Chapter 8 The Mystery of the Eight-Double Room

The two woodcuts, the same size, are about half a zhang wide, one zhang long and short, and are nailed to the left and right sides of the wall.The one on the left is engraved with a thousand-year-old Avalokitesvara, and the one on the right is engraved with a Maitreya Buddha.The engraving is fine, but it doesn't look like it came from a famous artist, nor is it harmonious.Chang Huhua looked left and right, and smiled again.Yang Xun came to Chang Huhua's side, glanced coldly at Chang Huhua, naturally saw the smile in his eyes, and immediately said: I think there is something wrong with this wall.Chang Huhua turned her head in response, and said, "You saw it too?"Yang Xun stroked his beard but didn't answer.Chang Huhua then asked: In your opinion, where is the problem?Yang Xun said: It's on this wall.Chang Huhua smiled lightly and stopped asking.Although Yang Xun seemed to be able to tell from his expression, he found nothing but the wall during the question and answer.Du Xiaotian immediately stepped forward and said: "What did Brother Chang find?"Chang Huhua's gaze returned to the wall, and said, "That's the wall."Du Xiaotian's gaze was already on the wall, he looked it over again and again, but still shook his head and said: This wall doesn't seem to have anything wrong.

Chang Huhua said: On the surface, there is indeed nothing wrong, but there is obviously a big problem inside.Du Xiaotian said: Could it be that there is a dark hole hidden on the wall.Chang Huhua said: It may be a dark hole, but there may also be a secret door hidden behind the wall to the dark room.Du Xiaotian was taken aback, and said, "A dark room behind the wall?Chang Huhua said: Even if there is a dark room hidden behind the wall, it is not surprising.Du Xiaotian laughed loudly and said, "There are only a few plantains and a rosebush behind the wall."Chang Huhua suddenly asked: How thick do you think this wall is?Du Xiaotian said: "Even if the thickness is two feet, the hollow space is only one foot, and the one-foot wide place is difficult for people to stand on. Can this also be called a dark room?"Chang Huhuadao: Can it be four or five feet wide?Du Xiaotian was surprised and said: You mean the hollow part of this wall is as wide as four or five feet?Chang Huhua said: I'm afraid it's not enough.

Du Xiaotian couldn't help asking: Why are you so sure?Chang Huhua said: When I was walking around in this study just now, I already knew the length and width of the study, so after walking around outside the study, I noticed something.Du Xiaotian asked, what's the matter?Chang Huhua said: "Although the width of the inside and outside of the study is almost the same, the length is quite different. The inside of the study is at least seven or eight feet shorter than the outside of the study. Even though the walls in front and back of the study are two feet thick, there are four Five feet away, where did it go?Du Xiaotian suddenly realized.Chang Huhua said: I thought that the back of the study might be recessed several feet inward, but when I turned around, there was no such thing. There was only one possibility. The lost four or five feet of space was hidden on this side. behind the wall.

He lightly tapped the wall with his finger, and said: Unless he is a lunatic, there is absolutely no reason for a normal person to make a wall seven or eight feet thick, so the wall must be hollow. Four or five feet of space should be able to do something.Hearing this, Yang Xun blurted out and asked, the dark room is behind this wall, and where is the secret door on this wall?Chang Huhua waited for an answer, and Du Xiaotian said: "In my guess, it may be after the two woodcuts on the wall."Chang Huhua nodded and said: That's what I mean too.He pressed the woodcut of Maitreya Buddha and said: I doubted these two woodcuts from the very beginning.Du Xiaotian asked, "Is it possible that these two woodcuts are not in harmony with the paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall?"Chang Huhua looked back at Du Xiaotian, and said: The paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall are no longer harmonious.Du Xiaotian said: I don't know calligraphy and painting.

Chang Huhua became strange when she heard about it, and said: But why do you have that discordant feeling?Du Xiaotian said: "It's not the first time I've seen this kind of woodcut. Chang Huhua said: Where do you usually see this kind of woodcut?"Du Xiaotian said: "Temples."Chang Huhua said: People who believe in Buddhism will probably buy them as offerings.Du Xiaotian said: But they are rarely placed in the study, and as far as I know, he doesn't believe in Buddhism.Chang Huhua nodded.Du Xiaotian continued: "Although I already had a feeling of incongruity, I didn't doubt it further, because behind the wall is the yard, and there are no gaps on the wall over there, and it is covered with moss. It doesn't look like there is a secret door." There is no trace of people walking on the ground near it.After a pause, he continued: What's more, these days, he has been thinking about ghosts and ghosts, so he changed his original intention, and specially brought this woodcut of Buddha statue to suppress ghosts and ghosts.

Chang Huhuadao: These two woodcuts don't look like they were nailed and inlaid on it recently.Du Xiaotian said: "I don't know, before the fifteenth day, I never entered this study.His eyes fell on that wall again, and he said: How can those calligraphy and paintings be inharmonious?Chang Huhua raised her finger to one of the paintings and said: What do you think is the face value of this painting?Du Xiaotian smiled wryly.How can someone who doesn't understand painting and calligraphy at all see the value of painting and calligraphy?Chang Huhua said: No matter where you get this painting, it can be sold for two or three thousand taels of silver.Du Xiaotian blurted out and asked: Whose handwriting did this come from?Chang Huhua said: Tang Bohu.Du Xiaotian said: No wonder.Although he doesn't know calligraphy and painting, he knows Tang Bohu.He glanced left and right, and said: There are more than 20 calligraphy and paintings here, and they are folded in half. Each piece is only sold for a thousand taels of silver, and the total is more than 30,000 taels of silver, but he hangs them casually. On the wall, could it be that there is something wrong with his head?

Chang Huhua said lightly: "Except for this painting of Tang Bohu, you can sell the others for a hundred taels of silver, which is already your skill."Du Xiaotian said: You mean that any other picture is worth three or four taels of silver at most.Chang Huhua said: There are four paintings that may not even be worth a tael of silver.Du Xiaotian looked at Chang Huhua strangely.Chang Huhua said: Because those four pictures are all written by himself.Du Xiaotian said: "It seems that you are really good friends, that's why you are so familiar with his handwriting, and you can recognize it immediately at a glance."Chang Huhua said: In other words, it doesn't seem difficult to become his good friend.Du Xiaotian didn't understand the meaning of Chang Huhua's words.Chang Huhua seemed to know that he didn't understand, and then explained: He left his name on the four panels, and he can find it if he pays a little attention.Du Xiaotian couldn't help sighing softly, feeling a little admired in his heart.It is indeed rare for a person as meticulous as Chang Huhua to think.

Chang Huhua spent only a short time before and after this study, and the harvest in this moment was even more than their whole day's search.A group of them searched all day and found nothing at all.Chang Huhua immediately said again: Since you have no interest in calligraphy and painting, it's not surprising that you don't care.Du Xiaotian suddenly laughed and said: Are his paintings not even worth a tael of silver?Chang Huhua said: This is the price I set. In my eyes, his paintings are indeed not worth a tael of silver.He smiled and said: His sword is very good, but his painting is terrible.Du Xiaotian said: As far as I know, he is not a person who refuses to hide his clumsiness.Chang Huhua nodded and said: Not only jewelry, but also in calligraphy and painting, he is also very researched, it seems that he is such a connoisseur of goods, how can he not see that this painting is the authentic work of Tang Bohu.His gaze fell on Tang Bohu's painting again, and he said: I have never seen anyone willing to hang such a famous painting on the wall casually. If the purpose is to show off his wealth, there is no reason to just hang it on the wall. This painting, not to mention anything else, is Tang Bohu's painting. As early as three years ago, he already owned three of them. At the very least, he should have hung them all up, but now he is hanging those. Never reconcile?

Du Xiaotian said: "There is such a big difference in value, he did this with other intentions."Chang Huhua said: If the switch of the secret door is not on the two woodcuts, it may be behind this ancient painting of Tang Bohu.Before he could finish speaking, Yang Xun next to him took two steps forward and lifted up the ancient painting of Tang Bohu.He was very careful, his movements seemed slow and strenuous, as if he was holding two or three thousand taels of silver in his hands.Chang Huhua could not help Yang Xun, following Yang Xun's actions, her eyes fell on the wall behind the painting.There are no bumps on the walls, nor any gaps.Yang Xun was startled and said: Where is the switch?Chang Huhua took two steps forward, looked up and down, and suddenly raised his hand to clasp his fingers on the wall a few times.A smile appeared on his face again, and he said: Sure enough, it is here.Yang Xun could hear clearly and quickly asked: I found it, where is it?Changhu Huadao: Within the wall.Yang Xun said: I'm going to send someone to destroy this wall.Chang Huhua said: No need.He smiled, and said again: It is rare to have this opportunity, so you can experience the ingenuity of Xuanjizi's secret mechanism.

Immediately, his hand turned over and slapped, hitting the middle of the wall.That palm didn't seem to use much force, but when the palm was struck, the sound was unusually solid, obviously he was using internal palm strength.A ding sound came from within the wall immediately.This sound was very weak, but Yang Xun and Du Xiaotian could hear it very clearly.When Chang Huhua slapped out, they had already held their breath.The whole study fell into silence, and the rattling sound after Yi Ding's abnormal sound was extraordinarily loud!The two woodcuts of Avalokitesvara and Maitreya Buddha, together with the two walls, opened slowly from left to right. These two woodcuts were actually two doors.The inside of the door is gloomy, and it seems that it is really only four or five feet deep.Four or five feet later, there was another wall, a pitch-black wall.The reason why the door is so gloomy is obviously because of the dark walls.The two sides became more gloomy, gradually sinking into darkness.

Chang Huhua looked left and right, and was stunned on the spot.It was beyond his expectation that the two secret doors opened at the same time.There is really no need for a dark room to have two secret doors in the same direction.Could it be that behind this wall, there are actually two dark rooms?If not, which door is the real entrance, and what is the purpose of the other door?Chang Huhua couldn't help pondering, and Du Xiaotian also looked surprised.Yang Xun's eyes turned to Chang Huhua's face, and suddenly asked: "Why are you so familiar with these institutions?"Chang Huhua responded lightly: "Since he and I are good friends, of course we often walk together. If he understands, even if I understand as much, it's not a strange thing."Yang Xun softened his voice and said: According to you, which door should we enter through?Chang Huhua said: I haven't been sure yet.Yang Xun said: "Actually, it's also simple. If we enter the wrong place, we can go back out and enter through another door."As soon as the voice fell, Yang Xun stepped over the woodcut of the thousand-year-old Guanyin and stepped into the secret door. Chang Huhua caught a glimpse and shouted loudly: Be careful!With a stride forward, he grabbed Yang Xun's shoulder with one hand.Before Yang Xun took that step, he heard Chang Huhua's yell. He turned his head in surprise, and his whole body was pulled away by Chang Huhua.Almost at the same time, twenty or thirty crossbow arrows shot out from the hidden door!Although they retreated quickly, they were not able to completely escape from the area covered by the crossbow arrows. The three arrows from the side shot at Yang Xun's chest and abdomen in a zigzag shape.Chang Huhua grabbed Yang Xun with her right hand, but her left hand was empty. His eyes were quick and his hands were quick, his left hand grabbed again and again, and caught two of the arrows that were shot!One more arrow!That arrow pierced through the clothes under Yang Xun's armpit.Du Xiaotian was shocked when he saw it, and Chang Huhua couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat.But Yang Xun was terribly frightened, his face was instantly pale as paper, his feet were already weak, as soon as Chang Huhua let go of his hands, he almost fell to his knees. Du Xiaotian quickly stretched out his hand to support him, and said: "Boss, how is the injury?"Yang Xun pinched the arrow holes in his armpit clothes, opened his mouth, and after a while he could speak, "It just shot through the armpit clothes."He then turned his head around, looked Chang Huhua up and down, and said, "Brother Chang, is he injured?"Chang Huhua said: No.Yang Xun heaved a sigh of relief and said, "It's a good thing there isn't one, otherwise I wouldn't be able to feel bad about it."He slowly stood up straight, his eyes fell on the ground in front of the secret door.A few arrows were inserted into the ground, but the arrowheads were completely submerged in the bricks!The sharpness and strength of the arrowheads can be imagined, but if twenty or thirty such crossbow arrows are shot at the body at the same time, what will be the result? Yang Xun shuddered cleverly, looked back at Chang Huhua, and said: "Thank you for helping me, he really wanted to say a few words of thanks, but he didn't know how to say it for a while."Although he has not completely forgotten those words of thanks, he has almost forgotten them.Chang Huhua didn't care, and turned to Du Xiaotian.Du Xiaotian squatted down slowly, and pulled out an arrow stuck in the ground.This pull is quite strenuous.Du Xiaotian drew the arrow in his hand, and couldn't help but change his face.Chang Huhua laughed and said: What kind of bricks do you think the floor is covered with?Du Xiaotian sighed lightly, and said: I can see that they are water-milled blue bricks, so it is strange that these arrows can penetrate so deep into the bricks.His eyes fell on the arrow in his hand again.The length of the arrow is only one foot, the arrowhead is shiny, the body of the arrow has a black light, it is extremely heavy, the whole arrow is still made of iron. He looked twice before putting down the arrow, stood up, sighed again, and said: "I never thought he could create such a powerful mechanism."Chang Huhua said: I want it.Du Xiaotian said: It's because you are old friends, you already knew that he was Xuanjizi's closed disciple.Chang Huhua said: That's why I still know the habits of the Xuanjizi school.Du Xiaotian said: What habit?Chang Huhua said: No matter what mechanism is designed, there must be a powerful killing mechanism. If you enter without closing the mechanism first, you will be close to death.Du Xiaotian nodded repeatedly, not doubting what Chang Huhua said.Yang Xun believed even more that if Chang Huhua hadn't pulled him aside in time just now, he would be a dead man now, dying under the random arrows of the agency. He still had lingering fears in his heart, and murmured: "It's a good study room, but it's so well-arranged. If this kid has ghosts in his heart, his head may really be a problem."Chang Huhua said with a smile: "There is really something wrong with his head, and it's just a common problem of ordinary people.Yang Xun said: Oh?Chang Huhuadao: Don't ordinary people try their best to store precious things in a secret and safe place?Yang Xun nodded.Chang Huhua said: He just set up a secret and safe place in the study to store his precious things.Yang Xun said: This kid needs to say something like this, and he suddenly closed his mouth.He finally didn't forget that Jubaozhai was worthy of its name, and what kind of business Cui Beihai was doing. Du Xiaotian immediately asked: "Brother Chang, is there a way to close those organs?"Chang Huhua said: "I'll try to find the control button." Yang Xun cut in and said: "There's no need to look for it. The mechanism has been activated and the arrows have been shot. We can go in with confidence now."He spoke frankly, but his feet stood there firmly, motionless.Chang Huhua glanced at him and said: "Do you think there is only one organ?"Yang Xun said: Is there anything else?Chang Huhua said: I see it.Unknowingly, Yang Xun took half a step back, his eyes flashed, and he said: "The mechanism is inside this secret door, and the other secret door must be the real entrance. It seems that we should enter through that secret door."Chang Huhua said: Are you sure there is no mechanism inside that secret door?Yang Xun didn't make a sound. Chang Huhua didn't say much, walked over suddenly, grabbed a chair, and threw it over!With a cry, the chair flew half a foot, flew over the secret door, and landed heavily on the ground inside the secret door.As soon as the chair fell, the door slammed shut as if being pushed hard by someone!At that moment, they saw the light of the knife.Numerous flying knives slanted and slanted their lights, flying staggeredly through the secret door like flying fish!As soon as the secret door was closed, the knife light also disappeared, and the sound of breaking through the air and the sound of metal hitting the ground could still be faintly heard.Yang Xun's face immediately turned pale again.Du Xiaotian's complexion was not so good, he said: This mechanism is even more powerful than the one just now, once the secret door is closed and the way out is blocked, the only thing left is to be stabbed.Chang Huhua nodded and said: "The inside of the secret door is only four or five feet away, even if you have a weapon in hand, you can't use it."Du Xiaotian said: Even if it can be used well, it will be difficult to resist the flying knives shot from all directions.Chang Huhua nodded, her eyes still on the closed secret door. The woodcut of Maitreya Buddha above the secret door is still the same.Chang Huhua didn't see Maitreya Buddha's expression until now.The Maitreya Buddha opened his mouth wide and was smiling, kindly and happily.Du Xiaotian seemed to be looking at Maitreya Buddha, shook his head suddenly, and said: This mechanism must be called Hidden Sword in a Smile!Chang Huhua smiled and said: Fortunately, this is just a woodcut. If it was a living person, we would not have entered it, and we would still have a chance to be stabbed.If a person is like Maitreya Buddha, with a smile on his face, it is really easy to stab someone.Institutions are dead, but people are alive.If you don't touch the organ, the organ will never come to kill you.People are different, no matter when and where, they can kill you the same.Organs are originally things designed by humans.Du Xiaotian understood Chang Huhua's words, smiled and said: People are harder to guard against than institutions. Yang Xun couldn't laugh, he glanced left and right, his eyes fell on Chang Huhua's face and sighed: "There are traps inside the two secret doors, tell me, which secret door is the real entrance?"Chang Huhua said: Of course it is this one.He raised his finger and pointed to the secret door nailed into Avalokitesvara, and said: Since Maitreya Buddha showed his true colors and closed his secret door, we only have this secret door to leave.Yang Xun smiled bitterly and said: Although this Avalokitesvara is not hiding a knife in his smile, he can turn people into hedgehogs.Chang Huhua said: If we don't offend it, it will be done.Yang Xun said: Is there any way for you not to offend it?Chang Huhua said: "Not now."He suddenly squatted down and carefully looked at the woodcut of Avalokitesvara.Du Xiaotian's eyes fell unconsciously.Yang Xun was no exception. He took a closer look and couldn't see anything. He couldn't help but said: What are you doing?Chang Huhua didn't look back, and responded lightly, "Look for the mechanism of control."Yang Xun said: Maybe it's inside.Chang Huhua said: If it is inside, how can he get in by himself.Yang Xun couldn't help but blushed and didn't make another sound. Chang Huhua continued: "Xuanjizi is undoubtedly a skilled craftsman of a generation. Cui Beihai, an apprentice, can be said to be a young master. As early as many years ago, he was able to connect the plug of the door to the button inside the wall. The power is enough to vibrate the button inside the wall, and the button will shrink the plug, and the door can be opened, but the door must be closed by hand outside, and the button of the control mechanism must be pushed by hand, near the secret door. The walls are smooth, and the ground is the same. The only thing that can hide the button is this door.As he spoke, his hands began to move on the woodcut of the Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara.As soon as he moved, he had the feeling of being stared at.He didn't know how he felt this way, but his hands stopped involuntarily.There was no one in front of him, only a woodcut.Woodcut of Avalokitesvara. The full name of Avalokitesvara is actually Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes.According to the Gavdharma Thousand Hands Sutra, this Avalokitesvara has twenty hands on the left and right, and one eye in each hand, for a total of forty hands and forty eyes, matching the twenty-five existences of the three realms. It has infinite uses.Now this woodcut of Avalokitesvara has forty hands and eyes, just like the record in the Thousand Hands Sutra, no more and no less.Even the posture of sitting is the same as recorded in the Thousand Hands Sutra, among which the thirty-eight hands are spread behind the back like a sun wheel, but the original two hands have become the arms of the mother, and are knotted on the knees.Chang Huhua's hands are now pressing on the lap of this woodcut Avalokitesvara.He stared blankly at the woodcut of Avalokitesvara, as if he was thinking about something. Just as Du Xiaotian was about to ask, Chang Huhua's hands had started to move again.His hands moved up along the arms of the two mothers of Avalokitesvara, but his eyes were fixed on the pair of pure and precious eyes on Avalokitesvara.He immediately noticed that the pupils of Qianshou Guanyin's pure and precious eyes trembled at the same time as his hand moved, as if blaming him for his profanity, and kept staring at him.It turns out that you are staring at me!With a chuckle, he held the two mother-drama arms and shook them up and down.The twin mother-drama arms are also movable.There was no response from left to right, but when he lifted the two mother-drama arms from bottom to top, and with a click, the pupils of the pure and precious eyes of Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara popped out from the eye sockets.Hitomi didn't have a missile, it just popped out half a foot. Behind the pupil, there was a half-chi long wooden stick.Chang Huhua let go of the pair of mother-drama arms, and held the pair of pupils.Hands are cold, it looks like wood, but in fact it's all iron.Chang Huhua also pushed those pupils. When he pushed the pupil from the left to the right, there was a strange sound coming from the back of the secret door and the dark room.The sound was like a group of rats tearing at the dead body with their minions.The sound was exceptionally clear in the silence.The already terrifying sound was even more terrifying in the silence, even Chang Huhua couldn't help shivering when he heard it.There was a smile on his face, he clapped his hands, stood up slowly, and said: "Now, we can go in."Yang Xun asked: Have you completely shut down the organs inside?Chang Huhua said: Maybe he has other arrangements inside, but walking through this secret door, in my opinion, should not be a problem.Although he said that it was not a problem, Yang Xun still did not move forward.Chang Huhua herself was not too sure, she took a few steps back, grabbed another chair, and threw it hard into the secret door.With a bang, the entire chair shattered on the floor of the secret door.Yang Xun jumped away like a frightened bird.This time, no crossbow arrows were fired from the secret door, and there was no response.Only then did Chang Huhua really feel relieved, and walked over with a smile.Cui Yi was the first to follow behind him.Du Xiaotian also took a step by himself, but after two steps, Yang Xun was ahead of him.Yang Xun didn't dare to move forward, and followed behind Chang Huhua and Cui Yi.Although this person is very happy, he is also a smart person after all. Inside the secret door was still gloomy.Chang Huhua just stepped in and stopped suddenly.Yang Xun saw it at a glance, and thought that Chang Huhua suddenly realized the danger again, so he quickly jumped away.This action of his frightened Du Xiaotian to jump, and blurted out a soft reprimand: Be careful!Du Xiaotian also thought so of Yang Xun.No matter who sees Yang Xun like that, it is not difficult to think so.But Chang Huhua didn't panic at all, he turned his head slowly and said: Brother Du, please bring me the oil lamp on the table over there.He stopped suddenly, it turned out to be the reason.Du Xiaotian let out an oh, turned around and walked towards the table.He didn't say anything, and he didn't make any gestures, as if he had completely forgotten what happened just now.Chang Huhua also acted nonchalantly, and didn't pay attention to Yang Xun, as if she didn't know what Yang Xun was doing behind him just now.That's why Yang Xun didn't feel so uncomfortable.He walked slowly to the place where he was originally standing, and said shyly: I thought you discovered the mechanism again.Chang Huhua didn't answer with a smile, but Du Xiaotian had already brought the lamp.He simply stopped talking, lit the lamp, and walked into the dark room with the oil lamp in his hand. Under the bright light, Chang Huhua could see very clearly.Sure enough, the dark room is only four or five feet deep, but it is as wide as two feet.Turn left less than six feet away, and there is a wall that separates the dark room on Maitreya Buddha's side. At the end of the right turn, there is also a wall, but the ground half a foot in front of the wall is sunken, and a stone step extends obliquely downward.Lights loomed beneath the stone steps.The walls on all sides are completely dark, and there are small holes on the walls, with half arrows exposed at the holes, reflecting the lights, and the cold light flickers.If the mechanism hadn't been closed first, and the moment he jumped into the dark room and touched the mechanism, the crossbow arrows would definitely shoot out of those small holes.In such a narrow place, he naturally couldn't let go of his hands and feet. Even if he had all the skills, he couldn't resist the crossbow arrows shooting from all directions.Except for those arrow holes, the walls on all sides don't have any furnishings.The dark room turned out to be nothing more than a dark passage.Yang Xun stepped in, saw those arrow holes, and the crossbow arrows flickering in the arrow holes, his feet began to soften involuntarily, and asked quickly: "Brother Chang, have those organs been completely closed?"Chang Huaren was already in front of the stone steps, without turning his head, he said: Am I fine now?After saying this, he stepped on the stone steps.Only then did Yang Xun feel relieved to go forward, all the mechanisms seemed to have come to a complete standstill.Du Xiaotian followed Yang Xun with an expression of impatience, but he still held back.As early as many years ago, he had learned to be patient.It is also because he knows how to endure that he can become an excellent catcher. The stone level is not long, only thirty.At the end of the stone steps, there is a stone door, which has been opened left and right, and the light is shining through the secret door.Could it be that this stone gate is also controlled by a mechanism, if the mechanism is closed, this stone gate will open?Chang Huhua stayed in front of the stone gate for a while before stepping into the light.The light is as indifferent as the dawn moon.