The Huai Shui God's Cave

Chapter 13

1. Loach Gu

Lin Xiaowei and I picked up some dead branches nearby and built a fire.There were faint roars of animals in the nearby woods, and some faint cold lights could be seen, but they didn't know whether they were afraid of the campfire or for other reasons, they just roared and lingered for a while from a distance, and then left.

Yang Xiaoxie took off his shoes and socks by the lake, rinsed them with water, and suddenly shouted: "Come on, look, there are so many fish!" Grab one.This place should have been untouched for many years, and the fish in the water didn't know to be afraid. When they heard the sound, they moved closer to the shore, probably wanting to join in the fun.

After Yang Xiaoxie caught one, the rest of the fish knew it was dangerous, they all dispersed and went to the bottom of the lake.

It was a fish I had never seen before. It was black, like a mullet, and kind of like an oversized loach.It struggled a bit, but Yang Xiaoxie finally ripped open its belly with a dagger, and washed it clean with the lake water.He found another branch from the side, sharpened it, picked up the harpoon, and roasted it on the fire.After a while, a burst of fragrance came, and I immediately felt the gluttons in my stomach being hooked out, and I couldn't help swallowing.

Like me, Yang Xiaoxie was almost drooling.He kept tumbling the grilled fish, and said to me: "Wu You, hurry up and catch a few more with Tang Mei. When this one is cooked, give the professor a protein supplement. After eating dry food for a few days, we all Unbearable!"

I thought about it, and I was about to get up to catch fish in the lake, but Tang Mei grabbed me and said, "Don't go, this fish is not edible!"

Yang Xiaoxie said angrily: "Why can't I eat it? Can I still harm you? If you don't eat it, I'll eat it first!" He stretched out the grilled fish and bit off more than half of it, licking his lips, regardless of the fact that it was still steaming. Showing an extremely delicious appearance, he was not afraid of being caught by the fishbone, and then he ate up a grilled fish that weighed almost a catty in a few mouthfuls.

After eating the fish, he got up and smacked his lips and said, "It's delicious. This is really the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life. Hurry up and catch some more..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly squatted down clutching his stomach, his face showing pain, and shouted: "Oh, this fish is weird, it...lived in my stomach!"

I hurried forward to support Yang Xiaoxie, only to see that his eyes were red and bloodshot, his complexion was sallow, and his forehead was covered with beads of sweat.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, they didn't expect that Yang Xiaoxie would actually have trouble eating fish.I asked him, "How are you? Did you get stuck with a fishbone, or was the fish undercooked, and your stomach didn't feel meaty for a few days, so you can't take it?"

Yang Xiaoxie shouted: "That's not the case at all, the fish doesn't have any thorns, and my stomach is not so expensive, it's... the fish is alive again, it's really alive, and it's still swimming around in my stomach Swimming! Oops, it’s still going down my throat..."

He suddenly stopped talking, and choked his own neck fiercely with his hands, causing his eyes to roll and retching, but he didn't spit out anything.

Tang Mei came over and said coldly: "I tell you that there are strange things in this lake, and this fish is not edible, you just don't believe it!"

It seems that he must know something, so I hurriedly asked: "How do you know you can't eat it? Do you know this kind of fish?"

Tang Mei shook his head, as if recalling something he didn't want to think of, with an extremely painful expression on his face.He said: "I don't know it either, I just feel that I have seen this kind of fish somewhere, and it gives me a very bad feeling, so I remind Yang Xiaoxie not to eat it."

Then he said: "You have heard a legend that in the past, the craftsmen who built the tombs for the emperors were often killed in the end to keep the secrets of the tombs. And the shadow of the altar just appeared on the lake here, which seems to be true in ancient times. The altar should be near here. And the altar is a place dedicated to killing people and offering sacrifices. The fish here are different from the usual ones. They should be the souls of those who died. They carry the most terrifying resentment and curses before they die. If you eat it, you will definitely suffer."

Hearing what he said, we were all taken aback for a moment. Regarding the matter of killing craftsmen and offering sacrifices to Xiuling, some research materials have recorded it. Yang Xiaoxie likes to read these strange tales of unofficial history the most.At this time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, and vomited it out. After a long time, he vomited out all the dry food from the night before, until only sour water was left, and then he straightened up.

At this time, looking at what he vomited, it turned out to be a pile of black cotton-like things, still wriggling slightly on the ground.I fiddled with a branch, and a few thin heads protruded from it, like that kind of parasitic worm. I vaguely saw two eyes growing on the left and right sides of the head, exuding blue fluorescence, saying Unbelievable nausea and horror.

The bugs began to scatter and escape under the pull of the branches.I took out a big fire stick from the fire, and pressed it to burn them to death, only to hear the screams, which didn't seem like bugs could make, but like Tang Mei said, It was the scream of the wraith, and then there was a burning smell, and those bugs were burned to a pile of ashes.

Professor Han came over and rolled Yang Xiaoxie's eyelids, touched his belly, and said, "He has been infected by a witch's Gu. It should be a kind of loach Gu. Fortunately, he has almost vomited it out. He hasn't had it yet. Life is in danger."

We were all surprised, we didn't expect that the fish eaten by Yang Xiaoxie turned out to be loach.This is not the sea, and that kind of loach is really too big, I have never seen such a huge loach.

I anxiously asked the professor: "There is no danger for the time being, how can I completely remove Yang Xiaoxie's Loach Gu?"

Professor Han sighed, and said: "I have studied Wuchu culture for many years. The art of witchcraft was popular in the Warring States period, and it was mainly used for sacrificial ceremonies. I only have a little understanding of such things that are used to harm people. But I don’t know how to undo it. It seems that we have to enter this tomb, maybe we can find a way to break it.”

The professor briefly talked about loach voodoo, which is similar to what Tang Mei said. There used to be an altar here. Those who were used for sacrifices had taken a kind of voodoo drug before they were alive. After they were killed, their bodies were thrown into the river. In the lake, after rotting, it is eaten by the loach and mud in the lake, and the loach has become the medium for the spread of the poison. Even if the loach infected with the poison dies, its rotten corpse will be shared by other loach, which will expand the source of the poison. , as long as the lake is not dry, this poison chain will always exist.

People who have been infected by the Loach Gu will have a pale yellow complexion and severe abdominal pain, feeling that there are a lot of loaches crawling around in their stomachs, and even go into their throats and anus.

All Gu poisons will have certain conditions and restrictions.The professor speculates that this place is close to the sea eye, and there is a certain temperature and depth suitable for the survival of this kind of loach, so no one has accidentally eaten this kind of loach in other parts of the lake.

People who have been poisoned by Gu, if they do not remove it for a long time, will cause great harm to the body, and death is also possible.I suddenly remembered the Xuanyuan Mirror that Yuan Xiazi gave me, quickly took it out and put it on Yang Xiaoxie's Yintang, only to see that round ball glowing faintly again.After about three minutes, the Xuanyuan Mirror no longer glowed. I took it back and saw that the original crystal clear beads were faintly black.And Yang Xiaoxie's complexion also returned to normal, except for a little dizziness and weakness, he was almost like an ordinary person.

Professor Han was very surprised to see Xuanyuan Mirror, and he beckoned me to show it to him.He took out a magnifying glass from his pocket, examined it carefully under the light, then raised his head, and murmured, "It's really Xuanyuan Ancient Mirror. I didn't expect the legendary artifact to actually exist!"

I was puzzled and asked the professor, "What is the origin of this ball?"

The professor pushed the glasses, calmed himself down, and then said: "It is said that the Xuanyuan Mirror is an ancient artifact. The human ancestor Xuanyuan Huangdi relied on this mirror to win the battle against Chiyou. It is said that Xuanyuan Mirror can exorcise evil spirits, and many ancient books have records .I always thought it was just a myth.”

It is recorded in "Dongtian Qinglu Collection" written by Zhao Xihu in the Song Dynasty: "Xuanyuan Mirror is shaped like a ball and can be hung in front of a bed to ward off evil spirits."

Mei Yaochen in the Song Dynasty wrote a poem "Drinking Liu Yuanfu's Family" and said: "There is no Xuanyuan mirror in the world, and all kinds of monsters will come first."

The fourth chapter of "Shen Nuer" written by an unknown person in the Yuan Dynasty said: "My lord has an eternal Xuanyuan mirror in his arms, and looks at my grievances and grievances."

It can be seen that this mirror is indeed like an artifact in the hearts of the ancients, and it has been recorded in many dynasties.So far, there is a mirror on the upright plaque of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, called "Xuanyuan Mirror".The emperors of all dynasties believed that the Xuanyuan Mirror was a symbol of imperial power, hanging above the Golden Luan Hall, which could prevent the invasion and subversion of all demons, ghosts and evil forces.

However, according to unofficial records, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Xuanyuan Mirror hung in the Jinluan Hall was no longer the real Xuanyuan Mirror, but a later imitation. It was just a symbol and decoration.The real Xuanyuan mirror was secretly replaced by Yuan Tiangang, a Tang Dynasty man, when he was the national teacher.In Yuan Tiangang's most famous "Tui Bei Tu", there was originally an article "Yi Jing Xuan Yao", which was a detailed introduction and application method of Xuanyuan Mirror. It is closely related to Xuanyuan Mirror.It's just that the most important "Yi Jing Xuan Yao" in this volume has long been lost, and it is only mentioned briefly in the unofficial history, and no one has ever read it.And the real Xuanyuan Mirror has never been seen by anyone since Yuan Tiangang arrived, and it is still a mystery.

When I heard Professor Han mentioning Yuan Tiangang, I suddenly remembered one thing: Blind Yuan is also surnamed Yuan. Could it be that he is a descendant of Yuan Tiangang?In this way, the old man is even more mysterious.And why did he actually give me such a valuable thing?
I could not understand.At this time, Tang Mo, who had no words for a long time, shouted: "What is that?"

He pointed to a hillside on the right side, where the mountain was slightly higher than the surrounding area, and the hilltop was tens of meters into the lake, surrounded by towering trees, only the hilltop had few trees, all of them were short shrubs, and the area covered by vegetation was also very small. , looking patchy and bald, with a strong flashlight shining over, you can vaguely see the loess on the ground.

The professor looked at it carefully, and then said excitedly: "That is a terrain where dragons dive to fetch water. If the prediction is correct, it should be the entrance to the ancient tomb!"

2. Kirin Gu

Feng Shui refers to the continuous mountains as the dragon veins, the mountains are the skeleton of the dragon, and the water is the blood of the dragon. The Xiaonan Lake surrounded by mountains and water is indeed a treasure of Fengshui. trend.

The burial person, who hides, rides on the breath, and descends like a thousand horses to the sky, and he buryes the king.The professor said: "The method of Feng Shui is to get water first. This is indeed a royal tomb."

We didn't care about taking a break, so we quickly turned on the strong flashlight, walked through the thorny forest, and rushed there.Walking down the slope, Lin Xiaowei suddenly yelled: "Oh, my god!" Everyone stopped and looked, and a human head appeared in the bushes!
Several people couldn't help shouting at the same time: "Ah!"

It was Ma Chuchen who had sharp eyes: "It's a personal figurine!"

We felt relieved and hurried over to have a look.Professor Han shone a flashlight on it, frowned and said, "This is a bronze kneeling figurine, and the clothes are from the Warring States Period."

At this time, I only heard Tang Mei say: "There are more here."

Sure enough, there were four figurines around, a total of five kneeling figurines, all facing forward.There is a slightly higher terrain, with a thin copper pillar slightly exposed in the middle.

The professor looked solemn, he greeted Lin Xiaowei, and the two took out paratrooper knives and dug carefully.After a while, a large jar with a simple shape appeared in front of us. There was a lid on the jar, and the handle of the lid was the thin copper pillar we saw at first.

The professor took out a pen and paper to record, and Lin Xiaowei took out a digital camera and started taking pictures. For archaeologists, this is undoubtedly a major discovery.

The jars are buried in the ground.If it weren't for the lid handle, it would be hard to find this huge jar.It is about as thick as two people hugging each other, with a pointed top and a rounded bottom. It is engraved with exquisite patterns and some characters, but it is a long time ago at the end of the year, and it is buried deep in the ground. Only some dragon patterns can be vaguely seen, and the handwriting has been blurred. .

The professor refused to ask for help, fearing that the precious cultural relic would be damaged. He and Lin Xiaowei cleaned it up for more than an hour, but the jar still hadn't bottomed out. It seemed that it would take a long time to clean it out completely.

I saw that they were both very tired, so I suggested, "Why don't we open the jar and see what's in there."

Yang Xiaoxie also probed his head and said: "Maybe it's the gold and silver treasure buried with him, open it quickly and have a look!"

I interrupted him and said, "Professor, do you think there is something buried here, is there any danger?"

The professor thought for a while and said: "It should not be gold and silver treasures. The funeral objects should be in the mausoleum or in the coffin. There are bronze kneeling figurines here, which may be related to a certain ceremony!"

He bowed his head and thought for a while, and said: "There is no record of mysterious rituals in the materials of the Ma Chu period, and judging from the costumes of the kneeling figurines and the decorations on the jars, it is from the Warring States period."

We originally came for the Mausoleum of Prince Ma Chu, but found that many things are related to witchcraft, such as the ghost altar that appeared mysteriously, loach Gu...and Chu City was the birthplace of Wuchu in the Warring States Period...Therefore, the professor wrote I made an inference: there should be a great connection between this place and the state of Chu in the Warring States period.

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Mei's face suddenly changed.He walked forward without making a sound, squatted in front of the bronze pot, stretched out his right hand, tore off the black gloves he had been wearing all the time, and began to grope carefully.Only then did I realize that Tang Mei's hands are indeed very unusual. His fingers are long and slender, but his palms are very firm and thick. There are thick calluses from the thenar point to the Hegu point.His hand seemed to have been trained with a weapon for a long time, and it didn't match his whole body.I think of his King Yu Lance, it must be a very heavy weapon.

Tang Mei stroked the copper pot for a while, suddenly his face changed, he got up and said, "Can't open it, there is danger inside!"

We were all puzzled, but we still valued his words very much in our hearts.Because last time the Loach Gu was the one who gave a warning in advance, but the result was as expected.

But Yang Xiaoxie said unconvinced: "It's dangerous again, can you not say these unlucky things with your crow's mouth, we are about to dig up the treasure, so tell me, what is the dangerous thing in it?" ?”

Tang Mei was silent for a while, and replied with a solemn face: "I can't tell, I just feel that I have seen these things vaguely, but I can't remember what they are. This bronze pot feels very bad to me, and I can't open it. .”

Yang Xiaoxie sighed, and muttered: "It's a feeling, it's a feeling again, I also feel that there is a piece of priceless jade in it!"

Tang Mei shook his head and stopped talking, and we didn't dare to act rashly.Finally, the professor said: "Since our purpose this time is to inspect the ancient tomb, this bronze pot should be buried here first, and we can dig it up again in the future."

When we think about it, although we all want to know what is buried inside, we all agree with this decision.

At this time, there was a "dong dong" sound in the jar, as if something was hitting the top of the jar.We were all taken aback, there were living creatures in it!

Yang Xiaoxie also trembled with fright, he didn't say that there were gold, silver and jewels inside, and urged us to leave quickly.

However, just listen to the sound in the jar getting louder.Suddenly, the top of the tank was pushed away with a "bang", a burst of black air came out, and a huge strange head suddenly drilled out.

Yang Xiaoxie and Lin Xiaowei yelled at the same time, and sat down on the ground; I was also trembling with fright, my legs were weak, and I almost fell down.After all, they have seen the world, everyone's legs are trembling, only Ma Chuchen is supporting the professor, and has already taken out the pistol in his hand; Tang Mei is also holding his King Yu's lance tightly, guarding against the monster's attack. reaction.

The black smoke dissipated, and what was in the bronze jar was actually the head of a snake-bodied monster. Its body was about as thick as the mouth of a bowl, and it circled many times in the jar, almost filling the jar. , with fangs in the mouth, beard and hair under the forehead, red eyes, emitting a faint light, as if just woke up from a deep sleep, with a foul smell constantly spraying from the mouth.

The professor gritted his teeth and said tremblingly, "Qi... Qilin..."

I saw that the head did look alike, but it was absolutely not, so I reminded him, "This is the body of a snake!"

The professor sighed, wiped the sweat off his face with his hands, and said, "It's Qilin Gu, that's right, I just read about it in a silk book of the Warring States Period, and there really is such a thing in the world, it's Gu We are poisoned, let's leave quickly!"

Tang Mei said: "You go quickly, I will stop behind for a while. Qilin Gu is full of poison, and you will die immediately if you touch it."

Before he finished speaking, the strange head immediately sprayed him with a mouthful of venom.The liquid burst into flames when it met air.Tang Mei quickly dodged to avoid it, and the place where he was just standing suddenly sank into a big pit, and the surrounding trees were all dead, turning into black ashes in an instant.

The professor hurriedly said: "The venom in its mouth is very corrosive, stronger than concentrated sulfuric acid, avoid it quickly!"

Everyone hurriedly ran away. Lin Xiaowei was so frightened that he didn't even have the strength to get up. He put his butt on the ground, put his hands on the ground, and crawled back, almost crying.I hurried back, picked him up, pulled him up and ran away.

As I ran, I asked, "Professor, what is Qilin Gu, and is there any way to restrain it?"

The professor gasped and said: "It is recorded in the silk books of the Warring States period that a hundred kinds of poisons were put into sealed bronze vessels and let them kill each other. The shape and color of the last remaining one changed. They are all accumulated in it, which is called Qilin Gu. The Qilin Gu in front of us is not only a poison, it should have been cursed, so it has been sleeping for thousands of years, probably to let it guard this tomb."

It turned out that this extremely poisonous Qilin Gu was used as a guardian beast.

(End of this chapter)