Chen Xiaomu, Su Xingran and others followed closely behind Yuan Hao and walked into the temple. Looking at Yuan Hao, who was old and frail, he walked like wind. The group first walked a short gravel road, and then Then he turned to a bluestone road, which led into an inconspicuous little house with a big iron lock hanging on the door. Yuan Hao took out the key from his body and opened the big iron lock hanging on the door. Lock, everyone followed him into the hut. Contrary to the expectations of Chen Xiaomu and others, this hut seemed to be built to hide the entrance and exit of a section of stone steps. When you walked into the house, what appeared in front of you was a section of winding downwards. , black and stone steps with no end in sight.
Su Xingran, who was following Chen Xiaomu, saw this, reached out and took out a fire stick from his body, and lit it in a flash. At the same time, Yuan Hao also lit a fire stick, turned to the back of the door, and took out a fire stick from a cloth bag hanging on the wall. He took out two torches, lit one himself first, and then handed the other to Su Xingran.
Su Xingran took it and lit the torch with the fire stick in his hand. In this way, several people walked down the stone steps step by step under the light of two torches one behind the other. The further they went down, the stone steps below The narrower it became, at first it was possible for four people to walk abreast, but later it became difficult for two people to walk abreast. I didn’t know how many stone steps I walked. The view suddenly opened up. It turned out that we were in an underground stone hall, and the torch in my hand reflected it. Next, this stone hall generally looks quite large and very spacious. Several people came down from the stone steps one by one. Just as they stood in the hall, more than ten men in black suddenly ran out from the darkness. I saw them standing in front of Yuan Hao. They stood in front of them one after another, bowed and clasped their fists together, and said in unison: "Welcome to the Taoist Priest."
Yuan Hao waved his hand and said: "That's it!" Then he turned around and introduced to Chen Xiaomu who was following him: "Master Jun, this is called the Python Cave. In addition to the dozen people outside who are responsible for perimeter security, there are also a dozen people inside. While watching the giant python, they were divided into two groups, and each group went in for six hours!"
"That giant python?" Chen Xiaomu asked in surprise.
At this time, Su Xingran interjected from behind: "Husband, you probably don't know that many years ago, Mangdang Mountain was not called Mangdang Mountain, but Pingfeng Mountain. Later, hunters and woodcutters who went into the mountain to hunt and cut firewood often disappeared for no reason. However, the case was always reported to the government but could not be solved. Later, as more and more people disappeared into the mountains, resentment among the people below was boiling. The people even went to Xinjing City in groups to complain, and finally the court was alerted. So Zhuge Cheng, the commander of the Royal Forest Army at that time, led 10,000 Royal Forest Army soldiers into Pingfeng Mountain and began to search the mountain. As a result, the army searched the mountain for three days. In addition to finding a few tiger dens and killing several tigers and several black bears, the rest No ferocious beasts that could harm the hunters were found. However, when the Royal Forest Army withdrew from Pingfeng Mountain to count the number of soldiers, they discovered that seven soldiers were missing. Now everyone's head was getting bigger. I wonder what kind of monsters exist in this mountain. After searching, If they can't be found, they can be killed without making a sound!" Su Xingran couldn't help but sigh as he spoke.
''and after? "Chen Xiaomu was entranced when he heard it. When Su Xingran stopped talking, he couldn't help but ask.
Su Xingran paused for a moment and continued: "Later, the imperial court also felt that it was necessary to get to the bottom of this matter! First, because Pingfeng Mountain is just outside the new capital. If this matter is not investigated clearly, I am afraid that one day it will threaten secondly, affected by this incident, the people living in and around Xinjing City were panicked. There were even rumors that some man-eating monsters had come to Pingfeng Mountain, and many people began to become buyers. The property was ready to go to other places, so in addition to the 10,000 imperial guards sent last time, the imperial court also mobilized another 10,000 forbidden troops from the forbidden army camp to jointly conduct a comb-like search of Pingfeng Mountain. Not even a single plant or tree in the mountain was allowed to be released. However, just as the 20,000-strong army was gathering at the foot of the mountain and preparing to enter the mountain again, a traveling Taoist priest who was passing by suddenly came outside the Chinese army's tent and asked to see Zhuge Cheng. He said that he had smelled something when he passed by Pingfeng Mountain a few days ago. There was a faint fishy smell coming from Pingfeng Mountain, so he suspected that there was a giant python hiding in it. When he passed by Pingfeng Mountain again today, he found that the imperial army was gathering here. After asking, he found out that there were nearly a hundred people near Pingfeng Mountain. He disappeared in the mountains, so he came to see Zhuge Cheng, told him that there might be a giant python hidden in the mountains, and offered him a plan to catch the python.
"Wait a minute." Chen Xiaomu suddenly waved his hand to interrupt Su Xingran's words and asked, "In what season did this happen?"
Su Xingran thought for a moment and blurted out: "It's autumn, but the weather was already very cold at that time. I remember when I got up in the morning, there were already frost flowers all over the ground outside."
When Chen Xiaomu heard about it, his heart skipped a beat and he felt his heart sinking. Logically speaking, the appearance of a cold-blooded animal like a giant python in this cold north is horrifying, but in this cold weather, it actually turned into a giant python and came out to move. During the peak period, anyone with a little common sense knows that according to the physiological habits of this animal, autumn and winter are the periods when cold-blooded species such as pythons gradually enter hibernation. This is something he cannot figure out anyway. This situation Unless there is artificial interference from the outside world, genetic mutation is carried out on it, and it changes from a cold-blooded animal to a warm-blooded animal. However, this kind of technology has not yet broken through in the era when Chen Xiaomu traveled through it. Could there be aliens with higher technology? People have also traveled to the current world. At this moment, Chen Xiaomu suddenly remembered the old skeleton woman who traveled from Ceres to his own era and forced himself to find a way for her to travel. To be honest, he didn't even know the fate of his soul that had traveled through time. Are you still on earth?
"Husband, what's wrong with you?" Seeing Chen Xiaomu suddenly look serious and dazed, Su Xingran couldn't help but panic, and hurriedly came to him and asked.
"Oh, it's nothing!" Chen Xiaomu came back to his senses and asked with a forced smile: "What strategy did this wandering Taoist priest come up with to catch pythons?"
Su Xingran thought for a moment and said: "I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I just heard that Zhuge Cheng came back and said that what the Taoist priest offered was smoke and bamboo sticks, which was to let the soldiers insert all the flat areas in the mountain first. Sharp bamboo sticks, and then sent people to buy a lot of realgar and sprinkle it on the wet grass. They lit the wet grass with torches and vomited the smoke. They vomited the smoke all night. Early the next morning, almost all the soldiers in the mountains smelled the smoke. The smell was fishy and nauseating. It was said that many soldiers were vomited by the smell, but there was no way. They had to return to the court to resume their duties. Zhuge Cheng selected more than a hundred strong soldiers. , and looked for it in the direction of the smell. These soldiers walked about four or five miles, and the smell became heavier and heavier. The soldiers had to tear off the skirts under their armor and wrap them around their mouths and noses to feel better. When they climbed to the top of a mountain called Laohuling and looked down, they were all shocked. They saw six pythons of different sizes lying in a large open space below. The smallest one was three to four feet long, and the largest one was five feet long. Six feet long and thicker than an adult's body, without exception, the abdomens of these pythons were pulled open by bamboo sticks buried in the ground, leaving blood and internal organs all over the floor, like A bunch of meat mountains were piled up in this open space. Zhuge Cheng ordered his soldiers to cut down some wood branches, cover all the six giant pythons, and then set a fire to burn them to ashes. From then on, no one was in Pingfeng Mountain anymore. After disappearing, the imperial court commended Zhuge Cheng and the wandering Taoist priests, and renamed Pingfeng Mountain Mangdang Mountain!"
''Oh, that's how it is! Chen Xiaomu let out a long breath, turned around and asked Yuan Hao several questions: "Yuan Guanjian, where did you get this python here?" It looks like it won’t last long, right? What do you usually feed it? "
When Yuan Hao heard this, his whole body trembled unconsciously, and he said blankly: "Master Jun, to be honest, I don't even dare to say any of these three things you asked me!"
Chen Xiaomu's face darkened and he said coldly: "I've done everything, so what else can I say that I dare not say? It's nothing more than harming the world!"
Yuan Hao secretly glanced at Chen Xiaomu's stern face, swallowed his saliva, and said cruelly: "Master Jun, although I don't know your status, I really don't dare to trick you. If I tell you, I'm afraid that we will be dead and dismembered." !”
Chen Xiaomu glanced at him and said coldly: "Yuan Guanjian, since you have brought us here, aren't you just going to tell us the truth?"
Yuan Hao bowed and said: "I only ask the military master to promise me one thing. I will tell you everything that happened here and I will never hide anything!"
Chen Xiaomu said noncommittally: "You should tell me first and listen to it."
Yuan Hao hesitated and said: "I just ask the military master to at least let the Guanzhong family members and others go after knowing the details of the matter!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaomu said impatiently: "Yuan Guanjian, you have said this over and over again several times. I still say the same thing. As long as you can cooperate with us well, I will even let you go!"
Yuan Hao shook his head and lamented: "Master Jun, you don't know something. These things in Sanqing Temple are too big. It can be said that they are so big that you can't imagine. I only want a positive answer from you. After all, These things are all our fault, and my family members don’t even know about it!”
Chen Xiaomu sarcastically said: "Your abbot has even colluded with traitors and traitors in the court to seize the throne of Zheng. Is there anything greater than committing a crime that should annihilate the nine clans?"
Yuan Hao was stunned when he heard this. He forgot about this incident. Yes, no matter how serious the crime was, it could be greater than the crime of plotting to usurp the throne. At that moment, he couldn't help but asked in despair: "Is the military master really going to kill the three men?" Are you going to kill all the young and old in Qingguan?"
Chen Xiaomu asked back: "Yuan Guanjian, how many family members are there in Sanqing Temple? Are they all brought here from Qi?"
Yuan Hao thought for a moment and said: "According to the rules set by the abbot, anyone who has reached the position of hall master or above in Sanqing Temple can bring their family members. Those who don't have them can also find them locally. All expenses will be borne by the temple. Therefore, more than half of the family members are locals near Xinjing City, and now there are forty-five people in the Guanli family including children."
Chen Xiaomu waved his hand after hearing this, "Okay, I will be the master. These family members neither know nor hold accountable. They will pay travel expenses and disperse on their own after dawn. Now you can tell us clearly what happened here."
Yuan Hao was overjoyed when he heard this. Although he was still a little uneasy, he didn't care so much and said hurriedly: "This python was discovered when we were building a Taoist temple here with the abbot. At that time, the masons discovered it when they were cutting the stone. There is a cave below. This python is hiding in the cave and spitting out red snake seeds. When it was first discovered, it was not big. It was about as long as a pole and as thick as an adult's arm. The abbot was listening to the stonemason's report. Finally, I went to take a look, and finally decided to keep the python, and asked people to catch the python first, and then asked the masons to dig a huge snake cave under the stone on the spot, and then re-planted the python. Put it in, and send someone down the mountain every day to buy live chickens and ducks to feed it."
"Why does he keep this thing? He also buys live chickens and ducks for him every day!" After hearing this, Chen Xiaomu couldn't help but interject and asked.
After hearing the question, Yuan Hao laughed dryly and said: "I asked him about this later when he was in a good mood. He said that his own zodiac sign belongs to this little dragon. When building the Taoist temple, he found that this little dragon was very important to him. The auspicious thing means that this will be the place where he will prosper again in the future. This little dragon is his future fortune, so he protects this little dragon. This is the luck that will ensure that he can ascend to the dragon position in the future!"
When Chen Xiaomu heard this, he couldn't help but said angrily: "This is all fucking gossip. This bastard is crazy about wanting to be the emperor!"
When Yuan Hao heard Chen Xiaomu scolding his master, he couldn't help but be startled. He was about to get angry, but then he immediately woke up. His master had already turned into a cold corpse. Now he still has a master there, and he himself is now... It was difficult to guarantee that he could still maintain the dignity of a corpse, so he had no choice but to let Chen Xiaomu scold him and remain silent.
