In the months after Shi Da's defeat at Dadu River and his tragic death, there was a rumor that sent chills down people's spines and spread among the people.

It is said that in April of that year, that is, in May 1863, Shi Dakai's nearly 10,000 troops were in a place called Lao Ya Whirlpool on the bank of the Dadu River, and the way to the north was blocked by a flood that had not been encountered in a century, and more than 3,000 soldiers were lost by forcibly crossing the Dadu River, and the Qing army that came to encircle and suppress them at that time was about 38,000 people. Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, agreed to this condition, and Shi Dakai was taken to Chengdu to be sentenced to Ling Chi.

Shi Dakai was afraid that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be completely destroyed, and on the eve of his surrender, he secretly met with his closest comrade-in-arms, Feng Yuliang, and handed him a treasure map. This treasure map records a certain place in Kunlun Mountain, there are treasures that can attract powerful monsters, I hope Feng Yuliang will find the treasure as soon as possible, get the assistance of the monsters, and help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to make a comeback.

Feng Yuliang was loyal to Shi Dakai, so he assembled a team of thirteen people, disguised as cloth, and left the old crow whirlpool that night to go to Kunlun Mountain to hunt for treasure. Later, due to the bumpy road and the continuous pursuit of soldiers, thirteen people died all the way to death, and finally only five people arrived at Kunlun Mountain.

On Kunlun Mountain, before the five people found the treasure, they encountered powerful monsters, and all four people except Feng Yuliang were killed by monsters, and finally Feng Yuliang jumped off the cliff, and his life and death were uncertain.

This legend is really weird, and it happened not long ago, and it became a hot topic of conversation in the world. Lijiang County came to a Dali opera troupe, based on this legend, every day in the east of the city at the market entrance to perform a Dian opera called "Taiping Demon Sleepless".

Of course, the government will never allow any performances depicting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but at that time, Lijiang was still under the "Muslim State" established by Du Wenxiu, and the Hui rebel army and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had common enemies, so such performances not only had room to survive, but also deliberately rendered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom side extremely tragic.

Pu Zixuan is an idler, and there is not much entertainment in the era of war and chaos, but now there are people in the county who are willing to sing for him, and he has become a frequent visitor to the audience. Pu Zixuan never believed in demons and evils, and more importantly, this stage developed into a landmark in Lijiang, where he could meet friends in twos and threes.

One day, Zhu Yuanliang also came here, and scolded while watching the performance: "His grandmother's, these treacherous dog officials!" If I find that treasure, I want them to taste Ling Chi! ”

Zhu Yuanliang is the same age as Pu Zixuan, nineteen years old, but his development since he was a child is different from ordinary people, in front of his fat and strong body, Pu Zixuan is like a poor short. People in the world often say that people with developed limbs will have a simple mind, Zhu Yuanliang is a typical kind of person, he is incompatible with his classmates in the private school, only close to Pu Zixuan, because both of them hate reading, but the reasons are very different - Pu Zixuan is rebellious because he has heard too many advanced things since he was a child, and Zhu Yuanliang is just tired of learning because he is stupid.

Two years ago, the Hui rebel army captured Lijiang, and the young and vigorous Zhu Yuanliang couldn't sit still in the private school for a long time. Unfortunately, he was not a Muslim and could not join the regular army, but was hired as a catcher in the Muslim state, responsible for patrolling Lijiang and dealing with public security issues.

In this regard, although Zhu Yuanliang was unwilling, he had the right to move freely in the city, but he did not lose contact with Pu Zixuan. He is burly, powerful, and easy to fight, forming a strong deterrent to the local tyrants and squires near and far, and was promoted to catch the head, over time, he is deeply loved by the military and the people, and is regarded as "Zhu Pioneer" by the people of Lijiang.

However, in Pu Zixuan's mouth, he will always be the "fat dun" of his childhood.

Zhu Yuanliang has an indelible prejudice against the rich, but he still values the initial brotherhood with Pu Zixuan. Pu Zixuan also understands that if it weren't for Zhu Yuanliang's prestige, if Zhu Yuanliang hadn't been covering it with his prestige, I'm afraid it would have already become someone else's bag.

While watching the play, the two drank a little wine, and when they heard Zhu Yuanliang's indignant thoughts, Pu Zixuan couldn't help asking: "Brother, do you really believe that there are monsters in this world?" ”

Zhu Yuanliang is unwavering about this: "Of course! There are many things in this world that cannot be explained. Otherwise, let me ask you, Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, just that little population, and the technology at that time, if there was no demon power to help, how did he do it? ”

Pu Zixuan replied disdainfully: "Hmph, don't talk about the Great Wall, my father mentioned to me that there is a country called Egypt, where people built huge pyramids more than 5,000 years ago, and piled more than 2 million boulders neatly and more than 40 zhang high!" The ancients said that it was built by mysterious forces, but the British calculated through scientific calculations that it can be done manually. They analyzed that the ancient Egyptians used rivers to transport stones, and the rivers connected to the cistern at the bottom of the tower, and then used the buoyancy of the cistern at the bottom of the tower to lift the stones to a high place. It's the same with our Great Wall, where you can easily transport boulders to their destination with the help of physical machinery such as levers and pulleys......"

Zhu Yuanliang scolded: "Slut, it's what your father taught you again, right?" The bully has no culture, and he can't understand his grandmother's rod or wheel. ”

Pu Zixuan laughed: "This is called the power of science. ”

Zhu Yuanliang was not convinced, and asked again: "What about the big bang during the apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty?" Is it your rod or wheel that can explain it? ”

Pu Zixuan has always been interested in the Apocalypse Big Bang, and he has often thought about it, and when he heard Zhu Yuanliang say this, he suddenly became interested: "The reason for the Apocalypse Big Bang must be caused by some natural force. More than 1,000 years ago, the ancients discovered that the collision of different substances can produce a powerful explosion in the process of alchemy, so they invented gunpowder, but the ancients followed the law of experience and did not refine and summarize the laws of everything. Now the gringos have long since distilled these experiences into a science called chemistry, and experimented with all kinds of explosions. At that time, the gunpowder depot of Wang Gongchang in Beijing was originally a place to store gunpowder, and any accidental event, such as the fall of a meteorite, would cause a large explosion. I'll put aside this point, in less than a hundred years, mankind will create even more terrible weapons, bringing about explosions that can destroy nations. ”

"Hmph, we won't live for a hundred years anyway, whatever you say." Zhu Yuanliang asked again, "You said that the meteorite fell, then let me ask you, if there are no gods and monsters in the sky, where did those stones come from?" ”

"Hahahaha." Pu Zixuan laughed and said, "What is heaven? What is land? The 'heaven' you see now is nothing more than a description of 'heaven' imposed on you by the ancients. ”

Zhu Yuanliang looked up at the cloudy sky and scolded: "His grandmother's, can you not say it so mysteriously?" Just tell me, what the hell is the 'sky' in your mouth? ”

Pu Zixuan said: "The world we live in, rivers, mountains, and rivers are all part of the surface of a giant sphere, called 'earth', our earth is round, and the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, we are in a boundless universe, the universe is composed of countless such planets, and our earth is just an insignificant member of it. Each planet is moving along its own orbit, but sometimes due to gravity, it is attracted to other planets and flies towards each other at high speed, which is how meteorites come from, except that they are burned by cloud friction and turn into boulders when they reach the ground. ”

"Hahaha." This time it was Zhu Yuanliang's turn to laugh, "Pu Zixuan, I just learned today how rich your imagination is, you actually gave such an explanation to our universe, admire and admire!" What you said is too evil, I think, I might as well believe that it was Pangu who cut this universe in half with a knife, the upper is the sky, the lower is the earth, and it is Pangu's internal organs that have turned into our mountains and rivers. ”

Pu Zixuan immediately replied: "Alas, Fat Dun, it's not me who said you, what do you hold every day to look at those strange things with "Strange Tales of Liaozhai" and "Classic of Mountains and Seas", what's the point?" People say, 'If you don't talk about "Dream of Red Mansions", this public shortage will be confused'. It's because the people of the country have such a pig's head like you, and if you don't learn and don't know how to do it, it's strange that the Qing Dynasty will not die in the country. ”

Zhu Yuanliang retorted: "It's as if you have read "Dream of Red Mansions" by heart, I see that you are confused all day long, and you don't look like a 'poetry hairpin'. ”

Pu Zixuan was happy when he heard it, and the word "poetry hairpin" was specially used to refer to the scholarly family and the house of the eunuch, and Cao Xueqin used this word to describe Jiafu in "Dream of Red Mansions". If you haven't read "Dream of Red Mansions", it is difficult for ordinary people to use this kind of written language, but I didn't expect this word to pop out of Zhu Yuanliang's mouth, which shows that he is not so unlearned.

Pu Zixuan said: "At least I have read all the scenes in "Dream of Red Mansions" that describe the love of men and women, and they are better than you." ”

Zhu Yuanliang said: "Yes, you love your men and women, I love my strange power, I'm just going to do this, what the world and the universe are like, it's my business!" ”

Pu Zixuan knew that it was too difficult for Zhu Yuanliang to accept this scientific knowledge, so he didn't force it, so he sighed instead: "That's right, what the world is like is also my business!" As long as I eat and sleep well, drink and play with girls every day, and live this life happily, I will be satisfied. ”

Zhu Yuanliang smiled: "Gotta get it, I love to hear this, brother, where are you going to play tonight?" ”

Pu Zixuan smiled and said, "You come to my happy mansion tonight, and I will show you a good thing." ”

When the two agreed, the opera on the stage was also performed to the last scene, and Feng Yuliang faced the powerful monster and shouted: "Twenty years later, Lao Tzu is a good man again!" He jumped off the cliff.