Fang Zhitong cried silently at first, but after a while, she began to sob softly. At this moment, the waiter entered the room and was about to remind the two of them to order, but when he saw this scene, he was shocked and hurriedly turned around and left.
Fang Zhitong was frightened and her tears slowly stopped. Li Rui then took a tissue and gently wiped her face. Fang Zhitong was a little embarrassed. She took the tissue from his hand and said softly, "I'll do it myself!"
Li Rui took two more tissues and handed them to her.
After wiping her tears, Fang Zhitong lowered her head and stayed in a daze for a while. After a long time, she slowly raised her head. Her beautiful eyes were a little evasive, not daring to look at Li Rui. Li Rui found it funny and turned his head towards the door to call the waiter.
After the waiter came in, Li Rui did not ask for Fang Zhitong's opinion and just ordered four dishes and a soup. Fang Zhitong secretly looked at him when he was not paying attention. Li Rui noticed her gaze and suddenly turned his head to look at her. Fang Zhitong was shocked. Her face turned red and she quickly turned her head away.
After the waiter left, Li Rui smiled and said, "Can you treat me as a friend now?" Fang Zhitong smiled shyly. Her pretty face was as red as the sunset. Her pair of clear eyes looked away and nodded. Li Rui said, "Then look at me and smile at me." Fang Zhitong could not help but smile again. She became a little braver and turned to look at him. Seeing him looking at her with a friendly and gentle gaze, a string in her heart was plucked. She could not help but look at him. The smile on her face became purer and purer.
Li Rui nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, now you can tell me the secret of the silver medal."
Fang Zhitong then remembered the main purpose of tonight's dinner. She stupidly said "oh" and opened her bag. She took out a book and placed it on the table between her and Li Rui. Li Rui fixed his eyes on the book and found that it was titled "The History of Folk Religions in Qingyang City". On the cover of the book, there was a label with a bar code. He took it and skimmed through it.
Fang Zhitong took out the silver medal and the name book from her bag and placed them on the table in front of him. She said, "I've already figured it out. The silver medal and the name book both came from the late Ming and early Qing secret religion, the Wen Xiang Cult. Hey, the book 'The History of Folk Religion in Qingyang' is already in your hands. You can turn to page thirty-five. Written there is the history of the development of the Fragrance Cult in Qingyang during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. The Fragrant Order originated from the Luo Sect, and the Luo Sect originated from the White Lotus Sect. Therefore, the Fragrant Order was also a branch of the White Lotus Sect. To the imperial court at that time, it was a type of cult. The Fragrance Cult preached all kinds of superstitions to gather believers, forming a force, and finally embarking on the path of rebellion … "
While she was speaking tirelessly, Li Rui was also reading the contents of the book. Soon, he had a rough understanding of the Fragrance Cult.
Fang Zhitong extended her slender finger and pointed at the silver medal: "The hierarchy of the Fragrance Order is very clear. The lowest level is the ordinary disciples, and above them are the minor disciples. Above the minor disciples are the major disciples. Above the major disciples are the association leaders, and above the association leaders are the cult masters. The society leaders are the leaders of the Fragrance Cult who are in charge of preaching in an area. To give an inappropriate example, the society leaders to the Fragrance Cult are like the mayor to our country's official system. Your silver medal is engraved with the word 'society leader', indicating that its owner is a society leader of the Fragrance Cult. This silver medal is his token, which he wears at all times to show his identity. The female Bodhisattva on the front of the silver medal is the statue of the Wuji Old Mother, which is worshipped by the Fragrance Cult. It is similar to the symbol of the Fragrance Cult. That's right, you found this silver medal in Qingyang, right? Then it is very likely that the owner of this silver medal was a society leader of the Fragrance Cult who preached in Qingyang during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. He was the most powerful person in Qingyang. "
Li Rui felt as if he had just woken up from a dream. When he thought about the gold, silver, jewels, and weapons in the underground cave of the Mountain God Temple, Xu Da and he had already guessed that the people who dug this cave should be a Jianghu organization. They did not expect that they had guessed correctly. But they also did not expect that this Jianghu organization was a branch of the famous White Lotus Cult. No wonder the underground cave was filled with weapons. It was because they were ready to rebel at any moment. As for the gold, silver and jewels, it should be the owner of the silver medal, the society leader, who took them from the believers and kept them for himself. Of course, it could also be used as funds for the rebellion. In this way, it was easy to explain why they dug the underground cave under the Mountain God Temple … Uh, no, they built the Mountain God Temple on top of the underground cave. It was to hide the nest and not let outsiders know or be suspicious …
Fang Zhitong pointed at the name list and said, "Look, these names in the name list, below them are written the words' Big Head 'or' Small Head '. In fact, this is a name list of the members of the Fragrance Cult in Qingyang. At that time, the Fragrance Cult was an evil cult, so they did not dare to openly preach. They all gathered their believers through their big and small heads. Just like the multi-level marketing organization now, every head will not tell others, but in the end, it will all be gathered in the hands of the society leader. Thus, this name list was created. With this name list, the society leader can mobilize thousands of troops at any time to rebel. "
Li Rui laughed in spite of himself and said, "So that's how it is. When I saw this book, I was thinking, what is the meaning of 'Big Head'? Why is there a difference in size? Could it be that they cut off people's heads and passed them around to see who's bigger and who's smaller? "
Fang Zhitong seemed to be frightened by his words. Looking at him, she pouted and rebuked, "Your literal translation is too bloody. You might as well not translate it. Let's look at that book. I specially borrowed it from the city library. It says that in the early years of the Qing Shun Dynasty, there was an uprising. At that time, they occupied a county in the northern district of the city. Of course, at that time, it was not called the northern district of the city, but it was quickly eliminated. However, the Fragrance Cult did not disappear from Qing Yang. After that, it continued to develop for nearly two hundred years until Dao Guang came to power."
Li Rui frowned and thought for a while. Then, he said with uncertainty, "Occupied a county in the northern district of the city? That is to say, the Fragrance Cult's Qingyang Branch is in the northern district of the city? And it's in the suburbs? Could it be that the Mountain God Temple on Pusan is the location of the Fragrance Cult's Qingyang Branch? Otherwise, why would the society leader's token be there? The place where the society leader usually stays should be the local branch of the Fragrance Cult, right? "
Fang Zhitong's ears twitched. She looked at him hesitantly and asked, "What did you say? What Mountain God Temple? What branch? " Li Rui said, "Well, Xiao Fang, you helped me solve a puzzle, so I'll tell you a big secret. I seem to have accidentally found the branch of the Fragrance Cult in our Qingyang …" He told her everything about how he went to the Mountain God Temple in Pusan to "play", how he met the old man who caught the fox, how he found the fox's nest, and how he finally found the cave.
The main point of his words was to tell Fang Zhitong about the existence of the Mountain God Temple and the cave, so he hid the existence of the gold, silver, and jewelry. Naturally, he also hid the inside information about the pottery jar and the iron block treasure map that was dug out from the old house.
Fang Zhitong was stunned. She was tongue-tied and had a look of disbelief on her face.
Li Rui smiled and said, "What's wrong with you? You don't believe me? " Fang Zhitong hurriedly shook her head and said, "I believe you, I believe you. I just didn't think that you would actually be able to find the hole under the temple through a small fox's nest entrance. Your brains are simply … simply godly. Is this the legendary brain hole?" Li Rui chuckled and thought, If we don't have the treasure map, it's useless. No matter how big the brain hole is, it's useless. Fang Zhitong suddenly became excited and said, "You … Can you take me to the cave to have a look? Are the weapons still there? Other than the weapons, is there anything else? " Li Rui nodded and said, "Of course, if you want, I can even give the cave to you."
This time, the beautiful archaeological team member didn't understand. She frowned and looked at him with her beautiful eyes full of suspicion. She said hesitantly, "Give … Give it to me? How? " Li Rui explained, "What I mean is to give you the credit for discovering the cave. To the outside world, to the archaeological team and to the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, we will announce that you found it. The premise is that the cave and the weapons inside have archaeological value."
Fang Zhitong suddenly thought of something and said, "Now that you mention this, I just remembered that our vice-captain asked me to ask you. This token and roster have a certain historical and cultural value. He hopes that you can donate them to the Municipal Museum for research and exhibition, to show the history of Qingyang City's religious activities and culture. If you don't want to donate for free, the museum can also offer to buy it. But these two things don't have much value. Even the token can't be sold for much, so the museum won't offer a high price. It might just be a little bit of praise … "
Li Rui said without hesitation, "I can donate for free! I'm from Qingyang City and I'm willing to contribute to the history of Qingyang City. " Fang Zhitong was very happy, as if she had completed an impossible task. She said with a red face, "Then I'll thank you on behalf of our vice-captain and the museum." Li Rui said, "You didn't tell your vice-captain my name, right?" Fang Zhitong shook her head and said, "No, no. How could I reveal your identity without your consent? I only said that you were a friend." Li Rui saw that she was so nervous and couldn't help but laugh and said, "You haven't said if you want the credit for discovering the cave or not."
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