Strange Tales: The Yin-Yang Celestial Master

Unknowingly, he walked to the head of a white stone arch bridge. Seeing the familiar scenery, Qi Buyang suddenly became excited, and took the lead to step on the steps of the stone bridge.

"I remember this bridge. Uncle Qi took me here when I first moved to the city when I was a child. The Tingfeng Building is opposite."

Luo Lang followed behind unhurriedly, but his eyes fell on the stone railings on both sides of the bridge, "What are these?"

Qi Buyang glanced at the stone animals of different shapes on each stone pillar, and said with a smile: "This is the twelve zodiac signs. There are exactly twelve bridge pillars, and each one represents a zodiac sign."

"Really? It doesn't look like it to me." Luo Lang said, caressing one of the stone carvings inadvertently. It was carved with a giant coiled snake, but the snake's head had been knocked off.

"Because it's been a long time, most of them have been destroyed by human beings." Qi Buyang caressed and sighed the stone chicken sitting on the top of the stone pillar by his hand, but he suddenly felt something was wrong while talking, and turned to the chicken left Looking to the right, I can't remember what went wrong...

At this moment, Luo Lang casually said, "Is that a hen?"

One word awakens the dreamer!Qi Buyang suddenly realized that he lowered his head and looked carefully at the grouse under his hand - there is no high comb, no gorgeous tail feathers, and even the posture and movements are the same as when the hen is brooding, it is indeed a hen.But this is even more strange. Chinese people have always said that the rooster announces the dawn and the golden rooster is independent. They are all roosters. Generally speaking, the image of a rooster is also used in architectural sculptures. It is said that the blood of a rooster has the effect of exorcising evil and avoiding disasters. Why is this? Why is there a hen carved on the bridge?

Not to mention that he hadn't found it yet, after being reminded by Luo Lang, he couldn't help but look at the other stone statues of the zodiac one by one, only to find that all of them were strange.

For example, the size of the rabbit is so big that it almost competes with the tiger next to it, and the shape and charm of the rabbit's body and bottom that should be grass are like a burning flame; there is also a monkey, which is supposed to be squatting. Or the posture of hanging, but here the legs and legs are upright, no obvious hair can be seen, and the hands are incomplete. I don't know what they were holding...

"It's like a standing person..." Qi Buyang murmured while staring at the monkey statue.When he looked up, he found that he was standing so that he could see the yellow glazed roof of Tingfeng Building opposite from the highest point of the arch bridge. For some reason, a chill suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.He subconsciously glanced back at Luo Lang, who had an unpredictable smile on his face, took the ridiculous balloon string tied to his wrist, and walked straight to the opposite side.

They came to the other side of the bridge, and the last stone pillar coiled on it was a dragon. The stone dragon's eyes were wide open, but the eyes could not be seen. The whole body coiled downward in an awkward posture.

Qi Buyang immediately realized the problem, "No, this is not a dragon!"

"What is that?" Luo Lang squeezed the faucet to look at it, smacked his lips and said, "It's obviously very similar to that Feng Baisui."

"It has no horns. It's a dragon. And it looks weird."

Luo Lang looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Look, it is coiled downwards, and the faucet is at the bottom." Qi Buyang pointed it out to him.

"So what?" Luo Lang didn't take it seriously. In his opinion, human beings have never seen a real dragon anyway, and all dragon statues in the world look almost the same.

Qi Buyang patiently explained to him: "Plants are particular about coiling dragons. Usually the dragon's head is on the top, showing the tendency of flying into the sky, but it is very unlucky to have the dragon's head on the bottom."

"why?"

"The dragon's head facing up means that it is a rising dragon, also known as a living dragon. If it is facing down, it means that the dragon has committed a crime and is condemned to be imprisoned forever in the mortal world." Qi Buyang swallowed, "That is... a dead dragon. "

"Oh?" Luo Lang raised his eyebrows, "According to this, what does it mean to have a dead dragon on this bridge?"

Qi Buyang shook his head, "I don't know either, but I always feel that...maybe, it has something to do with it." After speaking, his eyes fell on the Tingfeng Building not far away.

Although the Tingfeng Building is a building, it is actually more like a small pagoda. It is built on a high stone platform base. Although it has only two floors, it looks very small and exquisite, but there are many carved beams and painted buildings, and the cornices reflect the sky. The glazed tiles on the top are shining Shining light, a copper bell is hung on each of the six corners of the eaves, and below are six vermilion lacquer columns.It's just that after a hundred years of wind and rain, the exquisite vermilion lacquer has long been mottled, the copper bell is also covered with a layer of old rust, and the gaps in the stone platform are covered with moss and weeds.

It seems a little older here than when I saw it many years ago.Qi Buyang stood in front of the building, the ancient building in front of him overlapped with his impression, and it seemed that there was no difference.He looked up at the six quaint bells, they were motionless in the breeze, let alone made a sound.

The so-called "Tingfeng Building" is named because these copper bells can ring in the wind, but in Qi Buyang's memory, these copper bells seem to have never rang.

"Mr. Luo, do you think those bells have been broken long ago? Why didn't they ring?"

Luo Lang curled his lips in disdain, "Human beings have broken down within a few years, not to mention the things you built." However, Luo Lang was still very interested in this ancient building, through the hollowed-out pattern on the closed door Looking inside, there was nothing to be seen except darkness. "What's in there?" He asked Qi Buyang.

"I don't know, I've never gone in." Qi Buyang thought for a while, "I haven't seen this door opened before."

"Go in and have a look." After speaking, Luo Lang directly stepped onto the bluestone steps in front of Tingfeng Building.

"No! There is a lock on the door!" Qi Buyang hurriedly followed to stop it.This is a cultural relic, and he can't afford to pay for it if it is damaged.

It's a pity that he was still one step too late, Luo Lang's hand was already on the rusty copper lock.

"Xiaoyang."

At this moment, Qi Buyang heard someone calling his name, and when he looked back, he saw two people coming out from the back of the building, one of whom was in a familiar black suit, carefully supporting the man wearing sunglasses beside him.

"Uncle Lin!"

The man nodded to him, walked to the side of the stone steps, took off his sunglasses and said to him, "I thought I heard your voice, but I didn't expect it was really you." He glanced at Luo Lang out of the corner of his eyes.Seeing him appear, Luo Lang's expression was not very good, and he responded to his eyes with a sneer on his lips.

"How did you get here?"

"It just happened to be nearby, so I wanted to come in and have a look..." Qi Buyang suddenly realized that he still had a balloon tied to his hand, and secretly hid his hands behind his back while talking, and forgot to ask Uncle Lin why he came here.Lin Huaigan noticed his actions, couldn't help smiling, and reached out to touch his head.

It's a pity that his hand was caught unceremoniously before it touched Qi Buyang. Luo Lang returned to them from the stone platform of Tingfeng Tower at some point, and gave him a warning look, "Take care of you!" claws."

Lin Huai withdrew his hand with a stiff face, still ignoring Luo Lang, as if he could only see Qi Buyang in his eyes, "Xiaoyang, you haven't been here often, may I show you around?"

"Okay." Qi Buyang was sweating coldly because of the embarrassing situation, and after hearing what he said, he immediately agreed.Although Mr. Luo didn't seem very happy, it was a rare visit after all, and he hadn't chatted with Uncle Lin for a long time. He couldn't refuse, so he secretly pulled the balloon string in Luo Lang's hand and gave him a look. reassure.

Luo Lang glanced at the "couple balloon" of the two, his face softened a little.

Qi Buyang quickly found a topic and said, "Uncle Lin, what happened to that stone bridge? The stone carvings on it are a bit strange."

Lin Huaiqian's eyes flashed, "You also found out?" He paused, put on his sunglasses again, and continued: "Actually, there was no such bridge in Longhu before, it was completed not long before you were born, and it is The Qi family at that time was the one your grandfather suggested to build."

Qi Buyang was shocked by his words, "Grandpa never told me that! So, the stone sculpture on it was also Grandpa's idea?"

Lin Huaigan nodded.

"why?!"

"You also know that Longhu is not peaceful, right?"

Qi Buyang nodded, "Uncle Qi told me that several people drowned in Longhu every year, and no matter how they were salvaged, they couldn't be recovered. The corpses would float up by themselves after a while."

"Don't you think it's strange? Such a small artificial lake shouldn't be dangerous, and those who drowned are all adults who can swim." Lin Huaigan's face became unpredictable, "The old man said that those people were offering sacrifices to the lake. God has gone..."

Qi Buyang suddenly thought of the old dragon in Longhu, could it be related to it?

"I decided to build this bridge because there were several murders in Longhu in those years, most of which were unimaginable, and the city was full of wind and rain for a while, so your grandfather suggested building a soul-suppressing bridge, and that's it."

"Those stone sculptures...?"

"Those stone carvings are different from the animals in the Yang world. They are all from the underworld. They are for the purpose of borrowing ghost soldiers and ghost generals from the underworld to drive away demons and suppress evil spirits."

Qi Buyang heard a chill behind him.Suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder, Luo Lang smiled grimly, and said in a low voice, "Don't listen to his nonsense, what ghost soldiers and ghost generals are just old dragons about to ascend to heaven."

"Could it be that the bridge was being built at that time...ah, and the dragon that was pinned down on the bridge was..." Qi Buyang asked Luo Lang in a low voice, his eyes glanced at the water surface of the Dragon Lake, "That one?"

"I will not tell you."

"..."

"There hasn't been much trouble since the bridge was repaired." Lin Huaigan's tone relaxed again, and he took the lead on the stone bridge, "By the way, I'll take you to Songdao."

"Song Island" is one of a series of islands in the middle of Longhu Lake. If the small island where Tingfeng Tower is located is the head, then Song Island is the tail. It is a small island completely covered by dense trees.As soon as I walked in, I felt a burst of coolness. Except for the beams of light cast by the treetops and the sparkling lake, there was no scorching sun here. Birds could be heard among the thick branches and leaves, and sparrows also lingered unscrupulously on the park path. It's like a small forest.

"Xiaoyang, do you know why this place is called Songdao?" Lin Huaigan asked suddenly.

Qi Buyang thought for a while, "Uncle Qi said that because this island was built by a general named Li Song. During the Republic of China, he was stationed here and led troops to expand Longhu. The excavated soil was piled up to form an island, which is called Songdao." Although he hadn't been here often, he still knew this common sense.

"Then do you know why he wants to expand Longhu?"

Uncle Qi never said that.Qi Buyang shook his head honestly.

"It is said that there are treasures buried under Longhu Lake." Lin Huaigan smiled softly, with a hint of sarcasm in his laughter. "Li Song led his officers and soldiers to dig the lake once a year, saying that he wanted to help the people expand Longhu Lake. In fact, he was looking for treasures at the bottom of the lake. Unfortunately, the sand he dug piled up into a pine island, and he didn't find the legendary treasure. "

At this time, they happened to come to a small hill. The top of the hill was full of green bamboos, forming a small bamboo forest, which was quite poetic.The strange thing is that eight small roads lead to the top of the hill, which is obviously not big. It seems dense and unreasonable. At the intersection of one of the small roads, there is a low and broken stone tablet. Qi Buyang thought it was the name of the mountain. , Unexpectedly, there was nothing on the stele, and the bare stone surface looked at him silently.

"This hill is called Junshan, to commemorate the achievements of the officers and soldiers. But it has another name," Lin Huaigan winked at him mysteriously, "the locals call it—'Dead Man's Mountain'."

"Why?" Qi Buyang asked subconsciously.

Lin Huaiqian pointed to the raised hillock and asked him, "Look, what does this look like?"

Qi Buyang looked at the wordless stele, and an answer was on his lips, but he couldn't say it.

Lin Huaigan understood what he meant, "Isn't it like a tomb? This is the tomb that those officers and soldiers built for their dead comrades in arms." Maybe it was because the expression on his face was too serious, Qi Buyang's hairs suddenly stood on end.

"Those soldiers... were they killed in battle?"

"They were all drowned, right in Longhu Lake."

"……how come?"

"Most of them are from the north, and many of them can't swim. But since they came to the south to garrison, in order to improve their strength, their superiors required them to learn to swim. At that time, Longhu Lake was not so big and not so deep. The shore was full of guards. There are hundreds of big men who can't swim, but even with so many guarantees, more than half of them drowned. Those soldiers who died were all buried under this hill, because there were too many people and there was no water. The name. After the war, all the troops withdrew, and only this was left behind. The old people said that it was a warning from Longhu, in order to protect their secrets."

Qi Buyang felt as if he had swallowed an ice cube, and the coolness reached his heart. He stared at the wordless monument, feeling horrified.

"Scared you?" Lin Huaiqian smiled gently again: "I also heard what others said, so don't take it too seriously. Besides, this place is a very beautiful place for me." His gaze Along the winding path, passing through the dense bamboo forest, Qi Buyang showed an expression that Qi Buyang had never seen on his face wearing sunglasses.

"It's here that I met your mother for the first time."