novelCrystal Coffin
| ← Ch.120 | Ch.122 → |
Seeing the second mural, Lin Luoran can't help wondering.
This is the same mountain as the first mural, but the main part is a grand wedding of the cultivation world. In the open square which can contain hundreds of people, a couple is holding hands and looking at each other. Lin Luoran cannot see their faces as there are only their backs in the mural. She can only see them from the back that the bridegroom is wearing a Tang-style robe with a high crown and the bride is wearing a palace dress. What shocks Lin Luoran most is the hairpin worn by the bride — it is not precisely drawn, but Lin Luoran is 100% sure that it is the Sword of Bright Snow!
The bride... Is she White Fairy?
White Fairy is now sleeping. Lin Luoran carefully keeps the details of the mural in mind, but she does not say anything.
Wen Guanjing is still immersed in the magnificence of Zu Mountain in former times. Even if he notices Lin Luoran's unusual look, he will not notice a small hairpin worn by a woman in the mural.
"What is this?" Lin Luoran asks, pretending to be curious.
Wen Guanjing calms down and carefully watches the mural for a while. He can see that many guests come to the grand wedding wearing different clothes. Some are from the Buddhist School and some are from the Taoist School. He also recognizes that the bridegroom is wearing a Tang-style robe and the bride is wearing a palace dress. He can only be sure that this wedding happens in Zu Mountain — that square which can hold hundreds of people is in their record. It is strange, however, that this unprecedented wedding of the cultivation world is not recorded in any of their notes!
This should not happen... He organizes his thought and tells Lin Luoran, but it has made Lin Luoran even more puzzled.
What is hidden behind the wedding that has not been recorded? Is it possible that it has something to do with White Fairy's fate? For some reason, Lin Luoran has this strange idea in her mind.
Perhaps the truth she wants to know is inside the palace... Lin Luoran looks at the gate at the end of the passage, takes a deep breath and moves on to the third mural.
Unlike the first two murals, the third mural presents something in a new place: a lot of cultivators are in a vast desert, looking at the sky.
There is a colorful halo in the sky. In addition to cultivators who are looking up from the ground, there are many cultivators who are flying to the halo. Some of them are immersed in the halo and some has just reached there.
Lin Luoran's fingers trembles slightly, "Brother, come and see this."
"What?" Wen Guanjing carefully watches it for a while, and the expression on his face changes. He recalls a popular story in the cultivation world about the sudden disappearance of cultivators in the level of Gathering Vitality a thousand years ago.
"One day suddenly, colorful light fell from the sky and oracle was delivered from the Upper Land..."Cultivators in lower levels never got the chance to know the content of that oracle. They just knew that after the oracle was delivered, all cultivators in the level of Gathering Vitality disappeared.
According to the mural, it seems that they were taken away by the halo. Wen Guanjing's heart is beating fast. Now the earth has less and less Reiki and cultivation is becoming harder and harder. If they solve the mystery of the disappearance of those cultivators in the level of Gathering Vitality, maybe they can find a new place for cultivation.
He looks at Lin Luoran. Has she thought about this as well?
They look at the mural carefully, but unlike the secret land with different terrains, deserts all look very similar. After observing for a while, they do not find anything special about this desert. There is no way that they can find it.
Lin Luoran is a little bit disappointed. Suddenly she realizes that this is only the third mural. The passage is long enough for another two murals at least. Perhaps there is more information hidden in those murals?
She quickly steps to the fourth mural but she is disappointed that the fourth mural is, unexpectedly, a blank one!
It is not blank because it has not been painted, but because it has been erased by a spell as it is an inch deeper than the first three murals and the wall is clean and smooth.
What on earth was painted here?
Was the secret of the sudden disappearance hidden in it?
Who erased it?
Lin Luoran and Wen Guanjing are disappointed. They hesitate for a long time and then come to the stone gate. There are two wooden Pixiu(a mythical wild animal) carved on both sides of the stone gate, but both of them have two antlers, which is quite different from what they usually look.
"Statues of Pixiu are used to draw wealth. The one with one antler is in charge of wealth and the other one with two antlers is in charge of warding off evil spirits. This... is a mausoleum!" Wen Guanjing mutters to himself at first, and then suddenly looks up and speaks to Lin Luoran.
Mausoleum? So it is a tomb. Lin Luoran frowns. Why is Wen Guanjing looking for something in a tomb? She has read books like Ghost Blows out the Candle and knows that tombs of emperors are all very strange. This one is obviously the tomb of a cultivator and it is definitely more dangerous.
Wen Guanjing is also very puzzled. He takes out the parchment again and looks at the strange words. Nothing on it implies that the place is a mausoleum.
To disturb the ancestors of Zu Mountain, or to solve the mystery of the disappearance of cultivators in the level of Gathering Vitality a thousand years ago? Wen Guanjing packs the parchment and chooses the latter. He tries to push the stone door, but a fire breaks out and sets his sleeves on fire. Fortunately, he reacts quickly and tears the sleeves off, or his hand may be burnt.
Cultivators have many means to block intruders. This fire, for example, is not ordinary fire. Wen Guanjing does not dare to try again. After thinking for a while, he tries several spells that people of Zu Mountain use against inhibitions. A red light flashes, and the stone gate opens slowly.
Wen Guanjing finally resumes his self-confidence. He takes the lead in case anything dangerous happens again. Lin Luoran follows him closely. As her dress swinging, she feels that the two wooden Pixiu have vivid expressions in their eyes and they don't look like something without life.
Lin Luoran assumes that the tomb must be dark and lifeless, but when they enter the tomb, she finds that it is actually very clean. It is square in shape with a dome as its roof. There is a large pool inside the tomb with lotuses planted in. The lotuses are pink or white in color with a few purple ones dotted in — they appear to be unspeakable charming.
Fragrance of the lotuses that lingers around is way too real if everything in front of them is an illusion.
Lin Luoran looks with her cleared eyes. The lotuses are still the lotuses and the pool doesn't change at all. Looking from a distance, there is a round stage in the middle of the pool. On the roof of the tomb, a pearl big as a bowl is illuminating this palace, which can hold hundreds of people.
Lin Luoran takes a glimpse of the round stage and sees a transparent crystal coffin. One glimpse only, Lin Luoran is seriously influenced and she almost loses her consciousness.
Wen Guanjing notices that something is wrong with Lin Luoran and tries to pull her back. Lin Luoran, however, floats lightly and moves toward the round stage with the lotuses under her feet.
"Sister Lin!" Wen Guanjing shouts in great astonishment and chases after her.
When it comes to personal ability in cultivation, Lin Luoran is better than Wen Guanjing, and it only takes her a moment to get to the stage and get closer to the crystal coffin, as if she is enchanted by dark magic. She hears the cries of Wen Guanjing and looks back at him, and then she quickly turns back at the crystal coffin with a dull look.
The crystal coffin is white and flawless. With the pearl illuminating, light flows on the transparent crystal coffin.
Looking through the coffin, Lin Luoran sees a woman in palace dress lying quietly inside it. The woman has cloud-like hair, black eyebrows, red lips and a peony in her hair. She looks gorgeous, and it seems that she is just sleeping...
"Lin, get out of there!" Wen Guanjing finally catches up with her and is stretching out his hand to pull her back. Lin Luoran hears his loud voice and she becomes sober a little bit. She looks at the woman inside the coffin again and is very much shocked —
The eyes, the eyebrows, the lips, the slight sense of pride on the face... The woman lying in the coffin is clearly White Fairy!
Is that the body of White Fairy?
As soon as such the question strikes Lin Luoran, the woman in the coffin opens her eyes. A shiny light suddenly bursts out and disappears into Lin Luoran's face. Lin Luoran doesn't have the time to avoid and she freezes instantly.
| ← Ch. 120 | Ch. 122 → |