Chapter 40 1. The Sima Family's Big Secret

"Master, the ghost cave of Golden Knife Valley is in front of you!" Yamen servant Liu San stretched his finger forward, turned his head to the side, and said tremblingly to Zhang Wang, the county magistrate of Wen County who was sitting on horseback.Zhang Wang looked in the direction of his finger, only to see a dark hole under the side valley wall in front of him: it was hidden in the shade of green trees and weeds, as if a huge monster squatted there and opened its mouth. With a bloody mouth, it looks very scary and gloomy. After Zhang Wang watched it, he couldn't help but strangled the mount under his crotch, and hovered on the spot.In the past six months, the villagers near Jindao Valley have come to report again and again: This mysterious cave seems to be haunted. One evening, farmer He Si, who was about to go home after cutting firewood from the valley, passed by the entrance of the cave. , unexpectedly heard the sound of tinkling metals coming from inside; many villagers who walked into the valley at night, hid in the grass, saw with their own eyes that many ghosts jumped out of the hole, and under the night You come and go, ghosts dance.Later, a few brave young men in the nearby villages heard that the cave was haunted, so they brought their knives, axes, bows and arrows and made an appointment to enter the cave to explore the secrets.As a result, two days later, except for a young man who was frightened and ran away, none of the other partners disappeared.The villagers went to question the young man who was frightened crazy, and he was also talking wildly all day long: "Ghost! Ghost! There are so many ghosts!..." As a last resort, the village elders and chiefs had to take this The situation of the ghost cave was reported to the county government, and I implore the county government to investigate clearly.

Zhang Wang, the county magistrate, was born as a literati who obeyed Confucianism. How could he believe in strange theories such as "strange powers and gods"?So, he called more than fifty servants from this yamen, armed with knives and guns, intending to go deep into the ghost cave of Golden Knife Valley to find out what happened. When he was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the ghost cave, for some reason, Zhang Wang's heart was beating violently like a snare drum, and the calf with the horse's belly also trembled like a cramp!After all, there might indeed be something weird hidden in this ghost cave, which can scare people crazy, so it is naturally extremely dangerous.

Thinking of this, Zhang Wang picked up the wine bag hanging on his waist, drank a few gulps, and then took the courage to get drunk, jumped off the horse and picked thirty-five stronger yamen servants to follow him, and then He ordered the remaining ten yamen servants to stand guard outside the ghost cave: "If you hear that there is a slight change in the cave after we entered the cave, you should come in and respond in time!" After the deployment was completed, Zhang Wang asked thirty-five government servants to beat the gong vigorously while holding torches, hugging him and rushing into the cave with great momentum!

Stepping on the slippery, wet, and puffy ground in the cave, Zhang Wang felt like he was stepping on the tongue of some huge monster.While carefully looking around, under the cover of the yamen servants, he mustered up the courage to go deeper and deeper inside. At this moment, there was a strange croaking sound from the top of the cave ahead, followed by a fluttering noise—countless black shadows flew towards them like tiles! The yamen servants panicked, scolding, beating, and driving away——Zhang Wang's heart was shocked: Those black shadows were all bats hiding on the top of the cave that jumped out after being disturbed.

After the false alarm, Zhang Wang continued to advance to the bottom of the cave together with the yamen servants—this cave is very large and deep, and the path inside is also winding and tortuous, making it more difficult to touch the deeper you go True and false.I don't know how long it took, when the torches in the hands of the yamen servants were almost burned out, the crowd finally came to the entrance of a Sancha cave. "Master, which hole should we enter through?" Liu San held a torch and ran to the front to explore for a while, then turned around and asked Zhang Wang, "Is it the hole on the left or the hole on the right?"

Zhang Wang raised his head and looked at the two openings on the left and right: the inside was dark and cold, and no matter how he looked, he couldn't see to the end.He hesitated for a moment, calmed down, and said firmly: "It was said that this cave is haunted by ghosts. Today we broke in and searched for nearly an hour, but we didn't see any ghosts. Let's go from the right side. Go inside the cave and have a look, if there is nothing unexpected, then get out." All the yamen servants heard this, and they all responded in unison, and they surrounded Zhang Wang and went into the cave on the right.

At this moment, they heard a sinister and strange howl coming from behind a large stalactite pillar next to it. It was shrill and piercing, and it sounded very terrifying——Zhang Wang and the others followed the sound and found that it was a bloody skull coming from The stalactite pillars stick out from behind, and the two big eye sockets are still shining with green fire! "Ah! Ghost!" Liu San screamed, threw away the torch and ran away holding his head in his hands.All the government servants were frightened out of their wits, hugged Zhang Wang who hadn't recovered from the extreme fright, and ran away in a crowd!

Zhang Wang was surrounded by them and rushed out more than ten zhang away in a hurry, his mind gradually settled down, he stopped, grabbed a stringed bow suddenly, and shot three arrows in a row towards the depth of the cave behind!While shooting randomly, he was still muttering: "Whether he is a real ghost or a fake ghost, this county will shoot him! Shoot some of the filth in this hole!" Encouraged by his actions, the yamen servants also bent their bows and shot arrows one after another, regardless of east, west, north, south, and shot randomly into the depths of the cave. A burst of arrows shot past, and a cry of pain suddenly sounded from the depths of the cave, and it was gone in a flash!This voice was clearly heard by Zhang Wang: it was clearly the howl of pain from a living person who was injured by an arrow!

"Master, you see that this arrow has been shot enough, and the anger has been vented... Let's go out of the cave as soon as possible!" Liu San finally couldn't hold back and came up to persuade him. "Don't be afraid! There is only one evil spirit in him, and we have more than 30 officials here!" Zhang Wang gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Let's go in and check again!" "Old...Master, the arrows we brought are almost exhausted," Liu San's voice trembled immediately, "Also... and this torch is almost exhausted... Let's go back quickly!"

Zhang Wang turned his head to look at the group of yamen servants under his command, and saw that their faces were all pale with fright, and their calves were trembling as if they were sifting chaff, they all crowded up and urged them to leave the cave.He knew that the yamen servants were almost terrified by the skull that popped up just now, and he could no longer command them to go deeper—if he pushed them into a hurry, these yamen servants would probably leave him alone. It might be possible to escape in this cave! He sighed helplessly, waved his hands, and said sadly: "Forget it! Forget it! There must be something strange about the haunting in this cave—this county is not prepared enough at this moment, so I followed everyone's advice and made plans after leaving the cave." !"

He rushed back to the county government office in a hurry. As soon as Zhang Wang dismounted from his horse, he saw the guards rushing up to greet him, and said: "My lord, Sir Sima Fang of Wen County is here to visit—he is already waiting for you in the back hall of the government office!" Hearing this, Zhang Wang ordered to the fifty terrified yamen servants behind him: "Going to the ghost cave of Golden Knife Valley today has shocked everyone—you go down and get a bucket of corn from Master Wu's place to go back so that you can rest. The yamen will reward everyone for what they have done today. We will deal with this matter after the county sorts out the clues." Hearing Zhang Wang's words, all the yamen servants guessed that he wanted to investigate this ghost hole to find out the truth, so they all sighed, frowning, and scattered lazily. Although Sima Fang has a family friendship with the Zhang family in Suyi, he is also on the same level as Zhang Wang—but because Sima Fang has achieved the honor of being a two-thousand-stone official in the imperial court, he personally visited the Zhang family in Suyi. The frequency is actually very small.Therefore, when Zhang Wang learned that he was coming to visit, even if it was urgent, he put it aside and went to entertain him first. "Sima Gong actually condescends to come here for a visit. The little brother Shedi is really full of glory!" Zhang Wang stepped into the back hall, and then bowed to Sima Fang who was sitting quietly waiting on the guest table, "I don't know Sima Gong is here today, what is the main purpose?" Sima Fang hurriedly stood up from the guest table, cupped his hands and saluted Zhang Wang, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang—I've been living in Xiaojing's house for several months now. I really miss all my neighbors and old friends." It's urgent, so I came to visit you. It's just that the complexion on your face doesn't look very good!" "Alas! Mr. Sima doesn't know something. Mr. Zhang just led all the yamen servants to catch ghosts in a strange cave in the Golden Knife Valley on the border with your Wen County..." Zhang Wang stretched out his sleeve and wiped it. Sweat dripped from his forehead, "The situation here is really dangerous!" Sima Fang heard this, stroked his long beard on his chest, and asked curiously: "Oh? The strange hole in the Golden Knife Valley is haunted? Why is that? - Mr. Zhang, have you ever caught anything ghostly? " "Sima Gong, you and I are both Confucianists, how can you believe that there are ghosts and monsters in this world. Although the world is chaotic today, culture and education still exist, Zhang certainly doesn't believe in these monsters!" Zhang Wang Upon hearing the question, he told Sima Fang about all the encounters and circumstances that he brought the yamen servants into the strange cave in detail, and finally said, "Actually, when Zhang ordered his subordinates to shoot all the arrows, Once heard a howl of pain coming from the depths of the cave, Zhang concluded that the skull-headed evil spirit must be someone pretending to be. And the howl of pain must be the person pretending to be a ghost who lost his voice after being shot by our sharp arrow Shouting... At that time, Zhang was going to lead all the Yamen servants to go straight in to find out what happened-it's a pity that these subordinates were timid and cowering, and they didn't dare to fight any more, so Zhang had to return depressed..." "So, there are no real ghosts in that strange cave, only fake ghosts?" Sima Fang remained calm and said with a smile, "Did Mr. Zhang really see clearly?" "The ghost in the cave must be someone pretending to be. Zhang is sure of this." Zhang Wang nodded vigorously, and then showed a look of confusion, "It's just... Zhang really can't think of it." In the cave in the barren mountain and wild valley, what is someone pretending to be a ghost doing? There may be a huge mystery hidden here..." "Since that's the case, how does Zhang Jun plan to deal with this strange incident?" Sima Fang seemed to be very interested in the haunting of this strange cave, and kept asking this question. "This... with the power of a whole county government servant, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find out the truth about the haunting in this cave." Zhang Wang thought for a while, gritted his teeth, and then replied seriously, "This county has no choice but to reveal the truth about this mystery." Report the matter to Cao Ren, the prefect, and ask him to dispatch troops to investigate the matter!" "General Yuan is now confronting Cao Sikong in Guandu. I'm afraid that Governor Cao will focus on being in the fortress of Hanoi, and he doesn't have so much time to come here to investigate the haunting of the Golden Knife Valley Strange Cave." Sima Fang smiled. In every way. "This... this..." Zhang Wangwei hesitated, but still said with a frustrated face, "If the county does not want to come to investigate, Zhang will post a notice in the whole county to openly recruit capable people and strangers to go to that strange cave for a visit." Find out—no matter what ghosts and mysteries are hidden there, Zhang will definitely get to the bottom of it!" After Sima Fang listened, the smile on his face became more and more intense, he leaned forward and said: "Since Mr. Zhang is so determined to protect the famous religion and exorcise evil spirits, I admire him very much. If so, I have something to say. The plan can be dedicated to Mr. Zhang, but—” After saying this, he raised his head and looked around, but stopped talking.Zhang Wang understood and lost his wink, and the servants and servants in the back hall all retreated when they saw this. When there was no one else in the class, Sima Fang collected his face, looked straight at Zhang Wang, and said slowly: "Mr. Zhang, don't worry too much after listening to the words of my seat—to tell you the truth, my seat This time I came here for an interview, and I came here just for the strange cave in the Golden Knife Valley!" "Wh... what?" Zhang Wang is by no means a dull person, his face suddenly changed after he thought about it, "The strange hole in the Golden Knife Valley has something to do with you, Sima Gong? This, this, Zhang is surprised." very……" "That's right. The Golden Knife Valley is adjacent to Suyi County in the north, and the south side of Fuxi Mountain is bordered by Xiaojingli, Wen County. Zhang Jun does not know that the strange cave is actually in our Sima Mansion near Fuxi There is also an entrance in the manor on the mountain." Sima Fang knew that he could not hide this matter from Zhang Wang, so he had to tell the truth, "Many years ago, my Sima family converted this big cave into a cave for storing food and grain. warehouse……" "So that strange hole is the granary used by your Sima family to store food?" Zhang Wang said hi, slapped his right knee, shook his head and sighed, "Oh...then why didn't your Sima family hide it beforehand?" Did you make it clear earlier? It made the people in Sifang Village afraid of gods and ghosts, and everyone was in danger." Sima Fang just stared at him, stroking his beard and smiling without saying a word. When Zhang Wang saw it, his heart moved secretly: Since the Sima family has created so many ghosts and ghosts in this cave, it must have been suspicious, scaring away the residents around the cave, so that they dare not go to disturb them. ——Naturally, the secrets hidden in this cave can no longer be revealed!However, the Sima family in Wenxian County managed and fortified such a hidden and remote Dongcang with such painstaking efforts. The secrets there must be extraordinary!However, Sima Fang first admitted that the granary was used to store food, but he was too embarrassed to continue the questioning. Here, Sima Fang seemed to have a normal expression on his face, but his mind was full of ups and downs: the secret cave in the Golden Knife Valley was originally the biggest secret of the Sima family's foundation and business.Now that this meddlesome Zhang Wang has accidentally targeted him, he really has to be careful!If Zhang Wang alone knew about this matter, according to Sima Fang's previous thinking, probably only one assassin would be able to settle this matter.However, Zhang Wang has already made a fuss about this matter in the county government, so killing him alone will not help.At this time, Sima Fang came up with another idea instead: take advantage of the trend, take advantage of it, win over Zhang Wang, take him for his own use, and let him cover the huge Golden Knife Valley Cave for the Sima family. secret. The two friends who had been friends for a long time sat facing each other with their own thoughts for a while, and it was Sima Fang who said first: "Let's do this—Mr. Zhang, it's really a lot of work for me to do this secret cave. I have disturbed you and your servants. I am willing to pay three hundred stones of grain, one hundred bolts of silk cloth, and sixty baskets of copper baht as an apology. Of course, these gifts will be handled by Zhang Jun alone. I believe that , Mr. Zhang will be able to handle this matter very properly." Hearing this, Zhang Wang felt that the Dongcang had an extraordinary history. He didn't show any strangeness on his face, and said with a hearty smile, "What are you talking about, Mr. Sima? My Zhang family in Suyi has been close friends with your Sima family for generations. Do you need to be so polite? Zhang Mouwen doesn’t want those things! You don’t need to be so polite, but people outside will find it strange that your cave is haunted—from now on, Zhang Mou is of course I won’t bother you anymore! However, if other people have other thoughts, it’s hard to tell! You need to be more careful..." Sima Fang heard something in Zhang Wang's words, the smile on his face fluttered slightly, and he said delicately: "It's hard for Mr. Zhang to take care of our Sima family so thoroughly... Hearing Mr. Zhang's words, you must have some tricks in your heart gone?" "It is absolutely unacceptable for Zhang to say that there is a 'smart plan'." Zhang Wang shook his head again and again, with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Of course, Zhang will definitely keep this matter of Sima Gong in his heart and think about it carefully. You finally found a perfect solution. But recently, Zhang also has a very worrying matter, wishing to split his heart in half to think about it... You have to allow Zhang to wait for a few more days ..." "What is it that makes Mr. Zhang so worried?" Sima Fang is so smart, he immediately asked straightforwardly, "Since Mr. Zhang is willing to share his worries about the Jindaogu cave, I will do my best to help you wholeheartedly." Zhang Jun's troubles are solved!" "Alas... this matter makes Zhang blush! My daughter, Sima Gong recognizes her, her name is 'Chunhua', and now it's the year of marriage, but I can't find a suitable one. ..." Zhang Wang seemed to have touched the deepest nerve in his heart, and choked up when he talked about this matter, "As a father, Zhang loves his daughter dearly, so he really has to worry about Chunhua's lifelong event Far away." "So that's the matter!" Sima Fang listened, pondered for a long time, and then slowly replied, "Mr. Zhang's worrying matter, Lang'er has also talked about it to me before. It's just that the current situation in Xudu Chaos, when the world first settles down a year or two later, he will definitely find a good and promising family for niece Chunhua in the imperial court. You will be worthy of a good husband. Mr. Zhang, you really don't have to worry too much." "Sima Gong and Nephew Boda can appreciate Zhang's suffering so much, Zhang is very grateful!" Zhang Wang wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the sleeve of his robe, and then said, "Actually, at Xu Du's place Zhang does not have such an extravagant hope to climb up some famous family. Zhang has always looked at the matter of his daughter in this way: first, the situation of the man must be familiar to my Zhang family. Good; the second is the man's family style, he can pass on poetry and books to the family, and build a career with talent and learning. If these two requirements can be met, Zhang will be satisfied, and he has nothing else to ask for!" This time, even a fool can hear Zhang Wang's intention!The expression on Sima Fang's face was like the autumn wind blowing the pond, wrinkling layers of ripples.After pondering for a long time, he asked slowly: "Originally, I am not a vulgar scholar who is limited by family background. I also like the virtuous and virtuous niece of Chunhua. But, Zhang You see, my family Lang'er is too old, I'm afraid he won't be good enough for your family's Chunhua; my family's Fu'er is determined not to talk about marriage until she turns 30." "Where's Zhongda?" Zhang Wang blurted out, "Zhongda and my family, Chunhua, are childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts. Zhang has always loved him very much..." "Zhongda? Are you asking about my family Zhongda?" Sima Fang opened his mouth wide, his face full of astonishment, "Don't Zhang Jun know? Half a month ago, my family Zhongda suddenly suffered from wind paralysis and was bedridden. I'm sorry. According to the doctor, his hamstrings are stiff and his daily life is inconvenient. Not only can he no longer do official work, but he will find it difficult to take care of himself in the future—" "How could this be?" Zhang Wang felt a buzzing sound in his ears, which made him dizzy, "No way... No way... How could this be? I have to talk to Chunhua about this matter as soon as possible. Talk about..."