Plea of Innocence

By Richard Crofts

Decades ago, a feudal clan that had been hiding in the rainforest for hundreds of years was destroyed.
Decades later, the people involved and their descendants encountered strange things one after another.
Archaeologists, university professors, overseas students, wealthy young men, and antique shop owners are all involved....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Crofts
• Release date: May 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224175253

Book preview

Chapter 1 Secret Passage

Grandpa, don't look at it. This is unlikely to be an authentic work by Shakespeare.

The store is antique. The dusk sunlight shines through the store glass and shines on the old man’s sweaty face. The old man wears white cloth gloves on his hands, holds a magnifying glass in his left hand, and a piece of severely yellowed rice paper in his right hand. He looks through the glasses. film, eyes fixed on the writing on the rice paper.

I don’t know where he got this rice paper. I have been studying it for many days.

I took a towel to help the old man wipe the sweat on his face, and took out a report sheet from the drawer. I was worried that my eyesight was wrong, so I went to the city museum and asked Uncle Wang to use the age measuring instrument. The paper was The Lianqi paper was made by the government office in Xishan, Jiangxi Province more than 400 years ago. It is indeed the paper commonly used by Shakespeare.

I took out a color-changing ink test paper and said, I also tested the scraped ink powder. The pine smoke content is not low, which is consistent with the characteristics of pine smoke ink commonly used in the Ming Dynasty.

Putting down the test paper, I also put on gloves and pointed to the six seals on the rice paper. One is from Zhu Xu of the Ming Dynasty, who is the son of Zhu Yunming. The other five are from the Qing Dynasty. Three of them cannot be found. Two of them are from Yuan Mei and Qian Sen. Qian Sen is Yuan Mei's student. There is no problem with the seals in general.

I moved my finger down along the seal and landed on a line of small words that read This article is written with the utmost sincerity - Shakespeare.

This word prompt sounds very much like Shakespeare's word, and Shakespeare was indeed Shakespeare's name in his early years.

I moved my finger to the main text. It is regular script. The writing is elegant and vigorous. The strokes start and end in the same way, and the order of strokes, are all the same as Shakespeare's calligraphy.

I straightened my back and sighed, Everything is correct, but...

But what?

The old man slowly put down the magnifying glass and rice paper, pulled out a four-legged stool from the counter, walked to the front of the store and sat down, took out his pipe from his arms, and started smoking.

Seeing that the old man was a little unhappy, I felt a little secretly happy in my heart. I have always been wrong all these years, but I never thought that the old man would also be wrong.

I walked over and said, Grandpa, have you noticed the time when the article was signed? It was the month of Gengxu in the year of Renyin. This time is November 1528.

I was a little proud, Shakespeare died on January 9, 1529. At that time, he was surrounded by many students. And this article is not a personal letter, so if it is true, it can be regarded as Shakespeare's last work. , Shakespeare's legacy will leave a record in history no matter what, but I have searched through all Shakespeare's works such as The Apprenticeship, University Questions, Reply to Gu Dongqiao, and even History of the Ming Dynasty The source of the article on this paper was not found.

I added Moreover, the content described in this article is absurd and weird, and it is also seriously inconsistent with Shakespeare's other articles.

The old man didn't speak, he was still puffing on his pipe. The setting sun colored the smoke. As the smoke drifted, the setting sun seemed to move with it. I suddenly found that the old man was a little worried.

grandfather,

I was a little nervous. After all, the old man taught me all these skills personally. Now he has misjudged me. Could it be that I really hurt him by showing off?

Don't worry, Grandpa. This article is an ancient fake, and it's an extremely good imitation. I'll find a local boss who can sell it at the price of the original.

Stinky boy,

The old man stood up with some effort. His back was a little hunched due to the years, but he was still a head taller than me. He tapped my head with his pipe and asked, Have you ever thought about a question?

Seeing that the old man had stopped talking, I quickly asked, What's the problem?

This imitator can imitate everything to make it look real, but why did he leave such a big flaw in the content of the article for you to discover?

I was shocked and took a long time to calm down before asking, Do you think this article was really written by Shakespeare?

This world is not black and white, nor is it true and false. Many things are hard to explain.

A slight sigh reached my ears.

At this time, the old man had already walked to the counter, put the rice paper into a brown paper bag, walked out of the store, and headed towards home.

The sun has set, the food stalls on the distant street are setting up, the old man's staggering back gradually disappears, and I suddenly feel a little depressed.

The old man has been running this antique shop for as long as I can remember.

It must be the influence of my grandfather. My father studied archaeology and my mother was his classmate.

I’m not sure whether I was influenced by my parents or my father. I also majored in archeology, but I got sick during my junior year and took a leave of absence. During my break, I ran an antique business with my father. I gradually became interested and gave up. After finishing my studies, I never went back.

During my childhood, my parents were rarely with me, and we couldn’t even see each other during most Spring Festivals. Of course, the postcards they occasionally sent me from all over the country have always been my capital to show off to my playmates. My life is basically taken care of by my grandfather and grandmother. However, in the past few years, the aging of the old couple seems to have accelerated. Their waists have become more and more bent, and their steps have not been as good as before.

Molly, the professor passed away. The memorial service will be on June 12th. The professor left you a letter before he died. Please come over when you have time. - Eddie.

A text message interrupted my thoughts, and I subconsciously glanced at the current time, June 7th.

After reading the text message, I was stunned.

This was the first time I received a message from a college classmate in eight years since I took a leave of absence due to illness, but I never expected it to be news of the professor's death.

The professor is only in his early seventies, right? Not too young, but definitely not too old either.

Thinking of this, I thought of my grandparents who are already in their seventies.

Looking at the bustling food stalls on the street far from my store, I felt an indescribable depression in my heart.

...

The wind and rain in the south always come without warning, and I was soaked when I got home at night.

Grandma was already asleep on the bed in the back room, and the old man was not beside her. I glanced in the direction of the old man's study, and the light in the study was still on.

Could it be that this old man is still studying that page of rice paper?

In the kitchen, after I finished the soup my grandma left for me, I opened the door and ran to the eaves of the study in the rain. However, I did not see the old man through the window glass.

I pushed open the study door, and the musty smell of ancient books hit me in the face.

The old man's study was like a library, occupying the two back rooms on the left side of the back hall. The rows of bookshelves inside were arranged in an intricate manner like a maze. I walked around the study several times but still didn't see the old man, and I couldn't help but wonder.

I walked out of the study and stood in the back hall. I wanted to wake up my grandmother and ask her where the old man had gone, but I couldn't bear to do so, so I had to go back to my bedroom.

The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. I could just see the orange light in the study through the glass, and I always felt uneasy in my heart.

Unable to fall asleep, I simply got up and walked into the old man’s study again.

It was raining heavily outside, and a few flashes of lightning flashed from time to time. The volumes of ancient books on the sandalwood bookshelf were densely packed and silently displayed. I actually felt a sense of fear in my trance.

I paced back and forth in the study, but never saw the brown leather bag containing the rice paper.

Did the old man take that page of rice paper to get an appraisal somewhere? I muttered in my heart.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I noticed that the blue tile floor under the old man's desk seemed different from usual.

I walked closer and saw signs of movement on two floors. Under the cracks in the floor, there is a vaguely bottomless space.

I tried moving the floor, and sure enough, the floor was movable.

After taking apart two floors, a dark hole appeared in front of me.

My heart tightened. I have lived in this family for more than 20 years, and I never knew that there was a secret passage in the old man's study.

I shone my cell phone into the cave and saw a downward sloping ramp that was just wide enough for a person to crawl into. It was bottomless.

Could this old man be in this secret passage?

I couldn't resist my curiosity and crawled in.

The small hole is very narrow at first, just enough for one person to pass through, and then it gradually becomes wider, forming a trumpet-shaped space.

The walls of the secret passage showed traces of excavation by engineers' shovels.

After climbing for a long time, I was finally able to stand up. As I usually lack exercise, this distance has made my knees suffer a lot.

But when I stood up, what caught my eye was an ice coffin.

I was horrified and a hot sweat broke out.

The old man hid a coffin in the secret room of his study. Could it be that he had committed the crime sometime ago?

I took a deep breath, gave myself courage, and slowly approached the ice coffin, taking one step high and one step low.

When I looked into the ice coffin, I was struck by lightning.

The person lying in the ice coffin is my father.

Chapter 2 Time

My whole body was instantly soaked in cold sweat and my heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it was going to explode.

My father died...

But!

I clearly received a postcard of the murals he sent from Dunhuang during the Spring Festival. On the back of the postcard was his handwritten inscription

As Heaven moves in a vigorous manner, a gentleman should constantly strive to improve himself. As Earth is in a low position, a gentleman should carry all things with great virtue.

The light source formed by the mobile phone is very limited. In the empty and dark space, in the corners where the light cannot reach, it always makes me feel that something weird is hiding. My father’s ice coffin is parked there quietly, and I can’t stop myself. Stay shivering.

The blood connection allowed me to gradually overcome some fear. I slowly approached the ice coffin and found that it was not filled with ice, but with crystal, a huge crystal. This huge crystal completely wrapped my father in it.

My father was very peaceful, as if he was sleeping, and the corners of his mouth were still slightly raised.

In his hand, he held something black, which stood out in the blue crystal coffin.

There were no burial objects for my father, only a nine-branch sapphire lamp about seven or eight feet high standing in front of the crystal coffin.

The lamp base is a coiled dragon holding the lamp in its mouth. The nine ever-burning lamps are as bright as stars.

What on earth was the old man doing? Why did he build my father's tomb under the Zhou family's old house? Why didn't he tell me when my father passed away? Did my grandma know all this?

I was anxious to find the old man and ask him about everything, so I retreated into the long and narrow tunnel and climbed up on my knees.

My knees gradually reached the limit of what they could bear, but it was still pitch black in front of me, and I didn't feel like I had reached the end at all.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

A sound similar to that of the second hand of a clock suddenly echoed in the cave behind me, especially clear.

My heart sank. I really wanted to look back, but fear made my neck uncontrollable.

The light on my phone gave me an idea. I turned on the camera and switched it to selfie mode. Then I pointed behind me and took several photos.

The phone went dark and turned off automatically.

The cave suddenly became completely dark.

I was so panicked that I kept crawling forward, regardless of whether it was heaven or hell.

Suddenly, my head was hit hard by an unknown hard object in front of me.

...

Molly, Molly.

In my daze, I seemed to hear my grandma calling. I opened my eyes with great effort, and first saw the turban on my grandma's head, but the sun was too dazzling, so I closed my eyes again.

You brat, if you don't wake up, I'm going to call 120. It was the old man's voice.

I opened my eyes again and found myself lying on the bed in my bedroom. The sun was hanging high outside the east window. It should be close to noon.

The old man sat by the bed and held my arm, and grandma squatted by the bed and held my hand.

I didn't see you getting up to open the store this morning. I thought your kid was staying in bed again. But when I walked in, I found that your kid didn't wake up no matter how hard I screamed.

Grandma said, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, Fortunately, your grandpa has experience. He pinched your vagina and finally woke up. It scared me to death. If there was anything wrong with you, how could we tell you Tell your parents.

I sat up suddenly from the bed, looked at the old man, and asked, Has my father passed away?

Little ancestor, why do you say anything?

Grandma slapped the back of my hand and said, Get up quickly. Grandma will take you to the hospital.

The old man also looked at me in surprise, stepped forward and touched my forehead, shook his head, sighed again, and walked out of the room.

My dad passed away, did you know? He is now in the secret passage of grandpa's study. I turned my head and cried.

Are you confused by the fever, little ancestor? Grandma looked at me sadly, tears streaming down her face again.

Seeing that grandma didn't know the truth, I got out of bed, took grandma to the old man's study, and quickly came to the old man's desk. Just when I was about to tell grandma the truth, I saw the two blue brick floors under the desk that were tightly joined together. There, the cement filled in the cracks of the bricks is no different from other places.

I was stunned for a moment, but I was not idle. I stomped on the two green bricks with my feet, but after stomping them several times, the bricks did not move at all.

Huh......

I gasped.

Molly, did you have a bad dream?

Grandma looked at me worriedly I called your dad yesterday, and he's fine, nothing happened.

My heart trembled, and the memory of my illness in my junior year suddenly came to my mind.

I ran back to the bedroom, found my cell phone, and called my father.

My heart almost jumped into my throat as the phone kept beeping.

Molly?

My father's voice came from the phone.

Dad, I didn't know whether I was happy or sad, but I couldn't say anything else.

What's wrong, Molly? asked his father with concern.

It's okay, I just missed you and called you.

I hung up the phone and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

I picked up the phone again and looked for the photo album inside, but the content I wanted to see did not appear.

I dropped my phone on the bed.

I paused for a moment, picked up the phone again, and saw the date on the screen saver, June 13th.

I checked the calendar on the website and it also showed June 13th.

I checked the weather conditions on June 7th and found that our city had heavy rainfall due to the landfall of a typhoon.

The phone slipped from my hand, my breathing began to quicken, and a huge feeling of fear began to slowly engulf my whole body.

Not only was I hallucinating again.

My time was lost again.

This time, it was lost for five days.

The sun passed over the eaves above the east window, and no sunlight could enter the house. I felt getting colder and colder all over.

Grandma came in and saw how pale I looked, and she was very worried.

Grandma, did I open the store yesterday? I asked my grandma.

It's open. Grandma was at a loss.

On the day when it rained heavily on the 7th, did grandpa bring back a cowhide bag with Shakespeare's handwriting in it? I asked.

Grandma took a while to react, It seems like there is a cowhide bag, but I don't know what's inside.

Grandma held my hand distressedly and said, Molly, come with grandma to the hospital.

I'm fine grandma, I just had a dream and I need to take a break.

I pretended to be calm, helped grandma adjust the turban on her head, and forced a smile.

After grandma left, I grabbed my hair and buried my head in my legs.

The phone on the bed suddenly vibrated. I didn't want to answer it, but it kept vibrating endlessly. I picked up the phone and wanted to hang up, but the person on the phone was Eddie.

Molly, this is Eddie. You didn't come to the professor's funeral yesterday. Before he died, the professor left a letter for you. We haven't seen each other for a long time. I plan to deliver it to you tomorrow.

Hello? Molly?

Molly, are you listening?

I took a deep breath, not wanting to disappoint my best friend from college, and said, Come on, Eddie.

Jisheng and Elroy also said they missed you and wanted to go with me. Is that ok?

I took a deep breath again, as if I was replying to Eddie, but more like I was saying to myself Come on, come on.

After hanging up the phone, I fell heavily on the bed.

The memories of my junior year flooded through my mind.

Chapter 3 Ancient Temple

Eight years ago, at the Zhuyin Ancient Temple on the coast of Guangdong.

The walls around the temple are mottled, with exposed bricks.

The bluestone floor tiles in the courtyard were uneven, with the raised and low-lying areas being nearly half a meter apart.

Wild grass grew up between the broken tiles on the temple roof.

Inside the temple, all wooden materials had corroded away, leaving only a candlestick made of stone slabs leaning in the middle of the temple.

The sun had already set. The old professor and four students were squatting beside a candlestick that had fallen to the ground. No one spoke.

Under the candle shade stand, there is a dark pit that has just been opened. In the dark pit, a nest of little golden roosters are arranged in the shape of Bagua, but the positions of Qian and Kun are empty.

One, two, three, four, five, six, Professor, let's take care of the whole litter.

Job couldn't help it anymore, his eyes were shining, Anyway, we are doing field practice now, not archaeological work.

Nonsense, you don't have this level of knowledge, how can you learn archeology?

The old professor glared at Job, stroking his beard and staring intently at the group of chickens on the ground, The arrangement of these little golden chickens is a bit interesting.

Job was unwilling to give in, Look at these golden roosters, each one is bigger than my fist. After we graduate, even if we join the system and work as archaeologists for a lifetime, we will not make so much money.

The old professor raised his walking stick and hit Job on the head. You are the only one who knows that it is gold and valuable, but you never thought about why they lost two and still had six left. Young man, the first rule of entering the archaeological world is not to touch things, no matter how tempting they are.

But you taught us that archaeology is neither metaphysics nor witchcraft. We are materialists. What can't we do? Job rubbed his head, his eyes full of unwillingness.

Job, what the professor means is that, first, such a valuable thing has been here for so long, there might be some trap, and second, it is the basic ethics of our profession not to be greedy when seeing treasures. Winelroy, the only girl who brought the professor with him on this field practice, interrupted.

Little Elroy is right. The professor nodded, and his eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the Golden Rooster Bagua Plate. The patterns on this chicken are a bit strange, and they seem to be some kind of writing.

Suddenly, with a meow, a black cat covered in oil rushed out of the Zhuyin Temple. It squatted on the ground, and its two blood-red eyes were staring straight at the nest of little golden chickens.

Professor, this seems to be an ancient Ba Shu symbol. My grandfather is obsessed with collecting ancient books, and I have seen this kind of symbol, which is similar to a picture, in his collection of books.

Molly, now that you put it that way, it does make sense. But why would artifacts from ancient Ba and Shu appear in the Zhuyin Temple on the coast? The professor stroked his beard.

Professor, I'm not greedy anymore, just touch it.

With a look of reluctance on his face, Job suddenly reached out and grabbed a little golden chicken.

Meow, the black cat called again.

Suddenly, the clouds in the sky changed color and darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Not completely black, but rather grey.

We stood in the courtyard of the temple and could even hear the sound of the waves crashing on the sea.

Look, what is that, professor? Look, it's too bright for my eyes to see clearly.

Win Elroy suddenly stared straight ahead at the candlestick stand and reached out to grab it, but the moment he did so, his face turned pale.

I'm coming.

Winelroy was dancing around as if he was fighting something, and the fear on his face was indescribable.

Elroy, what's coming?

The professor's face seemed to be different. Xu Cang, Eddie Job, hug her quickly.

The three of us, under the professor's command, hugged Win Elroy.

Professor, the little golden roosters are arranged according to the directions of the Eight Diagrams. This is probably an ancient mechanism. The little golden rooster that Jisheng just encountered happened to be on the Dongfang Zhen Gua. The vibration is like thunder, which means activation. Eddie Said while pressing Win Elroy.

Hearing this, we all looked at Eddie with incredible eyes. Where is the professional knowledge of archeology in this?

We are all finished. Eddie said again.

I suddenly felt a chill rising from the soles of my feet.

what is that!

Suddenly, from the gaps between the uneven blue bricks and stone slabs in the temple, I saw dense earthworm-like creatures emerging continuously, like fountains gushing water. In the blink of an eye, the temple looked like a pool. , except that it’s not water, it’s all earthworm-like creatures. They were squirming crazily inside, and among the cracks in the rocks, one after another of earthworm-like creatures were still spewing out at an accelerating speed, and were about to overflow into the temple.

Wow, Job spat out.

Elroy was still dancing as he lay there, his face turned pale, Here he comes, here he comes again.

My hair stood on end, my stomach was churning, and like Job, I vomited.

Eddie frowned, bit his lips, and said nothing.

The professor's eyes were full of shock, looking at the earthworm-like creatures that had poured into the temple in disbelief.

Soon, my legs became unable to move. I waved my arms vigorously, trying to drive away the dirt that had not reached my knees, but soon, my hands could not move, and then my neck could not move. Slowly, I felt countless dirt getting into my mouth and nose, and I couldn't breathe. Until the end, I only saw that the professor's crutches seemed to be still in his hands, and his whole body was also completely wrapped by those wriggling earthworm-like creatures...

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.

Win Elroy and Job and Eddie, sitting by my bed.

You're finally awake Molly.

Winelroy was the first to stand up and walked closer to me. You need to exercise more in the future.

I turned my head to look at Winelroy and found that she was completely intact.

In an instant, I sat up in shock and looked at the three people in front of me in disbelief.

Everyone is intact.

I subconsciously looked at the time and saw that three days had passed since the day I went to the ancient temple for practice.

You've been unconscious for two hours, Win Elroy said.

...

Later, I told them about the terrifying experience I had in the ancient temple three days ago. Everyone was shocked. They said I was only unconscious for two hours and that nothing strange happened during the entire operation at the ancient temple three days ago. But this evening I suddenly fainted, possibly due to hypoglycemia, and they sent me to the hospital.

In and out of words, they were all expressing one thing, I was hallucinating.

I couldn't accept this fact. In fact, I could barely accept the horrific scene when they said it was my hallucination. After all, they all stood in front of me perfectly.

What I can't accept is the timing discrepancy.

The time I woke up from the time I fell into coma was clearly three days, how could it be only two hours?

I can't remember the time wrong because the day I fell into coma was my birthday. And when I woke up, it was the third day after my birthday.

I started to argue with them, but no one believed me. They thought I had lost my mind and was suffering from delusion.

In the days after returning to school, our quarrels continued, and I also had many quarrels with professors. Even Eddie, who had the best relationship with me, did not understand me.

Gradually, I took the initiative to distance myself from them.

Not long after, I contracted a rare skin disease. Large snake-like white spots appeared on my body. They even grew to my neck and face. They looked disgusting.

Under the combined effect of these two things, my mood became more and more depressed, my personality became more and more unsociable, and I would occasionally enter a manic period. Finally, the school suggested that I drop out of school, and the old man came to the school and took me home.

In the past eight years, I have been doing business with the old man while sealing up this memory.

In the past eight years, I have indeed never encountered anything strange again, and my heart gradually calmed down. Until the past year or so, I had even forgotten that memory.

But now, everything is back.

My time is lost again. Lost in the old man's study.

Different from the last time I lost three days, this time, I lost five days.

The sun passed over the bedroom roof and emerged from the eaves above the west window, a ray of sunlight shining into the house.

But I can't feel any warmth in my whole body.

Chapter 4 Photos

Molly, your home is so beautiful, I want to take a good look at it.

The next afternoon, three classmates came to my house. As soon as they entered the door, Win Elroy praised them.

Win Elroy wore a peaked cap on his head, two whips on his chest, and a backpack on his shoulders. He was dressed the same as when he was in school. His smart eyes looked around, as if time had not been taken away. Her youth is still full of vitality all over her body.

It's all designed by my old man. I agreed.

This house is like a human body that embraces air, with the back hall as its body, the back rooms on both sides as shoulders, the east and west wing rooms as arms, and the front hall and front rooms as hands. The open courtyard and skylight in the middle is its space for embracing air. This layout is the same as the beautiful feng shui concept of 'embracing a valley in the mountains'. Molly, your old man has quite a solid foundation, Job praised.

Job has changed a lot since he was in school. He has gained weight and has some wrinkles on his face. He didn't have dark circles under his eyes before, but now they are very dark. From a distance, he looks like a giant panda.

Eddie, just like he did in college, put his hands in his pockets and habitually carried a backpack slung across one thin shoulder. As long as there were more than two people around, he would automatically become a listener.

You kid, you're still as dumb as ever. I punched Eddie.

Eddie turned his head and looked at me, raised the corners of his mouth, and gave me a hug.

When a classmate whom I hadn't seen for a long time came to visit me, I thought that I would be immersed in those painful memories, but unexpectedly, my mood seemed to change from cloudy to sunny.

I looked up at the weeping willow tree in the yard, which was lush and green under the scorching sun, and listened to Elroy and Jisheng chattering, as if I was back to the time when I first arrived at the university campus.

The children are here, Molly, let the students in. Grandma heard the voice and came out.

Probably because she knew that one of my classmates was coming home, grandma put on a new green turban today.

The classmates were obviously attracted by the turban on grandma's head and all looked over there.

I smiled and explained, My old man was an educated youth who went to the rainforest to work in the countryside. He met my grandmother there. She is a Mosuo.

Win Elroy immediately perked up, moved closer to grandma, and asked, Grandma, are the Mosuo people in the rainforest still a matriarchal clan? Is walking marriage popular there?

Grandma took Winelroy's hand and said with a smile, Walking marriage still exists, but matriarchal clans are out of the question. It's already the new China.

When I arrived at the main room, the water on the charcoal stove was already boiling, and the old man was sitting in front of the coffee table heating cups.

Job was very interested in the old man's tea set, so he went straight over and sat next to the old man.

Jisheng, you said you'd stay in school to teach, but why are you still obsessed with picking up Trichosanthes kirilowii? You can't control yourself when you see a treasure.

After the classmates greeted their grandfather, Winelroy pointed at Job and scolded him with a smile.

Job smiled awkwardly but ignored Winelroy, still staring intently at his grandfather's tea set.

Children, tea is ready for you. I know you young people don't like the presence of our old antiques when chatting, so we won't disturb you.

After grandfather gave everyone a cup of tea, he stood up, said goodbye to his classmates, and called grandma away.

I learned from Win Elroy that his step-sister was staying at the school to teach, but I didn’t know what Elroy was doing now, so I asked, Elroy, what are you doing now?

Elroy is a grown-up. After studying for graduate school with a professor, he went to Stanford. Now he has just returned from studying abroad. He probably won't recognize us after a while, Job interjected.

Fuck you. Win Elroy pinched Job.

I turned to look at Eddie, who had not said a word since entering the door, Eddie, what about you?

My father passed away, and I am temporarily managing the business he left behind.

I felt a little guilty because I just found out about my best friend's father passing away.

Everyone was silent for a while. Elroy looked at me, his smart eyes a little worried. Molly, how about you? Are you okay?

I knew what Elroy was asking, so I rolled up my sleeves, pointed at the scaly skin on my arms, and said with a wry smile, I've been receiving treatment since I dropped out of school. The ones on my face and neck are healed, but the ones on my body won't go away. But they don't hurt or itch, so I just let it be.

Have you found the cause? Elroy asked tentatively.

I smiled bitterly again, Different hospitals have different conclusions, so I just don't bother to argue with them anymore.

Many people have one disease or another throughout their lives. It would be nice if they don't have any pain or discomfort. Life is all about losing something in one place and gaining something in another, Elroy said, adding, It would be nice if they don't have any other discomfort.

I knew what Elroy meant to ask was whether I would still have hallucinations. Fortunately, she didn't ask further, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to answer.

Qiao Bu changed the topic, After I graduated with a master's degree, I stayed at the school to teach. I have had a lot of contact with professors over the years. The professor has been in poor health in the past few years. Three years ago, he went to Sichuan for archeology and went there for a long time. At that time, I thought he might not come back. Later, when he came back, he felt depressed."

Depressed? I asked with a frown.

Well, how to describe it? It's like a plant that lacks water, slowly withering.

Qiao Bu took a sip of tea and said, But, strangely, he always gets better for a period of time, as if someone poured water on him. Over the years, he has traveled all over the country for this disease, using traditional Chinese and Western medicine. I’ve used it, but it’s never been better.

At the end of his speech, Job felt a little helpless, and everyone stopped talking.

The huge main room fell silent, so quiet that the only sound was the steam rising from the purple clay teapot and the sound of the lid being opened.

I looked at Eddie, Eddie, where is the letter the professor left for me?

I was quite surprised when Eddie texted me before that the professor had left a letter for me. My academic performance in school was not outstanding, and I was definitely not the professor's favorite student. I also dropped out of school midway, so it was a bit strange that the professor had left a letter for me.

Eddie took out an envelope from his backpack and handed it to me.

I took the envelope, opened the seal, and took out the letter, but the letter came out with something and fell to the ground.

I looked down and saw it was a photo. I bent down to pick it up and took a look at it in my hand. In an instant, the blood in my body began to flow backwards.

What's wrong?

Three people noticed my abnormality at the same time.

In the photo, my father is lying in a crystal coffin, exactly the same as the situation in the secret room under my grandfather's study.

My breathing started to quicken, my heartbeat started to accelerate, and I tore open the letter with trembling hands. There was only a short sentence on it

You are not wrong, we are wrong.

Chapter 5 Hexagram Paintings

I stood there in a daze, holding the letter and photo tightly in my hands.

The sun was setting outside, and the sunset filled the front hall of the old house. Suddenly, a gust of wind came, and my shirt, which was already wet with sweat, made me feel that my body was losing temperature quickly.

Molly, what did the professor say? Seeing my grim expression, Winelroy asked in confusion.

My head was buzzing and I couldn't answer her at all.

You are right, it is us who are wrong...

These words and the photo of my father lying in the crystal coffin shrouded my mind like a huge dark cloud.

Elroy stepped forward and asked tentatively, Molly, can we read this letter?

I raised my head, looked at the three classmates in front of me, thought for a while, and nodded.

With my permission, Win Elroy took the letter and photos over, and Job and Eddie also walked over.

After just one glance, Win Elroy looked up at me in confusion Molly, I didn't understand.

Professor, this letter has no beginning or end. What is wrong and right? Job said with a frown after reading the letter.

But Molly obviously understood, and his face turned pale. Win Elroy said, pointing to the photo again, Why did the professor keep such a photo? It makes me feel sick.

Win Elroy said and glanced at Eddie, probably hoping that he would also express some opinions, but Eddie remained silent after reading the letter.

My classmates didn’t know my experience in my grandfather’s study, so in their eyes, the content in the letter had no connection with the photos.

Molly, what's going on with this picture?

Probably sensing that I couldn't calm down, Job touched me and asked, Do you understand? The professor's words are so vague. Is there any hidden meaning?

I knew they were expecting me to explain something, so I lowered my head and thought for a while, then raised my head, The professor said that I didn't have hallucinations at the Zhuyin Ancient Temple on the seaside.

ah?

As soon as I said this, my classmates were shocked.

If you are not hallucinating, then we are hallucinating? Elroy was the first to react, with an extremely surprised expression.

That's probably what the professor means.

But......

Elroy only said half of what she said, and I had a rough idea of what she wanted to say next. Because she and her step-son Eddie both participated in the original seaside sacrifice. If my experience was normal, then what was their experience?

Job looked at me in disbelief, We experienced what happened back then together. Are you sure that's what the professor meant?

As he spoke, he took off his glasses and almost put his face to the photo to examine it carefully. He looked at the letter again and said, I still can't see the connection between this photo and this letter and what happened back then.

photo,

I hesitated for a moment and decided not to say anything yet, I don't understand it either.

After that, everyone fell into deep thought again, and I continued to feel overwhelmed.

Does the tomb beneath Grandpa’s study exist? If it doesn't exist, where did this photo come from?

Children, the meal is ready,

At this time, grandma came in.

After dinner, dark clouds appeared in the sky, and my classmates noticed that I was not in my best mood, so they suggested that I take a rest early.

After returning to the room, I picked up the phone and sent the video directly to my father.

Molly.

The video was connected. The father in the video was in a dormitory. The dormitory was relatively simple and obviously temporary.

Seeing my father really appear in front of me, I secretly exhaled a long breath, Dad, are you working in the field?

Yes, it's in Shanxi, a Han tomb.

Dad smiled and said, Boy, why are you always looking for me these two days? Did something happen to you?

I said nothing.

Many things are fundamentally determined by what you think in your heart. Seeing that I was worried, my father enlightened me. This is also his habit. When I have something on my mind, he never asks me what I am worried about. Instead, he teaches me not to see things with my eyes, but to see things with my heart.

But this time my father’s enlightenment made me suddenly think of the strange words of the old man that day The world is not black and white, nor is it true or false.

Could it be that my father knows everything I have been through recently?

I stared at the father in the video carefully, but his expression was as usual.

I hesitated for a moment, but decided to ask, Dad, do you want to tell me something?

When something happens, calm down and look inside yourself.

My father's answer disappointed me. Obviously, he didn't know what I had been going through recently.

After hanging up the phone, I took out the photos in the letter and looked at them carefully.

The photo was taken in a secret room. The secret room in Grandpa's study must indeed exist, otherwise this photo cannot be explained.

After nightfall, I guessed that everyone was asleep, so I quietly walked into the study.

The clouds were very thick tonight, the moon was completely blocked, and the study was pitch dark.

Afraid of being discovered by my grandfather, I did not turn on the light and groped my way to his desk based on my memory of the study's layout.

I squatted down, crawled under the desk, turned on the light of my mobile phone, and began to study the two floor tiles under the desk carefully.

The cement around the two floor tiles is still tightly fitted, and the age of the cement filling the gaps is no different from that of other places around them.

Could it be that the old man deliberately made the cement used for caulking look old?

Thinking of this, I started knocking on the two bricks with my knuckles.

The sound of the return made me a little disappointed.

Under the two bricks, there is a solid space.

Worried that my ears were mistaken, I knocked twice more, then knocked on tiles elsewhere, and the sound I got was exactly the same.

Is there really no secret passage? I sighed. What about the professor's photo?

But at this moment, I heard a voice.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...

This voice is very similar to the memory in the secret passage.

But the sound was so faint and indistinct that I wasn't sure if it was just hallucination, so I held my breath and listened attentively.

It was finally confirmed that the sound came from the attic above my grandfather's study.

Is there anyone in the attic?

Thinking of this, I subconsciously shone the light from my cell phone towards the attic.

A pair of eyes were glued to the gap between the wooden boards in the attic.

My sweat pores suddenly exploded, Who?!

There was silence.

I quickly ran upstairs.

When I got upstairs, I took pictures with my phone everywhere, but there was no one in the attic.

Fear grew from the soles of my feet, my breathing began to quicken, and the pair of eyes that had just penetrated the gap in the floor lingered in my mind.

I searched around the attic again, but still found no one.

But I was still unwilling to give in. I searched carefully several times, but still found nothing.

I sat on the attic stairs, tired and uneasy.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky.

The entire study room was illuminated instantly.

Tian Fengjie.

Looking at the bookshelf streaked by lightning, I blurted out these three words.

The old man's bookshelf is actually arranged according to the Tianfengyu hexagram in the sixty-fourth hexagram of Zhouyi.

The old man has always been superstitious about the Book of Changes. As long as there are a large number of his items, they will inevitably be arranged in the form of hexagram paintings. I have long been accustomed to this.

However, I have never noticed that the bookshelf in the study room is also the same. Although the lightning flashed just now, it clearly imprinted the order of the bookshelf in my mind like taking a picture. Only then did I see the bookshelf. of hexagrams.

Slowly, I frowned.

Chapter 6 Ancient Books

I was sitting on the stairs of the attic, thinking about the form of Tianfengjia's hexagram paintings in my mind, and suddenly I felt that the shape of the fourth row of bookshelves was a bit damaging to Tianfengjia's hexagrams paintings, but I couldn't explain why.

I couldn't help but walk over and my eyes fell on the densely packed ancient books.

After standing for a while, I finally found the source of the problem. Other bookshelves have eight large grids, but this bookshelf in the fourth row only has seven grids.

This situation is unlikely to be caused by the old man's mistake.

Suddenly, the wood carvings on the edge of the bookshelf caught my attention.

Grandpa's collection of books is placed on various bookshelves according to different dynasties, and the old man uses the Tai Sui system to record the years. This line of wood carvings indicates that the ancient books on this bookshelf are from the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty.

It stands to reason that there should be a little distance between Zhaoyang Dahuangluo and Shangzhang Kundun to indicate that they refer to two years. However, what is presented to me now is that the nine characters have the same spacing. wood carving characters.

I looked for other bookshelves to compare, and my suspicions were confirmed to be correct.

The light from the phone was dim, so it was of limited use in observing details, so I touched it with my hand, and sure enough, I felt a crack between Zhaoyang Dahuangluo and Shangzhang Kundun. It was very subtle. If I hadn't felt that there was a problem with the spacing between the characters, I would probably have thought it was the texture of the wood itself.

I knocked on it with my hand and the sound was hollow.

I tried pushing Zhaoyang Dahuangluo and Shangzhang Kundun up and down, and sure enough, a secret compartment appeared.

There is a dark yellow silk brocade box hidden in the secret compartment.

I took out the brocade box and opened it. Inside was the page of Shakespeare's manuscript that I had previously determined to be a fake and an ancient book.

Why is this manuscript placed in such a hidden place?

I was stunned for a moment and my eyes fell on the ancient book.

The cover of the ancient book looks like mold, with several strange symbols drawn on it, like the title of the book. The paper behind the title page is the kind of dark yellow that has naturally aged. It looks like Guanyin paper, but it doesn't seem to be the same, because judging from the age of the paper, it must be at least 800 years old, and Guanyin paper first appeared more than 500 years ago. forward. The paper is densely covered with strange symbols written with a brush. The stitching on the edge of the ancient book is new, as if it was sewn in to prevent the pages from falling apart.

This makes me very confused. Even if a book of such an age is damaged, it should be repaired by someone, rather than stitched together casually.

This is still secondary. What shocked me was that grandpa actually commented on it. On the reverse side of the ancient book, the old man wrote Zhou Yong photographed Tige.

I couldn't help but become more confused. The stitching and annotations were particularly inconsistent with the old man's style.

The old man has a paranoid cherishment of ancient books. Not to mention annotating them, he would not even fold a corner of the ancient books.

But at this moment, I heard slight footsteps outside the study door.

I subconsciously turned off the light source of my phone and hid behind the bookshelf.

The door of the study room was pushed open, and the candlelight in the back hall dedicated to ancestors filtered in, and two figures were reflected on the ground.

I did do something wrong back then, but why are you still unwilling to let me go now? I've already lost my wife and children, so why do I have to take my grandson into trouble as well? It was grandpa's voice, hoarse and astringent, Yes. , if you go to Wawu Mountain to find the piece of black jade, you may be able to solve all these mysteries, but isn’t Chen Yurang’s lesson learned enough?

Chen Yurang? This is the professor's name.

Give up. This should never have happened in the first place.

I have never seen grandpa so depressed, and the other man never spoke.

The two were silent for a while. The man seemed to have handed something to Grandpa, and then left first. After reading it, grandpa sighed deeply and walked out of the study.

The study became quiet again, and I sat there blankly, my mind going blank.

After returning to my room, I sat on the bed tiredly, but there was a storm in my mind.

What does it mean that you have already lost your wife and children? Could it be that something unexpected happened to my father? But isn’t he living a good life? Grandma is doing well too!

Who was the person who entered the study with Grandpa? It's obviously not grandma. There was no sound of the door opening tonight. Could it be one of Win Elroy, Job and Eddie?

The grandson is involved too? This is obviously referring to me. Is it possible that something bad is going to happen to me?

Also, what does the sentence If you go to Wawu Mountain and find the black jade, you may be able to solve all the mysteries mean?

Suddenly, I thought of the photo the professor gave me, and quickly found it. After a careful look, I found that the father in the photo was indeed holding a black object in his hand. In my memory, the father in the ice coffin in the secret passage was also holding a black object in his hand.

Is this the black jade that the old man mentioned?

Countless questions came flooding in, but I couldn't answer any of them. I felt as if I had fallen into a bottomless abyss, falling continuously with no end.

I rubbed my head, got up, turned on the computer, and imported all the photos of ancient books and Shakespeare's manuscripts taken in the study into the computer.

I carefully read the contents of the ancient book page by page.

Ancient books are full of strange symbols, and none of them are the same. I checked a lot of ancient texts on the Internet, but I couldn't find any similar texts.

Fortunately, grandpa's comments occasionally appear on it, so I don't understand it at all.

The ancient book is roughly divided into chapters based on sixty years. At the end of each chapter, there is a picture. The picture is very detailed, but the symbol content is very short, only a few words.

Suddenly, I discovered the three words Wawu Mountain in my grandfather's notes.

I turned on my phone and searched on the web, and the geographical location displayed was in Sichuan.

I remembered that Job said that the professor also visited Sichuan a few years ago. Could this be the place he went to?

I continued to turn back a few pages, and an illustration made me stop. I expanded the photo little by little, and in the ever-expanding picture, the Bagua Golden Rooster appeared vaguely in front of me.

My heart skipped a beat.

For a moment, I seemed to see earthworm-like creatures crawling out of the computer.

'You're right, it's us who are wrong. '

The contents of the professor's letter came to my mind again.

I calmed down and continued to read the contents of this ancient book, but found nothing.

The sky has turned white, but I am still not sleepy at all.

I thought again of the Shakespeare manuscript that I had previously judged to be a fake, and re-examined its contents

I know that my deadline is approaching, so I won't keep it secret for fear that I won't be able to do it. However, it is so mysterious that it is difficult to believe it. In the middle of the year of Bingyin, I was demoted to Longchang, and I lived in a barbaric place. The path to becoming a saint was inaccessible. It is difficult to understand the turmoil in my heart, so I seek peace and quiet in the countryside. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, I have a strange dream. I hear the teachings of sages, see the rise and fall of temples, observe the sufferings of the people, and know the many vicissitudes of life. , I am ashamed of my leakage, and it will take me a moment to wake up. I have thought about this dream for several days, and it has become more real. I feel like I have enlightenment, experience and explore, and realize the Five Classics and Four Sons. It is like breaking through the river and letting it go into the sea. , the way of the saint is as smooth as the road. This is called the purpose of enlightenment and understanding of things, if someone talks about it while sleeping", although it is absurd and weird, it is not deceiving, but it will be examined by future generations of fellow practitioners. ——Wang Shouren, Gengxu in the year of Renyin. In the month of Ganzhou, he wrote.

Chapter 7 Funeral

It was already bright, and the house was quiet, but the vendors outside the alley selling salted olives and soy milk fried dough sticks were knocking on copper plates and shouting.

I had no sleep all night, but that page of Shakespeare's manuscript kept spinning in my head.

What is described in the manuscript is that Shakespeare believed that his enlightenment was related to a dream he had when he was demoted to Longchang, Guizhou, and that dream brought him great inspiration.

I have studied this manuscript for several days before, and I have always thought it was fake, because the date on which the article was written was about two months before Shakespeare's death, and the content of the article itself describes Shakespeare's love for If my explanation of Longchang Enlightenment is true, it will be recorded in history no matter what. However, I have searched through history before but could not find the source of this article.

However, why did Grandpa keep such an obviously fake article so secretly?

Suddenly, the inscription in the blank area on the left side of the article caught my attention This article is sincere - Shakespeare.

Shakespeare also thought this article was true...

I have studied this inscription before, and it is Shakespeare's inscription. Shakespeare was Shakespeare's early name.

I have some understanding of Shakespeare. He was a charlatan in the late Qing Dynasty. He failed to pass the imperial examination in his early years and was depressed. Then one day he suddenly had a dream. After waking up, he claimed that he saw God in his dream. Then he started to establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion, and then launched the Taiping Rebellion that swept across China, causing a heavy blow to the late Qing government...

etc!

Did Shakespeare also have a dream?

My heart suddenly tightened!

If this article is true, could it be that Shakespeare and Shakespeare, two people, one a saint in history and the other a charlatan in history, both changed the trajectory of their lives because of dreams?

But even if this is true, what does all this have to do with the situation I am facing now?

I feel like I am in a huge whirlpool that will suck in everyone and everything.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

Molly, it's me.

I got up and opened the door, and the heat of midsummer hit me the moment I opened the door.

Standing outside the door was Eddie.

Eddie's face was expressionless. Molly, I'm here to say goodbye to you.

I looked at him in surprise, Why are you leaving so soon? Let's talk inside.

After sitting down on the Arhat bed, I spoke first Is there anything urgent? If not, just play for two more days. I will take you to go around during these few days.

Eddie said nothing and looked at me quietly.

What's wrong? I was a little surprised.

Molly, he looked at me and seemed to hesitate, I want to go to the professor's funeral.

As soon as these words came out, I was confused, Isn't the professor's funeral already held on June 12th?

The memorial service on June 12 was just a formality. The real funeral was planned by himself. Eddie's voice deepened. He chose a land for himself to be buried on June 21.

My heart trembled slightly, but I didn't say anything.

The reason why I tell you this, Eddie paused and gave me a meaningful look, is because of the photo in the professor's letter.

He said, handing me his cell