Chapter 41: The Temple of the Cannon God

I nodded in agreement, anyway, there was no "time" to speak of, sooner or later I had to go to see the "Earth Immortals", so I decided to start acting immediately, leading everyone down the wooden ladder and straight to the door of the main hall.

The door of the Demon True Monarch Palace, after we came in, it was closed casually, but at this time, a push did not move at all, and I did not push the door open with more force, I don't know when, the door of the temple has been closed by the hidden "machine".

When the fat man saw that I couldn't open the door, he came to help, and he copied out the "sapper shovel" to pry the crack in the door. I felt something strange in my heart, I was afraid that there was something strange in this hall, so I subconsciously glanced back behind me, and the beam of the "tactical 'spotlight' lamp" above my head flickered, and I saw that the martial saint Zhenjun who was originally sitting in the hall suddenly changed his face, and he was no longer the Guan Erye who was "lying on silkworm eyebrows, danfeng eyes, face like heavy dates, and long hair fluttering", but a fierce and low-eyed evil ghost with a solid body shape, and a black and black "Fran machine" in his arms, mud like bright red like blood, looking down, staring at the front door of the hall, It is falling on the bodies of these few of us, and I have a very ominous feeling in my heart, although I have seen many temples and Taoist temples in my life, but I can't recognize which way of "fierce gods and evil spirits" is offered in this temple.

I was shocked in my heart, I couldn't imagine that the "earth immortal" Feng Shigu was so blasphemous, even the Guandi Temple dared to be false, but I don't know which way the evil god's "temple shrine" is, and the previous solemn atmosphere is completely different, this good and evil, the difference is huge, it is really "crows and magpies are together, it is difficult to determine good luck and bad luck", I am afraid it is not good.

My mind moved, and I hurriedly grabbed the fat man who was priing the door hard: "Don't touch the door, there are fierce gods and evil gods here, it is definitely not the Demon True Monarch Palace, be careful that there are pins on the door wall to ambush." ”

Then everyone stood still, took a flashlight to shine around the hall, and found that not only the main statue in the shrine, but also the "Zhou Cang and Guan Ping" standing on both sides of the martial saint, did not know when they all turned into ghosts in the yin, wearing red robes, with "pigtails" tied on the top of their heads, and their faces were terrified.

We also said that we were mistaken, and when we "rubbed" our eyes again and looked closely, it turned out that the previous clay statues were covered with a layer of "cloth tent lacquer shell", which were all hidden behind the shrine at this time, and were hung on the high place of the temple beam, which revealed the true body of the evil god in the temple.

Our attention was attracted by the omen in the "Coffin Mountain" just now, and no one paid attention to the movement in the temple, in fact, before coming in, we had already checked that there was no "pin machine" around the building, but we didn't expect that the "Guandi Temple" would be a trap.

There was a dead silence in the hall, but there was no movement for the time being, but the atmosphere seemed very wrong. I felt more and more bad, I had to get out as soon as possible, and I looked around with the beam of the "tactical 'spotlight'", and saw that the cold and heavy "Green Dragon Glaive Knife" was still on the gimbal at the moment, and I couldn't help but have an idea, and a "thought" popped up in my mind.

In the old Chinese society, the style of worshiping the ancestors of Wenwu has been spread since ancient times, if the scale of the "Guandi Temple" is relatively large, there will often be a separate "knife hall" set up in the side compartment, dedicated to the "Guan Gong knife"; The small-scale temple is either made of "Zhou Cang" to resist the knife, or it is flat on the Jinyun bracket.

I saw that the "Guan Gong knife" was heavy and extraordinary, and I thought that there might be a "machine" in the temple gate, although it was effortless to break the door and go out, but it might be a "self-digging grave" move, why not use this dozens of pounds of big knife as a "broken wall lock" and break through the wall to go out? So he immediately beckoned the fat man to step forward and raise the knife.

Everyone just walked a few steps closer, but saw that there is a wooden plaque behind the ghost-like evil god clay statue, gold characters on a black background, with three big characters of "Cannon Temple", the younger sister seems to know this thing, even called it bad, not only the doors and windows in this hall, but also the roof and beams and pillars paved with glazed tiles can not be touched, there must be a "landing flowering cannon" hidden inside, once triggered, the whole temple will be "jade burned", everyone has to be blown into powder.

The fat man originally relied on a momentum, and planned to immediately sneak into the "old house of the Feng family" to "touch" the gold, but at this time, seeing that the teacher was unfavorable, he couldn't help complaining about bad luck, and it was estimated that he forgot to burn incense for the "grandfather" before going out.

I shook my head helplessly and said, it's not that we take the word "back", but that the landlord class is too cunning, but I have never heard of any "cannon temple" in the world, is this temple a big fire "medicine" barrel? Is it really a "desperate door" that can't get in and out?

Shirley Yang also asked her sister, "What is the Cannon Temple?" And how can you determine that there is a floor-to-ceiling flowering cannon hidden in the temple? ”

Listening to my sister's words, we only understand what is going on, the original folk worship of the "cannon god" custom, is originated in Wushan "Qingxi", originally because of the use of earthen explosives when digging down the Wu salt veins, because the conditions are extremely primitive and simple, often blow up the killing of mine slaves, so the common people secretly built the "cannon temple", this is the "Shinto" dedicated to worship in the mine, at the beginning it was only similar to the low land temple, usually those saltpeter fire "medicine" that blew up the mountain and blasted, all stored in this temple, its effect is the same as the explosive "medicine" The warehouse is about the same.

Over time, people found that the "cannon gods" in the temple often showed supernatural things, whether it was blowing up the mine pit and burying the mine slaves alive; Or the explosives warehouse has a situation of running water, but it has not detonated a large number of explosives****, and so on, all of these things are said by the workers who work in the mine as the "cannon god" grandfather has appeared, just like going out to sea to run a boat to worship Mazu, it is an ancient industry worship, which should have existed in China since the Ming Dynasty.

Later, a common practice was gradually formed, and in addition to the people who opened mines, even the firearms battalions in the army of officers and soldiers, including the Hongyi cannons that were later imported from the "Portuguese Red and Mao" countries, all the places that involved gunpowder "medicine" had to worship the "cannon god". Firearms began to develop in the Ming Dynasty, but the concept was still relatively conservative and "superstitious", and the main "Hongyi artillery" used in the army would be carried out as a general, such as "Shenwu, Shenwei, Zhenwei" generals and so on. When the cannon is aged or damaged, it should not be recast and decomposed, but should be buried in a tomb. All of these are extended from the custom of worshipping the "cannon god".

Later, because the Qing Dynasty Taizu Nurhachi was injured by artillery bombardment outside the city of "Ningyuan", and finally died, so the Manchu Dynasty completely banned the "Cannon Temple", all the "Cannon King Tomb, Cannon Ye Temple" were demolished and destroyed, only in its birthplace there are still people secretly worship the "Cannon God", the temple site is mostly built in the underground cave, people from other places are difficult to know these things, the people in the Qingxi area to; Artillery "medicine" mining for a living, this is known to all ages. Because it is a secret offering, the Qingxi "Cannon Temple" has often been disguised as other temples since the Qing Dynasty, with "'Medicine' Wang Temple" or "Land Temple" being the majority, but no one has ever dared to use the "Guandi Temple" as a disguise.

In addition, in the "honeycomb mountain" that specializes in making pins, because some gunpowder equipment is often made, such as "the crow flying fire, the fire dragon out of the water" and other things, so there are also many traditions of worshipping the "cannon god", it is rumored that the image of the "cannon god" is different in form, but the real body will hold the "franc machine", and the "red robe and fire-clothed boy" will stand on both sides.

"Franc machine" is the name of Western artillery in ancient times, since the Portuguese artillery was introduced to China in the Ming Zhengde period, it has this name, and it has always been the "magic weapon" of the cannon god. Although Shirley Yang and I didn't know about the "cannon god", we also knew about it, and we had seen many old weapon atlases in Panjiayuan, Beijing, and there were such firearms in them.

The "firearms" placed in the arms of the clay cannon god are naturally fake, but there is a particular one here, and the "Franco" held by the folk god of artillery is all red "color", which means red clothes and red "medicine"; There is also a black "Franc machine", which means that there are murderous fire sales in the cannon temple, most of which are "five thunder flowering cannons", or "landing flowering cannons".

Because this kind of explosive "drug" mechanism, in the "honeycomb mountain" called "fire pin", the cannon god held the "Franc machine" painted into jet black "color", is a kind of "code" used by the honeycomb mountain box craftsman, the difference, except for the craftsman who laid the cannon pin spring, outsiders never know, although the sister has learned these tricks, but never really seen, lack the necessary experience, until I saw the black "color" Franc machine, and the ancient plaque behind the clay statue, this suddenly remembered the matter.

In this "Cannon Temple", there must be countless "fire cannons 'medicine'", fortunately there was no reckless breaking down the door and tearing down the wall just now, otherwise the cannon trigger was triggered, and everyone was blown to pieces at this moment.

Most of the "tricky thunderbolts" in the temple are hidden in the beams and pillars of the door wall, the doors and windows of the temple can not be opened, the four walls are stressed hard, it will cause explosives, although the buried are hundreds of years ago of the earthen explosives, but in the "coffin mountain" this place where the wind gathers gas, it may still be able to explode, once the fire pin is blown up, it is by no means the flesh and blood can resist.

In history, in the Ming Dynasty, the application of gunpowder firearms has tended to mature and perfect, although the power of the original earthen explosives is not as good as that of modern times, the lethality can never be underestimated, the "landing flowering cannon" is similar to the "child bomb", as the name suggests, after the cannon "medicine" is exploded, the iron nails and iron pieces hidden in it will cover and kill the surroundings like the goddess scattering flowers, and the "five thunder flowering cannons" will explode continuously.

When everyone heard this, they all felt helpless, as soon as the door of this temple was opened, the entire temple was probably going to explode to the sky, but if you didn't want to get out, wouldn't you be trapped alive here? This time, everyone has become a "caged bird" in the temple of the cannon god, even if it is difficult to "insert" the wings, they can escape, and the thought of the "cannon pins" around them makes people's hearts "chaotic" like numbness, like a worm on the hot ground, and they are unstable for a moment.

I couldn't hold back my anxiety, calmed down and thought about it, this time I went to Qingxi to find the "Ancient Tomb of Dixian Village", almost every step was far from what I expected, and this was all thanks to Professor Sun's refusal to tell the truth, so that in the end everyone was dragged into a desperate situation, but now it is useless to blame anyone, and the only meaningful thing now is to do everything possible to deal with the current crisis.

I was about to discuss with Shirley Yang whether it was feasible to take the risk of demolishing the cannon lead, but I heard Sun Jiuye on the side suddenly say: "I almost forgot, Dixian Village is full of Yin and Yang houses!" ”

We didn't understand this meaning, and wondered: "What is a yin and yang house?" Isn't Dixian Village an ancient tomb and a yin house? Sun Jiuye said: "No, no, there are too many things happening today, my mind is very chaotic, but I ignore this section, I remember hearing my brother say that all the houses in Dixian Village are Yin and Yang houses." ”

The so-called yang house is the residence of the living, and the yin house is the tomb "cave" where the dead are buried, the earth immortal sealer has the addiction of collecting the treasures of the ancient tomb in ancient times, and there is a strange one, not only the treasure of the tomb for burial, but also the coffin, the ancient corpse, the tomb bricks, the murals and other things, but also to keep their own, as if the net worth "life" in general.

When he built Dixian Village in the coffin mountain, he once built the ancient tombs stolen by the "Guanshan Taibao" in the ground according to the original state, the upper is the Yang House, the lower is the Yin House, all the houses and courtyards are the lower floors, all of them are real tombs, the types of tombs are up to three generations, down to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, all-encompassing, those tombs also have their own portals and tombs under the ground, just like the streets of the Yang House, but no one knows why he did this.

Under the ground of this "Cannon Temple", there will definitely be a tomb like a "hole in the ground", and from the tomb road, you can also lead to the "old house of the Feng family", but I don't know if there will be a "landing flowering cannon" hidden underground, it stands to reason...... It shouldn't be, because the "Earth Immortal" Feng Shigu will never easily destroy the Yin House, but it is said that the hidden weapons in the tomb are all set up according to the old law, and if you go from the tomb, you have to find a way to deal with all kinds of mechanisms in the ancient tombs of the past dynasties.

The so-called "no suspicion of employing people, no need to suspect people", after Professor Sun made a poisonous oath in the name of his ancestors and ancestors in the spirit of heaven, and confirmed by various events before and after, I have temporarily dispelled my doubts about him at this time, otherwise it will be difficult to move an inch, when even if I agree, I said: "This is a way, it is always better to be trapped here and suffer, there is a way - only heroes drive tigers and leopards, and there are no heroes who are afraid of bears." The craftsman who "touched" the gold inverted bucket, what tomb would he not dare to enter? ”

In the case of no way to advance or retreat, everyone immediately decided to make a desperate bet and prepare to get out of the underground tomb, but the secret that Professor Sun's family has passed down from generation to generation, even he himself does not dare to guarantee that it is true, and it is difficult to say whether there is an ancient tomb under the temple.

So five people lined up, carefully sapper shovels and stainless steel Emei thorns to pry open the floor tiles, found that the ground near the wall in the hall has cannon pins, rows of hidden laying, dense, the "five thunder cannons" is not a mine, there is no way to remove the fuse, can only try to avoid, the whole temple only has a circle around the clay statue of the cannon god, and there is no buried fire pin.

Everyone was afraid of touching the fire pin, no one dared to use too much force, slowly moved away from the top few green bricks, saw that under the bricks is a layer of clear mud rammed earth, the length of the sapper shovel is too short, digging and chiseling rammed earth can not make force, and the rammed earth may be mixed with glutinous rice and boy "urine", the soil is dense and tough, we dug a few times with the shovel, and the forehead has been sweating.

I had to go with the fat man to carry the "Guan Gong knife" over, according to the "hole" in the "cut" word recipe left by the mountain road, first poured some shochu on the ground, soaked the rammed earth loosely, and then reversed the knife head, with the three-edged cast iron "knife" to the ground slammed, this Guan Gong knife is like a dozens of pounds of heavy iron drill, chiseling up the hard mud layer to be very handy.

Poke a layer of rammed earth and dig it up, sure enough, it is a layer of more than a foot thick plaster, and there is a layer of sleepers under the mud, digging here, it is enough to prove that there is indeed a "tomb chamber" under the temple, the wood used is probably from the real "ancient tomb", the square pillar-like wood has been half-decayed, the bad breath is blowing, poked a few times with a Guan Gong knife, and the neatly arranged rotten wood sinks from it, "exposed" a black pitch hole, and the inside is swishing out of the yin wind.

The fat man said happily: "It seems that the militia have been connected by the tunnels in the village......" Before he finished speaking, he heard the clay statue in the "Cannon Temple" rumbling and shaking, it turned out that the sleepers in the ground had been soaked in groundwater as early as the original site, and they were so rotten that they were overwhelmed, and a wooden stake collapsed, and several nearby crossbeams were broken together.

A few sleepers that were broken and collapsed were just located at the bottom of the clay statue of the cannon god holding the "Franc machine", the god position shook, and the heavy clay statue hit the back wall headlong, and the head of the cannon god was knocked off on the spot, and the head of the body was separated and smashed to the ground, only to hear a strange sound of "click" in the back wall.

Everyone's hearts sank suddenly, knowing that this was the pin spring of the "Landing Flowering Cannon", I quickly pushed Sun Jiuye, who stayed in place: "Go, what are you waiting for?" ”

At this time, the walls of the temple are the sound of cannon springs moving, I greeted him at the same time, I didn't care about what was in the tomb, even pushed and dragged Professor Sun down, and then the rest of the people also jumped into the tomb, the fat man felt that the "Guan Gong knife" was heavy and strong, and it was very easy to use, although a person definitely couldn't pick it up, but splitting a coffin could just use it, reluctant to throw it away, and did not forget to drag this big knife in a hurry.

The space of this burial chamber made of hundreds of sleepers is very narrow, people can not stand up straight in it, and there is a large ancient wooden coffin in it, I was the last to jump in, just landed on the lid of the wooden coffin, and before the power of the landing disappeared, I heard a thunderous roar overhead, and the earth and wood continued to fall on my body.