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Chapter 91: Research on the Origin of Changping

After drinking three bowls of medicinal wine in one breath, Da Huang hummed comfortably and leisurely, lay on his side beside Geng Xuan, and slowly fell asleep.

Geng Xuan considered his next move.

He still had to go back with the hunting team, and the sooner the better.

But I can't just go back like this. There are three things I need to deal with before I go back.

He first went up to the basement, then returned to his home, looked at the sky outside through the window, and judged the current time.

"It's about three in the afternoon."

After confirming the current time, Geng Xuan did not stop and went back underground.

Come to think of it, I really did a lot of things today.

He started by following and killing the man in camouflage and other spies early in the morning, made several trips back and forth through the deep mountains and dense forests, and then ran hundreds of kilometers in underground tunnels. As soon as he returned home, he greeted a "rare guest".

And now, Geng Xuan is about to set off again.

After returning to the underground space, Geng Xuan filled his water bag with water and took some of the dry food that he always kept underground with him.

At this moment, as the medicinal power contained in the medicinal wine in the stomach spread into every part of the body, the empty stomach protested again.

Geng Xuan held the sleeping Da Huang in his arms and ate some dry food while stepping back into the underground passage.

He returned to the underground tunnel.

He walked towards Kangleji, neither fast nor slow, holding Dahuang in his arms. However, he did not walk out. Instead, after walking back and forth twice, he stopped at a place.

Geng Xuan raised his head and looked upwards. This place was the closest to the home of Li Qun, the Lord Li Fang.

The straight-line distance is only about fifty meters.

As the head of the monastery, Li Xun's home was also used as an office and meeting place, and its area was much larger than that of ordinary families.

In this way, even if there is a slight error, Geng Xuan is sure that the tunnel can lead to his home.

"Let me give him a taste of his own medicine."

Geng Xuan gently put the sleeping Da Huang aside and immediately took action.

Just like there is no one in Geng Xuan's house, Li's house is also empty now.

As far as Geng Xuan knew, both of Li Fangzhu's parents were no longer around, and he was the breadwinner of the family, with a son and a daughter.

The son was said to be traveling outside, while the daughter married into a nearby neighborhood called Yilingfang.

Only Li Fangzhu and his wife were at home.

If it were any other time, Geng Xuan would not dare to guarantee that the Li family would be empty at this time.

But now is the autumn hunting season, and even if there are important matters to discuss, they will have to go deep into the forests of Chiwu Mountain.

In order to set an example and serve as a role model, Li's wife also had to lead many ladies to do various gathering and harvesting tasks.

Because the work locations were very scattered, many people were only responsible for one place, or the liaison and communication with several nearby places. Li Fangzhu, who had the most complete information and the highest autonomy, took advantage of this loophole and disappeared under everyone's noses without arousing any suspicion.

He only needed to show up occasionally, and when he was not there, others would assume that he was inspecting or directing work somewhere else.

The current situation also makes it easy for Geng Xuan to sneak into the Li family.

The reason he did this was because he wanted to eliminate as many possible troubles as possible.

Moreover, he was also very curious about why Master Li Fang cared so much about his family.

From his behavior when he first visited the house, Geng Xuan had already realized that Lord Li's attention to the Geng family went beyond what an ordinary family in the neighborhood should receive.

Originally, Geng Xuan was just a little wary of the tentative words used by Li Fangzhu when he first came to his door.

Now, Geng Xuan even began to doubt the fact that he had discovered the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his predecessor's father.

Is it really a clue that was discovered accidentally by a hunting team, or is it a trace clue that was discovered through a conscious search?

After truly experiencing how big Chiwu Mountain is and what the original forest condition is like, the credibility of the "accidental discovery" claim becomes less and less.

……

After half an hour.

A tunnel more than 40 meters long and slightly sloping has "grown" out from one side of the tunnel.

"It should be about five meters from the ground."

Based on his own experience, Geng Xuan drank a sip of water and hung the water bag back around his waist. Geng Xuan decided to make a concerted effort to dig through the last section of the tunnel.

But to Geng Xuan's surprise, he had only dug less than a meter upwards when he suddenly felt a hollow force coming from his fingers inserted into the soil and rocks above.

Geng Xuan, who has rich experience, naturally knows what this means.

This means that the soil and rock just in front of the fingers has become very thin, and with just a little more force, they can dig through it directly.

"Is it dug through already?"

"You happened to dig into an underground cavity?"

The underground is not a complete and dense whole, but rather has many large and small cavities. This was Geng Xuan's first reaction.

But soon, Geng Xuan thought of another greater possibility.

"basement!"

"The Li family also has a basement!"

Thinking of this, Geng Xuan did not continue digging upwards. Instead, he gently withdrew his hand, and then gently grabbed the left and right sides with his palms.

When he carefully cleared out an area about sixty to seventy centimeters long and wide, he had already touched the texture of a square stone slab.

"This is a floor paved with flagstones!"

Geng Xuan immediately had the answer in his mind. He dragged the stone slab upwards with both hands and exerted light force. A stone slab was immediately lifted up.

The next moment, Geng Xuan stepped out of the cave and gently landed on another stone slab next to him.

Geng Xuan looked around the basement, which was about fifty to sixty square meters in size.

In order to ensure the stability of the ground building, there is a rock pillar at the four corners and the center of the basement.

Although it is called a basement, there are two openings on the top, about 20 centimeters long and wide, so the sunlight from outside can shine in unimpeded.

For most people, even with this little light source, the basement is still dark. If you want to see clearly, you have to turn on the lights.

But for Geng Xuan, he could already see all the furnishings in the room clearly.

The floor is paved with stone slabs, and there are steps against the right wall leading to the ground room.

The interior furnishings were very simple, with a plain and smooth stone couch in the left corner.

Next to the stone bed, there is a low table.

Opposite the low table, and also directly opposite Geng Xuan, there was a shelf against the wall.

That's all there is to this basement.

Geng Xuan first glanced at the stone collapse, and there was nothing on it.

He came to the low table next to the stone bed, on which lay an extinguished oil lamp and a book weighed down by a paperweight.

It is not difficult to analyze from its appearance that this is exactly what Li Fangzhu has been observing and studying recently.

Geng Xuan moved the paperweight away, picked up the book, and walked to a brighter place to start reading.

"Changping...Yuankao..." Geng Xuan whispered in his heart.

He gently opened the book and was quickly absorbed in reading it.

The content of this book is not much, and the things recorded are not complicated, so it didn't take Geng Xuan too long to finish reading the book.

"I see."

"Changping Origin Research" is a book that roughly researches and records the changes and development of Changpingfang over the past hundreds of years.

According to the book, Changpingfang is one of the most authentic neighborhoods of Yuanzhou bloodline.

More than five hundred years ago, Emperor Yuan fell and the Nine Provinces were in turmoil. Later, the Overlord entered Yuanjing and burned the thousand-year-old capital into ruins.

There were 480 neighborhoods in Yuanjing at that time. All those who were still alive fled Yuanjing and scattered throughout Yuanzhou.

Because the power of individuals and even families was too weak under the torrent of that great era, their ability to survive was not guaranteed at all.

Therefore, those who successfully escaped from Yuanjing and eventually took root in various places in Yuanzhou basically took the lifang as the smallest basic unit.

Some are even alliances of many neighborhoods, which are a considerable force in themselves.

These Lifang scattered throughout Yuanzhou inevitably collided with local forces, but the conflict did not last long and ended quickly. This was because compared to the original, ancient and primitive villages in Yuanzhou, these Lifang were a dimensionality reduction attack in all aspects.

From the organizational system to the advanced productivity represented by the various craftsmen within the Lifang, as well as the more complete cultivation system, those local villages simply do not have the ability to compete with the Lifang.

Soon, the primitive and simple villages in Yuanzhou disappeared completely, and all of them were transformed into neighborhoods.

Some of the neighborhoods that moved out of Yuanjing disappeared, some split up like a swarm of bees after growing to a certain size, some merged with local villages, and some completely forgot the "Yuanjing blood" running in their bones.

——The book also specifically emphasizes that one cannot judge whether a Lifang is authentic based on its name. Because if you look at it from this perspective, there is no Lifang in Yuanzhou that is not authentic. There should not be too many with the same name, and everyone claims that they are the authentic and legitimate descendants, and the others are all counterfeits.

From the lengthy arguments in the book, it is not difficult to see that the core purpose of this book is to prove one issue, "The bloodline of our Changpingfang is the purest", "Any other places claiming to be called 'Changpingfang' are all shameless fakes."

In order to support this somewhat poor argument, the book gives many examples.

Unfortunately, in Geng Xuan's opinion, these examples, which almost all begin with "it is said", "rumored", or "someone saw", are not convincing enough.

If they were to use this to prove their legitimacy with other neighborhoods also called "Changpingfang", they would be severely spit in the face.

Maybe in the blink of an eye, someone will be able to take out a thicker book called "Changping Origin Research". Yes, since it is called "Changping Fang", then when people research the origin of their own Fang, they can naturally call it this name with confidence.

But when Geng Xuan looked at one of the examples that also began with "rumored", his eyes froze.

"It is said that the ancestor of the Geng family in our district was a craftsman for the Yuan Emperor's Mausoleum and participated in its construction. Although he was buried in the imperial mausoleum with other 100,000 mausoleum workers on the day the mausoleum was completed and never returned, this undoubtedly shows that the relocation of our district from Yuanjing was true."

The author himself may not believe this rumor.

Among his many arguments, this quote is nothing special and consists of only a few sentences.

But Geng Xuan thought of a lot of things.

The book "The Earthly Journey" hidden at home can be easily dug out.

Now that I think about it, this is actually quite special.

According to his guess, his father's previous incarnation's mastery of the "ground walking technique" was definitely not bad. So, if he really wanted to hide something, he would definitely make it impossible for anyone to find it, and it was even more impossible to hide it in the basement of the house and dig it out casually.

There is also the great-grandfather who was good at finding and digging graves, and is no longer mentioned in Changpingfang, but is still remembered by the old people in other neighborhoods.

Geng Xuan thought of the "special envoy of the foreign army" who called himself "uncle master" and it was because Wang Fu and others reported the matter that he set his sights on his predecessor's father.

Geng Xuan also thought of this person's perseverance and determination in obtaining the "Earth-Walking Chapter".

At that time, Geng Xuan felt that the purpose was not simple, and it was definitely not for the purpose of digging holes.

Now, let’s see what this “Earth-Walking Chapter” is related to.

A "spider web" spread all over Yuanzhou and hidden beneath the earth.

Now another "Tomb of Emperor Yuan" has emerged.

"Tsk, tsk."

Geng Xuan touched his head and felt that no matter which one it was, he was not qualified to get involved in it now.

Therefore, he put the book "Changping Yuankao" in his arms, forced himself to suppress the matter, and even took the initiative to distance himself from thinking about this aspect.

……

Geng Xuan came to the wooden frame against the wall.

At first glance, the shelves were very sparsely stocked with not many things, but Geng Xuan's heart beat faster when he saw it.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: "It seems that being a boudoir master is really a very profitable profession. The ability to make money is no worse than those scumbags in Dingxing Hall!"

At the bottom of the shelf, there are two wooden boxes.

When Geng Xuan opened it, he felt dizzy.

In one of the boxes, there were a lot of shiny silver bars.

In another box, there were actually neatly arranged yellow gold bars.

Each one is of the standard ten-liang specification.

Geng Xuan did not count them in detail, but based on the estimate that one tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver, the value of these two boxes of gold and silver bars would not be less than three thousand taels of silver.

Right next to the two treasure chests, there were four huge wine jars, all sealed intact and unopened.

Geng Xuan felt the weight and realized that it was full.

Moreover, there are four wine jars, each of which holds 100 kilograms!

There was no need to open the jars. Just by the faint aroma from the seal, Geng Xuan concluded that the two jars were both medicinal wines for auxiliary cultivation.

Moreover, the quality is better than any wine I have drunk before.

This is not surprising. As the head of Changpingfang, Li Xun has to report all the harvests from the annual autumn hunt, as well as the daily hunting and medicine teams' harvests from going into the mountains.

If there are any good things, they must pass through his hands first. If he tightens his fingers a little, there’s no telling how many good things can go into his pocket alone.

What's more, everyone elected him to be the abbot, and he was supposed to be at the forefront. How could it succeed if he is not strong enough?
We all have the responsibility to provide certain resources so that he can concentrate on his practice and grow faster and better.

Therefore, there is nothing to blame Li Fangzhu for doing this.

His efforts to improve his own strength are his greatest contribution to the entire Changpingfang.

"I'm not polite... This contribution is worth it for everyone."

Geng Xuan moved his eyes upwards and saw five neatly arranged porcelain bottles in the grid above the four neatly arranged wine jars.

When I opened it, I saw that there were ten blood-replenishing pills in each porcelain bottle.

His eyes continued to move, and Geng Xuan found more than a dozen books on cultivation techniques.

The "Bone Shrinking Technique", "The Mysterious Water Technique of the Charming Girl", "The Art of Disguise" and "The Art of Leaping Like a Cat" obtained from that rapist are all among them.

Geng Xuan didn't have time to take a closer look, so he opened the two boxes containing silver and gold bars, and put the porcelain bottle containing the blood-replenishing pills and all the skills into them.

Carry the two treasure chests and go underground.

After a while, Geng Xuan came out from underground again and took away all four jars of medicinal wine, leaving not a single jar behind.

After doing all this, the already empty basement became even emptier.

After carefully walking around and cleaning the basement to make sure all traces were removed, Geng Xuan carried the stone slab and sank it into the ground again.

Before sinking into the ground, Geng Xuan took one last look at the tightly closed stone door on the steps.

If my guess is correct, there should be a lot of good things on the ground.

However, Geng Xuan, who was kind-hearted, decided not to go to the ground, at least to leave something for Li Fangzhu's wife and children.

With a slight sound, the stone slab fell back to its original position, fitting perfectly, with no difference from the original position.

Then, Geng Xuan filled the excavated rock and soil back into the ground.

Unless someone has a better ability to identify soil than him with the "Eye of True Vision", it is impossible to tell that there was a tunnel here.

In order to ensure the quality of the backfill, Geng Xuan took more than an hour to complete the task.

It takes much longer than digging.

Because the four jars of 100-jin medicinal wine were too heavy to carry, in order to prevent them from accidentally breaking on the ground, the 100-jin medicinal wine was used to water the ground.

Geng Xuan carried the four jars of wine twice. When he returned for the third time, picked up the two treasure chests and was about to pick up Da Huang and carry them back, Da Huang, who was originally sleeping soundly on the ground, suddenly turned over and stood up, leaning at Geng Xuan's feet, with his tail wagging.

"It seems that you have recovered well." Geng Xuan said.

Dahuang opened his mouth and made a soft humming sound.

"Can you walk by yourself?" Geng Xuan asked.

Dahuang immediately started running briskly and led the way for him.

He returned to the basement of his own yard, dug a hole and buried the two heavy treasure chests.

Dahuang rubbed against his legs again, making pitiful whimpering sounds.

"Woo woo~~!" (Translation: I'm so hungry)
Geng Xuan knew that this time Da Huang was really hungry, not because he was physically weak.

Geng Xuan took out a piece of cake from his arms, took a bite, and felt that there was nothing wrong with it except that it was a little dry.

He handed it to Dawang, but Dawang came close to the cake, sniffed it, and turned his head away in disgust.

Geng Xuan felt a little embarrassed. He didn't know whether to spit out or swallow the pancake in his mouth.

However, Geng Xuan finally did not waste the food. With a few sips of water, he swallowed all the cakes in his hand.

He clapped his hands and said to Da Huang, "You want to eat fresh meat? Okay, but you have to wait a little longer."

As he spoke, Geng Xuan took out all the carts that had been idle since the underground space was dug.

(End of this chapter)