Dawn breaks in Chu Jing, the long night finally passes, the morning glow reflects in the sky, and the haze disappears.
A stagecoach galloped on the desolate Jiangling official road, and the horse's hoofs splashed mud and water everywhere.
The knight on horseback stumbled to Wutou Station, and the door opened with a bang. People in the room put their hands on their swords one after another. The knight stumbled, covered in sweat, and fell in through the door. He raised his left arm and just
I wanted to open my mouth to speak, but with a "wow" sound, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and my body fell to the ground.
A man dressed as a postman came forward to help him up, and the rest of the people looked at the woman in black next to him.
The woman in black still covered her face with a black scarf. She lowered her eyes and looked at the injured knight, and said coldly: "Looking at the injury, it seems that it was caused by falling from a horse. Although it is not serious, it is difficult to calm down for a while.
, I'm afraid he will be in a coma for an hour. See if he has any letters on him!"
The two men rummaged through the knight's clothes and the horses outside, and came to report that they found nothing. The woman in black was slightly surprised after hearing this, and suddenly, her eyes fell on the knight's clenched left fist.
.
"Open his fists!"
"No!"
After a moment, a jade pendant with an openwork dragon and phoenix pattern and a heavy ring was handed into the hands of the woman in black. The woman in black stared at the jade pendant for a long time, and her eyes became colder.
The men on the side asked: "How to deal with this person? Please show me, girl!"
The woman in black said coldly: "Pour cold water on him immediately to wake him up and ask him why!"
"No!"
After about an hour of burning incense, two men each pulled out three fast horses from the stables. One of them called into the house, and the woman in black strode out. The three of them jumped on the back of the horse and headed towards the Yang family crossing.
Go in the direction.
……
Chen Chang was unwilling to give in and searched carefully, but there was still no trace. Could it be that he went to the backyard?
No, there is only one door in this main hall and there is no window in the back wall. It is impossible for people to disappear in the main hall out of thin air. If they disappear, there is only one explanation. There is a secret passage in this hall!
In order to take refuge, wealthy families often build secret passages in their homes, especially in troubled times, almost every household has one.
Once there are bandits looting or rebel troops entering the city, the whole family should go into the secret passage to either escape or stay in the secret passage for a while until the situation calms down before coming out.
Chen Chang has watched so many movies and TV dramas, so he is no stranger to this.
He was extremely alert, so he immediately started checking the main hall carefully.
The main hall of this ancestral hall is not complicated, with empty walls and green bricks on the floor.
First I raised my fist and knocked on the four walls. The wall was dull and it didn't look like there was a secret door.
I slipped on the ground and stomped again, my feet hurt from the shock, but I didn't find any empty echo.
Then he turned his attention to the ancestors of the Chu family on the altar. Based on visual inspection, the space under the altar was not small, and the belly should be empty.
"Aren't the ancestors there to protect the descendants?" Chen Chang narrowed his eyes proudly, put his hands behind his back with a smile, and walked around in front of the altar, staring at the base.
Suddenly, I saw a wooden hairpin under the base of the altar. This wooden hairpin was in the shadow just now, so no wonder I didn't notice it.
At this time, he picked it up and looked at it. He seemed to have seen it somewhere. Suddenly, the scene appeared in his mind: Shui Ling'er pulled out a wooden hairpin from her bun, pointed the tip of the hairpin at her throat, and was ready to die to prove her ambition at any time. She couldn't help but put the wooden hairpin in her mind.
I put the hairpin in front of my nose and smelled it, and a refreshing fragrance penetrated my nose.
He lowered his head and looked in front of the altar again, and then he noticed the messy footprints. He slapped his forehead suddenly, Chen Chang, Chen Chang, you are so stupid. The hall has been dusty for a long time, and the ground is covered with dust. There are so many
The footprints disappeared in front of the altar, doesn’t that explain the problem?
Yes, it must be Shui Ling'er's. She once appeared here, but where has she gone now?
Chen Chang once again held up a torch and searched the hall, not letting go of any clues.
However, after searching for a while, I still didn't find anything, and I couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.
The pine oil torch crackled and squeaked with red firelight. The bitter and spicy smell spread through his nose, which made him a little more awake.
He picked up the hairpin in his hand and looked at it under the torch. An idea came to his mind, and he immediately looked at that place. If his guess was correct, it must be here...
The altar in the ancestral hall was originally painted with a red and black curling cloud pattern that is very characteristic of Jingchu culture, but now the paint color has been mottled and peeled off.
Chen Chang's eyes were wandering around the altar inch by inch, and suddenly he saw two candlesticks on the left and right of the altar, which he had never noticed before.
I saw that the overall shape of this candlestick is round and powerful, shaped like a lion with wings, a wide mouth with fangs, a strong body, four paws lying on the ground, eyes as wide as copper bells, and short and straight manes under the ears.
There are long whiskers under the chin, shorter wings carved on the limbs, and a tubular vertical hole on the back for inserting candles.
Yue kiln green glaze porcelain candlestick to ward off evil spirits?
Chen Chang, who came from a later generation, was interested in antiques, so he quickly guessed the origin of this candlestick.
He reached out to pick up the candlestick on the left, but suddenly he felt something strange. The candlestick was cold and seemed to have a completely different texture from the ordinary Yue kiln green glaze. When he lifted it up, the candlestick seemed to be nailed to the altar.
Not moving.
He was slightly surprised. He probably thought that the mechanism in the ancestral hall was here. He was just afraid of crushing the ancient object, so he didn't dare to use force. He held it and twisted it a few times, but there was still no response. He tried to use the same method.
The same thing happened when I went to the candlestick on the right. I thought to myself: "Is it possible that the mechanism has rusted to death over time?"
Then I thought again, no, Shui Ling'er's hairpin was left here. It stands to reason that if there is a secret room, the secret door should be here. This candlestick has something weird, it looks like opening a secret door in a secret room.
The location of the mechanism is like this in TV dramas in later generations. Why can't it be opened when I get here?
After thinking about it, he lifted it up again, but the candlestick was still motionless. He turned it to the left, but there was no movement at all. When he turned it to the right, he felt that it was a little loose. He then tightened his hand, but the candlestick did not turn around.
Then he tried the candlestick on the left, and it was the same. He was so angry that he slapped the altar hard, and there was a thud, and it turned out to be empty underneath.
He brought the torch closer to the candlestick and took a closer look. Then he saw that although the vertical hole in the back for inserting the candle was full of dust, there was a faint fingerprint on it. Recalling that he had not touched this place just now, he naturally
It was someone else who did it, so the speculation about the candlestick mechanism is confirmed.
Chen Chang wiped the vertical hole with the sleeve of his robe, and saw a plum blossom-shaped turntable at the bottom. One of the petals was slightly larger and more pointed than the others, which seemed to be used as a pointer. There was a circle carved on the wall of the tube.
There are about a dozen small characters.
"Shame, etiquette, filial piety, righteousness, loyalty, tolerance, trustworthiness, honesty, fraternity, diligence, prudence, kindness, yielding, frugality, harmony, respect..." Chen Chang read one by one, and suddenly an idea came to his mind again, this
Isn’t it just the Chu family’s sixteen-character family motto that was disrupted?
It turns out that’s the case!
The next moment, he turned the plum blossom pointer one by one in the order of "propriety, righteousness, integrity, shame, loyalty, trustworthiness, filial piety, brotherhood, generosity, harmony, sincerity, diligence, kindness, yielding, respect, and frugality", each time.
Every time you turn it, there will be slight sound feedback.
After finishing the rotation, I lifted the candlestick up, but it still didn't move at all.
However, he was not discouraged. This candlestick was so ingeniously designed that it must be extraordinary. As long as he was more patient, he would definitely gain something.
Then, when I turned to the left, the candlestick still didn't move at all. When I turned to the right, I felt that the looseness was more obvious than before. Now I put more force on my hand, and the candlestick turned easily this time.
Suddenly, a clicking sound was heard, and the front of the altar, which was nearly three feet high, parted to both sides, revealing a dark hole.
A filthy air rushed out of the cave, which was nauseating.
Even though he had been mentally prepared for a long time, Chen Chang still said "Ah" and hurriedly jumped to the side. The situation in the cave was unknown, so he did not dare to go in rashly, so he put the torch into the cave entrance and smoked it for a while.
There was a foul smell in the cave. After the smell gradually dissipated, I bent down and stepped in.
There are stone steps extending diagonally forward in the cave. Looking inside by the light of the torch, there is no one in the cave and there is no sound. Only the footprints on the ground paved with blue bricks are clearly visible. This is further confirmed.
He speculated that Shui Ling'er and others disappeared from here.
Chen Chang saw the cave in front of him was graceful, very cold when he entered, and there were strong winds. Although he had a fire to enter, the deeper he went in, the more difficult it became. At first he could walk straight, but later he could only bend down.
Enter.
He held on to the cave wall and walked forward with difficulty. He could vaguely hear the dripping sound of water in front of him, and his feet became increasingly slippery.
Continuing to move forward following the sound of water, I discovered a creek about a foot wide on the side of the road. The stream was sometimes wide, sometimes narrow, sometimes slow, sometimes rapid, and the sound of the stream also changed its tune from time to time. I walked forward for another thirty or forty seconds.
As soon as I took a step, I turned a corner and saw a bridge-like hole in front of me. The stream gurgled from the hole on the side of the hole.
Chen Chang raised the fire and entered the cave entrance. He expected to be suddenly cheerful, but unexpectedly the cave suddenly narrowed. As he walked, he even felt that the rocks on the left and right and above seemed to be squeezing towards him. He felt that if he raised his head a little,
It will definitely break your head.
In this way, Chen Chang had to change from bending down to crawling, and then he gradually became smoother.
After walking about three or four feet, the entrance of the cave gradually opened up. He slowly stood up and walked forward while holding on to the slippery stone wall. However, the torch in his hand could only illuminate a small area, and the rest was completely dark, making it impossible to peek inside.
The whole picture.
But as far as the eye can see, there are strange rocks, gurgling clear springs, and magnificent shapes. The cave wall above your head is covered with crystal clear milkstones, like palace lanterns, curtains, tower forests, and bead curtains... The stalagmites in the courtyard are in various forms and depend on each other.
Snuggled together, no matter how human-like the viewer looks, they are all lifelike.
He was invisibly attracted to the stalagmites and milkstones, but he forgot about his feet. As he was walking, he suddenly tripped over something. It was so soft that Chen Chang almost said "ah".
He turned back and held the torch to shine on the ground. He saw a person lying on his back. A long stalagmite as thick as an arm passed through his heart and blood flowed all over the ground. When he looked at the man's face again, his face was ashen and his expression was ashen.
Extremely terrifying.
It was actually Liu Yingshun, a local official from Yangjiadu!
Even though he had seen some dead people, Chen Chang couldn't help but take two steps back. His first reaction was that besides the three Liu family members and Shui Ling'er, there was someone else in the secret cave. This person was probably the murderer.
At this moment, the sound of rapid footsteps suddenly came from the front, and there were echoes.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Yaozu's angry voice sounded: "You slut, you actually want to escape from the palm of my hand, see if I don't beat you to death..."
Chen Chang was surprised and happy after hearing this. His hard work paid off, it seemed that Shui Ling'er was just ahead.
As footsteps approached, a sudden gust of fragrant wind hit the opposite side. Then Chen Chang saw a pair of bright eyes appearing in the shadows, and then that delicate figure.
Shui Ling'er also recognized that the person opposite was Chen Chang. She ran over quickly and pulled Chen Chang's sleeve. Her face was as white as paper and her expression was extremely panicked. She panted and said: "Little Langjun, let's go quickly..."
Before Chen Chang could react, he saw Liu Yaozu's figure holding a torch appearing ten feet away in front of him.
"What a couple of adulterers, you really have an affair..." Liu Yaozu's expression was terrifying and ferocious, as if he was ready to eat people at any time, "You even killed my father!"
Chen Chang was used to seeing Liu and his son confusing right and wrong, so he was not surprised to be accused of killing Liu Yingshun.
Shui Ling'er wanted to pull Chen Chang to escape, but Chen Chang seemed to have roots under his feet and did not move. Instead, he sneered at Liu Yaozu: "Humph, you came just in time!"
Liu Yaozu and Shui Ling'er were both stunned.
Chen Chang said calmly: "Miss Wang knew that you were going to inform the bandits, so she sent guards to pick up your Liu family and his son." He turned back towards the way he came from and said: "Zhou Lieutenant, Wei Lieutenant
, quickly capture this traitor..."
This chapter has been completed!