Chapter 586
Chapter 586
Chapter 586
Li Zhuiyuan shifted his gaze left and right, observing the extension of the two courtyard corners. Structurally, this courtyard should have been separated from a large Jin-style mansion.
It wasn't a separate extraction; it was more like the rest of the original mansion was demolished and removed, leaving only this small part.
Considering the special status of this place for the Ming family, Li Zhuiyuan suspected that this place might have been the earliest ancestral home of the Ming family.
People like Zhao Wuyang and Qi Xinghan are pure, unrefined dragon kings, but there are also dragon kings born from their own family lineage. It's just that they weren't from the dragon king's clan at that time, but they were still quite powerful.
The Ming family should belong to this category.
When a family's household develops to a certain extent, in order to suppress the legacy left behind by the Dragon King, it is necessary to build a new ancestral home that conforms to the orthodox specifications of the Dragon King's household.
But if the house is to be demolished and relocated to a new location in a different cave, then why leave this place standing alone?
So this was probably unplanned and forced upon us.
The earliest members of the Ming family had no choice but to abandon their ancestral home and move elsewhere.
Because someone "died" here.
Her "death" polluted the area, making it impossible for the Ming family to continue living there.
Moreover, because of her extraordinary status in the Ming family, the Ming family was unwilling to take any disrespectful measures against her. They would rather go through the trouble of moving themselves than not keep her here, so as to maintain a sense of respect and dignity.
Just like Chen Yunhai's status in the history of the Chen family in Qiongya.
Li Zhuiyuan prepared to go in and take a look.
First, the hints in the funeral couplets confirmed his speculation about the Ming family's lineage;
Secondly, there's the tranquility of the peach grove, where we await the dishes to accompany our drinks;
Thirdly, and most importantly: Well, since we're already here...
But just as the boy was about to lift his foot to touch the steps in front of the courtyard gate, the "belt" that Zhao Yi had wrapped around his waist fell off.
Li Zhuiyuan looked down at the finger-width human skin lying on the ground.
It can't be such a coincidence that Zhao Yi has used up all his human skins at this point.
It was within this courtyard that a pressure far more terrifying than the outside world existed, isolating one from external influences.
Zhao Yi, who was eating an apple in front of Ming Qinyun's memorial tablet beside the altar offering table, paused for a moment.
He first turned his head to look at his own fleshy, pink half of his body, then licked his lips.
The belt on the guy surnamed Li's is loose?
Zhao Yi's face did not show panic or elation. Instead, after a moment's thought, he silently continued to eat his apple.
If one day Lin Shuyou calls him, crying and saying that Brother Xiaoyuan accidentally choked to death while drinking soda.
Zhao Yi believed it to be credible.
Besides, even if the person surnamed Li were right in front of him, his body would be dismembered, blood would splatter, his soul would be scattered, and he would be burned to ashes...
Zhao Yi felt that this was Li giving him a demonstration of his new insights into puppetry.
"It should be fine. If we take on a slightly more challenging task or encounter a few minor accidents, I'll actually feel much more at ease."
Zhao Yi even chewed up and swallowed the fruit pit, then took out an apple from the guesthouse from his pocket and put it back in its place.
They all looked like apples, but the offerings on the altar were sacred fruits, which were nourishing and beautifying, and of great value. However, even if he stole some, Zhao Yi didn't believe that the Ming family would distribute the offerings to the guests on the day of the deceased's birthday.
I wanted to eat something else, but I didn't have any replacements in my pocket. If you make up a discrepancy in the quantity, the Ming family isn't blind.
That's enough.
Zhao Yi simply lay down in the stone coffin and took a nap.
Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and once again entered the depths of his own consciousness. He needed to confirm whether his physical body could withstand the pressure if he were to enter this courtyard.
The original body: "Put it in the coffin in the basement for me."
Li Zhuiyuan: "Okay."
The boy carried the person who looked exactly like him on his back, walked into the basement, passed the statues of familiar figures on both sides, and went to the coffin at the deepest part.
After placing the body inside, he closed the coffin lid and applied a seal.
The body itself cannot withstand it.
But the two of them can reenact the events of when the giant tortoise first came ashore.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, Li Zhuiyuan cannot enter this courtyard. The price of forcibly entering would be... a collapse of consciousness, turning him into an idiot.
However, due to its unique nature, it can allow inner demons to go unpunished, allowing the main body to temporarily act as Schrödinger's idiot.
After doing all this, the boy opened his eyes again and walked up the steps in earnest.
"Buzz!"
A tremor ran through my soul, like Ah-you repairing a circuit with his bare hands.
It took Li Zhuiyuan a while to adjust before his vision became clear again.
As soon as he stepped across the threshold, Li Zhuiyuan was stunned. He couldn't see anything when he looked in from the outside, but once he stepped inside, he could see the dense bloodstains and scratches on the inner courtyard wall and door.
It's impossible to describe the number of them; they're like paint, layer upon layer applied.
All of them are one person's handprints; she endured indescribable and terrible pain here.
However, the bloody scratches were limited to the inner courtyard wall and gate; the floor tiles, pillars, and doors and windows of the houses on both sides were intact.
Therefore, torture is not limited to physical pain, but rather to confinement.
The following image flashed through Li Zhuiyuan's mind:
A woman, her hands gripping the courtyard wall tightly, or clinging to the inner door frame, her eyes filled with a deep longing for freedom from the outside world, yet she could not leave this place.
There are no formations here, and the boy cannot immediately sense the houses on both sides. There must be something special inside. But at least there are no formations in the area around the courtyard gate. Even if there were some and they were removed, there must have been traces left, which cannot be hidden from the boy's eyes.
Therefore, it was she herself who prevented her from going out.
She is here, suppressing herself.
It's exactly the same as Qing'an in the peach grove.
Li Zhuiyuan was almost certain that the woman was one of the people who had followed Wei Zhengdao back then.
The evil spirits in the ancestral homes of other Dragon King families are suppressed by array formations, while the evil spirits in the Qin and Liu families are suppressed by stories.
Those who can suppress themselves without relying on external spiritual or material forces, solely through their pride and self-awareness... are truly ruthless.
But this seems to be yet another tragedy.
It seems that the group of unparalleled geniuses who followed Wei Zhengdao, after shining brightly in that era, all met with unfortunate ends.
The main problem is that guy Wei Zhengdao... He kills people but doesn't care about burying them.
When Li Zhuiyuan was making predictions about what would happen to him a hundred years later, he would help his companions with the predictions. He had led his companions on this path, and after they had enjoyed the view from the top, he felt obligated to arrange a way down the mountain for them.
Even towards Yayoi, a great evil of the world, the young man helped him draw the spirit of the Azure Dragon Saint Monk into his body and set a time limit for his passing away.
Wei Zhengdao didn't have this concept.
It wasn't due to negligence or being caught off guard; it was simply that Wei Zhengdao at the time didn't care at all.
He enjoyed collecting and nurturing these contemporary geniuses, like exquisite porcelain pieces, and the eventual shattering and crumbling of those works of art was perhaps part of what fascinated him.
The courtyard layout consists of a rectangular courtyard in the middle, with rooms on both sides and the main house at the rear.
Li Zhuiyuan did not go directly to the main house, but instead went to the first room on the left, placed his hand on the half-closed and unlocked door, and gently pushed it open.
"Squeak..."
The air is thick with the scent of time.
Li Zhuiyuan heard laughter, like a group of people drinking and making merry. Some were reciting poems and others were playing the zither. The zither music sounded familiar; the young man had often lingered in the peach grove.
This room holds a memory, a rich memory, but Li Zhuiyuan only sensed the overflowing part, like the steam rising from boiling water.
But the young man dared not fully commit himself. If he dared to take the initiative to connect with it, the terrifying spiritual energy here would surge into his body, and he would have no chance of survival.
Shaking his head to calm himself, the boy was able to see the furnishings inside the room clearly.
It's not luxurious, just quite ordinary... provided you ignore the arm resting on the square table in the center.
Her arms were tender and her fingers were glossy; even her nails had a unique beauty.
If you take a picture of it with a camera, showing only this arm, it will be a great photo. Of course, you have to be careful with the angle so that the viewer can't tell that it's just this one arm.
He wore white sleeves, and his clothes were also preserved in a smooth, silky style. On the square table, there was a stone tablet with a name carved on it—Ming Yuqing.
The handwriting is vigorous and powerful, revealing a grand and imposing spirit.
Li Zhuiyuan walked out of this room and went to the next one. When he pushed open the door, he saw a leg covered by a white dress.
There was also a stone tablet standing there, with the name carved on it: Mingcheng Tower.
The boy walked around the square well in the courtyard and pushed open the doors of the two side rooms on the opposite side. Correspondingly, he saw a leg and an arm, and the stone tablets were named Ming Yuqing and Ming Chenglou. Li Zhuiyuan walked back to the courtyard and came to the square well.
Based on the most basic knowledge of formations, this well is the central pivot.
The boy looked down and sure enough, there was a central body floating in the well, without limbs or a head.
Like the plastic mannequins that clothing stores in shopping malls like to display.
On the inner wall of the well, a third name appeared: Ming Zhiwang.
She was dismembered.
Ming Yuqing, Ming Chenglou, and Ming Zhiwang are, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the names of three dragon kings in the history of the Ming family.
Even if Li Zhuiyuan wanted to enter this courtyard, he had to take a shortcut. The only one who could enter here openly and do something was the Dragon King.
Since she was still waiting for Wei Zhengdao in the funeral couplet, she must have been unmarried and childless.
Therefore, in terms of seniority, these three Ming family dragon kings should all address her as "Grandma," but it's unclear how many "Zeng"s should be added before that.
Three different Ming family dragon kings from different periods have all come here and taken action against their elder who made great contributions to the history of the Ming family.
From this perspective, it is truly a dark and bloody scene, intertwined with contradictions of righteousness and human ethics.
However, there were no signs of violence in the courtyard, indicating that she did not resist at all during this process. In fact, it is highly likely that she actively asked her Dragon King descendants to do this to her.
Just like Qing'an under the peach grove, all she thinks about is how she can help him find relief so that he can die sooner.
Therefore, having descendants and successors is really important.
Qing'an suffered from this, and could only silently grit his teeth and bear it alone.
Look at them, their descendants are promising, dragon kings appear frequently, and they are freed from their burdens at a young age.
Li Zhuiyuan left the well and walked towards the main house.
She is certainly powerful, but not necessarily so powerful that it would take three generations of Dragon Kings to kill her. The Ming family Dragon King did not enter this place to regard her as an enemy.
The Dragon King is also human. Faced with an ancestor who is determined to die, it is difficult for him to take drastic measures and fight to the death. He probably sees her more as a powerful evil spirit that he has suppressed outside.
Given such a grand display, she herself must have made some demands, which are likely hidden in the main house.
Pushing open the main door, the boy saw the head placed on the main table.
Her hair was styled in an exquisite bun, adorned with hairpins, and her eyes were closed. While not breathtakingly beautiful, she exuded an ethereal charm.
She is dead.
He is really dead.
Although her death was quite gruesome, it must be admitted that among the great evil spirits, she died very cleanly.
This isn't some kind of distorted aesthetic; it's just that after seeing so much of the ugliness and filth of those immortal beings, if you collected her body parts and pieced them back together on the bed... she really does look human.
In some mysterious way, the boy was able to empathize with her purpose and pursuit.
She practiced the methods of achieving immortality; she had actively pursued immortality.
She cultivated immortality so that she could be with Wei Zhengdao forever. Later, when Zhengdao disappeared without a trace, she began to wait for his return by cultivating immortality.
But she later regretted it.
It's possible that immortality contradicts his beliefs; however, Li Zhuiyuan felt that this possibility was very low, and you can't apply traditional thinking to someone who is crazy in love.
Most likely, she discovered that immortality was gradually turning her into something neither human nor ghost.
She didn't want Wei Zhengdao to return to find her in this ugly and filthy state.
She wanted to make her death as beautiful and graceful as possible, within the limits of her power.
To some extent, this also put the three Ming family dragon kings in a difficult position, as they had to come here specifically to prepare the burial for their "aunt" who was longing for the return of her beloved.
"Ah……"
Li Zhuiyuan laughed out loud.
He could imagine how exaggeratedly Qing'an would laugh when he told her about it when he got back.
To the right of the main house is the bedroom, separated by a half-screen partition. You can see a bed, a dressing table near the head of the bed, and a clothes rack at the foot of the bed.
On the dressing table, the rouge box was open, as if it had just been used. Thinking of the layers of bloodstains and claw marks at the courtyard gate, she must have been frantically trying to get out, but then calmed down and quickly sat back down to touch up her makeup.
Such a mad appearance is truly befitting of the Ming family's "grandmother".
A red wedding dress was hanging on the clothes rack.
The workmanship... is very average.
Then it must have been embroidered by her herself.
Even the most powerful person has their weaknesses, such as their chess skills and Grandma Liu's cooking skills.
It's not that she can't learn, but that it's meaningless. The day Grandma Liu really has to cook for herself, the feeling of being all alone will be enough to crush her.
In her eyes, this crudely made wedding dress embodied her true feelings and anxieties.
Unfortunately, all that sincere affection was wasted back then.
At least back then, it was eaten by dogs.
At that time, Wei Zhengdao had no feelings at all.
Since you do not intend to stay with her forever, yet you still bestow upon her the method of immortality.
If Qing'an pestered him to teach him the "secret techniques of the black book," he would give them to him.
Li Zhuiyuan could imagine her nestled beside him, clinging to his shoulder, telling him that she wanted to achieve immortality so she could see him forever.
Her eyes must have been incredibly bright at that moment, and her face was full of anticipation and expectation, especially after Wei Zhengdao said, "Okay, I'll help you deduce a method for achieving longevity." She would have taken this as a promise and cheered with joy.
Perhaps she would even brag to Qing'an and the others, or perhaps Qing'an and the others were already there and raised their glasses to cheer her on, making her blush with embarrassment.
These imagined scenes kept surfacing in the boy's mind. There was no way around it; after all, the boy was the one in the world most capable of empathizing with Wei Zhengdao.
Pain appeared on Li Zhuiyuan's face. In the scene, the faces of Wei Zhengdao, her, Qing An, and others were gradually replaced by her own, A Li's, and Tan Wenbin's.
As his condition improved and his skin became stronger, the boy tried to overlap the fates of Qing'an and the others with those of Binbin and the others, especially when the head on the table gradually resembled A Li in appearance, a strong sense of unease struck him.
Qing'an didn't hate you; he still treated me differently because I resembled you. She didn't hate you either; in the end, she still wanted to see you with dignity and integrity.
But you clearly knew back then what kind of fate awaited them after they practiced the techniques you gave them.
Just recently, the original body had said those words to itself.
At this moment, these words involuntarily came out of the boy's mouth:
"Wei Zhengdao, you disgust me."
After saying that, Li Zhuiyuan felt much better.
The boy understood; no wonder Li Lan liked to say that to him so much back then.
Li Zhuiyuan walked to the dressing table, where a marriage certificate was placed, bearing the names of both the man and woman.
The woman's name is Ming Ningshuang.
The man's name is Wei Zhengdao.
The young man's gaze narrowed slightly. The three characters "Wei Zhengdao" were Wei Zhengdao's own handwriting.
Of course, given the relationship between Ming Ningshuang and the others and Wei Zhengdao, it's quite normal that they were familiar with his handwriting.
Li Zhuiyuan turned to the side and looked at the bed.
Due to the environment here, time cannot leave any trace, and the senses are limited to the most basic level. But with just one glance at close range, the boy discovered the problem.
The pillows on this bed weren't folded up, but rather laid out, and there was a dent in the middle of each pillow that extended downwards, creating a uniform mark as if someone had lain on it.
When Ming Ningshuang was still alive, she could naturally lie down on this bed. But look at the stitches of her wedding dress, the mess on the dressing table, and the scratch marks on the inside of the courtyard gate... everything shows that Ming Ningshuang was in a normal state here.
A person's behavior has a complete and coherent logic. It is unlikely that one moment they are sitting there doing their makeup like an ordinary person, and the next moment they are floating up and lying on the bed like a ghost.
The marks left by lying down were so even and clear, and there was no indentation from getting on or off the bed, as if... someone had pieced the bed together!
"boom!"
The gate to the courtyard was closed.
Immediately afterwards, all the doors to the separate rooms opened, and water gushed upwards from the wells in all four directions, pushing the torso upwards, with arms and limbs converging and coalescing into a headless corpse.
The head on the main table slowly turned towards the master bedroom, its eyes gradually opening, and a clear, cold voice rang out:
"Zhengdao, you've come back to marry me."
(End of this chapter)