Chapter 56 Coil Snake Ridge

The Dragon Ridge is the remnants of the Qinling Mountains in a big way, and in a small way, it is actually a starry mound, one mound next to another, with a huge difference in height, between the mounds and the mounds are cut apart by rain and wind, there are countless deep gullies, and there are also some places that are shells of earth on the outside, but once you step on it, it will break, and inside it is a trap hole. Looking at the straight line distance between the two hills was very close, but walking from this side to that side, it was highly likely that one would have to go around for half a day’s journey.

This place is not known, and even the program does not even have a unified name, people near the Gutian County called this mountain “Longling”, but the villagers living near the Dragon Ridge, but also called this area “Coil Snake Slope”.

The name “Coiled Snake Slope” is far less imposing than the name “Dragon Ridge”, but it is more intuitive and graphic than the latter in describing the topography of the area.

Fatty and I, Dajinya three people, nine o’clock in the morning to leave the city of Gutian County, can do the section of the car on the car, do not have access to the place on the 11th, all the way to inquire about the “Dragon Ridge” when the sky has rubbed the dark.

Longling mountain has a small village, the village about twenty families, we three discussed, now it is late, want to find the fishbone temple is not very easy, the mountain road is difficult to walk, do not inadvertently fall into the ditch, it can be a motherfucker out of the first death, simply the night first in the village overnight, there is something to wait until tomorrow morning to say.

We looked for a family near the entrance of the village, and the owner explained the intention, out of the road, not in front of the village after the store, can not be a convenient way to borrow a night, we do not live in vain can pay a little money.

The master of the house is an elderly couple, see us three people on the back of a large package, but also with two big jumping geese, they are a little puzzled, do not know what we are doing this group of people.

The fat man hurriedly piled up a smile and people said: “Grandpa and Grandma, we are going to visit former comrades in the army, passing through this place, missed the head of the night, you see we are out of the house, it is not easy, who go out and do not take the house is not it, you can not be good to us to find a room for the three of us to deal with the night, this twenty dollars you take. ” After saying that, no matter if people are willing or not, they took out the money and stuffed it to the old couple.

Seeing that we didn’t want to be bad people, the old couple gladly agreed, and made a room for us, which seemed to have been unoccupied for a few years. The kang was cold, and if we burned the fire now, we would have to pour out black smoke for a day, so I told them that they didn’t need to burn the kang, and that it would be good to have a place to shelter from the wind, and then I asked them to get us something to eat.

The fat man saw a bucket and a flat burden in the yard, so he said to me, “Old Hu, quickly go and fetch two large buckets of water.”

I wondered, “What’s the point of fetching water? Don’t you have water in your kettle?”

The fat man said, “When your PLA stayed at the villagers’ homes, didn’t you all have to fill up the water tanks of the villagers’ homes, and then you had to sweep the yards and repair the roofs of the houses.”

I said to the fat man: “you fucking bullshit more, I’m not familiar with this have, how do I know where the water well, black light I go out and then turn toward, not come back how to do, and, a moment I find them to inquire about the situation in the neighborhood, you do not talk too much, can say less on the fucking say less, do not forget to say more than words lost.”

As we were talking, the old couple scrambled a few eggs for us, made two helmets, and brought them into the house.

I thanked them profusely, and as I ate, I got close to the hosts and asked who used to live in this house.

I did not expect to ask this, the old man and woman are in tears, this house is their only son to live, ten years ago, their son into the “snake slope” to look for the family lost a lamb, the results never came back, the village people looking for three or four days, even the body has not seen, it must have fallen into the earth shells hollow, fell into the mountain cave, only one son, so no one can see him, he is the only one son, so no one can see him. The only son, so no, not even a pension to send the end of the people are no longer, these years, rely on the same village folks to help out, barely pass the day.

I and the fat man and other people heard, all feel heartbroken, and more money to give them, the old couple thanked a thousand times, and even said that the good people.

I asked some more “Dragon Ridge” situation, the old couple said that the “Pansnake Slope” is not what the Tang Dynasty tomb, only to hear the old generation mentioned that there is a large tomb of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and this tomb is haunted by ghosts haunted, and even in broad daylight, some people have encountered ghosts on the slope of the wall, lost in the bottom of the slope, the ghosts of the wall. Lost in the bottom of the slope in the ditch, good luck to meet people can be saved back, bad luck, will be trapped alive in the inside.

Local people call this area for the “coiled snake” is to say that the road is complex, easy to get lost in the meaning of the “Dragon Ridge Maze Cave” is to refer to the cave in the mountain, criss-crossed, it is simply a natural labyrinth.

As for the old site of the Fishbone Temple, there are indeed, but deserted for decades, out of the village turned two beams of a deep ditch, “Fishbone Temple” in that ditch at the head of the year when the temple was built, the businessman who paid the money to say that it is a place of feng shui, repair the temple of the Dragon King will ensure that the wind and rain.

I did not expect to repair the temple, there is no change, God wants to rain on the rain, do not want to rain on the drought to you for a few years, burn incense on the offerings are not useful, so that the temple’s incense on the break, very few people to go again.

I said, “We just crossed the Yellow River, narrowly escaped being uncovered by the Dragon King’s boat, so I was more curious and wanted to go to the Fish Bone Temple to see the bones of the Iron Head Dragon King’s fish.”

The old couple said it’s fine that you want to go to the Fish Bone Temple, but don’t go deeper into the Pan Snake Slope, even the native of this village can easily get lost, not to mention you three outsiders.

I nodded my head and said thank you, at this time also ate about the same time, then hands to help clean up, dishes from the house out of the end, walking in the courtyard, Dajin ZiYe suddenly whispered to me, “Hu master, this courtyard has something good ah.”

I looked back, Dajin Ziya reached out and pointed to a large stone in the courtyard, “This is a stele, it’s been around for years.”

I didn’t say anything, nodded my head to show that I knew, helped clean up the dishes and chopsticks, the old couple went back to their room to sleep, the three of us surrounded the courtyard pretending to smoke and chatting, and secretly watched the monument that Dajinya said.

If it were not for Dajinya’s thieving eyes, we would not have noticed that this rectangular monument was very badly worn, with several deep grooves carved in the center, which, by the look of it, might have been used to tie up livestock.

The monument is only half, the top of the monument and half of the mutilated head of the beast, the monument on the text pattern is long gone, without this half of the head of the beast, also see not this is a monument.

Fatty asked Dajinya: “This is what you say good things, I see before may also be worth money, now so, is a big stone, you see, this on the side of the things are smoothed out, how many years has this been used.”

Dajinya smoked a cigarette and said: “Fat master, I’m not saying that this monument is worth money, this piece of monument is now certainly not worth money, just half of the beast head, even the research value may not exist, a bit of a pity, but don’t forget, our family ancestry is also a dry dumping bucket, the reason why I say that this is a good thing, is not a little bit of reason no, on the charge of this piece of monument on the half of the beast head, I dare to I concluded that there must be an ancient tomb of the Tang Dynasty in the Dragon Ridge, but the specific location, tomorrow we will have to look at Master Hu’s tactics.”

I reached out and touched the animal head on the stone tablet, and said to Dajinya: “Are you saying this is a tombstone?”

Dajinya said: “Even if it is a tombstone, this monument on the head of the beast, although the remnants of the beast, but I can still see, this beast is called Le Gou, the Tang Dynasty, the country strong, all the mausoleums are built in the mountains, mountains for the mausoleums, there are some corresponding facilities on the ground, the erection of a number of monuments and stone statues, stone camels, stone mythical animal, and so on, as the symbols of the mausoleums arching, which Le Gou is a special on the monuments on the This Le Gou is a kind of special lying on the stone monument of auspicious beasts, legend has it that it is the spirit beast of the western sky, the sound is good, like immortal music, and this deduction, this stone monument should be the content of the song of praise and virtue and so on, the mausoleum of the first eighteen miles, not a mile apart there will be a pair of Le Gou is the second pair of stone monuments.”

I said, “Master Jin, don’t look at you don’t know feng shui, but your attainments in ancient history and culture, I can’t hope to catch up, let’s not talk in the courtyard, go back to the house to discuss the discussion.”

We went back to the house to continue to plan, and now we have arrived at the edge of the Dragon Ridge, from the current clues seem to be here there are ancient tombs is certain, but this tomb is actually the Great Tang and Western Zhou, but there are a few contradictions.

To be seen from the tombstone, is the Tang Dynasty tomb without a doubt, but also in line with the old Liu head in the Gutian county hospitality said, but how do local villagers say that this mountain is the Western Zhou’s ancient tombs?

Dajinya asked me: “Do you think there is such a possibility, a feng shui treasure vein in the middle, there are more than one acupuncture point can be set up mausoleum?”

I said, “That’s also possible, but an entire vein of earth can’t be a good place, and there are high and low points in each acupuncture point, and the best location is often only enough to build a tomb. However, we can’t rule out the possibility that the ancient tombs of both dynasties are looking at a single cave location.”

I let the fat man and the big gold teeth tonight to get well, tomorrow morning, no matter whether it is “Dragon Ridge” or “Coiled Snake Slope” or, let’s go to the place to take a good look, in addition to this village may also have a lot of antiques that have not been discovered, and come back to the local townspeople’s home to see. The local villager’s home to see.”