Tongluo Town Love

Chapter 3 The Legend of Tongluo Town

Meiqi is gone, and so are the other little friends who grew up together, and now Su Su is leaving in a hurry.

As for whether Su Su will come back, it doesn't seem to make any sense.

Abai's body and mind were suddenly enveloped by boundless loneliness.

Tongluo Town is a big town with more than 10,000 people, and now there are only a few hundred people left.

As prosperous as it was, it will be so ruined now.

Most of the various houses in the streets and alleys have been vacant, and the people who live now are concentrated on both sides of a main street.

It's like drawing a line in this dilapidated construction area.

Especially in the dark night, when the lights of the living places are connected like beans, the line will be more distinct.

A large area was dark.In particular, those vacant houses are like gaping mouths in the dark, and under normal circumstances even adults dare not walk around alone.

I didn't feel that such a living environment was hopeless before, probably because I have dreams in my heart and I can see the one I love every day.

Now that there is nothing left, everything is completely different! 19-year-old Abai felt a little terrified.

He just sat on the side of the dilapidated street, physically and mentally weak, feeling like he would never be able to stand up again.

After a long time, several old men approached him from different directions, looking cautious.

Abai knew that as long as he did not plan to escape, these people would not be defensive against him.

Moreover, he was physically and mentally weak at this time, even if someone came to kill him, he didn't bother to get up.

However, after all, Abai was raised by the people in the town.When the old men came to him, they sat up subconsciously, and burst into tears like a wronged child seeing his family.

"I'm sorry, young master Abai! I know you have been wronged. But the Tongluo Temple cannot be left unattended, there are hundreds of people there!"

In order to prevent the tears from being unstoppable, Abai kept his eyes tightly closed at this time.

However, he had already recognized that it was Lord Zhan, the mayor, who was speaking.

The mayor of Tongluo Town has no salary or real power, but he is absolutely respected.It is recommended by everyone to serve as the convener under special circumstances, or as a mediator when conflicts arise between neighbors.

"Master Zhan, do you have to take my youth and my whole life to be buried in this ancient Poro town?"

"Young Master Abai, you should know the legend of the Tongluo Temple, right? That is destined by the heavens to be the patron saint of Tongluo Town."

Of course Abai knew that story, and it sounded quite exciting at ordinary times, but now he felt that it was simply a big conspiracy against their family.

The complete story narrates the period when the town was just built. At that time, the emperor needed a batch of bronze gongs to fight, so he sent this errand to Tongluo Town.

In the army, gongs are used to call gold and withdraw troops. Not only must they be strong and loud, but they must also be durable and easy to carry.

Because the craftsmen in Tongluo Town are skilled and close to the capital, the imperial court also showed due respect to the craftsmen, and sent the full amount of commissions to the craftsmen in advance.

All the craftsmen also know that this is not an ordinary business, and they dare not neglect it.

The first batch of gongs was completed on schedule, and quartermaster officials came to inspect and accept them.

After checking, it was found that there was a difference of four sides according to the predetermined amount.

According to the schedule, each craftsman needs to make ten-faced handmade gongs, and most gong craftsmen complete them on schedule.After inspection, it was discovered that Ali, the most skilled coppersmith in the town, only handed over one gong. The key point was that this gong was not only unqualified, but also a little weird.

No, it's not just weird, it can be described as shocking!
I saw that the gong was so tall that it could completely cover the cavalrymen and horses when standing up.

Looking at the strange quartermaster was quite happy at first.

"Okay, okay, bring back this unique and unique big copper gong! It was used to clear the way during the imperial conquest, how majestic! Your Majesty must be very happy to see it, and we, the generals, might get an unexpected reward because of it. !"

Everyone was happy when they heard this.

It's just that the gong is too heavy, eighteen strong men can't lift it up, and the carriage can't pull it at all.

Another fatal thing is that the gong can't be struck at all!

Someone used a gong and hammer to make no sound. The quartermaster did not believe such a thing, and even picked up a big stone and threw it at it without making a sound.

Even the coppersmiths found it strange, even if a piece of copper ore was placed there and hit, there should be a sound.

This is obviously something forged from bronze, how could it fail to ring!

From surprise to disappointment, the quartermaster was furious.

"Drag this coppersmith to me and beat him with a hundred army sticks!"

The coppersmiths and townspeople present were shocked when they heard this, and they all sweated for Ali.

Although the military training manager does not seem to have a high official position, he is from the capital after all.

But at this time, Ali seemed drunk, and said wildly, "If you can transport the big gong back to the army as soon as possible, this battle may be won! Otherwise, the court will be over this time, and it will change." God!"

When the quartermaster and his sergeants heard such rebellious words, they panicked at first, and then became furious.

But they only went to the rear to collect military supplies. They looked like soldiers, but in fact they were just carrying errands.Not only did they not have army sticks in their hands, they didn't even have any convenient weapons.

However, there was a yamen in Tongluo Town at that time, and the quartermaster sent someone to borrow the water and fire sticks used to promote the hall to punish the coppersmith Ali.

In fact, there are only more than 20 sergeants.There were more than 100 coppersmiths in the town who were present at the time, plus the apprentices and handymen who carried the gongs, there were thousands of people.

Thousands of ordinary townspeople came to watch the excitement.

Although the people in the town are from all over the world, once faced with external threats, everyone will naturally huddle together.

Originally, everyone planned to use a deceptive method to protect Ali from escaping, so as not to suffer a real loss.

But Ali, like a bewitched man, ignored people's hints and kept yelling.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo outs does that matter!"

Ali screamed and made another amazing move. He lifted the big gong that eighteen people could not lift above his head in full view, and walked towards the river beach step by step. Moved to the opposite mountain.

Everyone looked dumbfounded.

The sergeant borrowed water and fire sticks to chase after him, and the huge gong protected Ali like a shield, and there was nothing he could do.

"Forget it, leave this matter to the yamen! Instruct the magistrate to punish this lunatic for his crime of disrespect. There are so many people who testify at the scene. Based on what he said, it is not enough to be beheaded." injustice!"

The quartermaster sent someone to send a message, randomly collected a few civilian gongs to make up the number, and then set off.

Those yamen servants had nothing to do with Ah Li, because they used gongs to protect his body, so they couldn't get close to him, and couldn't catch anyone at all.

The mountain on the opposite side is the highest mountain within a radius of hundreds of miles, and there is usually no way to go up.Ali, on the other hand, acted like a god, holding a gigantic gong that weighed a thousand catties like walking on the ground.

The old people are a little excited when they talk about it now.

"At that time, the sky was blue and bright, but suddenly there was no sun in the sky! And the huge gong was like a golden sun, slowly rising from the south."

Ali not only transported the giant gong to the mountain, but also hung it on the branch of the thousand-year-old tree on the top of the mountain.

Immediately afterwards, the gong was struck, and the sound was so loud that it could be clearly heard in several towns more than 100 miles away from east to west, north to south.

In a few days, before the yamen could come up with a way to punish Ali, a new official came to take his place.

It turned out that the imperial court was dead, and the officials who came were sent by the new imperial court.

After the new official took office, he was secretly amazed after hearing about the giant gong.Because according to calculations, the time when Ali rang the gong was the time when the old court was defeated and the army of the new court invaded the palace.

The new official went to the court and allocated funds to build a pavilion for the giant gong to shelter from the wind and rain, and to build the path up the mountain.

Ali lost all his skills after producing that strange gong in a daze, and became abnormal.Since then, I have never gone down the mountain again, and I will only ring the giant gong according to the time.

However, the new emperor has issued an imperial decree to seal this big bronze gong as a gong for the country and the people, and specially allocate a salary for Ali.

Later, that pavilion became the Tonggong Temple in the minds of the townspeople.

Ali is Abai's ancestor, and because of this, his family has enjoyed the government's salary for generations, until now, with a fixed income that is transferred to Grandpa Ah Zhi's savings account every month.

In the eyes of the townspeople, although their family is not gods or priests, their status is equally honorable.

Such a story sounds very tragic, but when you think about it carefully, it is tantamount to putting on a shackle that can never be removed for a family.

"Master Zhan, since these people staying behind in the town are destined to live and die with this ruined ancient town, why don't you choose a group of people from among you and let Grandpa A Zhi tell you how to tell the time and how to beat the gong. That would be great!"

"Young Master Abai doesn't know! Only members of the A family can ring this gong. Not only can outsiders not ring it, but they must never touch it! A few years ago, an ignorant child went up the mountain and knocked on the gong out of curiosity. Unexpectedly, there was lightning and thunder immediately, and the flood almost submerged the whole town!"

"Is it that mysterious?"

"It's so mysterious. These taboos have been passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors of the A family, and no one dares to offend them."

"Then how do you know that I can learn?"

"Master A Duan had learned [-]% of his studies at that time, and he was able to take over from Master A Zhi to play the gong once in a while, but he suddenly left without permission."

"Hey, Mr. Zhan! It's the 21st century now, can we change our thinking? I heard that the museum in the capital proposed to collect gongs? The conditions they gave are enough for a large group of you to spend a long time outside. good day!"

"We can't think like this!" At this time, Master Zhan was a little excited, "Millions of descendants of Tongluo Town have worked hard outside, but this place will always be their root! This life is like a tree. If there is no How can they live well outside?"

"Master Zhan, why don't you think about it, even if I stay, I can continue to beat the gong. However, there will definitely be no more girls who will marry me. That means our family will become extinct sooner or later! At that time—"

"That's no problem! Everyone has asked Su Su. As long as you want, she can stay with you in Tongluo Town for the rest of your life and reproduce for the A family."

Abai had nothing to say, he just thought in his heart, if Maggie would be willing to stay with me here, it would be a different life!

(End of this chapter)