Chapter 26: Ancient Star Chart
Ye Fan rested his hand on the ancient bronze coffin, his body as still as a tranquil lake reflecting the moon. He stood motionless, exuding an aura of detachment and transcendence. At this moment, he appeared ethereal and otherworldly, like a banished immortal who disdained mortal affairs, ready to ride the wind and depart at any moment.
Yet his inner world was not as serene as his outward appearance. The great Dao's heavenly sound was as profound as an abyss, as vast as an ocean, deep and boundless. Each word that rang out was like a sea splitting or an abyss cracking, resounding through heaven and earth.
It was like an ancient Zen chant, or the prayers of primordial deities, ceaseless and unending, piercing through the eternal firmament, flowing slowly into Ye Fan's heart. It stirred his mind, causing waves of thought to surge, leaving him unaware of where he was.
In the distance, the others watched him stand still and silent, their faces filled with confusion. They did not know what was happening, only sensing that he was like a dustless banished immortal, possessing a quality of purity and detachment from the world.
Ye Fan was completely fixed in place. The divine sound was like a bell, distant and grand, obscure and difficult to understand, its meaning utterly elusive. At times, it felt as if he were standing at the edge of an abyss or in hell; at others, as if he had entered a pure land of deities. All kinds of inexplicable feelings surged into his heart, making him both alert and bewildered.
This profound divine sound was not lengthy; on the contrary, it was sparing with words, totaling no more than a few hundred characters. It gave a sense of the great Dao being simple, with splendor fading away and returning to plainness and truth.
The heavenly sound, like a great bell or a massive drum, echoed again and again. Each character that fell into Ye Fan's heart first stirred like mountains and rivers shaking, then became as still as the moon rising over the sea. The few hundred ancient characters were clearly imprinted in Ye Fan's mind, but the divine sound did not cease, continuing to reverberate in his ears.
Throughout this process, the Bodhi seed in Ye Fan's bosom grew extremely warm, making his whole body feel cozy. It was because of this seed that Ye Fan was able to hear this mysterious and wondrous sound.
Legend has it that the Bodhi tree can awaken a person's divine nature, allowing them to realize themselves and capture the Dao's rhythm between heaven and earth. Clearly, this Bodhi seed, buried beneath the ancient Bodhi tree in front of the Great Thunderclap Monastery, had an extraordinary origin.
While Ye Fan stood still and silent, the others grew suspicious. Someone suggested pulling him away, as his hand resting on the ancient bronze coffin was hardly reassuring.
Pang Bo circled Ye Fan twice. Seeing no sign of pain on his face, but rather an air of detachment, and sensing a faint divine aura emanating from the bronze coffin, he ultimately refrained from acting rashly. Instead, he stood guard nearby, waiting quietly.
"Could some demonic spirit have possessed him?" Li Changqing stared at the bronze coffin, then at Ye Fan, and said this.
Hearing this, the others tightened their grip on the divine relics, and a few involuntarily stepped back. The mysterious ancient coffin was full of unknowns, making people uneasy.
"Your head's in the wrong place. Can't you stop throwing mud at Ye Fan? What kind of thoughts are in your mind?" Pang Bo had never liked him. Ever since their confrontation at the Five-Colored Altar, Li Changqing had been targeting him and Ye Fan, so Pang Bo did not mince words.
"Enough, stop arguing." Zhou Yi frowned slightly, then scanned the surroundings. "We still can't be sure if there are more divine crocodiles in this giant bronze coffin. We should be careful and search thoroughly."
The others felt a chill in their hearts at this. It was true—since they had found one divine crocodile, there could easily be a second or third, or even more. This was a matter of life and death. Fourteen people had already lost their lives to the divine crocodiles. These ferocious and terrifying creatures were chilling.
The group did not spread out too much, splitting into only two teams so they could look out for each other. They turned on their phones, gripped their divine relics, and began searching in the dim light.
But after searching every corner, the two teams met again without finding anything. Even so, no one dared to let their guard down. The bronze coffin was huge and empty, more than enough to hide a few divine crocodiles. Moreover, there was no guarantee that some weren't clinging to the high coffin walls, which were shrouded in darkness and impossible to see clearly.
"Stay alert. It's always better to be cautious," Lin Jia reminded everyone, then added reassuringly, "Even if there are more divine crocodiles, they seem wary of our Buddhist artifacts. Otherwise, they would have attacked us again by now."
Suddenly, everyone heard a strange sound. Though very faint, almost inaudible, it shook their minds! It seemed like the sound of drums coming from a distant time and space, dull and filled with sorrow. Then came the tolling of bells, spreading a sense of grief, ethereal yet real.
"Where is that sound coming from?"
Everyone was startled, looking around but finding nothing.
The somber drumbeats and mournful bell tolls seemed to penetrate the coffin walls, sending chills down their spines.
"Could this be... the funeral dirge of an ancient emperor?"
Suddenly, more sounds came, as if countless voices of mourning were rising. Tens of thousands of people seemed to be worshiping and praying at someone's funeral.
The death knell rang, and the mournful drums beat, as if a grand funeral was unfolding before their eyes. The world was filled with a sea of people, all grieving and praying.
At that moment, nine piercing dragon roars suddenly echoed through the heavens, shaking the mountains and rivers, spreading across the land. It was as if a real scene was being etched into the starry sky of history...
In that instant, everyone had a strange sensation, as if they had witnessed an ancient emperor ruling over the vast earth and dominating the world, followed by an unprecedented grand funeral.
There were no actual images; all of this came from the associations triggered by the dragon roars and the prayers of the vast sea of people. They quickly snapped back to reality, but the ethereal sounds of mourning still lingered, making everyone feel a chill down their spines.
"The divine relics in our hands are glowing again..."
At this moment, divine radiance scattered. All the Buddhist artifacts in everyone's hands were shining, but not with restored divine power. Instead, they seemed to be draining their brilliance, nearly exhausted. Tens of thousands of streams of divine light flowed out, all rushing toward the walls of the giant bronze coffin, disappearing into the ancient bronze carvings.
The coffin walls were covered in green rust, but it could not hide the ancient carvings of primordial people and deities. At this moment, they shimmered with life, as if about to come alive. The carvings of savage beasts and divine birds also became lifelike. These ancient bronze carvings were filled with a mysterious power.
"Look, that star chart carving is flickering..."
Everyone noticed the anomaly. It was the largest of the ancient bronze carvings—a vast starry sky. At this moment, all the stars were shining. The dim coffin walls in the background remained unchanged, like a pitch-black night sky, as if countless real, brilliant stars were dotting the boundless darkness.
"There's a thin line flickering on this star chart. Could it be the starry path we've traveled?"
The crowd gathered around to look, all speaking in surprise.
This star chart was as vast as an ocean, with countless stars as tiny as dust. But some particularly bright stars stood out, catching everyone's attention.
"These seven stars are especially bright. They seem to be the Big Dipper!"
At Wang Ziwen's words, everyone stared. Ahead of the suspected starry path, the Big Dipper sparkled, drawing particular notice.
There were many other stars as bright as the Big Dipper. After careful identification, a few people showed surprise. Zhou Yi, who was not only refined in appearance but also well-read, immediately recognized those particularly bright stars. "Those are the ancient Chinese constellations."
In ancient China, the starry sky was divided into several regions, each with different names. The entire celestial chart could be summarized by the Three Enclosures, Four Symbols, and Twenty-Eight Mansions.
The ancient bronze carving before them followed this classification, specially marking some very famous stars.
"Looking at this star chart and then at the starry path, it's truly astonishing. The ancients' division of the starry sky was probably not just superstition. Different constellations represent different star regions, seemingly with very special and significant meanings..."
"Indeed, it now seems related to the starry path. Perhaps it might also be connected to life-bearing lands..."
Everyone was shocked, unable to speak for a long time.
"Look, the shining thin line on the star chart is extending. Does it represent our direction of travel, an extension and manifestation of the starry path?"
"This thin line is getting infinitely close to the Big Dipper!"
Everyone was stunned. They had originally been on Mount Tai on Earth, but in such a short time, they might have already neared the Big Dipper! This was like a dream, utterly unreal.
With current human technology, even flying for millions of years would not bring them near the Big Dipper. It was impossible—the distance was too vast!
Everyone was dumbfounded, their hearts shaken.
"Ahead of the Big Dipper, there's an even brighter star—the Ziwei Star. Could our destination be a planet in that star region? After all, the Ziwei Star had special significance in ancient times," someone speculated, as the Ziwei Star was indeed one of the most dazzling stars on this chart.
"That's hard to say. We might end up traveling to an even more distant star region."
Just then, someone exclaimed, "The shining thin line has stopped extending. It's fixed on the star region of the Big Dipper!"
At the same time, everyone felt the giant bronze coffin shake violently, as if heaven and earth were trembling.
"It seems we've reached our destination..."
"Have we truly arrived at the resting place of the gods?"
"Could it be the legendary immortal realm..."
"Maybe it's an extremely glorious civilization of advanced technology."
"If immortals and Buddhas exist, we might meet legendary figures."
"Following the starry path created by the gods to its end, what kind of world will it be?!"
Everyone's hearts were tense, yet full of anticipation. They no longer wanted to stay inside the bronze coffin.
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