Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 152

I raised my hand to interrupt her narration. The most important thing right now was to tell her about my hallucination experience: "Xiao Xiao, let's go for a walk outside the courtyard. There are many things I need to tell you."

Part 3: Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain

— Chapter 2 - The Ancestral Precepts of the Shao Family (Part 2) —

Outside the courtyard, all was quiet. Dawn was breaking, and a faint blush of rosy dawn silently spread across the eastern sky. None of the vigilant monks could be seen; only the biting frost on the bluestone pavement.

"Xiao Xiao, I saw the knife in the painting again. The skull and the teeth biting each other on the hilt were even more ferocious and vivid than in the painting. Like riding a high-speed elevator in a skyscraper, I reached the deepest part of the ocean, right in front of those two doors. You've already seen the lotus key. What I want to say is that the key is pink, exactly like the one engraved on Plague's arm. Two doors, two keyholes, but only one key is inserted. Perhaps the other keyhole is reserved for the bronze lotus key on the clock."

Xiao Keleng let out a startled "Ah!" but didn't ask any questions to interrupt me.

"The empty keyhole was overgrown with seaweed, proving that no one had touched it for a long time. The door was tightly shut, and with Shao Hei's 'telepathic' ability, I instantly entered the room and saw a flat passageway that stretched into endless darkness—"

Xiao Keleng was a good listener. She held the stack of paintings steadily, leaning against the stone wall, her eyebrows trembling, and her eyes shining with longing as she waited for me to reveal the mystery.

"There are words on the stone wall, many words, but the content is just one sentence—"

I carefully recalled the handwriting left in different languages, and once again clearly told myself: "That is the real result of Shao Hei's remote sensing ability, not my own imagination!"

"Which sentence? Is it related to Yang Tian, the hero who built Xunfu Garden?" She keenly guessed the key to the problem. If it were Su Lun, she would definitely have the same result.

"Yang Tian, the King of Tomb Raiders, has arrived"—this is the only sentence, but it is repeated in more than a dozen different languages. The words were written directly by someone using the "Shaolin Vajra Finger" technique, so the other party must be a top-notch martial arts master.

"Or perhaps the person who wrote it was Yang Tian himself, because judging from the words, that's a 100% certain conclusion." Xiao Keleng tried her best to suppress her excitement. The deeds of Yang Tian, the King of Tomb Raiders, had become a great legend on Earth, and under the influence of her scalpel training, she must have heard of this name very well.

I stretched out my arms and yawned, then slowly wrote those eight characters on the stone wall with my finger.

"And then? Mr. Feng, what else?" Xiao Ke was very interested.

I shook my head: "The illusion ends here. That unfathomable depth has exceeded the limits of Shao Hei's remote sensing ability. Actually, I'm even more eager than you to explore what's at the end of the tunnel, but fate just won't allow it." When I just fell back to reality from the illusion, I felt like I'd been hit on the head, but I feel much better now.

Xiao Keleng looked up at the sky and sighed three times, saying, "All our efforts have been in vain...all our efforts have been in vain...all our efforts have been in vain..."

The sky was already bright, and it was a rare sunny day. There wasn't even the thin winter morning fog that was indispensable in Hokkaido. The Tower of the Dead appeared realistically against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds.

"Mr. Feng, don't you feel like this night was an endless nightmare?" Xiao Keleng pointed eastward. If all the hallucinations were real and existed beneath the strange house, then Gu Ye Shenxiu's identity and intentions would become incredibly unpredictable and bizarre. That enormous, domed well couldn't have been dug by human hands alone.

"Yes, it is a nightmare, but in time we will know that nightmares are also built on real-life prototypes, and the mastermind behind this nightmare is Tanino Shinshu."

I understood that Shao Hei's life was in grave danger, a fact Zhang Baisen had clearly pointed out. If I could use my "Yin-Yang Divine Power" to help him through this difficult time, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to do so. Before this, I had no good feelings towards the Shao brothers, but this time, I felt guilty about Shao Hei's current situation. Without his help, we would never have found any clues related to Brother Yu.

I turned and looked into the courtyard. Xiao Keleng keenly caught my thoughts: "Mr. Feng, if needed, I will contact the best hospital in Sapporo as soon as possible—"

Just then, Zhang Baisen strode out and shouted, "Feng, I have something to talk to you about." He had also stayed up all night, but his spirits were still high, though he was frowning slightly with anxiety, and he took long, fast strides.

I put the phone away for a moment and met his approach: "Master Zhang, what's the matter?"

Calling Xiaoyan to check the information can wait a bit. I might need to sort out the scenes I saw in my hallucinations again and consider what exactly happened behind the two doors.

"Shao Hei is dying. He wants me to tell you... about the Shao family's ancestral precepts..." Zhang Baisen lowered his voice. For a chivalrous and straightforward martial arts master like him to become hesitant and stammering, it must mean that something strange and inexplicable has happened.

"What?" I couldn't help but blurt out. The Shao family, the master fortune tellers, is a prominent family in the martial arts world that has been passed down for hundreds of years. What do their ancestral precepts have to do with me?

After Zhang Baisen came out, he did not close the door behind him. Suddenly, Shao Bai’s loud protest came from inside the room: “No, I disagree, I absolutely disagree!” His voice was unusually agitated and angry.

"Master Zhang, what's wrong with Mr. Shao?" Xiao Ke asked curiously.

Zhang Baisen pondered for a moment: "Feng, Shao Hei said that their ancestors passed down a family precept: if they encounter someone who possesses 'Yin-Yang divine power' and can communicate with a Shao family disciple, they must pass on all the special abilities inherent in the net to this destined person, so that he can carry forward the Shao family's special abilities and pass them down for eternity. Now, he has chosen you—"

His retelling was a bit wordy and awkward because such family precepts were really too strange. Why would someone give away their special abilities to others without reservation and without any cost?

Xiao Keleng coughed softly, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Zhang Baisen gazed at me honestly: "Feng, I know you need this ability and trust Shao Hei's judgment. You know, when I first met Master Xianyun in the ancient temple in northern Tibet, he told me that the truly destined person was on their way to Hokkaido. With his power of reincarnation, he would never misjudge you. There is infinite potential within you; it's just a matter of finding someone to awaken it in various ways."

It is conceivable that if I possessed Shao Hei's "mind-reading technique," I would be able to find my elder brother Yang Tian's whereabouts with twice the result without relying on anyone else.

Xiao Keleng clapped his hands and laughed, "Master Zhang, Mr. Feng, this is such a wonderful thing, a match made in heaven, a blessing from the heavens, we should be happy!"

Zhang Baisen smiled wryly: "Yes, it's a good thing, but the Shao family's special ability comes with life and goes with life. After passing it on to others, their own life will only have less than 24 hours left. This is also the reason why Shao Bai strongly opposes it."

Shao Bai's enraged voice rang out again: "Why? Why did you decide to do this? My brothers and I joined forces, just about to do something great with the support of the Americans. You insisted on dragging me to Hokkaido and getting into all this trouble. It's enough that you're dead; don't drag me down with you. I haven't had enough fun yet!"

The tycoon and Guan Baoling opened the door and stood under the eaves. The two held hands tightly, as if they didn't want to be separated for even a second. In particular, the satisfied and sweet smile on Guan Baoling's face made me feel as if I had just drunk a bowl of deadly poison, my heart was being torn apart, and I was in unbearable pain.

"Mr. Feng, business is more important," Xiao Keleng reminded him once again.

I forced myself to turn my head away, inhaled deeply, and tried to suppress the heartache. Whatever I, or Wang Jiangnan, did for Guan Baoling, it couldn't compare to the tycoon's slight smile. She would always be the tycoon's woman.

"Feng, give me a definite answer: will you accept Shao Hei's suggestion?" Zhang Baisen asked urgently.

"I accept it, even if it means owing the Shao brothers a huge favor, I will accept it." I felt my feet were light and I couldn't stand steadily.

“Okay, let’s go in. Shao Hei won’t be able to hold out for much longer—” He turned and walked back.

At the bend in the alley, someone suddenly peeked out and then quickly disappeared back into the shadows.

Xiao Keleng tossed his hair, raised his hand and beckoned to the rooftop, where Xiao Lai nimbly leaped down. Only he remained diligently at his post, without the slightest slackening.

The person who just showed his face was Ishijima. His uniquely lewd mannerisms are unmatched in Fengge Temple.

“Mr. Feng, I find Shidao very suspicious. Could you send Xiao Lai to follow and monitor him? Let’s see what he’s up to.”

I nodded; Xiao Keleng's words made a lot of sense. When Shi Dao recounted his attack, he clearly revealed a huge flaw. He said the attacker was wearing tight-fitting sportswear, yet he also said the attacker had a lotus tattoo on their arm—these were two contradictory statements. Tight-fitting clothing would cover the area above the wrist; whatever was tattooed on the arm, no outsider would have any way of seeing it.

Xiao Lai agreed and quickly chased after them.

"Feng, what were the results of last night's work? Did you get any information about the Fang Demon or the extortionist?" The tycoon raised his hand to greet me, beaming.

I tried my best to remain calm and gently shook my head: "No, nothing's wrong. Have you prepared your 1.5 billion US dollars? If you have to hand it over, it'll be easier to do so sooner rather than later, don't you think?"

Guan Baoling is his woman, and he has an obligation to protect her with all his might and be her rightful protector. I don't need to fawn over her anymore; I should turn my attention back to the strange well under the strange house.

After quickly stepping into the room, I breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door behind me.

Shao Bai rolled his eyes at me, like a vicious wolfhound that had been provoked and was about to pounce and tear me apart.

Shao Hei had already sat up against the pillows, his once dark face now completely pale, like an actor who had just finished painting his face and was about to go on stage.

Part 3: Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain

— Chapter 3 — Red Flag Little Swallow, Ten Saints of the Tooth God Stream (Part 1) —

“Feng… I am honored that my ancestral ability has been passed down to a destined person…” Shao Hei slowly spoke, his right hand still clenched in Zhang Baisen’s palm, barely supported by the internal energy continuously supplied by the latter.

I tried my best to comfort him: "Mr. Shao, don't be too pessimistic. I will contact the best hospital in Sapporo right away. You are too weak. You will be fine after resting for a while."

Japan has very advanced medical techniques. For patients who are unusually weak, they will use the most advanced "shock therapy" in the world, which stops all physical activity of the injured person and starts to accumulate energy from the inside, with excellent results.

"Ha, the hospital? What do they know? The second brother's body is already drained, like a candle that has burned out. Even if you give him ten wicks, how many minutes can it burn? Unless, you can find a way to give him back his superpowers—don't make a fuss, you already have the Shao family's black remote sensing power within you, can't you feel it?"

Shao Bai called out irritably, but I felt that things were no different from before.

Shao Hei waved to me: "Please come... over here."

I tried to clear the image of Guan Baoling from my mind and walked to her side, but waves of uncontrollable restlessness surged up, and my mind was in complete chaos.

"Please extend...your...hand..."

I stretched out my hands and covered his left hand with one above the other.

“I know that everything under the strange house has a particularly important meaning for you… The Shao family’s ancestral precepts are rules that have been diligently followed by generations of people, and every descendant of the Shao family will devoutly carry them out. Zhang… Brother, we can begin…” The brothers had previously always called Zhang Baisen “Big Brother Zhang,” but perhaps because “a dying man’s words are good,” he began to change how he addressed Zhang Baisen.

His palms were also deathly pale, and his fingernails were a dull gray, devoid of any color.

Shao Bai stomped his feet angrily and shouted again, "Second brother, think it through! Simply passing on the black part of the yin-yang symbol to him won't do you any good!"

Shao Hei gave a miserable smile: "Brother...don't we still have you? 'Yin and Yang unite, fish swim in the sea,' the spirits of our ancestors are watching us from heaven, you wouldn't...want to disobey the ancestral teachings, would you?" He didn't even have the strength to move the corners of his mouth, and the skin on his chin and neck had strangely shriveled, making him look like an old man in his seventies or eighties.

"No, I will never do anything foolish like you! The Pentagon has already agreed to hire us as special military advisors with high salaries, enjoying the benefits of senior staff officers at the Department of Defense. Our future is bright. Why do you have to bring up some ancestral precepts to court death? Ancestral precepts, ancestral precepts, could the ancients from hundreds of years ago understand the current social environment? 'When things are bad, change is necessary; change leads to progress; progress leads to benefiting all under heaven.' Isn't this another ancestral precept of the Shao family?"

Shao Bai flew into a rage, his face turning bright red, and he kept scratching his messy hair.

“I… am dead, and your superpowers will be unable to be used. ‘Yang cannot be separated from Yin, and Yin cannot be separated from Yang.’ If you do not follow the ancestral teachings, you will become a mortal—” Shao Hei’s voice remained weak, like a candle flame in a storm, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

"Ancestral precepts, ancestral precepts, those weren't rules personally established by Grandpa and Dad, so what do they have to do with us? We'll just listen to Dad's words, why should we listen to the arrangements of those rotting corpses already lying in their coffins?"

The two of them debated back and forth about whether or not to follow ancestral teachings. Zhang Baisen suddenly hesitated, raised his hand to signal, and then interjected: "Both of you, stop arguing. The Shao family's Zhouyi divination skills are a treasure of ancient Chinese arts, with immeasurable value. Now it's not just a matter of whether or not to pass them on to outsiders. Most importantly, I don't want to break up your 'Yin-Yang Combination Attack' and turn it into meaningless junk. A large portion of traditional Chinese martial arts and supernatural abilities have already been lost. Even if we can preserve a small part, it will be a huge contribution to the country."

"Hehehehe—" Shao Bai sneered. At this moment, he couldn't listen to Zhang Baisen's grand principles of patriotism and concern for the people; all he cared about was the high-ranking official position and generous salary offered by the Americans. After scratching his head violently again, broken hair and dandruff covered the shoulders of his gray suit.

The tycoon burst through the door, laughing dismissively, "With your abilities, why bother working for the Americans? Come with me, and I can find an opportunity to personally recommend you to the President of the United States. What's so great about a mere military advisor?" In terms of money and power, no one could compare to the tycoon, but everyone in the room was currently arguing about "extraordinary arts," so no one paid him any attention.

"It's no use... My abilities have already been given to Feng... If you want the Americans to support you and worship you, you have to cooperate with Feng. Brother, Dad was never wrong about you. He knew you couldn't overcome your inner greed, which is why he only passed on the inferior skill of 'Yang Fish' to you... Without my 'Yin Fish Mind-Communicating Technique,' 'Yang Fish' has no target to seek, and you will become no different from an ordinary person. Will the Americans still hire you? I doubt it... Don't you understand the Pentagon's profit-driven approach?"

Shao Hei's breathing grew increasingly rapid. He straightened up, and his eyes suddenly widened. He had entered a state of "final lucidity," his life hanging by a thread.

"Brother Zhang... let's begin, I'm... unable to go on..." He turned his head and pleaded with Zhang Baisen.

Shao Bai hesitated for a moment, then suddenly rushed forward, shouting, "Don't move, Boss Zhang! If you really consider us brothers your friends, don't listen to Lao Er's nonsense! Don't let him do anything stupid..."

We were less than ten steps apart when, unexpectedly, he suddenly turned his body as he lunged at Zhang Baisen, his ten fingers like hooks, slashing towards my throat, like a raptor poised to pounce.

He was right. If I were killed, Shao Hei would have no one to pass on his superpowers, and they would have no choice but to fight their way out. This would allow the brothers to survive the current crisis of splitting up.

Opposite me stood a tycoon with his back pressed against the door, a faint, sneer on his face that conveyed both all-knowing insight and arrogance. This expression of his had appeared countless times on the front pages of major media outlets and the covers of mainstream wealth magazines, and he had also been the subject of interviews in recent issues of Forbes and World's Richest Golf magazines as their Person of the Year.

This smile has become the tycoon's trademark, driving beauties of all skin colors around the world crazy.

I knew he wasn't laughing at me, but a surge of anger welled up inside me, a desire to burst forth all at once. I raised my right hand and swiftly executed the "Golden Thread Wrist Entanglement Hand" combined with the "Small Grappling Hand," instantly locking Shao Bai's arms in place. I treated Shao Bai like a tycoon, venting my anger towards him—the anger I felt towards the tycoon and towards Guan Baoling—on him.

With two sharp cracks, Shao Bai's left wrist and right elbow broke simultaneously. My palm rushed towards his chest with unstoppable force, then changed from a palm to a fist halfway through. I used a move called "Sky-Piercing Cannon" from the Kaifeng "Taizu Long Fist" style. It has few variations but is powerful. I just wanted to send him flying with one punch.

While in the Egyptian desert, my primary focus was on the notebook left behind by my elder brother, Yang Tian. Although girls constantly appeared in my life—Su Lun, Teng Jia, Tina, Tang Xin…—none of them affected my thoughts; I remained steadfastly focused on exploring the mysterious events. However, during this trip to Hokkaido, after meeting Guan Baoling, her shadow began to linger in my mind, alongside my elder brother Yang Tian, creating a constant tug-of-war of love and hate, preventing me from finding any peace.

Her changes in behavior directly affected my actions, and they were always the same. The tycoon, with whom I could previously have a smooth and friendly relationship, had become a thorn in my side because of Bao Ling's existence.

"Wind, have mercy—"

Zhang Baisen's relentless palm strikes came crashing down, grabbing my right fist like a tornado and giving Shao Bai a chance to roll away. After crashing into the table, his back slammed into the corner of the wall with a dull thud.

The tycoon remained expressionless, glanced at me, and slightly raised his chin: "Old Zhang, what exactly are you guys up to? Regarding the extortion case, whoever can offer the first constructive suggestion will receive a huge bonus. Everyone must do their best; I will not go back on my word." He flicked his cuff, as if Shao Bai's sudden fall had stirred up dust and dirtied his suit, then opened the door and walked out.

"The wind blows, life is unpredictable, gatherings and separations are like duckweed, never act impulsively." In front of Zhang Baisen, who had a keen understanding of the ways of the world, I could not hide my thoughts.

Shao Bai groaned as he stood up, his arms hanging limply at his sides, staring intently at me.

"Brother... Brother, come here..." Shao Hei called softly.

Shao Bai's gaze shifted to Shao Hei's face, his expression strangely complex, his jaw muscles trembling rapidly. Suddenly, he turned and walked towards the door.

I yearn to obtain the extraordinary abilities passed down through generations of the Shao family, but if it means causing the brothers to lose their lives, then it is absolutely impossible to proceed.

“It’s too late, Feng… If I hadn’t transferred my own power to you, how could you have broken through the limits of remote sensing and reached another illusion? It’s just a pity, brother… He violated the ancestral teachings, and this time he must have disappointed the spirits of our ancestors in heaven…” His palm suddenly became scorching hot, as if a stream of molten lava was about to erupt and drill straight into my hand.

"Don't be afraid... This is the core of my thoughts after half a lifetime of cultivation. Perhaps when you encounter a master illustrator with whom you share a deep connection, you can also utilize a part of this 'mind-reading technique.' Fate is predetermined, but human effort is crucial. I hope you have a lucky future... a future..."

The burning sensation disappeared, like a firework that had finished its shot, leaving only lingering warmth.