Chapter 216: Zhujia Fort

"They should be the miners who were captured..."

Old Man Zhang's eyes were gloomy. "This matter cannot be separated from the Pai Sect. I must spread it throughout the martial world."

It was no wonder the old man was angry.

In the martial world, who didn't have a few lives in their hands, but the scene before them was truly unbearable.

This cave had been dug out, only used to imprison the captured miners, and there was nothing else besides that.

Afterward, the group found another mountain cave.

There was no ore in this cave; it should have been specially excavated for those white-robed guards and the foreign monk to live in.

The group entered and immediately saw a statue of a god.

It was a goddess, her skin pitch black, eyes blood-red, mouth full of fangs, somewhat like the Goddess Mamu Li Yan saw.

However, it was human-bodied with a snake tail, the tongue was very long, and the tip of the tongue was sculpted with red flames, seemingly burning.

Around it were offerings of various colors, and patterns similar to a mandala were drawn with chalk, cinnabar, etc., and the spirit tablet was written with "".

"What kind of evil god is this?"

"Don't move around, this statue is a bit wrong."

Li Yan and the others didn't recognize it either, but there was still divine energy lingering on the statue, so naturally, they couldn't act rashly.

Besides that, under the distant stone wall, there was a long wooden table similar to a workbench, covered with various tools, and a book was scattered.

And under the wooden platform, there was a finished five-bamboo-tube Netherfire Gun, and a cooked copper cabinet with four corners, with four copper tubes on it, and a copper cylinder placed horizontally on the tubes, somewhat similar to the Netherfire Gun.

"It's a fierce fire oil cabinet!"

Sha Lifei saw it and gasped, rushing up, touching it carefully, and sniffing it.

Although Lu San couldn't compare to Sha Lifei, he was also a firearm enthusiast, so he quickly asked, "What is a fierce fire oil cabinet?"

Sha Lifei didn't look up and said, "It is recorded in the 'Wu Jing Zong Yao'. It is a sharp weapon for defense and water warfare. If the enemy attacks the city with battering rams, it can spray fierce fire oil. Those hit will rot, and water cannot extinguish it. In water warfare, it can burn floating bridges and warships."

"Strange, this thing seems to be combined with the Netherfire Gun..."

As he spoke, his gaze looked toward the book on the table.

He saw that the book was ancient and worn, seemingly made of animal leather, and the cover was written with the words "Pili Leihuo Jing" (Thunder Fire Scripture).

After Sha Lifei picked it up, he flipped through it casually, his pupils shrank, and he immediately stuffed it into his bosom, pretending that nothing had happened.

How could his action be hidden from others?

But in this team, "Fast Boat Zhang" was an old hand in the martial world and pretended not to see it, and the others were his own people, so they wouldn't say much more.

Li Yan didn't ask much either.

He knew that Sha Lifei must have discovered something good.

It wouldn't be too late to ask when there were fewer people.

And Wang Daoxuan took out his compass, looked at the statue, and walked around with the compass, then came to the outside of the cave.

He looked at the river covered by clouds and mist in the distance, his brow furrowing gradually, then looked at the surrounding mountains and rivers, his expression already changed slightly.

On the compass, the needle was spinning wildly.

"This place is a bit wrong!"

Wang Daoxuan suddenly spoke, attracting everyone.

He looked solemn, looked at the compass and said, "I misjudged. The terrain here is connected to the mountain roots, and it is actually a small dragon vein that has branched out."

Li Yan asked, "Is a dragon vein not good?"

"A dragon vein is of course good, but this is a killing dragon!"

Wang Daoxuan pointed to the mountain range in the distance. "The incoming dragon carries killing intent. After peeling and stripping the killing intent, since leaving the ancestral mountain, it is steep and dangerous, ugly and rough, with exposed bones and stones, and the branches and feet are sharp."

"If buried in this place, within two generations, fierce bandits and murderous people will surely emerge, and within three generations, there will surely be imprisonment."

"Fortunately, there is a river passing through this place, turning into dragon blood, retaining a trace of vitality."

"But I'm afraid it has caused even bigger problems..."

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at "Fast Boat Zhang". "Old Layman Zhang, you often travel this river channel, have you ever heard that there were a large number of dead people nearby?"

"Fast Boat Zhang" frowned and recalled, "It seems there was such a thing, right near Zhujia Fort. I don't remember who mentioned it, saying that many people died there during the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty."

"Then that's it!"

Wang Daoxuan showed the wildly spinning compass needle to everyone and said, "There is yin baleful energy leaking out, flowing out along this river channel."

"If I'm not mistaken, this statue sits on the mountain and looks at the river, just to suppress the evil energy here."

"Old Layman Zhang, your crew member saw people in the river, I'm afraid it's not false, but truly encountered evil!"

"That's not right."

Old Man Zhang quickly shook his head. "I've traveled here for decades, and I only occasionally encounter unclean things. Throwing some offerings and incense can avoid them. It's not as terrible as the Daoist said."

"Oh?"

Wang Daoxuan frowned tightly, suddenly pinched the yang formula, picked up a small pinch of soil from the cave entrance, and tasted it in his mouth.

"Bah! Bah! Bah!"

He seemed to have eaten something disgusting, retched for a while, his expression ugly as he said, "Absolutely not wrong, this place has become a dangerous place, even the soil has the smell of corpses."

Li Yan was lost in thought. "According to the Daoist, it should be related to the strange things in Zhujia Fort."

"Since the matter is over, let's leave early. This group of people is organized, and there are foreign monk experts suppressing them, so they definitely won't give up."

"Fast Boat Zhang" said helplessly, "The river is full of giant rocks and hidden reefs, and manpower cannot push them away. We can only take a detour."

"This matter is simple."

Sha Lifei looked at the other side of the cave, a smile appearing on his face. "Just blow it up!"

On the wooden frame on that wall, quite a few gunpowder bags were neatly arranged...

…………

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Accompanied by loud noises, water splashes and broken stones flew everywhere.

The giant rocks hidden in the river channel were all blown to pieces.

"Be careful, slow down, put in some effort!"

Sha Lifei shouted slogans, and together with the boatmen, they stumbled, carrying with wooden poles and ropes, and moved the heavy fierce fire oil cabinet down the mountain.

Also taken away were those bamboo tube Netherfire Guns.

"Fast Boat Zhang" was ten thousand times unwilling to move these dangerous things onto the boat. If they were discovered by the government, it would be a capital crime.

However, Sha Lifei persuaded him with a glib tongue that these were all sharp weapons for self-defense. If there were rebel troops attacking in Yichang, they could all be used to save their lives.

Old Man Zhang was helpless and had to obey.

As for Li Yan, he and Wang Daoxuan moved all the corpses of the fallen miners, burned them with fire, and chanted scriptures.

According to Wang Daoxuan, this place was a place of great evil, and the evil baleful energy had already leaked out, and the statue's origin was also not right, so it was estimated that it couldn't suppress it for long.

If left alone, these corpses would all cause trouble.

Furthermore, transcending these poor miners was also a matter of yin virtue.

After doing all this, it was already Shen time (15:00 to 17:00).

Old Man Zhang gave a shout, and the boat set sail again.

Just as he said, the river channel here was very dangerous, with whirlpools and rapids at every turn, and some shallows were covered with chaotic rocks, and the water waves even splashed several meters high.

However, the boat-handling technology of his team was also amazing. Without those strange things blocking the road, they finally passed through the dangerous eighteen bends in the mountains before dusk.

Out of the mountains, the river suddenly became calm.

On the wide river surface, the setting sun reflected, golden waves sparkling, and in the distance, terraced fields were layered, and a not-so-small village town stood in the mountain col.

It looked beautiful, but the group immediately discovered something strange.

In the land of fish and rice in Hubei and Hunan, besides rice, various river delicacies were also an important staple for the common people. Wherever there were people, there were fishermen casting nets to catch fish.

And at this time, all the wooden boats were tied to the shore.

The wooden wharf on the riverbank was empty. And in the distant village town, smoke was curling up from kitchen chimneys.

Old Man Zhang couldn't help but look at Li Yan. Seeing him nod, he shouted, "Stop the boat, dock!"

There was a bamboo forest in the distance on the riverbank. A commoner cut a bamboo pole and was carrying it home. Glancing at the approaching boat, he was startled, threw away the bamboo pole with a clatter, and ran toward the village.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

"Someone is coming from the river!"

The shouting, accompanied by the barking of dogs, soon resounded through the village town.

The boatmen looked at each other, feeling a bit strange.

And Wang Daoxuan walked out to the deck, looked out, then looked at the compass in his hand, his brow furrowing tightly.

He lifted the compass and showed it to Li Yan.

He saw the needle on it swinging left and right, up and down.

!.

Li Yan frowned. "Why is the earth energy so chaotic?"

He had been studying Qimen techniques during this period and had been guided by Wang Daoxuan. Although he was far from a geomancer, he also understood some basic principles.

There were many types of compasses, and the circle patterns on them varied according to the inheritance, such as the San Yuan disk used by the form school and the San He disk used by the qi school.

The abnormality of the needle was the so-called "Eight Methods of Strange Needles," which were Tang needle, Dui needle, Chen needle, Zhuan needle, Tou needle, Ni needle, Ce needle, and Zheng needle.

Each change had a corresponding explanation.

For example, Dui needle, which is the floating needle with the needle head protruding.

It indicates that there is yin energy intervention, and it is good yin, either one's own deceased ancestors or a blessing god protector.

If you enter a mountain village and the Chenghuangmiao incense is flourishing, evil spirits are hard to invade, then Dui needle will appear.

Conversely, if the needle head sinks unnaturally, it is called Chen needle.

It indicates that there is yin energy intervention, this yin is not evil yin, but it is a person who died unjustly or died unnaturally, which will make ordinary people feel uncomfortable.

They were spinning continuously outside that mine cave earlier, which is called "Zhuan needle," indicating that there is evil yin intervention.

The energy of resentment lingers, and living there will surely cause harm.

Now the needle is swinging, not returning to the center line, which is called "Tang needle," indicating that there are strange rocks and deep pools under this place, and living there will bring disaster.

But the matter is strange at this point.

The common people of the Divine Land choose places to live, not randomly.

Even if it is not a place where dragon veins gather, they must find a place suitable for feng shui, such as sitting south facing north, back to the mountain and facing the river, surrounded by jade belts, etc.

This place is close to the mountain and the river, and is in the yang of the mountain. The terraced rice fields have sufficient sunlight, and the river is not short of fish and delicacies. It hides wind and collects water, so the common people should naturally live and work in peace and contentment.

If there was a problem, this village would have long since declined...

Wang Daoxuan said in a deep voice, "The earth energy is chaotic, and Tang needle appears. It should be related to the case of the Chenghuangmiao."

Just as he was speaking, a large group of people had already walked out of the village.

The leader was an old man with white hair and beard, his figure slightly hunched, but his attire was still fresh, leaning on a cane, supported by two people.

Beside him, many men held sticks, knives, and guns, and further back were farm tools such as manure forks and hoes.

Among the crowd, there were also a few men gritting their teeth.

They were carrying leather bags, with an expression of being ready to take action at any time.

Li Yan actually smelled the smell of dog blood inside.

He didn't want to be splashed with dog blood, so before the group got close, he directly took out his Taoist certificate and shook it, saying in a deep voice, "We are people from Yunyang Prefecture, having accepted the mission of the Chenghuangmiao, and came here to investigate."

"Stop!"

Upon hearing this, the old man was stunned, then looked Li Yan up and down, and asked carefully, "Old man is the village head of this place, Zhu Yucheng. Are you guests coming from the mountain river channel?"

"Exactly." Li Yan didn't hide it either.

The surrounding villagers gasped and whispered.

"How is that possible?"

"They are not human..."

"Look, they have shadows."

The old man still wouldn't give up and continued to ask, "You encountered nothing in that mountain river channel?"

Li Yan glanced lightly. "Encountered some evil people causing trouble. They were playing god and ghost, privately mining, and have been beheaded by us."

"Exactly, the village head can send people to the Jingkou Garrison to report to the officials. Those people are likely related to the rebel troops."

This matter couldn't be hidden either, so he simply reported it to the officials.

"Evil people, and related to the rebel troops!"

The village head was startled.

The villagers nearby heard this and also exploded.

"Good, it turns out someone was playing tricks!"

"Scared the hell out of me, I haven't dared to catch fish in the river for two months."

"Report to the officials, hurry up and report to the officials, catch these thieves!"

The old village head quickly waved his hand to silence the crowd, then said, "Zhuzi, your boat is the fastest, hurry up and set off..."

"What's the hurry!"

Li Yan shook his head. "The situation is chaotic right now. If you go like this, will the garrison soldiers believe you? Let me write a letter."

After saying this, he returned to the cabin, wrote with a flourish, described the sequence of events, and then attached his own guess.

Of course, he hid the captured firearms.

Finally, he attached his name.

This was the benefit of the black Taoist certificate. With this certificate, he was on the same rank as the orthodox Mystic Sect. If he encountered an emergency, he could ask the local garrison soldiers for help.

After handing over the letter, Li Yan said, "The matter in the mountain valley river channel is the work of evil people, but your village still has problems."

He had other important matters, and coming here was just on the way to handle it, so naturally, he wouldn't guess around, and simply went straight to the point.

"Ah?"

Zhu village head was stunned, a bit confused.

"Ah!"

The villager who was about to deliver the letter was startled and didn't dare to go anymore.

Li Yan looked at the sky and shook his head. "Go tomorrow, don't travel at night. The only problem is this village, leaving will be fine."

After saying this, he looked at Zhu village head. "Old man, we have urgent matters. The situation you reported wasn't clear, I need to know the specific situation."

Zhu village head already believed their identity, so naturally, he didn't dare to hide it, scolded the villagers to put away their weapons, then raised his hand and said, "You guests have come from afar, you must be tired."

"Old man will prepare some wine and food, let's talk while eating."

"Then I'll trouble you."

Li Yan didn't stand on ceremony either, and led the group into the village.

Only Lu San and a boatman turned back toward the boat.

Lu San didn't like dealing with people. So many people gathering together, asking east and west, was simply torture for him, so he waited on the boat for Li Yan to arrange for someone to send food.

Besides, those firearms and luggage couldn't be discovered by others.

As for the remaining boatman, it was the rule on the boat.

"This... they want to spend the night on the boat?"

Zhu village head saw this and was startled, quickly persuading, "Can't do that, there are dirty things in the river."

"Once it gets dark, they come out to cause trouble!"

The third chapter will be a bit late.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 217 =====