Chapter 18 The Moonstone Nest Treasure Mirror in the Water!
A huge and invisible force lurked at the bottom of the water, which entangled them the moment they fell into the well, dragging them downwards with great force.
Master Fang struggled desperately, but it was as if a rope was tied around his feet. Just as he surfaced, he was dragged back into the water. He didn't even have time to make a sound before his mouth and nose were filled with water, as if he had fallen into an underwater whirlpool that was about to swallow him up completely.
Master Fang was thrown into a daze by the undercurrent, his lungs churning and his bones feeling like they were about to be dislocated. In his dizziness, he opened his eyelids, only to find himself surrounded by darkness, unable to see anything.
However, Zhou Yaren's vision became incredibly clear at that moment, as the bronze mirror had slipped from his hand the instant he fell.
The instant he sank into the water, he saw the bright moon reflected in the mirror, which perfectly overlapped with the full moon reflected in the water. The blood on the mirror surface seeped into the water, and the bright moon was shrouded in a faint blood color. In an instant, it released a tidal force, stirring up huge waves and eddies underwater.
Zhou Yaren stretched out her hands to try and scoop up the moon in the mirror and the moon in the water.
Master Fang had already fainted from the ordeal. He felt someone pulling him forcefully, and the moment air rushed into his nostrils, he coughed violently and vomited a bellyful of cold water.
It was so cold, it felt like his bones and flesh were frozen solid. Master Fang shivered uncontrollably, only then realizing he was lying half-dead on the ice: "I...cough cough cough..."
He coughed incessantly, and saw Zhou Yaren pry open the ice and crawl out of the water, soaking wet, lying next to him, panting heavily, while her legs were still soaking in the ice hole.
Zhou Yaren had been holding her breath underwater for too long, and with an unconscious burden on her, she had to dive down to the icy river and then spend a lot of effort breaking through the ice. She was completely exhausted.
"Thank you...cough cough cough...for saving my life...cough cough cough..." Master Fang choked on a lot of water and couldn't stop coughing. "This is...cough cough cough...where...cough cough cough..."
Zhou Yaren caught her breath before speaking: "I don't know."
By the moonlight, Master Fang observed the surrounding terrain: "This is, cough cough, a great river. The well at the Ghost Office, cough cough cough, it actually connects to the river, cough cough."
Not only did Master Fang cough, but his teeth chattered as he spoke: "It's so cold. Let's find a place to shelter from the wind quickly. Cough cough, let's make a fire, otherwise we'll definitely freeze to death. Cough cough."
Just as Master Fang was about to get up, he felt a movement coming from under the ice, as if someone was tapping on the ice underwater. Master Fang couldn't help but shiver, his heart leaping into his throat. Then, a human head emerged from the ice hole in front of them.
The man saw them and let out a loud shout.
Startled, Master Fang also let out a scream.
Then a second head emerged from the ice hole, howling one after another.
They never expected that there would be a third head, squeezed together in the tiny ice hole.
The third head paused for a moment, then immediately recognized the two people sprawled on the icy shore: "Yato! What are you yelling about! Shut up!"
“Lu Bing.” Zhou Yaren was quite surprised. “How could you…”
"You guys fell in and disappeared without a trace, of course I rushed to find someone to go down the well and rescue you." But who knew that there was a whirlpool in the seemingly calm well that would devour people without spitting out bones? He lowered two of his men down and they also fell in. Lu Bing was so scared that his soul almost left his body, his mind was buzzing and he couldn't think of anything. He only thought that he couldn't lose his brothers' lives, so he went into the water himself without saying a word. Only when he entered the water did he realize what was going on. The raging current even broke the knot of the rope tied around his waist, and then the three of them were transported here.
Master Fang was deeply moved after hearing this: "Officer Lu and the two of you risked your own safety to go down into the well to rescue us. You are truly benevolent and righteous. I am eternally grateful."
"Stop talking nonsense and pull us up quickly. I don't want to stay in the water forever." Lu Bing shivered violently as he finished speaking. "It's too cold."
Kuroko's teeth chattered as well: "Where is this?"
The constable was completely baffled: "I don't know. Is it far from Beiqu? This place seems familiar, yet also a bit strange."
"I also have this feeling of being both strange and familiar. Maybe I've been here before," Hei Zi speculated. "So it shouldn't be far. Which way should we go?"
Lu Bing said impatiently, "Hey, forget about which direction it is. Who knows the way at night? Let's find a place to start a fire."
Master Fang was impatient: "Hurry, hurry, I'm about to freeze to death."
The group, soaked to the bone, shivered and huddled together as they made their way to shore. Lu Bing instinctively turned back, only to see Zhou Yaren standing stiffly in place, not following at all: "Yaren? Why aren't you coming?"
Zhou Yaren's unfocused gaze turned to him, her thoughts somewhat scattered, and she seemed a little slow to react as she slowly followed behind them.
He sensed something was wrong, but what was wrong? Zhou Yaren felt as if his seven orifices were sealed shut, and the bone-chilling cold made his senses abnormally numb.
Not far away, there was a dilapidated little temple, nestled between the rock strata.
The first person to enter, Hei Zi, was startled as soon as he went in: "Ah!" He immediately took half a step back and stepped right on the toes of the person behind him.
"What are you doing? You stepped on my foot."
Lu Bing: "You two, don't be so jumpy."
Kuroko's voice trembled slightly as he stiffly pointed inside: "The idol!"
When everyone looked inside, they discovered that the statue inside was headless.
Master Fang narrowed his eyes, stepped past them into the temple, and walked to the headless stone statue to examine it carefully.
The statue has knife marks on its neck and marks on its arms where it was bound with ropes. The statue is quite lifelike, looking like someone who has been convicted and beheaded.
“This is,” Master Fang glanced at the inscription on the stone statue, “Gun.”
Lu Bing followed him in: "Father of King Yu?"
Hei Zi instantly relaxed: "So this little temple is dedicated to the father of Yu the Great."
Because of Yu the Great's merit in controlling the floods, temples dedicated to Yu the Great are often built along the banks of the great rivers. However, temples dedicated to Gun are very rare. Gun failed to control the floods by blocking and blocking the water, and was executed for his incompetence. Therefore, there are few statues of Gun in folk art. The statue in this temple is a headless statue of Gun after he was beheaded.
This is a form of punishment for criminals.
Zhou Yaren frowned slightly and approached the stone statue without making a sound, feeling uneasy.
Lu Bing brought his hand to his mouth, breathing out hot air as if his hands were trembling: "Stop staring at the statue, hurry up and gather some firewood to start a fire."
Once the fire was lit, everyone stripped off their wet clothes and huddled around the fire to warm themselves. They were all frozen solid, their faces turning blue and their lips turning purple, and it took them a long time to recover.
Hei Zi rubbed his arms repeatedly until they were hot: "You guys said this well looks pretty calm, so how come there's such a strong undercurrent at the bottom?"
“Yes,” Master Fang also expressed his doubts, “It’s strange.”
The constable lowered his voice and said, "Could there be something at the bottom of that well...?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Hei Zi suddenly stood up. "I can't hold it in anymore."
Lu Bing saw him turn around and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Everyone needs to use the restroom, boss." Hei Zi darted out in a few strides, and a moment later, he cried out in alarm, "Heavens, river, river..."
Everyone stood up and went out to check the situation.
Lu Bing hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
Hei Zi hurriedly retreated: "Boss, something strange has happened. The entire glacier has melted. It was just a moment ago..."
The crowd surged out, staring in astonishment at the surging Yellow River before them. Master Fang said incredulously, "With such a thick layer of ice, it's impossible for it to move so quickly."
Lu Bing also looked incredulous: "With the current climate, it's not time for the river to thaw yet."
“Strange,” Master Fang murmured. “This is not right, very not right.”
Master Fang turned around abruptly and saw Ting Fengzhi standing in front of the temple gate, dressed in green, holding a bronze mirror filled with moonlight. His whole being was bathed in the moonlight, making him look so elegant and otherworldly that he seemed unlike anyone in the mortal world.
Master Fang opened his mouth, seemingly at a loss for words, but suddenly didn't know how to start, and couldn't utter a single word.
Zhou Yaren's voice was as calm and collected as his temperament: "I only just discovered today that Sun Xiuniang was worshipping the moon in the mirror."
Master Fang: "What?"
Zhou Yaren posed the question: "Why does she worship the moon?"
Master Fang looked bewildered. "Worship the moon? Why? Oh, are you worshipping the Moon Goddess?"
"It can't be worshipping the moon fairy in the sky," Zhou Yaren said. "Has Daoist Fang ever heard of the Northern Yin God Emperor's Court, where the Taiyin Black Book imprisons ghosts and spirits?"
Master Fang was even more bewildered after hearing this: "I have never heard of this before, what does it mean?"
“She worships the ghost spirit imprisoned in the Taiyin,” Zhou Yaren said quietly. “A Taiyin/Taoist body is hidden in the county government office of Beiqu.”
Master Fang stared at him, speechless.
Zhou Yaren said, "It fell into that deep well."
Master Fang swallowed hard in shock: "Then we fell into the well."
Zhou Yaren continued, "So we may have already stepped onto this Dao Body."
Kuroko glanced back and forth between the two people talking, then whispered to his colleague, "What are they saying?"
The colleague was completely baffled: "I don't know, I don't understand."
Hei Zi gritted his teeth: "I don't understand either. What is Taiyin/Dao Body?"
Lu Bing looked at the two men, completely bewildered: "What exactly is going on?"
"I haven't figured it out yet either." But in the instant he fell into the well, he saw that Taiyin/Taoist body. "However, I now have a way to find it."
Master Fang became serious: "How do we find it?"
"I said that the Taiyin/Dao body is in the well, but in reality it is in the water."
"In the water?" Master Fang subconsciously looked at the moon's reflection in the river, which was just a reflection. He doubted his own eyesight and his own shallow cultivation, wondering if he could see through the other party's so-called Taiyin/Dao Body.
Zhou Yaren had already taken a step and walked down the riverbank, emanating an invisible aura.
Just as Master Fang was about to chase after him, he was swept by the aura emanating from him, which immediately sent chills down his spine.
The winter wind swirled around Zhou Yaren, causing the already shivering and cold-sensitive people to retreat and automatically keep their distance from him.
Following the trail of the wind, Zhou Yaren unexpectedly saw dozens of indistinct full moons on a stretch of riverbank.
At the same time, someone behind them exclaimed, "Oh my, the Stone Nest Treasure Mirror!"
The so-called "Stone Mirror" is actually a series of eddies of varying sizes on the riverbank stone bed. The smaller ones are like cups, while the larger ones are like urns. They extend from the bottom of the stone, either slanted or straight, and are filled with clear water. Just like mirrors of different shapes, they can reflect the beauty of the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers. Locals call them "Stone Mirror".
Hei Zi said, "I was wondering why that place looked so familiar. We've gone the wrong way. Mengmen Mountain is ahead; we should be going back."
Zhou Yaren, however, said, "This is the place."
He could sense the lingering cold energy accumulating here. Zhou Yaren "looked" at the dozens of stone-holed mirrors, which were filled with the full moon, but he could not see them clearly. He could only see a blurry silver glow: "What you call stone-holed mirrors are actually Taiyin spirit niches."
Everyone was shocked, and suddenly felt that the Stone Nest Mirror had lost its charm and was no longer beautiful.
Zhou Yaren said no more until he focused his gaze on the middle of the river, where the bright moon suddenly became clear.
There it is!
Without hesitation, he went to the middle of the river.
Master Fang and Lu Bing were shocked and rushed forward.
Lu Bing: "What are you doing? There's a river ahead."
Zhou Yaren: "I know."
Master Fang caught up with him and stopped him: "Fellow Daoist, be careful, be careful. I have only heard of this Taiyin/Dao Body in rumors. It is like another space isolated from the world, just like the Moon Palace in the sky. Does the Moon Palace really have Chang'e, the Moon Fairy, living there? No one has ever seen it, and no one knows."
Master Fang gave a very apt example, speaking very quickly: "Even if there really is a fairy named Chang'e living in the moon palace in the sky, what's on earth and in the water is just a reflection of the moon. Forgive my poor eyesight, but I really can't see it..."
Before Master Fang could finish his long speech, he was interrupted by Hei Zi's sudden exclamation: "My God, the water has risen!"
The constables shouted, "Good heavens, there's a flood!"
After their initial shock, the two realized what was happening and took off running, shouting, "Run! Run! Fa Hong..."
The floodwaters swept in suddenly, without warning, and with tremendous force. In the blink of an eye, they were upon them, engulfing the two frantically running individuals in the turbulent waves.
Master Fang and Lu Bing were terrified. They didn't have time to retreat even half a step before the surging floodwaters engulfed them.
Only at this moment did Master Fang vaguely understand that the strangeness he had sensed earlier was because they were already inside it. Perhaps from the moment they fell into the well from the Ghostly Court, they had already entered the Taiyin/Dao Body. Otherwise, how could the frozen river have completely melted into water in less than half an hour, without even a trace of ice remaining?
In fact, Tingfengzhi had already mentioned earlier: "We may have already stepped on this Dao body."
They just haven't given a definite answer yet; adding "maybe" was purely to avoid scaring them.
A note from the author:
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