Chapter 117 Dragon Scale
June 20th
Lao Bao and Xu Chong stared at Shen Kuo in a daze, both hating him for keeping it a secret. Only Huai Liang hoped that Shen Kuo would not say anything first, and give him some time to guess. For him, it was one thing to admire Di Qing for finally seeing through all the worldly things, and it was another thing for him to win any quick-answer session.
"Mr. Shen, wait a minute." Huai Liang stopped him.
"Master, have you thought of this too?" Shen Kuo said with great generosity.
"Let me take a guess."
"Master, please."
Xu Chong and Bao Zheng held their tempers and waited for the two men to be polite.
"Xu Jieji, if you blow the whistle, the hat monster will come over by itself?"
"Exactly."
"What can you see when you fly over it?"
"I was rolling on the eaves at the time. I didn't see anything, but I felt the wind passing by, and... I felt a ringing in my ears and a swollen head, but the ringing seemed to echo in my head, but there was clearly no sound."
"Yes, that's right. I once secretly saw Yu Jing practicing the hat monster under the Kaibao Pagoda. Later, I went up and found it empty. But the eaves of the pagoda were covered with feces, which were black and dry, not like bird feces, but more like rat feces. Later, I saw a bat hanging upside down on the top of the pagoda."
"Bat?" Xu Chong opened his mouth wide. Shen Kuo beside him was not surprised, but just smiled and said nothing. He neither nodded nor shook his head.
"I walked in the tunnel under the tower with a torch, and often startled the bats. However, these flying squirrels can fly without light. When they fly over our heads, we feel a tingling sensation in our heads and ears. It is obvious that they make sounds that we cannot hear. Just like hawks and dogs, they can also hear things that we cannot hear."
Shen Kuo finally nodded, and it was obvious that his judgment was the same as the monk's.
"Master, the day I followed you to open the pagoda, I also reached the top of the pagoda first, but didn't see you. At that time, a group of bats also flew past me, and then the hat monster appeared. I was so scared that I just rushed down from the top of the pagoda, but I lost my way and went down one more floor, and ended up in the tunnel."
"Good, it seems like a blessing in disguise."
"Bat? Was it a bat that was dragging the hat monster?" Bao Zheng asked.
"I'm not sure yet, but the first time I heard about the Hat Monster on Yulin Street, it appeared when there was no moon. After that, every time it appeared, it was dark and windy. I guessed that it had some subtleties that needed to be hidden. At that time, I guessed that there might be someone pulling the strings. The Hat Monster thirty years ago was just like this, nothing more than a smoking Kongming lantern. Later, when I saw it for the first time on Pan Street, I saw the Hat Monster flying up and down between the buildings. If there was someone pulling the strings on the roof, they would definitely step on the roof. I saw it again downstairs of Baifan Building. I saw it turn in the street, flying faster and faster, as if it was pulled by an invisible creature. Now that I think about it, the so-called invisible creature is actually a bat flying in the air, following the silent whistle."
"If so, how does the hat monster always ride on clouds and mist?" Bao Zheng asked.
"The master has pointed out this matter. When performing gods in Tokyo Tile, they use sieves, crushed ice, hot water, and flour to create thick fog."
"Isn't ice very heavy?" Xu Chong said.
"Good question!" Shen Kuo said, "Why is the hat monster always so short when it appears?"
"Amitabha, have you thought of it, young master?"
"Mix flour with ice chips and place it on boiling water. It can indeed produce smoke, and unlike the smoke produced by rosin gunpowder, it has no odor."
"But it's still a bit heavy." Huailiang said with a smile.
"Of course I know that. I don't know how the Hat Monster did it, but I have some ideas. It will have roughly the same effect. It doesn't require a sieve, crushed ice, flour, or hot water. Master, are you willing to guess?"
"Let me guess, no flour, but chalk?"
"Haha, yes, chalk is indeed used."
"Chalk ash? What is chalk ash?" Bao Zheng finally couldn't help asking.
"It's also called calcined stone powder, or burnt lime."
"What about this burnt lime?"
"When this thing comes into contact with water, it can generate heat and fog." Huailiang continued.
"So what?" Lao Bao continued to ask blankly.
"These poor monks have not thought of this yet, but I think Master Shen must have some clever ideas?"
"Make a bowl out of ice and place it upside down on the chalk. Connect a Kongming lantern to it. It's basically like this. When the chalk and water droplets in the ice bowl meet, it will generate intense heat, which will cause the ice bowl to melt faster, and the water vapor inside will become thicker and heavier, but it cannot be released and is pressed in the ice bowl."
"Great!" the monk exclaimed. From that moment on, only the two of them could understand their conversation.
"At first, the ice bowl was too heavy to rise, but as the chalk and more and more water soaked it, the heat below became unbearable, and more and more water vapor accumulated. Eventually, it pushed the broken ice bowl up into the air, carrying with it thick smoke that enveloped the Kongming lantern. This mist has some benefits."
"You just can't smell it?"
"Yes, it is indeed tasteless, but it still has a use. It can make Kongming lanterns fly faster."
"Is it the force of being forced to push back?"
"Sure enough, the master understands me. With this reverse thrust, the hot mist will gush out and lift up the Kongming lantern, and the water vapor will accumulate in the lampshade, like diffused clouds, slowly spreading around, which is the scene we see as clouds in the sky. As the debris is consumed, it becomes lighter and lighter, and the speed becomes faster and faster. The thick fog gradually consumes and is closer to being revealed. So every time it appears, it only flies past our eyes for a moment, or draws our attention away, or drops the rope ladder to be mysterious, and then quickly disappears into the night."
"Hmm..." Lao Bao nodded, twisting his beard with his hand. He imagined that the hat monster flying in the clouds would disappear behind a roof in a flash, where a whistleblower would collect the things and sneak away. This was the scene, but how it was realized was getting more and more confusing. Shen Kuo and Huai Liang laughed together, as if they were congratulating each other for getting the answer right, ignoring the fact that others didn't understand.
"Is this feasible?" asked Lao Bao.
"My lord, I don't know yet, but I have thought about all the steps in my mind. I can try to make a similar one to verify it. But I don't have time now. In less than a day, the Grand Nuo Ceremony will be held in Yuqing Zhaoying Palace. We have to see what tricks the Grand Nuo Master, who never shows his true face, will come up with."
"Don't forget, you still have to go to Mr. Pei's shop quickly," said Xu Chong.
"Yes, it is written on the little apple cloth that there is something important in the account book there ."
"There is no time to lose, you should go there quickly. Then come back to discuss the matter of Yuqing Palace." Bao Longtu said.
"There is one more thing I'd like to trouble you to check, sir." Huailiang said suddenly.
"Master, please speak."
"Yu Jing once worked at the East and West Eight Construction Departments as a material craftsman, in charge of the construction inside and outside the palace. I would like to trouble you to check whether the annual repair of Zuo Chengtian Xiangfu Gate has anything to do with him?"
"After the Chiwen on the door of Zuo Chengtian Xiangfu burst, Lord Shi had people investigate. In the past three years, it was not him, but someone else. The craftsmen were screened one by one by the Imperial City Bureau, and no flaws were found. They had nothing to do with Yu Jing."
"Three years is too short, could you please investigate further?"
"Three years is not enough?"
"In my opinion, the opponent's layout is very deep and far-reaching. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of a guest star, they might not have launched an attack this year. Therefore, we must not take it lightly."
"Okay, leave it to me, I'll do it right away."
June 20th, Yin hour
The three men rode their horses towards Boss Pei's shop. They soon arrived at the shop, where someone was guarding the door. Shen Kuo looked up and saw that the windows on the second floor were broken, as if there had been a fierce fight.
"Look, that female... bandit went up from here."
"Did you see clearly that the female bandit is Jin'er?"
"Hey, how could I be wrong? Do you think she could be the masked leader?"
"Can you see she's missing a finger?"
"I've never seen it before. Not only did he not lose any fingers, but his skills were also amazing. He threw the flying knife with extreme viciousness and showed no regard for mercy at all."
"Xu Jieji, she has no feelings for you."
"That's true..." Xu Chong swallowed hard, "It's also because I was too stupid to be so sentimental."
The three of them entered the house together and went straight up to the second floor. As they walked up the stairs, Xu Chong slowed down again, as if he was thinking of something.
"If Jin'er is not the leader, what role does she play?"
"In my opinion, she is more powerful than the leader. She should be the mastermind behind all these things and the biggest spy hidden in Tokyo by the Liao State."
"Big boss, why do you work as Xiaoping's maid?" Xu Chong asked.
"This is not difficult to speculate. I think she sneaked into the palace first, hiding beside the queen must have a plan, but was expelled from the palace by the government. She had nothing to do. At this time, the Liao State wanted to subdue the Maitreya Sect. So they sent her to hide beside Xiaoping , probably because they didn't trust Xiaoping and Yu Jing."
"Now that Xiao Ping has returned to the Maitreya Sect, will there be any danger?"
"Of course, there is danger all the time, but Jin'er probably doesn't know that Xiaoping is Wen Yanbo's spy and has a younger sister, Yong'er. She hasn't been with Xiaoping for a long time."
The three of them went upstairs. Boss Pei's body had been put down, lying on the table with his arms and legs spread out.
"I wonder why Jin'er wanted to poison him?"
"The only option is to kill them to silence them. Their plan has reached a point of desperate gamble, and we cannot leave any more clues."
The three of them walked to the cabinet where Jin'er had entered, pushed open the door, and found a ladder inside. It was obviously a secret door leading to a secret room in the wall.
Shen Kuo and Huai Liang did not go down. Only Xu Chong was allowed to climb down the ladder to investigate. As expected, the secret room below was very small, only big enough for one person to enter, and there were not many things, only a pile of account books. Xu Chong brought those account books up, only to see that they were already splattered with oil.
"It seems that Jin'er came here this time to destroy these account books." Shen Kuo said.
"Why?"
"It's probably the same as killing Boss Pei, all to destroy evidence. When you ran into her, she was just coming out, and she must have been looking for a candle. Once it was lit, everyone rushed in and saw Boss Pei's body, and they thought she burned the account books first and then committed suicide, which is what she wanted. It can be seen that their evil plan has indeed come to an end, and they want to erase all traces."
"That is to say, there are important secrets hidden in these account books?" Xu Chong realized.
Xu Chong quickly lit the lamp and moved Boss Pei's body to one side of the table. The three of them squeezed to the other side of the table and began to look through the account book for the month of Bingchen in the year of Guisi. After finding it, they looked through it. Unexpectedly, it was only a month's account book, but it actually recorded a lot of content, all of which were rare and strange things from all over the world. There were horns of Champa black rhinoceros, eight-foot ivory from Sindhu, lion's mane from the Western Regions, Ganoderma lucidum on the top of Qilian Mountain, pine fat from Longmen Mountain in western Sichuan, seven-foot-long corals from the South China Sea, and nine-foot-long hawksbill turtle shells on Pulao Reef, six-foot-long dry bones from the giant tomb at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain, three-foot-long giant snake sloughs from Zhongnan Mountain, and rattan armor from the immortal soldiers of Ailao Mountain... They were all strange things, not like what normal people would use, and some of them didn't seem to exist in the world. The three of them stared at each other for a long time, watching the east gradually light up, and they couldn't figure out what was going on.
"I think it's just a trick." Huailiang suddenly slapped the table. He slapped it a little hard, and Boss Pei, who was lying on the table with his eyes wide open, shook a few times.
"A trick?" Shen Kuo said.
"They are all weird things written casually, but there should be useful things hidden in them, but we can't read them."
"What should we do then?"
"Let's go back to Mr. Bao without further ado and see how his investigation goes," said the monk.
The three of them returned together. Along the way, Huailiang had a gloomy face and carefully pondered every word he saw in the account book.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the three of them returned to the Military Headquarters, and Lao Bao came out to greet them excitedly.
"Master, it is just as you said. Zuo Chengtian Xiangfu Gate was renovated three years ago by a man named Chang Sanhu from Yu Jing. It is said that he had some dealings with Yu Jing, and his whereabouts are unknown now."
"That's right. I know that Yu Jing has a close confidant, whose bandit nickname is Jiama Chang Biao, and he should be this Chang Sanhu." said the monk.
"But what does his repair of the gate three years ago have to do with the burning and exploding of the Chiwen on the gate?"
"Did you see it clearly when the Chiwen exploded that day?" asked the monk.
"It was more than real, it was like a living dragon in front of my eyes," Xu Chong said. "That day, a piece of dragon skin exploded at my feet. I picked it up and saw that it was soft and slightly hot, and the scales on it could still be peeled off."
"Yes, I saw it too. It really did explode like a living dragon rising into the air, and what fell were not rubble, but dragon scales."
The monk walked in front of the crowd several times with his hands behind his back and suddenly stopped.
"How long is the Chiwen on Zuo Chengtian Gate?"
"About two zhang long?" Bao Zheng said.
"It's two meters long when bent, and it will be longer when straightened," said the monk.
"So what?"
"Mr. Shen, do you remember that there was a strange thing on the account book, which was the skin of Zhong Nanshan's three-meter-long giant snake?"
"Snake slough? Isn't it snake skin?"
"Yes, it's snake skin, three meters long, and it also contains pine fat from Longmen Mountain in western Sichuan."
