...We once secretly cast nine tripods, using bronze from the ancient lands of the Nine Provinces. We hired hundreds of skilled craftsmen who worked day and night, casting them according to physiognomy charts.
When the tripods were completed, we tested them, but they were ineffective. Chengfu suspected it was because the tripods' shapes didn't match the description, but the ancient nine tripods had been lost for a long time, their shapes and designs unknown to anyone... We looked at each other speechlessly, feeling utterly hopeless.
With despair in our hearts, we entered the Kunlun Pivot, where we saw the Ghost Platform of the Underworld, confirming our fate.
Though our ancestors' aspirations were grand, we could only lament our lack of ability.
Now, we shed tears as we write our final words, asking the heavens what can be done
...
...Brother Zixia, skilled in divination, entered the Kunlun Pivot on the first night, consulting the spirit medium, who said that the yin and yang here were in chaos, a sign of upheaval.
Brother Chengjiang said: "Pivot" implies a turning axis, an overturning; the ancients named it with this meaning, it must have been without such intent."
Brother Zixia said that Yin and Yang are like the palm and back of the hand, constantly shifting and changing, each a cause and effect, all governed by the workings of nature. This pivot of Kunlun may also be the pivot of heaven and earth, the pivot of Yin and Yang, the pivot of humanity and ghosts. When the conditions are right, heaven and earth will reverse, Yin and Yang will alternate, and humanity and ghosts will interchange.
This pivot must have a mechanism controlling it. If we can find this mechanism, we may be able to completely end this cycle of calamity.
…After searching for several days without success, the gale within the valley is already showing signs of swallowing the sky. Our time is running out; we must fight to the death.
Brother Zixia said: The ancients mentioned the saying of the wise man, "What the body cannot reach, only the mind can reach," which may refer to the human mind. The Buddhist saying, "The dust of the world is formed by the mind; what is manifested by the mind is transformed by consciousness," and "Transform the environment with the mind, transform things with thoughts," shows that the power of the mind should not be underestimated. We are now in dire straits, with no way to heaven or hell. Perhaps we should risk our lives, take a gamble, and plunge straight into the Ghost Platform to break through this impasse!
Brother Chongyang laughed and said, "In that case, let's join hands and enter together, chanting the 'Heart Mantra,' only then will we truly deserve the word 'heroic.'"
Everyone clapped and laughed, unanimously agreeing.
Now, only nightfall remains; life and death hang in the balance. Success or failure is unpredictable, but let us follow the example of our predecessors and leave this message for future generations.
Our assistance is limited; we can only offer a few words of advice: Without fear, there is no sorrow; without dread, there is no terror. All men must die eventually; why not laugh three times to the heavens!
The *Heart Sutra* sings: A pure heart like still water, entering a state of deep meditation; a gentle breeze stirs, waves undisturbed;
my heart is without flaws, Heaven rewards diligence;
my righteousness is awe-inspiring, demons and monsters do not arise; my emotions overflow, Heaven and Earth return to my heart; my ambition soars, water rises and wind arises;
purity heals the root, integrity guides the self; ultimate nature and utmost goodness, the Great Way is naturally achieved.
Heaven's way is bright, evil cannot prevail over good; for the sake of all living beings, how fortunate I am!
...
...Where there is Heaven, there must be Earth; where there is Yin, there must be Yang. If there is the *Classic of Mountains and Seas: Yin*, then there must be the *Classic of Mountains and Seas: Yang*.
The places where illusions arise in the paintings are all extremely Yin places. I have tried to subdue them with methods of exorcism, but to no avail. I suppose this is because the Nine Tripods have not reappeared in the world.
The ancients named it the "Yin Classic," which must have had its purpose. The Yin Classic points to Yin lands, and underground Yin entities often invade through it. Could it be that the Yang Classic points to Yang lands, directly opposite the Yin lands?
The character "Yang" also implies prominence, and the only protruding object within the Kunlun Pivot is the Ghost Altar, which appears only after nightfall.
I speculate that the *Shan Hai Yin Jing Tu* (Map of the Yin Classic of Mountains and Seas) guides ghosts, while the *Shan Hai Yang Jing Tu* (Map of the Yang Classic of Mountains and Seas) guides humans. The Yin Classic points to the location of the illusion in the painting, while the Yang Classic points to the Kunlun Pivot, and the Bone Form points to the Kunlun Pivot. Therefore, the *Shan Hai Yang Jing Tu* is the Bone
Form *Shan Hai Tu*. Furthermore, the symbols on the Ghost Altar resemble the Bone Form. We made rubbings on paper and tried to piece them together, and indeed, we obtained a map. Many prominent areas on this map overlap with the location of the illusion in the painting. Therefore, the *Shan Hai Yin Jing Tu* is the sacrificial image on the Ghost Altar, and the sacrificial image on the Ghost Altar is also the *Shan Hai Tu*.
From this, we can deduce that the *Shan Hai Tu* contains two sections, Yin and Yang. If the Yang section guides the thirteen of us in the mortal realm destined for calamity, then who in the underworld is guiding the Yin section?
We have a bold conjecture.
Could it be that the Yin and Yang realms exist side-by-side, with Kunlun Mountain as their central axis and the earth as their dividing line, like reflections in a lake, facing each other?
...
... The cloth merchant surnamed Chen refused to join us on the altar and fled in panic. This morning, he reappeared at the spot where the altar had vanished, still unconscious.
Seeing that we can enter this valley but not leave, this trip seems certain death. If we cannot find a way to completely eliminate the evil spirit, our thirteen lives will have been wasted.
However, even many wise predecessors have no solution; what good plan can we, a group of unlucky but hopeless rabble, devise?
Wan Yu is weak; climbing Kunlun Mountain has already cost her half her life. She's currently only clinging to life with the ginseng slices in her mouth.
She fainted earlier, her breath momentarily stopping, but she recovered after a while, babbling incoherently.
She said that just now, she was floating in a daze, and seemed to rise into the air. Looking down, she saw many long, multi-legged monsters coiled in the valley. Each segment of the worm had a human face on it. The worms were long and winding, without beginning or end, twisting and turning, making one's hair stand on end.
She vaguely felt that the human face on one of the worms looked familiar, so she looked closely and was horrified to see that the human face was her own.
She woke up with a start and said that the human face on the worm next to her also looked like her.
I have often heard the elders say that when a person is about to die, they are prone to seeing strange phenomena and strange things that have never existed in the mortal world. Seeing Wanyu's situation, I felt saddened.
Today, by chance, I have seen the last words of my predecessors. Although I am just a woman, I feel generous and heroic. However, I am far from having the abilities of my predecessors. I can only feel ashamed and sigh.
I've made up my mind. Even if I can't stop this ancient and bizarre event, I'll still throw myself into this place and kill myself, thwarting the schemes and delusions of those evil spirits!
Since ancient times, we've only heard people and writers praise the heroic spirit and unwavering loyalty of men. But I, a nobody, as insignificant as a willow branch, possess neither the ability to see the heavens nor the talent to predict the future. Yet, I have a heart as firm as iron. Though I can't be a hero, I can certainly sacrifice myself for righteousness.
I don't know any grand, heroic songs; I only know folk tunes from my hometown. Wanyu and I just agreed that we'd go to the ghost altar soon, hand in hand, singing these hometown tunes, one line at a time, to die with our native tongue.
This place is thousands of miles from our hometown; I can never go back in this life.
I miss the green willows and peach blossoms of my hometown, I miss my kind and gentle parents and elder sister, I miss the orchid knot I buried under the banana tree in the corner of the yard, I miss… my neighbor, Brother Cheng…
I want them to know that I, He Yurong, also possess such freedom, writing these words on this final note:
Heaven's justice is clear, evil cannot prevail over good, but for the sake of the common people, how fortunate I am!
…
After reading these "last notes" of different materials and handwritings, everyone fell into a long silence.
Not only for the wealth of information revealed in these notes, but also for the wisdom, passion, freedom, decisiveness, and courage of each generation of ancestors contained within them.
They were just thirteen people.
They died silently in this desolate and lonely place, far from the world.
Billions of people will never know that in such a corner of this vast world, there were thirteen people who made such a quiet yet shocking choice.
"So…" Li Xiaochun's voice was hoarse as he spoke, "I was wrong. It wasn't that all those who entered the painting before us were stupid, inferior to us, or perished halfway through; it was… it was that over the past few thousand years, many groups of people managed to have all thirteen members successfully exit the painting, but in the end… in the end, they chose to sacrifice themselves to seal the power of the spirits underground."
Shao Ling also coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "Now is not the time for sentimentality; we don't have much time left. These last words contain many clues that are beyond our understanding, or that we haven't done or investigated. We need to organize them immediately; they might be of decisive help."
"That's right," Ke Xun took a deep breath. "Let's go through them one by one. 'Gonggong and Zhuanxu fought for the throne, and in anger, Gonggong rammed Mount Buzhou.' Does this mean that the ancient mythological era really existed? That gods like Gonggong and Zhuanxu really existed? And what about the pillars of heaven and the earth's axis? That's a concept only found in stories about a round heaven and a square earth. If mythology is real, does that mean a round heaven and a square earth also really existed? Was the earth once square?"
"As I said before, if it weren't for the incident involving the painting, I wouldn't believe in mythology," Zhu Haowen said. "At most, I would think that the ancients had artistically embellished some oral traditions from ancient times.
"The truth of this matter is likely that Gonggong and Zhuanxu were just ordinary people, tribal leaders who led hundreds or thousands of 'armies' in a life-or-death battle to become the No. 1 in their respective lands. During this war, a prehistoric flood occurred, and the combination of man-made disaster and natural calamity led to the story being passed down as it is now.
"However, since the incident involving the painting occurred, anything is possible in ancient times.
"As for the nine celestial pillars, they might be nine high mountains located in the Nine Provinces, and the four earthly branches might refer to four great rivers or four vegetation zones; they are simply natural substances that the ancients have mythologized."
"But I also believe that the prehistoric flood that Yi Ran analyzed earlier did exist, so we don't need to worry about whether the so-called Gonggong hitting Buzhou Mountain is true. It may just be a reason for the occurrence of that great flood."
"You make a good point. Then we need to carefully consider the following paragraphs," Ke Xun said, pointing to the first last will and testament. "'Heaven's wrath is wrathful, heavenly thunder falls, heavenly sounds descend, and heavenly floods rage.' I know 'Heaven's wrath.' The ancients regarded the heavens as the supreme being, so it's normal for thunder and rain to occur during a great flood. But I don't understand what 'heavenly sounds descend' refers to. Thunder?"
"It can't be thunder," Shao Ling said. "It doesn't fit the semantic structure. Heavenly thunder, heavenly sounds, and heavenly floods are obviously three different things."
"Then it's lightning?" Wei Dong guessed. "Thunder, lightning, and floods—it's very vivid."
"Lightning is light, not sound," Luo Yu said. "Could it be the 'Hum-Hum' sound of God's anger? You know, when a god or Buddha appears on TV, there's that solemn background sound, like eight hundred Arhats humming together, you know?"
"Sanskrit?" Wu You raised an eyebrow. "That's very possible. My great-grandmother and I go together, and every day when she's chanting Buddhist scriptures at home, she plays that chanting-like humming sound on her phone." "
…Then what kind of belief system does this so-called Heavenly Way belong to?" Zhu Haowen looked at Wu You and Luo Yu speechlessly.
"Uh…" Wu You and Luo Yu were both speechless.
"Moreover, Buddhism hadn't been introduced to our country yet at that time," Shao Ling added. "If it's said to be the voice of Heaven in anger… while it's not impossible, it doesn't seem very convincing."
"Finding out exactly what this 'Heavenly Voice' is is extremely important to us," Hua Jiqiu pondered. "Because this 'Heavenly Voice' can make 'demons and ghosts unable to withstand it,' and is the root cause of 'demons and ghosts escaping underground.'" He pointed to the ground. "If the force below is what these so-called demons and ghosts are, then our only chance of victory might be to find this 'Heavenly Voice.'"
Author's Note:
☆ The *Heart Sutra* quotes from the *Taoist Heart-Cleansing Sutra*, from "a pure heart like water" to "the Great Dao is naturally achieved. "
Have you guessed what the "Heavenly Voice" is? (^_^)