Chapter 1306

Xi Yan raised the Night Pearl, lighting up where they stood. This secret chamber isn't large; from its structure it can be determined to be artificially carved. The stone walls are covered with symbols of sun, moon, and stars. Less than three zhang ahead there is an entrance; entering the entrance, not far in are stone steps. Looking up, the steps wind upward continuously, likely leading upward.

Hu Xiaotian secretly wondered, could they have unintentionally discovered a secret passage leading to the mountaintop Lingxiao Palace?

Xi Yan had already stepped up the stairs; Hu Xiaotian could only follow behind her. Carvings covered both sides of the passage. Hu Xiaotian looked ahead and saw that the reliefs, pieced together like a continuous movie, told a story: it began with mountains, rivers, and lakes; then a huge fireball fell from the sky, landing in the lake water, drawing countless onlookers; after that came a scene of people sailing boats to salvage.

Xi Yan said, "It looks like something fell from the sky into the lake, a meteor?" In her understanding, a fireball falling from heaven is either the sun or a meteor.

Hu Xiaotian's heart suddenly tightened; he had an indescribable premonition that made him inexplicably excited, and he continued forward. Several reliefs depicted how people salvaged the scene: the crowd was vast, the scale enormous, finally he saw carts, horses, and laborers dragging something from the lake; the object dragged up was an oval-shaped thing.

Hu Xiaotian looked left and right; that thing resembled a flying saucer. Suppressing his inner excitement, he continued to examine the front murals, seeing countless artisans surrounding the oval object, using various tools trying to open it. Next, the object ignited, bones littered the surroundings, then he saw troops encircling the object, attacking with bows and arrows and hurled stones; several consecutive panels showed battle scenes. From the situation depicted, casualties were heavy, the object stopped burning, and a commander directed it to be pushed back into the lake.

The upper part of the oval object opened, and two objects flew out from it; Hu Xiaotian could almost determine that these two things were small aircraft. The following panels showed the aircraft firing downward at the soldiers, again corpses littered the field.

Next, it appeared the aircraft had run out of ammunition, being surrounded by a flock of birds; one aircraft fell to the ground, and the soldiers swarmed over it, presumably smashing it open and dragging out two giants. In proportion, they were more than twice the height of an ordinary person.

The two giants were tied to a tree; first they were slowly sliced with a small knife, then burned with fire; several panels depicted how they were tortured, finally one of their heads was cut off. A general on horseback hoisted the head on his spear and galloped wildly, displaying military might.

The other giant drooped his head, apparently having surrendered, kneeling on the ground. He handed over a flashlight‑like object; when the general lowered his head to look, the object in the giant's hand turned into a long sword and in one stroke severed the general's head.

Next, naturally, came the scene of the giant fighting alone against many; eventually he was captured, and his fate was to be torn apart by five horses.

Afterwards, they showed the oval object being hacked with knives and burned with fire. It appeared unscathed; ultimately they could only push it back into the lake, then the populace transported cartloads of earth and stone to fill the small lake, finally heaping it into a small hill.

The reliefs ended here; they had arrived at a small platform. Hu Xiaotian stopped, recalling everything he had just seen, wanting to piece together a complete train of thought.

Xi Yan said, "Could it be that immortals truly exist? These reliefs tell the story of humans and gods waging war."

Hu Xiaotian disagreed; the oval object he had just seen was clearly a flying saucer, and the aircraft shot down by the birds resembled an airplane. In this era, ordinary folk imagine immortals as soaring on clouds and mist, free to come and go, having never seen aircraft. Within his knowledge, he could infer that the reliefs depict a visit by extraterrestrials, and he could determine that this visit was certainly not a peaceful journey.

Seeing Hu Xiaotian stare blankly, Xi Yan couldn't help but twist his arm and say, "What are you spacing out about?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I'm just thinking about those reliefs I saw."

Xi Yan said, "I feel like you've changed completely after seeing them, as if you were frightened."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Xi Yan, do you know that the sun, moon, and stars you usually see are actually far larger than our world?"

Xi Yan blinked; it was the first time she had heard such a view. Although she is exceptionally clever, her cognition is ultimately limited by the technological level of the era.

Hu Xiaotian said, "In other words, the vast cosmos contains more than just us; the giants we saw in the reliefs live in a distant world, a place we currently cannot reach."

"Heaven?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "Perhaps it's in the stars we see every night." He suddenly recalled that in modern society countless people have devoted themselves to studying space, seeking extraterrestrial life, but in the distant past, across different times and spaces, perhaps extraterrestrial life had already been visiting everywhere.

"You mean the heavenly immortals?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled helplessly, gave up trying to explain further, and softly said, "Let's just call them immortals for now."

Xi Yan said, "Did the immortals arrive here riding that large disc?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "They rode what is called a flying saucer, capable of flying from their planet here; perhaps something went wrong, forcing a crash landing here, after which people discovered it, thought they had found a monster, reported it to the then emperor, so the emperor organized troops to drag the flying saucer up; these immortals felt attacked, thus used their weapons to massacre the soldiers and civilians, sparking a war." Hu Xiaotian paused, before his eyes he seemed to see that high‑tech armed flying saucer battling an army equipped only with cold weapons; the brutality of that battle is easy to imagine.

Xi Yan listened with relish, unable to help urging, "And then what?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "The flying saucer likely sustained damage when it crashed, possibly its energy was exhausted; after killing countless soldiers, it was finally surrounded, and the troops wanted to pry it open to see what was inside, but the saucer's outer hull was extremely tough; they struggled for days without success, so they prepared to sink it back into the lake. The immortals inside began to escape the saucer, each boarding a small aircraft and leaving the saucer."

Xi Yan said, "Then they were attacked by Beast Tamers, and one of them fell to the ground."

Hu Xiaotian nodded; actually the reliefs are quite clear, but we don't know when this happened, and the reliefs give no specific date.

Xi Yan said, "Or perhaps one aircraft escaped!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart suddenly grew heavy; if the reliefs we just saw record facts faithfully, then the escaped aircraft should still harbor extraterrestrial life—where did they go? Did they return for revenge? And where is the flying saucer that was sunk and buried in the lake's center now?

Xi Yan said, "Why is this recorded here?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head; he also didn't know, but this Piaomiao Mountain Lingxiao Palace was designed and built by Zhuge Yun Chun, who holds the title of Military Sage; the Dragon Ling scenic view was likely also his design, so these reliefs must be related to him. At that time, Emperor Mingzong Longyuan was in power, about 150 years ago, meaning the events depicted on the reliefs likely occurred 150 years ago. This brutal war with extraterrestrial life probably took place during the Mingzong reign, though we don't know if any historical records exist from then.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Does Dakang's history record any battles with immortals?"

Xi Yan shook her head; she has read widely since childhood, yet she has never gotten such an impression.

Ahead appeared an altar; Xi Yan took out a fire striker, lit the torches on either side of the altar, and the surrounding space instantly brightened. Before the altar stood a huge square cauldron, inscribed with text. Xi Yan softly recited: "In the 17th year of Jiafeng, at Kangdu's Qixia Lake, a fireball fell from heaven, igniting heavenly fire; the blaze spread thirty li, reducing everything it touched to rubble, casualties countless—alas, alas! What crime have the commoners committed? I, the emperor, have specially cast this cauldron to suppress disaster and subdue demons, praying to heaven for protection of Dakang..."

This inscription comes from Emperor Mingzong Longyuan, but it only says a heavenly fire fell, without explaining what actually happened. Hu Xiaotian secretly wondered, Qixia Lake? There seems to be no such place around Kangdu, though there is a Qixia Mountain where the imperial mausoleum is currently under construction. He linked the two, and immediately had a thought: could the construction of the mausoleum overseen by Hong Beimo be related to this?

Xi Yan tapped the ground beneath the great cauldron with the handle of her water‑parting spike and said softly, "It seems hollow under this cauldron!"

Hu Xiaotian walked over, listened, then exerted all his strength to push the cauldron aside; this cauldron weighs over ten thousand catties, and few people in the world can move it barehanded.

Hu Xiaotian moved the cauldron, grabbed the stone slab underneath with both hands, strained his arms, and slowly lifted the slab; a pit two feet square appeared before them, inside which lay a jade box.

Xi Yan thought she had found treasure, lunged forward, and snatched up the jade box.

Hu Xiaotian kindly warned her, "Be careful—there may be hidden weapons inside."

Xi Yan glared at him and said, "I found it; it's mine."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled, "Women are just petty."

The jade box was not locked; Xi Yan first used a dagger to pry open a thin slit, convinced there was no mechanism, then boldly opened the box; but when she saw what was inside, she let out a terrified scream.

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