Chapter 60: Yinbing Mountain
...You've got the wrong person!
The sleepwalker's anger was choked back by Tan Xiao's words. He stared at him for five seconds without saying anything. "Why are you like this? Your family is the representative of breaking feudal superstitions. We have even broken your family's magic ourselves..."
What he said were all things that Tan Chunying did when she participated in various activities, of course there were parts that helped to dispel superstition.
Tan Xiao naturally didn't think that this was a dark history. "Uncle, but you might really have a problem. I can't lie to you." If it was someone who was timid and had never encountered any trouble, Tan Xiao would of course encourage them to increase their courage, but this person was obviously not normal.
Barry also recognized Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan, "Hey, I told you that you didn't believe it, but Master Tan said that you should believe it."
Tan Xiao also nodded to Barry.
The sleepwalker smoked another cigarette he had just bought and said with a complicated expression, "I didn't expect you were accomplices. Is the tourism industry so difficult now?"
"Well, you also said that our spiritual masters and Chu Wu Culture are both internet celebrities, so why would we work together to deceive people? Wouldn't it be better if I had time to do a live broadcast and sell peripherals?" Tan Xiao asked back, pointing at Kong Xuan, "If that doesn't work, I'll let him perform on the street, he can make more money there."
Kong Xuan: “…”
The sleepwalking man was struck and looked at Kong Xuan. This made a lot of sense.
Forget about that unfamiliar man in leather jacket, there was no need for Tan Xiao to lie to him!
Barry looked like he told you so, "Everyone says I'm a government official. There's no need to lie to you. I've been loyal to the court since my Grand Master! Even earlier than Master Tan Ling and his family!"
Panlong Xiang and Tan Xiao both laughed after hearing this.
Yes, Tan Xiao’s family has moved to the Guishun Tourism Bureau.
They were both experts and knew that a hundred years ago, a Taoist priest could go to the police station at that time to apply for a "business license" as a legitimate profession. As for Barry's current position, he probably passed the exam himself, after all, he was from Qi.
The Duangong troupe is divided into inner and outer troupes. The outer troupe mainly performs Duangong operas, while the inner troupe performs rituals. Barry is naturally proficient in the inner troupe, but the rituals must first be traced back to their origins. He looked at Tan Xiao and asked, "Can the spiritual master tell fortunes?"
In fact, Barry can also tell fortunes, but he has been working for some years, and the sleepwalking man obviously agreed to it because of Tan Xiao.
"Okay, but not too fine." Tan Xiao knew what Barry meant and asked Pan Longxiang to borrow the props, "Uncle, what's your name?"
In his heart, the sleepwalker still didn't quite believe them, but because Tan Xiao's identity and words were so convincing, he was very curious about what Tan Xiao and the others were going to do next, and even had the idea that "they were not filming a prank show, were they?"
So the sleepwalker thought for a few seconds and then became more obedient: "My name is Zhao Qishan."
"Okay." Tan Xiao didn't ask anything else. He looked at the time and cast a divination, then turned back to look at Kong Xuan. He had also stepped up his practice of divination since the last incident in Yunmengze.
Kong Xuan held Tan Xiao's hand with one hand and shook the hexagram.
Zhao Qishan was a little confused and looked at them strangely, "What kind of fortune-telling method is this? There are fortune-telling methods for couples?" This is a unique way of fortune-telling for two people, and they have to hold hands. Even though they are two boys, he couldn't help but describe it this way.
Tan Xiao: "..."
He suddenly felt embarrassed to look at Kong Xuan, and buried his head in staring at the hexagram, not knowing that Kong Xuan felt the same way.
"This is the secret skill of our Chu witch." Tan Xiao muttered. As expected, Panlongxiang and Barry, who knew the truth, laughed and watched. He awkwardly pointed at the hexagram and tried to interpret it: "...Official ghosts are moving, there are people making trouble...Inner hexagram, the problem is in this house, either northwest or southeast...Is there anyone at home now?"
"Yes, there has always been someone in my family..." Zhao Qishan was confused. He didn't understand Tan Xiao's interpretation of the divination. He just said a name. What could this tell him?
"You can make a video call now and ask them to use the compass app on their phones to search these two directions in the room. They should be able to find some traces." Tan Xiao said uncertainly. After all, it was relatively his weak point.
Kong Xuan also urged Zhao Qishan to open the video with great interest. He wanted to see if Tan Xiao’s words could be verified!
It was clearly the two of them who cast the divination, but it looked like they were just joining in the fun.
Zhao Qishan immediately called his daughter's video, and only then did everyone see that he had a phone watch on his hand - he always sleepwalked into the deep mountains and forests, and a mobile phone was not as useful as a phone watch, which could also locate him.
Today is the weekend and the daughter is naturally at home. After getting up, she received a call from her father and learned that he was still riding Yunling. This has happened for a while, and their family is somewhat used to it. "Dad, what's wrong? Didn't you say you would play for a while before coming back?"
The video quality of the phone watch is not very good. As she spoke, she saw that the two people standing behind her father looked familiar. Her eyes widened. How could they look so similar...
Before Zhao Qishan's daughter could ask, Zhao Qishan shouted anxiously, "Xiaobao, open the direction app now, stand in the middle of the room, look to the northwest and southeast, and go find it."
"What are you looking for?" Xiaobao didn't understand.
"...Well, let's just look around and see if there's anything strange." Zhao Qishan had no idea what he was looking for. In fact, not to mention him, even Tan Xiao and his "group" didn't know what they were looking for.
Tan Xiao looked at the hexagram again and suggested, "Look in the middle, halfway up. Ask her to use the camera to shine a light on it. You'll know what she's looking for only after you see it."
Xiaobao heard it vaguely over there and asked suspiciously: "Dad, what are you doing?"
"Well, I'll find someone to look at Feng Shui." Zhao Qishan felt that he couldn't explain it clearly at the moment, so he took a puff of cigarette and said simply, "You can go find someone."
"When did you start to believe this?" Xiao Bao was helpless, and the more he listened, the more he felt that it was Tan Xiao from Class 3. However, he still picked up the phone and did as they said. After determining the direction, he first looked in the northwest.
His family opened a small supermarket in the community, so there were quite a lot of things. Zhao Qishan's wife was watching TV in the store and didn't pay attention to what her daughter was doing. Xiaobao walked through the shelves and saw nothing wrong with them. He went to the northwest room, which was a guest room and was also very simple.
"Turn it over and open the wardrobe." Tan Xiao instructed remotely.
Xiaobao searched through boxes and cabinets, but still found nothing. The bedding, clothes, and shoes were all normal. She picked up the dehumidifier and said with a smile, "Is this weird?"
Barry also studied the hexagram and added, "The dehumidifier doesn't look like the hexagram. It should be bigger than this. It may be related to children, the color red, or the mountains and forests."
Xiao Bao struggled to look through the pages, but was completely confused. She didn't understand what kind of Feng Shui this was. "I really can't find it..." She sat down against the wall, turned around and saw something, "Hey... wait."
She turned on the flashlight and found a wooden box sandwiched between the wardrobe and the wall!
Zhao Qishan opened his mouth slightly. Is this what Tan Xiao said about being in the air? It really was caught in the air. He had no idea that there was such a box in his home. Now he was the one who was more concerned: "Open it and take a look."
Xiaobao opened the wooden box and found a stone statue inside. It was about 20 to 30 centimeters tall. Although the carving was crude, the facial features were clear and it could even be seen that it was a military commander wearing armor, with a relatively new red scarf around his neck.
"What is this?!" Zhao Qishan opened his mouth wide, and felt his hair stand on end. "Xiaobao, put it down quickly and go find your mother ! Let her come and see!"
Who knows what kind of dirty thing this is, so he didn't dare let the child continue to hold it.
"Don't put it down, I can't even see it clearly..." Barry complained. The image quality was blurry to begin with.
Tan Xiao exclaimed: "But it's really accurate, what Teacher Ba said is red."
"Then the divinations you two made are accurate, haha. Divination is my specialty." Barry is still very confident in his professional strengths. Otherwise, the higher-ups wouldn't have sent him on a business trip. If Zhao Qishan hadn't distrusted him in the beginning...
When Tan Xiao heard him say that his specialty was fortune-telling, he felt even more puzzled. What kind of high-tech product could have the specialty of fortune-telling? Logically, they would generally make use of their racial characteristics.
Zhao Qishan's daughter had already called his wife over, but his wife was also confused. When she heard that Zhao Qishan was looking for someone to look at the feng shui, she was even more frightened. There was always someone watching over the store in their house and they never left at night, so it was impossible that someone had deliberately put something there.
But she remembered something and looked doubtful: "Didn't Mom live here for a while before the New Year?"
Zhao Qishan widened his eyes, no way.
They immediately called Zhao Qishan's mother. After receiving the call, the old lady denied it at first, until Zhao Qishan said that he had inexplicably run to Yunling at night because of this thing, and that this thing was not clean, the old lady panicked.
"I asked someone to bring this here. It's the Yin God from their place. It's said that it can bless you to have a second child. How can it be unclean?" The old lady kept repeating, "Besides, how long have I let it go? You..."
"Mom!" Zhao Qishan yelled, "I'm weak!"
This shout made the whole place silent, and his wife was so embarrassed that she didn't know whether she should cover the child's ears.
"Well, let's not talk about this for now," Tan Xiao poked Zhao Qishan, "Uncle, ask her where she got this."
The wizard said that burying things is to drive away evil spirits, but one must also know the origin, otherwise one cannot bury it rashly. Because if this thing comes from a temple, it may not be able to be buried. It must be returned and a ritual must be performed.
But what made Zhao Qishan upset was that his mother actually bought it from a swindler from another place, and the swindler had disappeared long ago, so how could he know the exact source.
"What should I do? What should I do?" Zhao Qishan's face was pale, and he didn't even notice the cigarette ash that he hadn't shaken off for a long time falling on his hands. The previous nights when he "sleepwalked" and woke up to find himself in the wild, it was not as scary as this, especially from the blurry picture quality of the phone watch, the stone man had a more gloomy feeling.
"Was I possessed by this thing before and then ran to Qiyuling? Qiyuling is its hometown?" The more Zhao Qishan thought about it, the more scared he became. Could this guy's purpose be to keep him in Qiyuling forever?
"Nonsense, we don't have such a thing in Qiyunling." Panlongxiang said that he must dispel the rumor. He is still a herbalist. How could he not know what Qiyunling has? There is definitely no such stone man, although it does look very witch-like.
"Ask your daughter to add Master Tan Ling on WeChat. The image quality of this phone watch is too poor. Let me take a closer look." Barry said.
"Can't I add yours?" Tan Xiao asked casually.
"I don't have a cell phone." Barry's words made Tan Xiao even more surprised. There are civil servants who don't have cell phones.
Barry noticed and said, "I use my laptop. I left it in the car."
A different account was used to start the video, and now the details of the stone man were clear. There were three wizards in a room, and they all thought that this was a stone figurine used for sacrifice, and Tan Xiao could also tell that it was in the Chu style.
"But it's quite old, and it's hard to determine where it came from..." Tan Xiao said this and then remembered that he still had external help to seek, so he directly used Kong Xuan's number to call the video of the archaeological expert Ji Lao.
The two were connected, and Tan Xiao said sorry to bother you again and came to identify it.
Mr. Ji was having lunch and had some free time. The archaeologists at the table came over to take a look and concluded after just one or two glances: "Oh, it must be from the Warring States period."
"It's been so long? Can you tell its origin?" Tan Xiao knew that they were very capable. When they looked at Bodhisattva Slave's things before, they could tell that they were unearthed in Southern Chu, but his ability to identify could only identify things within his own expertise.
"This style is also from Chu..."
"That's for sure."
"Wait, this style looks familiar. I just thought it was a little small and didn't remember it." A scholar at the same table said, holding chopsticks in his mouth, "Oh my god, you got these 'ghost soldiers' from Cicada Mountain!"
Ghost soldiers?!
As soon as these two words came out, Zhao Qishan almost fainted.
The scholar didn't care at all. He tapped the table and said, "Outsiders may not know this Cicada Mountain, but those present here must have an impression of it. The local villagers call this mountain Yinbing Mountain or Guizai Mountain. There are stone figurines all over the mountain, more than ten thousand of them, and most of them are soldiers. According to local legend, they are the images of Yin soldiers, and they are called Guizai in the local dialect. They are stones during the day and generals at night. At night, there will be Yin soldiers marching and training in the mountain, and they can bless people's life and death. Therefore, the locals dare not go up the mountain casually, unless they go to worship. Every time they worship, they will hang red scarves like battle robes. And whoever dares to move the stone figurines will suffer. This kind of legend is not uncommon."
"Ah ...
The scholar on the other side said unhappily, “Who are you? Can you please stop being so crazy here? I’ve already told you that this is just a local legend!”
Zhao Qishan: “…………”
He looked at Tan Xiao in despair.
Tan Xiao nodded: "Experts have their own opinions, please wait for him to finish."
"About 10 or 20 years ago, we organized an archaeological expedition and confirmed that these stone figurines, ranging in size from as small as this one to as large as one meter or more, were made at different times, from ancient times to the Qin and Han dynasties, the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. They were abandoned in between until they were washed out by rain again and became a local legend. Later generations no longer knew their origins.
"You also said that this is used for sacrifice. As for the object of sacrifice - I think you will know from the map that this mountain is located near Jiuyi Mountain. Legend has it that Emperor Shun was buried in Jiuyi, so it is reasonable to speculate that this is related to the worship of Emperor Shun. It is not wrong to say that they are ghost soldiers. These may be the soldiers and horses that the ancients sacrificed to Emperor Shun."
Qin Shihuang had the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, so it was normal for the ancients to offer some human figurines as sacrifices to Emperor Shun.
"After we dispelled the superstition, the local authorities also applied for the site to be recognized as a cultural relic protection unit. There were so many stone figurines, and some of them have been moved out over the years. I don't know what happened to this one you have now. Anyway, it should have become a tourist attraction now, and the locals are no longer afraid to go up the mountain like before."
After finishing speaking in one breath, the scholar looked at Zhao Qishan helplessly: "Are you not afraid now?"
Zhao Qishan shed two lines of tears: Thank you, I am even more scared.
The scholar was speechless and wanted to say something, but was persuaded by Mr. Ji who knew something. "Anyway, this is the origin. We will continue to work after we finish eating. You can go and get busy too."
Tan Xiao hung up the video from Ji Lao and said to the crying Zhao Qishan, "Uncle, now that we have found the source, you don't have to be afraid. I will help you deal with it."
Yes, Zhao Qishan went to shake Barry's hand. He now knew that Barry, who took the initiative to talk to him and endured misunderstandings and persuasion, was a good person. "Well, I'm really grateful for your kindness. Please help me! It's so unfair to me. Why doesn't it go to find the person who stole it? I didn't pay any money and I didn't help. I'm really wronged!"
"I know, but we still have some things on hand. Once we finish, we will go to your house to see the ghost figurine." Barry slowed down this time. Yes, he still had things to do in Qiyunling.
Zhao Qishan was so anxious that he wanted them to take action right now, but there was nothing he could do if Barry didn't want him to. He couldn't respect these wizards more now. He could only wait here by himself, and then ask his wife and children to close the store quickly and not stay at home, and hide at the children's grandmother's house before they could deal with the matter.
"Why do you think he is staring at me?" Zhao Qishan thought about it but still didn't understand.
"These things think differently from us. I'll ask them when we meet. Okay, you should take a rest first. You won't be tired after a night's sleep in the wild mountains." Barry thought to himself that Zhao Qishan looked quite energetic before he was exposed.
... and asked him. Zhao Qishan had never thought that he would experience such a conversation. He lit a cigarette and sighed: "Oh!"
…
"Hey, where's Sister Mu?" Tan Xiao asked. He was surprised when he came. It was impossible that only Barry came to the 404 office. There should be a whole car of people.
"Master Mu came early, and they all said they wanted to order some dishes at the pond in the back, so I chatted with Witch Bayang." Panlongxiang explained. Because Barry had to choose the right time to do Feng Shui, Mu Fei and the others took the opportunity to go fishing.
"I'll take you to call her." Barry led Tan Xiao out and asked Tan Xiao on the way if he wanted to take the civil service exam in the future.
Because Tan Xiao became famous in the battle at Qiyuling, many more anglers came to Qiyuling. Naturally, more fishing ponds also appeared, not just at the village entrance.
Tan Xiao ran to the back and saw that Mu Fei was fishing here. There was a group of people around her, including Mr. Xu and the others. The bucket at her feet was already full of fish. Just then, she caught another one, "Hahahahaha!"
The air force uncles nearby were in an uproar: "Why is there another one?"
Everyone is fishing here. Mu Fei has only been here for a short time and doesn’t know how to make a nest nor is he skilled, but he still catches fish one after another. Is this the legendary novice protection period?
Mu Fei: “Wahahaha!”
Mr. Xu saw them and walked over. "Oh, you have recognized each other?"
Barry nodded with a smile.
Mr. Xu smiled and said, "Then I won't bother introducing you any further."
"There is one point that really needs to be introduced." Tan Xiao asked curiously, "It's the prototype of Mr. Ba. Before you came here, everyone heard that you were also a technological product. Can you tell me about this?"
After all, some monsters have taboos. They are afraid that once their origins are known, they will try to target them, so they choose to keep it secret.
Barry's face showed a complicated expression, "There's nothing I can't say."
I heard that there are drones in Qi Province that can fly, but Teacher Ba doesn't look like one.
"Teacher Ba is good at fortune-telling." Tan Xiao remembered what Barry had said before, "To be honest, from your appearance, abilities, name...all kinds of aspects, it's hard for me to guess your true identity, because spirits often specialize in habits, but I really can't guess what high-tech product would be good at fortune-telling. It can't be a fortune-telling APP, right? I even asked an expert to take a look, but he said he couldn't recognize it."
Even Kong Xuan couldn’t recognize it, which means it’s not an ordinary product. What kind of high-end product is it?
"Because these have nothing to do with Barry's original body, they are purely personal development and hobbies. Barry doesn't use the skills that come with his original body very much now." Mr. Xu, who was on a business trip to Qi Province and knew the inside story, coughed and said tactfully, "Teacher Barry was indeed high-tech in the past."
Barry waved his hand and said in a rather vicissitudes-filled manner: "...Hi, I'm a pager."
Kong Xuan looked confused. He still didn't recognize the name after hearing it: "What is this?"
He habitually looked at his spiritual witch, hoping that Tan Xiao, a native of the human world, could explain it to him.
Rarely, Tan Xiao's face showed a more confused expression than his: "What is it?"
Barry: "………………"
Mr. Xu; “…”
Barry nearly vomited three liters of blood, and said with great sadness: "I'm so angry. I was also surrounded by people in the office back then!"
He was really fashionable! His innate skills were also very useful and made great contributions to the 404 Office!
...Later, as technology advanced, he had to learn more skills.
Mr. Xu also had a weathered look on his face and saw a deep generation gap in Tan Xiao.
"Wait, is it a pager? I know!" Tan Xiao finally dug out a hint of impression from his memory and thought to himself that it was no wonder that Teacher Ba didn't like to use a mobile phone.
Although Tan Xiao seemed to remember, Barry was not comforted at all.
But Kong Xuan still didn't know, and asked: "What on earth is that?"
"It was used for communication in the past." Tan Xiao simply explained to Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan thought for a moment, "In the past? Then why are you humans going backwards as you develop? From being so small, you have evolved into the unportable mobile phones we have today. We can easily be discovered when we carry them in school..."
Tan Xiao: "..."
Then you can also choose a phone watch.
Barry wiped the sweat off his face and said, "Thank you for talking to me, but it seems unnecessary...!"
There was a commotion nearby. When he looked over, he saw that in just two minutes, Mu Fei had caught another fish.
"Sister Mu?" Tan Xiao walked over. Mu Fei really had a lot of fish. They were not particularly big, but the number was amazing. There were both crucian carp and grass carp.
When he showed up, the fishermen here also recognized him. Seeing that he knew Mu Fei, they continued to be in an uproar: "Hey, you are from the same sect!"
"Yes, yes, he is my master." Mu Fei pointed at Tan Xiao.
"What?" How could Tan Xiao not know what was going on with his fish? But he really didn't know how Mu Fei did it or what magic he used.
"I'm so jealous." An old man cursed with his hands behind his back, "It's like someone lowered their head and put a fish on your hook."
Tan Xiao: “!!”
Wait, Tan Xiao looked at Mu Fei, no way...
Mu Fei nodded slightly.
Tan Xiao stared at the bottom of the water and said, Fang Zhu, is this how you recuperate after giving birth? Don’t be so outrageous!
