Chapter 98 Kaifeng Weird Things
Fate is a very magical existence, it is indestructible, but it can be cut off by a single blow; it is everywhere, but it disappears in an instant. It is difficult to describe it with an accurate word, because it is so unpredictable and profound.
But please believe that destiny is always there.
Perhaps all the flashes of lightning and sudden inspiration are fate looking down its head, casting a gentle glance at the mortals who are floating in the sea of fate and unable to escape, in the vast void.
Bai Yuting couldn't explain clearly how he felt when he saw the shadow of the tall building in the dim light. At that moment, he seemed to be thinking of nothing, yet he seemed to be thinking of a lot.
What finally stuck in his mind was that the tall building must be hiding the biggest secret of King Xiangyang.
He is going to find the biggest secret.
This was the purpose of his coming to Xiangyang.
Bai Yutang pulled Zhan Zhao's ear, turned his gaze in the same direction as his own, and signaled him: Let's go there!
Before coming to Prince Xiangyang's Palace, they agreed that the first place they would go to would be Prince Xiangyang's study. As long as no one was in the study, they would turn the place upside down.
If there is nothing in the study, they can go to Prince Xiangyang's bedroom. Generally speaking, there are only a few places like this where people feel safe and secure to hide things.
But now, Brother Bai wants to go to that tall building.
Why?
Bai Yutang did not answer, but just said that there was a big cargo there, so just go there.
Bulk goods? What bulk goods?
Zhan Zhao was puzzled for a moment, but finally followed the intention of the snowball above his head, changed direction, and took advantage of the shadows to sneak to the back of the palace quietly.
Dozens of breaths later, the black cat squatted in the corner of two high walls, and its pair of golden cat eyes calmly examined the soldiers in front who were neatly lined up, wearing armor and equipped with strong bows and sharp swords.
The tall building stood under the night sky, with three large characters written on the carved lacquer and gold plaque:
Sky Tower.
What a vivid name! Isn’t it a building that reaches the sky?
While Zhan Zhao was wondering why there were so many troops left here, he praised Xuetuan above him for his intelligence and agility, for being able to find the secret of Prince Xiangyang so quickly.
The dandelion-like snowball held its head high and chest out, humming proudly.
"Hold on tight, Brother Bai."
The snow-colored rat lay down, its pink little paws firmly grasping the black cat fur under its claws.
My scalp is a bit painful from being pulled.
But that's not a problem.
The black cat lowered its body slightly, and at the moment when the two teams of soldiers crossed each other, a black lightning flashed through the gap.
With a few whooshes, the black cat with a ball of snow on its head had already leaped onto the sky tower. He crawled on the extended platform, looking down at the soldiers passing by below. After making sure that no one noticed him, he stood up and crawled in through the slightly opened window.
It turned out that cats are liquid. They could slip through a gap as small as a palm smoothly without making any sound.
Bai Yutang was amazed and patted the cat's head with his paw to show his admiration.
Zhan Zhao shook his ears, feeling somewhat helpless.
From the outside, the sky tower seemed tall enough, but when they were inside and looked up, it was so high that it was dizzying.
Why did the King of Xiangyang build such a tall building? And why were there so many soldiers guarding outside the building?
Perhaps the rooftop is the answer.
Zhan Zhao looked around, discussed with Bai Yutang, and climbed up to the places where people could not stand or go.
He was just such a small ball now, and the snowball on his head was even smaller. In addition, Tarona had cast multiple layers of magic on him and Bai Yutang. He took a step forward, and he was as light as a feather. With a light leap, he was as tall as a man.
The dazzlingly high Sky Tower was completely unable to restrain the black cat with the wind at its feet. The black shadow was seen moving on every tiny uneven place, and in the blink of an eye, it had reached the second floor.
Zhan Zhao stood on the carved beam and looked down. The square shape below resembled the Eight Diagrams, and the structure formed the shape of a swastika, which was interconnected and very exquisite. He had never seen such a design before.
Bai Yutang said: "You, a cat, don't know the art of mechanics, so you naturally can't see it. Look at those places——"
He used the same trick again, grabbing the tip of the black cat's ear and signaling him to turn his head according to his strength.
Zhan Zhao looked at it, but didn't see anything special about it. He just felt that those places were no different from the surrounding areas and were very ordinary when viewed alone.
Bai Yutang laughed at him: "I told you that you don't understand. That's a mechanism! A deadly mechanism! You can't see it because the mechanism is activated as a whole with the building, and there are dead ends everywhere. Once triggered, it will be like a fairy scattering flowers, linked together. Even if you are the best in the world in lightness skills, it will still pierce you with thousands of holes!"
After Zhan Zhao heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little cold in his heart.
If he and Bai Yuting had not sneaked in in this form today, and had not received the help of Lady Jia's magic, then... they would have been either dead or injured!
Thinking of this, Zhan Zhao actually felt a little dizzy, his heart was beating like a drum, and his ears were buzzing, as if, as if such an unknown bloody scene was really appearing before his eyes.
“Cat! Cat…Zhan Zhao! Come back to your senses!”
Bai Yutang called out several times in a hurry before finally calling the person back. He slapped the black cat on the head with his paw and said angrily: "What are you thinking about? You have lost your soul! If you lose your concentration and don't step firmly, you will fall down in a daze, and I will have to go down with you!"
Even if they fell and triggered the mechanism, it would not be a big deal. Lady Jia said that the magic she cast on them was so powerful that even if the mountains collapsed and fell on them, they would be safe.
But if the cat lost focus and fell, triggering the magic... Even Zhan Zhao wouldn't feel ashamed, he would feel ashamed too!
Zhan Zhao shook his ears and said, "Sorry, I... Let's continue going up."
He didn't dare to mention it. The fleeting bloody scene just now had been engraved in his mind. Amid the sound of his heartbeat like a drum, he saw a hint of white that was gradually swallowed up by the blood.
For some reason, he was able to determine that the white color was Bai Yutang.
Lady Jia once said to the wronged soul who knelt at her feet and begged for the return of his child that fate is unpredictable, but life and death are orderly.
Destiny...
This word is so profound and mysterious that no mortal can see it no matter how hard he tries.
But at this moment, Zhan Zhao actually felt that he had touched this unpredictable fate at that moment.
If Lady Jia had not descended to the human world and told them the truth about Prince Xiangyang in advance, when Prince Xiangyang's evil deeds were exposed, he would also come to investigate the Prince Xiangyang's Palace. And Brother Bai...why wouldn't he come?
Now that Brother Bai is here, how could he be inferior to others?
By then, with Brother Bai's martial arts and intelligence, if they really want to come to Chongxiao Tower to investigate, he will naturally... take the lead!
Well, well…
Zhan Zhao took a deep breath and forced himself to dispel the sudden panic that was about to overwhelm him.
Different!
It's different!
They came together, and they had the help of immortals.
There will never be such unknown blood again!
The vertical pupils shrank, the black cat with golden pupils looked up, and leaped up, as if assisted by a god, and twice it actually jumped up on the air.
There was a platform on the third floor, on which was placed a red lacquered box about one foot long and half a foot wide. Just as Zhan Zhao was about to take a step forward to take a closer look at the box, Bai Yutang grabbed him by the ear.
"etc!"
Bai Yutang's breathing suddenly became rapid, as if he had seen something in an instant, and there was a hint of panic in his dark eyes: "Don't move, there is a mechanism under the box!"
He didn't know how he could tell it at a glance, as if a voice in the dark was telling him -
Once the box is taken away, poisonous arrows will rain down from all directions, and a large iron thorn net will fall from above their heads, blocking their escape route and killing them by thousands of arrows piercing their hearts!
It sounded like his own voice.
It also sounds like someone else's voice.
I can't hear it clearly, I can't understand it, but every word is dangerous and every sentence is heartbreaking!
If they really came in as usual, climbing up from the bottom, they would have been exhausted and tired, and the machines embedded in all directions would have worn them out, and they would have suddenly seen the secrets hidden in this building...
It's really hard to guard against.
Bai Yuting closed his eyes and spat in his heart.
Damn King Xiangyang!
Zhan Zhao stopped moving immediately, swung his tail fiercely, and dared not move again.
Bai Yutang stood above him, looking around and upward. The mechanism on this floor was more sophisticated than the two floors below. They had not touched a single mechanism on the way up. The people who designed this building had never expected that the people who sneaked into the building would get help from the immortals and transform into such a light posture.
It's not that the mechanism on this level cannot be cracked, but it takes too long and you have to make some noise in the process. If someone hears it...
Snow Mouse unconsciously touched the black cat's ear with his pink paws. The black cat gently shook its tail without making a sound to interrupt his thoughts.
After a while, Bai Yutang asked, "Mao'er, do you think the government will believe what you wrote in the letter?"
Zhan Zhao said: "The emperor will believe it."
Because that's what Miss Jia said.
How could what the incarnation of King Fengdu said be false?
Bai Yutang smiled: "Then there is no need to think so much!"
Having said that, Xuetuan reached for his waist and took out a six-sided Rubik's Cube that was bigger than his body from somewhere.
This Rubik's Cube has six sides and six colors, all neatly arranged, as if it has been put right.
"Mrs. Jia said this baby will explode."
When saying this, Master Bai Wu looked like a bad boy who was about to do something bad. Not only did he do bad things himself, he also dragged other people's good children to do bad things with him.
Zhan Zhao had seen the six-sided Rubik's Cube in Bai Yutang's hand and knew that this treasure was given to him by Lady Jia, but it would explode... This was the first time he heard him say that.
Thinking about how he had played with it two days ago, Guard Zhan couldn't help but shudder.
白玉堂湊到他耳邊嘀嘀咕咕，展昭一字不漏地聽了，聽完後笑罵他膽子忒大，卻也擺出架勢準備照做了。
黑貓踩着木板之間縫隙，踩下去的力道連灰掃不掉，他步伐謹慎地來到了奉臺面前，鋒利爪尖從肉墊裏彈了出來。
展昭試了試，竟能輕易地切入堅石之中，他在心中再次感嘆仙術之神奇，就這麽以爪尖刺入堅石之中的方法，慢慢爬上了半人高的奉臺。
一個黑色的貓貓頭從奉臺下面伸了上來，他頭頂還站着一個巴掌大的雪色團子，正正好同擺放在奉臺上的盒子持平。
白玉堂快速打亂了魔方的六面，然後淺淺深吸一口氣，按照珈娘子交給他的方法，在其中兩面上各自按了一下。
被按壓的那一格凹了下去，魔方內部傳出齒輪轉軸的微小聲音，同時，一道平穩無波、分辨不出男女的聲音響了起來:
“爆破模式已啓動——”
“倒計時開始，七、六、五……”
這聲音說的話和大宋任何一種語言都不相同，白玉堂和展昭都認為這是神仙的語言，凡人是聽不懂的。
在提示音響起的瞬間，白玉堂和展昭動了。
展昭以迅雷不及掩耳之勢躍上奉臺，只有兒臂長的身軀陡然暴漲，于千分之一秒內從嬌小可愛的黑貓變成了霸氣側漏的黑豹，他一張口，一尺長的盒子就如同一塊點心一般被他含進了嘴裏。
盒子離開奉臺的剎那，開啓爆破模式的六面魔方被雪白的鼠鼠投擲出去，穩穩落在了盒子的位置上。
與此同時，展昭聽見了從四面八方傳來的機關響動聲。
金色的瞳孔已然縮成了一條細細的直線，體型龐大的黑貓腳下一踏，堅硬的奉臺裂開了數道裂縫。
只聽一聲壓低到極致的獸吼，下一秒，他便以人眼無法捕捉的速度沖了出去。
砰！
超大一只的黑貓撞碎了沖霄樓頂層的窗戶，黑色的身影在空中劃出一道殘影，在下方巡邏的士兵才被這破窗之聲驚得擡頭，他已然頂着雪團含着盒子落入了無邊的夜色之中，轉瞬便不見了身影。
“三、二、一。”
“開始爆破！”
嗡！——
無聲無形的震蕩波驟然從沖霄樓內炸開，将将擡頭的士兵們還來不及順從大腦感知到的突發疼痛捂住耳朵，便宛如海上蜉蝣一般被狠狠震了出去。
一個個摔在牆上的摔牆上，砸斷柳樹的沒能止住沖力，直接落進了湖水裏，更倒黴一些的，臉朝下栽進了草叢中，兩眼一翻昏死了過去。
領頭的軍官比較幸運，身體也比士兵好些，他被掀飛出去撞在了門上，強忍着捶打般的頭疼和被撞出來的疼痛擡起頭來，他略顯猙獰的表情瞬間凝住，只能驚駭般望着前方，失了言語的能力。
王爺耗費巨資和大量人力建造的沖霄樓……正以一種極其詭異離奇的方式消失在他們眼前。
直沖雲霄的高樓仿佛整個兒被折疊了起來，最中心憑空出現了一個黑點，原本只有拳頭大的黑點越來越大，像一張恐怖的深淵巨口，将扭曲着吱嘎斷裂，向最裏面卷曲的沖霄樓吞噬殆盡。
最終……
只剩下了那一個迸發出璀璨光亮的黑色空洞。
轟——！
光，炸開了。
離光最近的人在同一時間失去了意識，人事不省地翻倒一地。
堪比烈日的光芒在襄陽王府上空不遠處轟然炸開，一時間，整個襄陽亮如白晝。
大半個襄陽王府的人都在同一時間昏死在了光芒之中，第二日醒來後，耳朵裏仍舊嗡鳴一片，頭暈目眩，足足緩了好幾個時辰才恢複正常。
其中，也包括摟着美妾回房的襄陽王。
一日不到的時間，襄陽城內有了一個聲音。
他們說:襄陽王這是遭天譴了，如若再不更改，必有天火降世，焚盡此地靡靡罪惡。
……
【塔小姐，你為什麽要把那顆微型坍縮炸彈給白玉堂？】
忒休斯很是不解:【萬一他誤觸了呢？】
塔羅納正在挖墳，用的是在系統商店裏買的鏟子。
她道:“不存在誤觸，那一顆是手動的，不會傷及生命體。”
像這種不會傷及生命體的炸彈，她一般是用來摧毀敵人老巢的，三積分十顆，用過的都說好。
咚的一聲，鏟子挖到了棺材。
塔羅納把卷了邊的鏟子一扔，徒手将棺材拉了出來，她一邊開棺，一邊道:“分頭行動的時候沒想起來，忘了和白玉堂說，襄陽王那座沖霄樓就是他的葬身之地。”
砰。
塗成紅色的棺材被暴力掀開，一股難聞的屍臭味和水果腐爛的味道撲面而來。
“還好我有先見之明，估計今晚白玉堂就能把那座破樓炸了。”
塔羅納皺着眉往棺材裏面看，裏面是一個已經腐爛了三成的男屍，他殘存的皮膚上還能清晰地看見黑色的線條，這是人為畫上去的。
男屍的頭頂上放着一個四足的獸首青銅鼎，只有半個腦袋的大小，那股水果腐爛的味道就是從裏面發散出來的。
塔羅納看了那小鼎一會兒，伸手就要去拿，結果小鼎紋絲不動，再用些力氣，竟然将男屍一起提了起來。
原來這個小鼎是長在這具男屍的頭骨上了。
小鼎沒有縫隙，為了不出意外，大魔女用了透視魔法，鼎裏什麽都沒有，只是內壁上塗了一層厚厚的黑色粘稠膏體，不知道是個什麽東西。
鼎上的獸首很好認，頭圓嘴尖，滿口獠牙，有點像野豬，是波兒象，專門吃鬼，好吃惡鬼。
這裏已經是距離襄陽三十裏開外的荒山小村了，塔羅納捏碎了兩塊回應水晶，得到了向西的模糊指示。她一路向西飛來，終于在這裏感應到了異常的蛛絲馬跡。
落下後，她發現了這座修葺完善的村莊，只有二十來間房子，四處擺放着農具作物，一副生活井井有條的模樣，實際上一點人氣都沒有。
這裏每間房子裏都立着一座墳。
塔羅納把所有墳都挖開了，卷了邊的鏟子扔了十幾把，二十三口大紅的棺材呈一字型排列在曬莊稼的壩子上，難聞的氣味簡直直沖雲霄。
全都是男屍，都有一個小鼎長在頭骨上，俱是青壯年。而他們的死因，竟然都是染病去世，病的種類倒是沒有統一。
忒休斯提出一個猜測:【會是瘟疫惡魔嗎？】
塔羅納搖頭:“不可能，惡魔還被攔截在地獄大門裏，沒有完整的【晨星之匙】，它們絕不可能出得來。”
不過，也有可能是在做惡魔祭獻。
在西方，惡魔祭獻的流程并不繁複，可以說是很随便了，只要惡魔的真名和專屬圖騰是對的，不管白天黑夜幾乎都能生效，其他的都是儀式感。
對于像路西法這樣的大惡魔而言，教堂所傳授的諸多限制就像是在過家家，一點用處都沒有，他們來人間和串門沒什麽區別。
雖然當前這個世界屬于東方，但鑒于路西法的惡劣性，有人能夠從碎片中獲取相關祭獻知識也不是不可能，他樂得看見人間亂成一鍋粥。
惡魔祭獻可以是獻給惡魔的，也可以是獻給舉辦祭獻之人的。
人的靈魂就是一種可以被汲取掠奪的能量。
在【晨星之匙】不可能拼湊完整，打開地獄大門的當前，前一種基本可以排除了。
門都打不開，祭獻了也是白給，門後面的惡魔根本收不到。況且還有世界性質的限制，就算僥幸通過某種方法出來了，惡魔的實力也會被大幅度縮減，它畢竟不是異常主體。
聖降之燈在展昭身上，塔羅納在自己的空間裏翻找了一會兒，摸出那個用慣了的魔法八音盒。
她先把魔法八音盒仔細檢查了一遍，盒底果然出現了一道細微的裂痕，趴在盒子上的芭蕾貓咪也沒有之前那樣有精神了。
這東西是有使用次數的，用久了就要換，回去以後應該還能趕上魔女集會的最後一場，當時候交換一個合适的，把這只芭蕾貓咪換上去。
八音盒裏的無邊空間其實就是這只貓咪的肚子，但是需要容器，不然它就只能是一個好看的擺件。
塔羅納打開八音盒，二十三口棺材全部被吸納進去，就連被暴力拆開的棺材蓋也沒有落下。
大魔女活動了一下四肢，随手甩出一個火球，将這座小村莊樣式的墳山燒幹淨後，她騰空而起，繼續向西飛去。
之後，她從一個湖泊裏撈起了三十七口大紅棺材，裏面全部都是女屍，年紀在二十五歲以下，也有小鼎長在頭骨上。
小鼎上的獸首也是猙獰的波兒象，內壁上同樣塗了一層黑色膏體，氣味如出一轍，但又有一點細微的不同。
塔羅納仔細分辨了一下，是紫薇花的香氣，襄陽的女子會用這種花做香粉和香囊，也會直接戴在發上。
The female corpses were more severely decayed than the previous male corpses, and were already 50% decayed. The skin around the small tripod was still intact, and there were also black lines drawn on it.
The witch frowned slightly. She took out the music box and put the coffin back in as she had done before. The bottom of the lake didn't look unusual, but to be on the safe side, she still burned it with hellfire.
Continue west.
By the time the miniature collapse bomb sent to Bai Yutang exploded, Tarona had found 136 big red coffins.
The seventy-six coffins found later contained sixteen middle-aged male corpses, sixteen middle-aged female corpses, sixteen elderly male corpses, sixteen elderly female corpses, six male infant corpses and six female infant corpses.
The witch collected them all into the music box. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Theseus, don't you think... these corpses symbolize a person's life?"
From childhood to old age, from youth to old age, from strength to weakness.
From the moment we are born, we are moving step by step towards our inevitable death. Time cannot be reversed, and the same goes for life and death.
But there are always people who are unwilling to give up. There are always people who try to transcend life and death and become immortal. They also want to possess all the wealth and supreme power in the world. They want it all and are extremely greedy.
People are always like this.
In order to satisfy their own greed, people can sell their souls, abandon their conscience, forget their kindness, and then step by step go deeper into hell.
Is it borrowing life, or... a mutation?
Could it be Prince Xiangyang?
But Xiangyang City was clean and tidy. There was nothing unusual about it except that it was too clean.
If it wasn't Prince Xiangyang, who could it be?
With many questions in mind, Tarona continued to move westward until the morning sun jumped out of the sea level and she did not find any new coffins.
It's time to go back.
…
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang waited for Tarona all night.
They were a little excited and couldn't sleep.
When Tarona returned to the inn, they had already opened the box and looked at the contents. Bai Yuting was passionately scolding Prince Xiangyang, Grand Tutor Pang, and everyone on the list.
No matter you know him or not, just curse him first.
The black cat, whose body had grown larger than that of a tiger or leopard, lay beside the snow-white mouse. Its long tail was pressed against the ground, slightly bent inward, with the tip of its tail facing the left paw of the snow-white mouse.
The scolding became so irritating that the snow-white rat snorted angrily and slapped the tip of the black cat's tail with one claw. It looked like it wanted to beat up all the cowards on the list right away, and even better, tear their heads off!
A scumbag who eats corpses!
This traitorous thief deserves to be killed a thousand times!
The Great Witch came in through the wall, and Zhan Zhao, whose five senses became extremely sharp in this form, was the first to discover her. He rubbed the angry Bai Yutang with the tip of his tail, stood up and nodded to the immortal.
"Meow?"
You are back, did you find what you wanted?
As the black cat's body has grown, its voice has also become deeper. It used to be a little soft, but now it has become a deep cello.
Bai Yutang looked at him and felt more and more that it was unfair.
Why can Zhan Zhao grow so big while he is still so small?
Tarona held him up and said, "You can also transform into a bird."
But it was not the tall and mighty mountain eagle or Saker Falcon as Bai Yuting had imagined, but the soft and cute glutinous rice cake - the silver-throated long-tailed tit.
Bai Yutang: ...
This is not fair!
Tarona coaxed him: "After you become a silver-throated long-tailed tit, you can fly much faster than a kitten, and you can understand what other birds are saying, and you can also let them cooperate with you to do something."
The snow-white mouse blinked its dark eyes, a little hesitantly.
Tarona added: "There's nothing wrong with hamsters. They're small, can go anywhere, and can even become invisible."
Look, this is simply a must-have item for a chivalrous man!
Bai Yutang was coaxed into calming down. He stood on top of Zhan Zhao again, holding his head high and looking very proud.
Zhan Zhao was helpless, lying on the ground with his paws folded, his long tail swinging behind him.
When he saw Madam Jia pick up the list, the heaviness in his heart gradually faded.
With Lady Jia around, these people will get the retribution they deserve.
Tarona had a general idea of who was on the list. There were many people on the forum, and the ones that were different when compared were the difference between worlds.
Putting down the list, she picked up the red invitation that was pressed at the bottom.
Bringing it a little closer, the witch smelled a familiar scent of rotting fruit.
But looking at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, their current form has already heightened their five senses a lot. Logically, they should have been feeling uncomfortable and disgusted, but they didn't react at all, as if they couldn't smell it at all.
What kind of smell can she smell that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, whose five senses have been enhanced to the extreme, cannot smell?
——It is the smell of the soul.