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Deep in the dense forests of Xishuangbanna, there is a mysterious place that people don’t know about. There is a huge pit at the bottom of the pit, with fallen leaves and leaves soaked black by rain. Among the rotting grass, the remains of elephants were spread out. Their skin, flesh and internal organs have long since rotted, and their gray-white skeletons and countless skeletons fill the pit with an aura of death. Only hundreds of precious tusks still shine with a charming luster in the sun.

This is a place that people cannot discover. This place is a natural grave for wild elephants living in Bangga Mountain in Xishuangbanna. Elephants strictly follow the unique habits inherited from their ancestors. Unless they die unexpectedly, they will never die in the wilderness. As long as they have a premonition of death approaching, no matter how far the journey is, the old elephants will rush here to breathe their last breath. The sacred elephant tomb is their eternal destination.

In the past, the elephant king, Ta Cipu, often led his herd to bid farewell to the old elephant. Today, it was finally his turn.

It stood on the cliff beside the pit, raised its proboscis, and roared in grief and indignation. There was deathly silence in the forest. Behind it, there are more than fifty elephants, large and small, watching it, waiting to hold a grand funeral for it. It hesitated, unwilling to jump into the pit with a heartbeat, because it knew that it was not aging naturally.

But no one forced it to come here. It was it that announced its death premonition in public. It can no longer be like that. Hesitation means fear of death, which will be ridiculed. At this moment, it is its last chance to show the heroic and fearless spirit of the king.

Source: From "The Elephant Tomb" by contemporary writer Shen Shixi.

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About the author:

Shen Shixi, formerly known as Shen Yiming, is a writer listed in the 2013 Eighth Chinese Writers Rich List. Born in Tingzijian, Shanghai in October 1952, his ancestral home is Cixi, Zhejiang, Han nationality. Member of the Communist Party of China. College culture. Professional title Literary Creation Level 2.

Joined the Provincial Writers Association in October 1982 and the Chinese Writers Association in September 1985. After graduating from junior high school in 1968, he went to a Dai village in Xishuangbanna to join the team and settle down. He was drafted into the army in 1975 and served as Minister of Propaganda. In 1992, he was transferred to the Creative Studio of Chengdu Military Region.

Shen Shixi is best at animal novels. Known as the "King of Chinese Animal Novels". Representative works include: "Fox Hunting", "The Seventh Hound Dog", "Being Deceived by the Fox Again", "The Dream of the Wolf King", "White Elephant Family", "Goral Flying", "Elephant Tomb", "The Encounter of a Hunting Eagle", "Being Neighbors with Crows", "Wild Dog Queen", "Bird Slave", "Hybrid Jackal King", "Snow Leopard Elegy", etc.

It is a mysterious and secret place, quietly and permanently with many dead elephants. It is said that there is still a long journey from the colony to the elephant grave. They walk alone, recalling their lives, and die sadly or happily.

From birth to death, even if a baby elephant has never been to or seen an elephant mound, at the last moment of its life, guided by a mysterious power, it can accurately find that place. An elephant mound belonging to its own species. There were hundreds or thousands of tusks there, a huge treasure. Unfortunately, until now, no one has ever known what the Elephant Tomb looks like.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Shen Shixi