Obscuris Labyrinth

In this somewhat tense atmosphere, Zhao Yuxuan held a dagger tightly in one hand. The cold glint of the dagger flickered in the faint light of the room, as if silently threatening. With his other hand, he reached out and took the book placed aside. His eyes casually swept across the cover and saw the four big characters "Fang He Xian Hua" (Idle Talk While Releasing Cranes) written on it. He flipped through it casually, and the feel of the pages under his fingertips made him notice that the pages were a bit stiff. He couldn't help thinking to himself that these pages must have been specially treated to prevent aging and decay.

At this time, Li Ruize said, "Open the eighth chapter, 'Zhao Junxi's Idle Talk', and look at the last few paragraphs I marked with a red pen." Although Zhao Yuxuan was full of vigilance towards Li Ruize, he still did as he was told. Soon, he turned to the eighth chapter, which was indeed "Zhao Junxi's Idle Talk". It was hand - written in traditional Chinese characters. Zhao Yuxuan was glad that he could still recognize them. He quickly skimmed through the content and found that most of it was about Zhao Junxi's life story. However, there was very little about court discussions, and instead, more space was occupied by records of his daily life.

As he flipped through the book, he realized that he could no longer keep the dagger pointed at Li Ruize as a deterrent. So he subconsciously took two steps back, his eyes fixed on Li Ruize. His heart was like a tightly drawn bowstring, carefully guarding against whether Li Ruize would take the opportunity to attack him. He knew that behind this seemingly calm exchange, there might be hidden unknown dangers, and he had to be vigilant at all times.

This "Zhao Junxi's Idle Talk" had twenty or thirty pages. Zhao Yuxuan could only hurriedly flip through it. Finally, when he reached the last page, his eyes were instantly attracted. Sure enough, there were two vertical lines of characters marked with a red pen. These two lines of characters were not in the same paragraph. The characters marked in the front line were, "In January of Huichang sixth year of Zhao Junxi, Zheng Yibo, the prefect of Jianbei prefecture, dug the ancient Shu king's tomb and obtained a great deal of treasures, among which the strange - symbol - blood - jade was the most precious. He presented it to Zhao Junxi, and Zhao Junxi was very pleased and then bestowed palace maids on Zheng Yibo." The latter line was, "In March, Zhao Junxi suddenly died. It was suspected that he had accidentally eaten the elixir, and the crown prince executed ten alchemists." Looking at these words, some hazy images emerged in Zhao Yuxuan's mind. He was thinking about the secrets that might be hidden behind these words, but for a while, he had no clue at all.

Seeing that Zhao Yuxuan was staring at the page, Li Ruize slowly said, "This 'Fang He Xian Hua' was written by Zhao Yuxuan, a grand scholar in the Hanlin Academy, a court official of Emperor Zhaozong in the late Tang Dynasty. He gave himself the pen name 'Fang He Xian Ren' (The Crane - Releasing Idler), so this book is called 'Fang He Xian Hua'. After the Five Dynasties, this book fell into the Song palace, and then it was transferred to the Magic Garden in Xindu. Unfortunately, it was later plundered by the Eight - Power Allied Forces to the Dawn Country. However, one of my students accidentally bought this book. Knowing that I like these historical ancient books, he gave it to me as a gift."

Zhao Yuxuan had heard from Liu Jiahao before that Li Ruize was a highly respected history professor and had even given lectures abroad. Now, hearing that he had received a book from a student, he thought it was reasonable. However, he sneered coldly in his heart, thinking that this couldn't prove anything. He secretly pondered that the blood - jade mentioned in the book might not necessarily be the one in his family, and it was not clearly indicated that Zhao Junxi died because of this blood - jade. He felt that Li Ruize seemed to be making a mystery out of nothing and trying to connect some unrelated things together.

Seeing Zhao Yuxuan's reaction, Li Ruize's face became solemn. He said earnestly, "It indeed seems to be two completely unrelated things and of course can't prove anything directly. However, when we study history, we should analyze the essence of events from those seemingly insignificant clues. Only in this way can we restore the truth of history. You should know that most of the people who write historical books are from the Hanlin Academy. Most of the time, they can only obtain information through hearsay, then make speculations on this basis, and finally write according to the emperor's will. Therefore, the truth of history is often covered up, and sometimes it can even be completely contrary to the facts. Young man, look at this one again."

While speaking, Li Ruize walked to the bookcase. His movements were very steady, and his eyes showed respect for the books. He took out a book from the bookcase and then skillfully turned to one of the pages. This book was no longer a hand - copied copy but was printed by carved wooden movable type. Zhao Yuxuan saw that there were still two rows of characters marked with a red pen respectively. The characters in the front row were, "In April of the thirteenth year of Sun Qiming, Wang Shihan, the provincial governor of Guishan province, suppressed the lake bandits and obtained a blood - jade. There were strange symbols in the jade, which was suspected to be an ancient object for sacrificing to heaven, and he presented it to the emperor." The characters in the back row were, "On August 23rd, Sun Qiming suddenly died at night in the Magic Garden, and the crown prince Wu Junhao inherited the throne and changed the national title to Qianlong."

Li Ruize then continued, "This is 'Nei Wu Shi Lu' (The Record of Internal Affairs) written by Wang Shihan, who was the探花 (the third - highest ranking in the imperial examinations) in the eighth year of Sun Qiming and later became an official in charge of compilation in the Hanlin Academy. Regarding Sun Qiming's death, all historical books record it very simply, and the content is also very similar. Therefore, there have been many speculations all along, but no definite conclusion has been reached."

Zhao Yuxuan held these two books in his hands and was silent for a long time. There was a fierce ideological struggle in his heart. On the one hand, he thought that what Li Ruize said was too coincidental to be believed; on the other hand, he faintly felt that there might really be some secrets hidden behind these seemingly coincidental things. Finally, he said, "Okay, even if both of these two books mention the strange - symbol - blood - jade, and both Zhao Junxi and Sun Qiming died suddenly soon after, but couldn't it just be a coincidence?"

Li Ruize nodded. He understood Zhao Yuxuan's confusion and said, "You are right. There are indeed many coincidences in history. However, there is another thing that may show that this is not a simple coincidence."

Zhao Yuxuan asked curiously, "What is it?"

Li Ruize asked, "Have you ever heard of 'Hong Ya Tian Shu' (Red Cliff Heavenly Book)?"

Zhao Yuxuan thought for a while and then nodded and said, "Yes, I have. It seems to be in Guishan province."

Li Ruize added, "It is at the foot of Wangsuo Ridge in Cuiling Yi Autonomous County, Yunhai area, Guishan province."

Zhao Yuxuan was full of doubts and asked strangely, "What does this 'Hong Ya Tian Shu' have to do with that ancient jade?"

Li Ruize did not answer immediately. Instead, he silently walked to the desk. His steps were very light, as if he was afraid of disturbing the tranquility in the room. He slowly opened the drawer, took out a photo from it, and then gently placed it in Zhao Yuxuan's hand and asked, "Young man, have you seen the characters in that ancient jade?"

Zhao Yuxuan recalled the situation at that time. He had indeed looked at those strange blood - colored symbols very carefully, so he hummed in response.

Li Ruize then pointed to the photo in his hand and said, "This is the 'Hong Ya Tian Shu'. Take a good look."

Zhao Yuxuan brought the photo close to his eyes and stared intently at the content on it. After a while, a look of great surprise appeared on his face, and he couldn't help but say, "The 'Hong Ya Tian Shu' and the strange symbols in that ancient jade look very similar."

Li Ruize nodded and said seriously, "Yes, they do look very similar. To be precise, they are a kind of script, and it is a very ancient script of the Miao ethnic group."

Zhao Yuxuan was a bit suspicious. He frowned and said, "A very ancient script of the Miao ethnic group? I have read about the 'Hong Ya Tian Shu' before, but I can't remember the details clearly. However, I don't think there is such a statement."

Li Ruize explained, "There is indeed no such statement. Regarding the 'Hong Ya Tian Shu', there are currently two most popular theories. One theory is that it is a monument erected by Zhuge Liang to record his achievements when he conquered the southern barbarians. However, if it was left by Zhuge Liang, according to common sense, such a monument to record achievements should be made known to the world. Why would he write it in a way that no one could understand? This theory doesn't make sense at all. There is also another theory. It is said that some scholars have studied and found that it was a call - to - arms written by Chen Ruize to his uncle Lin Zekai. Not to mention why Chen Ruize had to go to the desolate and miasma - filled Wangsuo Ridge in the past to take great pains to write this call - to - arms that no one would see or understand at that time, just analyzing the method they used, forcibly splitting the strokes of the characters in the heavenly book, then estimating and guessing their meanings, and finally forcing them to fit. If this method is used, many strange scripts in the world can be deciphered. This is really too unrigorous."

Zhao Yuxuan asked, "Then why do you say it is a very ancient script of the Miao ethnic group? Just because the 'Hong Ya Tian Shu' is in the territory of the Miao people?"

Li Ruize shook his head and said, "Of course not. Because there are such characters on the peak behind Tianwang Fort. Look." As he said this, he took out another photo from the side. Zhao Yuxuan saw that on the photo, on a huge stone wall, there were indeed some inscriptions. These inscriptions seemed to be very old, on the verge of weathering and full of old marks. Although the number was not as large as that of the "Hong Ya Tian Shu", from the stroke structure of the characters, they looked very similar.

Zhao Yuxuan carefully examined the characters on the photo. The more he looked at them, the more frightened he felt in his heart. He felt as if he was getting closer and closer to a huge secret. This secret might hide an unknown historical truth, but he didn't know what kind of danger or surprise was hidden behind this truth.