Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

Wei Zhuang's brush hole, in front of the ancestor's tomb. The remains of the ancestors on both sides stood upright, and the two generations of clansmen looked at each other and remained silent. In the end, Wei Dingguo was the first to break the silence: "Unexpectedly, you deduced it just by looking at it." Monk Peter clasped the beads, and said coldly: "I heard that a senior in the Wei family once lost his life in search of the spirit of Wang Xizhi's brush, and his bones are gone. I think this empty niche was set up for him. You now Show me the word yong, doesn't it imply that the place where the senior is buried is in Yunmen Temple?"

Wei Dingguo was noncommittal. "Since that senior died without a place to bury him, it means that Yunmen Temple is a dangerous place, and it may even be related to Wang Xizhi's pen spirit." Monk Peter said regretfully, "I only thought of Yunmen Temple and Zhiyong The relationship between the Zen masters does not go back to the origin with the book sage. If I thought of this section earlier, I should remind Luo Zhongxia and Er Zhuzi!" Wei Dingguo praised: "It's really admirable to think of so many things at once just by looking at the word Yong. Peter, you are indeed the most outstanding person in this generation." He immediately added: "One of them."

"After all the possibilities have been ruled out, whatever remains, however bizarre, is the correct answer." Peter Monk quotes a famous quote from Sherlock Holmes. Wei Dingguo said: "Don't worry, I have sent Rong Yu and his sister to support them." "Are you really going to 'support'?" Monk Peter showed a mocking smile.The flashlights of both of them were shaking the tomb, and they couldn't see each other's expression clearly in the dark, so they could only guess their true intentions from their voices. "Yesterday I specifically ordered Rong Yu to prevent Luo Zhongxia from approaching the Tubi Tomb no matter what, and bring him back to Weizhuang. Maybe they are already on their way. The clan organization has also made great determination."

"You all just want to forcefully bring the Qinglian pen back to Wei Zhuang, why bother to find high-sounding excuses." "This is a matter of mutual benefit. He gets safety, and our Wei family gets the pen spirit. It's a win-win situation." Wei Dingguo replied calmly. "So, instead of harming him by taking his pen, you are saving him?" "That's right, as you speculated just now: they are now close to the Tomb of Tubi, and they are likely to encounter a double crisis." Monk Peter glanced at his uncle in surprise: "What? Double crisis?"

Wei Dingguo's expression darkened, he turned his hands away, and slowly walked back and forth in this empty and quiet underground cave for two steps before he said, "That's why I asked you to come here." Monk Peter was silent, waiting for him below. "It starts with that senior." Wei Dingguo continued, "According to the genealogy records, his name is Wei Xi, and he is the ancestor of the five generations before our "Ding" generation. Wei Xi's ancestor was an ambitious man, and he vowed to find all of them. The Qihou of Guancheng, restart the pen tomb, and revitalize the Wei family. You also know that the Qihou of Guancheng has been extinct for hundreds of years, and there are very few records left. At that time, no one in the clan thought he could succeed. He was furious Then he abandoned his home and left, threatening not to return home unless he found Qi Qibi, and he never heard from him again. Later, he sent a letter to the family, saying that he was in Yunmen Temple, and that Wang Xizhi might have a pen spirit here. The family heard the news and sent people to look for him, but he has no bones left, and no one knows what happened to Yunmen Temple."

Monk Peter's heart trembled when he heard this, he wondered what was hidden in Yunmen Temple, it was so cruel, and whether Luo Zhongxia and the others would meet... "Although Wei Xi was arrogant, he died for the Wei family after all, so the family specially set up a niche for him in this cave of hiding brushes, and wrote a word "Yong" as a commemoration. This matter has always been It is a secret of the Wei family, no one knows except Wei Xi's relatives and elders in the clan." After Wei Dingguo said this, he struggled to climb up the rock hill with his legs up, and when he came to the Yongzi stone niche, he beckoned for Monk Peter to come too.After Monk Peter also climbed over, Wei Dingguo bowed respectfully first, then took out the thin booklet from the stone niche and handed it to him, saying, "Come and see this."

Monk Peter took the booklet and illuminated it with a flashlight.It turned out to be a letter, the paper was yellow and brittle, and the sides had to be pinched carefully.The ink characters on the letter are flying like dragons and phoenixes, which is quite skillful, and it looks like it was written by a famous master. "This is the letter Wei Xi wrote to the clan at that time." Monk Peter took a closer look with the flashlight, and it read: "The words in the family are like reading: between Qin and Wang, there should be something to gain. The affairs of the Marquis will be accomplished in a short time, and the luck of our family will be prosperous."

With a few figures, the ambition is vivid on paper. Monk Peter put the letter back in the alcove. "Okay, so what does he have to do with this now?" "I checked the genealogy carefully. Wei Xi's lineage has not been prosperous, and was quickly excluded from the main family, becoming a weak branch. And this lineage has only the last descendant left." Wei Dingguo glanced He became extraordinarily fierce, and said word by word: "This person is Wei Shiran." "Wei Shiran?" Monk Peter was also surprised when he heard this name.This person has been looming behind Luo Zhongxia from the very beginning, and there are many mysteries shrouded in him. It turns out that there is such a wonderful connection between him and the Wei family.

"Wei Shiran is the successor of Wei Xi. It is not surprising that he knows what happened to his ancestors. Maybe he knows more about Yunmen Temple and Shushengbiling than we do." Monk Peter felt that he had gradually touched the heart of the matter. "You said that Wei Shiran's granddaughter left Luo Zhongxia with the idea of ​​going to Yunmen Temple to withdraw the pen, so when we heard that Luo Zhongxia was going to Yunmen Temple, we thought it was not a good idea. I called yesterday Call Rong Yu and tell him to bring Luo Zhongxia back and never go near the Tubi Tomb. We don't know what will happen, but we always have a premonition that Wei Shiran may be up to something."

"The danger of Yunmen Temple itself, and the trap of Wei Shiran, this is the double crisis you want to talk about, right?" "Exactly." "You guys kept your mouth shut and kept us in the dark." Monk Peter purposely clenched the word "you". It seems that Wei Dingguo and his elder brother Wei Dingbang made the decision together.Since his return to Wei Zhuang, the two brothers have not revealed a word to him about this matter. "The time was not yet ripe." "Now that the patriarch is dead, is the time ripe?" Monk Peter couldn't help stabbing.

"Yes." Wei Dingguo said frankly, and then sighed, "Now that the patriarch is dead, the whole thing is different..." "Congratulations, Uncle Dingguo, isn't this your dream all along?" Wei Dingguo didn't hear the sting in Monk Peter's words, or Monk Peter didn't notice Wei Dingguo's wry smile in the dark.In short, this old man in the style of a political cadre did not respond to this sentence, but dropped another bomb: "In fact, Wei Shiran once contacted us, and he asked the Wei family to cooperate with him—— Of course, this is under top-secret circumstances, only the patriarch and I know." Monk Peter said coldly: "The patriarch disagreed, but you were moved, so you killed him. Am I right?" "No, on the contrary, the patriarch was a little tempted at first, but I refused." Wei Dingguo replied calmly, not at all offended, "I don't want to involve Wei Zhuang in these outdated disputes. Now the pen spirit is not the main theme of life, the economy Development is." Monk Peter's mind was a little confused, and he could barely maintain his superficial calm. "After arguing, the patriarch reluctantly agreed with my point of view and gave up the cooperation with Wei Shiran. But his attitude really made me feel weird, because back then Wei Qingang—that is, your half-brother ——After the incident, the patriarch hated Wei Shiran almost to the bone, and now this hatred seems to have disappeared." "Ok……" Wei Dingguo continued: "What's even more strange is that just after that contact, the patriarch seemed to be a different person. He often talked to himself in the room alone, as if talking to the air." "Wei Shiran moved his hands and feet?" "No one knows. In short, since then, the patriarch has a premonition that an accident may happen to him. He has already told me that if anything happens, he will bring you here and tell you these things." Monk Peter touched the inkstone and letter in his arms, which were given to him by the patriarch—that is, his father—before he died.In this way, he seems to know the exact date of his death. "That is to say... Who is the murderer? Why was there no trace of the pen spirit on my father's body before his death? Uncle Dingguo, you don't know, do you?" "Yes, I'm just telling you everything I know." Wei Dingguo said, "Things are changing much faster and more complicated than I imagined. Yesterday I asked Rong Yu to bring the Qinglian pen back to stay away from danger; today The patriarch died at home in the morning, and the enemy was obviously spying on us, Wei Zhuang suddenly became the most dangerous place. All the painstaking planning of the patriarch and I have been subverted, so I have to tell you this in advance." When Wei Dingguo said this, he made a gesture, indicating that he had almost said it.He raised his flashlight and motioned for Monk Peter to follow him.Monk Peter was still full of doubts, and the two stepped on the hard rocky hills, step by step towards the depths of the tomb of the ancestors of the Wei family.Neither of them spoke on the way, and there were ghostly lights on both sides of the road, and even phosphorescent lights appeared. On the undulating stone mausoleums, there were tombs of ancestors appearing from time to time, and there was a corpse sitting in each tomb. Behind every corpse there is an unknown story and a legendary pen spirit.Monk Peter sometimes wanted to stop and take a good look at these tombs, but Wei Dingguo's footsteps were too fast, and he had to follow closely behind.If you are not careful, you may lose the guide in front of you and get completely lost in the darkness. Compared with the intricate stone roads in the Cangbi Cave, Wei Dingguo's confusing attitude made Monk Peter feel more uneasy.Wei Shiran, Wei Zhuang, the patriarch, and Yunmen Temple, there must be some hidden connection between them, and there are thousands of clues, but I am at a loss.Also, what about Luo Zhongxia, Yan Zheng, and Er Zhuzi?This is also a problem. The rock hills on both sides became taller as they walked, like two huge walls pressing towards the middle, leaving almost only a line of sky above their heads.When they reached the bottom of the rock mound, Monk Peter found that they happened to be at the tip of an inverted cone shaped like a funnel, and the surrounding tall rock walls formed a gradually rising and growing circle like a Roman Colosseum. , the tombs are sparsely located in each concave rock formation, like a group of spectators sitting in the arena, high above, and the corpses in the niches show awe-inspiring momentum. Looking up from this position, you can easily see almost all the tombs. They are condescending, looking down on their descendants with lifeless black eye sockets.A cold and mysterious atmosphere floated faintly among these corpses, outlining indescribable feelings. Wei Dingguo turned around, stretched out his right hand and made an invitation gesture: "Peter, there are still eight pen spirits here, you can choose one." Monk Peter never expected that he would suddenly make this request, so he couldn't help stammering a little: "But... Isn't Bi Ling supposed to be accepted by the gods at the pen recognition meeting? It's all about choosing people, so there is no reason for someone to choose Bi Ling ?” "Didn't I just say that? Since the death of the patriarch, many things are about to change." Wei Dingguo's tone became vicissitudes. Monk Peter looked around, what Wei Dingguo said was right, there were eight shinning niches in total, and eight corpses arranged in cages protected eight faint blue lights, each representing a genius from the past, each Pipes contain a wonderful ability.As long as he steps forward now, the spirit of the pen is at his fingertips, and he can also become an official of the pen grave, on an equal footing with the elders of the clan. "That tube is Cen Shen's Sydney pen; a little higher, on the right hand side, is Qin Guan's Shaoyou brush; from this side, the third one is Li Houzhu's sorrowful brush..." Monk Peter laughed and interrupted the introduction: "Uncle Dingguo, you should also know that I have made a vow not to be a master of brushwork in this life, but only to practice the art of guarding. I am afraid that I cannot accept your kindness." "You're still obsessed with that matter." Wei Dingguo stared into his eyes, his eyes flickering behind the lens. Peter shook his head: "Now that I have converted to Buddhism, everything in the past is like a dream. If you don't think about it, you don't have to worry about it. The same thing happened back then, and so does the pen spirit." "This is your only chance, and there will be no such good things in the future." "Amitabha." "Well, since that's the case, I won't force you." Wei Dingguo seemed to have given up, and he looked at the tomb again with a little regret, "Then you follow me." Monk Peter was still walking behind Wei Dingguo, without even turning his head.In the darkness, no one knew what his expression was like, only the calm "Amitabha" still echoed in the entire cave, and it did not disperse for a long time.Those pen spirits seemed to be disturbed by the sound, and they jumped up and down in the corpse of the former owner, and the light became much brighter, like a street lamp to send them off. The deeper the cave, the sparser the number of niches and the narrower the cave. Finally, the two of them came to a low dome, and the whole space had shrunk into a long corridor, like It was as if a stone dragon had stuck its head into the rock wall. They were walking on the back of the dragon, and they could even feel the dragon scales with their feet.Monk Peter shrugged his nose, he could feel a slight wind blowing, and the air was much fresher than before.There must be an exit near here! Wei Dingguo pointed to the dark hole where the dragon's head was pointing. "Follow here, and you'll be able to go out. Going out is the other side of Weizhuang's back mountain. You used to play there when you were young, so you shouldn't get lost." Monk Peter didn't know what to say for a moment. He had always been hostile to this uncle, but now he was suddenly confused.He hesitated for a while and asked, "Then Uncle Ding, what do you want me to do after I go out? Find out who killed my father?" "You finally changed your name to call him father." Wei Dingguo nodded with satisfaction, "After you go out, try to stay as far away from Wei Zhuang as possible, go and stop Rong Yu, and tell him and Luo Zhongxia not to come back to Wei Zhuang again." "how about you?" "Oh, I will become the first patriarch of our clan without a pen spirit." Wei Dingguo put on a cold expression, "Weizhuang will become a wealthy village with tourism as its main axis. Then the pen spirit will gradually Become an ancient legend. I want to end the relationship between Bi Ling and Wei Zhuang." The sudden policy outline surprised Monk Peter again, and the new village chief's inaugural speech continued: "As for you...whether you take revenge or withdraw your pen, it has nothing to do with me or Wei Zhuang. The moment you leave this exit, We will no longer have any relationship. Before my brother was alive, I would do my best to assist him and fulfill all his wishes. Now that he is dead, it is me who controls Wei Zhuang's direction. I will open up a new era for Wei Zhuang." "But, Wei Shiran or those from Zhuge's family will also come to threaten you, right?" "When Weizhuang becomes an ordinary village, it loses the value they can use. You see, my idea is the safest. I actually understand Luo Zhongxia's feelings about withdrawing her pen." Monk Peter opened his mouth, but couldn't speak.He always felt that it was incredible to do this. Everyone was desperately trying to take the pen spirit as their own, but someone pushed this treasure away so cleanly.But when he thought that he had rejected Wei Dingguo's kindness without hesitation just now and did not take any pen spirit away, he suddenly felt relieved. "Amitabha, I understand." Wei Dingguo waved his hand, indicating that Monk Peter can leave. "Live well." He yelled at Monk Peter who was about to disappear in the darkness. This was the first time he had spoken so loudly in Monk Peter's memory.