As a native of Jiangcheng, he was naturally very familiar with everything here.
Ye Fan calmly gazed into the distance, "There are a total of seven peaks, rising from left to right, and then abruptly descending at the end, disappearing without a trace. This kind of terrain is truly unprecedented."
Ye Fan sighed. Even as a tomb keeper in his previous life, he had seen many famous mountains and rivers, but he had never encountered terrain that gradually rose and then disappeared cliff-like. It was somewhat similar to the "Dragon Falling" described in feng shui in his memory.
The so-called Dragon Falling land was a place where wind collected and dirt accumulated. Any such place was an extremely dangerous and inauspicious location.
But why did Qianfo Mountain have such terrain?
Could it be that building those Buddha statues here had a hidden purpose?
"What are you thinking about?"
Seeing Ye Fan staring blankly at Qianfo Mountain, Shen Bao asked curiously.
Ye Fan shook his head, "Nothing, let's go."
Since this was undeveloped primitive terrain, the two did not travel fast.
Fortunately, Ye Fan had made two walking sticks, which could clear the vines on the ground. Otherwise, they would have been covered in wounds from these thorny vines.
"If we follow this path, we will see the Eighteen Arhats. Many years ago, I brought people here to clear the way with professional equipment, so I have some impression."
Shen Bao introduced as they walked.
"Eighteen Arhats?"
Ye Fan was slightly taken aback. The Eighteen Arhats were usually built in the main hall, so he didn't expect to find them here.
"The so-called Eighteen Arhats are the eighteen venerables under the Buddha."
Seeing Ye Fan's momentary pause, Shen Bao, thinking he was unfamiliar with Buddhism, began to explain.
"These eighteen venerables each have a title. However, when they arrived in China, they became the beliefs of the Chinese people. The titles of the Eighteen Arhats are Dragon Subduer, Tiger Tamer..."
"Wait, Meditation Arhat..."
Ye Fan suddenly raised his hand, stopping Shen Bao.
"What's wrong?"
Ye Fan closed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.
"Water side treasure top covers oneself, a heart upward inherently has fields."
He murmured softly, his expression growing increasingly solemn.
"I know now. So this is what the secret phrase means."
Ye Fan suddenly opened his eyes, a faint smile on his face.
This unusual behavior made Shen Bao even more confused, "What do you know? Why do you feel so strange?"
Ye Fan's smile grew wider, "I understand the meaning of the secret phrase that Xu Sanhu and Xu Laogun mentioned."
"How so?"
Upon hearing Ye Fan's words, Shen Bao's face lit up with surprise, and he asked eagerly.
As long as they could decipher the secret phrase, they could find Xu Laogun, and then the whereabouts of the chicken-blood stone would be known.
"Water side treasure top covers oneself means 'Chen' (meditation), and a heart upward inherently has fields means 'Si' (thought). These two phrases are actually character decomposition. They break down the original characters. As long as we reassemble the characters in reverse, it will work. And here happens to be a Meditation Arhat. If my guess is correct, these two phrases refer to the Meditation Arhat, and Xu Laogun's factory is in a cave near the Meditation Arhat."
It had to be said that this guess was a bit bold, but it was the most reasonable one.
Only with this explanation could it make sense. Otherwise, what did the secret phrase mean?
Shen Bao thought carefully, and a look of surprise also appeared in his eyes, "That makes sense. So, as long as we find the Meditation Arhat, we can find Xu Laogun's hiding place. But do you know what the Meditation Arhat looks like?"
Although Shen Bao knew this area somewhat, it was only limited to the general landscape of the mountains. His understanding of Buddhist figures was very limited.
Ye Fan's lips curled into a faint smile.
"The Meditation Arhat is the eleventh of the Eighteen Arhats, a disciple of the Buddha. His appearance is that of holding his chin with one hand, eyes closed in meditation, and he is the most discreet practitioner in Buddhism.
He symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, representing the wisdom of the Eighteen Arhats."
What Ye Fan knew in his previous life was far beyond what Shen Bao could compare to.
"No wonder Xu Laogun chose to hide here. It's because he thought he was the smartest and no one could match him, so he chose the Meditation Arhat."
Shen Bao's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood the reason.
Ye Fan nodded, "Indeed, it's a pity that the heavens' net is vast and its mesh is coarse, yet it misses nothing. Those who do much injustice will surely perish by themselves."
His gaze gradually deepened, and a hint of coldness appeared in Ye Fan's eyes.
"Let's hurry and search. As long as we find Xu Laogun, the chicken-blood stone will be ours."
At this moment, Shen Bao couldn't care about his still-healing body and walked forward quickly.
Seeing Shen Bao's hurried appearance, Ye Fan could only smile wryly and hurried to catch up.
The two walked along the Buddha statues and soon saw a white marble statue ahead.
With one hand on his chin, a solemn expression, and deeply lost in thought, it was clearly the Meditation Arhat.
Walking quickly, they looked around the Meditation Arhat but found no cave.
Shen Bao frowned immediately, "Could Qiao Ping have misremembered? There's no cave here?"
Ye Fan also frowned. According to reason, Qiao Ping had no reason to deceive them.
After all, he knew the character of the Xu father and son better than anyone. Moreover, finding that ancient tomb held extraordinary significance for him.
"Let's look again. Since Xu Laogun considers himself exceptionally intelligent, I believe his factory would not be found so easily," Ye Fan said in a deep voice, then expanded his search range.
However, after searching for a long time, they found no traces.
At this point, even Ye Fan began to doubt whether his thinking was correct.
But just then, Shen Bao slapped the statue of the Meditation Arhat hard with both hands.
Instantly, a rumbling sound was heard. On the cliff face tens of meters away from them, a stone door slowly opened, revealing a dark cave entrance within.
"So that's how it is. Xu Laogun is truly cunning to have installed a mechanism here."
Shen Bao said with a smile, looking in shock at the opened stone door.
"Caution is paramount. Since Xu Laogun made such elaborate arrangements here, it's clear he's been planning for a long time and wouldn't let people enter so easily."
Hearing Ye Fan's words, Shen Bao nodded heavily. He also knew that this place must be full of dangers.
But having come this far, how could they be willing to not go in and see?
Clutching their walking sticks, the two cautiously entered the stone cave.
The moment they stepped into the cave, the lights on both sides of the originally dark cave suddenly lit up.
"What's going on?"
Shen Bao was startled and asked in surprise.
Ye Fan was much calmer. He walked to the illuminated wall, examined it closely, and then said, "It's white phosphorus. Because white phosphorus has a very low ignition point and ignites spontaneously upon contact with air, ancient people often used white phosphorus as a lighting device in tombs. I didn't expect Xu Laogun to use it here."
In his previous life, guarding the tomb of Marquis Yi of Sui, he had seen many such methods and was not surprised.