Chapter 969 A Wonderful Helper
This dark room, devoid of light and accessible only "in a certain degree of nakedness," with an unknown size, also harbors the sounds of dead bodies and strange dripping water.
Furthermore, it was built within this underground ancient tomb and was tightly isolated by a blood-red bronze gate.
Meanwhile, only a single direct descendant of the Lu family with high cultivation who has mastered the Kui Xing Talisman is allowed to enter. What is its purpose?
Ouyang Rong stroked his chin.
He turned around and glanced at the tomb paintings on the walls of the hall.
And what is the connection between these tomb paintings that record the First Emperor's pursuit of immortality and the dark room behind this pitch-black wall? Otherwise, why were they left together at the entrance by the Lu family ancestor?
Ouyang Rong was somewhat lost in thought when, by the dim light of the torch, he suddenly vaguely saw a gaze coming from within the tomb painting.
A startle ran through me, and I squinted to look closer. When I saw it clearly, I realized it was a familiar tomb painting.
At this moment, it is located directly opposite this "black wall" and the dark room.
Because the hall is circular, the position of the black wall corresponds in a straight line to the position of this tomb painting, and the distance is exactly the diameter of the circular hall.
When Ouyang Rong turned around in front of the black wall, he was facing it directly.
He remained calm and walked forward with his back to the black tomb mural.
Under the questioning gazes of Bai Shu and Miao Si, Ouyang Rong arrived at the tomb painting of the man in imperial robes sitting alone in the night palace, where he had previously lingered for a long time.
The First Emperor was depicted alone in the grand hall within the painting, most of his figure hidden in darkness, his eyes seemingly fixed on the person watching him from outside the tomb.
It's unknown whether the First Emperor, a thousand years ago, actually experienced such a scene while in that imperial palace.
According to Ouyang Rong's general interpretation after viewing all the tomb paintings, the owner who depicted these tomb paintings seemed to want to use this superfluous "idle stroke" of a tomb painting to express that the First Emperor began to crave immortality from a certain moment.
That first emperor began to change course from this moment.
Ouyang Rong stood in front of the strange tomb painting for a while. After a short while, he turned around and looked in the direction of the First Emperor's gaze, who was sitting high up in the center of the tomb painting.
At the end of this direction lies precisely that black wall and dark room.
Ouyang Rong looked thoughtful.
"Coincidence or intentional..."
He murmured something.
"Xiao Rongzi? What are you doing?"
In front of the black tombstone painting, Miao Si shouted, her voice echoing in the hall.
Ouyang Rong ignored him.
Seeing this, Miao Si muttered to herself:
"Why is that kid looking at that picture again? What's so interesting about it?"
After complaining for a while, Xiao Mojing turned her head and looked at the black wall.
Having already been assured by Xiao Rongzi and Da Shayu that there was no danger in simply touching her, Ai Xiang felt a cat-like curiosity stirring within her.
Unable to resist moving closer to the wall, before Ouyang Rong could react, Miao Si cautiously poked the black wall with her finger.
"Huh?"
It felt as if the fingers had passed through.
The strange sensation made Miao Si exclaim "Eh!" and then she also half-penetrated into the "black wall".
Just then, the figure of the young woman in Confucian robes and a Taoist crown suddenly shortened, turning into an object that "slammed" to the ground.
The object appeared to be an ink stick. Fortunately, it bounced a few times on the ground and did not fall into the black wall. Instead, it hopped away from the black wall.
"What are you doing?"
Upon hearing the noise, Ouyang Rong turned his head instantly, frowned, and asked.
"Little Rongzi, save me! Save me!"
The ink stick that Miao Si transformed into seemed to have grown legs, hopping and leaping on the ground as it rushed toward Ouyang Rong.
The latter bent down and caught it.
The natal inkstone trembled for a while before exploding with a "bang" and returning to its human form as a young woman in Confucian robes and a Taoist crown.
"Oh, that was close! I almost fell in. This fairy almost perished here. I was careless."
Miao Si patted her chest, still shaken.
Ouyang Rong frowned, somewhat speechless: "Didn't I say that this wall is strange and will expose our true form? Both Baijiu and I have been affected. What are you still trying?"
Miao Si knew she had made a mistake, but she still stood up straight and retorted:
"Isn't this about sharing both good times and bad? You two have both tried, so this fairy maiden has to do something for you. Otherwise, how can I lead you two in the future? How can I lead the team?"
The white sturgeon spinning in circles: ...
Ouyang Rong: ...
Miaosi crossed her arms, hummed and hawed, then turned her head away and muttered something else:
"And who knew this thing was so powerful, even able to break through my magic? This place is no ordinary place..."
Ouyang Rong glanced at the black wall, which remained calm and still.
Suddenly, I felt my cuff being tugged, and I looked down.
Miaosi tugged at his sleeve, her little face tilted up:
"Little Rongzi, this fairy doesn't like this place. It feels strange to me. Why don't we leave? Don't be greedy. Even if there are treasures inside, they're not so easy to take."
"This place might have been reserved specifically for the descendants of the Lu family. You're not a member of the Lu family, so be careful not to get involved with anything unclean."
Seeing that Miao Si's little face was unusually serious, Ouyang Rong gave him a suggestion.
After a moment's hesitation, he first asked:
"Did you just go in halfway, or are you sure there are dead people inside?"
"Uh-huh."
Miao Si nodded and casually said, "Your description is pretty much right. The sound of dripping water was also in there. I don't know what it was, but it was quite close and gave this fairy a fright..."
Ouyang Rong suddenly asked, "Nearby?"
"yes."
Miao Si turned around, as if she had remembered something, her little face showing a righteous expression, and glared at him fiercely:
"Little Rongzi, you're lying again! Didn't you say the sound of dripping water was ten zhang away? But to this fairy, it sounds like it's less than ten zhang right in front of me! You're trying to fool me with something like this? You're so shameless..."
After listening, Ouyang Rong remained silent for a moment and then said, "I didn't lie to you. At the time, I heard it was about ten zhang to the right front. I listened very carefully, there's no mistake."
Miao Si was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Are you...are you sure?"
Ouyang Rong remained silent and did not answer. He raised his head and stared straight at the black wall.
After a moment of silence, he walked forward and reached out again to touch the black wall.
This time, however, he removed the bronze mask beforehand.
After touching the black wall, the finger continued forward. Perhaps because the disguise was removed, this time the movement into the wall was very smooth. The black wall did not resist him at all. Instead, it rippled like water, as if welcoming him.
From Miao Si's perspective outside, half of Xiao Rongzi's body was completely embedded in the wall without any obstruction.
At the same time, he stopped halfway through entering the wall, with one foot and one hand still outside, while the front half of his body was already inside.
Miao Si suddenly realized what he was going to do.
At the same time, as she had expected, Ouyang Rong stepped back and broke free from the black wall.
He exited again.
The entire process took less than ten breaths.
Miao Si rode the white sturgeon and went forward to greet him.
Seeing that he had escaped unscathed and seemed to be safe, she didn't bother with any more words of concern and went straight to asking:
"Little Rongzi, how is it? Where exactly is that dripping sound coming from?"
Ouyang Rong stared at the black wall, silent, but his brows were tightly furrowed.
Seeing this, Miao Si asked again:
"Why aren't you saying anything? Hmm, hurry up and say something, did you hear me wrong?"
Ouyang Rong slowly turned his head, his gaze fixed on the little ink spirit, and after a moment, he spoke:
"It's not one zhang directly in front of you, as you said."
"That's you..."
He then revealed, "It's not the first time I've been in there. I heard it about ten feet to the right front. But it's not."
Miao Si tilted her head: "Huh?"
Ouyang Rong took a deep breath and slowly uttered a counterintuitive statement:
"This time, the sound of dripping water I heard came from behind me, about three zhang behind me."
"Behind me? Three zhang?" Miao Si muttered for a moment, then realized what she meant and asked, "Wait, behind you? Behind you?"
Ouyang Rong nodded.
"How is this possible..."
Seemingly finding it absurd, Miao Si shook his head, but halfway through his sentence, he noticed that Xiao Rongzi's face was unusually focused, not like he was joking with him.
She paused, then stepped back, her voice becoming slightly stammering:
"You, isn't that the main hall behind you? You only went in halfway. Behind you... about three zhang behind you, aren't you this fairy and that big silly fish standing there? You?"
Ouyang Rong nodded again, staring at her without looking away.
Little Ink Spirit was speechless and immediately looked around in a daze.
At one moment, as if sensing a chilling wind emanating from the tomb, he suddenly shivered, his voice trembling slightly:
"Little Rongzi, you really didn't hear me wrong? Don't scare me, I'm not lying..."
Ouyang Rong lowered his head, calmly put on the bronze mask, and his figure transformed back into the dull young man.
His tone was equally dull and calm:
"Clearly, we didn't mishear. We weren't hallucinating; its location was changing. It could be that the source of the water droplets in this dark room was moving, or it could be..."
His analysis stopped there.
This slight anomaly startled the sensitive Miao Si, who shrank back and dared not breathe. Only after observing Xiao Rongzi's expression and realizing that he had simply closed his mouth and nothing was wrong did she manage to catch her breath.
"Can you stop saying things halfway through?"
With a wave of her hand, Miao Si said in an annoyed tone:
"Anyway, there are ghosts inside, right? You mean? Even if they're not real ghosts, they're some other unclean things."
"Hmm, it seems my hunch was right. It might just be the ghost of that dead man wandering in there. Hmm, I've heard that things with heavy yin energy are usually accompanied by cold and dampness, which matches the sound of dripping water."
She immediately looked up and said with an air of seriousness:
“Xiao Rongzi, let’s not go in. Listen to me, let’s leave quickly. No treasure is more important than life. If it really is the ghost of the Lu family ancestor guarding the tomb, you, as an imposter, are useless. You don’t even look like someone from the Lu family’s Imperial Tutor’s Office. If the ancestor recognizes you, you’ll be chased and beaten up…”
As Miao Si urged Ouyang Rong on, he realized he was already on his last legs. He turned around on his white sturgeon and swam towards the open blood bronze gate.
Seeing this, Ouyang Rong did not stop or control the white sturgeon from returning.
He left the black wall, quickly circled the hall, collected the torches into the Peach Blossom Spring painting, and then headed towards the door to leave with Miao Si.
The taciturn young man listened to his advice so readily that Miao Si felt a little embarrassed and kept turning around to look at him.
She felt a little uncomfortable and looked at him suspiciously: "Little Rongzi, do you really listen to this fairy?"
"Otherwise what? Do you also think that sometimes what you say is like farting?"
Ouyang Rong's question left Miao Si speechless.
"Hmph, I was originally planning to give you a good talking-to and let you understand the caution and composure that allowed me to live so long and be so lively. I didn't expect you to have already been infected by my maturity and steadiness, so I don't even need to waste my breath."
Ouyang Rong ignored these words, his gaze sweeping around the hall. Finding nothing missing, he stepped out of the blood-red bronze gate, and said softly:
"This secret room is strange. We're not fully prepared, so we can't go in yet. The location of the water droplet sound keeps changing, which means the space inside is likely constantly shifting according to an unknown pattern. Since the location of the door is different every time we enter, the location of the door will most likely be different if we try to get out..."
Miao Si listened blankly to Ouyang Rong's calm analysis:
"This dark room is completely dark, and the view is blocked, so it's easy to get lost... Also, we don't know the situation with the dead body and the dripping water sound yet, so we can't go in rashly. We need to find help and come up with a plan."
Thought-provoking questions:
"helper?"
"Boom—!"
Just then, accompanied by the sound of a giant object moving and scraping against the ground, the two blood-red bronze doors behind the two slowly closed inwards, shutting out the circular hall filled with murals.
Upon hearing the sound, Ouyang Rong and Miao Si took a step forward and both turned to look.
Ouyang Rong, without changing his expression, reached out and caught the Peach Blossom Spring painting, then put it into his sleeve.
There were two tubes of Lu Jinghong's palm blood inside the Peach Blossom Spring painting. The blood bronze gate was temporarily closed, but he remained completely calm.
Miao Si snapped out of her reverie, her tone slightly displeased, and returned to the main topic:
"Find help? You haven't given up yet. So all that talk just now was for nothing."
"It wasn't a waste of time. The female immortal is still somewhat useful. Some of her analyses hit the nail on the head."
The taciturn young man spoke calmly, then stepped forward, traversing the narrow tomb passage and heading towards the exit.
Midway through, he nodded:
"Someone can help us; perhaps they can see what's going on in the dark room."
Miao Si, riding the white sturgeon, hurriedly followed his retreating figure, asking in confusion:
"who?"
"Xiao Xuan".
"Xiaoxuan?"
"Hmm, have you forgotten that she has the Innocent Eyes, which can see through all kinds of illusions and disguises, including my mask, and see the true nature of things? The black wall inside, although it has a similar effect to the Innocent Eyes, which can isolate all illusions and turn falsehoods into truth, isn't the pitch-black 'darkness' in the dark room behind it another kind of illusion?"
Ouyang Rong, holding the bamboo tube horizontally, walked ahead and calmly analyzed:
"Xiao Xuan's innocent eyes might be able to break it. Let's go out first, return to Peach Blossom Town, and then go to the Red Dust Inn."
(End of this chapter)
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