Chapter Forty-Five: The Thousand-Dragon Wall (Part Two) (Broadcasting at Dawn~~~~~~)
Only one character remained—the character for "treasure" in the name of the Mingtu Sacred Treasure. It didn’t take me long to deduce that the character was composed of a crown above the king, and multiple legs below, symbolizing something that neither touches the heavens above nor the earth below.
This corresponds to the central star among the Nine Stars, the Tianying Star, which aligns with the Southern Palace’s Li trigram. Positioned in the Li Palace, the Tianying Star is turbulent and prone to violence, akin to a bright moon shining high in the sky, yet it is associated with bloodshed and calamity.
Tianying is auspicious for planning and strategizing, for audience with nobles, and belongs to the element of water. When combined with the Tianrui Star, it brings great fortune.
Pressing the dot that represented the Tianrui Star, the stone platform slowly split in two, revealing neatly arranged nine golden keys within its layers. I carefully took the keys into my hand.
Each of these nine golden keys was distinct in shape, with handles adorned by the twelve zodiac animals. Each key’s shaft was inscribed with different characters, with the nine keys corresponding exactly to the Nine Stars.
Qiuno glanced back at the Thousand Dragon Wall shimmering with golden light and exclaimed in surprise, “There are 999 keyholes, but only a few keys—how do we know which lock to open?”
“This is a chained mechanism,” Kong Guan said calmly. “Even if you have the keys, opening the wrong lock will cause the massive stone suspended overhead to fall.”
Xiao Lianshan took a key from my hand and studied it for a long time before asking with great puzzlement, “These keys are inscribed with the Nine Stars, but the handle on this one has a rooster. What’s the connection?”
“999 golden dragon heads…” I didn’t answer Xiao Lianshan’s question immediately but stared thoughtfully at the Thousand Dragon Wall. “The number nine is sovereign in the He Luo numerology. This arrangement isn’t according to the He Luo numbers—what could it mean?”
Wei Yu slowly approached the wall, glanced at it, then muttered something under his breath.
Kong Guan frowned and read Wei Yu’s words aloud: “The mysteries of Yin and Yang’s order are unfathomable; the two solstices return to the single Nine Palaces. If one comprehends the principle of Yin and Yang, heaven and earth will be held in the palm!”
My eyes brightened as I stepped closer to the wall, pondering aloud, “The Ballad of the Fisherman on the Misty Waves?”
“What is the Ballad of the Fisherman on the Misty Waves?” Xiao Lianshan asked curiously.
“It’s actually a book,” Gu Anqi said beside us like a treasured possession. “It contains the essentials of the Dunjia art. If studied thoroughly and understood deeply, it is a shortcut to mastering the technique of Qimen Dunjia.”
I nodded meaningfully. “So these 999 dragon heads—could they be arranged according to the entire sequence of Qimen Dunjia?”
“The full text of Qimen Dunjia…” Gu Anqi shook her head. “It’s derived from the Dragon Armor Divine Chapters and consists of 1,080 configurations.”
“The true Qimen Dunjia has 999 configurations. The extra 81 were added later by Zhang Liang,” I said calmly.
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“Even if the Thousand Dragon Wall follows the entire Qimen Dunjia sequence, we only have nine keys—how do we know which dragon head lock to open?” Yue Qianling asked, astonished.
“And Xiao Lianshan also asked an important question—why are the zodiac signs depicted on the golden keys?” Gu Anqi added.
I looked at the key in my hand and slowly smiled.
“The twelve zodiac animals also correspond to the twelve double-hours of the day. These nine keys, each inscribed with a star and bearing a different zodiac sign, can be matched to the corresponding double-hour in Qimen Dunjia’s star applications.”
“My father once forced me to memorize the annotations for the Nine Stars’ time correspondences,” Gu Anqi said, pointing at the key in my hand. “The rooster represents the You hour. The Tianchong Star governs You hour, signaling the arrival of an elder with a staff, thunder and rain to the west, the need for someone to carry goods, followed by a white dog appearing. On the sixtieth day, one may find military equipment and gain great fortune.”
“Sixty!” I handed the key to Xiao Lianshan. “This key opens the sixtieth dragon head lock.”
Xiao Lianshan took the key, counted twice carefully, then took a deep breath and slowly inserted the Nine Stars golden key. With a gentle twist, the dragon head truly retracted, and a heavy rumbling sounded beneath our feet, as if a gate had opened.
Relieved that my guess was correct, I quickly reached for the second key.
The second golden key bore the Tianpeng Star, marked by a rat.
“The rat corresponds to the Zi hour. Tianpeng governs Zi hour, indicating cockcrow and dog barking, restless birds in the forest, or birds quarrelling from the north. This portends lip disputes, lawsuits, and financial loss,” Gu Anqi recited without hesitation. “On the twenty-first day, the key opens the twenty-first dragon head lock.”
Xiao Lianshan inserted the key and opened the twenty-first lock. The dragon head retracted slowly, and the mechanism below activated again.
I held the third key, engraved with the Tianrui Star and marked with an ox.
Gu Anqi answered immediately, “The ox corresponds to the Chou hour. Tianrui governs Chou hour, foretelling eastern trees falling and injuring people, drum music, a woman in red arriving, magpies flying around the house, thieves causing loss, water buffalo entering the home, wild birds invading, and illness for the household.”
“Three hundred and sixty-five days in a year,” Xiao Lianshan said as he took the key to insert it.
“Not the 365th lock, but the 366th,” Kong Guan suddenly stopped him lightly. “The Tianrui Star belongs to earth and governs leap years. The leap year has 366 days. Zhu Yuanzhang set this trap deliberately!”
Only then did I realize my careless oversight. If Xiao Lianshan had inserted the key into the wrong lock, the consequences would have been disastrous. Sure enough, the 366th dragon head opened and retracted.
The fourth key bore the Tianfu Star with the horse zodiac.
“The horse corresponds to the Wu hour. Tianfu governs Wu hour, indicating someone wielding a knife in a fight, barking dogs, wild rabbits and pheasants entering the home, documents or distant letters arriving from the southeast. Within seventy-two days, the household prospers with offspring and official favor,” Gu Anqi recited.
The fourth key successfully opened the seventy-second dragon head lock.
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The fifth key bore the Tianqin Star, marked with the pig.
“The pig corresponds to the Hai hour. Tianqin governs Hai hour, signified by flocks of white-necked crows, battles between shamans, noble visitors on horseback or carriage. After 430 days, the mistress bears noble children, and the family’s fields flourish.”
As the 430th golden dragon head slowly retracted and the rumbling below grew louder, I speculated that, like the Eight Gates and Eight Gods array above, the nine keys must each open a stone door sealing the way down below. Each correctly opened dragon head lock would open one of these stone gates.
The sixth key bore the Tianxin Star, marked with the goat (Wei hour).
“Tianxin governs the Wei hour, portending disputes, drum sounds from the northwest, and within ninety-four days, a red-faced person arrives, merchants come bearing bronze scrolls, and sericulture prospers,” Gu Anqi recited.
When the ninety-fourth dragon head lock opened, six dragon heads had been unlocked on the wall. I pointed to their arrangement and said, “Look at the pattern formed by the six open dragon head locks on the Thousand Dragon Wall. What does it resemble?”
“The Big Dipper constellation!” Qiuno said.
“Zhu Yuanzhang was truly meticulous. These mechanisms not only interlock perfectly but also carry profound symbolism,” I said calmly. “The Daoist classic ‘Yun Ji Qi Qian’ mentions the Big Dipper’s seven stars, along with two auxiliary stars, forming the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper. Over time, these two stars became obscured, leading to the concept of seven visible and two hidden stars. Legend says those who can see the hidden stars gain longevity. Zhu Yuanzhang was planning for eternity!”
The seventh key bore the Tianzhu Star, marked with the monkey, corresponding to the Shen hour.
“Tianzhu governs Shen hour, signaling a woman carrying a white cloth, drums from the northwest, trees striking and shouting from the northeast. Within ninety-three days, snake and scorpion injuries, plague, and great defeat may occur,” Gu Anqi recited.
After opening the ninetieth dragon head lock, I still had two golden keys left. The underground mechanism caused everyone to feel tremors beneath their feet.
The eighth key bore the Tianren Star, marked with the tiger, corresponding to the Yin hour.
“Tianren governs Yin hour, signifying a white bird flying from the southwest, bell and drum sounds from the north, wind and rain. Within forty-seven days, a woman brings white clothes or paper, and the livestock prospers,” Gu Anqi recited.
The forty-seventh dragon head lock slowly retracted. Even I felt a surge of excitement as I lifted the final key.
The ninth key bore the Tianying Star, marked with the rabbit, corresponding to the Mao hour.
“Tianying governs Mao hour, indicating someone carrying documents or tin and ceramic vessels. Within one hundred sixty-three days, wealth and noble offspring arrive, and southern visitors bring living creatures, signifying prosperity,” Gu Anqi recited.
When all nine golden keys were inserted into the Thousand Dragon Wall, the central stone gate in the cave slowly opened, revealing a staircase leading down.
As I took a step forward, my expression tightened, and my hand instinctively went to my chest.
The Eight-Dragon Embracing Pearl necklace, hanging over twenty years around my neck, suddenly trembled faintly. Looking down, I saw the necklace emitting a faint, shimmering glow.
At the same time, I heard a strange sound in my ear—a singular tone fluctuating in strength. It was coming from the necklace itself—a subtle, harmonious ringing, as if resonating with something, circling my ears. The closer I got to the stairway leading downward, the clearer the sound became.
No one else seemed to hear the resonance, and I suddenly recalled what Wu Zetian once said: the Eight-Dragon Embracing Pearl, also called the Nine-Dragon Coiled Pearl, has a mysterious connection with the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Technique. Now, with the necklace resonating, there was only one possibility.
The Nine-Dragon Coiled Pearl had sensed the summons of the Nine Heavens Hidden Dragon Technique!