Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 1049 - 1045: Ancient Script

Just as he reached the gate, a slightly plump middle-aged aunt emerged from the house. Seeing Shen Siyuan following behind Wu Yugu, a trace of doubt flickered in her eyes as she smiled and asked, "Professor Wu, who is this?"

This should be the nanny Aunt Cai whom Wu Yugu had mentioned before.

Shen Siyuan nodded first to greet, "Hello, Aunt."

"This is Xiao Shen, here to discuss something with me."

Wu Yugu introduced briefly, leading Shen Siyuan straight to the study.

Upon entering the study, Shen Siyuan realized that the books he had glimpsed outside were just the tip of the iceberg.

The entire room was surrounded by tall bookshelves filled to the brim with books. Most covers were yellowed, and the pages brittle, clearly not recent publications, exuding a heavy sense of historical accumulation.

A wide, long table stood in the center of the study, unusually neat and sparse, with only a few ancient books spread open at the corner, beside a smoothly polished calligraphy brush.

"Sit down, quickly let’s talk."

Wu Yugu invited Shen Siyuan, pulled up a chair himself, and sat down, his eyes brimming with anticipation, fixed on Shen Siyuan, evidently eager to see what he had brought.

Shen Siyuan didn’t delay, promptly took out an item—the ancient text rubbed from the stone gate of Qiongzhou Netherworld.

"Huh? This is..."

Wu Yugu glanced at the rubbing, his pupils suddenly constricted, revealing an undeniable expression of surprise on his face, immediately leaning forward, reaching out for a closer look.

Just then, the study door was gently knocked, Aunt Cai’s voice came in, "Sorry to interrupt, I made tea for you."

"Come in," Wu Yugu didn’t lift his head, his gaze firmly attached to the rubbing.

Aunt Cai walked in carrying a tray, placing two glass cups on it, filled with light green tea, the brew clear.

She placed the cups gently before the two on the table, retreated silently, thoughtfully closing the door upon leaving.

Shen Siyuan picked up the cup, took a sip, but his gaze stayed fixed on Wu Yugu opposite him.

The elderly gentleman slightly furrowed his brows, fingers gently brushing over the lines on the rubbing, occasionally nodding, sometimes pondering, fully immersed in his own world.

Shen Siyuan didn’t interrupt, put down the cup, stood up, and examined the bookshelf casually.

The bookshelf collection was a treasure trove, not only many rare copies but also plenty of handwritten documents and research manuscripts. He casually drew out one, the cover saying "Duyun County Chronicles Draft," flipping through detailed records of the Water Clan’s historical origins, and interpretation of the Water Clan’s script "Le Su," neat writing, thorough annotations.

As he was reading intently, suddenly a long sighing sound came from behind.

Shen Siyuan quickly closed the book, returned it to its place, turned around and asked, "Mr. Wu, how is it? Can you make out any clues?"

Wu Yugu kneaded his brows, a hint of hesitation on his face, slowly spoke, "This text... looks like Jiahu Engraving, yet slightly different, I’m not entirely sure."

"Jiahu Engraving?"

Shen Siyuan looked bewildered, he had never heard this name before.

Seeing his confusion, Wu Yugu patiently explained, "This is an ancient symbol from about eight thousand years ago, unearthed at the Jiahu Site in Henan Wuyang, mostly engraved on turtle shells and animal bones used for divination. so far, 11 different symbols have been discovered, such as the ’sun’ symbol of a circle with a dot, the symbol similar to the character ’eye’ among others. Many in the academic community believe this might be the precursor to oracle bone script, one of China’s earliest written forms..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Siyuan’s heart stirred, quickly followed up, "Mr. Wu, can you attempt to interpret these texts?"

Wu Yugu gently rubbed the uneven lines on the rubbing, pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head, "I wouldn’t say interpret; just attempt to examine. This item predates oracle bone script by thousands of years, the script is too archaic and obscure, severing ties with later script evolution. I can only use my research on oracle bone script and jinwen as reference, trying to discern some general meanings, but it’s not necessarily accurate..."

"No problem." Shen Siyuan immediately said, sincerely.

"As long as it’s your insight, it’s a great help to me."

Seeing his earnest attitude, Wu Yugu no longer declined, raised his hand to draw out a pencil from the holder, leaned closer to the rubbing, his fingertip pointed at the topmost line.

The line was winding, shaped like a crescent, with several fine engravings along the edge.

"Look at this first symbol."

Wu Yugu’s voice carried a certain assuredness.

"Its form is extremely similar to the ’moon’ symbol in Jiahu Engraving, and has a subtle lineage with the ’evening’ character in Yin Xu oracle bone script. Now look at the one beside it, outer circle is round, with an inner dot, very much like a celestial sun, it should be the prototype of the sun character."

Following his guidance, Shen Siyuan looked and indeed saw the symbols, one crescent-shaped and the other circular, corresponding to sun and moon, faintly inherent with some intuitive pictorial meaning.

Wu Yugu then shifted the pencil to the center of the rubbing, where several vertical lines of varying lengths, arranged in a staggered pattern, were engraved, each topped with a small star-like mark.

"The most crucial part is in the middle."

Wu Yugu’s eyes gradually grew solemn, "These symbols represent ’stars.’

Moreover, not ordinary stars. From their arrangement and the density of the marks, they should correspond to several stars within the heavenly stems."

"Stars of the heavenly stems?"

Shen Siyuan furrowed his brows slightly, asking, "Are they the stars corresponding to Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding...?"

"Correct."

Wu Yugu nodded, pointed to three of the vertical lines, "Look at these three, the engravings are deepest, the star marks are most prominent, they should correspond to the ’Jia Mu, Bing Huo, Geng Jin’ stars within the heavenly stems."

"These three stars in ancient astronomy represent the three vital worldly energies, govern life and death, set direction, the remaining few lines are slightly shallower in form, should correspond to the other auxiliary stars of the heavenly stems, just the engravings are too concise, I cannot presently identify which one corresponds to which specifically."

He paused, then added, "Interestingly, this arrangement of sun, moon, and stars is not chaotic, you see, the sun and moon are positioned up and down, and the stars are aligned centrally, faintly forming a ’heavenly pole’ framework, as if depicting an ancient celestial map or recording a celestial-related... rite?"

When Wu Yugu spoke to the end, his tone carried a hint of uncertainty. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After all, the text on this rubbing was too archaic, the profound meanings behind it far beyond what he could completely unravel with current research.

Shen Siyuan stared at the symbols on the rubbing, a storm stirring in his heart.

The stone gate of Qiongzhou Netherworld, ancient astronomical text, sun and moon, heavenly stems... These clues lined up together, making him realize something...

He composed himself, and formally thanked Wu Yugu, "Thank you, Mr. Wu, your words have truly been enlightening."

Wu Yugu waved his hand, gently pushed the rubbing back toward Shen Siyuan, his face carrying a scholar’s unique fervor, "In the end, it’s just my perspective. This item is too cryptic; if you manage to uncover more related clues in the future, do let me know. I’ve lived this long and to see such ancient wonders is a fortune beyond measure..."

Shen Siyuan nodded in agreement, carefully stowing the rubbing away.

Then he took out another item and placed it on the table...

PS: That’s all for today