King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 132

Within seconds, the water droplets on the sign completely dripped off and flowed back into the water through the floor. The sign seemed to be coated with some kind of special oil, leaving no water stains whatsoever.

It's absolutely true. This is what Guan Baoling and I brought back after we escaped danger. The openwork pattern of "Hou Yi Shooting the Sun" and those strange little holes are still clearly visible.

“My master, Master Jianzhen, spent his entire life searching for the ‘Wrath of the Sun God.’ He did not seek gold, silver, jewels, or fleeting fame and fortune, but rather the lives of the common people. With the wisdom of our time, we did not understand where the ‘Wrath of the Sun God’ came from, and only named it ‘a fragment after Yi shot down nine suns.’ He once said that the gem would one day reach the point of boiling the sea and destroying every inch of the land on which we stand.”

I nodded with a wry smile. If the eminent monk from over a thousand years ago could have realized this, it would have been far beyond the level of technological development at that time.

“Miss Fujika, even if Master Jianzhen can find the ‘Wrath of the Sun God,’ with their abilities, what method do they have to destroy it? They won’t do what some foolish African scientist did, using seawater to extinguish the lava eruption, resulting in the death of all people and livestock in an area of over 10,000 square kilometers, will they?”

I'm not exaggerating. This horrific tragedy occurred around 1900, during the eruption of the Cartara volcano in the Comoros Islands of Africa. A tribal leader, a half-shaman and half-scientist, orchestrated this farcical farce. The Japanese archipelago has a similar distribution structure to the Comoros Islands. Fortunately, Master Jianzhen failed to succeed; otherwise, this Pacific island nation might not exist on the map of the world today.

“Master said that unless the ‘Key to Destiny’ is found, no one can subdue the scorching and pulsating ‘Wrath of the Sun God’. The ‘Blue Heaven and Yellow Springs Scripture’ vividly describes it as ‘a lamp as small as a bean, eight-sided crystal, perfectly sealed, and not allowed to leak out.’ When it is quiet, it is like the flame of a small oil lamp, but once it erupts, it has the unparalleled power to illuminate the world.”

At this point, Tengjia suddenly sighed: "Feng, does this description immediately remind you of the characteristics of nuclear explosions and nuclear weapons?"

I tightened my collar, unsure how to answer.

Fujika suddenly looked up and sighed, asking with a hint of bewilderment, "What is the 'Key of Destiny'? Since the 'Wrath of the Sun God' contains such immense power, who sealed it away and placed it in the tomb of the gods deep in the ocean?"

One question after another loomed, and compared to them, why Fujika fell into a coma and why he awoke became insignificant. What mattered was the future of humanity. Would they be able to escape future catastrophes—nuclear weapons are currently the most uncontrollable and terrifying force on Earth. Humanity's frenzied research into this unknown energy was like dancing on a knife's edge, with the constant danger of being pierced through at any moment.

Both "Wrath of the Sun" and the earlier "Eye of the Moon" bear the shadow of nuclear weapons, but I believe that as their mysterious characteristics are further revealed, their explosive power will make all the world's nuclear powers ashamed and have nowhere to hide.

“We disciples don’t understand what our master is thinking, including his six attempts to cross the sea to Hokkaido, regardless of everything. It wasn’t until we successfully crossed the sea and discovered this cold pool that our master was overjoyed and immediately ordered us ten disciples to build thatched huts and settle here.”

She was sitting cross-legged on a bamboo couch, raising her chin to the south to indicate that "Cold Pool" referred to "Well of Spiritual Connection".

I let out several breaths of suffocated air. As Fujika continued her lengthy narration, I felt increasingly confused, but I could quickly think of one thing: "Miss Fujika, did Master Jianzhen know that when the 'Wrath of the Sun God' accumulated energy and sank into the sea, it absorbed a large amount of heat from the water molecules, thus causing the 'Well of Spirits' to have such a cold characteristic?"

My university professor conducted in-depth research on the "black hole theory" of celestial bodies and even wrote a book on it.

With its tiny size, "Wrath of Apollo" contains enormous energy and must possess an extremely strong core gravity. It can be approximated as a relatively small black hole. When its properties and size change, it will have an unpredictable and enormous impact on the temperature of the external environment.

Tengjia smiled bitterly: "That's right, but none of the disciples can understand this principle. Everyone only knows that water evaporates when heated and freezes when cooled, but they cannot understand that the 'Wrath of the Sun God', which is extremely yang and hot, is buried under the cold pool."

The development of physical science is advancing rapidly. People in the Tang Dynasty did not even understand that the Earth was just a speck of dust in the universe, so of course they did not understand the so-called "black hole theory".

“Master, the ten disciples, and I, a total of twelve people, each received a copy of the ‘Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs Scripture,’ which we studied and pondered day and night. Master always believed that a person’s spiritual energy would communicate with the spiritual energy of the gemstone, thus obtaining a shortcut to the bottom of the water.”

I gradually fell silent, and could only listen to this extremely old history with a melancholy air.

Suddenly, four or five strands of long hair fell in front of Tengjia. They were all grayish-white, dry and curled, and she casually caught them.

"Among the ten disciples, the one with the highest comprehension was the second senior brother, Kongdu. Within fifteen days, he sensed the summoning power of the gemstone, deep within the icy pool. Within forty days, even I, with the dullest comprehension, received that sensation—in a vast, empty hall, the red light emitted by the gemstone filled the air. I felt as if I were being drawn to it, ultimately becoming attached to it and melting into the red light..."

I took a deep breath and watched as Fujika slowly rubbed the gray hair in her palm. Then, another strand of gray hair fell, landing precisely on the strings. I looked up at her head in horror; her smooth black hair was gone, replaced by mottled black and white hair that was terribly dry.

"What's wrong with your hair?" I vaguely guessed what had happened. When a person is deep in thought about a problem and enters a state of complete absorption, this kind of hair change can occur.

“It’s nothing, just overthinking. Let me continue—the ten disciples under Master’s tutelage underwent rigorous diving training, which lasted 365 days a year without interruption. It was then that I learned that Master had long sensed the whereabouts of the ‘Wrath of the Sun God’ and knew that it had sunk into the sea.”

“Buddhist disciples abstain from alcohol, lust, meat, and greed, anger, and delusion. However, five days before deciding to go into the water, the master ordered all ten of his fellow disciples to go down the mountain to break their vows and have fun, returning only when they were done. On the last night, the master lit a bonfire in front of the cold pool and ordered us to gather around the bonfire and swear to the heavens that even if we risked our lives, we would find the whereabouts of the ‘Wrath of the Sun God’.”

As darkness fell, the sound of people pacing back and forth outside the bamboo gate could be heard; it must be the important figure lingering there.

Within Japan, the incantations and prohibitions of ninjas are as powerful as the Gu poison of Miao tribes in southern China. The methods are varied and bizarre, but the consequences of breaking the prohibitions are equally tragic.

Perhaps at this moment, Tengjia is not Tengjia at all, but rather the Buddhist female disciple whose soul is imprisoned in the molted body of a cicada, merely using Tengjia's body to communicate with me.

The story of Jianzhen's journey to Japan has been included in elementary school textbooks in both China and Japan, but no academic researcher has ever deeply analyzed the reasons for his stubborn determination to travel east. This long-standing history has finally been revealed by Fujika. History is just history; even a Buddhist monk of great wisdom and unwavering dedication like Jianzhen could not stop the wheels of time from rolling forward.

Another strand of hair slipped down, and Tengjia stopped narrating in shock. She rubbed her palms together, and all the gray hair in her palms turned into powder that fell in a flurry.

"Everyone dies eventually, including their soul, which eventually turns to ashes. Wind, when I saw this sign, I finally understood the meaning of my persistent existence within the cicada's molt—"

The cold wind mercilessly swept away the dust from the hair, and startled carp under the bridge splashed out of the water with a "plop," creating a long string of water droplets and hundreds of ripples, breaking the silence of "Youhuang Water Town".

The water around the pavilion was not deep. Startled by the big fish, hundreds of red koi suddenly emerged from the cracks in the rocks and behind the bamboo roots, swimming around the pavilion in a panic, like a ribbon suddenly flying.

Bamboo, pavilion, zither, and fish all seem to carry profound meaning, including the unpredictable wind direction within the bamboo wall and the intermittent mist on the water's surface.

The sign came from the deep sea, and even I don't know how it could have penetrated the glass floor and entered that strange space. What did she know? In Fujika's recollection, each recounting left me more astonished than the last. In the end, all I could do was listen quietly and smile bitterly; I simply didn't know how to react.

“I am the key, the ‘Blue Heaven and Yellow Springs Scripture’ is the key, and this plaque is also the key. All the efforts that everyone has made to find the ‘Wrath of the Sun God’ are also keys, just to open the most suitable entrance at the most suitable time and from the most suitable angle for the most suitable person. The reason why my soul has not dissipated for thousands of years and I have existed alone is to decipher the secret depicted on this plaque.”

When she looked in confusion toward the "Tower of the Dead," I clearly saw the helplessness written in her eyes.

"A key? I don't understand what you mean. Please continue. What did Master Jianzhen and his ten disciples discover in the icy pool? Why is it that only your soul can live for a thousand years, and not theirs?"

I'm terrified she'll say, "You're the most suitable person." Water and fire are merciless. I hope what I'm about to experience is an "adventure" rather than a "suicide." The principle that truly great people should follow throughout their lives is "not being afraid of death" rather than "not knowing death."

The saying "ignorance is bliss" couldn't be more true. After experiencing deep-sea fear once, I think anyone would carefully consider their own abilities before going into the water.

"Them? They've all vanished, neither alive nor dead. The icy pool is like the gaping maw of death, swallowing up all ten disciples one by one, starting with the eldest brother, without leaving a trace."

This tragedy happened a thousand years ago, but hearing it spoken word by word still sent chills down my spine and made my scalp tingle.

The fish were startled once again and scattered suddenly, like a giant red firework exploding in the pond.

“They’re hungry,” Fujika said, uttering a seemingly random sentence.

The large group of koi, each only about 20 centimeters long, are probably four or five years older than the larger fish under the pavilion.

I know she has a lot to say, and I hope I am the most suitable listener. What does it matter if the fish is hungry or not?

“Come out. Even if you eavesdrop for another twenty years, you still won’t have an epiphany. What’s the point of doing all this useless work?” Tengjia spoke again, turning his head towards the bamboo bridge outside the pavilion.

I sensed a murderous aura, a powerful and invincible murderous aura, mixed with the smell of fine steel blades and blood.

A person in a black diving suit silently emerged from under the bridge. His legs bent and straightened, his upper body already above the water. His gleaming eyes, hidden behind a black mask, swept over me several times before he spoke coldly: "What is enlightenment? That's just the nonsense old monks spout! A person can eat, sleep, enjoy life, and be glamorous. Then, with a single stroke of the sword, head and body severed, all is over—that's enlightenment, and utter enlightenment at that! Hahahaha..."

She was a woman, and her voice was quite pleasant.

"You can leave now! I don't want to cause any more trouble. I just want to have a quiet chat with Mr. Feng." Teng Jia waved his hand, his expression calm.

With a whoosh, the man in black leaped from the water onto the bamboo bridge, his right arm gripping the hilt of the knife on his shoulder. He let out another cold laugh: "I want that iron plaque, and I want to know the secrets on it."

She wasn't wearing a standard military or civilian rubber wetsuit, but rather a "sharkskin wetsuit" commonly used by pirates and sea bandits. Once she left the water, the water droplets on her body would automatically roll off within minutes, leaving no trace.

The metal plaque is mine, and only I can decide its ownership, but I will never give it to this man in black who emerged from underwater.

Tengjia's expression remained calm as she looked at the menacing man in black: "Don't you understand what I'm saying? I said I want to talk to Mr. Feng alone."

The iron plaque leaned against the bamboo couch. The man in black quickly approached, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, poised but not yet drawn, exuding an imposing aura. My mind was preoccupied with the "mermaid" incident the important figure had mentioned, and I had overlooked the unusual situation under the bridge.

"Too overconfident—" Teng Jia sighed softly. Just as more gray hairs fell from her head, the man in black suddenly drew his sword, slashing towards Teng Jia's legs with a breathtaking arc of light. This was just a feint. A black, five-clawed steel cable shot out from her trouser leg, hooking into the perforated part of the iron plate with a whoosh, and then retracting instantly, the iron plate falling into her hand.

The black-clad woman's martial arts were indeed strange and superb, but before she could even laugh after succeeding, Teng Jia chased after her like a shadow. In just half a second, the iron plate was back in the position in front of the bamboo bed, exactly as it had been, but the black-clad woman had already staggered backward, her samurai sword hanging limply at her side.

Tengjia's martial arts skills were far beyond my expectations; compared to when we were in the Egyptian desert, he had undergone a complete transformation.

Volume Three, The Well of Spirits

Part 1: Clash of Titans

— Chapter 2 — History from a Thousand Years Ago —

"Cough cough, cough cough... Pfft—" The man in black tried his best to endure it, but in the end he couldn't help but turn his head and spit out a mouthful of blood, which splashed on the water surface, attracting the koi to swim over quickly and chase after the blood streaks that were gradually spreading on the water surface.

“I can forgive you for spying on me hundreds of times and never pursue it, but I must make it clear to you and Tanino that the Fengge Temple has been passed down from generation to generation, not for the private interests of any powerful figure. Buddhist nature is benevolent, and Buddhist nature is human nature. Now that you have entered the Buddhist gate, do not bring your former murderous aura into it. As for the ‘Wrath of the Sun God,’ once I have some clues, I will naturally transcribe the information for him.”

In fact, as she rose and fell twice, gray hairs kept falling from mid-air. This sudden change in her hair foreshadowed a significant change somewhere in her body.

“I can’t beat you, but don’t forget that you also belong to the ‘Heavenly Ninja Alliance’ and have a responsibility to report everything to Alliance Leader Gu Ye. You must not keep any secrets.” The man in black wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a gloating glint suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Fujika gently shook her head: "What exactly do you want me to say before you'll leave?"

As dusk settled, I still had many questions to ask her, and being interrupted by this man in black for so long was truly making me impatient.

"Don't rush, I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now..." The woman in black retreated step by step, then suddenly bent over and shrank her neck, her body spinning rapidly on the spot. She leaped out of the water and silently disappeared into the water, mingling with the school of koi carp, vanishing in the blink of an eye. But before she left, she left us with something—four swirling, turbulent seven-star darts came flying through the air with a clang.

The seven-star dart pierced into a bamboo pole on the side of the vine, producing four muffled thuds. In a second, the emerald green bamboo pole turned completely black, indicating that the dart was coated with a deadly poison.

Who is she?

Fujika suddenly coughed softly: "This isn't important. She's gone, we can continue—"

She laid the plaque flat on the bamboo couch, reached out and stroked the tiny round holes, and pondered for a moment, as if considering how to start a conversation with me.

When ancient people met a kindred spirit, they would often travel by candlelight at night and drink and talk all night long. Of course, I don't have such a deep friendship with Tengjia. Moreover, there is an important person outside waiting to watch over me, so I can't have a moment's peace.

The mist on the water gradually thickened, and I could feel the temperature around us dropping. There were no oil lamps or candles in the pavilion; perhaps in another half hour, we would be completely enveloped in darkness.

"Wind, give me your hand, and I'll show you—"

As if hypnotized, I slowly extended my hands and let her hold them.

"Relax...relax, listen to my heartbeat...feel it, feel everything it brings you."

Suddenly, I could no longer feel any dampness or coldness around me. I only felt the warmth of Tengjia's hands. The warmth rose up my arms and reached my chest, forming a soft mass of air.

"Do you see? All the unsolved secrets are there. The thoughts that my master passed on to me back then, I will now pass on to you in full. I have waited for a long time, from an undying soul to a life hiding in a cicada's molt, and then descending into this world in the body of a ninja, all just to wait for you."

I wanted to speak up in rebuttal, but suddenly a huge bonfire appeared in front of me, so close that those eerie, rolling fire snakes seemed ready to burrow into my seven orifices at any moment.

“My master said, ‘Everything is predetermined, even the variables that cause the winds to rise and the clouds to fall are preordained trajectories.’ Human thoughts are always covered by countless layers of primordial accumulation. Through diligent contemplation, each layer that is broken through brings back a memory of a past life. Feng, what stands before you now is not a military expert coveting the ‘Eye of the Moon Goddess,’ nor a princess wielding power in Fengge Temple, but merely a humble female disciple of Master Jianzhen from a thousand years ago. My master and his ten disciples all leaped into the icy spring, but I was left to live humbly, just to reveal the secrets within all the predetermined fates…”

The ball of fire suddenly rushed towards me, causing unbearable burning pain. I quickly gathered my energy in my dantian and shook my wrists, trying to break free from this semi-hypnotic state.

Fujika's hands, like two strong ropes, suddenly wrapped around my forearms. In the firelight, a tremendous, overwhelming force surged forth, sending me flying backward through the air. The pavilion was narrow, and once I flipped over, I was helplessly about to fall into the water.

"Don't move, let me finish what I have to say." Tengjia followed closely behind me, and in an instant, both of us stood still with our four feet on the water.

"Was that the campfire in front of the Cold Pool back then? If I keep listening, my own thoughts will get confused. Master Jianzhen and his ten disciples were able to dive into the Cold Spring with their bare hands. No matter how good their swimming skills were, how many meters could they dive? Dozens, hundreds, or thousands? Even if they were the best water masters in the world, they couldn't live in the water year after year like fish, could they?"

Even modern swimmers with exceptional swimming skills could not dive to that depth with their bare hands, let alone a Tang Dynasty person like Master Jianzhen.

Tenga's gray hair fluttered in the wind, and the skin on her face began to dry and wrinkle, no longer smooth and moist. Her hands were still wrapped around my forearm, refusing to loosen their grip even slightly.

A group of koi swam over, circling around our feet and blowing bubbles incessantly, seemingly regarding us as their meal for the night. The wind blew through the bamboo wall, the bamboo leaves making a rhythmic rustling sound that never ceased, further enhancing the eerie atmosphere of "Youhuang Shuijun" in the twilight.

"Feng, have you ever thought about what the master's daily practice routine was, given that he trained his ten disciples for over twenty years?"

I was stunned for a moment, then horrified: "You mean—they've been trained to become merfolk?" The thought of the big shot's rumor that his elder brother had also become a merfolk made my blood boil uncontrollably.

Teng Jia sighed softly and nodded: "That's right. Ever since Master obtained the 'Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs Scripture,' he had already begun the merman training program. Moreover, his own cultivation progress was the fastest. Within seven years, he had completely completed the evolution of 'merman lungs,' allowing him to remain submerged for any length of time, absorbing oxygen and food from the water, completely detached from land life. Twelve years later, the ten disciples had also fully evolved into mermen—"

I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine: "And you? They've become merfolk, and you... you're a merfolk too, right?"

Tengjia looked down at the shimmering waves at her feet and shook her head helplessly: "No, it's not me. My master assigned me the responsibility of guarding the scriptures. At all times, I must prioritize the scriptures, even if it means risking my own life to protect them. He knew the destiny of everything over the past thousand years, which is why he found the 'Blue Heaven and Yellow Springs Sutra' among Master Xuanzang's thousands of volumes of scriptures, and devoted his life to destroying the 'Wrath of the Sun God.' But for the next thousand years, I always suspected that he should have known that transforming into a mermaid and entering the cold pool was not the wisest decision."

"The translation of the 'Blue Heaven and Yellow Springs Sutra' is kept in the safe in the Sutra Repository. The seal on it will naturally break after my death—I have successfully conveyed my master's thoughts to you, and this body is of no use anymore. It will soon turn to ashes..."

I gave a wry smile: "But you didn't tell me anything at all! My knowledge of 'Wrath of Apollo' is still completely blank."

From beginning to end, all I felt was the warmth she transmitted to my Tanzhong acupoint; nothing else. I had hoped to find reasonable explanations for so many questions and confusions from her, but now I only received vague hints. Am I supposed to find the rest of the answers myself?

"Wind, I am merely a key, the key to unlocking your memories..."