Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Chapter 580 Storytelling

Generally speaking, ancient murals often use size to distinguish the status of characters. For example, in this mural, Layao is much larger than the others, and the same is true for the snake Gu that is with her.

The image representing the creator god Buluotuo was suspended in the air and was twice as big as Layao.

As for the power of snake Gu, Jiang Shangxian saw a picture of La Yao using snake Gu to hunt wild beasts in the mountains, which seemed to be very powerful.

All I can say is that if this snake poison wants to, it should be able to kill many people at once?

But this is not important, because Layao has died a long time ago. If she is dead, how can the snake poison still be alive?

The Xiou tribe was quite hostile to the troops sent by Qin Shihuang at that time. Although they originally lived in the mountains, there was a fundamental difference between the people outside and the Han people or the Baiyue people.

At that time, the Qin army not only occupied Lingnan, but also did not let go of the Baiyue people who fled into the mountains. At the same time, the King of Qin heard a rumor from somewhere that there was a fairy in the Xiou tribe who could make people immortal, so he ordered his men to find this fairy in the Xiou tribe and bring her back.

Now that the boss has spoken, how can the Qin army not listen?

They rushed into the mountains, screaming and shouting, which scared the Xiou people who were hiding in seclusion.

Originally, they only participated in the internal fighting among the Baiyue tribes, and that was only occasionally. They mainly dealt with wild animals in the mountains. How could they have encountered such a regular army?

Even though the terrain is unfamiliar and the climate is unsuitable, the gap in military strength between the two sides is real.

What can the Xiou tribe do? Just bear it!

We have no choice but to fight them. They have come into the mountains and beaten them at home, and they are also asking them to hand over the fairy.

Where are the fairies?

Even if there really is a fairy, it would not be the King of Qin's turn to think about her!

Do you really think that their Xiou clan has no prince?

Chi Qian Wangbaduo is not joking. The Xiou people also have classes, okay!

Jiang Shangxian guessed that the Xiou people might have thought that the Qin army wanted to take the Gu Po away and bring her to the faraway Central Plains. How could they agree to that?

Yingzi took a sip of soup and said, "Tsk, they're pretty miserable too. They can't even live a peaceful life in the mountains."

Don’t ordinary people just want to live a peaceful life?

Jiang Shangxian stroked the mural lightly with his fingertips. "They fought the Qin army several times, and both sides suffered casualties."

Although their weapons were inferior, the Xiou people were able to live and work in peace and contentment in these deep mountains for generations and establish a tribe similar to a large one, which showed that they were quite capable. Relying on the dangerous terrain of the Ghost Gate of the Beiliu River, the pervasive miasma and the witch's magical tricks, they indeed inflicted heavy losses on the Qin army.

However, there were still casualties within the tribe, and the population losses alone were enough to severely damage the Xiou tribe.

For example, a small tribe called Tonggu Village in the Xiou tribe, led by its young leader, bravely fought against the Qin army, but was eventually wiped out by the Qin army.

What is this called?

Deadly feud!

Layao, a witch who has shown amazing talent since childhood, can be said to have given the Xiou people great hope. They firmly believe that the appearance of Layao will bring new life to the Xiou tribe and perhaps drive the annoying Han people out of the Baiyue land.

The world outside was changing faster and faster. The fall of the Qin Dynasty made them excited and they held a celebration meeting overnight. However, before they could even smile, they found out that the Qin Dynasty was gone, but the land of Baiyue was occupied by Zhao Tuo again.

Compared with the Qin Empire, which was far away in the Central Plains, people like Zhao Tuo were more troublesome, especially the series of measures Zhao Tuo implemented in Baiyue to consolidate his power. The hope of the tribe was once again destroyed.

The Layao, who were placed with great hopes, were even more unwilling than them.

Having said that, Jiang Shangxian paused for a moment, tilted his head and thought about it, but he was still not sure whether the creator god they were talking about really existed. But even if he really existed, he should be a person from the same period as Nuwa, Chiyou, Huangdi, and Yandi.

The ancient times left too many mysteries to the world, and even if we expand on them, it is actually difficult to explain them clearly.

As for the issues that are still being debated in the academic community, we can put a question mark here for now. After all, they are not here to do archaeology.

I don’t know if it’s because of the limited space on the wall or there’s some unspeakable reason, but the next mural shows a wedding scene. On one side is the Han army, and on the other side are the Xiou people. One of the two people in the middle is a man wearing Qin Dynasty clothing with a beard that’s much longer than his chin, and the other is the grown-up Layao.

This is consistent with what Liu Manqiang said. Zhao Tuo took a Gu woman from the Xiou tribe as his concubine.

As to whether La Yao married Zhao Tuo voluntarily or was forced to do so by power, the mural does not depict this.

However, it can be seen from the murals that even though she was married far away from the mountains, Layao's identity as a witch remained unchanged.

This was Jiang Shangxian's guess, because except for the wedding, there was no snake poison in almost every subsequent mural.

"My lady, why didn't I see the big snake?" Yingzi felt that her eyesight might not be very good because she was too young.

Otherwise, how could she not have seen such a big snake?

"here."

Jiang Shangxian pointed at a thin bracelet on Bayao's wrist and said, "It has become smaller, and its eyes are always closed, as if it is sleeping."

But the pattern on this snake's body is really eye-catching - red circles on a black background.

The next mural is a bit strange. It is full of people who look like slaves, and there are hundreds of them.

Judging from their attire, they should be people from various Baiyue ethnic groups. They were tied to pillars, looking up at the sky with extremely painful expressions on their faces.

What was even more bizarre was that there was a white thing lying on the neck in front of them. The mural was a bit abstract and she couldn't recognize what species it was.

Jiang Shangxian looked for a while and then went straight to the next mural. This time her eyes widened.

Judging from their clothes, the people in this picture are exactly the same as in the previous one, the only difference is that they have grown older.

His hair turned white and his face was painted with wrinkles to represent old age.

Seeing the creatures' tightly closed eyes and red necks, Jiang Shangxian had to suspect that these people were dead.

"Dead?" This time even the guards were surprised.

There are hundreds of civilians depicted in this mural. Did they all die at once? His Majesty, except on the battlefield and at Xuanwu Gate, has never killed so many people at once, right?

Jiang Shangxian frowned. It was really hard to tell stories from pictures, especially from ancient people. "He should be dead. Let's continue reading."

The next painting only has two people - Zhao Tuo and La Yao.