Chapter 46 Chapter Five: The Palace of the Ox Refuses to Return His Life

After another few hours of journey, they arrived in Yongding territory. We went straight to Niuzhigong's residence, and asked him to redeem the lifeblood of the deceased Qiu Sha. The Palace of Ox, three out of seventy years old, a castration craftsman at the foot of Tianzi Mountain in Yongding, has made a living by castration for generations.His ancestors only eunuched and raised animals. In his generation, he carried forward his ancestral business. While expanding the main business of castrating animals, he also developed a sideline business of eunuchs. He has a eunuch in his hand, which is known far and wide as "two knives", one for eunuchs and the other for eunuchs.

Someone with good deeds jokingly sent him a pair of couplets: the lives of people and animals are controlled with both hands, and the roots of right and wrong are cut with one knife.Niu Zhigong was so satisfied that he actually framed this couplet and hung it in the hall of his home. Whenever he looked at this couplet, he was filled with the air of honoring his ancestors. Niu Zhigong has worked diligently in the field of castration all his life, and almost all the domestic animals in every household in Yongding have suffered from his knife. The great achievements of Niu Zhigong are not limited to these, he has peaches and plums all over the world, and the castration craftsmen in western Hunan are basically his apprentices.The castration craftsmen trained by him, together with their disciples and grandchildren, numbered a hundred.In this area, he is definitely a master-level figure who can say nothing.Niuzhigong travels in the Western Regions of Hunan Province. If you enter the house, you will have disciples and grandchildren who will pick you up and send you off within ten miles, and you will be served with wine and food.

Perhaps there are more castrated animals and eunuchs, and there will be more evil spirits on him. It is said that as long as Niu Zhigong goes out, most of the poultry on the roadside are chickens and dogs, and they will stay away.It seems that he knows that he is the castrated craftsman whose face has changed in the world of beasts. He is afraid that he will cut off the root of right and wrong, lose the most instinctive joy of being an animal, and the mission of continuing the incense. I heard that he once stayed overnight at an apprentice's house, and as a result, everyone in the village got up later than usual the next day.Because the roosters in the village seemed to have discussed it, but they didn't dare to crow the next day, for fear of being castrated by him.Very mysterious!

After exploring all the way, we finally came to a valley called Jinbianxi at the foot of Tianzi Mountain. Golden Whip Creek lies in a valley at the foot of Tianzi Mountain.There is no valley in the valley, only a stream.The stream is called Golden Whip Stream because of its whip-like shape.The river bed is full of pebbles, and the shallow stream flows leisurely, very quiet.Birds chirping on both sides of the strait, the sound is in my ears.The air in the stream is fresh, and the fragrance is undercurrent. It is refreshing to take a breath.Occasionally, a few children played barefoot in the river, splashing water for fun, breaking the tranquility of the valley and startling forest birds.

Along the path along the bank of the stream, the further you go into the valley, the quieter it becomes, even terribly quiet, for fear of accidentally making a noise and alarming the beasts in the mountains. Walking in, it took about two hours, the sound of chickens and dogs could be faintly heard in the distance, walking into the fifty-foot turn, it suddenly became clear, and suddenly saw a basin in front, and a village suddenly appeared in front of you. "Yin people rush, and Yang people avoid it. If you want to avoid it, you should take care of yourself." I hurriedly rang the small Yin gong to remind pedestrians to avoid the road.Because the valley was too quiet, the sound of the small Yin gong seemed tragic and unusual, very ear-piercing.

We found a cave and hid Qiu Sha's body inside. Tian Gudao went out to inquire about the residence of Niuzhigong. I saw passers-by pointing to a lonely bamboo house by the river across the river. The bamboo house must be the home of Niuzhigong. Looking at Tian Gudao's back, I wondered whether the lifeblood of the eunuch Qiu Sha was still kept intact by Niu Zhigong?Can Qiu Sha's lifeblood be retrieved smoothly? After half an hour, Tian Gudao came back with a drooping face, looking downcast. I saw this posture, and I guessed right, it must be that Qiu Sha didn't get his life.

"Xiucai, I met an old stubborn bull today! If you don't get the things, you have to do it." Tian Gudao started yelling at me from a distance. When he got close, I inquired carefully and found out the reason.It turned out that after Tian Gudao met Niu Zhigong, he explained his intention and called him "Old Mr. Niu Zhigong". Niu Zhigong was very unhappy when he heard that, and scolded Tian Gudao: "The name of Niu Zhigong is your name. Is it? No education at all!" After that, no matter how Tian Gudao explained and apologized, Niu Zhigong just didn't want to take out Qiu Sha's lifeblood, and he didn't even want to talk about it.At this time, a young woman in the inner room came out to persuade the old man to stop the fire, but it was ineffective and counterproductive. The more he talked about Niu Zhigong, the angrier he became.

The woman called Tian Gudao aside and told him that the old man hated people calling him by his full name, and everyone called him "Niu Ye".Because in the local dialect, "Niu Zhi Gong" becomes "Niu Zi Gong" once it is pronounced. "Old Mr. Niu Zhigong" was said by Tian Gudao, and it naturally became "Old Mr. Niu Zigong". Tian Gudao really regretted it.After a few words of comfort, I had no choice but to go there in person. When I came to the bamboo house in the Ox Palace, I looked up and saw that it was indeed a good place.There is a stream flowing in the front, and Tianzi Mountain is backed at the back. A cluster of plantains is lush on the side of the flat, and a few chickens are leisurely pecking at them.I took a closer look and saw a few big roosters flapping their wings mighty and majesticly among the chickens, showing off their beautiful feathers flirtatiously. No castrated rooster!It seems that the more dangerous the place is, the safer it is. I can't help feeling lucky for the roosters.

When I entered the room, I humbly called out "Master Niu".Niu Zhigong is reclining on a bamboo chair with his eyes closed. The bottom of the chair is made of two curved bamboos. As long as it is shaken, it looks like a tumbler and will keep shaking.Niu Zhigong was recuperating comfortably. Hearing my voice, he didn't get up, turned his head to the side, squinted his eyes and asked, "What are you doing?" I hurriedly explained to you that when Niu Zhigong heard this, his anger rose immediately. Obviously, the anger that Tian Gudao ignited just now has not subsided. A young woman came out to serve tea.This woman is Niu Zhigong's newly married wife, she looks only in her early thirties, and she is quite pretty.I am very worried about the aged Niu Zhigong, whether this old cow can still plow the woman's fertile land.

It turned out that Niu Zhigong relied on single-handed castration, and his family was well-off, with no worries about food and clothing.He had been glorious all his life, but he was also a bit lonely. All his wives gave birth to girls.Since the birth of her first girl more than fifty years ago, Niu Zhigong has been working hard to give birth to a son.But his wife's stomach is very evil, just like Zimuhe in the country of daughters, she always can't get a boy, but the harvest is very rich, she worked hard and gave birth to seven daughters for him.Later, when she was old and unable to give birth, she looked at Niu Zhigong with a sad face, and the old lady who could not continue the incense of the Niu family was full of guilt, and finally died of depression.

Years later, Niu Zhigong's desire for a son continued unabated, so the old man chatted about being a teenager, and regardless of his age, he married a beautiful wife again to complete his great career of incense. Regarding Niu Zhigong's fate of having no heirs, the fellow villagers said it was retribution.Because there are countless animals and eunuchs castrated by the Palace of Ox.There is a saying in the countryside that capon pigs and capon chickens are the same as eunuchs, and they are all descendants of eunuchs, and they will be punished. Niu Zhigong has also heard about this, so he is very jealous of others calling his name Niu Zigong. Of course Zigong castrated himself. If this is the case, no matter how fertile the land is, there will be no harvest. After knowing the old man's weird thoughts, I knew he would not be able to calm down for a while, so I simply stopped mentioning the matter of asking for Qiu Sha's lifeblood, and decided to attack from the side and take it in a curve. First of all, I praised Niu Zhigong, and I was not stingy with my praise, so that I felt disgusted when I said it, but Niu Zhigong didn't feel disgusted, it was very helpful. "You control the lives of people and animals with both hands, and cut right and wrong with one knife. Master Niu, your couplets in the hall are really wonderful! It's a pity that there is a horizontal comment." I began to implement psychological tactics. Sure enough, as soon as Niu Zhigong heard my words, he immediately regained his energy, his face glowed, and he waited for my next words, but I just stopped talking and pretended to be tricky on purpose.Niu Zhigong didn't hold on for long, and took the initiative to ask: "Then how do you write the horizontal batch?" Seeing that this stubborn old man was led by me, I was secretly happy, and said unhurriedly: "You can make up the horizontal batch of 'the world's first knife'." "Is that too much?" Niu Zhigong pretended to be modest, but his face showed a sense of pride. "If Lord Long Live visits you privately and grants you the 'No. 1 Sword in the World', that will work." "It's a pity that Long Live Lord won't come to such a remote place." Niu Zhigong took it seriously, with a little regret in his tone. I talked a lot, and within a few moments, the Palace of the Ox was blurred, and I was very happy. As soon as he was happy, he began to tell me about his great achievements, and I asked him to show me his "lifeblood" museum, and he obliged. The so-called "life root" museum is the house where he used to store his penis. These penises were all brought home by him after the castration operation for those men who wanted to enter the palace as eunuchs. They accumulated over time, large and small, of all kinds, and actually filled the whole house, reaching as many as twenty or thirty. Generally, eunuchs purify themselves, and the severed penis is called "life root" or "baby" and must be kept properly. What are you doing with your lifeblood?The first as proof of castration.Before eunuchs are promoted step by step, they must first verify their integrity.The second is that after death, the baby will follow along with it, and it will be considered the whole body.Some eunuchs were poor and could not afford the operation fee, so they mortgaged their "lifeblood" in the hands of the castrator, and redeemed it at a high price when they became prosperous in the future; Ask for the treasure, but it is hidden by the operator, and you have to spend money to get it back when you need it.When it is necessary, of course, after death, the family will sew the treasure back for him, and burn the castration voluntary letter, as if there is no such thing, and the deceased will see his ancestors in the underworld. A large number of "life roots" picked up by Niu Zhigong were collected by him in a special house at home. Local folks joked that it was Master Niu's life root museum.If someone brags that his penis is very large, the folks will make fun of him, "Go to Niu Ye's museum to compare and compare first." Of course, he made a lot of money by relying on the lifeblood of these eunuchs.According to the rules, anyone who came to redeem their lifeblood had to pay a ransom, and the ransom was not fixed, ranging from a few taels of silver to dozens of taels of silver. It is said that the biggest deal is that one of the eunuchs he castrated once became an imperial eunuch in the palace, and won the trust of the Lord Long Live. Naturally, the chances of receiving rewards are more than ordinary eunuchs, and the number is also large. Wealthy households.After the eunuch died, when the family came to redeem the penis, they gave Niu Zhigong a tael of gold. Since then, Niuzhigong's vision has also increased, and the price has also risen. The treasures in the Niuzhigong Minggenzi Museum are like a revolving lantern. Some of the lifebloods are redeemed today, and new ones will come in tomorrow.According to Niu Zhigong, there are not many people who can enjoy the "step by step" treatment here. Only those who he thinks look good will be hung on the beam of his side room according to the rules.Others with bad faces were placed on the table without hanging. I scanned the house dedicated to hanging the lifeblood. In addition to the twenty or thirty treasures hanging on the beams, there are thirty or forty treasures packed in small wooden boxes, adding up to fifty or sixty treasures. . Ushinomiya pointed to the penis in the house and introduced it to me in detail. He opened a small sealed wooden box and pulled out a small drawer, only to see that the lifeblood inside was lying alone, already dried, like a mummy, shriveling innocently.If there is no explanation, no one will be able to tell that this is the lifeblood of a man. There is a piece of yellowed paper under the mummy, which is probably a voluntary document signed by the baby's owner when he cleans himself. Niu Zhigong showed me his achievements with a sense of accomplishment. When he looked at the lifeblood, his eyes were full of pride, as if those things were enough to prove his prestige and craftsmanship.He also talked about the essentials of castration, and the different techniques required for different sizes of penis, etc., which made me feel terrified. My eyes kept sweeping around the house, trying to find the lifeblood of the eunuch Qiu Sha, but the lifeblood of the house did not indicate the name of the owner. Only when I opened the wooden box and looked at the life and death contract did I know the box. Who is the owner of the root of life. Niu Zhigong seems to know what I'm thinking, but he doesn't know. I had no other choice, so I had to take a step first and look at it first: "Master Niu, if no one comes to claim it, will these lifebloods be preserved forever?" "Generally speaking, people who put their lifeblood here will come to redeem it as long as their plight improves a little bit; those who don't have time to redeem it, after the person dies, their family members will come to take it back; if they don't come to redeem it almost none." In fact, I only care about Qiu Sha's lifeblood, I can't control other people's.While I was looking left and right, I accidentally knocked down a earthen bowl containing the eunuch's lifeblood. When Niu Zhigong saw it, his face changed drastically and he was full of anger. I hurriedly apologized again and again, but Niu Zhigong ignored it.I wanted to pick up the lifeblood that had fallen on the ground, but the Ox Palace stopped me, and while I was in a hurry to pick it up, I called my wife to come out and clean up the mess. The woman took out an jar of juice with unknown name, soaked the eunuch's lifeblood in it with her slender hands, and rinsed it gently, with a calm expression and no shame, just like a craftsman doing some work. While scolding myself for my carelessness, I thought to myself, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get Qiu Sha's life back today. Without thinking too much, I proposed to Niu Zhigong the idea of ​​redeeming Qiusha's lifeblood. Niu Zhigong was silent and sneered.I have a chill down my back.Begging again and again, Niu Zhigong stretched out five fingers and offered the price in sign language. I didn't counter the price, so I quickly took out five hundred copper coins and handed it to him.Niu Zhigong glanced at it, and said, "Originally, five hundred wen would be fine, but today I feel unhappy, and the price has been increased, five copper coins!" I was so angry that I vomited blood, five hanging copper coins equaled five thousand Wen!This is simply more shameless than a robber! We traveled across mountains and rivers, day and night, and it cost only eight taels of silver. If we gave him five taels, it would basically be a waste of work.I was still waiting for the money to take the provincial examination, so I was naturally a little bit reluctant. Unable to agree on the price, the two broke up unhappy. I walked away, and I heard Niu Zhigong's wife calling from behind: "Master Niu said that at least three slings of copper coins are needed, and next time you come back, you will have to pay ten slings..."