Chapter 60: Sounding Arrows
February 15th day of the twentieth month
Shen Kuo and Xu Chong went to the inner court Fengchen storehouse where the white jade axe was lost. It was not far from here and was also next to Xihua Gate. This storehouse was much cleaner and brighter than the armory.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, someone saw the hat demon fly into the wall and then disappeared. When the eunuchs and guards opened the gate of the outer courtyard, they saw that the gate was wide open and the jade axe with the "axe sound and candle shadow" was missing. The description is exactly the same as the time when the puppet was lost in the puppet shed of the "wood spirit class". As for how the hat demon opened the door, no one knows.
The room was filled with valuables from the palace, so the two could only take a quick look accompanied by the eunuchs. There were boxes of all sizes stacked together, but the only one that was open was the box where the small jade axe was lost. I guess it has been open since that day. The box was very small, and there was indeed a dent on the velvet cushion inside, just as Taoist Li Cheng'an said. It was exactly the same size as the one found in the Prince Consort's Mansion.
It seemed that the hat demon had entered here without touching anything else. This was different from the situation in the wood spirit class, where many tables and chairs in front of the wood spirit class were knocked over, and Lu Ban's tablet was also knocked to the ground.
It was already noon when the two came out, so they left the palace and returned to Laoya Lane.
Before dinner, Shen Kuo stayed in his attic, thinking about the situation in Fengchen Treasury, and waiting for Monk Huailiang to come. He was still trying to argue with the monk and convince him that Xiaoping could not be involved, but he knew in his heart that this was just his preconceived idea. Xiaoping was vaguely related to this case.
The situation in Fengchenku was obviously caused by an insider. He absolutely did not believe that it was a ghost who used magic to do something. The hidden enemy was obviously trying to use the "axe sound and candle shadow" that had been spread in the market rumors as if it were real to pry open the foundation of the Song Dynasty. The efforts made by Maitreya Sect recently were all centered around the fact that the Song Dynasty had not gained power legitimately and that the current government had not gained power legitimately.
At 3 p.m., someone indeed came. They were Li Cheng'an and Yang Weide, who also came hurriedly from the palace.
Yang Weide has always disliked the new place chosen by Bao Zheng, and today is the first time that Old Yang has come. Shen Kuo was a little worried, afraid that the two of them were here to call him to task, because he had obviously been leaning towards Bao Zheng recently, and he should have been on their side. Another worry was that Taoist Li Cheng'an would ask about the puppet's resurrection that day, because he had clearly posted seven talismans to suppress demons, and according to his logic, it should be foolproof. If he asked if anyone had uncovered the spells that sealed the demons, it would be difficult to answer. It's not that Shen Kuo had never lied before, but he was very unskilled and could be easily seen through.
However, the worry was obviously unnecessary. After Shen Kuo invited the two to sit down on the second floor, he only talked for a few words before he realized that the two were in a hurry to come because they had more important things to do. Yesterday, Yang Wei De used the two strange books "Jingyou Liuren Shen Ding Jing" and "Jingyou Dunjia Fuying Jing" to deduce and came to an astonishing conclusion - tonight , the evil spirits in the dark will move again. After days of deduction, his method has become very skilled, so the speed is much faster.
Yang Wei De's set of rules is naturally a fixed number. As Huai Liang once said, anyone with these two books can also deduce it. However, there are also variables, that is, the number of Dayan used in the deduction. This method uses yarrow divination. This is the method used by Confucius many years ago to calculate good and bad luck. However, Shen Kuo also used his "technique of gap accumulation" to carry out some exhaustive deductions on this method and found that it contains fixed numbers. Simply put, it is used to calculate the place and time, and the conclusions will still be scattered within a considerable range. The range is not small, and it is inevitable that everything is accurate in retrospect, but it is difficult to figure out the reason in a bunch of possibilities. This returns to the essence of fortune-telling.
Old Yang took out the map and circled seven places again. The time was from midnight to dawn. In other words, he gave a spatial range that included half of Tokyo City and a time range of four hours. It was completely confusing. In this courtyard alone, there were only more than twenty officers. If they were divided into seven groups to patrol these seven areas, each group would only have four people.
Xu Chong frowned a little, but Shen Kuo beside him saw something, because the Imperial Street was in it.
"Teacher, is Yujie in the Great Derivation Calculation again?"
"Yes, as the saying goes, one does not lead to two, and two does not lead to three. However, the result of the deduction is just like this."
"However, we still don't have enough manpower in so many places. If each team only has three or four people, it will be difficult to deal with the hat monster or other underworld creatures." Xu Chong complained.
"Did Xu Jieji know one thing when he was serving in the army?" said the old Taoist Li Cheng'an.
"What kind of thing?"
"That thing is called a whistling arrow, or a ringing arrow?"
"Of course I have seen it. The arrow is hollow like a whistle, and it makes a whistling sound when it flies. The Xixia cavalry often use the sound of this whistling arrow as a command. Wherever the whistling arrow flies, the whole army will shoot arrows at the direction of the sharp and piercing sound. However, the sharp sound of the whistling arrow is not loud, and it is useless at a distance. I don't know what the Taoist priest mentioned about this thing has to do with tonight's patrol in the city?"
"Haha, those are used by foreign countries, but have you ever seen the beeping sound that is triggered by the gunpowder wick of our Song Dynasty?"
"I have indeed seen it. A bamboo tube is filled with gunpowder, and after it is lit, it is held in the hand. When the gunpowder is burned, the flame shoots straight into the air and explodes like a brocade spark. Originally, this thing was used for communication at night. However, it was later discovered that it can be shot at the enemy's formation during the day and often has miraculous effects. Therefore, this thing is quite confidential, for fear that the details will be known by foreigners."
"It's said to have miraculous effects, but can this thing hurt people or start fires?" Shen Kuo asked anxiously. He suddenly thought of more military uses.
"But that won't work. If you want to set fire, just light the arrow and shoot it straight out. It will go farther and be more accurate. However, the miraculous effect is that it can scare the warhorse."
"Scaring war horses won't be of much use to us." The old Taoist shook his head and smiled, "But if we have some, we can distribute them to each team. When they see something strange, they can ignite it and fly into the air. The brothers patrolling around can follow the sparks in the air and rush over immediately to make up for the shortage of manpower."
"Oh, that's one way." Xu Chong and Shen Kuo nodded together, and couldn't help but admire the Taoist's meticulous thinking.
"Moreover, gunpowder is a very yang and strong substance. The sulfur and saltpeter gas after it burns can also drive away evil things in the underworld. The hat demon appeared in Pan Street that day, and it dared to show up only after the fireworks set off in the palace burned out."
The Taoist's words reminded Shen Kuo that he didn't believe that the sulfur smell after the burning of gunpowder could drive away any evil spirits. He thought more directly that perhaps the power of the burst of gunpowder could harm those things that hide their heads and show their tails. Of course, using it to report information is also an important function.
"Thank you for the reminder, Taoist priest. But where can I get these whistling arrows?"
"Haha, this is why I brought Yang Chunguan here today. Right now, the case is still under the jurisdiction of Bao Longtu, so where else can we go if not to him? But we don't want to go to the Military Headquarters, as if we have to look at his face to beg him. So we came here first, hoping that Xu Jieji would take the trouble to go to the Military Headquarters and talk to old Bao Yan about this matter."
"Leave it to me. I'll go now." Xu Chong patted his chest and went to the back to get the horse.
Shen Kuo continued chatting with the two upstairs, and understood why Li Cheng'an was so anxious to get these gunpowder twisters to fire the whistling arrows. It turned out that Taoist Li planned to go down tonight to see if he could encounter the monster. And he had his own judgment on where the monster might appear. It should still be on the Imperial Street, and it is very likely to be near the Baifan Building. This is of course just a matter of experience, because the Imperial Sister has appeared strange twice, and there must be some rules behind such coincidences.
Shen Kuo thought the same thing. If he had to choose, he would choose to patrol the Imperial Street tonight. He secretly made up his mind that if he had another chance to see those things up close, he must seize it, either to see the details clearly or to just shoot one down.
After explaining things, Yang Wei De said goodbye to Li Cheng'an. Li Cheng'an would naturally bring his apprentice here to meet him at night, so Yang Wei De probably would not come.
Shen Kuo was in the attic thinking about what to do next. As he was thinking, he took out the blooming jade hairpin from the drawer. In addition to understanding the principle of the palace lantern, he originally planned to give this hairpin to Xiaoping, but he didn't have the chance. Seeing Jin'er entering the palace today, Xiaoping should have returned to the city, right? I just don't know where she lives. This aroused some suspicion again. Who was the owner of the country villa where he ran into Xiaoping that day? It looked like a family of officials. What was Xiaoping's relationship with them?
Just as he was thinking, there was a commotion downstairs. He stood up and looked down, and saw Xu Chong coming with his horse. There were a lot of things hanging on his saddle, and it was obvious that he had gained a lot.
He immediately went downstairs to see that Xu Chong was there ordering people to take down the things hanging on the saddles. It seemed that he had received an order from Bao Longtu and got a lot from the Military Equipment Bureau. There were more than enough for the seven teams to send signals. It seemed that he was also planning to use it as some kind of long-range weapon.
"This...this is too much."
"The Taoist priest said that gunpowder is the most masculine and powerful substance, and it can break through the netherworld, so I begged Bao Longtu to get more. My husband agreed to all of it."
"But, this city is full of gunpowder. If it ignites houses and shops, what will happen if they burn?"
"Brother Shen, you are worrying too much. I have also used it in battle. Although gunpowder has a strong power when ignited, it decays very quickly. It has little power two meters away and cannot ignite wood. I remember that a few days ago, the great monk said that the gunpowder formula used by the Military Equipment Bureau, which is one saltpeter, two sulfurs and three charcoals, is wrong. It only has flames but lacks power. If it is replaced with what he said: six saltpeters, one sulfur, and one charcoal, it will be more powerful. I specifically asked someone who worked in the Gunpowder Bureau, and he said that the Gunpowder Bureau did find that saltpeter was more powerful, so it could not be put into bamboo tubes, and only copper and iron could be used to make tubes for burning gunpowder. I don't know how this compassionate monk knows so much."
"Master Huailiang has learned everything from ancient times to the present and has traveled all over the world. I think there is nothing in this world that he doesn't know." Shen Kuo said. In fact, he was a little surprised besides admiration. Why did Huailiang know even these obscure knowledge? Monks and gunpowder really have nothing in common.
"So, each team can get four or five?" Shen Kuo said.
"I think the other teams should get fewer, and our team should get more."
"Why? Do you think it's more likely that we ran into those monsters?"
"Of course. I think it's our destiny that we can't avoid those things." Xu Chong said helplessly, "It all depends on what Taoist Li can do today. If we run into those dirty things, these gunpowders may scare them away for a while, but to subdue them, we can only rely on Taoist magic. I heard that he is the most proud disciple of Master Zhang."
"I've heard about these too. I hope so..." Shen Kuo reluctantly said some words against his will. He was completely skeptical about the power of Taoist Li's magic.
"Xu Jieji, why did you bring this Western Qiang claw as well?" Shen Kuo saw that there was a chain hammer lying in a row of bamboo tubes. It was the claw with a chain that Wang Sheng used to climb up the wall that day.
"Oh, I went to the Military Headquarters and happened to meet Brother Wang Sheng, so I borrowed it from him. I think that all those evil creatures can climb over walls and eaves, and with this thing, I can catch up with them."
Shen Kuo was very interested in these machines. He took them and played with them for a while. He found that when the claw hook was clenched, it became a chain hammer, and when it was opened, it could grab the wall.
He looked at the time and it was getting late, so he said goodbye to Xu Chong. He planned to go to Daxiangguo Temple to find Huailiang while it was still early. He had the same premonition as Xu Chong that he would run into the Maitreya sect again tonight, and hoped to get some advice from the monks.
When I walked outside, I found that there were few people on the street and most of the shops were closed. I couldn't help but worry that Huailiang's shop was also closed.
On the way to Daxiangguo Temple, he deliberately took a detour to the Imperial Street. He saw that the entrances to the Baifan Building were still sealed. There was a two-horse cart parked at the west gate. There was a shed on the cart. He didn't know what was inside, but there were two imperial guards holding spears standing beside the cart. It was obviously official business. The back gate was sealed and chained, just like when he saw it in the morning.
When he arrived in front of Daxiangguo Temple, it was also deserted. There were still a few brave customers two or three days ago, but now there was no one. Shen Kuo originally planned to have dinner here before the night patrol. So he did not go into the monk's shop first, but bought some cooked meat, fruits and vegetables in a few shops that were still open, and also bought a bottle of good wine.
After preparing all these, they arrived at Huailiang's shop. Fortunately, the monk was still there. It was dinner time but there were no customers. He was hooping a bucket. Shen Kuo rushed into the shop, but Huailiang was not too surprised. He put his bucket on the stove and quickly let Shen Kuo into the shop. Shen Kuo opened the wine bottle, took three cups from the table, and poured a cup for the monk and Xiao Yi respectively.
Xiao Yi drank a cup and went to work. Shen Kuo and the monk talked about what they saw in the palace that morning. Shen Kuo did not hide his guess from Huai Liang, that is, he saw that if there was a demon in the imperial garden, the nearest way was to go out from the back door of the Queen's Kunning Palace. There were no guards there, so there would be no witnesses.
"Buried in the Imperial Garden..."
Huailiang seemed to be thinking about something after hearing this, but hesitated to speak. This matter involved too much, after all, it was not a joke, and no one could make a conclusion casually.
