Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 12
The little shepherd boy left in a hurry, while Wang Cai was in high spirits and boasted to Mr. Wei: "These rural villagers don't know the importance of things. They hide in the mountain village and don't dare to show them. They dare to show off in front of Mr. Wei and discipline them. be snubbed."

Wang Heng was just about to praise Mr. Wang a few words, but when Wang Cai said all the good things, he said: "Sir, he is very observant and his deductions are very clever." He thought to himself that this was too dry and obviously not as lively and interesting as Xiaocai's.

Mr. Wei was in a good mood, and he wanted to be humble and said: "They are just picking up people's wisdom and reading from the story books. They can't be taken seriously. No matter how knowledgeable and resourceful the people in their village are, they are in a narrow location and have rarely seen the drama. It's not a good idea for a while." I was fooled."

Everyone laughed out loud after hearing this. For thousands of years, Zhuge Wuhou's image was so wise that he was almost like a demon, and the people revered him like a god. However, they had never heard that Wuhou was accomplished in storybooks. Therefore, a strange feeling arose involuntarily. I feel that this is probably the superiority of today's people over the ancients.

Under the influence of Mr. Wei, both Wang Heng and Wang Cai became lovers of story books, especially Wang Cai, who was the most fascinated. He had never studied much before, but after reading a few story books, he seemed to be proficient in writing.

Sitting down, my butt was very heavy, and the old vegetable gardening servant didn't take the initiative to pour a cup of tea. Wang Cai secretly thought that he was really a blind guy. He was obviously far from qualified for the self-cultivation of a servant.

When my butt was sore from sitting down, an old man in his sixties with a long beard arrived belatedly.

This old gentleman is wearing a black Taoist robe and looks thin. Looking at him, one feels that he has an air of immortality.

They greeted each other solemnly, and the old man raised his hands and said, "I am Zhuge Bojun, the current head of Xiagaolong Village. I heard from my sixth brother that a few gentlemen broke in from outside the village by mistake."

"Wei Li from Lanxi Academy."

"Mr. Wei's disciple Wang Heng"

"Mr. Wei's disciple Wang Cai"

After a brief exchange of greetings, Mr. Wei got straight to the point: "The three of us are handling the case for the county government, and we need your village's full cooperation."

Village Chief Zhuge said with a smile: "This place is rough and we are neglecting our distinguished guests. Please move to Bibo Fang. That is the office where the village does business. Let's discuss it together."

After saying that, Village Chief Zhuge walked ahead to clear the way.

Mr. Wei said: "The alleys in your village are like a maze. If you don't lead the way, we will never be able to find it. This is probably built based on the Eight Formations. It's very clever."

Wang Heng asked curiously: "Are all the people in your village descended from Zhuge Wuhou?"

Village chief Zhuge smiled but did not answer.

Everyone followed Village Chief Zhuge and saw him walking through the pool of clear water to where Yin Yu was.

Bibo Boat is a dry boat facing the lake, with carved beams and painted pillars, and a large round table for discussion.

The guests and the host were seated separately, and the boy servants served tea. The three of them sat and looked at the scenery on the lake.

Just as he was about to explain his purpose, he suddenly heard a boy coming to report: "Outside the four members, I have something urgent to do and I want to ask for instructions."

Village Chief Zhuge looked embarrassed and said apologetically: "You guys sit down for a while and I'll come back as soon as I can."

After he walked out quickly, the sky inside the Bibo Boat suddenly shook, all the cups and cups on the round table fell, and the three people on the table staggered and fell to the ground.

The surroundings were dark, and the three windows facing the lake of the Bibo Fang were nowhere to be found.

After the exclamation, Mr. Wei regained his composure, climbed up gropingly, and shouted, "Are you injured?"

Fortunately, except for Wang Cai, whose forehead hit the corner of the table and became swollen, no one else was injured.

Wang Cai said bitterly: "I didn't expect that the people in this village are so vicious. It's hard for us to walk at the entrance of the village. If he doesn't allow people to enter the village, he can just blow us away at the entrance of the village."

Wang Heng couldn't help but be surprised: "I don't know if there is any secret in his village, but he detained us indiscriminately. I didn't see clearly how the agency was triggered. Now we don't know where we are being held."

Mr. Wei groped up and down, then closed his eyes and meditated for a long time before saying: "The Bibo Boat is a whole mechanism. As soon as Village Chief Zhuge walked out, the people outside activated the mechanism and turned the Bibo Boat upside down."

Wang Cai asked in confusion: "Sir, where are we now?"

Mr. Wei said: "It should be at the bottom of the lake, probably not too far from the Yin Fish."

Wang Heng took a deep breath: "Sir, you are right, I smell a fishy smell of water."

"I'm locked under the water, what should I do?" Wang Cai complained endlessly.

Wang Heng said: "After thinking about it, there shouldn't be any fatal disaster. Even if they are not happy for us to enter the village and see some houses that are not shown to others, this is normal and will not be a crime." If you break the taboo, you should be silenced."

Wang Cai paused for a moment, and suddenly his voice trembled, and he said, "Is it possible that the people in his village believe in that kind of obscene temple and want to kill us as sacrifices?" What Xiao Cai said was terrifying, and for a moment everyone thought Two or three kinds of stories from the Devil's Mountain Village appeared in each of them, including braised, steamed, and beheaded. Fortunately, the surroundings were dark, otherwise they would see each other's expressionless face, which would make them even more frightened.

"Don't panic, wait and see what happens." Mr. Wei said.

Mr. Wei rubbed the four walls for a long time, and finally gave up: "There are stone walls on all sides."

Wang Cai shouted a few times, but his voice had some hollow echo, and he did not dare to shout too loudly for fear of causing disaster.

Time flew by for a few hours. Ever since the three people were trapped, no one had paid attention to them.

Mr. Wei asked everyone to take turns sleeping to save some energy.

In the silence, the sound of thunder in the hungry stomach kept coming and going.

When several people left the old house, it was around Shen Shi (around [-] p.m.), at least an hour or two had passed, and it was at least Wu Shi (around [-] p.m.).

Wang Heng said: "Xiaocai, are you still wearing the robe you carried this morning?"

Waking up with a start, the king reached out to the place where he had just rolled down, and soon found the robe.

There was still a lot of dry food, and I became even thirstier after sharing the food.

Suddenly lights flickered in the darkness, and a small hole appeared on the top of the stone wall, and a gentle call came: "Mr. Wei, are you okay?"

Several people were stunned and did not dare to act rashly.

The voice above said again: "I am Zhuge Xian, the shepherd boy who led you into the village during the day. I am here to save you."

Wang Cai said: "Hurry up and open the door and let us go."

Zhuge Xian said with a smile: "It's still early now, and people talking too much will miss things. I'm afraid you are too worried, so I just want to tell you. If you insist on it for two or three hours, the friend of Chou Yin will come (at three o'clock in the morning) to let you go." You go."

Wang Cai yelled: "Don't be too vain, get some water to drink first."

Zhuge Xian hissed repeatedly, and Zilaishu said: "Brother Xiaocai, please speak softly, and I will bring you water right now."

With the faint light above his head, Mr. Wei signaled the two disciples with his eyes and watched the changes.

Not long after, Zhuge Xian left and came back. He leaned into the hole and whispered, "I'll throw a few oranges down. You guys can quench your thirst first."

This move released a certain degree of sincerity.

In fact, no one dared to drink Zhuge Xian's tea, but it would be different if it was replaced with oranges.

There were about ten oranges in total, and each person got three or four oranges.

Zhuge Xian said: "You guys take a rest for a while. I will definitely come and let you go in two hours."

Then the darkness continued, and no one dared to speak for fear of attracting attention.

After a long time, Wang Heng and Xiaocai were shaken awake by Mr. Wei.

Wang Heng tightened his clothes and woke up in the autumn night. The chill hit him. The boy's eyes were bleary and he didn't know what he was mumbling.

The stone wall moved slowly, making a dull turning sound.

There was a faint light in the passage, enough to see the way ahead. The shepherd boy Zhuge Xian was alone, waiting outside.

Zhuge Xian made a gesture and walked ahead to lead the way, and everyone quickly followed.

With vigilance in mind, everyone walked forward in silence for a long time. The passage was up and down, but it was relatively smooth.

As the fragrance of earth hit their ears and nose, everyone walked out of the passage and came to an open place, with dark distant mountains in front of them.

Zhuge Xian operated the mechanism and sealed the entrance of the cave. In the dark night, it could be vaguely seen that it had returned to the appearance of a rockery. At first glance, it was completely unexpected that this was an authentic entrance.

(End of this chapter)