The work of restoring the three gate towers on Yang Wanli's side is still continuing, and the excavation work on Wu Liang's side has not stopped either.

During the excavation process, in addition to the soldiers of the Hu people's army, Wu Liang and the backbone of the Hu people's army also took the lead and plunged into the mud, which further accelerated the progress of the excavation.

In this way, before dark, they had doubled the size of the previously dug hole, and the depth was more than one meter greater.

Different from the silt in the upper layer, the red soil in the lower layer is obviously much stronger, and the Hu army must spend more effort to dig downward.

As the area of ​​the pit expanded, they soon built a square stone platform about four meters away from the stone carvings using neatly forged stones.

After everyone continues to expand the hole and work together to clear out the stone platform.

I just discovered that the length and width of this stone platform are about one foot, but strangely, the structure around the stone platform is completely intact, but there is a piece missing in the middle of the stone platform.

The missing part is about two square meters and is in the shape of an irregular circle.

The stones on the edge of the missing part are not as neat as the stones on the edge of the stone platform. The end near the center is slightly tilted upward, as if something once broke out from under the stone platform, thus destroying the stone.

Taiwan is average.

"What is this?"

"What ever happened here?"

Everyone in the Hu army was puzzled, especially when they saw the traces that seemed like something had broken out from under the stone platform, they felt somewhat worried.

After all, judging from these traces, the thing that broke out of the ground was definitely not small, and its power should not be underestimated.

And now they are continuing to dig deeper. If there is such a thing hidden down here, they are likely to dig it out soon...

"Let me take a closer look."

Wu Liangzhong was also puzzled, but he did not become worried first, but walked up to the stone platform carrying an engineering shovel.

Standing on the stone platform, Wu Liang stomped his feet several times, and then used the handle of the engineer shovel to hit the stone platform several times. Then he turned to look at Bai Jingjing and asked: "Jingjing, listen to this."

Is it hollow down there?”

"If you can't hear it, it shouldn't be hollow."

Bai Jingjing shook her head and said.

"Isn't it hollow?"

Wu Liang nodded slightly. If the bottom of the stone platform is not hollow, we can preliminarily rule out the possibility that there is a hidden space or passage underneath. At the same time, we can also preliminarily rule out the possibility that something has broken out of the ground here.

After all, the missing part in the middle of the platform is not small, so the size of something that can leave such a trace will definitely not be small. If that thing is a living creature that can drill holes and crawl underground, it will definitely leave a very huge trace underground.

There is no way that Bai Jingjing’s hearing could not detect it.

After reaching this conclusion, Wu Liang was relieved, and he immediately went to the middle of the stone platform and personally cleaned up the silt and red soil that filled up the missing parts.

Dig down like this for about a foot.

"This is……"

Wu Liang suddenly stopped when he didn't know what he found, and then lowered his body to check what was dug up with the last shovel.

"?"

Upon seeing this, everyone in the Hu army quickly came over to check it out together.

At this moment, Wu Liang's engineer shovel saw that in addition to the unique red soil and silt here, there was also some dark brown material that looked like mud, but not mud, but not soil, and this dark brown material also maintained a very neat longitudinal texture.

Everyone turned to look into the pit dug by Wu Liang.

I saw that some similar substances had been exposed in the pit, and there was also a very strange rotten smell. However, the rotten smell was not too unpleasant, at least it was stronger than the smell of rotting corpses they often came into contact with.

How many.

When everyone is doubtful.

"It's Kuchiki."

Wu Liang has already given the answer.

I saw that Wu Liang had twisted a small piece of dark brown substance at some point. He first put it under his nose and smelled it, then crushed it and examined it carefully. This was how he came to this conclusion.

“But it’s hard to say what kind of wood it is.”

While talking, Wu Liang stood up again and continued to use the engineer shovel to clean up the red soil and silt in the pit.

Soon after, most of the red soil and silt were cleared away, and the original appearance of the dark brown material was finally revealed to everyone.

It seemed to be a large round wooden pile with a diameter of almost one meter, and because Wu Liang did not cause further damage to it when he subsequently cleaned up the silt and red soil, everyone could also see that this large wooden pile had

This relatively flat cross-section looked like it had either been sawed off, or someone had used a sharp weapon to cut it off.

It was most likely cut off, because the saw was invented by Lu Ban. Lu Ban lived during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and if this place belonged to the ancient times, they would not know what a saw was at all.

"How could a wooden pile be buried here?"

Seeing this scene, everyone was even more puzzled.

"Brother Dianwei, come and help."

However, Wu Liang had already thought of something at this moment, and immediately called Dian Wei over. The two of them worked together to move away the flat stones with one end that were tilted at the edge of the missing part of the stone platform, and then worked together to expand the dug pit.

By doing this.

Around the wooden pile, more rotten trees were soon exposed that ran horizontally through the ground. Judging from the appearance of these rotten trees, they should obviously be thick rhizomes extending from under the wooden pile!

"This is actually a tree?"

Everyone finally came to their senses.

Something did break out of the ground in this place, but it was not what they were worried about. It was obviously an ancient tree that once grew here.

The upturned stones were caused by the growing roots of the ancient trees.

"But Brother Youcai, if it is just a tree, why do you use stones to build a stone platform next to it? What is the significance of this?"

Although Zhuge Liang has read a lot of books and has a bright mind, due to his age, his knowledge is still lacking.

Hearing this, Yu Ji immediately stroked his beard and educated him in the manner of an elder: "If I guess correctly, this is most likely a community tree. In ancient times, people lived in groups and sealed the land as a community.

In the place where they lived, the ancients usually planted a tree and offered sacrifices and prayers to their subordinates all year round. This tree was called the She tree. It is said that the She tree can communicate with the gods in the sky and obtain God's protection. Therefore, the She tree is alive

The longer it lasts and the taller it grows, it means the longer the history of this tribe and the stronger its people."

"Actually, this custom is not only in ancient times, but is still very common today. If you often visit the countryside, you will find that many villages now have such a social tree. Every festival, there will be three elders in the local area.

Lead the villagers to worship in front of the She tree."

"Even on ordinary days, no one dares to disrespect the She tree. A general will be dismounted and a high-ranking official will take off his hat. Bird's nests on the She tree cannot be dug out. The branches of the She tree cannot be cut down. Even the dead branches of the She tree cannot be cut down.

You can't take it home to make firewood... These are all unwritten rules. You probably lived without a fixed place since you were a child, and later lived alone in the mountains with your uncle, so you don't know much about Sheshu. I can't blame you.

"

Yu Ji's science popularization is already very detailed, and Wu Liang has nothing to add.

However, he also remembered an anecdote that was fabricated in later "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". This anecdote came from Chapter 78, and the protagonist was none other than Boss Cao, whom Wu Liang was now attached to.

What it says is that Boss Cao felt that the old palace in Luoyang was unknown, so he ordered people to cut down wood to build a new palace. During the process, Boss Cao saw an extremely tall pear tree. The local people begged him not to cut down the pear tree.

Boss Cao didn't believe it, so he personally drew his sword and chopped down the tree trunk. As a result, the big tree immediately spurted out red blood as if a living person had been chopped down.

Later that night, Cao Cao had a nightmare and dreamed that the tree god came to take revenge. Since then, he suffered from an incurable head disease. The miracle doctor Hua Tuo also lost his life due to Cao's head disease not long after.

And this pear tree is the product created by Luo Guanzhong based on the social tree...

However, if the remains of the ancient tree in front of them are the She tree, their previous guesses will be overturned again, because She trees are often found in villages where living people live, which is the so-called Yangzhai.

But according to Yu Ji, the Dragon Locking Pillar discovered earlier should be a method for targeting the Yin Zhai. The two seem to be somewhat contradictory, right?

"Old sir, according to what you see now, is this place the remains of an ancient village or the resting place of a certain tribe's ancestors?"

Wu Liang had to ask.

"this……"

Yu Ji was slightly stunned, and then said ambiguously, "I can't be sure now, but sir, please see, the decayed rhizome of this She tree has quite obvious traces of felling, and for a tribe, the She tree is also

It is an extremely important belief and totem, and those who disrespect the She tree, especially those who dare to cut down the She tree, will surely become the sworn enemy of the entire tribe."

"So I thought that this place must be the remains of an ancient village."

"But from the moment the She tree falls, I'm afraid it's hard to say anything, because when someone dares to do harm to the She tree, the entire tribe will fight back with the same hatred, unless stronger force is used to make them dormant, and then

Or kill them all, otherwise we will definitely not be able to cut down the tree beyond them."

"So after this, this place may become a place with only dead people..."

"As for the dragon-locking pillar, it was possible that it was erected after this place became a haunted house for the dead, in order to drive out all members of this tribe and avoid future troubles forever."

"But this is just Lao Chen's guess. Just like what Miss Mi'er said just now, it can be used as a starting point. I believe that with the young master's knowledge and methods, if we continue to dig deeper, we will be able to find the truth without being affected by Lao Chen."

…

Since the discovery of the rotten remains of a suspected "social tree", the nature of this place has become divergent.

Fortunately, Wu Liang was not in a hurry to make a conclusion. He just directed the people of the Hu army to continue the excavation work in an orderly manner... In fact, the pressure in his heart was much greater than it seemed on the surface, because at this moment, he was not just excavating this place.

Regarding the historical relics, the lives of all the people in the Hu army also depended on him.
To be continued...