Mountains and seas can be flat

After Zifeng read the inscription on the bamboo slips to Fang Zhengshi, the two remained silent for a while, digesting the excessive amount of information.Immediately, Fang Zheng complained: "I only knew that Qijun was crazy, but I didn't expect him to have such a taste."

Zifeng held the square bamboo slip in a daze, and whispered: "I don't agree with him, but I'm so sad. He likes Master, but Master doesn't like him... It's not right, Master didn't have time to like him. Master actually loved him Very good. I am willing to risk my life to save him. If he does not do those excessive things, he may not have a chance." He looked at Fang Zheng and whispered, "When I have a lot of bad ideas, brother Zheng will not like it Mine. Brother Zheng only liked me after I changed back."

"How can he compare with you." Fang Zheng said warmly, "You have courage, heart, and affection."

Zifeng's eyes lit up again.

Fang Zheng coughed lightly, "That's all. I don't want to interpret the emotional world of the old lunatic. Just now Jun Yi mentioned the clue, Zhihao's green pine jade finger, look for it?"

Zifeng searched vigorously, and after a while he found an exquisite wooden box in the corner of the shelf. There were six animal heads on the box lid, and there was a shuttleable bamboo disc in the middle, divided into 25 grids.The four sides are tightly stitched, and I don't know how to open it.

Zifeng frowned: "The opening of this box is covered, and there are traps."

"It might be the jade wrench finger inside." Fang Zheng's heart skipped a beat, it looked like Liubo chess...

Liubo is the originator of chess in later generations, and it was popular in the Spring and Autumn and Han Dynasties. However, according to the archaeological unearthed results, it is speculated that the earliest invention was no later than the Shang and Zhou dynasties.There are still many gaps between the carving on the top of the wooden box and the standard appearance of Liubo chess in later generations.Presumably, the gameplay and victory criteria are also different.Comparing chess and go in later generations, there are only six animal-headed chess pieces on the board, which are primitive and simple, namely tiger, leopard, bear, wolf, elephant and snake.Carved from wooden blocks, the pattern is simple but vivid.

"Brother Zheng, it's called Beast Play. It is said that Master Cangjie invented it first." Zifeng told Fang Zheng the scientific name of this thing in ancient times. Several animal heads were already standing in the middle, and a chopstick was inserted in the middle. .Zifeng explained to Fang Zheng, "Whoever touches this chopstick first wins." It was an unfinished game of chess.

Fang Zheng asked: "What is the situation now? Is there a limit on the number of steps?"

Zifeng said: "The chopstick in the middle should be a handful of yarrow. When playing normally, one by one should be ignited. You must act before each stick is burned. Now the chopstick here is fake, with only one notch on it. It means that there is only one step left. I just don’t know which side has one step left.”

What's more troublesome is that it is different from later generations of chess and Go, which rely on color to distinguish the two sides of the game.Zifeng told Fang Zheng that six different animal heads were mixed together and they were randomly selected.Tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, snakes, and elephants can't tell who is forming a side with whom.At this moment, the tigers, leopards, wolves, and snakes stand on the octagonal corners of the chopsticks, and they can all move to the right position in one step to win.

Fang Zheng asked again, "What if you choose a random step?"

Zifeng found that the bottom of the wooden box was heavy, and there was a sound of liquid when it was shaken: "If you choose the wrong one, the box might not be able to be opened, or there may be some kind of destruction device. It may contain the black and white water prepared by Mr. Wu Chang—— It will burn things."

Fang Zheng thought, black and white water must be corrosive liquid.Jade is a silicate crystal that will be melted. "Keeping it secret."

Zifeng said: "Master doesn't mind other people seeing the bamboo slips, maybe they think it's a private matter, and it's all over. But if it is really the turquoise jade ring finger he mentioned in the box. It is about the important clues left by Zhihao, he will Preserve it with the utmost vigilance. It must not fall into the wrong hands."

Now we can only find the correct way to crack the mechanism, Fang Zheng pondered: "Are the six beast-headed animals fixed? Why choose them?"

Zifeng shook his head again: "It's not fixed, you can change it for whatever animal you like. There are also people who carve bird heads, fish heads and rabbit heads. Master carved it like this, it must represent his own ideas, let me guess—" Zifeng pointed one by one, "If you use Fang Guo as a comparison. The snake is Badian, there is nothing to say. The wolf is Zu Jiang. They have a big poodle. They often compare themselves to the wolf on the snow mountain. The rest of the tigers, leopards and bears belong to Yu Qiang's camp. The companion...and this elephant..." He frowned in distress.

Fang Zheng nodded from the air, "The elephant is in the corner of the chessboard, even if it takes a step, it won't help. This is Emperor Yao Yu's younger brother Xiang who was entrusted with the country of Bibi, right? At least it was worthy of 'courtesy' treatment back then. country, then there are three countries on this chessboard. Do tigers, leopards and bears really refer to the power of Yu Qiang camp? Could it also refer to countries? "

"Brother Zhaozheng said so." Zifeng suddenly realized, "There is another way to interpret it. The bear is Xiazhu. When Emperor Chongyu controlled the water, it is said that he turned into a bear to dredge the river. It is said that the Maomin people in the north of Xiazhu are also giant bears. Descendants. Although Yu Yi worships the phoenix, the tiger may also be Yu Yi. Emperor Boyi’s animal companion is the tiger, and the tiger is also the largest number of giant beasts in the Shoutong Mountain. The reward of Da Siwei is the tiger’s head, tiger teeth and tiger skin "There are also in Yi Jun's room.

Now on the chessboard, the four animals "snake, wolf, bear, and tiger" surround the octagonal position of the yarrow, and each sideways step can win the victory. , representing the declining Yubi country—the pattern that has been formed in the world of mountains and seas in Yijun's later years.Now there are five national forces.

Fang Zheng nodded, "The remaining leopard's head is in a delicate position. It is not in the anise, but it is two steps ahead of the yarrow. If it takes a vertical step, it happens to be between the bear and the tiger, and it can also get close to the yarrow. Grass wins. What does the leopard represent? There was no sixth country at that time, was it your master himself? He raised many cheetahs and taught you to raise them when you were young. What did he want to do? Didn’t he not want to be king? And why? Do you want to put the leopard's head one step away from victory? Take part in the four-border square country fight against the country by yourself? Or does he want to unify Yu Yi and Xia Zhu? To restore the glory of the Yu Dynasty?"

Zifeng shook his head, and put his hand on the leopard's head: "Neither. I can probably guess what Master is thinking - after this step, if it is, then I can be sure."

Fang Zheng hesitated to speak, and looked at him quietly.

"What if it's wrong? This important clue will be ruined." Zifeng hesitated again, "Brother Zheng is smart, why don't you let Brother Zheng decide."

"Xiao Feng." Fang Zheng rested lightly on the back of his hand, "You are someone who knows Yijun well, I trust you, this is the smartest thing to do right now." Even so, Fang Zheng's back was a little sweaty, but Let yourself try to calm down, "Don't be afraid, even if this thing is accidentally destroyed, we will find other clues. I just don't want to see you being disappointed because you believe and know someone. Promise me, no matter what the result is , don’t be sad.”

Zifeng relieved the burden in his heart by listening to the rhetoric that helped him build up his mind.He couldn't help thinking, compared to Fang Zheng, who tried to kill him with sharp teeth and quick steps, how gentle brother Zheng is now.He held the leopard's head and took a step forward. With a "click", a circle of dust scattered around the box lid.Zifeng felt that the squares on the chessboard became loose, and he lifted it up gently, and the lid of the box could move.

They all breathed a sigh of relief. "So what is Jun Yi thinking?" Fang Zheng asked.

"—Master doesn't want to be king himself, but he wants a new force to rush in. He knows they can't do it." Zifeng said, "Maybe it's an empty dream. He didn't wait. If he can recognize Zheng Big brother will be fine"—falling from the sky, alone, joining the fight in the four-border war, fighting against the four-border powers, and becoming the sixth force.Isn't this brother Zheng?This chessboard actually has a kind of prophecy.Zifeng thought to himself that he might have truly inherited his master's behest in the dark and wanted to assist brother Zheng all the time.

Inside the box lies a finger ring carved from emerald turquoise.The front is engraved with a very delicate triangular skirt pattern.There are several notches on the sides.Zifeng just wanted to reach out to grab it.Fang Zheng stopped him, "Find a piece of silk. People have sweat and grease on their hands, try not to blur the marks."

Zifeng quickly found an old silk and satin in Yijun's relics, tore a piece to wrap the jade ring finger, and turned it over to check.A hasty nick was drawn from its side to the back, with a knife and a dagger, and there was still some mud in the gap.There are crooked vertical dot notches on the smooth and flat part of the back, which is indeed a bit like the word "Bu", but it also looks like an uneven cross.In addition, there are five light white marks on the other side, which were picked with the tip of a knife.It was obvious that the rowing was in a hurry.Afterwards, it may be thrown into the grass, and there is some grass ash foam in the cracks of the lines.

"Are there any jagged edges around these five small white dots?" Fang Zheng asked Zifeng, "Are there any transparent pieces of jade?"

"What is Brother Zheng going to do?"

"Look for it, and I'll see if I can get a 'magnifying glass'."

It's a strange term again, but what Brother Zheng wants to do must be something meaningful.Zifeng buried himself in the search.

The notch on the finger is really fine, Fang Zheng wanted to use suitable transparent quartz to make a simple concave-convex lens, which is the most primitive magnifying glass.Zifeng got some transparent stone crystals from the corner where Yijun piled up medicinal materials.Fang Zheng took it under the sun, chose a suitable concave-convex angle, and looked carefully for a while. His eyesight is also much stronger than ordinary people. "Xiaofeng, around those five small dots, there are some smaller dots, which should also represent some kind of meaning."

Fang Zheng always felt that something flashed through his mind. He pointed to various burnt tortoise shells on the other layer of the wooden frame, "What's so special about these divinations? Maybe the 'divination' on the finger It represents the abandonment of the king to make troubles, and it also represents the clues in the divination text."

Countries in ancient times were inseparable from divination, and divination was necessary for any major event.There are hundreds of tortoise shells on the wooden frame.

Zifeng searched: "These are some records of divination and celestial phenomena in different time periods. For example, this tortoise shell is the weather and good and bad predictions before the battle of the Hu clan: 'Zhen, heavy rain, Geng Xing, gram.' Some tortoise shells It was inherited from the Yu Dynasty. The one with the phoenix pattern in the lower right corner was made by Yu Yi, and they were all stored in the capital of Raowo. It must have been collected by Master from Yu Yi’s shaman. Why did he look at these past wars? Astronomical record?"

celestial phenomenon?Five white dots?More traces of light in the background?The clues in Fang Zheng's mind suddenly became clear, "If it's a celestial phenomenon—Xiao Feng, have you ever heard of a celestial phenomenon called 'five-star convergence'?"

Archeology in later generations speculated that in the early Xia and Shang dynasties, the famous "five-star aggregation" weather phenomenon occurred.The five planets of "water, gold, fire, earth, and wood" in the sky gather in a very close distance in the night sky.Or like a string of beads, or like an arched wall, it is extremely spectacular.The ancients mostly believed that the five stars are the masters of the five virtues - as many as pearls, as bright as a wall.Its appearance is closely related to political dynamics, related to the rise and fall of the world, and has been valued by emperors of all dynasties.In later generations, several five-star aggregation phenomena were recorded and circulated.

The revolution periods of the five major planets are very different, and a strange "five-star aggregation" will only appear once in hundreds of years.Zifeng shook his head in confusion, trying to remember, "I only heard from Wu Zhang that there was a phenomenon of 'four-star convergence' in the Yu Dynasty more than a hundred years ago. Yuyi people like to observe the stars, and they may want to guess when the five-star convergence will happen. Right? But no one can count."

Fang Zheng thought to himself, later generations have verified that the famous Five-Star Lianzhu incident during the Xia and Shang dynasties had not yet happened on this timeline.Pointing to the many tortoise shells collected by Yi Jun, he asked, "Since there are no five stars and four stars, are there three stars, two stars, or just a few bright stars -- Yinghuo (fire), Chenxing (water), Taibai ( Gold), Suizheng (wood), and Zhenxing (soil)?"

Zifeng found out through this observation, "Brother Zheng, it's true, these tortoise shells, almost every celestial phenomenon will mention bright stars, and there will be three at most. Is the master looking for these tortoise shells specifically, is it related to deciphering the secrets of astrology? Zhihao Why leave this message?"

"The notch on Zhihao's green jade finger is a message that people have to convey when they are dying. What is such a message usually?" Fang Zhengdao.

Zifeng said: "I hope someone will avenge him? Or stop the enemy from continuing to do evil?"

Fang Zhengdao: "If he just wants to identify the murderer, it's enough to leave the word 'divination'. But he also engraved the celestial phenomenon of five stars converging, that is to say..."

Zifeng's eyes widened: "Maybe it's a way to stop Qijun?? But, but, but—"

He even said a few buts.I can't figure out how Astrology can stop that old madman.Besides, the "five-star aggregation" is so ethereal, you don't even know when it will happen.Or maybe it's never happened before.Where did Zhihao get the clue?

"Yi Jun must not be able to figure it out. Of course, he has not really confirmed the identity of the first-level murderer, and he is still struggling with whether the divination is a divination. I don't know if it is a pun. He can only find a lot of turtle shells that record astrology. To unlock the disciple's pre-death message." Fang Zheng continued to speculate.

Zifeng asked: "Brother Zheng, do you know when the 'five-star reunion' will happen?"

Fang Zheng shook his head. Although the five-star celestial phenomena in the early Xia and Shang Dynasties have been recorded many times in ancient documents, the exact date of occurrence remains a mystery for later generations. It was not until the late 20s in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dating projects that the advanced carbon 90 and the application of more advanced ams dating technology, it is really conclusive.Yi Fangzheng's knowledge background is of course not clear.Furthermore, the world of mountains and seas he traversed is very different from the real history. Who knows if the laws of planetary movement will change accordingly.

Fang Zheng said to Zifeng again, "You look through your master's 'diary' again? See if he has any clues about his experience in studying turtle shells?"

Zifeng retrieved the pile of bamboo slips and looked through them again, but unfortunately, due to the troublesome writing on the bamboo slips, under normal circumstances, he would not carve them until they were accurate enough.Yijun's thinking process is rarely written.Zifeng searched for a long time, and indeed he found the word "Astronomical Phenomena where Five Stars Converge". His eyes lit up, and he pointed to five dots, a small flower and a long line coiled around it, with a cross next to it. "The one in the front is the five-star bead, and the pattern in the middle represents the Huaxu people. The one next to it is a question. Master carved it. He wants to know whether the five-star bead appeared in the era of the Huaxu people?"

Fang Zheng nodded and said: "So that's the case. Your master's guess is reasonable. Since the five-star reunion has never been recorded in the Yu Dynasty. But Zhihao knows it. Maybe the five-star tandem happened in the era of the Huaxu people, and the jade carving According to the records, Xia Zhu dug out the engraving and interpreted it. At that time, Zhihao and Taikang came to Tongshan together. Taikang told Zhihao that Zhihao speculated on how to deal with the abandoned king when he was dying, and the conditions were limited. It can’t be implemented. Just engrave it.”

"According to this, Taikang should also know."

Fang Zheng shook his head: "I remember using the white mist to 'see' Qijun threatening Xia Zhongkang and the old fox Yu Yi on Jianmu, and he said this to Xia Zhongkang-'Your brother Taikang, I put it in his mind. I bought something, lest he ruin my business.’ In addition, Taikang’s psychological shadow is serious, he is crazy, his brain is broken, he may not remember it, and it is even more difficult to implement it.”

Zifeng was very surprised when he heard that, "I still don't understand what the gathering of stars in the sky has to do with how to get rid of that old lunatic."

Fang Zheng thought that many secrets of astrology do not lie in the distant sky, but in the influence of electromagnetic radiation on the ground.For example, the sun is so far away, but when celestial phenomena such as sunspots and flares occur, electrical appliances on the ground will be affected in severe cases.Five-Star Lianzhu is a planet-level event. It happens only once in hundreds of years. What kind of impact will it bring? Ancient records are limited, and many of its secrets have not been discovered by humans... Fang Zheng felt something in his heart, and suddenly thought of the tortoise shell. The eighth posture is also a person sitting upright, with a few stars in the background, like a meditation posture that absorbs the aura of heaven and earth.

"We're going to look for it." Fang Zheng said suddenly, "Where the incident happened at that time, let's see if there are any more clues."

Zifeng knew it well - that was probably the place where he was picked up.

"But just looking for it like this, I don't know which direction to go. It's getting late today, let's rest first, and plan tomorrow." Zifeng also had a small selfishness, and returned to the familiar childhood home. The spirit relaxes, and I want to spend a little more peaceful time here with Fang Zheng.

"Okay. But I already have some ideas about how to find it." Fang Zhengdao, "Taikang changed the name of the White Jade Palace to 'Yiluo Palace'. Is this the message he can recall clearly as much as possible?"

Zifeng said: "In Shoutong Mountain, there is indeed an area where the lower reaches of the Yi River and the Luo River converge."

Fang Zheng closed his eyes, carefully recalling the clues. "But be careful, after all, he has met four of the monsters that were exaggerated into witch spirits later on. There is also that kind of trap in the abyss. time—Xiao Feng, counting time is a very mysterious thing, but the most useful thing about astrology is that it can calculate the exact time without the interference of the ground. Maybe Qi Jun also calculated the settlement of Xiyuan according to the astrology. "

Zifeng couldn't help but said: "It's all related to the stars, what a coincidence?"

Fang Zheng opened his eyes, "There are too many coincidences, so it is no longer a pure coincidence."