He Ping was not going to waste time, he decided to take action on "Gu in the Painting" in the pavilion that day.
He summoned his men, dug a deep trench around the outside of the pavilion, and enclosed the courtyard of the pavilion. Then, he poured water into the trench, and mixed cinnabar, realgar, and tusu, which were used to repel plague and insects, into the water.
He also placed dry firewood soaked in oil inside and outside the courtyard wall. After making these preparations, he ordered the guards in the courtyard to guard the outside of the pavilion.
This group of people covered their faces with scarves, held bows, arrows and torches in their hands, and carried two gourds around their waists, filled with realgar and lime respectively.
Everyone held Plague-Warding Pill under their tongues to prevent miasma and poisonous smoke. All other preparations were made. Everyone was divided into several groups to guard the four walls of the courtyard.
He Ping also considered: If "Gu in the Painting" escapes, he will use rockets to fire into the dry wood and set fire to the attic... The temporarily dug trenches and the smell of the repellent medicine can also block the way of the poisonous insects.
After completing these preparations, He Ping activated the four paper puppets and drove them into the pavilion. He himself stayed outside the courtyard, with his eyes closed tightly, and all his soul and thoughts were poured into these paper puppets.
Choosing a time when the sun was the hottest that day, the paper puppets floated into the main entrance of the attic with a "swish" sound.
As soon as he entered the door, he destroyed the wall, stretched out his hands forward, and struck the bluestone brick wall with his palms that were stronger than gold and iron.
The stone wall rumbled, shaking the beams in the house, and the wall exploded. Countless gravel fragments exploded, sending up stone powder all over the sky. In an instant, the entire house was filled with dust.
The paper puppets seemed to be trying to demolish the pavilion. With a sweep of their palms, they smashed the thinned stone wall. The blue bricks were shattered and stone chips were scattered. The scene was very shocking.
Only three of the four paper puppets are demolishing the house, and the other one is holding two "Puppet Eye Spirit Orb" in both hands. With the convenience of Puppet Eye Technique, it can clearly capture the dynamics in the room without entering the narrow house.
He Ping could clearly see that with the violent demolition of the paper puppets, there was also a slight "commotion" on the four walls of the pavilion.
It is true that the tiny insects as big as gnats hidden among the Painted Wall around the pavilion are naturally fond of yin and hate yang, but that doesn't mean they can't come out during the day.
When the paper puppets make a fuss, the place where these poisonous insects live, that is, the "mural" itself is affected and will inevitably react.
At this moment, a creepy "rustling" sound came from all sides of the walls in the room, and the sound was low.
Neither the paper puppet nor He Ping could hear the sound, but they could clearly feel that the air in the room suddenly became stagnant, and there were countless dark ripples on the walls, which were colorful, like an oil film, and the luster continued to change.
In an instant, the Gu insects launched an offensive. Five-colored liquids spurted out from the wall, turned into dozens of droplets, and landed on a paper puppet. The "Armor-Clad Spirit Light" on the paper puppet flashed suddenly and was quickly extinguished.
Next, the paper puppet dissolved softly and was assimilated by the weird droplets, turning into a pool of liquid that spread on the ground and wrapped around the paper puppet's legs like a snake.
"Do you still have this trick?"
He Ping sneered, and the legs of the remaining three paper puppets floated up, hanging between the beams with silk threads. Droplets kept spraying on the wall, but the paper puppets easily dodged them.
"Is that all you can do?"
He Ping grinned and moved his fingertips. One of the three remaining paper puppets held a paper lantern in his hand. The lantern spurted out a blazing spiritual light, and a "Peng" sound ignited the flowing phantom color on the wall.
The Samadhi spiritual flame emitted from the lantern burned like a will-o'-the-wisp, exuding a gloomy green luster. The green fire light interacted with the air, making a chirping sound. The flowing layer of oil was burned by this green flame, and also made a sizzling sound, which was quite loud.
"This Spirit-Sentiment Samadhi Fire, as I thought, has a certain effect on these Gu insects!"
He Ping controlled this paper puppet, emitting green flames and continuously burning the flowing "gu insects". This move was obviously very effective. The five-color phantom on the wall trembled. Under the flow of fire, it was gradually burned into a layer of gray-white color. There were also green fireworks showing through, which were bright and sizzling.
It can be seen that this thing is indeed the nemesis of "Painting Gu Insect". He Ping was excited. He drove the fire to burn repeatedly. In the green flame, there was a layer of gauze-like smoke flowing, and the color changed from colorful to dull gray.
Beep! There was a sound like cracking dry firewood, and a smell of burning smell wafted in the air. The phantom of five colors also gradually shrank, covering most of the wall of the pavilion, and gradually shrunk into a ball of dappled light the size of a fist.
He Ping used the fire of spiritual samadhi to burn the four walls, and finally drove the "gu insects" wandering on the walls and ceiling to the ground. The green flames set the only entrance and exit, that is, the door frame and threshold of the door on fire, giving the "gu insects" no chance to escape.
Finally, the Gu insect, which seemed to have no way to escape, actually followed the cracks in the masonry and penetrated under the masonry, seeming to escape from the ground.
"Oops!"
He Ping quickly asked the paper puppet to dig out the stone bricks on the ground. He dug all the way down in the direction where the "gu insects" penetrated into the bricks and stones, and soon made a discovery.
"Good guy, there is a hidden compartment below. Under the masonry, there is also a layer of hard bricks on the ground."
The hard bricks were all painted black and were laid further below the floor tiles. Even the gaps were poured with iron juice to seal them tightly and completely.
"The person who designed this place definitely knows the secret of this kind of poison. This kind of poison cannot penetrate into the ground and escape from the attic..."
He Ping was convinced. After breaking the secret compartment, he found that there was a Black Sandalwood Box hidden in the secret compartment made of several pieces of wood, and there was a scroll stuffed next to it.
"This box?"
He noticed that there was some liquid on the box. Suddenly, the gray-white liquid "moved" and actively got into the gaps in the box. The ebony square box trembled for a while, and then fell silent.
One of the paper puppets reached out and took out the scroll without touching the Black Sandalwood Box first.
"Open it and take a look!"
He Ping felt that the scroll was left here intentionally, so he asked the paper puppet to unfold the scroll, and a copper key fell out with a clang.
"Is the key for me to open this box?"
After the paper puppet picked up the key, He Ping shook his head. There was no lock on Black Sandalwood Box. I'm afraid the key was not used for this box.
"So, what is written on this scroll?"
He ordered the paper puppet to continue to unfold the scroll. The scroll was made of yellow silk and had a document written on it.
"<Banana Deer Dream Brush>... The most ancient commentators on painting are divided into four categories: "Neng", "Miao", "Shen", and "Yi". Among the four categories, Neng is not as good as Miao, Miao is not as good as Shen, and Shen is not as good as Yi..."
Wait... what is this?
He Ping was stunned for a moment, then he continued reading, and he suddenly discovered that this was not a Daoist secret volume, but an article that talked about relevant theories and techniques on how to learn, copy, and practice painting.
This scroll has two chapters. The first chapter focuses on explaining that to learn painting, you must first learn the Dharma, read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, and take life, beauty, and truth as your ultimate attainments. You must first cultivate your sentiments before you can master the true charm of painting;
The second volume that follows introduces the brushwork techniques of painting in detail, and divides them into ten categories according to painting subjects: Daoism, figures, palaces, tribes, dragons and fish, landscapes, animals, flowers and birds, ink bamboo, and fruits and vegetables. It explains the differences in details and the use of brush and ink in different painting methods.
"This... this is indeed not like a secret scroll involving magic, spells, and dharma. What is recorded on this scroll is just a certain painter's personal summary of the art of painting..."
He Ping was a little confused. He continued to read backwards, and his eyes suddenly moved to the last part of the unrolled scroll.
"What is this, a map?"
He noticed that there was clearly a map hidden at the very end of the scroll.