Chapter 2004 Yumen Pass… Doesn’t it have “Jade” in it?
Born here?
Zhu Feng was startled, but his face remained calm. He turned his head to look at the tombstones standing silently in the night outside the door and asked, "Who are your ancestors?"
The old man Wen Liyu gave a bitter smile and said, "Yes."
“…”
“Our ancestors have already come here.”
“…”
"Your Majesty, what you see is the ancestral tomb of our ancestors. No one has ever left here. Even if some have left, they will eventually return here and die here."
“…”
"Our Wen family can only stay here."
These words sounded heavy, yet there was a hint of weirdness in them.
Ye Zheng asked in confusion: "Why do you want to stay here? Is someone forcing you?"
Elder Wen smiled bitterly and said, "Speaking of which, it happened countless generations ago, about our ancestors."
"Oh? Go ahead."
"Speaking of that time, Yumen Pass was not as deserted as it is now. At that time, the road from the Central Plains to the Western Regions was completely open, and envoys and merchants traveled back and forth in an endless stream. Yumen Pass was the most important pass on this westward journey."
Ye Zheng glanced at Zhu Feng, and Zhu Feng also raised his eyebrows slightly.
In this way, the "ancestors" that Mr. Wen mentioned might have been the ancestors from the Emperor Wu period a thousand years ago.
However, they did not interrupt him and just listened quietly.
Elder Wen said, "My Wen family's ancestor served at this pass."
“…”
"Although there was a constant flow of merchants and envoys coming and going here, our ancestors, having exhausted their activity, longed for tranquility and instead began to practice Taoism, seeking spiritual liberation."
Hearing this, Zhu Feng sighed in his heart.
If a person can calm down and devote himself to practicing Buddhism in such a prosperous place, it can be seen that this person has Dharma roots.
Ye Zheng immediately asked, "How is his cultivation going?"
Elder Wen shook his head and said, "These are all things I heard from my grandfather and the others. But in the end, it happened so long ago that no one knows how far he had progressed in his cultivation. But one day, an old Taoist priest suddenly arrived at Yumen Pass."
A man who practiced Taoism met an old Taoist priest.
Sounds interesting.
Ye Zheng immediately asked, "And then?"
Elder Wen said, "That Taoist priest... is said to have a Taoist aura and an immortal demeanor. You can tell at a glance that he is very accomplished. He came to Yumen Pass and made a bet with our ancestors."
"What's the bet?"
"We don't know what the bet was about, but my grandfather said it might not have been a bet, but rather a battle of wits. No one knows the details, we only know that our ancestor lost."
Ye Zheng let out a "uh".
He asked, “What are the consequences of losing?”
"result?"
These two words made Elder Wen smile bitterly and said, "The result is that the Wen family, generation after generation, must stay in Yumen Pass and cannot leave."
“……!”
Ye Zheng's eyes suddenly widened.
So this is the reason why their ancestors have stayed in Yumen Pass and in this deserted city?
He frowned and said with a half-smile, "You...are you really going to stay?"
Elder Wen smiled bitterly and said, "As a Taoist, our ancestors naturally valued words and spirits and would not go back on their words. However, just as he was about to accept defeat and stay in Yumen Pass, the situation in the Central Plains changed."
“…”
"The civil war within the country affected its external relations. Soon, the gates to the northwest were closed, merchants gradually dwindled, and the bustling traffic on the Silk Road disappeared. Not long after, the Central Plains court withdrew all its troops from the northwest back to the country."
At this point, he sighed: "Yumen Pass has fallen into decline."
When everyone heard this, they all sighed.
However, Zhu Feng's expression became more solemn.
Others would just treat it as a story, but he knew very well in his heart that a country needs to be strong in its external relations and must ensure domestic stability; if the domestic situation is unstable and civil wars are frequent, then it can only tighten its external policies or even show weakness.
In the early days of the Yan Kingdom, Emperor Gao completely closed the westward route. This was due to his personality, but was it not also because years of war had left the country with no energy to develop the northwest?
This is a wise move, but also a helpless move.
He took a deep breath.
Then he said in a deep voice: "Yumen Pass has fallen into decline. Are your ancestors still staying here?"
That old man Wen said: "Ancestor's promise is worth a thousand gold."
"Could it be that the old Taoist really wants him to stay here for generations, with no time limit?"
“…”
"If that's the case, it's not fair to you either."
Elder Wen's eyes were red as he said, "It's not that there is no time limit."
As he spoke, he turned around and looked at the dark night outside the door. In the distance, there was a faint firelight where Zhu Feng had left his men. He said, "Your Majesty must have seen the words on the stone tablet when you came here."
“……!”
Zhu Feng's expression froze.
He is settled when he sees jade, and hides when he sees smoke;
When meeting the emperor, he will be released; when meeting the sea, he will prosper.
He repeated the sixteen words on the stone tablet in his mind again, and suddenly understood: "See the jade and decide!"
"Yes."
Elder Wen smiled wryly and said, "That was the first sentence the old Taoist left. At that time, there were many merchants coming and going through Yumen Pass, but that wasn't the most common here. The most common traffic came from the teams from other parts of the country heading to Hotan to mine jade."
Zhu Feng's eyes lit up.
But he remained silent, not saying a word, just listening silently.
Elder Wen said, "The old Taoist priest and our ancestors agreed that we would leave after seeing the jade. If one day we can no longer see the jade, we can leave."
Ye Zheng immediately said, "Yumen Pass has fallen into decline, so the teams transporting jade have naturally stopped coming."
"yes."
"Well, can't you guys go now?"
Elder Wen gave a bitter laugh and said, "It will be determined after seeing the jade."
“…”
"Sir, isn't there a 'jade' in Yumen Pass?"
“……!”
Ye Zheng was stunned and immediately shocked.
Indeed, although the jade that was being transported back and forth is gone, Yumen Pass is still there.
The "Yu" in Yumen Pass also means jade.
It is this one jade character that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, binding them here tightly!
Ye Zheng was greatly surprised. After thinking about it for a while, he said, "Did that old Taoist priest plan this from the beginning, deliberately deceiving you like this?"
Old Wen smiled bitterly and was speechless.
Ye Zheng gritted his teeth and said, "Those arrogant old Taoist priests are not good people!"
Zhu Feng glanced at him.
He didn't say anything, but just said to Elder Wen: "Even so, your ancestors kept their promises, but with so many people from generation to generation, isn't there anyone who wants to leave?"
Wen Laodao: "Yes, why not?"
"So what was the result?"
"result--"
When he said this, sadness and even some fear appeared in his eyes.
"The result is that they rarely have a good ending."
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