The clay figures are large and small, and their postures are all kinds of strange. Some of them are colorfully dressed and have lifelike faces. Standing in the dark, they look like living people at first glance. However, most of the remaining clay figures are much rougher, and some are even just half-finished products, even the outline of their faces. There was no time to carve it.
Without moving forward rashly, Li Bai held a lantern and inspected all the lifelike clay figures near the entrance of the cave, confirming that they were really just clay figures and not some messy ghost thing disguised.
"Daughter, don't look at it. Old man, I think these clay dolls are very strange. Let's... let's go in and pay homage to the queen."
Zhang Yuanchao swallowed hard, worried about scaring Li Bai. There was something he didn't say out loud. Standing near these clay figurines, he always felt like he was being watched, and it was the kind of malicious gaze.
Although he knew that there was something wrong with this cave, due to the requirements of the task, Li Bai still nodded.
In addition to the clay figurines, there was an iron shelf at the entrance of the cave. On the shelf was a black pot with solidified grease. Li Bai and Zhang Yuanchao could understand that this thing was obviously an oversized candle. m.
The light emitted after being lit dispelled the darkness nearby. Zhang Yuanchao volunteered to walk in front, holding a lantern in one hand for lighting. Li Bai followed cautiously behind him.
There was a distance of about 2 meters between the two of them. After all, she had not yet figured out the details of Zhang Yuanchao.
The cave is much larger than expected. Inside is a long tunnel. The tunnel is winding and twisted, but you can feel that it goes straight down. It gets colder as you go down, and the chill is almost to the bone. Li Bai was frozen.
"Daughter, put your clothes on quickly, it's serious if you catch a cold."
As Li Bai's back felt warm, Zhang Yuanchao took off his coat and put it directly on Li Bai's shoulders without any explanation. The coat with body temperature warmed Li Bai's whole body.
"What are you doing? It's too cold here, put it on yourself."
Li Bai intended to return the coat to him, but Zhang Yuanchao refused at all. He moved his arms exaggeratedly, revealing the bronze muscles of his arms, "Old man, I am in good health. It's not a problem."
But when Zhang Yuanchao's eyes fell on the clay figures nearby, his expression became obviously ugly.
If Li Bai could barely bear the cold here, then the vague gazes nearby really made her nervous to the extreme. She turned around suddenly several times, but there was silence behind her, except for the clay figures standing on both sides of the tunnel.
The illumination provided by the lantern was not enough, and the faces of the clay figures standing a little far away flickered. Li Bai had even imagined such a picture in her mind. The moment she turned around, those clay figures would turn their heads. He looked behind them with a strange smile on his face.
Zhang Yuanchao came to a clay figurine beside him. He first observed it, then seemed to have discovered something, and then quickly walked to the next clay figurine. He looked at 4 or 5 clay figurines in a row, and wrinkles appeared on Zhang Yuanchao's face.
"What did you find?" Li Bai, wearing a coat, asked.
"Weird, very strange! These clay dolls don't seem to be made by one person." Zhang Yuanchao pointed at the neck of one of the clay dolls, "Look, the marks left on it are too straight. This is at best half-learned. It took me three months of apprenticeship work to scrape directly with a clay knife. If you look at this, this one is much better. It is definitely a master craftsman. There are no knife marks and all are made by hand. And this one, this one is even worse. This person clearly knows nothing..."
After reviewing 5 or 6 clay figurines in a row, Li Bai gradually figured out some tricks under Zhang Yuanchao's guidance. The quality of these clay figurines varied, and even some unknown ones standing at the back looked like they were joking. There is only the prototype of a person, with nothing on the round head.
"The exquisite clay figures among them were probably made by Clay Figure Zhang. As for the others, they were probably made with the help of the villagers."
Li Bai's statement is tenable. There are a lot of clay figurines here. There are hundreds of them seen so far. The road ahead seems to be endless. I'm afraid the number will be scary. The clay figurine Zhang and a few apprentices can't stand it alone. Can't figure it out.
Looking at the clay figures in different postures, Li Bai suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart, as if this underground place was also a village, and these clay figures were the villagers who guarded the underground village. When the outside world was quiet at night, this underground...maybe another place. There was a scene in the underground passage, with people coming and going, clay figures playing and playing, it was very lively, but as strangers entered, everything came to a standstill.
Dispelling the increasingly weird thoughts in his mind, Li Bai focused his attention on Zhang Yuanchao again, "Aren't you a tour guide? How come you understand the work of a mason?"
"What's so difficult about this? Old man, I worked as a carpenter in our village a few years ago. I also know a bit about the work of a mason. My daughter, I tell you, carpentry is a good job. Not only can you fill your stomach, but you are also respected. Anyone who builds a new house will ask me to have a look at the beams and the main door. If it’s just an inch off, they’ll have to change it right away. My eyes are like rulers.”
Speaking of these, Zhang Yuanchao seemed to be a different person, and he kept chattering away. Li Bai felt upset when he heard it, but after this experience, the fear that was weighing on his heart was really dissipated a lot.
"Since the carpenter is as good as you said, why did you leave the village and become a tour guide in the mountains?" Li Bai asked.
As soon as this question came up, Zhang Yuanchao, who was talking endlessly about his glorious experiences in the past, immediately stopped talking. After a long time, he let out a long sigh.
After about half a stick of incense, the tunnel came to an end. After lighting another black pot at the end of the tunnel, it suddenly became clear to the two of them. They were now standing in a place similar to a small square. Neither of them expected that there would be something underground. There is such a big space.
"hiss--"
Accompanied by the sound of gasping for air, Li Bai saw a statue 20 meters away. The statue was 5 meters tall, with a black body and a huge belly. The strangest thing was that there was a huge red patch on the head of the statue. The hijab looks exactly like the Empress Zhusheng she and Yao Shunyu saw last night!
In front of the statue of Empress Zhusheng, there are also things like incense and candles as tributes. There is also a dirty futon on the ground in front of them. Obviously, it is left for them to kowtow. Their task tonight is to give Zhusheng The empress kowtows.
After walking in, Li Bai noticed that these so-called offerings were also very strange. They were not the common three animals of cattle, sheep, pigs, or chickens, ducks, and fish, but clay figures.
The clay figurines are only about the size of a palm, and are presented one by one on an offering plate. Their faces cannot be seen because they are facing the Empress Zhu Sheng in a prostrate posture.
From left to right, there are 10 in total.
Some people died, but not completely...
