"Look, this rock painting was made by me from a certain ruins related to the Monkey Army."
Professor Lai Sheng pointed to the glass-framed painting behind him.
The lines in the painting are extremely crude and simple, and there are many defects. From an artistic point of view, they actually have no value.
What can be vaguely distinguished is that the content of the painting is that of several people wearing heavy armor, sitting around a room discussing matters. These general-looking people are not only wearing armor all over their bodies, but also wearing helmets on their heads. The visors were also pulled down, and beside them, there were several servant-like people carrying what should be food and drinks.
Of course, due to the rudimentary brushwork of this rock painting and the possibility of being eroded over the years, much of the content in the painting has been lost. We can only rely on guesswork to determine that this should be a depiction of those general-like figures having a meal. Petroglyphs.
"According to the information I obtained from the ruins, I can be very sure that the generals in the rock paintings are commander-level generals of the Monkey Army, and the military commander-level ranks second in the military establishment of the Monkey Army. Senior generals of the same level, the million-strong Monkey Army that swept across Great China that year. According to accurate historical data, the number of military commander-level generals has never exceeded one hundred."
"In my life, I have been to many ruins related to the Monkey Army and seen many rock paintings left by the Monkey Army. Without exception, as long as there are senior generals of the Monkey Army appearing in the rock paintings, these monkeys The senior generals of the army are always covered in armor and their true faces are never revealed."
"So Professor Lai, why are they so mysterious? Or maybe these generals of the Monkey Army are ugly, so they don't want to be seen by others."
The female student just now asked again jokingly.
Her question also caused a burst of laughter from the people around her.
If only one or two of the Monkey Army generals did this, it might really be because they were too ugly. But since almost all the Monkey Army generals deliberately remained mysterious, it would not be because of their appearance.
So everyone was amused by the naivety of this female student.
Professor Lai Sheng also laughed, shook his head and said:
"I don't know why. I have done a lot of research on this matter, but I still can't find the reason why the senior generals of the Monkey Army maintain such weird behavior."
"The army that nearly occupied the entire Dahua five thousand years ago has always had some extremely weird and unexplainable behaviors. For example, after they captured a town, they rarely stationed in the city and liked to live in In the mountains, village-like camps are established in natural caves.”
"These are historical mysteries that confuse people. If I can solve these historical mysteries in my lifetime, it will be my greatest wish in this life."
...Because there are many monsters in the Monkey Army...
Listening to the sigh of Professor Lai Sheng not far away, Shu Guan muttered in his heart.
For historical mysteries that are puzzling in the eyes of ordinary scholars, there are many secrets that are not too big in the spiritual world.
However, Shu Guan had no intention of going over to help the professor solve his lifelong puzzle.
"Xingyun, you can take a tour inside first. I'll pick up a few friends first, and I'll introduce you to Professor Lai later."
...It seems that there is no need to know anything about it.
Shu Guan thought so in his heart.
But after Qian Jing'an finished speaking, he hurriedly left the hall again, so Shu Guan didn't say anything else.
Shu Guan and Teng Huiyi came to the hall and wandered around casually.
It has to be said that Professor Lai Sheng must be an archaeologist and explorer with extremely rich experience. This can be seen from the dazzling array of exhibits in the Great Hall.
Rusty bronze swords, ancient jades, dilapidated books, huge chimes, strange fossils... It can be said to be dazzling to see, and there are some weird and weird things that are difficult for people to describe.
Shu Guan walked casually and watched.
He originally came here to kill time. In the eyes of practitioners, these cultural relics, which are extremely valuable in the eyes of mortals, are nothing more than ordinary items from a long time ago.
Of course, there are some things that can still arouse Shu Guan's interest and make him stop and take a closer look.
For example, there is a fragmented fossil that looks like some kind of large beast, but its head is missing. Its body looks like a horse, deer, or camel, but it has eight legs, and the legs are The end has eagle-like claws.
Shu Guan stood in front of the fossil remains for a while. The fossil reminded him inexplicably of the cave on the peak of Taoyuan Village.
There are also countless such weird fossils in that cave.
But later those fossils "came alive".
"This thing is so strange. Are there really such strange animals in the world?"
There were many people watching this strange fossil, and after seeing it, Teng Huiyi also exclaimed out of curiosity.
"This thing is called Lushu. It actually existed a long, long time ago, but it should be completely extinct now."
Shu Guan then said something.
Although this fossil was missing its head, the characteristics of its body were still very obvious. He had seen a portrait of this thing in the volume of Mountains and Seas Foreign Objects in Shanjiguan Taoist Cangge.
This strange beast named Lu Shu is a very ancient extraordinary creature that probably survived in the Third Yuanhui era. According to the records in the Mountains and Seas Foreign Object Chronicles, Lu Shu can run faster than lightning on land, but has no wings. It can soar into the clouds and ride in the mist, and its sharp claws can easily tear apart tigers and leopards. Many practitioners will tame this extraordinary creature and use it as their own mount.
However, after the Age of Conferred Gods, Lushu basically disappeared from the world.
"Lu Shu? This name is so strange. Cousin, how do you know the name of this animal?"
"I saw it in an ancient book."
At this time, Professor Lai Sheng was leading a group of students to a nearby exhibit and was explaining to the students, but he happened to overhear the conversation between Shu Guan and Teng Huiyi.
Lai Sheng glanced this way with some confusion, a hint of surprise in his expression.
He seemed to be planning to come over, but a student happened to ask him a question.
But when Professor Lai Sheng finished answering the student's question and looked back, the young man and woman were no longer in front of the fossil exhibit.
Lushu?
Professor Lai Sheng was very sure that he had just heard these two words.
But before that moment, he had never heard of the name "Lushu".
Professor Lai Sheng had never known what kind of beast it was that weird fossil he found on an expedition that nearly escaped death. Unexpectedly, at today's exhibition, he met someone who seemed to know what it was. stuff people.
Professor Lai Sheng thought for a moment and asked the students to visit by themselves, and then began to look for the young pair in the auditorium.
At this time, Shu Guan was standing in a corner, standing in front of a transparent glass display cabinet, his eyes fixed on the two exhibits in the glass cabinet, his face also full of astonishment and surprise.
Placed in this glass cabinet is a jade Ruyi with a broken tail. The jade Ruyi is engraved with the pattern of auspicious clouds and stars. The carving is extremely delicate, and the jade quality looks extremely delicate. If it weren't for the broken crack at the tail, Even if this jade Ruyi is not a cultural relic, it is valuable in itself.
Of course, its value will actually be greater.
The first time Shu watched it, he knew it was a magic weapon. The cloud patterns carved on the jade Ruyi were actually a magic circle.
Now that I have been studying the Tao of Talisman for quite some time, I can identify the mystery of this jade Ruyi at a glance.
It's just that I don't know why this jade Ruyi magic weapon was damaged. Because the handle was broken, part of the magic circle was missing, causing the spiritual power to leak out. Now it is no different from ordinary jade.
Next to Yu Ruyi, there was an old-looking book with the words "Five Talisman Scripture" written on it.
If this "Five Talisman Scripture" were placed alone, Shu Guan might have casually glanced at it and stopped paying attention to it, and would never connect it with the art of making talismans in the Tao of Talisman.
But the problem is that it is placed together with a broken magic weapon. The jade Ruyi is also painted with a very mysterious talisman formation. It is difficult for Shu Guan to think that this book of Five Talisman Scripture is actually a book of talismans. The art of Tao cultivation.
Of course, at this moment, Shu Guan was naturally unable to determine whether this "Five Talisman Sutra" was a Taoist manual for spiritual practice, but he decided immediately and would confirm it again in the evening.
If it is indeed a talisman-making technique, he will take away the "Five Talisman Scripture", and of course he will definitely leave a sum of money behind, even if he buys it himself.
And if the Five Talisman Sutra is really a method of cultivation, it has always been in the hands of this ordinary professor. If it is discovered by other practitioners, it depends on the character of the practitioner. Maybe it will bring trouble to Professor Lai Sheng. Some unexpected things.
And since this thing has been put on display, and today is the first day of the exhibition, who can guarantee that practitioners will come to see this exhibition in the next few days?
Just when Shu Guan made a decision in his heart, a voice sounded from behind him.
"This gentleman seems to be very interested in these two exhibits."
Looking back, Professor Lai Sheng, the organizer of this exhibition, was already standing behind him, looking at Shu Guan with a look that could be described as extremely interesting.
Shu Guan naturally knew that someone was approaching from behind just now, but he didn't expect it to be Professor Lai Sheng.
"They are indeed two very interesting things."
Then he smiled and nodded to Professor Lai Sheng.
Unexpectedly, Professor Lai Sheng raised his eyebrows when he heard this and asked again:
"Sir, could you please tell me why you find these two things interesting?"
Shu Guan suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
The two exhibits are naturally very interesting. One is a broken magic weapon, and the other is a suspected secret practice.
But the problem is that what he just said was purely polite, and it was impossible for Shu Guan to tell Professor Lai Sheng what was really interesting about these two things.
However, Professor Lai Sheng at this moment seemed to be asking him seriously.
"I put these two things in this corner because among all the exhibits, I have always felt that these two things are really ordinary compared to other things."
Professor Lai Sheng pointed to the glass cabinet and said:
"The quality of this Ruyi jade is very good, and the carvings on it are also very exquisite. However, there are not many jade articles of this level in Dahua. In the past, you could easily find a few pieces in any wealthy family's home. , and I also asked several well-known Taoist priests in Yanjing to read the Five Talisman Scripture, but the ordinary Taoist method of drawing talismans is nothing more than following the types of Taoist talismans recorded in it by those Taoist masters. I’ve never seen it before, so I didn’t plan to bring these two things to the exhibition this time. There are many more interesting things in my collection than these two things.”
"If there's anything special about these two things, it's that there's something special about how I got them."
"Professor Lai, how did you get them?"
Shu Guan couldn't help but asked curiously.
To be honest, he also wanted to know how Professor Lai Sheng obtained these two things for practitioners.
"It's in a Taoist temple, a Taoist temple sunk under the water."
Professor Lai Sheng looked at Shu Guandao, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, as if a certain memory in the past made him unable to understand something.
"That was during an expedition to Shuzhou thirteen years ago. I discovered an ancient Taoist temple that was submerged under the lake in a lake on the top of a large mountain."
"That Taoist temple must have sunk under the lake for a long time. It can be judged from the many traces inside. Its history may be older than the history of the Great China. But what is strange is that that The Taoist temple has been sunk at the bottom of the lake for so many years, but there is actually not a drop of water in one room. It was in that room that I discovered these two things."
"I thought that in such a strange place, there should be something strange about the things placed there. It's just that over the years, I haven't found out what's so strange about them."
Professor Lai Sheng sighed.
"Sir, I just saw that you have been standing here. Do you know anything unusual about them? As well as that fossil, I heard you said that you had seen it in an ancient book. The name of that strange beast is Lu Shu, I wonder what kind of ancient book that is?"
Then Professor Lai Sheng asked Shu Guan with a serious look on his face.
Shu Guan was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to answer the other party's question for a while.
At this moment, they saw Qian Jing'an walking towards them with a few people, laughing loudly as they walked:
"Brother Lai, Xingyun, I originally said that I would introduce you to each other, but I didn't expect that you guys started chatting with me yourself."
"Hey, Brother Qian, do you know this gentleman?"
"Of course, Xingyun is my neighbor. Brother Lai, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted me to introduce an expert who really understands Feng Shui? I was originally going to take you to Shanghai to meet Xingyun! I didn't expect Xingyun This time I happened to come to Jinling by myself."
"You have to know that in our city of Shenzhou, Xingyun is a famous 'living god'. No matter whether he is a fortune teller or a feng shui expert, he has never missed a chance."
Professor Lai Sheng is a character mentioned at the beginning, and now it’s finally his turn to appear.
(End of chapter)
