Taoist priest in the foggy capital

Chapter 530 Late comers

call out! !

Not only Liu Banxian, everyone's eyes were fixed on the arrow flying farther and higher, as if staring at a shooting star.

Hai Dongqing's eyesight was very good. She saw that on the path illuminated by the arrow, the green stone steps were one after another, one on top of the other, gradually going up, and finally submerged into the darkness above their heads.

"Ladder to heaven..."

Liu Banxian felt that his neck was stretched stiffly, but he still couldn't see the end of the steps.

"Liu Banxian, didn't you say there are only a few steps to pave the way?" Yin Xiu asked.

"I mean, under normal circumstances, an ordinary mausoleum wouldn't hollow out more than half of the entire mountain!"

Liu Banxian lowered his head and tapped the back of his neck several times with his fan. Only then did he feel that the stiffness in his neck had disappeared.

"What to do next?" Liu Banxian asked.

"The stars have changed!"

Yin Xiu looked at the steepness. If he walked down from it, he could hardly see the steps under his feet, and he couldn't help but feel sore in his feet.

"Will there be any accidents?" Ma Xiaoyu asked.

"What accident?"

"For example, if you see it wrong, or if there is an error on one of the steps, or if there is any mechanism, what will we do if we fall between two mountains?"

"Could it be so unlucky!?" Yin Xiu said in surprise.

"If it's someone else, of course not, but if it's you, Brother Yin, it's hard to say."

Liu Banxian tapped his forehead with a paper fan, "Besides, it wouldn't be polite to fly up like this."

"What manners? We have all entered the underground palace, what more manners do we need?" Yin Xiu was puzzled.

"Hey, when we entered the underground palace, even though they didn't agree, at least we knocked on the door.

This Shinto was originally used to serve the ancestors and lead the priests, and the place where the crane was led was the passage connecting the entire underground palace with the underworld and the heaven. This can be regarded as the corridor and living room of other people's homes.

Isn't that bad if you go to someone else's living room and jump in without saying a word?
Brother Yin, just like your two neighbors Qingxia and Manyu, you used to go to their homes to sit for a while and drink a cup of herbal tea when you had nothing to do.

If you knock on the door and get in, they will naturally welcome you. But if they are taking a shower in the bathroom one day and you get in in a blink of an eye, how embarrassing will everyone be at this time?
Although everyone is usually honest with each other, this is still a bit abrupt and rude. "

Before Liu Banxian finished speaking, Ma Xiaoyu's eyes were filled with coldness, she stared at Yin Xiu and said with a smile: "Why, do you often meet with them frankly?"

Yin Xiu shook his head repeatedly, "This is just an inappropriate metaphor. Liu Banxian was drunk and said it nonsense."

"That's right, that's right. I was out of my mind and just talking nonsense."

Liu Banxian laughed along with him, "Speaking of it, being honest is just a metaphor for a relationship, not an action. Just like now, if we want to be honest with the owner of the tomb, we have to go up the stairs step by step, step by step. A footprint, that’s what we call respecting the old man.”

"You came to someone else's bedroom uninvited. Does it matter whether you are respectful or not?"

Yin Xiu said and couldn't wait to start climbing the stairs.

Liu Banxian quickly said to Ma Xiaoyu: "That was all in the past. Brother Yin is now a prodigal son who has turned around and became a Buddha immediately. He is as guarded as jade. He is different from before."

"You know again? I don't think you're any better!"

Ma Xiaoyu rolled her eyes, and then followed the steps, her boots making a loud sound on the steps.

"Brother, do you think I made a mistake somewhere and caused trouble for Brother Yin?" Liu Banxian asked Hai Dongqing.

Hai Dongqing spread his hands, "How can I, an Orion, understand this kind of thing?"

"It seems so."

Liu Banxian nodded and looked at Ren Qi, who was the last one to climb the steps, "Brother Master, you must understand, right?"

"Is there anything you don't understand?"

Ren Qi suddenly approached Liu Banxian's ear, "Speaking of women, they are much more troublesome than those wanted criminals from the White Lotus Sect. I can still talk about morality and brotherhood with those demons from the White Lotus Sect, but when I meet a woman, I can't even explain the truth. of."

Liu Banxian was stunned there. He didn't come back to his senses until Ren Qi climbed over him.

"Brother Gao Shou, when have you ever talked about morality and loyalty?"

When Ren Qi heard this, he turned around and glared at Liu Banxian, "If you say less in front of that woman, you will help Yin Xiu."

After saying that, he didn't care what Liu Banxian thought, he just quickened his pace and rushed to the front of the team.

The group of people held up the light source and stepped on the steps, which really became a luminous chain on the long steps, mysterious and strange.

As they progressed, statues of priests and fairies began to appear on both sides of the steps.

Sure enough, as Liu Banxian guessed, the first statues were of two generals because they were needed to guard the mountain gate and deter wandering ghosts.

And on the road behind, there are all those priests and fairies, which means that the owner of the tomb has gone west and started to go up the stairs to become an immortal in the sky.

This is a sacred and auspicious meaning and expectation. Although it only exists in the imagination, death is death, and there is no such thing as becoming an immortal.

However, it was precisely by relying on these images and legends that the kings' fear of death was reduced, so that they might still have some yearning or longing for the illusory world after death.

At this point, in the eyes of the ancients, death was probably just another beginning.

Yin Xiu looked at these statues thoughtfully.

"The appearance of these guiding priests was also imagined by the craftsmen themselves, just like what we saw in Kunlun. The guiding priests have undergone certain changes due to our own reasons."

"It's just like when you saw Qingxia and Manyu, right?" Ma Xiaoyu rolled her eyes.

"They say Liu Banxian was drunk and said nonsense. Am I his kind of person?"

"Aren't you?" Ma Xiaoyu was still cold.

"Cough cough."

Liu Banxian had already walked up and interrupted the two of them.

"This guide to the priests and fairies was actually just a figment of the craftsmen's imagination. Those people had never read any books, so naturally they carved the appearance and costumes of the high officials and maids in the palace.

Therefore, the statues of each dynasty have the characteristics and differences of a certain dynasty.

I have heard a very amazing story. It is said that a native master went to steal a tomb from the Warring States Period. You know, the Warring States Period was more than a thousand years ago, which is very long. I heard that the owner of the tomb was a male or female, but the information is unknown.

As soon as the peasant entered the fighting room, he went straight to the tomb, wanting to find some treasures. Well, the peasant did not play bucket fighting for fun, but simply for money.

As a result, when entering Shinto, he saw a statue of a soldier standing on the roadside. The native master thought it was funny, so he went up to see what the statue looked like and tease his companions.

As a result, as soon as he brought the torch close to the statue's face, he was immediately frightened and yelled, startling his companions.

Later, when others rescued him from the tomb, the native master had gone crazy. Do you know why? "

Liu Banxian brought the light source close to his face, which turned his face pale, as if he had been swimming in the river for several days and had just surfaced.

Ma Xiaoyu had been listening to Liu Banxian's words, and now she saw him like this again. Even though he was a heavenly master of the Ma family who had seen many demons and ghosts, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He subconsciously moved closer to Yin Xiu and gently grabbed him. sleeves.

Although Yin Xiu was a little nervous, she was quite happy. When she turned around, she found that Hai Dongqing had come over at some point and grabbed his other sleeve.

Ugh!
Yin Xiu sighed and asked Liu Banxian, "Tell me what's going on. I only have one coat. Don't let them tear it."

Liu Banxian's face was still in the light source, and shadows criss-crossed his face, like some kind of spell or seal.

"It's very simple..."

He made a ghostly sound, "Because the native master saw a face that looked exactly like his own on the face of the statue!"

"Tch, what did I think it was?"

Ma Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it the same as now?" Ren Qi said suddenly.

Hearing this, Ma Xiaoyu's heart suddenly tightened after she had just relaxed, and after screaming, her whole body almost pressed against Yin Xiu's body.

"It's okay, it's okay. You are the female heavenly master of the Ma family. What kind of monsters and ghosts have you not seen before?" Yin Xiu comforted her.

"How can this be the same? Monsters and ghosts can be beaten to pieces, but it's hard to say about the reincarnation of cause and effect."

"that is!"

Liu Banxian also took down the light source at some point, probably because he was afraid of scaring himself.

Then he tremblingly looked in the direction Ren Qi said, and was immediately startled.

I saw a face as big as a locomotive hanging in the air, with a triangular nose, almond eyes, windy ears, and an iron-blue face...

The sudden appearance of such a weird face where the statue of the priest was supposed to be stood really startled Liu Banxian and made him break out in a cold sweat.

Yin Xiu and Ren Qi also frowned and stared at the statue, or the giant mask, for a while before slowly approaching.

Kuang! Kuang!
Ren Qi picked up the shovel and tapped it lightly, making a crisp sound that belonged to bronze.

"Another thing left by a merchant?"

Ma Xiaoyu had also recovered from her nervousness at this time. After all, as long as it was something that could be seen and touched, it wasn't that scary.

In other words, for her, facing those truly incredible existences is also the bounden duty of the Taoist priest of the Ma family.

"Other than the priests and craftsmen of Shang, who would be willing to make such a thing, and it may not be possible to make it."

Yin Xiu stepped forward and wiped his palms on the huge face, feeling the raised green patina.

It turns out that the terrifying face as big as a locomotive is not suspended in the air.

Under that face, there is a body that is quite "small" compared to it, "only" as tall as a person. It is covered by the huge shadow produced by the face, so it is difficult to detect, and people think that this face is suspended in the sky. in the air.

To a certain extent, the shape and lines of this bronze statue are exactly the same as the bronzes they saw in the valley where the big red snake was found. It should be the work of ordinary people.

"What's going on? There's a stone statue at the bottom and a bronze statue at the top? Is the culture already so complicated when the imperial court was outside the pass?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Yin Xiu tapped Hai Dongqing's forehead and told him to wake up.

"This is obviously a trace of two dynasties and even two civilizations."

Yin Xiu looked up and saw that in the direction of the light, huge livid faces were distributed on the left and right. There would be one or a pair standing on the edge of the stairs at intervals.

They have now reached a place and a height that Ren Qi's arrows have not flown before. Obviously, the long step to the sky is not yet known how long.

"The road under our feet seems to have changed." Ma Xiaoyu reminded.

Yin Xiu lowered his head and saw that the color of the steps under his feet really seemed to have changed.

He stepped back a few steps and finally found two sections with different colors in one place. One section was newer in color and appeared darker, while the other section was lighter. The green color on the stone steps had faded a bit and turned into a different color. It was a little pale and seemed to be blending in with the surroundings.

This is a change that started when the bronze statue appeared.

The section with the stone statue is new and the section with the bronze statue is old. This seems to mean that when Yin Xiu and his party walked up from the bottom, they seemed to have entered the previous ruins from the new road.

"Isn't it strange? Could it be that the imperial court discovered such a place when they were outside the pass, which happened to be the place where dragon veins were bred, so merchants built an altar here early, and the royal family took it as their own, and based on the original A new building was built to connect it?
This creates a situation in which the ladder we walk is different from the old and the new? "

Liu Banxian frowned and looked at Ren Qi again, "Brother Gao Shou, what do you think?"

"How can I see that?"

Ren Qi said dissatisfied: "I told you, I don't know anything about these things. It's just..."

After a pause, he talked about an old incident that happened a hundred years ago.

"I have heard that some palaces in the palace were renovated a hundred years ago. In fact, such renovations are common. After the royal family entered the country, they carried out large-scale construction and renovated the palace, and built some palaces.

But this is not a simple patchwork, because the wood used in those palaces is all towering and precious nanmu. There is nothing that cannot be grown for hundreds of years, and even if you have money, you cannot buy it.

During the last war to destroy the country, people everywhere were devastated. The forest farm of the Xianming royal family was destroyed, stolen, and almost burned. There was no enough wood to renovate the palace.

Therefore, this dynasty started from Xianming's mausoleum, stole the nanmu from the tomb, and used it as materials to renovate the new palace. This way, the overhaul was finally completed. "

"I see."

Liu Banxian was thoughtful. Since the imperial court had behaved like this before, it all seemed to make sense.

So, who does the underground palace they are going to belong to?
Is the owner of the tomb buried here a certain ancestor of the imperial court, a nobleman, or a Shang prince or priest?

(End of this chapter)