Who is Shi Dakai?
He was one of the most legendary figures of that era. He was tough and brave, used soldiers like a god, experienced hundreds of battles without losing a single victory, was considerate of the people's livelihood, and his life deeds were praised by future generations.
During the Tianjing Incident, the Northern King Wei Changhui killed the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing. Shi Dakai heard about it and rushed back to Tianjing to stop the turmoil. Wei Changhui, who was red-eyed, wanted to kill Shi Dakai.
Shi Dakai had no choice but to leave the southwest, and all his relatives left in Tianjing were killed. From then on, Shi Dakai gathered his troops outside and never returned to Tianjing.
At the end of the Taiping period, the Hunan Army defeated the Taiping Army. Faced with the heavy reinforcements of the Hunan Army, Shi Dakai fought alone and was forced to retreat into Guangxi.
Shi Dakai then went north from Guangnan, entered Sichuan via Hubei, crossed the Yangtze River to the north, and fought in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. He was eventually betrayed by a traitor, defeated and captured. He died at the age of 32. His two sons were also killed by the Qing army.
"As far as I know, the Qing army carried out many sieges against Queen Yi's descendants, but I haven't heard of them..."
Chu Luozhao spoke carefully.
Hu Tianchun didn't take it seriously and said: "It is true that everyone in the world knows that all the descendants of the Taoist ancestors followed the ancestors and died in the battlefield, but in fact, before the incident, the ancestors still had a wife in their hometown."
"At that time, my ancestor seemed to have anticipated that the Taiping would end, which would inevitably involve future generations, so when he participated in the uprising, he changed his surname to Shi. The one son who stayed in his hometown inherited the ancestral surname, which was my father."
Chu Luozhao was astonished for a moment. He didn't expect that his friend who had been with him for many years would have such an identity.
Thinking about Fang Hu, the guard next to Hu Tianchou, he realized that with Shi Dakai's status at that time, it was too simple to leave a guard for the only descendant of his hometown.
I also understand why Hu Tianchou has been extremely enthusiastic about overthrowing the Qing court in recent years.
The hatred of the family and the country prevented Hu Tianchou from retreating into the mountains and forests like Chu Luozhao.
Hu Tianchou continued: "Mr. Zhao should have heard the rumors about the Taiping Treasure, right?"
Next to him, Song Xing's eyes moved slightly. The Taiping Treasure was a legend that people talked about even in his original era.
Rumor has it that when the Taiping was destroyed, the Hunan army broke into Tianjing City, ransacked the entire city, and dug deep into the ground. However, they did not find the treasure trove of Hong Xiuquan's rumored wealth that could rival the country.
The Qing court even suspected that the Hunan army had monopolized the treasure. Afterwards, it sent an emissary to secretly investigate the matter. In the end, the emissary was assassinated and the matter was left unresolved.
In folklore, there are multiple versions.
Some people say that there is no treasure at all and that the treasure was all squandered by Hong Xiuquan. Some people say that the treasure does exist because the quantity is too huge and it was swallowed up by the Hunan Army.
Others swore that they buried the treasure in a corner of Tianjing City before the Taiping defeat. Later, some lucky man discovered part of the treasure and became the richest man in the city.
There are even more market rumors that before the Taiping Army was defeated, they secretly transported treasures out of the city and hid them somewhere in order to make a comeback.
When Chu Luozhao heard Hu Tianchuo suddenly mention the Taiping Treasure, he pondered for a moment and looked up at him.
Hu Tianpu nodded and said: "Part of the folk rumors are true. On the eve of the Taiping defeat, some treasures were indeed transported out of Tianjing City and secretly escorted to my grandfather."
"My grandfather saw that the Qing army was powerful at that time, and as a plan, he sent his trusted aides to secretly transport these treasures overseas. He found an island in Nanyang and buried it in it. He was prepared to retreat from the sea to Nanyang in case of defeat, and then wait for an opportunity. .”
"Unexpectedly, he was betrayed by a traitor later, and my grandfather was unable to fulfill his wish. It is a pity."
Hu Tianchou continued with some sadness: "My grandfather had already anticipated this before, so he sent his most trusted bodyguard to deliver this secret to my father back home."
"Now, in order to fulfill the last wish of my ancestors, I intend to go to Nanyang to retrieve the treasure and use it to support the great cause of China's rejuvenation."
"Well said, this will live up to your passion and pride."
Chu Luozhao took the case and got up.
In the days of the Boxer Rebellion, Chu Luozhao and Hu Tianchun were the rare people who were passionate about serving the country and the people. Only in this way can they form a deep friendship.
"Just have a clear conscience." Hu Tianchun smiled.
"How many days are you going to stay here?"
"We will leave when Fang Hu's injury stabilizes. Over the years, the Qing court's Internal Affairs Office has been biting me, and it is not convenient for me to stay for a long time. I went to Hong Kong this time to avoid trouble."
"Are I someone who is afraid of getting into trouble?" Chu Luozhao said displeased.
Hu Tianchuo shook his head and said with a smile: "You finally got out of this whirlpool, why do you have to get involved in worldly things? If you hadn't saved me back then..."
"What he did in the past is mentioned in the past. If I can meet an old friend today, I must get drunk before I can rest."
It was said that they would stop drinking after getting drunk, but in order not to interfere with Hu Tianchou's trip, the two of them just had a few drinks and reminisced about the past at the wine table under the influence of wine.
Song Xing, on the other hand, was sitting on the steps outside, holding a bowl of rice and munching on it.
After Song Xing finished his meal, he glanced at Chu Luozhao and the two who were still chatting happily, walked to the side and put on a strange posture to start exercising.
When a warrior practices martial arts, he can punch a thousand pounds, which consumes a lot of energy. In order to maintain this consumption, eating becomes the only way to replenish energy.
Since ancient times, each sect has its own secret way of eating.
What is eating method? When ordinary people eat food, except for a small part that is absorbed by the body and used for body activities, most of it is excreted and wasted.
Martial artists, on the other hand, can use special movements to accelerate the peristalsis and digestion of the five internal organs, absorb as much of this energy as possible before it dissipates, and store it in the body for daily martial arts training needs.
The so-called refining and transforming qi means refining the energy in the body and converting it into the required kinetic energy.
The posture Song Xing was assuming at this moment was what Chu Luozhao taught him. He put his hands on the ground and supported his whole body to stand upside down with only the strength of his hands and forearms. His legs were straight, but his spine was vibrating at a strange frequency. The muscles on his back were It also squirmed as if it had come to life, and always maintained a special frequency of breathing.
Hu Tianchou, who was talking to Chu Luozhao, turned his head and saw this scene and was shocked.
He has traveled all over the world in these years. Although his martial arts training is average, he usually chats with Fang Hu and his knowledge is not weak.
He could tell that Song Xing practiced one of the techniques of Plum Boxing, Golden Dragon Wrapping Pillars, which seemed to be mixed with some techniques of Red Boxing, Tai Chi, and Xingyi.
Through the tremors of the spine and back muscles, combined with special internal breathing methods, the five internal organs are vibrated rhythmically, and the food eaten can be digested and absorbed at an extremely fast speed.
What really shocked him was that those who could master this training method in Plum Blossom Fist must at least have good secret strength and control all the muscles of the body to be as perfect as Song Xing.
Is this really just five years of cultivation?
Even though he had heard Chu Luozhao say it before, Hu Tianchun still couldn't help but sigh.
He and Fang Hu grew up together, and Fang Hu only allowed him to practice the sect's eating method after he had practiced for twelve years.
After a day and night of high fever, Fang Hu's injury finally stabilized after taking a few herbs prepared by Chu Luozhao. Chu Luozhao judged that Fang Hu should have passed the most dangerous period.
Next, with his martial arts practitioner's physique, he slowly recovered.
Hu Tianchou stayed here for another day, and finally decided to leave Cangwu and go to Guangzhou the next day.
At dawn the next day, Song Xing got up.
First, he went down the mountain to fill the water tank with water, then carefully cleaned the front yard, and then went to the backyard kitchen.
After feeding the chickens and ducks, I went to the field and picked a few green vegetables and washed them as usual.
He skillfully lit a fire to boil water, kneaded the dough with the water, and skillfully prepared Chu Luozhao's favorite bamboo noodles, with plenty of coriander sprinkled on top.
And because of the extra water from Hu Tian, Song Xing steamed a drawer full of steamed buns.
When Chu Luozhao got up, he saw a table of steaming meals already prepared.
The old man didn't say anything. He sat in his familiar position and finished eating the bamboo noodles made by his apprentice. His craftsmanship was still as good as before.
After the meal, Song Xing put away the dishes and washed them carefully.
When he returned to the house to pack a few clothes and simply wrap them into a bundle, Hu Tianchou was already waiting at the front door.
Looking at the heroic apprentice, Chu Luozhao said nothing and waved goodbye.
Song Xingxing walked out of the mountain gate, put down his baggage, turned around and knelt down respectfully towards the old man, and kowtowed three times.
He stood up, looked deeply at Chu Luozhao, turned and left.
Chu Luozhao stood in front of the door, watching the two figures walking farther and farther away, getting smaller and smaller until they were no longer seen.
A gentle sigh sounded in the mountains, and then drifted away in the wind.
