There is a small town named "Chengsi" at the foot of the western foothills of Maoshan Mountain. When the two entered the town, Zhao Rui said, "I will rest here today."
There was no inn in the town, so the two of them found a restaurant in the town. In addition to providing meals, there were also several rooms for accommodation. Zhao Rui deposited ten copper coins on the cabinet and asked the waiter to stay in a spacious and clean room. The donkeys and horses were taken to be fed, but it was too early. Before the feast was over, Zhao Rui said to Jiang Shuo, "I have nothing to do. I'll go out for a walk with my master. It seems that there is a place here that has some connection with your little brother."
Jiang Shuo wondered: "I have never been to this town, how can you say it is related to me?"
Zhao Rui led him out of the restaurant and pointed forward: "Did you see the hillock in front of you? This hillock is called Podu Hill. During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, sent Captain Chen Xun to open a canal in Jurong and dug the canal here. The mountain was split into a ditch, hence the name "Podu Gang". When the canal was dug, a black object was unearthed, shaped like hundreds of dendrobium boats, tens of feet long, and moving stupidly. It is said that the black object dug out is a dragon. However, the head and tail of it were not seen, so the people were worried that breaking the hillock would cut off the dragon's veins and ruin the feng shui of the place, so they built a 'Tiaowang Temple' to worship him."
Jiang Shuo said: "The dragons killed on the Han River that day were only three feet long. The heads and tails of these dozens of feet were not visible, but they were much bigger. They just said that the dragons were evil dragons, so how could the people still support them?" Where are the temple sacrifices?”
Zhao Rui laughed loudly and said: "The dragon is just a stupid creature in the world. It's just grown up. How can it be divided into good and evil? The countrymen worship it when they see good things, saying that it can protect themselves, and worship them when they see evil. I am afraid that it will harm me, so I worship him both good and evil. Let’s go and have a look.”
Jiang Shuo saw the grass growing up to his knees on the post, so he took the seven-star sword. The sword was very long. A boy in Jiang Shuo held it in his hand like a stick. He held the sword hilt in one hand and the scabbard in the other, and plucked the grass in front of him to find it. path. The old and the young climbed up to the Podu Hill and saw that there were no homes on the hill, and the temple built five hundred years ago was still standing, but the incense had long been cut off and it was dilapidated. However, the old and the young didn't care and joined hands. When I went there, I saw that the King's Temple was very small. As soon as I entered, the gate was already in ruins.
The two people stepped over the ruins and pushed the door into the hall. However, they saw that there were no clay sculptures in the hall, and there were no carvings on the walls. There were no windows on the wall facing the door. A huge dragon was painted on the entire wall. After five years, A century of wind and frost, the oil paint has long been mottled, leaving only a black shadow, showing the huge silhouette of the dragon. Looking up, I saw several huge sections of gray-white bones hanging on the beam, which seemed to be the backbone of a dragon. It should have been hanging from the beam in its entirety, but it had fallen off over time. The huge bones were scattered on the floor of the hall, with bowls all over them. The mouth is thin, and there is wax residue on it. It seems that it was originally used as a candle holder. Looking up and down, it turns out that it has no head and tail, but it looks like it is only three feet long. Even if the head and tail are added, it is estimated to be less than five feet. , although it was bigger than the dragon killed by Jiang Shuo, it was still limited.
Jiang Shuo was marveling there, when Zhao Rui suddenly said: "Someone is coming." Pulling Jiang Shuo, he jumped out of the side window and hid behind the wall of the hall with the dragon painted on it. The two of them hid themselves, and Jiang Shuo listened attentively. , said: "There are eighteen people in total. Could it be An Qingxu, Yan Zhuang and his party? No, that Japanese Jing Zhencheng should have escaped first."
At that time, everyone was still far away, and Zhao Rui couldn't accurately judge how many people came because of his deep internal strength. He knew that Jiang Shuo didn't have any internal strength, so he didn't know how he could tell that there were eighteen people from such a distance. But the group of people arrived in a moment, and they couldn't speak, so they raised their fingers in front of their lips to signal Jiang Shuo to silence.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, a group of people had entered the courtyard. Zhao Rui secretly counted in his heart that they were indeed eighteen people, and couldn't help but secretly marveled. The footsteps of twelve people stopped outside the hall, and six people entered the hall. The first two people had steady steps and seemed to have good kung fu. One of them, Duan Ning Ruyue, was a master. Although the person next to him was also a practitioner, he It was obvious that the kung fu was not yet mastered. There was one person whose kung fu was not as good as that of the master in the middle, but he felt that the others were stronger. The last person was so light-footed that he didn't even know how to do martial arts.
The man who was not very good at martial arts was the first to speak: "Yan Sheng, are you here?" It was a young man, but he spoke quite arrogantly, as if he was the master.
Yan Sheng replied: "This is where it is. Second Young Master, look, the bones are still there on the top and on the ground." But it was the man who didn't know kung fu.
The person with the second strongest kung fu said: "Hey, it looks like it's bigger than the Han River."
Jiang Shuo couldn't help but trembled when he heard the words. The person who spoke was none other than Cheng Ang, and the second son was An Qingxu, the second son of An Lushan, the Pinglu Jiedu envoy. Yan Sheng, who didn't know kung fu, was naturally Yan Zhuang.
An Qingxu said: "Yan Sheng, then I don't understand. Since there is such a thing in this temple, why did I need to go to Xixi Villa to suffer the smell of pickled birds?"
Yan Zhuang said: "Back to the second young master, I don't know if the legend is true. I don't know if it is still intact even if it exists five hundred years ago. The third one is that no one who made drumming instruments in the world has come out of Xishan Villa to customize the jade." I was going to visit Dugu Zhang about Xiao, so I went to Xixi Villa first."
The man with the highest kung fu said: "I didn't expect Wang Zhongsi, a bitch, to start such a big fight just for the Tang Emperor's drum show." Jiang Shuo recognized that it was Yin Ziqi, the old man who was beside An Qingxu that day.
One of the people who entered the door first said, "It is a waste of natural resources to obtain the skin of a goat instead of using it as a war drum." This man's accent was impure and he was obviously not Han Chinese. That day Lei Qingzang said that making war drums was a waste of natural resources, but this man said that making musical drums was a waste of natural resources. Jiang Shuo almost laughed out loud and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hands.
Yan Zhuang said: "What Junjun said is true. However, if Wang Zhongsi wants to use this skin to make a war drum, the Eastern Army can still compete. But if it is made into a musical drum and dedicated to the saint, we cannot stop him." It turned out that the person who spoke before was He Qianqian who gave Nan Jiyun the Iron Tire Bow. He didn't say a word that day at Xixi Villa, so Jiang Shuo thought he couldn't speak Chinese.
An Qingxu said bitterly: "The damn dog slave has even invited several worshipers from Youjiaofang. We can't rob him by force."
Cheng Ang said: "Hey, there were a lot of experts from the five lakes that day, and there were two great masters, Zhenyin and Shenhui, present. If we use force, I'm afraid even Mr. Yin won't be able to get an advantage."
Yin Ziqi hummed and didn't answer.
An Qingxu said: "I think the southerners are weak, Zhenyin is skinny, and Shenhui is bloated. They may not be Mr. Yin's opponent."
Cheng Ang said: "Otherwise, otherwise... According to Old Cheng..."
Seeing that Lao Cheng was being stupid again, Yan Zhuang hurriedly changed the subject and said, "Second Young Master was right to hold back that day. We have just entered the Central Plains and want to make friends with heroes all over the world. It's better not to have any conflicts. We just want to stay in peace." The prime minister's wish, to obtain the skin of a turtle as a war drum, can only be achieved by this old dragon from five hundred years ago."
Cheng Ang said: "Yan Sheng, I see that there are only four walls in this hall except for a withered skeleton. Could it be that the skin of the turtle has rotted away?"
Yan Zhuang said: "If it is exposed to the outside, no matter how good the skin is, it will not last for decades."
He Qianqian interrupted him and said, "If the Xi people master the method of leather-making, it can last for hundreds of years." He was straightforward by nature, and when it came to skin-peeling and leather-making, the Xi people in the north were also good at it.
Yan Zhuang said: "The north is dry, but the south of the Yangtze River is humid. It is difficult for leather goods to survive. We assume that they can survive for a hundred years, but we are determined that they will not be able to survive for five hundred years."
He Qianqian said: "Not bad."
An Qingxu said angrily: "Yan Sheng, according to what you said, the skin of the turtle here has long been turned into powder. Where can we talk about it today?"
Yan Zhuang smiled and said: "Second Young Master, don't be anxious. If you expose it, it will be destroyed. If you bury it, it will survive."
Jiang Shuo heard someone stamping on the ground, but Cheng Ang said: "Buried under this hall?"
Yan Zhuang said: "It's like being buried in the ground and being eaten by insects and ants, but it won't survive."
Cheng Ang sighed and said: "Hey... you are so jealous and so greedy, and your words are really annoying. Just tell me where you are."
Jiang Shuo was listening on the outer wall, but suddenly heard a sound in the air. He was discovered by someone, and wanted to run away, but was gently held back by Zhao Rui. Hear Yan Zhuang say: "It's in this wall." It turned out that Yan Zhuang was slapping the wall with his hand.
Cheng Ang said: "Isn't this a painting?"
Yan Zhuang said: "The oil paint originally painted on this wall has long faded, but the black pattern was not painted by a brush."
Cheng Ang said: "Look, what you said was not painted with a brush. Could it be the ghost of the old turtle?"
Yan Zhuang said: "It is indeed an old turtle, but not a ghost." He didn't wait for Cheng Ang to ask again, and said: "He Junjun, have you brought all the tools?"
He Qianqian said: "We are all here, my eldest brother and I will take action now."
Yan Zhuang said: "Be careful. It's a five-hundred-year-old thing. Wet the wall with water first."
Jiang Shuo heard the sound of water dripping, and thought it was He Qianqian and He Wansui who poured water from the water bags they carried with them to wet the wall. Then there was a rustling sound, as if the shovel was shoveling the wall. After a while, it was soaked again, and then again. After shoveling for a while, I sprinkled water and shoveled the wall like this, repeating the cycle several times. About the time of a meal, I heard a rustling sound, as if something was being covered, and then there was a burst of cheers from everyone in the hall.
An Qingxu said: "This turtle skin is indeed inside the wall. Yan Sheng's prediction is like a god."
Yan Zhuang said: "Second Young Master, you are ridiculous. Zhuang has just read a lot of books, learned a lot about things, and knows some esoteric techniques."
Cheng Ang said: "Yan Sheng, you still said it's not a ghost. I think it's the old turtle skin sealed in the wall. His ghost is still there, and his essence escapes and is imprinted on the wall."
Yan Zhuang laughed loudly and said: "The theory of ghosts and monsters is illusory. This Shaowang Temple is a Feng Shui temple, so it naturally has its own Feng Shui pattern. Peel off the dragon skin and embed it on the surface of the wall and then paint it. In response to the 92nd line of the Qian Gua, you can see the dragon is there." "Tian", hang the dragon bone in the air, that is the ninety-five line "Flying Dragon in the Sky". The combination of the two, the world and response of this hexagram, is a complete Qian hexagram. The hexagram says, "The dragon is trapped in water." "Yunjiao" means praying for good weather and good weather."
Cheng Ang said: "So you figured out that the turtle skin was inside the wall through divination."
Yan Zhuang said with a smile: "Mr. Cheng, you can say this. This wall is not an ordinary painted wall, but a layer of ramie cloth and gray stone laminated on top of each other. It is waterproof and breathable. It is most suitable for the land south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, the wall is made of leather." It is well preserved. However, although the leather is processed by tanning, it will inevitably swell and deform after being sealed in the wall for many years. Although it is not easily noticeable to the human eye, the wall has developed subtle bulges similar to the texture of the leather. It has been hanging for a long time. When covered with smoke and dust, it becomes the ghostly silhouette of the dragon skin, so Zhuang can know where the dragon skin is at a glance."
