Chapter 583
Chapter 583
Chapter 583
"I haven't finished eating yet."
"The last bag... no, only half a bag left."
Chen Xiyuan looked at the half-bag of pastries in her hand, wrinkled her nose anxiously, but still reached out and took out another piece, only chewing it more often and at a slower pace.
The yellow pickup truck was carrying only two people on this trip, but its role was still evident. The truck was loaded with snacks when it set off, as if Grandpa Li had just opened a new food workshop business, and the truck was specifically used for delivering the goods.
Fortunately, with Chen Xiyuan nibbling away at it day after day, the fuel was visibly depleted, which reduced fuel consumption while keeping Chen's weight and appearance unchanged.
Miss Chen used to be very straightforward when she traveled across the river, but she had never received such treatment before. The only thing that took her a little effort was choosing which flavor of pastry to have next.
Tan Wenbin felt that sometimes it was no wonder Zhao Yi felt angina when he saw Chen Xiyuan. It was hard for anyone to calmly face someone like her who could become stronger simply by eating.
Rolling down the car window, Tan Wenbin tore off the talisman pasted on the rearview mirror, blew a smoke ring outwards, creating a trail of blue mist that stretched forward, started the car, and drove out of the ghost market.
I turned on the car radio, inserted the cassette tape, and heard eerie hawking cries coming from it.
Normal singing only began after we had gone some distance from the ghost market:
"I once truly believed that this was how life would be, and that my calm heart would refuse to be stirred again..."
The hand holding the steering wheel taps lightly with its fingertips in rhythm.
Tan Wenbin had a great time in this wave, and in some ways, he played to his full potential.
Wei Zhengdao created the "Five Senses Sealing Diagram" so that the world would not know its location, but from another perspective, it could also be omnipresent.
In addition, Tan Wenbin had already received the secret technique of observing people's minds from Zhao Yi, and Zhao Yi himself was the model of this technique.
For example, in the Yu family incident, it was Xiao Yuan who led them into the museum, forcing Zhao Yi to come out and perform a fight.
If it weren't for Xiao Yuan's intervention, Zhao Yi could have stayed in the coffin the whole time, watching those people surround and kill Chen Xiyuan, whom he saw as a major threat, without getting his hands dirty or his clothes stained.
Tan Wenbin used this method in Chen Xiyuan's wave. The seemingly simple communication was actually full of strategic maneuvering, but it could only successfully push the river to this point.
The foundation of interpersonal relationships and social skills is your ability to fight and kill.
After Chen Xiyuan finished the last piece of pastry, Tan Wenbin handed her a bottle of water.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. It's your turn now."
Ahead, a solitary, ancient-style pawnshop appeared, nestled in dim shadows.
Chen Xiyuan put down the water bottle and asked in surprise, "Zhuangzhuang, your mastery of formations has reached such a high level?"
I just drove in, listening to music, and drove straight into someone's protective barrier.
Chen Xiyuan felt that if it were her, she would have to repeatedly play the flute outside the barrier, and if she was lucky, she could get through the rift after playing for a whole day.
Tan Wenbin: "My skill in formations is just average."
Chen Xiyuan: "You call this average? You're too modest."
Tan Wenbin stopped the car, took out a red envelope from his pocket. The envelope was not thick, but it was coated with a special gold paint.
A withered branch extended from the old locust tree beside the car, rolled the red seal back, and then the entire old locust tree shrank into the ground.
Tan Wenbin: "The secret to breaking the formation—bribery."
Without using real money or making any promises, the fortress was breached from within by sowing discord and weakening the faction's relationships.
The final evil spirit in Chen Xiyuan's wave was located in the pawnshop in front of her.
Tan Wenbin transformed this evil spirit into a solitary figure, making what should have been a series of challenges before finally encountering it a direct route.
Chen Xiyuan, clutching the flute, asked, "Then... is it my turn next?"
"Not urgent."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tan Wenbin disappeared from the car, leaving only a cigarette box on the driver's seat.
Chen Xiyuan got out of the car and walked a few steps forward.
The stone lions at the pawnshop entrance seemed to sense something, raising their heads and front hooves, their imposing presence restored as they faced the invading enemy.
"Roar... Pfft!"
Before the lion's roar, signaling its awakening, had fully erupted, Tan Wenbin appeared above its head, kneeling on one knee, holding a lighter. After opening the lighter, the rusty sword pierced through the lion's head.
The stone lion "died suddenly," and rust appeared on its body, which quickly spread to the steps below, the gate, and the wall.
The dark and mysterious pawnshop is decaying, and along with it, the last layer of its defensive array is also being corroded away.
Without the outermost barrier to provide warning and awaken it, this stone lion becomes a silly goose.
Tan Wenbin walked to the door, reached out and gently pushed it open.
He took out a real cigarette and put it in his mouth, then took out a real lighter and clicked repeatedly, but even with his head down and his hands covered, he couldn't light it because of the draft in the room.
Chen Xiyuan stepped forward and handed one end of her jade flute to Tan Wenbin, the end of which quickly turned red.
Tan Wenbin held a cigarette in his mouth, pressed the bottom of the cigarette against the burner, took a few quick puffs, and successfully lit it.
"Who is it? Who dares to trespass on my shop?"
Amidst its furious howl, there was also panic. It was unprepared, and many of its clones were carrying forbidden items, searching for suitable buyers in various antique markets.
Two wisps of smoke exhaled from Tan Wenbin's nostrils. He flicked off the ash and said to Chen Xiyuan:
"Miss Chen, please come in."
Chen Xiyuan rushed in with her flute in hand. With a loud roar, a vast sea of clouds overflowed from the pawnshop, forcefully suppressing the darkness of the area.
Tan Wenbin looked up at the ever-changing sea of clouds above. You could even discern from the repeated manifestations of the sea of clouds the actions of Miss Chen as she smashed the person.
Moreover, as the fight progressed, Miss Chen seemed to suddenly remember that she had practiced swordsmanship.
The sea of clouds belatedly condensed into sword shapes in round after round, falling down with swift force time and time again.
The fight inside was quite intense, with constant booming sounds. Apart from the "question" when the door was opened, no other sound was heard from the pawnshop owner. He must have been too busy taking the beating to speak.
The techniques and methods were secondary; the key was the abundance of the sea of clouds, which had surpassed the traditional domain opening techniques that Miss Chen had in Tan Wenbin's memory.
The boundaries of the domain were blurred by the sea of clouds.
In his book "The Secret Scroll of Tracing the Past," Xiao Yuan used the example of Chen Yunhai from back then to describe the current strength of his team.
Chen Xiyuan's ancestor, Chen Yunhai, once used this Cloud Sea Domain to suppress Wei Zhengdao, Qing An, and other geniuses for a period of time, so that they dared not fight him one-on-one.
Having escaped the blessings bestowed upon her by Heaven and received the bestowal of gifts from her entire clan, Miss Chen is now making continuous progress toward her ancestor.
Strands of black mist burst through the roof, attempting to escape.
Tan Wenbin immediately switched to fake cigarettes, preparing to block the way.
But before he could make a move, Chen Xiyuan's sea of clouds expanded again, accompanied by thunderous roars, completely sealing off the pawnshop owner.
The vast sea of clouds in the sky looks just like a cartload of pastries that have been thrown into the river and soaked and spread out, just as Grandpa Li said:
"A mule pulls a millstone—it eats a lot and turns frequently."
……
"Boom!"
Runsheng always led the way, whether entering a village or a tomb.
The role of Luo Xiaoyu, the array master, throughout the entire process was to point out the direction to Runsheng and help him open doors—doors to the villagers and doors to the ancient tomb.
Adjacent to Sister Hua's hometown, there is a tomb built at the end of the Tang Dynasty, where a military governor is buried. Over the years, the corpse has become evil, initially only luring woodcutters into the mountains for a meal, but later it started to actively reach out its claws to find people to eat.
According to the normal course of the river, Luo Xiaoyu should have made contact with that military governor after searching and exploring.
Although the military governor who transformed into a corpse demon ate people, he did so according to the customs of that time, treating people as a dish.
The military governor understood that the world outside was no longer the chaotic state it was at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and if he went too far, he might face divine retribution.
But he couldn't control his own men who were sent to serve as his bodyguards.
At his stage, eating people was for the sake of enjoyment, but his subordinates needed a lot of blood to advance.
Therefore, if the easiest path is taken, the lamplighter can cooperate with the military governor, working together from the inside and outside to help him suppress his soldiers.
The medium difficulty is to seal the military governor inside as well, cutting off his ability to extend his reach to the outside world for at least the next few decades.
The idea of eradicating evil completely is just a beautiful vision; Heaven is merciless and only wants an acceptable outcome.
Given Luo Xiaoyu's strength and resources, he would choose to first contact this military governor, proceeding on a low difficulty level, and then switch to a medium difficulty level to seal the military governor's position as well.
But with Runsheng around this time, Luo Xiaoyu wanted to take on a higher challenge, to make this wave perfect, to maximize the completion rate, and to obtain the highest merit.
He shared his thoughts with Runsheng and wanted to get Runsheng's opinion.
In their first collaboration, Luo Xiaoyu had overly high expectations for Runsheng's participation in meetings.
Runsheng didn't realize this was a question and discussion; he thought it was an order. After all, before leaving, Xiaoyuan had told him to listen to Luo Xiaoyu.
Ignoring all the previous plans and preparations, Runsheng's mind only received the final intention—to kill the Jiedushi!
Therefore, Runsheng crushed an old man from Hua Jie's hometown who had a strange illness.
The old man was long dead, but he was forced to stay alive by the evil spirit of the military governor, and was deliberately left in the village as a liaison to communicate with the outside world.
Luo Xiaoyu was stunned.
The starting point for the next stage of the river's flow has been cut off like this. So how should the process proceed from here?
Runsheng: "Where is the ancient tomb?"
Luo Xiaoyu: "There."
Runsheng: "How do you open the tomb door?"
Luo Xiaoyu: "I'll drive."
After the door opened, Runsheng picked up the Yellow River shovel and charged inside.
Without contact, without scheming, without infiltration, without probing, they simply stepped openly and honestly into the sealed tomb!
Luo Xiaoyu didn't have time to set up a formation, so he could only run after Runsheng.
The traps and mechanisms inside posed little threat to Runsheng. The illusions had no effect on him, and even if he was injured by other traps, his combat power would not be affected by his ability to quickly recover from death.
On the contrary, there were some places where Runsheng had to stop, either because there was no way forward and he needed Luo Xiaoyu to help push the grid to open the huge stone gate, or because he couldn't find his way across the dark underground river and needed Luo Xiaoyu to guide the formation and light the way.
At least Luo Xiaoyu had something to do, but Hua Jie's only purpose throughout was to collect valuable burial items or array materials.
Although the Nantong kiln factory had plenty of these, and Brother Xiaoyuan allowed him to take them as he pleased, it was still his own business, and he couldn't go empty-handed and come back empty-handed. Even if they had no practical use for him, he could at least gain some emotional value.
As they approached the core area, Runsheng fought a fierce battle against a group of Corpse Demon Fang Soldiers all by himself.
On the high seat sat a skeleton dressed in a magnificent robe, its eyes gleaming with evil light. As Runsheng smashed the skulls of the soldiers one by one with a Yellow River shovel, its eyes revealed not anger, but excitement and pleasure, almost as if it wanted to stand up, clap its hands, and shout, "Well done!"
As a military governor, he had to worry constantly about his soldiers rebelling and killing him during his lifetime. He never expected that after death he would become an evil spirit and still have to worry about these unruly guys going too far and bringing him heavenly calamity.
The soldiers launched a fierce attack on Runsheng.
"Buzz!"
Runsheng's Qi Gate was opened until only one was left. Nine ferocious dragon shadows appeared, their chainmail armor coming off, binding and lifting all the soldiers, surrounding and imprisoning Runsheng.
The military governor stood up, his voice echoing from the underground palace:
"Hand them over to me, and I will punish them severely, so that they will no longer be able to wreak havoc on the world and commit their outrageous acts!"
As he spoke, the military governor reached out and picked up a bloody human head from the tea table next to his chair. The head snapped with a crisp "crack," like biting into an apple.
He only eats a few people a year to reminisce about the past. Even if his ancient tomb is sealed for twenty or thirty years, the contents inside would be enough. He felt that his attitude was extremely sincere.
Of course, it was also Runsheng's fierce performance that made him willing to back down.
Sister Hua came to Luo Xiaoyu's side and reminded him, "Xiaoyu, there are quite a few mountain people who have been captured and put to sleep in the coffin in the side chamber. They have been placed under a restriction, and I dare not wake them up without authorization."
Luo Xiaoyu: "The source of the restriction lies with this military governor. Once he is dealt with, the restriction will be lifted."
Sister Hua: "Then what should we do?"
Luo Xiaoyu: "What else can we do? If we hadn't seen these captured villagers, we could have pretended to be unconscious. Now that we have, we can't pretend to be stupid anymore. The only option left is to fight him to the death. This has nothing to do with whether Runsheng is here or not!"
Sister Hua smiled.
Luo Xiaoyu sat cross-legged, unfolded his newly made chessboard, and placed the first chess piece. Immediately, a tremor resounded around him. The governor was astonished to find that half of his control over his surroundings had been forcibly taken away.
He took another bite of the "apple," chewing quickly as he urged for a response:
"What do you think of my suggestion?"
Runsheng reached out, and a soldier was chained in front of him. Runsheng grabbed the soldier's head, took a bite, chewed a few times, and then spat it out.
This taste used to be something I liked, but now that I've eaten so much good food, I don't appreciate it anymore; it tastes like chewing wax.
Runsheng looked up, his dark eyes fixed on the military governor above him, revealing a primal hunger and greed.
The military governor looked at the "apple" in his hand, then at Runsheng. A profound and unsettling fear welled up within him. Having lived one life as a human and another as an evil being, he experienced for the first time:
Being treated as food is such a terrible and desperate thing.
……
"puff!"
With his twin blades crossed, he severed the old man's head, splattering blood all over Lin Shuyou's face, adding a touch of sinister charm to his already arrogant face after his spirit possession.
Inside the small Taoist temple, the remaining people who had formed the array all looked horrified.
The abbot, who had just called on everyone to form an array to ward off evil, was then killed by this god-like being, which made them lose confidence in their resistance.
Lin Shuyou stuck out his tongue, wanting to lick the blood from his lips and taste it.
Before the movement was even complete, Lin Shuyou's body began to tremble. This was because Ayou was forcibly intervening and taking control of his body. He said with dissatisfaction:
"Boy, how disgusting are you?"
Tongzi: "I wouldn't do such a disgusting thing. It's General Zeng who's having an episode."
General Zeng: "Are you addicted to slandering me now?"
Tongzi: "It's not possible. It's because you're blocked and can't talk to the spirit medium."
General Zeng: "This isn't a method you could come up with. Who taught you that?"
Boy: "You're talking nonsense! You're slandering me!"
General Zeng didn't believe that the boy had suddenly become enlightened and understood how to compete by using dirty tricks. If he could do that, he wouldn't have ended up with the lowest position among the officers and generals despite being the most senior. It's actually quite easy to guess who was teaching the boy.
There were three of them, then two were eliminated.
General Zeng gritted his teeth and said:
"What a disgrace to the general!"
With his twin blades dripping with blood, Lin Shuyou emerged from the Taoist temple to find it deserted. He plunged the blades into a pillar at the entrance, and as he pulled them out, the protective barrier inside began to crumble, about to be completely buried.
In another distant direction, demonic energy surged, then quickly dissipated after a muffled sound like thunder rumbling on the ground.
That was Yayoi making the move.
Lin Shuyou asked in confusion, "Why haven't we found it yet?"
This is already the umpteenth small power he has destroyed, and the same goes for Yayoi's side, but this wave shows no sign of ending.
This forest farm is a place of auspicious feng shui. Like Mount Qingcheng in the past, it is home to a number of small sects, ranging from a hundred to one or two people, each establishing their own formations and boundaries to continue their lineage.
Unlike the various sects in Qingcheng Mountain who do not interact with each other, the forces in this forest farm maintain the most basic connection. Every twelve years, they deliberately push for a heretical cultivator to sacrifice a pair of children to an altar deep in the center of the forest farm to predict the changes in the feng shui of this place in the next twelve years.
Before liberation, many places still retained the custom of sacrificing living people to the river god in order to pray for peace.
In comparison, the ceremony is held only once every twelve years. After it's over, the "utterly depraved" evil cultivators are executed. The lion's share is taken, and the remaining small share is divided among various families. They can't even manage to get their clothes slightly damp with this much karma.
A small price to pay for a twelve-year forecast; if things change, the site can be relocated in time for the inheritance, making it well worth it.
The family of the vegetarian restaurant owner in Yancheng was inspecting the forest farm he had contracted when they saw a shifty-looking man with two children. Out of kindness and vigilance, they went up to ask him questions.
The result of the inquiry is unknown, but I was in a daze and had nightmares frequently after returning home.
That evil cultivator was no ordinary person either. Knowing that he would be discarded after being used, he deliberately entered the game, hoping to take advantage of the convenience provided by the local sect to complete a terrible evil spell.
Judging from the normal river level, this wave only needs to eliminate that evil cultivator, preventing him from using his easily spread evil magic, thus avoiding a calamity.
Going a step further, one could issue a warning to these factions within the forest farm, appealing to their emotions and reasoning with them. If things were to be even more severe, it would simply be a case of making an example of someone to deter others, punishing the ringleader. Ultimately, it's difficult to blame everyone for the consequences.
After counting the money, Yayoi and Lin Shuyou walked into the dense forest.
The two were planning to follow the clues they received from their master to find the shifty-eyed evil cultivator, not only to stop him from using his evil magic, but also to save the two children.
But the forest was too vast, and the two of them had no idea where the evil cultivator was at the moment.
If Li Zhuiyuan were here, he would first look up and observe the feng shui of the place, and then cautiously send someone to explore the central point.
The reason for such caution is that Li Zhuiyuan would tacitly agree that the river would not give him such a simple wave.
This simplicity is relative to the young man, a grandmaster of feng shui.
Yayoi was not familiar with these things, and Lin Shuyou was not either. Although the boy was learning and making good progress, how could he, who had only just finished his enlightenment, be competent for the imperial examination?
Therefore, Yayoi sought Lin Shuyou's opinion.
Lin Shuyou thought about it carefully.
He first recalled his past experiences accompanying Brother Xiaoyuan on his journey across the river, then went through the "Secret Scroll of Chasing the Distant Friend" and the "Rules for Walking the River" that he had memorized. Finally, Ayou actually came up with a good method.
"Master, please perform a ritual or divination!"
"This humble monk... is not skilled in this art."
"I wasn't counting on you, it was the spirits of those holy monks within you."
Yayoi clasped her hands together and exclaimed, "Benefactor Lin, your wisdom is truly beyond words!"
And so, Ayu took out his prefabricated altar from his backpack and set it up for Yayoi.
Yayoi sat cross-legged, intending to perform divination to seek guidance.
Since ancient times, only Yayoi has been able to carry the spirit of the Dragon King across the river, and he carries not just one, but many.
However, he doesn't need to worry about triggering a karmic backlash. After all, what Heaven forbids is the interference of the inherited forces behind the journey, but in Yayoi's case, Heaven doesn't even need to intervene. He himself is aiming to "betray his master and destroy his ancestors" and sever his own family's lineage. The spirit of the holy monk on his body can even be regarded as a "prisoner" enslaved and driven by the traitorous disciple.
It can only be said that Qinglong Temple's deviation from the path of its own holy monk's spirit has led to this strange and misguided outcome.
The divination results came out very quickly.
Yayoi and Ayu exchanged a glance, then immediately grabbed their staffs and knives and set off. After the two of them wiped out a small sect, they searched the entire place, but they couldn't find the evil cultivator or the two children.
The prefabricated small altar was set up again for a second divination.
New directional results have emerged.
After wiping out another small sect, they still couldn't find the evil cultivator, so they performed divination for the third time.
They repeatedly performed divination, each time yielding new directional results. And because they could always find the entrance to a new sect's barrier by following these directions, the two of them killed and destroyed enemies along the way, never doubting that the divination of the holy monk's spirit might be unreliable.
Instead, they all felt that this might be the only way to obtain the true scriptures.
And so, the two began to circle around the central point of the forest farm's feng shui, sweeping across its perimeter.
The various small lineages gathered in the forest area, though of varying quality, could be considered a respectable alliance if they were united.
But today, they encountered two fierce demons. These two were destroying camps and sects step by step, as if they were clearing out this forest farm.
At the feng shui center, inside the altar, two children sat eating cookies.
The shifty-eyed evil cultivator lay on the ground, trembling with fear as he could sense the screams and thick stench of blood emanating from his surroundings.
As for the evil magic that embodied his life's ambition, he dared not use it at all. What was happening outside was far more terrifying than his evil magic!
……
A three-story cruise ship is docked at the lakeside pier, and uniformed staff can be seen walking on the deck.
Three figures stood in the dense forest on the hillside opposite the dock.
Ah Li has not given any instructions so far; Mu Qiuying has been figuring things out on her own until they finally arrived at this crucial point.
Mu Qiuying suggested, "Miss, you stay here. Yin Meng and I will change our clothes and sneak into that cruise ship to investigate."
Yin Meng not only had no objections, but also felt a sense of anticipation for changing into nice clothes.
Ah Li took out the evil book from her backpack, opened it, and touched it with her fingertip.
Soon, a picture appeared on the evil book, depicting the environment of the place, with three sleeping bags on the ground and three people sleeping inside them.
Mu Qiuying: "Rest where you are?"
Ah Li put away the evil book and took out her sleeping bag to spread it out.
Mu Qiuying and Yin Meng exchanged a glance and then did as instructed.
It was still light out, but all three of them went to sleep early.
At dusk, many cars arrived at the dock, and many people began to board the ship.
Once it was completely dark, the cruise ship left the dock and sailed to the middle of the lake.
Even from such a distance, it seemed as if one could see the debauchery and revelry on the ship and hear the decadent music.
Ah Li opened her eyes, put away her sleeping bag and backpack, got up, stood on the slope, and continued to gaze at the cruise ship.
Mu Qiuying's gaze gradually turned to surprise: "So that's where it was."
She saw a shadow slowly rising from the center of the lake.
Yin Meng tried to open her eyes wide, but she couldn't see anything.
Ah Li reached forward with both hands, as if pulling something that didn't exist to her front, and then grabbed the wrists of the two women on either side of her.
The shadow in Mu Qiuying's eyes became clear in an instant, and Yin Meng also saw that it was a three-story flower boat with many women dressed in ancient costumes standing on it.
As Ah Li tightened her grip on their wrists, the group of women in ancient costumes all turned into pink skeletons.
The pleasure boats and cruise ships docked together, and one after another, red-painted skeletons boarded the cruise ships, merging with the waiters to serve those who came to enjoy themselves on board.
However, what appears to be serving is actually receiving offerings; this is a deliberate arrangement.
Ah Li looked up at the sky, then looked to the northwest. On that hillside, she could see a faint light, indicating that someone had set up an altar and was guiding people.
The girl grabbed Yin Meng's hand and pointed to that spot.
Yin Meng: "Understood, I'll go poison them!"
Ah Li nodded.
After Yin Meng left, A Li took Mu Qiuying's hand and walked to the lakeside. The blood porcelain bottle in her backpack transformed into a blood porcelain sword and fell into the girl's hand. She chopped down a tree in front of her, and the tree fell into the lake.
After standing on the log with A-Li, Mu Qiuying understood, and the strings of her zither flew, clapping rapidly towards the shore. The log beneath them carried the two of them, speeding towards the flower boat.
As they approached the flower boat and were about to board, Mu Qiuying spoke:
"Miss, please allow me to stand before you!"
Back then, her grandmother's role was to protect and support Miss Liu.
However, Ah Li's surname is Qin.
Not receiving a response, Mu Qiuying assumed that her mistress had given her consent. Just as the log was about to hit the flower boat, the strings of the zither flew off the boat and carried her upwards at high speed.
But during this process, Mu Qiuying was surprised to find that Miss A Li did not follow her up. Instead, after the wood crumbled, she lowered her head and sank into the lake.
After submerging into the water, the water around the girl transformed into thin dragons, enhancing her form in the water, and Ah Li plummeted to the bottom of the lake.
At the bottom of the lake, there is a small temple. In the temple courtyard, there is a stone coffin, which is bound by iron chains and covered with talismans.
However, under the influence of this decadent atmosphere, many of the iron chains have rusted and broken, and the talismans have turned pink and fallen off, indicating that the time when the seal inside the coffin will be broken is not far away.
The stone coffin inside the temple sensed the arrival of the visitor and trembled, causing the water above to surge and the iron chain that had broken off from the lake bottom to sweep upwards.
The girl moved nimbly, steadily avoiding all obstacles, and landed smoothly on the stone coffin.
An aged voice came from inside the stone coffin:
"So what if you discover me? So what if you reseal me? The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be. I, your ancestor, will break free of this seal one day, and then I will seek you out and avenge myself for the reseal I received today! Hahaha!"
Ah Li didn't pull the chains back up, nor did she take out the talisman she had drawn from her backpack and stick it on. Instead, she gripped the Blood Porcelain Sword with both hands, the blade pointing downwards.
"You didn't come to seal me? You want to help me break the seal? Very well, although I don't know which family you belong to, if you help me break the seal today, I will surely bestow upon you a great opportunity!"
The sword fell.
"boom!"
The stone coffin exploded.
Inside, a person completely covered in copper coins let out a hearty laugh:
"Hahaha, I, the old ancestor, have regained my freedom and seen the light of day again... Hmm?"
The stone coffin was broken open, but the ancestor was still some distance from freedom. The blood porcelain sword pierced through the copper coins on his body and penetrated his chest, pinning him to the bottom of the lake once more.
"Little girl, you don't want to help me break the seal, you want to... kill me?"
……
These past few days, Li Zhuiyuan's life has been very regular.
I get up at dawn, cook myself some porridge, and prepare my own meals for the other two meals, a simple dish and soup. After dark, I go back to my room to sleep.
The rest of the time, I mostly sit in the bamboo rattan chair in the garden, enjoying the sun and reading books while looking at the waterfall right in front of me.
In between, he also took the time to sweep up fallen leaves and did some minor repairs on the formation in Zhao Yi's house, without changing the locks.
Last night, someone broke the rules and got lost while climbing the mountain. Li Zhuiyuan saw it, but he didn't care. Leaving the bamboo garden and going outside alone poses a safety hazard.
He didn't feel it was necessary for him to risk his life to save people, so he listened to the sounds Zhao Yi had described all night, like the calls of a wild cat in heat.
The next morning, as Li Zhuiyuan was sitting on the platform drinking porridge, he saw the person being found by the search and rescue team. The person was not dead, but had a hoarse voice and a broken leg.
At noon, the bells in the courtyard rang.
This is a visitor arriving.
It wasn't Zhao Yi and his group who came back; they had the "key." Who would knock on the door to enter their own home?
Li Zhuiyuan walked to the entrance of the Bamboo Garden. People inside could see outside, but people outside could not see inside.
At the entrance stood an old man dressed in traditional Ming family attire; he was an elder of the Ming family.
Given Zhao Yi's current status and position, especially his sensitive position among the people on the river, if he were to plot something, he naturally couldn't be accompanied by lowly henchmen anymore; he would need someone truly influential and discreet.
The appearance of this elder from the Ming family signifies that the irrigation canal on Zhao Yi's side has been successfully dug, and that the best outcome among the various plans devised by Zhao Yi and himself has been realized.
The old man grabbed a bamboo tube from outside the house and spoke into it:
"anyone there?"
The sound was altered.
Before leaving, Zhao Yi told him how to contact those powerful forces in the martial arts world, with many details, all to avoid karmic consequences.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up his bamboo tube and replied, "Yes."
Old man: "I'm thirsty, could you please give me a bowl of water?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "There are some in the water tank by the door."
The old man put down the bamboo tube, went to the water vat, picked up the ladle, scooped out a mouthful and drank it. Then he turned back, picked up the bamboo tube again, and said:
"I won't drink your water for nothing. My late mistress's death anniversary is approaching, so I'd like to invite you for a drink. Would you mind?"
"can."
"We've prepared a warm welcome."
The old man took a white invitation from his sleeve, rolled it up, stuffed it into a bamboo tube, then turned and left, his figure disappearing into the mountain mist.
With a "thud," the invitation fell out of the bamboo tube on Li Zhuiyuan's side, and the boy bent down to pick it up.
This elder of the Ming family probably never dreamed that the person he had just spoken to through the bamboo tube was actually who it was.
The entire Ming family would never have imagined that the invitation to their former mistress's funeral would be personally delivered to...whose hands?
Li Zhuiyuan opened the invitation and replied softly:
"Thank you for your kind invitation. I will definitely go as scheduled."
(End of this chapter)