Chapter 127 Extreme Joy Begets Sorrow
“Brother, please let me go…”
Wen Guanjing feels like being hit on the head. Holding Lin Luoran is like holding a heated iron so he quickly puts Lin Luoran on the ground.
Such an embarra.s.sing scene has never happened in Wen Guanjing’s “decent” life before. When Lin Luoran coughs, Wen Guanjing’s face turns red. He feels so embarra.s.sed that he forgets to ask why Lin Luoran suddenly disappeared and then reappeared in his arms.
Lin Luoran is relieved that Wen Guanjing does not ask any questions as she doesn’t want to answer them at all. Therefore, although she feels very embarra.s.sed as well, she has to say something to divert his attention.
“Brother Wen, have you found what you are looking for?”
Wen Guanjing does not answer her question. He is a little unsure about who she is, asking: “Are you Sister Lin?”
Lin Luoran looks at him. She finds him funny being very careful and jokes with him: “Of course!”
Hearing this, Wen Guanjing says nothing but acc.u.mulates his strength in secret. He takes precautions because Lin Luoran will never admit that she’s “Sister Lin”.
Seeing his expression, Lin Luoran finds the atmosphere more relaxing than before. She smiles and says: “Brother, I’m only joking. I am Lin Luoran.”
Wen Guanjing looks at her suspiciously. The appearance of a person may be copied, but the character is shaped from the bottom of one’s heart, which cannot be changed overnight. This Lin Luoran has clear eyes. It is indeed the girl who is very decent since they first met and who is as magisterial as Mu Guiying, the great heroine!
With his eyebrows going down, Wen Guanjing says with a bitter smile: “Sister Lin, please don’t make fun of me next time.”
Lin Luoran is amused by his slanted eyebrows and nods. To be honest, she had a bad impression of Wen Guanjing along with the “special department” because of what happened with Zou Yaowei. After what happened today, however, it is different… When Lin Luoran was controlled by the dead woman’s spiritual mind, she could hear their conversation at first and she knows that Wen Guanjing is on her side.
They have just known each other for a short time. Lin Luoran never expected that Wen Guanjing would fight for her. He seems to be a good person after everything he has done.
“Brother, have you found what you are looking for?”
Wen Guanjing shakes his head. Have they really come to the wrong place?
Lin Luoran wants to divert his attention, so she can only keep encouraging him. They think it over that they can search this mausoleum, which only has one room, and know for sure whether what Wen Guanjing wants is here or not.
Lin Luoran starts searching from the left side and Wen Guanjing from the right side.
The mausoleum is very large, but the s.p.a.ce apart from the lotus pool is only three feet wide. Lin Luoran touches the wall and finds that it is just an ordinary stone wall. She explores with her spiritual mind but still finds nothing special. She checks the wall carefully and finishes searching pretty soon.
Nothing… This is an ordinary stone wall. The mausoleum is just like other mausoleums if it were not built under water. Nothing inside is related to cultivators.
Soon, they both finish checking and meet each other in the middle of the mausoleum.
“Brother, what are you looking for? It is so hard to search for something aimlessly.”
Wen Guanjing looks at the lotus pool and remains silent. However, he soon finds it useless to keep the secret under this circ.u.mstance and it’s better to tell Lin Luoran the truth.
“I’m looking for a long-lost spell book of Zu Mountain School named Introduction of Swords. It is mentioned in the parchment that it may be here, or I will not come here to find any treasures.”
Fortunately, Lin Luoran is not drinking water at the moment, or she may just spit it out!
Introduction of Swords? Isn’t it just the book White Fairy gave to her carelessly? G.o.d, that’s what Wen Guanjing takes her here for. She almost got killed for the book… Lin Luoran feels very bad. Now the problem is worse as she knows about it, but cannot tell Wen Guanjing that she has it — otherwise, how can she explain why she owns the long-lost spell book of Zu Mountain School?
Lin Luoran knows about the story of “the precious stone lands its innocent owner in jail”. Now she just hopes that it is actually in the mausoleum so that they do not come in vain. She is, however, not sure about it. She decides to have Wen Guanjing prepared mentally. “Brother, is it possible that the parchment is actually a trap to lure people in and help the dead woman cast ‘Possession’?”
Lin Luoran blurts out the words and she is surprised at her own thoughts. The mausoleum locates under water. Does that mean the dead woman have water Taoist root? On the murals along the aisle painted the scene of masters on the level of Gathering Vitality flying towards the halo. However, did they really fly towards the halo, or were the murals just painted like that to cater to people’s a.s.sumption?
The final mural was designed to look like it had been erased, which makes people believe that the answer is in the mausoleum. How can such an important place be broken into by some simple spells of Wen Guanjing’s?
Now thinking about it, she believes even if they cannot cast spells, maybe they can still open the door by force.
This is not protecting the owner, which is the top priority of a mausoleum. Huaxia people traditionally believe that no one should disturb the dead. Even the cultivator with the strangest ideas will not hope his mausoleum be broken into easily… Lin Luoran breathes a sigh of relief. She is very fortunate to successfully escape from such a well-designed trap.
Wen Guanjing is not a fool, but he is so attracted by the book. All cultivators of Zu Mountain School cultivate with swords. As the ace in the younger generation, Wen Guanjing knows the importance of the long-lost Introduction more than anyone else. It is, for him, much more attractive than all the money in the world.
The trap is so simple that even Lin Luoran can figure it out. Wen Guanjing calms down and knows that this is all set for the dead woman to gain a body — he feels very disappointed as he almost lost his life to get the parchment.
Lin Luoran knows about his disappointment. She also knows about the Introduction, so she feels a little guilty. She points at the crystal coffin and says, “Brother Wen, I think even if it is a trap, the lure may not be fake. Let’s search the coffin… If we still get nothing, let’s drain the pool. We can’t come here in vain!”
Wen Guanjing looks at her indignant face. “Searching the coffin” and “draining the pool”? They all seem to be her personal revenge against the dead woman who cast “Possession” on her. Wen Guanjing has never seen Lin Luoran being so childish. Her childish behavior disperses his depression of not finding Introduction of Swords, so he agrees with her idea.
The dead woman is lying in the crystal coffin quietly. Her cheek remains rosy and the peony decorated in her hair is fresh and beautiful. Although Lin Luoran has come up with the idea, she is actually a little afraid of the dead woman.
Wen Guanjing doesn’t like this woman’s way of doing things. Regardless of her relationship with Zu Mountain School, he is ready to open the coffin and check inside.
After searching for a while, however, they are surprised to find no joint seam on the coffin. It seems that a large crystal was carved as a whole and there is no way to open the coffin!
How did the dead woman get in there?
Lin Luoran is shocked. How did the dead woman’s spirit come out and cast “Possession”?
Is this crystal coffin somewhere you can only get out and no one can get in? Means of cultivators is once again eye-opening for little rookie Lin Luoran.
Wen Guanjing is not ready to give up. He feels that there must be some inhibitions or secret devices on the coffin, so he crouches and checks carefully.
Lin Luoran stands still and looks at the dead woman. She feels that the peony in her hair is unbelievably fresh as if she can see the dewdrops on it.
Suddenly, she finds something interesting on the st.i.tches of her dress…
“Brother Wen, look at the symbols!” As Lin Luoran looks at the st.i.tches carefully, she finds them more and more strange. As a result, she calls Wen Guanjing to come and see.
Strange symbols are all over the cuffs and hem. Wen Guanjing looks at the “symbols” and tells Lin Luoran: “This is Bronze script.”
Lin Luoran is embarra.s.sed for her lack of knowledge. She makes up her mind to herself that after going home, she will learn about all the rare languages of Huaxia — from oracle bone script to “nüshu” used by females in Hunan Province.
“Sword is a weapon. It can be made from metal and wood, and it needs to be fired…” Wen Guanjing recognizes the scripts. Back at Zu Mountain School, they also have a copy of this paragraph. Therefore, this is indeed the Introduction of Swords. Wen Guanjing is so pleasantly surprised that he reads out the Introduction despite Lin Luoran, an outsider, is present.
Lin Luoran quickly coughs to remind Wen Guanjing of her presence. Wen Guanjing shuts his mouth, takes out a piece of jade and starts copying the Introduction.
Lin Luoran also owns the Introduction, which has over ten thousand of words. For a rookie like herself, it is indeed very precious. However, she finds that it just records techniques to refine weapons and categories of flying swords and other magic weapons, and it doesn’t contain much information about the Tao of swords. Lin Luoran cannot understand why Zu Mountain School values it so much.
She can’t figure it out for herself, on the other side, Wen Guanjing is feeling very anxious. The scripts are embroidered on the hem and cuffs of the dead woman’s dress. Part of the scripts is clear to see but the most important part is under her body. Wen Guanjing is sweating anxiously.
Those closely involved cannot see clearly. Lin Luoran, however, is more clear-headed.
“Brother Wen, the coffin is transparent. If we lift the coffin, we can see the scripts under the body easily.”
Lin Luoran finds herself petty. She is, obviously, “revenge” upon Wen Guanjing, who has “mocked” at her when she cannot read Bronze script.
This idea, however, is indeed a good one under this circ.u.mstance!
There is no better way. Wen Guanjing puts his hand on the coffin and finds it chillier than it looks. He cannot bear it, so he infuses fire Reiki in his hand and prepares to lift the coffin. As soon as fire Reiki is on the coffin, the two of them hear the sound of wind blowing through leaves. Lin Luoran feels dangerous instinctively. Her back is very straight and she nerves herself to turn around —
Snakes! Inside the fragrant lotus pool, there are different species of snakes with various sizes and colors. Their smell is unpleasant and disgusting.
The snakes are not just inside the pool. The stone gate, the aisle and every corner except the stage with the coffin on it are all covered with snakes that come out of nowhere and move quickly.
Even for Wen Guanjing, a brave man, seeing the snakes rolling in the pool makes him feel sick. He thinks about being inside the pool just then and he feels gross even more…
Lin Luoran’s mind is full of strange ideas, such as “curse of the pharaoh”, “after joy comes sadness”, “happiness and misfortune come together”, etc.
The problem is, how to get out?