Knife splashing

Chapter 346: Thunder from Heaven Subdues Demons
"What is that?" Master Yuan was stunned.

Bailu Academy began in the late Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It has a history of a thousand years and has produced many famous people throughout the ages. It is one of the four major academies.

This former teacher was able to teach in the tomb, so he must have extraordinary knowledge. However, he was obsessed with antiques, so he looked a little stupid after entering the tomb.

Anything that can surprise it must be extraordinary.

The tomb was originally pitch black, but after everyone entered, balls of fire lit up on their own, as if someone was controlling them.

Looking closely, they are actually lanterns.

The ever-burning lamp is not uncommon. Ancient alchemists had already worked out the recipe. Outsiders call it the mermaid lamp, but that is not the case.

Sima Qian once recorded that in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, candles were made from mermaid fat, which lasted for a long time without going out, so the legend of the mermaid lamp was passed down.

But mermaids are very rare. Even if they exist in this world, it is impossible to hunt them on a large scale, let alone make them into lamp oil.

And there have been countless people in China who have used eternal lanterns. How is it possible to find so many mermaids?

It was recorded in "Taiping Yulan" that the First Emperor saw a huge fish on Mount Fu, whose body was like a hill. After he shot it, the fish's oil flowed over an area of ​​9 hectares.

Therefore, the material used in the eternal lamp is whale fat.

Whale fat is used for lighting. It is smokeless, odorless and durable. It has always been a top-grade product for the royal court. Moreover, after being processed with the secret recipe of alchemists, it can be preserved for thousands of years without rotting. With the addition of phosphorous fire rope, the fat will spontaneously combust when the tomb is opened and air circulates.

These are the things Zhao Luzi told.

Whale fat may have been rare in the past, but since its rise in the previous dynasty, whaling in Leizhou Prefecture has become famous far and wide. Naturally, this thing has also flowed into wealthy families, and those who are rich and luxurious will use it.

What really surprised everyone were the objects in the tomb.

This tomb is similar to ordinary royal mausoleums, divided into a front hall, a back chamber, and two side chambers. The coffin is usually placed in the back chamber.

A ceramic attic can be seen as soon as you enter the front hall.

"Pottery towers" in tombs are not uncommon. They have existed since ancient times and are a funeral custom, symbolizing the place where the deceased resides.

This trend reached its peak in the Han Dynasty, and almost everyone in the tombs of aristocratic families had one, big or small.

Some have pottery jars at the bottom and pottery towers at the top, with flying birds, corridors, musicians, etc. inside. They are exquisitely designed and are called "grain bags" and "pottery warehouses".

Generally speaking, the volume is not too large.

The ceramic building in front of us is a whole floor high and directly blocks the front hall. It has a towering base, huge brackets, and a magnificent style. It is a typical feature of Tang Dynasty palace architecture.

This ceramic building has a base that occupies half of its surface, like a flattened pyramid, while above it are three floors with flying eaves, brackets, columns and railings, all of which are lifelike.

"Good stuff!"

Master Yuan's eyes almost popped out, sweat broke out on his forehead, his voice trembled, and he couldn't help but move forward.

"careful!"

Li Yan pulled him back, took a deep breath, frowned and said, "There are mechanisms inside this Taolou, it's very complicated."

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at the officials from the Ministry of Industry, "Since these things were left to you, Momen, there must be a way to crack them. Do you know?"

These officials are not of high rank, but they are all disciples of Mo Sect.

Their leader was also a little excited. "To be honest, the Mo Sect's Order and inheritance were lost a long time ago. This is the first time we heard about it, but we can try to crack it."

After saying that, he and his colleagues took out Lu Ban ruler, compass, and various strange measuring instruments.

They did not move forward rashly, but measured it inch by inch, knocking on the stone wall next to them with a small hammer, and even looking at the shadows around them in the light of the fire.

After a busy period, one of them finally spoke up: "The bottom is solid. It should be the entire tomb, which has been swallowed by the 'visual flesh'."

"In the art of mechanical engineering, the most unsafe thing is to use a mechanism, which will rust over time, so it is usually driven by quicksand or underground rivers."

"Even if there is a mechanism, it is probably destroyed..."

"The brick is eight inches long, good luck!"

"They are all natural wealth and official positions. This tomb is not a dead end!"

Li Yan didn't understand their terminology, but he knew what they meant. This tomb was not very dangerous.

Come to think of it, this is to leave a legacy. The two tomb-guarding beasts alone are scary enough. If any more trouble is caused, future generations may not be able to get them.

Call ~
But at this moment, a strange sound was heard.

There was a clanging sound coming from inside the pottery building, and then hot steam rose from the building.

For a moment, white mist filled the air, like a fairyland.

"Back off!"

Chengjue frowned and asked everyone to step back.

These white steam are emitted by boiling water. They are not evil fog or poisonous fog, but we must always be careful and vigilant.

At his command, several monks immediately stepped forward, raised their iron shields, and protected everyone behind them.

Click, click, click!
As the mechanism of the pottery building was activated, the doors of the three-story attic above were all opened in an orderly manner. Then a human figurine appeared, holding gongs, drums, chimes and other items in his hands, and started to beat them, which was very pleasant to hear.

"Is this... "Colorful Skirt and Feathered Coat"? "

Master Yuan was stunned and said excitedly: "What a skill, what a skill!"

Everyone had now realized that although the pottery building was a mechanism, it had no intention of hurting anyone and was simply for show.

One of the Ministry of Industry officials also shook his head and said, "Recently, a chamber of commerce got a music box from overseas. This is much better than that."

After a song of "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" ended, the little pottery figurines returned to the palace, but another group came out and played the same tinkling music, but it was "Yangguan Sandie".

Such an ingenious mechanism made everyone marvel at it.

The leading official from the Ministry of Works said excitedly, "We need to find a way to get this thing out. Your Majesty's birthday is coming up, and this is a perfect gift for him."

Seeing that the pottery building was not dangerous, everyone went around it and continued on their way.

Strangely, there was no danger whatsoever.

In the side rooms on both sides, there is a bookshelf filled with various bamboo slips and classics, all of which are books on numerology, mechanisms, and Qimen Dunjia.

On the other side, there is also an antique display shelf, on which are placed some small gadgets, including various strange tools, as well as some small mechanical components, levers, bearings, gears, etc., which are obviously used for teaching.

In the back room, there are two stone coffins.

It was ordinary, nothing special. Li Yan could smell the odor of a rotten corpse inside without even opening it.

There is only a plaque in front of the coffin, recording the situation at that time: people's hearts were no longer the same, material desires were rampant, and it coincided with the An-Shi Rebellion, and a great catastrophe was about to come to China. Although they restored the mechanical art, they were powerless to save it, so they sealed the inheritance here and left it to future generations...

Three other things are mentioned on the plaque.

One is about the tomb guardian beast.

The two most precious eyeballs on "Shirou" were refined by them into magic weapon tokens, which were used to control the two tomb guardian beasts and enter the tomb.

"Centipede" is ferocious and can be used as a guardian beast.

"Visual meat" is rare and can be used to dig into the earth's veins.

Unfortunately, they did not expect that after the Anshi Rebellion ended, China became increasingly turbulent, with regimes changing constantly. Many magical lineages were lost in history, and the two magical instruments had long been lost.

Now that the "centipede" is dead, and the "visual meat" has turned into an evil creature, it can only be killed. No matter how good it is, it will be useless.

The second was the Lu Ban Wooden Magpie, whose remains they obtained by chance, and they tried their best to restore it, and then buried it in the mountains near the back room.

Not just one, but ten! Perhaps the "visual flesh" lost control and swallowed that section of the earth vein and the Gaochang ghost city, which allowed those black cloud swords to be found.

The third is the heritage left behind.

They came up with an incredible invention, but it was bound to cause huge consequences, so they hesitated and hid it in a tomb. Whether it could be found depended entirely on God's will.

"Ancestor, may the Lord be with you!"

Several Mo Men disciples from the Ministry of Works were so excited that their eyes filled with tears, and they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Everyone, time is running out, let's get started!"

Seeing this, Chengjue quickly reminded him.

Upon hearing this, everyone did not dare to hesitate. Under the command of the officials from the Ministry of Works, they carefully packed up the various books and small artifacts and transported them back to the cave.

This "visual flesh" is also very powerful. Within a short period of time, the channel they opened had already shrunk and recovered.

In desperation, Tian Qianhu had to chop and chop to maintain the passage.

After moving out the classics and small mechanisms inside, at the request of several officials from the Ministry of Works, everyone worked together to move out the two sarcophagi.

These two are considered the ancestors of the Mo Sect, so naturally they need to be reburied.

Finally, only the pottery building was left.

Cheng Jue shook his head as he watched, "My Lords, this thing is really impossible to move. I'm afraid we can only give up."

The pottery was one story high and was filled with all kinds of mechanisms. Just think about it and you would know that it was not something that people like them could move.

"There is a way!"

One of the Ministry of Industry officials said anxiously: "If they can move in, they can naturally move out..."

As he spoke, he looked around hurriedly, then his eyes lit up, and he ran to the other side room and took out a round sleeper, "This is how it was transported in, laid out one by one, and pulled in by the tomb guardian beast!"

When everyone saw it, they suddenly realized.

When I saw these things before, I thought it was a Tang Dynasty custom, but it turns out they are used for transportation.

Although the tomb guardian beast is not here, they have strength in numbers, so maybe they can succeed.

Without hesitation, everyone immediately laid the sleepers, then formed a circle, holding the base of the ceramic building with both hands.

This thing had stopped working at this time. At Cheng Jue's command, everyone worked together. People like Li Yan directly released their hidden energy.

Unexpectedly, with a crisp sound, the pottery building shattered!
Those officials from the Ministry of Industry were completely dumbfounded.

Master Yuan lamented repeatedly, "What a pity, what a pity..."

The outer shell of the pottery building shattered, and the mechanisms inside were exposed. Various delicate gears and bearings, with metal wires on them, connected the pottery figurines, which was dazzling to the eyes.

It would be extremely difficult to restore it.

"what?"

Li Yan frowned and walked forward.

Under the base of the pottery building, there is a copper pot the size of a water tank, with exquisite relief carvings of dragons and phoenixes. There are also copper rods extending out, connected to large and small gears.

Seeing him looking down, the disciple headed by Mo Men also squatted down and whispered: "From the looks of it, this is the key to the operation of this mechanism..."

As he spoke, he fiddled with it for a while, then pulled out a secret compartment from the bottom of the copper jar, wiped a handful of liquid inside, and put it to his nose to smell it.

"It's whale oil!"

His eyes lit up, and he quickly ran to a lantern, lifted the glass cover, blew out the candle inside, got some whale blubber from his pocket, and filled the secret compartment with it.

Snapped!
The moment it closed, the sound of flint striking could be heard from inside.

Then, steam rose and the copper rods on the jars began to move, but the mechanism was broken. The gears made ping-pong sounds and swayed from side to side. Even the terracotta figurines vibrated up and down and made noises.

"This is…"

Li Yan was stunned, then shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter what else you have, but you have to take this thing away."

"It's really good stuff."

An official from the Ministry of Industry looked at the broken mechanisms around him with a look of regret on his face. "What a pity! It would be great if we could present this thing to the Emperor..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yan shook his head slightly and said nothing more.

The copper jar was quite heavy and was connected to numerous complicated mechanisms, so everyone had to dismantle it violently and lift it out of the tomb together.

Behind him, gears of all sizes kept falling and rolling around in the tomb...

…………

At 3 p.m. the next day, the sky had turned gloomy again.

The joint calculations of the high priests of Mount Longhu and Yang Mingqing of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory were bound to be correct. Not long after the beginning of the afternoon, dark clouds rolled over the sky and bursts of muffled thunder were heard.

In the center of Liangzi Lake, the ghost town still exists.

Although the Baotong Zen Temple had stopped chanting, the sealed earth veins here attracted evil spirits from the two places, and coupled with the weather, the ghost town did not sink even though it did not rain.

Perhaps sensing something, the ghost town began to riot.

The evil white fog, wrapped with countless green ghost fires, surged wildly and continued to spread towards the lake. The surface of the lake was hazy, and the scene of the ghost show that day appeared again.

Not only that, there are also corpses in the lake, with "visual flesh" tentacles attached to the end, running around in the lake.

Li Yan and others stood far away on the shore and watched.

On the other bank, a three-tiered altar had been set up, with 108 flags fluttering in the wind, and nearly a hundred Taoists standing on the altar.

The first level is the ordinary disciples, who beat musical instruments such as wooden fish, gongs and drums, and recite the precious edicts.

The second layer is filled with old Taoist priests. Their blue Taoist robes are embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, auspicious clouds and other objects. They hold a Chaotian Hu in their hands and step on the Gangbu steps. Every time they turn around, they bend down and worship towards the sky.

The third level is Zhang Zhiting.

The old Taoist stood in front of the altar, holding a five-colored flag and waving it. He then made hand gestures and wrote a series of thunder symbols. After lighting them, he stepped on the thunderbolts and chanted, "The first turn is when the sky gate shoots straight, the second turn is when thunderbolts fly, the third turn is when the dragon god spits out mist, the fourth turn is when thunder and rain spread widely..."

As he chanted and waved the Dharma flag, the clouds in the sky became darker.

Li Yan watched from afar with horror in his eyes.

This is the real thunder method!

He could already feel that the all-destructive aura in the sky seemed to be establishing some kind of connection with the altar in the distance.

There was only one problem. This thunder method was too time-consuming. The old Taoist priest prepared for it for a whole day, and half an hour had passed after the ceremony began.

And this thundercloud is also a necessary condition.

Rumble!
In the center of Liangzi Lake, the ghost town began to collapse. In the thick fog, a huge black shadow slowly crawled.

At this moment, Zhang Zhiting suddenly took out the Thunder Strike Wood Sword, threw a few command flags into the sky, and chanted: "The Jade Purity has begun to be pure, the true talisman has announced the alliance, the two Qis have been moved, and the unity has become true... Hurry up and obey the command!"

After saying that, he picked up the yellow talisman and stabbed it towards the center of the lake.

Rumble!
Lightning tore through the clouds and fell from the sky. Everyone only felt a blinding white light in front of their eyes and a roar in their ears...

(End of this chapter)