Holy Bone

Chapter 135 A Thousand Caves (5k chapter, please subscribe and ask for a monthly pass)
outside the city.

Yinyi River.

At this time, the riverside has been blocked by government servants to prevent the people who heard the news from rushing to see the excitement, crowding and shoving into the riverside.

If you look down from a high place at this moment, you can see the wide range of the Yinyi River's cut-off this time, and the river bed is winding like a moat carved out by magic, opening up the sky and the earth between the mountains, majestic and vigorous.

——Zeng searched the scene for fear of being psychic, and there should be a master underground.

And the cut-off section of Fucheng near Fucheng is just a short section of the cut-off of Yinyi River.

It was still early in the morning, and the dewdrops from last night had not completely dissipated, but at this time the riverside was already densely surrounded by people watching the excitement.

As the news that the Yinyi River stopped flowing overnight spread more and more widely, the number of people who heard the news continued to increase.

"Everyone, stop moving forward."

"Whoever dares to step on this line on the ground in a crowded place will face the Fa-rectification on the spot and be held accountable for [-] years."

The yamen servants kept persuading and obstructing, maintaining order along the river.

When it was noon, another accident happened.

Suddenly, the ground trembled, as if a marching and fighting team passed by.

Not long after, a group of soldiers dressed in armor and holding spears, their armor clanging and colliding in the sun, shining coldly, led by the black armored cavalry guards who led more than a dozen cavalry, marched out in small, orderly, bang, bang, bang marches. barracks.

They marched in a murderous manner, culling and killing into the distance.

There are hundreds of people in this army, and there are thousands of Xiangyong who came out of the "Yongying Camp" behind the army.These country braves can only be regarded as local country soldiers, with loose discipline, not as well-trained as those soldiers, and full of murderous looks.

But even so, the number of people is over a thousand, and the heads are densely packed, and the momentum alone can scare people.

In the face of this army and the thousands of people marching in a hurry, the people along the way hurriedly gave way, fearing that they would bump into the military masters and be thrown into prison.

These military masters are different from those yamen servants.

Yamen servants have no products.

Junye entry.

Colliding with the army is no different from beheading.

And those government servants and head catchers who tried their best to maintain the order of the people by the river looked at these well-trained soldiers who came out of the barracks, and they all looked envious.

I couldn't look away for a long time.

Especially looking at the dozen or so cavalry guards leading the charge, he was even more envious, and the blood in his whole body seemed to be boiling.

State capitals are different from local counties.

There are civil and military officials in the state capital, and military tents in the state capital, and the military officers are called capitals.

In Kangding State, there are two kinds of establishments.

One is the establishment of the local government, and the other is the establishment of the imperial court paid by the imperial court.

People like yamen servants, headhunters, masters, etc. are fed by the local finances and are supported by the local government.So even if it is a headhunter who looks quite majestic on weekdays, his real status is not high, and he cannot enter the imperial court establishment, that is, he cannot enter the rank.

If you work all your life until you die, it's still just a local establishment.

However, the status and status of these high-ranking military men in the military camp are different.

What they eat is the military salary allocated by the central government of the imperial court. The food is good, the drink is good, and the salary is high. What they receive is the official establishment of the imperial court.

The people of the prefectural city who had gathered around the river bank were really blown away when they saw this team of thousands of people consisting of regular soldiers and village braves walk away.

They all inquired one after another, what is the big deal, that even the military men in the barracks look murderous and want to fight?
Unexpectedly, the military master and the village warriors were dispatched together?

Wuzhou Prefecture is located in the hinterland of Kangding State, not a border area like Grassland and Mobei, so it should be impossible to fight. Could it be to suppress bandits?
But I haven't heard of any serious bandits recently.

Even if there is any banditry, the Dutou in Fucheng likes to train troops the most on weekdays, and suppressed bandits. It is estimated that he was surrounded and suppressed by the Dutou for training within a few days, and he has no chance to grow stronger.

"You don't know this, this time it's not about suppressing bandits, but this time the Yinyi River is not easy to stop, not only the riverbed is exposed, but also the underwater thousands of caves that have been submerged by the river. "

"My uncle opened a small tavern. Today, when some poor masters were drinking, they revealed some rumors..."

The scholar whetted people's appetite at first, enjoying the pleasure of being noticed, and then continued talking eloquently after everyone urged him again and again.

"Everyone knows that there are mountains on both sides of the Yinyi River, which are submerged by the rushing water all the year round. No one knows what lies beneath the river."

"But from ancient times to the present, this Yinyi River has always been full of various mysteries and ancient sacrificial legends, such as a hundred-year-old fish king crashing and sinking a ship, and a thousand-year-old turtle spirit capsizing a boat and eating it... Another example is that the floods flood every year, and the people on both sides of the river offer sacrifices to the river. God, He Bo, throw twenty-eight young girls into the river for the river god to marry, and ask for no floods in the coming year."

"Although the Yinyi River has been cut off several times, but in the past few times it was a small-scale cut-off, and no great miracle happened, but this time the flow was cut off on a large scale, which is really rare and unheard of. Because This cut-off actually exposed thousands of caves at the foot of the mountain. Those thousands of caves are connected to each other and extend in all directions. They have been submerged under water all year round, and no one knows about it. And strange things happened in these thousands of caves... "

Ordinary people don't know about the Immortal Corpse Jie, it's a secret news in a small area, so these common people have never heard that when the Yinyi River was cut off in the early years, the Immortal Corpse was dug up.

That's why Uncle Lin, the owner of the coffin shop, was surprised when Jin An said that the dead body was dissected.

The scholar continued to speak eloquently: "The person who first discovered the Yinyi River's cut-off should be a small village at the source of the cut-off."

"Think about it, for the villagers on the bank of the river, who are used to the roar of the river, suddenly quiet, they will definitely get up and check immediately."

"It is precisely because of this that the villagers on the banks of the river discovered the thousands of caves exposed under the dry river bed."

"But these villagers were timid, and they didn't dare to go down to check the situation until dawn. As a result, they lost two of them not long after they entered these caves. Those caves are connected to each other. From the outside, they look like large and small water holes. But there are other caves, interlocking and extending in all directions, forming an underwater cave that is even bigger than it looks from the outside, and it is not an exaggeration to say that there are more than ten thousand caves."

"In order to find the two people who were lost, the villagers continued to descend into these underwater caves with the help of long ropes. As a result, they couldn't get to the end no matter how they walked. There are so many water holes in the cave like a fascinated array. Get people around."

"Just when the villagers were about to give up, a scream resounded through the cave. When the villagers found the screaming villager, they saw several floating corpses floating in the endless water in the cave."

"At this time, people who were scattered in other directions also heard screams one after another. The deeper they went into the cave, the more floating corpses they found. These villagers ran out in fright, and then rushed to Fucheng to report to the officials, saying that they found a water corpse. Going down to the corpse cave, two villagers are missing."

……

The army and the village brave who left the barracks and the brave camp marched all the way in a hurry, with dust on their cloaks all the way.

Finally, at midnight, they finally arrived at the destination of their trip.

This is the dangerous place at the corner where rockslides occurred when Jin'an came and the river was silted up.

And here, there are already many village braves from several nearby villages. Under the leadership of several Li Zhengs, they have sealed off the surrounding land and waterways to prevent people from entering by mistake.

As soon as the soldiers rushed to the scene, there was Li Zheng, who came forward to report the situation respectfully.

It turned out that there had been more than one mudslide here. The last landslide occurred on the mountain, perhaps because there was still a hidden risk of soil and rock loosening. A month later, a landslide occurred again yesterday.

The mudslide this time was worse than the last time, and it happened to be the narrowest part of the Yinyi River's sharp bend, blocking the river directly.

After the villager reported the situation, he urgently asked for help to find the two people who were lost in their village.

The leader of this thousand-man team is the cavalry guards of the dozen or so cavalry, each of them looks powerful and has sharp eyes, and they are all masters in the army who are decisive in killing.

These dozen or so riders were dominated by one of the bearded deputy commanders.

After hearing Li Zheng's report, the deputy commander did not immediately go down to the cave. It was night and his vision was poor at night, so it was inconvenient for him to go down to the river bed.Moreover, the sergeants had been exhausted from the hasty march for a day, and now they were exhausted and needed to camp for a night.

The lives of two ordinary villagers, before the lives of thousands of people, he can still decide which is more important.

Although this matter was cruel to those two ordinary villagers.

But compassion does not command soldiers.

The deputy commander and a dozen cavalry brothers who had dismounted from their horses clashed with steel plate armor, and came to the bank of the river calmly.

It's a pity that the Yinyi River at night is completely shrouded in the shadow of terror, and nothing can be seen.

"Deputy Commander, you said that the river stopped flowing overnight, could it be the same as the time when the corpse Jiexian was born?"

A brother cavalier asked curiously.

The bearded deputy commander's facial features were flickering under the torch in the night, and the expression on his face couldn't be seen clearly.

He stared at the riverbed beneath his feet, which had been exposed due to the dryness of the river.

However, in the dark night, nothing can be seen.

After being silent for a while, the bearded deputy commander spoke in a thick and rough voice: "Do you really believe that a mudslide that blocks the river will stop the river overnight?"

Seeing that no one answered, the deputy commander continued: "That's why I refused to go down the river at night in order to cherish the lives of my brothers. Instead, I went to see what happened to the so-called Thousand Corpses Cave after dawn tomorrow. .”

"I don't care if it is a cave of thousands of corpses or a cave of ten thousand corpses. I don't believe that I can bring so many brothers today, but I can't turn it upside down. If so many brothers are not enough, I will blow them all up, and it will be over once and for all. , so that you can come out and make trouble later.”

"What's going on here, it will be clear in the daytime tomorrow."

……

……

The next day.

The story of the Yinyi River being cut off has spread all over the city.

After a day of deliberation, the matter spread to nearby counties and villages along with the traveling merchants and ordinary people who left the city.

But the most talked about, after dinner, is about the Cave of Thousand Corpses that appeared after the Yinyi River stopped flowing overnight.

Although the officials have come forward to refute the rumors, saying that there is no such thing, let the people not spread rumors and create panic.

After the river stopped flowing, there were indeed thousands of caves, but there were no corpses at all. It was just a rumor spread by the people.

That's just an ordinary thousand caves, because the river has been washed away all year round, and the rocks under the river have been washed out of water holes.

The reason why the Yinyi River stopped flowing is also very simple, because the mud-rock flow collapsed and the river was cut off.

Although some officials came forward to refute the rumors, the folks still talked about the Thousand Corpse Cave with great interest, and this matter also reached the ears of Jin'an and the old Taoist priests.

In the early morning of this day, standing on the roof of the Taoist temple, Jin An, who had breathed out against the vigorous morning glow, used the Taoist technique of "searching for things" to steal a few peach queens without doing business, and went to share the peaches with Uncle Lin opposite the Taoist temple.

After following Jin An for so long, the old Taoist priest has learned a lot now, and now as long as Jin An sticks his butt, he will know what kind of fart Jin An is going to fart.

The old Taoist priest, who was sweeping the yard with a dustpan and a broom, immediately followed up with Jin'an to beg for peaches. In the end, the old Taoist priest, the sword cutter, and the goat all got the peaches.

When Jin An came to the opposite coffin shop today, he found that early in the morning, there was actually a business coming to the coffin shop. It was a woman with two maids.

It looks like someone from a big family.

Seeing that the coffin shop had business this morning, Jin An and the old Taoist originally planned to come to the coffin shop owner later, but Uncle Lin took the initiative to call Jin An and the old Taoist.

The two walked into the coffin shop curiously.

"Mrs. He, these two are the masters of the Taoist Temple of the Five Viscera. If you want to find someone to exorcise evil spirits, you might as well talk to them."

"This is Daoist Jin'an."

"This is Daoist Chen."

Uncle Lin introduced to the other party that in order to avoid people's eyes and ears, Jin An has been wearing the Taoist robe of the five internal organs since he came to Fucheng.

Exorcism?

Jin An was really curious now.

Since the other party is a noble lady, she can be seen to have status, status, and no shortage of money. How could she go to a small shop like Uncle Lin to find someone to exorcise evil spirits?
It's not that Jin An deliberately underestimated Uncle Lin.

The main thing is that this is indeed illogical.

Since he is a nobleman and his family is not short of money, he must go to the Bailong Temple, the first temple in Fucheng, to exorcise evil spirits. Even if there are several other big temples and Taoist temples in Fucheng, no matter how you look at it, there is no small temple.

Unexpectedly, when the woman saw Jin An and the old Taoist priest, she took another look at the dilapidated Taoist temple across the door from the coffin shop, a deserted small Taoist temple with no incense believers, she greeted them politely, and then told Uncle Lin that she would After thinking about it, he left with the pair of young maids behind him.

When the lady walked out of this street, Jin An threw a peach to Uncle Lin, and then asked Uncle Lin what happened to that lady just now?

Uncle Lin didn't care whether the peaches had been washed or not. Anyway, he didn't get sick after eating them. After taking a bite of the fresh and juicy peaches, he talked about the reason of the incident.

"That lady is the eldest lady from He Fu."

"Master He Guihe of He Mansion is one of the three major medicinal material merchants in Fucheng. These three major medicinal material merchants control most of the medicinal material purchase channels in Fucheng."

"However, recently, a family misfortune has happened in He Fu, because this kind of family misfortune should not be publicized too much, so the people of the He family can't look for those big temples, big Taoist temples, those places are full of incense, More or less, they will meet with famous people in Fucheng. So she came to me after listening to someone's introduction, and wanted me to introduce some exorcists with real skills to her."

"Perhaps it's because Mrs. He has been in a hurry to go to the doctor in recent days, and she has found a lot of charlatans, so she is a little on guard, so she needs to go back and think about it for a while."

Jin An asked curiously after hearing the words: "What kind of misfortune happened to the family?"

"Need to hide it like this, for fear of being known by outsiders?"

Uncle Lin shook his head this time and said, "Mrs. He didn't tell the truth. She was on high alert. She only said that she would inform her in private after she confirmed the candidate."

This was just a small episode, and Jin An didn't waste too much energy on it.

Instead, Jin An asked another question: "Why is Uncle Lin so determined to recommend us to Madam He?"

Uncle Lin continued to eat peaches and said, "Chen Daochang and Jin'an Xiaodaochang are both people with real skills."

Uncle Lin's words were a bit ambiguous.

On the contrary, the old Taoist beside him could not stop his brows dancing, and his face couldn't stop being happy.

After eating the peaches and chatting for a while, Jin An's life returned to the old routine. Tian has been consolidating his cultivation.

He was not in a hurry to confer martial arts cheats.

It took him a month to complete the entry speed of others in 30 to [-] years. He was worried that his foundation would not be stable, so he spent a lot of time polishing and accumulating what he had learned in the past few days.

There is no conflict between thick accumulation and steady progress.

And that night, the Yinyi River, which had been cut off overnight, miraculously restored its water level at night.

however.

Jin'an's peaceful life was broken by miserable cries after the third day.

This morning, Jin An, who was practicing in the private backyard of the Taoist temple, heard the crying for a long time, so he stopped his work and prepared to go out to watch to see which family members were crying.

As soon as he walked to the front yard of the Taoist temple, he ran into the old Taoist priest who came back from outside.

"Old man, what's the matter with the crying outside?"

The old Taoist said regretfully: "It's Mr. Ma on this street. The son of his family, Xiangyong, died. He died in a thousand caves. He didn't even see a corpse. I heard that the official's family went down to the cave this time. A lot of people died. Of the more than 1000 people who set out from the barracks and brave camp a few days ago, half of them died, and only half of them escaped. They are all left in the cave under the river."

The old Taoist said Mr. Ma, Jin An knew this man.

A month ago, when Jin An first arrived at the Taoist Temple of the Five Viscera, there was this old man in the house of the old people sitting at the door basking in the sun.

The person has a strong body and clear eyes. Unexpectedly, in just over a month, the white-haired person gave away the black-haired person.

"What's going on? Could it be that those people were drowned and didn't escape because the river water recovered the night before?"

(End of this chapter)