In the tenth year of the Republic of China, November 23, 1921, Xiaoxue, this day is Qin Beiyang's birthday on the solar calendar.

His lunar birthday is the second day of October. But regardless of the solar or lunar calendar, Qin Beiyang has reached the age of twenty-one; Regardless of Chinese or Western standards, he is already a standard adult, and he can no longer claim to be a boy or a teenager.

Qin Beiyang stood in the center of the underground palace, in front of the giant coffin of Qin Shi Huang, kneeling in front of the "tomb beast hunter" Lao Jin, and the young Zhongshan.

Nine-colored, with snow-white antlers and bronze scale armor, turned into a young Qilin Town Tomb Beast, kneeling behind his master and waiting.

Qin Beiyang has developed a regular habit of life - sleeping with Ah You in the first half of the night, returning to the heavenly and earthly palace in the second half of the night, burrowing into the yellow intestine inscription, and sleeping next to the coffin of the little prince of the Tang Dynasty.

No matter how strong the radioactivity of the spirit stone is, it seems to be offset by the aura of the fake of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and the genuine coffin of the Tang Dynasty. Qin Beiyang's lung cancer has never flared up again, and he only eats kiwi fruit and nectar soup every day, but his body has become thicker. In addition to his long black shawl hair, he no longer looks like the little prince of the Tang Dynasty when he was a teenager, but more like the craftsman father Qin Customs.

Lao Jin made a look, and Zhongshan took out a peach from his sleeve: "I wish the master a blessing like the East China Sea Shoubi Nanshan!" ”

The atmosphere is slightly awkward, and it is obvious that the effect of Shou Tao is not as good as that of cake. In this ancient cemetery palace, next to the giant coffin of Qin Shi Huang and the coffin of the Tang Dynasty, there seems to be some evil.

Qin Beiyang patted his head: "I forgot today's birthday!" I called you here just to make an announcement. ”

"Master, what do you command?"

"Lao Jin, Zhongshan, you two go down the mountain with me!"

"When?"

"Today."

Lao Jin and Zhongshan looked at each other: "The rules of Taibai Mountain, the master's order, is to go up the knife mountain and get down the oil pot, and it must be completed." Can you tell us where to go? ”

"Since the last rebellion of the Heavenly Kingdom, Taibai Mountain's vitality has been greatly damaged, and we have also been spying on Ah Hai's news."

"I heard that he appeared in Xi'an, and later went to the three eastern provinces."

"Some people say that he recently went to Shanghai."

The muscles on the right side of Qin Beiyang's face twitched a little, and he touched the nine-colored snow-white and sharp antlers.

Lao Jin frowned: "Let's go to Shanghai?" Master, do you know about this, Madame? ”

"I know!" A You's voice sounded in the corner of the dungeon, she walked to her husband's side, and held Qin Beiyang's hands, "Brother, you can rest assured to go down the mountain, Ah You will sit in Taibai Mountain, and there will never be a little delay." ”

"Sister, this time down the mountain, the road is far away, at least a few months apart, don't worry, I will return safely."

After getting married, Ah You became more and more like an obedient little daughter-in-law: "I will take care of my brothers and sisters on the mountain." ”

Having said that, she squeezed Qin Beiyang's arm tightly, almost pinching out a large bruise.

"Sister, then I'll go down the mountain, don't read it!"

Qin Beiyang grabbed Ah You's hand and put it down. He walked to the center of Qin Shi Huang's underground palace, faced the coffin of the little prince of the Tang Dynasty in the giant coffin with the yellow intestine inscription, and knelt down to say goodbye.

Before going down the mountain, Qin Beiyang remembered a person - Xiao Mu.

Five months ago, on the Rubik's Cube Tomb of the Tang Dynasty in Bailuyuan, Xiaomu was hit by an arrow in his right thigh and was kidnapped by Ah You on Taibai Mountain as a gift from the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Female Assassin Lin Jiao'e" to Ah Hai. Sure enough, Ah Hai did not kill him, but treated him as a guest. After the rebellion was put down, Xiao Mu was imprisoned on the top floor of the Heavenly and Underground Palace, in the cellar prison that connected to the tomb. Except for the young Zhongshan who delivered him nectar soup and kiwi fruit every day, it has almost been forgotten.

Except for Qin Beiyang.

A few days ago, he personally created a new tool - a replica of Xiaomu's Luoyang shovel. Simple, sturdy and practical, this tool is a useful tool for tomb robbing, but it can also be used as a standard for archaeological expeditions. There is no distinction between good and evil in swords and guns, and if they fall into the hands of the wicked, they will naturally do bad things; Justice can also be upheld if it falls into the hands of good people. This time when he went down the mountain, in addition to bringing the Luoyang shovel, he also wanted to bring Xiaomu himself.

Lao Jin dissuaded: "Master, the little master of Ah You said that Xiao Mu, a little tomb robber, don't believe anything he says, it's best to imprison him until he dies." ”

"Xiaomu is guilty of robbing the tomb, but he has contributed to quelling Ahai's rebellion, not to mention that he was hit by an arrow in the thigh, which is already atonement...... What's more, we locked up a tomb robber in the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang, which is really a bit unlucky. ”

Qin Beiyang pushed Lao Jin and Zhongshan away, climbed straight up the steps in the tomb, and came to the dark cellar prison. He shone his torch into the depths of the iron railing, revealing a young face with long hair and a masked face.

Kogi seemed to be a monster that could not see the light, groaning and curling up into the depths of the prison. He had been confined in the dark for five months, as if he had returned to a cave on the East China Sea on the Dharma Mountain, but he no longer had the company of the ama.

Young Nakayama dragged him out, wiped the dirt off his body, and changed into a set of clean clothes. His arrow wound had healed, and his ability to speak had long since recovered, kneeling in front of Qin Beiyang and kowtowing, thanking him for the grace of not killing. The whole process of walking out of the tomb was tied with a blindfold to ensure that he would not have the idea of digging this tomb again.

On the same day, Qin Beiyang left Taibai Mountain.

The first snow in the Qinling Mountains has already come. The mountains are full of dead leaves, like golden butterflies flying, like the year of Gengzi, Qin Beiyang was born in the autumn wind and white deer plain.

Eighteen-year-old Ah You, who turned into a little daughter-in-law, pulled her long hair back and wore blush, which was glamorous and moving.

Qin Beiyang stuck a three-foot Tang knife on his back and hung a cross bow on his waist, leading the "town tomb beast hunter" Lao Jin, the young student Zhongshan, the town tomb beast nine colors, and the sweat and blood horse ghost god who raised fat, plus the tomb robber Xiaomu who was blindfolded, and walked across the suspension bridge of Taibai Mountain.

On the Baxian Terrace on the top of the mountain, Meng Po's eyes were like eagles and falcons, passing through a few clouds, silently watching their backs.

"Mother-in-law, did you say Brother Beiyang, will it be gone forever?"

Ah You quietly walked to Meng Po's side, like two resentful women, turning Ba Xiantai into Wangfu Cliff.

"No, you don't know your husband well enough, he is a man who believes in his word, does what he does, and is sincere in his promises." Meng Po grabbed Ah You's hand and said, "It's a pity, I have never met such a man in my life." ”

Heading south from Taibai Mountain, we turn into a deep-cut valley where thousands of people have disappeared, and on both sides are lush primeval forests. In the depths of the Qinling Mountains, there are still a lot of wild things left, jackals, tigers and leopards go without saying, big cats and bears, golden snub-nosed monkeys often pass through the bamboo forest.

Four people, one beast and one horse, open the road in the mountains, build bridges when encountering water, and walk hesitantly. The scenery is very different from the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, and the climate is gradually humid. The Qinling Mountains are the boundary between the north and south of China, along the slope valley road of the Three Kingdoms era, to the south to the Hanzhong Basin, which is already geographically southern, and the Westerners call it subtropical.

Qin Beiyang untied Xiao Mu's blindfold here, releasing this man who was destined to be the king of tomb robbers.

"Well, the ama and the two children, I must be anxious to wait."

Xiao Mu was repeatedly grateful for Qin Beiyang's kindness, so he stealthily burrowed into the crop field and ran to his hometown in Luoyang, Henan Province.

A large river flows through the valley from west to east, which is the ancient Han River, which originates at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains and flows for 3,000 miles into the Yangtze River. Qin Beiyang bought a wooden boat and sailed downstream. Just like the ancients traveled, the road is difficult, the road is difficult, the road is divergent, and now it is safe? When encountering rapids, you have to go down to the ground to pull fiber. Fortunately, the nine colors are as strong as an ox, and the passers-by are amazed to see a hunting dog pulling fiber.

When encountering an ancient tomb on the road, Qin Beiyang would choose a thief cave and live in it with Jiuse for a night to avoid the recurrence of lung cancer. Lao Jin and Zhongshan camped outside the grave, and were mistaken for tomb robbers several times, and were forced to flee overnight.

Out of southern Shaanxi, from Hanshui to Xiangyang. Up to Guanlong, down to Lianghuai, north of the Central Plains, south of Jianghan. The war between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongols, an earth-shattering battle to defend Xiangyang, decided the fate of China. It can also be said that there is Xiangyang first, and then there is Yashan. Qin Beiyang recorded the landforms of mountains and rivers, and a large-scale contour map appeared in his mind, and came to the conclusion that those who win Xiangyang will win the world.

It is said that there are two Longzhong in China, one in Nanyang and one in Xiangyang, but there is no conclusion so far. Qin Beiyang led the sweat and blood horse on the left, led the tomb beast on the right, and visited Gulongzhong, twenty miles west of Xiangyang City.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the ancestors of the Qin family settled here, the elder brother Qin Jin and the younger brother Qin Chu - the good of Qin and Jin and the twilight of the Qin Dynasty. Captured by the Mongol army, Qin Jin followed Hulegu's expedition to Persia, using his craftsman skills to eliminate Assasin's Heavenly Garden and the Assassin Alliance, and traveled to Europe to establish the Craftsman Alliance, becoming the first Great Venerable. Qin Chu left behind the bloodline of Qin Beiyang.

After going down to Xiangyang, crossing the Jianghan Plain, to Hankou, the thoroughfare of nine provinces. There are also foreign concessions here, and the people are flexible and good at business, and they are known as the "nine-headed bird". On the Yangtze River, you can still see warships with rice flags and sun flags. At the northern foot of Gusan are the Hanyang Iron Works and Hanyang Arsenal, which were painstakingly run by Jang Zhidong, and the "Hanyang-made" rifles are still the mainstream weapons of the warlords.

Wuchang on the other side of the river, although there is no "the people of the past have taken the yellow crane to go, and the yellow crane tower is vacant here", but the momentum of the turtle and snake can be vaguely distinguished. Ten years ago, the first shot of Wuchang Shouyi sounded the death knell of China's last empire. Jiuse took Qin Beiyang to the East Lake and found a stolen Chu tomb to live in for the night.

The next day, they boarded the China Merchants steamer in Hankou, bought tickets for the cargo hold of the sweaty horses, and went down the river.

Jiuse still has memories of this journey—it had just been dug up by warlords from the Tang Dynasty tomb in Bailuyuan, and it had been transported by ship from Hankou to Shanghai four years earlier. Last time, it was just a statue, lonely; This time, it was accompanied by a good owner.

The steamer traveled for two days and nights, stopping at Jiujiang, Anqing, and Wuhu. Qin Beiyang is very interested, admiring Shizhong Mountain, Zhenfeng Tower, Quarry Rock by the railing, and directly reaching Nanjing Xiaguan Wharf.

In Nanjing, an Englishman came on board, but he was very short. This person walked around the cargo hold, stumbled upon the sweat and blood horse, praised it, found Qin Beiyang on the spot, and proposed to buy the ghost god with a thousand oceans.

Lao Jin has been digging graves in the northwest for many years, and he knows the price of horses, even if it is a first-class Kazakh horse, it would be good to sell it for a hundred oceans, why is this British so generous? Another point is that the ghost is a mare and usually costs less than a stallion.

Of course, Qin Beiyang refused, and the British chattered endlessly, constantly raising prices, and finally reached 5,000 oceans!

"This horse is my sister, would you sell your sister for money?"

He spoke out Japanese English slowly, and the other party actually understood, thinking that he had met a noble son with a lot of money, so he could only politely say "MarryChristmas!" ”

Today is December 24th, Christmas Eve for Westerners.

A bright moon hangs high. The steamer had sailed past Jiangyin, and the mist of the river was becoming more and more open, and the trumpet-shaped riverbank extended one after another, slowly heading towards the East China Sea, which inevitably reminded Qin Beiyang of the night ships in the East China Sea four years ago.

Three hundred miles ahead, there is Wusongkou.

Shanghai! Shanghai!