Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 871 Society Tree (4000)

Yang Wanli's work of repairing the three gatehouses is still going on, and Wu Liang's excavation work has never stopped.

During the excavation process, in addition to the soldiers of the Tuan Army, Wu Liang and the backbone of the Tuan Army also took the lead in throwing themselves into the mud, further speeding up the progress of the excavation.

In this way, before dark, they had doubled the size of the previously dug hole, and the depth was more than one meter longer.

Different from the silt in the upper layer, the red soil in the lower layer is obviously much firmer, and it will take more effort for the Huan army to dig down.

And as the area of ​​the pothole expanded, they soon built a square stone platform about four meters away from the stone sculpture, which was piled up with forged and chiselled stones.

After everyone continues to expand the pothole and work together to clear the stone platform.

I just discovered that the length and width of this stone platform are about one foot, but the strange thing is that the structure around the stone platform is very complete, but there is a missing piece in the middle of the stone platform.

The missing part is about two square meters and has an irregular circular shape.

The stones on the edge of the missing part are not as neat as the stones on the edge of the stone platform. The end near the center is slightly raised to a higher place, as if something once broke out from under the stone platform and destroyed the stone. Taiwan is average.

"What is this?"

"What ever happened here?"

Everyone in the Huanren Army was puzzled, especially when they saw the traces that seemed to have broken out from under the stone platform, they were somewhat worried.

After all, judging from the traces, the thing that broke out of the ground is definitely not small, and its power must not be underestimated.

And now they are continuing to dig down. If there is such a thing hidden below, they will probably dig it out soon...

"Let me take a closer look."

Wu Liang was also puzzled, but he didn't worry first, but walked up to the stone platform with an engineering shovel.

Standing on the stone platform, Wu Liang first stomped his feet a few times, then hit the stone platform with the handle of the engineer shovel several times, then turned his head to look at Bai Jingjing and asked: "Jingjing, listen to this Is it hollow underneath?"

"I can't hear it, it shouldn't be hollow."

Bai Jingjing shook her head and said.

"Isn't it hollow?"

Wu Liang nodded slightly. If the bottom of the stone platform is not hollow, then the possibility of a hidden space or passage hidden under it can be preliminarily ruled out. At the same time, the possibility of something breaking out from here can also be preliminarily ruled out.

After all, the missing part in the middle of the platform is not small, so the size of the thing that can leave this kind of trace will definitely not be small. If that thing is a living thing that can drill holes and crawl underground, it will definitely leave a huge trail underground. It is absolutely impossible for Bai Jingjing's hearing to fail to hear the channel.

Having reached this conclusion, Wu Liang was quite relieved, and immediately went to the center of the stone platform to clean up the silt and red soil that filled up the missing parts.

Dig down like this for a distance of more than a foot.

"This is……"

Wu Liang suddenly stopped his hands after discovering something, and then lowered his body to check the things dug up with the last shovel.

"?"

Seeing this, everyone in the Huanren Army hurried over to check it together.

At this moment, apart from the unique red soil and silt in Wu Liang's engineering shovel, there are actually some dark brown substances that look like mud but not mud, and this dark brown substance still maintains a very neat longitudinal texture.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the pit dug by Wu Liang.

I saw that some similar substances had been exposed in the pit, and there was also a very strange smell of decay, but the smell of decay was not too bad, at least it was stronger than the smell of decaying corpses they often came into contact with. How many.

When everyone was wondering.

"It's rotten wood."

Wu Liang has already given the answer.

I saw that Wu Liang had twisted a small piece of dark brown substance at some point, first passed it under his nose to smell it, and then crushed it to examine it carefully, so he came to this conclusion.

"But it's hard to say what kind of wood it is."

While talking, Wu Liang stood up again and continued to use the engineering shovel to clean up the red soil and silt in the pit.

Not long after, most of the red soil and silt were cleaned up, and the original appearance of the dark brown substance finally appeared in front of everyone.

It seems to be a large round wooden pile with a diameter of more than one meter, and because Wu Liang did not cause further damage to it when cleaning up the silt and red soil, everyone can see that this big wooden pile has This relatively flat cross-section looks like if it was not sawed off, it was cut off by someone using a sharp weapon.

There is a high probability that it was cut off, because the saw was invented by Lu Ban. Lu Ban lived in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. If this place belonged to the ancient times, he would have no idea what a saw was.

"Why is there a stake buried here?"

Seeing this scene, everyone was even more puzzled.

"Brother Dianwei, come and help."

However, Wu Liang had already thought of something at this moment. When Dian Wei was greeted, the two of them worked together to move away the flat stones with one end upturned on the edge of the missing part in the middle of the stone platform, and then expanded the dug pit together.

Under such actions.

Around the stake, more rotten logs that penetrated the ground were soon exposed, and judging from the appearance of these rotten logs, they should obviously be thick rhizomes extending from under the stake!

"It turned out to be a tree?"

Everyone finally realized suddenly.

Something did break out of this place, but it wasn't what they were worried about. It was obviously an ancient tree that once grew here.

And those raised stones are caused by the continuous growth of rhizomes during the growth of ancient trees.

"But talented brother, if it's just a tree, why use stones to build a stone platform next to it? What's the point of that?"

Although Zhuge Liang has read a lot of books and his brain is bright enough, but due to his age, his knowledge is still a little less.

Hearing this, Yu Ji immediately stroked his beard and began to popularize his science in the attitude of an elder: "If the old man guessed correctly, this is most likely a community tree. In ancient times, people lived in groups and sealed the soil as a community, In the place where they lived, the ancients usually planted a tree and worshiped and prayed to their subordinates all year round. This tree is called the Sheshu. It is said that the Sheshu can communicate with the gods in the sky and get the protection of God. The longer the time and the taller it is, it means that the history of this tribe is longer and the population is stronger."

"In fact, this custom is not only in ancient times, but is still very common today. If you often visit villages and households, you will find that many villages now have such a community tree. Every festival, there will be local three elders. Lead the villagers to sacrifice before the community tree."

"Even on weekdays, no one dares to disrespect the community tree. When a general meets a general, he gets off his horse, and when a high-ranking official meets him, he takes off his hat. The bird's nest on the community tree cannot be removed, the branches of the community tree cannot be cut down, and even the dead branches of the community tree cannot be disrespected." You can't collect firewood at home... These are unwritten rules. You probably lived in no fixed place since you were a child, and later lived alone in the mountains with Uncle Ni, so you don't know much about Sheshu. It's no wonder you. "

Yu Ji's science popularization is already very detailed, and Wu Liang has nothing to add.

However, he also remembered an anecdote fabricated in the later novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". This anecdote comes from No. 70 and eight chapters of the novel, and the protagonist is Boss Cao, who Wu Liang is now attached to.

It said that Boss Cao felt that Luoyang’s old palace was unknown, so he ordered people to cut down wood to build a new palace. During this process, Boss Cao saw a very tall pear tree, and the local people begged him not to cut down this pear tree. He said that this pear tree already possessed divine powers, but Boss Cao didn't believe it, so he drew his sword and chopped at the trunk. As a result, the big tree immediately spewed red blood like a living person being chopped down.

Later that night, Cao Cao had a nightmare and dreamed that the tree god came to take revenge. Since then, he had an incurable headache, and Hua Tuo, the genius doctor, also lost his life because of Cao's headache.

And this pear tree is a product created by Luo Guanzhong based on the community tree...

However, if the ruins of the ancient tree in front of them were the community tree, their previous speculation would be overturned again, because the community trees are often in the villages where living people live, which is the so-called Yangzhai.

However, according to Yu Ji's statement, the Locking Dragon Pillar discovered earlier should be a means to target the yin house. The two seem to be somewhat contradictory, right?
"Old man, according to what you see now, is this place the remains of an ancient village, or the resting place of a certain clan's ancestors?"

Wu Liang had no choice but to ask.

"This……"

Yu Ji was slightly stunned, and then said ambiguously, "I'm not sure now, but my lord, please look, there are quite obvious signs of felling on the rotten roots of this society tree, and for a tribe, the society tree is also Very important beliefs and totems, and those who disrespect the community tree, especially those who dare to cut down the community tree, will definitely become the sworn enemy of the entire tribe.”

"That's why I thought that this place must first be the remains of an ancient village."

"However, from the moment the society tree fell, I'm afraid it's not easy to say, because when someone dares to be unfavorable to the society tree, the whole tribe will fight back against the enemy, unless stronger force is used to make them dormant. Or kill them all, otherwise it is absolutely impossible to cross them and cut down this society tree."

"So after this, this place may become a place where there are only dead people..."

"As for the Dragon Locking Pillar, it may have been erected after this place became a private residence for the dead, in order to drive out all members of this clan and eliminate future troubles forever."

"However, this is just an old guess. Just like Miss Mi'er's words just now, it can be regarded as an opportunity to attract new ideas. I believe that with the young master's knowledge and methods, I will be able to find the truth if I continue to dig, and I don't need to be influenced by me."

……

Since the discovery of the rotten wood remains suspected of being a "community tree", the nature of this place has diverged.

Fortunately, Wu Liang was not in a hurry to make a conclusion, but just directed the people in the Huan army to continue the excavation work in an orderly manner... In fact, the pressure in his heart was much greater than it appeared on the surface, because at this moment it was not just about excavating this place. The issue of the ancient monuments, the lives of all the people in the Tuan army also depended on him.

Especially when he learned that the restoration of the gatehouse on Yang Wanli's side had been initially completed, and it turned out that the gatehouse repaired in this way could not help them leave the secret place without accident, the pressure in his heart became even greater.

Also.

The problem of food is also putting further pressure on him, because the excavation work requires a lot of energy for the people of the Tuan army, so the food consumption is much faster than expected.

Originally, he predicted that the meat in reserve should be enough for them to last for five days, but judging from the current situation, actually being able to last for three days is pretty good.

And on the fourth day, they might have to deal with the three little wild boars and brother rooster who don't have much meat.

But in fact, it is no different from running out of ammunition and food.

Thirty people share three small wild boars and one big rooster, it's really not enough to fit between the teeth...

When thinking about it like this.

"My lord, I have made a new discovery. I have ordered everyone to stop temporarily and wait for you to investigate!"

Dian Wei quickly walked out from the river bed, and said to Wu Liang while dumping the two sacks of red soil on his shoulders.

"What is it this time?"

Wu Liang came back to his senses immediately, and asked as he walked.

"It seems to be a bronze vessel, but only a small head has been dug out so far, so it's hard to say what it is."

Dian Wei replied.

"Was it dug out somewhere deep in the red soil, or was it found between the red soil and the silt?"

Wu Liang asked again.

"In the depths of the red soil, and just below the society tree that the young master discovered earlier, it is completely wrapped in the decayed roots of that society tree."

Dian Wei said seriously.

"Among the roots of the society tree?"

This was an unexpected answer for Wu Liang.

While speaking, the two of them had come to a larger and deeper pit dug by the Huan army.

According to his order, except for the stone sculpture of the strange insect, the stone platform related to the community tree had already been completely dismantled by the Liren army, and the thick rhizome in the middle was also cleaned up by them, making the depth of the pit It went down nearly one meter.

However, in addition to the thick main rhizome, there are also a large number of thinner root hairs in the red soil.

The only good thing is that this ancient tree has been dead for some time, and even these roots have long been decayed, so it is relatively easy to sort out.

But Wu Liang was not in the mood to pay attention to these roots at the moment, he went straight to the place surrounded by the crowd.

I saw that in a group of tattered roots that were as intricate as vines, at this moment, there were two pointed spikes that looked like horns.

Wu Liang took a closer look, and it was not hard to see from the rough rust on the top that it was indeed a bronze ware.

But even he couldn't judge what type of bronze ware it was from the exposed part, but it still surprised Wu Liang, and he stretched out his hand to Dian Wei without looking back: "Give me the engineer shovel!" .”

(End of this chapter)