Chapter 31 Chapter 2 The Incomplete Stone Statue

The ancient book in my hand is very rough, it almost crumbles when I hold it in my hand.This book can be preserved from the Western Han Dynasty to today, which is the same as the probability of winning all 15 football games.I opened this book carefully. In fact, this book is only a dozen pages, but because every page of it is as thick as bark, it feels very thick when I hold it in my hand.I flipped through it casually, and the font inside was indeed the same as the font on the silk script unearthed from the No. 3 Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. It should be the Western Han characters.Although the handwriting is somewhat blurred, it does not affect reading.However, the above records are all worthless things, just a wild history.Suddenly, I saw a page that read clearly: Xishui Village!

When I saw these three words, my heart trembled suddenly.I handed the book to Xinhong, and he also had an expression of disbelief after reading it.We originally wanted to see clearly the content about Xishui Village in the book, but the peddler snatched Ye Shi back and stuffed it in his arms.Today's businessmen are really good. As soon as they see that customers are interested in the things they buy and sell, they immediately raise prices and take advantage of the fire. "What's the matter, do you know it's a good thing?" The peddler had a smirk on his face. "The book is indeed an antique, but what is written in it is rubbish. Ghosts want to buy it. Xinhong, let's not waste time with this kind of person. Let's go!" Follow Xinhong.

"What are you talking about," Xinhong said in a low voice, "We have the word 'Xishui Village' on it, why did you just leave like that!" "You are so stupid," I also said in a low voice, "If we don't leave now, that guy won't raise the price to the sky!" When Xinhong heard this, he immediately showed me an expression of admiration.Seeing that we were suddenly not interested in the unofficial history in his hands, the peddler also hurriedly chased us.It seems that my trick is quite effective.However, this unofficial history of the Western Han Dynasty can be regarded as a national cultural relic.In the Western Han Dynasty, paper had just been invented, so where did the books come from?If I really buy and sell such high-quality goods, I'm afraid I will be beheaded. I don't want to move my head to other places at such a young age.I just have a question, how can such a valuable cultural relic be in the hands of a peddler, and even sell it on the street!It's really confusing.

"Let me tell you, two bosses, don't you want to buy this book? This is a top-notch product!" The peddler said anxiously. "High-quality goods? I'm really sorry, how can we low-class people afford such high-quality things!" I said indifferently. "Then you set a price, I see that you know the goods, and I sold it to you at a low price!" The peddler said while pulling us. "Then you set a price yourself. If you ask for a price, we will leave immediately!" I tried my best to pretend to be impatient. "10,000, 10,000, I'll buy it for you right away." The peddler said as if distressed.

"Ten thousand? You sell a bad book for ten thousand? Why don't I go home and get a book and sell it to you for five thousand?" I pushed the peddler away. "What you said is wrong. If I hadn't been anxious for money, I wouldn't have sold this book, and if this book really sold, it would have sold for at least a few million." The peddler suddenly changed his mind. It became a very wronged look, as if we were bullying a good person, which made me panic. "Then you should pay less at any rate. I didn't see that we are grassroots workers with low wages!"

"That's eight thousand, eight thousand is the lowest bottom line. If you keep bargaining, I won't sell it!" The peddler pretended to be very pitiful, which made me feel that I was really a villain. "Okay, okay. Eight thousand is eight thousand!" Xinhong interrupted suddenly. As soon as the peddler heard that Xinhong paid eight thousand, several peony flowers bloomed on his bitter face. This man is really fickle.Xinhong is really stupid, such a bad trick can trick him into this.This kind of person must be okay, he came here to sell because he couldn't find a rich buyer.The book is indeed worth millions, and it might cause a sensation in the museum.But we have to study the thing of Xishui Village, and we will not transfer it to the museum for the time being.We didn't have 8,000 yuan with us, so Xinhong took the hawker to the ATM and took out 8,000 yuan for him.After the peddler counted the money quickly, he turned around and ran into the crowd. It was too late for us to chase after him, leaving the two of us full of doubts.

After returning home, we couldn't wait to turn the unofficial history of the Western Han Dynasty to the page with Xishui Village printed on it.These words are obscure and difficult to understand. Xinhong and I read them for a long time and studied them for a long time before we understood the meaning.The above basically talks about some past events in Shanxi today, and there is only a small section about Xishui Village in the area of ​​Jincheng City.The above probably said that in the Western Han Dynasty, Xishui Village suddenly appeared at some point.People in the village rarely go out. By chance, the author of this book saw villagers building a stone statue outside Xishui Village. He only caught a glimpse of a part of the stone statue, which turned out to be the tail of a snake sitting cross-legged!Later, this person never walked around the side of Xishui Village again.He wrote in the book that although he only saw a part of the snake's tail, he was inexplicably scared and felt that the village was very evil.Afterwards, in his book, it's just wild guesses about what the part of the snake's head he didn't see would look like, whether there were nine snake heads, or a mouth the size of a bucket.

"There is no useful information on it. It seems that I was fooled by that peddler." I said disappointedly. "You can't say that, at least we finally found the records about Xishui Village in ancient books!" Xinhong didn't look disappointed. "What you said is not unreasonable. But why do those local official histories seem to deliberately avoid this Xishui Village? Could it be that the people in that village are all rebels?" I couldn't figure out why. "It's impossible. From this unofficial history, Xishui Village may have existed in the Western Han Dynasty. It has such a long history, and the village has not yet developed into a city. This is also a bit strange." Xinhong said.

"The author of this book seems to be someone from around Xishui Village. Why did the book end up in the hands of a peddler? I don't think that peddler is a good person. If such a valuable cultural relic is always in his hands, I'm afraid I won't be able to pass it It didn’t take long for him to loosen it, and he didn’t know how to take good care of it.” What I hate the most is that cultural relics are not properly maintained and are resold everywhere.Sell ​​when you sell, buy when you buy.At any rate, cultural relics should be well maintained so as not to damage them.But this book must have been well maintained in the past, otherwise it would not be preserved today.

"I'm very interested in what the author saw." Xinhong was still studying the book. "Didn't you say that the part that the author of this book saw was the tail of a snake sitting cross-legged?" "Yes, what kind of stone statues will be built in a very closed village that suddenly appeared?" Xin Hong pondered. "What could it be? Your question is too naive. Didn't he say that it is a snake tail? Of course it is a snake!" As soon as I finished speaking, I was shocked.Could this be Yinlihong?The matter of Tianshan Temple still terrifies me even now.I thought about it, and thought it should be impossible, and that matter should be over. Besides, at that time, I didn’t see any statues of snakes in Shendian, and that nation didn’t have this habit.

"The author only saw a part, and I'm curious about the part he didn't see." Xinhong said. "You think too much, isn't it a snake? Is it a monster with a snake body and a frog head? Would you make this kind of statue?" I teased Xinhong. "I also just have a special feeling that the part he didn't see is very important." Don't think so much, we have to go back to work tomorrow and have a long ride.Tickets are expensive, and the service is not so good. "I complained." Xinhong closed the book and put it in a cool place.We also went back to our rooms to rest, and we have to take a long-distance bus tomorrow.I don't know when I will have time to go to Shanxi. What did Uncle Zou do in Shuixi Village?Could it be that he wanted to steal the statue?Speaking to Xinhong, I also think that part of the stone statue that the author of the unofficial history did not see is very mysterious. What will the other part look like?I tossed and turned in bed, thinking about these things, and finally lost sleep. I thought that since I couldn't sleep, I would go to my uncle's room to see if there was anything I hadn't noticed before, maybe I could give some hints.Xinhong and I have seen Uncle Zou's room many times, and there is basically nothing to find.I saw a fairly new tourist brochure on my uncle's bookshelf.When I'm bored, I'll check it out.This book includes the introduction of tourist attractions in more than a dozen provinces and cities in China. I thought it was very boring, but when I turned to the catalog, I saw that the block in Shanxi was marked with a red pen.I was startled, this must have been ticked by Uncle Zou.I hastily turned to the pages introducing Shanxi.But there is no special information on it, and there is no introduction to Xishui Village.All are familiar things.In these few pages, it is introduced that there are "Shennong Ridge", "Baigu Mountain", "Yangtou Mountain" and "Yandi Mausoleum" at the junction of Gaoping and Changzhi counties in Shanxi Province.This confuses me a little. Many historical materials are sufficient to show that Emperor Yan was born in Shaanxi.When he grows up and becomes the leader of the Jiang Yan tribe, they will also be active in the Guanzhong area.I looked at the contents of the manual and felt very strange, how come there are so many relics about Emperor Yan in Shanxi?