Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Mysterious Treasure Box

Wu Zixu heard his heart beating, and the first thought that entered his mind was that he was still alive. well!What happened? As if he was revived, his body gradually regained consciousness. If he was just tired before, he should be exhausted now, unable to even move his hands. He slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was a dreamlike world, a scene he had never imagined. His cheek was pressed against the wet soil, looking up from the bottom, the bright moon was hanging above the horizon, and the sky was dark blue.Extending from where he was lying, there are countless small water pools dotted around. Clusters of willow trees hang down by the banks of the winding pools, and the slender branches are weak and moist.There are also other unknown dwarf trees among the willow bushes, some with brightly colored flowers, and some bearing numerous fruits.What surprised him most was that, as far as the eye could see, the swamp area seemed endless, reaching the end of the horizon.

Wu Zixu groaned, but couldn't move, and then found that half of his body was still submerged in the cold water. At this time, I was a little more sober again, remembering the torrent that I stumbled into the mountain before, but I still couldn't understand why I rushed to such a ghostly place.He really couldn't associate the rapids in the mountains with this lake area. Could it be that he is already dead, and this is not the world but the underworld?The thought made him shudder. well!Stop thinking about it.Fortunately, misfortune hides blessings. This mistake of my own must have thrown off the pursuers. As long as I find a way to leave, I should be able to escape calmly.

At this moment, hooves sounded. This is impossible, not to mention that it is impossible for the enemy to catch up so quickly, and there is no way to ride a horse in this ghost place. With all his soul gone, Wu Zixu managed to raise his head and looked forward. Eunuch Feng showed an expression of reminiscence, and said: "We must start from the beginning and let Yueming figure out the situation, because I don't want to make another mistake." Gu Yueming listened quietly. Eunuch Feng looked up at the beams of the house and said slowly: "Ten years ago, there was a man named Mu Chuan who was imprisoned in the prison for offending the emperor. He must be sentenced to death. Mu Chuan is a man of means. The relationship found Fu Meng, the emperor's confidant at that time, the commander of the Imperial Forest Army, and revealed the secret of the "Chu Box" to him, hoping that if he could find the Chu Box for the emperor, the emperor would forgive his crime. The secrets passed down from generation to generation in his family are recorded in the genealogy and family book. The distant ancestor of Mu Chuan was a close minister of the King of Chu, so he knows what happened that year, but the early family history has been lost due to war and migration. The records after the Jin Dynasty are unclear."

Gu Yueming frowned and said: "If people from the Mou family know where the Chu box is hidden, why haven't they brought out the treasure after a thousand years?" Eunuch Feng turned his gaze back to him, and said in a deep voice: "This is the most strange place. People from the Mou clan have been hunting for treasures throughout the ages, but they couldn't find the legendary ancient city of Chu. The most bizarre thing is that all the treasure hunters When encountering a strange misfortune, as if under a poisonous curse, no one survived, and died one by one afterwards, and after the middle Tang Dynasty, no one dared to hunt for treasures."

He smiled again and said, "Yueming will definitely be surprised. I said just now that no one knows what the treasure is, but now it is said that the treasure is a Chu box. Isn't it inconsistent?" Gu Yueming said: "Is the real treasure hidden in the box?" Eunuch Feng happily said: "Yueming is really quick thinking. This treasure box is half a foot square, made of a strange material that is almost gold and copper, and there are seven night pearls inlaid on the box to form the astronomical image of the Big Dipper. It's just that the seven This luminous pearl is already a rare treasure, priceless, enough to make the emperor's heart flutter. But what fascinates the emperor the most is the unknown treasure inside the box. The lord of Zhuancheng rebelled against the king of Chu because of it risking the destruction of his family. What kind of treasure will this be? The emperor wants to know very much, and I want to know too. Everyone wants to open the Chu box to see what's going on. It's time for Yueming to understand the charm of the Chu box."

Gu Yueming said lightly: "Maybe it's something like He's Bi!" Xuan frowned again and said, "Why did Mou Chuan go to find Chu He this time? Maybe the ancient city was destroyed and covered by weeds." Eunuch Feng said: "This is the second strange place. After Mou Chuan was imprisoned in the prison, he had a strange dream. He dreamed that his ancestors came to tell him that if he wanted to find the ancient city, he had to go to Yunmengze on the festival of ghosts. Go look for it. In fact, although Mou Chuan was rewarded by an immortal, he was still dubious, but for the sake of his own life, he had no choice but to give it a try. Anyway, he is dead, and there is still a glimmer of life to go hunting for treasure, at least it can prolong his life."

Gu Yueming pondered: "Isn't Ghost Festival the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month every year, and it's also the time when it's said that the gates of ghosts are open." Feng Gong said: "Yueming should be able to roughly guess what happened next. The emperor sent the most trusted person to escort Mou Chuan to Yunmengze to find the legendary ancient city, but what happened next... Sigh!" Gu Yueming asked in surprise, "What happened?" Eunuch Feng shook his head and sighed softly again, and said: "The person in charge of this task is Fu Meng, accompanied by twenty-four elite masters from the imperial guards. The festival is coming."

Gu Yueming felt chills in his heart when he heard it.Of course, this treasure hunting team found the legendary Chu He, otherwise Eunuch Feng would not have said that Chu He had appeared in the world.It is true to say that Mu Chuan's ancestors reported their dreams. When the Ghost Festival comes, the ancient city will appear.No wonder Eunuch Feng said before that some strange things need the existence of ghosts and gods to make sense. Mr. Feng said fairly: "At that time, there was a 500-man army stationed outside Zewai, commanded by the local general Qian Shichen, who was in charge of supporting Fumeng. They will send people out of Zeze to report the news. Unexpectedly, Qian Shichen waited until the ugly hour of the fifteenth day, but still did not see the person who reported the letter, so he quickly led people into the Zeze, and after searching for five days, they finally found out that something happened to the treasure hunting team."

Gu Yueming thought to himself: This is the inevitable result, otherwise Eunuch Feng would not have to force himself to find the Chu box now. Eunuch Feng said in a deep voice: "Twenty-six people entered the marsh, and twenty-four corpses were buried in the marsh. All of them were poisoned, including Mou Chuan." Gu Yueming began to have some clues about the whole matter, and asked, "Who are the two missing people?" Eunuch Feng said fairly: "One is Fu Meng, and the other is his close subordinate, Fu Meng's younger brother who loves his concubine." Gu Yueming felt relaxed, thinking that it was just stealing treasures, as long as it was not related to ghosts and gods.There is no "person" that Gu Yueming can't handle.

Eunuch Feng sighed authentically: "Before this incident happened, everyone in the capital, including me, did not think that Fu Meng would be a person who would be greedy when he sees Bao. Is the magic power of Chu He really so great?" Gu Yueming said: "That's not about the Chu box anymore, Fu Meng must have opened the box to have a look, what attracted him was what was inside." Eunuch Feng shook his head and said, "Yueming knows one thing but doesn't know the other. The Chu box is not an ordinary thing, but the town treasure of Zhuancheng. It is said that it was made in the era of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. The material that made the Chu box looks like copper but not copper , like gold but not gold, it is not damaged by ordinary sharp weapons and furnace fire, and there is a secret method to open the box. I learned about this from the people of Mu Chuan after the fact. Although Fu Meng got the Chu box, he must not be able to open it until today , so as long as you find Fu Meng, you have a great chance to get back the Chu box and hand it over to the court intact."

Gu Yueming said: "So, no one has seen Chu He?" Eunuch Feng did not answer him directly, and said: "Fu Meng has a concubine besides the main room, and he gave birth to a daughter for him, who lives in another courtyard in the suburbs of Beijing. This concubine is very fond of Fu Meng. After the incident, the emperor punished Fu Meng Of the three tribes, only Fu Meng's concubine Xue Niang and her daughter have fled without a trace. It can be known that Fu Meng has already rushed back to the capital and took away their mother and daughter. From this, it can be inferred that not only Fu Meng is still alive, Chu He must have died into his hands." Gu Yueming was puzzled and said: "This is unreasonable. Since Fu Meng can't open the Chu box, how can he know what treasures are hidden in it? Who would give up fame and wealth for something they don't know, and even risk being ransacked and exterminated?" Eunuch Feng said: "This is exactly what is puzzling. What's more, Fu Meng is an upright person, and he is even more loyal to the emperor. But the fact is so, we don't need to worry about it anymore. There are many things in the so-called knowing people, knowing their faces, but not their hearts. Things don't become clear until the end. Right?" Gu Yueming knew that he was insinuating that he was ignoring life and death, but there was nothing to argue with him, and said: "How should Yueming proceed? Please give me instructions." Dai Yue, a unparalleled female star, rode her horse on the official road indulgently, but what she was thinking about was that night ten years ago that changed her life.In the middle of the night, her uncle came to the suburban courtyard where she spent a happy childhood. She was only nine years old at the time, and the sound of her mother getting up and dressing woke her up. Uncle is the elder who loves her the most besides her father and mother. She didn't know what to worry about, but she thought that his uncle brought her something interesting. Will be back together. She heard the conversation between her uncle and mother through the crack of the door after her mother hurriedly opened the door, and she still hasn't forgotten every word they said to this day. Then the mother dismissed the servants, and their mother and daughter fled overnight under the leadership of their uncle. Since then, they have been incognito and moved continuously to escape the pursuit of the government.In less than a year, my mother fell ill due to depression, and she couldn't afford it, so she left her and left. She still vividly remembers the expression on her mother's face before she died.She understands her mother, understands why she is depressed, it is not because of the torment of hiding and running around, but because of the helplessness, sadness and despair of father abandoning their mother and daughter. She resolutely left Baixi Troupe this time, not knowing what she was doing at all, she just wanted to go to Yunmengze to find the ancient city, as for what the outcome would be, she didn't think about it, she only knew that if she didn't do this, she would be killed His own thoughts tortured him to death. Ever since she was sensible, her father was the most extraordinary person in her heart, the most heroic figure.Mother and uncle didn't know that she heard their conversation, and every time she asked about father, they would find some excuses to evade it. During the days of performing arts with the troupe, she concentrated on learning art and was not afraid of hardships. It was not to become an outstanding performer, but to learn good skills and prepare for the action that started tonight. For her mother and herself, she vowed to return her father's innocence. She never believed that father was that kind of person.Even at the risk of exposing her identity and sacrificing her life, she still has to figure out whether her father is a good man or just a despicable person who abandons his wife and daughter at the expense of profit. Eunuch Feng habitually did not answer Gu Yueming directly, and muttered to himself: "After the Yunmengze murder case, in the past ten years, I have sent people into Yunmengze to search the ancient city nine times in the past ten years, but they have returned without success each time. The ancient city seems to have disappeared." Gu Yueming shrugged and said, "Perhaps there is no ancient city at all." Eunuch Feng said fairly: "If the missing person is not Fu Meng but Mou Chuan, Yueming's deduction is a matter of course. But now it is Fu Meng and his concubine who are missing, how can Yueming explain it?" Gu Yueming said: "I haven't got a reasonable explanation yet." Eunuch Feng smiled and said: "I can provide one thing, that is, ghosts and gods really exist, and the ghosts and gods guarding the ancient city are taking a day off because of the July 14th festival. Ha! On vacation." Then the eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice : "But they won't make the same mistakes in the future, so we can't find the ancient city." Gu Yueming felt that there was nothing to say, this is a question of belief or disbelief, there is no room for debate. Eunuch Feng continued: "I am the one who copied my husband Meng's family. The emperor entrusted me with the search for the Chu box, and I will take full responsibility. Of course the emperor wants to get the Chu box and open it to see what happened, but he wants to find the Chu box even more. The skin is torn apart. The feeling of being betrayed by the person you trust the most is the most hateful. Yueming, do you understand? So I said that as long as you live up to the entrustment and fulfill the wish of the emperor, I can pat my chest and promise that no matter what you have Requests, the emperor will readily agree." Gu Yueming nodded and said, "Yueming understands." Eunuch Feng said: "The moment Yueming presents the Chu box will be the moment when I will hand over to you the emperor's decree to dismiss you from the military. I will never break my promise, and Yueming can do things for me with confidence." Gu Yueming was very surprised. With Eunuch Feng's usual style, he would not speak so directly and honestly. This shows how eager the emperor is to get the treasure, and how much pressure he put on Eunuch Feng. Gu Yueming said: "Don't worry, father-in-law. Fortunately, father-in-law didn't ask Yueming to find the ancient city, but to hunt down two traitors. Please give Yueming instructions on how to start the investigation." Eunuch Feng glanced at the long leather pouch on the table, reached out to fetch the gold pipe, lit the tobacco with the other hand, took a deep breath, and expelled it slowly, and said slowly: "There are five and a half people who know the ins and outs of the whole thing. These five people are the emperor, Qian Shichen, Ji Nieti, Yueming you, plus me." Hearing Ji Nieti, Gu Yueming couldn't help but feel his heart move. Ji Nieti is known as the number one master of the factory guards, not only talented, but also ruthless. He can be said to be the most popular and powerful person under Eunuch Feng. He will participate in this matter, which shows that Eunuch Feng has done his best and is determined to win. Gu Yueming said: "Who is the other half?" Feng Gonggong said: "This man is Ge Mo, nicknamed 'Taoist Walker', who is active in the area around the two lakes. Because of his superb Taoism and special ability to catch ghosts and exorcise demons, so on the recommendation of the minister and my permission, he joined This matter. He doesn't know anything about Chu He, so he is only half a person." Gu Yueming said: "Why is his nickname so weird?" Mr. Feng said fairly: "Because he combines the strengths of Taoism and Mohism, he is proficient in Taoism's internal and external alchemy techniques, and lives hard like a Mohist, so he has a nickname. This is a very special person, not a waste A false name, or a swindler, Yueming will know clearly when he sees him." Gu Yueming nodded to express his understanding. Mr. Feng said fairly: "Shichen is now Huguang's political and historical department, directly monitoring Yunmengze, and Nie Ti is responsible for hunting down the husband and Meng throughout the country. Nie Ti is very capable, and mobilized all the big and small gangs across the country. looks." Gu Yueming cheered up and said, "Have you discovered Fu Meng's whereabouts?" Eunuch Feng couldn't hide his joy and said: "It's almost like this, but it's not Fu Meng, but Xue Tinghao, Fu Meng's concubine. He turned into a walking monk and was recognized by the abbot of a Buddhist temple. When he arrived, he had already taken the opportunity to escape. Yueming, you will let him do it, as long as you catch him, with your criminal skills, you won't be afraid that he won't tell the truth." Gu Yueming said calmly: "Yueming promises to handle this matter for the father-in-law, and the father-in-law can rest assured." Eunuch Feng said happily: "I have full confidence that Yue Ming can handle this matter well. Even I don't know where Nie Ti is now, but as long as Yue Ming brings my hand in hand to see Shichen in Yueyang, he will be able to get All leads on the case." Then he reached out to the table, picked up the long leather pouch, and handed it to Gu Yueming. Gu Yueming quickly stood up, bowed and continued with both hands. Eunuch Feng did not let go, stared at him and said, "In addition to my handwriting, there is also a magic weapon 'Qihui' without a scabbard in the leather bag. It may be of unexpected help to Yueming on this trip. Sit down!" Only then did he put down the leather bag. Gu Yueming frowned when he heard this, held the long leather pouch horizontally, and sat back in the chair. Eunuch Feng showed an incomprehensible smile, and said indifferently, "Is Gu Yueming with a sword in hand the most dangerous person in the world?" Gu Yueming smiled wryly and said, "My father-in-law should understand what kind of person I am. For Fu Meng or Xue Tinghao, this may be an appropriate description of me." He sighed again: "My best partner is the 'Bailuyu' that I forged and forged with my own hands. I'm afraid the loss outweighs the gains if I exchanged for other swords. Can the father-in-law take back this sword?" Eunuch Feng justly said: "Yueming, don't underestimate this sword. I specially selected this sword from the emperor's treasury, because the sword has the power to eliminate demons and subdue demons. Seven returners, the sky has seven stars, and people have seven orifices. Seven orifices Guard within, keep your spirit from outside, and not be tempted by sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch. Whether Yueming believes in it or not, carrying this sword is always beneficial and harmless." Then he slowly said word by word: "I want Yueming to leave the capital immediately, and you must not mention anything about Chuhe to anyone except Shichen and Nie Ti. The time is at hand, you must Immediately rush to Yueyang." Gu Yueming didn't immediately agree to the promise, pondered for a moment, and said: "Yueming has a few words from the bottom of his heart, can father-in-law allow me to report them truthfully." Eunuch Feng said leisurely: "Say!" Gu Yueming said neither overbearing nor humble: "If you want to complete the task, you have to do it according to Yueming's way, please forgive me." Eunuch Feng was slightly astonished, then picked up the golden pipe, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled, and said with a dumb smile: "After all, Gu Yueming is Gu Yueming. I can do things in the way I like, as long as I can bring back the heads of Fu Meng and Xue Tinghao together with the Chu box." Gu Yueming made a promise, stood up and bowed to leave. Wu Zixu couldn't believe his eyes.Even if he saw a group of flying horses coming like wolves and tigers, he would only accept his fate and not be surprised, but what he saw was something that should never be seen in this haunted place. scenario. Hundreds of torches appeared more than a thousand steps away to the left, illuminating half of the sky. Under the light of the blood-red flames, a large group of people was moving towards the direction where he was lying down.Walking in the forefront are dozens of infantry with bright armor and helmets, followed by seven or eight cavalry. Everyone is meticulous in their equipment, but their faces are expressionless, like soldiers heading to the front line , I have become numb to life and death.And their armor was something that Wu Zixu had never seen before. It was bulky and crude, and it was by no means the conventional equipment of today's army, which made him feel weird from the bottom of his heart. The sound of horseshoes rubbing against the ground came loudly mixed with the sound of wheels rubbing against the ground. When Wu Zixu got a better look, he immediately opened his eyes wide in surprise and couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear. Behind the knight was an ancient chariot pulled by four horses, with a single shaft and two wheels, and a square wheel with a long hub. Because the line of sight was blocked, the driver could not be seen for a while. At this moment, he suddenly found that more than twenty steps away from him, there was a road paved with gravel, with a width of ten steps, lying in front of him.Wuzi felt an uncontrollable chill in his heart.This galloping road seemed to suddenly appear after he saw the chariot, and he thought to himself: Did he hit a ghost? However, he still hadn't lost his mind, and was about to turn around and roll to the waterway behind to avoid it, but he was shocked to find that he couldn't move even a bit. Frightened, the pioneering infantry came in front of him, but no one looked away from him, as if he didn't exist, and the torches were shining so hard that he couldn't hide. Wu Zixu stared numbly, suddenly his eyes lit up, and the driver finally appeared in front of him.Time seemed to stop suddenly, everything slowed down, and he couldn't see anything other than the controller in front of him. He had never seen such a glamorous ruler, such a beautiful and natural woman. The female royal should not be more than twenty years old, with a big bun tied behind her head, her slender and graceful body is tightly wrapped in a blue-purple robe that stretches to the floor, and the collar and sleeves are trimmed with wide and gorgeous lace.The female driver holds the reins in both hands and rides the horse. The whole portrait looks like it will glow, with jade bones and ice muscles, and picturesque eyebrows. The light is as bright as the rising sun in the east, and as bright as a bright moon in the darkest night sky. All the voices disappeared instantly, and Wu Zixu's mind was completely attracted by her, forgetting the suffering and danger.Since he was sensible, he had never looked at a person so intently and unrelentingly.He paid attention to her every expression, every movement.When the chariot passed by, the stunning woman who seemed to be unaware of him suddenly turned her head and looked at him, looking straight into his heart. An indescribable feeling surged in Wu Zixu's heart, his brain was shaken violently as if struck by lightning, and then he lost all consciousness.