I turned my gaze into the temple and saw a statue wearing a tall crown and green clothes. It was exceptionally tall and strong, and the pedestal beneath it was carved with simple tree branch patterns. It said to Wei Shengnan, "This is the Willow God Temple. It is dedicated to Scholar Liu and is used to pray for good weather and to suppress locust plagues!"
The monkey scratched his head: "Locust plague, is that just locusts? What does a deity who oversees willow trees have to do with locusts?"
"There is a story in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio that tells of a locust plague that occurred in Qingzhou and Yanzhou at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The locusts spread very quickly and also affected the nearby Yi County. The county magistrate was so worried that he could not sleep at night. One day, he dreamed of a scholar named Liu, who gave him some advice and told him to seek help from the Locust God. Only then was the disaster averted in Yi County!"
I paused for a moment and walked towards the statue: "Although this story is recorded in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, the legend of the Willow God suppressing the locust plague has existed for a long time!"
The monkey saw me walking towards the statue and followed beside me, asking, "Young Master Duan, what are you looking for?"
"A treasure box! In ancient buildings, especially temples, it's common to place treasure boxes on the roof beams to ward off evil spirits!"
As I spoke, I climbed onto the altar, jumped up, grabbed a beam in the temple, and hoisted myself up to climb forward.
After moving forward about three meters, my hand found a groove carved into the crossbeam, where I found a small wooden box and a string of copper coins.
I took the things out and threw them to the monkey, then jumped down as well.
The monkey took the lacquered wooden box and the copper coins, grinned, and said, "Young Master Duan, you're truly amazing!"
"It's common sense. Old houses like to put some things to ward off evil spirits and protect the house in the beams and cracks in the walls. It's just that over the years, most of them have been taken away by people who know what they're doing."
I looked at the small string of copper coins in the monkey's hand and said with a sneer, "But judging from the amount of these 'house-guarding coins,' there probably isn't anything good here."
The monkey, now a man of the world, looked down on these ordinary things. He tossed the copper coins to Old Zhou to make a keychain, opened the wooden box, took out a stone-carved rooster, and tore off a piece of leather: "Young Master Duan, there's something in here, and there are words written on it!"
I took the parchment the monkey handed me and looked at it. Because the wooden box was damp, some of the writing inside was blurred, but I could still make out the general content. I couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "This Willow God Temple was actually built on the orders of Nian Gengyao!"
Lin Que peeked out and said, "Nian Gengyao? I remember watching the TV series, wasn't he executed by Emperor Yongzheng?"
"In the sixtieth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, which is 1721 AD, Nian Gengyao was changed from Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu to Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, concurrently serving as Governor-General of Sichuan. At that time, the locust plague in this area was very serious. Nian Gengyao approved 300 taels of silver to build the Willow God Temple to pray for blessings! However, judging from the size of this small temple, it is estimated that the county magistrate embezzled 70% or 80% of the silver, which is why only such a small temple was built."
I thought for a moment and handed the parchment to the monkey: "Keep this safe for now. We can't let anyone else know about it. Otherwise, if word gets to the county, the cultural relics protection bureau will definitely come, which will be very detrimental to our investigation."
Seeing me and Monkey whispering to each other, Old Zhou couldn't help but ask, "Boss Duan, what are you two talking about?"
I casually tossed the box onto the altar: "It's nothing. There's a piece of paper in this box, written by the people who built the temple back then. The content is similar to a curse, meaning that this place is for worshipping the gods. If anyone has any evil intentions and wants to occupy this land to build a house, beware of divine retribution."
Old Zhou didn't think much of it: "This is a desolate mountain wilderness. We're exhausted just walking up here. Who would be so bored as to build a house in a place like this? Come on, I'll take you up the mountain. Otherwise, it will be even harder to walk when the sun comes up."
Old Zhou has been a forest ranger in these mountains for twenty years and knows every plant and tree here very well. Before noon, he led us to the highest peak.
Looking out, one sees lush greenery everywhere, a magnificent sight of mountains and rivers.
Looking at the waterfall cascading down the mountainside in the distance, Jiang Man exclaimed, "Although Qingyun Village is located in a remote area, its natural resources are truly exceptional. I've been to many famous scenic spots, but none of them are as beautiful as this!"
"It really is a great place!"
I didn't think much of it when I was at a low point, but now that I'm standing on high ground, I suddenly realize that not only is the scenery beautiful, but the feng shui is also excellent.
It was a rare dragon and phoenix holding a pearl.
Looking out from a high vantage point, the distant mountains resemble a phoenix spreading its wings and soaring freely.
The mountain range beneath our feet is like a soaring dragon breaking through the earth.
Where the dragon and phoenix face each other, a natural lake shines like a pearl, reflecting the dazzling sunlight.
Seeing me take out my compass, the monkey came over and asked, "Young Master Duan, what do you think of the terrain here?"
I adjusted the compass and replied, "Auspicious! Very auspicious! In ancient times, even a first-rank official wouldn't be worthy of this burial site, not even the royal family! Such great fortune could only be used to bury emperors! If a feng shui master discovered this kind of terrain in ancient times, they would either heavily guard it or sever the dragon vein; they would never allow ordinary people to be buried in such a place."
The monkey's face lit up with joy: "This is great news! Since this place is auspicious, it means there's a high chance of a large tomb! If we find this place, we can start exploring it, right?"
"That's the challenge! The dragon and phoenix holding a pearl is a feng shui formation, and this area is full of excellent feng shui. Choosing such a place for burial means there's no need to find a fixed location!"
I took out my binoculars and observed the location of Qingyun Town. I found that it was located exactly at the dragon's eye.
The dragon rises from the flat ground, overlooking the world. Qingyun Town is located in a place where wind gathers and energy accumulates, but man-made buildings have damaged the dragon's energy here, which is like a disease in the eye of this dragon vein.
Fortunately, their buildings were not located in the exact center of the dragon's eye, so overall they had little impact on the dragon's energy.
After confirming the location of Qingyun Town, I asked Old Zhou, who was waiting not far away, "Master Zhou, Qingyun Village has good feng shui. It must have produced quite a few officials, right?"
"Yes, don't underestimate our poor place. We've produced quite a few college graduates. Although we don't have any high-ranking officials, many of them are government employees."
Old Zhou chuckled and said, "Everyone says that our Qingyun Village has good feng shui and can produce top scholars!"
Old Zhou's words confirmed my guess: Qingyun Village's terrain borrowed dragon energy, but the ancestral graves were not located there. At most, it would bring good business and a smooth career, but it would be difficult for it to produce any high-ranking officials.
I went up to a higher position, held the compass in my hand, and began to write and draw in my diary.
In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed. Jiang Man, seeing that I hadn't made a sound, came over and asked, "Have you found anything?"
"The dragon has been identified as the true one, leaving no doubt; yet there are still doubtful burial sites that require careful consideration. Generally, when a true dragon is about to settle at a burial site, it first forms a false burial site close by."
I muttered the mantra and closed my notebook: "I've selected a few suspicious locations for now, but it's definitely too late to go today. Let's go back to the village first, prepare the necessary tools, and start searching for the caves in the mountains tomorrow."
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