Standing at the edge of the cliff, Wang Yang asked me to take out the signal flare. He then fired a shot upwards.
With a "bang," the flare illuminated the surroundings, instantly revealing the entire cavern.
The cave was astonishingly vast; it was unknown how such terrain had formed.
The flare began to descend slowly. Our gaze followed the light downwards, only to see numerous hip-and-gable roof structures at the bottom of the cliff. Ancient-looking buildings appeared before our eyes.
Before we could examine them further, the flare's light extinguished, plunging the area back into darkness.
Wang Yang took a deep breath and fired another shot. This time, we didn't look at the surroundings but focused on the bottom of the cliff. This time, we saw it clearly: there were indeed many ancient buildings below.
It looked like some kind of palace.
Building a palace here was simply unheard of.
Li Zhasi spoke, "Could there be people living down there?"
This question genuinely stumped Wang Yang and me. We exchanged glances, unsure how to answer.
"Have you ever seen a palace built underground?" I asked Wang Yang.
He shook his head. "No."
Li Zhasi chimed in, "Should we go back, or go down to take a look?"
Wang Yang looked at me, seemingly seeking my opinion.
Truthfully, I was injured and not very mobile, but my heart yearned to explore.
If there were coffins or something similar down there, I wouldn't be interested. But this was a palace.
The thought that this was a palace from the Da Chang He era stirred a deep excitement within me.
As someone who frequently dealt with antiques, encountering such an opportunity to broaden my horizons and gain knowledge was rare.
Perhaps it was psychosomatic, but my waist injury didn't seem to hurt as much.
Wang Yang stood at the cliff's edge and shone his flashlight around, discovering a narrow plank path that seemed to lead to the palace below.
"Since we're here, let's go down and take a look," I said.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yang replied, "Alright, let's rest for a bit. I'll check your wound, and then we'll talk."
We rested on the spot. Wang Yang found some dry wood nearby, started a fire, and we took off our clothes to dry them by the flames.
Wang Yang tended to my wound again, applying some medicine.
Fortunately, the backpack was well-equipped, even with antibiotics.
It truly showed the difference between professionals and us.
Wang Yang and I only brought some food and spare batteries for our flashlights when we came down to tombs.
Those people came prepared with everything in their backpacks.
If that person hadn't been killed by the water monster, we wouldn't have found his backpack.
The memory of that person's face made me shiver.
Trying my best to push the thought away, I ate some compressed biscuits, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and leaned against the rock wall, feeling drowsy.
Watching the firelight not far away, I drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how long I slept. When I woke up, the fire was almost out. A snoring sound erupted nearby; it was Li Zhasi.
Looking around, I noticed that Wang Yang had disappeared somewhere.
Just as I was about to look for him, I saw a climbing rope secured to a piton on the ground.
I walked a few steps along the rope and reached a plank path, where Wang Yang was inspecting something.
I called out to him, and he then pulled on the rope and walked back.
"What are you doing?"
"For safety's sake, I've set up a safety rope. When we go down, everyone should tie themselves to the rope. If anything unexpected happens, we can climb back up using the rope."
I smiled and said, "You've thought of everything, haven't you?"
Wang Yang shrugged and asked about my waist injury. I said it was much better; apart from a slight ache, it didn't impede my movement.
After waking Li Zhasi up, we proceeded down the plank path.
The path wasn't wide, only about forty to fifty centimeters. The surface was very uneven, and it descended downwards. If one wasn't careful and slipped, it was very likely they would fall off.
Fortunately, Wang Yang had prepared the safety ropes in advance. With the ropes on us, we felt much more secure.
However, halfway down, the safety rope's length wasn't enough. We had to untie the ropes and descend the cliff face, pressing ourselves against the wall.
Reaching the bottom of the cliff, I felt drenched in sweat. They say going uphill is easier than going downhill, and it's indeed true.
This descent was more strenuous than climbing up.
The cliff bottom was paved with flagstones, meticulously laid. In front of the main hall was a large open space, with a stone incense burner in the center.
We walked over and found blackish residue inside the incense burner, likely the remnants of incense burned over a thousand years ago.
A stone staircase was nearby, with the main entrance of the grand hall behind it. It was entirely wooden, with a single-eaved hip-and-gable roof, gently sloping rafters, and deep eaves.
"It's preserved so well!" I exclaimed.
Wang Yang asked, "Haven't you noticed how perfect the humidity is here?"
His remark made me realize he was right. There was no wind, it wasn't too cold or too hot; the temperature was just right.
Approaching the main hall entrance, I saw a plaque above it with three large characters: Zichen Hall.
"Zichen Hall? Isn't that where the Tang Dynasty emperors held their meetings?" I asked, somewhat bewildered.
Why would the emperor of Da Chang He have brought the meeting room of the Chang'an emperor here?
Did he aspire to be an emperor of the Tang Dynasty?
Wang Yang also looked confused.
As I reached the entrance and prepared to push the door open, I realized Li Zhasi had wandered off somewhere.
Turning back, I saw him kneeling not far away, bowing repeatedly.
Puzzled, I walked over and asked him what was wrong.
He pointed towards the cliff face, urging us to look.
Following his gaze, we saw a statue in an indentation on the cliff wall.
The statue had no distinct facial features; its arms were covered in feathers and leaves, and it stood on ascending clouds.
"Is that an Esha statue?" Wang Yang asked uncertainly.
Li Zhasi nodded, his expression turning reverent.
Esha is the celestial deity worshipped by the Lahu people. According to the Lahu creation epic, "Mupa Mipa," the celestial deity Esha created the universe and nature, then planted a gourd.
When the gourd matured, birds pecked it open, and from it emerged a man and a woman. From then on, humanity began to multiply and thrive in the nature created by Esha.
I had specifically researched this information before coming to Yuncheng.
Curiously, why was there a statue of Esha here?
Could it be that the king of Da Chang He also worshipped Esha?
That was impossible. The king of Da Chang He was Han Chinese. In that era, they would have worshipped Buddhism, not foreign deities.
Furthermore, what was the meaning of building this palace here?