Difficult mountain village
"It's one thing for you to bring your maidservant—Luoyang has been targeted by assassination attempts several times in the past few days—but what are you doing bringing your little lover along? What else can he do besides cling to you?"
Sui Chuke carried his bundle alone, leaning on a wooden stick he had picked up from the roadside.
They are currently located on the outskirts of Yungang Village in Hedong. The four of them rushed from Luoyang to Hedong in just a few days, only to find that Yungang Village is located deep in the mountains with difficult terrain, requiring them to climb on foot.
The more Chu Ke looked at the two of them, the more annoyed she became. That guy had shown concern for her eight hundred times along the way.
Look around Sui Zhixu, there's a maid and a lover, but he's the only one who's come here all alone, looking completely clueless.
"He doesn't need your concern, he won't be a burden to you, so you can focus on your journey."
Sui Zhixu's tone was neither warm nor cold, making it impossible to discern whether he was good or bad.
Chu Ke scoffed, he wouldn't care about her lover. "Keep an eye on your lover. If anything goes wrong on the road, I'll be the first to throw him out. If it weren't for that good-for-nothing Cheng Zhijie, why would I be suffering in this awful place?"
Xu didn't take it seriously and pulled Fan Lingzhang's hand to continue walking forward.
“I’m useful,” Fan Lingzhang whispered to her.
"Um."
The area is densely forested and rarely visited by people; there are no established paths.
In addition, a torrential rainstorm hit Hedong a few days ago, so even if they wanted the clues left by Cheng Zhijie, they were powerless to do so.
Chu Ke impatiently hacked at the surrounding weeds with his sword, "Hey! Are we just going to wander around this mountain like this for ages? It's almost dark!"
Fan Lingzhang, who was ahead, had already spotted the animal's footprints and marked them, intending to find a river to set up camp first.
"We found the river, and if we follow the river, we should be able to find the village."
"Okay." Sui Zhixu nodded slightly.
"It's not you guys..." Sui Chuke realized that the three of them were far ahead and couldn't hear him at all, so he quickly stepped forward.
Sui Zhixu said coldly, "Follow me."
Sui Chuke clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. If it weren't for that good-for-nothing Cheng Zhijie, he wouldn't be suffering here with them.
He would not admit that Sui Zhixu was the young master of the Sui family.
"Over here!" Sui Zhixu suddenly shouted.
As Chu Ke was kicking aside the vines at his feet, he heard this and rushed over in a flash: "Where is it? Could it be that Cheng Hui's nonsense again?"
He leaned closer to the tree trunk, running his fingertips over the scratches. "Tsk, the force... it really looks like he made those scratches when he was in a hurry."
"I knew Cheng Hui wasn't a madman; he even left us something." Sui Chuke laughed, rummaging through the grass to try and find more clues left by Cheng Zhijie.
The forest after the rain carried a strong earthy smell and the freshness of the leaves. Cheng Zhijie's clues were very complicated, sometimes it was a sachet, sometimes a jade tassel, and now it was a scratch.
Sui Zhixu squeezed the sachet he found at the foot of the mountain. After being washed and beaten by the torrential rain, it had long since rolled around in the mud and water hundreds of times. Now, its surface was covered with particles of sand and was still damp.
The stitches were rough. For Cheng Zhijie, the heir of a marquis's mansion, to wear such a simple sachet meant that it was probably embroidered by Mingyi. She remembered that Mingyi had said that she was not good at needlework.
Aye praised Cheng Zhijie for being steady and thorough in his work, and said that his urgency must mean something serious had happened.
"Ah... Ah Xu! I've found the river!"
The crisp, cheerful shout pulled Sui Zhixu out of her thoughts, and she turned to look at Fan Lingzhang waving from not far away.
After several days of travel, Fan Lingzhang looked somewhat disheveled, with a few strands of hair fluttering in the wind, adding a touch of gentleness and languor.
She stepped forward, and Fan Lingzhang had already parted the overgrown branches, revealing a babbling brook.
The rushing stream gurgled as it washed over the rocks, and as Xu Shun looked upstream, it stretched as far as the eye could see.
Xu Zhixu took Fan Lingzhang's hand and ordered, "It's getting dark, let's rest here for now and continue our journey tomorrow morning."
Fan Lingzhang was a seasoned veteran of setting up camps and traveling the world. He even followed the trail and caught two rabbits to roast for Sui Zhixu.
Following Chu Ke, he tore off the dry rations in his hand and cursed the beast.
Fan Lingzhang pretended not to hear and simply followed Sui Zhixu.
A peaceful night.
"Cheng Hui, you just wait! You've made me suffer like this. If I don't skin you alive, I'm not a Sui!"
Early in the morning, Sui Zhixu suddenly felt a gust of wind blow past her, causing the mermaid pearl by her ear to sway up and down.
"That damned beast! What kind of mess did he get up to before the wedding? I was waiting to attend his wedding banquet. If it weren't for the banquet, would I have come all this way to save him? It's utterly ridiculous! I'm so unlucky to have a brother like him!"
Chu Ke charged ahead, cursing and swearing, constantly hurling insults at Cheng Zhijie, even bringing up the eighteen generations of Cheng's ancestors.
Sui Zhixu sighed helplessly. Their mothers were sisters, and Cheng Zhijie had become a disciple of his father through the introduction of Sui Chuke's mother. It was rumored that the cousins had always had a harmonious relationship. Was that really the case?
"Liu Lü, keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't fall into the lake."
Sui Chu was so angry that he stumbled as he walked. There were many pebbles on the riverbank, and Sui Zhixu was afraid that he might accidentally crawl into one.
"Ouch, that hurts like hell!"
Sui Zhixu: "..."
She touched the tip of her nose and used Fan Lingzhang's body to block her view. She really didn't do it on purpose; it was just a coincidence.
How come he fell in right after she finished speaking?
Fan Lingzhang turned around and blocked Sui Zhixu, placing his hand on her head and ruffling it. From a distance, it looked like they were deeply in love.
Sui Chuke looked disgusted, especially now that his clothes were wet and clinging to his body, a chill suddenly ran down his spine.
"Ugh, that's disgusting."
Xu then ordered Liu Lü to lift the man up and let him deal with him as he saw fit.
The path upwards was fraught with twists and turns, but no further clues left by Cheng Zhijie were found.
"Ah Ling, I don't feel good about this place."
The higher they went, the stronger the strange feeling that Fan Lingzhang was suppressing became. He gripped Sui Zhixu's hand tightly, pulled her close to him, and whispered something to her.
"Trust me, a large part of my business trips across the country are based on intuition."
Sui Zhixu's gaze fell on Fan Lingzhang's hand that was wrapped around her shoulder. She suppressed her unease and let him be, so he wouldn't have to ask her if she loved him again.
I believe you.
Because she felt the same way.
At the end, the splashing water turned into a fine rain that fell on their faces. When they looked up, the rushing water was even more powerful than the water in the stream.
"Let's go in and take a look," Sui Zhixu and Sui Chuke said in unison.
Chu Ke and Liu Lü jumped in first, and then called out to them.
"Come in, there's a mechanism inside."
"My lady, it's the Water Curtain Cave."
Two voices reached Sui Zhixu's ears, and she gripped Fan Lingzhang's hand tightly, "You and I will cross over together in a bit."
Fan Lingzhang: Shouldn't I be the one to say that? My wife beat me to it again.
"Walk!"
The two passed through the water curtain and landed on the ground. Sui Zhixu casually wrung out the water from his clothes. Everywhere he looked, there were items used in the sacrificial ceremony.
As she approached the wall, she saw brightly colored murals painted on the tall wall, and she followed the order of the murals.
“Not easy to deal with.” Sui Chuke’s expression was serious as he looked at the mural.
Sunlight filtered through the water curtain outside. Fan Lingzhang took out a dry flint from his pocket and lit the haystack so that Sui Zhixu could watch it. He also read aloud the murals.
"This mountain is called Lianyun Mountain. Legend has it that a long time ago, the ancestors of Yungang Village discovered this mountain and led their people to settle on it. They lived and multiplied on this mountain, avoiding the world."
"Are you sure you want to call it Lianyun Mountain?" Sui Chuke asked with a strange expression.
Fan Lingzhang: "Yes, the above is all Sanskrit translated into Chinese, and it is indeed Lianyun Mountain."
Sui Chuke remained silent and continued reading.
"Originally, there was only a small river on the mountain, but the riverbank gradually rose to become a waterfall. Every night, melodious music would come from the waterfall. Some daring villagers were so captivated by the music that they would secretly cross the waterfall at night to come here and play along with it using leaves."
The rushing water from above roared like thunder, and Sui Zhixu couldn't help but frown. Could music be heard under such a loud noise?
"After a 49-day concerto, a mysterious gate suddenly opens in the Water Curtain Cave, leading His most faithful believers to a blissful realm where they can share in the longevity of heaven and earth."
Sui Chuke scoffed, "A mysterious gate? What a charade."
The haystacks crackled and popped, and the dim firelight shone on everyone's faces, as well as on the people in the murals who had reached bliss.
"Afterwards, the villagers of Yungang Village held this sacrifice to commemorate them and to pray to Heaven for protection of the people of Yungang Village. They said that anyone who comes from outside and defiles the sacred land will be punished by Him."
“Punishment?” Sui Zhixu chuckled, his gaze falling on the ground in the center of the cave, just like the one on the mural. “This place that suppresses the dead is not a holy site, it’s clearly a tomb.”
"The tomb?" Sui Chuke grabbed Sui Zhixu's arm. "How do you know?"
"You're hurting her, let go!" Fan Lingzhang frowned, grabbed Sui Chuke's arm, and said in an unfriendly tone.
"What right do you, a mere gigolo, have to speak to me?"
Fan Lingzhang's eyes widened, and his usual flamboyant and bright smile disappeared. "When did I say I was a gigolo? You are so ill-mannered. It's one thing to keep calling me your lover, but to call me a gigolo is another. Ah Xu and I are clearly in love."
"Alright, all of you, let go! If you keep making a fuss, I'll have Liu Lü knock you all out."
Sui Zhixu got a headache from the noise, especially from Sui Chuke, who had a loud voice that always croaked like a frog.
"Go and see for yourself, why don't you go find the relevant authorities? Otherwise, why would I have asked you to come here?" Sui Zhixu regretted it a little. She should have waited until Yueling was old enough instead of settling for Sui Chuke as a second choice.
She turned her gaze to Fan Lingzhang, whose face looked pitiful, and said coldly, "You're the same."
"Okay, I'll do whatever you tell me to do, my wife."
Xu Yanci replied coldly and confidently, "Go and look at the murals, or look for clues left by Cheng Zhijie."
After speaking, she ran her fingertips over the mural, rubbing it gently. A light dust settled on her hand, and she lowered her head to sniff it; it was cinnabar.
How could the reclusive villagers in the mountains afford to use expensive cinnabar to paint murals?
Cheng Zhijie was handling the case of the theft of the imperial court's disaster relief funds from last year's floods in Jiangnan, which left her no choice but to think carefully.
"Boom!"
A secret passage was revealed in the center of the cave, with steps faintly visible, and a cool, damp atmosphere wafted over.
"That's enough. It might really be a tomb. Whose village entrance is a tomb?" Sui Chuke scratched his head, suppressing his anger. "Cheng Hui is quite clever. He can still send messages out in this situation."
"Are there any more tinderboxes?" Sui Zhixu saw the lotus throne of "He" behind Sui Chuke shift and understood.
"Yes, I'm saving it." Fan Lingzhang then took out a tinderbox from his chest and handed it to her.
"Don't light it yet, it might be the Hidden Fire Cave. Follow me down. I'm not saying I'm the best at mechanical arts in the Mohist School." Sui Chuke raised his chin, his expression solemn, and beckoned for them to follow him.
As they descended the steps, Sui Zhixu secretly sighed, realizing that Sui Chuke had been prescient; indeed, there was a pungent, sulfurous smell in the air.
It was pitch black before their eyes. After taking a few steps, they could feel the uneven ground and the rough texture of the wall patterns that their fingertips touched. Every few steps they took, footsteps could be heard from all directions.
Chu Ke cursed under his breath, then clapped his hands and heard a long, resounding clap.
He looked unwell, and in the darkness, no one could see his emotions.
He said in a deep voice, "Do you have a bell? Or something that makes a continuous sound?"
Sui Zhixu checked her entire body. Her jewelry was always simple, and she didn't wear any bells. She then touched Fan Lingzhang's clothes, which were usually elaborate and ornate, with things jingling and clanging.
"Wife, I didn't bring any either." As Zhixu's hands groped around aimlessly, Fan Lingzhang caught the haphazard movements and lowered his voice.
There was no green willow, so the Chu traveler had no choice but to knock on the wall with his sword.
As Chu Ke muttered incantations, she knew he was counting their steps; such secret passages usually rotated at fixed intervals.
After turning two corners, Sui Zhixu twitched her nostrils. The smell of sulfur in the air was faint, so she felt relieved enough to light the tinderbox.
As the group gradually became familiar with the light, Xu noticed the strips of cloth hanging on the wall decorations. The threads were rough, but the pattern and texture were good, suggesting that Cheng Zhijie had torn them off his clothes.
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