Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 396 Strange Pattern (4000)

Elm sticks are easier to talk about, but the main difficulty lies in ivory.

China's love for ivory products can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. Archaeologists once discovered an ivory product named "Two Birds Chaoyang" at the Hemudu Cultural Site belonging to the Neolithic Age.

In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ivory is still a very precious treasure, and only the truly rich and powerful gentry are qualified and capable to collect it.

Wu Liang can imagine how difficult it is to find ivory in such an inaccessible place like Yuanquan.

If it is a trade center on the Silk Road like Dunhuang or Shanshan, there may be some hope, but even if he finds it, the cost is probably a figure he can't afford now, and this trip for To avoid exposing the rich to danger, Wu Liang only brought a small amount of gold for emergencies.

Thinking of these, Wu Liang was stumped again.

So he still threw this problem to Awang with the mentality of "a dead horse is a living horse doctor": "Uncle Awang, although I promise you to do my best, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. For the 'creatures' in the lake, you need to use elm sticks and ivory to make magic tools, otherwise I can't do anything."

In fact, he didn't have too much hope for Awang.

If he couldn't find ivory here, he had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being and lead the Huan army to move on. First, he went to Shanshan to find the tomb of the sun where Fang Qiong had been.

If you are lucky, you may have the opportunity to get these materials when passing through Dunhuang and Shanshan, so you have to wait until the return trip to verify the magical method of "Hu Zhuo" to expel "Shen".

And if you don't get the materials in Dunhuang and Shanshan, then... next time, definitely.

As a result, the words were just finished.

When Wu Liang was ready to bid farewell to Ngawang and Kabul with apology, Ngawang asked unexpectedly: "My lord, is it all right as long as the elm stick and the ivory?"

"Ok?"

Wu Liang was taken aback, and subconsciously looked at Awang, "Uncle Awang, can you find me?"

"In Zhuangzi, there are two elm trees that I planted myself. As for the ivory..."

Awang nodded and said, "Two years ago, a merchant was hijacked and fled to Yuanquan in his carriage. At that time, he was seriously injured. Although I tried my best to treat him, I still couldn't save his life. Before he died, he gave me the goods in the carriage, and only asked me to let him rest in peace. Among the goods, there happened to be a few ivory pieces, which I am hanging on the inner wall of the house as decorations. Use it, young master, if you need it, just take it.”

"This……"

It's not a coincidence, isn't it?

At this moment, Wu Liang even felt that he met the Kabul family in Yumen, met Ngawang in Yuanquan, and happened to meet the local residents suffering from "fox confusion". Providence.

Especially this ivory.

It can be said that there is no place to find after breaking through the iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it, as if it was arranged by heaven.

"Uncle Awang, you don't know that ivory is a valuable and rare thing?"

Wu Liang couldn't help asking.

However, Awang showed a smile that is as close as a million people, and smiled as if seeing through the world of mortals: "How could you not know, but look at my Zhuangzi, I want fields to have fields, and livestock to have livestock. I don't have to worry about food or not on weekdays." Sorrow, the war is rarely involved here, and the clansmen have taken good care of me. I feel that I have lived a prosperous and happy life, so no matter how valuable and rare this ivory is, it is still a dead thing that cannot be eaten or drunk. I'm just a bone."

Versailles!
This guy has the essence of Versailles literature. Although he speaks with a humble attitude, it sounds like showing off to Wu Liang!
But... you have been infected with "fox confusion", and you may die soon.

Thinking of this, Wu Liang finally forgave Awang's behavior of showing off his wealth in front of him, nodded and said: "In this case, I will not be polite with Uncle Awang, please offer those ivory pieces to me. Come out, after I make some preparations, how about we go to Ming Ze to try to solve the 'creature' disaster?"

"Very good."

Awang nodded generously.

……

After half an hour.

Wu Liang's magic weapon has been successfully made.

It is completely in accordance with the records in "Zhou Li", with two ivory crosses running through one end of the elm stick. This shape looks like a common TV antenna erected on the roof in the 90s and [-]s in later generations.

As for the process of throwing hot stones into the water to scare away the "creatures", Wu Liang chose to ignore them.

He intends to use the sound of the mysterious small drum to drive away the "spirit", he just needs to ensure that he will not be attacked by the "spirit" when he throws this "magic weapon" into the underworld.

After making such preparations, Wu Liang set off for Mingze together with Awang and others.

There were only four people on this trip, apart from Wu Liang and Dian Wei, only Ngawang and Kabul were traveling together.

After all, this is not something that can be solved with a large number of people. Going with one more person may bring more risks, so Wu Liang thinks it is best to keep everything simple.

……

Yuanquan is not very far from Mingze.

But there is an ancient Great Wall between the two.

Yuanquan is to the south of the ancient Great Wall, while Mingze is to the north of the ancient Great Wall.

If it was placed in the Qin Dynasty, this ancient Great Wall still had soldiers and horses stationed there, it would undoubtedly be an insurmountable moat, even if it was close at hand, it could only be seen.

However, since Emperor Hanwu of the Han Dynasty expelled the Xiongnu, the entire Liangzhou became the administrative region of the Han Dynasty, and this ancient Great Wall gradually lost its original function, no longer stationed or maintained, and gradually began to fall into disrepair.

When Wu Liang and the others went to Mingze, they passed through a big gap in the middle of the ancient Great Wall.

I don't know whether this gap was caused by previous wars, or whether the people of Yuanquan destroyed it privately in order to facilitate the connection to Mingze. And it becomes the way."

And just walked out of this big gap.

A rather magnificent lake has appeared in front of Wu Liang and the others.

The Great Wall was built on top of the mountains, and Ming Ze was just below the mountains. Standing in the position of Wu Liang and the others, they could have a panoramic view of the entire Ming Ze.

This is indeed a large inland lake of considerable size, as Wu Liang knew.

In the lake, there are still a large number of waterfowls gathering together, sometimes hovering in the air, and sometimes floating comfortably on the water, forming a beautiful picture of water and sky.

At least judging from this situation, it is hard to imagine that there are such terrible and harmful insects as "creatures" hidden in this lake.

If it wasn't for a colleague from Kabul who first arrived at Yuanquan and learned of the danger here through the mouth of Awang, when Wu Liang led the Huren army passing by here, he might have to stay at the edge of Mingze for a few days to rest and recuperate If you wash off the wind and dust on your body at once, you will probably be tricked out of nowhere.

"This is Mingze. My clan and I come here to bathe. We usually stay on the south bank here. If we want to reach the north bank, we have to take a long detour."

Undoubtedly, Awang was a qualified guide, and when Wu Liang stopped to look around, he introduced the situation in due course.

"Which area are you in when you take a bath?"

Wu Liang turned around and asked.

"That stone formation."

Awang raised his finger and pointed to a stone formation not far away, and said carefully, "Except for the few huge stones, there are mostly hard but round pebbles on the ground, which are not easy to scratch the soles of the feet, and the water is not deep. Usually, the clansmen have an agreement that men bathe on the left side of the huge stone carved with strange patterns in the middle, and women bathe on the right side of the huge stone, so that conflicts can be avoided.”

"Strange pattern?"

Wu Liang felt strange, since Awang said it was a strange pattern, then he probably couldn't understand the content of the pattern, that is to say, these patterns were definitely not engraved by Awang and his tribe, and had nothing to do with them Yuezhi people .

Thinking of this, Wu Liang asked again: "Uncle Awang, do you know when those patterns appeared?"

"I don't know."

Awang shook his head and said, "As far as I know, our family has lived here for hundreds of years, and it seems that the strange patterns on the boulders have existed before that, but our ancestors never said I have mentioned the origin of those patterns, and no one has cared about the origin of the patterns.”

"That's why, go down and have a look first."

Wu Liang nodded slightly, but he had already developed a strong interest in those patterns.

Since those patterns existed before the Yuezhi people came, they are likely to be traces left by an older civilization, and this is what Wu Liang has been pursuing.

……

Not long after, Wu Liang and the others arrived at the foot of the mountain along the path.

"Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!..."

When approaching Ming Ze, Wu Liang beat the mysterious small drum at his waist ahead of time, so that he kept beating the drum while walking towards the boulder that Awang pointed to earlier.

The water in Mingze is extremely clear, especially the water near the boulders is shallower, and you can see the bottom of the water at a glance.

In this way, in the process of slowly approaching, Wu Liang could vaguely see some dim-colored things in the distance underwater quietly retracting to the deeper and farther lake center, and he didn't know if it was a "creature". Or other relatively normal underwater creatures. After all, the sound of drums can't only alarm "creatures".

Because of this, Wu Liang felt a little relieved.

At the very least, this could prove that the sound of drums was still useful, and it was difficult for this clear lake to hide anything that could directly threaten him.

Finally, Wu Liang and the others arrived under the boulder without hindrance.

The boulder is about five or six meters high, and its cross-section should be six or seven square meters. It looks like an oval and irregular flat stone pillar.

And at the bottom of the boulder, there is a line of substandard seal script Chinese characters, which read: "Men go to the left, women go to the right, don't disturb each other, live in peace."

"This line of characters should be engraved by your tribe, right?"

Wu Liang turned to Awang and asked.

As far as he knows, the Yuezhi people, like the ancient Qiang people, did not have their own exclusive script and language. At first they used Sanskrit, which is common in the Western Regions. Later, with the change and migration of power, some Yuezhi people chose Moving westward, part of the Yuezhi people returned to the Han Dynasty. In this way, they went to the countryside to do as the Romans did, and the language and writing system also gradually changed.

As early as the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liangzhou had become the territory of the Han Dynasty. In order to consolidate his rule, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent many Han soldiers and their families to Liangzhou to farm fields. Therefore, many ethnic minorities here have already been assimilated by Han culture.

Wu Liang is now able to communicate with Ngawang without any obstacles, and as a Han merchant in Qiongzhou, he has not been disturbed too much, which is the result of the assimilation of Han culture here for hundreds of years.

"Exactly, this is to regulate the behavior of the people of the clan and avoid misunderstandings and conflicts."

Awang nodded.

"The patterns on it are the strange patterns you mentioned, right?"

Wu Liang raised his head and looked over the boulder again.

Not only Awang and his clansmen couldn't understand the pattern on it, but even Wu Liang couldn't understand it either. He just thought that the circle engraved on it might represent the sun, and under the sun was the sun. A... mountain full of caves?
There is a river at the foot of the mountain?
Next to the river, there are some strange circular patterns. These circular patterns are slightly smaller than the circle that Wu Liang used as the "sun", but the way they are arranged seems to have some regularity, as if they are circling the sun. "Mountain"?
In fact, the so-called "sun", "cave", and "big mountain" are all Wu Liang's personal understanding based on the above patterns. As for whether it is or not, he is of course not sure, maybe the direction of understanding is completely wrong.

"Exactly, the young master is well-informed, may he understand the meaning in the picture?"

Awang asked.

"Do not understand."

Wu Liang shook his head, but took out the silk cloth and charcoal pencil, and copied the strange pattern on it again, in case of emergencies.

After copying in this way.

"Next, I'm going to throw this magic weapon into the lake. It's up to you whether it's successful or not. If this ancient method doesn't work, then I really can't do anything. It's best for you and your clansmen to move out of here. To avoid unnecessary casualties."

Wu Liang vaccinated Awang again, and said seriously.

"This matter has nothing to do with the young master. No matter whether it succeeds or not, the clansmen and I agree with the young master."

Awang nodded solemnly.

"Dian Wei."

While talking, Wu Liang had already taken off his shoes and socks, and gave a soft drink.

Dian Wei knowingly handed over the ivory magic weapon, and he himself took out a pair of halberds and held them in his hands to pounce for Wu Liang.

Carrying the ivory magic weapon in this way, Wu Liang walked in front, Dian Wei was at his side, and the two of them had already entered the water slowly. monster" attack.

In this way, he walked forward for a distance of about ten meters.

Wu Liang could no longer see the scene at the bottom of the lake clearly, and there was an unknown dark shadow if he walked any further, and at this moment, the lake had just covered Wu Liang's thigh.

"My lord, don't go any further!"

Awang shouted to him at the right time, "I don't know how deep it is, no matter how good the water skills are, no one will come up if they stray into it!"

(End of this chapter)