Next came the third scene. The humanoid figures manipulated by the golden sun grew sharp fangs and dark blueish-black hair. They transformed from humans into monsters.
The monsters chased after their former companions and brutally killed them.
The fourth scene showed all the people turned into the appearance of monsters, bound by black lines.
A great fire swept through, burning everything to ashes.
Then there were blue little figures. To prevent the disease from spreading further, they dug pits and buried everything.
"This seems like a comic strip," Xu Qingqing sighed.
Although the graphics were simple, they fully conveyed the intended content. And the pigments used...
Xu Qingqing reached out and gently touched the murals. The pigments were made of ore and could remain color - fast for thousands of years.
Could this be the origin of the Huaxia Mound?
Xu Qingqing immediately used the system to scan the murals.
After the scan, the system confirmed Xu Qingqing's conjecture. "Host, this system has updated its archive and found out the origin of the murals."
"Really? Then tell me quickly!" Xu Qingqing asked excitedly. The joy of discovering something new overshadowed the hunger pangs in her stomach.
These were the Lhamu people. They worshiped a prophetic god named Thom and firmly believed that Thom could predict all things and bring good luck.
No matter what the Lhamu people were going to do, they had to ask Thom for a prediction in advance. This included large - scale tribal ceremonies and even whether a hunting trip would be successful. All of these required Thom's prediction.
One day, Thom predicted that because a Lhamu person had disrespected the sun god, the sun god had cursed all the Lhamu people. They would contract a strange disease called "Solar Flare" and turn into monsters, suffering for all eternity.
The Lhamu people who contracted this strange disease lost their senses. Like wild beasts, they attacked the uninfected Lhamu people. Eventually, the entire Lhamu tribe was destroyed.
A great fire burned everything clean. Later generations were worried that the "Solar Flare" disease might spread again.
So they buried all the ashed Lhamu people and their belongings, and also painted these murals.
"So that's how it is!" Xu Qingqing was extremely excited.
Finally, the mystery in her heart was solved. She finally learned the truth!
Xu Qingqing couldn't wait to take pictures of these murals with her phone. She planned to show these materials to Teacher Wang when the rescue team got her out.
"Teacher Wang will definitely like them! These murals also need to be fully protected!"
"Water..."
When Xu Qingqing finished taking pictures and was still savoring them, Lu Fenglin, who was lying on the ground, made a hoarse, wheezing sound like an old, creaky wooden box.
Xu Qingqing quickly rushed over and looked at Lu Fenglin with concern. "What's wrong? Do you need water?"
"Yes..." Lu Fenglin's lips were chapped from the fever last night.
His face was no longer fair but sallow, and he was extremely weak.
Xu Qingqing quickly found the cleanest small puddle, scooped up some water, and fed it to Lu Fenglin's mouth.
Lu Fenglin drank the water greedily like a baby sucking on its mother's breast.
Xu Qingqing fed him three times in a row before quenching his thirst.
After drinking the water, Lu Fenglin tilted his head and fell asleep again.
Xu Qingqing reached out and touched Lu Fenglin's forehead. He had started to run a fever again.
In this harsh environment, without food and being sick, the situation would be dire!
They had to find a way out!
Xu Qingqing picked up her phone, hoping to find a place with a signal.
After walking around and trying various places, Xu Qingqing found that there was a faint signal on high ground.
But every time she made a call, the signal would be interrupted after a few seconds.
With a glimmer of hope for escape, Xu Qingqing set her sights on a two - meter - high platform on the cave wall.
If she could climb onto that platform, the signal should be better.
However, the cliff leading to the platform was too steep, with no footholds at all.
Xu Qingqing pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment. Looking at Lu Fenglin lying on the ground, she still decided to climb.
Xu Qingqing had never had any rock - climbing experience. She had only climbed on the horizontal bars in the park when taking the kids out to play.
So it was really difficult for her to climb a two - meter - high cliff without footholds.
Every time she climbed less than a meter, she couldn't hold on anymore. Her feet kept slipping, and she would fall.
"Don't climb anymore," Lu Fenglin, who was groggy, woke up and saw Xu Qingqing climbing and falling again and again.
Lu Fenglin felt heartache and told her to come down, but Xu Qingqing refused.
The sooner she climbed up, the sooner they would be rescued.
"You're burning up. You need to get to the hospital quickly. What if the fever makes you stupid!"
Xu Qingqing joked with Lu Fenglin while climbing up out of breath.
Lu Fenglin lay on the ground and looked up at Xu Qingqing's back. The sun shone on the girl's slender figure, and her black hair was gilded in the sunlight.
Lu Fenglin felt warm inside. "If I become stupid, you have to take responsibility for me for the rest of my life."
"That's not possible," Xu Qingqing refused. "I already have two kids. I don't have the time to take care of you."
Hearing Xu Qingqing mention her kids, Lu Fenglin couldn't help but ask, "Who is the biological father of Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an?"
Hearing Lu Fenglin's question, Xu Qingqing stiffened. Her hand on the rock wall loosened, and she slid down from the cliff.
Rubbing her scratched hands, Xu Qingqing turned to blame Lu Fenglin. "Don't keep talking to me. I'm trying to climb up! It's all your fault that I slipped!"
"Okay, I won't bother you anymore," Lu Fenglin shut up.
When Xu Qingqing finally climbed up, before she could tell Lu Fenglin the good news, Lu Fenglin asked again from below.
"Those two kids aren't my brother's, are they?"
Last time, Gu Anrou had told him that Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an were Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai's kids.
But Gu Anrou had a feud with Xu Qingqing. It was possible that she had made up the lie just to get Lu Fenglin to help her.
So Lu Fenglin never really believed it and wanted to ask Xu Qingqing himself.
The joy of climbing onto the platform faded for Xu Qingqing. She glared down at Lu Fenglin. "This is my privacy. Why should I tell you!"
"If you keep blabbing, I won't take care of you anymore."
"Okay, I won't say anything."
Lu Fenglin shut up again, but in his heart, he was thinking about Xu Qingqing's reaction, hoping to find out the truth from it.
Xu Qingqing raised her hand and tried to make a call. Sure enough, the signal up here was much more stable than below.