"This tiger is similar to cats and dogs. I heard from my mother that when cats and dogs are about to die, they will leave their owners and find a place where no one is around to die quietly. It seems that this is their habit."
Chou Chou nodded, "Animals, like humans, like to find a place of their own to bury their bones. Just like humans, when they are alive, they think of finding a place with beautiful scenery and undisturbed burial when they die.
The ancients said that things die as things live. In fact, this is all animal instinct. After all, humans are also a kind of animals, but it is more obvious when it comes to humans.
In fact, I can't understand the way that you later generations burned your own corpses into a handful of ashes. According to the ancients, it was the wrong bones and ashes. Only people with great hatred would do this. "
Qingyan didn't understand why. She remembered that when she was a child, they were all buried in the ground. She and her parents attended several funerals of relatives in her hometown, and they were all buried in the ground.
It is said that the coffins they use are prepared well in advance. Some are prepared by their children, and some are prepared by the old people themselves, so there is a saying of keeping a coffin book.
It was just to save the money for the coffin and the funeral in advance, but then they gradually started to say that burial takes up land and pollutes the environment, and now it is not allowed to be a big deal when it comes to funerals. Done.
However, this is really not prohibited. Although the corpse will be cremated, the funeral ceremony does not seem to be simplified much, and I don't know if it is out of guilt for the deceased, but it seems to be more grand.
Especially in rural areas, I don’t know where to start, they will invite some troupes or singers and dancers to perform at the funeral.
I don’t know why there is an extra layer of cremation procedures. The cemetery is still so big. Even if it changes from a big coffin to a small box, I still have to buy a grave and erect a monument. It feels like the area is not reduced much. .
However, this is the policy from above, and ordinary people can only follow the policy.
Qingyan asked Chou Chou curiously: "Then can you tell how long this tiger has left to live? Doesn't it come here because it wants to die in this village? It's not remote or quiet here."
Chou Chou shook his head, "That's not true. It should be passing by and not looking like it is going to enter the stockade. It has now bypassed the stockade and headed north."
Qingyan: "Is that the mountain stream with many bones over there?"
Chou Chou nodded, "It's over there."
Qingyan: "It doesn't think there are many bones there and it's a good place to bury them, right?"
Chou Chou shook his head, "That's not clear. There are many corpses there, and the Yin Qi and death energy are indeed stronger. It may think that it is more suitable to wait for death there. After many years, it turns into white bones and is mixed with those white bones. It will not be People take it back to make tiger bone paste and soak it in tiger bone wine."
When Qingyan heard this, she immediately cheered up, "Then it's going to die anyway, can we..."
Chou Chou glanced at her and said, "Don't think about it. Even if we are going to die, we can't wait. You can't just kill her now, right? The tiger is already so old. Even if you want to die peacefully, you are not satisfied." People?"
Qingyan rolled her eyes at it, "When did you become so kind? Do you remember that you are an ancient ferocious beast?"
Chou Chou looked at her seriously, "Correction, I am an ancient beast, not a ferocious beast."
"Okay, okay, it's a strange beast, not a ferocious beast. I'm wrong. It's okay. You are also a beast, so do you feel the sadness of the death of a rabbit and a fox?"
Chou Chou scratched his chin, "That's not true. If a strong tiger comes over and wants to attack you or is hostile, I will slap it to death without hesitation.
However, this kind of old and slow-moving tiger will have some mercy. Maybe I have been with you humans for a long time, and I have developed the bad habit of showing pity to the weak, the poor, the old and the young. "
Qingyan picked it up from the bench in a funny way and rubbed the fur on its body, "What a bad habit, this is a good habit, okay, your idea is right. If it is already a corpse, It's okay for us to pick up corpses. After all, they are still alive. I think that is indeed a bit cruel.
Okay, let's discuss now where to stay before it's time to leave. There are more mosquitoes now, and we can't wait in the yard until dark. "
Because we were in the mountains and forests, even though it was not yet two o'clock, it was still hot, and there were already mosquitoes active in the grass. Especially since it was not far from a waterhole, the vegetation was lush, and there were more mosquitoes and the like.
Fortunately, the ancient clothing consisted of long clothes and long trousers, and Qingyan did not follow her mother's constitution, which attracts mosquitoes.
Although I do get stared at occasionally, it's not like my mother who gets bitten all over her body just like she stung a mosquito nest whenever she goes to a place with mosquitoes.
She was lucky that she was half her father's blood, and she only got bitten when there were a lot of mosquitoes.
Chou Chou pointed to the west corner of the yard, "There is wormwood there. Don't get the fresh ones. The dried ones below should be from last year. Just collect them, braid them and light them. The mosquitoes will be smoked away in a while. ."
Qingyan walked over and took a look. There were quite a few on the ground. She gathered up the withered wormwood on the ground and stopped after getting a bundle that she could wrap her arms around. She didn't stay here for long anyway, it was enough for today. .
Get them onto the flagstones and braid them into a long braid.
Only braid the thickness of the wrist, and then add a bunch of pieces to the broken part, and braid it down bit by bit. Finally, it is five or six meters long.
After braiding it, I hung one end on the window sill, and directly broke off the rotten wooden window frame on top to avoid being set on fire for a while, and just left the remaining stone window sill, which was safer.
Then one end was hanging in the air, and the other fell to the ground.
I walked into the house and clicked on the hanging position. After a while, thick smoke started to float.
It was a bit pungent at first, but after a while I got used to it. The smell of mugwort is quite strong.
Qingyan watched as the mosquitoes inside and outside the house were scattered by the smoke, and some other small bugs were also smoked out of the house.
After waiting for a while, Qingyan carried the tables and benches from the yard into the house, and tied the horse upwind not far from the window to avoid getting the horse smoke.
This room is the one with the entrance to the underground stone room just now. This room should have been a bedroom before. Except for the cabinet that was pushed down, there were no other signs of fighting.
It must have been that everyone went out to fight when the officers and soldiers came. Most of the traces were on the main room and in the courtyard. This place must have been messed up during the subsequent search.
The rag that was used to wipe the table was found from this fallen cabinet.
I walked towards the bed. I didn't even have time to look at the bed just now. Now I wanted to take a closer look to see if there was anything there.
Of course, there will be no beautifully carved bed in this village. It would be very laborious to transport it up the mountain or to build and move it here.
There is just a relatively ordinary large wooden bed in the house. The wood must not be ordinary wood. It looks quite strong. It has not become as rotten as the window frame after so many years.
Of course, it may also be related to the fact that it is inside the house and has not been exposed to wind and sun.
Qingyan said to Chou Chou: "Chou Chou, do you know what kind of wood this bed is made of? And see if there are any mechanisms near the bed. Don't all the ancients on TV like to keep some important small objects? Hidden in a secret compartment of the bed, or near under the bed?"
People are accustomed to feeling at ease when everything is placed close to them when sleeping.
After hearing what she said, Chou Chou used his spiritual consciousness to search the bed carefully. Not to mention, he actually found a hidden compartment!
"I found it. There is a hidden compartment on the bed frame next to the wall. There seems to be a seal inside."
Qingyan raised her eyebrows, "Seal? The owner of a cottage, to put it bluntly, a bandit leader, actually has a seal?
Not only does he want to occupy the mountain and become the king, but he is also preparing to become the king himself? Even the jade seal is ready. "
Chou Chou was speechless at Qing Yan's imagination, "You'll know after you take it out and look at it. It's not like it's a jade seal. It's not that big, it's just a small seal."
"Wait, let me search first and see if I can find the mechanism."
Qingyan stopped Chou Chou, who was about to step forward, and prepared to try it first. She liked this kind of treasure hunting, although she was not very successful every time, but Chou Chou came to the rescue in the end.
Chou Chou stepped forward in no hurry, jumped on her shoulders and let her do it.
Qingyan walked to the bedside and looked at the position Chou Chou mentioned. She looked up, down, left, and right, but she couldn't see where the hidden mechanism was.
I touched it from top to bottom with my hands, pushed the head of the bed, and patted the wood, but there was no reaction.
Finally, he looked at Chou Chou helplessly.
Chou Chou jumped down from her shoulder, stretched out his little paw and pressed on a wooden wedge.
The wooden wedge is at the connection between the bedside rail and the upright bed frame. Because it is a mortise and tenon structure, there is usually such a wooden wedge in the connection place. If Chou Chou hadn't pressed it, he wouldn't have seen it at all. You will think that it is a hidden mechanism.
The wooden wedge was pressed, and there was a soft click, and a rectangular crack appeared underneath. Then ChouChou pressed the rectangle again, and the rectangular piece of wood was ejected.
This mechanism is not complicated. The principle is to use the wooden wedge just to hold the wooden block. If you press it, the wooden block will loosen. If you press it again, it will be pushed out by the thing inside.
Chou Chou stretched out his claws and took out the wooden box inside. The hole was not big, which meant that Chou Chou's claws could go in and out freely. Otherwise, Qingyan would have to find tools to take it out.
The wooden box was not much bigger than a baby's fist. After opening it, there was a seal carved from jade with plenty of water.
Qingyan turned the seal over and looked at it. Well, she couldn't understand it at all.
I don’t know what font is engraved on this seal. Only the last printed word can be read, and the other words are completely incomprehensible.
When I asked Chou Chou, Chou Chou didn’t know him either.
Qingyan also knew that it would be good if she could read. After all, there were many ancient fonts. With a history of five thousand years and many ethnic groups, the character really didn't necessarily belong to which one.
However, the material of this seal was very rare. Qingyan put it back into the wooden box and prepared to take it back to show her father.
Her father is very knowledgeable about ancient culture. Because he collected a lot of antiques from sunken ships at the bottom of the sea, many of which he didn't recognize. Her mother was more curious about them, so her father studied them for a while.
He really read a lot of books about antiques, and even went to the university to ask some experts and professors, just because he was afraid that when her mother asked, he would not be able to answer the questions, and then his omnipotent image in her mother's mind would collapse.
As the daughter of two people, she was a little envious. How could her mother be so lucky to find such a good man? How should she find a partner in the future? It directly raised her mate selection standards too much. .
Well, the topic has gone too far, let’s get back to the present.
Qingyan put away the seal and looked at the bed again. Only then did she realize that the dusty mattress on the bed was not a mat or felt, but an animal skin!
"Chou Chou, what kind of animal skin is this? Why is it so big?"
Probably because it has aged too much, the fur is somewhat weathered, and it is impossible to tell what its original color was.
Chou Chou said: "This bed is covered with a bear skin, brown bear's, which is found in the mountains here, so it's not unusual.
However, because it has been there for too long, and because it was not protected well, it has become a bit rotten, and it will probably rot as soon as you pick it up. "
Qingyan nodded with some pity. It would be great if it was intact. She could take it back to her family for use. In future generations, this bear cannot be hunted. It is already a protected animal.
"The leader of this village is quite capable of enjoying it, but it's a pity that he was not lucky enough to choose a place like this to occupy the mountain and become the king. This place is so close to the Xingtang Mansion. It is impossible for the Emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty to let such a force come under his nose. It will be destroyed sooner or later."
After that, Qingyan felt that she was idle anyway, so she asked Chou Chou to use her spiritual consciousness to search other houses in the village to see if any such fish had slipped through the net.
Even some pottery that seems worthless now should be quite valuable in future generations.
Chou Chou searched around again with his spiritual consciousness and found some gold and silver jewelry in the walls and cracks of some houses.
There are not many of them individually, and there are quite a few pieces found in so many houses. However, there are none of the pottery and porcelain ones, and the ones that are there have been broken.
Those officers and soldiers were not stupid before. They couldn't just move the things here. They also searched every house. These fish that slipped through the net were hidden secretly and were not taken away.
Chou Chou directly used his spiritual consciousness to get those things back and put them on the table for Qingyan to see.
Qingyan picked them up one by one and looked at them. The most valuable ones were two pieces of gold and a few ingots of silver. It seemed that the hiding place was not big, so not many were hidden, or the more was taken away.
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