The next morning, everyone quickly washed up, then lined up with their breakfast and went to the large tent. They sat on blankets to continue analyzing the four rock paintings.
This time, Wei Dong separated the four paintings, projecting only one at a time onto the screen.
The feeling of despair and oppression was indeed lessened considerably, but not completely gone; it was just barely within everyone's tolerance.
Aside from the rock painting on side A, which they had already examined closely the previous day, they observed the three rock paintings on sides B, C, and D for a long time. Most of the images were eerie and obscure; staring at those zombie-like symbols for too long gradually instilled a chilling fear.
Seeing that everyone was unable to reach any conclusions, Shao Ling sat down at the computer, operating the screen with the mouse while saying, "When your thinking is chaotic, the most effective method is to first summarize, then generalize.
We don't need to summarize these four paintings; each painting is a category in itself. So what we can do now is to first summarize a concise and essential central idea for these four paintings."
"Let's start with the rock painting on side A. We analyzed it carefully yesterday, and for now, let's define its theme as a sacrificial or shamanistic ritual.
The rock painting on side B is somewhat complex and scattered, probably the one with the most symbols among all the paintings. I focused on its overall structure just now, but I didn't find a regular layout of symbols like that on side A. There are no circles, and no indication of a distribution categorized by symbol type. Does anyone have any other discoveries about this rock painting?"
"I noticed there seem to be many animals in this painting," Luo Yu raised his hand to answer. "Maybe it's because I really like animals. Although many of the symbols don't seem to have anything to do with animals, I always feel that their images and behaviors particularly match the characteristics of certain animals."
"Yes, some of the symbols look like sea creatures," Fang Fei said.
"And there also seem to be many plants and mountains and rivers," Yue Cen added.
"In that case, perhaps our previous guess that the carvings on this rock platform are a lost part of the original *Shan Hai Tu* (Classic of Mountains and Seas) is very likely true." "Qin Ci said, "Could it be that what this B-side rock wall depicts is the natural scenery of the Mountain and Sea World?"
"Very likely." Shao Ling and Hua Jiqiu agreed.
"Dongzi, what did you find?" Ke Xun noticed that Wei Dong was frowning and working on another laptop.
"I feel that some symbols on the B-side rock paintings are somewhat similar to the Mountain and Sea Map on our bone marrow..." Wei Dong said without stopping, "I want to make a comparison between the two, but it may take quite a while..."
"You keep working on it, don't worry about the rest, leave it to us." Ke Xun patted him on the back.
Shao Ling continued, "Then let's temporarily regard the B-side rock paintings as a depiction of natural scenery, and let's set its theme as 'living things'."
"Let's look at the rock paintings on Side C. Side C is probably the most eerie and terrifying of all the paintings.
If the humanoid figures in Side A, which appear to be sacrificial offerings, seem to have their limbs, necks, and even torsos forcibly severed, presenting a bizarre state of death, then all the biological figures in Side C are depicted in a completely lifeless state.
I don't know if it's just my preconceived notions or something else, but to me, although the figures in Side C are no different from their counterparts in Side B, I inexplicably feel that the figures in Side C are filled with a strong sense of death.
Every figure lacks any vitality; even those that appear to be walking are like zombies, exuding confusion and numbness. Does anyone else feel this way? Or do you have a different opinion?"
"I feel the same way. " Luo Yu nodded repeatedly. "Perhaps it's because my family has always kept a lot of different kinds of animals since I was little, I'm very sensitive to the subtle emotions they express. Of course, inanimate objects like symbols might be different from animals, but I don't know what it is about these symbols that gives off a particularly oppressive and despairing atmosphere... Sigh, I think I'm being bewitched by these pictures again, I feel really bad... Sister Qingqing, can I borrow your oxygen cylinder for a while..."
"Has anyone noticed," Qin Ci, with the meticulousness of a doctor, "that in the upper part of the rock paintings on side C, these symbols all seem to be looking up, while in the lower part, they are all looking down. If the symbols in the upper part give people a feeling of bewilderment and stiffness, then the symbols in the lower part are numb and listless, like withered and dried grass."
"Perhaps this is meant to express class hierarchy?" Shao Ling pondered. "The upper part represents the upper class, and the lower part represents the lower class?" "
But none of the symbols on this rock painting seem to be alive," Ke Xun said. "Do dead creatures also have classes?"
This made Shao Ling choke for a moment, then he said after a long pause, "If there's anything in this world that's truly fair, it's death. So, there's no hierarchy in death."
"Then isn't this a representation of class hierarchy?" Ke Xun said. "Look, in the rock painting on side C, there's still that 'protagonist' with eyes, and it's looking up. Do you think it's observing something?"
"Perhaps it's observing that unseen thing in the rock painting on side A," Yue Cen said.
"Then what exactly is the theme of this painting?" Hua Jiqiu pondered. "Is it death? Is it observation? Or numbness and bewilderment?"
"Perhaps it's a fate worse than death," Ke Xun shrugged. "I just said it casually; the word suddenly popped into my head when I was looking at these symbols."
"Let's tentatively call it 'death.'" "Shao Ling said, "Next is the rock painting on side D. Some of the symbols on it look like ripples on water, which I think are relatively easy to understand. They occupy most of the space on the entire rock face. As for the symbols representing living beings, although they don't have facial features, judging from their body language and the atmosphere conveyed by the whole image, they are extremely terrified and in pain. The entire rock painting is filled with this apocalyptic sense of fear, which looks shocking.
"We can define the theme of this painting as 'flood'."
"Now let's look at the themes of these four paintings: sacrifice or shamanic prayer, living beings, death, and flood.
"I think the order of these four rock paintings should be like this: living beings, flood, death, sacrifice.
"The reason for this order is based on speculation about the great flood of ancient times. In fact, I think the 'living beings' here represent a scene of prosperity for all living beings at that time. The rock paintings on side B have all kinds of mountains, rivers, animals, and plants, and their variety is not seen in the other three paintings.
"Then a great flood occurred, the great flood that Gun and Yu controlled for more than 20 years. The great flood brought a lot of death, so sacrifices were performed to pray to the heavens to stop the flood and to deliver the souls of the dead. I wonder what you all think?"
Hua Jiqiu pondered and said, "My idea is slightly different from Xiao Shao's. I think the order should be flood, death, sacrifice, living beings—I think changing 'living beings' to 'all living beings' is closer to the truth."
"After the great flood of ancient times, which caused the deaths of many humans and animals, the ancients, who believed in the power of spirits and gods, began to perform sacrificial rituals, praying for the flood to recede, for the protection of heaven, and more likely, for divine beings to descend from the heavens to help humanity.
"Thus, the world had Yu the Great, who controlled the flood, and after that, all living beings prospered."
"Although you two have slightly different speculations about the order of the rock paintings, I think this line of thinking is correct when you put these four rock carvings in the historical context of Yu
the Great's flood control efforts," Qin Ci said. "From this perspective, the content depicted in the four rock carvings is basically connected." "To summarize, it tells why we prayed, the process of the prayer, the result of the prayer, or rather, the desired result of the prayer," Zhu Haowen said.
Hua Jiqiu nodded: "This fits all the elements of a shamanistic prayer-style pictorial gathering."
"Then do you think Yu the Great is in these four rock carvings?" Li Xiaochun asked.
Luo Yu pointed to the "protagonist" symbol and said: "I think he is Yu the Great." "
If he is Yu the Great, then these rock paintings have some historical basis," Shao Ling said. "Yu the Great traveled the world and saw all kinds of strange birds, beasts, demons, and monsters—this is the theme reflected in the rock painting on side B: living beings, or all living things;
"Then came the theme of rock painting D, 'flood,' which, as we all know, was controlled by Yu the Great;
"Next is rock painting C, 'death,' after the flood, living beings were devastated, an unavoidable loss;
"Finally, this sacrifice may have taken place after the Nine Tripods were cast—don't forget, the tripod is also a kind of sacrificial vessel, our bone structure is composed of ghost script, the rock paintings on the rock walls are also composed of ghost script, and the Nine Tripods are cast with a mountain and sea map composed of ghost script—obviously, this sacrifice is inseparable from ghost script, the Nine Tripods, and the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas Map.'"
"Then quickly take a look, can we find the Nine Tripods on the rock painting on side A, which represents the sacrifice?" Ke Xun hurriedly asked.
Shao Ling switched the projection to the rock paintings on side A, and the group strained their eyes searching the image.
However, even after straining their eyes, they still couldn't find any symbol that looked like a ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel).
"Could it be that the Nine Ding's shape is different from ordinary dings?" Gu Qingqing said. "After all, no historical record describes the shape of the Nine Ding in detail."
"That's possible," Ke Xun said. "Perhaps the Nine Ding's shape is square, like that rock platform."
"Don't dings all have three legs? Would a ding without three legs still be called a ding?" Li Xiaochun said.
"No, a ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel) doesn't necessarily have only three legs," Hua Jiqiu said. "The Simuwu Ding has four legs."
"A square ding…" Ke Xun pondered, stroking his chin. "The rock platform is also square. Could it be that there are four legs buried deep underground beneath it?"
This remark sparked a lively discussion, with everyone saying, "That's very possible!"
"Comrades!" Wei Dong suddenly shouted, "We have preliminary results from comparing the Bone Image Mountain and Sea Map and the B-side rock paintings!"
Everyone quickly gathered around him, all looking at the computer screen in the direction he was pointing.
"I've extracted a small part from the Bone Image Mountain and Sea Map," Wei Dong gestured. "Look, these parts are the outline of a certain mountain. Now look at this picture. This picture is a part of the symbols on the B-side rock paintings. When they are connected—do you see? Isn't it somewhat similar to the outline of this mountain?
"Of course, it's only similar. Many details are different, but I think these two mountains are very likely the same mountain!"
"To give an analogy, it's like two painters with the same style painting the same mountain; the resulting paintings will definitely be different. The two images we see here, from different mediums, are a case in point. Therefore, I believe they both depict the same mountain, just painted by different artists or craftsmen."
"Wei Dong's discovery is crucial," Shao Ling nodded. "This advancement confirms that the paintings on the rock face are part of the *Shan Hai Tu* (Classic of Mountains and Seas). The Nine Tripods *Shan Hai Tu* on our bones and the *Shan Hai Tu* on this rock platform are like two components of a single piece of jade. Together, they form the most authentic and complete *Shan Hai Tu*!"
"Then the question arises," Ke Xun said, "what is the relationship between this rock platform and the Nine Tripods? Each of them possesses half of the *Shan Hai Tu*. Does this mean they need to be combined to trigger the final step? Now that the Nine Tripods are nowhere to be found, those of us with the Nine Tripods' bone structure are equivalent to the Nine Tripods, right? Could it be… that we ultimately need to merge ourselves with this rock platform?"