Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

They took a flight from Shanghai to Changsha, and there were only three flights a day from Changsha to Yongzhou.They waited at the airport for a few more hours, and finally when the plane arrived in Yongzhou, it was already past six o'clock in the evening. The urban area of ​​Yongzhou is not big, and it feels like a small town in the south of the Yangtze River. The streets are narrow and clean, and there are occasional old buildings between the modern buildings on both sides, which makes people have a mottled feeling of mixing modern and classical.There is no suffocating urgency of a big city here, and there is always a touch of leisure in the air.Probably after nightfall, the huge and black silhouette can give people a deeper impression, dilute the elements of the times, and be closer to the deep and remote artistic conception of classical Yongzhou.

The radio in the taxi creaked, and the announcer said that there was a robbery at the Dongshan Museum today.Yan Zheng patted the driver on the shoulder and told him to turn off the radio, so as not to disturb Shijiu's mood.The latter looked out with his chin resting on his shoulders, and the street outside the window receded quickly. There were often signs of small shops passing by outside the car window. "Zero" is "Yuxi".They are all places with great allusions. Yongzhou was called Lingling in ancient times, and it was named after Emperor Shun.The two rivers of Xiaoxiang and Hunan meet here, and there are many scenic spots. The "Eight Scenic Spots of Yongzhou" alone are enough to shine for thousands of years.Migrant poets of past dynasties left a lot of songs and poems, especially Liu Zongyuan's "Eight Records of Yongzhou" is the most famous.

Nineteen booked three rooms at the Liuzi Hotel in Yongzhou City. The word "Liuzi" was named after Liu Zongyuan.After settling down, Luo Zhongxia and Yan Zheng came to Shijiu's room to discuss what to do next.Nineteen said that the task Fei Lao arranged for Zhuge Chun was to search for the spirit of the pen in Hunan, and Yongzhou was one of the stops. Since the closure of the pen mound, except for some pen spirits that were collected by Zhuge and Wei's family, there are still a large number of pen spirits wandering in the world.For hundreds of years, these wild pens have been wandering around without a place to return to. Even if they occasionally meet a suitable person and live in them, it will only take a few decades, and they will be released back to their free bodies after the death of the host.

As the so-called "Yelai Youmeng suddenly return home", these pen spirits are refined from the ancients, so they often follow the residual memories of the past and drift back unconsciously to the place where they were most fettered during their lifetime. Therefore, the Zhuge family and the Wei family have had a tradition throughout the dynasties: to send people to various places of interest and historic sites every year in order to meet the pen spirits who have returned to the old days and take the opportunity to collect them.Although it is an act of sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the rabbit, it is different from seeking a sword after a long time. After a long time, there will always be some gains.After the owner of the pen mound went away, the method of refining brushes was also lost. Searching for wild pen spirits became the only way for the two families to collect pen spirits, so this tradition has continued to this day.

Since Zhuge Chun was looking for the spirit of the pen in Yongzhou, he must go to the cultural relics related to it. But it is easier said than done. Yongzhou is a thousand-year-old city with a rich historical heritage and a vast array of cultural relics, each of which may be related to the pen spirit.For example, on Liuzi Street not far from the Liuzi Hotel where they lived, there is a Liuzi Temple commemorating Liu Zongyuan, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, with countless inscriptions in it.There are also Kou Gonglou where Kou Zhun lives, Yueyan where Zhou Dunyi once realized "Tai Chi Tu Shuo", Yan Zhenqing's Wuxi Stele Forest, Cai Yong's Qinyan Cave, etc.Zhuge Yihui, who is familiar with all kinds of allusions, may have some clues; but with the abilities of the three of them, facing these many historical sites is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.

"Then let's start looking for it from Lutian Nunnery?" Luo Zhongxia suggested cautiously. "Oh? Why?" Nineteen glanced at him.Since he broke Wei Qiang's water scripture brush, Nineteen's attitude has changed significantly, and he attaches great importance to his opinion. "I don't read much, so I don't know if I'm right." Luo Zhongxia carefully considered his words, as if he had a jujube in his mouth, "These ancient sites should only be places where the ancients stayed for a while, and he can't stay there. But, where can there be a pen spirit? Only Lutian Nunnery, where Huai Su has lived for decades, used bananas as paper, practiced calligraphy and became famous, and even set up a pen retreat there. ?”

Yan Zheng glanced at him and wondered, "When did you become so knowledgeable?" Luo Zhongxia concealed: "I bought a travel map as soon as I got off the plane, and I just followed the script." At this moment, the mobile phones of Luo Zhongxia and Shijiu rang at the same time.The two looked at each other, turned around, covered the microphone with their hands, and whispered, "Hello?" Luo Zhongxia's mobile phone showed that the caller was Monk Peter, so he hurried out of the room, but an unfamiliar voice came from the microphone with a slight accent. "Hello, is this Mr. Luo Zhongxia?"

"...Uh, yes, who are you?" "I am the emergency department of Yongzhou Third Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. That's right, a gentleman was seriously injured and sent to us just now. When he was sent, his mobile phone was dialing your number, so we contacted you , I want to verify his identity and notify his relatives.” When Luo Zhongxia heard it, he jumped up in fright, his voice trembling slightly: "Then... is that gentleman a monk?" "Yes, I still have a certificate issued by the Chinese Buddhist Association on my body. The name written on it is "Peter". I see that the common name is Wei..."

Luo Zhongxia asked anxiously: "That's it! How is he now?" "He has more than a dozen fractures all over his body. He is still in danger and we are still trying to rescue him. If you know his family members, please contact them as soon as possible." Luo Zhongxia hurriedly said that he was in Yongzhou, asked the other party to leave the address of the hospital, and then hurried back to the room.After returning to the room, he found that something was wrong with the atmosphere.Nineteen had finished making the phone call, and he and Yan Zheng looked at each other in blank dismay.Seeing Luo Zhongxia coming in, Nineteen shook his phone and said in a strange tone, "Guess who's calling?"

"Obama?" "Not too much, it's Zhuge Chun." Yan Zheng said. Luo Zhongxia opened his mouth wide. A person who was originally a target actually called them on his own initiative. This turning point was too unexpected. "What did he say?" "He thought I was in Shanghai, unaware of the changes at home, and asked me to help him look up information about Huai Su." Nineteen added, "I used to have a good relationship with him, and he often asked me to look up some information. Information or something." "Huai Su? Doesn't that mean that his goal is Lutian Nunnery?"

"Obviously, Zhong Xia, you guessed it right." Nineteen looked at him with admiration, and continued, "I purposely probed his breath, he seems to be in a hurry tonight, and it seems that he wants to do it immediately." After speaking, Nineteen quickly took the lancet and other equipment out of the luggage bag and put them on.She looked at her watch and said, "Without delay, we might as well go now. Since Zhuge Chun wants to visit Bi Ling, he will definitely choose a time when there are few people. It is already past seven o'clock in the evening, which is a good time." She said. The expression on his face is eager to try, and he can't wait. Yan Zheng said, "But where are the people from your family who came to hunt Zhuge Chun? If they go one step ahead, or run into us, they will be in trouble." Nineteen said proudly, "It's okay, I've already checked everything beforehand. They don't want to startle the enemy, so there won't be many people coming to Yongzhou. I checked Brother Yihui's itinerary, and they won't arrive until tomorrow morning. Zhuge Chun probably doesn't know his situation yet, tonight is our chance!" Yan Zheng and Shijiu started to walk out, but Luo Zhongxia hesitated and stopped them: "Nineteenth, can you wait for an hour?" "Huh? What?" Nineteen asked in surprise. Luo Zhongxia felt that it would be impossible not to say anything, so he told them what he had just said on the phone, and by the way, told Nineteen the origin of Monk Peter—of course, he concealed the purpose of Monk Peter's coming to Yongzhou and the truth about the tomb of Lutian Nunnery. . "I know that your Zhuge family and Wei family are feuds, but Master Peter once fought side by side with us. I hope to visit him." Nineteen Liu Mei frowned slightly: "...can't you wait until the matter is finished?" Luo Zhongxia said: "Human life is at stake, he is seriously injured now, I don't know how long he can last." When Yan Zheng heard that it was Peter who was injured, he also stood by Luo Zhongxia's side: "Zhuge Chun is in Lvtian Nunnery anyway, so don't be in a hurry for an hour or two." Nineteen was in a dilemma, she held the lancet at her waist, and tapped the handle anxiously with her pale fingers, but she didn't know what to do.Yan Zheng patted his head suddenly, opened the door of the room, and called a passing waiter. "How long does it take to take a bus from Yongzhou No. 3 Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to Lvtian Nunnery?" The waiter was stunned for a moment, and then showed a tolerant smile towards foreign tourists: "This gentleman probably came to Yongzhou for the first time. Yongzhou Third Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Lutian Nunnery are both in Lingling District, only one block away. Even on foot, it takes ten minutes.” Yan Zheng asked in surprise, "What? Isn't Lutian nunnery in an ancient temple in the suburbs?" The waiter replied respectfully: "I'm sorry, sir, Lutian Nunnery is in the urban area, next to Gaoshan Temple in Dongshan, and it is now a park." Yan Zheng looked back at Shijiu, asking her with his eyes.Hearing this, Nineteen finally let go: "Okay...then let's go see your friend first, but hurry up, otherwise I'm afraid Zhuge Chun will slip away." ※※※ Monk Peter slowly opened his eyes and found that he had turned into a mummy wrapped in a white cloth, and the familiar smell of disinfectant from the hospital entered his nose.He felt that his whole body was almost shattered, and the pain was unbearable. His body was like a biscuit that had been stepped on the ground, in tatters. When he saw Yan Zheng and Luo Zhongxia appeared in sight, he first grinned: "If I'm in heaven, why do I see you two?" "Hey, isn't the monk supposed to go to the Paradise of Paradise?" Yan Zheng replied with a smile, putting a bouquet of pale yellow daisies that he bought on the spur of the moment next to the pillow.Seeing that he still had the strength to joke around, Luo Zhongxia felt a stone in his heart just fall to the ground. "Long time no see, Master Peter." The two of them gathered in front of Monk Peter's bed, and for a moment they felt the joy of reuniting their old friends, but this joy was quickly washed away by reality.They exchanged their separate experiences, and the topic became serious. "...So, you came to Yongzhou with that girl, didn't you?" Monk Peter looked out of the ward and felt a strong aura.Nineteen was just outside the door, but due to the relationship between the two families, she didn't come in, but waited in the corridor. Luo Zhongxia asked, "Who beat you like this?" "It's a coincidence, that person is Zhuge Chun." Monk Peter twisted his neck with difficulty, and replied with a wry smile, the bracket on his neck creaked. It turned out that after receiving Luo Zhongxia's text message, Monk Peter rushed to Yongzhou immediately, a few hours earlier than Luo Zhongxia and the others.He didn't want to wait, so he went to Lvtian Temple to explore the way.Unexpectedly, as soon as he climbed the Gaoshan Temple on Dongshan Mountain, he ran into Zhuge Chun head-on.In the battle at Fayuan Temple that day, Zhuge Chun and Monk Peter did not fight each other, but they both knew each other.This time they met, Zhuge Chun's reaction was extremely strong, and he started to fight without saying a word. Ink was poured over, leaving no room for it.Monk Peter originally studied the way of defense intensively, but suddenly he was attacked and couldn't resist, and was hit directly from the front.The moment he was hit, he only had time to protect his head, but other parts of his body were hit hard by the ink, and more than a dozen ribs, shoulder blades, and femurs were broken.He fell down the mountain, trying to use his mobile phone to warn Luo Zhongxia with his last strength, but he couldn't hold it anymore and fainted.When he woke up, he was already in the hospital. Yan Zheng touched his chest with lingering fear, he knew what it felt like.In the battle at Fayuan Temple that day, Zhuge Chun's just a drop of ink lightly smashed him, let alone this time he did it with all his strength.Luo Zhongxia had suspected for a long time that there must be a reason for the distance between the hospital and Lvtian Nunnery so close, but it turned out to be the case. "He shot so fast, he seemed to be out of breath, which is a bit strange." Monk Peter pointed out, "You should be careful when you go to the Green Sky Temple, but unfortunately I can't follow." "Master Peter, just take a good rest. I'm just going to withdraw my pen, and I won't make any trouble." "You still haven't given up on this idea after all." Monk Peter looked at him meaningfully, and Luo Zhongxia was a little embarrassed, so he quickly looked away.Monk Peter turned his attention to Yan Zheng: "My monk's robe is hanging next to it, please help me bring the contents to Mr. Luo." Yan Zheng took out a letter and an inkstone from his robe.Luo Zhongxia opened the letter, the words on it were written in block letters, meticulous, but the content inside was exactly the same as the four lines of poem Wei Xiaorong left him: 〖It is better to shovel the tomb of withdrawing pens, The hops are full of spring and green. Say goodbye to all the people and go away, Qinglian embraces the slough and the autumn cicada is light. 〗 Luo Zhongxia put down the letter paper, stared at Monk Peter and asked, "This...what the hell is going on?" Monk Peter breathed out slowly and said, "When I first read it, I was also very surprised. Later, I finally figured it out. We had misunderstood all the time before. After reading the first sentence, I thought I had a clue, and went straight to the cloud. Mensi, in fact, this poem has to be read in conjunction with the following to have the correct meaning.” "what?" "Look at the four characters in the second sentence "hops are full of spring", hops are often used as "the vortex in the cup" in poems, such as "hops are rippling in the golden bottle, and the shadow of the flag is floating in the jade waves", "let the hops be white, and the eyes will be dazzled , "Candle Flower Red", "Chunman" means alcoholism. Zen Master Zhiyong adheres to the rules, but Huai Su has been addicted to alcohol all his life. The more drunk he is, the more interested he is. "Zhi". And "Tuqiqing" should obviously be a metaphor, Lvtian nunnery was originally called Qingyin nunnery, but later changed its name to Lvtian nunnery because Huai Su planted ten acres of plantains for practicing calligraphy." At this point, Monk Peter let out a long sigh: "If we could have noticed earlier, we should have guessed that the Tubi Tomb implied in this poem should actually refer to Huai Su of Lvtian Temple, not Yunmen Temple. Zhiyong. The patriarch probably noticed this mistake, so he rewrote the poem to remind us that the real retreat is here.” "Then what about the next two sentences?" Monk Peter shook his head: "I haven't figured it out yet." Luo Zhongxia said coldly: "Your analysis is good, but there is a contradiction." "Appreciate further details." "This poem was originally Wei Shiran's conspiracy to lure me to the Tubi Tomb in order to liberate the Tiantai Baiyun Bi. If his second sentence has such a hint, we see through it and go to the Lvtian Nunnery first, then his Wouldn't the conspiracy not succeed? Why did he bother?" At this moment, Yan Zheng interjected: "Then what if this poem is not entirely a conspiracy?" Luo Zhongxia was taken aback: "How do you say?" "If Wei Shiran originally prepared a different poem, and Xiao Rong secretly modified some details for the purpose of reminding us without being discovered by her grandfather. Let this poem that originally deliberately led us to Yunmen Temple In the poem, there is more real information about the withdrawal of the pen, and it is concealed, what do you think of this possibility?" "How is this possible!?" Luo Zhongxia shouted. "Exclude all the impossibilities, and the rest, no matter how bizarre, is the truth." Yan Zheng said bluntly, and his "Friends of Women" thrush pencil jumped in his chest to show his approval. "Anyway, I always feel that Xiao Rong will not betray us." "But Wei Shiran and her still tricked us at Yunmen Temple!" "It's only our fault for not being aware of the implication in this poem, but it's not Xiaorong's fault." Yan Zheng spread his hands. "If we had realized this earlier, when Wei Shiran went to Yunmen Temple to ambush, we would have easily returned the Qinglian brush in Lvtian Temple. It's a pity that she took such painstaking efforts." At this time, Nineteen outside the ward coughed, indicating that the time was almost up.Yan Zheng and Luo Zhongxia had no choice but to end the argument first.Monk Peter persuaded them, "Anyway, the Lutian Nunnery is very close at hand, and you only need to go there to know the truth." Luo Zhongxia felt restless, he casually picked up the inkstone: "What is this inkstone for?" Monk Peter shook his head: "I don't know, but this is the patriarch's request. I think there must be some meaning to it. Anyway, you keep it." Luo Zhongxia snorted and put it in his arms. "When you go there, you must remember to take care of yourself... and the other party, don't be like that kid Rong Yu." "Of course, we are iron friends, even if we take ten copies of "Dragon Tiger Leopard" we won't exchange it." Yan Zheng said happily, and patted Luo Zhongxia on the shoulder.Luo Zhongxia also patted Yan Zheng on the shoulder. He has always trusted this carefree Internet cafe owner.Everyone he is in contact with now has some purpose, but this guy is free and easy, just because he thinks it is fun to follow. When the two were about to leave the ward, Yan Zheng suddenly turned around and asked, "How about Ran Ran and Er Zhuzi?" Monk Peter showed a wry smile and a relieved expression, and said dryly, "They should be fine now." Yan Zheng nodded thoughtfully, with disappointment in his eyes.Monk Peter beckoned him to come over, leaned over and whispered something in his ear. ※※※ During their conversation in the ward, Nineteen didn't ask a word.After the three left the hospital, they went straight to Lvtian Nunnery.The waiter was right, the distance between the two places was very close.They crossed the road, turned a corner, and saw Dongshan.On the top of the Dongshan Mountain is the Gaoshan Temple, a famous temple in Hunan. The back side of the Wudian to which the Gaoshan Temple belongs is the Lvtian Nunnery.They walked through Huaisu Park, bypassing the so-called "ink washing pool", "Liantie stone", "Huaisu statue" and other brand-new pseudo-historical sites, and rushed along the stone steps up the mountain. It was close to nine o'clock at this time, the empty mountain was silent, the moon was bright and the wind was clear, the tourists in the daytime had long since disappeared, only the towering ancient trees, surrounded by green bamboos, the entire Dongshan Mountain was shrouded in peace and tranquility.It is quite rare to have such a quiet place isolated from the hustle and bustle in a modern city. They didn't stop for a moment, and quickly left all these behind, their feet flew like flying, and the surroundings became more and more quiet and desolate.The three of them ran until they were approaching the Gaoshan Temple, when they stopped suddenly and were stunned for a moment. On the stone steps in front of him lay a man in a black suit lying on his back.The man was motionless, and his life and death were unknown.Going up further, I saw another man in black, prostrate on the ground. When their eyes continued to extend, they couldn't help but gasped. There are more than 30 short steps in front of you, and there are more than a dozen people lying down in disorder, like the scene of a massacre, and there is even a faint smell of blood in the air.The trees were crooked, the fallen leaves were in a mess, and even the blue stone steps were cracked, showing the fierceness of the battle. Nineteen suddenly trembled all over. "These... are all from our Zhuge family!"