Eleventh: Eyeing the Tiger - Part Two
The location of the barrier was deeper than where Mingjin had been, but closer to the stream in the forest. Mingjin had heard the sound of flowing water while Jizhen and Zhang Xu were discussing matters. It was still before the end of the first month of the lunar calendar, and the trees nearby were still thick and lush, their hard, green leaves hanging in the air. Their current resting place was a small, naturally formed clearing in the forest, near which lay a dead tree stump, buried in the dust. Mingjin bent down and brushed away the dust, discovering that the stump had a finely textured, trapezoidal slope, suggesting it had been felled by a woodcutter.
The group dispersed nearby, each doing their own thing. After waiting for about 15 minutes, they suddenly sensed a powerful magical fluctuation nearby and realized that Banrui had finished his work. They then headed towards Banrui's location together.
The barrier vanished in an instant, and the dense forest disappeared, replaced by a shimmering expanse of water. From the water's surface, a piece of land emerged—a group of gentle slopes covered in a deep green, robust forest. At the very center of the slopes sat a striking white, square-based, ochre-red tower. Smaller towers and pavilions flanked the slopes on either side, and willows lined the water's edge, creating a truly magnificent scene.
However, no one was moved by the beautiful scenery, but by the eerie atmosphere that permeated the place.
"You really know how to enjoy yourself," Zhang Xu sneered. "You even know how to find a good place to hide."
“It looks like a peaceful and pleasant place. Strangely, I haven’t sensed any evil spirits active around.” Ban Rui was quite puzzled. “In any case, we still need to investigate further. I’ll leave this important matter to you all; I’ll take my leave now.”
Ban Rui's mission was complete, and he was preparing to return to Juxia with Heng Buwei. Ming Jin felt strange, but seeing that Zhang Xu and the others were silent, he remained quiet as well. After discussing with Ji Zhen, Zhang Xu and the remaining disciples assigned investigation locations, and then the group approached the central area from all sides.
The lake was calm, but devoid of any life. Vegetation, water birds, and fish were nowhere to be seen; not even a single withered leaf could be observed. When Mingjin reached a quarter of the way across the lake, she straightened her clothes, bent down, and touched the water with her left palm. The water here was not only completely unfrozen, but it also felt neither cold nor warm; it simply flowed across her palm, with no difference in temperature from her hand. Mingjin tried to see into the lake's depths. The clear water did not obstruct her view at all, but she still could see nothing. Her gaze was fixed on the deep, dark lakebed. Standing there, she felt as if, at nightfall, she were suspended high in the sky, looking down at the silent world below, without even a single cloud obscuring her vision. Silence, yet a chilling stillness.
Standing on water is the first technique used by cultivators in water magic. All disciples from Menggu Academy know it, but without frequent practice, they lose their feel for it and might fall in. Ming Jin, skilled in wind magic, hadn't used this technique in a long time, and sure enough, she slipped and fell into the water halfway across the path. Fortunately, she managed to steady herself with wind magic in time. For safety, she switched back to wind magic, allowing her body to float on the water's surface as if walking on flat ground.
The elders, possessing greater magical power, were able to investigate more quickly. Although their investigation covered a wider area, they arrived on the shore around the same time as the disciples. As planned, they then reached the city gate of the mountain town. As the group arrived at the gate, they all looked up at the three large characters hanging on the wooden archway: Youran City.
Behind the wooden archway were stone steps leading uphill, from which the city gate could be seen. The gate was closed, its purpose unknown. For safety reasons, and given the dense vegetation and houses in the area, the group remained together and continued forward. Where there were no trees to provide cover, the ghostly aura was exceptionally strong, to the point that they could feel its oppressive force as they ascended.
The cultivators who came this time ranged from sect leaders and elders to disciples who had come for trials and had not yet completed their apprenticeships; their varying levels of cultivation were fully displayed at this moment. Zhang Xu and Ji Zhen only sensed the changes in their surroundings; they themselves were not affected by the ghostly energy. Ming Jin, Chen Du, and Chai Wang had already used mountain magic to block the potential adverse effects of the ghostly energy, but Mei Chong and Duan Shuxuan, who remained, did not overcome this hurdle so easily. As soon as they reached the city gate, their bodies became uncomfortable from the pressure. Duan Shuxuan, who had just eaten, felt nauseous and had to lean against the city wall to dry heave.
"This isn't good." Ji Zhen felt Duan Shuxuan's pulse, sensing that the cultivation stored in his spiritual veins was surging due to the rampant ghost energy. Novice cultivators would have this reaction when encountering powerful ghosts, and the ghost energy accumulated in You Ran City was already like that of a ghost with a hundred years of cultivation.
"Elder Ji, this junior can still hold on." Duan Shuxuan also felt the strange sensation he had experienced before surging within his body. He knew about the reaction when he first entered the cultivation stage, but he had never encountered it during his years of cultivation.
"Elder Zhang, I'll take these two outside first. I'll trouble you to lead the two juniors from Kongyun Mountain to scout this area." Although Mei Chong tried to hold on, she was also losing control of her cultivation level. Under Ji Zhen's commanding gaze, she could only follow her and leave Youran City.
The city gates of Youran City were not tightly closed. Zhang Xu pushed with his hand, and the gate on the right silently slid back. The houses inside the city were built against the mountainside; every few steps, one would encounter a stone staircase leading upwards, flanked by wooden houses. The alleys and stone staircases were extremely narrow, allowing only two people to pass side by side. Most of the houses on either side were three or four stories high, some with long, narrow lanterns hanging in a row under their eaves. The windows of the houses were all tightly closed, but Ming Jin casually pushed one open; the tables, chairs, and other utensils inside were still there. However, all the houses contained only objects, devoid of life.
There were no signs of evil spirits or ghosts in the city.
"Is this a city abandoned by evil spirits? It's so big, it must have taken decades to build. Even if there's only one evil spirit per house, there are hundreds of evil spirits that could hide here. They can hide and disappear silently. There must be evil spirits organizing and acting behind the scenes," Chen Du said.
"The things inside are all old but not new, and there's no dust on them at all. Even if they were abandoned, it must have happened recently. Did we accidentally leak clues during our investigation, or did we just stumble upon a city that a vengeful spirit had just moved out of?" Chai Wang casually touched a nearby window.
They were now on a relatively wide main street in Youran City. The surrounding buildings were more exquisite and magnificent than those on the way there, but Chai Wang's hands were almost completely free of dust.
“It’s too clean here,” Mingjin said, crossing his arms and looking around. “Although there are trees, there are no fallen leaves and no weeds sprouting from the soil. There’s a large body of water outside the door, and it’s not as cold inside the barrier as it is outside. There aren’t even any small insects to be seen.”
“This is, after all, a barrier set by evil spirits. We don’t have much information from before, so we must not let our guard down no matter what we find. Alright, let’s split up and investigate the area.” Zhang Xu listened to what the others were saying.
The group dispersed around the main street, hoping to find some clues about the ghostly entity. However, after searching for a quarter of an hour, and waiting for Ji Zhen to settle the two unwell individuals before returning, the four of them still had no leads.
The search of each door and the guards revealed similar interior spaces and identical furnishings. The environment in which the evil spirits gathered was completely different from that of cultivators and ordinary people; their usual needs were nowhere to be seen. Ming Jin and Shen Du found a fabric shop at the end of the main street, with several identical sets of clothes displayed behind the counter, all with loose sleeves and legs.
“The evil spirit needs to change clothes. Although it has no sense of good or evil, it still has a sense of shame and knows it can’t run around naked in the street.” As Chen Du packed up the clothes, Ming Jin was walking into the house, thinking that if the evil spirit in this shop could forget about clothes, it might forget about other things as well.
On the other side, Chai Wang walked on the rooftops and discovered a courtyard with an octagonal shape. Disciples of the sect who often practiced there could sense a familiar atmosphere as soon as they entered. He stood in the center of the courtyard, facing the direction of the sunrise, and found nine stone tablets standing directly in front of him.
These stone tablets were taller than Chai Wang; if the marks on them were still intact, Chai Wang would have had to crane his neck to see the top characters. They were the same width as Chai Wang's shoulders. The stone was hard and dark in color. They once bore some inscriptions, but these had been dug out by axes and chisels, leaving the entire surface pitted and uneven, making it impossible to discern the original content.
Chai Wang searched all nine stone tablets from top to bottom, but still found nothing. When he reached the last stone tablet, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. As he moved to the side of the stone tablet, he realized that it wasn't leaning against the wall, so he reached into the narrow space and pressed his hand against the back of the stone tablet.
What his hand felt wasn't flat; it was sometimes flat and sometimes concave, with sharp edges in the concave areas, and each one slightly different. This surprised and delighted him. However, the space only allowed his palm to fit straight in; it wouldn't fit his wrist. He carefully traced one of the concave lines with his hand, from top to bottom, from left to right, but his joy quickly turned to sorrow. Chai Wang realized that these were probably characters, because they were similar in size and scale, but he couldn't recognize what they were.
He couldn't help but sigh, thinking that he should read more books and practice writing in the future. However, he also thought that even if he could write, he might not be able to recognize the characters. That way, he would have something to say to his master in the future.
Chai Wang tried to lift the stone tablet. He lacked the strength and failed.
So they had no choice but to call for Zhang Xu.
Hearing the commotion, Ji Zhen rushed over. The three of them tried to flip the stone tablet over without damaging it. Ji Zhen tried to summon a vine using wood magic, and then gently pulled it forward. The stone tablet, which was about the same height as her, slowly moved forward with a rumbling sound until there was enough width behind it for the three of them to stand on.
Sure enough, there were inscriptions on the back of the stone tablet. Although they weren't very aesthetically pleasing, the characters were clear from top to bottom. However, the characters were quite ancient, and none of the three could immediately decipher the content. Helpless, Zhang Xu sighed and said, "Jingchu, make a rubbing of the characters on the stone tablet and call your class elder over to take a look."
"Yes, Elder Zhang." After saying that, Chai Wang rummaged through his pouch, took out a piece of paper taller than himself, and then pulled out a bucket containing other utensils that Ji Zhen couldn't understand.
Ji Zhen hadn't expected anyone to carry rubbing tools. However, since she knew Ban Rui could read the text, she wasn't too worried. So, together with Zhang Xu, they moved the remaining stone tablets out. Chai Wang was very fast; by the time the contents of the stone tablets were revealed, he had already copied the contents of the first tablet and was using magic to send a message to Ban Rui.
The sound of several large rocks rumbling in succession startled Mingjin and Shendu, who told them to take what they had collected and come over immediately, worried that others had encountered lurking evil spirits and were now taking action. The sound pointed them in the right direction, and when the two of them rushed to their destination from the rooftop, they found that the three people were simply busy making rubbings.
"Master Ji, Elder Zhang, I've found something." Seeing that there was nothing serious, Ming Jin jumped down from the roof and ran lightly to Ji Zhen and Zhang Xu, taking out a booklet.
The ghostly energy in the city had already affected Shen Du's spiritual veins. He realized that his current state was not very good, and he was unable to keep up with Ming Jin's speed. He was a few steps behind her when he arrived in the courtyard.
"Yitang," Zhang Xu glanced at the words on the cover, "What does that mean?"
“This is the logbook of the cloth shop owner next door. He keeps a record every day.” Ji Zhen opened the first page of the book. Although they still couldn’t recognize the rest of the contents, they could all understand the date marked at the beginning. “There’s a big shelf in the bedroom. This book was tucked in a crack in the wall, and I used my wind magic to blow it out. It just feels like it’s from a long time ago. I don’t know if it contains anything useful.”
"You're still keeping a diary? You haven't forgotten the basics of being a decent human being," Zhang Xu smiled, then patted Ming Jin on the shoulder. "Well done."
To speed things up, Mingjin and Shendu stayed behind to help Chai Wang make the rubbings, while Zhang Xu and Jizhen continued towards the center. Their focus was the same: the tall tower standing at the highest point.
Along their journey, Ji Zhen and Zhang Xu had discovered several small pagodas within the city, but these were no taller than the nearby houses, and their styles varied, their aesthetic appeal inconsistent, unlike the one before them. As they stood beneath the archway of You Ran City, admiring the scenery, they were captivated by this ochre-colored tower.
The white base beneath was created by carving up a gentle slope on the mountain, upon which a tall tower was built. Compared to other areas of the city, this tower should be the most important building, yet the ghostly aura around it is not as strong. The tower is also quite old; compared to other things in the city, it shows signs of aging and fading, and dust can be seen accumulating on the upturned corners of the roof, making it look much more normal.
The two surveyed the surrounding area but found nothing unusual, so they didn't rush to climb the tower. There were still three disciples inside the city and two others outside who were unwell. This was the most crucial area, and enemies might be lying in ambush there, so neither of them dared to be careless. It was already noon, and after discussing it, Ji Zhen and Zhang Xu decided to wait until the afternoon to make their plans.
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