The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

Wu Xie quickly replied.

"This bronze tree is very likely part of the blood sacrifice!"

Fang Yun calmly said, "Factory."

Chapter 335 Blood Sacrifice! Breathtaking!

“Look at these grooves on the tree, those are the patterns we didn’t pay much attention to at first. During the sacrifice, these patterns were used to collect liquids, such as rainwater, dew, or blood.”

Fang Yun said calmly.

"Is what you're talking about like the dew that emperors used to collect to brew tea? Is it some kind of 'rootless water'?"

Old Yang quickly asked.

"Master Liang, may I borrow your pen?"

Fang Yun turned to look at Master Liang, who quickly handed him the pen.

Fang Yun took the pen from Liang Shiye and gently scraped the nib of the pen through the lines, removing some black grime that had accumulated for a long time.

After so many years, it's impossible to tell whether it's dried blood or sediment from rainwater.

"Based on my deduction, this stuff is probably accumulated here from the blood of living people. If you look closely, there are also things like blood grooves under these branches, which lead all the way to the cloud and thunder patterns. I think these branches must have played a certain role in the sacrificial process."

"However, to figure out the true purpose of this bronze tree, I need to see its entire appearance, or rather, I need to see the things recorded in those ancient tombs. Now this corpse is of no use, so we can rest for a while and then leave."

Fang Yun said calmly.

After listening to Fang Yun's words, Wu Xie and Lao Yang quickly threw Lao Tai's body off the branch. After resting for a while, Lao Yang urged everyone to hurry up and continue on their way. As they climbed up, Wu Xie asked Fang Yun about his understanding of these ravines.

"Fang Yun, there are indeed some things I don't quite understand about the sacrificial ceremony. I'd like to know what connection these grooves and patterns have with the sacrificial ceremony of that time, and how such an extremely cruel ceremony was carried out?"

Wu Xie asked.

"Although the sacrifices in the Western Zhou Dynasty were not as brutal as those in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the sacrifice of people and animals was inevitable. The so-called different ways of sacrifice were just different ways of killing people and animals. For example, if a king wanted to sacrifice to the land, he would choose the offerings and bury them in the ground. If he wanted to sacrifice to the fire god, he would burn the offerings. If he wanted to sacrifice to the river god, he would throw them into the river."

“There is a bronze tree here that reaches straight into the sky. The sacrifice may be to a divine tree like the Fusang Ruomu, or it may be to the god Jumang who is in charge of trees. Usually, the sacrificial method used for this kind of god is blood sacrifice.”

Fang Yun said calmly.

Wu Xie recalled that the old Tai's blood had flowed along the branches of the bronze tree and into the cloud and thunder patterns on the bronze tree.

The journey was indeed unimpeded. If the branches of the bronze tree and the cloud and thunder patterns had not been designed in advance, it would not have been possible to move so smoothly, not to mention the blood-draining grooves on the bronze branches.

Wu Xie finally understood: this must be a sacrificial vessel used for rituals.

The so-called blood sacrifice usually involves putting blood into the ground. When being sacrificed, the sacrificial animal is nailed to the bronze branch, and the bronze branch is used to draw out the blood of the corpse, which then gathers into the cloud and thunder patterns on the bronze tree.

If the blood didn't congeal along the way, it must have flowed towards the roots of this bronze tree, which are deeply buried beneath the rock.

It symbolizes offering blood to the gods.

To put it more vividly, the veins of the entire tree are actually like the blood collection channels in a hospital's autopsy room. No matter how much blood there is, it will eventually flow into these channels and then into the sewer pipes.

However, the blood-drawing grooves here are made into patterns that appear to be purely decorative.

This also explains why the grooves between these cloud and thunder patterns are so ridiculously deep.

Upon closer examination, such a cruel and large-scale sacrifice must be something that even powerful nations could not sustain for long.

Therefore, there are very few records of it in ancient books. As for the specific ritual process and how many people and animals were sacrificed, it all happened in the long river of history and was never recorded.

Wu Xie was filled with admiration for the wisdom of the ancients.

On the other hand, I also felt a chill.

Just imagine how massive such a project would be; even in modern times, it would take at least one or two years...

To think that such a thing would be merely a tool for killing in ancient times is utterly foolish.

Imagine countless slaves being impaled alive on these bronze branches, their blood flowing down them and into the ravines, turning the entire tree into a pillar of blood.

Just imagining that scene sends a chill down your spine, emanating from the ravine.

"Let's hurry up. Old Tai's blood has already been spilled. What if that god thinks someone is coming to offer sacrifices? If he comes out for a stroll, he might just use us as sacrifices."

Wu Xie felt a little flustered.

Unexpectedly, Old Yang seemed not to believe Fang Yun's words at all, and had an indifferent expression on his face.

"I'm not trying to criticize you, Lao Wu, but back then, where were there so many people to be slaughtered? You have to understand that fertility was very low back then, and there simply wasn't that much medical technology. Just imagine if what Fang Yun said were true, then this tree would have to support thousands of people, which would be equivalent to the population of a medium-sized country."

"I think what's being bled up there might be some kind of livestock, like pig heads or sheep heads. Listen to me, let's climb up a bit more. Who knows, we might even see pork from thousands of years ago, now dried pork jerky stuck there. Besides, even if it were a person, what difference would it make? Blood congeals quickly after a person dies, you know that, right? Moreover, back then, everything was natural and unpolluted; they ate pure, unpolluted food and drank pure, unpolluted water. Their blood was even sweet..."

Old Yang joked.

"You bastard, let me tell you, this is not a place for you to have fun. I told you before I came down that you can question what I say, but you can't question what Fang Yun says."

Wu Xie said angrily.

"Gentlemen, in my opinion, let's not fight amongst ourselves now. Have you noticed something? These branches seem to be getting denser and denser. If this continues, won't it be harder for us to climb?"

"Master Liang said quickly."

Chapter 336 The Road Ahead is Long! The Mask!

"What's there to doubt? This is how the bronze book was originally designed. It's spaced out from the bottom up. Wouldn't it be more convenient to climb if it were more dense? It's better to be as sparse as possible. If there's a difference of two or three meters between two branches, do you think you can jump all the way up?"

Old Yang said irritably.

"Don't jump to conclusions, lest you embarrass yourself. I think what Master Liang said is correct. Turn on your flashlight to illuminate the surroundings; it's not easy to see clearly with a torch."

Wu Xie quickly replied.

When the group climbed up, they still relied on torches for lighting. Although Lao Tai had a flashlight in his backpack, the flashlight's power had been partially used up. The group did not want to waste too much electricity climbing the bronze tree. Now they had to look at the branches a little further away, as relying on the weak light of the torches was simply not a realistic idea.

Old Yang couldn't persuade Wu Xie otherwise, so he took out a flashlight from his backpack, adjusted it slightly, and focused the scattered light towards the branches above, revealing the branches of the bronze tree to everyone.

The bronze branches became increasingly dense as they went higher, and this trend was very obvious. About seven or eight meters above Wu Xie's head, the bronze branches were so dense that they were terrifyingly dense, like thorns. If the group wanted to continue climbing, they would have to hang upside down and then step on the tips of these bronze branches.

Even highly trained personnel would not be able to accomplish this easily. Keep in mind that this place is at least 60 or 70 meters above the ground. Putting aside the psychological barrier, just hanging upside down is extremely dangerous. Not to mention the area where the sharp bronze branches can be placed and the pressure they can withstand. This is even more dangerous than walking on a tightrope!

Now that things had come to this, there was no way out for them. Below them might be a troop of monkeys watching them intently, and outside the cave was a raging fire. At this point, they could only continue climbing upwards.

“The situation up there is indeed extremely dangerous. How about this, I’ve been here before and I’m somewhat familiar with this route. You guys stay here and rest for a while. I’ll climb up to the outside of that bronze branch first. Old Tai has a rope in his backpack. I’ll throw the rope down, and the three of you can grab it and climb up. That will greatly reduce the danger.”

Before anyone could speak, Lao Yang had already crouched down.

A moment later, a beam of white light shone down, and along the light, a rope dangled straight down.

Fang Yun and Wu Xie exchanged a glance, then got Liang Shiye up first, followed by Fang Yun, and finally Wu Xie.

When the group finally came outside and looked up, their hearts sank to the bottom. From a distance, there were still places to attack, but up close, there was nothing to do. The density of the bronze branches was terrifying.

The group crawled for a while with difficulty.

"No wonder Old Tai fell down for no reason. It's already very difficult to climb up here. If you go any higher, it will be hard to even find a place to put your foot down. On the contrary, if you are not careful or are blown by the wind from above, you might slip and end up like Old Tai, a pile of mud."

Wu Xie muttered to himself.

In contrast, Lao Yang seemed to know the way very well, crawling much faster than the other three.

Wu Xie had no strength to call out to Lao Yang, so he could only gather his strength.

On the one hand, it's to prevent myself from falling too far behind; on the other hand, it's to constantly remind myself to be careful not to slip up.

The torch was no longer usable in this scene, as there were simply no extra hands to hold it. Wu Xie had no choice but to extinguish the torch and tuck it into his waistband.

This stretch of road was so dangerous that no one spoke a word along the way.

Soon, under the illumination of the flashlight, it became clear that the rock walls around the bronze tree began to change, with a large number of natural stalactite cones and some dissolved rock curtains appearing. It was obvious that this place had far exceeded the scope of artificial excavation, and the above section could be confirmed as a naturally formed cave.

As the group passed through this naturally formed cave, the cave began to show signs of narrowing.

On both sides of the rock wall, some caves of different sizes began to appear. Under the light of the flashlight, you could see the bottom of them just by glancing inside.

It is evident that these caves are not very deep, and there seems to be something inside some of them.

Under the light of a flashlight, certain reactions occurred, and these phenomena gradually made everyone feel an uneasy atmosphere spreading.

Fortunately, the cave was at least several dozen meters away from them, so they weren't too worried.

While Wu Xie was still lost in his own thoughts, Fang Yun and the others in front of him had already stopped. Wu Xie bumped into Fang Yun's butt before he realized what was happening and his thoughts were brought back to reality.

Wu Xie looked up and saw many monkeys wearing masks above him, just like the monkey troop they had encountered before.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the monkeys were completely dead. Their corpses had been dried up by the hot wind blowing down from above, twisted in extremely bizarre postures. Upon closer inspection, it was found that the hands and feet of these corpses were all stuck in the gaps between the bronze branches, which was why the corpses had not fallen to the bottom.

There were as many as forty mummies like this. The chilling masks did not fall off as the bodies shrank. Instead, in everyone's eyes, the masks seemed to be staring at them. This eerie scene made it seem as if these masks were in a deep sleep and might wake up at any moment.

The group slowed down, wanting to take a closer look at these strange things.

The monkeys seemed to have some kind of skin disease. Almost all of their fur had fallen out, leaving a grayish-white color that looked somewhat similar to human skin. However, upon closer inspection, very obvious lesions could still be seen.

Judging from their size, these monkeys are about the height of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old child on average, or perhaps a little taller. Wu Xie didn't dare to draw a conclusion for the time being.

Looking closely at the masks worn by the monkeys, Wu Xie noticed that they appeared to be made of stone and were polished to perfection. He even suspected that the masks might be ceramic. Based on the way the masks were attached to the monkeys' heads, he suspected that the masks might have been embedded in the flesh or that they had been fused together with the monkeys' faces using some method.

Chapter 337 Monkey? Human? Insect!

The mummified remains of these monkeys are relatively well-preserved. Only a very few remain as limbs, perhaps because of their age and the high degree of dehydration, which caused them to naturally crumble.

When Liang Shiye saw that everyone wanted to continue climbing, he quickly stopped them and said, "Gentlemen, please allow me to think about this. The monkeys' postures are very strange. I seem to have seen them somewhere before. Please let me think about it and take a closer look."

Old Yang rolled his eyes at Liang Shiye and said impatiently, "Liang Shiye, you've been causing the most trouble on this journey. Getting up there sooner means we'll be safer sooner. What are you doing here studying these useless things? Are you just wasting your time? Hurry up, don't keep us waiting too long."

Liang Shiye had become immune to Lao Yang's advances along the way. He climbed over on his own, carefully pinched the mask, and the already dried-out mask cracked as if it had been hit by a stone. Liang Shiye only used a little force, and the mask shattered into pieces and scattered.