People are in the comprehensive tomb, unloading the mountain and stealing the chief

Chen Ziyan was very sure about this. Before he met Hu Bayi and the others, he would subconsciously pay attention to information in this area because of what he had learned.

The discovery of Fu Hao's tomb shocked the entire archaeological community at the time. As a semi-insider, Chen Ziyan naturally heard about it.

When he heard that an owl-shaped urn was unearthed in the tomb, he went out of his way to look up relevant information.

It was precisely this spur of the moment curiosity that made him extremely certain of one thing at this moment, that is, these owl-shaped bronze artifacts in front of him exuded an unusual and weird aura.

"Master Chen, I remember that the owl was a creature that was only given special significance during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, right?" Hu Bayi asked.

Hearing his question, Chen Ziyan nodded and said:

"That's true. To be more precise, the worship of the owl was mainly concentrated in the Shang Dynasty."

"At that time, the owl was actually regarded as a sacred bird, a symbol of bravery and wisdom."

"Based on the remaining documents, some experts speculate that the Shang people worshipped the owl as a war bird, believing it to be a symbol of victory over the enemy and a symbol of status and power at the time. This is why the owl statue appeared in Fu Hao's tomb."

"However, these have not yet been fully confirmed. After all, the number of Shang Dynasty tombs we have discovered is very limited."

Wang Kaixuan curiously asked: "Master Chen, what about the Zhou Dynasty?"

"During the Zhou Dynasty, the status of the owl had undergone substantial changes. Perhaps because of the change of dynasties, it gradually faded out of regular sacrificial activities. By the late Western Zhou Dynasty, it only appeared in some mysterious sacrificial occasions."

After Chen Ziyan finished speaking, he added:
"You can also think that by that time, the owl totem had fallen to the lowest of the lowest."

Having said that, the meaning couldn't be clearer.

These bronze owls in front of us have nothing to do with the terracotta figurines in the tent in front, no matter how you look at it. They live in very different eras.

Even Wang Kaixuan could hear the clue. He stroked his chin and pretended to think:
"If that's the case, there must be something fishy going on when these two things were found together."

Chen Ziyan nodded in agreement, then looked at Bai Er again and asked directly:
"Captain Bai, what do you think of this situation?"

He didn't trust the people in the Administration, as they didn't notice anything strange about it until they pointed it out.

If that were the case, the Administration would be a misnomer.

"Master Chen, we currently have two guesses about this question. One is that these pottery figures and bronze artifacts were brought in from the ghost cave, so they appear together. The other guess is... these bronze artifacts are imitations."

Bai Er did not hide anything and directly expressed his thoughts.

In fact, they were a little unsure in their hearts, so he asked Chen Ziyan and others to come and see these two things as soon as he arrived at the camp.

To put it bluntly, you need to seek the advice of professionals.

In fact, Chen Ziyan had a preconceived wrong understanding about Bai Er and the people in the camp.

The management personnel he had met before had all displayed a certain degree of professionalism, so he mistakenly believed that everyone in the management was like that.

But in fact, the Administration is a hidden large organization with different division of labor among its personnel. Those who have dealt with them before all have a certain understanding of the relevant knowledge because of their own business.

But Bai Er and his team are a special action team for dealing with underground creatures, so they are really not good at this kind of thing. It is precisely because of this, plus the mission needs to be kept secret, and they can't ask for help from colleagues in this area, so Bai Er asked Chen Ziyan and others for help.

"Were the pottery figures and bronze artifacts discovered together? How far were the places where they were found from the exit of the ghost cave?" After hearing what Bai Er said, Chen Ziyan thought for a moment and then asked two questions.

"We found them together. As for the exact location... it should be deep in the swamp, about three kilometers away from the exit of the ghost cave."

Bai Er thought for a moment and replied.

"Three kilometers?" Chen Ziyan muttered to himself, and then asked, "This mezzanine should be considered a closed space, right?"

"That's right. Although there is a passage connecting to the outside world, the environment of the ghost cave is complicated. Even if there is a flood outside, it is difficult to have much impact here."

"It seems that your first guess can be ruled out." Chen Ziyan said.

Whether it is a pottery figure or a bronze ware, it is very heavy.

Since the river water outside is unlikely to have a significant impact on the swamp inside the interlayer, these things could not have been brought into the swamp by the water.

Moreover, Chen Ziyan had just observed that the swamp inside the mezzanine was in a relatively static state.

Taking all these factors together, he concluded that the first guess could not be the answer.

"If this possibility is ruled out, then the only option left is imitation." Bai Er did not raise any objections, but directly followed this line of thought and talked about imitation.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Chen Ziyan, waiting for his answer.

Although his knowledge of the relevant issues was limited, Bai Er was clear about one thing: if he wanted to turn his speculation into fact, it was not enough to simply rule out other possibilities; more substantial and strong evidence was needed.

There is definitely no evidence now, but it would be fine if there are relevant ideas.

They don't lack the ability to take action, but they lack feasible ideas.

"It's a replica... From the perspective of craftsmanship and shape, it's actually difficult to tell the exact age. The Han Dynasty is much closer to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties than we are, and people at that time had a deeper understanding of Shang and Zhou culture. So unless we use instruments to test it, it's difficult for us to tell it with our naked eyes."

Chen Ziyan first set the tone, and then without waiting for others to speak, he continued:
"But we can start from the purpose. Since the two really come from the same source, there must be an unknown purpose."

"After all, the Han people did not have the custom of placing a batch of replicas of Shang and Zhou bronze wares in their tombs. Moreover, the replicas were so lifelike that they must have consumed a lot of manpower and material resources. Such behavior must have had a corresponding starting point, and this is what we are looking for now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hu Bayi immediately echoed:

"That makes sense. No matter what the purpose was, one thing is certain, that is, this behavior must have been intentional. It can't be that the ancients had a sudden whim and buried some weird things in the tomb to amuse us, the later generations, right?"

Bai Er smiled helplessly: "Mr. Hu, you are joking. Even a half-baked person like me knows that the ancients attached great importance to burials and believed in the concept of treating death as life. How could they do such a ridiculous thing?"

Chen Ziyan then asked: "Captain Bai, did you find anything else at that time?"

Based on the clues currently available, it is difficult to infer more accurate information, so he asked this question.

If there were other discoveries at that time, perhaps they would be one step closer to the answer. (End of this chapter)