Chapter 52: Bone Hairpin 7 Cave
The mangled corpse was carried back to the village that afternoon, and the road became clear again, allowing traffic to resume. The crowds of people who had left followed the corpse to Xilizheng's residence, where there was constant wailing and shouting.
Xun Shu and his group split into two groups. Chi Xiao led the people from the Dali Temple to investigate on the top of the Tianxu Mountain Wall, while Xun Shu and Li Xuanhe took Yu Chang and took advantage of the hot afternoon and the empty streets to stroll towards the east of the village.
After leaving the village and passing through a grove of low fruit trees, a short walk took about a cup of tea before we came upon the magnificent palace that the waiter had mentioned as the shrine. The shrine had no walls, only a single hall, forty to fifty feet high and about a hundred paces wide. Above the lintel hung a plaque taller than Xun Shu's. Inscribed in gold on a black background were three large characters: "Hall of Eternal Life." The hall door stood wide open, leaving the interior pitch black, lit only by the solitary glow of two bean-sized oil lamps, guiding the faithful within.
Xun Shu stopped at the door and looked up.
The golden characters gleamed brightly in the sun, a glaring sight. Xun Shu narrowed his eyes and asked the person next to him, "I heard that the Hall of Eternal Life is similar to the Palace of Heavenly Affairs?"
Li Xuanhe nodded. "I suppose so. After the late emperor's death, Your Majesty ascended the throne and handed the affairs of state to the Crown Prince, who, in turn, became obsessed with cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao. A few years ago, someone introduced Your Majesty to the head of the Hall of Eternal Life, who became Your Majesty's confidant and treated him as a national teacher. Since then, the Hall of Eternal Life has grown in reputation, and Taoism has become more valued than Buddhism." The mockery in Li Xuanhe's eyes was evident, but gradually, it was shrouded by helplessness. Not wanting to look at the obtrusive plaque any longer, he walked into the main hall first. "Let's go, before anyone sees us."
Xun Shu hurriedly followed him, wondering, "I just heard from the waiter that the idea for the 'Lucky Hairpin' was from the Si Tian Pavilion, and that the Divine Palace was later built for the immortals from the Si Tian Pavilion. But why is the name of the Changsheng Palace written on the Divine Palace?"
"Perhaps it's because the Changsheng Palace has become so powerful in recent years and the Sitian Pavilion has no inheritance, so the villagers changed the name of the temple." Li Xuanhe said lightly.
Xun Shu lagged behind him half a step, looked at his back, and asked hesitantly, "You don't seem to like the Hall of Eternal Life."
"I don't like it very much," Li Xuanhe admitted frankly, but he didn't want to elaborate. He stood in the main hall, looking up at the burly statue in front of the hall, "He does have a kind face."
The incense in the censer had just burned to its last wisp, and a rich aroma filled the hall. A statue of the deity stood before the hall, flanked by two oil lamps, each one a candle. The flames, each small enough to illuminate the statue's feet, couldn't reach the head and body hidden high in the darkness. Xun Shu followed the direction he pointed, squinting for a long moment, trying to discern the carved features in the darkness. He failed, and could only sigh, "Even with such blurriness, you can still make out his features. It's truly remarkable."
"I can't see clearly." Li Xuanhe said confidently, "I mean this golden statue has a kind face and benevolent eyes."
This is the truth. Xun Shu nodded in agreement: "Gold loves all living things, and all living things love gold, but that's how it is."
The Hall of Eternal Life was built against the mountainside, making it much cooler than outside. When the two of them came here, they hadn't thought about avoiding others, but now that there was no one around, the hall was completely empty, which was a pleasant surprise.
Xun Shu walked around the hall and carefully searched every box in the hall, but only found incense sticks and amulets, and did not find any objects related to the hairpin or the saint.
Xun Shu was about to leave after finding nothing suspicious when she suddenly discovered a gap about a person's width behind the statue in front of the hall. The gap was sandwiched between the wall and the statue, and it didn't look like it could hide anything, but she walked over anyway and then noticed something unusual.
The green brick under her feet seemed different from the other green bricks. When she stood on it, it swayed slightly and made a slight sound.
Xun Shu stepped back and tapped the brick with his knuckles. The sound was hollow, evidently hollow. Li Xuanhe walked to the side, crouched down, and fumbled for a moment before finding a relief-like protrusion near the statue's feet. Pressing it, the stone slab sprang open, revealing a pitch-black hole wide enough for one person to pass through.
Yuchang lit a tinder and approached the cave entrance. He couldn't see the bottom, and it was filled with unknown and eerie things. He took out a copper coin and threw it down from the hole. A moment later, there was a sound, mixed with the sound of water.
"About thirty feet deep." Yu Chang blew out the fire, "I'll go down and explore the way first, sir, please wait a moment."
There was a ladder at the edge of the cave, which could be used to descend. Yuchang propped himself up at the entrance, landed on the ladder, and disappeared in a single rise and fall. A moment later, a slight sound came from the cave; the ladder was shaking, a signal from Yuchang.
"Do you want to go down and take a look?" Li Xuanhe asked Xun Shu.
Xun Shu nodded: "Since we are here, we should go down."
Xun Shu was the second one to climb up the ladder. He moved his feet carefully and stepped down tentatively. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he landed.
There was a small cave underground, just enough for one person, but a bit crowded for two. A passage, about one person wide, led to one side of the cave. A faint light seemed to emanate from the depths. Yu Chang stood aside, waiting for Li Xuanhe to descend, while Xun Shu tiptoed gently into the passage, making room for Li Xuanhe to land.
The underground was even colder and damper than the hall itself. A thin layer of water covered the ground, soaking Xun Shu's shoes as she landed. Now, after a few steps along the corridor, her shoes were completely soaked by the water, feeling icy cold. She keenly sensed that she was going downhill, so she stopped and waited for the person behind her.
As Li Xuanhe descended, he closed the stone slab at the entrance, and the cave became completely dark. He descended in the darkness, and when he landed, he stepped on stagnant water and said, "There must be an underground river nearby."
Xun Shu told the two of his recent discovery: "The water in the tunnel is deeper than outside, and it seems to be descending. Are we going to end up in an underground river?"
Yu Chang bypassed Xun Shu and went ahead to explore the way. Li Xuan He, a few steps behind Xun Shu, explained her confusion: "There is wind in the tunnel, so there must be an exit ahead. Even if you accidentally enter the underground river, you can still find a way out."
Yu Chang smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, Miss Xun, at worst we can just return to the shrine the same way we came."
"I'm afraid of encountering things in the water." Xun Shu held onto the mountain wall and said slowly, "There are strange beasts in deep forests and deep waters. This place is not only close to the mountains and forests, but also in underground rivers. There is a high probability that there are strange beasts. They may have lived for thousands of years and must be very powerful. I hope we don't encounter them."
The three of them continued on, Yuchang leading the way, holding the tinder. After a hundred steps, the corridor widened considerably. The sound of dripping water reached them, and the air became increasingly damp. Another hundred steps later, at the end of the corridor, a small, arm-width river appeared before them, its water rushing rapidly and continuously.
Xun Shu looked at the stream-like river in front of him and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's so long and narrow, there shouldn't be any powerful beasts."
"It looks long and narrow, but the water is so turbulent and you can't see the bottom. There must be another world under the water. You still have to be careful."
Xun Shu stood at the intersection and looked to both sides along the river. On one side was a dark corridor that led to an unknown place along the river. On the other side was a spacious cave. In the center of the cave was a deep pool formed by the water flow. There was a stone path around the deep pool that was one person wide. It was bumpy and one had to be extremely careful when walking on it.
There was a crack at the top of the cave. A beam of light shone into the cave through the crack and fell on the water surface on one side very close to the shore. It penetrated the water surface and extended downward. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen. The pool was actually bottomless.
The three of them originally came to the shrine to find the secret of Fu Zan and the Saint, but they didn't expect to find such a place.
Li Xuanhe pointed to the dark mountain wall across from the pool and said, "There seems to be a door there. Let's go and take a look."
The stones on the ground were eroded by water vapor and were quite slippery. Xun Shu held on to the rocks and moved forward. Halfway through, she almost slipped. Fortunately, Li Xuanhe, who was walking behind her, was quick to hold her waist and lifted her up.
"careful."
After Li Xuanhe confirmed that she was standing firmly, he released her hand and stepped back. Xun Shu stood there for a moment, feeling his voice lingering in her ears, and his breath seemed to carry the scorching heat of the sun outside the temple, burning her earlobes.
She pinched her earlobe and muttered, "I've definitely felt a bit tired these days. When I used to live in the mountains, climbing up and down, my senior brothers often praised me for being faster and more agile than them."
"Your senior brother is probably too lazy to go up and down the mountain, so he said that in order to throw the errand job to you." Li Xuanhe sighed.
Xun Shu had never thought of this before. Hearing this, he was a little bit unbelievable, but his voice became weaker: "No, Senior Brother is a good person——"
Xun Shu's voice was drowned out by the sudden roar of water. Li Xuanhe couldn't hear clearly and was about to ask again when he saw the calm surface of the pool begin to tremble. A spring-like thing appeared in the center, and water surged out, splashing layers of ripples. In just a moment, the ripples, initially a thin layer on the surface, morphed into a surging surge that roared and echoed throughout the cave.
A moment later, a sound like a dog barking emanated from the water, and something leaped out, charging towards the three. The monster, about the size of a man, resembled a fish, yet it wasn't a fish. Its head had no eyes, only a large mouth lined with fangs. Behind its head were seven or eight fish tails, each ending in a snake-like shape, its fangs bared and claws swaying like a monster.
Yuchang drew his sword to fight, waving it to stop the monster from getting closer. The monster was forced into the water, but did not leave, waiting for the opportunity to come back.
The three held their breath, pressed against the mountain wall, not daring to make a sound. As if aware of their location, the monster rose from the water again. Several snake-like tails slammed into the mountain wall, knocking off countless pieces of rubble.
The monster opened its bloody maw, and a foul stench instantly filled the cave. Yu Chang and Li Xuan He drew their swords and charged forward, engaging the monster in a fierce battle. The tiny glimmer of light from the cave ceiling couldn't dispel the darkness within. The two men fought in the darkness, relying only on the sounds and the faint light to determine their position and whether they were friend or foe. For a moment, they were in a state of disarray.
Xun Shu knew that her kung fu was not as good as Yu Chang's, and probably not as good as Li Xuanhe's either, so she squatted down against the stone wall to avoid causing more trouble, but her mind was focused, racking her brains to think of how to escape.
The monster had lived here for a long time and was extremely familiar with its surroundings. Although Li Xuanhe and Yu Chang were outnumbered, they were new to the area and their swimming skills were mediocre, so the longer they fought, the more helpless they became.
Unwilling to engage, the monster used its three tails to entangle Li Xuanhe, then charged at Yuchang with all its might. Yuchang was momentarily overwhelmed and thrown into the water, unable to fight back. After being struck from one side, the monster, ignoring the pain of having its three tails severed, used its remaining tails to entangle Li Xuanhe, lifting him into the air and seemingly ready to tear him apart.
Li Xuanhe had a gloomy face and struggled with all his strength, holding the sword tightly in his hand, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.
He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xun Shu seemed to be moving, but he couldn't spare the energy to see what she was doing.
If she wanted to escape, now was the best time. He wanted to tell her, but his chest and abdomen were constantly squeezed by the snake's tail, making it difficult to breathe, let alone shout.
The air in his chest became increasingly scarce, and his brain was filled with fog. All he could think about was that if he had known this would happen, he should have let her stay up there.
Li Xuanhe clenched his teeth, striving to maintain consciousness. His eyes gleamed like a leopard, stalking the darkness. At that moment, the monster's fish-like head turned toward the tunnel. Distracted by something, its serpentine tail suddenly loosened its grip around him, allowing air to rush into his chest, instantly easing the discomfort.
Li Xuanhe seized this fleeting opportunity, raised his sword and stabbed it fiercely—
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