Chapter 963 Mysterious Tomb Painting
With a "hiss".
Ouyang Rong lit a torch with a tinderbox.
The narrow, dark tomb passage was suddenly illuminated by the scorching firelight beyond the luminous glow of the white sturgeon. The light extended further, casting long shadows of Ouyang Rong, Miao Si, and the white sturgeon.
Although the light provided by the white sturgeon illuminated the way, Ouyang Rong, just in case, lit the tung oil torch he had bought at the market during the day shortly after entering the tomb passage.
Ouyang Rong had nothing to hide and didn't really believe in ghosts or lanterns, but testing the air in the tomb passage with flames to see if there was a lack of breath was quite scientific.
Miao Si, sitting atop the bronze scroll as if riding a flying broomstick, glanced at him sideways:
"Why is the light so bright? What, are you chickening out? You're such a coward, yet you dare to come and rob a tomb."
Ouyang Rong walked forward expressionlessly, without replying.
Miao Si said mysteriously:
"Let me tell you, the ancient tombs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties are different from the tombs of those dynasties that advocated lavish burials. They emphasize a burial system of 'following the mountain's shape, without sealing or trees,' striving for low-key and hidden status."
"Why? It's because the wars during the Northern and Southern Dynasties were frequent. Those refugees and soldiers didn't care about your status. They would dig up any big grave. So, the graves of the Northern and Southern Dynasties needed to be hidden to avoid being looted. The more noble and powerful a person was, the more typical the characteristics of their grave."
The little ink spirit lowered her voice, riding a bronze scroll, and approached the somewhat disdainful, dull-looking young man, saying with a serious face:
"However, deep within the tomb, they went to great lengths to prevent thieves from entering, setting up traps and mechanisms to ensure that any tomb raider would never return... Moreover, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism were mixed, and people at that time had very different views on life and death. The arrangement of the burial site and the methods used to prevent tomb raiders would seem somewhat strange and sinister from today's perspective..."
"Hehe, this fairy thinks Lu Changgeng's tomb has a certain charm. The simple coffin on it is just a cenotaph, and he is penniless. But as the ancestor of the Imperial Tutor branch of the Lu family of Fanyang, he was still a member of the clan who was able to migrate with his entire clan. Do you think he set up any traps to prevent petty thieves from later generations?"
Miao Si spoke eloquently, staring intently at him, as if trying to frighten him.
"oh."
Ouyang Rong nodded.
The response was lukewarm.
Miao Si waited a while and realized he didn't seem to be faking it. She turned around on the bronze scroll, riding it backwards, and asked him with a puzzled look:
"You're really not afraid, kid?"
Ouyang Rong didn't even bother to lift his eyelids:
“Since I’m already here, would I have come down if I wasn’t prepared?” He paused, then added, “Besides, I know all of this.”
After hearing this, Miao Si slumped her shoulders and turned her face away.
"Hmph, boring. Anyway, I'm small, so once the door opens, if anything happens in the tomb, I and [Craftsman] will run first. You'd better pray for yourself. Don't expect me to save you... unless it takes three ink sticks, no, four."
Ouyang Rong ignored the chattering little ink spirit beside him and walked for a while before arriving at the end of the tomb passage.
The firelight illuminated a bronze gate at the far end, just as it had a month ago.
The bronze gate was covered with countless Kui Xing symbols, and there were dark red ink splatters on many parts of the gate.
Ouyang Rong searched the area and found a familiar handprint in the center of the gate.
Below the mark are special Kui Xing symbols in intaglio, which are recessed and used to contain and sense something.
Ouyang Rong took a deep breath and reached out to grab at the empty space to the side.
The bronze scroll floating beside his shoulder trembled, shaking off his clever idea of taking advantage of the ride.
Amidst the female immortal's grumbling and cursing as she banged her head on the ground, the bronze scroll opened without wind and lay open beside Ouyang Rong.
The young man holding the torch reached into the painting, searched through it for a moment, and took out a specially made bamboo tube.
He shook it, and the bamboo tube seemed to contain some kind of viscous liquid. When he opened it, the liquid inside was dark red.
It was the blood from Young Master Lu's palm.
Miao Si immediately covered her nose and moved away from Ouyang Rong.
The latter also smelled the odor, but remained expressionless.
The blood had been stored for a long time and had become somewhat fishy and foul-smelling.
Ouyang Rong did not try immediately; instead, he stood still and closed his eyes.
He went inside the pagoda of merit and checked the situation inside.
The Blessing Bell remained completely still.
The little wooden fish was also lazy, occasionally breaking the silence inside the tower with a "thump," while contributing a little merit.
Just as Ouyang Rong had just told Miaosi, he had made thorough preparations for this trip down the mountain to return to Lu Changgeng's grave.
As expected, activating the Kui Xing Talisman later will require the Purple Mist of Merit, because he lacks the spiritual energy of a scholar's Daoist lineage and needs the Purple Mist of Merit to simulate and replace it, just like using the Shangqing Ultimate Technique.
Ouyang Rong calmly walked over to the small wooden fish and looked at it.
[Merit: 2222]
The numbers are quite neat.
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but take another look.
Compared to the last check-up, the merit points have increased by nearly 400.
This includes the unexpected positive feedback from preparing vegetarian meals at night a few days ago; and the occasional feedback of one or two hundred merits from the Xunyang Grottoes.
In addition, there was a small amount of merit I received this morning... from Huang Xuan. This merit was related to our meeting and the fact that Ouyang Rong had agreed to let her stay this morning.
Two thousand merits are still not enough for a single divine decree to summon Cui Hao.
However, it is more than enough to activate the Kui Xing talisman.
Ouyang Rong's consciousness left the Pagoda of Merit. He opened his eyes and continued to look at the handprint on the blood-red bronze gate in front of him.
Miao Si was pacing around in circles, getting a little impatient.
"Are you coming in or not, boy? If you don't, this fairy is going to take a nap."
Before she could finish speaking, Ouyang Rong had already extended his palm.
He planted the torch to one side, freeing one hand to pour the blood from the bamboo tube into his outstretched palm.
Thick blood dripped onto the ground, but the dull-witted youth showed no remorse, pouring it all out before raising his blood-soaked right hand and pressing it heavily onto the indentation of the handprint on the bronze gate.
The bloodstained palm overlapped with the handprint, also covering the dark characters of the Kui Xing talisman inside.
At this moment, the two were pressed tightly together, almost perfectly aligned.
Miao Si, who had been arrogantly insisting on going in to explore for treasure, suddenly held her breath, quietly took two steps back, and hid a little further away.
The Peach Blossom Spring painting had closed and was suspended above Ouyang Rong's head. The moment he touched the indentation on his palm, a faint blue light shone on the bronze shaft.
It is the spirit of craftsmanship at work; he is leisurely preparing his sword.
The air was quiet for a moment.
After waiting for ten breaths, nothing happened.
Ouyang Rong's face remained calm as he looked at the bronze gate in front of him.
He frowned slightly, and was about to withdraw his hand when he suddenly noticed a purple mist connecting his palm and the handprint.
The purple mist of merit uncontrollably surged towards the Kui Xing talisman within the hand seal.
When he pressed his palm down, the merit purple mist was being consumed, and Ouyang Rong didn't even notice.
Before his expression could even change, the next instant, accompanied by a muffled rumble, as if a mechanism had been triggered, the bronze door that had been tightly closed in the dark tomb passage for who knows how long slowly opened inward.
The door finally opened!
Ouyang Rong turned his head and glanced at the Kui Xing talisman in Yin script on the door, where the handprint was surrounded by purple mist and blood.
He first quickly checked his merit points.
[Merit: 1030]
Good heavens, the blood of the Lu family alone wasn't enough; it took him a full thousand merits to power up the Kui Xing Talisman mechanism of this bronze gate.
That's almost equivalent to a considerable amount of merit and blessings!
Ouyang Rong glanced at him sideways.
This gate absorbed so much of his merit points at once; no wonder there was no response when I pressed my palm against it—it was "recharging and deducting fees."
Ouyang Rong looked slightly pained.
People are currently in Yunmeng Sword Marsh, and accumulating merit points is not easy.
However, there is definitely something extraordinary inside this door... Ouyang Rong had a vague premonition.
Coming to his senses, Ouyang Rong glanced at the open door in front of him.
The interior was pitch black, resembling a vast space.
"Tick-tock...tick-tock..."
A faint, rhythmic sound of dripping water could be heard.
Lu Changgeng's tomb is located on Zhuodao Island, surrounded by lakes. It is not surprising that there is an underground river there, and the river water seeps through the soil.
After listening for a while, Ouyang's attention was quickly drawn to something else.
A damp, musty smell that had been sealed away for a long time wafted into the air from inside the door.
The smell was similar to the smell of old, yellowed pages stored in a corner of a library. For some reason, Ouyang Rong's nose found the smell acceptable. Upon closer sniffing, it actually smelled quite pleasant. Perhaps it was some kind of personal preference, as everyone's perception of smell is different.
The brilliant ideas behind him, however, were almost unbearable.
"Ptooey, ptooey... What a weird smell, Xiao Rongzi, can you smell it?"
Little Mo Jing pinched her nose, took a step back, and moved a little further away from the door.
She suddenly said, "Little Rongzi, there's a dead smell in here."
Ouyang Rong turned his head and saw Miao Si pinching her nose, staring at the darkness in front of her, her little face somewhat serious.
"The smell of a dead body?"
Miao Si nodded her little head and asked in return:
"Hmm, can't you smell it?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head honestly, stood at the door for a while, but still saw nothing unusual, nor did he smell the "smell of death" that Miao Si had mentioned.
He simply picked up the torch and stepped inside.
The bronze scroll above remained unchanged, its shaft emitting a faint, clear blue light, poised to unleash its power.
The white sturgeon obediently followed Ouyang Rong into the room.
Miao Si, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of her reverie and called out to him with some concern:
"Little Rongzi, you...you don't go in yet, why are you in such a hurry? There really are dead people inside, this smell of death is unmistakable, trust this fairy..."
"You said it yourself, they're dead, not living, so what's there to be afraid of? If you're scared, go to sleep or go back upstairs to keep watch. It's not shameful."
The calm and taciturn young man casually uttered a single word.
Upon hearing this, Miao Si's expression immediately changed. She looked around at the empty space outside the door, not wanting to be left behind. Still pinching her nose, she quickly jumped up, grabbed the white sturgeon, mounted it, and was forced to follow it inside.
Before long, Little Ink Spirit suddenly noticed that the big white thing beneath him was speeding up its tail swing, catching up with Ouyang Rong, and even bypassing him.
The white sturgeon seemed to be driven by its owner to be the first to enter the secret room, serving as a lantern for illumination.
Miao Si was unwilling to follow, and jumped down in a flustered manner, hurriedly grabbing the fabric on Ouyang Rong's shoulder... She was almost forced to go in with Baijiu to lead the charge.
She steadied herself, hid behind Ouyang Rong's shoulder, and turned to glare at him fiercely.
The latter, however, kept his eyes fixed straight ahead on the mysterious secret chamber.
Seeing this, Miao Si followed his gaze with curiosity.
After breaking away from the two, the white sturgeon swam forward for a full ten zhang before encountering a wall. A bright white light illuminated a corner of the wall, on which... there were faint red and blue painted images, seemingly figures dressed in strange costumes. The paintings vanished in a flash, as the white sturgeon turned left and swam along the wall to explore.
As the glowing white sturgeon explored, the space behind the door was soon revealed.
This is a circular hall with a diameter of about ten feet.
The sound of dripping water, seemingly seeping from nowhere, reminded Ouyang Rong of the dripping cave where he had stayed during the entrance examination for the Yunmeng Sword Swamp.
He frowned slightly, took the torch, and circled the hall twice.
I checked it again.
Apart from the painted tomb murals on the walls, the circular hall was completely empty.
Ouyang Rong first turned around and asked the female immortal on his shoulder:
Where is the dead person?
Miao Si shrank back, glancing around nervously, and whispered:
"Anyway, there's a smell of death." She paused, then slightly changed her words, still speaking with certainty: "Even if there are no corpses, someone must have died here. This fairy can still smell the difference between the living and the dead. You...you don't understand my abilities."
Ouyang Rong was speechless.
However, he didn't press the matter further and, holding a torch, began exploring the interior of the hall on his own.
"...tick-tock...tick-tock..."
Amidst the sound of dripping water coming from somewhere, Ouyang Rong wandered around twice more, checking the floor... After confirming that the hall was empty, with nothing missing and no insidious traps or mechanisms, he returned to the center of the hall and stuck the torch into the crack in the floor.
In the center of the hall, the dull-witted youth held his palm forward, and the bronze scroll above his head flew over. He took out six more tung oil torches from the scroll, lit them one by one, and then stuck them in the four directions of the hall: east, south, west, and north.
The hall was quite large, even larger than the Pure Land Palace that Ouyang Rong was familiar with. The number of torches he carried was insufficient, and their orange glow could only barely illuminate the hall, still missing many dark corners and walls.
However, this was enough for Ouyang Rong to see clearly the tomb paintings on the walls of the hall from all directions.
But as he looked closely at the scene depicted in the tomb painting, his brows gradually furrowed.
The most prominent painted human figure on the four sides of the tomb mural appears to be an emperor...
(End of this chapter)
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