"These containers are all sealed," Mu Yiran said, looking at the items in Ke Xun's hands. "This means that each container contains something. Since these containers are most likely made in different eras, can we speculate that they were buried here by people from different eras?"
Ke Xun's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "You mean—these things are very likely also—"
"They were left here by some of the groups of people who entered the painting before us," Mu Yiran finished his sentence. "If we open these sealed containers, I think there will most likely be some written records inside, and these written records are very likely the same as what we recorded, all about clues related to the painting incident."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, a strange feeling welling up from the bottom of their hearts.
Prior to this, several groups of people whose works were included in the paintings came from different eras, perhaps hundreds or thousands of years ago. Separated by the vast expanse of time, the tumultuous history, and the mysterious and enigmatic spacetime, they miraculously shared a tacit understanding: in different eras, in the same place, using different methods, they wrote and preserved similar texts, then buried them to offer the greatest possible help to those who would share their unfortunate fate, and sincerely hoped and wished that they could, in their place, successfully break free from this endless cycle of terror and survive.
Looking at these relics of predecessors from different eras, preserved in different containers, a sense of tragic grandeur, sorrow, and gratitude filled everyone's hearts, and silence remained for a long time.
Finally, everyone carefully opened all the containers. Sure enough, whether porcelain vases, wooden boxes, pottery jars, metal bottles, or stone boxes, they all contained writings in various mediums. The fonts and handwriting were all different; some were written on paper, some on silk, some engraved on bamboo slips, and others on thin metal sheets and stone slabs.
What saddened everyone even more was that each record was meticulously marked with its year, confirming that these records indeed came from different eras. The earliest dated back to the early Qin Dynasty, and the time intervals between each record varied greatly, ranging from four or five hundred years to one or two hundred years.
"If the interval between each 'entering the painting' event is about a hundred years," Zhu Haowen said, "then the time intervals of these records prove that several groups of 'enterers' failed to reach this point; they may have perished before even arriving here."
A long silence followed.
"So, did the groups that left these records ultimately succeed?" Wei Dong murmured.
"They definitely failed," Li Xiaochun said in a low voice. "If they had succeeded, this wouldn't have happened again. Every group before us failed, and now it's our turn. I really don't think we can be better than them..."
"Don't be so pessimistic," Shao Ling said. "Let's take a look at what's written on these records. Maybe we can get some new clues from our predecessors."
"We've never recognized this Qin Dynasty script..." Luo Yu pointed to the bamboo scroll, recalling the painting "The Burning Rhinoceros Horn at Sea."
"It's alright," Mu Yiran took out his phone. "After the painting was finished, I downloaded the ancient character database to my phone for backup."
Luo Yi stared at him, speechless, and after a long while said, "Now I understand why my brother-in-law is such a successful person."
"Being good at summarizing experiences and shortcomings, actively finding ways to make up for them and prevent them, and making meticulous and thorough preparations," Yue Cen said with a smile. "I'm very fortunate to have such a companion, and even if we still can't succeed after doing this much, I won't have any regrets."
Mu Yiran nodded to her, opened his phone, and began to check the text on the bamboo slips one by one.
Shao Ling and Hua Jiqiu were responsible for organizing the other records and transcribing them into modern Chinese before writing them down in a notebook.
When all the information was organized and presented to everyone, the generations of people who had entered the painting from ancient times to the present, spanning more than two thousand years, worked together to organize a previously unknown but world-shaking overview of this terrifying and bizarre painting event.
...
Gonggong and Zhuanxu vied for the throne. In their rage, Gonggong struck Mount Buzhou, breaking the pillar of heaven and severing the earth's support, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to cave in.
Heaven was enraged, unleashing thunder, divine roars, and a raging torrent.
The thunder shook the universe, and only the gods could not escape; the divine roars were silent, but only demons could not withstand them; the raging torrents, like waterfalls, engulfed both humans and beasts; defying Heaven's ways would surely lead to its demise.
Thus, the gods perished, the demons fled underground, and humans and beasts clung to life.
...King Yu the Great controlled the floods, restored order to the nine provinces, and revived the way of Heaven. The great shaman Gaoyang then advised: "The demons that fled underground may reappear; therefore, we should cast magnificent vessels from the gold of the nine provinces to permanently subdue them.
" ...The nine tripods were completed and offered as sacrifices in the wilderness. They resounded with the divine roars and shook the earth's foundation, preventing the demons from emerging, and bringing peace to the world.
...
I heard that the nine tripods sank into the Si River. I found this strange, and observing the stars that night, I saw ten thousand demons stirring, foretelling an imminent great calamity.
I consulted the heavens, sought solutions from the world, examined ancient scrolls, read numerous books, and deduced the changes in the hexagrams, finally understanding the whole story.
However, the Nine Tripods were lost, and there was nothing left to suppress them. I pondered day and night, and finally found a way
… I possessed the diagram of the Nine Tripods, and thus gained the power of their incantations. Because the Nine Tripods consisted of five yang and four yin elements, I gathered four male and four female disciples to complete the number nine, and transformed the diagram of the Nine Tripods into my bone structure.
I secretly believed that the Nine Tripods cast by Emperor Yu could suppress demons and ghosts because they contained the essence of Heaven, Earth, and Man, none of which could be lacking.
What I meant by Heaven, I believed, was that the Nine Tripods were the manifestation of the Nine Heavenly Pillars; what I meant by Earth, was that the Nine Tripods were cast from gold found underground in the nine provinces; and what I meant by Man was that human sacrifices were required for exorcisms.
But what I did today lacked the physical form of the Nine Tripods, only the power of their manifestation. Therefore, transforming the diagram of the Nine Tripods into my bone structure represented Heaven; sacrificing my own body represented Man; only the element of Earth was missing.
After much thought, I found a solution, and tried to transform the Earth element into my bone structure, thus representing Earth.
There are four directions in the earth, so I took four more disciples, transforming them into physical forms, thus gathering the three elements of Heaven, Earth, and Man, totaling thirteen people.
... I led my disciples to the pivot of Kunlun. This place was lush and verdant by day, but desolate and gloomy by night, as if the realms of Yin and Yang were alternating, with ghostly energy soaring to the heavens.
... I knew that while physical forms possessed the power to seal and suppress, they lacked the power to subdue demons and exorcise ghosts. Moreover, all things in the world are cyclical, dying and being reborn, flourishing and declining, waxing and waning. The power of physical forms would eventually diminish, and the suppression of demons and ghosts would inevitably rise again.
I had the heart to save the world, but I was ashamed of my lack of power to vanquish demons, regretting the shallowness of my learning and lamenting the lack of skill. I could only do my utmost, exhausting my thoughts, sacrificing my physical body and life, using a wisp of my spirit to seal demons and ghosts from entering the mortal realm for a hundred years.
However, a hundred years later, when my spiritual power is exhausted, demons and ghosts will surely return. I left a letter instructing my disciples to set up talismans and form soul seals at the locations marked in my "Map of the Yin and Yang Classics of Mountains and Seas" to ward off ghostly invasion.
Now, my twelve disciples and I are willing to sacrifice ourselves to prove the Dao and strive to bring peace to the world. Considering
that the power of bone structure declines every hundred years, the cycle of Heaven's Way is repeated, and the cycle of calamities begins, some fellow Daoists may have sensed this and shared my thoughts and concerns, following my trail to this place. Therefore, I left this letter detailing these matters, placing it under a stone for fellow Daoists and aspiring individuals to read and benefit from it.
Heaven's Way is clear, evil cannot prevail over good, but for the sake of all living beings, how fortunate I am!
...
... We, thirteen people, were fortunate enough to escape from the illusion within the painting. With the help of the Daoist Huasheng, we obtained the "Map of the Bone Structures of the Classic of Mountains and Seas," and using it as our guide, we found our way to Kunlun.
We were fortunate enough to see the notes left by our ancestors, which were not far from our suspicions. However, we also have new doubts, which we now attach to these notes. If they can help those who come after us end this century-long cycle, we will have no regrets even if we die.
Doubt 1: The places marked in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Yin and Yang" drawn by our ancestors are all places where illusions arise from the painting. However, since our ancestors instructed their disciples to set up spells and seal souls in these places, why do murderous illusions still frequently appear? Why do we not see them in other places?
We speculate that the places marked by our ancestors are precisely the weakest points where Yin and Yang meet, so they need to be suppressed with spells and sealed with soul seals.
After a hundred years, the seals are exhausted, Yin energy overflows, and illusions appear, luring people in, hoping that the seals will be broken in the mortal world and Yin energy will be released.
Fortunately, although the sealing power is nearly exhausted, its residual force remains, endlessly battling with the power of the Yin entity within the illusionary realm. However, the two are mutually restraining, and their power is limited; they can only be subtly revealed, enticing and bewitching.
Second doubt: The *Shan Hai Yin Jing Tu* (Map of the Yin Realm of Mountains and Seas) was not something our ancestors made up lightly. Could there be another *Shan Hai Yang Jing Tu* (Map of the Yang Realm of Mountains and Seas)?
We have tried to connect the various locations appearing in the illusionary realm within the painting to create a map, but without success. We have now drawn it at the end of this note for future reference.
Third doubt: The whereabouts of the Nine Tripods. One theory is that the Zhou dynasty was declining, fearing that powerful states would covet them and bring disaster upon themselves. Furthermore, King Nan of Zhou was heavily indebted, so he simply destroyed the tripods to mint coins, falsely claiming they were lost and their whereabouts unknown. Another theory is that they were buried with the Zhou or Qin kings, and to prevent future tomb robberies, the lie was buried in the Si River.
We have exhausted all our resources but have ultimately failed to find them; we are truly ashamed. However, despite our extensive inquiries to various learned individuals, while we could not discern the details of the illusory realm depicted in the painting, we were able to inquire about the whereabouts of the Nine Cauldrons.
An unnamed hermit, who had remained silent since birth, immediately began observing the stars and celestial phenomena upon seeing us. Afterward, he declared, "The Nine Cauldrons still exist, but they are not here."
When we pressed for their whereabouts, he simply replied, "There are heavens beyond heavens, and humans are like ants. Even the Nine Cauldrons, these divine artifacts, are but a speck of dust. They can be known but not seen, seen but not obtained. Heaven and earth are boundless, their creations infinite; the body cannot reach them, only the mind can."
Having said this, he ascended to immortality.
Ultimately, we were unable to fully comprehend the hermit's words, nor could we find the Nine Cauldrons. Time was running out, our time was near, and we could only leave with regret. Originally filled with fear and hesitant at times, I have now, by chance, obtained the last letter of my ancestors. I admire their righteousness, am moved by their courage, and respect their great achievements. Thus, I am filled with the courage of a common man and wish to emulate their deeds, carry on their legacy, and continue their teachings, dedicating myself to the cause.
Heaven's justice is clear, and evil cannot prevail over good. For the sake of all living beings, how fortunate I am!