Chapter 51 Whatever, if it doesn't work out, we'll just end it here.
As dawn broke, smoke began to rise from the chimney of his aunt's house. Zhang Qiling squatted in the corner of the yard, sharpening his Black Gold Ancient Sword. The bluestone whetstone was wet with dew, and the blade splashed up tiny droplets of water as it cut through the ground. Hei Xiazi came over carrying two bowls of sweet potato porridge, handed one to him, and leaned against the doorframe, eating a mouthful of porridge with half a piece of osmanthus cake: "The Zhang family from overseas are waiting at the mountain pass. They said they brought explosives; if the traps are too difficult, they'll just blast a path out."
Zhang Qiling took the bowl of porridge, his fingertips touching the rim; the temperature was just right. He didn't rush to drink, but first scooped a piece of sweet potato that he hadn't touched into Hei Xiazi's bowl: "Yesterday's fight took a toll on your strength, eat more." Hei Xiazi raised an eyebrow, didn't refuse, and opened his mouth to bite into the sweet potato, laughing indistinctly: "Little brother is getting better and better at taking care of people now. He never cared whether I had eaten enough before."
When Wu Xie, who had just stepped out, heard this, he took it as a joke from the two old partners. He rubbed his eyes and leaned over: "What explosives? We're going to investigate clues, not demolish the ancestral hall. Using explosives is too much, isn't it?" Xiao Hua, who was following behind, carrying packed dry food, glanced at him when she heard this: "The Wujia's traps have survived until now, so they must be something special. Having explosives is better than being trapped inside."
As the four of them finished getting ready and headed out, they found an inconspicuous pickup truck parked at the mountain pass. The man in the driver's seat, wearing a military green jacket, immediately got out and handed Zhang Qiling a map upon seeing him. "Mr. Zhang, the ancestral hall's layout is marked on the map. There's an abandoned ventilation shaft on the west side that leads directly to a side room of the main hall, avoiding the barrage of arrows from the main gate." As he handed over the map, his gaze quickly swept over Hei Xiazi beside Zhang Qiling. Those from the Zhang family overseas, who held him in awe, knew that this Hei Xiazi was someone Mr. Zhang held dear. Years ago in Changbai Mountain, Mr. Zhang had almost lost his life to save him.
Zhang Qiling took the map, his fingertip pausing near the ventilation shaft. In their previous life, they had entered through the main entrance. Wu Xie had almost been hit by an arrow, but Hei Xiazi had rushed over to block it, leaving a scar on his back. "Let's go through the ventilation shaft," he said, folding the map and handing it to Xiao Hua. "You go with Wu Xie in the middle, and Hei Xiazi and I will cover the rear."
The pickup truck drove for more than half an hour before stopping at the foot of a wild, overgrown mountain. The man pointed towards the mountainside: "The ancestral temple is up there. We'll keep watch down below. If we see a signal flare, we'll go up and provide backup immediately." Zhang Qiling nodded, took a signal gun from his backpack, and handed it to Hei Xiazi. "Send the signal if anything happens." Hei Xiazi took it and deliberately rubbed it against Zhang Qiling's palm: "Don't worry, I'm not done living yet. I won't let you handle this alone."
The path up the mountain was more difficult than expected, with withered branches and leaves scattered everywhere, making a "crunching" sound underfoot. After walking for about an hour, a section of a dilapidated blue brick wall suddenly appeared ahead, covered with ivy. The eaves of the ancestral hall inside could be vaguely seen, indicating that we had arrived at the Wujia Ancestral Hall.
Zhang Qiling went around to the west side first, parted the waist-high weeds, and sure enough, saw a ventilation opening about half a meter wide, with the iron fence on it rusted beyond recognition. He took out a crowbar from his backpack and was about to start when Hei Xiazi took the crowbar from him: "I'll do it. You save your energy; we might have to deal with the corpse beetles later." He exerted force with his wrist, and with a "crack," the iron fence was pried open. A damp, musty smell, mixed with a faint stench of decay, wafted out.
“There’s something inside.” Zhang Qiling frowned, took out a lighter from his pocket, lit a piece of paper, and threw it in. The firelight illuminated the passageway inside the ventilation shaft, revealing walls covered with mottled murals depicting people in ancient costumes holding strange jade artifacts that, judging by their appearance, resembled meteorite chalcedony.
"Let's go in first." Hei Xiazi bent down and crawled into the ventilation shaft. He turned around and reached out to pull Zhang Qiling, but the other grabbed his wrist first. Zhang Qiling's palm was warm, and he gently squeezed his wrist: "Be careful, there's a trapdoor at the end of the tunnel." He didn't dare to say it too explicitly, only that he had heard it from someone before. Wu Xie and Xiao Hua didn't suspect anything and followed him in.
The passageway was narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways. Zhang Qiling walked in front, holding a lit torch, the firelight casting flickering shadows on the figures in the murals. Wu Xie followed behind, staring at the murals: "What are these people painting? It looks like they're performing some kind of ritual." Xiao Hua leaned closer and pointed to the jade artifacts in the murals: "This jade looks like meteorite chalcedony. They painted this in the Wujia Ancestral Shrine; did they already know the uses of meteorite chalcedony?"
Zhang Qiling didn't reply, but his steps slowed down. He remembered that in his previous life, when walking through this passage, Hei Xiazi had stepped into a trapdoor here, fallen in, and broken his leg. As they neared the end, he suddenly stopped, turned to Hei Xiazi, and said, "Switch places with me. You go behind and protect Wu Xie and Xiao Hua."
Hei Xiazi paused for a moment, then realized—Zhang Qiling was worried about him. He didn't expose him, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, I'll listen to you, Brother." As the two switched places, Hei Xiazi's fingertip subtly hooked Zhang Qiling's finger, as if to reassure him: I'm fine.
Sure enough, just as Zhang Qiling reached the end of the passageway, he suddenly heard a "click" under his feet. He reacted quickly, immediately jumping back to avoid the stone slab that had suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless black hole beneath which he could vaguely hear the crawling sounds of corpse beetles.
"That was close!" Wu Xie broke out in a cold sweat. "Luckily, Brother Zhang reacted quickly." Xiao Hua also frowned: "This trap was too well hidden. If we hadn't noticed it beforehand, we would have definitely fallen in." Hei Xiazi walked to Zhang Qiling's side, reached out and patted his back, brushing the dust off his shoulders: "Are you alright? Were you scared?" The worry in his tone was impossible to hide.
Zhang Qiling shook his head and pointed to the exit opposite the trap: "Jump over, be careful." He took a few steps to run up and easily jumped over, then turned back and reached out his hand. Hei Xiazi followed closely behind, squeezing his hand tightly as if to confirm he was really alright. Wu Xie and Xiao Hua also jumped over, almost falling when they landed, but luckily Hei Xiazi reached out and caught them.
Emerging from the passageway, one arrives at the main hall of the ancestral temple. The hall is thick with dust, and a tattered memorial tablet sits on the central altar, its inscription blurred beyond recognition. Zhang Qiling walks to the altar, crouches down, and examines it closely. His fingers feel under the altar, finding a hidden compartment. He glances back at Hei Xiazi, who immediately understands and goes to the door to keep watch, blocking Wu Xie and Xiao Hua's view.
Zhang Qiling opened the hidden compartment, inside which lay a tattered family tree and a small fragment shimmering with blue light—the meteorite jade marrow. He quickly tucked the meteorite jade marrow into his robes, rolled up the family tree, and handed it to Xiao Hua: "This is a fragment of the Wu family's family tree; perhaps it can reveal the reason why they are targeting Wu Xie."
Xiao Hua took the family genealogy and was about to unfold it when footsteps suddenly came from outside the main hall. Hei Xiazi immediately drew his short sword and gestured for everyone to be quiet. The footsteps grew closer and closer, and soon, more than a dozen men in black appeared at the door. The leader wore a black robe and a bronze mask on his face, and his voice was hoarse: "Zhang Qiling, Hei Xiazi, how have you been?"
"Homeless people." Zhang Qiling gripped his black gold ancient sword, standing in front of Hei Xiazi. "What exactly do you want?"
The bronze-masked man chuckled, his voice full of malice: "What do you want? You don't know? The Meteorite Jade Marrow is in your hands, isn't it? Hand it over, and let Wu Xie come with us, and I might spare your lives."
Wu Xie immediately gripped the flashlight tightly: "Why should I go with you? You used the jade bracelet my mother left behind as bait, then you kidnapped my great-aunt, and now you want the meteorite jade marrow? Don't even dream about it!"
The bronze-masked man sneered, "You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences." He raised his hand, and the men in black behind him immediately rushed forward. Zhang Qiling was the first to meet them, his black-gold ancient sword slicing through the air, aiming straight for the first man in black's chest. Hei Xiazi wasn't idle either; his short sword flashed, blocking an attack coming from the side. The two coordinated perfectly; Zhang Qiling felled one, and Hei Xiazi finished off the next, controlling another. In no time, four or five men in black lay on the ground.
Wu Xie and Xiao Hua weren't idle either. Xiao Hua used her folding fan to block a black-clad man's knife, while Wu Xie seized the opportunity to smash the man's head with his flashlight. However, there were too many black-clad men, and soon the two were forced to the altar.
Seeing this, the bronze-masked man pulled a whistle from his robes and blew a sharp whistle. Soon, a series of whooshing sounds came from the rafters of the main hall as countless poisoned arrows rained down. Zhang Qiling reacted quickly, pulling Hei Xiazi behind the offering table, while Wu Xie and Xiao Hua also crouched down.
"Damn it, there are traps too!" Black Bear cursed, looking up at the roof beam. "Dumb, do you have any way to break this arrow formation?"
Zhang Qiling nodded, took out a smoke bomb from his backpack, and said to Hei Xiazi, "I'll throw the smoke bomb, and you take the opportunity to turn off the mechanism. The switch is in a hidden compartment on the east side of the roof beam."
Black Bear nodded: "Okay, be careful."
Zhang Qiling pulled the pin on the smoke bomb and threw it. Smoke instantly filled the entire main hall, obscuring the black-clad men's vision and temporarily halting the arrow volley. Taking advantage of the chaos, Hei Xiazi climbed onto the roof beam, quickly located the hidden compartment, and forcefully pressed the button inside. The arrow slits on the roof beam immediately closed, and the arrow volley finally stopped.
As the smoke dissipated, the bronze-masked man, seeing his trap broken, turned grim: "I didn't expect you to have this trick up your sleeve." He pulled a dagger from his robes and suddenly charged at Wu Xie: "Since I can't get the Meteorite Jade Marrow, I'll kill Wu Xie first!"
Just as Zhang Qiling was about to rush over, he was entangled by several men in black. Hei Xiazi, who had a clear view from the roof beam, immediately jumped down and kicked the bronze-masked man in the back. The bronze-masked man staggered, dropping his dagger. Hei Xiazi seized the opportunity to pick up the dagger and held it to his neck: "Don't move, or I'll slit your throat."
The bronze-masked man froze, and the men in black behind him also stopped. Zhang Qiling shook off the men in black, walked up to the bronze-masked man, and said in an icy voice, "Speak, why did the Wu family capture Wu Xie? What exactly is the use of the Meteorite Jade Marrow?"
The bronze-masked man sneered, "You won't know..." Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, and his eyes immediately lost their luster—he had committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Hei Xiazi frowned, released his grip, and the bronze-masked man fell to the ground. "It seems the homeless are all prepared to die." He looked at Zhang Qiling, "What do we do now? The trail has gone cold again."
Zhang Qiling remained silent, taking out a fragment of meteorite marrow from his robes. The fragment glowed blue in the firelight. Suddenly, the light on the fragment became blinding, and the murals on the main hall walls emitted a faint glow, revealing new patterns that resembled a map pointing towards Changbai Mountain.
"Changbai Mountain?" Wu Xie leaned closer. "Could it be that Wujia's ultimate goal is Changbai Mountain?"
Zhang Qiling gripped the fragment of meteorite jade marrow, a knowing glint in his eyes. He remembered that in his past life, the Wu family had wanted to use the meteorite jade marrow to open the bronze gate of Changbai Mountain and obtain its secrets. "We have to go to Changbai Mountain," he said, looking up at Hei Xiazi. "This is our only clue."
Hei Xiazi nodded and patted him on the shoulder: "I'll go anywhere, as long as I'm with you."
Xiao Hua put away the family tree and looked at the two of them: "Then let's go down the mountain first, meet up with the Zhang family overseas, and then discuss going to Changbai Mountain."
Just as the four were about to leave, Zhang Qiling suddenly stopped and turned back to look at the bronze-masked man's corpse. He walked over, removed the bronze mask, and discovered that the person underneath was one of Wu Xie's second uncle's henchmen!
"How could it be him?" Wu Xie was stunned. "How could my second uncle be involved?"
Zhang Qiling frowned, a vague answer forming in his mind. He hadn't noticed this in his past life, but now it seemed that Wu Xie's second uncle had probably been colluding with the Wu family for a long time, only keeping it hidden. "Don't make this public for now." He put away his mask. "Let's go down the mountain first, and investigate your second uncle's matter when we get back."
The four walked out of the ancestral hall, and the sun was already rising. Hei Xiazi walked beside Zhang Qiling and quietly held his hand: "Don't worry, whether it's Wujia or Wu Xie's second uncle, we can handle it."
Zhang Qiling turned his head to look at him, the coldness in his eyes fading slightly, and he softly hummed in agreement. The road to Changbai Mountain was still long, and many dangers awaited them, but as long as Hei Xiazi was by his side, he was not afraid.
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, the Zhang family overseas were waiting for them. A secret about the bronze gate of Changbai Mountain was about to unfold.
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