Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
He stopped, and the shadow also halted. "If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. If the enemy moves, I will make sure it can't move." Now was the time to test his mental fortitude.
After about a quarter of an hour, the shadow remained still. Seven was reaching his limit of patience and suddenly turned around, feeling as if every hair on his body stood on end.
A black coffin was floating on the surface of the water. The river's water level barely reached a normal person's knees.
The coffin was about one meter tall; it couldn't possibly float unless it was empty, Seven analyzed calmly. The coffin floated on the water's surface, appearing motionless and unaffected by the current.
Facing an object meant for the dead always made the living feel uneasy, even a chill creeping in.
Seven took a deep breath and slowly approached the coffin. The closer he got, the stronger that chill became, until he stood right beside it, where the coldness strangely vanished.
He examined the exterior of the coffin; it was entirely black, nearly one meter high and about two meters long.
Crouching down to see how the coffin floated, he noticed that it wasn't touching the water at all but seemed to be suspended in mid-air, almost glued to the surface.
This was a Floating Coffin. Its existence was illogical, but since it existed, it must have some reason for being.
A coffin is where the dead return to rest peacefully. Thus, the living hold a deep-seated taboo against coffins—not just out of fear but also due to an intangible dread mingled between life and death.
Seven knocked on the coffin with his hand, producing a crisp sound. He leaned in to listen more closely and knocked a few more times when suddenly, the coffin shifted slightly.
Seven quickly stepped back as his torch extinguished at that moment. The coffin began to move more noticeably, splashing water around.
After the flame went out, rising black smoke and a foul odor made Seven's eyes water uncontrollably.
He rubbed his eyes with his hand to regain some clarity and took out a Firestarter from his pocket. Once lit, it provided only limited light—barely illuminating a meter around him with weak visibility.
The lid of the coffin had been thrown open and lay on the ground; silence returned to the surroundings. It was a deathly quietness, as if even the sound of flowing water had been muted. In Seven's eyes now lay only that Floating Coffin. Strangely enough, he detected a faint fragrance emanating from it—a scent that felt oddly familiar. "Could it be?" A heavy question weighed in Seven's mind as he cautiously pressed forward toward the coffin.
As the faint glow of the fire illuminated the coffin, Seven could finally see the "corpse" inside. A chilling atmosphere enveloped Seven completely.
It wasn't that the presence within the coffin was terrifying; on the contrary, the person inside was quite handsome, with delicate features and a striking appearance, indistinguishable from a living person.
What frightened Seven was that this "corpse" bore the face of Third.
However, Seven was certain that this was definitely not Third. Although the face was the same, the feeling was different. Seven scrutinized closely; the attire of this person differed significantly from that of the "Hanging Coffin" discovered earlier in the swamp. The individual in the Hanging Coffin wore more refined clothing, while this person’s burial outfit was practical. Yet, there had to be some connection to Third, Seven thought to himself.
Gathering his courage, Seven reached out to touch the corpse, feeling as if he were walking on thin ice, trembling with fear. After death, a body quickly loses moisture and becomes cold and stiff.
At first, Seven felt only a chill. However, unlike typical corpses, this one’s skin still had some elasticity. He withdrew his hand.
At that moment, echoes of a conversation from days prior began to drift back into his mind. This time, Seven could hear it more clearly; it seemed to be coming from within the wall.
Leaning closer to the wall, Seven indeed heard some rustling sounds.
He shouted towards the wall, “Is anyone there?” The voices continued but no one answered him. He called out again loudly. Still, there was no response from within the wall. The sounds seemed to fade into the distance. Frustrated, Seven knocked on the wall. As soon as his hand touched it, he realized that there was a secret hidden within. He tapped lightly at first and then increased his force. Afterward, he began to feel around near the wall until he discovered an indentation appearing before him. As he brought the firelight closer, he saw that it was a missing piece in a Bagua Diagram. One side of the diagram was black while the other was gold.
The moment this recess appeared, Seven felt reassured; wasn’t this just like the shape of the jade piece he had found outside? After hesitating for a moment—since the coffin still floated on the water and darkness loomed ahead—he knew he had to align the "jade" with the indentation.
As soon as he did so, a stone door opened naturally, revealing a path ahead. This could be considered fortunate; if he had encountered a "stone chamber," things might have been worse than they were now.
Without further hesitation—because the stone door was about to close—Seven stepped through just in time for it to shut behind him.
Turning around, Seven found himself on another path. A strong gust of wind extinguished his torch. Darkness enveloped him once more.
This path was muddy; water stains marked the ground. After taking just a few steps, mud splattered onto his shoes and pant legs.
The voice suddenly came again, and Seven quickly rushed toward it. He stumbled along the way, the sound intermittent. After a few minutes of pursuit, he began to see flickering lights ahead. Seven's judgment had proven correct, and there seemed to be quite a number of people.
He started to tread lightly, slowly following behind. There were probably seven or eight individuals, each carrying long guns on their backs.
A few of them continued to talk recklessly. One person said, "Wang Er Gou, didn't you say there was treasure here? We've been wandering around down here for almost a day already without finding anything. You’re not trying to fool me, are you?"
Wang Er Gou replied in a low and submissive tone, "Wu Ge, I definitely have connections. I wouldn’t dare say anything unless I was sure."
"That's nonsense! Just the other day, those 'fat sheep' you found for me have turned into porcupines," Wu Ge retorted. Wang Er Gou forced a smile and added, "Well, Old Horse had his missteps too!"
They continued moving forward, and Seven lifted his foot to catch up with them. Suddenly, he heard some rustling sounds behind him. He paused and listened carefully, but the noise vanished in an instant.
Seeing that the group ahead was about to disappear from view, Seven decided he couldn't hesitate any longer. It was hard to come across a group of living people; it was much safer to stick with them.
Wang Er Gou pulled out a compass from his backpack. Wu Qingshan glanced over and asked, "What’s that, Er Gou?"
Wang Er Gou cleared his throat and straightened his voice, saying, "This is a compass used for positioning and finding the best location; it's the best tool for geomancy."
Seven chuckled inwardly at how this kid could talk so confidently. Clearly, Wu Qingshan didn’t believe him either and shouted, "Stop pretending to read fortunes here!" The followers around him laughed at this remark.
Wang Er Gou's expression changed slightly as he said seriously, "You guys shouldn’t dismiss it so easily. Let me tell you: Feng Shui is said to have been created by Nine Heavens Xuan Nu. Feng Shui consists of: dragon, cave, sand, water, direction, intention, shape, and heaven. There's a famous saying: 'One's fate comes first, followed by luck; then Feng Shui; fourth is accumulating virtue; fifth is studying.' Feng Shui has become geomancy. 'Kan' refers to observing the heavens; 'Yu' means surveying the earth; 'Feng' refers to air and space; 'Shui' pertains to hydrology and water quality."
After delivering this speech with great seriousness, not only were Wu Qingshan and his group left dumbfounded, but even Seven was taken aback.
Wu Qingshan clicked his tongue in surprise and said, " Er Gou, I didn’t know you had this skill! Why haven’t I seen you use it before?"
Seeing that everyone was impressed by him, Wang Er Gou couldn’t help but feel proud and decided to build suspense. This Wang Er Gou wasn’t just boasting; he truly knew Feng Shui and was even at a master level. A-San and Ah Si urged him on. Finally, Wang Er Gou slowly began to speak again: "This skill is passed down through my family. There hasn’t been an opportunity to use it until now." A sly glint flashed in his eyes as he spoke.
Anyone with a basic understanding of Feng Shui knows that it can be used to determine the optimal locations for residences, settlements, and graves.
Clearly, these people do not understand this; they are all uneducated fools who occasionally dabble in fortune-telling on the streets. Wang Er Gou's rambling caused a subtle shift in the group's attitude toward him.
Seven continued to follow discreetly, afraid to reveal himself. After the last encounter with them, he knew that if he suddenly appeared, they would surely shoot him to pieces.
He decided to stick with them for now and see what they were up to. After some time had passed, Wu Qingshan asked, " Er Gou, if we keep going like this, will we be able to get out later?" Wang Er Gou confidently replied, "Of course we will."
The further they went, the stickier the mud became underfoot.
A few people in the group began to grumble in dissatisfaction; the mud was nearly swallowing their shoes whole. Walking felt like trudging through a quagmire—one step at a time, each step a struggle.
Seven shared their frustration but couldn’t vent his emotions as freely as they did. He kept his head down and followed along step by step.
Some of them could no longer bear the exhaustion and asked gloomily, "Wu Ge, where are we headed? This path seems endless."
Wu Qingshan didn’t answer but turned the question back to Er Gou. Wang Er Gou pretended to check his compass and said, "It's just ahead a little further; everyone hang in there." In truth, he wasn’t sure himself and added, "A little hardship now is nothing; once we find the treasure, good days will be just around the corner."
After saying a few more encouraging words, the group continued onward in an orderly fashion.
Not long after, they noticed light streaming in from ahead—a small circle of light about two or three meters wide. The illumination was not very strong. The sudden appearance of this light startled them.
"What’s going on here, Wu Ge?" A-San asked. Wu Qingshan was equally perplexed.
Comment 0 Comment Count