"This beast's statue is here, it seems that King Qiangtuo has taken it as a pet!" Da Zhuang shouted.

I stepped forward to see that there was a two-zhang tall stone beast statue standing at the entrance of the main hall, and I could recognize it as a ghost wolf at a glance, "It's not a pet, it's a divine beast!" ”。

Hua Bo snorted, "This is the palace of the king of Qiangtuo, symbolizing the authority of the king, since there is a statue of a ghost wolf, it proves that it has a lofty status in the country of Qiangtuo, it may be nearby, let's enter the main hall, we should pay more attention." ”

Everyone responded, entered the main hall, the hall is simple and atmospheric, although a little dim, but after the eyes adapt to this dimness, they can barely see things within a few zhang, there are light gauze curtains and a hundred lampstands on the surrounding stone walls, and they did not find anything abnormal, but they were cold and cold and drilled straight into the flesh.

I walked to the nearest lampstand and looked, it was dark inside, I couldn't see if there was still lamp oil, I wanted to reach out and touch it, but after thinking about the kind of fire oil I had just met in the fire oil ancestral hall, Wan kept getting up and was not a joke, it was better to be cautious.

As soon as I thought of this, Junko shouted and grabbed it, lit a fire and poked it directly, but I didn't react yet, "Poof! With a bang, the broken lamp actually lit up, and the surroundings immediately lit up a lot.

"Ahh Junko exclaimed, and I thought it had burned him again, but I saw his eyes staring at the walls of the main hall, and there was a black mist lying there, shaking and turning into a human form.

I held Shunko steady, "Don't be afraid! ”

The hall suddenly brightened a lot, and it was Xia Ti who lit a few more lights, and she smiled: "It's just the shadow of the broken gauze tent reflected on the wall." ”

Sure enough, when the lights around were lit, where was the black fog in the shape of a human? I nodded at Xia Ti, but I secretly thought in my heart that it was an ordinary woman, seeing such a scene, I was already frightened, why is she not very old, but her mind can be so calm and calm?

Look at the light in this hall again, in the middle is a wooden platform more than a foot high, more than ten zhang square, on the side are two rows of tables, next to the crooked lying several dead bodies, rotten to the point that only the bones remain, can die here, presumably are prominent princes and ministers, these people are dying after a violent struggle, the death is strange, the ground is scattered with many wine bottles and wine lords, that is to say, they were going to the banquet when they were killed.

I walked to the center of the hall, at the foot is a lotus-shaped dance floor, I don't know why, there is a sense of déjà vu here, as if the feast hundreds of years ago is in front of me, the whole hall is splendid, the wine is in full swing, the princess is like a butterfly on the dance floor, like a dream, the princes and nobles are fascinated, but the prosperity must decline, pain......

"The bones of these people are blackened, they have all died of poisoning, and there are these drinking vessels scattered on the ground, and the poison is probably hidden in the wine." Waber scrutinized a skeleton.

Junko guessed: "Could these people have died of poisoned wine given by King Qiangtuo?" ”

Hua Bo shook his head and said: "No, if the king wants to kill the minister, he will not kill so many together, and most of the poisonous wine given to the minister will also be given to the courtier's family, and no king will let the courtier die in his own palace, this must be the reason why the Qiangtuo country suffered a catastrophe, the king of Qiangtuo, what about the king of Qiangtuo?" ”

We unconsciously looked behind us, and sure enough, at the end, there was a skeleton lying behind the king's case on the high platform, this must be the king of Qiangtuo, the posture of the skeleton was very regular, and it looked more dignified than the death of his courtiers.

Da Zhuang stepped forward to take a look and said, "That's right, he also died of poisoning." ”

King Qiangtuo's bones were also blackened, and he leaned straight against a huge white marble screen behind him. I moved the bones to the side, brushing the dust off the screen, on which the four murals were carved, with very simple lines, but very vivid.

The first is a man who looks like an emperor and gives a lot of things to a group of people, including the ghost wolf, but the ghost wolf at that time resembles a docile puppy, and the only thing that can identify this beast is because of the irregular scales on its body, and it squats beside its master, and the group of people are kneeling to receive the reward.

The second is that this group of people are wading through mountains and rivers, and it seems that they have come a long way to come here.

The third one is a little weird, a woman with a two-foot-tall tree on her head, dancing with joy on her face, and the ghost wolf dancing around the woman.

The last one made me feel shocked, the picture on it was the person I and Junko met in the Huoyou Ancestral Hall, he seemed to be standing on a high platform and beating this small drum, and many people knelt on the stone steps and stone walls below, this scene seems to be somewhat similar to the picture I imagined just now, but, just without this strange person, what is he, how can he appear on the mural?

I hurriedly shouted at Shunzi to let him identify him, and Junzi limped closer, glanced at it and concluded: "That's right, just look at those eyes, bulging outward, this, this is the evil ghost." ”

"That's not some evil spirit, I guess it's a priesthood like a witch or priest here, and a sacred ritual is being performed." Xia Ti guessed softly.

This is the longest sentence she has taken the initiative to say in the past few days, firstly, her body is weak and her qi is insufficient; Second, I didn't know us very well, and it was not easy to open up before.

I nodded at her and thanked her again. But in my heart, I am playing the drum, this Uyghur girl named Guli Xiati is not ordinary, she is not only calm when encountering things, but also thoughtful and intelligent, she must have some background.

Da Zhuang couldn't hold back, he had always been unwilling to accept the fact that Xia Ti was a living person, so he said coldly: "Hmph, fuck the witch god, how can anyone look like this?" Hmph, but that's right, people in human skin may not be ghosts! ”

Xia Ti knew that she was talking about her, glanced at Da Zhuang, and said lightly: "I know you don't believe me, but you put your tricks on, I'm a human being, not a ghost!" ”

"Hmph, it's not a good person, if I Wu Dazhuang finds out that you hurt us......"

"Wu Dazhuang!" Waber shouted.

Da Zhuang was born to be a bastard, only to be as good as a cat in front of the master, and when he saw that Hua Bozhen was angry, he immediately shut down.

To be honest, I don't fully trust Xia Ti, but I can only play a round at this time: "Da Zhuang, Miss Xia Ti, along the way, nine deaths and one life, let's put aside suspicion and grievances first, if we want to get out alive, we can't fight in the nest." ”

Neither of them spoke again, which could be regarded as acquiescence.

Speaking of the fourth mural, I think Xia Ti's conjecture is very reasonable, the ghost will naturally not appear in front of everyone's eyes, and in addition to King Qiangtuo, who can be worshipped by everyone, I am afraid it is also a priest of gods and witches, in ancient times, the status of gods and witches was even higher than that of tribal leaders, maybe the "evil ghost" is just a priest wearing a mask.

Judging from the murals, the ancestors of the Qiangtuo tribe are likely to come from the Central Plains, maybe they were canonized by an ancient emperor, and gave them a lot of money, food and ghost wolves, and then these people traveled to the Western Regions, and settled down in this place, maybe this place is a good place for the ghost Awei to grow, and the ghost wolf must have some necessary connection with it, so that the ancestors here regard it as a divine beast.

If you count it this way, this ghost wolf doesn't know how many thousand years it has lived! It is not surprising that the Qiangtuo tribe still continues the important ritual of the sacrifice of gods and witches, if Xia Ti's guess is correct, the shrine of the Huoyou Sect should be dedicated to the gods and witches of the past dynasties, so that all the places make sense.

But I have a hunch that although this Qiangtuo country is ancient and backward, its annihilation must not be as simple as the legend says.

Hua Bo nodded, thought for a moment, patted his head, as if he remembered something, picked up the wine bottles scattered on the ground and looked at them side by side for a long time.

Finally, it was speculated that this Qiangtuo country should be destroyed in the early years of the Han Dynasty, and as he spoke, he handed me the wine bottle, which was a three-legged bronze bottle, large and small at the bottom, in the shape of a gourd, with a prominent hemispherical decoration on it, and carved with a pattern of auspicious clouds, the edge of the pattern was a hollow-shaped texture, and the handle was in the shape of a tiger, with the tiger's head facing outward.

We don't know anything about it, and we don't see anything wrong.

Hua Bo explained: "Just now you said that this Qiangtuo country is relatively backward, so I don't think it is possible for them to make such exquisite bronze wine vessels, these must come from outside. Sure enough, judging from the style and texture of this wine bottle, it is indeed the utensil of my great man, and the tiger-shaped handle shows that it comes from the emperor's house. However, the age of this wine jue is much earlier, and it was mostly used in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and it was rarely used in the Qin Dynasty, and it was only used in the early days of the Han Dynasty when sacrifices or major ceremonial activities were held. Coupled with the stone wall canonized by Emperor Wu in the Qiangtuo Holy Land, it can be determined that the ancient kingdom of Qiangtuo died in the early years of our dynasty, and the king and ministers of Qiangtuo were holding a grand banquet or sacrifice, and during the period, they were poisoned and killed by people in wine, so the legend may not be true, and the legend of the ghost mother leading the army to destroy her country is afraid that there is another mystery, at least the monarchs and ministers of the Qiangtuo country were poisoned. ”

After listening to Hua Bo's analysis, I felt as if I had neglected something, but I couldn't remember it for a while, and I was about to get back to the point and ask Hua Bo if there was any clue about the ghost Awei, when I heard "Click!" With a bang, I saw that the king of Qiangtuo next to him had already cut off a big horn with a brush, and Da Zhuang was standing there holding a short black knife.

Shunzi is a good thing, hurriedly went over to take a look, he knocked, the Wang case is about a few inches thick, and it is solid, extremely strong, Shunzi said: "Huh! Brother Zhuang, you have so much strength that you can split such a thick board. ”