Chapter 143 The Tip of the Knot (Part Nine) Burial Ground
“The gap isn’t long; it’s a narrow doorway,” Gu Lianzhou estimated. “It’s probably only wide enough for one person to crawl through.”
"Why would there be a hidden door in the woodshed?" Song Qiling carefully felt along the crack, and pressed into a recessed notch at the corner. Her movements paused involuntarily. "It seems to be a trick to open the door."
She poked her index finger into the indentation and tried to push it open, but when she couldn't, she pulled it inward. Suddenly, she felt her hand loosen and dust began to fall along the base of the wall.
Song Qiling's eyes lit up.
There really is a way!
With a "snap," the door scraped against the ground and spun open a crack.
In an instant, a stench rushed out from the crack.
"Click".
The door was suddenly slammed shut.
Song Qiling stood up abruptly, looking at Gu Lianzhou with a solemn expression—the room was so dark that only a vague outline could be seen.
Unlike ordinary foul smells, the odor, which was like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, struck straight at the top of one's head as soon as a corner was opened.
It felt like I had fallen headfirst into a cesspool.
Even the strands of hair were covered in a lingering stench.
After a moment of silence, she spoke with difficulty: "Junior brother, do you know how to hold your breath?"
"I haven't learned it." Gu Lianzhou shook his head. Although Song Qiling couldn't see his expression, she could still sense his distress.
Having said that, Song Qiling had already backed down, "How about we just forget about it?"
If this hidden door really leads to a latrine, they won't even have a change of clothes, so it's not worth it...
But then the thought crossed my mind: since the door can be opened, why not take a look inside before making a decision?
In a short moment, she was torn between her inner thoughts and her own.
Finally, Song Qiling turned his head away somewhat guiltily, softened his voice towards the nearby heat source, and tried to make his words sound more reasonable: "Junior brother, as the ancients said, 'Heaven will entrust great responsibilities to those who are destined for them... first they must be tested in their will.' Your eyesight is far superior to mine, so why don't you take a look for me and see what is hidden behind this door, okay?" (1)
After speaking, Gu Lianzhou hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "What Senior Brother said is absolutely right. Since there is a Taoist sect here, it must have its purpose. It can't be that Elder Zhuang is just playing a trick on us... Senior Brother, please move aside."
Song Qiling did as she was told and stepped aside.
In the darkness, she felt a warm figure brush past her nose.
Gu Lianzhou was tall, so if he wanted to see what was behind the door, he had to sit down with his legs bent and crawl inside.
Only the soft rustling of fabric could be heard, and then the door was pulled open from the outside, revealing the scene underneath.
It was as if the entrance to purgatory had been opened, and the long-accumulated stench exploded instantly, rudely filling this small space.
Gu Lianzhou peered inside through the smoky air, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and pushed the door back into place with all his might.
Song Qiling instinctively gasped for breath, her throat choked and sore. She couldn't help but bend over and cough, her breath unsteady as she asked urgently, "What... is inside?"
Gu Lianzhou stood up, feeling that the stench that filled the room was nothing compared to that fleeting glance he had just caught. After calming down for a moment, he grabbed Song Qiling's wrist and pulled her back a few steps without saying a word.
Only when he had retreated far enough away from the hidden door did he release his grip, his voice hoarse and dry: "Inside were the heads and bones of cats. I roughly counted, there were about a dozen skulls..."
This door is not an exit, but a burial ground for bones.
Song Qiling felt a sudden chill run through half her body. She abruptly turned her head, looking in the direction from which Gu Lianzhou's voice came, her tone involuntarily rising: "...Skull?"
She heard her own voice distorted with horror, “This City God Temple… no, that woman, does she take pleasure in torturing and killing cats? Or does she kill cats to eat? No… this is an illusion, every part of it is the work of Master Zhuang, it’s all fake, it doesn’t count.”
She repeatedly reminded herself of this, and her mind calmed down a little, but the pervasive stench still lingered in her nostrils, refusing to dissipate. She couldn't help but grit her teeth and curse in a hateful voice, "That damned Old Man Zhuang, he actually used such a vicious method to disgust people!"
In a place where cats are slaughtered, how are they supposed to find a live cat?
Suddenly remembering something, Song Qiling frowned. "If what the old man selling clay figurines said earlier was true and he wasn't in cahoots with the City God Temple, and Yuanbao really did step into this dangerous situation, wouldn't his chances of survival be slim?"
Gu Lianzhou nodded: "Yes, judging from the current situation, that aunt is probably used to killing cats. If we want to find out where Yuanbao is, our most urgent task is to break down the door."
As soon as she finished speaking, Song Qiling paced around the woodshed twice, only to find the room pitch black, with rough firewood and cobwebs all she could touch, and she couldn't even find a handy tool.
Gu Lianzhou stepped forward to examine the door carefully, then stepped back to her side and whispered, "Senior brother, this woodshed door is quite old and not very sturdy. If we hit it hard, we might be able to break it open."
After saying that, he turned to the side, gathered his strength, and kicked the door lock.
"Bang!"
A muffled thud was particularly clear in the night, the door panel shook violently, and dust fell in clumps, but the lock remained stubbornly fastened to the door.
Gu Lianzhou silently withdrew his leg.
He silently lowered his head.
Song Qiling: "..."
After a moment of silence, she raised her hand and patted his shoulder, reassuring him, "It's alright. Since we can't break it open, why don't we try another method and just remove the door?"
“Senior brother, please don’t…” Gu Lianzhou stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, his gaze passing over Song Qiling as he narrowed his eyes. “Senior brother, please move two steps to the left. There’s a pile of firewood over there, and there seems to be an axe inside.”
Song Qiling was taken aback upon hearing this, then turned around and did as instructed, clearing away the tangled, withered branches.
A moment later, fingertips felt an unusual sensation in the damp, moldy pile of wood. The top was slightly rounded and cool to the touch; it was a handle that had been polished.
Gu Lianzhou's breath suddenly came close. "Wait a minute."
He reached out and grabbed her wrist, his thumb rubbing against the axe blade. "It's a rusty axe. The blade is dull, it can't split an iron lock, but it should be enough to chop wood."
Half an hour later.
With a sharp "crack," the latch was finally broken, the door was kicked open, and as fresh air rushed in, Gu and Song almost simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
But as soon as they stepped out of the woodshed, the two of them froze on the spot.
The City God Temple courtyard, which was brightly lit during the day, was now completely swallowed up by the deep darkness of night. Only a few small courtyards had paper lanterns hanging under the eaves, their dim yellow light barely illuminating the ground beneath one's feet.
Song Qiling casually brushed the firewood dust off her clothes and used the dim light to determine the direction: "When we came in from the main gate earlier, there were several small courtyards connected together on the east side. Let's follow the wall and not take the wrong path."
The two walked lightly along the wall, when they suddenly heard voices coming from the direction of the west wing.
Song Qiling immediately grabbed Gu Lianzhou's sleeve.
The two crouched down behind a dead tree, holding their breath and listening intently.
It was the aunt's voice, with a hint of complaint: "We've already sent dozens of them, and we've clearly trimmed the ear tips, but that rich girl insists they're not hers. All our efforts have been wasted, and in the end, we've only gotten our hands dirty."
Following closely behind was another man's voice: "Find a time to bury or burn those cat corpses, do whatever you want with them, just don't leave them in the woodshed, the smell is starting to waft out."
The woman scoffed. "What's the rush? You don't know, I ran into two more people looking for their cats today. Who in the city doesn't know that 'gold ingot' is worth a fortune? How could such a good thing fall into their lap? I'll just lure them into the woodshed, scare them a little, and then we'll do it tomorrow..."
At this point, she suddenly lowered her voice, as if on purpose, so that they wouldn't hear.
She listened intently for a long time without saying a word. Instead, the man sighed softly, "It's up to you. Just don't cause any deaths. Otherwise, if someone takes us to the authorities, we'll be in deep trouble."
Hearing this, Song Qiling understood the gist of it and grabbed Gu Lianzhou, running out of the temple. Fortunately, it was dark and windy, and the temple was sparsely populated, so no one noticed them.
It wasn't until the two rushed out the gate and returned to the street that they came to their senses.
"I wondered why no one else volunteered for this cat-finding mission, and why only the two of us took on the task." Song Qiling turned around and spat at the temple door. "So it turns out they had someone use some trick to 'take it all'!"
The thought of the stench filling the room made her furious. "What love for living beings, what inability to bear their suffering? They just caught them all, cut off their ears, and used them as those worthless gold ingots!"
Gu Lianzhou quickly raised his hand and gently patted her back, comforting her, "Senior brother, don't be angry. This is an illusion; no one has actually committed such a vile crime."
Illusion...
Yet it feels so real!
Song Qiling almost ground her teeth to powder: "That wicked old woman has harmed countless lives. She is truly despicable. I will not have a moment's peace until she gets her comeuppance."
On second thought, she realized that she had the magic but couldn't use it, which made her even more frustrated.
Seeing her chest heaving and her brows furrowing, Gu Lianzhou gently advised, "Senior brother, getting angry won't help right now. We can't just keep wandering around the City God Temple like this, trying our luck to find gold ingots. It's no different from looking for a needle in a haystack."
Song Qiling took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Suddenly, she thought of something and her eyes lit up: "You've reminded me. I used to learn some divination techniques. I haven't forgotten how to use reeds to tell fortunes. Maybe I can use that to find the whereabouts of Yuanbao."
A hint of surprise flashed in Gu Lianzhou's eyes, but he then pondered and said, "Divination requires the use of objects to draw out the energy. If there is nothing related to gold ingots, the divination results may be inaccurate."
“That’s what I was just about to say.” Song Qiling took a half step forward, her voice lowering. “To pinpoint the location, it would be best to get Yuanbao’s personal belongings. If we could find its fur, that would be even better. So before we reach Fuzhan, we need to find a way to meet the Duke’s daughter. After all, Yuanbao is her cat, and she must have kept these things with her.”
Gu Lianzhou nodded in agreement, but then hesitated, "The Duke's mansion has strict security. If two strangers like us rashly request an audience, we might not even be able to get through the gate. Should we inquire about the mansion's rules first, or find a pretext to send a formal invitation?"
“I do have experience with this,” Song Qiling said, subconsciously reaching for her waist, only to find her hand empty. She clenched her fist in embarrassment. “Although I can’t use magic right now, I can still read faces, read palm lines, and predict fortunes.”
She confidently declared, "Just give me my name, and we'll walk right in through the main gate of the Duke's mansion!"
Gu Lianzhou: "..."
For some reason, he vaguely felt that he had experienced this confident argument before.
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The author's note: (1) This comes from Mencius, Book 6, Part 2.
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