Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 54

However, this mountain range can only be discovered within the Yellow River; it is not visible if you stand on the mountain alone.

Old Nanpazi immediately brought the small boat ashore and went up the mountain to carefully observe the terrain. Finally, he found the entrance to the Shadow Kunlun eye of the storm, but he did not enter it because if it was Shadow Kunlun, it could not be the tomb of an emperor, but at most the tomb of an empress.

He just couldn't understand why, if she was just an empress of a certain dynasty, she wouldn't be buried with the emperor. Even if she wasn't buried with him, they could just find a good ancient burial site. Why go to such lengths, wasting manpower and resources, to alter the course of mountains and rivers and create the Kunlun eye of the storm?

It is important to understand that altering the course of mountains and rivers is by no means an easy task. Generally speaking, no feng shui master would advocate this method. However, if it were an imperial tomb, in order to ensure that future generations would enjoy wealth and prosperity forever, the course of the terrain might be altered at great expense and cost. Generally speaking, the course of mountains and rivers should be close to the dragon vein, and altering the course would mean turning the area close to the dragon vein into the dragon vein itself.

However, the original Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye must have been altered out of thin air. In that case, it is unknown how much manpower and resources would have been required!

After returning home, Lao Nanpaizi searched through many ancient books but found no information about the Shadow Kunlun Eye. Driven by curiosity, he took his two apprentices and returned to Donghua Town on the banks of the Yellow River. Standing on the hillside, looking at the roaring Yellow River in the distance, he was dumbfounded...

This is a matter of fate! In other words, there should be another burial site opposite the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye. However—in Lao Nanpaizi's opinion, that location is definitely not a dragon vein, but an ancient Yin Sha. In addition, it is in the water, which is simply a water prison. If any water corpses are buried in this place, they will definitely never be able to be reincarnated.

If it were merely an ancient Yin energy, that would be one thing. But after wandering along the Yellow River for about half a month, Lao Nanpaizi finally discovered that the person who set up this trap was truly ruthless. Above was the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye, which altered the natural order, and yet it was a woman who was buried there. This combined the Yin energy of heaven, earth, and man, completely sealing off the ancient Yin energy and turning this place into a place of great misfortune. As long as the Yellow River doesn't dry up and Shadow Kunlun doesn't collapse, the person buried underneath will likely never be able to be reborn.

Chapter Six: The Southern Crawler Faction

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but ask, "So, is there some hidden secret in that Yellow River dragon's eye? Is it not only not a dragon's lair, but also a place of malevolent energy?"

Old Chen sighed, nodded, and continued, "Our ancestor was too strong-willed. After discovering this secret, he would run to the Yellow River every few days, sometimes for three to five months at a time. At first, our master didn't pay any attention, until one time, our master left for a year and a half without returning. So our two masters went looking for him..."

"Have you found it?" the young master asked anxiously.

"No!" Old Zhang answered us, taking several puffs of his pipe and exhaling smoke. "Our ancestral master just disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead. As a result, the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye and the Demon King's Ghost Cave attracted the attention of our two masters."

However, both of them were intelligent and naturally understood that even their master had perished there. If they rashly entered, they would surely run into trouble and lose their lives. Moreover, the Yellow River was too high; they could only enter when it dried up. So, the two masters began to collect information about the Shadow Kunlun Eye and gathered many legends about the Yellow River Eye near Donghua Town. Finally, they concluded that perhaps… perhaps the legendary Great Demon King Chi You was buried in that Yellow River Eye.

"That's not right!" The young master jumped up, pointed at Old Zhang's nose and cursed, "Do you think we haven't studied history? Everyone knows that Chi You was torn apart by five horses by the Yellow Emperor. Where would there be any body buried?"

Although we once speculated in the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye that perhaps... the Yellow River Eye is where the Great Demon King Chi You is buried, no one has any conclusive evidence. After all, these are legendary figures, and the Yellow Emperor and Chi You... are both deified figures.

Old Zhang wasn't angry. He smiled bitterly and said, "The legend is indeed like that, but what about the truth? Nobody knows the truth. The pen of history is always in the hands of the victors. Over thousands of years, those figures have become almost deified. Some of the younger generations even doubt whether the Yellow Emperor and Chi You really existed."

I pulled the impetuous young master aside and asked with a frown, "Then how did you determine that the legendary Great Demon King is buried in the eye of the Yellow River?"

“Let me tell you!” Old Chen took over the conversation and continued, “Let’s start from the beginning… After our two masters collected some scattered information, his master…” As he spoke, he pointed to Old Zhang and said, “Your master’s part, you tell us.”

“Alright.” Old Zhang took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and looked at the smoke swirling in the room. A glint seemed to flash in his originally cloudy eyes. After a long while, he said, “My master’s surname is also Zhang. In fact, I take my master’s surname. I was an abandoned baby… to be specific, a ghost child abandoned in a graveyard.”

The young master muttered, "Who's interested in your background?"

I was horrified. Before liberation, due to the lack of advanced contraception, many ordinary peasant women had multiple births, leading to immense suffering for both mother and child. But if it were just about suffering, it wouldn't be so bad. The problem was that some families simply couldn't afford to raise the children. In such circumstances, many impoverished families would drown their newborns in the toilet. Some would even take their newborns to a bridge and chop them in half with a sickle. The cruelty of these methods was utterly appalling. Yet, such behavior was almost universally condemned because they simply couldn't afford to raise the children…

However, some families, unable to bear killing their children, would abandon them by the roadside, hoping they would find a kind person to adopt them. But generally, the chances of being adopted were very low; most children froze or starved to death, or simply became food for wild animals. Back then, it wasn't like now; wolves and foxes were plentiful.

There are also some families who, for reasons unknown, give birth to children but cannot raise them and abandon them in the cemetery. Even if someone passing by the cemetery sees such a child, they would not dare to adopt him, as such a child is considered very unlucky and will bring misfortune to the adopter.

Old Zhang was abandoned in a graveyard when he was a child, but he was lucky enough to meet a master who didn't believe in superstitions. The master not only raised him to adulthood but also taught him all the skills of a hermit, allowing him to enter and leave ancient tombs as if they were empty—but then again, there are no living people in ancient tombs to begin with…

In the words of Master Zhang, this child has a tough life, is born with an inextricable connection to graves, and is a natural-born "southern scoundrel" who can suppress evil spirits.

The facts proved his point. Old Zhang had traveled to countless burial sites, both large and small, throughout his life. As the saying goes, "If you walk the dark road too much, you're bound to encounter ghosts eventually." And "If you dig too many graves, you're bound to run into zombies sooner or later." But the old man had always escaped danger without incident and made a fortune off the dead.

Old Zhang took his master's surname. After their great-grandfather disappeared, the two masters began to discuss their options. Master Chen stayed at the Yellow River Dragon Beach to continue collecting and organizing information about the Shadow Kunlun Eye of the Wind, while Old Zhang's master began digging up graves and robbing tombs everywhere. He wouldn't let go of any information, even if it was just hearsay, as long as it contained some related details. His most distinctive characteristic was that no matter how many burial objects were in the tomb, he always insisted on opening the coffin and taking the tomb owner's epitaph. From the epitaphs of successive generations of tomb owners, he would painstakingly search for the legend of the Shadow Kunlun Eye of the Wind.

Through three or four decades of painstaking effort, piecing together fragmented data, the conclusion they reached shocked them. They met again at Longtan on the Yellow River, but the meeting was less than pleasant. Master Zhang invited Master Chen to visit the actual eye of the Kunlun Mountains, but for some reason, Master Chen refused.

It was a mystery; no one knew the reason. All that was known was that the two had a huge argument and parted on bad terms. So, Master Zhang took his apprentice and went alone to the real Kunlun Mountains, where they spent half a year finding the true eye of the Kunlun wind.

Kunlun Mountain has always been known as a sacred mountain. Since it is the true eye of the Kunlun sacred mountain, if there is indeed a tomb inside, it must be extraordinary. Master Zhang is already old, so Old Man Zhang decided to go down himself and let his master guard it from above...

However, Master Zhang refused to let his disciple take the risk and still entered the eye of the storm in Kunlun Mountain alone...

To this day, Old Zhang still doesn't know who is buried in the true eye of the Kunlun Mountains. He waited outside for more than ten days, but Master Zhang didn't return. His heart pounded with anxiety. He gritted his teeth and waited another ten days, but Master Zhang still didn't return. Helpless, Old Zhang hastily buried the true eye of the Kunlun Mountains and ran to the Yellow River to discuss countermeasures with Master Chen.

Unexpectedly, that very night, while he was staying at a farmer's house, Master Zhang, covered in mud and pale-faced, followed him.

Hearing this, I couldn't help but shudder—could it be that Master Zhang actually spent more than twenty days in the tomb? That's impossible! Back then, there were no modern lighting tools; they relied on oil lamps and candles. How could he have survived for more than twenty days in the pitch black underground? And how did he manage to get food and water?

Old Zhang took a deep breath as he finished speaking. His pipe had gone out, so he took some more tobacco, filled it up, lit it, and took a few deep drags. This time, none of us urged him on.

Old Zhang exhaled a puff of smoke and continued in a low voice, "Although my master came out alive, he was mentally unstable and insane. His mental and physical condition was terrible. It was inconvenient for him to travel in that state. I said many kind words to that farmer's family and gave them money. They rented half a room for me... Two days later, my master passed away. On his deathbed, he kept muttering four words incoherently—"

"Which four words?" the young master asked hurriedly.

“Heaven is flawed, Earth is incomplete!” Old Zhang said, his cloudy eyes fixed on my face.

I couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah!" What other meaning did this "Heavenly Cripple and Earthly Flaw" have besides representing that ancient seal? Why did Master Zhang murmur these four words on his deathbed?

What exactly did he discover in the Kunlun Mountains?

I'm afraid no one can answer this question for me.

"And then what happened?" I continued, as this matter concerned the girl's life and death, and was no trivial matter.

"Then my master disappeared..." Old Chen sighed and said in a low voice, "You've all heard the story from sixty-one years ago, haven't you? That old man was my master..."

"What?" I jumped up in shock. So... so that old man, the old man my grandmother said was too old to move, was actually Chen Laogui's master.

"Two years later, the Yellow River's eye dried up, revealing the riverbed. Master said that was the only chance to enter the Demon King's Cave. He was old and didn't have time to wait another sixty years, so he entered the Demon King's Cave. At that time, Junior Brother Zhang and I were both away on a long trip. When we returned, the Yellow River's eye was full of water, and we couldn't go down anymore. As you know, there was no diving equipment back then, and even the best swimmers didn't dare to go down. Over the years, Junior Brother Zhang has continued to collect information about the Yellow River's eye and Shadow Kunlun in various places. Of course, there is very little information on this." Old Chen said this in one breath, picked up a broken bowl, drank a large bowl of water, and then continued—

We all know what happened after that. After liberation, tomb raiding was naturally cracked down on severely, but fortunately, the two old men were usually quite low-key, so not many people knew about it.

However, under such circumstances, continuing research on the Shadow Kunlun Eye and the Yellow River Eye became extremely difficult. Left with no other option, Zhang's two disciples still devoted themselves to archaeological work, openly and legitimately researching everything related to the Shadow Kunlun Eye and the Yellow River Eye under the guise of national authority.

To my surprise, Old Chen actually knew Wang Quansheng. After learning that Wang Quansheng had found bronze artifacts in the Yellow River, he secretly taught him a couple of phrases from the Southern Paizi and sent him to Taiyuan to sell antiques.

I've always wondered why the honest and simple Wang Quansheng knew those few coded phrases from the Southern bandits. It turns out that Old Chen taught him them.

Old Chen had been keeping a close eye on the Yellow River's eye; how could he not know that Wang Quansheng and his men were dredging sand there? And so, Wang Quansheng went to sell antiques at the South Gate of Taiyuan, and then, I, the unlucky one, appeared…

In this whole affair, I seem to be the most innocent party. Just because I bought a few bronze artifacts from Wang Quansheng, I ended up getting dragged into this mess.

Professor Wang and Ya Tou are blood relatives. Professor Wang's original purpose for coming here was to investigate some folk customs, but now it seems that it was also for the Yellow River Eye.

After listening to all that they said, we were still confused. Why did Old Man Zhang insist on dragging me, the maid, and the young master into this mess?

As for how they deduced that the woman buried in the eye of the Kunlun wind was the Yellow Emperor's woman, while the eye of the Yellow River was the burial place of the great demon king Chi You, I have no interest in knowing.

"Even so, what does this have to do with us? Since you are seasoned tomb raiders, why don't you go and risk your lives in the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye?" I was being blunt, but that was the truth, and I didn't need to be polite to them.

Old Zhang took a breath and continued, "Do you think we don't want to? But since you discovered that ancient bronze sword, you can't escape responsibility for it."

I looked down at the bronze sword in my hand, puzzled. Why was I implicated just because I discovered the bronze sword? What kind of logic was that?

“Over the years, we have tried our best to study everything about that era, but we were shocked to find that that era—it seems to have had a civilization that was more advanced than modern times—and the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou should be the dividing line of that period, which resulted in the destruction of that once highly advanced civilization.” Old Chen shook his head and said in a low voice.

"So what?" the young master said dismissively. "Whether it's destroyed or not, what does it have to do with us?"

“After the Yellow River Dragon Coffin was brought out of the water, almost everyone who came into contact with it died, but why are the three of you unharmed? You and he were the first to come into contact with those bronze artifacts. Logically speaking, you should have died before Professor Wang and the others. Why are you alright?” Old Zhang stood up and asked me directly.

Damn it, I got angry too. I jumped up, grabbed Old Zhang by the collar, and lifted him up fiercely, saying, "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to curse me to death? I'm tough, you know?"

Old Zhang wasn't afraid of me at all, staring intently at me as he said, "You're right, you have the strongest birth chart I've ever seen! If your birth chart isn't strong, who would dare to rob a tomb? Haha... So, after thinking it over, I've decided it's better if you do it. We've been through so much, we've become hesitant, while you're an outsider, you don't know anything, maybe... by chance you really can break through the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye..."

"But why should I destroy the Shadow Kunlun Eye? What good would that do me?" I roared. Originally, my agreement to go to the Shadow Kunlun Eye was the government's idea, as suggested by Huang Zhihua and others. Now, I've become free labor for the Nanpaizi faction. If it weren't for his advanced age, I would have really wanted to give him a good beating.

Old Zhang didn't answer my question, but looked at Old Chen, who shook his head at him.

A thought struck me, and I couldn't help but ask, "Did you already know that the girl relief in the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye looked very similar to the maid?"

"I...no!" Old Zhang denied it vehemently, but I looked at him with suspicion.

"What do we do now?" Huang Zhihua, who had been silent until now, asked.

What should we do? We definitely have to go to the Kunlun eye of the storm again. I asked Old Zhang where we could get some more tools for ourselves. He said that was easy, he had brought backups of everything. In fact, he had originally planned to go down there himself.

In the evening, Old Chen prepared a few side dishes and cooked a big pot of rice. We ate at his place. In the end, everyone decided that Old Chen and Old Zhang would accompany us into the Shadow Kunlun Eye again, and we would set off early the next morning.

I know that now is not the time to assign blame. The most important thing is to break the curse on the dragon coffin and find a way to rescue the girl.

As for the two old men's ambiguous statements, although there were many suspicious points, I had no choice but to keep quiet about them.

The next morning, Wang Ming and Hu Lai were quite eager and had already hired a tractor. We quickly ate breakfast, carried our backpacks, got on the tractor, and bumped our way to Longtan.

I remember very clearly that the place where we climbed out of the Yellow River last time was near Longtan, and Longtan is the specific location of the eye of the Yellow River.

I remember when Lao Cai led us down the hillside to look down, we saw countless will-o'-the-wisps on the Dragon Beach, flickering and indistinct...

When the young master asked me, I explained that it was phosphorus from the soil—now that I think about it, I'm afraid those will-o'-the-wisps weren't that simple, were they?

I found the hole we climbed out of yesterday. The Yellow River had risen quite a bit and was very close to the hole. I couldn't help but worry that if the Yellow River rose and flooded the hole after we went in, wouldn't we be drowned?

"Are you sure you want to go in from here?" Huang Zhihua asked.

After discussing it last night, the young master and I agreed that it would be much more convenient to enter from here than from the main entrance of the Shadow Kunlun Eye.

"Wait..." Old Chen suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning.

"This... do you think there might be some kind of connection between the Shadow Kunlun Eye and the Yellow River Eye? The more I look at it, the more something seems off," said Old Chen.

The young master rolled his eyes at him and sneered, "What's wrong?" He disliked the two old men more and more. Of course, I felt the same way, but now I still needed their help to enter the Shadow Kunlun Eye of Wind again.

"It's nothing!" Old Chen chuckled dryly twice.

Huang Zhihua had already jumped into the Yellow River and said to me, "Old Xu, I'll go down first, you follow..."

I nodded in agreement. This soldier had been taciturn ever since leaving the Shadow Kunlun Eye of Wind. From yesterday until now, he had barely spoken a few words. But when something really happened, he was always the first to rush to the front.

Soon, Huang Zhihua climbed into the cave. I didn't dare to hesitate and quickly followed him, followed by Old Man Zhang and the young master, with Old Man Chen bringing up the rear.

Upon entering the cave, the outside light became incredibly dim. We all turned on our miners' lamps overhead. Old Zhang repeatedly praised how useful they were, saying they were far superior to the Ghost Blows Out the Light he used in his youth. The young master, curious, asked what the Ghost Blows Out the Light was, but Old Zhang simply smiled and remained silent.

I've heard of "Ghost Blows Out the Light." That thing—it's basically an oil lamp, but with a long handle sticking out. When tomb raiders crawl into the tomb, since their hands are full, they hold the lamp in their mouths. Experienced, professional tomb raiders will kneel and bow to the tomb owner before opening the tomb, hoping to gain their forgiveness. Generally, in such situations, if the lamp doesn't go out, it means there's no problem; if the lamp goes out, it means the tomb owner doesn't want to be disturbed.

In such a situation, you should quickly put down the funerary objects you have already obtained or are about to obtain, kneel and bow three times and leave the tomb, otherwise there will be danger.

Huang Zhihua walked first, took a few steps forward, stopped, and asked in a low voice, "Old Xu, come and take a look..."

I quickly took a step forward and stood next to him. I saw him pointing to the walls on both sides of the tunnel. Originally, the walls on both sides of the tunnel were completely covered with dense black vines, making it impossible to tell what they were. Now, he had burned the black vines away, revealing the original color of the tunnel walls, which showed signs of being burned and were charred black.

Fortunately, the thick smoke had long since dissipated, but I could still smell a peculiar stench in my nose, an indescribable nausea.

"The walls of this tunnel look like they were burned before," Huang Zhihua said in a low voice.

I nodded in agreement. Scattered among the walls were fragments of corpses, all incomplete. This involuntarily reminded me of the tomb chamber of the King of Guangchuan, where countless bones lay scattered on the open space leading to the high platform. Could this tunnel be the same?

However, I wonder what happened to cause those black vines to grow? It makes sense – there is some natural light in this tunnel, and the Yellow River water probably often flows in, so it's reasonable for plants to grow. Moreover, since they grow alongside corpses and bones, they naturally become tainted with evil energy.

Wait, something suddenly occurred to me. If this tunnel is perpetually covered by those black vines, how did that policeman and Old Man Chen's master get in back then? Did they also burn the vines to get in?

Huang Zhihua seemed to have thought of this problem as well, and turned to look at me. I shook my head at him; this place was just too eerie.

The five of us walked in silence, step by step. Because we had fled in such a hurry, and with the vines obstructing our view, we couldn't see anything clearly, and had no idea how deep the tunnel was. After walking for about ten minutes, we still hadn't reached the end. The young master said in a low voice, "Why does this tunnel seem longer?"

I explained with a laugh that when I went out, I ran fast to escape, but now I'm walking slowly, so the tunnel naturally feels longer.