Chapter 12 2
Gao Hongjin never missed any opportunity to make friends, so he would try to get to know anyone he was interested in. When he saw the luxury SUV with the "Round Egg" brand, he immediately guessed that the person riding in this car was not an ordinary person.
Xiao Cao winked at Mu Linfeng. Although Mu Linfeng was not good at dealing with people, he still understood what Xiao Cao meant. So he smiled and said to Gao Hongjin, "Xiao Cao was my comrade in the recruit company. Now he is a driver."
Having said that, Mu Linfeng waved to Zhang Xiaosan and Gao Hongjin: "You go home first, I'll go to the old house to see the friends who came." After that, Mu Linfeng and Xiao Cao walked towards the back of the village.
Looking at the backs of the two, Gao Hongjin said to Zhang Xiaosan unhappily, "What secret do you have that you are hiding from us?"
Zhang Xiaosan didn't care about it at all. He ignored Gao Hongjin and turned to walk into the alley.
When Mu Linfeng and Xiao Cao arrived at the gate of the old house, Professor Dongfang and Li Jianping just came out of the yard, Ling Xiao followed behind them. Mu Linfeng hurried over to greet the professor.
Professor Dongfang joked, "I see a few new houses have just been built inside. It seems that they are planning to stay in Shajiabang permanently."
Mu Linfeng understood what the professor meant, and guessed the purpose of his visit. He smiled and pretended to be confused and said, "The house has just been built and cannot be lived in yet. We can only move in when it is almost done."
Professor Dongfang stood in front of the gate and looked around, praising it repeatedly, "Not bad, very good, it's a great place. I also hope to have a small house in such a place surrounded by green mountains and fresh air to spend my remaining years in!"
"Haha... Welcome, Professor. I will prepare the best house for you. I plan to rebuild the whole old house to ensure that there is room for the professor to live."
Professor Dongfang nodded: "Okay, I will come when the time comes..." Then the professor changed the subject, "Lin Feng, was the Mu family's ancestral tomb-viewing skill found in the old house?"
Mu Linfeng said truthfully: "No, it was found in my great-grandfather's grave. Professor, it's not convenient to talk here, would you like to come sit down where I live?"
Professor Dongfang waved his hand and said, "It's okay. It's quiet and open here to talk..." The professor paused for a moment, then asked in a consulting tone, "If it's convenient, take us to see your great-grandfather's grave... We can talk while walking..."
"Of course . The yard is not easy to walk in. Let's go around from that side." As he said that, Mu Linfeng led the way in front, and the five people walked towards the locust tree forest behind the old house.
Professor Dongfang walked beside Mu Linfeng and said casually, "I was chatting with a few elders in the village just now. They all gave a thumbs up when talking about your Mu family, especially your great-grandfather. They admired him very much. I heard that your great-grandfather disappeared because he tried to stop the Japanese devils from robbing the Heng King's Tomb?"
"My great-grandfather did disappear with Japanese Colonel Pu Jianyilang and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers. No one knows the specific circumstances. I have read the "Grave Notes" left by my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather had the idea of dying together with the Japanese devils, but I don't know how he did it."
Professor Dongfang said in an admiring tone: "Your great-grandfather is indeed a national hero. This is also the reason why your Mu family has won praise from the villagers..."
At this point the professor suddenly asked, "So your great-grandfather's grave is from the Yiguan family?"
"My great-grandmother died a few years before my great-grandfather, so there is my great-grandmother's coffin in the grave. Before my great-grandfather disappeared, he held a funeral for himself. This incident was widely circulated in the local area. A 'lump' personally presided over the funeral for himself..."
"Yes, I heard about this from several fellow villagers. It was very well known in the surrounding area at that time. Later, the villagers learned that your great-grandfather was determined to die. He was truly a chivalrous hero."
As they were talking, several people came to the edge of the old locust tree forest. The dense branches and leaves blocked out the sun. As they walked into the forest, they immediately felt a slight chill, which was at least several degrees different from the temperature outside the forest.
Mu Linfeng smiled and said to the professor: "You are here at the wrong time. If the forest is full of locust flowers in spring, the whole village will be filled with the fragrance of flowers. You can also make locust flower cakes to eat. The taste is indescribable..."
"Haha... I've made you say so much that I don't want to leave here."
Not far into the woods, you can see a tall tomb. Such a magnificent tomb is rare in the mountains. Several people stepped onto the stone steps. Professor Dongfang walked around the tomb and then stood in front of the tombstone to carefully read the epitaph on it.
Mu Linfeng looked at the professor, wondering why he came to his great-grandfather's grave. Professor Dongfang looked at him for a while, then turned around, looked at Mu Linfeng and asked softly, "Lin Feng, I heard that you are planning to leave the research group. Can you tell me why?"
Mu Linfeng felt that the professor's eyes could see through his heart, so he had to tell the truth: "Yes... it's because of "The Emperor's Burial Mountain Map"..."
"Because of the 'Emperor's Burial Mountain Map'?" Professor Dongfang was obviously a little surprised by Mu Linfeng's answer.
Li Jianping and the other three looked at Mu Linfeng in surprise. Xiao Cao was a quick-talker and asked immediately, "So you found the "Emperor Burial Mountain Map"?"
Mu Linfeng smiled and said, "No, if I find the "Emperor's Burial Mountain Map", I will definitely tell the professor."
Professor Dongfang looked at Mu Linfeng and said seriously, "Lin Feng, this matter is very important. On a larger scale, it has a very important meaning for the development of human civilization. On a smaller scale, it also concerns the reputation of our Chinese nation. I believe you will take it seriously."
"Professor, I know. Please listen to me. It is true that the "Emperor Burial Mountain Map" has not been found. The reason I say this is because I found a letter left by my great-grandfather. Many people know that our Mu family has been a "knot" for generations, but no one knows that my ancestor has a very secret identity, a "witness keeper"..."
Mu Linfeng noticed that when he said the three words "vigil keeper", Professor Dongfang and several others showed surprised expressions, which were similar to his own expressions when he saw these three words.
Mu Linfeng took a breath and continued, "Our Mu family's unique skill of tomb-finding was taught by a wandering Taoist priest. Before teaching the skill, the Taoist priest asked our ancestor to swear to be a 'spirit keeper'. Then, while teaching the skill, he also handed over the 'Emperor's Burial Mountain Map' to the ancestor. There are a total of ten extremely secret tombs on the 'Emperor's Burial Mountain Map'. The duty of the spirit keeper is to guard these ten ancient tombs and prevent them from being destroyed or harassed. Therefore, the descendants of the Mu family must first swear to be 'spirit keepers' before they can learn the unique skill of tomb-finding..."
Hearing this, Xiao Cao was surprised and asked: "How can we guard all ten ancient tombs? And the tomb of You Houxi is still on the island."
"When the mausoleums of ancient emperors were built, they would leave a passage for the souls of the deceased to leave. This passage would lead directly from the underground palace to the outside. The passage would be opened periodically, and the opening time of different mausoleums was different. Generally, it would be opened once every sixty years. The 'spiritual keeper' was to take care of the mausoleum when the passage was open, because many tomb robbers would take advantage of this time to enter the mausoleum's underground palace through the passage and steal ancient tombs."
Li Jianping and Xiao Cao had no research on ancient tombs, and they found what Mu Linfeng said a little unbelievable, so they both looked at Professor Dongfang unconsciously.
Professor Dongfang nodded slowly and said softly, "What Lin Feng said does exist. When each imperial mausoleum was built, an airway leading to the outside would be left for the emperor's soul to enter and exit. For example, there has always been a saying about the tomb of Qin Shihuang that 'the shepherd boy burned the underground palace'. It is recorded in the Biography of Liu Xiang in the Book of Han: A shepherd boy was grazing sheep near the Qin Mausoleum. One day, he suddenly found that a sheep was missing. After some searching, he found that the sheep had fallen into a deep cave. The child took a torch and entered the cave to look for the lost sheep. It turned out that this cave was the airway of the Qin Mausoleum, leading directly to the underground palace of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. The shepherd boy walked a long way down, but accidentally lost his torch and ignited the underground palace, causing a fire that even burned Qin Shihuang's coffin. This story is recorded in books such as "Shui Jing Zhu" and "San Qin Ji", so the saying of 'the shepherd boy burning the underground palace' is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and some people still believe it. This story also proves that what Lin Feng said is true..."
Ling Xiao, who was standing nearby, suddenly interrupted and said, "So the 'Emperor's Burial Mountain Map' not only has the location of the emperor's tombs, but it must also indicate the time when the airway of each emperor's tomb is opened, so that the 'spiritual guardians' can find these tombs and guard them."
Xiao Cao reacted quickly. He immediately asked Mu Linfeng: "So your ancestors must have been to Tianzhi Floating Bridge Island, and they also know the tomb of You Houxi."
"It should be." Mu Linfeng answered simply.
At this time, Li Jianping first understood the reason why Mu Linfeng quit the research group. He looked at Mu Linfeng and asked, "You have now inherited the ancestral skill of tomb-watching, which means you have sworn to become a 'spiritual keeper'?"
Mu Linfeng nodded vigorously without saying anything.
Li Jianping continued, "What the research team needs you to do is to find You Houxi's tomb, but the duty of the coffin keeper is to protect the tomb from being disturbed. These two are exactly opposite, so you can only choose one. Am I right?"
"Yes." Mu Linfeng answered briefly, and then explained, "The letter left by my great-grandfather did not explain the duties of the 'spiritual keeper'. It only required a poisonous oath before finding the ancestral skills. I was eager to find it at the time, so I swore to be a 'spiritual keeper' without thinking too much. After seeing the letter together with the tomb-viewing technique, I realized that I was in a very embarrassing situation..."
"So that's how it is." Professor Dongfang said thoughtfully. He could understand Mu Linfeng's conflicting heart. It is very painful for a person to face such a choice.
Seeing Professor Dongfang showing an expression of great understanding towards him, Mu Linfeng felt very embarrassed, because he had once promised the professor, and now he regretted it. It was the first time for him to go back on his word.
Mu Linfeng pondered for a moment and continued, "All I found were the 'Grave Divining Notes' and the unique skills of tomb divination left by our ancestors. I did not find any trace of the 'Emperor's Burial Mountain Map'. Later, I searched all possible places where the map might be hidden, but I still found nothing."
At this time, Professor Dongfang suddenly turned around, pointed at the tombstone next to him and asked Mu Linfeng: "Lin Feng, if your great-grandfather faced the same choice as you, what decision would he make?"
"This..." Mu Linfeng didn't know how to answer for a moment. He suddenly understood the professor's purpose in asking to come here. The professor wanted to use his great-grandfather's story to influence and change himself.
