Chapter 134 Shengmian Ancient City, Golden Eagle and Silver Wolf
When Zen Master Guangming, Su Hanshan, and Lei Yuzhu set off from the county government office, they all rode the best horses from a thousand miles.
But seven days later, the horses were fostered in another county and began to walk on foot.
There are too many uninhabited places within the territory of Dachu. Some places are because the land is too barren to support people, and some places are because the nearby population is sparse and there is no need to open up.
But in more places, it is because of the harsh terrain and dangerous environment that ordinary people cannot enter at all.
For example, the vast swamp area that stretches for thousands of miles looks like a large grassland with some lakes and mire mixed in between.
But in fact, those grasslands cannot bear the weight of people at all. Once you step on it, you will be swallowed up by the mire immediately.
It's okay in winter. Although the mire will not be frozen due to the surge of geothermal heat, the temperature of the upper layer of the swamp will be reduced a lot due to the cold wind, ice and snow, and not much miasma will evaporate. , most of the many evil beasts in the swamp will also fall into hibernation.
If it is summer, it is even more terrifying. The sky is filled with poisonous miasma. Endless poisonous insects, large and small, multiply, like black clouds and sandstorms, patrolling back and forth. Wherever they pass, the vegetation withers and wild beasts Withered, fresh blood from branches and leaves will all be sucked away.
There is also a bottomless Grand Canyon, which cuts across the road ahead. At the bottom of the canyon, there is a dangerous existence that no one can explain.
At least you need to be a ladder master to find the narrowest place, step in the air, and cross the canyon in one go.
There are countless dangerous places like these. If we had to go around them all on horseback, we might not be able to reach the northern border from Xueling County in half a year.
So most people who want to participate in the Shenwei Banquet have no choice but to abandon their horses, rely on their own martial arts to cross these dangerous areas, wait until they are close to the border town, and then buy horses, carts, and outfits.
The three of them, Su Hanshan, did not care about the enjoyment of carriages and horses, so they did not buy any more carriages or horses. After approaching the border town area, they still walked.
The sun and the moon alternate, things change and scenery changes, but the cold wind remains the same.
On this day, the three people who climbed the mountains once again reached the top of a large mountain. They passed through the dense jungle and were about to descend from the other side of the mountain when they suddenly stopped in unison.
The mountain topography in front seems to have suddenly become much lower and flatter, giving people a feeling of sudden clarity when looking forward on this mountain.
Between the mountains, there are roads, like the roots of trees, tracing back from all directions, leading together to the majestic and ancient city in front.
The black city wall is like a giant beast sleeping and cultivating in the sky of ice and snow. The wall is the same height as the nearby hills, but the surrounding peaks are even taller than the city. It looked extremely thin, like a scattered, loose pile of gravel.
But there are actually many buildings in the city, which are far higher than the city wall, allowing people outside the city to see them at a glance.
At the corners of the city wall, there are stone pillars of unknown purpose, reaching into the sky. The tops of the stone pillars are entangled in the clouds and mist, and it is unclear how high they are.
“There is the city where the Shenwei Mansion is located. It is said that the construction was started in the three ancient dynasties, during the period of the Great Sage Zhou Gong. There are even rumors that in his later years, the Duke of Zhou wanted to live in seclusion here, so it was called For the Holy Sleeping City!”
Seeing such a magnificent city gate, Zen Master Guangming couldn’t help but clasped his hands together.
“During the Five Dynasties in the Middle Ages, Shengmian City was damaged due to wars. The Northern Governor’s Palace set up by Emperor Qin was not in Shengmian City, so it showed a decline until Shenwei The general established his government here, which made this ancient city prosperous again."
While he was talking about ancient times, Lei Yuzhu squinted one eye, stretched out his finger, and gestured to several nearby mountains. , and compared it to the city in the distance.
"We are probably thirty or forty miles away from that city, but we can already see it so clearly."
Lei Yuzhu sighed, "Even if it is the county seat of Xueling County, and This city is incomparable. The painting my father painted when he went back was really not enough to show one ten thousandth of its beauty."
Su Hanshan threw a candied plum into it. mouth, chewed twice, and walked down the mountain first.
As the three of them got really close to the city, they became more and more aware of the splendor of this ancient city.
The width of the city wall is so large that after entering the city gate, people feel like they have entered a long tunnel.
Lanterns were even hung inside the city gate to illuminate the passing caravans and the mules, horses and camels.
During winter, many dangerous areas like large swamps in the north of Dachu become less dangerous than in other seasons.
Thousands of caravans, all adhering to the idea of gaining wealth through danger, will take a detour to the northern border towns between September and April of each year to sell and restock goods.
Then they will live in various border towns for half a year, waiting until the next winter, before transporting goods back to their hometown.
It takes two years to complete a round trip. Of course, the benefits are so huge that these people are so busy.
Su Hanshan and the others did not have a caravan guide issued by the county, so when entering the city, they had to directly take out the invitation to the Shenwei Banquet.
The soldiers guarding the city gate were neither humble nor overbearing, and there was almost no difference in their attitude towards ordinary caravans and guests at the Shenwei banquet. They just knocked on the bronze gong covered with gluttonous patterns after handing back the invitation.
Therefore, as soon as Su Hanshan and others passed through the city gate and entered the city, a group of maids came immediately. The leader was a woman wearing a gold hairpin, a flower pattern between her eyebrows, and a purple skirt. .
In this weather, she was wearing a long skirt, her complexion was still rosy, showing her considerable skills, and there seemed to be a faint fragrance lingering around her.
“Ling Qi, the steward of Shenwei Mansion, has met three distinguished guests.”
Ling Qi bowed and bowed, smiling before saying anything, "Are all three of you here to attend the Divine Power Banquet?"
Zen Master Guangming returned the bow: "Amitabha, the poor monk is just accompanying you."
>Ling Qi glanced back and saw three maids, each carrying a tray.
"According to our local custom, when distinguished guests come from afar and have to travel a long way, they are given gold tickets first to wash away the frosty air."
Ling Qi smiled, "Although it is just a little gold , but it’s a good omen, please don’t refuse.”
"Although Master is not invited, since he is here with a guest, he is also a guest in our house. Please accept this white jade ring, Master."
Among the three trays, there are indeed two gold tickets. A piece of jade pendant, and in each tray, there is a token representing the elegant room of the restaurant, which is obviously the accommodation arranged for them.
Su Hanshan and the others did not refuse, and after thanking each other, they accepted it.
That gold ticket represents the denomination of one hundred taels of gold.
Price prices in the Chu Dynasty were stable, and most of the common people used copper coins on daily basis. One copper coin in the countryside was enough to buy a large bowl of hot noodle soup.
Even in those prosperous big cities, food at roadside stalls often only costs three to five copper coins.
Although the so-called one hundred taels of gold does not refer to pure gold, but to the gold ingots that are commonly produced and supervised by the government, they are also valuable and can be exchanged for about 600,000 copper coins.
All the new ladder masters who are invited, as long as they show up, can get such a generous gift first, which shows the strength of Shenwei Mansion.
"I have to wait for other guests here. The three of us can have some fun in the city first."
Ling Qi said with a smile, "Although our Shengmian City is not as good as the Imperial Capital, it is also known as The prosperity, local style, and many unique features will surely not disappoint the three of you.”
As she spoke, she led many maids and retreated.
"I have heard of the reputation of Qingyun Tower. Most of the guests of the Divine Power Banquet have always lived here."
Lei Yuzhu turned over the token in his hand and said, " As long as we go there, we can see many of the opponents we will meet at the Shenwei Banquet in advance. Do you want to go and see them first?”
The three of them have become familiar with each other during this time together. a lot of.
In particular, Songhe Martial Arts School and Fenglei Martial Arts School have completely formed an alliance. Su Hanshan and Lei Yuzhu already know that the other party has ambitions to be in the top three, so naturally they have many common topics.
"We have only arrived two days early in total. No matter what other people do, we will all know the outcome when the banquet officially starts in two days."
Su Hanshan looked around and said, "I still want to know more now. Take a walk in this city."
Lei Yuzhu chuckled: "You know why we gave these gold when we first met, instead of waiting until the Shenwei Banquet was over. Will you give it after the wedding?"
Su Hanshan: "Huh?"
"You will give it after the banquet. Most of you will take it back to your hometown." Lei Yuzhu. He said leisurely, "And I gave it to you as soon as we met. When you wander around the city, it's easy to see things that you are interested in. When the time comes, most of the gold will still be left in Shengmian City."
Su Hanshan laughed and said: "Shenwei Mansion looks very grand. Do you care about such details?"
"It's really hard to say."
Guang Zen Master Ming said from the side, "Every year around the Shenwei Banquet, it happens to be the time when Shengmian City holds the Ten Thousand Shang Festival. For two months, for all transactions completed in the city, the tax collected by the General's Office was reduced by 30%. "
"Not to mention the gold they sent. Many times, people from all counties came to the banquet. , I can’t help but spend my own money to facilitate a few more businesses.”
The counties in the North include, in addition to Xueling, Hanjiang, Nushuang and other counties that are extremely close to the northern border, they also include Loufan, Lishi, Hedong, Daijun, Shangdang, Yunzhong, Dingxiang, etc.
Generally speaking, there are fifty or sixty new ladder masters who meet the invitation criteria.
70% of these fifty or sixty people come from various counties and counties. The families and sects from which they come will send many people to accompany them.
There are older people in the team to protect the young talents, but also to allow some younger disciples to follow them and open their eyes.
But now that their horizons have been opened, many people can’t help but buy big.
In addition, there are many forces that have not received invitations but want to come and join in the fun, or they want to take this opportunity to win over young ladder masters with weak backgrounds.
All in all, even a city as huge as Shengmian City is obviously much more lively than usual during this season when the Divine Power Banquet is held every ten years.
The three of Su Hanshan were wandering around the city, and they did see some novel gadgets, but before they were really excited to pay, something else attracted their attention.
Those are several silver-white giant wolves!
Their fur is like silver satin, shiny and shiny. The height at the shoulders seems to be eight feet. They are on all fours. When they lower their heads, the tip of their black nose is as high as a human face. Their body length is about Sixteen feet, tail not included.
With that big fluffy tail, even if an adult is hidden inside, outsiders probably won't be able to see it.
But such six giant wolves are only used to pull a palace-like carriage. It slowly walks through the street. Six large black-gold wheels made of unknown materials crush the ground and make a rumbling sound. .
“Those are the people from King Lang Yu’s tribe.”
“If you can use six pure-blooded silver wolves to pull a cart, I’m afraid you are the real direct royal family in King Lang Yu’s tribe. Is it possible? I also want to witness this The Divine Power Banquet this time?”
“It’s possible. Not long ago, people from the two royal tribes, Laiqiu and Feiyi, also came. This Divine Power Banquet was really lively. ”
Su Hanshan heard the people watching on the street talking about it, but they didn't appear to be panicked.
The northern border, although nominally speaking, is specifically designed to resist the invasion of the Northern Wilderness tribes.
However, the Northern Wilderness is vast, and there are thousands of tribes, large and small, but not all of them dare to be enemies of Da Chu. Even during the founding years of Da Chu, thousands of tribes in the north and hundreds of countries in the Western Regions all surrendered. The appearance of being obedient and pious when offering sacrifices.
In the past five hundred years, hundreds of small and medium-sized tribes have been completely diluted by the border people and have moved into the border towns to live inside, becoming part of the people of Da Chu.
Although in the past hundred years or so, the eight largest royal tribes in the Northern Wilderness, namely Yuanfu, Xiutu, Huandu, and Muye, have ceased to be vassals and have repeatedly attacked the border.
But there are also four royal tribes, Langyu, Laiqiu, Feiyi, and Qiongqi. They adhere to the tradition of opening markets and have long-term trade relations with the border town. For this reason, they do not hesitate to assist the army of the border town and suppress the other four royal tribes.
Unfortunately, a few years ago, when King Liang and the Destiny Sect launched a rebellion, the senior officials of the Qiongqi tribe actually revealed their identities as members of the Destiny Sect, contacted Yuanfu and other four major tribes, attacked the border, and responded The rebellion of Liang Wang.
Today, there are only three royal tribes left, and they still maintain friendly exchanges with Shenwei Mansion.
"Ouch!!"
Suddenly, the six silver-white giant wolves were stimulated by some unknown source. The long hairs on their bodies stood up and they looked up to the sky and howled.
The people onlookers were so frightened that they ran away. The silver wolf on the far left turned around and crashed into the restaurant next to it.
There were many ordinary people in the restaurant. Su Hanshan was shocked. Just as he was about to take action, he saw a chopstick flying out of the restaurant.
Dang! ! !
The chopstick hit one of the fangs of the silver-white giant wolf, making a strange sound like a gong or drum.
The bamboo chopsticks were shot back.
The entire giant wolf's body suddenly froze, as if it had turned into a sculpture, and fell to the ground hard.
The remaining five giant wolves showed their ferocious looks, bared their teeth and leaped about.
"Unbridled!!"
A young figure flashed out of the palace-like carriage, swinging a long whip in his hand, and the tip of the whip exploded in the air, killing the five giant wolves. Shocked, the whole body fell down.
This man looks to be only about twenty years old, with handsome features and eyes as cold as stars, but his skin is brown and black. His thick long hair is decorated with many colorful pearls and jade. He has five or six layers of clothing and accessories, and is in a complicated manner. There is a sense of luxury and solemnity in it.
"This king is Prince Darren of Langyu Kingdom. These silver wolves have always been obedient. I don't know why they became ferocious today. Fortunately, they did not hurt the people of Shenwei Mansion."
His tone With a little apology, he looked towards In the restaurant, "Everyone in the restaurant, if you are frightened, you can go to our Langyu Inn to seek compensation."
As he spoke, he shook the long whip in his hand, and the tip of the whip was at the end. The stiff Silver Wolf twitched.
The silver wolf's legs were still stiff and motionless.
Prince Darren's eyes moved slightly, he drew back his long whip, rolled it in his hand, and looked at the restaurant.
Su Hanshan also saw the reason.
Although the chopstick just hit the silver wolf's fangs, after the force spread, it properly sealed many acupuncture points all over the silver wolf's body.
Prince Darren tried to open the acupuncture points with his whip. Unexpectedly, after the force of his whip hit him, the energy and blood in Silver Wolf's body twisted by mistake, and the original acupoints were opened. Opened, and new acupuncture points were sealed.
That was obviously not a coincidence, but the way the people in the restaurant used bamboo chopsticks to tap acupuncture points. It was extremely clever and ingenious, and they had calculated the methods that others might use to extract acupuncture points.
Su Hanshan thought of his Seven Emotions Destroying God Style. In terms of the effect of blocking Qi and blood, it was really not as good as the method of tapping the acupoints with bamboo chopsticks.
Inside the restaurant, a young man with white clothes and black hair walked out, with rosary beads wrapped around his hand, and a chopstick in his hand.
"Amitabha, little monk Zhijie, I have met all the donors!"
Unexpectedly, this young man seemed to be very shy, and with a gentle wave of his bamboo chopsticks, he untied the silver wolf. After tapping the acupuncture point, he lowered his head and said, "The silver wolf donor is going crazy probably because the string of beads on the young monk's body almost caused harm to all the donors. It is the young monk who should apologize."
Prince Darren looked at the rosary that looked like it was carved from topaz, and suddenly said: "It is rumored that our silver wolves in the Langyu Kingdom have a natural enemy, which is the golden eagle of the Divine Cave in King Kong Cliff. This kind of golden eagle is If the eagle lives for more than fifty years, it can shed its sharp claws and regrow them. "
" Are your rosary beads polished from the old claws that the golden eagle has shed? "
The White Horse Temple on Jingang Cliff is a large sect that is not inferior to the governors of the northern counties.
The young monk with long flowing hair said apologetically: "This rosary can frighten many poisonous insects and monsters, which is quite convenient on weekdays. The young monk did not expect that he would encounter a rare pure-blooded silver wolf here. Now he has The smell of the rosary has been sealed.”
“Hahahaha, you two are both respectable people. Since nothing big happened, why are you standing on this long street?”
Not far away another In a restaurant, there was a young man in a yellow shirt, standing by the window, gently swinging his folding fan, and said with a smile, "At Situ's house in Xiaxueling, Situ Tingyun is having a small Danyuan party with several friends from aristocratic families."
"Darren King Son, Zen Master Zhijie, why don't you come and sit here, let's talk freely, resolve this little misunderstanding, and build friendship. The golden eagle and the silver wolf can turn the war into jade. Isn't it a good talk? "
< br>
Situ?
Su Hanshan looked at the young man in yellow shirt.
While looking around, Situ Tingyun narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Zen Master Guangming in the crowd.
(End of this chapter)