Chapter 6.9 Blind Spot (Extra)

When I heard the words “iron birds”, I already thought that there was something strange about it.

Grammar was a very mysterious thing. In the field of antique appraisals, one’s familiarity with words and sentences could easily help you identify fakes. This was because every dynasty had subtle differences in grammar, especially when it came to appraising ancient books.

The Mawangdui silks that were unearthed contained some of the original manuscripts of the “Book of Changes”, which was different from the version of the “Book of Changes” that was circulating now (1). Many ancient books had been copied over the years, so it was difficult to trace them back to their original versions. As a result, relying on grammar could help you determine which version was closest to the original.

Although the words “iron birds” seemed profound and mysterious, modern grammar was rarely used in ancient Chinese prose. It was mostly used in the poems some ancient scholars had written during the Republic and early liberation period, or some pseudo-prophetic texts that referred to airplanes.

But these two words would never come out of the mouth of a minority hunter. In addition, only an airplane in flight could be mistaken for a bird, since it would never retain its shape if it had wrecked.

So, what were the rusty iron birds? I waited for him to answer.

“You don’t jump to conclusions easily.” Little Brother Zhang paused and looked at me. He seemed a little disappointed at my lack of response.

I didn’t bother saying anything since I knew he had an answer.

As he took another sip of beer, I started to speak, “An invisible wall—if it was really invisible—means that he should have been able to see the world on the other side. The hunter didn’t mention anything about it at all, but he did say that he had come to the edge of the world. If he could see the world on the other side, then he should have only said that he saw a wall. He shouldn’t have emphasized that it was the edge of the world. If he couldn’t see the world on the other side, then the wall definitely wouldn’t be invisible or transparent. Something’s not quite right.”

Little Brother Zhang looked at me in surprise, and I continued, “The essence of lying is to make things fascinating and full of details. You’re very engaged when talking about this, which isn’t how an objective person would act. Granted, it’s possible you’ve also been deceived. The details of your story are very compact and exciting, but there are very big logical problems. If you’re still trying to show off, you’d better wrap it up quick. I don’t want to hear a story.”

I looked at him and enunciated each word, “No matter what, don’t try to lie to me. Just tell me directly, what’s in that forest?”

Little Brother Zhang took a deep breath and said, “I wasn’t lying to you. I just didn’t mention a detail. When the hunter encountered this wall, his vision was black. He couldn’t see the wall at all. It wasn’t because the wall was invisible, but because he couldn’t see it. It’s in an area where people who enter it go blind.”

As the hunter kept one hand to the wall and walked along it, he touched countless iron birds that were on the ground. They were rusty statues that had been buried in the mud. He immediately knew that they were made of iron because of the special smell. After he left the area, his eyesight gradually recovered.

“A blind spot?” I finally heard something I’d never heard before. I looked at Fatty, who looked at Black Glasses. I suddenly understood why Little Brother Zhang went to find Black Glasses first.

“What’s in the blind spot?” Fatty asked. “What’s that wall?”

“It’s the outer wall of the spirit hall of an ancient tomb. I even know whose tomb it might be. But no one can enter, because we’ll go blind as soon as we get close to that area.”

<Extra 6.8> <Table of Contents><Extra 6.10>

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TN Notes:

(1) The Mawangdui Silk Texts are Chinese philosophical and medical works that were discovered at the Mawangdui site in Changsha, Hunan, in 1973. They include some of the earliest attested manuscripts of existing texts (such as the I Ching, aka “Book of Changes”), two copies of the Tao Te Ching, a copy of Zhan Guo Ce, works by Gan De and Shi Shen and previously-unknown medical texts.