Chapter Thirty-Three: Tracking

  Ma Si Zhe and I were sneaking to the back, when we suddenly turned our heads and saw Jiang Liu standing at the entrance of the cave with a look of astonishment on his face.

  The three of us bumped into each other, Jiang Liu's belt had just been undone, and both hands were holding his pants. Ma Si Zhe and I exchanged a glance, and in an instant we rushed towards Jiang Liu, covering his mouth before he could make a sound.

  Jiang exerted all his strength and struggled desperately, and Ma Si and I were almost unable to hold him down.

  I had a sudden inspiration, took out the Soul Devouring Bell from my bag, patted Jiang Liu's face with it and let him see my hand. Jiang Liu immediately stopped struggling.

  I pretended to fall to the ground, and Jiang Liu was shocked and stretched out his hand towards me. I pulled my hand back and put my index finger on my mouth, signaling Jiang Liu to be quiet. Jiang Liu nodded slightly.

  Ma Si Zhe tentatively loosened his grip on Jiang Liu's hand, and Jiang Liu indeed stopped struggling. I put the Soul-Devouring Bell back into my bag. To be honest, when I took it out earlier, my heart was racing too - if this thing were to ring out, Ma Si Zhe and I would be completely unable to withstand it. So I had been holding the bell tightly wrapped in my hand all along, praying that it wouldn't ring.

  "It was all Uncle Cheng's idea, nothing to do with me." Jiang Liu is just a turncoat, he was flattering Uncle Cheng just now, and now he has sold out Uncle Cheng at the drop of a hat.

  I lowered my voice and said to Jiang Liu, "I don't care whose idea it is, everyone has their own goals. Before Cheng Shu did anything to harm us two, I can ignore your purpose. So, just pretend you've never seen us before." Since Jiang Liu didn't even remember the time I saved him, then there's no need for me to be polite to him either. Or maybe people like him don't deserve politeness at all.

  "Go back, don't forget, that bell is still in my hand." Jiang Liu hastily nodded, his two hands pulling at the waistband of his pants as he ran back.

  Ma Si Zhe and I quickly hid deep in the cave, and after a while, Cheng Shu and several others came out of the cave next door. After making sure they had walked away for a while, the two of us carefully emerged from the cave.

  Carefully stuck to the mouth of the cave, watching them. Only to see Huo Ying take out a rope, tie one end to the stone at the entrance of the cave, and hang the other end into the pit. Then several people slid down along the rope.

  After the three people slid to the bottom, Huo Ying gently pulled, and the rope was easily retracted. The stone at the entrance of the cave was pulled forward.

  Several people gathered around the giant coral again. It seems that nothing valuable was found on top of the coral before, and they may not be willing to give up, wanting to take another look to see if there are any new discoveries.

  The two of us hid in a cave and couldn't go down or out for the time being. We could only stay here.

  "Cheng Shu said that map wasn't a simple map, then what else could it be?" Cheng Shu was certain that the two of us would fall into the trap of thinking it was just a map. And indeed we did, neither of us had considered a second possibility.

  We were all immersed in the astonishment that the map and the roads in the village were exactly the same, and naturally didn't think of any other reasons. This situation is like doing math problems, when you see a question, coincidentally can use all the formulas you know, you will definitely fall into ecstasy and step by step, bit by bit to solve it. You won't even think about whether this is the simplest way or whether the method is thorough.

  I and Ma Si Zhe fell into this misunderstanding.

  "Didn't Jiang Liu mention it before, saying that it was a treasure map?" Ma Si Zhe said.

  "Never mind about the treasure map for now, but it's a fact that the map and the direction of the village roads are the same, how can this be explained?"

  "In short, there must be a connection between the ground and underground. If that map is indeed a treasure map, then think carefully about where in the village could hide treasures, and then we two will follow the route above to slowly search below."

  "How would I know if there's a place in the village where treasures are hidden?"

  "Think about what places in your village are more important."

  A relatively important place in our village. I thought for a moment 'my home!'

  Ma Si Zhe snorted, "I'm talking seriously with you"

  "Who's being naughty?" When I was a kid, our home was like an ancient government office, whenever something happened in the village, people would come to our house to find my grandfather.

  "I'm talking about those ancient buildings from before, like Buddhist pagodas and old temples"

  "There is no pagoda, only a base, next to Mao'er Mountain on Ta Shan. As for temples, there's Qingfeng Temple, which isn't very close to the village. That's all."

  Ma Si Zhe thought for a moment, 'Qingfeng Temple, let's head in the direction of Qingfeng Temple'

  "It's easy for you to say, from the past to now, turning left and right, connecting up and down. Who can still tell north from south? Even if I could tell north from south, it's been so many years since I left the village, I've long forgotten how to get to Qingfeng Temple."

  Our map has been soaked through and our camera is also flooded. There's no guide, we have no idea which way to go.

  "Ma Si Zhe stared at Cheng Shu's backpack 'Then we can only rob'"

  "What if we can't grab it back? I reckon neither of us can even beat Huo Ying"

  "It can only be pretended as an accidental encounter"

  "'Now?' I asked. Ma Si Zhe shook his head, 'Not now, we still need to follow for a while longer, there are many things that the two of us don't understand about the situation, and after meeting them they won't tell us the truth, so let's take this opportunity to listen carefully.'"

  I and Ma Si Zhe retreated back into the cave. Following what Ma Si Zhe said earlier, we followed that sequence and smoothly made our way downstairs. Before I even exited the cave, I heard the sound of Cheng Shu and others talking. Ma Si Zhe and I could only hide inside and eavesdrop on their conversation.

  Cheng Shu walked around the coral once, stroking his chin in thought. 'This thing is a bit strange.'

  Huo Ying stepped forward 'What's wrong'

  Cheng Shu touched the coral with his hand, and the thing on top felt very hard. Cheng Shu withdrew his hand, "This thing outside is not what should be on the coral," he said, and several people gathered around the coral.

  I felt strange when I saw the coral just now. There is a thick layer of asphalt-like substance attached to the surface of the coral, and the hand feels even a bit soft.

  Generally, corals are composed of countless invertebrate animals in the sea, floating freely or forming coral colonies. After dehydration, they have a calcareous characteristic. So now on the market, we see jewelry and pendants that are hard in texture and bright in color. The coral floating on the surface of the sea is called dead coral, and the coral sunk at the bottom of the sea is called live coral. But whether it's dead coral or live coral, I've never seen this kind of asphalt-like texture before.

  Cheng Shu was clearly very curious about the substance on the coral. He took out the knife he had been carrying with him and tried to scrape off some of the stuff on the coral, but after scraping it twice, nothing came off. The thing seemed to have become one with the coral.

  "This is not an attachment, it's one with the coral," said Huo Ying.

  "What about the things we picked up just now?" Cheng Shu asked Jiang Liu.

  Jiang Liu hesitated for a moment, and I broke out in a cold sweat. I was afraid that Jiang Liu would hint at something to Cheng Shu, and then Ma Si Zhe and I would be exposed.

  "What are you looking at? Bring me the thing!" Cheng Shu urged Jiang Liu. Ma Si Zhe and I both became alert. I started thinking that if we were really discovered, what excuse should I come up with. My heart was racing with anxiety.

  "Ah, no!" Jiang Liu came back to his senses and took out a box from the bag. I looked at it and found that it was exactly the same as the boat-shaped box we had previously found in the secret room.

  Cheng Shu opened the box and took out a few pieces of stone. I touched the stones in my bag to make sure they were still there. It seems that what Cheng Shu is holding is different from ours, and the stories recorded on it are also different. But since we're so far apart, I have no way of knowing what's written on that thing. Shouldn't we bring Jiang Liu over to ask him when the time comes? I'm just afraid there won't be a suitable opportunity.

  "What's written on this? Uncle Cheng, do you recognize the characters on this?" asked Huo Ying from over there.

  This sentence was a gospel for me and Ma Si-ze, and in the following period of time, I and Ma Si-ze hid behind the mountain cave and listened to a very long story.

  Uncle Cheng spoke intermittently, and I listened intermittently. Because Uncle Cheng and the others didn't know about the previous story, their understanding of the later plot wasn't very smooth. I added my previous understanding of this story and sorted out a general idea.

  What is written above is the sequel to the story on that piece of stone, which is the story of Yong Bo after picking up the silver turtle.

  Yong Bo arrived in Goguryeo, now Liaodong area, after much hardship and toil with the silver turtle. Following the old man's instructions, he found a tomb.

  Yong Bo looked over there, and his heart was filled with doubts. Could this really be his own grave 500 years later? After 500 years of reincarnation, he had ended up in such a distant place - wasn't all this too absurd? But thinking back to the dream he had that night, Yong Bo didn't dare refuse.

  The old man instructed Yong Bo to use golden nanmu wood to make a box, put the silver turtle in it, dig nine feet deep, bury it underground, and mix seawater with soil to bury the box.

  Yong Bo followed the old man's instructions and buried the silver turtle in the ground step by step. Then he left there and returned to his residence.

  That night, Yong Bo had another dream. The old man in his dream appeared again.

  Before the old man could speak, Yongbo said, 'The matter you entrusted me with has been taken care of. What else do you want to see me for?'

  The old man stroked his beard and said, 'Don't worry, what I entrust you with is also good for yourself.'

  "Speak up if you have something to say." Yong Bo was getting a bit anxious from being kept in suspense.

  I am the last abacus of the ancient Dian Kingdom, that witch

  Cheng Shu mentioned the name in a very ordinary tone, but both Ma Si Zhe and I were shocked. Wasn't Wu the fortune teller chosen by the Hani tribe's maiden to send the silver tortoise to Weiyang Palace? How could he be related to this story?

  "What's going on? How did the witch end up here?" I turned to ask Ma Si Zhe, and Ma Si Zhe shook his head. The two of us refocused our attention and listened as Cheng Shu continued speaking.