Chapter 77 Paper Dragon
February 22, 11:00 pm
Bao Zheng was a little hesitant about whether to go down the dark tunnel. After all, he was a senior official of the imperial court and had to be respectable and safe. However, his curiosity urged him to go down and take a look. Finally, he made up his mind. Shen Kuo helped Bao Zheng down the stairs, and Xu Chong held a torch to explore the way ahead.
Sure enough, there was still a single-story pagoda below, with Buddha statues carved on the walls around it. If you were not careful, you would not be able to tell whether it was the first floor or the basement floor. So this seven-story pagoda actually has far more than seven floors. When I got to the gate of the pagoda and looked outside, I saw dots of fire. They were the imperial guards who had just come down, holding torches and guarding various places.
When Shen Kuo walked into the tunnel, he felt something was wrong with his feet. It was obviously different from the grass above. He also felt something was wrong when he came down last night because the ground was too hard.
"When I came down yesterday, I saw a bull-headed jailer in front of me, who was several feet tall and wielding a steel fork. I was so scared that I could hardly stand steadily. I could have escaped back the same way, but when I turned around, the tower gate was blocked by a horse-faced old woman who was several feet tall and holding a long spear. I thought I had really broken into the Yama Palace and met the ghost emissary couple who were seducing souls." He introduced to Lao Bao.
"More than a foot high?"
"It must not be a real ghost messenger from the underworld. It must be a person pretending to be one."
"Can we search the city for people who are over ten feet tall? I think there aren't many such people, so we can definitely find them, and then follow the clues to find the hiding place of the Maitreya Sect?"
"Sir, I don't think so. I just know that the horse-faced old woman's voice is clearly a woman's voice. There may be men over ten feet tall in the world, but where is such a tall woman? This tall figure must be a fake."
"What Cun Zhong said makes sense."
"Sir, there are some things left behind by this group of bandits ahead, but I don't know what they are used for." Xu Chong said.
"Let's go and take a look."
The group followed the torches in front of them, which were also swaying slightly, and seemed not very strong. After a while, they smelled a burning smell. Shen Kuo knew that the Maitreya thieves must have burned some evidence before escaping. However, as far as he knew, this place was deep underground, and the fire would not be too strong. Last time, he also blocked the chimney to prevent Yu Jing from destroying evidence in the tunnel. There was not even a chimney in this place. Therefore, it might not be so easy to burn the evidence, and there would probably be nothing left.
Soon, the group walked to the pile of wreckage that was still smoking. The wreckage was actually a pile of ashes, which looked very long. It was obviously not a burnt book. It looked more like a lot of things made of bamboo, wood and paper, but it was not burned thoroughly, leaving some charred wood.
Shen Kuo walked along the ashes until he reached the place in front where the ashes disappeared. He squatted down and used his hands to dig out the ashes there. Xu Chong stood behind him and used a torch to illuminate him. Lao Bao waited anxiously for him to speak. If he didn't speak, no one would know what these things meant.
Shen Kuo dug out a bamboo wheel from the pile of ashes. The axle was still inside and the wheel could still turn.
"I know. It's the dragon."
"What dragon?"
"The dragon I encountered here last night was the one they couldn't take away and had to burn."
Shen Kuo showed a hint of pride in the darkness, but unfortunately no one noticed.
"Cunzhong, is this a fake dragon they made?"
"When I broke in last night, I was scared to death. At that time, I was still wondering why there was a dragon in the underworld. Now that I think about it, there is naturally no dragon in the underworld, but the Maitreya Sect wants to use it."
"Is this dragon also a tool?"
"Yes, this dragon should be what Xu Jie and I went out of the capital to look for that day, but we couldn't find it."
"You said that it was an object hidden in the air, taller than the flying puppet. It was struck by lightning and may have fallen with the wind, most likely into the Yellow River?"
"Yes, that's what I thought at the time. Now that I think about it, we didn't find it, but they still found it and brought it back. They may have taken it in pieces and brought it into the city gate, or they may have used a boat on the Caomen Gate to bring it in."
"What is the effect?"
"It was a giant kite that we had never seen before. However, this kite was also made of paper and bamboo, but it was not in the shape of a bird or insect but a dragon. This long kite was equipped with pivot wheels on both sides, like a truss in the sky. Although it also moved with the wind, four people could still control it in a general place, so that they could pull the thin lines to control the puppets. At that time, I wondered, how big a kite would be needed to carry those puppets with the wind?"
"So, they can also manipulate the puppets in the sky from the earth?" Lao Bao suddenly woke up.
"Yes, sir, that's right. I have always thought that there should be such a thing, but I only thought it was a very large kite, and the edge of the kite was not long enough to tow four or five puppets. After seeing it today, I realized that I was still ignorant. There is actually such a kite that is ten feet long."
"So, it takes five people to control it?"
"Exactly."
"So, the Saint Lady and the others were killed by lightning, and this thing completed its mission and fell from the clouds. As long as we find it, we can just destroy it in the wild. Why bother taking the risk to bring it back?" asked Lao Bao, his question gradually touching upon the key point.
"Sir, I think it can still be used, so I brought it back."
"The prophecy about resurrecting Wang Ze?"
"Yes, that's what I thought. Otherwise, why would they go to so much trouble to bring it to this cave? It's not here to scare me. If it wanted to scare me to death, the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Devils would be enough. I wasn't scared to death because of this dragon, because I had a vague feeling that there shouldn't be dragons in the underworld, so when I accidentally broke in here, they must have been preparing something, and I came in for no reason and scared them."
"That makes sense. I think they didn't expect you to follow Master Huailiang here, but why did you run into the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Monsters?" said Lao Bao.
"So, the Bull Head and the Horse Face were part of their plan, but I happened to see through it. They wanted to use these props to scare me, tie me up first, and then get rid of me. Fortunately, Master Huailiang saved me in time."
"Resurrection of the king, shining brightly in the sky?" Lao Bao muttered the ninth prophecy. "In other words, what they are rehearsing in the underground is exactly this? The king's resurrection from the nine earths may require the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced, but shining brightly in the sky is obviously a matter of heaven. How can it be achieved? If it can be achieved, why not show it earlier? What good will it do them if it is delayed for too long?"
This question really made Shen Kuo ask himself. He had been thinking about this, but there was no complete logical chain. In theory, the previous prophecies had almost all come true, except for this one sentence. If it came true again, without external support, most likely nothing would happen, but the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty in the hearts of the people would quietly disappear, which is the so-called destiny. At this time, if a strong enemy emerged to push it, things would be hard to say.
"I think the Maitreya Sect's delay is actually waiting for an opportunity. My husband, how are the rebellions going in various places recently?"
"Recently, the imperial guards of the capital have been deployed everywhere, and most of the rebels and bandits have fled into the mountains. The county governments that were occupied have also returned to the jurisdiction of the imperial court."
"So, the world hasn't changed much? Maybe that's why they don't dare to make a fuss?"
"However, yesterday a report came in from the Imperial Court. The Liao State is buying large amounts of grain, causing the grain price in Hebei to double. The market no longer sells horses taller than five feet five feet. In the past, when the Liao State wanted to use force to invade the south, there were always such signs."
"It is known that the Maitreya Sect was already at the end of its rope after the fall of Beizhou City. This can be seen from the account books that were handed over. It was Yu Jing who joined with gold bars that helped the Maitreya Sect to revive. And now it is believed that his gold probably came from the Liao State."
"Prince Wen and I share the same view. However, we have spies in Liao State. Although they have stopped selling horses and purchased large amounts of grain, they have not yet mobilized troops from the North Court to the south. It seems that they are also waiting for changes in the people's sentiments here."
"It seems that Liaobang is not very satisfied with the current actions of Maitreya Sect?"
"That's probably the case. The capital must be full of Liao spies, waiting for the success or failure of this final act. Let's go back to my question just now. They are performing the drama in the underworld, so how should they perform the drama in heaven?"
"After I broke in, in addition to seeing the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Dragon, I also saw a pair of cold lights floating in the air."
"A pair of cold lights?"
"Yes, it was hanging behind Panlong. At that time, I felt like Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was looking down at me. If Huailiang hadn't called me in the dark, I would have accepted my fate."
"In fact, that thing is not a statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?"
"I recall carefully that there were white silk-like objects floating on both sides of the thing, which looked a bit like the head of Wang Ze that I saw in the Imperial Army armory in the palace. At that time, I saw that head with chains pierced through the temples on both sides, which was very scary. Now thinking about the strange object I saw here, is there any connection between them?"
"Can this thing ascend in front of people?"
"I'm afraid so. From what I saw, it was already floating in the air."
"Then what is the use of this dragon-shaped kite?"
“I haven’t figured this out yet.”
"If this dragon-shaped kite is actually very useful, discarding it now means they have given up on their plan. The prophecy caused by the hat monster has also come to an end. However, we cannot be sure now."
"Sir, you should always be cautious in predicting your enemy's behavior. I think we should be careful in what we do."
"You see that head-like object, how big is it?"
"About thirty or forty feet wide, and forty or fifty feet high."
"If we want to show something this big in front of people, we must move it to the ground first. We can have spies throughout the city, so as soon as such a suspicious giant appears, we can catch them. We can deploy troops on the highest points of each city tower, fire tower, and hotel, and keep an eye on all kinds of unusual movements from a high vantage point." Xu Chong said.
"Well, let's do it this way." Lao Bao summoned Xu Chong to his side, "Send out the available personnel, and assign a few people to watch over any high places in the capital. Many hotels are closed down now, so it shouldn't be difficult to borrow a high place from a store. But don't do anything reckless by relying on the badge of the Imperial City Bureau."
"My lord, you don't know that this waist badge is of little use outside the imperial city."
"Stop making such noise and try to please others. Just do it."
"Yes, my husband, why don't we exit from the Wuzhang River ahead?"
"Okay, let's go."
There were several people in front of them holding torches, and they went out together, and soon they arrived at the river where Shen Kuo had hurriedly run into the night before. However, at this time, someone had already towed a boat from the river outside. Several people got on the boat, and someone at the back pushed it with a bamboo pole, and the boat slowly moved forward.
"He was rescued by Huai Liang at that time. He escaped into the river but was still unconscious. He thought he was escaping from the underworld against the flow of the Yellow Springs. It's really funny." Shen Kuo said.
"Now that you mention it, it does make me feel that way. We are going against the flow of death and heading towards life." Old Bao stood upright at the bow of the boat.
"Yes, sir, I think they will be at the end of their rope after losing this nest." Xu Chong said.
"Look at this river channel, it's straight and not deep." Lao Bao ignored Xu Chong's optimism and continued his sigh, "Thinking back then, the pillars in the tower were wrapped in copper, so they must have been very heavy. Huailiang opened this river channel and used boats to transport the pillars to the bottom of the tower without wasting manpower. It was really a great idea."
As they were talking, a light appeared ahead, and it was obvious that they had reached the river mouth.
Soon the boat left the estuary, which was already filled with imperial guards and common people. Everyone stood on the embankment and watched the purple-robed man come out. Thinking that there might be spies of the Maitreya sect among these people, Lao Bao did not want to stay for long, and left in a sedan chair.
Xu Chong accepted the task and was about to leave, but suddenly he remembered something to ask Shen Kuo.
"Do you think that the Maitreya sect is really stupid enough to move a giant thing that is several meters square to the ground?" He changed his optimism in front of Lao Bao just now, and it can be seen that he is a little scheming.
"But there is no other way. I suppose there must be some cover-up?"
"How can we cover it up? For example, somewhere in this city, there was no object several feet long on the ground, but it suddenly appeared. Wouldn't that arouse suspicion?"
"That's true. We need to think about it more carefully."
"You didn't ask the monk in detail what it was?"
"Actually, I just thought of the possible function of that thing, so I didn't ask Master Huailiang."
"Where's the Hat Monster? Didn't ask?"
"I don't think there's any need to ask. Master Huailiang certainly doesn't know."
"Why?"
"I just feel that way."
"I'll go and arrange some spies right away. I hope they'll be sensible and retreat when they see the difficulty, so as not to cause more trouble for us."
"If you are afraid of something in this world and hope it won't happen, it will definitely follow you like a shadow."
Xu Chong rolled his eyes and turned away. He had not expected Shen Kuo to say such an unlucky thing, although it was indeed true.
Shen Kuo went back to find the horse, and then returned to Laoya Lane. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw a man squatting outside the gate, and there was a cart with a skinny mule next to it, but it was dark at night and he couldn't see who it was. When he got closer, he saw that it was Xiao Yi.
"Brother Xiaoyi, why are you here?"
"I have a letter that I am about to give to you, sir."
"Master, he has a letter for me."
"That's right. My master gave it to me this morning, saying that if there's nothing else, I'll send it to you. If something unexpected happens to Master Di Qing in the Daxiangguo Temple at night, just burn the letter. I've been waiting here for a long time, and I'm afraid you won't come back."
As Xiao Yi said this, he took out a letter from his bosom and gave it to Shen Kuo. Shen Kuo took it and couldn't help but sigh that the master was careful and actually had something on his mind. If he didn't care about their old friendship and insisted on arresting him, he would certainly surrender voluntarily, but he wouldn't have to give him this letter. Xiao Yi said goodbye, whipped the mule, and they drove towards the city gate.
