Book 3: Chapter 67: In the Great Wilderness, There is a Mountain Called Great Wilderness Mountain

Book 3: Chapter 67: In the Great Wilderness, There is a Mountain Called Great Wilderness Mountain

Was this the truth behind the black people outside?

"Look at the slave who was deboned, Fatty said from the side. He appears to be very dark. Do you think hes a Kunlun slave?"

Kunlun slaves were mainly Southeast Asian islanders who had brownish-black skin, and only a few of them were actually Africans who came over with the Arabians. Since the Tang Dynasty, nobles widely used them as servants and guards. This place was built during the Yuan Dynasty, which was a time when such dark-colored people were very common.

But that wasnt what I was focused on right now. First of all, I couldnt help wondering why such contents were depicted on this coffin lid.

This was the coffin of this giant corpse, so its contents should be related to this giant corpse's life.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

I moved my flashlight and looked at the patterns on the side, discovering that it was only a small part of a huge lacquer painting. There was a full picture painted on the back of the coffin, but I dont even know how to begin to describe it.

To be honest, Im very good at describing things, but I really cant do it in regards to this image. Out of all the coffins I had viewed in the past, this position on the coffin always depicted the tomb owners life in the immortal realm. I was quite certain that this coffin wasnt depicting the immortal realm, but it wasnt a completely fictional world, either. I even had the sense that the elements within this panting were familiar to me.

This was the first time I had seen such a wonderful and clear depiction of the three-faced weirdo that I could only see with my peripheral vision before. The person was in the middle of the lacquer painting and was wearing an official uniform from ancient times. He appeared to have three faces looking in three different directions.

It was probably the giant corpse himself.

Each of these three faces had three different expressions, and one of the faces was facing a banquet. This banquet was just like a fairyland, with cranes and phoenixes depicted in it. I could tell from the decorations that it was the banquet outside.

The expression on this face was very indifferent, just like the Buddha statue I saw earlier that was hanging on the ceiling and watching the whole banquet.

Based on that faces solemn expression, it was obvious that the worlds second most valuable tomb was the most important and should be on the central axis of this compositionit was simple human aesthetics, after allbut it wasnt.

This was causing my obsessive-compulsive mind to constantly churn.

Although the content of this lacquer painting was very serious, it almost seemed as if was randomly created without any sort of design. I didnt know why that would be, unless there was some kind of hidden logic within the painting that I hadnt discovered yet.

But the three-faced person had really been painted very well, which reminded me of an excerpt from The Classic of Mountains and Seas:

In the great wilderness, there is a mountain called Great Wilderness Mountain, where the sun and the moon fall. There are some people there who have three faces. They are the children of Zhuanxu and have three faces and one arm. These three-faced people do not die. This place is the so-called Great Wilderness.(1)

I needed to study this corpse very carefully if I had the chance.

I took a moment to think about it before asking Fatty, "Do you have any clues? I dont understand this thing. Maybe youll be able to resonate with it since youre so poorly educated."

"Its actually hard for people to pick out the details in this lacquer painting, Fatty said. You have to look very carefully. There are some things in it, which are very amazing. In fact, the whole thing is absolutely symmetrical. Those three faces are actually looking at three things, which are all hidden in the composition."

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TN Notes:

(1) Out of the 18 chapters of The Classic of Mountains and Seas, I believe this excerpt is from Chapter 16Classic of the Great Wilderness: West. Zhuanxu is one of the Five Legendary Emperors and the grandson of the Yellow Emperor (reigned 2513-2435 BC).