Chapter 56: People Are Thinner Than Yellow Flowers

  Walking out of the stone steps, it turned out that the exit was on the back mountain of the school. On the back mountain, there is a very deep ditch, and both sides of the ditch are stone walls. The other end of the wall is the entrance to the tomb. Now the tomb has collapsed, and the stone wall has also collapsed, revealing the entrance to the tomb.

  "At last I see daylight again." I breathed a sigh of fresh air and said.

  "Brother, put me down, I want to change back," said Ah Mei.

  "Sister, you don't have to change back, and you won't have to from now on. You are my sister."

  "That's great, brother! From now on, no one will call me a mouse again." Ah Mei had already cheered and jumped for joy.

  Two days and two nights have passed since the incident outside, and two days ago, someone witnessed a person jumping into the river from Song Bridge. At first, it was thought to be a suicide, so they quietly reported the case. When the police arrived and searched the river thoroughly, no body was found, not even when searching downstream. Yang Guo's disappearance had enraged Mao Shi Jiu, who caused a big commotion at the police station and school, demanding compensation for his beloved disciple. Police officer Li Jian Tian was also anxious, ordering people to search for Yang Guo. Finally, it was discovered that Yang Guo was last seen at Song Bridge, so they compared the two cases and found that the time and location matched. In the end, they concluded that the person who jumped into the river from Song Bridge was indeed Yang Guo. This news struck Mao Shi Jiu like a thunderbolt on a sunny day. He set up an altar at Song Bridge to try and summon Yang Guo's spirit, but there was no response. This made Mao Shi Jiu feel uneasy, as there were two possible explanations for the lack of a soul: either Yang Guo had not died, or his soul had already dispersed. If it was the first possibility, that would be good, but if it was the second, then even Mao Shi Jiu would be powerless to change the situation.

  Finally, Cao Nineteen decided to take matters into his own hands and search for her himself. However, he didn't find any clues and spent all day wandering around the school area. People in the school thought he was a swindler, but the person who worried about Yang Guo the most was Lin Miao. Every day, she would stand on the Song Bridge, watching out for him, not eating or drinking for two days and nights, looking especially haggard. Even Principal Lin Hainan was shocked, his precious daughter crying every day, refusing to listen to advice.

  I came out of the tomb, and Song Bridge was the only way to get from the back mountain to the school's inner district. I saw a familiar figure standing on Song Bridge, looking around with a desolate air reminiscent of Daiyu burying flowers.

  The river at Song Bridge is babbling, the beauty's tears are sorrowful. All day long waiting for your return, I am thinner than the yellow chrysanthemum.

  "It's silent." I stood still, with a mix of emotions in my heart, feeling as if my heart was being twisted by a knife.

  My younger sister pushed me from behind and told me to go comfort Lin Mo quickly.

  I slowly walked step by step onto Song Bridge and stopped about five meters away from Lin Mo. Lin Mo didn't notice my presence.

  "You've lost weight." I took a look at Lin Mo and indeed he had lost a lot of weight, just in two days, it made my heart ache.

  Lin Mo heard the voice and was slightly startled, thinking it was an illusion. He looked back and tears streamed down his face. His eyes were already red and swollen from crying, and even his feet trembled as he stood there, facing the river wind, as if he could be blown away at any moment.

  "Yang Guo, you bastard." Lin Miao wiped away her tears and immediately turned into a big flower face.

  "Where have you been for the past two days? They all said you committed suicide, that you're dead." Lin Mo could no longer hold back the pain he had endured for so long and suddenly burst out.

  "I don't believe you're dead, I don't believe you'd leave me like that. I've waited for you for two days and two nights, and finally, you're here." Lin Mo tightly hugged me, punching my chest with all his might.

  "I will never leave you again."

  "Wherever you go in the future, I'll follow you, I'm going to rely on you." I hugged Lin Mo and whispered in her ear.

  "Let's go, I'll carry you on my back, we're going to the cafeteria to eat." I wiped away Lin Mo's tears.

  "This time I won't leave you halfway through eating." I said firmly.

  Lin's mood calmed down a lot, and when she heard that I was going to take her to the cafeteria for dinner, she burst out laughing.

  "Be serious for once." Lin Mo said with a pout.

  "Mount up, Your Majesty."

  "Brother, sister, wait for me!" Little sister shouted loudly from behind.

  "Who is this little girl?" Lin Mo asked as he heard someone shouting from behind.

  "She is my sister."

  On the road and in the dining hall, I briefly told Lin Mo about Ah Mei's affairs and some things that happened in the tomb. Lin Mo was already stunned.

  "Are you saying she's a flower? My goodness!" Lin Mo felt extremely incredulous.

  "Little girl, you're so cute." Lin Mo unexpectedly pinched Ah Mei's cheek.

  "Do you believe it?"

  "As long as it's you who said it, I'll believe it and support it." Lin Mo nodded firmly.

  "Sister, this is what brother asked me to give you." Ah Mei suddenly produced a very beautiful flower from her hand. The flower was purple, much lighter than lavender, with golden spots in the purple, like the twinkling starry sky.

  "Thank you, sister." Lin Mo looked at me with deep affection and smiled happily.

  I talked a lot with Lin Mo, from the beginning to now, I told her everything I've heard and seen, because I decided to let her follow me in the future, no matter where I go.

  At this moment, a fat-headed and big-eared fatty suddenly rushed in from outside, wasn't it Mao Shi Jiu!

  "Yang Guo, damn it, where have you been for the past few days? I was worried to death about you. Now that you're still with me, I'm relieved." Mao Shiying burst in, scolding him loudly.

  "Has my grandfather been bullied by you until he's addicted? I've returned after barely escaping with my life, and as a master, you're not only ignoring me but also scolding me." At this time, I was also unaware of where the inexplicable anger came from, and I didn't give Mao Shi Jiu a good look.

  "I didn't care, and Laozi almost turned the whole school upside down, you heartless person." At this time, Lin Mo happened to pull me, as if reminding me.

  "I don't care, I just don't like you now, if you have the guts, let's go out and settle this one on one." I shouted.

  "Damn it, who's afraid of whom? Come on!"

  "Come on! Who's afraid of whom?" But no one moved from their seat.

  Scolded for half a day and got tired.

  "Damn it, I'm not going to argue with you anymore, I'll go get a drink of water first." Mao Shi Jiu said, panting.

  "You're so arrogant, how come you haven't been seen for days and your eloquence has improved so much?" I'm also exhausted.

  "Tell me quickly where you went! Even the soul-calling technique couldn't find you."

  "Two days ago, I heard that the water in Song Bridge had become stagnant. I went to take a look and indeed it was so. The sudden change made me think of a strange case from the beginning. On that day, a girl jumped off the building and committed suicide without bleeding at all. Even forensic doctors couldn't explain it. What's even stranger is that at the same time, the water in Song Bridge turned blood red, just like fresh blood. Although I personally verified that there were large amounts of iron elements inside, which was also confirmed by the school authorities, when I connected several cases before and after, I found a few key words: the water in Song Bridge turning red, the collective hanging of girls' dormitory's golden bell, the big fire in boys' dormitory, and the thousand-year-old tree hanging (wood). Coincidentally, aren't these four elements of gold, wood, water, and fire? Adding to that, the ghost mentioned something about an array eye earlier. I suspected that the ghost was setting up a large array related to the five elements. When I realized the severity of the problem, my first thought was to find you. However, just as I turned around to leave, I saw someone drowning in the river in Song Bridge. Without hesitation, I jumped into the water to rescue him and was swept away by an unknown strong current. When I woke up, I found myself not in the water but on a dry land surrounded by stone walls everywhere."

  Cao Jingyu's expression turned solemn after hearing this, apparently he had grasped the severity of the problem. After a moment of thought, he said, "Continue."

  "I previously told you that the nine deaths and one life were not exaggerated. The place where I woke up was not somewhere else, but it was indeed the Song Dynasty tomb that our school is built on top of. I floated in through a thief's hole, which was located at the second level leading to the tomb chamber. This tomb chamber is divided into seven levels, from bottom to top, numbered one to seven. The seventh level (the highest) had been emptied by grave robbers and archaeological teams.

  From the sixth level onwards, I discovered human oil lamps, stone beds, giant bats, and a stone painting. A giant bat tried to eat me, but I burned it to death, burning the entire tomb chamber clean. Then, I found a blood room filled with tree roots, where vampire butterflies appeared. I used a monk's hand bone that I picked up to save myself.

  After escaping the tomb chamber, I discovered a large tree and accidentally fell off a cliff, which is when I realized the seven-layer structure of the tomb chamber. I met the Corpse King and was chased by a swarm of corpse insects, fleeing into the first layer of the tomb chamber. There, I had a fierce battle with the Seven-Colored Lotus, almost losing my life, but was saved by my sister.

  The first layer of the tomb chamber collapsed, and later, on the second level, I discovered the Double Fish Jade Pendant, which turned out to be the key to the tomb chamber. On the third level, I met a monk's remains that guided me upwards, leading me to the fifth level. There, I encountered the master of this tomb chamber, the Black-Haired Zombie, and learned about the shocking secrets within.

  Finally, I chased after the Black-Haired Zombie to the fourth level but don't know how it escaped. We also used the Double Fish Jade Pendant's Yin fish to escape, but the thousand-year-old tomb was destroyed in an instant.

  I've simply recounted what happened inside the tomb chamber, leaving out many details, such as the changes in my yin-yang eyes' pupil colors, the stone bed from my dreams, and that my sister is actually the Ghost King Flower."

  "What earth-shattering secret have you discovered?" asked Mao Shi Jiu.

  "The master of the tomb, a black-haired zombie, told us that a thousand years ago he had found an icy coffin for himself before his death and entered it. Less than a month after entering the coffin, grave robbers visited the tomb, among whom two monks (master and apprentice) revealed the secret of the tomb chamber and came to the lower chamber. Along the way, they competed with each other, and finally, one of them, the lamp-holding monk (the master), stole the icy coffin, a pair of mysterious night-glowing cups, and a heavenly purple silk garment, locking the black-haired zombie in the fifth layer of the tomb chamber. Another treasure that could predict the future, the stone bed, was forever buried underground."

  After saying so many mysterious things in one breath, Mao Shi Jiu felt a bit unadapted.

  "You little rascal, this time you've seen so many treasures that I haven't even heard of, including many legendary ones. The stone bed you mentioned is recorded in ancient books and is said to be the bed where Emperor Yu slept, known as the "Dream Stone Bed" in folklore; it's said that Yu's methods for controlling floods all came from his dreams. And then there's the Double Fish Jade Pendant you mentioned, which shocked China in the 1970s; the Cold Mystic Ice Coffin is also well-known, unearthed in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty and later lost to the ages; the Seven-Colored Glazed Lotus is called the "Spirit of the Volcano" and is an extremely rare and highly toxic substance."

  "As for the other two treasures you mentioned, I've never heard of them. The Nightglow Cup and the Celestial Silkworm Robe are probably only known to archaeologists and grave robbers!" Ma Shi Jiu added.

  "Come on, kid, confess honestly, how many things did you steal?" asked Mao Shi Jiu with a sly tone.

  "The seven-colored lotus was eaten by me, and the double fish jade pendant was left in the tomb." I said half truth and half lie.

  "Have you eaten? You're a waste of heaven's gift!" Mao Shi Jiu almost hung his head in shame.