The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, but Mother Fox wouldn't let me leave early. She kept comforting me, saying that the magic door was scarier than I imagined.
But I was always worried about Si Ruo. After finally surviving three days, I ran back to the hotel anxiously, but Si Ruo had already disappeared. He just left two words for me at the front desk - don't read it.
Don’t read it? I really don’t know how Si Ruo could say these two words so easily. What is the difference between this and “I’m fine” or “don’t worry”? Sometimes, this "not thinking" is the most important thing.
After I rushed back to Tofu Fang feeling disappointed, the news that Mother Fox brought me immediately made me furious.
Lao He asked me to join the mission of exploring Dan Island in the name of Xueyitang, but I was strongly rejected by Wumai. In the end, it was only after Lao He argued with us that Wumai agreed to let us find our own way into Dan Island. Being able to enter Dan Island means that the Blood Clothes Hall is qualified to participate in the mission, otherwise there is no need to discuss anything else.
I had been holding back my anger, but now it exploded: "Mother Fox, are there any restrictions on this mission?"
There was also a hint of coldness on the corner of Mother Fox's mouth: "Let it go, no one can't be touched, and no one can't be killed. As long as you can steal the secret of the restricted area, even if you reveal a huge scandal, Lao He and I will help you." On."
"As long as you say this. I'm going to do something, and I'll definitely be back on the day of departure." I left the tofu shop in a hurry without saying anything, and only rushed back before the whole team set off.
When I rushed back, Doudluzi had already made up to look like Zhang Dacheng. Although Zhang Dacheng was originally the white-clothed elder of the Xingdian Elders Group, his seniority in the Xingdian was not high. Putting aside his status in the Xueyi Hall, from Fox Mother’s point of view, he was one year younger than me. Senior, it is not an exaggeration to be considered a new disciple.
However, in terms of strength, Zhang Dacheng is also a leader among the younger generation, otherwise he would not have joined the group of elders in white at such a young age. Douduzi disguised himself as Zhang Dacheng, which is equivalent to attracting other people's attention. No matter who wants to attack us, he will be the first person to think about it. However, Bean Donkey doesn't care about this.
Tao Xiyu was made up by Douduzi into an ugly girl. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he just put a palm-sized birthmark on Tao Xiyu's face. He also stuck a layer of black hair on the birthmark. From a distance, he looked like he had a pig on his face. Skin.
Ye Xun couldn't help but ask Douduzi: "Did you treat Tao Xiyu so badly?"
I had to accept Douduzi's answer. He said: "This way I feel much calmer and won't delay things."
Normally, I would have been able to spit it out: I have never seen such a weird thing like you. But at that time, I was extremely irritable and had no mood to argue with Douduzidu.
I can't even find a clue as to where Dan Island is. According to Mother Fox, if we can’t reach Dan Island and the Five Meridians within five days, we will be directly ruled out, and it will be useless even if we go.
The sea is vast, where can I find Dan Island
Along the way, I was recalling the location of Dan Island in my dream. Our ship has been heading east since it went out to sea, but when the ghost ship happened, I was always in the cabin and didn't even notice whether the ship turned.
More importantly, there are definitely differences between dreams and reality. People in the Inner Demon Hall can control dreams, which means that they can omit many processes. In reality, it takes three days to walk, but they may compress it into a few minutes.
It's unrealistic to guess the specific location of Dan Island from dreams, and it's impossible for the Demon Sect to come out and contact me right now... What should have gone smoothly has now become completely clueless.
I couldn't help but ask Ye Xun: "Ye Xun, where do you think Dan Island will be?"
Ye Xun said solemnly: "Dan Island cannot be too far away from Penglai. With the navigation technology of the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu was very lucky to reach Japan. As for the theory that he arrived in South America, I have never believed it. . If I go by my estimate, Dan Island will not be too far from Penglai."
"That's right!" I suddenly woke up, "In ancient times, there was no concept of territorial waters, but now there is! If we extrapolate from what happened in the dream, the two ships must not have gone out of territorial waters, otherwise they would be easily intercepted by coastal defense."
I was happy for a while but then I became exhausted - even if the ship did not leave the territorial waters, the sea area near Penglai is not small. I can't go there and search it inch by inch, right
I was running around anxiously, but Douduzi said slowly: "Wang Huan, who is your master?"
I replied angrily: "What for?"
"I want to see who taught you such a stupid thing." Doudouzi muttered, "It must not be Mi Mu'er, she has a lot of clever ideas!"
Douduzi didn't wait for me to speak and said: "Nothing in this world will be completely wiped out, they are just waiting for someone to discover it. If you can't find clues in one myth, you can look for clues in ten myths. Maybe there are clues in any seemingly unrelated myth."
Douduzi grabbed a handful of fried soybeans from his body, chewed them slowly and said, "The legend of Penglai Immortal Mountain is not just about the elixir."
I pondered for a long time: "Apart from the elixir of death, what other myths are related to Penglai?"
"Have you never heard of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea?" Douduzi patted Tao Xiyu beside him, "Tell those two idiots about it."
Tao Xiyu said helplessly: "Everyone knows the legend of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, but there are two explanations for why the Eight Immortals crossed the sea. One is to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother, and the other is to go to the Penglai Fairy Island. It can be said that crossing the sea to find the Fairy Island is The last test for them to become immortals."
I frowned and said, "I've heard of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea. Does that have anything to do with our search for Penglai?"
"It has something to do with it." Tao Xiyu took out a map from his backpack and spread it on the ground. "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea is actually a prototype story. Their story originated from the eight prisoners of the Northern Song Dynasty."
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Shamen Island Village was established on Shamen Island, about 60 kilometers away from Dengzhou, to exile prisoners. Lu Junyi, the jade unicorn in "Water Margin", was sentenced to be assassinated on Shamen Island.
Salmon Island has a small space and a harsh environment. Because the island is surrounded by the sea, even if the prisoners escape from the prison, they cannot escape from the island. The exile to Salmon Island was even more serious than the exile to Lingnan.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the court only provided food for 300 people in the prison every year. However, as the number of prisoners gradually increased, this food was no longer enough. So the prison guard came up with a way: whenever the number of prisoners exceeded three hundred, the extra prisoners would be randomly selected and executed.
This method made the prisoners live in fear every day, but many people still could not escape the fate of being executed. Over the past few years, about 700 people were executed. Under such circumstances, people gradually developed a desire to survive, no longer resigned to fate, and chose to save themselves and jump into the sea to escape, but most of them ended in failure. Once, more than fifty prisoners jumped into the sea when they learned that they were about to be executed.
In order to increase their chances of survival, some of them chose to hold gourds or planks and swam desperately toward Penglai. However, many people were either swallowed by the sea or captured by officers and soldiers. Only eight people with strong martial arts skills and strong bodies survived. They swam to land and hid in a cave, where they were discovered by local fishermen a few days later. When everyone knew that they swam from Salmon Island, everyone felt that they were not ordinary people.
Later, after continuous evolution, this story was connected with the famous Eight Immortals of the Song Dynasty, and it became the familiar "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea".
Tao Xiyu pointed at the map and said: "Look, Shamen Island in the Northern Song Dynasty is now Miao Island in Shandong. This way is Penglai."
I compared it with my hand on the map: "The distance from Miao Island to Penglai is not close, but..."
I didn't know what to say for a while.
Tao Xiyu said: "Imagine what it would be like in the Northern Song Dynasty when villagers met prisoners who escaped from prison? No matter how amazed they were, they would still be sent to the government, right? How could eight prisoners become immortals?"
Tao Xiyu paused and said, "The only explanation is that the eight prisoners escaped again after being exposed. This time, they fled into the sea. But this time they were not captured by the officers and soldiers. Instead, they appeared from the sea again a few years later. This is how the legend of the Eight Immortals came about."
I thought about it for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense. Do you mean that the eight prisoners entered Dan Island by mistake?"
"Yes!" Tao Xiyu took out a pen and drew a circle on the map, "This is Penglai County, Dengzhou, this is Salmon Island, and this is the Bohai Sea... At that time, several prisoners were running for their lives and would not go to Salmon Island or inland. , so they will still choose to escape by boat.”
"Going in the direction of the Bohai Sea is asking for death. They can only go in the direction of the Yellow Sea... Across this sea area is Japan, and that is their only way to survive."
When I heard Tao Xiyu say this, I couldn't help but ask: "With eight of them, can they cross the ocean and sail to Japan?"
Tao Xiyu said: "Since the Tang Dynasty, Japan has continuously sent envoys to China. This sea area is not without ships. If they are lucky and encounter ships traveling between the two countries, they will definitely escape."
Tao Xiyu drew a circle on the map with a pen: "I estimate that the location of Dan Island should be in this area."
I rubbed my brows and said, "If you just draw something like this, it's dozens of kilometers away, right? How many days do we have to search for it?"
Tao Xiyu said: "If the explorer wants to go to sea, he must use a boat. If he has a boat, he must register it. Let Senior Xuehu find a way to investigate the ships that have gone to sea from these ports on the map in recent times, and he can probably draw the specific details. s position."
Ye Xun nodded and said, "You're right. I'll contact Mother Fox."