We looked at each other, and suddenly we all understood. Decades ago, two people from the Xu family and the Kido family embarked on a journey to find the Jade Buddha; Decades later, the descendants of the same two families embarked on the same road, which seems to be accidental, but in fact it is inevitable. We are all the same kind of people, with idealistic tendencies, who will stubbornly insist on things that seem meaningless, and will do whatever it takes to do so—this is what Kana Kido calls "the blood of the family".

Kana Kido and I looked at each other and smiled. Only then did I realize that she had unconsciously snuggled up to my shoulder, leaned over slightly, and maintained an intimate and ambiguous posture. To avoid embarrassment, I coughed and said, Kido-san, let me tell you about what I found today.

Kana Kido sat up straight: "It's okay to call me Kana in the future." After speaking, she smiled, and she was full of brilliance. She is very different from the beauty of Yellow Smoke: the beauty of Smoke is thrilling, like a raging wildfire in the wilderness, while Kido Kana is more like an open small volume of poetry, fragrant and quiet.

Now that we're — let's take it — engaged, and she's revealed her true intentions. It wouldn't be interesting if I kept hiding. So I sat cross-legged on the bed and flipped the map to the page of Luoyang City, Henan Province. picked up the pencil and said: "Based on the information we have so far, we can know that the main body of this Jade Buddha of Tianmingtang is the Buddha of Virujana, that is, the Great Ri Rulai. And its physiognomy is based on the Empress Zetian. Do you remember that Xie Laodao said that according to the essence of the Dharma, the two Buddhas of Dari Rulai and Lushena Buddha are worshiped in many monasteries. ”

"Yes." Kana Kido said.

"Ever since I heard that, I've been thinking about a question. Wu Zetian is enshrined in the Luoyang Ming Hall, which is the Jade Buddha of the Great Day. Then, there must be a Buddha in opposition to it. The site of Mingtang is on the northeast side of the intersection of Zhongzhou Road and Dingding Road in Luoyang today. ”

As I spoke, I clicked a little bit on the map with my pencil. Listening to my prompt, Kido Kana's eyes lit up, she took the pencil from my hand, and drew a faint pencil line from the city of Luoyang, all the way to the location of the Longmen Grottoes.

"Not bad!" I glanced at her approvingly, "The Longmen Grottoes are the Lushena Buddha, and the one enshrined in the Ming Hall is the Great Ri Rulai." One in the light, one in the dark. We have reason to believe that these two Buddhas are set up in strict accordance with the principle of 'retribution by law'. ”

I spread out the map of Baoji City on the bed again: "Let's take a look at Shengyan Temple again." Today, Xie Laodao said that there is only one great day in Shengyan Temple, so where is the other Lushena Buddha? The two Buddhas in Luoyang, one in the hall and one outside the city, so the two Buddhas in Shengyan Temple are also the same arrangement, one in the temple and one outside the temple? ”

Kana Kido clapped her hands and couldn't help but shout an interjection in Japanese. Her entire upper body was hunched over the map, moving her fingers inch by inch around Qishan County.

"So I think that the Buddha statue at Katsuganji Temple is a coordinate that indicates the direction. I studied the relationship between the distance and orientation between the Mingtang ruins and the Longmen Grottoes, and applied this relationship to Shengyan Temple. As a result, it was found that the exact location of the Buddha Lushenna, which is opposite the Dainichi Nyorai of Katsuganji Temple, is exactly here......"

Kana Kido moved the pencil along with my explanation and quickly drew a line. The starting point is Shengyan Temple, while the end point falls between the lofty mountains of the Qinling Mountains, where there are no place names. She looked up at me, and I nodded: "Xu Yicheng and Kido have three, it is likely that they found this correspondence in Qishan, and then they went deep into the Qinling Mountains to find another Lushena Buddha according to the location indicated by the Buddha statue of Shengyan Temple. ”

Kana Kido excitedly took my words: "In other words, the place where they found the Jade Buddha is very likely to be at a certain point in the Qinling Mountains, where there is a statue of Lushena Buddha as a mark!" But she suddenly became confused again: "The Jade Buddha was originally enshrined in Luoyang, how could it come to such a remote place as Qishan?" ”

I shook my head: "Don't forget, in the first year of the Sheng, that is, on the sixteenth day of the first month of the first month of 695 AD, the Ming Hall was destroyed by a fire, and many precious treasures in the Ming Hall were burned. This Jade Buddha may have been transferred at that time, and it may not be known where it was hidden. ”

"So what do we do next?" Kana Kido asked.

"Actually, of course." I stretched out my hand and pointed to the Qinling Mountains in the distance, looking calm.

The Longmen Grottoes are about fifteen kilometers southeast of the Mingtang site in Luoyang. If my theory is true, the mysterious statue of the Buddha Lushena should also be fifteen kilometers southeast of Shengyan Temple, which happens to be in the Qinling Mountains. This distance looks close, but it's just a straight-line distance on the map. The Qinling Mountains are steep and tortuous, there is no ready-made road to walk in the mountains, and there is no need to detour and climb, fifteen kilometers in a straight line, and I don't know how long it will take to go around.

I told Ji Yunfu about this conjecture, and he agreed with it and wanted to go with us to see it. However, he had to help Lao Qi decipher the notes, and he couldn't spare time for the time being. So I decided to take only Kana Kido. I wanted to find another local guide who was familiar with the terrain, but unexpectedly I ran into Xie Laodao on the street again. Xie Laodao heard that we were going to enter the Qinling Mountains, and volunteered to follow, patting his chest and saying that he had been familiar with this area since he was a child, and it was not a problem to cross the mountains and mountains - he said that he was with us, and I guess our generous shot was also an important reason.

We bought some climbing equipment in Qishan, as well as two tents and food for three days. It is not yet autumn, and the mountains are a little cooler, but they are also suitable for camping. I've been to the Simataino Great Wall near Beijing with people before, and I have climbing experience, and Kana Kido said that when she was in Japan, she often went to the mountains to inspect the ruins of shrines and other things, and field work was commonplace. As for Xie Laodao, people asked for food all the way from Shaanxi to Chengdu back then, and this distance is trivial.

The biggest problem we face is actually precise positioning. This is not a "face" investigation, but a "point" investigation, and it is only meaningful to reach that "point" accurately.

In the end, it was Ji Yunfu who solved this problem. From his collection, he pulled out an old military map. This map of Kana Kido looks particularly intimate, as it was published by the General Staff Headquarters of the old Japanese Army. Before the war, Japan sent a large number of spies to infiltrate China, and drew a large number of detailed maps, which were even better than China's own. This map is a topographic map of the vicinity of Qishan, which strictly follows the military map drawing method, the contour lines are meticulously outlined, and the elevation is particularly detailed, which is quite easy to use.

"I have to admit that the Japanese are serious when they do things." I shook the map, and Xie Laodao looked disdainful: "This line twists and turns, can it be compared to the compass in the palm of the old road and the mystery in the chest?" After speaking, he held up a feng shui compass, fiddled with it, and posed as a fairy wind bone.

This compass is boxwood, the edge is smooth, floating with a layer of dark red pulp, introverted and profound, like a walnut for people to play with, stained with qi and blood, at a glance is a good cultural relic. However, I have doubts about the practical value of this thing, the compass can still turn, but the words engraved on it are almost invisible, and the magnetic compass in the middle is also worrying.

Kana Kido didn't speak, she was silently checking our hiking bags. Since I got "engaged", she never interjects when I talk to outsiders, always stands a little further back next to me, and always hands me a coat or a glass of water, like a legendary Japanese woman.

**I heard that we were going to go, and suggested that we bring Second Master Qin with us. However, I see that Second Master Qin has always had a grudge against us, so he still refused. The mountains are too dangerous and require a team to work together, and I don't want to be on the lookout for him while climbing the mountains.

After all this was ready to stop, we chose an early morning to enter the Qinling Mountains from a mountain pass near Shengyan Temple. Ji Yunfu sent us to the foot of the mountain and told us, saying that when you come back, this side will be almost deciphered.

The main peak of the Qinling Mountains is located in Meixian County, Taibai County and Zhouzhi County, with an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. Qishan is adjacent to the three counties and belongs to the northern foot of the main peak. The majesty of the mountains and the ups and downs of the mountains are not ambiguous at all. When we first set out, there was still a shepherd's trail to follow, but soon the trail was gone. We had to go up and down the steep slopes carefully, sometimes up and down several times in order to climb a high slope. At first, you can occasionally see one or two fields and economic woodlands in the cols, but later, the surrounding wild Huashan pine, tabuliformis pine, and linden trees gradually become denser, and there are many unknown birds and small animals scurrying around. We walked in the mountains for a full morning, and when we looked at the map, the distance in a straight line was less than three kilometers.

Sweating profusely, we walked to the low-lying corner of a mountain stream and saw a clear stream running through it, winding its way deep into the mountains. Everyone agreed to stop and rest, so we sat down by the stream and had some lunch.

I looked down at the map with my compass and figured out what to do best. Although the contour lines of this map are fine, they cannot be completely trusted. Some of the terrain is dangerous, but the mountains and rocks are undulating, and you can climb on your feet; In some places, it seems to be gentle, but the dense forest is compact, and it is impassable. Xie Laodao took the compass and walked around, seeing that I was worried, he squinted his eyes and said, "This area is called ghost shaving head." Look at it, there is a ravine in the east and a mountain in the west, as if a ghost has scratched his head and dragged off a few hairs. It is notoriously difficult to walk, and the nearby mountain people rarely come in. ”

"So you haven't been here much?"

"Ahem! What's so good about this place, except for fugitives, who easily come to the mountains. Xie Laodao took out a piece of bun and ate it with the stream.

Kana Kido didn't participate in the discussion, but she diligently cut a slice of bread for me, spread it with chocolate sauce, and sprinkled a few raisins on it. I took the bread and took a bite, and she handed over a bottle of water soaked in honey and grapefruit slices, which made Xie Laodao envious for a while.

When we were all full and resting on the lawn, she suddenly asked me a question: The head of the Jade Buddha was originally placed in the Luoyang Ming Hall, why did Xu Yicheng and Muhu come to Qishan to look for it?

I've done my homework on this before. Anyway, this trek is boring, so I'll tell her this backstory.

The so-called Ming Hall refers to the place used to announce government decrees and sacrifices in ancient times, and it has a strong political meaning. In order to prepare for the title of emperor, Wu Zetian built a Ming Hall in Luoyang in the spring of 688 AD, known as the "Vientiane Divine Palace". The host of this Ming Hall is one of her favored faces, named Xue Huaiyi. This person is very smart, he commanded tens of thousands of migrant workers, based on the Qianyuan Palace, and it only took one year to build an incomparably tall Ming Hall.

This hall has a circumference of 90 meters and a height of 90 meters, and it is still a tall building. It is divided into three layers, the highest floor is a domed pavilion, and there is an iron golden phoenix in the pavilion, which is a metaphor for Wu Zetian himself. And there is a paradise behind the Ming Hall, in which a hundred-foot-high Buddha statue is placed, and many Buddhist utensils are placed around, and the jade Buddha statue of Dari Rulai is likely to be placed in heaven.

Eight years after the completion of the Ming Hall, on the fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of Zhengsheng (695 AD), Xue Huaiyi in order to please Wu Zetian, hollowed out his mind to hold a grand performance on the day of the Lantern Festival. He dug a five-meter-deep pit in the Ming Hall, put a Buddha statue down, and dragged it up with an iron chain in front of Wu Zetian, showing the wonder of the Buddha surging from the ground. He also drew a 200-foot-tall Buddha statue with ox blood and hung it on the Tianjin Bridge. But Wu Zetian didn't have much interest in this, and put all his thoughts on his new favorite Shen Nanxuan.

Xue Huaiyi was jealous, and on the second day of the Shangyuan Festival, a fire burned heaven. The fire was so great that even Mingtang was affected and burned to the ground. Wu Zetian didn't want the scandal to be publicized, and said that it was the mistake of the craftsman and covered up the past.

Later, although the Ming Hall was restored many times, it never returned to the scale of the first time. By the time of the Anshi Rebellion, the Ming Hall was completely burned down. I estimate that the Jade Buddha was probably transferred out of the palace at one of these two catastrophes. ”

"If the Jade Buddha is sent to Chang'an for safekeeping, I can understand it. But why did it go out of its way to the vicinity of Qishan? Could it be that Qishan had any special status in the Tang Dynasty? Kana Kido asked. I shook my head, saying that I couldn't answer the question – in fact, the purpose of our trip was to find out the story behind the Jade Buddha.

I clapped my hands, got up, and grabbed my backpack, ready to continue on my way. Kana Kido sat on the ground and raised her hand, and I took her hand and gently tugged at her, pulling her up. Xie Laodao walked in front alone, and he never interjected when we talked. Although this person is oily and smooth, he is actually very smart, and he knows some things and pretends not to know.

We trekked through the mountains for another afternoon, cutting diagonally from the side of a high ridge to the junction of two cliffs, and descending along an extremely narrow cliff edge. The mountain fault here naturally forms a narrow plank road, which can barely be walked, but people must rub their backs against the rock wall step by step. From the map, it looks like an outer wall-like mountain, and after breaking through, the inner side of the mountain slows down, and it is much easier to walk.

Before the sun went down, we finally climbed over the gable and came to a col overgrown with bamboo and maple trees. The terrain is gentle and suitable for camping. At this time, Xie Laodao suddenly shouted, and we followed his line of sight and saw that there seemed to be a building in the forest in the distance.

We were surprised by this discovery, and we didn't expect that there were still residents in such a remote place. We cautiously paused, trying to see clearly. Much of the building was obscured by bamboo groves and maple trees, and it was barely judging from its silhouette, and it was small, less than the height of an ordinary thatched hut. There are no traces of human activity in the surrounding woods and lawns.

Xie Laodao watched for a while, stroked his beard and said, "The maple tree is the tent, it is not a place where people live." ”

"What's that?"

He turned his head and looked serious: "That's a tomb." ”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Deep in the mountains, a grave is safer than a group of people who don't know the details. When we got closer, it was a tomb. The shape of this tomb looks like that of the Ming Dynasty, and the tomb is built with large blue bricks. However, this tomb has been robbed, and there is only one pedestal left in front of the tomb, and the tomb is like a person whose belly has been cut open, and it is open to both sides, and the half-arched burial roof is faintly visible inside. Presumably, the tomb robbers thought that this place was deserted, so they were unscrupulous, and they didn't even hit the robbery hole, and dug up the matter directly.

There were tall bushes and weeds growing near the grave, almost half of the grave was buried, and there was no trace of the trail. It shows that even if there were people in this place who sacrificed back then, they had long since abandoned it, and even the tomb robbers were probably many years ago. Xie Laodao took the compass and looked around, saying that this tomb is strangely repaired, there is no water here and the mountains are surrounded by mountains, it is a dry situation, and the tomb is built here, and he does not intend to let the dead live in peace.

I'm an atheist, and Kana Kido is also used to seeing tombs in Japan, and as for Xie Laodao, he claims to know magic, and ghosts and gods can't get close. The three of us were not taboo, so we simply camped next to the grave and set up our tents. Xie Laodao said that he didn't need to sleep in a tent, it was enough to have a stone slab. But he was not young, and we were too embarrassed to let him sleep in the open, so we just stuffed one for him.

But then there was a problem, we only had one tent left. I was struggling when Kana Kido had already gotten into the tent, laid out the inflatable mats inside, and took out two sleeping bags and straightened them. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

We walked all day and were all very tired. After dinner, Xie Laodao and I chatted casually for a while, and then each got into the tent. As soon as I lifted the curtain, Kana Kido was kneeling on the inflatable mat with her hands on her knees: "You're back." "The tone is like that of a housewife waiting for her husband to get off work. She helped me take off my coat and fold it carefully into a pillow shape and place it at the mouth of my sleeping bag. I suddenly found that I had gradually become accustomed to this way of getting along.

I noticed that she had taken off her mountaineering jacket and was wearing a white T-shirt underneath, the curve of her chest was not inferior to the steepness of Qinling, and her two white arms were a little dazzling, which made the whole tent have an ambiguous taste. She probably noticed the sight of me, and her face turned red, but instead of dodging, she gently puffed up her chest. I was embarrassed and a little at a loss. She stared at me and suddenly sighed, "Xu Sang, what are you going to do after we leave Qishan?" ”

I know what she means. I am now theoretically a missing person, and the five veins only know that I am missing in Anyang, even if they can pry open Zheng Guoqu's mouth or medicine or leak the secret, they don't know that I have sneaked into Qishan. When I return to Beijing and show up, it will definitely cause an uproar, and the Huang family and the medicine family will not be aside, and there must be an explanation from the Liu Bureau.

"If we can find out the truth this time, they won't care about these small things."

"What about Miss Huang and Mr. Yao?"

As soon as I heard these two names, I fell silent. Otherwise, I can still explain it, but Huang Yanyan is a thorn. This thorn is not deep, but it is sharp. I told myself that it was because of the Huang family that I had no choice but to take measures, but after all, I deceived her. Thinking of her unbelievable appearance of desperately fighting with Zheng Guoqu in Zhengbei Village, I really can't imagine how angry she would be if she knew that I had lied to her.

"Hey, let's talk about this then." I couldn't think of any other way but not to think about it. Kana Kido grabbed my hand: "I can feel that the five veins have too deep a prejudice against you, and it is difficult to accept the return of the Xu family." When this is over, we might as well go back to Japan and settle down. The Kido family will not be unwelcoming to the deceased. ”

"Let's talk about it...... Hey, by the way, the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies, what are you doing now? ”

"Well, it is mainly the sorting, preservation, and identification of cultural relics, and the content of the work is similar to that of the Chinese Society of Antiquities. If you come back to Japan with me, you can go to work with them. ”

"Ahem, that's a bit far. You say, will they also do some antiques import and export business now? ”

"Then I don't know." Kana Kido shook her head, "How did you come up with the idea of asking this?" ”

"Whatever you want, whatever you want."

I then remembered to retract my hand and quickly slipped into my sleeping bag. Kana Kido shook her head, didn't continue to ask, and pulled the zipper on the inside of the tent and slipped into another sleeping bag. And in Xie Laodao's tent next door, there was already snoring like thunder.

I had insomnia that night, and my mind was running over and over the question of Kana Kido. Thoughts are like a big wooden pestle, and the drowsiness in the brain is like pounding garlic to pieces, and the juice is flowing sideways.

It was about midnight, and when my body was exhausted and about to suppress my high spirits, I suddenly heard a slight metallic sound outside. I suddenly fell asleep, gently pulled open my sleeping bag, looked out through the transparent window on the tent curtain, and saw a figure swaying in the woods.

When I was a child, I heard a trick in the anti-special story, which was to find a thin thread and pull it in the grass outside, and the end of the thin thread was tied to a small wooden stick to prop up a canned food box. When it touches that thread, the canned box snaps upside down. We had luncheon meat for dinner, and when I saw the empty box, I had a sense of play, so I set up such a thing, and after I finished loading it, I forgot about it, and no one said anything - I didn't expect such a thing to come in handy.

The vague figure probably heard the sound of the empty box falling to the ground, and was about to turn around and leave. I listened closely, Xie Laodao was snoring in the tent, it was definitely not him, and when I looked sideways, Kido Kana was also sleeping soundly in his sleeping bag. There is no doubt that it is someone else. The thought of having someone other than us in such a remote place makes me a little shocked.

I quickly got up, grabbed the aluminum kettle I used for camping, and left the tent. The night was cloudless today, the stars and the moon hung high in the night sky, and the entire col was covered with a faint layer of grayish light. I looked up, but I saw the figure running to the edge of the grave and disappearing. A cool air rose from the soles of my feet and climbed up my backbone. I'm an atheist, but it takes a bit of courage to get to the grave in the middle of the night. I swallowed my saliva and went to the tent to wake up Xie Laodao first.

When Xie Laodao heard me say that, he got up and was very excited, picked up the compass and the vajra and left. I originally wanted to ask if the vajra was not a Buddhist artifact, but then I thought about it, that thing can also prevent a person from being stabbed......

Countless maple trees stood gloomily around, like upright and silent corpses in the moonlight. Xie Laodao told me that in the old days, this was called bone light, which means light that is about the same color as the bones of dead people. At this time, you can't walk at night, and you can't get close to the cemetery. I said, aren't we committing a taboo now? Xie Laodao patted his chest: "I will be able to correct the law with five thunders, and the lonely soul and wild ghost will not be able to get close." ”

The two of us walked around the grave and didn't see any movement. There was no way for the figure to run away, so there was only one possibility, and he went into the grave. The grave had been dug up, revealing a black hole in the half-vaulted ceiling, like an entrance to hell. I asked Xie Laodao to pick up the flashlight and aim it at the hole, and then jumped down in turn and drilled into the hole.

The cave can only allow one person to bend down in one direction, the yin atmosphere inside is pressing, there are two bluestone tomb doors at the end, the stone door is closed, and the top is also carved with patterns and bird shapes. I reached out and pushed, but did not move, frowning: "This tomb has been stolen, why is the tomb door intact?" ”

Xie Laodao was shocked and said, "Is it really a ghost?" I shook my head, my palm slowly moving to the side, and it dawned on me.

"I see, this tomb gate is fake!" I shouted.

I told Xie Laodao that in order to prevent others from stealing, the tombs of the Ming Dynasty were different from the tomb system of the previous generations, and a fake tomb door was often set up, so that tomb robbers could not enter. And the real tomb gate is somewhere else. The rammed earth on both sides of this tomb door is solid, and experienced people will know that it is wrong when they touch it, and it is estimated that those tomb robbers also dug here, and found that it was fake, so they did not dig down.

"Where can that man go?" Xie Laodao looked around, excited more than nervous.

I asked Xie Laodao, "Don't you know Feng Shui?" Where is the auspicious position here? Xie Laodao hurriedly calculated and said that Ji was in the southeast. He was about to run southeast when I grabbed him. Xie Laodao asked, "Aren't you going to find the tomb gate?" I hurriedly said, "Didn't you say it before?" The person who started the tomb was in trouble with the tomb owner everywhere, and the tomb gate would naturally not be set up in an auspicious position, but in the opposite direction, and it would be located in the opposite northeast. ”

The two of us left the cave and headed northeast of the tomb. My eyes were sharp, and I could see a slight bulge in the moonlight. I ran over and saw a very inconspicuous cave in the grass, with a small entrance and a few rocks next to it, seemingly at random. When Xie Laodao saw it, he called out and said that this was the town tombstone, and it was the Big Dipper Seven Star Map.

I walked to the entrance of the cave and shouted, "Come out quickly!" Otherwise, we'll seal the hole and pour smoke into it!" After a while, there came a sound from the cave like a snake crawling. An arm poked out of it, and then a familiar face appeared.

"Make a wish, let's meet again." Fang Zhen had a faint smile on his face.

I really didn't expect that it was Fang Zhen who came out of the nameless ancient tomb of Qinling. This surprised me even more than a Fei Xiang coming out of it. He was the right-hand man under Liu Ju, and his body was shrouded in fog, and I never saw through him. It is strange that such a mysterious person actually came to a remote mountainous area to burrow into a grave.

Under my gaze, Fang Zhen calmly crawled out of the hole, patted the dust on his body, and picked up a cigarette: "I thought I could hide it, but I didn't expect your vision to be good." ”

"Can you explain it to me?"

"This tomb is what I just discovered, and although it is not big, it is very convenient to hide. I used to participate in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, and the cat ear hole is a little more difficult to drill than this. ”

"I didn't ask you this!" I was furious, "I asked you why you got here!" Facing the questioning, Fang Zhen glanced at me lightly, not panicked at all: "It's very simple, I've been following you." ”

"Stalking me?"

"As soon as you arrived in Qishan, you have been under the monitoring of the police working group, and you have never left my sight." Fang Zhen explained lightly, as if he was talking about something commonplace. I was greatly shocked by this sentence, worthy of the dictatorship of the state apparatus, I thought that I jumped out of the Three Realms like a monkey and was not in the Five Elements, but I didn't expect that I still didn't escape from the palm of the Buddha.

As soon as Xie Laodao heard that he was from the police, his tone was very familiar with me, so he quickly shrunk his neck and secretly said to me: "Lao Dao, I have lost my ID card a long time ago, and I can't deal with people from the government, so I will go back to see the tent first." After speaking, he turned around and left, leaving only me and Fang Zhen in the forest. I stared at Fang Zhen, and Fang Zhen also looked at me, neither of them spoke. He was not wearing a police uniform at this time, but a gray-brown canvas mountaineering suit, like the coach of a college mountaineering team, only his expression was still that indifferent and calm demeanor, as if nothing in the world could surprise him and move his eyebrows.

"So, as soon as I leave Anyang, you're eyeing me?" I asked. Fang Zhen shook his head and looked at the tent in the distance: "We lost you in Anyang, and there was a great response in the bureau. Later, the working group came to the opinion that there might be a secret agreement between you and Kana Kido, and just in time for her to apply to go to Qishan, I followed. ”

Speaking of this, Fang Zhen smiled slightly. I secretly complained that they had mistaken cause and effect in this matter, and that I had only cooperated with Kido Kana after I arrived in Qishan, but now I can't wash it by jumping into the Yellow River. I quickly turned a few thoughts and asked tentatively: "So, you have been watching my dealings with ** and Ji Yunfu?" ”

Fang Zhen was noncommittal, and took a deep puff of cigarette, the cigarette butt appeared exceptionally bright in the dark woods. What I was most afraid of was this kind of reaction, which was unfathomable, and I didn't know if he knew it or not, so I had to "cough" lightly: "I'm not a wanted criminal, I'm not an enemy, and I haven't done anything illegal." Why are you hiding? ”

"My mission is to carry out protective tracking of you, and Bureau Liu did not let me interfere or listen to your actions." Fang Zhen said. I was slightly relieved to hear this. If he is telling the truth, it means that the "working group" he refers to only knows who I have come into contact with in Qishan, and as for what I have talked about with Ji Yunfu and Kana Kido, the working group should not be clear.

I secretly glanced at the somewhat worn pull-back sneakers on Fang Zhen's feet, and I admired them. The same is protective tracking, monitoring in the county is one thing, tracking in the mountains is another. He was only one person, and it was very difficult to watch out for the steep mountain roads and keep up with us without being discovered. He said that he had participated in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam before, and his skills were really extraordinary.

According to common sense, at this time, Fang Zhen should have asked me, "What is the purpose of your coming to Qinling?" However, he did not seem interested in the subject, and did not mean to get to the bottom of it at all, but only smoked intently. I sighed: "Then now that your whereabouts have been exposed, what are you going to do?" Kill somebody to do away with a witness? ”

"I didn't receive such an order." Fang Zhen glanced at me calmly, "If you don't mind, I want to go with you." I have a lot of experience in the field. ”

Looking at his reasonable look, I really can't say no. Bureau Liu entrusted us to investigate the Buddha head case, and sent Fang Zhen to provide protection, we are theoretically in a group, there is no reason to exclude him. I thought to myself, it's okay, everything is spread out in the sun, at least he won't sneak around.

"By the way, what's going on over there?" I asked, worried. Fang Zhen said: "Zheng Guoqu was investigated, but the evidence was insufficient, and he was soon released. Huang Yanyan returned to Beijing directly, but Yao Otherwise, he told the old man Yao and stayed in Anyang to deal with family affairs. ”

I breathe a sigh of relief, at least everyone is safe.

So I took him back to the camp, Fang Zhen consciously found a flat stone slab and slept down, I burrowed into Kido Kana's tent under his gaze, thinking that this was really getting darker and darker.

After such a toss, I didn't lose sleep anymore, and slept until dawn. When I woke up, I found the tent empty, and I peeked out and smelled meat. It turned out that Fang Zhen didn't know how to beat a hare, and it was skewered with bamboo branches and roasted until it was oily. Kana Kido and Xie Laodao sat on both sides, holding two bamboo knots in their hands, which were white flowers, and ate them with some restraint.

Seeing that I was awake, Kana Kido came over and handed me a towel soaked in cold water. I wiped my face and made eye contact with her, but didn't say anything. Fang Zhen said that he was only responsible for protecting security, but we still had scruples when we talked in front of him. Kana Kido crossed the word "careful" on the palm of my hand, and I nodded and wrote, "Act when the opportunity arises." ”

I looked at Fang Zhen, who was dismantling the tent in an orderly manner, and a question emerged in my heart: With his sophistication, was he really accidentally discovered by me and forced to show up with him? Fang Zhen's mission was only to protect us secretly, and there was no need to approach the tent in the middle of the night at the risk of being discovered. Unless...... Does he have to approach someone, or does he have to get something?

Soon everyone had finished breakfast, and we packed up our tents and prepared to continue on our way. At this time, Fang Zhen came over and handed me something: "I picked it up at the entrance of that tomb last night, I don't understand, you can take a look." "When I looked down, it turned out to be a yellow copper coin, with rust on it and broken holes. Its front is engraved with four words around the money hole: "Runan Shide", and the back is also four words, but it is worn out so badly that you can only see the word "person" and the word "heart".

I told them that this is called spending money, which is a kind of private money for people's own use, and cannot be circulated as regular money, and is generally used for commemoration or auspiciousness at weddings and funerals, so some words will be engraved on it. Wishing a long life is engraved for a long life, and a promotion is engraved with a "plus official into Lu", so it is also called auspicious money. The money that Fang Zhen picked up should be one of the funerary goods, and it is estimated that it was left at the entrance of the tomb by tomb robbers.

"Runan Shide" probably refers to the surname of the tomb owner, but there are several surnames that can be referred to by these four words, and the surnames of Zhou, Chen, and Xu can be used. As for the last four words, it is really difficult to understand. I'm not an archaeology major, so I just talked about it briefly.

When Fang Zhen heard this, he let out an "oh", put the money in his pocket, squinted his eyes and looked at the ancient tomb without speaking. Xie Laodao leaned over and said, "Comrade policeman, do you use a compass?" Fang Zhen waved his hand: "No, I don't look at feng shui, I'm thinking about how this ancient tomb was stolen and dug." He glanced sideways at Xie Lao with a smile and said, "I used to work as a criminal investigator, and I had an occupational disease. Xie Laodao's body trembled, and his attitude became more respectful.

Our expedition team, which had one more person, hit the road again, and Fang Zhen walked in the front with the heaviest package on his back. I didn't tell Fang Zhen what we were looking for before leaving, and he didn't ask. I simply marked the point on the map and gave it to him and asked him to show us the quickest and safest way to get there.

I have to say that with Fang Zhen, a veteran, here, we are moving much faster. The old maps of the Japanese army played a greater role in the hands of professionals. He led us all the way over the mountains and mountains, without hesitation, and in some extremely steep places, he was able to carry us safely one by one. Now I finally understand why he was able to keep up with us the day before without showing a trace, and compared to this veteran who was skilled in mountain warfare, we were like a bunch of kindergarten children going out on a wild trip.

The only regret is that with him, Kana Kido and I can barely speak, and we are silent all the way.

We walked in the mountains for more than a day, and at about two o'clock in the afternoon of the third day, Fang Zhen told me that we were very close to the marked point on the map. He pointed to a small conch-like hill a few kilometers ahead and said, "The point you want to go to is on that mountain." "I put my hand on the pergola and looked out of place at the top of the mountain that surrounded it, with a lonely and steep mountain, folded and stacked like a conch, sloping outwards on both sides, but the top was quite gentle, covered with green vegetation. It's a bit like a small wheat cliff, except that there aren't so many stone carvings on the cliff, only vines hanging.

Xie Laodao took the compass and looked around, and suddenly said "hey", quite puzzled. I asked him what was going on, and Xie Laodao said that he had measured the direction and found that this hill and the grave in the col yesterday were exactly the same as waiting and seeing. I asked him what the wait-and-see trend was, and the old Tao explained that the viewer should also look; Looker, Shou Ye, and then the five elements gossip, multiplication and insulting each other talked for a long time, I was impatient to listen, let him directly say the conclusion. Lao Dao touched his neck and said that judging from the pattern of the tomb itself, it was a dry situation, but if you associate this conch mountain with it, the evil situation that trapped the soul of the deceased played a role in guarding the tomb of conch mountain.

"If there is an ancient tomb on that mountain, then the tomb yesterday is the town tomb on its periphery, which has the same function as the stone statue of Weng Zhong next to the Shinto Road of the Emperor's Mausoleum, which is equivalent to taking the dead to bury and guard the tomb." After Xie Laodao finished speaking, he slurped. We looked at the lonely and upright Conch Mountain, and we felt a chill. Only Fang Zhen's face was expressionless, and he crossed his fingers to determine the direction of the sun.

We took a break and got ready to go. The goal was close at hand, everyone was in high spirits, walking like flying, and soon came to the southern foot of the conch mountain.

Conch Mountain is isolated among the mountains, it is not tall from a distance, but when you get closer, you find that the altitude is not low, and the top of the mountain is roughly estimated to be 200 meters above ground. Due to geological movements, this form of Lone Peak is particularly steep, with a slope of 50 to 60 degrees, and at extreme points, even at reverse 30 degrees, not to mention any mountain roads. So we prepared a rope in advance, and if necessary, we probably had to climb the rock.

But when the expedition team went around to the north side of Conch Mountain, they were all surprised. We saw that there was actually a plank road on the side of Conch Mountain, like a small dragon, coiling up along the edge of the cliff, zigzag back, and reached the peak.

Xie Laodao took a few steps closer, and couldn't help frowning: "This plank road, why does it look a little weird......

I asked him what was going on. Xie Laodao said that Qinling has many plank roads since ancient times, and the well-known ones are praise slope road, golden bull road, and the small ones do not know how much, and they left a sentence of "Ming Xiu plank road, secretly crossing Chen Cang" idiom. When he was young, he walked many times and was familiar with all kinds of plank roads. He said that in general, the ancient plank road needs to first dig large holes in the cliffs, insert rough wooden girders horizontally or diagonally, and then lay wooden planks on the wooden beams, and sometimes build corridors and pavilions to shelter from the wind and rain. This method of construction is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it will not take several years to complete.

But as far as the eye can see, there is almost no chisel hole and wooden beams, and dozens of thick double-strand hemp ropes cleverly borrow the uneven mountain, and use hooks, suspensions and levers to make the whole plank road float in the air, looking more like a suspension bridge. From an engineering point of view, it is a masterpiece that has almost taken the borrowing power to the extreme.

Kana Kido blurted out a sentence in Japanese at this time, and her expression became a little excited. All three of us looked at her, and she said in Chinese that this construction technique she had seen before was invented by the Utari people of Hokkaido, a mountain ladder called "kunu", which uses vines to bypass the raised support points of the rock walls and hang wooden planks layer by layer on the side of the mountain, which is less time-consuming and requires less manpower, and is suitable for some small hills with low altitude and complex terrain. Kido Yuzo once wrote a special treatise and won an award.

"So, this plank road is very likely to have been built by your grandfather Kido Yusan?" I blurted out. Kana Kido nodded, looking at the plank road sling, her eyes a little moist.

From Qishan to Hailuo Mountain, even if you walk around the road, five days of work is enough. And Kido Yusan and Xu Ichijo have disappeared here for more than two months, which is something I have never been able to figure out. Now that I see the kunu boardwalk, I guess it's likely that over the course of two months, two of them—or three of them—built the trail under the auspices of Kido Yuzo to climb to the top of the mountain.

But there is another problem: Conch Mountain is not a difficult mountain to climb, and ordinary mountaineering equipment is enough to ensure that they reach the top. Why bother to build such an Utari plank road? Either they want to bring something up, or they want to bring something down......

"It seems that the answer will not be known until you reach the top of the mountain."

I walked forward, but Fang Zhen held down my shoulder: "You can't go over, this plank road is in disrepair, the ropes and planks are probably rotten, it's too dangerous to go up rashly." Kana Kido also added, "What Fang San said is right. The durability of the Kunu plank road is very poor, and the Utari people use it as a temporary passageway. Even if the material used by my grandfather is good, after so many years, there is no guarantee that it will still be safe to use. ”

"What then? Or do you want to climb as planned? "I'm a little anxious.

Fang Zhen didn't answer, walked to the entrance of the plank road, looked up and observed for a long time, stepped on the plank with his feet, shook the rope with his hands, turned around and said: "This plank road is segmented, and every twenty meters is suspended by an independent rope system. Wait a minute, I'll go ahead, and you'll be twenty meters behind me. Until I am sure that the section under my feet is safe, you will move forward. Be careful to only step on the planks that I have stepped on. ”

He volunteered, and I suddenly felt very sorry. This thing is too dangerous, and the person who leads the way will die if he is not careful. I said, "Old Fang, you don't need to go up with us. Fang Zhen smiled faintly: "This is the task." ”

I had no better choice but to agree to do so. Fang Zhen pointed at Xie Lao and said, "You are watching from below, in case something happens above, you can inform others as soon as possible." Xie Laodao looked afraid of Fang Zhen, so he had to agree stupidly.

We left our heavy luggage at the bottom of the mountain and handed it over to Xie Laodao to take care of, with only a little food and a full set of hiking ropes, hiking hooks, and a mini camera on Kido Kana. Fang Zhen was in front, Kana Kido was in the middle, and I was at the end, and the three of them stepped on the plank road tremblingly.

Needless to say, the thrill of this journey is self-explanatory. This ancient passage has been hidden in the mountains for more than sixty years, and every step makes a terrifying creaking sound and staggering. The three of us were far apart from each other in order to balance the weight, and we hung a safety hook on the rock wall at each stage to avoid the sudden collapse of the hanging stack. I stared intently at the void beneath my feet, my legs a little weak, and I felt like I had traveled back in time and space when I thought that more than sixty years ago, my ancestors and Kido Kana's ancestors had stepped onto the top of the mountain step by step.

"If I stumble and fall, I don't know who will cry for me." This thought crossed my mind. In this world, there are no more people who can grieve for me, only Kana Kido? Or yellow smoke? I don't have much faith in them.

The altitude of Conch Mountain is only 200 meters, and we climbed for more than an hour before we reached the top of the mountain without danger. When we reached the top of the mountain, all three of us were exhausted and panting, and our calves and stomachs were sore from being too tight. Before I could catch my breath, Kana Kido grabbed my arm. Her nails almost dug into my skin, stinging.

I followed her gaze and saw in front of us a brick wall more than two meters high, which stood exceptionally tall in the afternoon sun. On such a desolate and precipitous mountaintop, such a man-made thing suddenly appeared. I couldn't help but hold my breath and squint my eyes to take a closer look.

The more I look at it, the more familiar it feels. I looked at Kana Kido, and she nodded excitedly, indicating that I was not mistaken. I quickly took out a photo from my arms and brought it to my eyes. Sure enough, the group photo of Xu Yicheng and Kido Yusan is this brick wall in the background. Although the city wall has been eroded and weathered and dilapidated after so many years, the general appearance is still there, but there is more grass between the bricks. We always thought that the photo was taken in some hidden ancient city on the plains, but we didn't expect it to be located on such a high hilltop.

Both the boardwalk and the photographs prove beyond doubt that Kido and Xu Yicheng's secret expedition in 1931 was aimed at this summit. Although we have been mentally prepared, there is still a sense of confusion and excitement when the truth is close at hand. I could even hear Kana Kido's heartbeat.

The wall wasn't very long, about five or six meters long, and then it turned sideways, as if it had surrounded something. Fang Zhen leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette, and looked leisurely at the mountains in the distance, unmoved by such a bizarre scene, and refused to even take a step to take a look. As he said, he's only here to take care of our safety, and he's not interested in anything else.

Compared to him, Kana Kido's curiosity and I were already so strong that it exploded. We took three steps and two steps, and quickly went around the wall, and saw that on the other side of the wall was a stone gate that had been half-collapsed. We walked through the stone gate and stopped.

It is exactly fifteen kilometers from the Great Day Nyorai of Katsuganji Temple, and it is the supposed place of worship of the Buddha Lushena. However, we didn't see the Buddha of Lushena, nor did we see the grave that Xie Lao Dao said.

In front of us is a small ruined temple. The temple is so small that it is not even as large as the land temples that can be found everywhere in the countryside. It's not so much a temple as a stone-built shrine. The head of the shrine is in the shape of a cloud arch, and a stone plaque is engraved with "righteousness in spring and autumn". There is a half-human-high bronze statue in the shrine, with phoenix eyes, waist-length hair, and a green dragon glaive knife in his hand.

This is a Guandi temple.