Hu Xiaotian nodded and looked up. The mountains were indeed undulating like a camel's back. However, because the winter snow had not yet melted, the hills had been dyed white by the snow. Now it should be more appropriately called White Camel Mountain. However, the place name
It seemed a bit familiar, and Hu Xiaotian couldn't remember where he had heard it.
Zongtang said: "The ghost doctor Fu is buried here."
When Hu Xiaotian heard the name of the ghost doctor Fu Cui, he immediately remembered that he had heard Liu Changsheng mention it before. It was he who told him that the ghost doctor Fu Cui was buried in the Black Camel Mountain after his death. However, the Black Camel Mountain was outside Yanzhou City.
I thought it was so close to Yongdu.
Zongtang continued to ride forward on horseback. The mountain range of Black Camel Mountain was not steep. They came to an abandoned medicine temple halfway up the mountain. They tied the two horses in the main hall and found fodder from the kitchen.
Hu Xiaotian thought to himself that it seemed that he would not be able to get back to Yongdu tonight.
Zongtang took him to the Temple of Medicine. A small hole appeared below the statue of the boy next to the Medicine God. He took out a strange-shaped key from his waist, inserted it into the hole, and turned it left and right. After a while, he heard
There was a creaking sound around him, and along with the tremors of the ground, the Medicine God statue moved away, revealing a dark hole.
Hu Xiaotian blinked his eyes, never expecting that there was such a mechanism in this barren mountain.
Zongtang lit the torch and said to Hu Xiaotian: "Let's talk after we go down!"
Hu Xiaotian looked outside and said, "No one will come here, right?"
Zongtang shook his head and said: "It has been abandoned for many years, the incense has long been extinguished, and it is freezing and snowy. Who would come to such a place?" He had already entered the cave first.
Hu Xiaotian couldn't restrain his curiosity and followed Zong Tang in. The cave went straight up and down, and the cave walls were uneven for climbing up and down. It wouldn't be that easy for ordinary people to go down, but both Zong Tang and Hu Xiaotian were martial arts.
The master, who could not pose any obstacle to them at all, came to the bottom of the cave and a horizontal hole appeared. Zongtang inserted the medicine key into the hole in the wall. After twisting it, the medicine god statue above returned to its place. This is
Just in case someone comes in and discovers the secrets here.
At the beginning, the entrance of the cave was narrow. They walked more than fifty steps with their backs bent. The entrance of the cave suddenly became wider. Zongtang straightened up and said to Hu Xiaotian: "This secret passage is where my father presided over the construction of the imperial mausoleum."
At that time, I discovered that the mausoleum of Emperor Jingde had been built thirty years ago and opened nineteen years ago. The Empress Dowager Chiang proposed reconstruction plans several times for her funeral. When my father was renovating the imperial mausoleum, he discovered a thief.
Hole."
Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in shock: "Is someone robbing tombs?" Tomb robberies are common in any era, but it is a bit strange that the imperial tomb was stolen, and it was a matter of the current dynasty.
Zongtang nodded and said: "That's right! My father didn't dare to say anything after he found out about this, because he designed the tomb of Emperor Jingde. If the court learned that the tomb of the emperor was stolen, he would definitely not be able to escape the blame, so he gathered his cronies
The disciples repaired the robbery hole and discovered many secrets in it."
Hu Xiaotian secretly thought that it was understandable for the magician Zong Yuan to do this. Anyone would do it. If the matter was exposed, he would probably face the punishment of confiscating the family and exterminating the clan. Needless to say, Zong Tang was naturally involved in repairing the robbery hole.
Zongtang held the torch and continued walking forward. As he walked, he said to Hu Xiaotian: "When the imperial court asked my father to design the imperial mausoleum, my father politely declined because everyone knew that building an imperial mausoleum would not be possible.
There will be good news. Emperor Jingde died early. At that time, my father was worried that he would be silenced and was ready to send me to escape from Dayong. However, the Empress Dowager Chiang later asked him to rebuild the imperial mausoleum, so I temporarily escaped.
After the disaster, with the completion of the reconstruction of the imperial mausoleum, my father also knew that the end was approaching, and urged me to leave Dayong several times."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. Mr. Zong still had the foresight. The best way to keep a person's secret is to kill him. For the sake of stability after death, Empress Dowager Jiang certainly would not let the designer and builder of the mausoleum continue to live in this world.
.
Zongtang said: "My father has always intended to keep me away from the construction of the imperial mausoleum. Even so, the court will not let us go easily. My father's serious illness this time is not due to old age and frailty, but because of the tomb.
When it was about to be completed, Empress Dowager Chiang gave her a banquet, and the wine was mixed with poison." When he said this, a pair of tiger eyes shot out with angry light.
Only then did Hu Xiaotian realize that Zong Tang was full of hatred for the Dayong royal family. He sighed and said, "Mr. Zong died of poisoning?"
Zongtang said: "My father understood in his heart, but he asked me to keep quiet. Before he died, he told the Empress Dowager Jiang that the imperial mausoleum was not yet completed and that I needed to take over his work. Maybe because of his words, Jiang
The Queen Mother gave up her plan to kill me immediately."
Hu Xiaotian said: "Empress Dowager Jiang is dead now. She should not endanger your safety anymore."
Zongtang said: "Even if she dies, we craftsmen who participated in the construction of the imperial mausoleum, especially the few who are responsible for the important work, will never end well. Before my father died, he asked me to delay the completion of the imperial mausoleum as much as possible.
Find an opportunity to escape from Dayong, only by leaving here can you save your life."
Hu Xiaotian said: "Brother Zong, to be honest with you, I came to see you this time just to ask you to go to Dongliang County with me to create a great cause together. However, I was worried that brother would reject me, so I hesitated to mention it."
Zongtang said: "Dayong treated me like this and poisoned my father, which is a sworn hatred. Even if there is no brother to invite me, I have already made up my mind to go and join him." Dayong's actions have completely made Zongtang give up. He thought
If you want to survive, you must leave Dayong, otherwise sooner or later you will have to face the fate of being silenced.
Hu Xiaotian was overjoyed. Zongtang had received the true inheritance from his father. If he could get help from Zongtang, he would definitely make further progress in weapon research and development, and his strength could be improved in a short time. But Zongtang brought him here today not just to say this.
The words are so simple.
Zongtang said: "The Robbery Cave leads from the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Jingde to the northwest. The Medicine Temple we just entered is an exit that my father later dug. The other exit is just ahead." He pointed.
Ahead, Hu Xiaotian walked closer and saw that there was a fork there, but the entrance to the cave had been sealed from the inside.
Zongtang said: "This tunnel leads to the foot of Black Camel Mountain, and at the exit is the tomb of the ghost doctor Fu Cui."
Hu Xiaotian said in astonishment: "Isn't the ghost doctor Fu Cui dead a long time ago? Could it be that he faked his death to deceive others, but was actually secretly digging tunnels here to rob the imperial tomb?"
Zongtang nodded and said: "From what we know, the situation should be like this. We followed the robbery hole to the ghost doctor's tomb and found that there was nothing in the coffin of the ghost doctor Fu Cui." He pointed out.
Pointing to the blocked underground cave, he said: "When my father discovered the robbery, it had been five years since the death of the ghost doctor Fu Cui. According to the traces of the theft of the imperial mausoleum at that time, it had also been three years since he sneaked into the imperial mausoleum, so
We tried to make up for it by sealing the stolen cave first, and then my father gathered his close disciples to dig a new secret passage, which is the one we just passed. This was just in case, if one day the royal family would do something to us.
The killer may be able to leave a way to survive."
Hu Xiaotian has also seen many stories in this regard. There are many precedents in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, where migrant workers were killed after the imperial mausoleum was built. Firstly, they could bury the dead monarch, and secondly, they could kill all the secrets. The robbery cave was completely in the mountain.
When digging, the surrounding rock walls were smooth and neat, and it was obvious at first glance that it was definitely not the work of ordinary tomb robbers. Hu Xiaotian said: "The ghost doctor Fu Cai can't complete such a large project by himself?"
Zongtang said: "This is exactly what we are puzzled by. The total length of the secret passage we opened is only one mile, and it has been spent intermittently for six years. The ghost doctor's talisman has the most use.
In two years, a secret passage has been opened from his tomb to the imperial mausoleum. The total length of this secret passage is about twelve miles, and it all passes through the hard rock formation and is cut so neatly." Zong Tang stretched out his hand to touch it.
To this day, he is still confused about the rock wall. It stands to reason that such a large amount of work cannot be completed by one person. Even if everyone gathers together, how can such a large project be completed without leaving any trace?
Although Hu Xiaotian has never seen the ghost doctor Fu Xi, he has heard many legends about this person. The ghost doctor Fu Xi has treated many people, and he is also the creator of the picture of heaven and man. From various indications,
Look, ghost doctor Fu Xi should be a master of medicine, possessing modern medical knowledge, and even knows surgery as well as himself. He remembered that ghost doctor Fu Xi once commissioned magician Zong Yuan to build surgical instruments. There should be some friendship between the two.
.
Zongtang said: "He is extremely familiar with the internal structure of the imperial mausoleum, knows the weaknesses of the imperial mausoleum, and knows my father's design very well."
Hu Xiaotian said: "Has anything been lost in the imperial mausoleum?"
Zongtang nodded, and a stone gate appeared in front of him. Zongtang opened the stone gate, and the two of them continued to walk forward. At this time, they had returned to the area of the imperial mausoleum, but just now they entered from the ground.
Now we enter the underground palace of the Imperial Tomb directly through the secret passage.
The front has reached the end, and it seems that there is no way to go. Zongtang handed the torch to Hu Xiaotian, then bowed down, used his sleeves to brush away the dust on the ground, and found a few stone bricks. He raised his fist and punched it suddenly
On top of the stone bricks, there was a loud sound of dust flying, and the stone bricks collapsed under his iron fist, revealing a square hole, just enough for one person to pass through. If he didn't have enough knowledge of the internal structure of the imperial mausoleum,
You know, even if you walk on it, you won't think there are caves underneath.
The two of them entered the cave below one after another, and walked dozens of steps with their backs bent. Judging from the digging style of the cave, this cave should be made by the magic craftsman Zong Yuan. Hu Xiaotian asked Zong Tang and it was confirmed that it turned out that the magic craftsman Zong Yuan was the master of the cave.
In the past, all the entrances for tomb robbers to enter and exit the imperial mausoleum were sealed, and they took advantage of the opportunity to renovate the imperial mausoleum and left a secret passage underneath. However, Mr. Zong did not do it for the convenience of tomb robbers in the future. He did it just in case.
Leave a way to survive with all the disciples. (To be continued.)
