Free Web NovelChapter 636: Chapter 606 Recognized at a Glance_1
An Jianhua suddenly realized what he had just said. He grabbed his head and spoke after a moment’s thought:
"My grandmother likes to use that term. It’s not a Yugu language; if we trace it back, it is a term from the Huihe language to refer to the Huihe themselves, because we have always felt we are children of the Huihe."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"I understand. Although the Huihe no longer exist, the Yugu People feel that they are still Huihe and hope to be blessed by their ancestors. Even if their beliefs are divided and not uniform, their faith in their ancestors still remains. Is that what you mean?"
"Yes."
Zhou Ning gestured for Mr. Zhao to proceed, and Mr. Zhao turned to the photo of the eight cocoon-like objects. Although the cave was not very bright, this photo was taken with great clarity.
"These were photographed at the entrance to that cave, before entering the Buddha statue’s cavern. There are eight cocoon-like things hanging from the cave ceiling, with blood-red stones used to make dishes underneath. I want to know if your ancestors had such a way of paying tribute?"
The old lady stood up, perhaps unable to see clearly, as she had moved right up to the screen before pointing at it and saying something. An Jianhua quickly translated.
"Do you have an enlarged or an opened version of this? Is there a dead person inside?"
Zhou Ning nodded, and Mr. Zhao had already clicked on the next picture which showed the appearance of a mummified corpse.
"Inside these are children, both boys and girls. We just dissected one of them. Their eyes, tongues, teeth, and blood were removed, and they underwent embalming. Their digestive tracts were emptied to create mummies. The dagger we analyzed was soaked in the blood released by these eight children, which ultimately left marks.
I don’t know if you are related to them or what your relationship with the Yugu People is, but this ritual did not happen in the distant past. We roughly estimate it to be about twenty years ago. Are you familiar with such a ceremony?"
The old lady avoided eye contact and remained silent for a long time.
This gesture clearly indicated she wasn’t ignorant but rather unwilling to speak. Zhou Ning could see that, especially as the old lady kept rubbing the large silver enamel bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet was inlaid with turquoise and various gemstones, and the wear marks indicated its great age.
Zhou Ning was not in a hurry since pressuring her would be meaningless. Instead, quietly waiting might yield some results. Seeing that Zhou Ning and Liu Yufei were so patient, Fang Dongsheng did not say much more. After all, since taking office, he had overseen fewer than five cases, so his experience was not worth mentioning.
The old lady sighed, let go of the bracelet, and began to speak; An Jianhua translated sentence by sentence:
"All rituals are passed down verbally. The scriptures include illustrations, and there are many different rituals, each with different meanings. Some specifically select mute girls, just like the procedure you mentioned. However, it involves taking the entire skin to make the Ajie Drum.
After all, mute girls who have never spoken represents the purest symbol. The drums made by them, the Ajie Drums, are also the purest. These drums are played during rituals to respond to the heavens and express gratitude for the divine blessing.
You might find such sacrificial rituals incomprehensible, but in our belief, death is not to be feared. It is like a new life, returning to nature, part of the cycle, where harmony and happiness are most important. Suffering in this life ensures blessings in the next.
As for these eight boys and girls turned into cocoon-like objects hanging from the ceiling, along with the techniques involved, I believe these represent the eight consciousnesses of sealed offerings.
The eight consciousnesses include the consciousness of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, ’manas’ (thought), and ’alaya-vijnana’ (the seed). Sealing the eight consciousnesses with a total of eight children, offering their pure innocence, using the sacred blade of ’Yao Hu Er’ as a guide, summons the arrival of Asura."
Zhou Ning listened carefully, but he did not understand some of the terms. An Jianhua helped annotate several of them. As for ’Asura’, he clearly could not explain it.
"I don’t know how to translate this, but Asuras are considered low-level demigods. There are six realms they appear in throughout the cycles of rebirth. That is, people who enter reincarnation with malign intentions may return in the form of Asuras. Such rituals are designed to summon Asuras, who may masquerade as deities."
At this point, he asked the old lady again with confusion, and the old lady patiently explained before realizing:
"What my grandmother means is that these Asuras are scattered about in the world like seeds, cultivated among people, and perhaps one day they might become demigods revered by the populace, or even regarded as incarnations of gods, creating their own faith.
However, I don’t believe this. It wasn’t done by the Boyegu People. Although they were annihilated by the Eight Great Families, they still worshiped the Green Tara, and the blood lotuses symbolize their abundant life force. They scattered their people like seeds. Amongst us Yugu People who still exist, who doesn’t have some Boyegu blood?"
The old lady became very emotional, and Zhou Ning hurriedly pressed his hands down.
"Don’t be agitated, we’re just analyzing. For a cave that has been sealed for over four hundred years, to have someone conduct such a professional ceremony inside, and even know how to seal the eight consciousnesses, invoking Asura, considering there are still eight coffins unopened."
At this point, Zhou Ning paused, signaled to Mr. Zhao to hand him the document bag, took out the photos inside, and passed them to the old lady.
"Elder, this is the painting on top of the eight coffins. We believe that the age of the pigments used for these designs coincide with the time the cave was constructed. However, a large portion of it has been repainted. I am not sure if it is related to the ceremony you mentioned?"
The old lady took a look.
"My grandmother said that these scenes depicted the process of the ceremony. There are several different rituals depicted. No wonder they understood them so thoroughly. One of them is to call upon warriors to receive the protection of their ancestors.
It seems the Boyegu ancestors, before their death, hoped their descendants would use their bodies to summon and call forth the next generation of warriors to lead the Boyegu People, to protect their homeland. It’s just that their descendants might not know of this place. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
But who discovered it? We’ve lived here generation after generation without knowing of their existence. Who found this and imitated these ceremonial acts, summoning Asura? Could it be for the purpose of creating a god?"
As the last few words were spoken, An Jianhua was stunned, finding it hard to imagine his grandmother saying something so radical.
Zhou Ning, however, nodded in agreement.
Yes, that was also his current belief. It was a heretical cult. But what stage had this god-making plan reached after twenty years?
"Having discovered this cave, we suspected the actions of a heretical cult, but we didn’t know if these people were active locally. We will investigate this further. I have one last question, if you would kindly ask the elder. You mentioned before that, sixty years ago, you had seen the holy blade at the chieftain’s house.
Has the holy blade always been kept at the chieftain’s house, or do several families take turns safeguarding it? And after participating in that ceremony, have you seen the holy blade again, or heard any rumors about it?"
The old lady shook her head.
"At that time, it was just a few years after the establishment of the country, and our people were treated quite leniently, with many livestock policies granted, assigning pastures and settlements. Afterwards, no ceremonies were held, nor were there similar activities.
Life is different now. At first, we lived in felt tents, wandering nomadically, and life was tough. Now, we have brick houses in the villages, learning various technologies, breeding new sheep breeds with higher wool yields, and harvesting medicinal herbs.
Each family can live well without prayers or seeking divine protection, as long as they’re willing to toil, they can earn a good living. Moreover, many in our tribe now wear regular clothes, speak Mandarin, and are no different from the Han Chinese. Who remembers the holy blade? Who needs such ceremonies anymore?"
The old lady’s words were highly insightful. In this era, it’s quite difficult to starve a person; anyone willing to work and embrace change can have a very decent life.
"So you’re saying, in these sixty years, no one mentioned the holy blade anymore, no one in the tribe longed for it, and no one remembered Boyegu, but you recognized it at a glance?"
