32: Chapter 32 Overcoming Three Dangers

The Kun hexagram in the Eight Trigrams symbolizes the earth, representing inclusiveness and support. Located in the southwest, it is the destination for all things, signifying great virtue that supports all.

"Earth and Heaven in Harmony," the Tai hexagram is the eleventh hexagram of the I Ching, with the Kun earth above and the Qian heaven below, signifying the union of heaven and earth, the growth of all things; it is a highly auspicious hexagram, symbolizing access and prosperity.

More importantly, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom emphasized "The Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother descended to save the world," and its core philosophy advocated following heaven and responding to humanity, taking "Heaven" as honorable and "Earth" as the foundation.

The Kun hexagram happens to represent conforming to the Heavenly Way and supporting all things, which highly aligns with the ideological foundation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, implying that the Holy Treasury is a gift from heaven, hidden within the earth to protect all living beings.

Hu Tian was silent for a moment, a determined smile curling the corners of his lips, his eyes flashing with brilliance as he turned and strode toward the eighth passageway with firm and powerful steps.

He stood at the entrance of the Kun position passageway, his gaze like a torch, carefully examining the area around the door frame. After confirming that there were no traces of any mechanisms, he stepped inside without any fear.

The inner walls of the passageway were smooth and flat, clearly carved with great care and even polished, feeling warm and smooth to the touch, completely different from the roughness of the previous passageways, exuding an air of solemnity.

After walking about ten meters, light appeared ahead again, not the light from his flashlight, but some kind of faint ambient light, as if coming from another world.

Hu Tian quickened his pace through the passageway, and the scene before him suddenly opened up, shocking him and causing his breath to hitch.

At the end of the passageway was a regular, huge stone chamber, the four walls as smooth as mirrors, clearly having consumed massive human and material resources, with exquisite craftsmanship.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a stone tablet about two meters high, the body of the tablet cyan-black, with the four large characters "Follow Heaven and Respond to Humanity" carved on the front, the strokes powerful and deep into the stone.

Hu Tian stopped, the flashlight beam hitting the stone tablet. Under the light, those four characters exuded an inviolable, firm momentum, as if scrutinizing every intruder.

"Follow Heaven and Respond to Humanity" was exactly the core philosophy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the banner raised by Hong Xiuquan when he started the uprising, resounding across half the country.

The existence of this stone tablet had already confirmed Hu Tian's judgment; this was indeed the treasure trove of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, not a falsehood.

And he had chosen the right passageway, avoiding a dead end.

Hu Tian took a deep breath to calm his excitement, bypassed the stone tablet, and continued walking into the depths of the stone chamber, his heartbeat involuntarily accelerating.

The passageway ahead suddenly became narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways, and the sense of oppression increased abruptly.

Hu Tian held his breath, pressed his body against the cold stone wall, and moved forward slowly, every step cautious.

The flashlight beam reflected eerie light and shadows in the narrow space, elongating his figure as if a ghost were following him.

After walking for about three or four meters, the passageway returned to its normal width, but a dense patch of small holes appeared on the ground, which was chilling.

Each hole was no more than the thickness of a thumb in diameter, arranged neatly, extending ten meters away, as if countless eyes were peeking.

Hu Tian stopped, bent down to look closely, and could vaguely see metallic luster flashing inside the holes, cold and gleaming.

"Hidden arrow mechanism."

His heart trembled, his brows locked tightly, his expression grave.

He picked up a piece of gravel and threw it forcefully toward the ground, his actions decisive.

As soon as the stone landed, a "swish, swish" sound erupted, and dozens of steel needles suddenly shot out from the holes, intertwining into a web of death in mid-air, as fast as lightning.

Then, the "clanging" sound of impact rang out, and the steel needles embedded themselves deep into the opposite stone wall, leaving countless tiny dents, with sparks flying everywhere.

Hu Tian's brows were tightly locked; once this hidden arrow mechanism was triggered, there was almost nowhere to hide in this narrow space, and death was certain.

He picked up a few more stones, threw them one by one at different positions, and calmly tested the triggering range and frequency of the mechanism, his eyes focused and sharp.

After throwing them seven or eight times in a row, he finally discovered the pattern: after each triggering, the mechanism had a reset interval of about three seconds, and the holes on the left and right sides were not perfectly synchronized with the central triggering mechanism, with a tiny time difference.

Hu Tian took a deep breath, quickly took off his jacket and rolled it into a strip, then threw it forcefully toward the center of the passageway, his movements smooth and flowing.

The steel needles shot out again, and the jacket was instantly pierced through, full of holes.

Taking advantage of the three-second interval while the mechanism reset, he exerted sudden force, kept his body close to the left stone wall, and rushed forward while crouching, sliding across almost against the ground at extreme speed.

A sound of piercing through the air came from behind, and a few steel needles grazed over his head, shooting into the stone wall in front, sparks flying, it was extremely thrilling.

Hu Tian rushed out of the mechanism zone in one breath, rolled at the end of the passageway, and stood steadily, his back already soaked with cold sweat, his clothes clinging to his body.

He looked back at the passageway, inwardly feeling lucky; if his reaction hadn't been fast enough, he would likely have died by now, turned into a hedgehog.

Not far ahead, the color of the passageway floor was slightly dark, completely different from the previous bluestone slabs, exuding a dangerous aura.

Hu Tian slowed his pace and tapped the ground lightly with his engineering shovel, which produced a dull, hollow sound, making alarm bells ring in his heart.

Vigilance arose in his heart, and he picked up a stone and threw it forcefully forward, not daring to be the least bit careless.

The moment the stone landed, the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a patch of quicksand, flowing slowly and making a "rustling" sound, as if a giant beast were chewing.

Hu Tian felt inwardly lucky; if he had rushed in, the consequences would have been unimaginable, and he would surely have been swallowed up completely.

He looked around; the stone walls on both sides of the passageway were as smooth as mirrors, with nowhere to find leverage, and the quicksand area was a full five or six meters wide, making it almost impossible to jump across.

After pondering for a moment, Hu Tian quickly took off his backpack and took out his tent.

This was equipment he had specially prepared for field operations, the waterproof fabric tough and durable.

He skillfully unfolded the tent completely, forming a flat cloth surface of about three meters square, his eyes determined.

Then he took a deep breath, gripped two corners of the tent tightly with both hands, and threw it forcefully toward the quicksand area with great strength.

The tent unfolded in mid-air and landed steadily on the surface of the quicksand, like a small boat.

Hu Tian did not hesitate at all; while the tent had not yet sunk, he exerted sudden force with his toes on the edge of the passageway, leaped up, and landed steadily in the center of the tent.

The fabric instantly sagged, and quicksand surged from all sides, but the increased surface area significantly slowed down the sinking speed, giving him a glimmer of hope for survival.

Hu Tian dared not pause, exerted force again to leap forward, and at the same time drew his engineering shovel with his right hand, ready to deal with any sudden situation at any time.

The tent under his feet had already begun to sink rapidly, the quicksand submerging his shoes, the cold sensation spreading up along his pant legs, and a huge suction force dragging at his legs, as if trying to pull him into hell.

He quickly scanned both sides of the passageway and finally discovered a tiny rock crevice to the front left, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

That position was exactly in the Gen direction; in the Eight Trigrams, Gen is for mountain, for stopping, which is the exact direction to overcome quicksand, the location of the gate of life.

Hu Tian gritted his teeth, shouted loudly, and slammed the engineering shovel into the crevice, his movements fierce and decisive.

The sound of metal rubbing against rock was harsh, and sparks flew.

The shovel blade embedded deep into the rock; the muscles in his arms bulged, veins prominent, and borrowing the force, he pulled upward violently, his body leaping into the air.

The quicksand surged crazily under his feet, making a teeth-grinding sound of swallowing, almost dragging him into the abyss, extremely terrifying.

But Hu Tian had already crossed the most dangerous area.

He stepped twice on the rough stone wall, used the force to leap into the air, and clung tightly to the rock wall in the Gen direction, as steady as Mount Tai.

Then he exerted force from his waist and abdomen, swung forward, and landed steadily on the solid ground at the other end of the quicksand area, letting out a long sigh of relief.

The military tent behind him had been completely swallowed by the quicksand, and the ground instantly returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Hu Tian gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently, sweat sliding down his cheeks.

He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, looked back deeply at the deadly trap, a trace of gravity and lingering fear flashing in his eyes, his heart still palpitating.

The danger of the mechanisms and the exquisite design of this treasure trove far exceeded his imagination; it was truly heart-stopping at every step.

At the end of the passageway, a heavy bluestone door stood in front, completely blocking the way, like a natural chasm.

Hu Tian raised his flashlight, the beam sweeping across the surface of the stone door, and saw intricate patterns carved on the door, with a piece of ancient inscription carved in the center position: "Heaven has no handle, Earth has no border, in the middle there is a living immortal."

The handwriting was vigorous and powerful, exuding the fanatical religious atmosphere unique to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, which made one shudder.

Just at this moment, a cold system prompt came from his mind: "Mechanism puzzle detected; you must solve the inscription riddle to open the stone door."

Hu Tian concentrated and pondered, his fingers gently stroking those uneven characters, feeling the vicissitudes of time.

He murmured in a low voice: "Heaven has no handle..."

He looked up toward the top of the stone door, thoughtful.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom revered the Heavenly Father as the supreme deity; this character "Heaven" did not merely refer to the firmament, but alluded to the natural law of the rotation of the sun and moon, which naturally had no supporting handle or pillar.

"Earth has no border..."

He looked again at the bottom of the stone door, his thoughts racing.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had once swept across half the country, establishing the Heavenly Kingdom, with vast territory, which exactly corresponded to these three characters "Earth has no border."

"Living immortal..."

A glimmer of realization suddenly flashed in Hu Tian's eyes; this was the key to the riddle.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom believed in the God Worshipping Society, revered the Heavenly Father as the only true God, and Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the second son of the Heavenly Father and the younger brother of the Heavenly Brother Jesus.

These three characters "Living immortal" alluded exactly to the belief in the Heavenly Father of the union of man and god advocated by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or that person who claimed to be a god—Hong Xiuquan himself.

He took a deep breath, calmed his mood, and began to employ the method of the Qimen Eight Trigrams he had comprehended from the Feng Shui Secret Techniques, deducing various possibilities in his mind.

The positions of the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Man correspond to Qian, Kun, and Kan.

Hu Tian raised his hand and, following the order of the inscription strokes, first tapped three times gently on the Qian position at the top of the stone door, representing "Heaven."

The stone door had no reaction, dead silent.

His brows furrowed slightly, and he turned to tap on the Kun position at the bottom of the stone door, representing "Earth."

Still no movement, the stone door did not budge.

"Wrong."

Hu Tian muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the inscription again, his eyes becoming sharper, his brain racing.

"Heaven has no handle, Earth has no border, but the key lies in this 'Living immortal' in the middle. The first two times I only got the position right, but the intention wrong; I did not grasp its spirit."

He suddenly realized that although the force and position of the previous taps corresponded to the three talents, he had ignored the unique religious system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In their eyes, man is god, god is in man, and man and god are one.

Hu Tian took a deep breath, adjusted his posture, his expression becoming solemn and determined, as if performing a sacred ritual.

This time, he first tapped three times gently on the Qian position, slightly above the center of the stone door, according to the position of Heaven in the three talents, with a force neither light nor heavy, to show reverence.

Then, he tapped steadily and powerfully on the Kun position at the bottom of the stone door, according to the position of Earth.

Finally, he pressed his palm firmly against the very center of the stone door, the Kan position where the "Living immortal" was located, and tapped heavily with the force representing Man, pouring in his focus.

Kan is for water, for danger, for the middle son; in the Qimen Eight Trigrams, it happens to correspond to the talent of "Man," and also alludes to the meaning of seeking survival in danger.

A dull sound of mechanisms turning came from inside the stone door, and immediately following, a slight vibration spread from under his feet throughout his body, as if the earth were awakening.

The heavy stone door slowly separated to both sides, revealing the pitch-black passageway behind it, deep and unfathomable.

The poem says: Quicksand and hidden arrows lock the heavy gate, breaking the mysterious mechanism with wisdom is but a trifle. Tapping the Heavenly Gate opens the secret treasure, once enlightened, the true face is revealed.