General Ji, General Meng, and the carpenter and I continued to walk forward. I believe that many people had seen the staggeringly big turtle. It was lying quietly in the distance, surrounded by a light blue mist.
It adds a mysterious color, making this vast underground cave look like a legend. But they all guided their curiosity to hide in their hearts, and tried their best to complete the work I assigned. This quality has to be amazing.
We walked slowly to the towering tree
The carpenter asked cautiously: "Little general, shall we chop down the trees now?" I was very happy that someone called me a little general for the first time, and I did not correct him. I just said, "No, it is not too late to chop down the trees now."
morning"
"Then what do we do?"
"What you are doing now is not to cut down the tree, but to cut off only the branches and branches of the tree, but you have to keep the trunk of the tree for me."
"Why is this?" General Meng asked me, "General Meng, look at the top of the tree, near the cliff, is there a trickle splashing down?"
"Well, I saw it"
"I know that this water inlet is slightly lower than the high tide line of the sea. When the tide rises, the flow of water will be much greater. We also need to use the trunk of this tree to make a ladder for us."
"Lao Meng, don't ask. Didn't the king say that we should listen to Tian Zong? We don't have to talk. We just have to do what Tian Zong tells us." General Ji was already eager to give it a try.
But the carpenter looked troubled, "General Tian, but I, I can't climb up. Look at the tree, I don't know how many feet high it is. Not to mention climbing, just thinking about it will make my legs cramp."
General Meng slapped his chest, "It seems I have to take part in this matter personally." I said, that's fine.
I saw him taking off his shoes, rolling up his trousers, and wading into the water and approaching the tree
It was low tide now, and the water flow on the cliff was only intermittent, but the area under the tree within a radius of three feet was full of water. General Meng waded through the water to reach the tree, raised his neck almost ninety degrees, and looked up at the tree.
I shouted to him across the water:
"General Meng, did you see a tree branch thrust diagonally into the cave near the flowing water? You should keep it and don't cut it down!"
He looked back at me, with confusion on his face. Then I remembered that he was standing under the tree, covered by layers of leaves, and couldn't see the branch I was talking about.
So, he walked back for a while, finally saw it, and muttered, "I didn't tell you earlier."
I saw him pulling out two daggers from his waist, approaching the tree trunk, inserting one of them into the tree trunk with a bang, shouting with one arm, pulling up, and then piercing the tree trunk with the sharp knife in his other hand, like this
Going back and forth, we soon reached the thick branch at the bottom.
After inserting a dagger, he took out a sharp ax from the belt on his back, rounded it, and focused on the branch. After only two or three blows, the branch broke and fell down, causing a splash of water.
We put down General Meng. The three of us, me, General Ji and the carpenter, walked towards the huge turtle together. I wanted to hollow it out. This was the most difficult task in the entire operation. I regret it.
I didn't bring a butcher in. At least his knife skills are better than those of us, although he may not have done this kind of work.
Look at this turtle, lying on the ground, it is still a foot tall and slightly weaker. Today, I have time to take a good look at it, but I can see that its limbs are on the ground, its neck is high, and it maintains the posture of life. The tortoise shell all over its body is glowing with porcelain.
The luster of the material, a pair of round eyes on the top of the head, just like two portholes, the overall look has a soul-catching momentum.
The turtle's mouth was still slightly open. I thought, let's start from here. I told General Ji that my plan was to build a wooden ladder, start from the turtle's mouth, and dig into its belly.
, except for the tendons and bones, the turtle meat was taken out, cut into pieces, dried and smoked, and used as food in the future. General Ji looked at me and said sincerely, "Tian Zong, this is unprecedented, you have to plan it carefully
, there must not be the slightest mistake." I looked at General Ji and said "hmm", his eyes were full of belief in victory.
This matter was left to General Ji to handle. Now there was no one idle around, only he took action himself. The carpenter picked out the straighter branches from the pile of branches cut by General Meng, and nailed a ladder.
, General Ji climbed up the ladder with a sharp knife in his hand, and saw him slowly getting into the turtle's mouth.
I took this time to inspect various places, and I was satisfied with all the progress, especially the progress of the few people responsible for opening the stone gate. By the time I got there, the gate was connected from front to back, and the
A group of soldiers filed out covered with stone powder. When they saw me, they reported back to me in unison, "General Tian, we have completed this matter!"
I don't know when I was promoted to a general. I concealed my inner joy and walked through the door. It turned out that part of the rock blocking the water had been chipped away, and a small wooden bridge was made of two tree trunks under my feet.
It seems crude, but under today's conditions, it's pretty good
When I came in, the darkness in the cave was swept away, and torches soaked in pine oil were set up along the way. As soon as people passed by, Hu Lala blinked and saw that the project was going according to his vision. I felt relieved and thought for a while.
Thinking, simply come out of the hole
It was the end of Yinshi, which is now around 5 o'clock in the morning. General Su saw me coming out. He immediately approached me, dressed like a fisherman, and I asked him to take me back to Mo Island.
I want to report the status of the project to King Tian, and there is one more thing
King Tian quickly walked out of the dormitory. After listening to my report, he was very satisfied. His eyes showed excitement and he praised me a few words. Then, I asked someone to send the large items to the cave immediately overnight.
inside, iron pot, donkey skin, charcoal, and some other things
Finally, I asked Tian Wang for something, and he asked, "What is it?"
"It's the snake pill I gave to the lady last time. Wang, we are digging out the turtle, but it's dark and lightless inside, and we can't use open fire, so we have to..."
Before I could finish speaking, Tian Wang immediately agreed. She called Xiaoyue and told her what I said. Xiaoyue immediately walked back to the inner room, and after a while, she took out a bag wrapped in a piece of plain floral cloth.
Snake Pill, I opened the cloth bag, and the lady’s body temperature was still on the pill. Last time, I discovered that she had carried the snake pill in her arms that day. When I looked at the snake pill, it seemed to be brighter than before.
, like a full moon, the gentle feeling in it cannot be described in words
Putting the snake pill in my arms, I immediately returned to the sea
General Ji was sitting on the lower lip of the turtle, worrying, with his back facing in and his legs hanging outside. He threw a pile of white turtle meat on the ground directly below. It seemed that after a while, he had already done it.
After a while I came back and he said, "The work is not difficult to do, but it's too dark inside so I can't see clearly. I'm afraid I might break some muscles or bones."
I said, "It doesn't matter, I've brought the snake pill, just in time to do something." General Ji was overjoyed and went back inside.
I also followed the ladder, climbed up the turtle body, and hung the snake pill and the cloth bag high. Under the light of the pill, I found that General Ji had taken out the entire head and neck flesh.
, a thin neck tendon made of cables, bright yellow in color, preserved by General Ji. One end of the tendon was born in the bone of its head, while the other end was inserted into the meat in the cavity and has not moved further.
It is obvious from the traces that he stopped when he dug here.
With lighting, General Ji started to work hard again
Since a group of us entered the cave and were busy working, the haze in the cave seemed to have been swept away. The lights were brightly lit everywhere, figures were swaying, and the sound of axes and chisels was accompanied by talking and laughter. The road stretched for more than ten miles.
The underwater passage in the cave can now be navigated unobstructed. Simple steps have been built in the slippery and steep places. A torch is lit every not far away on the cave wall. In order to keep it burning, three people are dedicated to taking turns to look after the fire.
, to facilitate the entry and exit of personnel
The snake has been dissected, and the snake meat has been transported to the cave and stacked up like a hill. The golden snake skin, spread out, is two feet six or seven feet long and three feet wide.
People also found countless snake skins from small to large and from thin to thick in the turtle cave, and most of the smaller ones can no longer be picked up. It seems that it has been a long time ago, which also confirms that the snake skin is
It's made of piss in this hole
General Meng has pruned the big tree according to my wishes, leaving what should be left and going. The cut branches were spread out not far away and dried to be used for smoking meat.
In this cave, the difference between day and night is not obvious. To work, you need to light a torch. We don’t know how long we worked at one breath. I only remember that when I went out of the cave to get the snake pill, it was already done.
It was about six hours. After entering the cave again, I had already forgotten the time.
At this time, I heard someone say that General Su had sent word from outside, saying that King Tian had sent people to deliver food and wine, but the entrance to Zhangdao was too narrow and asked everyone to wait a moment.
We have been hungry for a long time
After a long time, a group of people carried white steamed buns, pork head meat, and dried salted fish in a white cloth package. The people behind also brought seven or eight jars of wine.
I asked General Meng to greet everyone, gathered them together, divided the things, and each person had just a bowl of wine. Everyone had forgotten the fatigue of the recent period, and either sat on the floor, holding the steamed buns in their hands and devouring them, or holding the wine.
Bowl, eating while looking at the giant turtle
I asked most people to rest immediately and find suitable places by themselves. But there are two places that are the key to my entire plan and must be constructed non-stop.