The next day, people held the funeral of the old village chief in the cemetery next to the village.

There were no rattle prayers from the Orthodox priests, no icons and no crosses, and the old village chief was hastily buried in the ground according to the new atheistic rites. Qin Beiyang personally made a tombstone, engraved the Russian name and date of birth and death, and even marked a red star representing the Soviet.

That night, the whole village went to bed early. Qin Beiyang felt sick and lay on the bed with a headache and brain fever. I don't know if I caught a cold last night on a snowy night, or if the cancer cells in my lungs recurred? Nine colors waited at the foot of the master's bed, not leaving an inch.

The old craftsman Alexander brought a steaming pot of borscht, just like an old father treats his son. Qin Beiyang gulped down the soup, sweating hot from his vest, thinking of his father who died in Paris, all without saying a word. The old craftsman's cross bow on his shoulder, and there was a strange symbol on the steel crossbow machine, Qin Beiyang saw it carefully - there was an eye hidden in the pyramid.

"The One-Eyed Pyramid?"

The old craftsman subconsciously reached out to block the mark on the crossbow.

Qin Beiyang's eyes widened, and he got up and said, "Daddy Alexander, are you a member of the Craftsman Alliance?" ”

Alexander was silent for a long time, graciously picked up the crossbow, looked at the nine colors of the town's tomb beast, and replied: "Georgi, this big dog of yours is the legendary Chinese tomb beast, right?" ”

"You know about the Tomb Beasts, too?"

"Well, everyone in the Artisan Alliance knows - this is the first generation of the Great Venerable of the Artisan Alliance, the craftsmanship that Master Qin from China failed to pass down in Europe, only in China can the real Tomb Beast be found, and only the craftsmanship of the Tomb Beast is the pinnacle of all craftsmen in the world."

"You're saying that only the greatest craftsmen can make the Tomb Beasts of China?"

"The first Great Venerable was the greatest craftsman of the Middle Ages." Alexander stared at Qin Beiyang's eyes, "And today's greatest craftsman, I don't know who it is?" ”

He has admitted to being a member of the Artisan Union. Sure enough, the master is in the people, and the real master craftsmen are not in the deep mountains and old forests, but among the peddlers and pawns.

"Georgi, how did you know about the Craftsmen's Union?"

"I'm a member of the Artisan Union."

Although the junior members did not have tokens such as crossbows or one-eyed pyramids, the young Qilin Town Tomb Beast in front of him could prove that he was the descendant of the Qin Clan's tombsmith clan and the clansman of Qin Jin, the first generation of the Great Venerable of the Craftsman Alliance.

"You made this tomb beast?"

The old craftsman still looked at the nine-colored glass-colored eyes, and Qin Beiyang shook his head: "No, it was made by my ancestors and has a history of 1,200 years. And the tomb beast I helped build is still in the mausoleum of China's penultimate emperor. ”

Alexander touched Qin Beiyang's hair: "This is the first time I have met a member of the Artisan Alliance in fifteen years. ”

"How did you end up here?"

"It's a long story! My surname is Andreyev, and I am the oldest family of hunters in Russia, specializing in the manufacture of traps, lassoes, traps and even hunting machinery...... My ancestors once built a mobile hunting machine for Peter the Great, which could hunt dozens of bears, hundreds of wolves, and countless deer and foxes in a single day. ”

"You've been to the World Congress of the Craftsmen's Union?"

"Thirty years ago, at the age of thirty-three in Barcelona, Spain, I became a member of the Union of Artisans at the age of thirty-three. At that time, the Craftsmen Union launched a secret project to create a tomb beast. ”

"Imitation of the Tomb Beast?"

"Well, this is a craft that the first generation of Great Venerables failed to pass on, the most complex craftsman machine in the world. If the tomb beast can be created, it will be the peak achievement of the Craftsman Alliance, and it is also the wish that the great Venerables of the past generations have not been able to achieve. ”

"With all due respect, the Tomb Beast can only be built by our Qin family."

"But there is no such thing as your family in Europe, and the remains of the grave beast have been sent. It is said that in 1860, when the British and French forces conquered Beijing and burned the Old Summer Palace, they stole and excavated an ancient tomb in China and dug up a living tomb beast. At least fifty soldiers were killed by the grave beast, and it took the Anglo-French artillery to destroy the killing machine. ”

"So, the remains of this tomb beast were secretly transported to Europe? It's like the looted relics of the Old Summer Palace! ”

"In 1890, the Craftsmen's Union bought the wreckage and gathered the best craftsmen in Europe at the time to work together on how to imitate the Tomb Beast."

"What kind of wreckage is it? Who is the owner of the tomb? ”

"A half-human, half-beast tomb beast, it is said that the owner of the tomb was a Chinese overlord a thousand years ago."

Qin Beiyang calculated in his heart that a thousand years ago, it was almost the late Tang Dynasty or the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

"Please continue."

"The Tomb Beast is an unprecedented challenge for the Craftsman Alliance, but the great master craftsmen have never been able to imitate it successfully, and they have failed to make several semi-finished products, and even serious accidents have occurred, sacrificing the lives of many people."

"Because of the lack of the soul of the owner of the tomb! It also lacks the heart of the Tomb Beast. ”

"At this time, a Russian prince died, who was also a lover of history and technology, and secretly sponsored the cause of the Union of Craftsmen. He left a will that he would not have to be buried according to Orthodox rituals, but hoped to build a Chinese-style underground palace and create a tomb beast for himself and the artisan union. So, the Union of Artisans built a mausoleum deep in the forest near St. Petersburg, and at the same time built the Tomb Beast. I also got involved, because the animal trap I was good at was the weapon of the original Chinese tomb beast. ”

Qin Beiyang felt dizzy: "You can't succeed." ”

"We also discovered the importance of the stone – it shortens the life of a living person, and it is produced on the Arctic coast of Russia." Alexander began to grieve, "I have a pair of children. My daughter's name is Caterina and she is married to a baron. My son's name is Valodya, and he has been learning the trade with me since he was a child. I took Valodya with me to help me create the Grave Beast. It was 1910, exactly ten years ago, and seeing that the Tomb Beast was more than half complete, even the deadly stone had been installed. ”

"In the same year, my father took me to build a tomb beast in the imperial tomb underground palace in China."

"Someone raided the mausoleum site." Alexander grabbed the crossbow and said, "League of Assassins." ”

"Why are they here?"

The corners of the old craftsman's eyes turned red: "Since you are a member of the Craftsman Alliance, you should naturally know that for more than six hundred years, our sworn enemy has been the Assassin Alliance!" ”

"I know."

But Qin Beiyang must not reveal that he had become the great leader of the Assassin League and the heir to the Assasin Gold Dagger by mistake half a year ago. Otherwise, Alexander's crossbow would immediately shoot an arrow that pierced his heart.

"Once the Artisan Alliance succeeds in imitating the Tomb Beast, it will be the destruction of the Assassin Alliance. I've heard that the Assassin League has been collecting Tomb Beasts for a long time, and they have developed a mysterious technique that can open many tombs and subdue the terrifying Tomb Beasts. In order to stop the Craftsmen Alliance's plan to kill the Tomb Beasts, the League of Assassins sent a number of top Assassins, and I saw their faces with my own eyes - three Europeans, one black, one Arab, and two Chinese. ”

"Chinese?"

"One old and one young, it seems to be father and son, and the young one has a centipede-like scar on the right side of his face."

"Assassin Ahai."

Qin Beiyang jumped up angrily, his nine-colored eyes glowing fiercely.

"You know him?"

"Oh...... Eleven years ago, these two assassins killed my adoptive parents. Alexander, continued......"

"Seven Assassins attacked the mausoleum, killing twelve master craftsmen on the spot. And my only son, the favorite Valodya, was cut by a Chinese assassin with a scar on his face and had his throat cut with a dagger! By this time, I was seriously injured and fell into a coma. ”

The old craftsman's tears rained down, and Qin Beiyang didn't know how to comfort him - the pain of the white-haired man sending the black-haired man.

"I miraculously survived, but the half-finished product of the grave beast is gone, along with the original sample remains, all efforts have been wasted......" Alexander wiped away tears and grabbed the crossbow, "My son is dead, I am desperate, the Andreyev family's animal trapping tools are doomed to be lost." And my daughter, who is married to a nobleman, cannot inherit the craft. ”

"Sooner or later, all crafts will perish!"

Qin Beiyang didn't know if his words were to comfort the old craftsman, or a wise saying?

"The craftsman will die, but the work will live on!" Alexander uttered the motto of the Union of Artisans, "Since then, I have been disheartened, I have left my daughter and son-in-law, from the Union of Craftsmen, from St. Petersburg and Moscow, and have come alone as an exile of the Tsar, to the desolate and cold mountains of the Urals, wanting to forget the past, and ten years have passed......"

"Alexander, I'm sorry I shouldn't have let you remember this."

"It's okay, I'll never forget it." The old craftsman looked into the eyes of the Nine Colors and muttered, "My son, killed by the Assassins for the creation of the Tomb Beast. Ten years later, the real Chinese tomb beast came to me automatically! Georgi, since you are a member of the Union of Craftsmen, I will treat you as a son, and this crossbow is a gift from me. ”

Qin Beiyang, who was lying on the bed, took the cross bow inlaid with the symbol of the one-eyed pyramid of the Craftsmen Union.

Qin Beiyang said loudly: "Daddy, I will avenge your Valojia by killing the Scarfaced assassin with my own hands, I swear!" ”

Alexander didn't say anything, bowed his head and walked out of the cabin, and the sound of whistling wind and snow sounded outside the door.

Nine colors arched the master, Qin Beiyang was dizzy, fell asleep on the bed......