Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen

The first feeling was darkness, an incomparably deep darkness.The whole body is wrapped in sticky things, and the two feet can't touch the solid ground, so they can only keep kicking like swimming. "Is this Goyang Ri-dong?" Luo Zhongxia couldn't see, so he could only hold Xiao Rong's hand tightly.The darkness gave him an excellent reason, so he held the girl's smooth and delicate hand with impunity.Xiaorong didn't show any resistance, she quietly floated beside Luo Zhongxia, motionless, when she heard Luo Zhongxia's question, she just replied, "Let me think about it..."

They are now in a wonderful state of suspension.There is a viscous and smooth medium all around, the body is deeply soaked in this medium, it will neither sink nor float, just like being wrapped in a large black lacquer jelly Same.They were just floating like this, unable to move, and even time seemed to have stood still. Fortunately, apart from vision, the other four senses are still there, and one can even smell a faint fragrance coming from the darkness. Luo Zhongxia shrugged his nose, feeling as if he had smelled this fragrance somewhere before.Xiaorong suddenly stretched out a hand, scratched the mucus, touched Luo Zhongxia's chest, and said softly, "What do you think these things around you look like?"

"Jelly..." he replied honestly, this was the limit of his barren imagination. Xiao Rong picked up a few strands of darkness, and whispered softly: "Dark as paint, light as clouds, clear as water, and muddy as mist." Luo Zhongxia praised: "Your metaphors are very appropriate, but they are much better than mine." He also raised his hand and raised it. Although he couldn't see it, he could feel the darkness slipping through his fingers , very supple and quite comfortable. Xiaorong said: "This is the sentence of the ancients chanting about things, but do you know what they are chanting about?"

Luo Zhongxia was stunned: "Chanting things? Don't these four sentences refer to the things around you? Could it be that the ancients also fell into this kind of darkness?" Xiaorong said: "These four sentences are from a book written by Fang Ruisheng, a great master in the Ming Dynasty, and the name of that book has a lot to do with the environment we live in..." "What's the name of that book?" ""Ink Sea"" Hearing these two words, Luo Zhongxia suddenly realized, no wonder he could smell that strange fragrance, it turned out to be the fragrance of ink.When Ju Shigeng was giving him special training, Luo Zhongxia often dipped in ink to write, and he was very familiar with this taste.

"That is to say...we are in the sea of ​​ink now?" Luo Zhongxia couldn't help but imagined that he had been soaked in ink and looked like Obama. Xiaorong nodded and said: "This ink sea is not an ordinary thing, don't forget how we entered the cave just now." "Shen Kuo?" "Exactly." Xiaorong seemed to have figured out the connection between many elements, and seemed confident, "Shen Kuo is good at making ink. It is normal to use his inscription wall as a key, and fill the cave with a sea of ​​ink. .Maybe Shen Kuo personally set up this ink sea situation back then, it really is wonderful.”

Luo Zhongxia didn't know much about Shen Kuo, so he could only keep silent. "Do you still remember the time when you entered the cave?" Xiaorong asked suddenly. "Remember, the entire rock wall seemed to turn into a liquid, and it sucked us in directly." "That's right, the liquid on the rock wall is Shen Kuo's most distinctive feature. Grandpa is right." Xiaorong's tone became excited, and she held Luo Zhongxia's hand unconsciously clenched. , "It was mentioned in "Mengxi Bi Tan" that Shen Kuo's most proud invention of smoke and ink in his life happened to be called Yanchuan stone liquid. The ink sea we are in is probably all ground out of this Yanchuan stone liquid!"

Luo Zhongxia said: "But how do we get rid of these stone fluids and go to Wei Shiran?" Whether it is stone fluid or smoke ink, just knowing these names has no real significance for solving the current problem. Xiao Rong stretched out her hand to press his chest, and asked a question without thinking: "What is ink used for?" "For writing." Luo Zhongxia was a little puzzled. "Yes, it's used for writing, but how do you write it?" "Use a writing brush... eh?" Luo Zhongxia understood all of a sudden, and Xiao Rong tapped his chest lightly with his fingers, "The pen and ink make characters, and the paper and inkstone carry the text. If you want to untangle the ink balls, you have to use a pen. This Yanchuan Stone Liquid I guess the sea of ​​ink is not a real entity, but it is transformed by Shen Kuo’s residual spirit, so I can only use the spirit of the pen to break through it. If there is no spirit of the pen, even if I force my way into the inner hole, I am afraid that I will be suffocated as soon as I fall down. dead."

Luo Zhongxia let out a "hmm", and tried to move the Qinglian in her chest, and the Qinglian pen came out excitedly upon hearing the call.Strange to say, as soon as Qinglian came out of his chest, the sea of ​​stone liquid and ink all around immediately rushed towards it, lingering on the pen for a long time. "Grandpa said that anyone who has a pen-wielding spirit in Gaoyang's cave is not allowed to enter, so it was screened by this method." Xiaorong murmured, and Luo Zhongxia became more suspicious.Xiaorong said that she couldn't get into Gaoyang Ridong by herself, but she obviously had a Yongxu pen, so why did she keep using Qinglian pen to drive away Mohai?

At this moment, Xiaorong shook Luo Zhongxia's hand again and said, "Since this sea of ​​ink is Yanchuan stone fluid, Shen Kuo's poem can be used to solve it faster. I will read a sentence, and you learn a sentence." Luo Zhong Xia nodded.Xiaorong leaned close to his ear, opened his lips and read softly, and a string of beautiful voices like silver bells came straight into his ears: "There is a lot of snow on Erlang Mountain, and I am a student in Xuanzhuoqionglu. You are not old in winter after wearing out your plain clothes, and there are many stones like smoke." Luoyang Chen."

This is a poem about ink written by Shen Kuo.On that day, he inspected Fuzhou and Yanzhou, and found that there was black water flowing out of the area, and the soot produced after burning could be collected to make ink, and the quality of the ink was much higher than that of pine ink. liquid".He was very proud of this invention, and said to himself, "This thing must be popular in the world, and it has been done since I gave it." He wrote a poem and kept it in his writing, which is this "Yanzhou Poem". In terms of attainment and conception, this poem is not superior, it is just a work for the occasion, but it is very suitable for use in the sea of ​​stone, liquid and ink in Gaoyang Lidong.

As Luo Zhongxia uttered "Yanzhou Poetry", the Qinglian pen began to write back and forth in mid-air with an elegant posture like dancing, as if being held by an invisible big hand, swiping wantonly in the sea of ​​ink.Luo Zhongxia has Huai Su's Zen mind in his soul, so Taibai's green lotus pen dances in the air, showing Huai Su's crazy brushwork. As "Yanzhou Poetry" is recited, the blue light of the Qinglian brush blooms, and the sea of ​​ink seems to be attracted by the tip of the brush, turning into waves of ink, and being drawn by the Qinglian brush to rotate back and forth.The speed of the entire ink sea was obviously accelerated, and Luo Zhongxia and Xiao Rong could feel the ink flowing past their ears. After the Qinglian pen was soaked with stone liquid ink, it flew in the air with more than a dozen ink-colored silk ribbons.When the last word "dust" was uttered from Luo Zhongxia's mouth, the entire sea of ​​ink had been absorbed by Qinglian's pen, and it was written in twenty-eight large characters flying in mid-air. These twenty-eight characters sucked up the last drop of stone liquid ink in the ink sea. Luo Zhongxia and Xiao Rong suddenly felt their whole bodies loosen and fell slowly, only then did they feel that their feet had stepped on the solid ground.It wasn't until this time that Xiao Rong let go of Luo Zhongxia's hand, which made the latter feel a little disappointed. At this time, the surroundings are no longer a mass of ink, dark and gloomy.The two straightened up, looked up and looked around, with the help of these faint lights, they suddenly realized that they were in an extremely huge alchemy cauldron, and those rays of light were emitted from this big cauldron. This dan tripod has a wide mouth and a round belly, and the decoration of the tripod ears is twisted and ancient.The texture of the cauldron is neither stone nor copper, it seems to be inlaid with countless fine pieces of gold and jade, which makes the surface glow with brilliance, which is quite dazzling. Luo Zhongxia and Xiao Rong are now at the bottom of the cauldron, like the bottom of a deep ravine.They looked up at the mouth of the tripod, and saw that the twenty-eight ink characters were hovering around the mouth of the tripod. Without the support of the Qinglian brush, the ink slowly melted and merged into a black sea of ​​ink, covering the entire tripod. Cover it again—it turns out that this cauldron is covered with Yanchuan stone liquid. Luo Zhongxia wasn't very worried about the retreat being blocked by the ink sea. Anyway, as long as he had the Qinglian pen, he could go out at any time.He looked around with the help of the light of the tripod itself, and found that the bottom of the tripod was very wide, at least half the size of a football field.The bottom gradually lifts up from the four edges towards the middle, and finally a tripod navel with a coiled dragon button protrudes from the middle of the bottom of the tripod. On top of the tripod navel, there is actually an old man, sitting on the Panlong Niu, motionless.Luo Zhongxia and Xiaorong looked at each other, Xiaorong pressed his chest, frowned and said: "It should be grandpa..." Raising his legs to walk forward, Luo Zhongxia grabbed her and said in a low voice: "Be careful , the truth and reality are unknown here, so it’s better to be more cautious.” After finishing speaking, he picked up the green lotus pen and said softly "Longshenruo protects Zen", and immediately several towering trees emerged from the ground to protect the two of them.This is also one of Li Bai's poems prepared by Luo Zhongxia in advance. It can be transformed into something similar to the tree man in "The Lord of the Rings". Although it has no real combat power, it can be used as cannon fodder to test the trap. Under the protection of Nagarjuna, the two walked towards the center carefully step by step.As he got closer, he could see more clearly that the white-haired old man sitting on the navel of the tripod was indeed Wei Shiran.He was sitting cross-legged right now, with his hands resting on his legs, palms up, his eyes closed tightly, and there were three deep furrows on each side of his nose. He was several minutes older than the last time Luo Zhongxia saw him. .The clothes were mostly damaged, as if they had been scuffed by flames. Strangely, the white hair on his temples sometimes flutters and sometimes falls, as if some huge creature beneath him is breathing with its nose up, opening and closing, and emitting air rhythmically upwards. "Grandpa?" Xiao Rong called out, his tone full of anxiety. Wei Shiran slowly opened his eyes, and when he saw that it was Xiao Rong, he couldn't help but startled: "How could you come here? Could it be that child Rong Yu brought you..." Before he could finish speaking, behind Xiao Rong A figure came into his eyes. "Luo Zhongxia? So you brought her in." The old man chewed on these three words, still maintaining his original posture, but his eyes shone with a different light. "it's me." Luo Zhongxia didn't know what expression to show him, so he had to put on a straight face and answer dryly.The Qinglian pen was suspended in the air, monitoring the old man at any time to see if there were any tricks. Xiao Rong took another step forward: "Grandpa, I begged him to bring me here. I can feel that you are in danger, and Xiao Rong is here to save you..." Her expression suddenly changed when she said this, The chest rose and fell violently, and the whole person almost fainted to the ground. Luo Zhongxia was taken aback, and hurriedly supported her. Seeing Xiaorong lying limply in her arms, with tears in her eyes and a pained expression on her face, she felt pity in her heart, and couldn't help but raised her head and shouted at Wei Shiran: "What are you doing?" what?" Wei Shiran sighed, waved his hands and said: "I'm trapped on the navel of this tripod, I can't move, and if I move, my life will be in danger. Don't come any closer, look here." Wei Shiran pointed point to himself.It was only then that Luo Zhongxia saw that under the old man's body was an inkstone the size of a blue brick, which happened to be embedded in the navel of the tripod - he was sitting on the inkstone.With the inkstone tripod navel as the center, several slightly convex ridges stretch out from the bottom of the tripod, and these ridges surround the tripod navel to draw a fuzzy picture of Taiji. Just now, Xiaorong stepped into the range of the Taiji Diagram, and suddenly there was a sudden change.Luo Zhongxia took a few steps back holding Xiaorong, and her expression eased a little, but her breathing was still not smooth, her fair face became more and more morbidly transparent, and she fell into a coma. "Xiaoyou Luo, we are really destined. Changchun Thrift Store, Yunmen Temple, Gaoyang Cave, every time the Seventh Marquis of Guancheng comes to this world, you and I can always meet again." Wei Shiran's voice sounded a little tired and a little emotional . "Hmph... What's going on here? What happened to Xiaorong?" Luo Zhongxia asked angrily. Wei Shiran threw him a pill, gave Xiaorong to take it, and instructed him to hold Xiaorong away from the Tai Chi circle.Only then did the abnormality on Xiaorong's body ease. Although she was still not awake, her breathing became much more even. "The intentions of the master of the pen mound are really amazing, and we mortals can't figure it out." Wei Shiran patted his knees at this time, shaking his head with emotion.Just as Luo Zhongxia was about to have a seizure, Wei Shiran slowly raised a hand to calm him down, and said in a different tone, "You don't need to hide these things from you, you should know that this is the Gaoyang Cave in Nanming Mountain. One of the seven princes of Guancheng. Those idiots of the Zhuge family have been focusing on Shiliang and Yunge Cliff, but no one thought that there is another mystery hidden in this shallow Gaoyang cave. I went to Nanming Mountain in person a few days ago After understanding that the key to entering the inner cave lies in Shen Kuo's inscription wall, I wanted to break in alone to find out." "Ouch, it's really rare that you actually go into battle in person and take the lead." Luo Zhongxia interjected sarcastically.That day they tried their best to break Wang Xizhi's Tiantai Baiyun brush, but Wei Shiran, who had been following them all along, took advantage of the fisherman's profit, and he has been brooding about it ever since. Wei Shiran said: "You also saw it in Yunmen Temple. In order to lock the Tiantai Baiyun Brush, the owner of the pen mound has spent so much effort to build a situation where the pen is trapped. It is also Zhiyong's retreating pen mound and eloquent spirit. Even the Qinglian pen is included, the rings are interlocking and extremely compact. I thought that was the ultimate, but I didn't expect that the dilemma set by the master of the pen mound in this Gaoyang Cave is still in the Yunmen Temple. Come on!" Listening to his tone, I really admire him. "What extreme? Isn't it Shen Kuo's stone liquid ink sea? What's so strange?" Luo Zhongxia said disdainfully. "The sea of ​​stone liquid and ink is just a cover. You are already inside the real mystery." Wei Shiran suddenly pointed around: "Do you know what kind of tripod this tripod is? What kind of inkstone is this inkstone?" "Huh?" Luo Zhongxia was immediately stopped by the question. This grandfather and granddaughter are in the same line, and they both like to let people guess riddles. "Didn't Peter or Zhuge Yihui tell you what are the two most famous cliff carvings in Nanming Mountain?" Luo Zhongxia immediately replied: "I have seen Ge Hong's "Ling Chong" and Mi Fu's "Nanming Mountain" today." Wei Shiran nodded and said, "That's right. And this big tripod is Ge Hong's alchemy tripod; this inkstone is the purple clay square inkstone that Mi Fu begged from Song Huizong." According to legend, Mi Fu was an inkstone idiot. When he had an audience with Song Huizong one day, after writing for him, he pointed at the back of Song Huizong and said, Your Majesty, can you give me the inkstone on the table.Song Huizong knew that he was an inkstone idiot, and cherished his calligraphy ability, so he rewarded him.This purple clay square inkstone became famous and left a name in history. Unexpectedly, today I saw the real thing here, and Wei Shiran sat on his buttocks. "Actually, don't you think that in the entire Nanming Mountain's cliff carvings, there is one person who has always had a strange status?" Wei Shiran suddenly changed a topic that sounded completely unrelated. "who is it?" "Chujun Liujing." When Wei Shiran said this, Luo Zhongxia suddenly had some impressions.Zhuge Yihui once mentioned his name, and he seems to be from the same era as Mi Fu.The inscription walls of the two towns of Nanming Mountain—Ge Hong's "Lingchong" and Mi Fu's "Nanming Mountain"—are closely related to Liu Jing in this county.Under Ge Hong's words, only Liu Jing's comments and praises are the most important; and Mi Fu's inscription wall was simply invited by Liu Jing himself. "Could it be that this Liu Jing is actually the incarnation of the owner of the pen mound?" Luo Zhongxia guessed.This is not some baseless reasoning.When they were in Yunmen Temple, they discovered that the owner of the pen mound had once incarnated as Xiao Yi, and cheated the "Lanting Collection Preface" from Biancai.He did this in the Tang Dynasty, and there is no reason not to do it in the Song Dynasty as well. Thinking of this, Luo Zhongxia breathed a little short of breath: "So, could it be that Ge Hong and Mi Fu's pen spirit is one of the Seven Marquises hiding here?" "No, no, this tripod and inkstone are just tools to guard the spirit of the pen, but they are not really the spirit of the pen. But think about it, my friend, the status of people like Ge Hong and Mi Fu is not much lower than that of Li Bai and Wang Xizhi , the utensils they used with their own hands are also top-notch. However, the master of the pen mound did not hesitate to hide the tripod and inkstone of these two masters in the cave in the deep mountain, and set up a sophisticated and complicated pen formation as a It is used as a guardian, one can imagine how honorable this one of the seven princes hiding in Gaoyang Cave must be!" Luo Zhongxia said: "It sounds like you already understand everything." Wei Shiran smiled wryly: "Haven't you seen it? If I know it well, why should I be stuck in the pen array and wait to die?" "What?" Luo Zhongxia was taken aback for a moment, but immediately understood.Wei Shiran's speech was so calm that he almost forgot that the old man was in danger now. Wei Shiran patted his knees, and said dejectedly: "Oh, I'm getting old, and my brain is useless. I came to the cauldron through the sea of ​​stone liquid and ink, and I thought I was done. But after entering Ge Hongding, I underestimated the enemy and was rejected Trapped in this formation, now I can’t move at all.” "What kind of pen array is this?" Wei Shiran said: "I know you are very suspicious of me, little friend. In order to prove that what I said is true, I have no choice but to try to crack it again with my old bones." He waved his hand to Luo Zhongxia to hold Xiaorong took a few steps back, and then joined the index finger and middle finger of his right hand to cover himself with a layer of water mist.After finishing these, he leaned slightly and stood up from the purple gold clay inkstone. As soon as his butt left the inkstone, the Panlong button on the tripod navel immediately hissed, and the high temperature air gushed violently.Immediately afterwards, a golden flame shot out from the tripod navel, and with a clatter, it instantly burned the entire Tai Chi circle.From Luo Zhongxia's point of view, the entire Tai Chi circle was leaping in flames, as if a huge bonfire had been ignited.He felt that the temperature of the cauldron wall under his feet was also rising quietly, and the speed was very fast. After a few second thoughts, it was already untenable. This flame is bright and wild, as if it has life itself, and the sparks that burst out from time to time are like the eyes of a wild beast watching its prey.Soon the entire huge belly of the tripod began to turn dark red, and the desperate high temperature turned into an invisible fire dragon, raised its red head around the tripod, as if to reproduce the grand scene of Ge Hong's alchemy in the past. Just when Luo Zhongxia was scratching his head and thinking of some poems that could cool down the temperature, the flame suddenly disappeared, just as abruptly as it appeared.Wei Shiran sat back on the inkstone in some embarrassment, his clothes had a few more holes, and half of his beard was burned off.The cold and gloomy situation returned to the cauldron. "Xiaoyou Luo, do you believe that I am in this predicament now?" Wei Shiran asked, Luo Zhongxia nodded awkwardly, feeling a little ashamed.Wei Shiran smiled slightly, and continued: "Did you see those tiny flashes on the cauldron wall? They can't be found in the periodic table of elements, but they were formed by the solidification of the pill fire that Ge Xianweng used in alchemy. The momentum of the pill fire It is extremely violent, and it can only be suppressed by the Mifu inkstone pressing on the umbilical hub of the tripod. Among the five elements, the inkstone belongs to water, and the Zijin mud inkstone is originally the most abundant kind of water in the inkstone. This side of water where Mi Fu is psychic The phase is even more obvious. With this, the Zijin clay inkstone can barely suppress the Ge Hong Dan fire, so that it will not erupt and re-ignite the cauldron." "But why did the fire start up as soon as you left your body? Logically, shouldn't the water and fire between the inkstone and the tripod be automatically balanced?" "This is where the predicament is wonderful. There is also a story in it. This purple gold clay inkstone was given to Mi Fu by Song Huizong. Huizong also wrote in a thin gold style. Before he sent it, he couldn't help it. I lived on the inkstone and inscribed the four characters "Yun Zhengxia Wei", but I wrongly inscribed it on the inkstone's mouth, which made the ink grinding difficult, and the water vapor on this inkstone was vented in vain. Because it was inscribed by the imperial pen, Mi Fu did not dare to grind it off , and it has been preserved.” Wei Shiran lowered his head and pointed to the inkstone. Luo Zhongxia stood outside the Tai Chi circle and looked, and sure enough, he could faintly see four Chinese characters. Wei Shiran continued: "I guess when the master of the pen mound used this inkstone to seal the layout of the alchemy tripod, he must have deliberately covered up the four characters so that the purple gold clay inkstone could restrain the alchemy fire. If someone breaks into the Nanyang cave, he You must have the spirit of the pen. The spirit of the pen is originally the result of talent. The four characters "Yunzhengxiawei" are written by Huizong personally, and they also have aura. When they feel that talent is approaching, they will emerge from the mouth of the inkstone. If the water is released, the fragile equilibrium state will be broken immediately. The Zijin clay inkstone cannot completely restrain the alchemy fire, and the intruder has to sit on the inkstone and make up for the gap with flesh and blood, so as to maintain the balance of water and fire ——If I just got up and didn’t sit back, the pill fire would burn the entire cauldron within a minute, and we would have no chance of escaping at all.” "You know such details, how can you be fooled?" "Little friend, you said it was upside down. After I was caught in this situation, I sat there every day with nothing else to do, so I had to ponder over and over again, hoping to find a solution." Wei Shiran sighed long, looked up The boundless sea of ​​ink covered by the tripod, "Now I know all about it, but I still can't solve it. The dilemma of the owner of the pen tomb is really delicate. If it weren't for Shen Kuo's ink sea, if it wasn't for Ge Weng Dan Ding, if it wasn't for Mi Fu's inkstone, if it wasn't for Huizong The inscription is missing, unless these four elements are in place, it is absolutely impossible to make such a seal.” Luo Zhongxia also looked up at the mouth of the tripod. At first he thought that the stone ink sea was just to get rid of those who didn't have the pen skills, but he didn't expect it to have such a deep meaning.Those who don't have a pen skill can't enter the door; and those who have a pen skill can enter the door, but they will touch the Huizong inscription on the inkstone and put themselves in prison.The thought of the master of the pen mound is really unpredictable. The old and the young fell into a temporary silence, no one spoke, and the tripod fell into a strange silence.Wei Shiran looked at Xiaorong who was still lying in Luo Zhongxia's arms, his eyes showed a strange light, it was a complex expression between love and guilt. "I thought that no one would be able to break into the inner cave except me. I didn't expect that child, Xiaorong, not only understood the mystery of Gaoyang cave, but also found you." Luo Zhongxia said: "I thought you deliberately lured me here to be your spearman, just like in Yunmen Temple." Wei Shiran laughed loudly: "Forgive me, my little friend, although your Qinglian pen is extremely powerful, it is useless here." Hearing this, Luo Zhongxia felt relieved, and his shoulders suddenly relaxed.It turned out that Xiaorong really had no other way to ask me for help, and it turned out that she hadn't lied to me.He lowered his head joyfully, the girl was still lying in his arms, her thin body was trembling slightly, her eyes were closed tightly, and there were two teardrops hanging on her long eyelashes, which aroused infinite love. This was the first time the two of them had such an intimate contact. Luo Zhongxia wanted to hug her tighter, but suddenly felt that the pen spirit in Xiaorong's body was a little weird.He noticed that since Xiao Rong stepped into the Tai Chi circle, she has become extremely weak. "What's going on here?" Luo Zhongxia asked hastily. Wei Shiran said indifferently: "Didn't I say it? Those who can come here must go through the selection of the pen formation itself, and they can't do without the officials of the pen tomb. The Taiji circle is the pivot of this alchemy. It is stricter than the enchantment restrictions of the entire Dan Ding." "But..." Luo Zhongxia stopped suddenly when she said this.He thought of Xiao Rong's weird behavior of not wanting to show Yong Xu in Gaoyang Cave, always wanting Qinglian to lead the way in everything, and raised his head to ask Wei Shiran. But just as he spoke, there were rustling sounds above their heads.Luo Zhongxia and Wei Shiran raised their eyes at the same time, only to see the sea of ​​black ink billowing in the mouth of the tripod, and the black waves billowing into the sky. "There's another guest here. The Gaoyang Ridong is so lively today." Wei Shiran showed a smile on his lips.