Low and frenzied chanting echoed faintly in this underground tunnel.
However, the cat, Yu Chi, Keziah Mason and Gu Jun had been walking for half an hour. There was no end. They turned several corners but there was no sign of anyone. The lights on the wall were the same and the vibration continued. The chanting remained the same, it did not seem to have changed at all.
At this point, there was another junction that led to 8 different directions. There was also a staircase that led down from above.
However, this should not be where they first came because the staircase looked different.
Because of that, the cat, Wu Shiyu had to admit one thing. Fine, she was lost.
"Meow." She shrugged and collapsed in the middle of the junction. That was to show that she could not lead the way and that she needed to rest.
"Don't you feel anything?" Gu Jun asked. He did not feel anything himself, his senses were messed up here.
Wu Shiyu shook her head. She thought she did but she was like a carrot dangling in front of a horse. With every step she took, she would be further away from the horse. She thought it would be best to have a longer mouth, or a long tongue like the anteater, so that she could eat it.
Gu Jun looked around. Just now, there was a surge of panic in his heart. Something was happening …
There was less than 1 and a half hour left.
Keziah Mason did not seem to have an idea either. She was interested in the lights on the wall, they were a novelty to her.
"Captain Gu, I have an idea." Yu Chi walked to the wall. "Come and look at the carvings on the wall. I've been paying attention to them for a long time. From the entrance of the staircase to here, the walls are filled with carvings."
"Hmm." Gu Jun naturally noticed it as well. He had discussed it with Yu Chi before. He believed they were part of the ritual or decoration of the altar.
But now Yu Chi had a new idea. His face flushed as he scratched his beard. There were many things he wanted to say but his PTSD made it hard for him to form words.
"These are rock paintings. They are symbols and words … How should I put it? How should I put it? Rocks are a visual medium! Therefore, all these images carved on rocks and mountain walls in ancient times, whether they are figurative images or geometric symbols, can be regarded as marks and symbols. "
Gu Jun nodded. "Understood."
"Meow." Wu Shiyu was also listening. It was easy to understand. Both men and women were humans.
"Symbols are words …" Yu Chi scratched his head. "To put it this way, there are three oldest written languages in human civilization, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Sumerian cuneiform, and Chinese characters — Oracle Bone Script. These were all developed from the hieroglyphs. "
Through the dim light, Gu Jun studied the intricate symbols on the wall. "Captain Yu, are you trying to say that these symbols on the wall actually have a meaning?"
"Yes, that's what I wanted to say. These could be an entire incantation, a sacrificial text, or a record of some kind of history."
Yu Chi said with passion in his eyes. If he could make a copy of all these symbols, he would be able to glean so much information.
However, that was not all Yu Chi wanted to say. "I know some linguistics. The more I look at the wall, the more I notice some ancient hieroglyphics. Look, that is the Oracle Bone Script character for worm. Hieroglyphics are descriptive images of objects, concepts, and actions. They look like a worm. "
Gu Jun could indeed make out the shape of the hieroglyphics. It looked like a worm, a snake, or a metal hook.
When he thought about it carefully, he felt an indescribable surge in his heart.
Although the characters they were using now were evolved, their ancestors might have been using this kind of characters when they were still living a life of eating raw meat and drinking blood.
Of the three oldest hieroglyphics, this was the only one that was still used by humans.
What did it mean for them to appear on this wall?
"From the entrance of the stairs to the bottom, I noticed the Oracle Bone Script became fewer and fewer. Sumerian cuneiform appeared more and more, followed by Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Oracle Bone Script is almost non-existent. I believe this is related to time. The deeper we go, the earlier the symbols on the wall were born. "
"Captain Gu, everything will return to the beginning of human civilization. We, who are at the end of human civilization, will return and reconnect with the end."
"Language is one of the beginnings of human civilization. Language can be seen as an important form of information technology."
Yu Chi's words were jumbled but he got the point across. "The faith of these Locust God believers is not that simple. It might not be just a bunch of worms but it has something to do with the power of time and space. That is the only reason why their altar would be built like this. I believe we are already inside the altar. "
'Technology? ' This term caused Gu Jun's brows to crease uncomfortably.
Technology was the weapon that humanity and the Yith relied on to fight against the power of darkness …
"Meow?" Wu Shiyu asked. 'Then, what should we do to reach our destination?
Or was it that he had already arrived, and now he just had to smash, bite, and gnaw at the wall, and that would be considered as destroying the altar?
"She's asking what we should do." Gu Jun understood that.
"Let's follow the timeline and walk back!" As Yu Chi spoke, he reached out to touch the symbols on the concrete wall. "These symbols have their birth sequence. Humans existed before the emergence of civilization. Primitive humans, apes … Look, there are almost no hieroglyphs here, but a large number of Stone Age symbols appear. This is a proto-ox rock carving, and this is a feather pattern — each with three to four forks. They are all Mesolithic rock carvings …"
Yu Chi was the only one who knew about archeology.
Therefore, Gu Jun could not offer any advice. Keziah Mason stood to the side like she did not understand. Wu Shiyu just let it be.
"Captain Yu, lead the way." Gu Jun said, "Perhaps that is the reason you are here … We all have our own reasons."
"Okay, let me try. This is the middle stone age …" Yu Chi walked a short distance to the other 7 junctions. He studied the symbols on the wall and tried to determine the time that each direction represented. Some of the junctions led to the new stone age, which was the future for the middle stone age.
To return to the past, to the origin, they needed to take the junction that led to the old stone age.
However, there were 3 corridors that had the same number of old stone age symbols.
However, only one of them had the Oracle Bone Script for 'insect', the only Oracle Bone Script left.
"This word has been appearing for a long time, it has never disappeared." Yu Chi scratched his head. "It shouldn't have appeared, it shouldn't have appeared a long time ago. Even Egyptian hieroglyphs have disappeared, so how could there be Oracle Bone Script in the old stone age? Unless … it has transcended time. "
Gu Jun stared at the insect word, it was like a snake or a hook.
Were those who transcended time the cultists of the Locust God? Or them, the intruders?
There was less than 1 hour and 10 minutes left. Since they had chosen the corridor, the three of them moved deeper into the corridor.
However, he didn't know if they were fish that took the bait and took the bait.
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