165|Fluffy Heart Guard Sage Out of the World

Pei Ming and the others entered the courtyard of a house, probably to see if there was a well. Xie Ren stepped into the courtyard and casually said, “The houses on this street are all so tall and grand.”

Hua Cheng said, “Copper Furnace is located in the center of the Imperial City of Wuyong country, this place is very close to the copper furnace, that is to say, two thousand years from the Imperial City is very close to the affluent place, naturally tall and grand, because most of the people who live here are dignitaries, rich and wealthy people.”

There was indeed a well, but the scene at the well was horrible. Seven or eight people are lying on the edge of the well, as if the person who is about to die of thirst struggling to move here, or broken. Closer, Xie Ren froze, said: “This …… is not more like a stone statue than a person, or not?”

These were not living beings, of course, but neither were they corpses, nor were they skeletons, but rather crude, grayish “stone statues”.

Xie Ren just wanted to go up and touch it with his hand, Hua Cheng glanced at him, and he immediately remembered that the two of them had just agreed not to touch dangerous and strange things, and forced himself to hold back. On second thought, what kind of person would have nothing to do with molding so many horrifyingly shaped stone statues? It should indeed be a human being, but somehow, it has become like this.

The door of this house is wide open, he looked to the side of the house, only to see that there are also two people lying on the floor of the house, posture twisted, embracing each other tightly. Although the face is blurred, can not see the expression, but just based on the action, can already feel the two fearful mood. Two people in the middle of what is tightly embraced a thing, at first glance like a bag, and then look carefully, Xie Ren suddenly.

That would be a baby.

Things were clear. Xie Ren said, “Those outside are the servants of this household, and inside, it’s the owner’s family of three, right?”

Hanagi said, “Uh-huh. After the volcano erupted, the moving waters of the Uyong River turned into rushing lava, and the inhabitants living in the highlands were not burned to death by the lava and fire, but they could not escape from the ubiquitous volcanic ash in the air and suffocated to death.”

The overwhelming volcanic ash instantly wrapped around their entire bodies, forming a hard shell on the surface that preserved the moment before people die, turning them into petrified statues. This husband and wife embraced their loved ones and children in horror and connected as one in the moment of the end of their lives.

That ancient well had of course long since dried up, and Pei Ming was not interested in studying the dead man’s mold, so he went out and set up Pei Su, and continued to look for water. Suddenly, Xie Ren noticed a bit of strangeness, rolled over and entered the house, squatting down next to the petrified statue of the family of three. Hua Cheng also came in and said, “What do you want to see?”

Xie Ren slightly frowned, said: ”I just feel that they move a little strange. These two adults are both hugging each other tightly with one hand, but the …… other hand, however, is placed in front of their chests, seeming to tightly grasp something.

Flower City said, “You want to see what they’re holding is it?”

Xie Ren just nodded his head, then Hua Cheng slapped on the petrified statue that was linked together, Xie Ren was busy saying: ”Wait, isn’t this not too …… good for their remains” However, Hua Cheng’s movements were faster than his, and the family of three was instantly turned into a pile of grayish-white debris. Hua Cheng said in a faint voice, “There is no need to care too much. The people are long dead and the remains are no more.”

There was nothing in that pile of debris. These “stone statues” are actually hollow.

That’s right, although the surface layer of volcanic ash formed a hard protective shell, the body encased inside would eventually rot and decompose. After the decay is complete, only this surface layer of ash shell remains.

What was once alive will pass away, but what never had life will live on.

Remaining amongst the pieces of volcanic ash shell were some fabrics that hadn’t finished rotting and jewelry from the owner’s body, such as rings, earrings, necklaces, and so on. Xie Ren felt that it was unlikely that the couple grabbed these gold and silver jewelry before they died, and was picking through them when Hua Cheng picked up something from the ground and handed it to him. Xie Ren said, “What is this?”

Flower City said, “That’s what they’re clinging to in their hands.”

It was a pendant with shiny gold pieces and bone-like ornaments. There was a pattern on the gold piece, and Xie Ren gently wiped off the ash on it, gazed at it for a moment, and said, “Fluorescence guarding the heart?”

What was engraved on this gold piece was actually a celestial phase diagram. Gold as the canopy, agate as the star, it is the so-called “fluorescent confusion to guard the heart” phase, that is, the fluorescent confusion star in the heart of the host to stay in the phase of the sky.

The star of fluorescence has always been regarded as the star of war and death, and the phase of fluorescence guarding the heart is an ominous sign, especially for the lord of the country, the emperor and other rulers, so why was such a celestial phase engraved on the jewelry?

No, this should not be an ornament. Xie Ren searched through the empty shell fragments for a while, and found two other identical pendants, three in total, even the small baby in the couple’s arms had a share, how would the same jewelry be prepared in three shares? Xie Ren said, “This can’t be an amulet, right?”

Only an amulet would give one the urge to hold on tightly in the moment before death, praying frantically in fear with a last hope. Hua Cheng said, “Precisely. I have also dug up part of this city, and within quite a few petrified statues, this amulet has been found.”

Xie Ren mused, “The Wuyong people believe in their Crown Prince, so this should be the Crown Prince’s amulet. But why did you draw this? Does the Crown Prince have anything to do with the Flux Guardian Heart?”

Hua Cheng said, “Because on the day he was born, the heavenly phase was the Flux Guardian Heart. Therefore, the crowds of the Wuyong Kingdom used this heavenly phase to refer to him instead.”

Xie Ren wondered, “How did Sanlang learn of this?”

Hua Cheng turned the gold piece over in one go and laughed, “It’s written on it.”

Sure enough, there was a row of words engraved on the reverse side. Hua Cheng pointed it out to him and said, “This row of words means ‘Fluorescence guards the heart, saints come out’. Nowadays, in our eyes, the fluorescence guarding the heart is an ominous sign, but this may not have been the case two thousand years ago.”

Xie Ren caressed the line of text, but a heart slowly sank.

For, the heavenly sign on the day of his birth was also the Flux guarding his heart!

Isn’t that a little too much of a coincidence?

Xie Ren stood up and said, “Let’s go to the temple.”

Side by side, the two walked down the long street. Pei Ming and the others, having found nothing in the area, followed suit. There were many remains of carts and horses on the street, some resting nicely on the side of the road, others tumbled to the ground in their entirety. There were also scattered petrified people lying on the ground, in different postures, most of them had taken refuge in their homes, these were homeless beggars or passers-by who couldn’t make it home in time. The hissing and struggling of the moment before death were preserved, and the crowd traveled through the light and strange pedestrian sinks. Hua Cheng pointed out to Xie Ren which were the mansions of wealthy merchants and which were places of feasting and pleasure. Xie Ren couldn’t help but say, “Sanlang, the Wuyong Kingdom has been extinguished for more than two thousand years, and there were no heirs surviving before, how did you acquire those words?”

You can’t just learn it the hard way out of thin air, there has to be a doorway in any case. Hua Cheng said, “It is not too difficult. Brother can see that there are some Wuyong scripts that are very similar to the current ones.”

Xie Ren said, “Yes, the word ‘Wuyong’ is very much like the present form.”

Flower City said, “Yes. That’s why these two words were one of the first Uyong texts I learned. There are others like these, interspersed in sentences, where more new words can be inferred before and after. There are also those with the same form but different meanings, but a few.”

Xie Ren nodded, and Hua Cheng continued, “Then, there are those characters that appear more frequently. For example, these two.”

He pointed to the two buildings on the street and said, “It’s obvious to see what kind of place this is. The words on the signboard are different in the front and the same in the back, in this way, you can determine what the last two words probably mean, it is either a tavern or a restaurant. There are many more methods, brother still wants to hear, I’ll tell you one by one when I have time.”

I see. There are actually people in the world who can actually figure out a thing without any help, all by themselves. Xie Ren couldn’t help but marvel in his heart.

Uyong Divine Hall is still the tallest and most imposing building in the city, the group came to the front of the hall and before they went in, Pei Ming suddenly said, “What’s that sound?”

Squeak, squeak. Coming from far away and dispersing far away, Xie Ren said, “Rats?”

Flower City said, “Not just any rats. However, the fact that there are rats means that there is water nearby.”

Entering the temple, this time, there were actually no scorch marks remaining on the walls. As soon as he raised his head, he could see large swathes of brightly colored murals. However, this time, there was not just one mural, but left, center, and right, three! Three walls, one on each side!

The crowd came to the first mural and looked up. Only to see Prince Wuyong sitting on a cloud, surrounded by golden light. But his face was grim, his left hand was holding a cloud of light in vain, and in the halo was a small mountain spitting flames; his right hand was five fingers together, palm forward, seemingly waving his hand.

Below is a palace, the temple stood a dozen people, clothing and accessories are gorgeous, each person moves differently, some open arms, some armored and bow, some are excitedly pointing to the distance.

The details of the picture were complex and extremely broad in content, Xie Ren looked at it for a while before turning his head, ”Let me say what I understand the meaning of this picture to be?

“This halo that Prince Wuyong is holding in his left hand has a small scene of a volcanic eruption in it, indicating that he told the people below about his dream. And the gesture of his right hand is clearly a negative gesture, it should be rejecting something.”

Pei Ming said, “And what exactly is the refusal?”

Xie Ren said, “That depends on the movements of the group below. This palace is on earth, opulent and magnificent, it should be a royal palace. This group of people should be the princes and nobles of the Wuyong Kingdom. This one who opens his arm, looking at the posture, is comparing ‘expanding’, expanding what? It depends on what’s in his hand.”

The crowd fixed their eyes on what he was holding, a map. This Pei Ming could not be more familiar with it and said, “Expanding the territory!”

Xie Ren said, “Yes. And these several generals, all dressed in military attire, seem to be ready and armored for battle. There are people beside them who are giving them directions, and as you see, their movements are pointing in a very obvious way, as if they are saying, ”Go there and fight there.”

“In this way, the meaning of the painting, is well understood – to synthesize it is: the Prince of Uyong told his prophetic dream to the ministers in the palace. Once the volcano erupted, the consequences would be immense, and it would be the end of the country of Uyong. The country’s territory will be insufficient because the volcano is located in the center, and important cities will surely disappear as well. So what should be done about it?”

Flower City said, “If you don’t have enough of your own territory, you’ll go and occupy someone else’s.”

Xie Ren said, “Yes. Therefore, the ministers proposed to open up the territory and attack the neighboring countries.

“But Prince Uyong did not agree to do so. So, with his right hand, he postured his refusal.”

After solving the first one, the crowd came to the second mural. The color of this mural was much more somber than the other two, perhaps because it depicted a situation of killing on a battlefield.

On the battlefield below, blood flowed as soldiers from both sides killed each other. Xie Ren was able to tell which side was the soldiers of the Uyong Kingdom because their armor was the same as the generals in the last mural. The Uyong soldiers looked ferocious to the extreme, trampling the enemy’s head under their feet, picking the body on their halberds, killing the arms and thighs with flesh and mud, bloody and cruel, and there were also soldiers who laughed and put their hands on the children and women who were hugging each other in a ball, which showed the horror of the war.

The battlefield was covered with gloomy clouds above, while a hint of white light came out from the dark clouds, Prince Uyong poked out half of his body from between the clouds and saw the scene below, his expression seemed to be a bit angry, he stretched out one hand and put down many golden lights, and the Uyong soldiers wherever the golden lights went, were all collected up.

The meaning of this one was a bit better interpreted than the previous one. After looking at it for a while, Xie Ren softly said: ”It seems that the generals and ministers didn’t listen to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s exhortations, and still sent their soldiers out to attack the neighboring countries. The soldiers were killing too much and were bullying the old, weak, women and children of other countries, and when the Crown Prince found out about this, he was so angry that he intervened once again to stop the atrocities of the soldiers of Wuyong.”

Pei Ming listened and said in a faint voice: ”Touching. But honestly, if there must be a country where people live and die, there is no excuse for choosing to protect one’s own country. Generals charging in front of them, without being hacked to death by the enemy on the battlefield, might have to be angry with this Crown Prince first. Pei Mou doesn’t want to campaign for such a ruler.”

Xie Ren laughed a few times and said somewhat helplessly, “General Pei has, uh, a point.” Hua Cheng, on the other hand, sneered slightly. Pei Ming said, “So, the volcano is going to erupt, what does this Crown Prince plan to do? You can’t just let your own citizens wait to die.”

Xie Ren said, “Look at the third one, it should be solved.”

The crowd finally came before this last mural. This mural, in stark contrast to the colors of the previous one, had reemerged as vibrant to the extreme, sprinkled with holy light. However, Xie Ren’s heart shook at the first sight of it and her eyes widened.

Pei Ming took a look and said, ”Heavens, is this what Prince Wuyong came up with? Ha, the guts are really big too. Mister Pei admires it.”

On the third mural, the country of Uyong is depicted underneath, with the Uyong River meandering across the land, and the crown prince and the four guardian deities of the heavens are also in the picture. However, these are not the focus of the whole picture, the most notable, in the center, is a bridge.

A huge bridge of brilliant white light was held up by the combined efforts of Prince Wuyong and his four protectors, and the people on the ground were surging toward the bridge with smiles on their faces.

This Prince Wuyong, actually built a bridge to heaven and wanted to extradite people to the heavenly realm!