Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 47 The Poison of the Dark Flower
A few days later, we returned to Xi'an.The most important thing now is to decipher the Xixia script on the stele, but there are no more than ten people in the world who can understand the Xixia script. It is not easy to find a god who is proficient in Xixia script.Professor Ye used all his connections in the archaeological world to find such a divine man, but five or six days passed and there was still no news.

This afternoon, I was playing chess with my grandfather in the apartment, while Gu Meidi was reading beauty magazines, and Professor Ye was in a daze at the Xixia book on his laptop.Suddenly, Professor Ye's phone rang. He picked up the phone and muttered a few words, then hung up the phone and said to us excitedly: "Great! Lao Zhang just called to tell me that maybe there is someone Can help us decipher the Xixia book!"

"Really?!" This news surprised and delighted us, and things finally made some progress.

Professor Ye nodded: "Professor Zhang from the provincial archaeological team told me that this man is called Wan Juncheng, an expert in ancient writing in Ningxia Province, who has studied Xixia writing for decades, and is one of the few experts who can understand Xixia writing." !"

"Where is this Professor Wan Juncheng?" Gu Meidi asked impatiently.

Professor Ye said: "In Yinchuan, it seems that we have to go back!"

I stood up excitedly: "Then what are you waiting for, let's go now, I can't wait for a quarter of an hour!"

When dusk fell, we took the train from Xi'an to Yinchuan, and we expected to arrive at Yinchuan Railway Station by dawn.

The rumbling of the train was like our excited heartbeat.

At around eight o'clock in the morning, we got off at Yinchuan Railway Station.According to the clues provided by Lao Zhang, Professor Wan Juncheng lives in the suburbs of YC.On the way to Professor Wan's house by car, Lao Zhang told us on the phone: "I heard that Wan Juncheng is a bit weird, so don't offend him casually."

Wan Juncheng lived in a well-known wealthy area in the western suburbs of YC City, surrounded by villas one after another, standing quietly under the tranquil sky.

We got out of the car and came outside Professor Wan's courtyard, and found that General Tie was guarding the door, so we had to ring the doorbell.

After a while, a middle-aged woman with the appearance of a servant came out: "Who are you looking for?"

Professor Ye said: "Hello, I am Ye Sheng, a professor of archeology, and these two are my assistants. We have come here from Xi'an to visit Professor Wan, and we want to ask him for help with important matters! Here, here is my business card!" With that said, Professor Ye handed the business card to the servant.

The servant took the business card and looked at it: "Come with me, Professor Wan is in the study!"

The study room is beautifully decorated. On the tall sandalwood cabinets are neatly stacked various books and works on the study of Xixia culture. There are also tall display cabinets near the corner. There are many works of art about Xixia culture in the cabinets, such as Xixia silver pots, Xixia Buddhist paintings, and Xixia glazed porcelain vases, etc., each of which is a very precious collection.

Wan Juncheng turned around. He was a burly northwestern man with a high nose bridge and two thick black eyebrows. He was at least 180 centimeters above sea level, and he was very heroic.With a pair of black-rimmed glasses on the square square face, he looks young, probably in his early 40s.

Professor Ye clasped his fists and said, "Hello, Professor Wan, I am Ye Sheng from the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Team. These two are my apprentices, Tuoba Gu and Gu Meidi!"

Wan Juncheng made a gesture of invitation: "Go to the Three Treasures Hall if you have nothing to do, Professor Ye, tell me why you are here!"

"Okay, refreshing enough!" Professor Ye nodded, and handed an enlarged picture to Wan Juncheng: "I heard that you are an expert in ancient characters, especially in Xixia characters, so I would like to ask you to help decipher this picture." The Western Xia text on the picture!"

Wan Juncheng took the picture, adjusted his glasses, and looked at us with a little surprise: "There are more than a thousand characters of Xixia characters on this stone tablet, and it is well preserved. You guys... where did you find this stone tablet?" ?”

Naturally, we would not tell Wan Juncheng the truth. Professor Ye said to him: "We excavated an ancient tomb half a month ago, and this stone tablet engraved with Xixia characters is inside the ancient tomb. But the Xixia characters are very complicated. I don’t know him. After many inquiries, I learned that Professor Wan is proficient in Xixia, so I came to visit him all the way. Please forgive me if I disturb you!”

Holding the printed picture, Wan Juncheng was as excited as holding his beloved child, and murmured to himself: "Great, I finally have something to do. I just feel bored recently!"

As soon as we heard Wan Juncheng's words, we knew there was something to be said about it. Professor Ye hurriedly asked, "I wonder how long it will take for Professor Wan to decipher the content on the stele?"

Wan Juncheng thought for a while: "About ten days!"

I blurted out, "Huh? How long is ten days?"

Wan Juncheng lowered his face and looked at me with contempt and disdain: "What? Ten days is too long? Do you think doing this is as easy as looking up a dictionary? If I show you this picture , I’m afraid you won’t be able to decipher it in your lifetime, right?”

I finally got to know Wan Juncheng's eccentric temper. He belongs to the kind of very proud and conceited character who won't listen to anyone saying anything wrong to him.Forget it, as the saying goes, people have to bow their heads under the eaves. Now that we have something to ask of him, we naturally dare not offend him.So I had no choice but to hold back my temper, and said with a smile on my face: "Professor Wan, you misunderstood! In fact, I meant to praise you, because I think that a knowledgeable and talented person like you may only need three to five days to decipher it." These Xixia characters!"

"Hey!" Wan Juncheng smiled triumphantly: "Boy, you flatter me too much. This matter is actually quite complicated. Go back first, and come to me in ten days!"

We didn't say much, got up and shook hands with Professor Wan to say goodbye: "Okay, then I won't bother you, see you in ten days!"

Leaving the villa area, Gu Meidi finally couldn't help complaining: "That old guy Wan Juncheng is simply arrogant, self-satisfied, and arrogant! If I didn't ask him to do something, I really want to slap him on his card." A size 42 face!"

Professor Ye and I were amused by Gu Meidi's words, Professor Ye smiled and said: "Okay, don't be angry! Anyway, our trip was not in vain. After ten days, we will know the secret on the stele! "

The next day, we took the train back to Xi'an. After all, there were still ten days left, and we couldn't stay in Yinchuan all the time.In the next ten days, we lived like a year, almost counting the days on our fingers. I have never expected time to pass faster.

The evening before I set off for Yinchuan, I was packing my luggage in the back room, when Gu Meidi came into the room and called me: "Tuobagu, are you packed? We are ready to go!"

I zipped up the suitcase: "It's packed, let's go!"

"Hey, wait!" Gu Meidi suddenly stopped me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Gu Mei Di came up behind me and said strangely: "Hey, Tuoba Gu, do you have a birthmark on the back of your neck?"

"Birthmark?" I said suspiciously, "I don't have a birthmark!"

"Then what is this?" Gu Mei Di reached out and pressed the back of my neck.

I felt a little pain, and quickly asked, "Is there something behind my neck?"

"Well, a red mark, ah, it must be some kind of skin disease!" Gu Meidi said.

I heard Gu Meidi's words didn't look like she was joking, so I said to her: "Take a picture with your mobile phone and show me!"

Gu Meidi took out his mobile phone, took a picture of the back of my neck, and handed it to me: "Look for yourself!"

I looked closely at the photos taken by my phone, and saw that there was indeed a red spot the size of a fingernail on the back of my neck.That spot looks weird, and I don't know when it came out.As far as I can remember, the back of my neck is unmarked.

I said, "Maybe it's caused by mosquito bites!"

Gu Meidi said: "Then you have to spray some toilet water!" Then, he picked up the toilet water on the bedside table and sprayed it on me.

On the night of the tenth day, we came to Professor Wan's home again as scheduled.

In the study, Wan Juncheng crossed his arms and said, "You guys are here, please sit down!"

We sat down on the sofa, and Wan Juncheng, holding a teapot, poured us a cup of tea each: "Tea, please!"

Out of politeness, we each took a sip from our teacups.I was a little thirsty, so I drank more than half a cup at once, and I didn't forget to boast: "Well, good tea! It's really good tea!"

Wan Juncheng's gaze swept across our faces slowly, and he said, "I have a good news and a bad news to tell you, which one do you want to hear first?"

The three of us looked at each other, but we didn't understand what Wan Juncheng meant by good news and bad news.

I said, "I think it's better to tell the bad news first. If we hear the good news first and then the bad news, I'm afraid there will be a big gap in our hearts!"

Gu Meidi said: "It makes sense! Then please tell me the bad news first!"

"Okay!" Wan Juncheng nodded, and said slowly, "The bad news is...you are poisoned!"

"What?! Poisoned?!" We were startled, we didn't expect Wan Juncheng to say such a word.

Professor Ye said in a deep voice: "Professor Wan, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you make it clearer?"

Wan Juncheng said: "When you came to see me last time, your eyes were red. Although I felt a little strange at first, I didn't think too much about it. I thought it was because you had traveled a long distance and didn't have a good rest. But in the end When I shook hands and said goodbye to you, I vaguely noticed that your pulse was chaotic, which is a typical symptom of poisoning!"

I was slightly startled: "Professor Wan, don't scare us. We eat well, drink well and sleep well every day. We don't have any bad symptoms. How could we be poisoned?"

Wan Juncheng said slowly: "In the ancient Western Regions, there was a kind of highly poisonous flower. This kind of flower is very strange and usually grows inside corpses, so people call it 'Ming Hua', which means the flower of death!"

(End of this chapter)