Divine Tang Era

After the meal.

With nothing to do, Xu Dan picked up some borrowed books.

I had read Mencius and the Tao Te Ching before, so I just flipped through them and put them aside.

I hadn't seen the miscellaneous notes before, so I randomly flipped through one, not caring where I started. It read: "The Bamboo Horse Dance is performed every year on the Lantern Festival. A bamboo reed is used for the horse's head, and its tail is decorated with colorful silk, like a fake horse in a play. One person leaps high, riding the fake horse, while another, with a painted face and dressed in black leather like a wild beast, leaps vigorously, the one leaping high drawing a bow to shoot. Beside them is a person holding a red oil winnowing basket, scraping the basket with chopsticks while singing."

Those who leap high chased after this beast and shot it, and the beast died instantly from the arrow. People called it "shooting the mother fox cub".

This is a dance performed to symbolize merit. Some say it is the same as the ancient Nuo ritual, but that is not the case.

I heard from Yin Taiyun of Luoyang: "In this desolate land, which has never been under the rule of the king since ancient times, there lives a beast there, whose name I do not know, that loves to bite the legs of horses. The people of this land fear it more than a tiger and dare not live in peace. I once went to this land, and by riding a fake horse on a high-riding horse, I managed to shoot and kill this beast. The people of this land believed it to be a god and thus became devoted to it. Hence, this dance was performed."

The text itself wasn't anything special, but the phrase "bamboo goose horse" caught Xu Dan's attention.

Because he had previously watched a Taiwanese opera drama called "Wang Wenying and the Bamboo Horse," which tells the story of a man named Wang Wenying who, while mourning in the mountains, had a miraculous encounter and obtained a bamboo horse that transformed into a winged creature that could gallop swiftly and fly through the sky.

So he turned the book to the front and started reading from the beginning.

Upon flipping through it, I discovered that the miscellaneous notes were written by a man named Yao Yuanzhi, recounting his life experiences and some strange and unusual events.

For example, one of the passages reads: "There is a white snake in the Imperial Examination Hall of the Capital. If it comes out, it will bring bad luck to the examiners. There are eighteen rooms, but only the third room is occupied by Sun Chendong. Sun was not the one who died in the examination. Most of the examiners were unwilling to live in this room, or they would share a room with their relatives and friends who were also examiners. So this room became empty."

During the provincial examination in the year of Wuyin, Yang, the compiler, and a certain person used this house as a place for a meal.

One day, just after dinner, the wall of the house suddenly collapsed, as if pushed by a person. Frightened, they went out and dared not eat there, so they used it as a toilet. One day, a green snake came out from under the door, showing no fear of people. When everyone rushed to look, they saw a large white snake, as big as a tea bowl and six or seven feet long, coiled in the house, raising its head to look at people. The group fled in fear.

Not long after, Cui, a fellow examinee, died in the examination hall, and a certain man from Liuzhou also fell seriously ill.

What kind of strange snake is this? And there's a green snake, so it's not just one white snake.

Sun died in the third house, which later became quite violent. The house was demolished and renovated, but it was still not peaceful. After Xianxu, the prefect of Hejian, was released from his official post, things calmed down somewhat. Xianxu was appointed as a co-examiner for a certain examination, and the others left this house for him. Sun himself brought incense and paper money to the examination hall, and upon arriving at the house, he offered sacrifices, wept, and prayed. The house thus became somewhat peaceful again.

In the imperial examination of the year Ji Si, Shao Baozhong, a compiler of the same year, was also a candidate. Unaware that this house belonged to his grandson, he stayed there.

After the test was completed, there were no other unusual events.

The day before the results were announced, some colleagues congratulated him. Upon inquiring about the reason, he learned that he had suffered from severe fever and chills that evening. He was unable to attend the examination hall or leave the examination room when the results were being filled out, and died half a month later.

In the spring of the Jiaxu year (1894), Censor Sun Shaolan was the last to enter the imperial examinations, leaving only this room. Shaolan then proposed to live with me, but upon inquiry, it was learned that no one dared to live there after the Xinwei year (1891). Thus, this room was abandoned. Now, with the matter of Censor Cui, another house will be abandoned.

Upon reading this, Xu Dan couldn't help but think of the story of the White Snake and the Green Snake, but it wasn't quite as legendary.

There are also strange and supernatural elements involved, and it's unclear whether they are just rumors or if they are true.

Anyway, the book piqued Xu Dan's interest, so he began to read it carefully. He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Xu Dan's heart skipped a beat; could it be another ghost?

"Young master, it's late, go to sleep early." It turned out that Yunniang had come to check on him because she noticed that the light was still on in his room.

"Okay, you should get some rest too," Xu Dan quickly replied.

After a while, Yunniang saw that the light in his room was off, and then she felt at ease and lay down to sleep.

The next day, after finishing his cultivation with Little Magpie, Xu Dan stood in the courtyard, practicing the Establishing Cauldron and Sealing Furnace Technique. In the past, he would just stand there empty-handed, but ever since he obtained the Crimson Flame Shield in the Yin Ruins and experienced its wonders, he would practice with the Crimson Flame Shield when he returned home.

When the little magpie saw the giant shield that was as big as a door, it was afraid of being crushed, so it kept its distance.

The black bear had long since disappeared from sight.

Normally, when they practice martial arts, Yunniang would wash clothes nearby, but today she didn't dare to wash them in the yard.

Holding the Crimson Flame Shield, Xu Dan's flesh and blood were compressed, causing his qi and blood to suddenly become restless and surge within his veins. The spiritual energy solidified in his meridians was compressed by gravity, falling down and transforming into surging currents that flowed into his qi and blood. The restless qi and blood became frenzied, surging and creating layers of giant waves that traveled through his veins before finally crashing into the illusory golden cauldron.

"control"

With a loud bang, another golden cauldron solidified.

The enormous sound generated waves of sound that impacted the internal organs and soul, cleansing the marrow, bones, muscles, blood, flesh, and skin.

Each time the Golden Cauldron is formed, Xu Dan's body will have a chance to be cleansed and refined by the sound waves emitted by the Qi and Blood Cauldron. Although this cleansing and refining effect is small, over time, it is no less effective than those physical training methods that temper the body.

Sensing the formation of the golden cauldron, Xu Dan couldn't help but sigh: Cultivating while holding a giant shield is indeed fast.

In an instant, I thought of several famous people who lifted heavy weights.

One was King Wu of Qin, but unfortunately, he was unlucky. Although he lifted the tripod, he was crushed to death. The Records of the Grand Historian, Qin Annals, states: "King Wu was strong and fond of games, and his strongmen Ren Bi, Wu Huo, and Meng Shuo all rose to high positions. The king and Meng Shuo lifted the tripod, and the king's leg was broken. In the eighth month, King Wu died."

One is Xiang Yu.

This guy was formidable. The Records of the Grand Historian, Biography of Xiang Yu, states: "Ji was over eight feet tall, strong enough to lift a tripod, and exceptionally talented. Even the young men of Wu were already in awe of Ji." Ji was Xiang Yu, a native of Xiaxiang at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

One was Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling.

The Book of Han records: "Xu Zhuang was strong and loved music and leisure. He was strong enough to lift a tripod and could fight bears and wild beasts with his bare hands."

Unfortunately, this guy coveted the throne and acted recklessly, successively cursing ("witchcraft") Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Fuling, King of Changyi, Liu He, and Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun. After being discovered, he committed suicide.

It is said that the cauldron weighed a thousand catties back then, and now it has solidified into three golden cauldrons, weighing about three thousand catties.

That's roughly equivalent to three Overlords. Thinking about it this way, Xu Dan felt a little proud.

Yunniang watched anxiously from the side, not daring to speak, afraid of disturbing Xu Dan. If she accidentally hurt him or something, she would be beyond redemption.

After cultivating for a while, Xu Dan finally put away the Crimson Flame Shield.

For breakfast, they had braised oxtail with plain congee and large meat buns. Braised oxtail with plain congee was already quite good; there was no need for large meat buns. However, after drinking the congee and urinating, they were already hungry, which wasn't enough to fill their stomachs, so Xu Dan had to ask Yun Niang to make buns.

The steamed buns are made with golden mutton beef, which is delicious and full of vitality, and can greatly replenish qi and blood.

Unfortunately, Yunniang and Xiaoqueer couldn't eat it, lest it be too nourishing and harm their health; they could only gnaw on the cow's tail.

Even so, the little magpie ate with great relish and was extremely happy. Back home, she could never eat anything so delicious. The little one was utterly satisfied.

After dinner, Xu Dan went to Mingfenglou to tell the story of Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua.

If he didn't finish telling this story, he would have to come to Mingfeng Tower. Fortunately, he tried to shorten it as much as possible, and he could finish it in just one or two more days.

"Alright, that's all for today," Xu Dan said, pausing to take a sip of fragrant tea.

Elsewhere, "fragrant tea" is just a name, but Mingfenglou's fragrant tea truly is fragrant tea. Xu Dan visited several times, and each time he drank it, different flower petals were added to the tea, leaving a lingering fragrance in his mouth. It was completely unlike the novels and books he had read before, which said that Tang Dynasty tea was all boiled with various seasonings, such as salt, vinegar, scallions, and Sichuan peppercorns—strange and unusual things.

That makes sense, though, since the place I'm in is the Divine Tang Empire, which has existed for thousands of years, not the Tang Dynasty.

A thousand years is enough time to change many things.

"Your legend is well-told, but it's all fake. None of it is true. Putting aside everything else, the Duke of Lu in it is not as frivolous as he seems," Li Zhu said lazily, leaning back on the couch.

"You said it's a legend, yet you're trying to apply it to reality? How silly." Xu Dan was speechless.

"You're the silly one, little brother." Li Zhu tapped his head with her slender finger.

"I'm leaving now, I'll come again tomorrow."

Li Zhu flicked her sleeve, revealing a bag in her hand. "These are freshly picked fruits, very sweet and delicious. Take them back and try them." Without waiting for Xu Dan to accept them, she placed the bag in his arms.

Xu Dan didn't stand on ceremony. He opened the bag, took out a round fruit that looked like an apple, took a bite, and nodded, saying, "Hmm, it tastes really good."

After leaving Mingfeng Tower, I went straight home. After having lunch and resting for a while, I headed to the Mo Family Martial Arts School.