natural craftsman

When Xie Lang and Zhou Nan walked into the courtyard of the ancestral hall together, they immediately realized a problem: this ancestral hall was too deserted.

In the three-storey courtyard, there was hardly a single person to be seen.

Zhou Nan looked at the empty rooms and said, "Hey, it used to be very lively here, even selling fruits and snacks, why is there no one here today?"

Xie Lang looked around and said to Zhou Nan: "There is a piece of paper pasted next to you, take a look at what is written on it."

It was only then that Zhou Nan noticed that there was a notice posted on the white gray wall next to it, with the words "Demolition Notice" written on it.

I don't know when this announcement was posted, and a large part of it has been torn off.

"So it's going to be demolished, no wonder there's no one there." Xie Lang said, "Senior Sister Zhou, it seems we have to hurry up."

"I didn't say it was going to be demolished today, what are you in a hurry for?" Zhou Nan said, and walked into the ancestral hall.

This Chen family ancestral hall is quite large, with a total of three floors of courtyards inside, outside and inside, and each courtyard has more than ten rooms.

Zhou Nan led Xie Lang directly to the innermost courtyard.

As soon as Xie Lang entered the courtyard from the passage, the first thing he saw was a huge stone turtle.

The tortoise is at least [-] meters high, occupies an area of ​​[-] square meters, and its four feet are like stigmas.The body of the turtle is dark green, somewhat similar to the color of a natural turtle, plus the carving and polishing skills are good, it looks like a real giant turtle.On the back of the giant tortoise was a white stone tablet more than two meters high. It seems that the name of the tortoise tablet should come from this.

Xie Lang touched the giant tortoise's body with his hands, and was surprised to find that the stone tortoise was made of basalt.You must know that basalt is generally dark brown, but this kind of dark green basalt is extremely rare, and basalt is very hard and brittle, it is difficult to mine such a large piece of stone, and it is also difficult to carve and polish when it is mined in time.

Just this point is enough to prove that the person who carved and polished the tortoise had some skills.

But what surprised Xie Lang the most was that each of the four feet of the big tortoise was covered with a red copper iron ring as thick as an arm, and each copper ring was connected to each other, as if wearing a ring on the big tortoise's feet. On a heavy shackles.If you take a closer look, this "shackle" is not locked, and there is no connection between each copper ring, as if it was cast into a whole at the beginning.

However, it was obviously just a stone turtle, and it would be too much of a fuss to make a shackle with such a few hundred catties of red copper.

"Xie Lang, do you see any problems?" Zhou Nan asked.

Knowing that she was asking for clues to the treasure, Xie Lang said, "Although this big stone tortoise is a bit strange, it's just weird. I haven't found any valuable clues. It's just that this stone tortoise was used by someone with such a large pile of red copper It's a bit pitiful to be locked up."

"Poor? It's just a rock, what's so pitiful." Zhou Nan felt that Xie Lang's words were a bit inexplicable, "Besides, this one is not called a turtle, but Bixi or Baxia. It is one of the nine sons of the legendary dragon. Big and infinite, it can carry three mountains and five mountains. Don’t talk nonsense in the future, so as not to be laughed at. You see, this underdog has a row of teeth in its mouth, but the tortoise does not; It’s not the same, you’ll know if you look closely.”

After being taught by Zhou Nan, Xie Lang said a little unconvinced: "Since you can carry three mountains and five mountains so much, why did you later become a coolie for carrying steles?"

"When Dayu controlled the water, Bixi was subdued by Dayu and helped Dayu to control the water. He made some achievements. After the water was successfully controlled, Dayu moved a stone tablet on the back of Bixi. The achievement of water control is also because Dayu was worried that it would continue to make waves, so he used this stele to suppress it. Therefore, in many places later, you can see the bottom of the stele."

Seeing that Zhou Nan couldn't pass the test, Xie Lang could only secretly sigh that this woman is really amazing, and then turned to the main topic: "Senior sister is indeed talented, I remember these things clearly, but what's the difference with this big stone turtle? "

"This stele is called the Shinto Stele, and it was given to Chen Shouyi, the ancestor of the Chen family by Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty." Zhou Nan pointed to the words on the stone stele and said, "It is recorded in detail, and it roughly means that because Chen Shouyi managed the flood in Chengdu, the emperor I personally bestowed such a merit tablet. During the flood, it is said that many tortoises came ashore in groups along the river and destroyed the crops and fields. The national teacher at that time speculated that it might be a fierce beast that was causing trouble, so he ordered people to take this tortoise. The shackles are cast in red copper, and the seal of Guangxu is stamped on the stele, and the seal and shackles of the true man are used to suppress the tyrants and avoid floods forever. Look, this is the seal of Emperor Guangxu."

"Senior Sister, Xie Lang naturally admires your insight. It's just—" Xie Lang paused and said, "It's just that this has nothing to do with what we're looking for?"

"You think I'm showing off my knowledge?" Zhou Nan's tone was somewhat dissatisfied, "Look carefully, this stele was built in the 35th year of Guangxu, um, it looked like it was in 1909, and my great-grandfather happened to be In Chengdu, he was the treasury manager. That is to say, any public projects in Chengdu at that time had to go through his hands. This Shinto monument was built by the emperor's order, and of course it was also an item of treasury expenditure. Naturally, it also had to go through the hands of my great-grandfather. You said, is there any connection between them?"

"It's related, it's really related. It's just that your great-grandfather is really so secretive. Will he let people find those things?" Xie Lang said quickly, recognizing Zhou Nan's identity. Dissatisfaction in the tone.

To be honest, a talented woman is a talented woman after all, so many problems can be seen from a single stele, especially the ability to easily convert the 33rd year of Guangxu to 1909 AD, which Xie Lang can't match.

It seems that such a helper who appeared out of thin air really helped him Xie Lang, otherwise, with Xie Lang's wisdom, I'm afraid it would take him to know how much time it would take to find the clues, and at that time he himself was not sure whether he would still be there. Have the patience to keep searching.

"If someone with an IQ like you can find it easily, do you think that batch of things can be preserved for more than 100 years?" Zhou Nan sighed, "I really don't understand how you kept that building block tower from falling down last night. Yes, do you really rely on luck?"

Zhou Nan originally thought that Xie Lang was a different boy, who should have some wisdom and talent, but after getting along with her today, she found that Xie Lang was just a mediocre person, which made Zhou Nan sigh secretly: Could it be that in this world now Don't have a man with a little connotation?

"Since Senior Sister believes that this big tortoise has something to do with the 'treasure', what shall we do next?" Xie Lang asked, trying to be as humble as possible.

"About the sketches on the Shu Brocade, here's how I see them. The lines on the sketches are for us to find the general area, while the patterns of turtles and keys on it are to help us pinpoint and find the exact location. What do you think?"

"I think my sister's analysis is correct, but is there a place called a certain key in this area? If there is such a place, then we have to go there quickly."

"Xie Lang, after all, you are also a college student, so can't you let go of your thinking?" Zhou Nan said angrily, "It seems that I really can't count on you, if it wasn't because you have a map, I might as well come to find it alone. The turtle represents a place, must the key also represent a place?"

"You can't say that. I think there will always be a chance to use me. After all, some things still have to be done by boys, such as physical strength." Xie Lang said with a smile, not angry.

Fighting against girls, he, Xie Lang, wouldn't be so boring.

"The key is actually just a key. It has always been in our Zhou family, but now it is in the hands of my father." Zhou Nan finally said the last secret hidden in his heart, "I think that key should be the key to unlock the treasure. The door. The key and the riddle have always been the secrets of our Zhou family. I should have told you first, but you acted too stupidly."

"Since you all know that I am stupid, don't continue to call me stupid. Don't you know that if a person is called stupid too many times, even if he is not stupid, he will become stupid." Xie Lang said seriously, "If you think about it, Edison was scolded by the teacher as a fool when he was young, but fortunately his mother didn't let him continue to go to school, but encouraged him every day, saying that he was the smartest kid. You are an inventor of cowhide. So, for people who are stupid than you, you should show more love, encourage and tolerate them, instead of teaching and scolding them.”

Xie Lang's words eased the atmosphere, Zhou Nan couldn't keep his cold face, he couldn't help showing a few smiles, and said: "Don't talk too far, then I will give you some encouragement and tolerance now, What clues can you find?"

"That's right, don't always put on a sullen face, with a feeling of refusal to be thousands of miles away." Xie Lang smiled, "After being encouraged by you so much, I thought of something. Just now we came from Turtle Bridge When passing above, I found that among the stone tortoises on the bridge railing, there was a tortoise that seemed a little different."

"What's the difference?" Zhou Nan asked curiously.

"Only the tortoise seems to have a mouthful of teeth, but it doesn't seem to have eaten anything, its stomach is empty." Xie Lang laughed.

"Do you think it's funny?" Zhou Nan asked, thinking that Xie Lang was still joking, "Is this the important clue you found?"

"It's not funny, but it's true. You'll find out when you take a closer look." Xie Lang said.

"Really?" Zhou Nan hesitated slightly, "Then let's go out and have a look."

As soon as Zhou Nan and Xie Lang left the gate of the ancestral hall, they saw four or five young people yelling at them: "Are you two blind? Didn't you see that there is a notice posted on it, this place will be demolished soon , be careful to drop a brick and kill you two Guawazi!"

"Why do you people have such bad mouths..." [17K Literature Network, my favorite]

Zhou Nan was about to start scolding, but was stopped by Xie Lang, and said to her in a low voice: "Forget it, don't you see that these people are all hooligans and gangsters?"

"You are such a coward." Zhou Nan cursed in a low voice, but he followed Xie Lang's suggestion.This is an area where old and new urban areas alternate, and the city's law and order forces are relatively weak. Zhou Nan also thinks it's better not to provoke these gangsters.

It's just that Xie Lang's calmness was regarded by Zhou Nan as timid.

However, judging from the situation, those people didn't seem to be coming for Zhou Nan and Xie Lang, but when passing by them, two or three gangsters among them looked at Zhou Nan a few more times, probably because they thought beautiful women were more attractive.

Xie Lang counted them a little. There were a total of eight gangsters along the way, with golden hair dyed on their heads, golden dog chains around their necks, and colorful and messy clothes on their bodies. Four or five of them held a length of steel pipe in their hands. It seems that they are afraid that others will not know that they are hooligans and gangsters who do all kinds of evil.

【In the new week, I will be on the list again, your flowers and VIP tickets will continue to guide me forward】