Chapter 337: Zhuge Liang’s Qj-Gathering Altar! The Eight Directions in Place! (2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Upon mentioning Zhuge Liang’s coffin, many people in the livestream room began to refute the idea, claiming it was impossible, absolutely impossible.
Luo Feng laughed and said, “I wonder if any of you have heard of a phrase that Zhuge Liang uttered before his death. He said that his funeral should be simple: carry his coffin southward, and once the rope breaks, bury it on the spot without sealing or planting anything.”
“The key is that there are many different historical accounts of this event. Some say that a few soldiers carried the coffin to Mount Dingjun, and fearing they would tire or die from carrying it too long, they intentionally cut the rope and left after a few days of carrying it around. Later, when Shu Emperor Liu Chan learned of this, he executed those soldiers and before doing so, asked them where the coffin had been buried.’
“We do not know if this story is true or not, but because of it, people believe that Zhuge Liang’s tomb is on Mount Dingjun. However, this is not a rigorous conclusion. ”
“While Zhuge Liang’s tomb of sorts was indeed discovered on Mount Dingjun, experts believe that it is merely a ceremonial tomb, and it cannot be proven whether the clothing inside actually belonged to Zhuge Liang or not.”
As he spoke, Luo Feng picked up a nearby bronze coin and continued explaining, “I am more inclined to believe the first version of the story, in which Zhuge Liang died near Wuzhangyuan, not far from the Qinling
Mountains. He instructed his soldiers to carry his coffin southward into the Qinling Mountains, and the rope was not cut, but rather continued to be carried until it finally broke. The coffin was then buried on the spot without sealing or planting anything, which is why it is only a little over a meter deep.”
“Holy sh*t! So you mean the rope happened to break right at the altar and it was buried here at the altar?” Qin Rubing could not help but mutter the expletive. “Isn’t that a bit too coincidental?”
Luo Feng replied, “Hehe, it’s not a coincidence. I think Zhuge Liang might have planned it all along. The altar was built by him, and he said that the coffin should be buried wherever the rope broke. This was just a smokescreen he set up for the outside world. In fact, the real burial location was where the soldiers carrying the coffin came directly!”
“Another possibility is that Zhuge Liang didn’t need to inform the soldiers at all. He calculated that the rope would break here at the altar.”
“But rationally speaking, such a miraculous calculation is impossible. I still believe in the first possibility, that Zhuge Liang arranged for those coffin -bearers himself.”
Upon hearing Luo Feng’s explanation, Su Meiji furrowed her brow and said, “But that’s not right. Zhuge Liang was also a fengshui master during his lifetime. Wouldn’t he know where the best burial site was? Didn’t you say that this place isn’t suitable for burials?”
Upon hearing this, Luo Feng responded, “He certainly would not be buried here because this place is an altar, not a burial site.”
“Eight stone tablets with Han characters, connected with gold mud and silver ropes to the jade seal of the Han dynasty!”
“Four heavenly spirits surround the altar!”
“This is to channel the national fortune and irrigate the Han imperial family!”
“Think about the position of those eight stone tablets with the ‘Han’ character and the jade columns!”
“There’s also the jade seal stored right in the center!”
“And as for himself, he used his own body, the Prime Minister of Shu Han, as a sacrifice!”
“So, in my opinion, this place was merely an altar for extending the Han dynasty’s flame, and his body itself was a type of lamp oil!”
“After all, in ancient times, it was not uncommon for bodies to be used as offerings—there were many instances of it!”
“That is why when the jade seal first appeared, I thought it was a sealing ceremony!”
“But in reality, it was just an altar for Zhuge Liang to bestow blessings upon the Han dynasty!”
Luo Feng glanced at the coffin and gave a bitter smile. “Indeed, he devoted his life to his country and even offered his body in death! Our Liang Liang truly is a
paragon of loyalty throughout the ages!”
Now that Luo Feng thought about it, those ginseng seeds must have been scattered by Zhuge Liang himself, signifying the eternal flame of the Han dynasty.
“So does this mean that in ancient times, altars were either for worshipping gods or for honoring ancestors? And since Zhuge Liang honored the Han dynasty, it’s like he was honoring the ancestors of Shu Han — the Han dynasty?” Su Meiji asked.
“More or less,” Luo Feng replied. “Although the soldiers were ordered to bury
the rope when it broke, without sealing or marking the grave, how could they stand to see Zhuge Liang without even a tombstone after his death? The soldiers back then must have hastily found a wooden tombstone and scattered some coins as burial offerings.”
“Marquis of Wuxiang was a title given after Liu Chan’s succession, so when
Zhuge Liang was alive, the tombstone must have read ‘Marquis of Wuxiang’!”
“As for the posthumous title ‘Loyal Marquis of Wu,’ it wouldn’t have appeared on this tombstone at all!”
Upon hearing Luo Feng’s explanation, everyone was left speechless for a long time. Many gained an even greater admiration for Zhuge Liang.
“Moreover,” Luo Feng continued, “I can assure you that the space under the altar is hollow!”
“So, there’s still something down there!” “But if Zhuge Liang had arranged it in advance…”
“Then it definitely isn’t an ancient tomb down there!”
“Instead, it should be a small space imbued with the Han dynasty’s dragon vein energy, used for accumulating the nation’s fortune!”
Luo Feng noticed several treasure markings beneath the altar, which indicated that it was not a tomb. Perhaps it was just a few items related to sacrificial offerings.
Soon after, Luo Feng began instructing everyone to dig around the altar’s perimeter, eager to discover what lay beneath.
As they dug, they reached a depth of several meters and suddenly uncovered a fist-sized hole that had been sealed off many years ago.
The hole suddenly collapsed, but fortunately, Luo Feng used his Swallowtail Hoe to hook onto the soil above and avoided falling in.
“Be careful, host! Aren’t you afraid of traps?” someone called out.
“Yeah, Zhuge Liang was incredibly clever. What if there are lots of traps hidden below?”
“Like I said, it’s not a tomb, so how could there be traps?” Luo Feng responded with a hint of exasperation as he carefully inspected the hole.
It was an entrance to a space beneath the altar. After all, if you were constructing an underground space, you would need to leave an opening. And since the purpose of the space was to absorb dragon energy, it wouldn’t be sealed off.
“Do you think there will be good stuff down there?” Li Shishi asked. “Perhaps the legendary wooden oxen and flowing horses? At least one of these two?”
Not only did Li Shishi share this thought, but many others from various museums did as well.
However, Luo Feng had already said that it was unlikely to be a tomb and that there would not be any burial items.
“Little Luo, do you need us to come and help?” Gu Santong asked over the phone at that moment. “No need for now,” he replied.
“What about the jade columns?”
“I’ll be keeping them as part of my museum’s collection! My museum doesn’t have many national treasures, so we need something impressive to anchor it.
Those dinosaur fossils will only serve to attract foreigners!” Luo Feng laughed.
Naturally, he rejected any offers from merchants or other museums to acquire the artifacts. The four jade columns were clearly national treasures, and having them in the museum would undoubtedly make a powerful statement.
Quickly, Luo Feng arranged for an oxygen tank and a gas mask, and descended into the hole. Once inside, he found that the space beneath the altar was smaller than the altar itself, being only about a hundred square meters. The area was neatly organized into a regular quadrilateral.
The room was sparse, with three rectangular stones placed against three walls, each half a meter long. In the center, there was a stone table with a small box on top. Other than these items, there was nothing else.
As he approached the stones, Luo Feng shone his flashlight on them. Despite the passage of more than a thousand years, the inscriptions on the stones remained clear.
“Though I began as a mere commoner…” The signature was Zhuge Liang’s.
The general meaning seemed to convey that as a servant of the Han, even in death, he would serve his country…
“Damn! Zhuge Liang really was a loyal minister!” someone exclaimed.
“A ruler should not doubt his minister!” “A minister should not fail his ruler!”
“Farewell, Liang Liang! Zhou Yu is coming too…”
Seeing that everyone was quite moved, Luo Feng coughed and walked toward the stone table, picking up the box.
Upon opening it, he discovered a scroll made of bamboo slips….
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