The orange-red firelight illuminated the night sky brightly, and the fire quickly spread to dozens of shops in several nearby streets and alleys. Within a moment, the trumpet blast from the fire watch tower in the city was heard, and Chi Ling, who was responsible for the security of Nanshi City, Wei also appeared in groups on Zitong Street and joined the crowd fighting the fire.
However, the two teenagers outside the pawn shop had no time to pay attention to the chaos in front of them. Jiang Yan knew that if something unexpected happened, Ning Yue would never run around alone again. However, when he looked around, he could only see the noise. Crowds of people were swarming around.
"Isn't this the little white fox Ning Yue raised?"
Qi Ziyin suddenly patted his companion who was beside him and pointed to a place a few steps away. Looking in the direction indicated by the other party, the black-eyed boy immediately saw a ball of white fur dodging in panic among the footsteps of the crowd.
Jiang Yan struggled to push away the crowd near the fur ball, and held the white fox in his arms. The little beast recognized the boy, curled up its long tail, but seemed to be frightened, and was trembling all over, but still She used her sharp little mouth to pull at the long tassels on his brocade robe, letting out a low whimper.
The young man realized that the little white fox might want to lead him to Ning Yue, so he immediately passed through the crowd and placed her on the open space, squatted down and whispered:
"Xue Ling, if you know where Yue'er has gone, take us to find her now!"
The white fox seemed to understand the human language, and immediately twitched its nose to sniff, then jumped and quickly ran towards a narrow alley on the street. Jiang Yan and Qi Ziyin looked at each other and followed without hesitation.
Following the white ball of pompom, the two of them walked zigzag through the city. Unknowingly, they exited the Jinshui Gate and plunged into a dense old forest in the east of the city. After continuing for about four miles, they had already deviated. The two young men who entered the official road suddenly saw in front of their eyes a dilapidated, almost dark green ancient ancestral hall covered with moss and vines.
At that time, the twin moons were setting in the west, and there were occasionally one or two night owls croaking in the dim forest. After autumn, the air in the forest was cooler than in the city, making people's hair stand on end. There was a lingering atmosphere near the dim ancestral hall. There was an indescribable and strange aura. The little white fox did not dare to move forward, but sandwiched its big fluffy tail between its two hind legs, arched its back and huddled next to Jiang Yan's feet.
The black-eyed boy did not expect that there would be such a large but inaccessible ancestral hall hidden outside the city. He raised his hand to signal Qi Ziyin to pick up the white fox, and he continued to venture forward boldly. As soon as he reached the main entrance of the ancestral hall, he walked from Between the cracks of the half-open wooden door, I saw a touch of light green on the ground, which was the gauze jacket that Ning Yue was wearing today!
"Zi Yin, come here quickly, I found Yue'er!"
There was a buzz in Jiang Yan's head, and regardless of whether someone had set a trap in the ancestral hall, he kicked the door open hard - he saw that the red-haired girl had her hands and feet tied, and fell limply to the ground, with her forehead bruised. The skin was broken. The blood oozing from the wound had just solidified. But the person who kidnapped her was nowhere to be seen.
The two of them hurriedly untied the girl and helped her up. They saw that her chest was still rising and falling slightly, and she seemed to be in no danger of life, so they breathed a sigh of relief.
The black-eyed boy let Ning Yue lean on his chest, and pressed hard on her philtrum with his thumb. After a while, the girl finally woke up slowly, but her face was full of panic, and she struggled like crazy.
"Don't be afraid Yue'er, it's us, it's me and Ziyin!"
Under the comfort of her companions, the girl's distracted eyes regained focus. The little white fox also jumped from Qi Ziyin's arms obediently back to the master's shoulders, licking her cheeks gently. After finally seeing clearly the faces of the two companions Looking at her face, Ning Yue finally couldn't bear the grievance she felt and cried out on the spot:
"I thought I was going to die!"
"Yue'er, please tell me first, who kidnapped you here?" Jiang Yan asked, stroking the other person's back, "Where has that person hidden now? How could he leave you alone?" Lost it here?"
"I don't know where that person went." Ning Yue just held her companion's sleeves hard, as if she hadn't recovered from the shock, "Before Ziyin went to rescue you, he asked me to wait for you to come out at the alley. Unexpectedly, a masked gangster came up behind me from nowhere and captured me without saying a word. I tried my best to escape and bit him hard. The man was angry and knocked me out. It’s over.”
The one who kidnapped his companion was indeed the masked man in the pawn shop! Jiang Yan guessed that the other party might just use Ning Yue as a hostage to help him escape. But he couldn't figure it out. The masked man had already left the city. , and why go to such trouble to bring the girl to such a remote place? However, the masked man could never go too far at this time, so he wanted to find out the truth and started searching in the ancestral hall. Hope to find some clues.
Half of this not-so-large ancestral hall has collapsed long ago. There are booths on both sides of the door, square stone pillars and carved wooden beams. Under the hard roof tiles more than two feet high, there is only one remaining statue. It has long been dilapidated, but it still remains. There is no place to hide the clay sculptures of generals that exude awe-inspiring majesty.
The young man raised his head, carefully distinguished the regular script Yangwen stone plaque hanging on the beam in the middle of the ancestral hall, and murmured: "General-general... public temple? Why was this general's surname deliberately used? Scrape it off?”
"Maybe it's to avoid taboos. I just didn't expect that such a place actually existed outside the city?!" Qi Ziyin stared at the stone plaque above his head, but seemed to remember something.
"Zi Yin, do you know the origin of this ancestral hall? You might as well tell us - the other party will definitely not think that we can chase us all the way here, so he carelessly abandons Yue'er."
"But shouldn't the matter of arresting robbers be left to Tingweisi? There are many bandits and bandits outside the city now. If the masked man has accomplices, wouldn't it be very dangerous to stay? Why don't we go back to the city quickly? ." The young man in white heard his companion ask, but he shook his head hesitantly.
However, this time, before the black-eyed boy could speak, the girl took the lead and shook her head: "No, we can't leave now! That man took away the little stutter's dagger, and we have to find a way to get it back!"
Hearing this, the black-eyed boy couldn't help but be surprised. He didn't expect that his hunch would come true so accurately. The masked man really came for Baipi! But what's so special about a mere short sword? How could people be willing to kill people and set fires just for the sake of it?
Seeing his companion's expression change instantly, the boy in white also realized the significance of that knife:
"I heard from brother Zixiu about this general's temple. When I was a child, he always used these stories to scare me, which kept me awake all night - but when it comes to this temple, it should have been mentioned as early as Ye It was built when the country was founded. The general on the plaque was also a loyal and loyal minister with outstanding military achievements. He commanded the most powerful force in the Ye Kingdom at that time, and once saved the life of my great ancestor Dehuan Gong Qi Sheng. "
"Even for such a prominent person, why did the ancestral hall become so dilapidated and deserted? Could it be that this general has no descendants and no one has come to pay homage to him for thousands of years?" Jiang Yan couldn't help but wonder.
"To answer your question, I have to mention the most terrifying place in this forest. It is said that deep underground for several miles around this ancestral hall, the general and his family of three masters and servants are buried.
More than a hundred people, and the withered bones of tens of thousands of Ye Kingdom soldiers..."
Speaking of this, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the dense woods, and the rustling sound was like countless ghosts moaning and crying in the darkness. Qi Ziyin felt a chill on his back, and raised his eyes to look into the woods outside the ancestral hall.
, then he boldly continued:
"Thousands of years ago, when the world was first settled, a rumor spread from someone's mouth that the general held an ancient map. After learning about this, Emperor Bai Jiangxi immediately sent a sacred edict, which actually ordered Taizu De
Duke Huan hastily send this map to Yujing for sealing within one month, otherwise he will send his troops south to meet with Ye Guo."
"Hey, dear, what kind of map is this? How could it make the emperor so aggressive?" Jiang Yan smacked his tongue hard.
"According to legend, this picture was left behind by our ancestors in ancient times. If we understand the Xuanji on the picture, we can find the divine power of our ancestors that can change the color of the heaven and the earth and overthrow the country."
The young man in white paused for a moment, "That's why the general naturally said that the map was nonsense. However, Tingweisi took advantage of the time when he was leading his troops on a patrol, forced his way into the general's house and searched for the map, and then
He was convicted of deceiving the emperor and being rebellious. On the night when the map was found, more than 300 members of his family were also thrown into prison."
"The divine power of the ancestors... I seem to have heard of it somewhere..." Jiang Yan stretched out his hand and rubbed his aching temples vigorously, "Then what?"
"It was not until three days later that the general learned about the arrest of his family and hurried back to the city with a thousand elites. However, in this forest, Taizu, who was leading an army of 30,000 people and was waiting for work, encountered Duke Dehuan.
Thinking that the other party had contributed to the founding of the country, he planned to use his family as a pledge to try to persuade him to surrender. However, the general still refused to submit. He actually used a thousand elite soldiers to kill nearly ten thousand people under Taizu's command, and finally died here. Until he died,
He still begged Taizu not to hand over the map. After all, divine power is beyond the control of humans. If this map falls into the hands of someone with evil intentions, it will bring unpredictable disasters to all people."
"What he said is absolutely correct. It seems that Duke Dehuan really went too far. In order to please the emperor, he treated his best friend like this and even killed him with his own hands!" Ning Yue, who was standing by, heard this and was filled with indignation.
stand up.
Qi Ziyin just shook his head helplessly:
"A person who is a king has no choice but to do what he wants. At that time, Ye State was weak and if he did not surrender, it would be rebellion. In addition, Bai Jiangxi gathered millions of soldiers from various princes at the bank of Yugu Lake. If he rashly went to war with him, Ye State would be in danger.
There was absolutely no chance of winning. Afterwards, Duke Dehuan personally presented the map to Yujing. After returning to the court, he ordered people to melt 90% of the sophisticated weapons in Yeguo and cast it into the big bell on the bell and drum tower in the city.
This finally won Bai Jiangxi's trust and laid the foundation for the prosperity of Ye State today. However, no one knows the truth of the past, and it is no longer important."
Ning Yue couldn't help but stare: "None of this is important? Then what is important?"
The young man in white sighed and continued to explain: "
Although Duke Dehuan sacrificed his best friend, he saved tens of thousands of people in Ye State from the disaster of war. After that day, it was Taizu who ordered people to bury the bones scattered here and built this ancestral hall for future generations to pay their respects. But he must have never imagined that today, this place would be regarded as an ominous place, completely forgotten in this forest, and no one would care about it anymore."
Qi Ziyin's story was finally finished. After Jiang Yan was silent for a long time, he sighed: "Fighting to the death for his beliefs, that general is really a hero!"
The young man in white also showed a little regret on his face:
"Yes, it is said that the general died with his eyes closed. When he was lifted down from the high mountain of corpses, he was still standing with a pestle and a knife, even though his body was full of arrows. His muscles were as solid as a rock until the end. Refuse to fall."
"Standing tall with a sword and refusing to fall?!"
Jiang Yan suddenly recalled the scene when he followed Xiang Baili into the palace to choose weapons. He never thought that the owner of the Xiaotian on his back was actually the general mentioned by his companions. But he always wanted to find out the origin but failed. The bones of that indomitable hero were buried under this ancestral hall in front of us!
The young man suddenly felt that something was surging in his heart, and it was surging but indescribable. He couldn't help but hold the handle of Xiao Tianmo tightly with his hand. It was as if the great soul thousands of years ago was once again using the weapon in his hand. become alive.
However, just when the three of them fell into silence, the white fox in Ning Yue's arms raised its ears, widened its eyes, and kept twitching its nose in the direction of the general's statue. The girl then realized that the little beast seemed to have discovered What? Come forward immediately:
"There seems to be wind here! It's coming from under this clay statue!"
Sure enough, looming streams of air were blowing from under the base of the General Statue. It was difficult to detect when the three people were talking before, but once it became quiet now, the rustling sound was particularly clear.
Looking around, although there was a thick layer of dust on the ground of the entire ancestral hall, there was only a thin layer of dust on the statue of the general. The three children immediately realized that the statue in front of them could be moved. Immediately split up and look for any mechanism that might be hidden somewhere in the ancestral hall.
Thank you for your tasteful attention to "Twin Moon". I hope the wheat grown by Xiaoli will suit your appetite.