Although Cha Wenbin is now only a few meters away from the largest bronze coffin, every step he takes makes Zhu Xiong and Chaozis hearts tighten, and with each step of Cha Wenbin, their fists are clenched tighter.
Whats wrong with Wen Bin? Since he has come to this place by mistake, whether it is man-made or fate, what should have arrived will always arrive. If he dies here today, he might as well go and accompany his wife. Once a person sees through life and death, they are not afraid of anything. He is like that at this moment, and instead feels much more relaxed than before. As long as something comes out now, it will be taken care of by the Seven Stars Sword.
Every single coffin was carefully examined by him, except for the one that had not been opened yet. There wasnt anything too frightening inside, and his slightly tense heart relaxed a bit. However, since Bu Xia set up such an intricate mechanism, there must be a reason behind it. What could it be? Cha Wenbin walked around in a circle again, always on guard against the massive boulder above that seemed to be swaying precariously. When he returned, he stopped and thought back to when he had carefully examined the five coffins earlier. Upon careful consideration, he actually discovered something suspicious!
These five coffins are scattered in the four directions of due east, west, south and north. In the middle is that largest bronze coffin, with a large turtle carrying it on its back. The real mystery lies in the patterns carved on the coffins themselves! The four smaller bronze coffins have basically the same specifications, about 4 meters long and 2 meters wide. Although their volumes are almost the same, each one has its own mystery!
The first one, in the east direction, that is, the bronze coffin on the left side, lies horizontally on the ground. On the top of the coffin, a vivid and lifelike green dragon is carved. This dragon is different from the one in the middle. It has a long body like a giant python, twisting its own body. It has the head of a qilin and the tail of a carp; there are also whiskers on its face, each with a different shape. On top of its head, a pair of forked deer horns grow, but it has five claws, majestic and solemn!
This dragon is the most common Chinese dragon shape we see every day, and Cha Wenbin recognized it at a glance. Its name is the famous "Qinglong"! The master of the seven-star constellation in the east! The bronze coffin itself has a green patina, but whats clever is that the entire coffin is shiny, except for the dragons body, which is covered with bronze rust, just like it was freshly painted. A Qinglong dragon swims on top of the bronze coffin! There is also something else inside this coffin, a piece of wood. At first glance, the wood was recognized as Huang Zhong Shallow Green, and under the spotlight, it shone with golden light, and golden threads appeared, giving off an indescribable noble and elegant atmosphere. This is the ancient royal familys gold-threaded nanmu wood!
The second coffin, facing due west, or to the right, was also placed horizontally on the ground. On this coffin was carved a tiger with its mouth open in a fierce roar. This tiger was similar to those we normally see, except that it had long hair on its body, which stood upright on its back, and its face had long hair extending outwards from both sides, apart from its whiskers. Its sharp fangs seemed to be telling Zhang Wenbin that it was no ordinary tiger.
This tiger, of course, is not an ordinary tiger. Zhang Wenbin also knew it. Who is it? The White Tiger! He had studied a Taoist classic "Dao Men Tong Jiao Bi Yong Ji" since childhood, which recorded in Volume 7: "In the west, the tiger rises to respond to the celestial phenomenon, with a pure and clean quality, a solemn and clear sound, controlling all beasts, stirring up the mountains and forests, standing on my right." This is exactly what it says, the master of the Western Seven Stars, the White Tiger! The carving of this tiger is just like its name, and the entire coffin is also cast in bronze, but the tiger was painted white with paint. Although the years have passed, the white color has turned slightly yellowish, but it still doesnt diminish its majestic power. The White Tiger indeed lives up to its reputation as a god of war! "Feng Su Tong Yi" says: "The tiger is a yang thing, the leader of all beasts, able to grasp and seize, devouring ghosts and monsters."
This coffin contains a "bamboo pole", but this "bamboo pole" is glittering with golden light, shining brightly, and is made of pure gold. It is about 50 cm long, with bamboo nodes carved in a realistic manner, very precious!
The third coffin, facing south, is the one closest to Zhang Wenbins location. The orientation of this coffin is north-south, perpendicular to the first two coffins. On top of this coffin is carved a beautiful bird, entirely painted in bright red, with elegant and expansive feathers covering its entire body, especially its tail, which occupies two-thirds of the picture. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a peacocks tail, but it forks out like a fishs tail. The birds neck is particularly long, resembling a snakes neck standing upright. Its back is slightly arched, and its mouth is small and pointed, similar to a chickens head. However, the position of its lower jaw resembles that of a swallow. If an ordinary person saw this, they would likely think it was the legendary phoenix!
Actually, Cha Wenbin recognized this bird, its not an ordinary phoenix, but also has a name called Zhu Que! In the "Taoist Essential Collection" Volume 7, there is also a record of it: "Southern Zhu Que, the leader of all birds, born from the red cave, responding to the blue thunder, with five colors and six divine appearances, leading me forward." Legend has it that Zhu Que is the embodiment of fire, the heavenly mysterious bird, the master of the seven-star constellation in the south! Because Zhu Que was once recognized by people as the essence of fire, it represents the ultimate yang.
The ancients said: "The phoenix is a symbol, with the swan in front and the unicorn behind, the forehead of the heron and the cheek of the mandarin duck, the dragons scales and the turtles back, the swallows chin and the chickens beak, all five colors are complete." Because the phoenix is the leader of "feathered insects", it gradually became a pair with the dragon, the leader of "scales insects" in mythology. One is versatile and the other is virtuous, becoming a complementary pair in folklore. The phoenix belongs to fire in the Five Elements, so it was once seen as yang, representing masculinity; while the dragon belongs to water in the Five Elements, it was seen as yin, representing femininity. Later, because the emperor liked the image of the dragon more, it was changed to symbolize the extreme yang, and the phoenix, which originally had a distinction between yin and yang (the male phoenix and the female phoenix), gradually became a pure yin representative when paired with the dragon.
Whats inside this coffin? Its something ordinary, a piece of charcoal, a bundle of dry grass, and a fireboard, which is the stone that ancient people used to strike against each other to make fire.
The fourth coffin, facing due north, was the one that had not been opened yet. This bronze coffin was placed in a north-south direction, exactly on the same line as the third one. Cha Wenbin paid special attention to this particular bronze coffin. What was carved on it? A large turtle and a snake entwined together, inseparable, a single entity - what was this thing? Was it a turtle and snake fighting? No, it actually had a name: Xuanwu! The "Taoist Canon" Volume 7 says: "The Northern Xuanwu, the Taiyin transforms and gives birth, empty and precarious, its essence is revealed, the turtle-snake forms a platform, roaming the nine lands, governing all spirits, coming from my right." This thing was the incarnation of the Xuan snake and the Guiwu, the Xuan snake being a dragon-headed, phoenix-winged, python-bodied creature; the Guiwu being a dragon-headed, tortoise-backed, qilin-tailed creature. It is said to be the evolution of the ancient divine beast Teng Snake. This guy made Cha Wenbin extremely respectful - why? Because in Taoism, Xuanwu was called the Great Emperor of the North, also known as "Zhenwu Dadi", and was enfeoffed as an emperor, distinct from the other three. The others, Qinglong and Baihu, only served as mountain temple door gods, while Zhuque became the Nine Heavens Xuannü. Xuanwu was also the divine beast in charge of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper.
This tortoise has been painted black! Because this coffin was not opened, the things placed inside, Cha Wenbin had already guessed at this moment, if he was not wrong, there was nothing in this coffin, only a coffin full of water! Because the tortoise is also the god of water!
In the middle, that mouth is shiny all over, with a dazzling golden color from the ancient bronze. Such luxurious carvings, but inside the coffin theres nothing, just a pile of dirt!
This time, Wen Bin had thoroughly understood that the five coffins were divided according to their orientation, constellations, divine beasts and objects. Combined with the geography of this place, taking the water pool as the earth and the stone wall top as the sky, the white bones were laid out below, which exactly conformed to the essence contained in the Taoist supreme classic "I Ching": "The I has Taiji, which gives birth to two forms, two forms give birth to four images, four images give birth to eight trigrams."
These two instruments are heaven and earth! The four images derived from the two instruments are the bronze coffins with the green dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird, and black turtle engraved on them. These four images correspond to the eight trigrams diagram originally formed by a pile of white bones in the water pool below! This design made him finally understand the use of the four bronze coffins in the village!
There are a total of nine bronze coffins here, four in the village, four on the top of the cave cliff, and one largest one is placed here. How did this come about? It coincides with the eight trigrams of Taoism giving birth to the nine palaces. The eight trigrams derived from below also gave birth to these nine coffins, becoming the nine palaces. The ultimate goal is only one: to return to the original circular level! Everything here complements each other, and nothing can be missing. This great formation was built by a high-ranking person, if it werent for Zhang Wenbins good deed of breaking its eight trigrams white bones, who knows what shocking things would happen. Now there is still one array that has not been solved, which is the five elements!
The Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements are the foundation of Taoism! The five coffins below each contain a golden nanmu wood symbolizing wood, while the Azure Dragon is one of the Four Symbols, belonging to the East, which in turn belongs to Wood!
In the coffin on the west side, a golden "bamboo pole" is placed. The five elements of gold belong to gold, and Xuanwu belongs to the west in the four images. The west also belongs to gold in the position!
In the southern coffin, there are fire sickles, hay and charcoal. These things are naturally for taking fire. The essence of Zhuque fire is one of the four symbols, belonging to the south. The south belongs to fire in the position!
Although it is not seen in the northern coffin, the picture is of Xuanwu. Xuanwu belongs to the north among the four images and is a water god. The north also belongs to water in the position!
The golden bronze coffin in the middle is considered to be the center of all the big arrays, symbolizing the supreme right. The soil in this coffin belongs to the earth in the five elements! Earth is the most special existence in the five elements, because it is an intermediate state between the four images, so it was placed in the middle position!
Gold, wood, water, fire, earth are the five elements. Blue Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise are not only the four symbols but also the twenty-seven star mansions!
What kind of place is this, the things contained in it make Zha Wenbin at a loss for a moment, but this big array has been broken through one, not the most important thing, as long as these four images are still there, giving birth to eight trigrams is an inevitable result, he again focused his gaze on the northern bronze coffin that had not been opened...
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