“What happened to that fool?” I asked the little girl. If I hadn’t guessed wrong, he had probably died in the end.
The little girl pointed to the ground in front of me. “He died after drawing this picture. Right here.”
A long time ago, I heard many legends of heavenly taught epics in Nepal and Medog. After a serious illness, many people could suddenly recite the epics that had millions of words. They didn’t say that it was handed down from husband to son or from master to disciple, but that these words appeared in their minds overnight.
The illiteracy rate in ancient Tibet was very high. Most of the education was concentrated in the monk and noble system, while the common people practically lived in a world without words.
Such legends not only occurred in Tibet, but also in the Central Plains and northern China, and there were a lot of them. Known locally as “zhuangxie”, it occurred when a person suddenly acquired a lot of information and images in his head. Unable to deal with the huge influx of information in such a short amount of time, his behavior became abnormal.
I didn’t know Lu Sha, but the fact that he was enclosed here in the dark for more than ten years—during which time he kept drawing such complicated design patterns— seemed similar to a certain person’s behavior.
The Zhang family had very long lifespans. It was said that after reaching a certain age, some of them would also experience the heavenly taught phenomenon, and would be driven to do some strange things by the information suddenly appearing in their minds. These things often had various subtle influences on the world.
“Is his body still here?” I asked. The huge pattern in front of me wasn’t an ordinary design, but something more primitive and intuitive. I couldn’t understand it at all. But I had an architectural design foundation, so I could immediately determine the overall meaning.
When the little girl shook her head, I sat down where Lu Sha had died. I was completely quiet and focused, just like a statue.
Lu Sha was Xiao Hua’s concierge. If he was a special person who had experienced the heavenly taught phenomenon after being trapped here, then he understood his mission, but also knew that he had been trapped to death. In order to spread the information that was in his mind, he used his own blood to write all the patterns on the wall before he died.
This was one possibility. The other possibility was that this place was special, and some people— such as those with low intelligence—could easily receive some of the heavenly information. Lu Sha couldn’t understand what was in his head and went completely crazy, drawing all these pictures in his frenzy.
I didn’t believe in coincidences, so I thought the first possibility was the likeliest.
“You didn’t tell me the truth. This place wasn’t used as a shelter, was it?” I looked at the little girl and said, “Your grandfather was Seven Fingers, right? You said he helped my Uncle Three design that basement?”
The little girl nodded and looked at me.
“This place is a trap.” I said. “Your grandfather designed this trap, and my Uncle Three must have put something particularly important down here. That’s what led Lu Sha down here.”
Whether it was the Zhang or Wang families, Uncle Three was very disgusted with the invisible forces around him at that time, and had the malice to set these kinds of traps.
And when the whole family was keen on finding Seven Fingers, it was true that only he could establish contact with Seven Fingers.
Seven Fingers and Uncle Three (or Xie Lianhuan) made a trap under this house and put bait in it. Their actions aroused the curiosity of one side, so someone disguised as Lu Sha snuck into the house. The mechanisms were tripped, and Lu Sha was trapped alive under the house.
“Your grandfather isn’t in this place.” I said.
Seven Fingers designed the mechanism here to hurt people. The other party couldn’t let him go and must have taken him away.
“Huh? Then where did he go?” The little girl was initially very pleased with herself, but when she saw that I seemed to know everything, she wasn’t used to it.
I stood up. If whatever my Uncle Three put down here led Lu Sha here, then it must have been very important. I had to know what it was.
MereBear's Translation 