Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 578 Even Numbers

"Stink?"

Not only Jiubai, but everyone else also looked confused and stretched their necks to sniff hard.

Unfortunately, they didn't smell anything. Apart from the slightly salty earthy smell and the smell of decay that became more and more obvious the further they went in, they didn't smell any strange smell.

Jiang Shangxian knew that his dog nose was different from that of ordinary people, so he had to suppress the confusion in his heart and continued to move forward.

The steps are not very long and the thickness varies. They look like they were casually chiseled out and have become so smooth over the years.

She counted each step, twenty-two.

This number left her a little puzzled: "It seems that this place is really not for living."

"What have you found, madam?" As the guards around Xiao Cui, each of them has the same character as Xiao Cui - they prefer martial arts to literature.

Although they are all literate, they can only recognize words, not more than that.

The storyteller Xiao Jiang was in no mood to keep the story a secret at this point. "Since ancient times, odd numbers have represented yang, and even numbers have represented yin. A yang house has odd-numbered steps, while an odd number indicates a yin house or temple. We just walked up a total of twenty-two steps."

"Madam, are you saying that what Brother Jiubai saw was a grave?"

Yingzi's eyes widened. At only seven years old, she had already mastered Jiang's mother's essence. She exclaimed in amazement, "I didn't expect the people of Lingnan to be so particular. They even have to bury their graves in caves. How many people can be buried in such a big cave?"

They bury their bodies in their own fields or on their own mountains. In short, they want to be buried in their own family even if they die.

Whether buried in the ground or at home, it's actually quite terrible. Who would like to live with a grave every day?

But it takes up space for crops in the fields, ah...

Jiang Shangxian strangely heard a hint of envy in her words - No, sister, what's wrong with you?

If you follow Xiao Jiang and I, will you have to worry about cemeteries in the future?

"We'll know after we take a look." Jiang Shangxian wasn't sure whether this was a tomb or a temple-like building. After all, all she knew was Han tradition. Lingnan was mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities, and modern archaeological excavations rarely found anything in this area.

This cave was a bit strange. After walking down the stairs, there was a slope with a very small angle. Jiubai suddenly stopped and gestured to the others. In an instant, three guards came with torches and walked cautiously in the left, right and front directions.

As they walked, the scene inside the cave gradually became clearer. Jiang Shangxian's mouth opened wider and wider: "What, what is this?"

A stone building suddenly appeared before their eyes.

It is difficult to see clearly what is inside, but from the outside, each stone brick is the same size, there is a small square brick between every two horizontal bricks, and the gaps between the bricks are extremely dense. Although the wall is weathered by time, it is not difficult to see how much effort the people of Lingnan put into building such a building in this deep mountain.

"Madam, let me go and take a look first." Jiubai stopped her and prepared to go in and check the situation first.

Jiang Shangxian shook his head: "Let's go together."

Now that she has come this far, even if there is any danger inside, she can't leave Jiubai here alone.

Moreover, the stench became stronger the closer we got to this place.

She suspected that there might be the corpse of some bird or animal inside, otherwise why would there be such a strong smell?

The cultural level of Jiubai and the others is really worrying. She is afraid that if they come across the corpse of some bird or animal, they may not be able to tell what it is.

As he got closer, Jiang Shangxian discovered that perhaps it was because the cave was too deep or the weather in Lingnan was too humid, but this one-story house, which was almost as high as the top of the cave, had green moss growing all over its outer walls and roof.

Perhaps due to its age and lack of maintenance, large sections of the original exterior wall have fallen off, and the wooden windows, which look like fences, can no longer show their original color.

"This looks like a temple?" Jiubai turned his head and asked Jiang Shangxian.

Jiang Shangxian nodded: "Let's go in and take a look."

The gate had been damaged for a long time, with a big hole on each side. I don't know what caused it. It fell to the ground with a slight push, splashing a lot of dust.

Jiang Shangxian applauded his own "mountain climbing" outfit again, and looked up at the ceramic statue enshrined in the middle.

It was a female deity with thin, curved eyebrows and fox eyes, her hair in a bun, and brightly colored clothing...

This is nothing. The key point is that one hand is above and the other hand is below. The hand above, palm facing up, is holding up a huge snake head, while the hand below, palm facing down, is stroking the giant snake's vital point.

She was not sitting on a lotus throne or something that looked sacred and awesome like the gods and Buddhas in the Central Plains, but on the coiled body of a snake.

Combined with the smile of the statue, one can't help but get goosebumps.

I don't know which guard it was, but he swallowed hard and made a gulping sound: "Madam, do you know which immortal this is?"

Yingzi also said nervously: "Madam, we came in a hurry and didn't bring any incense. Isn't that a bit impolite?"

Normal gods and Buddhas shouldn't bother with them, but this one doesn't seem very kind...

How would Jiang Shangxian know who this was?

There are so many gods and Buddhas in China that it is hard to count them all. In Buddhism and Taoism combined, there are 365 days in a year, and there are gods and Buddhas celebrating their birthdays every day.

She had no choice but to hold the little girl's hand to ease her nervousness: "This place is not big, let's see if there are any clues first."

This place is not really big compared to the temples in Chang'an City, but in these deep mountains, it is actually quite large.

The three huge bays looked empty as there was nothing symbolic about them except for this strange clay statue.

On the other side of the wall that the statue was leaning against, there was a stone table, but it was empty. Jiang Shangxian just glanced at it and decided to ignore it for the time being.

She was unwilling to accept that her learning of Xiou stone carving was of no use, so she simply held a torch and walked around the four thick pillars. She found that these four were indeed ordinary pillars, and the paint on them was different from that of the statues.

If the statues were painted with some special mineral pigments that kept their vibrant colors after hundreds of years, then these four pillars seemed to be the result of insufficient funds—their colors had all faded.

There was no other way, Jiang Shangxian had to rely on his nose to find clues.

As soon as she stepped into this place, she felt a strong fishy smell, but she didn't see anything conspicuous.

The guards were already preparing to climb up the roof and remove the tiles, while Jiang Shangxian pulled Yingzi to the wall.

The inner and outer walls were obviously not painted with the same material. The outer wall had already fallen off, but the inner wall was almost intact, appearing a pale grayish color.

The outside feels cool and rough to the touch.