Girl who listens to birdsong
Ling Xuzi frowned and stepped forward: "Why do you say that, young lady?"
The girl in the snow-white dress looked at the birds on the branch, chirped for a while, then turned back and said, "The birds said it will rain tomorrow, and asked if I believe them. Of course I believe them, do you?"
Tang Zhou turned his head to look at Yan Dan, only to see her looking ahead, her brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.
Ling Xuzi stopped his companion who was about to rush forward with his sword, his expression kind: "What else did that bird say?"
The girl turned her head as if listening, nodding occasionally, and after a moment said, "The bird says, birds die for food, and people die for wealth; this has never changed since ancient times."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's expression changed.
Just then, someone came running up behind them, a plump woman panting as she ran, calling out, "Miss, Miss, what are you doing here again? You never listen to Master!" She reached the girl in white and hugged her, repeatedly apologizing to the crowd, "Gentlemen, my young lady was born mentally challenged. Please be magnanimous and don't hold a grudge against a silly girl!"
The girl struggled, watching the startled bird fly away: "It...it was scared away by you! You have to pay me back, right now!"
The woman supported her young mistress from behind, repeatedly saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry."
Ling Xuzi suddenly blocked their path, clasping his hands together and asking, "May I ask which family this young lady comes from?"
The woman immediately replied, "My husband's surname is Shen, and he is a merchant in town."
Ling Xuzi nodded and made way for him. He did know that there was a merchant named Shen in Qing Shi Town who brought all the rare items to the area from various places, but unfortunately, his young lady was mentally challenged.
The girl, supported by the woman, stopped struggling. As she passed Tang Zhou, she suddenly stared at him intently and asked, "Do you believe I can understand birds' language?"
Tang Zhou nodded.
The girl smiled at him, her smile as bright as a spring flower: "I'll tell you a secret, there are ghosts here, evil ghosts. They like to gnaw on people's bones, crunch crunch, leaving not a trace. The birds told me all this, but they also said that evil ghosts aren't scary, people are the scariest."
The woman quickly covered the girl's mouth, smiling apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, silly child, you're talking nonsense."
The girl's words sent a chill down one's spine.
Tang Zhou watched their retreating figures, his mind racing. The woman had called her young mistress a fool, but some of the things she said made perfect sense; they were definitely not things a fool would say.
Yan Dan's eyes flickered, and she suddenly smiled and said, "Do you believe I can understand fish?"
Tang Zhou turned his head to look at her and said softly, "I think you just want to go back to the magic artifact again."
Yan sighed and said softly, "In short, you won't believe anything I say."
Suddenly, Ling Xuzi coughed lightly and took the lead, saying, "Let's find the Empress's tomb first. Besides, even if there really is a vengeful ghost, I can easily deal with it. Don't panic, everyone."
The other five immediately echoed. Yan Dan looked them over, scrutinizing everything from their weapons to their clothes. Tang Zhou whispered, "The one wielding a knife to your left is Zhai Shang, the Soul-Severing Blade, and to your right is Qin Mingyang, the Shadow-Playing Sword. Apart from Ling Xuzi in front, these two are the best fighters. The three walking side by side are three brothers surnamed Wu."
Yan Dan also said softly, "Can I ask you something?"
Tang Zhou glanced at her and immediately said, "Don't ask."
"Why did you come to Qing Shi Town?" Yan Dan asked, quite troubled. "Just tell me. If you don't tell me, I'll keep thinking about it and it'll make me feel really frustrated."
Tang Zhou flicked his sleeve and said indifferently, "Then take your time to think about it. Who knows, you might come up with an idea someday."
“This is the tomb,” Ling Xuzi squatted down, brushed away the dust on a bluestone slab, and with a exertion of strength, moved the slab aside, revealing a tunnel. “We are not the first people to find this place. To be honest, the old Taoist’s junior brother came in before. He was the only one who survived among the group, but... alas, he has gone mad, and we can’t get any information out of him about what he saw that caused him to become like this.”
Zhai Shang chimed in, "I've heard that some people have seen female ghosts in tombs digging out their hearts."
Ling Xuzi waved his hand: "This decision is not true." He paused, then said: "We may encounter danger if we go down. Those of you who do not want to go down may stay up here."
Qin Mingyang took the sword from his waist and held it in his hand. The three Wu brothers looked at each other for a while, and although they felt a pang of sympathy, they shook their heads.
After waiting outside for a while, the group slowly walked down the tunnel.
Yan Dan took a few steps down and said softly, "It's pitch black, I can't see anything." Suddenly, her eyes lit up. Qin Mingyang held up a lit candle and smiled, "I have more than twenty candles on me, which should be enough to get to the end of the cemetery."
Ling Xuzi couldn't help but praise, "Young Master Qin is indeed very thoughtful."
Qin Mingyang smiled reservedly, when suddenly a gust of wind blew and the candle in his hand was extinguished with a hiss.
A loud, gruff voice suddenly rang out from nearby: "Who kicked me?!" Then someone else yelled, "Come out and fight me if you dare!" A whooshing sound filled the air, followed by the sounds of fists and palms striking each other. Yan Dan took a step back to the left, and suddenly a hand reached out and grasped her left hand. The fingers were long and slender, and somewhat cool.
She tentatively called out, "Tang Zhou?" Tang Zhou responded from her right. Startled, she wondered who was standing to her left. The man chuckled softly, casually bypassing her, and said in a sinister voice, "Those who disturb my hill will be executed." By the time he finished speaking, his voice was already far away.
A light appeared before his eyes, and Ling Xuzi held up a tinderbox, his facial muscles twitching slightly.
Qin Mingyang lay on the ground, a roll of candles beside him, a single crimson dot on his brow. Ling Xuzi picked up the candles, lit one, tore off half a sleeve to wrap his hand, and brought it to Qin Mingyang's nose to check; he was already dead. Yet his expression was calm, without even a trace of pain.
Tang Zhou approached and said, "It was a fatal blow to the brow. However," he crouched down and pressed his hand against Qin Mingyang's body, "the body is already cold; it's definitely not someone who just died."
Zhai Shang couldn't help but ask, "Then what about those who came in with us before...?"
Tang Zhou said calmly, "It's the person who just spoke."
"How is that possible? I went to Qing Shi Town with him, and we didn't separate along the way!"
Yan Dan sighed and looked at him with great sympathy: "That means you never knew that the person you were traveling with was killed along the way, and the person who killed Qin Mingyang was even impersonating him and traveling with you. Sigh, thinking about it this way, it wouldn't be difficult for him to impersonate any of us now."
Tang Zhou said in a cold tone, "Junior sister, you're being naughty again."
Zhai Shang made a rapid sound in his throat, but could not speak, and looked at the others suspiciously.
Ling Xuzi distributed the candles to the others: "Fortunately, we still have these candles; the road ahead will be easier."
Just as Yan Dan was about to say, "These candles were left behind by that person," she heard Tang Zhou say in a low voice, "I think you're too leisurely and want to go back to the magic artifact."
Yan Dan pouted and said with dissatisfaction, "You keep threatening me with the same thing. Can't you come up with something new every now and then?"
Suddenly, Wu Laoda said in a hoarse voice, "Come and see!"
In the tomb chamber ahead, a stone door was half-open, with five large characters carved on it.
Those who destroy my hill will be punished.
After a moment of silence, Tang Zhou stepped forward, pushed open the stone door, and went inside.
Yan Dan had no choice but to follow. After a moment, she said, "Actually, when the candle went out just now, I touched that person's hand. Although it was a bit colder than a normal person's, it wasn't a ghost. I'm also sure that the other person wasn't a demon."
Tang Zhou pondered for a moment and asked, "Does that person have calluses on their hands?"
Yan Dan thought for a moment and said, "No."
Tang Zhou said, "That's strange." Seeing the other person's puzzled look, he spread his hands: "Look at my hands. I've practiced swordsmanship, and I have calluses on my index finger and the area between my thumb and forefinger. No matter what weapon you use, calluses will form on your hands, just in different locations. So how did he manage to injure someone so invisibly?"
They walked a dozen steps when they heard footsteps behind them. Turning around, they saw the other five people following them in.
As they walked deeper into the tomb passage, they heard the sound of flowing water. Ling Xuzi said, "Judging from the feng shui here, this tomb is indeed for a woman. Women should be buried in places with water."
In the blink of an eye, they had reached the end of the tomb, where another stone door stood blocking their way. Suddenly, Wu the Elder strode to the front and tried to pry open the door, his face flushed red, but the door remained unmoved. Wu the Second and Third immediately went over, and together the three of them pulled, finally causing the door to creak and slowly open.
The three rushed into the tomb chamber, where they saw a low table with a luminous pearl emitting a faint glow in the center. Wu the Elder immediately reached for the pearl, but it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and he couldn't lift it.
Yan Dan held up a candle to illuminate the murals on the four stone walls. Judging from the colors, the murals were relatively new. The first painting depicted a graceful woman sitting by a window, dressing in front of a mirror, with willow branches green outside, a beautiful spring day. The woman in the second painting was the same one in the first; she was kneeling in a palace, while a man in a bright yellow dragon robe stood before her.
Tang Zhou stood beside her and whispered, "It really is a concubine buried here."
The third picture depicts a vast army, exuding immense power, yet it portrays a battle.
“This must be the scene of Qi Xiang’s destruction of the country back then.” Tang Zhou looked at the fourth mural and his tone became serious. “This concubine did not commit suicide. She was suffocated to death by her subordinates by being stuffed into a coffin.”
Yan Dan nodded: "It seems they just wanted to find a place to hide gold and silver treasures, and this excuse was convenient for them. Locking living people in coffins is truly cruel."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard someone burst into wild laughter behind her. The laughter echoed through the tomb, and the flickering candlelight made the cemetery seem even more eerie and terrifying. Yan Dan quickly turned around and saw a flash of blood before her eyes. A spurt of blood suddenly flew up and splattered onto the mural. Old Master Wu, wielding a long knife, had actually cut Old Master Wu in half at the waist!
His eyes were bloodshot, his face twitched, and he suddenly charged at Tang Zhou. Tang Zhou dodged to the side, only to feel as if he had touched something behind him, and the ground shook, with the faint sound of crossbows.
Wu Laoda's attack missed, so he raised his longsword again, creating a whooshing sound as it struck the mural with a clang, sending shards of stone scattering. Tang Zhou drew his longsword, a flash of green light, and grazed Wu Laoda's throat. Wu Laoda clutched his throat and slammed against the wall, convulsing for a moment before going still. Wu Laosan roared and lunged at Tang Zhou.
Zhai Shang tripped Wu Laosan, and Wu Laosan fell heavily to the ground.
Ling Xuzi said sternly, "Your elder brother is probably poisoned and delirious, which is why he killed people indiscriminately. If Nephew Tang doesn't intervene, we won't be able to leave here alive either!"
As he spoke, the tremors beneath the tomb grew stronger, and the sound of crossbows grew louder. Suddenly, Tang Zhou felt his footing give way, and he fell into a passageway. Even though he reacted quickly and immediately reached out to grab a stone wall beside him, the wall was polished smooth and offered no leverage; he could only slide down the passageway.
Before Yan Dan could fully react, she was immediately dragged headfirst down by a powerful force. There was a bend in the passageway; if it weren't for her protective magic, she would likely have suffered a severe head injury. Using the force, she burst out of the passageway and crashed into something flexible. Everything went dark; she couldn't see anything at all. She reached out and touched something, then touched something again, when suddenly she heard a cold voice slowly say in the darkness, "Have you touched enough yet?"
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