According to Wang Yue, during the day, they followed Professor Zhang's instructions and conducted surveys and recordings in the ancient tomb.
After such ancient tombs are excavated, one cannot move anything inside rashly. Preliminary observation and recording are required before submitting an evaluation report to the higher authorities. Only after approval from above can excavation be applied for.
To put it plainly, their job is to observe and write reports; excavation is a matter for later.
While Wang Yue and her senior fellow student, Ma Xuejin, were recording in the ancient tomb, Guan Zhenwan and Bai Hanyan also entered.
"Our current expedition is sponsored by Miss Guan, so she wanted to come in and take a look, and we didn't think much of it," Wang Yue said.
"And then?" I asked.
"After Miss Guan and the others came in, they just watched us record. But who knew that an earthquake suddenly struck, and the way out collapsed and was blocked. Seeing that the main burial chamber was also about to collapse, Miss Guan discovered a passage, and we all squeezed in."
Wang Yue said that after they entered the passage, they went all the way down to an underground cave, and then walked to this place.
"Did you see any snakes in the tomb when you were there?" I asked.
"Snakes? What snakes?" Wang Yue asked with a confused look. "We didn't see any snakes."
"Then, after you came down, did you encounter any monsters?"
"No," Wang Yue looked at me inexplicably.
Fatty and I exchanged a glance. It seemed we hadn't taken the same path as them.
But if that was the case, how did we all end up here?
As we walked, I didn't see any other paths. It was truly strange.
"What happened next? Why are you alone here?" I asked.
Wang Yue said, "Later, we walked into a stone chamber and found it was filled with statues of Mahayana Buddhism. While we were examining and recording those statues, vines emerged from somewhere. Those vines were like living things, and if you weren't careful, you'd get entangled. The situation was chaotic at the time, so we got separated... After leaving the stone chamber, I saw a suspension bridge here and walked over."
She said that after crossing the suspension bridge, she was exhausted and, coupled with extreme fright, felt somewhat weak. She lay on the ground and fainted.
"So, you got separated in the stone chamber?" I asked.
She nodded. "The situation was too complicated at the time, and we were all struggling to save ourselves, so..."
I nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Even though only one person was found now, it was better than finding no one.
Fatty asked what we should do now, whether to send her out first or continue forward.
I asked Wang Yue for her preference. If she wanted to go back, we would send her back first. If not, she would follow us to find the others.
It was evident that although she was quite frightened, she was still concerned about the safety of her senior fellow student.
"I'll go with you to find them."
I nodded and said, "Alright, Fatty, I have a task for you. If anything happens later, you need to take good care of Teacher Wang."
"Brother Xiang, don't worry, this is my responsibility."
Considering the time, Wang Yue was unconscious for at most half an hour. This meant that she was still with Guan Zhenwan and the others half an hour before Fatty and I arrived here.
According to this calculation, they shouldn't have gone far.
Fatty asked if we should go forward or back to the stone chamber Wang Yue mentioned. I was thinking of taking a look at that stone chamber, but then Wang Yue said, "There's a mechanism in that stone chamber. I touched a mechanism and inexplicably appeared outside. I can't find the way back in now."
Upon hearing this, I said, "Then let's keep moving forward. If they all came out of the stone chamber, they would definitely have moved forward, and maybe we'll meet them then."
"What if we don't meet them?" Fatty interjected inappropriately.
"If we don't meet them... we'll retrace our steps," I said.
Fatty nodded. "Then, Brother Xiang, let's hurry."
After getting organized, we continued forward.
The space ahead was still very open. After walking for about five or six minutes, the path ended and was replaced by an upward staircase.
Looking up the staircase, we found a massive Buddha statue on this rock face.
This Buddha statue was at least ten meters tall, and its width was unknown. The specific appearance of the Buddha was not very clear due to the poor lighting.
Wang Yue shone her flashlight on the Buddha statue and said, "This should be Ksitigarbha."
"What?" I asked, not understanding.
"Ksitigarbha is Sanskrit, and translated, this Buddha statue should be the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha," Wang Yue said.
"Ksitigarbha? The one who vowed not to attain Buddhahood until hell is empty, Ksitigarbha?" I asked.
"No..." Wang Yue seemed to have discovered something else and said, "This doesn't seem to be Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha."
I was a bit confused. First, she said it was Ksitigarbha, then she said it wasn't. What was going on?
She looked at it carefully with her flashlight again. After a long time, she couldn't figure it out.
I said, "Let's stop researching and see where this staircase leads."
Wang Yue nodded.
I took the lead and walked up the staircase.
This staircase was very peculiar. It was built around the rock face and was shaped like a "Z".
The steps were built very neatly. Although the width was only fifty to sixty centimeters, walking on them didn't feel unstable at all.
Following the steps, we reached the shoulder of the Buddha statue. There was a hole more than two meters high. Entering the hole, we found a long corridor with many lotus-shaped lamp niches on both sides. I noticed that the oil lamps in these niches still had oil.
So I asked Fatty to light them with matches, and soon the situation in the corridor became clear.
The ceiling of the corridor was covered with various colorful murals. The painting skills were excellent, and they were very vivid.
As an archaeologist, Wang Yue's eyes shone when she saw these murals.
"I know! I know who that Buddha statue is!" she exclaimed.
"Who?"
"Maudgalyayana!"
"Who is Maudgalyayana?" Fatty interjected.
I frowned slightly and asked, "You're not talking about Maudgalyayana from the story of Maudgalyayana saving his mother, are you?"
Wang Yue nodded. "It's him."
Fatty looked a bit at a loss. "Who are you talking about?"
I said exasperatedly, "Haven't you heard the story of Maudgalyayana saving his mother?"
Fatty shook his head.
I briefly explained the story of Maudgalyayana saving his mother to him. This story is also a famous Buddhist tale from the "Tripitaka," which tells of Maudgalyayana's mother being bullied by a group of evil spirits in hell after her death, and her food being snatched away. So Maudgalyayana asked the Buddha for help. The Buddha, moved by Maudgalyayana's filial piety, bestowed upon him the Ullambana Sutra.
Afterward, following the Buddha's instructions, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Maudgalyayana offered fruits and vegetarian meals in an Ullambana bowl to his mother, allowing her to receive food even while in hell.
This is roughly the story. To commemorate Maudgalyayana's filial piety, Buddhism holds a grand "Ullambana Festival" every year.