Chapter 7 Chapter 6 A story that happened in a certain place in a certain city on a certain day in a certain year

(This title is likely to attract people to scold, so many "some", unknown or pronoun? Is it pretending to be mysterious or playing tricks? In any case, please calm down, the title is just a title after all, even dispensable .) A certain month and a certain day of the year. somewhere in a certain city. "Somewhere" is a very majestic and splendid mansion, pure Chinese style, antique, with a history of more than five hundred years. Recently, although the splendor of the mansion has declined greatly, the painted paintings on the beams have faded, the white powder on the walls has peeled off, many brick walls have collapsed, the lotus pond has dried up, and the corridors in the garden have long been crumbling. The landscape is complete, and the vegetation has not been pruned for years, and together with the weeds, they are rushing for sunlight and nutrients.

The original array in the lobby disappeared without a trace, and a large plaque was also dimmed and cracked into several pieces, with one or two pieces still missing.The carved window lattices are all broken holes, but the atmosphere of the whole structure is still very intimidating. Its current owner is also an official, and that official's title is "Director", and it is not Leng Yamen, but the "Director of the National Intelligence Bureau" of this "certain city", very popular at the time, very powerful One of the characters in the bureau, the director of the intelligence bureau, is in his early fifties. Among officials in such a position, he can be called "young and strong". There is no limit, and there are countless taller leaders above the chief, who can be used by the chief to climb up step by step or triple jump.

As an "intelligence chief", one must have achievements in his work. Naturally, he must solve some cases that are not good for national security, so as to show the ability of the intelligence chief. For sabotaging security, although the director is good at identifying crimes, he still can't catch people with full title, and he will be charged with crimes. There was a time when it was actually possible, so the director also missed that time very much, but he hid this kind of nostalgia in his heart, and he didn't dare to reveal it in front of others, even when he was alone, he kept it hidden. Good material for an intelligence chief.

There is a special reason why the chief of intelligence chose this huge mansion as his residence. On the surface, he just said that although the mansion is dilapidated, its grandeur is still there, and it is quite commensurate with his status. He didn't occupy the entire huge house, but only occupied a corner in the southeast.There are seven or eight rooms in that corner, and there is also a courtyard, which can lead to a large deserted garden. That large garden is listed as a national key cultural relic preservation site, but no one has taken care of it, so Since the Chief of Intelligence moved in, it has naturally become his sphere of influence.

This is also the director's selfishness. The director is a very scheming person - if not for this, it is absolutely impossible to hold such an important position in his early fifties. He was an official and never left this city, so he knew the history of this city in great detail. He was also a local. Since he was a child, he had a very secret wish to enter this huge mansion. He had never mentioned this wish to anyone, and it was an old man who seemed to be too old to grow old to make him have this wish. The time has to be pushed forward by several years. (Therefore, it is very reasonable to use "a certain year, month, and day" in the title of this section, because it is impossible to determine exactly which year, month, and day. In this section of the story, space is always It is in a certain city, surrounding this huge house, but the time is changing rapidly, it is difficult to determine.)

Push the time to the time when the shrewd and capable director was only eleven years old.He was very smart since he was a child, so when he was eleven years old, he was already in middle school. The road from home to school was quite far, and his family was not well off, so he had to walk. The alley next to the huge house was a passage. , which became a place that this young man passed by at least twice a day. The small alley was forcibly carved out of the huge mansion, which is very peculiar, so there are high walls on both sides of the alley—high walls belonging to the huge mansion.The young man (of course he was not the director at that time, although he will be the director in the future, but now he can only be called a young man) can often be seen, there is an old man who is too old, walking very slowly, walking in the alley Walking in the middle of the alley, from one end of the alley to the other, immediately turned around, walked back, and then walked to this end.

The so-called "too old to be old" is naturally the impression seen in the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy. In the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy, thirty years old is also old, not to mention that this old man is said to be over ninety years old. , it is really unimaginably old, wrinkled, and the hand sticks out, and it doesn't look like a human hand-how can human hands be so terrible?Under the brown folds, it seems that many earthworms are wriggling. Originally, he had no chance to see the old man's hand. That day, when he hurried past the old man, the old man suddenly reached out to stop him. The sudden action made him startled. The old man's mouth was on his shoulders. I'm afraid he doesn't have a single tooth in his mouth, so he will be vague when he speaks, but he still said vigorously: "Study hard, get a top score in your studies, and live in that mansion."

He blinked, not knowing what it meant.The old man leaned over to him, exhaled heavily, and a musty smell came out of his mouth and nose: "Do you know who lived in this mansion?" The mansion is so famous in the city, he grew up in the city, so he naturally knew it, and said it immediately.The old man suddenly let out a long sigh and shook his head: "I didn't see it, but I believe that person saw it, and I also believe what he said." He was inexplicable: "Who is that person and what did he say?" (Originally, we could push the time back several decades and see how the old man was when he was a teenager, but I’m afraid that this will be too complicated and easy to get entangled, so let’s just listen to what the old man has to say.) The old man said: "That person...he raised me up."

The director of the youth couldn't help sticking out his tongue. To him, this was almost unbelievable. The old man was already so old, and "that man" was even older than the old man. The old man seemed to understand what the young man meant, sighed, and said: "The man is already dead. He kept telling me that he lived in that mansion and was kicked out later. Fortunately, he escaped quickly and saved his life. But he knows that there are countless treasures hidden in one place of this mansion." The young man couldn't help but sighed: There are countless treasures hidden in this mansion. It is one of the most attractive legends in this city. Everyone knows it, and everyone has heard at least a hundred different treasures. Numeric version.

Some people say that the entire rockery in the garden is made of gold, so how much gold is worth thousands of stones. (As a result, during the chaos, all the rockeries in the garden were knocked open, and the gold was not returned, and all the stones were left.) Some also say that the pillars of the mansion are all hollow, and there are pearls the size of longan and various emerald gemstones hidden inside, which are countless, more than the crystal palace of the Dragon King of the Four Seas in ancient legends. (When it turned out to be a mess, a lot of holes were drilled in almost every pillar, but nothing was found except a lot of sawdust.)

And so on, there are countless legends about the hidden treasures of this mansion, and I have been used to hearing them since I was a child.The reason why this mansion has so many legends of hidden treasures is not without reason, because all the legends about this mansion as the mansion of the leader who plundered most of the country are naturally all because it was so extraordinary caused by one of the masters. However, there are too many legends, and it will be difficult to arouse people's interest, and at that time, no matter who enters the city, as long as they have power, they can merge this huge house into their own power for a short period of time Everyone within the range was fascinated by the legend of hidden treasures, and the mansion was thoroughly searched.The degree of thoroughness, after dozens of similar searches, probably an embroidery needle hidden in a corner has already been found out. This, so the legend of hidden treasures is even less interesting. The young man was drinking and waving his hands before he had to leave, but the old man moved his wrinkled face closer: "Not only did he live in that mansion, but he also hid treasures and hidden treasures with his hands." people, all called—" When the old man said this, he showed a strange expression, in his dim eyes, there was a strange look full of ghosts, and he made a chopping gesture, not only did he make a hair-shocking expression from his mouth, There was a sound of an upright "kacha", and his frighteningly thin hand moved so fast that it chopped on the young man's neck all at once. That blow, of course, was not heavy at all, but because all the matching was so palpitating, the young man couldn't help jumping up, and stretched out his hands to rub his neck vigorously. For a moment, it was as if his own head had been cut off. When I got down, even my legs were a little weak from fright. This action left a deep impression on him, so he not only concentrated on listening to the old man tell his story at the time, but also thought about the old man's story over and over again in the future, until his thinking became more and more mature. He thought more and more, and finally, inevitably, he immersed himself in the old man's story. He was convinced of the story told by the old man, and made up his mind to make the story of the old man All the treasures mentioned, get a chance to be discovered. At that time, he was just a boy with straight eyes and staring blankly touching the place where his palm was cut off. Naturally, he was very different from the later majestic intelligence chief, but everything started from then. The old man stared at him and repeated: "Treasures, gold, precious stones, and silver don't flow in at all. They are all in the mansion. The person who hid the treasures was taken out that night and beheaded. When he was beheaded, the knife was blunt. He cut it in half and threw him on the ground as a dead man. He got up and recovered his life. When the beheader died, he was the only one in the world who knew the secret of the hidden treasure.” The old man spoke up to this point in one breath, and the saliva accumulated in the corners of his mouth was full of weird foam, which looked like a clam mold that kept making noises. The old man's chest heaved: "He told me this secret when he was dying. I...he said, if I don't know this secret, I will never find where the treasure is hidden. The treasure is really piled up like a mountain... I can't see more If you look at it too much, Baoguang will blind his eyes. He told me the secret, and I am the only one in the world who knows where the treasure is hidden." The young man choked suddenly, he wanted to ask a question but didn't ask it, he was stopped, and the old man rushed to continue: "It's in that mansion, behind the high wall." The young man scolded in his heart: nonsense.However, he still took the opportunity to ask the question that he hadn't asked just now: "Old man, since you know, why don't you get the treasure out?" The old man seemed to have known that the young man would ask this question a long time ago, so he let out a long sigh before the young man spoke, and the "ah" sound was long and lingering, and the lingering sound was lingering. Listening, you know that the old man's heart is really very sad. After the old man sighed, he said: "Little boy, do you think anyone can have treasures? It's not like you don't know who lived in that house, so many treasures were all looted from everywhere. It's already belonged to him, and it's hidden so well, but what's the result? He died without a trace, can he take away a single cent? A life like mine, it's okay if I don't have it, I have it, hehe, maybe it will be Get into trouble." The young man naturally couldn't accept this kind of fatalism, and he didn't understand it at all, so he rolled his eyes: "Then what's the use of knowing the secret?" The old man blinked his eyes vigorously, and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, after I knew the secret, for many years, I couldn't sleep well. I was afraid that the secret would be revealed in my dream, and I always wanted to tell others, but I can’t find anyone to tell, Fubo’s person, tell him, it’s harming him.” The young man's heart moved a little: "Am I... blessed enough... to be rich?" The old man stretched out his hand suddenly, grabbed the young man's wrist with his cold and hard hand like a melon, grabbed the young man, and walked out until he reached the entrance of the alley. At that time, it happened to be the time when the sun was setting (the setting sun was slanting at the entrance of Wuyi Alley), and the golden sunset light could not shine into the alley.At the entrance of the alley, once out of the range of the high wall, it was extremely brilliant, fully reflecting the young man's body, the old man stretched out his hand and lifted the young man's chin, so that he faced the sun, the young man naturally squinted his eyes slightly. It can be seen in the eyes that it is a large group of sunsets that are as red as blood. The old man murmured to himself and said a lot of things that the young man couldn't understand, such as "the heaven is too narrow, the young man's luck is naturally poor, but, ah, ah... the official career is successful, smooth sailing, the higher the danger, the higher it is... Today, I have found someone." The young man's face was warmed by the afterglow of the setting sun, and he asked impatiently, "What's going on?" The old man pointed at the high wall with his backhand: "Okay, one day, you will be the owner of this mansion." Hearing this, the young man burst out laughing. Although he didn't believe the old man's prediction at all, he was very happy. Being the master of this huge house is really a beautiful imagination.So, scratching his head and grinning, he wanted to say something and make some wishes to repay the old man. After thinking for a while, he said: "If it is true, I will invite you to dig the treasure together." The old man shook his head: "At that time, I'm afraid I would have turned into a dry bone. Hehe, hehe, hehe..." He sneered six or seven times in succession, laughing so hard that the boy's body turned cold, and he couldn't help asking: "Where is the treasure hidden?" The old man said: "It's in the mansion, unless you know the secret, otherwise, you can't find it if you look for it." The boy felt his throat was a little dry, and wanted to ask again, but the old man said, "I will tell you, before I die, I will tell you." The young man rolled his eyes, a word swirled in his throat, and swallowed it again.That sentence was: "How do I know when you're going to die?" Who knew that the old man suddenly sighed again: "Oh, I'm going to die now, come, let me tell you." The old man gasped as he spoke, stepped back a few steps, and retreated into the alley again, standing still with his back against the high wall. The young man leaned forward, and at that moment, there was a strange light in the eyes of the old man, and the young man did not feel that there was a moldy smell emanating from his body.No matter what time and place, a large amount of treasure is always extremely shocking.Although to a poor and ignorant young man, he may have no idea what a lot of wealth means, but since the invention of wealth, human life has been bound together and become a part of the genetic factor of life. , almost everyone, is developing his behavior in accordance with the law of dealing with wealth stipulated in the code of this genetic factor. The young man only felt that his heart was beating very violently, and the voice of the old man became very deep, so he had to try his best to get closer to his ears. The unpleasant hot air from the old man's mouth made his ears warm, and he finally heard spit out from the mouth of the old man.A few broken words—the secret about the great wealth hidden in the great house. Sure enough, after telling the secret in his heart, the old man leaned against the wall and slid down slowly until he fell to the ground and never moved again.The young man didn't understand very well, so he leaned over and asked several times, but the setting sun reflected on the old man's still eyes, reflecting a terrible and strange golden light. The young man had never seen a dead person, but he was aware of death at this moment. He took a few steps back and hit the high wall heavily with his back. Then, he screamed as if he had just woken up from a dream, and rushed out. No one knew that he had such an experience in his life, and he never told anyone about it, but since then, he often had the same dream, dreaming that he was among gold and silver mountains and precious stones, and he couldn't say enough of brilliance. Since then, the years have flowed like a stream, and many years and days have passed, after wars full of gunfire and corpses everywhere, through the changes of madness and blood flowing into rivers, and the changes of melodious music and prosperity, and finally old age Man's words come true, his official position is big enough for him to live in this huge house, and he can realize his dream for many years. He is very calm, this is his principle of doing things, he will not do things that are not 100% sure.He knows that in the society in which he lives, wealth is meaningful, but it is not significant enough, and in the vast world outside this society, wealth can exert great power, which can make the rest of his life more important than life. Immortals are happier, more at ease than emperors.So his preparations include that once he discovers the treasure in the mansion, he can use his power within 24 hours to leave without anyone noticing, and arrive at the treasure he is going to in a very secret way. There, he started a new life, and the society he belonged to could no longer find him. Everything was ready, that was the second month after he moved into the huge mansion, that night, he brought some simple tools to a corner of the deserted garden of the huge mansion. The garden is huge, and it has been deserted for many years. In addition, at night, the cold wind of late autumn blows on the upper body. It should be very cold, but he feels hot all over.After passing a large pond that had dried up, he came to the side of the big willow tree.The willow tree is very big, and its posture is extremely weird. There is a stump that is too thick for three people to hug. The branches and trunk are all drawn out from this stump. In late autumn, the moonlight is cool, and the bare willow branches are still swaying in the wind, but it looks like some old women who don't know their age and have chicken skin and white hair, still miss their old women, still Missing my girlhood and being in Manwu, the situation is particularly bleak. Standing in front of the big willow tree, he took a deep breath, and the words that the old man whispered in his ear rang again in his ears.How many years have passed, and he has recited the words that the old man whispered into his ears countless times, and now he deliberately recalls it, and naturally it is even more accurate. The old man's dry voice was full of excitement: "All the rare treasures are buried extremely deep underground, and there is only one passage to go down. The entrance of that passage is in the center of a big tree. Who can imagine the center of a living willow tree?" "When the willow tree was transplanted and pressed against the entrance of the passage, the core of the tree was hollowed out. The willow tree can still live if the core is hollowed out. It can still grow well, and the trunk will become thicker and thicker. The portion, has always been that size. "It's up to you to find it, send as many people as you want, and search it in the yard of the house. Who would cut open a big tree with luxuriant branches and leaves to have a look? Who would have thought that the entrance to the treasure must be What about passing through the center of the big tree?" He took a deep breath. The big willow tree was nearly two hundred years old, and there were big bumps on the bark, and it was not damaged at all. It can be seen that the secret has never been discovered, and he didn't even want to rush to find the treasure—— Knowing that you can find the treasure, and slowly enjoying the process of discovering the treasure, that is the supreme pleasure. Beforehand, he had studied the growth process of willow trees in detail. Willow trees like a lot of water, the wood is quite loose, and the annual rings are about 1 to 1.5 centimeters. But about twenty centimeters, it might have been ten centimeters. That is to say, with the sharp ax and sharp saw he brought, it didn't take long to open the trunk and see the hollow part in the center of the tree.And when he had cut a hole big enough for him to crawl into, he could enter where the treasure was hidden. Excitement made him exert his physical strength to the fullest. Every time the ax was cut down, the sound it made was exciting. He rejoiced for his luck, because all the timing, place and people were in perfect harmony.If he is not in this official position, no matter how high the official position is, he will not be able to use his power to transport a large amount of treasure out, and he himself will not be able to escape, but now his scope of power is so wide, it seems to be to let him find the treasure after he discovers the treasure. As you wish. He doesn't know if there is a god in the dark, but he can be sure that if there is, then this god must always be on his side. That night, he cut until late at night. After cutting about 30 centimeters deep, he took a deep breath with a flashlight; the trunk was indeed hollow. He continued hacking until his hand could fit into the hole. He then covered the stump with weeds and was ready to return to work the next night. It lasted for six days, and on the seventh night, he had already made a hole in the tree stump that was big enough for him to fall in. He poked his upper body in first, and under the illumination of the flashlight, he saw that the hole was very deep, like It's like leading to hell.He was still a little worried that the roots of the tree would block the original passage.If that's the case, it's going to take a lot of work. The designer at that time was really a genius. At the root of the tree, there was a wide iron pipe that prevented the roots from spreading. He even saw that there was a thick iron chain hanging on one side of the iron pipe for people to climb down. His heart was beating extremely violently. Although he had always had the confidence to believe that everything the old man said was true, but when he really entered the realm of mystery and ancient legends, it was quite different, that kind of elusive This unique and unprecedented experience is enough to make people so excited that they can't help but want to scream. He got in through the hole he made, bit the flashlight in his mouth, and pulled the iron chain with both hands. The iron chain was extremely thick, with one link after another, hanging down all the time, and looking down again, he didn't know there was something how deep. He kept hanging down, and the iron chain, which was as thick as his arm, also kept hanging down, at least fifty meters down, before he reached his head. In the round tube, after going deep into the ground, he felt a little short of breath, until he was on the ground, the light of the flashlight made it hard to open his eyes, that's what the old man said, but now, he can't see anything, only the body around him. in the iron pipe. There must be another way out. He became crazy, bumping and jumping in the iron pipe, no matter which direction he hit, the sound he made was so solid, which proved that the iron pipe was dirt, and there would be no more. There is another way out, that is, there is no treasure. He sat down at the bottom of the pipe, his whole body seemed to be floating, he didn't want to cry, but tears poured out like spring water, the dream he had had for so many years, when he thought it would definitely come true, was shattered.What a hit that was! He is like a person who has woken up from a dream, and he is also like a dead person. He does not know how long he sat at the bottom of the pipe before he climbed up along the iron chain. When he climbed out of the tree trunk, the sky Now that he was Ming, fortunately there was no one in the abandoned garden, and no one saw him. Since that night, he has fallen under the pipe every day. He firmly believes that no one will hollow out a big tree for no reason and leave such a huge iron pipe behind. The entrance to the treasure must be in the subway pipe. It's just that he doesn't know what the secret is. He began to curse the old man, the damn old man, who only knew the first entrance and no further secrets. In the following days, he tried his best, but the iron pipe seemed to be just an iron pipe, except for a thick iron chain, there was nothing, and there was no additional passage. He is a person with very strong nerves. After enduring such an unexpected blow, he can still work as usual. His daily work is very busy, including meeting foreign guests, although sometimes, what kind of foreign guest group is it? Neither is clear.