The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 497 Searching for the Secret
Upon hearing the phrase "smoke billowing from seven orifices," Pang Kun was visibly taken aback, then shook his head and laughed, "The deputy flag lord is right, it really is smoke billowing from seven orifices."

It is said that when my Hou Tu Banner was building this main hall, the banner leader at the time built these seven large chimneys and said that this place could be called "Seven Apertures of Smoke" in the future. The Hou Tu Banner disciples at the time also used this name to make fun of it, which was very vivid.

As time passed and the name was passed down from generation to generation, it was rarely mentioned. Only elders like myself in Houtu Banner knew the original story. I never imagined that the Deputy Banner Chief and my ancestors from Houtu Banner would have the same idea.

From the moment Wu Chengyu uttered the phrase "smoke billowing from seven orifices," he observed Pang Kun's every move, including his heartbeat, breathing, and changes in facial expressions.

Pang Kun's dazed expression was quite natural, with a hint of reminiscence in his eyes, but his heartbeat and breathing were perfectly normal, and there was no trace of pretense or concealment on his face.

It seems that in Pang Kun's mind, the phrase "smoke coming out of seven orifices" was just a joke passed down from his ancestors, and Wu Chengyu just happened to be talking about it. He didn't take it seriously, at most just sighing about it.

This also shows that the old man from Houtu Banner, who was a true descendant of the revolutionary, did not know the coded message on the sheepskin map.

Wu Chengyu firmly believes that these four words definitely have a meaning, but more than a hundred years have passed, and those who know the secret are probably all turned into dust. The descendants of Houtuqi do not know what happened back then.

According to Pu Zhishen, when Hou Tu Banner built the secret passage to Guangming Peak, the banner leader and many craftsmen were killed afterwards. But no one is a fool. The banner leader probably foresaw his fate and deliberately left a hidden plan.

On the surface, the story of "smoke coming from seven orifices" is just a joke passed down from ancestors, but if Pang Kun saw these four characters on the sheepskin map, he would probably immediately know the mystery and connection between them.

Unfortunately, the secret was too well hidden. The sheepskin blueprints first fell into the hands of Pu Zhishen, who had been sent by his superiors to join the Five Elements Banner, and was not a direct descendant of the Thick Earth Banner.

He studied the blueprint for who knows how long, completely ignoring the small characters as mere mold spots. If it weren't for Wu Chengyu's appearance, this sheepskin blueprint would never have had a chance to see the light of day again.

It was just a chimney, nothing secret in Hou Tu Banner. Pang Kun led Wu Chengyu deep into Hou Tu Hall without any suspicion. It was a stone cave, and the closer you got inside, the higher the temperature became. All the heat came from underground, which could be considered an ancient version of underfloor heating.

At the end of the cave, a single granite block blocked the way. A mural was carved on the granite, depicting a group of people wielding axes and chisels to split the mountain and earth. The facial features of each person were not very clear, but the mural conveyed a sense of indomitable spirit and determination to overcome nature.

"The flues of all the fireplaces in my Hou Tu Tang eventually converge behind this stone wall, and then the smoke is discharged from here through seven chimneys. The position of each chimney is very clever, so that it is not afraid of rainwater backflow, and the smoke can blend into the mountain and be easily invisible."

"The construction skills of Hou Tuqi are truly amazing. Commander Pang, Hou Tuqi's abilities are a real waste in our Ming Cult."

“It’s not just the Hou Tu Banner, which of the other four banners isn’t…” Pang Kun started to say, but then fell silent, his face darkening.

"Why say all this? Hou Tu Qi is only good at building houses. Other than that, he is not worth mentioning. Compared to our Ming Cult's envoys and Dharma Kings, each of them is a peerless martial artist. Compared to them, we are all just small fry."

Pang Kun's words, tinged with intense resentment, made Wu Chengyu want to tell him that martial arts were useless in later generations, and that if they were to go into real estate, they would definitely make a fortune.

But having said that, Pang Kun lost interest in continuing the conversation: "Deputy Banner Chief Zhou, I have to oversee the training of my brothers today, so I really don't have time. Let Zhao Di show you around. I'll take my leave now."

"Uncle Pang, the deputy banner chief changed my name. From now on, I'll be called Xiao Zhao. Doesn't it sound nice?"

"It sounds better, definitely better than Zhaodi. There are six or seven people in our village named Zhaodi, the rest are Yindi or Pandi. Serve the deputy banner chief well."

Pang Kun affectionately patted Xiao Zhao's head, bowed to Wu Chengyu, and turned to leave. His attitude towards Xiao Zhao was very friendly, and Wu Chengyu instantly felt that there was a strong sense of blood connection among the direct descendants of Houtu Banner.

Wu Chengyu lost interest in continuing his exploration. It was already dusk, but since most of Hou Tu Tang was inside the mountain, it immediately became dark, and rows of torches made of pine resin were lit.

"Let's go back to our room first, Xiao Zhao. What's for dinner tonight?"

"I'll go take a look later. It looks like mutton soup noodles. The mutton bone broth is white and thick. After the noodles are cooked, the mutton soup is poured on top, along with mutton and garlic sprouts. It smells so good. Deputy Banner Chief, I'll bring you two bowls later. It's cold outside, and drinking mutton soup will warm you up."

Xiao Zhao spent half a day with Wu Chengyu. Being simple-minded, she quickly closed the distance with Wu Chengyu, who seemed approachable. She skipped and hopped as she led the way, drooling all the while. It seems she was a gluttonous girl just like A Ku.

The mutton soup and mutton from the Northwest region were indeed delicious. After Wu Chengyu finished eating, Xiao Zhao smiled and cleared away the bowls and chopsticks. Wu Chengyu told her that she didn't need to be served, and she readily agreed and went off to play somewhere.

It wasn't until the third watch of the night that Wu Chengyu changed into his night clothes and left the room with incredible agility. By then, Xiao Zhao was already fast asleep.

Following the path he had taken during the day, Wu Chengyu quickly arrived at the place where smoke was billowing from the seven orifices. This place was usually unguarded, and the temperature inside the stone cave was over fifty degrees Celsius, making it impossible for an ordinary person to stay for long.

Wu Chengyu observed the murals in the cave again. The paintings were very lifelike, and it was a relief sculpture. Apart from that, the cave was empty and there was nothing else.

Wu Chengyu immediately opened the 3D model and carefully scanned the entire cave, but found nothing unusual, except that he could sense the existence of a space behind the murals.

However, the mural is located behind a chimney, which must be hollow, so this is not a point of doubt.

Could the secret be hidden in those seven chimneys? Or does it mean Wu Chengyu has to crawl through each chimney at night? These seven chimneys are hidden on cliffs, and Wu Chengyu is confident in his unparalleled lightness skill; finding these seven chimneys would be extremely difficult.

While deep in thought, Wu Chengyu subconsciously placed his palms on the mural, one on each side, feeling the temperature emanating from it. Then, he suddenly noticed that the area with his left hand was significantly cooler than the area with his right hand.

If the flues were connected as a whole, their temperatures would be roughly the same, but now they differ by at least six or seven degrees.

Wu Chengyu immediately understood. His three-dimensional diagram could sense that there was space behind the stone wall, but he could not see what was behind the stone wall.

So he gradually infused his internal energy into the stone wall, and with the help of his senses, carefully measured the space and obstacles behind it. He finally discovered that there was actually a space about two feet square in the chimney behind the mural.

The flue is a full six feet wide, with a separate space on the left. The remaining smoke is discharged upwards through a four-foot-wide passage on the side, which does not affect the use of the flue at all.

At the same time, everyone knew that there was a chimney behind the mural, so even if they knocked on the stone wall and heard a hollow sound, they would not have any doubts.

The only flaw is the temperature. The isolated space, where the hot smoke doesn't circulate, is indeed cooler than the surrounding area. But no one usually comes here, and even if an enemy were to invade, they wouldn't bother with the smoke duct.

The senior Hou Tuqi who secretly plotted here back then was quite clever, playing a game of cat and mouse.

If one doesn't know the story of "smoke coming from seven orifices," it's hard to connect the blueprint to the smoke duct of Hoututang. However, the elders of Houtuqi all know this story, but if they hadn't found the sheepskin blueprint, they would only think it was a story they had heard since childhood.

The problem now is how to open this space. No mechanism has been found yet. Forcibly breaking through the stone wall might affect the smoke duct, and if the thick smoke flows back, it will immediately alarm the followers of Houtuqi.

Wu Chengyu examined it carefully and realized that the thick smoke was gathering from underground and was being discharged along the chimney behind the stone wall, so digging a tunnel from underground was absolutely not feasible.

He was at a loss. Even if he had studied civil engineering in his previous life, let alone a liberal arts major, he might not be able to understand the intricacies of ancient mechanisms.

Left with no other choice, Wu Chengyu carefully examined the murals again. Now that he had a precise viewpoint, Wu Chengyu shut down his other four senses and maximized his visual perception, just as he had done when looking at the small print on the parchment.

This time, he finally saw a clue. The mural in front of the two-foot square independent space accounted for one-third of the entire mural. The mural seemed to be carved on a whole piece of granite, but now he could finally see a few fine lines.

The fine lines are so subtle that they are almost imperceptible. Only the master builders of Houtuqi could possess such craftsmanship, and only Wu Chengyu's extraordinary eyesight could discover these true clues.

It is now almost certain that the people who built this place did leave behind some mechanisms, but they were so intricate that they were not easily detected.

This small mural is actually a hidden compartment. The stone wall is a full 20 centimeters thick, and unless it is forcibly dismantled, you would need to find the corresponding mechanism to open it.

Now that the hidden compartment had been discovered, a mechanism must also exist. Wu Chengyu carefully examined the stone wall again and finally found a clue.

The mural depicts a dozen craftsmen carving stones, wielding various tools. Except for a few who are squatting on the ground with iron chisels, the tools held by the other craftsmen are all long-handled and held high.

If you look closely, the tools they are holding up are all pointing in almost the same direction, towards the upper right corner of the rock face.

Wu Chengyu sensed something and used his gecko wall-climbing skills to reach this corner. Sure enough, he found a hand-shaped pattern that almost required extraordinary eyesight to see.

Without further hesitation, he reached out and aligned his hand with the palm shape, gradually exerting force. Slowly, the palm-shaped area was pushed inward, indenting about ten centimeters into the stone wall.

Then came the sound of a mechanism from inside the stone wall, which gradually traveled from the upper right corner to the mural. The sound was not loud, and even in the dead of night, it would not disturb too many people.

After all the mechanical noises disappeared, a section of the mural in front of the isolated space that Wu Chengyu had previously discovered protruded forward, and he also discovered that there was a handle on each of the two inner sides.

He grabbed the handle and pulled it outwards. A two-foot square, twenty-centimeter thick stone slab was removed from the wall, revealing the secluded space behind the stone wall.

The contents were simple: a stone box slightly smaller than the original space, which had been there for who knows how many years. If it weren't for Wu Chengyu, it might never have had the chance to appear in the world.

After taking out the box, Wu Chengyu put the stone slab back into the original hole and pushed it in forcefully. Not only did the stone slab fit perfectly into the stone wall, but the palm-shaped mechanism in the upper right corner was also restored to its original state.

Unless someone with a keen eye comes to examine this place carefully the next day, they should notice something unusual about the dust on the stone wall. But as a very ordinary chimney, no one in Houtuqi would pay attention to it. Wu Chengyu's actions today are destined to go unnoticed.

　Today was a family gathering. I don't usually drink, but I still had to toast the elders. My alcohol tolerance is beyond bad. I slept on a soda can all afternoon and didn't get up until evening to write this.

　　Chapter Two: Arriving Late
　　
　
(End of this chapter)