In 1921, Jiucai Mountain, Haiyuan County, Ningxia.

In the second year of the Haiyuan earthquake, Zhang Molu and Xing Boqiu finally walked into Jiucai Mountain and made difficult progress towards the burial place of the cast iron immortal.

The reason why it is difficult is not because the mountain road is difficult to walk, but because along the way, you can see the graves of the victims of last year's earthquake, most of the graves have no tombstones, not even a wooden sign with their names written on them, because in Haiyuan County, the most serious earthquake is Jiutian Town, which is the closest to Jiucai Mountain.

Jiutian Town has been a famous trading place in Qinghai since a hundred years ago, because the tax here is different from other places, people who go south and north are willing to come here to do business, and more importantly, within a hundred miles of Jiutian Town, there are no bandits, and the army has long been paid by the merchants to pay for it.

Therefore, when the earthquake in Jiutian Town, there were the most nameless victims here, and most of these people who left their hometowns did not have relatives nearby, so it was a blessing in misfortune to be dug up after death, and there was a grave.

Xing Boqiu looked at the graves at the foot of the mountain along the way, and felt very uncomfortable, he asked Zhang Molu: "Senior brother, how long do you have to walk after entering the mountain?" ”

Zhang Molu looked at the sun in the sky that was blocked by a thin layer of smoke: "It's up to luck." ”

Xing Boqiu didn't understand what he meant: "Why do you want to look at luck? ”

Zhang Molu explained: "When I came here last year, I originally just wanted to come and look for clues again, but I and Xue Lao Wu alone will definitely not be able to dig up the tomb and hang the coffin, so Xue Lao Wu proposed to dig a hole into the tomb, that is the best way, after all, the tomb of the cast iron fairy is relatively simple, there is no hidden weapon or anything like that, who knows, after the cave is dug, Xue Lao Wu went down and did not come up again, I was very worried, and I slowly slid down with the rope, and I didn't know until I got below, The stone slabs under the coffin, because of the earthquake, were all broken, and the coffin fell into the abyss below, Xue Lao Wu didn't know about this, thinking that it would be safe to enter the tomb, but his feet slipped and the rope was not grasped steadily, and he fell directly. ”

Xing Boqiu frowned: "Senior brother, are you really sure that Qimen is down there?" ”

Zhang Molu nodded: "I'm sure it's down there, I slid down the rope for more than ten meters, and saw that there was a well below, exactly the same as the legendary sacrificial well in Manichaeism, and there were sitting caves around it." ”

Xing Boqiu asked again: "Is there nothing in the cave?" ”

Zhang Molu stopped: "Yes, that's why I'm sure it's the Well of Sacrifice." In Manichaeism, the so-called sacrifice means that the devout believers themselves enter the sacrificial well and sit in the caves on the four walls, and the cast iron fairy took great pains to build the sacrificial well under his tomb. ”

"Yes, that's the case...... Xing Boqiu finally figured it out at this time, "It seems that the well of sacrifice really hides the secret of the Manichaean prophet, junior brother, do you believe that the three miracles of the prophet exist?" ”

Zhang Molu asked rhetorically: "Senior brother, when you were in the Boxer Rebellion, you worshipped the teacher, right?" ”

Xing Boqiu nodded: "Yes." ”

Zhang Molu asked again: "Then you must know those spells and spells in the Boxers?" ”

Xing Boqiu responded: "Remember." ”

Zhang Molu sighed: "Do you think those are true? ”

Xing Boqiu smiled bitterly: "I have seen with my own eyes that no less than fifty people who drank talisman water and recited incantations were killed by foreign guns. ”

"That's right." Zhang Molu continued to walk forward, "Therefore, I never believe that there are miracles, but I believe that people always need faith, faith is a kind of dependence of people, the last straw, of course, as long as faith makes people good, it should exist." ”

Xing Boqiu pondered for a moment and asked, "Senior brother, what if the miracle of the prophet really exists?" ”

Zhang Molu smiled: "It can't exist." ”

Xing Boqiu stepped forward and said, "Let me ask you, if it really exists and we get it, what will you do?" ”

Zhang Molu said: "I won't do anything, the purpose of taking you there this time is to hope that you will help me and reseal the hole with explosives." ”

Xing Boqiu stopped Zhang Molu: "Senior brother, what if we are wrong?" What if there really were miracles in Qimen, and miracles could make up for the mistakes we made with Master in the past? ”

Zhang Molu frowned: "What do you want to say?" ”

Xing Boqiu turned to look at the graves on the hillside: "Remember? If we get that miracle, we can not only save the Persians who Master killed to protect the secret, but also the innocent people I killed in Xiaocheng, and even those who died due to the earthquake, we can save them, and that is the great good. ”

Zhang Molu grabbed Xing Boqiu's arms: "Senior brother, you remember, if this world really has such a magical power that can control life and death in the world, then there is no difference between good and evil for a long time. ”

Xing Boqiu looked at Zhang Molu's eyes and shook his head slightly, as if he didn't understand what his junior brother was saying.

"Let's go. We still have to hurry. Zhang Molu raised his feet and continued to move forward, but Xing Boqiu stood in place, looking at Zhang Molu with a strange look.

After walking in the mountains for about half a day, Zhang Molu finally took Xing Boqiu to the top of a low mountain, and then pointed to the back of a bush: "The hole that Xue Lao Wu and I dug is there. ”

Xing Boqiu looked around and asked puzzledly: "Senior brother, didn't the master say that the burial place of the cast iron immortal is in a depression?" It's a low mountain, and the feng shui is extremely bad. ”

"Originally, the feng shui of that depression was not good, it was a dead land." Zhang Molu said with a smile, "The cast iron immortal is not a Han person, it is a Persian, the Persians don't pay attention to our feng shui, and after the big earthquake last year, this mountain has undergone earth-shaking changes, if it weren't for Xue Laowu's technology, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to find it, it has changed from a depression to a burial place for a low mountain." ”

Xing Boqiu raised his eyes and looked at the bushes, Zhang Molu also took off the basket and held it in his hand, and at the same time took out the bundle of ropes from it: "When you go down from the cave, you must tie yourself tightly with a rope, and when you get to the tomb, don't let go of the rope, although there is air below, it is not very sufficient, there will be wind blowing up from under the sacrificial well, so the torch is easy to extinguish, if you can't see it, don't panic, grab the protruding rock next to the tomb, and you'll be fine." ”

Xing Boqiu followed Zhang Molu to the center of the bush, watched him uncover the camouflage turf from the ground, smelled the fishy wind blowing out of it, and determined that there was indeed a damp and dark cave underneath, plus there was a smell of medicine, and the smell was unique, almost the same as the smell emitted by the cast iron immortal coffin that Master had once described.

"Senior brother, we have been gone for too long, so let's rest for the night, eat and drink enough, and sleep well, and then go down early tomorrow morning." Xing Boqiu looked at the entrance of the cave and said, "Anyway, it's already here, and there's no hurry to do it." ”

Zhang Molu thought for a while and said, "Okay, let's rest for the night first, and then talk about it tomorrow morning." ”

Xing Boqiu immediately set up a simple tent with Zhang Molu, took out dry food, and hunted a hare, half roasted and half used to stew wild vegetables.

During the meal, Xing Boqiu looked at Zhang Molu, who was gobbling up, and asked, "Senior brother, if there is a chance, no, it should be said that if there is really a miracle that allows you to resurrect the master, will you resurrect his old man?" ”

"No, it won't." Zhang Molu replied without thinking, "He finally let go of everything and went to another world, and now he is living a good life every day, why should I get him back?" When the time comes, he won't kill me. ”

Xing Boqiu put down the bowl in his hand, looked at the bonfire and said, "However, finding Qimen is the master's lifelong wish. ”

"I know." Zhang Molu said lightly, "But you also have to know that Master's life has come to an end, maybe he has been reincarnated and devoted himself to a good family, and he may live a life without worrying about food and clothing in this life, and he doesn't have to run around like us, and he doesn't even have to worry about moving his head when he sleeps." ”

Xing Boqiu picked up the bowl again, drank the soup, and sat there looking at the bonfire in a daze, not saying a word, his face full of worries.

Zhang Molu looked at Xing Boqiu and said with a smile: "Don't think so much, tomorrow, we can erase all this." ”

Xing Boqiu smiled reluctantly and didn't say anything.

In the early morning of the next day, before the sun climbed the mountain, Xing Boqiu and Zhang Molu climbed into the cave.

Like Zhang Molu, although the cave is inclined down at forty-five degrees, because it is too narrow, you can't move at all, you can only lean back and grab the rope and slide down, if there is no rope, if you don't pay attention to it, people will fall directly at a very fast speed, and fall directly into the sacrificial well at the bottom of the tomb.

When Zhang Molu arrived at the tomb safely, grasped the rock next to him, fixed his body, and lit his own torch with Xing Boqiu's torch, Xing Boqiu also used the decorative filling stone in the tomb to re-tie the downward rope.

Xing Boqiu stood on the side of the floor of the tomb that had been broken through a huge hole, looked down cautiously, hung down the prepared lanterns, carefully looked at the sitting caves on the four walls of the sacrificial well below, and nodded: "It's really a sacrificial well, and Qimen is really down there." ”

"Of course." Zhang Molu is also making final preparations, "The rope we bring is not long enough, it should be said that it is useless for us to bring a long rope, the legendary Manichaean sacrificial well is bottomless, and when we slide to the end of the rope, we can only ...... with our bare hands."

After Zhang Molu finished speaking, he suddenly shook his body, closed his eyes, and opened them again.

Xing Boqiu stood there and looked at Zhang Molu carefully: "Senior brother, what's wrong with you?" ”

"I ...... I don't know, it's a bit of a trance, I always feel ......" Zhang Molu began to become a little slurred, tried several times, but didn't catch the rope next to him, if it wasn't for the rope tied around his waist, he would have fallen down a long time ago.

In the end, Zhang Molu hung there weakly, and struggled to look up at Xing Boqiu.

Zhang Molu said word for word: "Senior brother, you, you, you poisoned me?" ”

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it." Xing Boqiu said softly, grabbed the rope, and looked at Zhang Molu, "I asked you, are you willing to use miracles to do good deeds, you say no, you don't want to, I also ask you, if you can resurrect Master, would you be willing?" You still say you don't want to, you've become bad, junior brother, no, maybe you haven't had a good time since the day you apprenticed, you are still the same charlatan before, a selfish charlatan! ”

Zhang Molu looked very uncomfortable, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth: "What poison did you give me?" ”

Xing Boqiu said lightly: "Cartilage powder, something similar to sweat medicine, but cartilage powder will make you soft and will not die, as long as you take a little rest, you can recover, but I have to kill you." ”

Zhang Molu was taken aback: "Why?" What exactly do you want to do? ”

Xing Boqiu said: "I want to get miracles, preside over justice, save those who don't deserve to die, my son will help me, although he still doesn't understand the truth yet, but I will teach him, he will use miracles to help others under my guidance." ”

Zhang Molu replied weakly: "You are crazy, you obviously know that there are no miracles at all, Master used to praise you as the only sensible person in the Boxers, I think Master is wrong...... Senior brother, I know that you blew up the berm in Xiaocheng in order to protect Xiaojin, killing so many people, and you feel guilty, but those are two different things, you can't mix them up, think about it, if Xiaojin is used by those Manchu Tartars to restore, the world will be in chaos, and won't more people die? ”

Xing Boqiu shook his head slowly and expressionlessly: "I'm not crazy, it's not wrong, I just want to make up for the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that Master made back then, that's all, so, I'm not wrong, I used to be selfish, but now I understand that it's not me who is selfish, it's you, junior brother, if there is a next life, you must not be a selfish person again." ”

After Xing Boqiu finished speaking, he pulled out the dagger and wanted to cut Zhang Molu's rope, but heard Zhang Molu say: "Wait, wait, I have one more question for you!" Just one question! Wait! ”

Xing Boqiu nodded: "What?" You ask, I can answer anything. ”

Zhang Molu raised his head slightly and looked at Xing Boqiu: "You said at the entrance of the cave yesterday that you want to stay overnight, eat, drink and rest, and come down again today just to poison me, right?" ”

Xing Boqiu said: "Of course, in terms of using poison, you are an expert, you were originally a slipper, a charlatan, but you never imagined that I would poison you, and it is the simplest cartilage powder to use." ”

Zhang Molu laughed, suddenly straightened up, turned around, jumped on both feet, jumped to a safe distance, sighed and said: "Yes, you know that I am a charlatan, and you still poison me, don't you know what it means to play a big knife in front of Guan Gong?" ”

Xing Boqiu's chest was stuffy at this time, and his throat felt as if something was about to rush out, he covered his abdomen, grabbed the rope, and glared at Zhang Molu: "You...... You...... When did you poison me? ”

"Last night!" Zhang Molu said coldly, "You didn't see it, did you?" Do you think you've been watching me, but I also had a chance to poison me, that is, when you poisoned me, I took that opportunity to poison you, remember the moment you put down the bowl? At that moment, your attention was in the pot, you flicked the poison powder into it, and I took advantage of the moment when you were doppelganger, and I also put the poison in your bowl, cartilage powder, how could this kind of thing poison me? But the poison in you is different. ”

Xing Boqiu seemed to understand: "You deliberately pretended to be poisonous because you knew the time when cartilage powder was poisonous, and you kept asking me to delay the time, until I was poisoned!" Zhang Molu, you are really as Master said, from head to toe, you are a charlatan! Despicable and shameless! ”

"You didn't need to poison me, because you are better than me, but you are smart, thinking that I, the poisoner, will not prevent you from poisoning me, you think too simply, I will lose to the master alone in my life, you? Not qualified to fight me! Zhang Molu frowned: "Desire is really terrible, you have been controlled by desire, so, I have to do this, I also have to think of other ways to completely wipe out Qimen, everyone related to Qimen, I originally had hope, but you are in you, I don't see any hope." ”

Xing Boqiu's hands and feet were weak, his body drooped, hanging in the air, and black blood began to gush out of his mouth: "Zhang Molu, you, what do you want to do?" ”

Zhang Molu said coldly: "I will go to your son, I will go to Xing Renju, I will replace you, educate him in your appearance, teach him what to do and what not to do in the future, and when the time is right, I will also tell him a perfect story that I carefully fabricated, about the story of you and I who decided to cover up the secrets of Qimen for the rest of your life after you and I came to Qimen." ”

Xing Boqiu shouted there: "Zhang Molu, my son is innocent, don't drag him in, you bastard!" You bastard! ”

Zhang Molu shook his head: "It was you who dragged your son in, not me, it was you who trained him to become a cargo chaser, it was you who made him a treasure protector, you let him get involved, I persuaded you at the beginning, did you listen?" You don't, you go your own way! It's all your own hands! ”

Just when Xing Boqiu used the last strength of his body to struggle, Zhang Molu pulled out a dagger and cut Xing Boqiu's rope, watching Xing Boqiu scream and fall into the sacrificial well.

"Go find your miracle, and if it's true, come back to life and seek revenge on me." Zhang Molu said as he looked at the dark well, and then struggled to climb back to the ground along the rope.

After returning to the surface, Zhang Molu immediately set about setting up the explosives, and then detonated them, blowing up the cave and the surrounding low hills, and after simply changing the landscape, he immediately rushed towards Xiaocheng.

A month later, Zhang Molu, who came to Xiaocheng, did not immediately go to Xing Renju, but went straight to the Guo family, the richest man in Xiaocheng, and met Young Master Guo, who had become a family member.

Zhang Molu's presumptuous visit made Young Master Guo extremely surprised, and he was even more surprised after hearing that he was the junior disciple of Xing Boqiu, the filial piety treasure protector.

When Young Master Guo led Zhang Molu to the back hall and served tea, Zhang Molu didn't say a word, and immediately told Young Master Guo about the cause and effect of all the things, the ins and outs, including his anti-killing of Boqiu at the entrance of Qimen.

This talk was for several hours, and Young Master Guo was dumbfounded when he heard it, and he didn't completely digest it until Zhang Molu finished speaking.

"If Qimen reappears, it will be a catastrophe." Zhang Molu said in a deep voice, "So, I need the help of the Guo family, as long as you come forward, I can greatly guarantee that my identity will not be recognized by Xingrenju, as long as you come forward, the bureau I laid down can be close to perfection, and Xingrenju will do what I say and arrange!" ”

Young Master Guo frowned: "Why are you looking for the Guo family?" Why are you looking for me? ”

"Because your family and the criminal family are world friends, besides, I must also confuse Xiaojin and Qimen, so that the clues are as chaotic as possible!" Zhang Molu frowned and said, "Of course, I also know about the Guo family, I know that the Guo family understands righteousness, and I know that the Guo family is wealthy, so without the Guo family, my plan cannot be implemented, of course, I also have to threaten you, if you don't cooperate with me, I will fight to the death of the net and put the matter of filial piety on the rivers and lakes." ”

Young Master Guo closed his eyes and said softly, "You let me think about it......"

Test 1