Chapter 31 I'm Still Going to See the Dead

—Could it be… that he is also a descendant of the Blood Crossbow Case? I've never heard my father mention it.

"Let's get down to business," Feng Shisan shouted. "Are you going to take your things or not?"

Xiao Ma composed himself and rushed to the side room. Guan Ye looked at A Jiu, "Don't you have anything to take with you?"

Ajiu spread out her sword-wielding hand. "When I disembarked, what else did I bring besides you?"

Guan Ye was a little confused, vaguely understanding but not quite grasping it. Feng Shisan chuckled a few times, pinched his ear, and told them that he wasn't deaf.

"Let's go." Xiao Ma picked up a package and slung it across his chest. "If we don't go now, it's really going to rain."

As the group walked out of the old house, Xiao Ma stopped in his tracks, suddenly turned around, knelt down, and kowtowed three times. "Ancestors of the Pei family, please bless my return to the capital. Once my wish is fulfilled, I will definitely return to the island to repair your secluded house and offer incense at your grave!" After saying this, he got up, his eyes moist in the night.

"Why don't you go and kowtow too?" Ajiu whispered.

Guan Ye didn't turn back. If praying to people or gods were useful, they wouldn't have met on Canglang Island. She just wanted to forge her own path.

They had only gone halfway when lightning flashed and thunder roared, and rain streaks appeared on the gable wall. "Oh no, oh no!" Feng Shisan bowed with his sword in hand. "Little Ma, you must have startled the Pei family ancestors. This rain started without warning, and there's nowhere to hide."

"Let's go back to the old house," Xiao Ma said, also feeling scared. "There's still a place to take shelter from the rain."

"Follow me." Guan Ye discerned the direction and pointed to the middle road, saying, "There's a mine there, not far away. Let's wait out the heavy rain first."

“There might be a beast in the cave,” Little Horse hesitated.

“Beasts are alive, and we have swords; men are dead, and ghosts are not afraid of our swords.” Feng Shisan raised his sword and hurriedly followed Guan Ye. “I’m going with Guan Ye.”

The mine was hidden in the mountains, not far from where Pei Chong was secluded, but the valley was deep, the trees were dense, and there were many forks in the road. The entrance was often hidden by bushes and rocks. Without Guan Ye to lead the way, one could easily miss it. Few people would find it even in broad daylight. Just as they squeezed into the entrance, a torrential downpour began. Feng Shisan stamped his wet boots, still feeling apprehensive. This mountain, this night, this rain... everything was terrifying.

Upon entering the mine, the humid heat instantly turned into a chilly cold. The entrance was narrow, allowing only one person to squeeze in at a time. Guan Ye led the way, with A Jiu bringing up the rear. Inside, it was pitch black, and the four of them stood in a row, none daring to take another step forward.

After standing there for a while, Xiao Ma sighed sadly, rummaged through the bundle in front of his chest and pulled something out. With a tearing sound, it lit up with a flash of light, and it turned out to be a tinderbox.

"You..." Feng Shisan swallowed hard. "You brought a tinderbox?"

"Then I'll put it out?" Little Horse pouted and went to blow it out.

"No, no, no." Feng Shisan snatched the tinder, and bravely took a few steps forward. The firelight was weak and dim, casting dappled shadows on the cave walls. Occasionally, water droplets seeped from the cracks in the rocks, their soft, echoing sounds as they fell to the ground.

Ajiu reached out to Xiaoma, who froze slightly without moving. Guanye pointed to the package he was covering, "You have... more than one tinderbox here, don't you?"

“You guys…” Xiao Ma looked dejected, and reluctantly pulled out two more. “I only brought three, and they were all saved up with great difficulty.”

Guan Yejian smiled and opened his hands, igniting a fire. The dim mine cave was instantly brightened, the firelight reflecting off the walls and creating a dazzling display of unique, undulating textures that amazed everyone.

"This is... a mine?" Xiao Ma rubbed his eyes. "We've lived in our old house for so long, we only know there are coal mountains on the island, we've never heard of mines."

Guan Ye nodded, "It's a mine." As she spoke, she touched the mineral marks on the exposed rocks, picked up some mineral dust, and held it up to A Jiu's eyes, "This is blue copper."

Xiao Ma and Feng Shisan huddled together, picked up a bit of the mixture, and squinted at it in the firelight. "It really is!"

"—'Layered rocks, iron-clad heroes, graphite and stone clear, uniquely colorful; malachite blue, ebony black, cinnabar blue and copper, difficult to obtain colors.' Guan Ye recited in a low voice, 'The Casting Classic, haven't you studied it?'"

Feng Shisan shook his head, "You can't even recognize a few characters, let alone the 'Casting Classic'?"

Xiao Ma's gaze towards Guan Ye changed slightly. "Guan Ye, how do you know everything?"

Guan Ye didn't respond. She brushed the mineral dust off her fingertips, looked around, and said, "I originally thought this mine was abandoned in the workshop. But when I came in, I found out that the entrance was carved out by people, but the things inside have never been mined."

"No wonder." Xiao Ma suddenly realized, "The hole was dug so small. If Steward Pei had led the people to dig it, it would never have been like this. Guan Ye, how did you find out?"

"Lou Shitou and I went up the mountain to transport coal. We were taking shelter from the rain a while ago. Lou Shitou has a sharp eye and brought me here." Guan Ye moved her feet carefully. The ground was wet and slippery. Stepping on the mud, she could feel the dampness of the soil. She could smell the earthy smell mixed with the stench of decay. The stone walls shimmered, enticing her to search deeper into the mine.

Ajiu pulled Guan Ye's wrist and shook her head, saying, "This cave looks quite old. Let's not rush in and take a look first."

“No beasts.” Little Horse was a little excited. “And no ghosts either. What a Lou Shitou! I actually underestimated him. Lou Cangyu, you don’t know how lucky you are.”

“We’re all leaving.” Feng Shisan tapped him with the hilt of his sword. “It’s too late to realize anything now. You can’t possibly not go back to Rongdu, can you? You just kowtowed a few times, and it was all for nothing.”

“They didn’t say they wouldn’t come back,” Xiao Ma said happily. “One day, when we return in glory, I’ll build a house for our ancestor Pei Chong and dig up this mine.” Xiao Ma became more and more excited as he thought about it, his cheeks flushed red, and his eyes shone as if he could already see himself returning in triumph.

Ajiu pulled Guanye behind him. Guanye didn't know what he had experienced in his youth. He was always on guard about everything he met for the first time. The cave was deep, but there were no ghostly figures. Xiao Ma was more happy than afraid. What was he worried about?

"Have you ever been inside the cave?" Ajiu asked in a low voice.

Guan Ye shook her head honestly: "We were just taking shelter from the rain. Lou Shitou has been acting strangely lately, and I haven't dared to leave his side for even a moment. As soon as the rain stopped, we went out. If I hadn't brought you guys with me today, I wouldn't have come back. What's wrong?" Guan Ye noticed A Jiu's expression shift slightly. "Is something amiss?"

Ajiu remained silent, lightly tapping a spot on the stone wall with the hilt of his sword. Guan Ye stepped forward to look, bringing the tinder close to the wall. She saw faint engravings on the stone wall, which at first glance looked like the marks of time, but upon closer inspection... the marks became more pronounced. They were not without any pattern; they resembled writing, or patterns, or even dense vertical and horizontal lines. Although they were not decipherable, it was almost certain that they were made by human hands.

Guan Ye touched the stone wall with her fingertips. Not only that, but the smooth part of the stone wall was also dyed with a pure and transparent ice blue color. It was not a natural creation, but rather a work of art. The large patches of ice blue were not the mineral powder that she had just touched, but more like... like... Guan Ye rubbed her fingers and looked at it again and again. She vaguely guessed what it was, but how could someone make such a thing in a deserted island mine?

Guan Ye felt a chill run down her spine as the cave suddenly became eerie. Feng Shisan and Xiao Ma, oblivious to the strange atmosphere, continued chatting and laughing while fiddling with the mineral dust.

Ah Jiu bent down, picked up some damp soil, and sniffed it deeply for a moment. "This place has been burned before."

"Guan Ye? You even started a fire?" Feng Shisan asked with a smile.

“We’re leaving in a minute, why start a fire?” Guan Ye’s teeth chattered.

"It's probably ash from my tinderbox," Xiao Ma said nonchalantly. "Ah Jiu, you're just too tense..." Xiao Ma suddenly stopped talking, bent down and saw something, "My tinderbox... can't burn this much ash. Guan Ye, has this place already been discovered by the neighborhood? Did the manager and the others... come by?"

"Why don't we go?" For some reason, a chilling aura emanated from Feng Shisan. "The rain should have stopped by now. Let's go."

Ah Jiu took a few steps deeper into the cave. Dark moss spread out, like the ghostly arms of a mountain spirit pulling people along. Around the corner, stalactites hung from the cave ceiling, casting unpredictable shadows. At first glance, it was hard to distinguish between humans and ghosts. Feng Shisan was so frightened that he suddenly drew his sword. The sword was drawn from its sheath with a sharp, piercing sound, startling bats into flight. They let out terrifying, shrill cries. Xiao Ma jumped away in fright. Fear gripped the deep cave, drawing people deeper and deeper into the cave.

"Who said there are no beasts or ghosts!" Feng Shisan roared, following closely behind Ajiu. "I, Young Master Shisan, don't believe it. I'll cut it down no matter what it is."

"Cut it down." Little Horse's voice trembled as he drew his sword.

"I'll find out what's going on, and I won't regret it when I leave." Ajiu's sword remained as steady as a mountain.

Deep within the mine, the blue copper luster shone even brighter, like snow and ice, sending chills down one's spine. Guan Ye was still wearing Ji Yuan's old clothes, her bare ankles shivering, and she couldn't help but pull her collar tighter. The stalactites of various shapes were like demons and ghosts, and the wind sounded like the howling of ghosts and wolves. If it weren't for the four of them encouraging each other, probably no one would dare to venture here.

Ajiu suddenly stopped, and Guan Ye, unable to stop herself, bumped into him, groaning. Xiao Ma, who was following behind, was startled and stumbled backward, then stepped on Feng Shisan, causing a chaotic scene of screaming and shouting.

"What's wrong?" Guan Ye patted A Jiu's back. "Why aren't you moving?"

Ajiu turned around with a heavy heart, her dark eyes sweeping over the faces of the group. "Let's go back."

"What?" Feng Shisan protested, "Is this the end?"

"There's nothing to see, let's go." Ajiu turned her back to block Guan Ye's flickering eyes.

"We've come this far, it'd be a waste to go back." Little Ma leaned out. "Even if there's nothing wrong, I still want to see, otherwise I'll have wasted three tinderboxes..." Little Ma darted forward, saw the scene before him, his legs went weak and he knelt down, almost kowtowing three more times, "You dead man!"

-----------------------

Author's Note: I'll add an extra chapter if we reach 400 favorites! Please support me, it's so hard!