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Capítulo 16

I pointed to the chaotic cliff behind me and said, "Judging from the fact that the Soul Gathering Ship only sailed in that direction last night, we can conclude that the main tomb of the underwater sacrificial tower archway should be built in a hidden location behind the chaotic cliff."

The fat man rubbed his hands together, looking at Shirley Yang with eager anticipation, hoping that the beautiful Yang would agree to let them go and explore together.

Volume One: The Ancient Tomb at the Cape, Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Purple Star Battle Formation at the Ancient Tomb at the Cape

This time, Shirley Yang didn't say anything, but just listened quietly and did as we wished.

After we finished eating and packed our backpacks, we embarked on our adventure once again.

After discussing it, we decided to walk along the edge of the chaotic cliff to survey the surrounding feng shui and geomancy, so as to finally determine the true location of the ancient tomb. This was a path we had never taken before, and we currently lacked any powerful weapons. Apart from a dark green token for protection, we could only pray to heaven to protect us from any major trouble.

On one side was a dense, unknown forest, and on the other was a sheer cliff hundreds of feet deep, as if walking on thin ice—just thinking about it made my heart pound. We walked along the jagged, chaotic cliff edge, with rocks piercing the sky and waves crashing against the shore, feeling dizzy and almost like we were floating on clouds.

The fat man volunteered, carrying the sharp military knife left behind by Black Jack and his gang, and led the way, clearing a path at a very slow pace. After walking for about an hour, some strange sights appeared ahead.

This place is sparsely populated, and the surrounding woods are teeming with seabirds—white, black, long-necked, red-necked, colorful-feathered, crested, hooked-beaked, big and small—all chirping and chattering noisily. Walking among them feels like being in a bird museum, the noise so loud it hurts your ears and makes you feel even more dizzy.

As we trudged on, we had to dodge flocks of seabirds flying about, lest we lose our footing and be swept off the cliff by their gusts of wind, ending up drowning in the vast ocean. To make matters worse, after only twenty minutes, Shirley Yang, Fatty, and I were covered in a scattering of white and black bird droppings—mostly runny droppings. It was disgusting; something we never expected on the way here. Poor Shirley Yang, this beautiful and tidy woman, silently endured our suffering.

The fat man angrily pointed at the sky and cursed the birds, but unfortunately these seabirds had already left their tree nests and the chaotic cliffs, gliding far away over the sea.

The seawater rippled gently, and birds glided across the surface like miniature gliders, occasionally making a graceful dart to snatch a fish that had surfaced and filled their bellies. The azure sea, like a mirror, reflected the birds' graceful flight, a sight that was truly delightful and uplifting. If only a few white sails could be added, it would be the most perfect picture of a maritime scene.

It was difficult for us to regain our composure, as we still had to continue walking on the rocky sea cliff. Stepping on the rocks, which were covered with bird droppings and fallen leaves that had accumulated over countless years, felt like walking into a natural cesspool. We even had to put on gas masks to barely manage to keep going.

But this is for the best. With this stench as cover, at least snakes, vipers, and other insects won't run into the stinking dung heap to bother us.

The fat man cleared a path by chopping down branches covered in white bird droppings, while Shirley Yang and I followed behind, holding short knives. The flocks of white birds along the way were so dazzling that we just wanted to close our eyes and take a nap.

I cautiously approached the edge of the cliff, crouched down, and looked down. The jagged cliff face stood starkly black. Many seabirds had built nests on the cliff face, and large and small birds fluttered around the nests, creating a beautiful sight. Looking down further, I felt dizzy. The cliff below my feet was hundreds of feet deep, and wave after wave crashed against the rocks at the base of the cliff, sending up snowflakes that would rush back and then surge up again, endlessly.

I quickly retreated to the tree, stood up by holding onto the trunk, and followed the fat man and Shirley Yang by climbing the branches and winding around the rocks.

The path ahead remained through dense woods, making progress difficult. I bypassed Shirley Yang and took over from the panting fat man, clearing the way with my knife, while he retreated to the back of the group to keep watch. Just as I was about to raise my knife to cut through the branches, a sudden whooshing sound came from above, and a giant bird with enormous wings flew out from the treetops, swooping down directly towards Shirley Yang and me.

Shirley Yang hurriedly ducked, and the large bird's sharp claws slashed a deep gash across her back, tearing a long gash in her jacket. I quickly swung my longsword to strike, but the bird flew away, leaving only a small fragment of dark gray feather on its right wing.

The large bird soared into the air, screeching sharply, circling without leaving. We then realized it was a grey and white eagle, with sharp talons, a hooked beak, and its feathers flapping wildly, looking extremely ferocious. Its wingspan blocked a small patch of sun overhead, casting a huge shadow; its body, including its wings, was over eight feet wide, about the size of a small calf. Given its size, it could easily have easily snatched any one of us.

As we spoke, the large bird suddenly swooped down, its sharp cries echoing as it attacked Shirley Yang. I was furious; it was deliberately trying to antagonize me. I grabbed Shirley Yang and pulled her behind me. Fatty and I drew our swords, blocking its attack. Using my long sword, I swung it back at the bird's right claw, severing a short toe. Blood dripped from its claw. The bird, in pain, leaped into the air, feathers falling, and soared into the sky, screeching even louder.

Shirley Yang saw it clearly from behind this time, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Rock Hawk! But how could it be so big?"

Rock hawks are a smaller carnivorous group among eagles, yet they are more ferocious, greedy, and extremely vengeful than ordinary eagles. Once they set their sights on their prey, they will not give up until they achieve their goal. They usually form pairs as family members, and because they habitually live on mountain rocks, they are called rock hawks.

The rock hawk in front of us is unusually large, making it an anomaly and inevitably more ferocious.

We saw a rock hawk circling in the sky, its cries echoing through the heavens, watching us.

Then came an even louder cry, and a much larger rock hawk appeared in the sky above the distant woods, soaring through the air. In the sunlight, its head and neck gleamed, and a ring of fur around its neck was a bright gold.

"Oh no! Run! They're a couple!" Shirley Yang exclaimed.

The hawk that flew in soared into the sky, circled and squeaked with the injured one, seemingly communicating, before swooping down from the clouds together. Reaching the treetop, we discovered that the hawk was carrying a several-meter-long, withered brown viper in its beak.

They coiled themselves at the top of the tree and tossed the dead viper into the bushes. Immediately, chirping sounds came from the treetop, and several fledglings poked their heads out and devoured the viper. It turned out there was a rock hawk's nest at the top of the tree. Apparently, the rock hawk had mistaken us for poachers eyeing its young.

It was clearly a male golden-necked rock hawk that slammed its wings against a tree, its cry echoing through the forest, making the trees tremble. It folded its wings and suddenly plummeted downwards, darting towards us like an arrow.

Damn, let's quickly hide behind the dense trees and conceal ourselves well.

Just as this huge creature was about to crash into the pile of rocks, it suddenly flapped its wings and swooped off diagonally. It seemed that the thicket was too dense for it to catch us for the time being.

The male hawk flew diagonally for a short distance, then suddenly turned back and swooped down to the top of the jagged cliff. Standing upright, it was actually taller than me. This creature hopped and flapped its wings, swooping down on us from among the rocks. Its sickle-like beak pecked at branches and snapped them off at the slightest touch.

Just as it was getting close, the male hawk suddenly spread its wings, scattering leaves and sending mud, sand, and pebbles flying like bullets at us behind the tree, making us scream in terror. This display was no less impressive than the giant eagle in "The Return of the Condor Heroes."

I shouted, swung my knife to cut the branches, and beckoned Shirley Yang and Fatty to squeeze through the thorns and quickly escape into the depths of the jungle. The male hawk chased after us for a short distance, but apparently it was too big to squeeze through the bushes, so it cackled and returned to the edge of the jagged cliff. There, it embraced the circling female hawk with affection, displaying the utmost tenderness.

We fled for a while before turning back and clearing a path along the edge of the cliff, continuing our journey along the cliff edge once more.

The seabirds gradually thinned out, and dense forests enveloped the surroundings, shrouded in mist and clouds. Visibility was extremely low, with nothing visible more than five steps ahead, and thick clouds hung everywhere. The air was very humid; it felt like dew clinging to skin. I touched my face; my eyebrows and hair were wet. Shirley Yang gestured for us to stop; walking on the precarious cliff top in this state of near-total darkness was dangerous.

The three of us sat together, breathing softly. All around was quiet, the atmosphere heavy with tension. A thick fog clung low to the pile of rocks, echoing the old poet's line, "Crossing the bridge, the colors of the fields change; moving stones stirs the roots of the clouds." The fog before us truly seemed to rise from the rocks, boundless and stretching to the horizon.

I sat on the edge of the chaotic cliff, holding onto Shirley Yang and Fatty, still pondering what was wrong with the Big Dipper crack pattern on the top of the sacrificial tower at the bottom of the lake.

In the silence, a faint sound came from behind me. I turned around alertly, but the thick fog obscured everything. It must have been the sound of the fog moving.

I chuckled self-deprecatingly and was about to turn around when a giant, orange-yellow, keratinous claw, the size of a fan, suddenly emerged from the thick fog and grabbed half of my shoulder. I flinched, and before I could even cry out, a tremendous force sent me flying through the air, hurling me off a hundred-foot cliff.

Thick fog rolled in, filling my mouth and nose. I screamed wildly as I plummeted downwards. The wind whistled past my ears, and I even thought of my elderly parents. I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly my body jolted, crashing into something. The immense force of the impact instantly knocked me unconscious…

The sound of clear, cold water filled my ears, and drops of icy water splashed onto my face. The bone-chilling cold seeped into my very being, instantly waking me. Shivering all over, I clutched my heavy head, and it took me a long time to regain my senses. Remembering the falling object from above, I was momentarily disoriented, unsure if I was a human or a ghost, or where I was, and I dared not open my eyes. The thought of Shirley Yang filled me with unbearable sorrow; I couldn't fathom how many tears she must be shedding for me at this moment.

As the icy water dripped down, my entire body, from hands to feet, gradually went numb. It was a long time before I realized I was lying on a flat surface, as if I were on solid ground.

I opened my eyes and was shocked to find myself completely naked, lying in a glass tank filled with a transparent liquid, the tank tightly sealed. Strangely, I could breathe freely without any discomfort, as if I were born a fish living in this liquid environment that I depended on for survival.

I tried to struggle, but found my limbs wouldn't obey me, and I couldn't make a sound. I just lay there, clutching my head, completely immobile, like a biological specimen preserved in formalin. I imagined my eyes rolling back, and I fainted again…

I don't know how much time passed before I finally woke up, feeling sore all over. I was lying in a puddle of sewage, outside of which was a large cave. It turned out I had a nightmare, but the memory of it was still vivid, as if it had really happened. The deep claw marks on my shoulder were inflamed from being soaked in sewage, and they stung with pain.

I climbed out of the sewage pit and found myself at the entrance of a bizarre limestone cave. In the light streaming in from the entrance, I could see stalactites of all shapes and sizes growing inside the cave.

I walked to the cave entrance and peered inside. The cave was located on the lower part of the cliff face facing the sea at the edge of the precipice. A deafening roar echoed from below, emanating from a massive, rapidly spinning whirlpool at the bottom of the cliff. The whirlpool's swirling area was about half the size of a basketball court, and layers of white foam billowed from its center. Within the foam, large fragments of masts and sails were faintly visible, with tattered gold-threaded skull and crossbones emblems still visible on the sails. It turned out that this whirlpool was the destination of the two Soul-Gathering Ships that had sailed there during the stormy night.

As I was watching, a deafening roar erupted from the water, like a thunderclap in clear skies. A gigantic, five-clawed golden scale creature suddenly emerged from the center of the whirlpool—the very same giant claw that had dragged me off the cliff.

Immediately afterward, a giant wave surged, and from the whirlpool emerged a water beast tens of meters long. Its entire body was covered in palm-sized, shimmering golden scales, so bright that I could barely open my eyes. This monster had a head the size of a small mountain topped with golden coral-like antlers, long whiskers flowing beneath its chin, eyes like copper bells, and five large, golden-scaled claws vaguely visible beneath its serpentine body. It leaped into the air with a whoosh and pounced straight towards the cave where I was, arriving before me in the blink of an eye.

I yelled and tripped, falling back into the sewage pit.

The water beast's mountain-like head pressed against the cave entrance, staring at me in terror. Suddenly, it roared, the sound shaking the stalactites inside the cave, the echo lingering deep into the mountainside. It leaped away, its massive body, as thick as a water vat, gliding through the cave entrance for over a minute, like a train rumbling through a tunnel, the light inside flickering and trembling incessantly.

I could clearly see its enormous scales, shimmering with emerald and golden light, remarkably similar to the sea-running stones and dragon scales Uncle Ming had shown me. My goodness, this is the legendary aquatic god, the giant dragon!

I scrambled to my feet, climbed to the cave entrance, and strained to look towards the horizon. In the blink of an eye, the giant beast had already flown into the distant clouds. I saw the last wisp of its coin-shaped, fan-shaped tail flash within the clouds before disappearing into the sky. The sun shone down with a blinding glare, as if nothing had ever happened.

I shouted excitedly, "I've spotted the dragon!"

Suddenly, someone shouted from high above, "Hu Bayi, Lao Hu, where are you?"

I peered up through the cave entrance and saw a person slowly climbing down the cliff high above. It was Shirley Yang, who was coming down with a climbing rope.

I was overjoyed and waved my hand, shouting, "Here! Here!"

Suddenly, Shirley Yang shouted towards the top of the cliff, "Wang Kaixuan, Hu Bayi isn't dead! He's in the cave halfway up the cliff!"

I vaguely heard the fat man shout, "Yeah, you old bastard Hu, did you break your butt?"

Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I squatted down to draw with pebbles. The Big Dipper, the Purple Star formation. The man-made pirate bone forest, the Buddhist Bodhi tree, the eye of a thousand-year-old ice tomb, the underwater sacrificial tower of the calm lake, the seabird forest where the Golden Rock Hawk King resides, the stalactite cave here, plus the dragon's whirlpool below the cliff—these seven magical locations, when connected, form a massive Big Dipper matrix, perfectly matching the seven-star crack pattern on the dome of the sacrificial tower. I finally understood.

This island itself was artificially transformed into a massive Big Dipper-shaped tomb array, utilizing its original geographical and feng shui features. This is briefly mentioned in the postscript of the final chapter of "The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret," and is called "The Power of the Purple Star." No wonder the millennium-old ice tomb painstakingly built by Menelik I failed to achieve its expected brilliance; it turns out that long before him, someone had already identified that place as a feng shui focal point within the Big Dipper array. Aside from transforming into a strange-eyed ice corpse to guard this icy focal point, Menelik I really couldn't come up with any other innovative ideas.

I was extremely excited and rushed to the cave entrance, just in time to grab Shirley Yang's jade-like foot as she descended to the top of the cave. I shouted, "Little Yang, quickly call Fatty down! I've discovered the 'Purple Star Fighting Formation'! I've found the real tomb!"

Volume One: The Ancient Tomb at the Cape, Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Ancient Tomb at the Cape - Flying Dragon in the Sky

The cliff was shrouded in mist, and soon the fat man's large figure slowly climbed down from the clouds along the climbing rope.

As soon as Shirley Yang's feet touched the ground, we embraced tightly. I couldn't help but kiss her soft lips, lost in a blissful reverie, breathless for a long time. After a while, Shirley Yang opened her eyes, gently pushed me away, and said, "No, Wang Kaixuan is coming down soon."

I greedily licked my lips and said, "It smells so good, you've eaten honey, Miss."

Shirley Yang blushed, spat at me, and whispered, "You little rascal. When did you become so glib? I don't like you like this."

I snapped to attention, gave a military salute, and declared sternly, "Love has clouded my judgment. Sir, I know I was wrong. I won't do it again."

Shirley Yang laughed, nudged my shoulder, and exclaimed, "Hey, your wound is infected! And you're still making a fuss."

While Shirley Yang busied herself bandaging my wounds, I sat at the cave entrance and began singing "Chairman Mao's Soldiers Listen to the Party Most" to the sky above. Outside on the cliff, Fatty Wang joined in, singing along as he climbed down.

Just as I reached the cave entrance, Fatty was about to peek inside when he laughed and cursed at me, "You deadbeat, you're having a good time now. Shirley Yang was crying her eyes out on the cliff just now."

Before he could finish saying the word "nose," Fatty suddenly let go and fell back out of the cave. This sudden turn of events startled Shirley Yang and me, who were sitting inside the cave joking around. We rushed to the cave entrance, shouting, "Fatty! Fatty!"

Before I could finish speaking, Fatty suddenly somersaulted through the air and slid across the cave entrance. I stared in disbelief, and holy crap, the sky was filled with golden light. Fatty's massive body was held in a delicate grasp within a giant, five-clawed golden dragon. The five-clawed golden dragon had somehow quietly returned to the whirlpool below the cliff, and after Fatty and I had been singing its praises, it had become incredibly ferocious and had grabbed Fatty, who was rock climbing outside the cliff, to tossing him around like a ball.

As the saying goes, "Clouds follow dragons, wind gives birth to tigers," and this is certainly true. The dragon's body was faintly swirling around thin white clouds, soaring, weaving, and leaping across the sea and beyond the cliffs with lightning speed. Its enormous form coiled and twisted, tossing the fat man around like a juggler, its five giant claws taking turns grabbing him.

The poor fat guy was tossed into the air, screaming as he plummeted back into the sea. Before he even touched the water, the giant dragon swiftly appeared, scooped him up, and launched him back into the sky, only to toss him down again. Horizontal toss, vertical toss, curved toss, high toss, low toss—good heavens, even Shirley Yang and I were dizzy from watching it all, our necks practically twisted. Damn it! My old friend was practically a meatball, bouncing around the massive, five-clawed golden dragon's body in the thin clouds, completely bewildered.

Shirley Yang and I lay helplessly at the cave entrance, nodding repeatedly like chicks pecking at rice, our eyes following the shifting movements of the fat man in the clouds, moving up and down, left and right, making us dizzy.

Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the monstrous dragon soared into the sky and vanished into the clouds. Shirley Yang and I exchanged bewildered glances, wondering where it had taken Fatty. Turning back to look up, we were suddenly struck by a black projectile plummeting straight down from the clouds high in the sky, accompanied by a tremendous whooshing sound.

"Fatty!" Shirley Yang and I exclaimed in unison.

Just as the fat man hurtled past the cave entrance, landing swiftly at the bottom of the whirlpool, the monstrous dragon suddenly emerged from the whirlpool, grabbed the fat man, and soared into the sky. Its massive body passed triumphantly through the cave entrance, howling as if in a show of defiance.

In the blink of an eye, the poor fat man was once again thrown down from the clouds, fell into the whirlpool, and was once again caught by the evil dragon.

This went on and on until finally, the fat man's howls and even groans could no longer be heard. My God, had he kicked the bucket?

I could no longer contain myself. I shouted and grabbed something from my pocket, then hurled it at the dragon.

Suddenly, a brilliant light burst forth, radiating brilliance. It turned out that what I had thrown was that dark green token. The dragon was barely hit by the hurled object, roared deafeningly, released its massive claws, and let the fat man plummet straight down from the sky. It coiled its long body, its eyes blazing, and roared as it chased after the falling dark green token.

In an instant, the giant dragon snatched the token, flipped, and soared into the sky, laughing wildly with delight. Immediately, white rain began to fall, and lightning flashed and thunder roared in the clear sky. Shirley Yang and I were both stunned. The giant dragon, clutching the dark green token, vanished in the blink of an eye and was never seen again.

Shirley Yang and I hurriedly looked down, and the poor fat man had fallen directly into the whirlpool and disappeared without a trace, not surfacing for a long time.

Watching my best buddy, whom I'd played with naked since childhood, perish in the vortex was heartbreaking, and I fainted.

Shirley Yang called out to me repeatedly, pinching my philtrum and rubbing my chest. It took a while for me to regain consciousness. I struggled to crawl out of the cave, half my body already in mid-air, but Shirley Yang grabbed my waistband tightly and refused to let go. I turned my head and yelled fiercely to let go, I was going to save him, that fat bastard.

Shirley Yang remained silent, enduring my curses and struggles, refusing to let go. I felt the pain in my shoulder intensifying; the dragon's claw marks must have reopened, and blood was seeping through the gauze.

I lay helplessly at the cave entrance, calling out to Fatty. Subconsciously, as if I heard Fatty's call, I peered down and saw only a vast ocean, with a huge whirlpool swirling rapidly at the bottom, its center piled high with white foam. I couldn't see any trace of Fatty.

Shirley Yang finally pulled me into the cave, panting as she re-bandaged my wounds. I lay there stiffly, my vision flashing back and forth between the phantom of Fatty falling and Shirley Yang's beautiful, flushed face, her temples glistening with sweat. Clearly, my struggle had taken its toll; Shirley Yang had suffered quite a bit trying to hold me back, her body covered in muddy boot prints—obviously my doing.

For a moment, I didn't know what to say. My mind was blank, as if something extremely important had been ripped out—friendship, my dear and lovable old friend Wang Pangzi (Wang Kaixuan), who had always been there for me and supported me. I sighed, unsure of what to say. Looking at this beautiful and strong woman whom I would cherish for a lifetime, a strange feeling welled up in my empty heart again.

I sat up, put my arm around Shirley Yang, and whispered to her, "I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

Shirley Yang didn't seem angry at all. She turned around, pulled my head into her arms, sighed softly, and stroked me without saying a word for a long time. A special emotion welled up inside me, and I sobbed softly, large tears soaking Shirley Yang's clothes.

Fatty, my dearest brother, farewell. I said silently in my heart.

After a long while, I came to my senses, looked up, smiled sheepishly at Shirley Yang, and said, "Let's go."

We stood up and walked into the cave. Turning past the first stalactite, I couldn't help but look back, as if I could still feel Fatty's warm, muscular figure behind me, ready to joke with me. But he didn't. I turned back, followed Shirley Yang, and a bitter, aching feeling welled up inside me, lingering for a long time.

According to the incomplete version of "The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secrets," the "Ziwei Dou Shi" matrix is based on the image of the Big Dipper in the sky, following the Yin and Yang energies of Tai Chi, and implicitly conforming to the principles of mutual generation and restraint of the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams. It sets up seven energy-gathering points, guarded by strange creatures, thereby reversing the celestial phenomena and numerology. On extremely dangerous and isolated feng shui veins, it gathers great misfortune and evil, reverses Yin and Yang, reverses fortune and misfortune, puts people in a dead end and then brings them back to life, ultimately achieving a phoenix-like rebirth, transforming into a prosperous burial site where dragons and tigers leap. Burying people on such a site can ensure that future generations will rise to the highest ranks of officials, eventually dominating the world, unifying the world for ten thousand generations, and ensuring the continuation of life.

Such tombs are usually extremely well-hidden, deep underground, bearing the celestial symbol of the Big Dipper, absorbing the vital energy of mountains and rivers between heaven and earth, accumulating great merit, and taking three thousand years to complete. Once completed, they will inevitably overturn the three realms of heaven, earth (humans), and ghosts, disrupting the cosmic order and being reborn, creating a new world so that future generations can unify it.