Chapter 16: The Spirit

Han Bao finally arrived, and with him came a young man whose hands were covered in scars and black spots, and his name was "Longge".

Han Bao didn't talk to me, just motioned to follow him. When I greeted him with the "mammo" I had just learned, he was stunned and patted me on the shoulder with a smile.

Runge walked in front, and Hanbo and I walked behind him a few meters away, but still didn't talk. It wasn't our actions that aroused his father's suspicions, so he didn't come for three days, but looking at his relaxed face, it didn't seem that there was anything wrong, but my throat was itchy for three days and I wanted to stretch.

We walked out of the cave for a while and then went into another hole. The cave was shallow and not large, with two stoves and a pool of water on the outside, but it was made of stones.

Several people are knocking and beating in it, it is actually a coppersmith shop, there are many metal devices hanging on the cave wall, there are forks, spears, Ge, etc., among which the introduction of attention is a copper sword, the sword body is very short, only a foot long, shaped like a willow leaf, there are uneven snake patterns on both sides of the sword spine, but the blade seems to be plated with a layer of mercury, and the cold light flashes. Two bird-like characters were engraved on the edge of the sword, and Han Bao took them off the wall and pointed to the two words "Han Bao". So I knew that this was a specially made sword for Han Bao, and I also knew how to write the word Han Bao.

Han Bao first took me to the finished shelf to take a few round utensils with handles, turned over and looked, like a mirror reflection, it turned out to be a copper mirror, but this bronze mirror is different from what I saw in the cultural relics atlas, there is an extra handle, less the middle bridge button.

There are also mirrors that are much brighter than the bronze mirrors I have seen, and the surface seems to be plated with a layer of mercury, I asked Han Bao, and he said that it is called "Xuanxi", which is probably the ancient name of mercury.

"This is the piece I promised to give you, you can choose one yourself." It turns out that the ancient Ba people called the bronze mirror "Jianzi", and they have mastered the technology of plating mercury on the metal, and they have grown a little knowledge.

"Then thank you Brother Bao", so I unceremoniously picked it up, and finally chose a "Jianzi" similar to the statue of Fuxi Nuwa with two heads and snake bodies intertwined in the middle, because such a pattern seems to have not been seen in the bronze mirror catalog, and it should be considered unique when taken out, but should this thing be regarded as a cultural relic or a modern handicraft?

Runge took the short sword he was forging from a coppersmith and struck it with a copper hammer.

Fiery copper splinters splashed onto his arm, and I realized why there were so many marks on his hands, which turned out to be burns. When the bronze sword was fully formed, Long Ge suddenly slashed at his arm with a small knife, and immediately bleed, and then dripped blood onto the fiery red sword body, with a "squeak", the blood steamed, and then quickly inserted the sword into the water, and there was a "squeak" sound, and a stream of green smoke came out of the water, carrying a bloody smell. I was stunned by this amazing performance, and it took me half a sound to come back to my senses.

People say that Ou Yezi of the ancient Yue Kingdom is famous for casting swords, and the sword is murderous. According to historical records, Goujian, the king of Yue, once had 5 bronze swords, namely "victory evil", "pure jun", "Zhanlu", "fish intestines", "Juque", according to legend, are all sword casting master Ou Yezi system, its exquisite craftsmanship can be called ingenious workmanship, eternal and eternal, all are famous swords in China through the ages. Now that I have seen Longge's sword-casting process, I know that what has been passed on is true. A thought came to mind, Longge has such skills, why not ......

After watching Longge's performance, I walked out of the cave, and only Han Bao and I were left, and I finally couldn't help but talk to him.

"Your bronze sword is so beautiful, can you ask Long Ge to fight it for me?" I think if I can take a Cuban bronze sword out, it will be a rare treasure.

"Bronze sword? Han Bao didn't seem to understand me.

"It's the sword that hung in the hole just now!" I repeat.

"Oh, you mean the 'Golden Serpent Sword', if you like me, let Longge make one for you, but don't let your father and King Ba see it, so as not to misunderstand. Yin Bao called it "Golden Snake Sword", it seems that the ancient Ba people called copper gold, no wonder all metals in the future are from the "gold" side, ancient gold is copper, not the current gold.

"In that case, forget it. ”

"It's nothing, just be careful. ”

"By the way, I haven't been here for three days in a row, is it because your father has noticed something wrong and won't let you communicate with me?"

"On the contrary, my father asked me to get in touch with you more and understand your purpose in coming to the Valley. ”

"Why did you tell me such a confidential matter? You weren't afraid that your father would be angry? Maybe I don't deserve your trust. ”

"I have my own plans, and I may ask you to help me with the main force. ”

"But how can I help you?"

"You just need to provide me with ...... outside situation" Speaking of this, Yin Bao suddenly felt that he was leaking, and quickly added: "I'm just interested." ”

"The princess looked at you very strangely that day, what happened?" I changed the subject at the right time, and since Han Bao trusted me so much, I might as well learn more about the situation.

"Such is the temper of the princess, and it is customary that I should henceforth marry her. At this, Han Bao's mood fell again.

"Isn't that a good thing?" In this valley, Princess Yiga should be regarded as the most beautiful and high-status unmarried girl, is there anything unsatisfactory about him?

"But I have my own beloved. Hanbao's answer was beyond my expectations.

"But ......"

"Don't talk about it, I have my own opinion. "Han Bao is confident and seems to be planning a big thing.

"The people in the valley all speak the Chinese language, why can you and the high priest speak two languages?"

"My ancestors were originally officials in the Central Plains, when the king of Ba was founded, he was sent to assist in the national affairs, the biggest official in the Central Plains is the prime minister, and the biggest official in Ba is the priest, which is the origin of the prime minister's priesthood, and as the official language of the Central Plains, it has been passed down. "I see, otherwise I would have become dumb and deaf in this valley.

"Is there anyone else in the valley who speaks this language?"

"It's just me and my father, not even my mother. ”

"By the way, you mentioned your mother, why haven't you seen her?"

"My mother died in childbirth when she gave birth to me, so my name is Han Bao. ”

"I'm sorry to mention your sadness. ”

"It's nothing, life and death are very common, the key is to live well. ”

"You said that the queen is not Iga's mother, how many queens are there?"

"King Ba can have three wives, one of whom is the queen, this is the rule laid down by the ancestors, and the priest can generally only have one wife, and the first choice is the daughter of King Ba. ”

"Then what if King Ba doesn't have a suitable daughter?"

"If King Ba doesn't have a daughter, he will choose among the cave master's daughters, and my mother is the daughter of the old cave master of Ganomu. ”

In the same way, if a priest's wife does not bear a son, she is allowed to take a second wife until a son is born. Han Bao added.

"And what if you never have a son or a daughter?"

"Actually, no, because we have the means to blend it. ”

It's interesting that they have drugs that can control the birth of boys and girls, and if they can get this unique formula and apply for a patent, won't they be able to make a fortune -- hey, how can I always take good things for the benefit of mankind to get rich, and suddenly feel that I am so vulgar.

"And how many wives is the current Queen Ba?"

"The current queen is the third wife of King Ba, the third princess, the daughter of a pharmacist. When she entered the palace, the second princess had just died, and the third princess quickly won the favor of King Ba, and soon gave birth to a son for King Ba, so that he snubbed the queen, that is, Yiga's mother. The queen once quarreled with the third princess, but soon died inexplicably, the third princess naturally became the queen, and the prince born to the king of Ba and the old queen later also got a strange disease, her legs atrophied, paralyzed, and people speculated that the third princess did the ghost, but she was too powerful, no one could help her, and my father gave her three points. Han Bao continued.

"Why is her outfit so different?"

It is said that in ancient times, King Ba had helped the Son of Heaven in the Central Plains to fight the country, as a reward and appeasement, the Son of Heaven married one of his daughters to King Ba, so since ancient times, the queen has followed the tradition of ancient costumes in the Central Plains, and the three princesses are a person who loves to dress up, and has made some ingenious changes in clothing. ”

After leaving the valley, we should turn over more ancient books to see if there are any records.

When he came to the bottom of a cliff, Han Bao put two fingers into his mouth, whistled loudly, looked up, and saw two black dots moving on the cliff, and after a closer look, he recognized that they were two people.

The two men began to slide when they heard Hanbao's whistle, and they used the crevasses and vines to move across the cliffs with ape-like agility.

After a long time, the cliff came to us, with a sharp hammer in his hand, and a sack on his back, which was opened, and inside were several dark red stones, a bit like bloodstone.

I asked Yin Bao what it was, and Han Bao told me that it was called "Lingji", which is the menstrual blood of the female monkeys, and they always pull the menstrual blood on a fixed rock, and over time it became like this. Lingji is a good medicine for gynecological diseases, such as infertility, menstrual blood disorders, etc. In addition, with the two mystery drugs prepared by the pharmacist, you can control the birth of boys and girls.

It's so magical, it seems that there is a chance to visit this pharmacist and take down his secret recipe.

Han Bao spoke to the two in the native language, and then followed them to the edge of a bush, where a long-haired woman poked her head out. I was stunned suddenly, this woman looked like Tang Wanli, but she was shorter, and her appearance was even more beautiful than Tang Wanli. When he saw Han Bao, he greeted him in surprise, and hugged him regardless of the people around him. At first glance, you can tell that it is Han Bao's sweetheart.

After a while, the two people who picked up the spirit also got in. They seem to be plotting something, and it took a long time to come out. Afterwards, Han Bao said goodbye to the three of them and led me back to the guest room of the outer palace of King Ba. I'm much more comfortable with the darkness than I was the other day.