Nine hundred and ninetieth chapters underground stone soldiers
Chapter 995: Underground Stone Soldiers
…
Looking at the dark, devoid of light, and sloping downward cave revealed in front of him, Liu Dong became even more interested!
First, he allowed the wind to flow in the cave for a while to release the suffocating air inside, then he handed the bright flashlight he took out from the Mustard Seed Space to his left hand and took the lead and walked ahead.
If he were alone, he wouldn't need a flashlight at all, but if he had a lion's head, a tiger's head, and a small golden eagle, he would have to use a flashlight for lighting.
The darkness where they can't see anything is extremely uncomfortable for them, and it can also cause panic.
The cave appears to be extremely tortuous. Judging from the remaining traces on the surrounding stone walls, this cave must have been dug by someone in the original cave to form the two-meter-wide and two-meter-high path that Liu Dong sees now.
underground cave.
However, the extension length of this cave is not as long as that of Astlan, nor is it as long as the Dragon Vein Underwater River that Liu Dong once descended in the capital. But even so, Liu Dong walked in a zigzag path for about 500 meters.
Only then did we really get to the core.
At the core of this is an extremely wide underground cave, covering an area of no less than 400 square meters and a height of nearly 5 meters. The roof and surrounding walls of the cave have been polished to be extremely smooth.
It is supported by four stone pillars that look like two people hugging each other.
However, the most eye-catching thing in the entire grand underground cave is the huge stone statues placed in it. Although there are not as many as the Qinling Terracotta Warriors and Horses, and they are not as majestic as the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, they are wearing one-piece armor and holding hands in their left hands.
The shield and the soldier holding a steel sword in his right hand are carved extremely finely, and the expressions of the characters and the patterns on the clothes are clearly identifiable. Moreover, each stone statue is more than two meters high!
Liu Dong simply counted, and there were exactly one hundred of these tall stone soldiers!
Seeing Liu Dong looking around these stone statues, the restless Xiao Jinzi, plus the lion head and tiger head also followed Liu Dong around here, but the lifeless stone statues made them quickly lose interest.
Liu Dong, who was admiring it, walked backwards along the stone corridor about three meters wide in the center of the cave after a quarter of an hour because there was something more attractive to him later.
After a 20-meter passage, another huge cave similar to the one before appeared again.
Moreover, there are also huge stone soldiers placed in this cave. The only difference from the previous cave is that the stone soldiers in this cave are not sword and shield soldiers, but archers common in ancient wars!
On the back of each stone soldier are carved three quivers filled with arrows and a long bow high above the head! Extremely tall and majestic!
However, Liu Dong felt a little regretful that although the sculptures of these stone warriors were better than the terracotta warriors and other pottery figurines, they were far inferior in terms of artistry, because these warrior stone statues all looked similar. It was obvious that they were replicas.
!Not like the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, they are almost the same as real people!
But even so, Liu Dong felt very satisfied. Even in the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, there was only one Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shihuang!
When Liu Dong appeared in the third cave, as expected, the image of the stone soldiers had changed again. Stone statues of ax soldiers holding long-handled battle axes were clearly listed, and there were also no more than a hundred.
!
As Liu Dong continued to walk back, spearmen, crossbowmen, and a type of soldier wearing fish scale armor and holding a steel fork appeared in a cave of almost the same size. Liu Dong made a decision after making some judgments.
These must be sailors!
It's just that Liu Dong was very surprised that the Western Region was a dry land, why there were sculptures of soldiers like soldiers here, and he didn't know what the people who arranged it were thinking!
The number of stone statue soldiers in the six caves was all 100. But when Liu Dong reached the seventh cave, the situation changed. Not only did the height and area of the cave double, but they were no longer infantry and sailors, but
Cavalry on horseback!
These cavalrymen, who wear pointed helmets on their heads and only wear armor on their upper bodies, are undoubtedly light cavalry judging from their appearance.
More importantly, the number of these cavalry has also changed. Compared with the stone soldiers in the previous caves, the number of these light cavalry is 200, which is exactly double the number of the stone soldiers in the front. Apparently, the builders believed that the cavalry was more powerful than the infantry.
more important.
When the two hundred cavalry appeared in the eighth cave, their form changed again. They were no longer the light cavalry in the seventh cave. Instead, the horses and knights were wearing similar Western heavy armor and holding spears.
Heavy cavalry wearing feather-style helmets!
When they arrived at the ninth cave, Liu Dong was even more surprised. Although the stone soldiers here were still cavalry, their mounts were no longer war horses but camels known as the "Ship of the Desert".
There are different types of arms in the nine caves, including almost all the arms that often appeared on ancient battlefields. Even the camel cavalry, which is exclusive to the northwest desert region, also exists. The individual value of a total of 1,200 warrior stone statues may not be too high, but
It is indeed a shocking archaeological discovery.
Moreover, Liu Dong found that the appearance of these soldiers clearly had the typical characteristics of Central Asians, with high noses and deep eyes, thick beards on the lower jaw, slightly enlarged noses, and long faces!
However, some characteristics of the Han Dynasty in China can be seen in the styles of their armor and weapons. This is especially evident in infantry such as sword and shield soldiers and archers.
Of course, Liu Dong was not surprised by this. Those who could build such a magnificent project must be a powerful country in Central Asia, and the countries in Central Asia were more or less influenced by the Han civilization because of the Silk Road.
.
In addition, Liu Dong also discovered that the intensity of the aura on these cavalrymen was also different. For example, the aura emitted by the camel cavalry in the ninth cave showed a rich yellow aura.
According to Liu Dong's understanding of the Yuanguang of his relics, the cultural relics and antiques with yellow aura must have appeared in BC! That is, before 2000.
However, the aura of the final stone statue of the Sword and Shield Soldier was only red. The range of the red aura of the relics was from 1000 AD to the millennium BC!
Finally, Liu Dong judged the specific time based on the intensity of the aura and found that the stone soldiers in the nine caves spanned nearly 500 years!
In other words, it took nearly five hundred years of construction for these stone soldiers to reach the scale Liu Dong saw!
There are only a handful of national powers in Central Asia that have existed for 500 years before and after BC, and have the ability to build stone statues of this scale. Therefore, the scope of Liu Dong's guess has suddenly been reduced a lot!
In order to verify his guess, Liu Dong's interest in exploring the existence behind suddenly became strong, so he subconsciously accelerated his pace.
After passing through the ninth stone cave, we passed a 20-meter-long stone path and once again appeared an underground stone cave. Although this stone cave was smaller in area than the previous nine stone caves, it was
The height is more than six meters. And it was obviously built with more care. The surrounding walls are no longer simple stone walls, but are filled with exquisite murals using red, yellow, blue, white and black paints.
The contents of the murals include scenes of worship and war, as well as scenes of hunting and planting. The faces appearing in them are obviously characterized by high noses and deep eyes, but they are not those of modern Westerners, but Central Asians with black hair and black eyes.
.
The most exciting thing, and what surprised Liu Dong the most, was the mural on the top of the cave. It was completely painted with red and black paint, a huge phoenix that was no different from the phoenix in ancient Chinese legends!
Since it is a phoenix, it is natural that there are two "phoenix" and "phoenix"!
More importantly, the phoenix pattern has delicate strokes and soft lines, which are very similar to the brushwork of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. It can be imagined that the forces that built this place were greatly influenced by Chinese Han culture.
Otherwise, the phoenix, which represents rebirth from the ashes, would not appear here.
In addition to these exquisite murals, in this relatively empty cave, which covers an area of about 150 square meters, only a huge stone tablet over five meters high in the middle is the most eye-catching!
Moreover, this stele is extremely finely carved. The top is a relief of Ruyi Cloud Head, which is common in Chinese stele styles, and the base of the stele is two stone lions lying on their sides. The stone lions have thick limbs comparable to adult thighs, and a broad and hunched back.
There is a stone tablet with a line of writing deeply carved in the middle from top to bottom on the front of the stone tablet!
"Is this ancient Luwen?" Liu Dong said in surprise after identifying it.
Because he likes to collect antiques, Liu Dong has conducted in-depth research on the characters that have appeared in the history of various ancient civilizations, and this ancient rhyme, which originated in India, is naturally no exception.
The ancient Khalur script originated from ancient Gandhara. It was a script written during the Asoka period of the Mauryan Dynasty in India in the 3rd century BC. Its full name is 'Khara script'. It was first used in northwest India and present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It was widely spread in Central Asia during the 1st and 2nd centuries. It was also an important trade language and Buddhist language on the Silk Road.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, with the disintegration of the Kushan Dynasty, Kushan refugees moved into the Tarim Basin, and the Khalu script began to spread in Khotan, Shanshan and other places. In the middle of the 4th century AD, with the demise of the Kushan dynasty, the Khalu script also
Then it disappeared.
By the end of the 18th century, Khalok had already become a dead script that no one could recognize. It was not until 1837 that the mystery of Khalok was discovered by the British scholar Princep.
Since ancient inscriptions appear on this stone tablet, it means that the history of this underground grand building can be traced back to at least 1,600 years ago!
With such a long history, many priceless national treasure-level cultural relics will inevitably be formed.
As for the origin of this grand underground building, it has been recorded on this stone tablet written in ancient Lu script!
"The Tomb of King Kangju's Royal Family!" (To be continued)