Seven Luminaries Divine Jade
Cemetery, oh cemetery, mummies, oh mummies
Wang Xiaoer had been a waiter in Qingshi Town for over twenty years, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a handsome man dining at a restaurant. He couldn't help but think that the manager was right to open the restaurant early today.
Yan Dan sat at the table, holding chopsticks: "Just bring out whatever dishes you have."
Wang Xiaoer was taken aback, then said with a forced smile, "Miss, it's only morning. Our chef won't be here until noon. It's probably too early for hot dishes."
The beautiful young woman slammed her chopsticks on the table and said, "Bring me whatever you can eat!"
Yan Dan's ferocious spirit impressed the waiter, who immediately went to get to work.
Tang Zhou slowly poured himself a cup of tea, quite surprised: "Are you really that hungry?"
"You can try drinking only one sip of disgusting bathwater for twenty days and not eating anything at all, then you'll know if you'll get hungry."
"So, what you said before about demons needing to eat was all true?"
Wang Xiaoer placed a basket of steaming buns on the table and asked, "There's half a roast chicken left over from yesterday in the kitchen. Would you like me to heat it up and bring it up for you, miss?"
Yan Dan placed a small ingot of silver on the table: "Bring over whatever you have left."
Wang Xiaoer took the silver in his hand and weighed it; it was about three or four taels. This was quite generous of him, especially in a small town like Qing Shi Town, which wasn't exactly bustling.
"I was just joking, don't believe me." As she spoke, Yan Dan had already swallowed a bun, poked at a second one with her chopsticks and took a bite, her eyes still fixed on the third one.
Tang Zhou poured a cup of tea and pushed it over: "Slow down. Aren't you afraid of looking bad eating like this, young lady?"
Yan Dan glanced at him, then politely tore off a piece of the bun skin, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. She then said politely, "What does it matter if your eating manners are messy? The most important thing is to eat fast and eat a lot. If you stuff yourself to death, you can starve others, you understand?" As soon as she finished speaking, she continued to devour the food.
Tang Zhou lowered his head, chuckled softly, and laughed for a while before stopping.
Yan Dan took a satisfied sip of tea and let out a long sigh: "This is the most comfortable way."
"Are you full? Then it's time to get down to business."
"Oh, there are hot dishes for lunch too."
Tang Zhou made a move to leave.
Yan Dan quickly grabbed him, "Wait a minute, wait a minute." Her eyes darted around, and she smiled mischievously, "Is this your first time traveling alone?"
Tang Zhou frowned slightly, then relaxed, revealing a youthful innocence: "So what if it is?"
"The mass grave is right there, there's no escaping it, right? So going sooner or later is the same. But this is Qing Shi Town, the people here definitely know more than that rumor. What place do you think is the best place to listen to stories?"
Tang Zhou looked at her and said, "If only you used your cleverness for the right thing."
Yan Dan shook her finger lightly: "No, no, this is the great wisdom praised by sages throughout history. Sooner or later, you will witness it."
Tang Zhou smiled, his fingers tracing the bracelet on her wrist: "All I know is that you're still a prisoner. Does it matter whether you see that kind of great wisdom or not?"
Yan Dan's lips twitched slightly. After thinking it over, she finally remained silent.
As noon approached, the restaurant gradually filled up with customers, creating a noisy and bustling atmosphere with a few people speaking in northern accents.
"You two look unfamiliar to me, you're not from town, are you?" One of them, speaking with a local accent, walked over and pulled out a stool to sit down. The man had a shifty face and a sleazy appearance, and he wore a fawning expression.
Tang Zhou nodded slightly and said calmly, "This is my first time here."
Yan Dan glanced at the bamboo signboard behind the innkeeper and read out the dishes quickly and softly: "Stir-fried pork liver, braised chicken, stir-fried three delicacies, crystal meatballs, sweet and sour pork ribs..." She rattled off more than a dozen dishes in one breath. Wang Xiaoer was sweating profusely: "Miss, there are only two of you, four dishes is already a lot." Yan Dan glanced at Tang Zhou: "This young master will pay the bill, not a penny less. Oh, and add a dish of braised pork belly."
Tang Zhouquan pretended not to hear and simply said, "Waiter, bring another set of bowls and chopsticks."
The local man who came over to sit down immediately beamed with joy: "Young man, you're such a straightforward person."
Tang Zhou asked, "I wonder what new and interesting things are happening in this town?"
The local man touched his face, staring longingly at the dishes Wang Xiaoer had brought out. Yan Dan smiled slightly, handed him a pair of chopsticks, and then quietly pointed to several burly men with swords and knives sitting at a table in the corner: "Uncle, we've seen many people like this on our way here, all looking fierce. What are they doing here?"
The local man picked up some hot food from the plate and shoveled it into his mouth, mumbling, "You little girl must be naughty and have run away from home, right?"
Yan Dan nodded, looking surprised: "Uncle, how did you know?"
The man laughed heartily, quite pleased with himself: "I also know that this young man is your lover. You two eloped without telling your families, didn't you?"
Both of them cursed inwardly at the same time.
Yan Dan's eyes flickered, and she smiled sweetly: "Uncle, you're deliberately changing the subject. You don't actually know what those people are here for, do you?" People like this, who just want to freeload, often love to save face. Once you say that, they'll immediately spill their beans.
“How could I not know? Hey, you little girl! I’ve lived here most of my life, what don’t I know?” The man was indeed provoked and put down his chopsticks. “They’re here to find the tomb of the goddess.”
Tang Zhou said, "How could the current emperor bury his concubines here?"
"Not the current emperor, but the emperor of the fallen kingdom. You weren't even born then. At that time, the world was divided into three kingdoms: Northern Yan, Southern Chu, and Qi Xiang, each occupying a territory. I'm referring to the imperial concubine of Qi Xiang."
Tang Zhou was even more suspicious: "Since they are royalty, they must have their own imperial mausoleum, so why would they be buried here?"
The local chuckled, “Back then, before the current emperor ascended the throne, he was a general of the Southern Chu. After he destroyed the Qi Xiang kingdom, the deposed emperor of Qi Xiang fled with his beloved concubine under the protection of his men. The Southern Chu forces pursued them relentlessly. When they reached Qing Shi Town, the deposed emperor's men betrayed him and killed him. The concubine, deeply in love with the deposed emperor, did not wish to live alone and committed suicide. When they fled, they took a lot of gold and silver jewelry from the palace. Carrying wealth openly could easily lead to their deaths, so they devised a plan to build a tomb for the concubine. Firstly, the jewels were hidden in the tomb and could be taken at any time; secondly, because the concubine died with resentment, they feared she would become an evil ghost and wanted to suppress her anger with this tomb. That is the origin of the concubine's tomb.”
Yan Dan casually said, "You must have also looked for this goddess's tomb."
“I did look for it, but,” he looked around and said in a low voice, “that female ghost is very fierce, definitely a vengeful spirit. Whoever takes the treasure in here will die! The people in our town would rather take a detour than walk through the mass grave.” He picked up his chopsticks and continued to stuff hot food into his mouth, no longer having time to speak.
Tang Zhou tapped lightly on the table: "I suppose this is just a rumor, and the more it's spread, the more distorted it becomes."
The man shook his head, a rib still in his mouth: "It's better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't."
Yan Dan recalled the notorious bandit she had encountered on the Lanxi River, who had also mentioned the rumors about Qing Shi Town. She raised her hand and waved a butterfly-shaped jade disc in front of the locals: "I found this jade yesterday evening when I passed by the mass grave."
Tang Zhou glanced at her sideways.
Yesterday evening, she was still locked inside the jade gourd.
The man's lips trembled, and his face turned pale: "You little girl! Quick, throw this jade away! Don't you value your life?!"
Yan Dan pouted, looking displeased: "Why? This jade is very beautiful."
"Let me tell you, there's a young man in our town, very strong and robust, but his family is poor and he has no relatives. His father died and they didn't have the money to bury him, so they had to bury him in a mass grave. As he was digging, he unearthed a few gold and silver cups and some jade. Within ten days, he died in his own home. I've never seen such a gruesome death... Ah, never mind, let's eat."
Tang Zhou knew he wouldn't get anything more out of her, so he lowered his head and ate his meal, behaving politely as if he came from a wealthy family.
Yan Dan suddenly said, "Even if you don't tell me how that person died, I can imagine it."
The locals just buried themselves in their food and ate voraciously.
“He has no other relatives. By the time someone finds him, his body will be rotten, crawling with maggots, with rats gnawing at his flesh and flies buzzing around.” Yan Dan picked up a piece of braised pork ribs with vinegar. “His body is just like this piece of ribs, the bones are soft and there’s meat stuck to it.”
Tang Zhou, who always ate slowly and carefully, couldn't help but choke a little upon hearing this.
The local man was about to grab the largest piece of pork rib when he heard this, so he turned his chopsticks and grabbed the stir-fried pork liver next to it. Yan Dan immediately said, "His liver must be rotten too, just like this pork liver, it's a dark brown color."
The man's face was ashen as he reached for the crystal dumplings.
"Sigh, that person's eyeballs should still be there, right? I heard that dead people's eyeballs are always white." Yan Dan picked up a meatball and took a bite. "I wonder if it's chewy and has a good texture like this crystal meatball." She pointed to the plate of braised pork belly with her chopsticks: "I heard that this kind of braised food needs to be pickled in a vat for a long time, so many small shops in the countryside pickle those sour and smelly offal and meat. The strange smells are masked by the flavor of the sauce, so you can't taste the odor. I wonder if it's like that here? Also, I wonder if that person's corpse was pickled and sold as pork by some shady shop?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the local man turned pale and staggered out, where he collapsed at the door and vomited uncontrollably.
Yan Dan looked at Tang Zhou and asked again, "Am I right?"
Tang Zhou, expressionless, took out a talisman.
Yan Dan immediately said, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I know I was wrong..."
Tang Zhou stood up, beckoned the waiter to settle the bill, then pulled Yan Dan up with his left hand and carried the package with his right, dragging her out of the restaurant: "I think you still prefer to stay in the magic artifact."
Yan Dan said sincerely, "I was wrong, I was really wrong, I will never dare to do it again, please give me another chance to make amends."
Tang Zhou glanced at her: "You really don't dare?"
Yan Dan's expression was even more sincere: "Really."
Tang Zhou released his hand: "Let's go."
When they arrived at the mass grave, five or six martial artists had already gathered there. Upon seeing them approach, some of them immediately drew their weapons. However, an elderly Taoist priest in an apricot-yellow robe raised his hand to stop them, saying, "This is my nephew Tang Zhou, a disciple of the Abbot of Lingxiao Temple. He's one of us."
Tang Zhou stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Tang Zhou greets Senior Ling Xuzi."
That year, the old Taoist stroked his beard and said, "I heard that your master has taken in a female disciple in recent years. Is she the young lady behind you?"
Tang Zhou paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "This is my junior sister. She doesn't know the rules yet and has been impolite. Please forgive her."
Yan Dan muttered something under her breath, adopting a timid expression: "Senior brother..."
Everyone else laughed and waved their hands repeatedly, saying, "Brother Tang, you're too kind. We were afraid of frightening your junior sister."
Tang Zhou exchanged a few more pleasantries before turning around and lowering his voice to say, "Don't get any funny ideas later, and don't try anything funny, understand?"
Yan Dan smiled slightly: "Senior brother, please rest assured."
Tang Zhou thought for a moment, then asked, "What's your name?"
Yan Dan was very honest and immediately answered, "Yan Dan. The 'Yan' in color, light as water..." Before she could finish speaking, Tang Zhou had already turned and walked forward. She was immediately dragged forward by an invisible force and couldn't help but sigh. The feeling of being a prisoner was truly unbearable.
Suddenly, Tang Zhou's voice rang in her ears, very clearly: "Stay close to me in the future. Be careful of those people, as some of them may have ulterior motives."
Yan Dan looked around; no one else seemed to react.
"This is a technique that uses internal force to transmit sound, so they can't hear it." Tang Zhou seemed to know what she was thinking.
Suddenly, a woman's clear and cheerful laughter rang out from ahead, like the tinkling of bells. Immediately, someone beside them drew their weapon with a clang and held it in their hand.
A young girl in a snow-white dress stood beneath a withered tree, a handful of millet in her hand, feeding the birds in the tree. She occasionally seemed to listen attentively, speaking softly to them. Suddenly, she turned her head, her willow-leaf eyebrows arching, and smiled before speaking: "The birds said that many guests have come to town today, and it's true." She clapped her hands, delighted: "I haven't seen so many people in a long time, so lively. But the birds said that with many people come many bad things. Because most people like to do evil."
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