9,000 kilometers away, Suzhou.

Hanshan Temple outside the city of Gusu, the ancient Fengqiao ferry port of Zhang Ji Yebo in the Tang Dynasty. After crossing the ferry to the west three miles, it is the Spring and Autumn Ancient Tomb where Qin Beiyang lives.

Qin Beiyang spent the whole summer here. Fortunately, in the ancient tombs and coffins, it is late autumn all year round, and I have escaped the scorching heat outside.

No matter how windy or rainy, the person who comes every day is a twelve-year-old girl.

Before Ouyang Anna went to Europe, she bought an ancient mansion for her daughter outside Suzhou, which was once the residence of a champion in the late Qing Dynasty, along with the servants and servants in the house. After her mother traveled far away, Jiuse settled in Suzhou, where she studied classical poetry, algebraic geometry, English, French, and even Japanese with her tutor every day, facing pavilions and gardens.

There are soldiers standing guard at the door of the mansion, which is Chang Kaishen, the godfather of the nine colors, sent from the Central Army Military Academy. On their way from Nanjing to Shanghai, Mr. and Mrs. Chang would occasionally stop by to see her. Mrs. Chang has no children, and regards the smart and clever nine colors as the pearl of her palm. Chang Kaishen was also obedient to the nine colors, and took her to Lushan for summer vacation two years ago. The military and political dignitaries of the "party-state" held a meeting on the mountain, and the little girl crawled under the platform, which frightened Mr. Wang, Mr. Dai and other bigwigs. She also bit Xiao Liuzi's thigh viciously. Once, Jiuse ran out of the Lushan villa alone and met the bad guys at the bottom of the mountain. Fortunately, the soldiers quickly arrested the bad guys. Chang Kaishen was furious and ordered to be shot on the spot.

In the days in Suzhou, every dusk, Jiuse would burrow into the ancient tomb, send Qin Beiyang all kinds of delicious food, turn over and wipe his back every day, and also found the red antler birthmark on the back of Qin Beiyang's neck.

Jiuse also recited Tang poems and Song Ci for him, and recited his favorite "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Zizhi Tongjian". She always had the black cat coiled around her shoulder. It is eyeing anyone, even Chang Kaishen and his wife are afraid of it. Only it is quite gentle with Qin Beiyang, and it is no longer like a "snake cat" that is more than a thousand years old.

Qin Beiyang always told his daughter the story of the Nine Colors of the Tomb Beast, the adventures of the two of them roaming the world, slaughtering the Evil Dragon Tomb Beast in the East China Sea Dharma Mountain, discovering the secret of Xu Fu in Yoshino Kofun in Japan, and changing the world in Versailles in Paris......

The more the daughter listened, the more excited she became, as if she had also become a tomb beast with nine colors, and followed her father to the sky and the earth. She also learned about the family history, which was passed from the Yin Shang three thousand years ago to the Qin tombsmith clan in the Republic of China. Jiuse even admired his grandfather, Qin Customs, the last royal craftsman of the Qing Dynasty.

Finally, Qin Jiuse made a request to his father: "I want to learn the skills of the tomb beast from you!" ”

"What?"

"Dad, do you have any other children besides the Nine Colors?"

Qin Beiyang, who was lying in the coffin of the Ming Dynasty, smiled slightly: "I will never have it again in my life, with your God-given daughter, I can be blind even if I die." ”

"Okay, Nine Colors is your only offspring, you should teach me the skills of the Tomb Beast."

"No way!"

Qin Beiyang said it categorically, making Xiao Jiuse frown: "Why not?" ”

"First, the rules of the Qin family's tombsmith clan are passed on to men but not to women. How can a girl learn the craft of a craftsman? Haven't all walks of life been like this since ancient times in China? Girls, they always have to marry into other families, isn't it that the fat water flows into the fields of outsiders? ”

"What has been done since ancient times, and now in the twentieth century, what boys can do, girls can do the same, or even better!" Xiao Jiuse stood up and recited the poem of Qiu Jin, the heroine of Jianhu, "Sigh and obstacle, sigh and drift, and Guanshan is a heroic journey." Don't say that women are not British things, and the dragon spring wall sings every night! ”

"Yes, what a man can't do, a woman can do." Qin Beiyang smiled faintly, "Jiuse, you can come to this world, you must thank your mother." ”

"Don't get away from the topic, you have to give me a reason, why can't you let me learn the skills of the Tomb Beast?"

Twelve-year-old Qin Jiuse is as stubborn and smart as Qin Beiyang when he was nine years old.

"Second, and more importantly, the reason - all the children of the Qin clan who have mastered the skills of the tomb beast are all short-lived, and usually die in the west at my current age. There is no other reason, the tomb beast must be driven by spirit stones, and spirit stones are extremely harmful to the human body. The reason why I am dying and can only stay in the ancient tomb to continue my life is because of the damage of the spirit stone. ”

Nine Colors took a breath of air from the ancient tomb: "You don't want me to be terminally ill like you?" ”

If it weren't for the broken limbs, Qin Beiyang would have wanted to stroke Xiao Jiuse's hair a long time ago, and sighed: "How can any parent want their children to live a short life?" ”

"In this case, why has the skills of the Qin clan's tombsmith clan been passed down to the present day without interruption for three thousand years? Why did my grandfather teach you his skills? Aren't you the only son of the old Qin family? Can my grandfather bear to watch you live a short life? ”

"This is the life of our family, and no one can escape from every generation of men."

"I'm not a man, but I'm your daughter, and I can't escape."

Qin Jiuse turned around and flipped open the back collar of his clothes, revealing a pair of red antler birthmarks on his neck.

Seeing this birthmark that was the same as his own, Qin Beiyang's eyes moistened: "My father said that only sons of the descendants of the Qin family will inherit this kind of birthmark, but I didn't expect you to have a girl." ”

Jiuse simply sat on the coffin of the Ming Dynasty and spoke: "Since I was very young, I felt that I was different from ordinary children. Girls love flowers, grass, and beautiful clothes. But I don't like these, I love astronomy, geography and mathematics more, and whenever I go to the wilderness, I like the ancient tombs very much, especially the words on the tombstones, read them out one by one, and no one can drag me away. Once, I followed Mr. Chang and Mrs. Chang to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum to pay tribute to Mr. Zhongshan, passing by the Ming Tomb, I broke into the cemetery alone, around the treasure top of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, walked around and around, as if there was a voice underground talking to me......"

"More than ten years ago, during the restoration of Zhang Xun, Qi Yuanshan and I went south from Beijing, and we also passed by the Ming Tomb in Nanjing and stayed on the Ming Tower for a night. That night, I had the same feeling, as if Zhu Yuanzhang's ghost was not gone......"

"Yes, we all have the same feeling, just like in this Spring and Autumn Tomb, my mother feels uncomfortable, but I am willing to eat." Jiuse walked around the tomb, "My mother told me that not long after I was born, I was taken captive by the tomb beast of Gu Bird Town to the tomb of Princess Yongtai in the Tang Dynasty. I drank deer milk in the tomb for more than eight months, and I was destined to be a member of the gravesmith clan. ”

Qin Beiyang was speechless, he thought that even the seed of Xiao Jiuse was buried in the Viking mausoleum in the Arctic Ice Sea. This child, like himself, comes from the tomb and will return to the tomb.

But he still shook his head: "I'm sorry, Nine Colors, I can't let you learn the skills of the Tomb Beast. ”

"Dad, you're just watching three thousand years of skill and treasure cut off in your own hands?"

"Just let it be cut off! The emperor is long gone, so what's the use of building imperial tombs and tomb beasts? Do you want me to build a mausoleum for the Japanese puppet Puyi? This is the destiny and the general trend, who can resist it? ”

Jiuse frowned and said, "But I don't want to do anything else, I just want to be like you and discover the secrets underground." ”

"Wouldn't it be nice if you could study history and archaeology and fulfill your mother's unfulfilled wish?"

"Didn't my mother fail to complete her studies in the history department of Peking University just because she gave birth to me?"

"This ...... That's my fault......"

"No one is wrong, you're right, my mom is wrong, not even ...... Uncle Yuanshan, he's not wrong. ”

"Toyama is my best friend, and I've never resented him. Nine colors, will you still miss him? ”

This question made her silent, Jiuse had already called Qin Beiyang his father and Qi Yuanshan his uncle. Losing the daughter of Jiu Se, Qi Yuanshan was depressed for many days. Since the beginning of this year, Qi Yuanshan has lived in Nanjing, living in the political and military center, so that he can have the opportunity to soar. Sometimes he would suddenly come to Suzhou to visit Jiuse, after all, there had been a father-daughter relationship for many years. It's just that Jiushi's attitude towards him has become polite and polite, and he is no longer intimate.

Suddenly, the sound of a rope sounded outside the ancient tomb.

Qin Beiyang reminded vigilantly: "Tang Dao! ”

Jiu Se pulled out An Lushan's three-foot Tang knife from under the coffin. The knife was too heavy for the little girl, it was like a thick iron rod. Qin Jiuse was not stage frightened, calmly holding the Tang knife and hiding behind the coffin.

"Beiyang! Nine colors! ”

Ouyang Anna's voice sounded at the entrance of the tomb, and a horse lantern illuminated her dusty face. She is still wearing cargo pants and a fox hunting hat.

She's back.

She crossed 9,000 kilometers, crossed the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean and the China Sea, and returned with the life-saving treasure of Qin Beiyang. She hugged her daughter tightly, leaned on the edge of the coffin of the Ming Dynasty, and looked at Qin Beiyang, who was like a living dead.

"Anna, have you found the original copy of "Qin's Tomb Craftsman's Guidebook"?"

"Well, sure enough, on the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral, in the coffin of Qin Jin, the first generation of the Great Venerable of the Craftsman Alliance." Anna took out an iron box from her bosom and opened it to reveal the "Qin Tomb Craftsman's Jian" six hundred years ago, "Beiyang, I have a bigger discovery - not only can you prolong your life, but also allow you to stand on the ground and run again." ”

"How?"

Hearing Ouyang Anna's words, Qin Beiyang was not only embarrassed, but worried, reminding him of the disaster caused by the town's tomb beast Nine Colors undergoing surgery to remove the excess spirit stones.

"Beiyang, on the way back from France, I have read the entire book of "Qin's Tomb Craftsman" from beginning to end. You just have to do what I say, and you can live forever and be free one day. ”

"Anna, what are you going to do?"

"Come with me, we'll leave tomorrow!"

"Where to go?"

Ouyang Anna got up and said, "Let's go to Luoyang first, and then to Bailuyuan." ”

"White Deer Plain?" Jiuse threw herself down beside her mother, "Can I go with me?" ”

"Don't!"

Qin Beiyang categorically rejected his daughter's request.

"Let her go, she hasn't been." Anna put her arms around her daughter, "From now on, the three of us will not be separated." ”