Chapter 38 The Elixir of Immortality "Does an elixir of immortality truly exist in this world?...
With so many injustices on her shoulders, Zhou Yaren felt a suffocating sense of suffocation, unsure whether it was because of the injustices being cleared or because of the countless wronged deaths that weighed on her shoulders.
Zhou Yaren's voice was hoarse: "Can these shackles be removed?"
"How can this be resolved?" Bai Yuan retorted. "A thousand years have passed, dynasties have changed countless times, and those involved in this matter have long since passed away, perhaps even died dozens of times. Am I supposed to go find the culprit, dig up their graves, and whip their corpses to clear their names?"
"Yes, I think you can."
Bai Yuan suddenly turned to look at him. How could this blind man be so certain?!
“You won’t let this go.” Moreover, she was definitely capable of digging up graves and whipping corpses. Zhou Yaren said with certainty, “As long as you’re still in these shackles, this matter will never be over. You can’t live in shackles forever.”
Zhou Yaren knew very well that anyone who had been in shackles would want to have them removed.
"Of course I will." Bai Yuan's gaze was as cold as a sharp knife, as if he wished he could devour his flesh, sleep on his skin, drink his blood, pull out his tendons, and grind his bones to dust.
Zhou Yaren stared at her sinister expression, and a strange guess flashed through her mind. This group of sorcerers were seeking the elixir of immortality for Qin Shi Huang. Because they failed to find it and were afraid of being punished, they plotted to escape and launch a massive attack on the emperor, which ultimately led to their deaths.
Historical records also state this, in brief, fragmentary words. But now it seems these sorcerers who perished in the ghost office were unjustly killed. So, is it possible that: "Did those sorcerers find the elixir of immortality?"
Bai Yuan was suddenly taken aback.
“For people with a lifespan of only a few decades, the temptation of immortality is too great. If it really exists, then those who have access to it cannot remain indifferent.” Zhou Yaren speculated, “With the opportunity for immortality in front of them, it is hard for mortals not to be greedy. So in the end, it was not presented to Qin Shi Huang, but the person who was greedy stole it and kept it for himself. That’s why we had to find a pretext to get rid of these people who knew about it, including you.”
Bai Yuan stared at Zhou Yaren, her expression gradually becoming complicated. She suddenly felt that she shouldn't reveal too much information, because the other party was really too smart, almost able to know ten things from just one.
"If that person had taken the elixir of immortality, would they still be alive today..." Zhou Yaren stopped there, but in reality, it was all just his speculation. "Does the elixir of immortality really exist in this world?"
Without verifying it personally, we can't know for sure, but at the very least, it's all related to the matter of immortality.
Perhaps buried beneath the Northern Qu Ghost Office lies a secret about immortality, and this secret lies within the injustice suffered by the Qin Dynasty sorcerer.
Through these conversations with Bai Yuan, he discovered that Bai Yuan would suddenly fall silent whenever certain areas that approached the truth were touched upon.
For example, his speculation may have uncovered a corner of the truth of the matter, which is why Bai Yuan has remained silent once again.
He could certainly see that Bai Yuan was hiding something while she was speaking, and she might have been honest about a little, but only a little.
"Who knows?" Bai Yuan replied indifferently after remaining silent, then changed the subject, "I've said everything I needed to say, how I ended up imprisoned in this godforsaken place. Now it's time to talk about your guesses."
"Hmm." Zhou Yaren quickly pulled himself out of his complicated thoughts. A chill ran through him, seeping into his bones. His body temperature had dropped to freezing, and he trembled uncontrollably. He forced himself to endure it and continued the conversation, "I suspect that the reason Sun Xiuniang brought the Moon Palace Mirror to the Ghost Bureau to seek immortality is because she may know that there is a magic array set up by a Qin Dynasty sorcerer under the foundation. And this magic array is the gate to immortality, leading to rebirth in the 'Moon Palace'."
Knowing Bai Yuan's "flight to the moon" experience was like clearing away the fog obscuring our vision, making the whole story much clearer. Zhou Yaren didn't waste a single word: "Someone must know that those who die unjustly in the Ghost Bureau will sink into the Taiyin/Dao Body, becoming shackles that imprison you. Then they twisted the concept, fabricating it as a gate to immortality left by Qin Dynasty sorcerers, who actually found the method of immortality for Qin Shi Huang. They then told Sun Xiuniang that as long as she offered sacrifices at the Ghost Bureau with a grievance, she could open this gate to immortality and thus be reborn in the moon by relying on the Taiyin who died."
Entering the Taiyin/Dao Body is entering the gate to longevity.
This is why Zhou Yaren previously suspected that Bai Yuan was also the one who entered the Taiyin realm to seek immortality.
The turbid waves of the great river almost crashed into Bai Yuan's heart, and only then did she belatedly realize: "Yes, this way we can both seek justice and avenge our wrongs, and also obtain an extra chance of immortality."
“The Shen family, who had wrongfully killed her father, were almost all wiped out,” but Bai Yuan thought again, “Sun Xiuniang didn’t actually know that there was another me in the Taiyin/Dao body. She didn’t think she could really seek justice for her father in the Ghost Court, because the Shen family was bitten to death by the blood leeches she herself planted. Now that the great revenge has been achieved, there is no need to rely on others. She just needs this injustice from her own father to wear on her body, seeking both death and life.”
The phrase "wanting to die yet wanting to live" inexplicably touched Zhou Yaren, just like himself who once wanted to die yet wanted to live, struggling to survive in prison, and then experiencing the bitterness of being unable to live or die.
After suffering severe injuries and blood loss, coupled with the freezing cold, Zhou Yaren's mind became increasingly muddled, but she still managed to keep her head spinning: "Where did Sun Xiuniang's 'Gu Yin' come from? Was it given to her by the person who guided her to the Ghost Palace to offer sacrifices?"
"Where did this person who guided her come from? It seems like she was the only one from beginning to end." At least in Bai Yuan's view, it was all Sun Xiuniang's doing from start to finish, with no one else involved. "Didn't you ever consider that she might be the Gu Master?!"
“I’ve thought about it. Only a Gu master would need Gu-inducing agents,” Zhou Yaren pondered. “Just like swordsmanship requires swords and talismanic arts require talismans, Gu magic naturally needs Gu-inducing agents.” “But Sun Xiuniang is already dead. Even if she didn’t believe she would really die when she went to the Ghost Bureau to offer sacrifices, and even if she wishfully believed that she was being reborn in the Yin realm and would never return to the human world, she wouldn’t need to go through the trouble of driving the monstrous elephants to dig up those Gu-inducing agents that were still in their placentas in the filthy soil of the River Tomb. She wouldn’t need them anyway. And these monstrous elephants, after Sun Xiuniang died, transformed into human form while wearing human skin and dug up the Gu-inducing agents from the filthy soil of the River Tomb. That’s why I think that, without excluding the possibility that Sun Xiuniang was also a Gu master, this Gu master might be someone else entirely.”
His suspicions were not unfounded.
Zhou Yaren's fingers were frozen stiff, and she could barely hold the two snake eggs in her palm: "So I suspected before that you induced Sun Xiuniang to make a sacrifice, and then found the river mound with ease."
"So I'm most likely that Gu master? And he went there specifically to summon the Gu."
"Indeed, but it doesn't seem quite right. It seems that the Gu Master is likely on the same side as Wangxiang. If you were the one driving and controlling them, there's no reason for you to go through all the trouble to follow Wangxiang into the River Tomb after they've already stepped in." And you even suffered a lot against your will, almost being devoured by the backlash of your grievances. Moreover, when you were in the River Tomb, Bai Yuan seemed to know the way very well, but he also seemed to know nothing about it.
She was completely unaware of the bones, placenta, and even the venomous snake eggs cultivated within the placenta buried in the filthy soil, and this ignorance was not feigned.
Zhou Yaren said, "So I think you went to the River Tomb for another reason."
“Indeed,” Bai Yuan admitted frankly, “the reason I went there was because I knew that those Qin Dynasty sorcerers had hidden something in the river tombs before they died.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yaren felt a shiver run down her spine, and her drowsy mind was instantly cleared: "What are they hiding? Could it be that those elixirs buried in the filthy soil were hidden by Qin Dynasty sorcerers?"
"Probably," Bai Yuan said cautiously. "To be precise, they buried four women back then who were used to create the 'Gu' (a type of poison)."
Zhou Yaren coughed as if he had caught a chill, his body trembling uncontrollably. The thick, damp fabric clung to his skin, and he was so cold he could hardly bear it: "Cough, how could this be?"
Compared to Zhou Yaren's reaction, Bai Yuan wasn't too surprised: "The sorcerers that Qin Shi Huang gathered from all over the country were a mixed bag. I think among this group of eccentric geniuses, there must be a few Gu masters, but..."
Bai Yuan paused, then frowned slightly.
Zhou Yaren lowered her eyelids, and a layer of white frost could be vaguely seen on her eyelashes: "But what?"
"Since they offered their lives as a sacrifice to seek justice from heaven and earth, they must have presented the most crucial elements, such as those who could prove their innocence. In that life-or-death moment, their resentment and lingering hatred were all directed at the River Tomb, even imprinting the runes that opened it into their deathly resentment." It's difficult for Bai Yuan not to remember this deeply, which is why she was able to enter the River Tomb so easily, encountering almost no resistance. "But the relics they hid in the River Tomb turned out to be several eggs of the Gu-attracting Snake. What was their intention? What does it represent?"
Surely a few unhatched snake eggs can't prove those sorcerers were wronged?! Even if they could back then, a thousand years have passed; do the unearthed snake eggs still have any meaning or effect?
Zhou Yaren knew very little about Gu magic, having only heard a few rumors about it, and even thought that this evil art had long been lost. Now, encountering it for the first time, she naturally couldn't figure it out: "Perhaps... only that Gu master knows about it now."
"In other words, I need to find out who this quack doctor is."
"right."
"What about Wangxiang?"
"Hmm, it seems we can't communicate with the Mirage." It's basically an interspecies issue, just like humans can't understand bird language.
Then Bai Yuan recalled the gurgling sounds Wang Xiang made from its abdomen, and a strange worry arose in his heart: "Can you be sure that the Gu Master is a human being who can communicate without barriers? And not some other cat or dog like Wang Xiang?"
Zhou Yaren: "..."
He wasn't really sure; he'd never seen a living Gu Master, nor a dead one, and the rumors didn't say that Gu Masters were always human.
Zhou Yaren said uncertainly, "It should be—a person, right?!"
Whether it's a person, a ghost, or something else, we have to find out first.
Now, the three snake eggs have been dug up by Wangxiang, and the remaining one has been smashed by the big waves. Bai Yuan has only managed to retrieve less than ten snake eggs.
She stared at the faintly visible blood vessels on the snake eggshells and pondered, "These snake eggs have been buried in the filthy soil for thousands of years. Can they still hatch into snakes?"
After he finished speaking, Bai Yuan noticed that Zhou Yaren's lips were bluish-purple and her face was deathly pale, showing signs of being terminally ill and about to be buried.
Therefore, when he spoke, his weak tone sounded like he was giving his last words: "It's hard to say how long the Gu Yin will last. During this time, they are completely encased in the placenta, looking as if they have been gestating in the abdominal cavity, just like newly hatched snake eggs."
Bai Yuan stared at his weak, trembling appearance and finally asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
The other person's concern, which came half a day too late, made Zhou Yaren fall silent for a moment. He was filled with mixed feelings and clenched his trembling teeth: "Cold."
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