novelZhongshan Country [12]
| ← Ch.64 | Ch.66 → |
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Those people's skins that hung on the walls had black holes in their noses and eyes, and heavy makeup on their faces. They looked very strange.
Although knowing that those skins were purehuman skins now, and that the malicious spirits' resentments had been expelled, it was still freaking one's heart to stand here with flashlights shoneeverywhere on the hundreds of human skins hung up on the walls.
Zhang Qiu retched for half a day with tearsand snort came out together. Li Shu wiped Zhang Qiu's face with a tissue in onehand. Zhang Qiu stood in place expressionlessly, a little embarrassed, but ofcourse he retched badly, otherwise he wiped his face in vain.
"Don't be scared." Li Shu saidlightly.
"No scared, just nauseous." Forhis manly honor, Zhang Qiu resolutely braced himself.
Li Shu nodded and did not expose him. Hetook Zhang Qiu's hand and went on. They were going to walk through the two rowsof human skins.
"The corridor is too wide." ZhangQiu followed Li Shu closely, dared not to look around, and said this todistract his attention from the human skins on the walls, "Can it be fouror five meters here? It seems like a moat tunnel too. The monarchs in thefeudal period were really powerful. It took at least thirty or forty years tobuild a tomb, waste of manpower and resources, such huge cost and labor......"
Because the corridor was wide, four or fivepeople walked side by side. Next to Zhang Qiu was Li Shu, while on his otherside was Xiao Jiang, ErGe and ErSao.
"It doesn't seem quite like a tombcorridor." Pixian Hui Wang suddenly made a noise.
Zhang Qiu was a little awkward."ErSao, I'm not saying you're wasting manpower and resources." He forgot that hisErGe used to be emperor while ErSao used to be king, and that ErSao's tomb wasextravagant.
Pixian Hui Wang laughed and did not care. Zhang Qiu thought of ErSao's words of'doesn't seem quite like a tomb corridor'and he thought of the tomb chamber with the stone door just now; there was noteven a small thing in sight. According to reason, in a large tomb, there werebasically many small tomb chambers, in which some of the burial companions wereof low rank with only a meager coffin, or some were of burial accompanyingpottery and such. But the tomb chamber just now did not even have a coffin, which defeat the purpose of an accompanying chamber.
"Could it be that place is the tombcorridor and here is the accompanying chamber?" said Zhang Qiu.
Zhang YuShui nodded."It looks likethat. We had heard that kid said that Zhongshan Country was declining at thattime. The most fundamental use of building this place should be for offeringsacrifices to the gods/ancestors or even as formation for human sacrifice. So, it is unlikely to be very luxurious."
Speaking of formation for human sacrifice, Zhang Qiu thought about the tragic situation before the death of thosemalicious spirits. Zhang YuShui seemed to know what Zhang Qiu was thinking, andhe smiled, "That's right. The next few tomb chambers might possibly be theoriginal scenes. Little brother, if you are scared, hugs Li Shu."
Zhang Qiu felt that this must beintentional!
"I'm not scared." Zhang Qiu saidcalmly.
This tomb chamber was five to six meterswide and six to seven meters long. They had come to an end unconsciously whentalking. As a matter of fact, it was not so scary when talking. The second tombchamber's door was more decorative with the carving simple and stylish. Thedoor was opened by Li Shu.
Despite Zhang Qiu's preparation, it was stilldisgusting after he saw it. The first chamber was women's hung up skins; thesecond was all kinds of bloody limb remains. The most important thing was thatthese bodies were still fresh, like they had been frozen for thousands ofyears.
Zhang Qiu saw the body of that female ghost whohad just been cut open lying on the ground, her intestines flowing all over thefloor, and a meat ball of an infant beside her feet.
Broken legs; cut off hands; disemboweled, there were men and women, and also many children with black holes as their eyeshad been dug out —all kinds of mutilated corpses.
Zhang Qiu had resisted it, but he could notbear to hear someone vomited behind him. He covered his mouth to spit. A personhanded a tissue to him.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Holding a tissue and listening to the voice, Zhang Qiu felt a little strange. He looked up and saw nobody.
"Xiao Jiang, did you just see someonenext to me?"
"It's an uncle bodyguard; his body hada smell of cold." Xiao Jiang sniffed."Maybe it's cool in here. Ismelled wrong."
Zhang Qiu looked back. Six bodyguards at theback surrounded Qi ZhiRong. Anyone who was nauseous already stopped vomitingand was promptly urged to move on by Ah Gui, "Go on! The Yin here is dense. Let's hurry to finish this so we could return early."
"If I had known it will be like this——"
Ah Gui interrupted and said, "Don'tpress. Protect Mr. Qi well. We did not come down here in vain." Everyonewho came down this time was given a million yuan, even if they died, the moneywould be sent to their families.
The gap between the tomb chambers wassomewhat brief; they passed through the third door. There was nothing in it. Zhang Qiu relieved his breath first, or else he would vomit out all the otherthings. After two steps, he realized that it was not a tomb chamber at all. Itwas probably a corridor, because it was longer and narrower.
It was about ten meters walkaway. Theyaccelerated their speed. Li Shu stopped suddenly in front of them. Zhang Qiu justwanted to ask what was wrong, suddenly, he heard a buzzing sound. The sound wason the top of the corridor, from far to near, faster and faster.
The buzzing sound was like the sound ofswarms of flying insects waving their wings.
Zhang Qiu raised his eyes and shone the flashlightupwards. Under the glare of light, there was densely packed black spots stuck onthe inner layer of the stone wall. The stone wall on the top of the head wasquite thin. It was not difficult to imagine that these small creatures wouldprobably break through the stone wall and leap out.
"Turn off the flashlight."
A voice of indifference came from behind. Zhang Qiu unconsciously turned off the flashlight and turned back only to bumponto the cold eyes of Qi ZhiRong.
"Turn it off!" Qi ZhiRong's voicewas cold and impatient.
The bodyguards, who had just been stunned, switched off the lights. They had never seen the Boss speak in such a tone.
"Slow down your breath and walkslowly." Qi ZhiRong's voice returned to indifference.
Zhang Qiu listened; the buzzing sound just nowhad disappeared. He could not help looking at Li Shu next to his eyes. Li Shunodded, meaning to listen to Qi ZhiRong first.
They walked slowly through the narrowcorridor, and before they knew it, Qi ZhiRong had come in front and pushed openthe fourth door.
The last to enter Pei Qing closed the door, and everyone switched on the flashlights again. There were many black jars inthe tomb chamber. The jars were not sealed. The contents inside were swollenand blistered by liquid, forming purple and black spheres.
"What is it?"
"It's human eyes." The bodyguardnext to him said.
Zhang Qiu looked at it again."It's notlike human eyes." Although it was swollen and blistered, he could stilldistinguish it; it did not seem like eyes.
"You're looking at balls; he's lookingat people's eyes." Zhang YuShui said lightly.
"Balls? What balls——"Zhang Qiuinstantly understood the meaning of his ErGe, and felt that his eyes were goingbe blinded. Damned people who had built this were too perverted, making jars ofmen's eggs. Suddenly, he felt cold in his lower body.
Zhang YuShui stared at Qi ZhiRong and saidslowly, "Devil's gate formation;Yin in the front, Yang at the back. Then what comes after this?"
Women's skins and fragmented corpses were YinQi, testicles and eyeballs had Jing Qi and Yang Qi.
[T/N: Jing Qi also known as essence, is the basic substance thatconstitutes the human body, as well as the material basis of human growth anddevelopment and various functional activities]
"Don't know." Qi ZhiRong'sexpression was indifferent.
Zhang YuShui smiled."There are twodoors on both sides. Since it was Mr. Qi, who request to come, may I ask whichdoor should Mr. Qi take now?"
"If I choose it, will you guys go?"Qi ZhiRong's tone was mocking, and the expression on his face remained thesame."I know you doubt me, but I just want to find out who controlledme."
There were small stone doors on both sidesof the tomb chamber.
Li Shu did not look at Zhang YuShui and QiZhiRong, who were talking, and asked Zhang Qiu, "Which way is it?"
It came again!
Zhang Qiu didn't forget that Li Shu wasinjured by his last mistake. He said, "I'm unlucky, Xiao Jiang, you choose."
Xiao Jiang licked his tiger's teeth andpointed to the left and said, "This side smells quite fragrance."
"On the left." Li Shu decided.
Qi ZhiRong and Zhang YuShui had noobjection. When Zhang Qiu pulled Xiao Jiang to the left, he realized that the fragrancein his son's mouth was probably not the same as the good luck they werethinking.
Suddenly, his scalp felt numbed, but it wasnot good to retreat after he had walked halfway. He had to comfort himself thatXiao Jiang might have chosen the right one this time.
This corridor was particularly long. ZhangQiu felt that the more they walked the more it was getting colder. However XiaoJiang was very happily skipping and the jingling of the bell on his wrist echoed. From time to time, there came the sound of teeth chattering at the back. It'squite cold, but it didn't reach to this point.
After a while, someone at the back said withteeth chattering, "Mi-Mister Qi, I-I feel too cold. In-inside seemsdangerous."
"Who is so weak ah? Stick to it, orleave you alone——"
"Fcuk, Xiao Ling!"
Zhang Qiu jumped at Xiao Ling's name andlooked back. There was a messy chaos behind him. All the bodyguards got out ofthe way and pressed up against the wall. On the opposite side was Xiao Ling, who fell down on the ground miserably, white as paper, with cold sweat on hisforehead and a weak-looking face. He looked again at the six robust men who weremore than 1. 8 meter tall feeling so nervous that they wish they could stickthemselves on the wall and pretend to be invisible people.
The more he looked the more he thought itwas kind of funny, but only in the premise that Xiao Ling was a person.
"Ah Gui, why are you hiding from me sofar? I'm so cold and uncomfortable. Give me a hand." Xiao Ling saidweakly.
Ah Gui swallowed his saliva and verycautiously said, "Xiao Ling, do you know what condition you are in now?"
"He doesn't know." Zhang YuShuiwent to Xiao Ling, squatted down and groped for a talisman paper from his bosom. Xiao Ling hid in fear. He didn't know why he was afraid of Taoist Master Zhang. Obviously he used to worship Taoist Master Zhang very much.
"Taoist Master Zhang, wh-what's wrong withme?"
Zhang YuShui quickly folded the talismanpaper in his hand, stuffed it into Xiao Ling's arms and said, "You are dead."𝗳re𝙚w𝐞𝚋noѵ𝗲𝚕 - 🅽🅽novel
"Dead?" Xiao Ling turned morestable with the talisman paper, and with a blank face he shook his head indisbelief."No way, how could I die? I bought the protection talisman andfollowed the guys closely. Later, without knowing what was going on I was leftbehind. I searched for you guys after a long time. Finally, I saw Ah Hao and LaoLi. I greeted them happily. Who knew that they would scream when they saw me."
Ah Hao and Lao Li were the two bodyguardswho went down to dig the tunnel.
"Why is Ah Hao's face bleeding?"Ah Gui couldn't help asking.
Xiao Ling also wondered, "Who knows, once they saw me they turned around. Afterwards I, what happened to meafterwards? Why can't I remember? When I started to recall, I happened to seeyou guys. Zhang Qiu was vomiting all the time, I even handed him a tissue."
Zhang Qiu:...
He had said it was weird!
Xiao Ling was a ghost was a matter of fact, but he did not seem like a simple ghost. Zhang Qiu had seen many things by now, and did not feel scared. He also felt a little sympathy towards Xiao Ling, wholooked to be in his early twenties. He heard that Xiao Ling had only retired fromthe army and followed them out. He was the first to encounter mishap and eventhe death was so tragic.
"ErGe, what to do now?"
Xiao Ling's death was so thorough thateveryone could see that he couldn't be a living person now.
Zhang YuShui stood up and said, "Hedied too miserably and too fast. The Yin Qi was enough here, it was easy forhim to become a ghost. Before he died, he had grasped onto an obsession; it wasnormal for him thinking he was still alive. As for the split second unconsciousness, there should be something here that absorbed Xiao Ling's Yin Qi. Wait for meand Li Shu to go down, Xiao Ling will be fine."
Zhang Qiu recalled the female ghosts sayingthat they seduced men to come here for their souls through unconsciousobedience and gathered Yin Qi to supply for somewhere to absorb, seemed quitetrue.
"Now there are two ways; first, Idispel Xiao Ling's grievances and send him off to enter reincarnation. Second, he ceased his own obsession, and then enters reincarnation." Zhang YuShuiturned to Xiao Ling."The longer the delay, the easier it is to miss thegood time for reincarnation."
Xiao Ling looked up with a choking voice."I'mreally dead?"
Xiao Ling was the smallest in the team. Hewas usually simple and honest. He could bear hardships and was not afraid to doanything. Never did he expect he would end up like this now.
Faced with Xiao Ling's expectant eyes, people really couldn't speak out. It's hard to tell a lie, but the truth hurts.
Xiao Ling looked desolate as he lowered hishead. In the end, he felt unwilling. He looked at Zhang YuShui."Taoist MasterZhang, I-I choose the second."
"Seeming as we are colleagues, I'll helpyou free of charge." Zhang YuShui was not surprised by the result."You have the condense soul talisman on your body. Now let's go!"
Everyone continued to move on. However towardsXiao Ling, the bodyguards, though sympathetic, were still scared. Xiao Linghimself knew that, so he walked at the rear with a lonely look. At the side, Pei Qing touched his pocket, comforted the rolling little bead on his hand, andhelplessly spoiled the little bead. He raised his hand to pat Xiao Ling on theshoulder.
"Don't be sad, ghosts can also be goodghosts. Once you settled your wish, promptly go to reincarnate will be good."Pei Qing touched the little bead in his pocket, indicated that the task hadbeen completed. His little Ling Dang was kindhearted.
Xiao Ling listened and thought, he stillcould be a good ghost when he already died.
"Thank you Big Brother. Why are you notafraid of me at all? I am a ghost."
Pei Qing thought: LaoZi would like stay athome with Ling Dang to papapa in bed all day, how could I be afraid of a ghost!
Without thinking things through, he said: "Sometimespeople are more terrible than ghosts, you're nothing at all."
Xiao Ling suddenly felt that Pei Qing'simage was very lofty, such that of supreme realm.
Soon after, they reached an opening. It wasa black big door, where it was wholly carved with complex and exquisite patterns. Zhang Qiu held up his flashlight and studied the pattern on it carefully."It looks like a pair of wings."
In the middle of the wings was a round shape. Zhang Qiu thought of the Jade Bi that Qi ZhiRong had retrieved.
Zhang YuShui took out the Jade Bi and put iton it then heard the slight noise behind the stone wall. With Zhang Qiu'samazing hearing, he heard the rotation behind it so subtlety. One couldperceive the thickness of the stone wall was too thick that it was impossibleto open it by brute force. Of course, Li Shu or Qi Xi could open it, but who knewif there were any mechanisms behind it.
Mechanism?!
Just as Zhang Qiu wanted to remind, he saw atall figure behind him; Qi ZhiRong was walking towards the stone door, whichrose slowly. Qi ZhiRong could not wait and bent to go in first.
They hurried to catch up, but by the timethe back feet met the front feet, Qi ZhiRong was no longer in sight.
When the'pa' of the stone door fell soundedat the back, the bodyguards were in a panic and shouted, "Who closes thedoor?" "Why did the door suddenly close?" "How to get out?"
"Shut up." Li Shu's voice was notvery loud, but the room was quiet in an instant.
Qi Xi stood at forefront, his face was alittle anxious, "What about Xiao Rongrong? How come he disappeared?"
Seeing Qi Xi like this, Zhang Qiu was ashamedto say that there was something wrong with Qi ZhiRong, that he might have beenintentionally disappeared. Now the one that was being pitted against might havebeen them. Without a choice he still said, "He should be there. Let's lookfor him."
The tomb chamber was particularly huge, surrounded by colorful murals, and a huge hole in the middle of the room with layerupon layer dark steps that were steep straight down. It was unknown where it ledto.
"Don't rush down first." Zhang Qiupulled Qi Xi, who was hurrying to go down."Look at the muralsfirst."
The murals were colorful. It told about theorigin of Zhongshan Country. First, it was composed of a nomadic ethnic group. They were heroic and strong, galloping on the grasslands. Later, their ranksexpanded into a small city. One could tell that their surroundings were becomingmore richly provided.
But soon, Zhongshan Country encountered mishapand was wiped out.
The fire of war continued, and ZhongshanCountry was driven to a more remote and barren place. Later in the mural, a sicklyyoung man sat on the couch, and a tall back figure of a man carrying somethingto offer to him.
Next, Zhongshan Country became strongeragain, even stronger than before, and the people of the country had aflourishing outlook.
This was the end of the murals. Zhang Qiuthought that the sickly man in the murals should be the king in that childservant's story. Who on earth was the offering man? And what was offered? Inthe Pu Lei Country of Xinjiang, it was the Queen's sacrifice and there was alsoa treasure in the murals to make the country prosperous again. Was there anyconnection between the two?
Zhang Qiu hadn't got anything after longtime of thinking. Qi Xi couldn't wait any longer.
"Let's go."
The steps were steep and narrow, which couldonly accommodate two people. They couldn't see the end of it, it was all dark. They lined up one by one. If anyone stepped on empty, the front person mightroll down directly.
Zhang Qiu walked behind Xiao Jiang and sawhis son walked the steps one at a time with his short legs, his heart jumped.
"Son, are you tired?"
Xiao Jiang's head did not turn as heseriously said: "If Daddy is tired, you can take my hand." Afterthat, he handed the little hand over.
"Daddy's not tired. You slow down a bit."Zhang Qiu touched his son's little meat paw, which was very soft and nice totoy with.
Xiao Jiang nodded his head, and veryadorably answered "En". Zhang Qiu followed behind. The head of thepeople in front descending the steps bit by bit, as if there was no end, and hedid not know how long they had been walking. Zhang Qiu felt somewhat blurry infront of him. Suddenly, he heard the sound of rushing water which jolted hisspirit.
Was there water in this place?
Then he heard Qi Xi's voice at the front, "Arrived, there's actually a river in here."
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~ Chapter 66
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