Galawa's retreat at the last minute has caused us a lot of trouble.
As he left the group, the number of snakes along the way increased again, but we were no longer in a dense forest, and the number of snakes was not as terrifying as before.
Two members of the Wei family led the way with snake repellent spray, keeping the snakes away from our group.
There's an old Chinese saying: "Looking at a mountain makes your horse run itself to death."
Although Hengji Mountain is a crouching dragon, it is still very tiring to climb.
The moment we reached the summit, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and the sky was darkening at a visible speed.
After reaching the summit, Wei Shengnan removed the guiding banner, and the deadly cold did not reappear. We analyzed that the eeriness should only exist in the forest at the foot of the mountain.
Qu Ruilin, holding binoculars, stood on a rock and surveyed the surrounding mountains. I also walked a little further away and began to observe the terrain.
We are located at the northern starting point of this mountain range, where the forest below appears as a vast expanse of shadow.
I glanced in the direction they were coming from and saw a long grove of trees winding outwards.
In my memory, we hadn't seen this forest when we went into the mountains, so we raised our high-powered night vision binoculars out of curiosity.
This gave me a fright.
The scene is indistinct, and it can be seen that what is there is not a forest at all, but a shadow caused by the low-lying terrain.
When I was looking at satellite maps before, because they were taken from above during the day, everything except the mountains looked yellowish.
We overlooked a crucial factor: the deep trenches embedded in the earth, a type of terrain that is difficult to discover without on-site investigation.
The shadow cast by the ravines stretched far outwards, and in shape, it resembled a giant dragon rising from the ground.
The dragon's claws, body, and tail are all clearly visible and lifelike, except for the dragon's head, which abruptly ends at the mountain range, as if it were pressed down by several horizontal mountains.
In feng shui, this type of terrain is called "Dragon-Slaying Platform," also known as "Competing with the Dragon for Qi," which is a major taboo that affects the nation's fortune. However, people buried in such places can absorb great fortune to nourish themselves.
When an individual contends with the fate of the nation, even the strongest will cannot withstand the challenge. Therefore, according to records, although this terrain is extremely auspicious, even emperors dared not bury themselves here. It is a place where immortals absorb spiritual energy for cultivation.
Legend has it that the Xiang-Gui Canal, ordered by Qin Shi Huang, the Grand Canal, built by Emperor Yang of Sui, and the waterways built by later dynasties, were not only for consolidating their rule, but also for breaking the feng shui that threatened the dragon's energy, allowing the earth dragon to rise with the wind.
Thanks to the efforts of geomancers throughout history, the kind of terrain that hinders the nation's destiny, such as the Dragon-Slaying Terrace, is no longer seen in my country.
Satellite maps still reveal many traces of destruction of the Dragon-Slaying Platform, one of which involved building a reservoir at the end of the dragon-shaped river.
I never imagined that there would be such a place in India.
If this severed dragon was once a waterway, then the terrain of Hengji Mountain is a very obvious place where the dragon's energy is being contested.
Ignoring my past grievances with Qu Ruilin, I quickly ran to his side and asked, "Have you found anything here?"
Qu Ruilin ignored me as if I were invisible, continuing to observe the mountain terrain while making a hand seal with his left hand, as if he were calculating something.
I grabbed his arm: "Stop looking here, come with me!"
Qu Ruilin flung my arm away and angrily rebuked me, "I agreed to be on the same team as you, but out of consideration for the long-standing friendship between the Qu and Wei families, don't push your luck!"
Monkey was already annoyed with Qu Ruilin, and seeing me arguing with him, he rolled up his sleeves and came over: "Hey! How dare you talk like that?"
I looked into Qu Ruilin's eyes and asked with utmost seriousness, "Do you know what it means to steal a dragon's energy?"
Upon hearing this name, Qu Ruilin was visibly taken aback.
"Follow me!"
I pulled Qu Ruilin towards that hilltop, and this time he stopped struggling.
Everyone in the group knew that Qu Ruilin and I didn't get along, so they were all curious to see us together and came along.
Qu Ruilin stood where I had been, looked through his binoculars at the suppressed dragon shape, and turned to Qu Shengnan, saying, "The Reversed Dragon has Ghost Mountain, and Ghost Mountain drags its feet and circles behind it! He's right, I misjudged it before. This isn't Hengji Land, but the Dragon-Slaying Platform! I'm now 100% certain that the Demon Monk is buried here!"
Wei Shengnan had never heard of the feng shui concept of "stealing the dragon's energy," but seeing Qu Ruilin make a judgment, she was delighted: "Since the matter has been decided, I will rest for one night and begin the formal operation tomorrow."
"It's too late, we have to find this tomb tonight!" Qu Ruilin glanced at the sky: "Tonight's celestial signs indicate that the King of Hell is mustering his troops. If we can't find the tomb's location, we'll have to wait another month!"
The monkey asked me, "Young Master Duan, what does 'the King of Hell musters his troops' mean?"
"It's the new moon! When the moon is orbiting in its orbit, and the dark hemisphere faces the earth, it's called the new moon in ancient times, and the date is the first day of each lunar month. At this time, the moon is usually not visible, hence the name new moon, also called the 'new moon.' Legend has it that when the moon disappears, it's the day when Yama, the King of Hell, sends his ghost messengers to the mortal world to select soldiers from the underworld."
Looking at the moonless starry sky, I continued, "The ancients interpreted the moon's phases of waxing and waning every thirty days as a continuous rebirth. Tombs buried in places where dragons steal energy must be laid to rest on the day of the new moon, according to the celestial phenomena. The positions of the stars are constantly changing; in ancient times this was called the rotation of the stars, and in modern times it's called the daily motion of celestial bodies. We must find the location of the tomb within midnight, using the same thinking as the ancients."
"Zi Shi, isn't that between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock?" The monkey glanced at his watch: "There are still four hours left."
Wei Shengnan then finished her conversation with Qu Ruilin and came over to me, saying, "I just talked to Qu Ruilin, and he judged that there are two suitable branches of this mountain for burial, but they are in completely opposite directions. It is impossible for one person to investigate both directions in a limited amount of time, so my idea is to separate you and Qu Ruilin and each choose a direction to find the location of the tomb."
In our team, Qu Ruilin is the most skilled in geomancy. Although I am not very proficient, I am still better than the others and know that I am the most suitable candidate: "No problem."
Wei Shengnan nodded: "Qu Ruilin insists on bringing only one assistant. The rest of us will accompany you, so you don't need to worry about safety."
I was about to agree when I saw Qu Ruilin glance at me casually. Suddenly, I blurted out, "No need. Observing feng shui requires quiet. Too many people will only cause trouble. I'll just bring the monkey."
In my youthful arrogance, all I thought about was not being looked down upon by Qu Ruilin because of this, but I never imagined that this thoughtless decision would cause me a great disaster.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com