Chapter 56: Eating Human Flesh

  Sculpture is the general term for the three creative methods of carving, engraving and molding, referring to the creation of artistic images with a certain space that can be seen and touched using various moldable materials or hard materials that can be carved, reflecting social life.

  Carving techniques can be divided into 'Mao' carving, flat carving, relief carving, round carving, hollow carving, and comprehensive carving, these six techniques are used for decoration.

  The history of sculpture is long and varied, like that of painting, it began in the early stages of human development, in a sense, the early history of humanity is a "pictorial" history, and among them, the most typical ones are some things from the Stone Age.

  In the art of carving, micro-carving is the most famous. As early as the Shang Dynasty's oracle bones, micro-carvings have appeared, such as the seals of the Warring States period, which are very small, but the text on top has a distinction between red and white. Everyone knows that Wang Shuibo's "Ke Zhou" is a classic work in the history of Chinese micro-carving art.

  In ancient China, carving was also considered a relatively noble profession. Each dynasty had its own mature techniques, such as during the Warring States period, when carvings tended to be grand and bold. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the lines of carvings became much more delicate, often featuring characters from myths in "Shan Hai Jing".

  I looked at the totem carved on top, pointed at the edge of the mirror in the middle and shook my head suddenly: "I have never seen such a strange totem. Look, the people above are holding a ritual, look, those people are doing something, look at them..."

  If I were to hold a magnifying glass now, I would be able to see the activities of those small human figures on top very clearly. Although they are very small, their facial expressions are vivid and lifelike. Upon seeing this, I couldn't help but think that the techniques of ancient people may have surpassed many modern ones. The small human carvings on top are probably impossible to replicate with today's technology, just like the perfection of this mirror in front of me.

  The little people on top are vivid and lifelike, they seem to be holding wooden sticks or something similar in their hands, and their movements appear as if they are conducting a grand ceremony.

  Just as he was looking in the mirror, his face suddenly changed greatly. He exclaimed and his voice sounded strange, with a tone of disgust, saying: "Cannibals... they are eating people, do you see that? The thing in that rectangular shape is holding a person."

  "Eat... eat human 'flesh'?" Huang's teeth were chattering ka-cha ka-cha, presumably too shocked.

  But my heart suddenly turned cold, before they died, every one of them would eat human flesh, I saw Aqing bite off the driver's head with my own eyes, that scene, cannot be described, bloody horror.

  Now, seeing such content carved on it, mainly about cannibalism, I am not very surprised.

  I strongly agree with what he said: "Yes, it should be cannibalism. In history, have you ever heard of any dynasty that took pride in eating human flesh? I dare to confirm that the era when this carving was made must have been a period of turmoil and shame. Therefore, it is very likely that this civilization has never been discovered, or even a more ancient civilization than the Shang and Zhou dynasties."

  In the animal kingdom where the weak are preyed upon by the strong, it is not uncommon to see animals of different species being hunted and eaten alive. However, even among animals of the same species, there exists a phenomenon of mutual slaughter, which is not surprising. In ancient times, humans often engaged in cannibalism, and although this practice has continued into civilized society, it suggests that the beastly nature within humans has not completely disappeared.

  Because humans have a higher thinking consciousness than other animals, the phenomenon of mutual killing and cannibalism among humans is even more barbaric and cruel.

  There have been many cases of cannibalism throughout history, whether it was the pleasure of eating human flesh like Zhu Youxiao, or using human flesh as a substitute for military rations. These events cannot erase the cruel and inhumane beastly behavior of humans.

  I firmly believe that the totem carved on this mirror in front of me is a civilization before Shang and Zhou, because in history, although there have been cases of cannibalism, none of them would take pride in eating humans.

  So this Totem must be from a civilization before Shang and Zhou dynasties.

  At the time of the Institute, Tang Guangze had said that the place we are going to hides a huge lost civilization.

  I always thought it was the ancient country of Loulan or the Niya civilization, or some other civilizations from other countries. Now that I look at it, this civilization is far more mysterious than what I previously guessed.

  Cannibalism is a kind of craftsmanship, which was clearly an art form in ancient times.

  However, in the desert regions on this side, some relevant records are a kind of mural depicting life, most of which are mainly pastoral.

  But such life is similar to a recording technique and has no record of cannibalism.

  I find that every time things seem to be taking shape, I realize that I am fundamentally unable to reach the real domain.

  Huang 'Mao' listened to my words and said with an excited face: "If we haven't been discovered, then aren't we rich?"

  I turned around and took a look at Huang 'Mao', it turned out that this kid was also here for the money, I don't know what method Xiaobo used to lure him here.

  It's not that I think Xiaobo is too bad, but rather, she just shot Pakhae to death without even frowning, this kind of 'woman' looks even more ruthless than Huang Daxian. And her control over the old professor seems more like a despicable means of oppression.

  In this case, I'd better remind Yu Gang to pay attention to Xiao Bo's actions, lest he be "bullied" by her at some point.

  I stared at the pattern on the mirror, and suddenly I found that above those human shadows, at the edge closest to the top, there were some clearly visible textures, and a picture flashed through my mind.

  I thought I was mistaken, so I shone the flashlight beam at the top of the mirror, and under the light, the texture was clearly visible, those crisscrossing lines seemed familiar.

  "My god..."

  I couldn't help but curse, my face turned pale, and I was terrified to the core, that kind of fear spreading all over my body.

  Yes, on the edge above the mirror, the carved pattern is exactly the same as the circular pattern on my Yue Wang Goujian sword.

  Is this a coincidence?

  Is it just a coincidence that they have exactly the same pattern?

  Bullshit, where did so many coincidences come from?

  Tang Guangze once said that the patterns on King Goujian of Yue's sword are a kind of text, some ancient texts. They were found in a certain place in the Taklamakan Desert, so it was inferred that King Goujian of Yue's sword actually came from the Western Regions. As for the few words on King Goujian of Yue's sword, it is estimated that they were carved after King Goujian found this sword. This possibility is very high, otherwise, how could there be such patterns here?

  This mirror describes life before the Shang Dynasty, but what is its origin?

  Ancient Civilization

  Four words suddenly flashed into my mind, and my face could no longer conceal its 'excitement'.

  "Something's wrong." The old professor suddenly shouted, his face darkening. "Just now I looked in the mirror and felt something strange."

  I thought this old man was too 'radical', this mirror was originally very strange, after all, seeing a person who didn't look like himself inside.

  Just thinking about the expressionless face of myself in the mirror earlier makes me feel a chill in my heart.

  I turned my head and saw the old professor hastily walking to the stone table, gently rotating that white bowl. All of a sudden, I heard a loud creaking sound, and the wooden table was moved away, revealing a hole as big as a table.

  Is that the exit?

  My heart skipped a beat, I didn't care about anything else and rushed over immediately.

  The diameter of this 'hole' is about fifty centimeters, and my head just stretched over it. I saw a pair of bulging eyeballs inside, and the pupils were slightly open, as if they had died with their eyes open.

  "Ah......" I let out a loud cry and took a step back, my butt heavily hitting the ground.

  At this time, they heard my cry and felt running over, took a look at the entrance of the 'cave'.

  "Chen Cu, you're so timid, it's just a dead person, why are you yelling so loudly?" Yu Gang squatted down and looked into the 'hole' to investigate.

  "Who doesn't know who put this dead body here, not even a bit of conscience." Yu Gang's face turned ugly as he scolded, his eyes fixed on the spot.

  However, as soon as Jason saw the dead man's face, his complexion changed drastically and looked very bad. He gritted his teeth and his throat moved with a low humming sound, as if he wanted to say something.

  I sat on the ground and saw their expressions at a glance. The deepest impression was Jason's expression. Suddenly, I thought to myself, could it be that Jason knows this person?

  Is this corpse Rocco?

  "Chen Cu, you little brat, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and move the corpse away, there's a passageway here." Yu Gang cursed at me from the front, he didn't even consider the dead person stuck in the 'cave' entrance to be a big deal.

  Just as he was about to reach out and grab the dead man, Jason suddenly yelled at him, "Don't touch him!"

  As soon as he said this, I was sure that Jason was the person who knew 'Dong' Kou's dead.

  Perhaps it was Jason's voice that gave people a sad feeling, Yu Gang's hand quickly withdrew, he stared back at Jason with a painful face, guessing that he understood a bit, so he took a step back.

  Jason took a step forward and stretched out his hand to pull that person, but it stopped in mid-air and didn't fall.

  All of us who saw this scene thought silently that the dead body stuck in the 'hole' was Jason's teammate.

  I took a glance at Xiaobian, who was standing at the entrance of the 'cave', looking down with an inscrutable expression. So I pulled Professor Lao's hand and asked in a low voice: "How did you know there was a mechanism under the table? And just now, it seemed like you knew everything."

  The old professor saw how determined I was, so he said: "We've been here before, and some of the places down there are quite familiar to me. However, it's still a long way from the Iron Plate River."