought it was necessary to check whether another boulder had the same mechanism first.
As expected, Qin Zhaoyun found the mechanism chain at the same location, which meant that the two chains had to be pulled at the same time.
Gongsun Zhi asked the brothers and sisters to burn the fire as high as possible. When Jie Shi and Li Er pulled the iron chain at the same time, there was a burst of sizzling sound when the fuse of the firecracker was lit, followed by a loud bang, which was comparable to two kicks. Hot steam was spurting out from some of the mountain gaps on the edge!
But then there was no change except for the constant hot steam and the faint sound of stones rubbing against each other.
Gongsun Zhi asked Li Er, "Have you discovered anything?"
Li Er shook his head, and Gongsun Zhi continued to think. While staring at the raised part, I gradually felt something strange, but I couldn't place it.
He asked Qin Xuan to watch it with him, and Qin Xuan also felt the same way.
Jiang Jinjiu had been watching silently, probably because he didn't think too much, his mind was empty, and his perspective on things was simple, but he noticed something strange.
The bark-like mountain wall is equivalent to a three-dimensional dislocation, which is an object that is not originally on the same plane. Because of the overlapping of lines, it appears to be on a plane and becomes a complete picture. Only from a certain angle can you see the true state of fragmentation.
Taking a closer look, it turns out that the raised part is not a whole rock, but a patchwork of rocks of different sizes, with certain gaps in the front and back.
Li Er found the passage at the back and led the others around in the gap, winding up and gradually entering the mountain. After a while, a round hole appeared, and people could crouch through it. The stone edges at the entrance of the cave are smooth and neat, with many fresh wear marks that appear to have just appeared.
"It's really amazing!" Gongsun Zhi exclaimed, "They used blinding techniques to cover the entrance, used heat to open the passage, psychedelic techniques, and clever tricks. Today is really full of surprises."
Qin Zhaoyun also praised, "It's not an ordinary mechanism. I found that there are six places where the rock has just been divided into two parts, with the weathered side rushing out. This one has no operating arm, and the second one has no hinge. I don't know how it was pushed. In the current position, I can’t even guess how it was done.”
Qin Xuan said flatly, "Goodbye, it's not the same, my head is already big."
Qin Zhaoyun smiled and said, "Otherwise, it's not worth coming here. Don't blame me, sister."
As he said this, he pushed Li Er to climb into the hole, and he followed behind. Qin Xuan shook his head, sighed, and followed in.
They thought they had to climb a certain distance, but after walking about fifteen meters they could get up and walk. After another ten steps they turned a corner and were already in the crevices of the mountain.
Gongsun Zhi said happily, "Every mountain trail must have a road. We are almost there."
Although the mountain gap was narrow, everyone speeded up their pace and soon reached the end.
As soon as I escaped, my eyes suddenly opened up.
The moon was shining in the sky, and they could clearly see more than a dozen houses behind the forest at the foot of the mountain!
Everyone looked at each other in confusion and made numerous guesses, but they never thought that there would be crowds of people gathering in Dongtian Mansion. However, I didn't find any lights on in any of the houses, and I didn't know if anyone was there.
Qin Xuan asked, "Senior brother, are we in the wrong place?"
Gongsun Zhi didn't answer and silently took out the locator. The screen showed that the signal was lost.
Suddenly the mountain shook slightly, and they hurriedly clung to the mountain wall. After a while, the vibration disappeared, and suddenly there were shouts from the cracks in the mountain, and a huge puff of dust was blown out by a wave of air.
Everyone held their breath and waited for the dust to disperse. Qin Zhaoyun said, "I understand. The mechanism is activated by heat. The iron chain on the boulder is used to open the bolt to allow the heat to enter the mountain and push out the rock to open the passage. Wait until the fire is extinguished. , the mountain rock returns to its position, and the channel will be closed.”
Qin Xuan looked in disbelief, "Can it be done with just that little firepower?"
Gongsun Zhi said, "I think there will be a gas compression device every other period, which can make the gas have enough power to push the mechanism. The final wave of air is the best proof."
Qin Xuan shook his head and said, "For more than two thousand years, gas compression... the ancients were incredible."
Gongsun Zhi said, "This also shows that we have come to the right place. Let's go down the mountain to see the houses first."
Their position was halfway up the mountain, at least twenty meters above the ground. There is no road everywhere, there are smooth rocks on both sides and below, so we can only use ropes to go down the mountain.
Qin Zhaoyun tied the rope very skillfully and went down the mountain one by one. They were extremely skilled and slipped almost the entire way. Within five minutes, they reached the foot of the mountain.
There was a bamboo forest in front of them. Bamboo trees several feet high were growing densely. Moreover, the compass was still out of order and the moon could not be seen after entering the forest. It was very difficult to pass through the bamboo forest.
They walked for more than an hour and found a man-made stone road.
This is a road made of different shapes of rocks. I don’t know what is buried underneath. There is not a single weed on the road.
They couldn't tell which side of the road led to the house, so they could only choose the left side based on their feeling.
Not long after walking, everyone heard the sound of water, and soon saw a river, about ten feet wide. There is a covered bridge made of bamboo on the river, about five meters wide. Everyone stepped on the bridge together without feeling any shaking or hearing the sound of being squeezed by gravity. The bridge is quite stable.
There is still a bamboo forest on the other side of the river, with a stone road running through it. They walked for five minutes and reached the end of the bamboo forest.
There was an open space in front of me, and there was a large bamboo shed not far to the left. There were more than a dozen rows of low tables neatly placed under the shed.
On the right is a two-story bamboo house, and the stairs leading to the second floor are on the left side of the bamboo house. There are exposed balconies on both sides of the second floor. Visually, each floor is about 120 square meters.
Everyone first came to the bamboo shed, and then they discovered that the dozen rows of low tables were not modern styles, but ancient bookcases. Judging from the height, they should be used while kneeling or sitting on the ground.
On the far side from the stone road, there is a single book desk in the middle of the first row. There is a cloth-covered screen at the back, and there is a picture on it with the words "Sunflowers in the green garden, morning dew waiting for the sun. In the spring, all things are shining. I am always afraid that the autumn festival is coming, and the leaves of the yellow flowers will wither. When the hundreds of rivers will reach the east of the sea, when will they return? Return to the west. If a young man does not work hard, an old man will be miserable."
The font is official script and traditional Chinese characters.
All this shows that the bamboo shed is an open-air classroom, with four bookcases in a row and twelve rows in total, which is quite large.
But now the place is covered with a layer of dust, the bamboo mat is riddled with holes eaten by insects, and there are two obvious large holes in the roof, indicating that the classroom has been abandoned for a long time.
Not finding anything noteworthy, everyone came to the bamboo house.
The door is unlocked and opens when pulled.
Forty-nine book tables were neatly placed in the room, and six bookshelves stood beside the wall, but there were no books on the shelves.
The dust inside was very heavy, and it seemed like it was a place that had been abandoned for a long time.
There was no doubt on the first floor, so everyone went up to the second floor.
There are two rooms on the second floor, one is locked. But looking through the gap in the door, there is a bookshelf inside. There are no books on it. Instead, there are bundles of things wrapped in cloth.
The other room is a bedroom, presumably the residence of the teacher or administrator.
It was already late at night, and everyone had no intention of exploring, so they decided to go to bed first and wait until dawn.
After several people gathered together, Qinxuan was sleeping in the bedroom. Others went to the first floor to sleep on beds made of desks, with Li Er keeping watch.
