Chapter 537 Elephant Tomb

The Taoist priest called himself "Suanbuzhun" and he and Yun Chen hit it off right away and chatted endlessly.

We chatted from the snack table at the stall to the road, and from the road to the carriage.

Yan Lang was left aside and had to squeeze together with the groom.

"Master, I once knew a master named Guanxu. He could predict everything accurately. You should all strive for divine predictions. How can you say you can't predict accurately?"

"The laws of nature are unpredictable, and knowing is better than not knowing. I hate people like him who can predict things accurately. They seem so pretentious, really."

"So what can you do?"

"I know a little bit about medicine, magic, and alchemy..."

"I know, but it's not much, is it?"

"The young lady is very wise and insightful, and she understands everything at once."

"Don't be modest. The fact that you can tell I'm dying at a glance shows that you're a very good doctor."

"That's not the case. Life is when the three souls and seven spirits are united, and death is when the souls and spirits are separated and dispersed. There are two bloody lines on the whites of your eyes, which clearly shows that your soul and spirit are torn apart. You are dying."

"Yes." Yun Chen said with a bit of sadness, and she recounted the story of her parents' quarrel, her mother's death, her running away from home, her life-and-death experiences as a guard, her fighting on the battlefield, her forced marriage twice, and her eventual deception and exploitation by her lover, leading her to accidentally take the Soul-Devouring Pill, all of which she recounted in a chattering manner like a bird.

She pouted and wiped her tears in grievance, not wanting to hear the whole thing but only asking one question:

"Are there any Dragon Ashes left? Give me some. And what does the Soul Devouring Pill taste like?"

Yun Chen wiped his tears and recalled carefully:

"It's astringent and bitter, like lotus seeds."

"Tsk!" Buxu smacked his lips. "I've seen a rubbing of that ancient book about dragon embers. Soul-devouring pills should be colorless and odorless, right? You must have forgotten to put sugar in it, Master Yan. Remember to add it next time."

When Yan Lang heard this joke that was so ridiculous as to be from the eighteenth level of hell, his back stiffened and he glared at Bu Zhun fiercely.

This scene made Yun Chen laugh so hard that he fell on the car couch. The melancholy mood he had just felt disappeared in an instant.

Yan Lang couldn't figure out where he found such an unreliable bully, but seeing that Yun Chen was chatting with someone to kill time and smiling more, he refrained from saying anything.

So, the two-person journey turned into a three-person journey.

The guards rushed with the carriage towards the elephant tomb that the Taoist priest was not allowed to mention.

Whenever they came to a fork in the road, the guards wanted to stop and look at the map, but the Taoist priest would not allow them to stop and just say "no need". He would then count with his fingers and point out a direction.

The carriage began to run towards an increasingly desolate place, and there was not even a ghost to be seen along the way. Yan Lang thought several times that this guy was going to send Yun Chen directly to heaven.

Yan Lang was just about to ask something, but he heard the sound of chatting suddenly stop in the carriage behind him, and the Taoist priest couldn't help but exclaim.

Yan Lang quickly lifted the car curtain to see, and sure enough, Yun Chen's soul-devouring pill took effect again.

But this time it was more violent than any other time before, causing Yun Chen to spit out a mouthful of black blood on the Taoist priest. He was in so much pain that tears kept flowing, and he cried out heartbreakingly:

“Ah—it hurts…it hurts so much…kill me! Kill me…right now…Yan Lang, please…”

Yan Lang still hugged Yun Chen tightly as before, pinching several acupuncture points on her body, trying to help her relieve the pain.

But the poison has penetrated so deeply into the heart that it is obviously no longer effective.

Yun Chen wailed in pain. She was so strong-willed and could easily fight on the battlefield, but she was in so much pain that she wanted to die.

Yan Lang couldn't imagine the pain Yun Chen was going through at the moment, and he panicked completely. He yelled at the Taoist priest who was sitting there in deep thought:

"Think of something quickly! Quickly!! Otherwise, what's the use of you?!"

The Taoist priest did not mind Yan Lang's temper and offense. After thinking for a while, he immediately took out a cinnabar pen from his cloth bag and asked Yan Lang to force Yun Chen to hold her down and draw a soul-calming talisman on her forehead.

Yan Lang never believed in these ghost stories, so he could only try his luck and not allow the Taoist priest to act.

Surprisingly, Yun Chen stopped wailing as soon as the talisman was drawn, and he slowly calmed down. Although he was still sweating profusely from the pain and vomiting blood, he was much better than before.

"Yun Chen, hold on, we're almost there..." Yan Lang said with a sob while holding Yun Chen who was slowly fainting.

The Taoist priest frowned, shook his head, and said in a deep voice:

"Based on the current situation, she won't last more than twenty days. Either her soul will be torn apart, or she will die in agony. Probably... only seven days."

Yan Lang's body trembled, he bit his teeth hard, and asked in a trembling voice:

"But you said it would take another fifteen days to reach the elephant grave."

"Yes." The Taoist priest sighed to the sky and said helplessly, "It seems that I am forced to pretend."

After saying that, he took out several pieces of yellow talisman paper, drew talismans on each one, burned them to ashes, and asked the guards and Yan Lang to drink them.

He also pasted two talismans on the foreheads of the two horses pulling the cart.

In an instant, Yan Lang felt that the car speed suddenly increased and the bumps in the car became less.

The two horses were running almost flying, but the light talisman paper on their foreheads did not move at all.

Yan Lang was secretly amazed, thinking that there were so many wonders in this world that there were such powerful and extraordinary people. However, he still kept a cold expression:

"Didn't you say you hated these divinations the most? You're so pretentious."

The Taoist priest shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the unconscious Yun Chen:

"She's so miserable, it's okay for me to pretend once in a while."

"Did you learn all this from Guanxu?"

"Bullshit! Who does he think he is? He pretends to be a fortune teller all day long! I am the best in the Daoist sect!!"

Before he could finish his scolding, he seemed to be too emotional. He ignored Yan Lang's teasing look, took a long breath, bowed, and muttered:

"Blessings are immeasurable, blessings are immeasurable. After saying the dirty words, my heart becomes clean and I feel relieved..."

Yan Lang was too lazy to pay attention to this "charlatan" and took care of the unconscious Yun Chen gently and carefully.

When Yun Chen woke up again, the carriage stopped at a deserted Taoist temple.

It was quiet and ancient everywhere. The guards were busy making fire and cooking, and did not allow the Taoist priest to draw new talismans.

Yan Lang helped Yun Chen get off the carriage.

She was so weak that she stopped three times after taking each step. She walked slowly to a small pond in the yard and sat down against a tree.

It is called a pool, but it is actually a small spring leaning against a tree. Small white waves are constantly coming out of it, making the spring water clean and clear, and there are a few fish swimming in it.

Yun Chen put his hand into the water, it felt cool and a little comfortable.

At this time, a cat appeared from nowhere.

It seems that after this Taoist temple was abandoned, it became the cat's home.

It walked up to Yun Chen in a swagger and played with him, sometimes teasing the butterflies on the tree, and sometimes paddling the little fish in the water.

The butterfly was disturbed by the cat and flew around in all directions. It accidentally fell into the water, and the cat meowed in panic.

This sound inexplicably attracted the attention of the Taoist priest who was concentrating on drawing talismans. He stopped writing and looked up -

The ancient temple wall was bathed in the brilliant red sunset, which also made Yun Chen's whole body bright and beautiful. All the sickly look on his face disappeared, leaving only an unparalleled elegance.

She picked up the butterfly from the water, shook it, and gently placed it on the cat's head.

The butterfly took the opportunity to flap its wings, rubbed all the water droplets on its body onto the "real wool carpet", flapped its wings again and kissed the kitten's nose.

Yun Chen smiled at the lively cat and butterfly. The cinnabar between her eyebrows made her skin look as white as jade, and her eyes were bright and clear.

Looking at this spiritual scene, I was stunned.

He suddenly felt that Yun Chen was like the dignified and beautiful goddess in the temple who loved all living beings...

He swept away the relaxed feeling of staying out of things for the past few days, and with a solemn expression on his face, he drew a new talisman on the talisman paper with great solemnity.

Soon, everyone rested for a while and then set out on the road again.

After Yun Chen lost count of how many times the Soul Devouring Pill had taken effect and had forbidden the Taoist priest to use up several large bags of cinnabar, the carriage finally came to a complete stop.

Her steps were weak, as if she was stepping on cotton, and she stepped down from the carriage with difficulty. A vast and desolate wasteland filled with huge skeletons appeared before her.

We finally arrived at the elephant tomb.