Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The Code of True and False Antiques

I never expected that the place where Lushana Buddha is expected to be enshrined is not a temple or a niche, but a Guandi Temple. It's just that the Guandi Temple looks indescribably weird.Kido Kana grabbed my arm and murmured: "I seem to have seen this architectural style somewhere..." After her reminder, I quickly noticed that this mini Guandi Temple, in various details All appear to be different.For example, its ornamentation and the curvature of the eaves and niches are very large, and the walls are filled with neatly sectioned mushroom sedges, which seem to be embedded with a brown-red ribbon—this is very similar to the temple style in Tibetan areas.

I took two steps closer and saw the bronze statue of Guan Gong. Although the clothes were still in the Han style, the altar on which I was standing was a mandala flower.As soon as I saw this flower, I was startled, and quickly asked Kido Kana to wait in place, and then walked around to the back of the half-temple and half-shrine.Sure enough, behind the niche of the temple, I found a collapsed stone scripture pillar, but the top, body and base of the pillar are still clearly distinguished. Such things as Jingzhu appeared in the middle of Tang Dynasty.People at that time believed that the scriptures contained boundless Dharma, which could avoid evil and eliminate disasters and subdue evil spirits.This scripture building has an octagonal Sumeru seat, and the decoration of mandala flowers can be seen on the body of the building, which is obviously something of Tantric Buddhism.

In other words, this is a temple with a strong Tantric style, and a Guan Gong is enshrined in it. I suddenly had a feeling that the TV had switched to the wrong channel. Huang Rong in the movie went to "Shanghai Bund" to fall in love with Xu Wenqiang. I was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought that logically, there should be the name of the person who set up the building. I hurriedly squatted down to look carefully, and found that the lettering was gone, and I could only vaguely see the word "letter". " Two words, other information is lacking. It is understandable that there are only Chinese and no Tibetan on it.If this Guandi Temple is a product of the same period as Wu Zetian's jade Buddha head, at that time, the Tibetan language had just been born and hadn't become popular yet.

After watching for a long time, I turned back to the front of the temple.Kana Kido was taking pictures of the statue of Guan Yu, when she saw me walking back, she asked me what I found.I shook my head, Kido Kana pointed to Guan Gong and said, "This should be Guan Yu, the general of the Shu Han, right?" "yes." "Why does Guan Gong appear here? Is there any connection between it and the half stone statue we saw in Shengyan Temple?" I deny this claim.The statue of Guan Gong in Shengyan Temple is at most something from the Qing Dynasty, which is far from the age of this Guandi Temple.Besides, since Shenxiu elevated Guan Yu to a Buddhist Dharma protector, statues of Guan Yu can be seen everywhere in Zhongtu temples, which does not explain anything.

Kido Kana took out a rubber glove from his pocket and put it on, reached out to touch the statue of Guan Gong, from head to toe very carefully, and even used a small ruler to measure it.Ten minutes later, she turned around and said to me, "This bronze statue is almost a thousand years old." "Oh? Can the numbers be estimated so accurately?" "Well, I inferred from the thickness of the rust on the surface of the bronze statue. You see, the rust surface is layered and divided into several layers, and the corrosion feeling is slightly different. There is an estimation formula." Kido Kana replied, one involves In the professional field, her tone is no longer shy.

I laughed and said, "I forgot, you have a paper discussing this." I remember that in Kido Kana's resume, he once published a paper trying to quantify the patina of cultural relics, which was very ambitious.Since she can write such content, she must be quite confident in identifying antiques. Kido Kana said: "This is not all my achievements. My grandfather Kido Yusan was the first to propose this theory." I saw that she was very proud of what she said, and I didn't know how to answer for a while.She didn't know that this statue of Guan Gong was not genuine, it should have been born in Qishan in June 1931, and the maker was Zheng Hu.

It suddenly occurred to me that this bronze statue was a product of the Republic of China, but the rust on its body was so thick, it was obviously made old on purpose.When Xu Yicheng asked Zheng Hu to make such a thing, he must have planned to trick Kido Yuzo into a trick.Those seemingly ancient copper erosion not only fooled the contemporary Kido Kana, but also fooled Kido Yuzo from decades ago. If this conjecture is true, then the meaning of Xu Yicheng and Kido Yusan's expedition will be very different from the public history, and it will become a scam. Xu Yicheng is the one who set it up, and Kido Yusan is the victim .

But why Guan Yu?What specific meaning does this symbol have in the Buddha head case? Kido Kana looked at me in a daze, her eyes full of doubts: "Is there something else I don't know?" She said it very tactfully, but I could feel the slight sadness in her tone.She seems to be aware that I have something to hide from her. A woman's intuition is really scary. I hesitated, and told her the story of the bronze Guan Yu.Now that she has confessed to me, it would be unmanly for me to keep hiding it.After I finished speaking, Kido Kana's face changed three times. It seems that she also realized that her grandfather made a mistake in appraising the bronze statue decades ago.

She lightly grabbed my arm and sighed, "Why... didn't you tell me earlier? Didn't we agree? There is no need to hide anything between husband and wife." "Uh..." I don't know What should I say, my face is a little embarrassed.Kido Kana showed a hurt expression, and there was a lingering look of disappointment between her brows, which made me feel guilty.I wanted to hold her hand, but she avoided it: "Is there anything else you haven't told me?" "It's gone, it's really gone." I said repeatedly.It's a pity that this explanation is a bit weak, and Kido Kana's doubts have not subsided because of this.She let go of my arm and said in a low voice: "I'll go and have a look at the back." Then she walked to the back of the temple niche to look at the collapsed sutra building.

Faced with this silent protest, I didn't catch up to explain, and I didn't know what to explain.After she left, I shook my head and continued to look at the statue of Guan Gong.Mrs. Zheng's craftsmanship is really superb. If I hadn't known about it in advance, I would have thought that this bronze statue of Guan Yu was from the Tang Dynasty.This level of forgery is even better than that of Zheng Guoqu and the others, and it is really hard to see without using sophisticated instruments to detect it. I stretched out my hand to touch it, and suddenly found that the statue of Guan Gong was shaking a little, and when I broke it again, it almost fell off the altar.I took a closer look at the connection and there are tiny solder marks and tiny gaps where it doesn't fit.In other words, the statue of Guan Gong and the altar are not integrated, but added later.So what was originally placed on the altar?Is it the Lushana Stone Buddha that is offered opposite Shengyan Temple, or the Jade Buddha in Tianming Hall?

I sat cross-legged in front of the bronze statue of Guan Gong, closed my eyes, and tried to transform myself into my grandfather Xu Yicheng, imagining what he would see, what he would do, and what he would think.In the same place, the two generations of grandparents and grandchildren had a magical intersection. I put myself in the fog decades ago, trying to push away the dust particles, trying to see the outline clearly, and find my grandfather Really put your heart into it. And maybe my father's too. I don't know how long it has passed, I opened my eyes "swish", stood up and walked around to the back of the temple niche.There, Kido Kana was brushing the surface of the scripture building with a professional small brush, trying to distinguish more characters. "Don't look at it, I just saw it, and it's engraved with scriptures from the Dharani Sutra." I walked over and told her.Kido Kana refused to look up, and continued to brush silently.I put my hand on her shoulder and she twisted and tried to break free.I sighed and said to her: "If you want to hate me, you can wait a little while, please let me dig things out first." Kido Kana raised her head, was stunned for a moment, and then smiled wryly: "So you still have more things to say." "No, no..." I realized that I had said the wrong thing, and quickly looked back, "I just remembered that when I saw the portrait of Guan Gong. If I tell lies, I will not be able to go down this Conch Mountain." !" Kido Kana was skeptical, but still straightened up and dodged away. This stone scripture building is not small, but fortunately it has been broken.Its sutra base was half buried in the soil. I took out a small shovel and dug up the surrounding soil. I dug down to a depth of about 30 centimeters, and finally saw the root of the base.I pulled out the whole base with the roots, put it aside, and continued digging down.However, my digging method was a bit strange. First, I shoveled up the pit wall, then dug deeper, and then shoveled and dug again. A fairly standard cylindrical pit soon appeared. Kana Kido saw that my actions were so weird, she couldn't help asking: "What are you digging?" I stopped my hands and grinned: "If you don't get angry with me, I will tell you." Kido Kana blushed, "I'm not angry." I raised my hand to grab her arm, and said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you about the bronze Guan Yu, please forgive me." Kido Kana hummed, I asked if this counted as forgiveness, and she hummed again.I said that you forgive me if you smile.Kido Kana twitched her lips, revealing a helpless smile. After getting bored, I told her: "I'm digging something, something very closely related to us." After speaking, I continued to wave the shovel, Kido Kana was aroused by my words, and came to the pit to watch .I dug for a while, and when I shoveled to the bottom, there was a sudden clanging sound.I pushed the shovel away from the void, revealing the hard granite layer at the bottom of the pit. "Nothing." Kido Kana said disappointedly. "I can't see it. It's not there, but it's there. It's there, but it's not." I grinned.Kido Kana was confused.I tapped the edge of the round pit with a shovel: "Look at what's on this side?" I had already dug out all the soil in the pit, and Kido Kana looked down and found that the wall of the pit was surrounded by the same The granite at the bottom has the same texture, forming a very delicate cylindrical rock wall pit. I inserted the shovel into the hill-like mound next to it, and said, "A mountain like Hailuo Mountain was extruded by orogeny, and the main body is granite. On such a mountain top, it is surprising that such a deep soil can be dug out." , is an unbelievable thing. What is even more unbelievable is that the size of this soil layer is exactly a cylinder surrounded by rock formations. What does this mean?" "...Is this pothole deliberately dug out?" Kido Kana quickly realized. I nodded: "That's right, it's very likely that the person who built this Guandi Temple did it. The purpose was to bury the scriptures and fix them in place. But this created another problem." I picked up Kana Kido's ruler and measured it: "The length of the root of the sutra building buried in the soil is 30 centimeters, but this pit is 80 centimeters high. The granite here is so hard that it takes time and effort to dig it out. Why did those craftsmen go to such great lengths to dig an extra 50 centimeters?" "Unless..." Kido Kana hesitated. "Unless they are under the scriptures, they need to put something. The height of this thing is about 50 centimeters." Kido Kana's eyes widened instantly.It can be deduced from the extant Jade Buddha heads that the full body height of the Jade Buddha in Tianming Hall is exactly 50 centimeters.Her body trembled slightly, this discovery was of great significance.It proves that the Jade Buddha of Zetianming Hall, which we have been looking for, has been quietly buried under this sutra pillar and sleeping in the Qinling Mountains for at least a long time. Kido Kana squatted down and reached into the hole, trying to grab a handful of soil, as if to feel the traces left by the Jade Buddha over the millennium.She was silent for a long time, and asked, "How did you think of it?" "It's very simple. Dharani scriptures are engraved on the scriptures. Dharani means 'general holding' in Sanskrit, that is, Dharma. There are religious and sacrificial vessels buried under similar buildings—such as the underground palace of Famen Temple—so I guess there must be something under the sutra pillar.” "But... the one standing opposite the Shengyan Temple, shouldn't it be Lusana Buddha?" I pointed to the front: "It should have been there originally, the Lushena Buddha was supposed to sit on the altar in the temple - but for some reason, the altar was replaced with a statue of Guan Gong, as for Lushena Buddha The Buddha statue, I'm afraid it has been destroyed, right?" We realize that decades ago, on this mountaintop, at that critical juncture in time, there is an explanation of all the stories and causes and effects so far.Something must have happened between Xu Yicheng, Kido Yusan, and that mysterious "sister Xiaolu Yongde", which caused them to dig out the Jade Buddha under the Sutra pillar, destroy the Lushana Buddha in the temple, and replace it with Guan Gong Go up the image—the image of Guan Gong must represent extraordinary significance. Just when our thoughts were deadlocked, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside.We looked back and saw Fang Zhen standing there.I asked him how he got in, and Fang Zhen said calmly, "The plank road is broken." We were shocked and asked him what was going on.Fang Zhen replied that he heard a few crackling sounds just now, and the rope on the plank road began to shake violently.He originally wanted to go down to have a look, but the plank road swayed too much, and he couldn't stand on it at all.The shaking lasted for about five minutes, and almost all the planks collapsed, leaving only a few pieces of rope. "Could it be a sudden gust of wind?" Kido Kana asked. "How can it be such a coincidence that the plank road has not been damaged by wind and rain for more than 60 years, but it was destroyed by the wind when we came here?" I disagree with her guess, and my intuition tells me that things are not that simple . Fang Zhen was silent with a cigarette in his mouth. Before there was no conclusive evidence, he seldom expressed his opinion. A pair of sharp eyes kept scanning the bottom of the cliff. Compared to figuring out why the plank road was destroyed, there is a more practical trouble: how do we go down? This problem is quite serious. Hailuo Mountain is neither high nor low, and the surrounding cliffs are almost at a ninety-degree angle.If there is no plank road, there is no way to go down with only the few climbing ropes we brought. "Does Mr. Xie know about this down here?" I suddenly thought, "We can call him." Fang Zhen doesn't like to talk, and Kido Kana has a small voice naturally, so the task of shouting can only be entrusted to me.I tied a rope around my waist, let Fang Zhen drag one end, then walked to the edge of the cliff step by step, poked my head out, moved my dantian, and yelled loudly.Surrounded by mountains, there are echoes, and the height of Hailuo Mountain is not particularly high. If Xie Laodao is still at the foot of the mountain, there is no reason why he can't hear it.But I shouted until my voice became hoarse, and there was still no movement below, so I had to shrink back resentfully. It was already half past five in the afternoon, and the sun would set in just over an hour.The three of us had neither supplies nor tents, and it would have been dangerous to spend the night on top of the mountain.Fang Zhen walked around the top of the mountain, looking at his expression, there was nothing he could do.I was sitting on a rock, and Kido Kana was next to me, leaning against my body. At this time, the sun in the distance began to set. This was the first time I saw the sunset on the Qinling Mountains. The dim red circle slowly dipped into the blue-gray mountains. The bronze mirror of the Han Dynasty was quenched into the icy water, and even the surrounding clouds turned red. Kido Kana stared at the sunset in the distance, silent, and for a moment I thought she was asleep.But she moved her lips and murmured softly: "I was very naughty when I was young. There are several old wooden buildings from the Meiji and Taisho periods at home, which are my favorite playgrounds. Once, I climbed into a Playing on the beams of the old house, I accidentally found a hidden compartment on the beams with a notebook hidden in it. I was so happy that I danced and kicked the ladder down without paying attention. The building is soundproof The effect is very good, and the location is very remote. No matter how loudly I call for help, no one can hear me. I just clutch my notes and curl up on the beam in panic, waiting to be discovered by adults..." "Kido Notes, so you found it?" Kido Kana nodded and buried her head in my arms: "At that time, I was standing alone in a high place isolated, feeling very scared and lonely, only that notebook accompanied me and gave me strength. Until I was rescued. I always thought that it was the soul of my grandfather in the notes. He protected me and chose me to fulfill his long-cherished wish..." Probably because this similar scene touched her childhood shadow, Kido Kana's mood was a little unstable.I had to hold her in my arms and stroke her hair slowly.She suddenly asked: "If I die, will you be sad?" "Don't talk nonsense, none of us will die. How can three living people be trapped by a hill?" I reprimanded softly and patted her on the head. Kido Kana raised her head, tears streaming down her face.She shook my arm: "Don't you understand? We found the traces left by our ancestors, and then we were in a desperate situation. The exact same scene, did you hear? This is reincarnation, this is fate. Our Grandpa, you must be watching us around here!" Hearing this, only her words remained in my mind to keep echoing: "The traces left by my ancestors. The traces left by my ancestors..." I hugged Kido Kana, closed my eyes, and faintly realized that I A very critical sequence was overlooked before. In June 1931, Xu Yicheng and Zheng Hu came to Qishan, cast the bronze Guan Yu, and Zheng Hu left; then in July, Xu Yicheng, Kido Yousan, and the mysterious "third person" went to Hailuo Mountain to build the Kunu plank road , Climb to the top to find the Jade Buddha.It can be seen from this that Xu Yicheng should have brought the intentionally aged bronze Guan Yu up Mount Hailuo between June and July, and replaced the statue of Lusana Buddha before going down the mountain to meet Kido for three times. In other words, before the completion of the Kunu Plank Road, Xu Yicheng had another passage to go up and down Hailuo Mountain—and this road was still very stable, otherwise it would be impossible to get such a heavy bronze statue of Guan Yu up. This road is definitely gone, but at least it gives us another possibility.I stood up, comforted Kana Kido, found Fang Zhen, and told him my thoughts.Fang Zhen pondered for a moment: "There is indeed such a possibility, but I have carefully surveyed the surrounding cliffs just now, and I didn't find any traces other than the plank road." I sighed in disappointment.Fang Zhen suddenly said, "Have you seen "Sherlock Holmes"?" "Saw TV." "If you have time, you can read the novel. It's very well written." Fang Zhen's tone was calm, "Holmes said a word in it: When you eliminate all the impossible, what remains, no matter how bizarre, is the truth." The two of us turned our necks at the same time, looking at the small Guandi Temple.As night fell, the small temple without any incense looked particularly lonely.We looked at each other with a tacit smile, walked to the Guandi Temple together, took down the bronze statue of Guan Yu, and moved the altar away.I looked around at the ground under the altar in the afterglow of the setting sun, and made a confirmation gesture to Fang Zhen. The ground in the temple is paved with one-foot-square stone slabs. The gaps between the slabs are the same as the outer walls, filled with mushroom sedges dyed with red soil, and the red grid strips formed are quite Tibetan style.After the mushroom sedge is dyed red, it will not fade after thousands of years, but the color will be slightly different according to the length of time.I saw that the color between the slats of a few slabs was slightly different from that of other places, and it should be laid back after being lifted. "Is there a secret passage under the stone slab?" I muttered to myself.Fang Zhen frowned: "No, if there is a passage underneath, then only two stone slabs are needed to cover it. But the discolored stone slabs are arranged in a long and narrow strip, extending from the small temple to the two Under the side wall, it is flat and long. Who would dig the secret passage like this?" "No matter how many there are, open them all and have a look!" Fang Zhenmao and I lowered our waists and began to lift up the stone slabs one by one.Kido Kana stared blankly at our demolition in full swing. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't bother to explain, because it was going to be dark soon. Under the stone slab is soft soil, the texture of which is exactly the same as the land in the Buddhist cave under the sutra pillar.Pushing away the soil, Fang Zhen and I found that there is a hard granite mountain underneath.But between the hard rock faces, there is a long and large crack, which runs through the entire small temple horizontally, and is just covered by those few stone slabs.To use a metaphor, the mountain of Hailuo Mountain has a big opening from the top of the mountain, and then it was sealed with mud and stone slabs as Band-Aids. Neither Fang Zhen nor I thought that there was such a big crack hidden under the temple, it was beyond imagination.However, although the gap is long and narrow, it cannot accommodate people, and it cannot be used as a secret passage. Fang Zhen observed its depth and length, and told me that this is probably the trace that cracked the Hailuo Mountain during an earthquake.However, because of its special geological structure, the cracks are cracked from the middle of the mountain, and there are no obvious cracks in the outer cliffs.Fang Zhen went around to the outside of the small temple wall, leaned over to dig, and sure enough, under a layer of soil, he also found the extension of the crack, and the crack was quite big, barely enough for an adult to go through.I looked up and saw that it was dark and unfathomable below. Fang Zhen rarely sighed in a tone of self-blame: "Before I climbed, I found that the slope angle of the two sides of Hailuo Mountain was a bit strange. I should have realized that there was a problem in the middle." "Could it be that they climbed up from here before?" I couldn't help asking. "There are countless cavities inside the mountain range itself. If this crack is opened smartly and connects with some of the cavities, it may form a passage." After Fang Zhen finished speaking, he struck a match and threw it into the crack to go.After the match fell, it hit the rock and went out.During this short period of time, we saw that the rocks on both sides of the deep crevice were uneven, and they looked strangely rocky, but they were suitable for climbing.We had no choice but to try our luck down here. I told Kido Kana about the situation, and she said that as long as she followed me, she could go anywhere.Originally, we wanted to remove the bronze statue of Guan Yu, but considering the risks, we decided to keep it temporarily.The most important thing is that people survive, and cultural relics can be picked up at any time in the future. This crack is easier to climb than imagined. The concave and convex stone pillars on the left and right become natural escalators. The crack is wide and narrow. When we are worried that there is no way to go down, suddenly there is a hole in the sky, and it suddenly becomes clear.The landscape of nature is really wonderful. This conch mountain is like a walnut, which has been cracked. Although the shell remains intact, you only need to pinch the two sides of the walnut, and the shell will fall off on both sides, exposing the walnut kernel.The ancients did not know how to discover such a blessed place. As I climbed down, I recalled Xu Yicheng's actions at that time in my mind. He first asked Zheng Hu to cast the bronze statue of Guan Yu, and then came to Hailuo Mountain with the "third person", climbed up this big crack, and replaced Lusana Buddha.Then they put the altar in place, laid the slabs back, and climbed down through the crack outside the wall.When Kido Yuzo followed Xu Yicheng to Hailuo Mountain, Xu Yicheng deliberately concealed the existence of this crack and built the Kunu plank road with him.At the top of the mountain, Kido Yusan's attention must have been attracted by the small temple first, and Xu Yicheng or the "third person" took the opportunity to cover up the crack outside the wall. In this way, in Kido's eyes, Hailuo Mountain has become a closed place that no one has set foot in since it was built in the Tang Dynasty, and the bronze statue of Guan Yu on it is logically identified as a Tang Dynasty thing.Xu Yicheng worked hard to set up such a situation, why?If all of this is to deceive Kido Yuzo, then the authenticity of the Jade Buddha head they found on the top of Hailuo Mountain is very interesting. We spent more than three hours and finally reached the bottom without any risk.The only accident during this period was that Kido Kana accidentally stepped on the ground and almost fell directly. Fang Zhen caught him quickly, but his own right leg was injured.We emerged from a well-concealed hole.The entrance of the cave is covered by a large tree's roots, making it almost impossible to be found.We all let out a long sigh of relief, this crack is really a good passage made in heaven. We turned on the flashlight and walked around from the entrance of the cave to the location of the plank road where we started, all of us were surprised. In front of our eyes, tents and other supplies were thrown at the foot of the mountain, a section of the plank road hung down from mid-air, and Xie Laodao lay straight and motionless directly below, with his head and body bent at a strange angle.The compass of his was lost not far away and fell to pieces. Fang Zhen went over to check and said that he was dead, and the cause of death was a broken neck caused by falling from a high altitude.I punched the ground with my fist, feeling sorry for myself.Xie Laodao had nothing to do with this matter at all, he just wanted to make a little money, but unexpectedly he lost his life. Looking at it now, the situation at that time was probably: Xie Laodao did not know what medicine he had taken wrongly, and suddenly wanted to climb the mountain.As a result, he had just walked on the plank road dozens of steps away, when the mountain wind blew, and the plank road shook endlessly.Panicked, he fell down from the mountain and even tore loose the trestle rope, eventually causing the entire plank road to collapse. I was moaning, but Fang Zhen walked quietly to me with a lame leg, frowning.He looked around, and said in an unprecedentedly severe tone: "Xie Laodao's death was not an accident, but a homicide." Hearing Fang Zhen's words, I gasped, and suddenly felt that the surrounding temperature dropped a few degrees.A living person, who had just been turned into a corpse, was now found to have been killed.In the shadowy mountains, this is not good news. "First of all, if he falls off the swaying plank road, at this height, it is impossible to land directly below, and it should be about two to three meters off." Fang Zhen analyzed slowly, "Secondly, this plank road is so difficult to climb, Will someone hold a compass while climbing? Thirdly, and most importantly, the dead body is not bleeding like this, and the shape of the corpse spot is also different." "what do you mean……" "I think that after Xie Laodao was killed, the murderer arranged the scene. If we believe that he accidentally fell from a high altitude, we will be fooled by the murderer." As expected of an old criminal investigator, he came to a conclusion only from the analysis of the scene. "Where is the murderer..." I looked at the darkness around me in horror.Fang Zhen said: "The murderer's purpose should be to trap us on the top of the mountain. Since he didn't know the existence of the crack, he probably left." I remained silent.This murderer, like Fang Zhen, followed us all the way, deliberate, and his purpose must have something to do with the Buddha head.I have always felt that someone is watching me in the dark, whether it is in Beijing, Tianjin, Anyang or Qishan, I can't get rid of this feeling.The long-standing foreboding finally became clear—we were getting closer to the truth, and he finally decided to do it. I suddenly became suspicious. Could it be that Fang Zhen had been aware of it beforehand, so he took the initiative to show up to protect us? But I didn't ask him, and it was useless to ask.If he thinks you can know, he will take the initiative to tell you, otherwise he won't be able to get any news if he is killed. "what should we do?" "Set up camp here and leave tomorrow." Fang Zhen said. Kido Kana looked terrified.That night, I stayed with her in a tent and talked a lot.My childhood, her childhood, my family, her family.Fang Zhen didn't sleep all night, and until midnight, I could still hear his footsteps when he got up to patrol, and I couldn't help but be full of admiration for this veteran. In the early morning of the next day, Fang Zhen carefully examined Xie Laodao's body by sunlight, recorded it, and buried it on the spot.He has no relatives or friends, and I am afraid no one but us will care about his life or death.I didn't even know his name, so I had to write a wooden sign of Xie Laodao's tomb and put it in front of the tomb.Kido Kana recited a rebirth mantra for the Taoist priest in front of the grave, and I know Mr. Xie would not mind. Under Fang Zhen's leadership, it took us just over two days to leave the mountains and return to Qishan County.As soon as he entered the county seat, Fang Zhen left in a hurry.I called Ji Yunfu, but a stranger answered the call, claiming to be Ji Yunfu's cousin, Ji Yunfang.I asked if Ji Yunfu was there, but he hesitated for a moment and asked me who I was. I said I was a friend of his, but he told me that Ji Yunfu had a sudden heart attack yesterday and passed away. A bolt from the blue struck straight away, and I could barely hold the microphone. Ji Yunfu is also dead? How is this possible? Ji Yunfang told me that Ji Yunfu had a congenital heart disease, so he almost never left Qishan.Someone came to him yesterday and found Ji Yun Fu lying on the desk, his body had become cold.The forensic doctor has done an examination, there is no doubt, the body has been sent to the funeral home. I closed my eyes, the pain in my heart was indescribable.I don't believe that he died of a heart attack, and I also don't believe that Xie Laodao fell to his death by himself.The deaths of both of them, including the danger to the three of us, happened close to the truth.The attack by the black hand behind the scenes came so fast and hard that we didn't even have time to react. "Then did he leave anything behind when he died? Information, notes or notes." I asked with a trembling voice. Ji Yunfang said helplessly: "He left behind too many things..." She is right, Ji Yunfu's collection of books is too rich, and there are several houses for the materials alone.But what I want to ask is whether the Kido notebook that he and Qi old man cooperated to decipher have any results.My intuition told me that his death was directly related to that notebook. But Ji Yunfu's cousin didn't know about these things.I also don't want to tell her, for fear that she will be murdered because of this. I asked if I could go to Ji's mansion to pay my respects at a convenient time, and Ji Yunfang agreed. I put down the phone and told Kana Kido the bad news. She was too shocked to speak, and said how could this be possible.I shook my head, feeling that all the strength in my body was being sucked away, and I was short of breath and tight in my chest.This stagnation became more and more knotted in my chest, I couldn't help but yelled, and punched the wall heavily, deeply feeling my own powerlessness.Two lines of hot tears flowed out slowly. Although Ji Yunfu and I have only known each other for a short time, we hit it off right away. He is a good friend and a good senior.Without his meticulous analysis and data collection, we would definitely not be able to get to where we are today.I trusted him as my father trusted him.But he lost his life in vain because of this old incident that had nothing to do with him.This made me both angry and guilty. I can't change the fate of my grandfather; I can't change the fate of my father; I can't even change the fate of a friend.At this moment, I was really confused. I didn't know what my efforts could change. I sat on the ground slumped, lost in thought.Kido Kana desperately called my name and shook my arm, but I couldn't respond.Kana Kido shot suddenly and gave me a loud and crisp slap, which made the left side of my face burn hot. "Cheer up! We have to find Qi Sang as soon as possible!" Her slap brought my eyes back to life.correct!And old Qitou!He is the main force in cracking the password of Kido Notes! I stood up with a "huh", rubbed my face desperately, and barely cheered up.Kido Kana bought two bicycles nearby, and the two of us went straight to the bungalow area where the old Qi lived.When we were approaching, I saw a piece of darkness in the distance, and my heart beat wildly.When we rode to the vicinity, we found that the bungalow had been burned to ruins. I asked the nearby residents, and they told me that there was a fire here the day before yesterday, which started from the old Qi's house and spread to dozens of nearby families.When the fire brigade arrived, several houses in the middle of the fire had been burned to the ground.The old Qitou and the few sacks of manuscript paper that could prove Goldbach's conjecture were just burned. Seeing this scene, the extreme anger actually calmed me down.I put down my bicycle, squatted in front of the ruins, and scanned the ruins.Old Qi was burned to death the day before yesterday, while Ji Yunfu fell ill and died yesterday.This order shows that the mastermind behind the scenes first burned Lao Qitou to death, and then found that Ji Yunfu had obtained the deciphering results, so he had to attack a second time, killing him, and taking or destroying the translation of Kido's notes. However, with Ji Yunfu's wisdom, he would not fail to notice the strange cause of old Qi's death.The two died almost a day apart. During this period, would Ji Yunfu just sit and wait for death without any preparation? I can't see it. Thinking of this, I stood up, stepped on the bicycle, and said to Kana Kido, "I'll take you to Fang Zhen, where you will be safer." "how about you?" "There are some things I have to do." I gritted my teeth. I sent Kido Kana to Fang Zhen. After hearing the two news, he said that the local police station had already intervened and he would try to get more information.I settled in Kido Kana, and rode my bicycle straight to the Hime family compound. The Ji family compound is not in the county seat, but in the northern suburbs.I rode for more than half an hour relying on memory, and successfully found the gate of his house.Ji Yunfu is a celebrity in the local cultural circle. It has not been a day since he died, and someone has already sent wreaths, and there are several rows at the door. I knocked on the door, and a middle-aged woman came out. She wore black-rimmed glasses and looked like a strict primary school teacher. She should be Ji Yunfu's cousin, Ji Yunfang.我对她说明来意，想瞻仰一下姬云浮的书房，她讥讽地看了我一眼：“今天有好几拨人来拜访，嘴上都是这么说，你们都是看中了他的收藏吧？” 我正色道：“我与姬先生认识还不到一周，但一见如故，这才到此缅怀。对于他的心血收藏，我绝无任何觊觎之心。我若进了屋子妄动一物，您直接把我赶走就是。” 她看我说得诚恳，态度略有软化，把门打开了。她带我走进书屋，屋子里还是那一副纷乱的样子，铺天盖地都是书，幻灯机和无线电台依然摆在原来的位置。她边走边说：“云浮的东西，我一点都没动，还保持着生前的次序。我这个堂哥，就喜欢把东西扔得乱七八糟，连分类都不分，整理遗物可麻烦着呢。” 我微微一笑。姬云浮的东西，绝不是随便摆的，他有自己的一套检索方法。不知道的话，看到的只是混乱；知道的话，就会井然有序。可惜他身死道消，没人能让这座巨大的资料库重新活过来。 几天之前，姬云浮还在这里眉飞色舞地给我讲解着佛头案，如今却已阴阳相隔。一想到这里，便让我心中痛惜。 他的书桌还保持着原来的样子，上面杂乱无章。她一指：“当时他就是这么趴在书桌上去世，被人发现。”桌面正中铺着一张雪白宣纸，上头用草书龙飞凤舞地写了几行字，毛笔仍斜斜搁在一旁。我凑近一看，看到那上面写的正是陆游的《示儿》。更让我感到惊讶的是，它的第一句赫然写成了“死去原知万事空”，在“原”字旁边，作者似乎不小心滴了一滴墨水，形成一个圆圆的墨点。 若在平常人眼里，这不过是一幅普通的毛笔字帖而已。可在我眼里，意义却大不一样。我和姬云浮的初次相识，正是在宋代古碑的拍卖会上，在那里他指出了“元”字与“原”字的区别，将我击败。他在临死前写下这么一首诗，还故意写错一字，显然是一个只有我才会注意到的暗记。 看来，姬云浮生前，恐怕还和那位凶手周旋了一段时间。他知道自己无法幸免，即使留下遗书或者提示，也会被凶手毁灭。所以他抓紧最后的时间，打造了一把专用钥匙，只有在我眼里才能发挥作用。 可是，这把专用钥匙，到底是用来开启什么的呢？ 我再度扫视桌案，上头摆着一盏荷叶笔洗、一方翕州砚、一尊青铜镂花小香炉、一块银牌、一个鸟纹祖母绿玉扳指、几本经味书院的线装书，还有一个小犀角杯和一把金梳背。这些东西有十几件之多，种类繁杂，而且摆放次序很怪异，一字排开。 看起来，姬云浮在写诗前后，曾经玩赏过这些东西。姬云浮在岐山是收藏界的大人物，手里有几件镇宅之物并不奇怪。但奇怪的是，我上次来的时候，姬云浮说过，这书房里全是书与资料，其他东西都搁到别处去了。他忽然把这些东西拿到书房来玩赏，一定有用意。 我转头问姬云芳：“我能拿起来看看吗？” “您记得自己说过的话就成，不要食言而肥。”她讥讽地撇了撇嘴，以为我是找理由想窥视她堂哥的收藏。我没理睬她的鄙夷视线，先拿起那把金梳背，细细端详。我想，姬云浮会不会把一些讯息留在这些小玩意上面。 这梳背大概是桌子上最值钱的了，从造型来看是唐代的金器。梳背上是团花纹饰，全以极细的金丝勾勒而成，而花蕊部分则镶嵌着一粒粒细小金珠，十分华贵。我翻过来掉过去，没发现任何文字，倒无意中看出，这东西居然是件赝品。 说来讽刺，我对金银器不是很熟，之所以能看出其中的问题，还是姬云浮前不久聊天的时候教我的。 姬云浮告诉我，唐代金器上的金珠，制作工艺被称为“碾珠”，先是把金丝切成等长的线段，然后加热烧熔，金汁滴落在受器里，自然形成圆形，再用两块平板来回碾成滚圆的珠子。焊缀的时候，用混着汞的金泥把珠子粘在器物上，加热后汞一蒸发，就焊上去了。 这种工艺很麻烦，所以后世都是改用“炸珠”的办法，把烧熔的金汁直接点在冷水里，利用温度差异，结成金珠。炸珠比碾珠省掉了一道程序，但比后者要粗糙，金珠尺寸不能控制，且形状不够圆。 这个金梳背就有这个问题：花蕊中的珠子圆度不够，且大小不一，挤在一起显得笨拙凌乱。 我猜姬云浮也看出这是赝品，只是出于好玩而收藏。在他堂妹的注视下，我把金梳背放下，再去看其他的东西，结果发现里面真假参半：犀角杯、玉扳指和笔洗还有另外几件是假的，其他都是真品。 可是无论在哪一件器物上，我都没发现任何刻痕与标记。 我失望地转身离去，也许是我想多了，这一切只是巧合。姬云芳看我没提出任何要求，明显松了一口气。她把我送到门口，态度缓和了不少。我问她姬云浮的遗体告别仪式是什么时候，我想去吊唁。她告诉我时间还没定，但一定会通知我。 我走到自行车前，失望与悲伤让我的脚步变得沉重。我扶住车把，回过头去，想再看一眼这栋已变成姬云浮故居的房子。我从青墙扫到檐角，从滴瓦扫到脊兽，划过屋顶高高耸立的天线…… 等等，天线？ 我似乎抓到了什么，心中一跳。姬云浮是宝鸡无线电爱好者协会的会员，家里有台无线电台，没事就通过这个跟外界交流。 他会不会利用这台装置留下什么讯息呢？ 我扔下自行车，又跑了回去砰砰敲门。姬云芳见我去而复返，显得非常意外。我顾不得许多，恳求她让我再看一眼。姬云芳看我的眼神，像是在看一个精神病人，不过她没阻拦。 我冲进书屋，走到无线电台前，去找开关，却怎么也打不开。我检查了一下，发现那根外接天线不知何时被折断了。姬云芳无奈地告诉我，就算天线是完好的也没用。这个电台在一星期前就坏了，里头有个线圈烧坏了，新元件要从外地厂子订购，现在还没到货。 一个星期前，那还在我认识姬云浮之前，看来这也不是他真正的暗示。我颓丧地垂下头，那种感觉，就好像看到一张考卷的答案近在咫尺，你却抓耳挠腮答不出问题。 姬云芳看我这一副模样，大概起了同情心。她轻轻喟叹一声：“我这个堂哥，从小就喜欢稀奇古怪的东西。他除了看书，整天就抱着这个电台，嘀嘀嘀地玩个不停。你如果对这个有兴趣，尽管拿走就是，反正我们家里没人搞得明白。物有所托，我想堂哥在九泉下也不会介意。” 她和大多数人一样，对无线电没什么认识，总以为和战争电影里那些电报机差不多，只会嘀嘀嘀地叫。 嘀嘀嘀？ 嘀嘀嘀！ 姬云浮为什么会把一台已经坏掉的无线电台的天线折断？ “对啊！原来是这么回事！” 我猛然跳起来，把姬云芳吓了一跳，急忙后退几步，随手抄起桌案上的砚台想自卫。我没理她，转而用狂热的眼神重新去审视桌子上的那些小器物。 谜底解开了！ 我刚才看了一圈，发现桌上的东西里有真品，也有赝品。我本以为只是个巧合，现在却想通了，这是刻意为之，真假器物的摆放次序至关重要！ 从左到右，最左边是清代青铜镂花小香炉，这个是真的，记为点；它的右边，是那把唐团花金花梳背，这个是赝品，记为划。以此类推，通过书桌上摆放的真假次序，真点假划，最后得到的，是一串点划相间的摩斯电码。 把这串点划转换成数字，用电报码译成文字，就是他要传达给我的讯息。这与木户笔记和《素鼎录》的加密方式，如出一辙。 大部分人只会注意单个器物，却不会想到只有将这些古玩排列在一起，真伪才被赋予了深远的意义。能够解开这个暗示的人，必须能鉴别古董真伪，还要熟知摩斯密码与电报码之间的转换规律——而这个人，只能是我。我手里的《素鼎录》就是用电报码加密的，我需要经常阅读它，因此对电报码滚瓜烂熟。 《示儿》诗用来提示；天线折断暗示与电码有关；真伪古玩则暗藏着消息。这三个布置简单而巧妙，环环相扣，营造出了一扇只有我能开启的大门，一步步被引导着接近他藏匿的信息。姬云浮临终前的这些部署，真是一个天才般的构想。 我为求完全，又把桌上的古玩一一检验了一遍，比以往哪一次都细心。一次真伪辨认错误，就有可能导致整条信息都解读不出来。很快，我把他的这个讯息换算了出来。 信息非常简短：二柜二排。 藏匿一片叶子最好的办法，就是把它放在树林里。姬云浮这间书屋，实在是隐藏文件最好的地方，随便扔在哪里，都很难找到。凶手大概是觉得姬云浮一死，他找不到，别人也不可能找到，这才放心离去。 我环顾整个屋子，发现那些木质书架实际上是分成了六个大架子，顶天立地。每个架子上都写着一个字，分别是：礼、乐、射、御、书、数，这是儒家的六艺。那么二柜应该是乐字柜。 我走到乐字柜前，仰头看到二排已靠近天花板，就找来一把椅子站上去。姬云芳看我这么放肆，瞠目结舌，一时间居然都忘了阻止。乐字柜的第二排有两米多长，一字排开高高低低几十本书，中间还夹杂着各类剪报、档案、照片与票据，看上去杂乱无章。 真假古董的编码容量有限，姬云浮塞不进更多细节，于是我只得一本一本地检查。姬云芳在下面仰起头说道：“你再不下来，我可要不客气了。” 我情急之下，从兜里掏出身份证、钱包扔下去：“我叫许愿，我绝对不是坏人，这是我身份证，钱也全在里头。”她捡起我的身份证，看了一眼，我连忙又补充道：“姬老师生前有一份文件，是给我的，我必须找到它。” 姬云芳冷冷道：“空口无凭，我凭什么要相信一个认识我堂哥还不到一个礼拜的人？” “交情不能以长短而论，我和姬老师虽然见面不长，但一见如故。” 我一边拼命拖延着时间，一边飞快地翻动书架，希望能多争取点时间。姬云芳在下面听得将信将疑，让我先下来说清楚。我知道她现在对我已经起了疑心，下去未必能再上得来，只得继续翻找。 就在她的怒气差不多到极限之时，我手中一顿，终于在一本书的中间翻出了一叠稿纸。这稿纸的质感我很熟悉，和老戚头家里用的稿纸差不多。我刚要展开看，姬云芳忽然飞起一脚，把椅子踹倒在地，我也咣当一声摔到地板上。 姬云芳走到我身旁，俯身捡起稿纸：“滚出去。”她脸色阴沉，显然对我的肆意妄为十分不满。我急得满头是汗，伸手去抓，姬云芳冷笑着后退一步，拿起一只打火机，做势要烧：“我堂哥的遗物，谁也别想霸占。” 这是唯一的线索，如果被她烧毁，姬云浮和老戚头可就算是白死了。我恳求道：“我不是要霸占……我只看一眼，看完就放回原处。这个事关你堂哥的死亡真相，不能烧啊。” “我堂哥是自然死亡，有什么可疑的？”她根本不为所动。 一时间我没法解释那么多，只得喊道：“你堂哥的死，与这卷稿纸有着直接关系。”听我这么一说，姬云芳一脸狐疑，缓缓把稿纸展开来看，只看了一眼，表情霎时变得很古怪。 “你刚才说你叫许愿？” “身份证都给你看了。” 她的下一个动作出乎意料，将稿纸扔给我：“好吧，东西你拿走。” 姬云芳这突如其来的转变，让我反而有点不知所措。她淡淡道：“你刚才说的那些鬼话，我根本不信。我放你走，只是因为我堂哥的遗言而已。” 我愣在了那里：“什么遗言？” 她指了指那叠稿纸，我展开一看，看到里面密密麻麻都是汉字，在抬头部分，有一行用铅笔写的字：“给许愿，是稿当与《景德传灯录》同参之。”
从姬云浮家出来，天色已经黑了。我舒了一口气，下意识地摸了摸搁在怀里的稿纸，骑上自行车飞快地朝县里去。 乡下一向保持着日落而息的传统，这条没有路灯的县级公路又地处偏僻，所以天黑以后，路上几乎没有人，只剩我一辆自行车。我一想到木户笔记的真容即将揭晓，心中就不住狂跳，恨不得一脚踩回县城，车子蹬得风驰电掣。 我骑了大约有十几分钟，天色愈加黑起来，两侧都是连绵的丘陵庄稼地。这时候，我听到身后隐隐传来低沉的声音，回头一看，远处有两束白光在慢慢接近，看大小应该是辆轿车，具体型号看不太清。我车头摆了一下，朝着路边靠去。夜晚开车很危险，司机有时候注意不到前方行人，我这辆自行车的后面没贴红灯，万一被追尾就麻烦了。 轿车的车速很快，一会儿工夫就追上了我，嚣张的大灯把我前头的道路照的雪亮。我眯起眼睛，降低速度，从它的轮廓判断这是一辆帕萨特B2。这可不是一般干部能开的车，估计是什么大领导出来办事吧。我心里想着，又往旁边靠了靠。 我猛然警觉，我都已经快下路面了，那两道光柱却依然笼罩着我，这说明帕萨特B2的车头，始终正对着我，它是冲我来的。我刚反应过来，就听身后的汽车发出轰鸣声，司机在猛踩油门，直直朝着我撞了过来。车灯霎时将我笼罩在一片白光中。 我情急之下，从自行车上朝旁边跳去。起跳的一瞬间，车头重重撞在了自行车上，我顿觉眼睛一黑，整个人在半空翻滚了几圈，然后重重地落到了路肩庄稼地里。我四肢剧痛，脑子昏昏沉沉的，只能勉强感应到周围的动静。迷迷糊糊中，我感觉到有人把我的身体翻过来，探了探鼻息，又在怀里翻找一阵，把怀里的那叠稿纸拿了出去。我心中一惊，奋力去抓，一下子抓住了那人的胳膊，指甲都掐了进去。那人情急之下，又给了我狠狠的一拳，把我打晕在地…… 等到我恢复清醒时，周围已经恢复了一片寂静，只剩下我和一辆扭曲到不成样子的自行车。我挣扎着起身，踉踉跄跄走到公路旁，等了一个多小时，幸运地等到一辆进城的拖拉机，把我捎回了县城。等到我返回宾馆时，已经接近午夜了。 我敲了敲木户加奈的门，眼前出现了两个女人。其中一个是木户加奈，还有一个是姬云芳。她们看到我这副惨状，都很惊讶。木户加奈急忙从洗手间拿来毛巾，给我擦拭脸上的污痕。姬云芳双手抱臂，皱着眉头问：“你还真受伤了？” “嘿嘿，不出我的意料。”我咧嘴笑了笑，把遭遇汽车袭击的事说了一遍，又问道：“东西你带来了？”姬云芳点点头，她把卷成一卷的稿纸拿给我，神色却变得非常阴沉。 我一开始就猜到，幕后黑手一定会跟踪我。所以从姬府出来时，我玩了一招“明修栈道，暗度陈仓”，请姬云芳亲自把稿纸送给木户加奈，而我则揣着另外一叠数学证明草稿，骑自行车大摇大摆地走在路上。果然和我预料的一样，黑手再一次出手，把草稿劫走了，希望他们最终能证明哥德巴赫猜想。 “你这也太冒险了，万一他们要杀死你可怎么办？”木户加奈一边给我擦脸，一边责怪道。 “如果他们要杀死我，早在北京我就性命不保了。”我冷哼一声。如果他们一直躲在幕后还好，现在他们连着好几次出手，固然伤我不轻，但也把自己慢慢暴露出来。 送走了姬云芳，屋子里只剩下我和木户加奈。我把窗户和门都关严实，坐回到沙发上。木户加奈早已等待在那里，两个人四只眼睛注视着茶几上的那叠稿纸，呼吸变得急促起来。 木户有三隐藏了几十年的秘密，就摆在我们的面前，已经有三个人因此而丧命了。我看看木户，这是她祖父的笔记，应该让她来打开。木户加奈没有推辞，她习惯性地把头发撩到耳后，拿起稿纸，缓缓掀开第一页。 稿纸上全是汉字，笔画很潦草，大部分汉字上头还标着四位数字，我估计这是老戚头破译时的原稿，那些数字就是加密的电报码。 在我们的预期里，这应该是木户有三的中国探险日记，里面应该记录了1931年那几个月的经历。可是，事实却和我们想象的大不相同。 我们看到的，是一段一段四骈六丽的古文。不是一篇，而是十几篇，每一篇的文风都不统一，有的很雅，有的却很大白话，看起来不是出自一人之手。甚至有的段落连完整的都没有，只剩残缺不全的几句话。除了这些以外，还有散见其中的一系列批注，有的批注很短，只有一句话，有的却写了满满一页纸。 “怎么会这样？”我和木户加奈交换了一个迷惑的眼神。这种格式，与其说是日记，倒不如说是一篇充斥着大量引文的学术论文。 每一段古文的左上角，都有一个用红墨水笔标出的数字，笔迹跟汉字不太一样，应该是出自姬云浮的手笔。他在拿到译稿以后，肯定做了初步的整理。也幸亏有他这位资料处理大师，不然我们光看这些明文，不比看密码容易多少。 “中文古文你能阅读吗？”我问木户加奈。木户加奈笑了起来：“在日本史学界和考古学界，大部分人都不懂现代汉语，但古汉语阅读却是一项基本技能，否则与大陆密切相关的日本上古史便没法研究。” “很好……”我悻悻地缩了缩脖子。她的意思，她的古文阅读比我还要好。我们肩并肩互相依靠着，开始按照姬云浮整理的顺序正式开始阅读。 这篇“论文”相当复杂，作者旁引博证，从故纸堆里刨出无数碎片，把它们巧妙地拼凑成一幅完整的图像，还加入了自己的分析与点评。而随着作者的考据推展，一个尘封已久的秘辛缓缓浮上水面，这秘辛是古老的，却与现在的我们息息相关，仿佛一面大幕缓缓拉开。我们慢慢翻看了笔记，像两个忠诚的观众，完全沉浸到那个世界里。 鉴于原文太过艰涩繁复，我无法引用，只能试着用现代白话将整个故事还原，中间还加入了自己对“论文”的理解。 故事的开端，是在武周垂拱四年。 那一年，武则天决意称帝，开始大造舆论，为登基做准备。她宣称自己是弥勒佛主转世，降于世间拯救万民，所以大肆崇佛，命令薛怀义以乾元殿为基础，建起了明堂与天堂，并在里面供奉佛像。这些佛像中，有两尊佛像至为珍贵。一尊是夹纻弥勒大佛像，身量极高，供奉于天堂之内，代表的是武则天的本身。 除了弥勒大佛以外，明堂里还供奉着另外一尊毗卢遮那佛。这一尊佛的质料来自于西域进贡的极品美玉，依照武则天容貌雕成，是一件稀世珍品。武则天非常喜欢这尊玉佛，将它摆在了明堂隐龛中，用来与龙门石窟的卢舍那大佛对供。 毗卢遮那佛不过两尺多高，武则天一直担心会被人盗走，遂从神策军中选拔精壮士兵，担任明堂的守卫工作。可是明堂总有奇怪的事情发生，不是砖瓦无故跌落，就是夜闻女狐哭声。正巧北禅宗的六祖神秀大师在洛阳，武则天向他请教，神秀大师说您的护卫都是身经百战的勇士，血腥与杀孽太重，与佛堂祥和气氛不合。武则天问有什么解决办法。神秀大师仰天一笑，说陛下您问的正是时候，这件事的因果，在数年前便已经注定了。 原来几年前神秀在玉泉山传法，曾挖出一座废弃祠堂。工人原想把祠堂拆走，不料平地忽起大风，无法施工。到了晚上，一位丹眼长髯的红脸武将出现在神秀梦中，说我乃汉将关羽，魂魄一直栖息玉泉山中，那祠堂是容身之处，倘若拆毁便成了孤魂野鬼。神秀说你不如皈依我佛，做个护教珈蓝，岂不更好？关羽大喜。到了第二天，神秀便为关羽重塑金身，再造祠庙，供入玉泉寺内，受信徒香火。 神秀讲完这故事，对武则天说关羽乃是天下无双的猛将，威压如今又已皈依我佛，请他为明堂护法，再合适不过了。武则天听说以后，大喜过望，立刻下诏造起一尊关公珈蓝铜像，供入明堂。神秀上师还为守卫明堂的士兵一一剃度，受具足戒，号曰“佛军”。 佛军最高统帅当然是关羽，但他毕竟只是护法珈蓝，能防鬼祟防不了盗贼。所以在大元帅之下，还有正副两名统领。正统领是一个正八品上的宣节校尉，叫连衡；他的副手是正八品下的宣节副尉，叫鱼朝奉。两人都是贵族子弟出身，英勇果毅，忠心不二。他们两个人都起誓，愿以性命护卫明堂，永远有一个人亲自守护在玉佛身旁，日夜不辍。 当时在洛阳，还活跃着一位日本遣唐使，叫河内坂良那。他是在总章二年跟随第六批遣唐使来到大唐的，还是正使河内鲸的侄子。河内坂良那是一个狂热的大唐文化爱好者，对一切事物都非常痴迷。结果等到河内鲸回国之时，河内坂良那没有一同返回，而是留在了洛阳。到明堂落成之时，这位日本人已经在大唐生活了十九年。 明堂落成之后，对洛阳官员开放数日。河内坂良那凭着自己遣唐使的关系，也跑去参观。当他看到那尊玉佛时，立刻深深地爱上了它，不可自拔。他试图近前去摸那玉佛的脸，正巧那日连衡当值，见这人行为不轨，拔刀差点将其砍杀。 河内坂良那离开以后，得了深深的相思症，一心希望能够再次一睹玉佛风姿。可惜明堂平时很少对外开放，何况还有佛军护卫，基本不可能接近。河内坂良那一睹玉佛的心愿，却始终没能实现。 八年之后，正是武周证圣元年。河内坂良那对玉佛的仰慕非但没有减退，反而与日俱增，已经到了茶饭不思夜不成寐的地步。他整个人已经近乎疯狂，