Tomb of the living dead.
Yang Guo had fallen down the hill, and rolled into the forest’s long gra.s.s, he pa.s.sed out, he didn’t know how much time had pa.s.sed when he suddenly felt his body being pierced, he opened his eyes and saw countless white bees flying around his body, he heard the buzzing sounds, then he felt his whole body itch to the bone, a white blur was all he saw, he didn’t know whether it was real or an illusion, and he fainted again.
Some time pa.s.sed when he suddenly felt a cold and fragrant liquid in his mouth, slowly flowing into his throat and then into his stomach but felt that he couldn’t speak; he opened his eyes and suddenly saw just two inches in front of him an ugly face full of warts and pimples, the eyes were fixed on him. Yang Guo was startled, and fainted again. The ugly person stretched out the left hand and held his jaw, the right hand held a container, and then poured some more of the sweet liquid down his throat.
Yang Guo felt that the strange itching pain he had slowly diminish, and noticed that he was now sleeping on a bed, and knew that the ugly person had rescued him, he smiled, trying to say thank you. The ugly person also smiled, she finished feeding him the liquid and then put the container down on a table. Yang Guo saw that her smile was also extremely ugly, but within the ugliness was a soft and gentle look, he was touched and there was a warm feeling in his heart, he pleaded, “Grandma, don’t let my master catch me!”
The ugly old maid softly said, “Child, who is your master?”
Yang Guo had not heard such a soft and caring voice for such a long while, he became hot and started to cry. The old maid’s left hand held his hand, she didn’t say anything to console him, she just smiled and looked at him, her eyes were full of love and care; she waited for him to finish crying and then said, “Do you feel better?”
Yang Guo heard her tender voice; he couldn’t help it and cried again. She wiped away his tears and comforted him, “Good child, good child, don’t cry, don’t cry, the pain will go away in a little while.” The more caring she was, the harder Yang Guo cried.
Suddenly a soft voice from outside a hanging curtain said, “Grandma Sun, the child doesn’t stop crying, what is wrong?”
Yang Guo raised his head; he saw a white jade hand lift the hanging curtain, a girl entered. The girl wore an old fashioned delicate white dress, it was as if her body was covered with smoke and mist, she looked like she was about sixteen or seventeen years of age. Apart from her black hair, her body was as white as snow, her face was extremely beautiful, with just a hint of redness on her cheeks, and her face was pale and white. Yang Guo blushed, he immediately stopped crying; he lowered his head and felt slightly embarra.s.sed. From the corner of his eyes he took a quick peek, and saw that she was looking at him; he quickly lowered his head.
Grandma Sun laughed and said, “I don’t have any ideas, you better take a look.” The young girl came by to the bedside, she looked at the wounds that were caused by the bee stings; she stretched out her hand and touched his forehead and felt that he wasn’t feverish. When her hand touched Yang Guo’s forehead, he felt that it was extremely cold; he couldn’t help but shiver a little. The young girl said, “It is nothing. You’ve already drunk the Jade Bee honey; you’ll recover in half a day. Why did you enter the forest?”
Yang Guo raised his head, and looked into her eyes, he thought that she was beautiful, without comparison, but she exuded an icy and emotionless aura. She was as hard and as cold as ice and it was difficult to tell whether she was pleased or angry, a friend or foe. He thought, “Is that girl made out of crystal or made out of snow? Is she a person, a ghost, or an angel?” Although he heard her voice was soft there was no warmth in it, he didn’t dare to reply.
Grandma Sun laughed and said, “Sister Long is the owner of this place, if she asks you something, you’d better reply!”
The beautiful girl in white was the owner of the Tomb of the Living Dead, Xiao Longnu. In reality her eighteenth birthday had pa.s.sed, but because she had lived in the tomb since she was little and hadn’t seen the light of day, the internal energy skill she has practiced restricted her emotions. That is why she looked younger than she really was. Grandma Sun was her teacher’s maid, but since her teacher left the world, the two looked after each other. She heard the bees, and knew someone had entered the forest near the tomb, so Grandma Sun had come out to see who it was. She saw Yang Guo poisoned and unconscious on the ground; she rescued him and brought him back here. According to their sect’s rules, no outsiders can enter the tomb even one step; a man entering the tomb was even worse. But Yang Guo was young, and she saw that his whole body was covered with wounds, so Grandma Sun could not ignore him and broke the rules to save him.
Yang Guo got up from the stone bed and got onto the floor. He kowtowed to Grandma Sun and Xiao Longnu and said; “Disciple Yang Guo greets Grandma Sun, and greets Gu Gu (Auntie) Long.”
Grandma Sun laughed then quickly went over to pick him up and said, “Ah, your name is Yang Guo, there is no need for such formalities.” She has lived in the tomb for a few years, and had never interacted with outsiders, she saw that Yang Guo was handsome and polite; she was pleased. Xiao Longnu only nodded her head, and sat on a stone chair next to the bed.
Grandma Sun said, “How did you get here? How come you are wounded? Who beat you like this?” After she asked her questions she didn’t wait for him to reply and went out to get some dim sum and cakes, and insisted on him having some.
Yang Guo ate a few delicacies, and told her his life story from start to finish. He was good with words, his story was already engaging, he added his emotions to it and it became even more touching. Grandma Sun kept on sighing, sometimes she would add her own comments, and her words all favored Yang Guo. She said that Huang Rong was a biased woman and unjust in her actions, and commented that Zhao Zhijing was narrow minded, bullying a child. Xiao Longnu didn’t make a sound and sat still on the chair, but when Yang Guo mentioned Li Mochou, she and Grandma Sun looked at each other. When Grandma Sun heard Yang Guo finish, she stretched out her arms and hugged him, and said, “My poor child.”
Xiao Longnu slowly got up, and said, “His wounds are not serious, Grandma, send him out!”
Both Grandma Sun and Yang Guo were startled. Yang Guo loudly said, “I won’t return, I’d rather die.”
Grandma Sun said, “Miss, if he returns to Chongyang Palace, his master will punish him.”
Xiao Longnu said, “You return with him, find his master and tell him there is no need to punish the child.”
Grandma Sun said, “Ah, it’s another sect’s business, we can’t do anything about it.”
Xiao Longnu said, “Take a bottle of Jade Bee honey with you, and then tell them, the old Taoist will listen.”