Chapter 18: Kunlun Embryo

The sun was setting, with only a tiny bit of it still above the clouds. The entire ice sheet had gradually turned black, with the huge shadow inside becoming blurred.

The shape of the shadow was very strange, out of place and extremely eerie, like a frozen dead animal fetus, with an extremely large head and long thorns all over its body, which made me feel creepy just looking at it.

Ye Cheng opened his mouth wide and asked me, "Damn it, I didn't worship the Buddha when I came out, but I always run into evil spirits. What the hell is this?"

Fatty and I shook our heads. We had never seen one before. Judging from its size, it was as big as a five-story building. It was frozen deep in the glacier. If it was a tomb for burial, how did they get in there? Or was it a creature from ancient times?

Legend has it that the Changbai Mountain area was a vast ocean hundreds of thousands of years ago, and it rose from the sea due to the eruption of the main volcano. Could such a big thing be the corpse of a giant marine creature at that time?

That doesn't make sense. When the ancient glacier was formed, the mountain was already there, and any corpses would have turned into fossils.

Although they experienced a thrilling avalanche, to be honest, such an avalanche can only be called a snow landslide. It does not have the force of thunder and lightning, and it goes away very quickly. Although several people are still frightened, they have recovered at this time. Seeing the shadow in the ice, their curiosity is aroused.

We used ice picks to gain a foothold on the glacier, put on ropes, put on ice skates, and went down to the surface of the glacier. We looked carefully at the strange black shadows frozen inside the glacier, but none of us could see the way out.

At this time, Chenpi A Si also regained consciousness. Monk Hua and Ye Cheng helped him down from above. We carefully helped him to the front.

Chenpi A'si still didn't react quickly. He rubbed his eyes, squatted down, stared at the shadow in the ice sheet for a long time, and suddenly hummed: "This shadow... could it be the 'Kunlun fetus'?" Then he shook his head.

"What is 'Kunlun fetus'?" We had never heard of it, and it was totally baffling to see him so excited.

"'Kunlun fetus' is a strange natural phenomenon. It refers to the source of the dragon vein, which is commonly known as the place where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is gathered. Often, some strange baby-like things will be born in rocks, glaciers, and trees. These are called 'earth-born fetuses' in ancient books. Legend has it that after thousands of years of evolution, some 'earth-born fetuses' will become spirits, such as Sun Wukong in Journey to the West." Monk Hua explained to us. "I remember it was mentioned in a notebook from the Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, it was said that under the giant ice bowl of Kunlun Mountain, local Tibetans found a giant ice fetus, as big as a mountain bowl, with all the facial features, and a lifelike baby girl. So the 'earth-born fetus' was called the 'Kunlun fetus'. Later, a temple was built on the belly button of the baby girl, called the Kunlun Boy Temple. In Feng Shui, the 'Kunlun fetus' is a treasure cave determined by heaven, which is different from the Feng Shui acupoints deduced by humans. It is impossible to find a place in a dragon vein where a 'Kunlun fetus' may be generated. One can only wait until the 'Kunlun fetus' begins to form and is discovered by chance, then dig out the fetus shape, and then build a tomb in it. Such a treasure cave is hard to come by. Legend has it that only people with celestial powers are qualified. The only person recorded in history as being buried in the 'Kunlun fetus' position is only one person, and that is Huangdi."

"Is there such a weird thing?" The fat man squatted down and looked at the shadow. "However, this 'Kunlun fetus' is not a human fetus."

Chenpi A Si also seemed unsure and nodded, "I'm also guessing. The 'Kunlun fetus' is a fetal position determined by gods and a divine object born from the earth. If this is the 'Kunlun fetus', then the burial mausoleum must be built in the position of the 'Kunlun fetus'. But in this case..." He looked at the Three Holy Snow Mountains in the distance, with extreme confusion in his eyes.

I knew his concerns and continued, "This is a natural treasure cave, the 'Kunlun Tai'. But this is just a tomb for burial. So, how good does the Feng Shui of Sansheng Mountain, where the main tomb of Yunding Tiangong is located, have to be to be considered perfect? No matter what, it can't be worse than the 'Kunlun Tai'."

"Yes, there is no better feng shui than 'Kunlun Tai'. 'Kunlun Tai' is the place where the spiritual energy of the earth gathers. If it is better than this place, there is only one possibility." Chenpi Ah Si was very puzzled and sighed, "The Heavenly Palace is really built in the sky!"

Chenpi Ah Si's expression when he said this was very sincere. I could tell he was not joking. I felt a chill all over my body when he said this. The fat man said, "How is that possible!"

"It's impossible. The appearance of the 'Kunlun fetus' here must be problematic. Could it be that the direction of the mountains and rivers has been changed? Has Wang Canghai's magical powers reached such an extent?" Chenpi A Si looked around at the surrounding mountains again.

"No, I shouldn't think like that." I suddenly had an idea and asked, "Could it be that this fetus-shaped shadow is fake? Artificially made? This symbolic technique is very common in the design of ancient tombs. The shape of Wu Zetian's city is like a woman's vulva. Maybe this shadow is just the shadow of a tomb for burial."

It is natural for me to have such a desire, because we are dealing with antiques, and our daily work is to fight against fake things . When we purchase, the first impression of all things is that they are fake, so when I heard Chenpi Ah Si say such a powerful thing, my first impression was: will it be fake? This can also be regarded as an occupational disease.

Moreover, freezing the entrance of the mausoleum into the soil and making it into the shape of a baby is indeed in line with Wang Zanghai's character of not stopping until death strikes.

Chenpi Ah Si was so focused on the surrounding mountains that he didn't listen to me at all. I turned to look at Menyouping, who also looked puzzled, staring at the shadow with a complicated expression, without saying a word. But Monk Hua agreed with me (it seemed that he was also a front-line purchaser, suffering from occupational diseases like me). He said, "What you said is possible. It seems that there are light and dark differences in the 'fetal shadow'. It is obviously not a simple thing. It seems to have highs and lows, and there are thorns around it. It is hard to explain what it is. It may really be a building."

A strange feeling came to my mind. Wang Canghai built the mausoleum into the shape of a fetus. Did he hope that this mausoleum would become a spirit like the "Kunlun fetus"?

If this is true, it would be unbelievable.

The fat man said, "Let's not guess. If we don't dig it out, it's just guessing. We might as well think of a way to get down here."

"What if we dig deeper and see not a tomb but a real giant ice..." Ye Cheng was a little scared. His teeth were clenched: "What should we do then?"

The fat man patted him and said, "Then you stay up there. We'll go down and confirm, and then call you down."

I also said, "If it is really an ice tire, it is a miracle from heaven. It is worth it to be able to see it."

Monk Hua patted Ye Cheng on the shoulder and said, "You are timid. Learn from these big brothers... The question now is not whether to go or not, but how to go down." He estimated the thickness of the ice and said, "It may take half a month to dig there with a pickaxe."

We are not ice masters, working on ice is completely different from working on ordinary ground. There are many factors to consider, no matter how good your skills are.

The fat man stared at the huge shadow on the glacier below him, waved his hand and said, "What's so difficult about this? Leave it to me, Fatty."

I saw that he seemed to have some ideas, and I was curious. Fatty has always been a pioneer in the team and rarely expressed his opinions on technology. But once he expressed his opinions, what he said was very critical, which showed that this person was actually very thoughtful. I have deeply felt this on the seabed. This is probably one of the qualities that allowed him to escape danger repeatedly despite being so greedy for money. But speaking to Fatty requires skills. He is the kind of person who doesn't respond to soft or hard words. Most of the time, it is much more useful to stimulate him than to flatter him. So I said to him, "What can you do?"

He was really a little unhappy and said to me: "What are you talking about? Just because you are a college student, you are allowed to have such ideas? I have been to Kunlun Mountain. There is a lot of ice on Kunlun Mountain. There are many glaciers thicker than this. I have much more experience than you."

I smiled and said, "Then tell me."

The fat man hummed and told us about his guide at the time and many stories about ice. The Kunlun Mountains are much higher than here, and are real alpine glaciers. Large ice cracks there frequently crack due to temperature and mountain movement. Sometimes strange remains of ancient ancestors are found in the cracks, and some people even found houses frozen deep in the glacier, but these things are collapsed and are just debris.

He asked why these ancient relics could not be preserved in such a cold environment. The guide told him that it was impossible to freeze a building completely in ice, especially a wooden house. When encountering an ice avalanche or a snow avalanche, it would definitely collapse first.

The building in the glacier under our feet must have been built on the cliff. The shadow inside looks so complete, and the outline is very much like a baby, which means there is no sign of collapse below. Otherwise, the overhead building will be completely destroyed once it collapses. Therefore, unless the glacier is not a tomb but a stone, otherwise, the tomb is definitely not caused by an avalanche, but by human beings.

The fat man's reasoning was very sound, and I nodded in agreement with him. However, the others did not understand the significance of the fat man's hypothesis. Pan Zi asked him, "So what?"

The fat man waved his hand and said, "If it wasn't an avalanche, then the mausoleum was built more than 900 years ago. Logically, the ice accumulated over 900 years could not be so thick, so the ice must be man-made. There must be a very thick artificial ice wall under our feet. This ice wall cannot be directly pressing on the building, so there must be an arc, forming a natural ice dome, pressing on the slope, protecting the building below. It's similar to an ice mound, but the ice is not as thick as we imagined. You see, the ice here is very transparent, which is also evidence."

When the fat man said this, everyone was in an uproar. They all looked at him with admiration, and at the same time they suddenly felt much more unstable on their feet.

The fat guy was still thinking about the fact that I looked down on him just now, and knowing that I studied architecture, he asked me if what he said was possible.

I nodded and said that the explanation made sense in theory and was feasible. Using ice to build houses has been around in the world for a long time. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao built a city in one night using ice and straw. The Eskimos also used ice to build their houses. Recently, modern ice buildings have appeared in Denmark, which shows that the hardness of ice is absolutely no problem in architecture.

However, Cao Cao built a city in one night on a plain. Is it really possible to build such a magnificent ice dome on a cliff? I have some reservations. After all, it was more than 1,000 years ago. Even if Wang Canghai could surpass his time by a lot, he should not be so awesome.

When the fat man heard that I agreed with him, he immediately became proud, shook his hair and said, "Look, this is what I call a talent."

Ye Cheng asked me, "Master Wu, can you calculate the possible thickness of this ice dome based on architecture?"

I have returned most of what I learned in college to my teachers. But I still know the weight of ice per unit volume. I calculated it in my mind, applied a few formulas and came up with a number. I said to him, "If it is as Fatty said, assuming that we use a wooden support structure, then the thickness of the ice layer under our feet will not exceed ten meters. Otherwise, it will be too heavy and will collapse by itself, and nothing can support it."

"Ten meters." Several people looked at each other. Pan Zi said, "Fuck, that's tough. The ice here is different from other places. It's much harder. We don't have professional equipment. Lang Feng and I just used shovels to hit the ice pick hard. After a few hits, our hands were numb. We only got a few white marks. It will probably take some time to get through ten meters. Maybe even a week."

Gravity ice is different from other ice on riverbeds. The raw material of riverbed ice is river water, which contains impurities and a large number of bubbles. The temperature of the riverbed is not too low, but gravity ice is pressed layer by layer by thousands of years of snow. Not only does it have fewer impurities, but the ice temperature under the snow layer may be more than minus 50 degrees Celsius. At this temperature and purity, the hardness and density of the ice are very terrible.

The fat man said, "We have explosives, don't we? Why don't we just climb up the rock and make a blasthole?"

Monk Hua and I shook our heads immediately. Thinking about how I almost died in the snow just now, I said to him unhappily, "You really don't learn your lesson. Haven't you had enough of the taste just now? Moreover, if the glacier is hollow, even a small explosion could rupture the entire ice dome. If your assumption is correct, you can't consider using methods that are too destructive to dig holes. If you dig to a critical place, you may not even be able to use an ice shovel. If you don't handle it well, it will cause a chain reaction."

The fat man was very disgusted with theoretical science. He said, "You are just being bookish. If you can't even use an ice shovel, what should we do? Should we use a spoon to dig it out? Don't rely on the fact that you are a college student to make alarmist remarks here and artificially create problems for us."

I thought I was more anxious than you, but facts are facts. If anyone doesn't believe it, he can try it out.

As soon as we figured out one problem, another one came up. Suddenly, the atmosphere became dull again. Everyone was silent and started to think of solutions. Just as we were hesitating, Menyouping suddenly came to our side with the smokeless stove that Shunzi used to make tea. He put it aside, and the hot stove immediately reacted with the cold ice surface, making a popping sound. He asked me, "Is this okay?"

When I saw it, I said to myself, oh, yes, his mother was frozen to death, I didn't expect this method, why not just use fire?

The hardness of ice is directly related to temperature. When the temperature rises, the hardness will decrease, the surface of the ice wall will become brittle, and the chain reaction caused by the ice shovel will weaken. We can do it step by step, first bake the surface ice to soften, then knock it off as a whole, revealing the ice core that is more frozen inside, and then continue to bake it with a smokeless stove, repeating until it is broken through.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth, so we did an experiment right away. We took out our smokeless stove, lit it up and put it on the ice, and after a minute, we used a shovel to cut the ice. Sure enough, what the book said was right, the brittle high-temperature ice would crack as a whole.

However, because the temperature around us was too low, progress was very slow. We took turns trying until nearly three hours, when it was almost dark, we finally made a depression on the wall that was half a meter wide and seven or eight meters deep. The color of the ice below had changed significantly, and the purity of the ice had also become much clearer. We were certain that the fat man's statement was half right, and it was definitely not naturally formed ice.

The fat man tied a rope around his waist and supported his feet on both sides of the ice well. Finally, he used a smokeless stove to warm the ice surface at the bottom of the well, and then hit it with a short-handled hammer, trying to knock another piece off. Unexpectedly, with a "pop", the ice dome cracked, and all of a sudden we felt the air outside rushing towards the hole, a gust of wind blew, and the temperature suddenly became much cooler.

The fat man hit the ice underneath again, breaking it into pieces. The broken ice fell down, and sure enough, a hole appeared, and there was nothing underneath!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Even the fat man himself was surprised and exclaimed, "I guessed it right."

We pulled him up, and everyone gathered at the entrance of the cave, scrambling to pick up flashlights and shine them inside.

Inside the ice well is a huge gray space. The entire ice dome is like a transparent bowl on a cliff. Countless wooden beams covered with ice edges stand upright from the rocks of the cliff, interlaced together to form a structure similar to a scaffolding, supporting the "ice bowl" outside. These are the thorns on the fetal shadow. Under the cliff is a bottomless, pitch-black abyss.

On the steep mountainside with a drop of about 100 meters, we saw the true form of the black fetus. It was a huge fetus-shaped cave. We didn't know whether it was man-made or naturally formed. The entrance of the cave was as big as a standard swimming pool. At first glance, it looked like a huge black baby.

We were stunned, and several of us were almost speechless. The fat man had sharp eyes, grabbed my flashlight, and moved in one direction. "Look here!"

Under his guidance, we squinted our eyes and looked carefully, and then we saw that there was actually a huge palace with flying eaves and beams built in the cave. Part of the building protruded out of the cave and was supported on the cliff by wooden corridors, like a suspended castle in the air. Most of the buildings were built in the cave, and the whole picture could not be seen.

Because of the low temperature all year round, ice chips are condensed everywhere. The part of the building with the cave entrance looks gray and not obvious, so it is not easy to find at a glance.

This is the Ling Palace of the burial mausoleum, which is also the Dragon Tower Palace often mentioned by the tomb raiders, the "mausoleum" part of the mausoleum. The tomb of the tomb owner should be under this Ling Palace, inside the mountain.

I couldn't help but sigh. I thought there was only one hidden entrance to the underground palace. I didn't expect King Wannu to be so grand and set up such a huge palace for his burial. What a spectacular sight it would be if the Yunding Palace was not covered by heavy snow? It's really hard to imagine. The wisdom of the ancients can't help but make people feel terrified.

The fat guy was the first to react and started laughing, then everyone else started laughing and everyone high-fived each other to celebrate. I bumped into the fat guy's butt and almost slipped off the ice.

Monk Hua hurriedly stopped us and pointed to the snow cliff above our heads, meaning to be careful of another landslide. We were all on the ice cliff and no one could escape.

We then suppressed our excitement and calmed down, but several of us had expressions of uncontrollable ecstasy on our faces.

Now think about it, even if they are great tomb robbers, how many of them can rob the level of the imperial tomb? If you can enter the imperial tomb once and come out safely, you will not care about what treasures are inside. Just this skill makes you great. I don't know how many years you can brag about it. Your mentality must be different. No one can resist this kind of attraction. Even I, who have not yet identified myself as a tomb robber, have an extreme urge in my heart. I can't wait to go down and take a look.

Monk Hua patted his face, trying to relax himself, then turned to ask Chenpi A Si, "Should we go down now or tomorrow?"

Chenpi Ah Si gave us a gloomy look and asked, "Can you bear it tomorrow?"