The legend of Dukang

Chapter 8 Ancestral Hall of the Patriarchs

Shen Jiaan seemed to be a real person, as if he had forgotten the unhappiness that had just happened, he enthusiastically introduced the surrounding scenery to them and asked them about the new things outside.

Fang Yunheng pretended that he seldom went out and didn't have much knowledge about Jieyou, so he took the opportunity to push Jieyou to Shen Jia'an, pulled away from him, pulled Wen Ruyu to the back, and quietly said to Wen Ruyu: "That Du Shaokang teased you yesterday for no reason. Jieyou, if you are so enthusiastic about leading the way today, I’m afraid they have ulterior motives, we’d better be careful, and don’t get too close to them.”

Wen Ruyu rolled his eyes at him, and whispered: "Brother, we are the ones with unknown origins and ulterior motives, right? You don't look for the Xuantian sword, but you insist on looking at Lao Shizi's Immortal Temple. You are secretly trying to spy on people's family halls , they not only did not obstruct you but also led you the way, I think they are the ones to watch out for."

Fang Yunheng was blocked by him for a moment and didn't know how to answer, but suddenly he looked up and found Du Shaokang was standing not far in front of him, looking at them dimly for an unknown amount of time.Fang Yunheng's heart skipped a beat, he exchanged glances with Wen Ruyu and walked up.

"What advice do you have, sir?" Fang Yunheng smiled and looked at Du Shaokang, wondering how much he had listened to the conversation with Wen Ruyu just now.

Du Shaokang also smiled, and said: "It's nothing, I think you two have fallen. The mountain road is rugged, and it is easy for you to get lost when you come here for the first time. You should follow closely. The provincial patriarch's shrine has not arrived yet, and we are about to I was distracted looking for you."

Du Shaokang's words showed concern everywhere, to the point that Fang Yunheng seemed like a villain.Wen Ruyu glanced at him dissatisfied, Fang Yunheng was also a little embarrassed, and quickly thanked: "Thank you for your concern, sir. The two of us just saw the beautiful scenery, so we missed it a little bit. Let's keep up."

Du Shaokang still smiled and stared at Fang Yunheng without saying a word, staring at Fang Yunheng until his whole body was hairy.

It wasn't until Shen Jia'an's voice came from the front: "Hurry up, everyone, we'll be there." Then they followed up.

What Shen Jiaan said was correct, the Patriarch's Temple was indeed not far from Du Shaokang's house, and it was not past noon when the five arrived.However, the mountain road is rugged and messy, and it is really difficult to find without a guide.

The patriarch's ancestral hall is located on the mountainside. It is estimated that it has been built for some years, and the appearance of the ancestral hall is a bit old.Shen Jia'an and his group stepped into the ancestral hall, and several people inside were cleaning it, seeing them all bowing their heads to salute them.

"These are all from the town, and everyone takes turns to clean them every month." Shen Jia'an returned the salute and explained to Fang Yunheng and the others: "The patriarch's temple was built more than 50 years ago to worship the first patriarch of our town."

From the appearance, the shape of the ancestral hall is nothing special.After entering, what catches the eye are nine large murals, which depict the landscape of Taoyuan. On the right side of the murals, there are several large characters "Picture of Living in Peach Blossom Mountain for Ten Miles".The murals rise up to the roof, and many wooden shelves are set up on the roof, covered with green plants. The plants are so lush that they almost cover the entire roof, making people feel like they have a green ocean on their heads. The illusion, with peach blossoms all over the wall, is like being in a fairyland.

Wen Ruyu rolled her eyes in her heart, and said to herself: The rules in Cuiping Town are really strange, the whole ancestral hall looks like a flower house!

Fang Yunheng sighed, and praised Shen Jia'an: "Good realm! 'Taoyuan' is a fairyland of 'hidden from the world', which has only been seen in poems and essays, and the ancestral hall in Guizhen can reproduce poems. The fairyland in the article is really unique, and it opened the eyes of ordinary people like me."

After hearing his praise, Shen Jiaan was very pleased, and bowed to him with a smile.

There is no other furniture in the ancestral hall. There are some potted plants and wood carvings in the room. There is only a tree-root-shaped tribute table in the center of the mural, but it is empty and there are no ancestors' spiritual tablets.

Fang Yunheng looked very curious: "Brother Jia'an, why is there no memorial tablet in this ancestral hall? Could it be that the ancestral hall in your town worships this 'Taoyuan Picture'?"

"Oh, what was originally placed here was the sword of our patriarch." Seeing Fang Yunheng's bewildered expression, Shen Jia'an explained: "Brother Fang didn't know something. The patriarch led our ancestors to flee here to escape the flames of war, so that everyone’s lives were saved, but the patriarch himself died in battle and did not leave his name. We have to enshrine the sword he carried with him, and it has been more than 50 years.”

"Oh, so that's the case." Fang Yunheng nodded knowingly.

"Then why isn't the saber enshrined in the ancestral hall?" Wen Ruyu asked curiously.

"The saber is kept at home by my father, and it is only taken out every year when offering sacrifices." Shen Jiaan said indifferently.

How can the patriarch's relics be kept in his own home?Fang Yunheng was thinking about it when he heard Jieyou ask lukewarmly: "Can the patriarch's belongings be kept private?"

Fang Yunheng's whole body felt weak all of a sudden, but there was nothing wrong with him gnashing his teeth.

Wen Ruyu rolled her eyes with an expression that she knew he would do this.

The word Jieyou was originally a question for everyone, so there is nothing wrong with mentioning it tactfully.But it was a bit abrupt to ask in this indifferent tone, like a prisoner being interrogated, and the originally relaxed atmosphere suddenly cooled down.Fortunately, Shen Jia'an's reaction was a bit slow, and he was just stunned for a moment, as if he was still digesting the words of reassurance.

Instead, Du Shaokang chuckled and explained: "Jia'an's father is the current patriarch of Cuiping Town. In addition to handling the daily affairs of the clan, he is also responsible for repairing and managing the patriarch's temple. The former patriarch's sword is the patriarch of Cuiping Town. The sacred objects should be handed over to the patriarch for safekeeping."

When he said this, Shen Jiaan reacted belatedly, repeatedly said yes, and the atmosphere eased.

Seeing that Shen Jia'an didn't care about Jieyou's words just now, Fang Yunheng breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "So that's the case. I didn't expect Brother Shen's father to be the local patriarch, so disrespectful and disrespectful."

Shen Jia'an cupped his hands again and again, and the two exchanged courtesies again.

Wen Ruyu thought to herself: I should have thought about it long ago, Wang Xiaoer said that Du Shaokang rarely interacts with people, except for the patriarch, young master.Looking Shen Jia'an up and down, Wen Ruyu thought: This kid looks like a good-looking talent. Although he looks dumb, he is still warm-hearted to people, but I don't know if he is as kind as he appears on the surface.

While speaking, Shen Jiaan led several people to a long corridor connected to the west side of the ancestral hall: "Passing through this long corridor, there is a cliff in front, from which you can see the whole town and the Mizi River, the scenery is very good."

The corridor is two meters wide, and the windows on the left side of the corridor are very large. The outside sunlight can fully shine in, making the corridor very bright.Portraits of people hang on the wall on the right side of the corridor.

"This is the portrait of the previous chiefs of Cuiping Town. This is my father." Perhaps because Wen Ruyu had been staring at him, Shen Jiaan explained from the side, "This is the second chief." As they walked, Shen Jiaan followed Others explained that until the end of the corridor, there was no portrait of the first patriarch.

Fang Yunheng couldn't help being a little puzzled: "Brother Shen, since this ancestral hall was built for the first patriarch, why is there no portrait of him?"

After hearing what he said, several other people also asked Shen Jiaan with their eyes.

Shen Jiaan answered patiently: "Our first patriarch didn't leave a portrait, so..."

Several people understood, and did not continue to ask questions.

The front of the corridor leads directly to a cave. The cave is not deep and only about three or four meters long. Standing in front of the cave, you can clearly see the light on the opposite side.After walking out of the cave, the field of vision suddenly became clear.Wen Ruyu took a closer look and found that they were standing on a semicircular platform with a radius of about three meters.Below the platform is a cliff, and in front of it is the vast Mizi River.

Everyone had to feel the uncanny workmanship of nature. Below is the cliff, surrounded by towering peaks. This place is like a step leading to the top of the mountain from the Mizi River.A remnant stele was erected on the north side of the platform, with several large characters written on it. After years of wind and rain, the handwriting could no longer be seen clearly. Wen Ruyu could only vaguely make out the words "Juemingya".

Fang Yunheng walked up to Shen Jia'an and asked, "Brother Shen, although I am not good at martial arts, I love swords very much. The swords used by the patriarch are not mortal weapons after all!"

"Brother Fang, I'm overwhelmed. The sword of the first patriarch is just an ordinary sword. Because it is the relic of the first patriarch, it is of great significance." Shen Jia'an looked at Fang Yunheng and cupped his hands.

Fang Yunheng's eyes lit up, and he continued, "I don't know what this sword looks like, isn't there the slightest difference?"

Shen Jia'an looked at the sword at Jieyou's waist, and said, "Compared with the sword on Brother Xieyou's body, our patriarch's sword is simpler and slightly larger, and there is nothing unusual about it."

Hearing this, Fang Yunheng's eyes became brighter, and he quickly said: "The patriarch of your town can protect the lives of the whole town from the flames of war. He must be a hero. I admire heroes the most in my life. I don't know when your town Sacrifice, I also want to pay respects to that sword."

"This... this year's sacrifice was already held last month, and the next sacrifice will have to wait until next year." Shen Jia'an said a little embarrassed.

"That's it..." Fang Yunheng showed a very regretful expression on his face: "It's a pity that I can't look up to the hero's sword!"

Wen Jiaan was obviously a good old man, seeing Fang Yunheng's disappointed expression, he felt a little sorry.

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said: "Otherwise, how about this, brother Fang will come to my house some other day, and if the chance is right, maybe I can take a few of you to watch the sword."

"It's so good, brother Chen." Fang Yunheng quickly thanked him.

"Don't dare, brother Fang just call me Jia'an." Shen Jia'an said politely.

Several people watched the scenery here for a while, and chatted for a while before going down the mountain.

Before parting, Fang Yunheng and Shen Jiaan repeatedly confirmed the date of visiting Shen's house, and they didn't stop until Shen Jiaan promised that they would be free the day after tomorrow.

The five broke up in front of Du Shaokang's hut.

On the way back, Wen Ruyu asked Fang Yunheng: "What's so strange about the Shen family's ancestral sword? You told me before that you should avoid dealing with them. Why did you suddenly become interested in his sword when you went to the Patriarch's Temple?" Are you missing your Fang family's sword?"

Fang Yunheng looked around cautiously, and said in a low voice, "We'll talk about it when we go back."

After speaking, leave first.

Wen Ruyu looked at his back and rolled her eyes: "What are you pretending to be unpredictable!"