Chapter 15: Opening the Treasure Wood Tower
The third day of the second month, at the time of Shen.
Shen Kuo and Xu rushed out of the Yang family mansion. They were not familiar with each other yet and were just trying to find some topics to chat about when they saw the big house opposite.
"Xu Jieji, who's that family over there? I remember when I came here more than ten years ago, it was an abandoned house."
"Haha, Mr. Shen, you don't know that now it is not an abandoned house, but the residence of the prince consort."
"I remember it was once the residence of Meng Chang, Lord of Shu?"
"I just came to Beijing a few years ago, so I don't know these old stories. I just heard from Master Yang that the Prince Consort's Mansion is full of yin energy. How come I didn't know about it before? It turns out there is such a reason."
"Did Xu Jieji just arrive in Beijing?"
"That's right. It was originally the Prime Minister who asked me to send some tributes to the Prime Minister's Office of Luzhou in the twelfth lunar month to the capital, so that I could get to know the officials of the three yamen of the Palace Front Department. But I didn't expect to encounter this incident. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, I was packing my luggage at the Military Head Office outside Xihua Gate to return to Luzhou, but I was urgently transferred to Xihua Gate to guard the palace. Later, Mr. Zhang from the Imperial City Department sent me to guard Yulin Street, saying that no outsiders were allowed to trample on the snow. In the middle of the night, I was transferred by the eunuch Shi to Bao Longtu's office to serve. It was really like a dream. Now I pass on information to the officials every day, and because I am careful in my work, I often do some investigations and inquiries."
"Does Xu Jieji still need to enter the palace to guard?"
"Every three days, we have to report to the palace and obey the orders of the Imperial Guards. Originally, the two departments were responsible for guarding the palace and the outside world. We were under the command of the Ministry of War, so naturally we couldn't go in. However, I heard that the emperor felt that there might be something fishy about this case and that some of the soldiers were involved, and that foreign soldiers who came from far away would not be involved. So I was awarded a badge to enter the palace and to go in and out of the palace on duty. Now I can't go back to my hometown, and I have to rush around in the palace in the capital every day."
The two walked side by side, chatting about the case. But soon Shen Kuo's donkey could not keep up with Xu Chong's good horse. The old donkey was eating black beans and taking a breath, and then was led out to drive again. It was angry and refused to run hard, but walked slowly. When the two arrived at the tomb of Shan Xiongxin in the northeast corner, it was already dark.
There were soldiers guarding the tombstone to prevent common people from scraping moss off the tombstone to make medicine at home. Since the story of the Taoist monk Bai Gu sitting on the tombstone and ascending to heaven spread, all kinds of strange theories have emerged. The most ridiculous one is that some powder scraped from the tombstone can be used as medicine to treat gynecological diseases. There have been cases where guards have stolen the fragments of the tombstone and sold them.
The soldiers guarding here now are all imperial guards from other places and the imperial guards from the city, as well as some disciples of Zhang Zhenren from Mount Longhu. There are no servants from the Kaifeng government.
Arriving at the crime scene on Yulin Street, Xu Chong went to look for Li Dadan, who was closest to the black cloud of the white-bone monster and had the clearest view. Shen Kuo circled around the stone tablet. It had been nearly a month, and there had been rain and snow in between, so there were no traces left at the scene.
When he reached the third circle, he looked up inadvertently and saw a gloomy ancient tower next to the northern city wall.
He called over his personal soldiers and said, "Excuse me, brother, is that tower over there the Kaibao Temple Tower?"
"My Lord, it is the Kaibao Temple Pagoda. But the temple under the pagoda has been abandoned."
"Oh, when I came to the capital last time, the Kaibao Pagoda was still a leaning tower, but now it is upright."
"Alas, although the tower is upright, it is also abandoned."
"Why are you sighing? If there is something hidden, please tell me."
"The tower was originally a little tilted, but it was fine. After it was straightened, many strange things happened. People said that the tower was built to suppress the evil spirits. The master Yu Hao surveyed the terrain, wind and water, and deliberately built a tilted tower that leans to the northwest, using the northwest wind to stabilize the wooden tower, forming a situation where the tower is filled with water and fire, which can ensure that it is safe for a hundred years and will not be invaded by water, fire, demons and evil spirits. Even the scholar Ouyang Xiu, who saw the wonders of it, called Yu Hao the best craftsman in the country. But who would have thought that ten years ago, a man came A monk from another place used his skills to straighten the leaning tower. The tower was straightened, but the feng shui was damaged, and the evil spirits below were not allowed to escape. A dozen years ago, the temple was burned to the ground by a mysterious fire, leaving only the tower. The temple was eventually abandoned. People often saw ghosts under the tower at night, and the northeast of the city has been deserted since then. Now, the Kaibao Temple is a mule and horse market during the day, and daring criminals often trade stolen goods there at dawn and dusk. Because the buyers and sellers cannot see each other's faces, it is also called the "ghost market."
"Is it because of the rumor that there are ghosts in the name of Ghost Market?"
"I dare not say. I only know that in Tokyo, if parents see their children crying and refusing to sleep, they will mention this ghost under the pagoda that eats children who can't sleep peacefully, and the crying will stop immediately."
"Why is it called 'Night Ghost'?"
"It is said that the ghosts that pass by the tower are seen on nights when there is no light, the clouds are thick and the moon is hidden, so it is called the Dark Night Ghost. In fact, it is not only seen on dark nights. There are also rumors that when the moon is dark and the wind is strong, thieves often gather under the tower and are mistaken for ghosts."
Shen Kuo nodded. He had personally witnessed the construction of the pagoda. When he was a child in the capital, he saw Huai Bing pull out the iron ox from the Yellow River, so he regarded the monk as a god. He also went to see him when he heard that he was supervising the construction of the pierless Hongqiao on the Bian River. He also went to see the construction of the pagoda at Kaibao Temple, but he went back with his father after traveling for more than half a year and did not see the completion of the construction of the pagoda. Therefore, it was the first time he saw the tall Kaiyuan Wooden Pagoda. As for the saying that the pagoda was upright but it ruined the Feng Shui, it was the first time he heard it and he did not believe it.
He leaned on Shan Xiongxin's tombstone and looked at the dark tower behind him, and his memories brought him back to his youth. He vaguely remembered that he rushed here to find his idol Huai Bing, but saw the monk standing under the leaning tower thinking hard.
He squeezed through the crowd and came to the monk. The monk also had an amazing memory and immediately remembered that it was the child he had seen by the Bian River a few months ago, and he laughed.
"Why are we so predestined, young man?"
"Master, it's not fate, I heard that you are in this pagoda, and I will be returning home with my father tomorrow, so I came here to take another look at your skills."
Huai Bing came over and touched Shen Kuo's head.
"Master, why were you so worried just now? But this tower cannot be corrected?"
"No, I already know the corrective technique. Once the equipment is ready in a few days, it will be completed in one go. I just suddenly thought of another thing that seems to have no logic."
"What could possibly stump the master?" asked the ten-year-old Shen Kuo.
"I was just thinking, if I stand on the top of this leaning tower, holding a copper ball in each hand, one weighing ten pounds and the other weighing five pounds, and drop the two balls at the same time, which one will land first?" Huai Bing pointed to the top of the leaning tower.
"Master, are you thinking about this?"
"Exactly. Young man, let me ask you, what is your opinion?"
"I...I think it must be the ten-pound ball that hit the ground first."
"Oh? Let me ask you again, when the ten-jin heavy ball landed, where was the five-jin light ball?"
"Still halfway up the tower."
Shen Kuo nodded affirmatively. He couldn't understand why the monk was so obsessed with such a simple thing.
“How did you come to this conclusion?”
"It's reasonable to guess."
But the monk frowned and shook his head.
"I told you last time: Tao may be tangible or intangible, but it can be followed, verified, calculated, and repeated."
"I will keep the great theory in my heart and never forget it."
"But you forgot. You can't just assume things based on your own experience, instead of verifying them yourself. Come on, let's go up and verify them again."
Huai Bing led Shen Kuo to the bottom of the tower, where there were actually two iron balls and several deep pits on the ground. Huai Bing seemed to have tested it before, more than once. Shen Kuo was shocked. Could his intuition be wrong?
Huai Bing held up the big ball, and Shen Kuo held up the small one. The interior of the tower gate had been sealed off for construction, so they walked up the spiral scaffolding from the outside.
The two men reached the top of the tower panting, each holding a ball, and let go at the same time at Huai Bing's command.
An abnormal scene occurred. Shen Kuo watched the two iron balls fall to the ground almost at the same time. He was stunned and could only remember hearing Huai Bing laughing in his ears.
"Sir, sir..." Xu Chong spoke, awakening Shen Kuo from his old memories.
"Oh, so the witness is here?"
Li Dabing was standing about seven or eight feet away, looking frightened, probably not wanting to get too close to the tombstone.
Shen Kuo could still see fear in his eyes.
"My dear, were you closest to that thing that day?"
"Is that wrong? I was the only one who was scared to the point of shitting and pissing that day."
Shen Kuo asked a few detailed questions about the situation at that time, and Li Dabao answered fluently. It was obvious that he had been asked the same questions countless times and was familiar with the answers.
Shen Kuo pondered for a moment and asked again: "Has the white-boned demon in the puppet show ever really moved?"
"What..." Li Dabing was confused for a moment. It seemed that no one had asked this question before.
"Sir, the thin wires under its fingers and the skeleton puppet below are moving."
"I'm asking you, are your fingers moving?"
"This... It's been too long, I can't remember it, but if the puppet is moving, its fingers should be moving too, right? This is a logical guess."
"Don't let reasoning replace seeing with your own eyes for everything." Shen Kuo said loudly.
Xu Chong walked closer and asked, "Mr. Shen, what's the meaning of asking this?"
"I wonder if this skeleton is also a puppet. Is it just a big puppet leading a small puppet?"
"Everyone who saw it at the time said that the little puppet was dancing with its weapon and jumping around very agilely," said Xu Chong, while Li Dabing beside him nodded vigorously to prove that it was indeed the case.
"If that's the case, why didn't the person closest to the puppet remember the hand movements of this skeleton monster that is as tall as a human? I also like puppet shows. The puppeteer and the puppeteer move in unison. If the puppet jumps an inch, the puppeteer's fingers must also lift at least an inch. If it jumps a lot, finger movements are not enough, and the forearm must be lifted. If there are such big movements, why didn't this guy remember it?"
"But if the big skeleton is also a puppet, how do the small puppets below move?"
"Of course it is the thread that is pulling, but it is not the big skeleton's fingers that are pulling the thread. Instead, the thread passes through the big skeleton's fingertips and connects to the hands of the real person behind the scenes."
Xu Chong nodded slowly. He had already caught up with Shen Kuo's train of thought.
"Then, if there is really someone behind this, where is this person hiding? I and others have already climbed up the jujube tree," he looked up at the tree, "and found no traces of anyone stepping on it."
"It was the dead of winter at Xujie, and the jujube trees had no branches or leaves, so it was impossible for them to hide anyone."
"Then... how to solve it?"
Shen Kuo went around to the broken tombstone of Shan Xiongxin.
"If there really is someone there, he might be hiding behind the stone tablet."
As he spoke, he carefully examined the marks on the stone tablet to see if there was any place worn by the silk thread.
"There should be some traces, but unfortunately the stone tablet is damaged."
"To be honest, our personal soldiers didn't guard the stone tablet well, and many of them were smashed and sold privately," said Xu Chong.
"Yes, now there are traces of axes and chisels here, and there is no clue left," Shen Kuo shook his head helplessly, "but I really don't understand why anyone would buy this stone?"
"He is also a medical store in the capital that sells gynecological pills and aphrodisiacs. He wants to sell medicine with weird ideas. Because the prophecy mentions heroes and ghosts, there are various interpretations. One says that bones are the place where ghosts ascend to heaven and can cure gynecological diseases; another says that single heroes believe in ghost heroes, and the place where heroic spirits gather can strengthen yang."
“How are the sales?”
"At first, those pills mixed with stone powder sold very well and were hard to come by. Now, there are fake pills everywhere, so naturally they only cost a few cents each."
“Someone is faking this.”
"Yes, Bao Longtu didn't believe it either, so he asked me to check. I found dozens of kilograms of stone tablet fragments in the ghost market. They were not from this tablet at all. I don't know where they were chiseled from a wild grave."
Shen Kuo shook his head slightly and returned to Li Dadan's question: "When the white-bone demon sat in meditation and ascended to heaven, could you see his true body rising?"
"I have never seen it," he answered decisively. Bao Zheng had asked this question before. "The real body was wrapped in smoke and cloud, so it was not clear. But after the cloud rose, it turned into the shape of Fan Yang's hat."
"Did you ask about the smell of rosin or sulfur?"
“I’ve never smelled any.”
Shen Kuo went around to the back of the tombstone again. This time he was quite sure: "The puppets, big and small, should have been dragged behind the tombstone when the clouds rose."
"Why do you think so?" Xu Chong asked.
"Anything that can rise must be light and thin. For example..." He turned around and saw the sky-praying lanterns rising in the west palace. "For example, the paper-made Kongming lanterns there can still rise with the help of light and hot air. I have made them, but if the paper is a little thicker, it won't rise."
Xu Chong nodded hesitantly, as if he didn't quite understand.
“Everything strange in the world must have its own reason. If you can’t find the reason yet, it’s better to eliminate the unreasonable ones first.”
"So, what's unreasonable?"
"It is unreasonable for the White Bone Taoist to ascend to heaven. I think it must be a trick."
"But everyone saw it flying straight to the Imperial Palace, and the little puppet was indeed . Brother Li also saw the little puppet dug out from the Imperial Garden, and they were exactly the same. It was clearly brought into the Imperial Palace by the hat monster."
"Who says the puppet in the Imperial Garden must be the same puppet seen here? Has anyone seen that thing fly over the palace wall?"
Seeing Xu Chong and Li Dadan were at a loss, he continued, "Exactly the same does not necessarily mean it is the same. If there is a spy in the palace, and they hid an identical skeleton puppet in advance, wouldn't it be possible to conceal the truth?"
This time Xu Chong did not dare to nod, but he did not shake his head either. He vaguely felt that Shen Kuo seemed sharper than Bao Daren. In this case, the emperor's decision to transfer a foreign imperial guard like him to the palace to serve was obviously a foresighted move.
