Between seas

It took Shen Boru and Baochunyan a long time to find 49 wells in Yecheng.But the strange thing is that there are no traces left by the plague ghost's activities in those wells, and the water quality is clear without any problems.

Shen Boru carefully looked at the location of the wells on the map, and pointed to one of them: "We haven't been here yet."

"It's a dry well without water." Bao Chunyan scratched her head and explained, "This dry well is called Yanzhi Well."

"The rouge well?" Shen Boru smiled and said, "There is also a rouge well in Jinling City. According to legend, Empress Chen and his concubine Zhang Lihua hid in the dry well to avoid the Sui soldiers. Later, when they were pulled up by the Sui soldiers, Zhang Lihua's rouge rubbed the mouth of the well. Since then, it has been called the Yanzhi Well, I don’t know what’s the story of Yecheng?”

Bao Chunyan said: "The one in Yecheng is called so not because of any beautiful legends, but because of a ferocious monster."

"The monster is a broken knife abandoned by its owner. Because the blade is blushing, it is called the rouge knife. He was abandoned in the early years, so he attaches great importance to feelings. He will help those who find him fulfill their wishes. However, because the rouge knife breaks itself Because of this, those masters who fulfill their wishes will most likely despise him, and then abandon him again."

"So, he has been abandoned again and again."

"And the last owner of the Rouge Knife is rumored to be a girl surnamed Yan. She has no father and no mother. Because her family is poor, she was bought by a family at a young age as a child bride."

"Miss Yan was not doing well, and she committed suicide not long after. And her wish before she died was to bring retribution to the Yan family who bullied her."

"Rouge Knife is for Miss Yan, and he wants to kill everyone who bullied her. So he bought Miss Yan's family late, and five people were chopped into bones. It is precisely because of the cruelty of Rouge Knife that attracted For the sake of the villagers, the Taoist sealed the rouge knife in the dry well."

Bao Chunyan's eyes lit up, and she suddenly asked, "Did Miss Jiang steal the rouge knife from the dry well and make a wish?"

"I can't rule out this possibility." But Shen Boru changed the subject, looked down at Bao Chunyan, and said again: "You also know that Dachun is an ancient sacred tree, and ordinary monsters can't touch it at all. Moreover, it is not a monster to drive plague ghosts on a large scale. It can be done."

"What's even more strange is that if things are really as we think. There are thousands of panaceas that can cure plagues in the world, why should the rouge knife be given to Jiang Yanwan? After eighty days, the dead will return to death. This is not like repaying a favor." , it's like revenge."

Bao Chunyan, who didn't know what to do at first, was even more confused, and said in a panic: "Then, what should we do now?"

Shen Boru smiled lightly: "Go to Yanzhi Well and have a look, maybe you will find something interesting."

At dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun penetrates the cotton-like clouds of the sky, dyeing them in different shades of rose color.

Sunset and sunset.

Shen Boru led Baochunyan to the Yanzhi Well in the south of the city.It is widely rumored in the city that there is an evil spirit locked at the bottom of the well, and the surrounding residents have already moved away, leaving only a few half-collapsed houses.They stepped over the tangled brambles and grass half a person's height, scaring all the sparrows to run away.

Shen Boru saw a long old hemp rope draped along the side of the well, so he hurried over to have a look.He picked up the rope and found that there was very little dust on it, and it should have been placed here recently.

It seems that someone has been down recently.

Shen Boru poked his head out and looked into the well. This dry well was extremely deep, and it was so dark that he could not see the bottom.The cold breath rushed towards the face, sending chills down the spine.

Bao Chunyan was curious for a moment, she held the edge of the well with both hands, and stretched her neck to look inside.She shivered suddenly, and hurriedly left the well, saying: "Shenjun, I feel that there is something very bad hidden in it. I don't know what happened, but I suddenly feel very sad."

Shen Boru also felt what Bao Chunyan said.Immortal gods have keen five senses, and are the easiest to perceive the emotions, good and evil of creatures.There are many obsessions left in this dry well, including unwillingness and hatred, but more of it is a kind of loneliness that is close to despair.

Shen Boru closed his eyes, supported the edge of the well and sighed.I thought, these should be the obsessions left by the rouge knife.

After a while, he calmly said, "I'm going down to take a look."

Bao Chunyan felt that she was also a god, and she should go down with Shen Boru to search for clues, but she was afraid and embarrassed to speak, her voice was as thin as a mosquito humming: "I'm following the god."

Shen Boru shook his head with a smile. He knew that the little girl didn't dare, so he said, "You just need to stay on top. If anyone comes to make trouble, you need to stop me."

Looking at Shen Boru's smile, Bao Chunyan suddenly felt a surge of courage for some reason.She clenched her hands tightly and replied, "Don't worry, God, I won't let anyone get close!"

Shen Boru was still smiling: "Please." After saying that, he put his left hand on the edge of the well and jumped into the deep well.Bao Chunyan hurriedly grabbed the edge of the well and stretched her head to look down. The inside of the well was dark, she couldn't see Shen Boru's figure, so she shouted forcefully: "Shen Jun, be careful!"

The rouge well was extremely deep, Baochunyan's voice echoed layer upon layer in it, and when it reached Shen Boru's ears, it was already inaudible.He landed at the bottom of the well, holding out a finger.Suddenly, a cluster of small flames ignited at his fingertips.Although the flame is small, its light is enough to illuminate the whole well.

Shen Boru saw that there was a big irregular hole on the well wall on his left side, which seemed to be forcibly broken open from the outside.The entrance of the cave is deep and long like a corridor, and it is not known where it leads.He thought for a moment, stepped on the ground covered with dead leaves and dust, bent down and walked in.

Even though there was no wind, the small flame at his fingertips flickered suddenly, and the light dimmed a lot.Seeing this, Shen Boru raised his right hand to hold the flames, and continued to move forward.

With the help of the dim light of the fire, Shen Boru discovered that the smooth cave wall made of bluestone was engraved with densely packed words.Because of the age, most of them have become blurred.But even guessing, you can still know the general content.

On the cave wall, it tells the story of an ancient country that has long since perished.

The ancient country is called the West Queen Mother Country, and its location is roughly in the Huishan area of ​​Jingchuan.Everyone in the country believes in a goddess with a tiger head and a leopard tail, named Xiwangmu, and they believe that the queen of the country is the goddess who gave birth to her, so she named it the name of a god, also known as Xiwangmu.

In their legends, the Queen Mother of the West is the god in charge of plague and criminal law.Every spring, the heroine will wear a ferocious tiger-head mask and decorations similar to leopard tails, hold a jade long knife in each hand, and pray for the safety of the people and the prosperity of the country in front of the statue.

The female princess holds long knives, one is called "Heaven's Lie" to represent plague and disaster, and the other is named "Five Remnants" to symbolize killing and punishment.

These two knives have existed since the establishment of the Queen Mother of the West. They are regarded as gods by the common people and enshrined in the temple. They are only used during sacrifices.

Later, Queen Mother of the West died.On the day when the aliens broke through the capital, the last Queen Mother of the West embraced the power of heaven, jumped off the dilapidated city wall, and died as a martyr for her country.

Before she died, she said: "I don't believe that the goddess who has been enshrined for thousands of years will abandon her people. Today, I use blood as a sacrifice. If the magic knife has a spirit, I hope that these aliens who slaughtered my subjects will not die. Instead of fighting, they died in a painful way from the plague."

The emerald's blood splashed all over the emerald blade, dyeing it a crimson carmine color.Soon, her wish came true, and all those aliens who were good at fighting died violently due to the plague, and their deaths were miserable.

Therefore, people called Tianzhili a monster, interrupted it, and sealed it under Jingchuan.Thousands of years later, during the Tang Dynasty, a cavalry team from the Western Regions passed through Jingchuan on the way to Chang'an, and unintentionally dug out Tianzhili.

Those merchants put the broken knives together and planned to buy them for a good price.During the period, it went through several transfers and was taken to Yecheng by a wealthy businessman as an antique.

The story on the cave wall ends here.

In fact, the follow-up is not difficult to think about. Combined with the rumors of the Rouge Knife in Yecheng, this knife has helped several people realize their wishes.For unknown reasons, he was abandoned again, and finally ended up in the hands of a girl from the Yan family.

Shen Boru guessed that the writing in the cave should have been left by the person who sealed the Rouge Knife, so as to warn the intruders not to release the demon knife.He felt that it was a pity that the man had spent so much effort, but this knife that could cause plague was still taken out.

Shen Boru continued to walk to the depths of the cave, and after a while, he came to the innermost part, where eight thick iron chains with infant arms extended from three stone walls.With the faint light of the fire, he saw densely packed words engraved on the iron chain.

The style of the characters is peculiar, and the strokes are round, which is different from the square characters of the Central Plains.It seems that it should be the spell used by Jingchuan to suppress the demon sword.

With a thought, Shen Boru wanted to rub the spell.However, I didn't have any tools at hand, so I had to bite my fingers, stretch my long sleeves, and copy the mantra.

Outside the Yanzhi Well, Bao Chunyan sat leaning against the edge of the well, hugging her legs.At this time the night was dark, she couldn't help feeling worried when she saw that Shen Bo hadn't come back for such a long time.

Bao Chunyan wanted to go down to the Yanzhi Well several times, but then she thought of Shen Boru's request before leaving.The current situation is special, if there are any monsters approaching, if she stays on top, she can also help block it.

In the early spring, when it is warm and cold, the night wind blows, and the spring swallow can't help shivering.She shrank back, lowered her head and let out a sigh of relief into her palms.

"Little girl."

A clear male voice suddenly reached Bao Chunyan's ears.

She raised her head upon hearing this, and suddenly saw a young man in white clothes standing in front of her.He looked about 25 or [-] years old, and the corners of his mouth were raised slightly.Although he was born with a smiling face, his eyes were sharp, and his gentle smile seemed to hide a knife that could be unsheathed at any time.His hair was loosely tied up with a jasper hairpin, and a few strands were not combed up, hanging by the sideburns, looking a bit unkempt.

She didn't know what happened, she stared blankly at this young man who appeared out of nowhere: "Which one are you?"

The young man looked Bao Chunyan up and down, blinked, and said with a smile: "I'm looking for Shen Qiu."

When Bao Chunyan heard him mention Shen Boru, she immediately became alert, stood up and asked, "Why are you looking for Shenjun?"

The young man thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "Hey, little girl, I am looking for Shen Qiu. Don't worry, I am a good person. I am an old friend who eats and sleeps with him, his relatives and relatives, come to him to continue the relationship of."

No matter how you hear this, you don't look like a good person.

The author has something to say:

I made up the saying that Dachun can revive the dead.