Erreur Yin et Yang

Chapitre 8

Volume 1, Ancient Tomb at the Cape, Chapter 22: The Earth's Yin Eye (2)

It is said that the Earthly Yin Eye is actually a condensed form of true Yin, adept at attaching itself to a just being, possessing the attribute of seeking advantage and avoiding harm, and often wandering underground, gravitating towards places of good fortune. It is generally difficult for a Feng Shui master to locate. Once the Earthly Yin Eye perceives an incarnation possessing unparalleled justice and wisdom, it will attach itself to that place, entrusting it with the task of overseeing both the human and ghost realms.

Initially, King Solomon subdued the Earth's Dark Eye with boundless wisdom and justice, thus ruling over both the human and ghost realms. King Solomon skillfully used various treasures and talismans to subdue countless demons and monsters that plagued humanity, including the mighty demon Hrubes, the Ice Demon, and the God of Ghosts.

The God of Ghosts long ruled the Ghostly Demon Realm within the Netherworld. Leading a vast army of ghosts, it carved out its own territory, ruling with impunity, disrupting the order of the underworld, and refusing to submit to the ghostly race. Because the God of Ghosts absorbed the essence of countless ghosts, its power was boundless and its transformations infinite; it could shrink into the hole of a lotus root or grow to the size of five sacred mountains. Furthermore, its skill in commanding the bizarre ghostly army led it to declare itself independent of the three realms of Heaven, Earth (Human), and Ghosts, establishing its own territory and the Ghostly Demon Realm.

The demons repeatedly failed to subdue the demons, and the two sides fought continuously, causing countless ghosts to wail in the daytime, resulting in widespread suffering and the leakage of yin energy, which brought disaster to the human world and disrupted the order of the yin and yang realms, making life unbearable for the people.

Upon ruling the realms of humans and spirits, King Solomon immediately targeted the land of the Specters, defeating an army of 100,000 spirits upon contact. The God of Specters fled to the Valley of Death, where he gathered together various demons, including the mighty Herubes, the Ice Demon, the Fire Demon, and the Spider Demon, and launched a counterattack against King Solomon's territory.

After two years of fierce fighting, King Solomon, with his boundless wisdom and charisma, used the supreme power bestowed upon him by the Earth's Yin Eye to subdue the demons. Solomon shattered the spirit of the god of spirits with heavenly fire and lightning, scattering his ashes atop the Alps; he imprisoned the mighty demon Herubes in Zeus's magical jar, sealed its mouth with a talisman, affixed King Solomon's seal, and cast it into the Dead Sea, whereupon it would be eternally tormented by the yin and yang fires within, unable to escape for eternity. The remaining demons were stripped of their powers and cast into the mortal realm as animals, suffering the torment of reincarnation for countless lifetimes.

After this battle, the order of the demon realm was renewed, and King Solomon became famous throughout the three realms.

After hearing my story, Fatty Wang was incredibly envious. He gasped for breath and said, "Old Hu, why don't we take this opportunity to collect the ice cores and play with them?"

I laughed and said, "That's just a biblical legend. Besides, even if it were true, you don't seem like someone who embodies boundless wisdom and justice." The sword is bestowed upon the destined one. It's said that if one overestimates their abilities and tries to seize the ice core, their soul will be devoured by it, forever imprisoned within the earth's dark eye, suffering the torment of being torn apart by icy blades and frost. By then, before even obtaining the ice core, you'll probably be nothing more than a skinless, rotting ice worm.

The fat man clicked his tongue and fell silent.

As I spoke, I reached out and pulled back the ice cover. Golden light shone brightly inside the cave; it was the boundless treasure trove gleaming in the rear hall below.

The fat man and I were dazzled. The fat man's mouth stretched so wide it almost reached the back of his ears. Drooling, he said, "Old Hu, we're too unlucky to have ice cores. I'll go down and collect some gold and silver to make a living, okay?"

He jumped into the ice cave first and entered the rear side hall.

The rear halls are arranged in a tiered pattern. Reflected in the ice crystals, the walls of the halls appear to be surrounded by ice platforms, each the size of a twelve-person banquet table, piled high with glittering priceless treasures. From the outside in, these include silver, gold, jewels (jade and diamonds), silk, spices, ceramics, bronzes, armor, documents, and a locked rosewood chest. These items, frozen beneath a thick layer of ice, vie to refract dazzling light from within.

I looked around and noticed that behind the ice platform where the sandalwood box was located, there was a small earthen platform. On the platform, in addition to dozens of skulls, there was also a small ice jade coffin placed neatly, and a skeleton was vaguely visible inside the room.

The fat man tried to smash the ice covering the jewelry display table, but after a few blows, he only left behind white specks. The ice was indeed very solid.

I forcibly dragged Fatty towards the small ice coffin. Upon closer inspection, we realized it was a living altar. Behind the ice coffin stood a memorial tablet inscribed with strange, worm-like characters—presumably the name of the deceased. This meant that the ice coffin and the human skull were both offerings.

The skeleton inside the ice coffin was only a little over a foot long, but it had a dorsal fin and a tailbone, suggesting it was a fish skeleton. Strangely, a pair of five-fingered hand bones, about the size of a baby's hand, unexpectedly grew from its pectoral fin area.

We looked at it from left to right, but we really couldn't understand what it was.

The fat man switched on the wolf-eye flashlight. The skeleton's mouth was a long snout with two rows of fine, sharp teeth inside. We turned to the head and were horrified to find a large, purplish-red scar the size of a copper coin at the end of its long snout.

"It's the King of Dolphins!" we exclaimed, exchanging a glance.

These should be the remains of the ancestor of the dolphin king that saved us at sea.

It's just that I don't understand why it was placed in this thousand-year-old ice tomb.

I said to Fatty, "We are fine young people under Chairman Mao's teachings, who know how to repay kindness. Why don't we retrieve the remains and return them to the King of Dolphins?"

The fat man nodded and said, "Of course, of course. I humbly accept the Party's teachings."

He cleared some space in his backpack, picked up the ice coffin, and placed it inside.

I picked up the bronze memorial tablet and stuffed it into my backpack, saying, "After we get out, let Shirley Yang identify the tomb's occupant."

We turned back to the rosewood chest. The fat man used his military knife to break the copper lock, opened the chest, and found a small bronze box inside. Inside the box, wrapped in layers of silk, was a heavy, long token. The front of the token was engraved with a familiar human face and fish-tail pattern.

I took out the token and felt that its material was similar to dark green ore, but it felt like a cool, metallic material to the touch. Turning it over, the back of the token was covered with densely packed incantations and symbols, resembling the talismans used by ancient Chinese Taoist priests to ward off evil spirits.

The fat man found another paper talisman at the bottom of the box, written in dark green and glowing with a phosphorescent green light.

"It's for warding off evil spirits," the fat man said, casually tossing it into his pocket.

Since this token is placed so solemnly in the center of the side hall, it must hold a great secret.

I picked up the token, wrapped it carefully in layers of silk, and tucked it into my clothes.

The fat man reached out to smash the ice on the jewelry table again. I tried to stop him but couldn't. I thought to myself, it's against the industry's unspoken rules for a thief to enter a tomb and not take anything out. Let him be.

Thinking that the rear hall was located below the main hall, I circled around, searching for signs of the Earth's Yin Eye. However, apart from the thick layer of ice covering the ground, I couldn't see anything unusual. A cold wind suddenly came from somewhere, making me shiver.

I had just turned to the armory when I suddenly heard a loud bang, mixed with a faint cry from the fat man. I turned my head and saw the fat man leaning back, standing stiffly like a wooden figure.

On the jewelry stand before him, a hole had been smashed in the ice, and a violent burst of icy air shot out diagonally, instantly freezing the military knife in the fat man's hand into an icicle. The icy air surged wildly, and wherever it blew, a thick layer of frost immediately formed.

The icy air climbed up the fat man's arm along the saber, his teeth chattering. His upper body was already covered in ice armor, and he would soon be frozen solid.

As soon as I realized something was wrong, I rushed forward, swung my black folding knife, knocked the military knife out of the fat man's hand, and pushed him to the ground.

The fat man grinned widely, maintaining a good backward leaning posture, much like a roly-poly toy, lying on the ground, swaying up and down like a boat.

I quickly dragged the fleshy bridge boat back to the opening we'd come from, and carefully used a black folding knife to knock off the ice armor on its face, chest, and entire body. I checked the fat man's breathing—damn, he wasn't breathing.

I quickly bent down, pinched his nose and covered his ears, and blew air into his wide-open mouth. I also pressed on his chest to perform artificial respiration, working so hard that I was bent over and over.

Fortunately, this fatso, like me, hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day, let alone any meat. Otherwise, artificial respiration would have been a real challenge for me.

After a series of urgent struggles, Fatty Wang finally sat up, his body shaking violently and coughing repeatedly, coughing up some ice particles from his nose and mouth.

By this time, the hall was completely covered in ice, thick layers of ice rolling and filling half of the rear side hall. Especially near the ice vent, icy air kept blowing out, and the ice layer quickly spread towards us.

It turns out that the builders of this thousand-year-old ice tomb placed an outlet of yin energy from the earth's yin eye within the frozen jewel platform. Once someone enters the tomb and becomes greedy, breaking open the jewel's ice cover, this yin energy will immediately erupt, killing anyone hit instantly. Fatty Wang was lucky; he wasn't hit head-on by the yin energy, otherwise I'd be collecting his corpse right here today.

I didn't dare delay, so I carried the fat man on my back, shoved him out of the hole with all my might, and then threw the backpack out.

Soon, the ice had spread to my feet. I jumped up, grabbed the entrance, climbed up to the sleeping quarters, and turned around to completely block the entrance with the ice cover.

I squatted on the ground, panting heavily, and looked at Fatty Wang, whose face was deathly pale, and couldn't help but laugh.

The fat man's facial muscles twitched, and he managed a half-hearted smile (his smile muscles were still frozen), and said to me, "Cough, cough, thank you, buddy."

I suppressed a laugh and cursed at him, "You son of a bitch, if you keep being so greedy, we're both doomed."

The temperature inside the bedchamber was getting lower and lower. When I stood up, my trousers were stuck to the ground at the knees, and a large patch of ice film was torn up with them.

Through the ice sheet, one can vaguely see that the side halls below have been filled with ice, and the ice is even threatening to encroach on the main hall.

The fat man said with a pained expression, "What a waste of all that gold and silver jewelry."

This place is not safe to stay in for long. I helped the fat man up and told him to move his hands and feet quickly so he wouldn't get cold, and it would also make it easier for the two of us to escape from the palace as soon as possible.

Volume 1, Ancient Tomb at the Cape, Chapter 23: The Earth's Yin Eye (3)

While the fat man was waddling around the sleeping quarters like Donald Duck, stretching his limbs, I used the black folding tool to pry open the ice jade coffin in the center of the hall. Now that I'm inside, I should at least see the tomb's occupant before leaving. Even if I leave, I can at least set up a memorial tablet for him and pay my respects. That's what they call not shedding tears until you see the coffin, haha.

First, I dug a small hole in the coffin, scooped up a handful of broken dark green ore from a pile at the corner of the hall, poured it into the hole, and then used a black folding tool to smash the ore fragments violently. I looked at the corner of the hall, gathered up the remaining fragments, and put them in my backpack. Since these dark green ore fragments could be used as a coffin for the deceased, to protect against the invasion of the earth's yin energy and prevent freezing, they should also be able to catalyze the formation of ice jade.

Sure enough, with the help of the dark green ore, I quickly smashed the ice jade coffin in two, revealing the dark green ore coffin in the middle.

The fat man also came closer from a distance, shouting "Be careful!" I used the black folding tool to pry open the coffin lid, and the two of us worked together to push the coffin out a crack.

The coffin was pitch black. I turned on my wolf-eye flashlight and peered inside. The coffin was completely empty, except for a layer of ornate silk lining at the bottom.

I shone my flashlight around and discovered a small glass box at the head of the coffin, inside which appeared to be a pair of beads.

I fished out the glass box, handed it to the fat man next to the coffin, and then stepped out of the coffin.

I had just caught my breath when I heard Fatty exclaim in surprise, "Old Hu, it's an eyeball, a person's eyeball!"

I looked up in surprise upon hearing this, and was startled. I didn't see the glass box in the fat man's hand, but I did see what was behind him.

The eyeless, frozen corpse in the stairwell above was sliding down the icicles. Had we disturbed it by opening the coffin? My mind went blank; I couldn't remember anything.

I stared blankly as the eyeless, golden-armored warrior's corpse slid down the pillar, crookedly stood up, and began to move step by step, bending over, slowly grabbing the spear from the ground, straightening up, and swaying as it started to walk. However, it seemed unsure which foot to move first; it swayed slightly, its right foot moving outwards a little, regaining its balance, and then took a step with its left foot. Suddenly, it swooped down and charged straight at us.

The fat man was surprised for a long time before he remembered that I was frozen in place. When he looked up and saw my terrifying expression, he immediately sensed that something was wrong and quickly turned around.

In the blink of an eye, the spear in the eyeless ice corpse's hand had already pierced the fat man's eyelid. I snapped out of my daze, took a step forward, and threw the wolf-eye flashlight in my hand, deflecting the spear in front of the fat man's face.

The fat man screamed, ducked, and swept his spear horizontally, knocking the flashlight more than ten feet away, where it fell to the ground.

Before the fat man could straighten up, the spear swung and stabbed at his eyes again.

In his panic, the fat man smashed the glass box he was holding against the spearhead and turned to run away. The glass box was knocked to the ground by the spear in the hand of the eyeless ice corpse.

I took a few steps back, pulled out a black folding cloth, and stood in front of the fat man.

The pirate knife that Fatty had been using recently had been frozen in the lower rear hall. Unarmed, he had no choice but to take out his Swiss Army knife for self-defense.

It seems this eyeless ice corpse was skilled with a spear in life, wielding it with practiced ease—slashing, chopping, slicing, stabbing, thrusting, blocking, and swinging—using every trick in the book. With a ten-foot-long spear in hand, it slaughtered me and Fatty, sending us scattering in all directions.

As the fat man fled in a disheveled state, he yelled, "You son of a bitch, this isn't fair! I, Fatty, have no weapon! Put down your spear, and let's fight hand-to-hand for three hundred rounds. Snake-like hand techniques, mantis kicks—you name it! Or, you'd better go home and suckle."

With a sudden crack, the eyeless ice corpse stomped on the glass box on the ground and shattered. It slowed down as if it had been hit by an arrow and remained motionless.

Fatty and I seized the opportunity to stop and hid behind the icicles, panting heavily.

The eyeless ice corpse took a step back, slowly bent down, groped around on the ground and picked up an eyeball. It let out a wild, joyful cry and pressed its hand into its right eye socket.

When it looked up, its right eye, which had just been pressed into its socket, stared at us coldly, making Fatty and me both shudder.

"The monster can see us now!" I yelled. "Quick, attack it! Don't let it get its other eyeball!"

Fatty and I split into two groups, rushing forward to attack the eyeless ice corpse from the left and right. However, by now, it had become a one-eyed ice corpse.

Easier said than done. With the one-eyed, golden-armored ice corpse, the target became clearer. It parried left and right, unleashing its eighteen-foot-long spear, dancing like a martial arts performer in Peking Opera, creating a snowflake pattern. In less than a round, it drove away us, the ignorant mainland bumpkins, and even rewarded the fat man with a spear thrust, tearing a large gash in his chest clothing, almost ripping out his heart and liver.

The one-eyed ice corpse calmly bent down, picked up its other eyeball from the pile of broken glass, and with a snap, stuck it into its left eye socket.

When Fatty and I saw it, we were both taken aback, and then burst into laughter.

It turns out that the eyeball, along with the glass box, had been flattened into a large, frozen piece of adhesive plaster by the Ice Corpse's kick. It was stuck to the left eye socket, resembling a thin white eye mask depicting a flat eyeball, with a quirky style reminiscent of animated comedies.

Unfortunately, before we could finish laughing, the strange-eyed ice corpse started yelling and charging at us.

This guy gave us no chance to fight back at all. His spear moved like a viper's tongue, and in less than five minutes, my back was riddled with stabs, my clothes torn to shreds, and I was covered in blood. The fat man was also shot twice in the buttocks, one on each side, which enraged him. The smell of blood only amplified the ice corpse's sense of smell; it howled and chased us through the eight ice pillars.

This strange-eyed ice corpse showed no mercy, pressing forward relentlessly with increasingly vicious moves. It gritted its teeth, seemingly intent on killing us both on the spot and devouring our flesh in the blink of an eye.

I grew increasingly alarmed and yelled at the fat man, "The wind's getting stronger! Get out of here! Gather behind the coffin!"

Under the monstrous-eyed ice corpse's eighteen-foot spear, Fatty and I couldn't gain any advantage in a head-on confrontation. Faced with such a relentless and incredibly strong living zombie, if we didn't come up with a plan sooner or later, we'd both be doomed by its claws.

I decided to take the risk and use the power of the Earth's Yin Eye to stop this strange-eyed, golden-armored ice corpse.

Fortunately, the ice corpse's walking speed was slightly slower than that of a normal person. Fatty and I shouted and fought back, taking advantage of the gap to retreat back to the platform behind the dark green mine coffin.

The monstrous-eyed ice corpse attacked from the left side of the ice platform, so we retreated to the right. It attacked from the right, so we retreated to the left. This happened three times in a row, which angered the monstrous-eyed ice corpse, causing it to howl and stagger. But because of this huge, square ice platform, it couldn't do anything to us for the time being.

I beckoned to Fatty, and took the opportunity to use the weapon in my hand to keep hitting the dark green mine coffin on the ice platform, making a chaotic clanging sound, provoking the strange-eyed ice corpse and disturbing its mind.

Just as we were having a good time, the strange-eyed ice corpse flew into a rage, clutching its spear tightly with both hands. With a sudden burst of strength, it thrust the spear more than halfway into the dark green mine coffin. It struck a pose reminiscent of the young Yue Yun in the story of the Yue Family Generals, single-handedly taking on thirteen chariots. With a strange howl, it used its strength to lift the one-ton dark green mine coffin into the air. With a loud crash, the coffin fell and collapsed half of the ice platform.

I shouted, "Here we come!" At the same time, I pulled the fat man hard, and we both jumped backward and fell into a heap.

Inside the palace, white light shone brightly, icy air filled the air, thunder rumbled incessantly, lightning flashed, and a torrential downpour mixed with hail arrived.

I got up and saw that the spear in the strange-eyed ice corpse's hand was suspended in mid-air, hit by the extremely yin ice energy that shot into the sky, instantly freezing the golden-armored ice corpse holding the spear into a thick ice pillar.