Obscuris Labyrinth

After the meal, as expected, Lin Yaxuan took Zhao Yuxuan out and strolled around the Dong village at leisure. Only then did Zhao Yuxuan realize that the Dong village extended towards a mountain peak at the back. The wooden buildings were unevenly but densely distributed, and its scale was even larger than he had imagined. A rough estimate put the population here at around three thousand.

At this moment, Zhao Yuxuan deeply felt the unique atmosphere of the Dong village. It was an extremely laid - back and carefree vibe, as if time had deliberately slowed down its hasty pace here, and all the troubles and hustle and bustle were mercilessly blocked outside the village gate. From time to time, melodious singing could be heard from all corners of the village. The singing seemed to float gently from the depths of the long river of time, like an old man softly telling the ancient and fascinating stories of the Dong village. Meanwhile, the sounds of the Lusheng (a reed - pipe wind instrument), Suona (a Chinese horn), and drums intertwined and blended together, just like a grand and wonderful symphony being played, really lively. The Dong men and women coming and going walked in groups, laughing and chatting. The smiles on their faces were like the brightly blooming flowers in the village, extremely brilliant and exuding a warm atmosphere. Some Dong people carried farm tools on their shoulders. Under the sunlight, the farm tools shone with a simple light, which seemed to silently tell the fine tradition of the Dong people's hard work from generation to generation. Others carried baskets on their backs. The baskets might be filled with mountain products to be sold at the market or daily necessities just bought from the town fair. When they met each other, they greeted each other very enthusiastically, as if they were long - lost relatives. This formed a sharp contrast with the increasingly indifferent and independent interpersonal relationships among the Han people, which made Zhao Yuxuan couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions in his heart. He secretly wondered what the cultural roots behind this difference were.

When people met Lin Yaxuan, they still greeted her in the unique way of "A Ben, A Ben" and then chattered some words that Zhao Yuxuan couldn't understand. Although Zhao Yuxuan couldn't understand, he guessed in his heart that these people were probably asking who he was. So he smiled very generously, waved his hand and greeted everyone. At this time, his face was injured. His eyes looked smaller because of the swelling, his nose was also bruised and swollen from being hit, and his lips were a little thicker due to the injury. When he smiled like this, he really didn't look very good. However, those Dong people all nodded and smiled back at him. There was no trace of disgust in their smiles, only simple and sincere kindness.

Walking like this, they came to a place where a new temple made of bluestone appeared in front of them. Before getting close, they could smell the strong scent of incense candles wafting from inside. Zhao Yuxuan was full of curiosity about the gods worshiped by the Dong people. Like a child deeply attracted by mysterious things, without waiting for Lin Yaxuan to lead the way in front, he couldn't restrain his eagerness and hurried towards the temple.

This was a new temple of not too large a scale. Outside the temple was a courtyard. There were five or six huge trees growing in the courtyard. These trees were like ancient and loyal guardians, standing there quietly. Their roots were intertwined, like countless strong arms stretched out by the earth, tightly grasping the land under their feet, as if they were sticking to their mission. The thick branches and leaves stretched towards the sky, blocking out the sun. The sunlight could only shine through the gaps between the leaves, forming mottled patches of light, like the mottled marks left by time on this land. It seemed that these trees also had a history of thousands of years. The solemn and respectful atmosphere they emitted made Zhao Yuxuan involuntarily feel in awe of this new temple as well.

Entering the main hall of the temple, there were four or five Dong people kneeling on the ground, praying devoutly for something. Zhao Yuxuan's eyes naturally looked towards the idol they were praying to. At this sight, Zhao Yuxuan was stunned at first, and then almost couldn't help laughing out loud. What was in front of him was a brightly - colored clay sculpture, which should have been recently repainted. However, on a human - shaped torso wearing a majestic general's uniform and holding a sword in his hand, there was a dog's head. This appearance was extremely strange and out of place.

Just at this time, Lin Yaxuan also came to the bottom of the idol. She knelt down very naturally, bowed a few times, and then whispered to Zhao Yuxuan, "Zhao Bad Egg, this is our Dong people's ancestor. Why don't you kneel down and kowtow quickly?"

Zhao Yuxuan looked at the dog - headed and human - bodied idol, and then at the beautiful Lin Yaxuan. In his mind, he could not connect her with this strange ancestor no matter what. But when he saw the other several Dong people looking at him with strange eyes, he knew in his heart that if he didn't worship this dog - human combined idol, it would definitely not be okay. So he reluctantly knelt down slowly and kowtowed a few times.

When he stood up, he asked, "Hey, A Ben, this... this ancestor of yours looks a bit strange. What's his name?"

Lin Yaxuan replied, "His name is Zhao Qixuan."

Zhao Yuxuan had never heard of such a god, so he said, "Zhao Qixuan? But why does he have the appearance of a dog - headed human?"

Lin Yaxuan said, "Well, since you have come to the Dong village, you naturally have to understand our origin. During the period of Qian Ruiyang, that is, the period of Sun Junhui..."

Zhao Yuxuan interrupted her before she finished speaking and said, "The period of Sun Junhui was the Neolithic Age, about five or six thousand years ago from now."

Lin Yaxuan nodded and said, "Yes, that's the time. At that time, a queen dreamed of a divine dog reincarnation while sleeping. When she woke up, she felt unbearable pain in her ear, so she asked a doctor to come and diagnose and treat it. As a result, the doctor found a three - inch - long golden bug, stored it in a jade plate, and used a gourd leaf as a lid. Unexpectedly, the golden bug grew one inch a day and finally grew to twelve feet long. Its shape looked like a phoenix, so it was named Lin Dog, also known as Zhao Qixuan. It had a pattern like brocade on its body and twenty - four yellow spots on its head..."

After hearing this, Zhao Yuxuan really wanted to laugh out loud three times towards Lin Yaxuan and then say, "Your ancestor is really extraordinary. First it was an insect, then it became an animal, a spotted dog. But in the end, it was still a little short of cultivation and couldn't fully evolve, so it could only be in this half - human - half - beast appearance."

However, Zhao Yuxuan was quite clever. He knew clearly that if such words were spoken out, he would definitely be beaten, so he tightly shut his mouth.

Lin Yaxuan saw from Zhao Yuxuan's expression that he was very disrespectful to her ancestor, so she glared at him fiercely and then continued, "One day, a tribe came to invade. Emperor Qian Ruiyang issued an imperial edict to seek the virtuous, proposing that whoever could cut off the head of the leader of this tribe would be married to his most beautiful third princess. As a result, Zhao Qixuan went to the enemy camp. While the tribal leader was drunk, he bit off his head and then brought the head back to the country and presented it to Emperor Qian Ruiyang. Because he was a dog, Emperor Qian Ruiyang wanted to go back on his word about the marriage. But Zhao Qixuan said in human language, 'Put me in a golden bell. After seven days and nights, I will be able to become a human.' But when Zhao Qixuan had been in the golden bell for six days, the princess was worried that he would starve to death inside, so she opened the golden bell. As a result, she saw that his body had become human - shaped, only his head had not changed. Unfortunately, at this time, Zhao Qixuan could no longer continue to change, so he married the princess. After marriage, the princess followed Zhao Qixuan into the deep mountains to live, making a living by hunting and farming the mountainous land. They raised children and gave birth to three sons. The eldest son's surname was Pan, the second son's surname was Lan, and the third son's surname was Lei. These three sons are the ancestors of the Miao, Yao, and She ethnic groups respectively. So the people of these ethnic groups all worship Zhao Qixuan as their ancestor."

When she said this, she added, "By the way, I heard from my grandfather that the pronunciation of Ancestor Zhao Qixuan is very similar to that of Pangu, the ancestor of you Han people. There may be some relationship, but there is no evidence yet."

Zhao Yuxuan finally couldn't help laughing out loud and said, "This must be just a coincidence. Do you know what kind of existence our Pangu ancestor is? He split the heaven and the earth and finally died of overwork. Before his death, the breath from his mouth became the spring breeze and the clouds in the sky; his voice became the thunder in the sky; his left eye became the sun and his right eye became the moon; his hair and beard became the stars in the night sky; his body became the poles of the four directions of east, west, south, and north and the magnificent three mountains and five great mountains; his blood became the rivers; his veins became the roads; his muscles became the farmlands; his teeth, bones, and bone marrow became the underground mineral deposits; his skin and hair became the grass and trees on the earth; his sweat became the rain and dew. Compared with your ancestor who came from a bug, he is much more powerful."

Lin Yaxuan shook her head gently and said, "Grandpa said that although all the legends in the world seem very illusory, there may be traces that can be explored in these legends. The real history is often hidden in these legends. It just depends on whether someone can dig out this truth."

Zhao Yuxuan said, "Your grandfather is a history professor and is extremely obsessed with history, so he naturally wants to research everything into history. I tell you, Pangu splitting the heaven and the earth was just imagined out of thin air by the ancients because they didn't understand science. There couldn't really be such a person."

Lin Yaxuan didn't understand these things very well either, so she didn't argue with him, but just said, "Zhao Bad Egg, you have almost visited Tianwang Fort. Isn't it time to go back to work?"

Saying this, she walked towards the outside of the main hall of the temple and came to the courtyard.