Chapter 83 Big-Headed Ghost
February 24th, midnight
The head was still floating in the air, waiting for the west wind to blow over the city of Bianliang.
Regarding the fact that Wang Ze claimed to be the reincarnation of Wu Zetian during his rebellion, not many people actually believed it. It was just a coincidence that there was a "ze" in Wang Ze's name, and there was a difference between men and women. The folk story-makers were quite sensible. Wang Ze was a thief who had once rebelled and was now executed. If they continued to make up stories about him, they would probably cause the government to crack down on him, so most people would avoid it. However, the "瞾" character that Wu Zetian created back then frequently appears in the most sensational and provocative topics of conversation after dinner.
One explanation for 瞾 is the sun and the moon in the sky. This is probably the original intention of Wu Zetian when she created this word. The sun is yang and the moon is yin. Who says they can only appear alternately and not at the same time? Just like who can say that only men can sit on the dragon throne.
Now this strange, glowing human head in the sky is already a much larger and brighter existence than the waning moon, which of course depends on the fact that it is closer to the people nearby.
Although such a faint glowing object cannot be compared with the sun, it is enough to trigger people's associations and blind faith. The prophecies that have come true in the past month are actually a bit far-fetched, but fear generally comes from human's uncontrollable associations, and this scene is enough to trigger chain imagination.
It was a cold sun in the middle of the night, rising from the place where the Nuo master had just danced to subdue the demons. It met all the conditions of the ninth prophecy and was highly provocative—it would rise wherever the court wanted to extinguish it. Once it took advantage of the east wind tonight and slowly floated over the entire Bianliang City, the tenth prophecy, which was the prophecy of the end of the Song Dynasty, would naturally be fulfilled. Once the rumors of fear began to spread spontaneously, they would spread rapidly throughout the world like a plague, and those enemies who hid in the dark and were always spying on the country would really sweep in with a devastating force.
When Shen Kuo arrived at the foot of the city, he saw this scene. He saw the imperial guards on the city wall abandoning their weapons and running down from above. He once doubted the invisible power of nursery rhymes and prophecies in his heart, and assessed where their upper limit was.
Perhaps the court was just overly worried, and the threat of the prophecy was not as strong as those tangible threats, such as the Iron Forest Army of Liao or the Iron Harriers of Xixia? Now he saw the collapse of people's hearts. Just like the real defeat on the battlefield can only come from the collapse of people's hearts. At this moment, he realized how this invisible fear from the heart crushed people's hearts.
He followed the fleeing crowd into the city and saw a young Taoist priest named Huang Shang, who was holding a bundle of clothes and looking at a loss. Huang Shang was about to leave the city against the crowd when Shen Kuo grabbed him and took him to a deserted place.
"Uncle Master, is that you?" Huang Shang then saw clearly that it was Shen Kuo, and his eyesight was not very good.
"Why leave the city?"
"I heard someone say that a monster appeared and was about to go help Master," he said without any fear.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Defending the Dao and eliminating evil, what is there to be afraid of?" the Taoist said sternly.
"What are you holding in your hands?"
"The brothers' robes were originally to be taken to the city for mending."
"Can you bring yellow paper and a cinnabar pen?"
"Bring them all."
"Do you dare to follow me up to the tower and kill that monster?"
"Dare!" Xiaodao said without hesitation.
"Okay, good boy, follow me up."
The two walked up the wall path, against the soldiers who were desperately running down the city. Originally, Shen Kuo was worried that he would be stopped by the soldiers guarding the city gate and not allowed to go up the city, but now the only thing he had to worry about was being squeezed down by the crowd. On the path, flags, weapons, and helmets were thrown everywhere.
As soon as the two climbed onto the wall, they saw the head floating in front of them. He stopped there, staring coldly at Shen Kuo who was just a few feet away. In fact, his empty and dull eyes were just right, so that they confronted everyone who dared to look up at it. Xiaodao couldn't help but scream "Ah!" and stepped back involuntarily. This was his instinctive reaction.
"Are you scared?" Shen Kuo asked.
"No."
"Come with me."
The two walked straight to the arrow tower, where there were several crossbows that required several people to operate. Now there was only one way to expose the spectacle that was ruining the country. At this moment, its height and distance were appropriate, and it was about to fly high and far, so it was not easy to shoot it down. However, the two scholars could not turn the four capstans on both sides, and at least two other people were needed. When they arrived at the arrow tower, they saw a dozen soldiers trembling on the top of the city. They were probably so scared that they forgot to escape.
Shen Kuo held the gold medal in his arms, wondering if he could use this medal to convince them that he could eliminate the disaster before their eyes? Just tell them: "This huge, dull, funny head with a contemptuous smile on its mouth is far weaker than its pale color. You don't need to know the principle of it floating in the air and holding a flame in its mouth. Just listen to my command, turn the capstan together, and load the arrows; with just one arrow, I can prove that it is actually nothing but a ball of hot air."
"No, that's just a scholar's arrogance! No one will die for such a ridiculous excuse." He convinced himself in an instant.
He untied his hair and took off his shoes, threw off his clothes and shoes, grabbed a Taoist robe from Huang Shang's hand and put it on, then pulled out his long sword from behind Huang Shang. Then he walked towards the crossbow on the top of the city wall.
As he walked over, he also glanced at the city below. He could see Xu Chong and someone wrestling under the open Seven Star Terrace. The person was wearing almost the same clothes as the Niutou he saw underground that day. At this moment, the two were hugging and wrestling in a difficult situation. Even though his eyesight was not very good, he could see that Xu Chong was at a disadvantage and seemed to be injured. He hoped that he could hold on.
Several stunned soldiers then saw a young Taoist with disheveled hair, barefoot and holding a sword walking towards them.
"Who are you?" the leading officer asked panicked.
"I am the eldest disciple of the real master and I am here to subdue the evildoers."
When Shen Kuo said this, he was nervous, wondering if he could fool the other party with this lie.
However, when the soldiers on the city wall turned to him, there was only a moment of doubt in their eyes, and then some awe. They did not see through Shen Kuo, not because this man was too young for a disciple of the Immortal Master, and he did not even have a beard. But because this man did not even look at the swollen and scary head so close, not even a glance. This calmness made people believe that this little Taoist priest was not ordinary, even extraordinary.
Obviously, Shen Kuo's doubts about the government's strategy when discussing this ritual with Xu Chong just now were justified. When you take your opponent too seriously and want to counterattack at every turn, it actually increases the opponent's influence. You should treat it as nothing and regard its terrifying appearance as a trick that is not worth looking at. This can actually give those who are frightened by appearances a strong psychological calmness.
"Master Taoist... this is..." The leading officer pointed at the thing that was so close at hand in horror.
"Hehehe..." Shen Kuo held the sword in his right hand upside down and pointed the sword gesture of his left hand at the floating object in the air with eyes as dull as dead fish. He suddenly laughed towards the sky, with such contempt and confidence, "Are you asking about this mere giant-headed ghost?" At this moment, he had learned it by himself and had to exert psychological hint through this contempt.
"Master, is this big-headed ghost just a mere mortal?"
"It was indeed just a little prank. He occasionally came into the living world to scare people. I am here to send him back to the underworld and not allow him to come out again."
Huang Shang behind him also noticed something and hurried forward.
"Uncle Master, I'm here to help you."
Shen Kuo snorted and looked at the dozen or so soldiers in front of him.
"All the zodiac signs: Rat, Rabbit, Horse, Rooster, leave immediately and do not stay, the rest stay."
His masterly demeanor quickly had an effect. Several people left in a hurry, and no one questioned whether he was the first disciple of the immortal.
"Disciple, take the talisman paper and let me write a talisman to pacify demons and suppress evil. Don't just stand there, quickly fill this bed with crossbows."
"Yes, Master."
No one in the Song Dynasty would doubt the idea of using spells to bless the power or accuracy of bows and crossbows, because there has been a story circulating about the use of magic to shoot and kill the Liao army commander Xiao Taling in the early years. In fact, on that day, the crossbows on the top of the city had already aimed at Xiao Taling riding a white horse, just waiting for him to get close. The success of the arrow was actually due to the favorable wind and some luck, and the distance was not as far as 700 steps, but only 300 steps. Xiao Taling was confident that no one recognized him and did not allow the general's flag to follow him, so he dared to approach the top of Chanzhou City without fear. However, his 6-foot-6-inch tall white horse, golden saddle, and silver mountain-patterned armor on his body had been discovered by Song army spies for many days. It was just that this successful crossbow sniper kill was interpreted as a spell that was used to succeed, erasing the outstanding contribution of intelligence work. However, this deeply rooted interpretation now saves Shen Kuo a lot of explanations.
Shen Kuo took the yellow paper handed over by Huang Shang, put it on the ground, and used a cinnabar brush to paint some symbols that he didn't know what they were. He prayed silently in his heart that Xu Chong would leave there quickly. He was worried that if the hanging head fell, the ignited oil in it would burn the entire wooden platform. By then, Xu Chong might not be able to escape.
As the soldiers were struggling to turn the capstans on both sides, Xu Chong was already at a disadvantage. He dragged his injured leg and could only dodge in embarrassment. Fortunately, the speed of the continuous arrows shot by Yu Jing's crossbow was not fast. Now that the top cover was opened, the light became better, and he could see the direction of the short arrows clearly, which made it easier to dodge.
Yu Jing could only hold on. After the fake head rose, it did not leave the sky above the Seven Stars Terrace because it was still tied to the last rope. If he wanted to untie the rope, he could only put down the steel fork or crossbow in his hand, which gave Xu Chong an opportunity to take advantage of it.
No matter what, Xu Chong had to be killed first, so he thrust the steel fork forward, trying to take Xu Chong down in one fell swoop. Xu Chong rolled on the ground to avoid it. He quickly stepped back to untie the last rope. The rope was quite special, connected by loops and painted black. From a distance, it looked like an iron chain. After he untied it, he wrapped the rope around his hands. When he looked back, Xu Chong was no longer there. There were rows of bloody footprints on the ground, and he didn't know where Xu Chong had hidden. He didn't have the time to chase Xu Chong by following the footprints. This matter was no longer important. He quickly found the bull-head mask on the ground and put it on, then quickly climbed onto the stage. He still had one last show to perform.
Under the illumination of the bonfires, Yu Jing appeared in front of the crowd, like the legendary messenger of hell, holding an iron chain in one hand and a steel fork in the other.
He waved a steel fork and shouted rudely that no one could understand. At this moment, no one needed to understand what he said, but they just needed to know that this was the language of hell. After this performance, the audience would naturally imagine that the underworld used some kind of low roar to announce Wang Ze's resurrection and the end of the destiny and orthodoxy of the Song Dynasty.
It doesn’t need too many viewers, just a few hundred people. Horrible stories spread ten times faster than the plague, and in the vivid word of mouth, imperfect details will be made up, missing rationality will be corrected, and the power will be increased a hundredfold.
As the new generation leader of Maitreya religion, he had long since stepped out of his early stage of being a saint, pretending to be a god and making small moves. He had long since seen through the fact that the common people were nothing but a mob. Bianliang, as the center of land transport and a gathering place of millions of people, was the most suitable breeding ground and source for the spread of rumors.
Now I am only one step away from success. As long as I let go of my hand and let the thing above float away with the wind, I can escape from the tunnel and everything will happen naturally.
On top of the west gate, the soldiers finally finished winding the capstan. Shen Kuo also finished writing his spell, which he pasted on a five-foot-long arrow in the rack, then pulled out the arrow and inserted it into the arrow slot of the bed crossbow.
"Master, what should we do?" asked the officer.
"Could you have hit that head?" Shen Kuo said.
"Since we are so close, we can certainly hit it. I am just afraid that it will get angry and spit out flames, burning down the tower."
The officer had already seen the flame in the mouth grow and shrink.
"Haha, don't be afraid. Just aim at the center between the two eyes. That's the ghost's orifice. If you shoot there, I guarantee it won't be able to spit out fire."
Several soldiers pushed the crossbow and aimed the arrow at the head less than 200 steps away. Shen Kuo squatted down to the mountain and touched the trigger with his right hand.
"Can it be a little higher?" he asked.
"Master, this iron arrow falls too fast. It needs to be one or two centimeters higher," said the officer.
"Does the change in wind direction affect your accuracy?"
"This arrow is heavy, so the wind change won't matter. What's more..." The officer turned his head to look at the direction where the flags on the top of the city were flying, "What's more, the wind is blowing from the west at the moment, and this big-headed ghost is also in the west, which is a headwind. A headwind will only reduce the distance, and it won't affect the accuracy." The officer could explain something about the trajectory and wind deviation, which made Shen Kuo feel at ease.
Yu Jing on the stage finally finished his performance. He shook the rope in his hand, and the rope fell off the hook under the head. The head with a strange smile followed the wind and forced its way towards Shen Kuo. The soldiers around him were so scared that they ran away. In a blink of an eye, no one was left. This meant that if he missed the arrow, no one would come to help him turn the capstan and hit the second arrow.
