Chapter 126: The Bronze Mirror

Wu Cheng'an said that after following Fanni to Handan, Hebei province, Fanni met with a man who appeared to be of the same clan. The two discussed the whereabouts of the animal-mask bronze jue.

They also overheard a shocking secret: Fanni and his associates were also searching for the "Corrupt-Evil Death Records." They had received precise intelligence regarding the hiding places of the remaining two volumes, indicating that the clue to the second volume lay within a bronze mirror, and this very mirror was also in Beijing.

Later, they went to a guesthouse, but after entering, Fanni never came out again. Wu Cheng'an suspected that Fanni had realized he was being followed, and the person who emerged afterward was not Fanni, but a stranger wearing his clothes.

This showed how meticulous Fanni's mind was. Wu Cheng'an felt that Fanni must have had a reason for letting him follow along. Upon discovering Fanni's movements, he did not hesitate for a moment and arrived in Beijing at the same time as him.

He had accompanied Fanni to several places successively, yet failed to locate the bronze jue. After being lost by Hu Ren, the bronze jue had been resold by an elderly man to an antique peddler, and from the peddler it passed into the hands of a collector. Absurdly, however, a thief had broken into this collector's home, stealing all the valuables, among which was the bronze jue.

Realizing that this lead was broken and unable to contact Zhang Qinglin and the others, Wu Cheng'an had no choice but to come to the teahouse every day to wait for news.

Upon learning of the incident involving Zhang Qinglin, Wu Cheng'an originally intended to go to Xi'an to take a look as well. Just as he was preparing to leave, Wan Qing's people found him and brought him to meet Wan Qing.

"Wan Qing is in Beijing?" Zhang Qinglin asked, turning his head with a change in his expression.

"Yes, she is the back alone. She was severely injured and only said that Cheng Che and Chi Tan had been abducted. She had already sent people to investigate before falling unconscious and being hospitalized." Wu Cheng'an looked straight ahead and steered the car into Bunde Hospital.

Uncle Jiang and Wan Qing were in the same hospital, which saved Zhang Qinglin from running back and forth. First, they visited Uncle Jiang on the third floor, and then they went to a private room on the fifth floor.

Wan Qing was lying in her hospital bed. Upon seeing Zhang Qinglin, she looked surprised and said, "You're all right? That's wonderful!"

Wan Qing recounted that after they were rescued that day, the police came to question them, stating that a male corpse had been found in a car with Beijing license plates. The identity card showed a Beijing address, and after checking it, they confirmed it belonged to Zhang Qinglin, leading everyone to believe he was dead.

However, when they went to identify the body, they unexpectedly found it had already been cremated, making the whole affair highly suspicious. Later, when Cheng Che called Beijing, Jiang Xinyue said that Old Mrs. Gu had suffered a sudden heart attack and asked Chi Tan to return as soon as possible.

On the way to drop Chi Tan off at the airport, the three of them were intercepted and blocked halfway, resulting in a fight. Wan Qing eventually managed to escape from their captors, while Cheng Che and Chi Tan were taken away by the group.

"I know who did it—it's Young Master Zhao," Zhang Qinglin said with a heavy frown.

At that moment, Wu Cheng'an, who had been standing silently off to the side, looked at Zhang Qinglin and asked, "Have you met him?"

Zhang Qinglin then recounted the process of his rescue and the threats Zhao Chu had made against him.

Zhao Chu wanted to cooperate with him to find the treasures. Although Zhang Qinglin had not yet agreed, Cheng Che and Chi Tan were in Zhao Chu's hands. Based on Bai Weiwei's attitude toward Zhao Chu and his past actions, Zhang Qinglin knew that Zhao Chu was a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

If they could not find a good rescue plan, they would have no choice but to comply with him.

Returning from the hospital, Zhang Qinglin first went to the courtyard house, wanting to check whether the items he had stored away were safe.

Pusshing open the door of the courtyard house, he entered a room on the west side of the yard. In an inconspicuous spot behind a cabinet in the corner of this room, Zhang Qinglin had dug a hole, placing all those items there before his departure.

"I never imagined you were so skilled at hiding things!" Wu Cheng'an said, standing before the table and picking up the items Zhang Qinglin had retrieved from the black cloth bag.

"I had no choice. Last time Chen Shengxiao told me to leave these things with her for safekeeping. At first, I thought the courtyard house wasn't safe and planned to take them to her, but later I realized that the most unsafe place is the safest place. As long as I make another copy and take it away, no one will ever discover these things," Zhang Qinglin said as he organized the few artifacts.

Shortly afterward, Wu Cheng'an noticed a faint yellow glow emanating from the black cloth bag. Staring at it, he asked, "What is that glowing object?"

Zhang Qinglin glanced at the spot Wu Cheng'an was looking at. The unfolded center of the black cloth bag was glowing faintly under the light. Recognizing it as the bronze sunflower mirror, Zhang Qinglin took it out of the bag and said, "You mean this Tang dynasty bronze sunflower mirror? Speaking of which, Wan Qing gave this to me. However, this bronze mirror doesn't look like an ordinary folk mirror."

Wu Cheng'an took it in his hands and examined it carefully. Suddenly, a flash of recognition crossed his eyes as he recalled the sample drawing Fanni had shown the shopkeeper when inquiring about bronze mirrors at an antique shop in Liulichang—it was identical in appearance to this bronze mirror.

"This is the bronze mirror Fanni has been searching for!"

"It can't be such a coincidence."

Zhang Qinglin stared wide-eyed at the bronze sunflower mirror. He knew the mirror possessed unusual qualities, but he never expected it to be the very one Fanni and his group were hunting for.

"Looking at it now, this bronze mirror doesn't seem particularly special either. The engraved lines are exceedingly exquisite. I remember my father and the others previously digging up mirrors from ancient tombs," Wu Cheng'an said slowly, tracing the patterns on the back of the bronze sunflower mirror.

"You aren't talking about the Qilin Eight-Trigrams bronze face, are you? I've read through most of the notes in the notebook. As for mirrors, there should only be one related entry right here," Zhang Qinglin said, flipping open the notebook to that specific page and pointing it out to Wu Cheng'an.

Wu Cheng'an glanced at it and shook his head, saying, "It wasn't an Eight-Trigrams bronze face."

"Then perhaps it wasn't a mirror, but something similar to a mirror."

"Do you know the origin of this bronze mirror?" Wu Cheng'an asked, turning the bronze sunflower mirror over.

"Tang dynasty bronze mirrors generally evolved through three distinct periods. The early Tang period mostly featured four-god mirrors, twelve-zodiac mirrors, and auspicious beast mirrors. During the flourishing Tang period, national characteristics intensified, leaning toward flower-and-bird, auspicious floral, human narrative, coiled dragon, and paired phoenix mirrors. These possessed a magnificent, exquisite, robust, and bold style, primarily bearing auspicious symbolism.

"A decline set in during the late Tang period, resulting mostly in Bagua mirrors and swastika mirrors, which carried religious significance. The entire mirror body appeared very simple, crude, monotonous, and tedious.

"Judging by this bronze mirror, it belongs to the artwork of the high-to-mid Tang period, and should have been used by a young lady from a wealthy Tang family," Zhang Qinglin said thoughtfully, gazing at the bronze sunflower mirror.

"During the auction last time, I remember the introduction of this bronze mirror mainly recounted a poignant love story concerning Empress Wei and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian.

"When Li Xian was still the Crown Prince, he obtained this exquisite and ornate bronze mirror for Lady Wei to win her favor. From the time Li Xian was crown prince, ascended the throne, and was subsequently demoted to Prince of Luling, Empress Wei remained faithfully by his side, sharing in his hardships, and their affection for each other was deeply profound.

"Li Xian once promised her, 'If I am ever restored to the light of day, I will surely let you do as you please without any restrictions.'

"Later, Li Xian reascended the throne as emperor, and Lady Wei once again became empress. Who would have expected that upon becoming empress anew, she would undergo a drastic change in temperament—not only monopolizing state affairs to the point of autocratic rule, but also indulging her daughter without limit, extensively keeping male favorites, and extravagantly building Buddhist temples and Daoist shrines with boundless luxury.

"In the end, Empress Wei even went so far as to poison Li Xian. After his death, she completely seized control of the court. That a couple once so deeply in love should come to such an end is truly sigh-inducing.

"As for whether this bronze mirror is indeed the one Li Xian gave to Empress Wei as the auction claimed, it cannot be said for certain at present; yet something is indeed hidden within it. Prior to this, I once saw strange red characters emerge briefly on the surface of this mirror before vanishing in an instant," Zhang Qinglin gazed at the bronze sunflower mirror, recalling those initial times he had entered the mirror and witnessed the bizarre sights through its surface, followed by the mysterious text that materialized.

"Emerged characters? What was written on it?" Wu Cheng'an asked.

Zhang Qinglin tilted his head slightly and said, "The characters vanished before I could make them out clearly. I only saw two lines of bright red writing, looking much like a poem."

"That is very likely a clue concerning the 'Corrupt-Evil Death Records.' How can we make those characters appear again?" Wu Cheng'an asked.

Zhang Qinglin looked down at the bronze sunflower mirror, realizing that despite holding the mirror out for quite some time, he felt no physical discomfort whatsoever. This puzzled him greatly, as every previous encounter with the mirror had brought physical unease, yet this time he felt nothing at all.

"I don't know how they appeared last time. It was only after Wan Qing wiped it with a wet towel and I took it from her hands that they slowly emerged shortly afterward. Wait a minute—a wet towel..." Zhang Qinglin strode quickly to the bathroom, retrieved a towel soaked thoroughly with water, and walked over to Wu Cheng'an.

Wu Cheng'an watched as Zhang Qinglin used the wet towel to wipe the mirror's surface.

"I tried numerous methods afterward, but found no way to make the characters reappear. If the mirror surface is made of some special material and reacts to moisture, then those characters should surface once more."

The mirror surface, wiped by the wet towel, gradually grew clearer.

Zhang Qinglin tossed the wet towel aside and, together with Wu Cheng'an, observed the changes on the bronze mirror's surface. However, no characters emerged even after a long while.

"It seems this isn't the method. Should we pry the mirror face open to see what's inside?" Wu Cheng'an suggested.

Zhang Qinglin stared intently at the bronze mirror surface, leaning over the table to observe it.

Just then, a black dot appeared in the center of the mirror surface, and the black dot grew larger and larger until it expanded enough to engulf Zhang Qinglin within it.

Plunged into absolute darkness before his eyes, Zhang Qinglin was momentarily at a loss. He looked to the side; everything around him had vanished, and Wu Cheng'an's figure was gone as well. Only a faint sound could be heard as Zhang Qinglin blankly surveyed his surroundings.

Suddenly, a booming sound echoed before him, and with a "snap," a crack split open. The fissure slowly widened, accompanied by a tremendous roar and violent trembling. A blinding golden light radiated outward from the gap, illuminating Zhang Qinglin so brightly that he could not keep his eyes open for a moment, and he immediately raised his arm to shield his face.

Protruding from the center of the slowly widening fissure was a gigantic spherical body, after which the gap spread outward to both sides, and the upper and lower lines naturally extended left and right.

When the dazzling radiance dissipated, the light behind that massive sphere grew dim.

The outline of a giant eye!

This sudden, colossal entity, coupled with the enormous sphere at its center, induced a suffocating sensation, leaving Zhang Qinglin dizzy and lightheaded.

He rubbed his temples to steady himself, gazed once more at the eye, and noticed that the central sphere was slowly rotating. Zhang Qinglin walked over to the sphere and struck it a few times with his hand, discovering to his surprise that it was made of bronze, though he could not fathom how such a sphere operated.

Beside the sphere, Zhang Qinglin caught sight of a breathtaking spectacle within. Just as he prepared to step inside, a flickering red light emanated from within.

Glancing inside, he saw that the white radiance had transformed into a chamber of golden walls. He immediately ran inside, stood in the center, and looked up toward the source of the red light, where intricate lines of text were slowly floating above his head.

Zhang Qinglin glanced over the characters, a mixture of surprise and relief washing over him.

Gazing at the large lines of text, he searched his mind continuously before finally connecting them together.

"Time originally has no tree, the bright mirror is also no stand; fundamentally there is not a single thing, where could dust ever alight?"