"Visible but ungraspable, unfindable, a mere illusion like flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water? Wu Jinluan's voice grew hoarse and resentful."
"I continuously adjust my breathing, trying to calm down my mind as much as possible, and gaze at Lao Gong, waiting for his conclusion."
Regardless of what Ding RuiPU has become, her troubles are solved, which is a done deal.
The exact location of this coffin will not affect the overall situation in reality. After all, it's about Lao Gong being greedy and having tasted it, which enhances some skills. If he doesn't get to taste it, it won't really matter much.
The other gentlemen continued to discuss without a clear answer.
"The coffin could be anywhere."
Lao Gong spoke up, but his words were as if he had said nothing at all.
"The mountain caves reflected on the river's surface are right by the riverbank. This is actually very shallow; it seems like a tactic to lure people in. It now appears that the layout's purpose was indeed to draw people in. Both the visible and hidden paths are impassable. Walking through the graveyard above leads to death for many; taking the path to the deep pool, or entering directly through God's Way into the deep pool, only leads to more deaths as they navigate outside this tomb room's God's Way. Countless lives are lost in the process of exploration, only to face a multitude of ghosts and discover that the coffin is just a reflection."
"This would anger and drive mad anyone who enters, just like the old witch cursing the fraudster, completely losing their sanity." Lao Gong is still analyzing.
I did not interrupt him, as he was gradually entering the realm of logic.
"One might say, there's a sense of simplicity here, though it is dangerous. It's all rough and violent danger, requiring death to pass through. If this time's not someone from the Coffin Land, the Yin-Yang Master would have to explore himself. The team would have to disband as everyone has their own ulterior motives."
"He not only used feng shui and mechanisms to harm people, but also manipulated people's hearts and minds to create discord. The tomb owner was smart and knew that someone would surely come to excavate the tomb, so he laid traps specifically for those who came in his line of work!"
"The real tomb must be nearby, either around the two deep pools or on the mountain outside."
Lao Gong analyzed a lot, but the last sentence was very vague and didn't give a specific answer.
"You haven't come up with anything, Uncle Gong..."
A young Yin-Yang master muttered softly.
"You young generation, you really don't know what it's like. If Master Lao Gong could see through this kind of feng shui magic, why would he come here? Those two little fellows from the Yudai Temple and the Wanglei Temple would have to kneel down and lick my feet. The old witch even has to serve me properly." Lao Gong cursed angrily.
The Yin-Yang Master exchanged glances and dare not speak further.
"Sir, why don't we go out and take a look?" Lao Gong turned his head to look at me.
"Hmm." I was about to nod, but I saw Wu Jinluan walking towards a pile of blood-stained bones on the ground.
These are the bones that fell off from Ding RuiPU's body, with a human skin nearby, which was forcefully torn off from Ding RuiPU's head.
"These people had their bones taken from them but were still bewitched by Ding RuiPU, becoming her guardian spirits. It's truly pitiful. The bones left here might be the souls that disappeared earlier, suffering from loneliness here. It would be better to take them away and bury them in a place with good feng shui." Wu Jinluan crouched down, took out two pieces of cloth, one to wrap his hand with as he picked up the bones from the ground, and the other spread out beside him to prepare for packing.
"Probably, these people believed that following Ding RuiPU would allow them to attain enlightenment and be elevated with the birds and the dogs? Ding RuiPU herself directly transformed into an immortal, this is living and becoming an immortal in the sky, and in front of some insufficiently skilled Yin-Yang masters, she's like a living god who deceived them all." Lao Gong added one more sentence as an explanation for why these people died in Ding RuiPU's hands but still protected her.
"Why was Qi You You frozen? I also suffered a massive loss of energy and my yang qi was almost depleted?" I asked.
"That's simple enough. There are two types of flying-skeletons: one with white feathers and one with black feathers. The black-feathered ones are fierce, and the white-feathered ones are benevolent deities. A flying-benevolent skeleton also has the effect of calming the vital energy. If there's a pill inside, it becomes a living point of cultivation. Things removed from an energetic point are also calming objects. Qi family's young lady was naturally constrained, and not only does vital energy nourish people, but when contaminated with subjective intention, it can also harm people, do you understand, Sir?" Lao Gong explained.
"I pondered, which means it involves areas that I am completely unfamiliar with."
"Are you saying, Uncle Gong, that Ding RuiPU might have a pill?" Wu Jinluan stared at the powder on the ground in disbelief, while others hung their heads and beat their chests, as if they were deeply regretful.
"Then what else? How else could she have made herself become an immortal? It's truly intriguing. To be honest, if she hadn't met me, in another few decades, she would have been just like that. She even managed to take care of her face; she would definitely nourish her body. With enough nourishment, a pill would naturally form." Lao Gong seemed quite relaxed.
"Uncle Gong... Why didn't you remind us? If you had, we would have dug out the pill! It's a waste!"
Wu Jinluan looked so sad that he wanted to cry.
"The pill is a place to hide the soul. If the pill is there, the soul must be as well. Little Wu, you know nothing. This old witch cannot be allowed to leave any of her earthly possessions behind, let alone the flesh pill?" Lao Gong glanced at Wu Jinluan again.
Their conversation went over my head, and I only understood a little of what they were saying.
"Let's go, let's go." Lao Gong's hands and feet gathered back, landing on my shoulder, urging us to leave.
Wu Jinluan and the others gradually calmed down, following them outside.
Before leaving the tomb chamber, the six Yin-Yang masters still glanced around on both sides, as if trying to find other items within the chamber. However, the tomb chamber was empty, with no buried objects.
Returning to the previously filled with statue and mechanism's path, I could see that there were still bloodstains on the ground.
In the dark and somber god path, those statues that are not human give a more ominous and narrow impression.
Leading the way, the others followed, and we walked through the god path in a specific order, back to the narrow step cave entrance we originally entered from.
Taking deep breaths for a long time, I filled my lungs with enough air and then climbed up.
When passing through this narrow place, I couldn't help but think about how desperate people would be if this place was suddenly blocked or collapsed on both ends. However, it's ultimately just speculation.
Emerging from the cave mouth, there was that massive stone tablet in front of me. Years of water flow had flattened it, leaving no inscriptions on it.
Reflecting on it, was it truly the water erosion? Or could it be that this tablet itself had no inscriptions because there was no one buried inside?
A little farther upstream, I could see the giant tomb standing on the bottom of the water.
In fact, below this tomb should be the main mausoleum?
Flapping my legs, I continued to swim forward.
The top of the tomb was a transparent brickwork, which should be some kind of crystal.
This thing is indeed transparent, but looking down from here, what I saw was not a mausoleum or a coffin, but rather a blood-soaked skeleton!
The skeleton slightly raised its head, and the empty eye sockets, nose holes, and mouths emitted a faint breath without movement. The faint purple hue could be seen in the blood.
Lao Gong has been on my shoulder, making inarticulate noises, gurgling. Even as a ghost, he couldn't make any sound underwater.
Even though I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs running. I know that what we see in this mirror is an illusion!
It's something that makes people avoid it!
So that no one would think of destroying this place and thus disrupting the burial layout inside.
