At this point, Xu Xiake has already introduced the local people's views on the desert: "It can be said that the weirdness of the desert has convinced the local people that the desert is indeed a curse of the devil, and Dunhuang City is the sealing boundary monument of the devil's desert. , these signs of birds colliding are all weird phenomena caused by demons manipulating animals, and even they only know the phenomenon but don’t know the cause.”
Yue Guanchao asked again: "They, haven't they thought about checking the reason for the birds' collision?"
Xu Xiake shook his head: "These bird collisions are not recent, but have existed since ancient times. I heard that the most serious bird collisions were recorded in the local chronicles of Dunhuang City, which probably occurred in the early years of the Tang Dynasty. …”
During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the bird death incident was recorded in the private letters of Mo Shisan, a soldier in Dunhuang City.
That day, there were burning clouds during the day. Starting from the sun in the morning, the burning clouds surrounding the Dunhuang Oasis stayed around for days. They even tended to burn brighter and redder, and they barely dispersed until after sunset.
In the evening of that day, countless desert birds flew from the sky. They were so numerous and powerful that they were like black clouds pressing down on the city. They screamed and crashed into the buildings of Dunhuang City, leaving their bodies covered in blood. Some of them were covered in blood. When the flying bird left, its blood had not yet coagulated, and it fell directly to the ground.
Drops of blood from thousands of birds fell together, as if blood rained from the sky, staining the buildings of Dunhuang City blood red, and the bloody smell had not dissipated for several months.
At that time, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, had passed away. This phenomenon was regarded as a sign of the falling sky. People nearby thought that God was pitiful for the death of the Khan, and ordered birds, such as flying creatures, to be blessed by God. Khan's funeral was included in the local annals of Dunhuang because it involved the sky hanging elephant.
When Xu Xiake mentioned this local chronicle record, his tone became mysterious: "This phenomenon has existed since ancient times. The local people are used to it. It would be strange if there are no birds bleeding. Do you want to ask them why? Not exploring? I feel like we don’t have the manpower and material resources.”
He paused: "As I said just now, this desert is a curse of the devil in the eyes of the locals. It's too late for them to be afraid of the desert. How could they take the initiative to deal with the devil's territory? Besides, they are really bold and not afraid. Damn it, how can he explore it? Should he walk through the desert completely, or dig deep into the ground to dig out something?"
"The desert is so vast, and no one has the manpower and material resources. Of course, they have neither the intention nor the ability to explore these strange phenomena. They just need to stay away from these strange phenomena."
"Staying away from the hinterland of the desert is the way to survive for the people around the desert. Only by staying far away from the mysterious power can people survive safely."
Xu Xiake wanted to continue his long speech, but was interrupted by Yue Erpao who climbed up: "I found you, go back quickly."
Yue Guanchao and the others had no choice but to follow Yue Erpao back to the guest room. When they got there, Yue Qingshan and Sun Daqiao had already taken out the map. Seeing them coming back, Old Yue Tou said: "You guys came back just in time. Sun Daqiao and I will discuss it. I still think we should go to the water tomb mentioned by Nastein Hein first. Firstly, we want to make sure whether the foreigner is lying. Secondly, this place was at least the ruins of the ancient Shanshan Kingdom. Maybe we can also find some clues about the ancient Shanshan Dynasty. .”
Yue Guanchao waved his hand: "Is that necessary? We can just check the ancient Shanshan Kingdom directly. Why waste time eating other people's leftovers?"
Song Siyuan thought for a moment and nodded: "I also agree with my second uncle's suggestion. I understand what you mean. You are afraid that Steinhein lied on the inspection report and that if we adopt his opinion without verification, he may lead us into trouble." Bias?"
Yue Qingshan nodded: "I still like to talk to smart people. In this old foreigner's inspection report, there was no mention of Queen Shanshan at all. With his handwriting, did he not find Queen Shanshan? The old man missed him. It’s not that useless.”
Lao Yue kowtowed the ashes from his pipe: "The only possible situation is that he has found the records of Queen Shanshan, but for some purpose or simply selfishness, he deliberately covered this up and did not write it in the inspection report. Here, if we have an inspection report with something hidden, there will definitely be problems. I want to go and see it myself and see what he is hiding!"
"Oh, you want to find out what he is hiding, then this is feasible, but how do we get there?"
In Yue Guanchao's overview inspection report, Steinhein only gave a rough description of the route they took without mentioning specific place names. In the desert background, it was difficult for them to find the original route. As for the city of Sha'er he described, it was even unheard of.
"Maybe it would be better to find a nearby guide who is familiar with the desert." Song Siyuan suggested.
Xu Xiake said: "If we are looking for local people, we are not familiar with the place, and we probably won't be able to find anyone reliable for a while. This is the troublesome part. If we are entrusted to someone who is not a person, we will be left alone." In the desert, that's what the sky doesn't respond to."
Yue Guanchao put his arms around his neck: "Taoist Xu, didn't you say that you knew an old Taoist here named Wang Yuanlu? How about we go find him? He has been in Dunhuang for more than ten years and is better than strangers like us." Maybe it can still help us.”
Xu Xiake nodded: "If you don't tell me, I really forgot. Let's get some rest first. I will take you to Thousand Buddha Cave early tomorrow morning."
"Okay, I think it's better to meet this Taoist Wang first."
It had only been half a day since everyone had arrived in Dunhuang. The long and bumpy journey over the past few days had made their bodies almost fall apart. They had no choice but to go back to their rooms to catch up on some sleep, finally able to lay their bodies down and rest.
After sleeping until dusk, a few people ate at a nearby noodle stall. When they returned, they saw the store owner sealing the windows. Each of the waiters retracted the window sticks, the huge window creaked, and the window was covered with a bang. The buckle grooves on the window sill were fastened. When the wooden boards were sealed tightly, the corridor was closed. Kerosene lamps began to be hung everywhere, illuminating the corridor dimly.
After Yue Guanchao and the others returned to their room, when the sun went down and the light from the square window facing outside disappeared, the surroundings really became noisy, as if there were countless chirping birds flying around. Within a moment, they heard the rumble of the window panels outside. It was as if hailstones had smashed down the window, and the noise kept coming. It wasn't until half an hour later that the noise finally calmed down.
As night came, the surrounding temperature was already dropping. They soon heard the cold wind blowing, and the small window was blown loudly. If it hadn't been a small window, they would have flown out long ago.
The wind and sand roared all night, and everyone slept peacefully. The next day, Xu Xiake called a carriage and took them out of Dunhuang City to the Thousand Buddha Cave in the southwest.
The so-called Thousand Buddha Cave, also called the Sutra Cave, is what the local people in Dunhuang call it. According to official documents, the correct name of the Thousand Buddha Cave is Mogao Caves.
If you want to go back in time, the era when the Mogao Grottoes began to appear was the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Around the Jianyuan period of the former Qin Dynasty, the monk Le Zun came to the end of the Hexi Corridor. When he walked here, he looked up and saw the Mingsha Mountain shining brightly and golden light transpiring, as if thousands of Buddhas were coming, so he walked on the cliff of the Danquan River. A grotto was carved for practice. This is the first grotto in Mogao Grottoes.
Later, the Northern Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Tubo all excavated grottoes here and ordered craftsmen to paint murals. As for the Anshi Rebellion, Hexi was controlled by the Zhang Yichao family and the Cao Yijin family in turn. Not only did they build a large number of new grottoes, , even the eaves and towers outside the grotto have been repaired as new, and a large number of colorful open-air murals have been painted on the cliff face, making the appearance of Thousand Buddha Cave even more magnificent and shocking.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the Mogao Caves have gone through the Southern Song, Northern Song, Xixia, and Yuan dynasties. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the outside world was completely closed and the construction of the caves was completely stopped. From the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, it has been two thousand years. Strictly speaking, the Mogao Grottoes are not the product of one generation or one family, but the cultural and artistic crystallization of the blending of multi-ethnic styles.
In the past two thousand years, people from the former Qin, Beiliang, Xianbei, Dangxiang, Han, Tibetans, and Yuan people have ruled here. There have been continuous donations from donors, nobles, monks, military officers, craftsmen, common people and other Buddhist worship groups. After carving out the grottoes and painting murals, the Thousand Buddha Cave, which is now eclectic, inclusive, and brilliant, was formed.
To this day, more than 700 grottoes, thousands of colorful sculptures, and murals have been discovered in Thousand Buddha Cave. As for the countless scriptures and historical relics hidden in them, they are truly national art treasures.
When Xu Xiake introduced the Mogao Grottoes, the carriage walked southwest. When they arrived at the bank of Danquan River, everyone dismounted to check the situation. They could already see the Mogao Grottoes on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain.
On the yellow-brown mountain of Mingsha Mountain, there are nearly a thousand large and small grottoes, arranged on the cliff of nearly two kilometers. The grottoes are stacked on top of each other, and there are plank roads or wooden ladders to connect the grottoes at higher places.
Near the middle of the cliff, there is a large Buddhist temple that is as high as the top of the cliff. The nine-story tower has high eaves, resembling a huge Buddhist niche embedded in the stone wall. As for other places, there are several cave eaves scattered here and there.
