Chapter 5 5. Bone Hot Spring

Baigu hot spring is a sulfur hot spring. At the end of the Norikura Highlands, at the foot of the Yakedake volcano, there are many such hot springs gushing out. The car of Haixiang Huasuke turned left on the way to Kamikochi and turned into the road leading to Norianshan. It's the season when the mountains are full of red leaves.The birch leaves, reddened by the first frost, gilded the heights.The color of the red leaves changes with the sunlight, and the golden color fades immediately after the white clouds cover the sun; as soon as the sun shoots out of the clouds again, the red leaves immediately turn into countless bright gold coins covering the highlands.

The cool breeze deepens the magical atmosphere of this mysterious place. The car turned right along the Nagawa-Azumi Forest Expressway, and the expressway charged with road maintenance fees stretched into the deep mountains, and the red leaves between the mountain walls on both sides became more and more dazzling. At the intersection of Baigu Hot Spring and Anfangling, Baixiang stopped the car.The two got out of the car and stood side by side on the edge of the vertical cliff.The road here is winding and steep, and there is a deep valley below. The two stared at the steep slope on the other side for a long time, neither of them could say a word.

"This scene is really amazing!" After a while, Tang Ben tremblingly opened his mouth, "The color photos of the fabrics left by Wood Hughes are this scene. In my opinion, the colorful embroidered patterns are like a brocade. In front of you!" Thousands of shrubs cover the mountain, colorful and dazzling like fire.Red, yellow, brown, gold, and purple, it seems that all kinds of purples and reds are mixed into pigments and printed and dyed.Tang Ben, who was in a trance, stared at it in a daze. This picture was exactly the same as the colorful embroidered brocade of the missing Wood Hughes.

"It's like taking the surface of Lishan..." - the description in "Moonless Night Copy" comes to mind, it is indeed like taking the surface of Lishan!Tang Ben was meditating.On a small fabric of 20 cm x 30 cm, this magnificent and flaming mountain surface was stripped and contained.The fabric is dyed and woven so finely and realistically that the surface of the elephant mountain overlaps and immediately blends into one; if it is taken off again, the fabric will become brilliant and lifelike again. "I have been hiking in Kamikochi many times, just to solve the mystery of the colorful embroidery brocade in ancient manuscripts. Such a shocking spectacle of red leaves is rare in the world. It is really intriguing..."

"No." Bai Xiang agreed. It is said that the little fabric was auctioned for two million dollars.If the fabric can truly reflect the "burning" mountain surface in front of you, it will be worth the price.At first glance, this mountain is burning like the fire of life in nature. "Full of dyeing mystery, isn't it?" Domoto's tone returned to calm, "The dyeing technique of 5,000 BC, which was only inherited by the orthodox successors of the Aromu people, is a secret among secrets." Flowing clouds flew over, covering the sun for a moment.The sky was gloomy, and the scenery just now became gloomy.

Bai Xiang suddenly felt like a knife was twisting in his heart, and couldn't help closing his eyes tightly.In his painful imagination, billowing black clouds came from the Snow Country, overwhelming the sky.The new wind howled, destroying all the red leaves.The fire of life all over the mountain was extinguished, leaving only the scorched bare forest.The fallen leaves continued to scatter, and the cold wind passed through like ghosts crying. A decadent and dry winter landscape. In the winter scene, there seemed to be red and snow-white limbs, and the dead body of the missing red elephant lay across the forest.

Bai Xiang closed his eyes tightly, turned and returned to the car. night. Huixiang and Domoto are drinking in the room of the ryokan where they are staying. Although it is the season for viewing red leaves, because it is not a holiday, there are very few guests in this hot spring hotel. An hour after dinner, the hotel owner walked in with a smile on his face. The boss is wrinkled and almost seventy years old. "If you refuse, let me tell you the story of the Baigu family again!" Domoto visited the Baigu hot spring more than six months ago, and he wanted to hear the legend of the blood leaf pool again.

"Yes, yes." The boss began to talk.Baixiang listened silently, the plot of the story was the same as that described in the book. After the narration, the boss added with a smile: "It's all nonsense before and after tea." "Shopkeeper, is there a small mountain pass called Yaluomuling here?" Tang Ben stared at the boss. "Yes, yes." "Do you know why?" "It used to be called Aramul Ridge. When there was a storm, big trees would always fall down and block the pass, making it impossible for passers-by to get in and out. Then it was called Aramul Ridge for some reason. Now there is no road at all."

"Have you heard of the Aromu people? Dulai people who lived in this area before the Heian Dynasty, weaving as a profession." "Well, I haven't heard of it." The boss shook his head. "What happened to the bone family? Tell me." "There is another story," the boss nodded and agreed, "I don't know if it is true or not... This family has escaped from here since that silly girl was thrown into the water. Legend has it that they fled to the Kiso Valley in the south and hid. I I remember it was my parents, or my grandpa. The whole family turned into foxes and left here."

"What, fox?" Tang Ben asked loudly, his eyes turned to Baixiang. "Anyway, it's just a story." The hotel owner laughed complacently. "According to this story, we named our hotel the Bone Hotel. Also, our ancestors have enshrined the Blood Leaf Pond where the silly girl was drowned, and we still enshrine it today." "Fox?..." Tang Ben forgot to drink, he felt that he was being teased. "To be honest, the Bone family is a fox." The boss continued. "There are always bad guys staring at them. The bad guys even discussed with their accomplices, isn't the blood leaf note in their hands the evidence? Don't you want to beat the fox? Go catch the rest of the girls and see, As long as there are the same red marks, isn’t it a fox? How can we not beat them to death and let them go?”

"..." Tang Ben glanced at the hotel owner half-heard, as if he was a cunning fox with a smile on his face. "Hearing the news, the whole family immediately turned into foxes, leaped into the air, and disappeared." "Fly into the air?... Oh, that's a nine-tailed fox." Tang Ben realized something, and poured wine into the cup again. In the woods of Izumi Shinta, kudzu leaves are long and long. If you are lonely and love your old love, how can you come to find your heartfelt love. "The Hakkas must be familiar with this song." The boss completely ignored Hui Tang Ben's suspicious expression. "Hmm, um." Tang Ben nodded repeatedly. "By the Asa River in Kiso Valley, there is a place called Shinoda Forest. It is said that the Baigu family fled there later. Our ancestors have passed down a saying; this song was originally composed by a girl from the Baigu family." "It's just nonsense!" After listening to the boss's explanation, Tang Ben suddenly realized that he was an evil fox who specialized in making fun of people. It was a famous Japanese song called "Xin Tai Wife", and Izumi was in Osaka Prefecture. Abe Homing married a beautiful wife as white as jade in Izumi. Her name was Ge Ye, and she had a son.One day, Baoming accidentally discovered that his wife turned out to be a fox. Because her true form was discovered, it was difficult to keep her, and she left with a grudge. When parting, she left her husband and children a waka. In Shinta's forest, there is a huge camphor tree whose roots are intertwined, forming a cave where an old fox lives.The child's mother lives in it, that is, the Geye fox. This was originally a Buddhist story.With the introduction of Buddhism came many such legends, almost all of them from China.According to the Buddhist idea of ​​reincarnation, animals, birds, insects, and trees all have spirits.Influenced by these stories, Buddhism quickly swept across Japan. There is a legend that Abe Seimei, a native of the Heian Dynasty who was good at Yin and Yang Taoism, was the son of the Geye fox. The hotel owner continued to laugh and said, "Actually, Izumi is just a big spring, because the people in the village draw water from it, and it became a place name. Shinota, it was originally Shinoda. Some people in later generations stole this waka and changed Shinoda Lin to Shintarin from Izumi, Osaka Prefecture, and it turned out to be a rumor..." Tang Ben remained silent. Baixiang then asked, "Are the Quancun and Xiaotianlin still there?" "Hakkas should go to bed early!" The boss bowed to leave. "Thanks for the hospitality." Baixiang solemnly saluted. "This old fox." Watching the back of the hotel owner, Domoto cursed. "Fox?..." Baixiang lay down on his back. Tang Ben's face was sullen, and the remaining anger still persisted: "Hmph! Brazen!" "Maybe there are facts..." "What's the truth, it's Xintai's wife?" "I am afraid……" Tang Ben held the long-necked jug and said, "Don't be confused." ""Moonless Night Copy" describes the persecution suffered by the Aroma people in Shinano because of the colorful embroidery and brocade..." This is Azumi Village, and Azumi refers to the place where Dulai people live. "You said that the Aromu people have something to do with Mesopotamian culture... Anyway, only the old man and the girl escaped death. I don't know when, a father and daughter named Baigu lived here. They Two girls were born. Because of the red veins on the hands, the demented girl was killed... They were insisted that they were the incarnation of the fox. The Bone family abandoned this place with the help of the fox's magic power. Assuming that the villain who killed the demented girl What will be the result of being a secret agent of the ruler at that time?" "That's enough! Bai Duo-jun. Well, this is my assumption. But I can't accept nonsense like believing in a wife. No matter how skinny I am, I'm still a scholar after all!" "How about investigating it?" "Where did the fox escape?" "yes." "Sleep." Tang Ben also lay down. "The veins on my wife's red hands are not easy to hide..." Bai Xiang looked at the ceiling. "That's true." "I don't know which dynasty, the demented girl surnamed Baigu who was thrown into the Baigu hot spring stream and killed had the same leaf veins on her hand..." "good." "The Bone family turned into foxes and died." "Not enough to believe." "I have the feeling that my wife is actually a fox." "madness!" "Tomorrow, I plan to go to that Asa River to have a look." "..." "Doctor, what do you think?" "Stop talking! Go, I'm going too!" "The doctor was originally born in Osaka?" "That's right." Domoto realized that he had revealed the Osaka dialect. "Just get up and have a drink." "Get up! Get up! This is a smart and timely idea, my lord!" Tang Ben immediately got up in a hurry. I paid a visit to my hometown and asked for six bottles of wine.After a while, the waitress brought in the wine. After the cup was filled with wine, Tang Ben glanced at Baixiang: "I'm penniless." "..." Baixiang saw Tang Ben's pitiful embarrassment for the first time. "Sell the land, please, Mr. Xiang?" "What land? Mine?" "right." "why?" "Go to America." "..." "Need to find out where Wood Hughes got that piece of fabric. If possible, get ready to go to Saudi Arabia in order to investigate Abd Merkan, who is competing with Robert Harrison for the lot. Why? Abd Merkan lost to Harrison, I have to infiltrate Saudi Arabia to solve the mystery." "..." "Hey, Mr. Xiang, I have dabbled in all the ancient documents collected in Japan. Of course, this is also a need for work. Since I discovered "Moonless Night Copy", I have browsed all the ancient Chinese books one by one. Once again. North Korea, India—all the ancient documents that can be obtained have not been let go. They are so infatuated that they indulge in paper piles, so that they are kicked out by their wives. Unfortunately, even after reading all the books, Shan Wenhai did not find that The description of a piece of ethereal fabric and the description of the Alomu people. The ruler at that time killed all the Aromu people except an old man and a young girl. The 20cm×30cm woven by the Aromu people The colorful embroidered brocade worth two million dollars! But there is no record of such a tribe and such a fabric! Since then, my attention has turned to Mesopotamia in the fifth millennium BC.” Due to the appearance of the fox, Domoto's eyes, once covered with shadows, regained the feline-like brilliance.