Chen Zhi put away his magnifying glass, patted the dust on his body and continued,
"I noticed it when I came in.
These murals date from the mid- to late Tang Dynasty, and their craftsmanship is outstanding! They were polished very hard.
It's not that humans at that time couldn't achieve this kind of painting skills, but even if he had such skills, his body wouldn't be able to allow him to persist in the cave with such exertion!
The most important thing is that I smell a special smell on these murals...",
After Chen Zhi finished speaking, he glanced at Fat Wei and Ghost Sword with ulterior motives.
"Demigod?" Ghost Sword immediately said warily.
"Not really!",
Chen Zhi said softly:
"If anything, it's more like something between humans and beasts.
I originally checked the information and found that all the murals in Dunhuang, including the Mogao Grottoes, have this characteristic.
The painting techniques are too superb and ingenious, the painting is too vigorous, and the expressions and movements are a bit weird. These are not characteristics of human paintings.
Also, why are these murals painted in these remote caves?
It is dark and humid here, which is not conducive to preserving paintings, and there are no Buddhist treasures enshrined, so there is no need to cause this trouble.
Unless it is a lifestyle habit that makes them feel that painting in a cave is normal, even eating, clothing, housing and traveling in a cave is in line with their habits.
But humans don’t have this habit!
As far as I know, among wild beasts, especially some huge and ferocious beasts, they have been accustomed to living in remote caves since ancient times.
They live in caves and do what they like, this is their nature..."
"You mean?" When Yang Wumao and the others heard this, their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Mr. Chen, the real author of this world-famous Dunhuang mural is some beast?
This is incredible. If the press knew about this, the whole world would be shocked!
This is simply impossible!
Only we humans can paint, because I have no intelligence, how can a low-level creature like a beast know how to paint?"
"We can call it a beast, but we can also call it a different kind of creature!",
Chen Zhi looked at Yang Wumao's frightened pale face and smiled in a low voice.
“As a scientist, you should understand that there are no living creatures like humans in this world, it’s just humans that have taken over the dominance of this earth!
In a sense, humans themselves are a kind of beast, but we have our own language and civilization to express our civilization.
But this does not mean that other animals are not intelligent.
I have read a lot of documents before, and many scholars are looking for the real author of the Dunhuang murals, but they can't find any trace at all.
However, in the small caves near the Mogao Grottoes, some traces of the lives of monks were found, which proves that during the period when these murals were created, some monks lived there. They lived, ate and lived in the caves, chanted sutras and meditated.
Apart from that, no other traces can be found.”
"You mean these monks...",
A very strange expression suddenly appeared on Fat Wei's face,
"Chengzi, please speak more clearly, why did I suddenly have a very scary idea?
Are they the monks living in the cave? They..."
"That's my guess!
And it’s not that scary!” Chen Zhi replied with a smile,
"We all know that the Tang Dynasty has entered the heyday of China's feudal civilization, and any large-scale event will have historical records.
Even things like compiling a dictionary will be recorded.
How is it possible that there are no records of such large-scale murals as the Mogao Grottoes and the East Thousand Buddha Caves in Dunhuang in history?
There is a possibility that this huge project does not belong to human history at all.
Let’s think about it another way.
To be able to complete a large-scale creation like the Mogao Grottoes at that time, there must have been a large number of artificial gatherings, and there must have been a cause and organizer.
If it is really the work of humans, then such a large project will definitely alarm the imperial court, or the government will assign the action, or a local prince will undertake it.
It cannot be kept secret, without any records, and passed down without anyone noticing.
So I think this is not a treasure of human art civilization at all, because the painters themselves are not human beings..."
"Then what happened to those traces of monks found?",
Yang Wumao asked softly,
"Were those monks captured and imprisoned? Or were they used as food for wild beasts?"
"Let's not think too bad of these beasts!"
Chen Zhi smiled slightly:
"Have you ever thought that Buddhism has no boundaries? Who says that a monk must be a human being?
Regardless of whether you are a human, an animal or a demon, as long as you can put down the butcher's knife, you can become a Buddha immediately.
In history, there are also legends about some wild beasts in the mountains converting to Buddhism after listening to Buddhist scriptures. Just like the famous legend of White Snake, the green snake and white snake in the mountains became spiritual after listening to Buddhist scriptures.
These beasts may really be enlightened by Buddhism by some chance, as in the legend, and thus become monks.
Because of their own habits, they practiced in the cave, chanted sutras, meditated, and then painted what they thought on the cave wall.
If you think about it this way, it’s actually a very natural thing!”
"Yeah! If you say that, it makes sense!",
Fat Wei nodded thoughtfully, then raised his head and said,
"Oh~~, let me tell you, let's stop thinking about it now! What's the use of dwelling on those things in the past?
We should think about it now, what should we do next?
These words have obviously been altered, and someone has put a skin on it. Is it necessary to peel off the skin on this painting?
This thing is destroying cultural relics. I remember there was a news one year. I didn’t know that silly guy signed a visit to this mural, but later it was searched by human flesh!
I don’t want to be a wicked person who destroys cultural relics!”
"If you want to do it, I won't let you do it!",
Chen Zhi smiled and replied to Fat Wei, then turned back to look at Yang Wumao:
"Dr. Yang, it's your turn now!
When handling that ancient corpse, I discovered that you are an expert in handling subtle substances.
When you came, I also asked you to bring all the equipment, just wait until now to use it.
The rest will be left to you..."
"What?",
Yang Wumao jumped up from the ground almost like a monkey in the sky, jumping more than three feet high:
"Who do you think I am?
You want me to destroy cultural relics? This is against the law and I won’t do it!
Really, I am a high-level intellectual and a quality person...
I was rated as advanced just last year, and I am still a member of the progress team! I am one of the country’s 100 young scientists, and I am still..."
"This amount will be credited to your account later!",
Chen Zhi quickly typed a string of Arabic numerals on his mobile phone and waved it in front of Yang Wumao.
Yang Wumao immediately calmed down, looked at the long string of zeros on his phone, and nodded seriously to Chen Zhi,
"When will we do it?
The tools are all ready-made, I need light and a quiet environment, no assistant..."
"Just tonight!",
Chen Zhi replied with a smile, then looked up at the cameras above,
"Don't worry, at night, you are transparent in front of these things..."