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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Hearing Qingcheng say this, I was somewhat surprised. We haven't even found the tomb yet, and such an incident has already occurred. If someone is targeting us with magic, what is their intention?
If they had malicious intent, why wouldn't they strike while we were asleep? After all, we had been sleeping for nearly four hours. During that time, they could have easily dismembered us and made us into Human Flesh Buns. But if they had no ill will, who would go out of their way to knock us out and let us sleep by the creek for several hours?
"From now on, the three of us need to enter a state of high alert!" I said with a smile. "No solo actions, and we can't eat together..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Qingcheng interrupted me: "What do you mean we can't eat together?"
"Just as an example, if there are four dishes and a soup on the table, I'll only eat the twice-cooked pork, you'll only eat the sour cabbage, and Brother Five will only eat Tomato Egg Soup. In any case, the three of us can't eat the same dish at the same time," I explained.
"Why should you get to eat twice-cooked pork while I can only have cabbage?" Qingcheng scoffed.
"We're just using an example. Fine, you can have the twice-cooked pork, and I'll have the cabbage!"
"I don't eat meat; let Brother Five have it," Qingcheng's response left me speechless. If I weren't afraid of losing to you, I'd have made you cry for your mother by now.
With Qingcheng interrupting like that, I didn't know what to say. Finally, I waved my hand: "That's settled then. Uh, Qingcheng, do you want to share a room with us?"
"Do you think I need your protection?" Qingcheng shot me a sideways glance.
"Uh, I meant that you could come over to protect us both!"
"Come on now, you're a once-in-a-thousand-years Yin-Yang Physique, and you still need me to protect you? We both got hit by magic by the creek; you're the only one who didn't. Hmph!" Qingcheng rolled her eyes and pushed the door open to leave.
"I didn't get hit; I saved you both! Is that wrong?" I complained to Brother Five.
Brother Five just smiled and went to wash up.
There was no conversation throughout the night.
The next morning, Jin Luoer came to knock on our door. When I opened it, I saw she was still in the same outfit, but she was wearing a pair of sneakers that looked a bit old, though they were quite clean.
I was still a bit Confused, scratching my head and asking, "Are you... going to clean the room?"
Jin Luoer giggled and said, "No, I'm here to take you to Shoushan!"
"It's still early, right?" I yawned and stretched.
Jin Luoer blushed, turned her head away, and said, "We should go up the mountain early while the sun isn't too harsh. Besides, it's already nine o'clock; it's not that early!"
Seeing Jin Luoer turn away, I felt puzzled. Why did she suddenly turn her head? Was it interesting to show me the back of her head? Then I seemed to realize something and looked down at myself. Wow, I was only wearing a pair of underwear printed with Bald Qiang. When I stretched just now, I probably startled her with the movement.
Chuckling, I said, "You wait for us downstairs for a bit; we'll be right down."
Jin Luoer nodded and quickly ran off.
By the time we finished getting ready and went downstairs, Jin Luoer was sitting at the front desk waiting for us. There was also a girl sleeping beside her. From her silhouette, she seemed quite slim. When she saw us come down, Jin Luoer stood up and called out to the girl, "Yun, I'm leaving now! Don't sleep anymore!"
The girl named Yun seemed to be in a deep sleep and didn't move at all. Jin Luoer gave us a wry smile, ignored her, and led us out to the restaurant for some breakfast. After filling our stomachs, the four of us left the hotel and headed towards Shoushan. I asked Luo Er about the length of the stream and decided that our starting point would be at the edge of Shoushan, where the stream exits. On the map, Lin Tao also indicated that there were only streams near Shoushan. Since that's the case, let's follow the stream upstream within Shoushan.
Along the way, Jin Luoer chattered about some legends regarding Shoushan. Compared to the historical city of Feng City, Shoushan really lacked cultural depth. The only notable feature was the Nine Dragon Pool, which was merely a legend. It was said that nine dragons appeared in the pool at the mountain's peak on nights of a full moon. Is that even possible? If there were dragons, they would have been hunted for profit long ago. For some people, there is no distinction between rare animals and common ones; there are only animals that can be sold for money and those that cannot.
So what if it's a dragon? Aren't there plenty of legends about slaying dragons?
However, Jin Luoer did pique our curiosity, not about the dragon itself, but rather about the Nine Dragon Pool.
The Peach Blossom Ancient Tomb was built by Liu An during his lifetime. Liu An was of noble blood, and wealth was certainly not an issue. The scale of this tomb must be grand, possibly even hollowing out the entire mountain of Shoushan.
So the question arises: if the entire Shoushan is Liu An's tomb, why would he create a lake on top of it? The surrounding area is flat for hundreds of miles; where does the water for this lake come from? Moreover, we drank from the stream yesterday, and the water was exceptionally clean and clear. It couldn't possibly be rainwater; it must be deep underground water. As for us being affected, that was due to someone casting a spell, unrelated to the water quality.
I shared my doubts with Brother Five, who smiled slightly and said, "That's not strange. I just don't know how to explain it to you—something about atmospheric pressure and communicating vessels or similar principles. Anyway, it's not unusual for a lake at the mountain's peak to be connected to underground water."
After finishing, he glanced at Jin Luoer ahead and whispered to me, "All mechanisms require power. In ancient times, there were no electric devices. If there are mechanisms in the tomb, then the most likely source of power would be hydraulic. Of course, some skilled individuals could use magical arrays to drive these mechanisms."
Listening to Brother Five made me understand better; this lake might have been specifically created by Liu An to draw underground water to power his tomb's mechanisms. At this thought, I felt a jolt in my heart—there must be numerous mechanisms within the Peach Blossom Ancient Tomb.
The four of us followed the stream and soon arrived at the grassy area where we had slept yesterday. Strangely enough, one patch of grass had already withered as if pressed by a giant round iron, forming a circle five meters in diameter. The center of this circle was exactly where the three of us had lain down.
I gasped in surprise and glanced at Xiao Qingcheng. She was squatting next to the circle, picking up a piece of withered grass and sniffing it. After pondering for a moment, she said solemnly, "Someone has used a large-area spell here. From the condition of this grass, it seems similar to 'Nine Turns Rebirth,' borrowing power from nature to gain more magical energy. The reason this patch of grass has withered is that its life force has been drained by this spell."
Brother Five and I exchanged wry smiles; Qingcheng's explanation sounded like a mythological tale to us—like Darwin explaining evolution to two pig slaughterers.
Upon hearing Qingcheng's words, Jin Luoer displayed an odd expression on her face and hesitated before asking me, "Boss Zhong, what are you?"
"Hehe, we are staff members from the Ministry of National Defense Science and Technology Engineering of the People's Republic of China’s Thirty-Seventh Research Institute. Our main focus is on various supernatural phenomena in daily life—somewhat similar to CCTV's 'Scientific Exploration,'" I fabricated as a diversion.
Fabricating stories requires skill; from Jin Luoer's manner of speaking, it was evident she had received a good education—at least through university level if not higher. Thus, an institute like ours would be more acceptable to her. As for the number seven being significant—why not six or nine? Those numbers are too common and might raise suspicion; seven feels more credible.
Jin Luoer let out a sound and stopped asking further questions.
At this moment, Xiao Qingcheng took out something resembling a Bamboo Dragonfly, with two wings, one red and one blue. The material was neither gold nor silver, and under the sunlight, the wings shimmered with dazzling light.
He inserted this object into the lush green grass nearby, and soon the grass beneath the Bamboo Dragonfly began to wither slowly. The red and blue dragonfly seemed to be absorbing the life force of the grass, and its wings became increasingly enchanting. A Green Wall slowly rose up along the stick supporting the wings, much like mercury in a thermometer.
When the grass had withered to the same extent as that within the large circle, Qingcheng pulled out the dragonfly, looked at the position of the Green Wall on the stick, closed his eyes in thought, then opened them and said, "The time this Spell was cast was around five o'clock yesterday afternoon."
I felt a jolt in my heart; around five o'clock yesterday afternoon was exactly when the three of us were lying here asleep. Could it be that someone cast a Spell beside us while we were sleeping? Right, when I got up at that time, there were signs of a struggle in the surrounding grass. Could it be that someone was casting spells during that fight?
Qingcheng put away the dragonfly, stood up, and said to me, "Alright, let's not dwell on it. We should continue moving forward."
Following the stream upstream, the scenery along the way was incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, none of us were in the mood to appreciate it because two big questions loomed over our minds: who had cast a spell that made us fall asleep by the stream, and who had been casting a life-absorbing Spell beside us?
Seeing that I remained silent, Jin Luoer also trudged ahead quietly. Thus, all four of us walked without speaking for about an hour until we reached halfway up Shoushan. Turning a bend, I saw an enormous Green Wall.
This Green Wall was about four stories high and at least thirty meters wide. Initially, I was quite surprised by what this Green Wall was. As I got closer, I understood; it was likely a stone wall covered with green vines. From a distance, it appeared to be a Green Wall.
The stream ended here; its source was this massive stone wall. Upon approaching it, I noticed there was a round pool about five meters in diameter at the base of the wall. The water in the pool was exceptionally clear—so clear that we couldn't determine how deep it was. In the center of the pool were three holes from which spring water gushed forth.
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