Chapter 24: Lanzhou Meets an Immortal

  The Three-Eyed Temple is located at the bottom of the deep mountains and ancient forests in Yunnan, one of the three major relics of the ancient Asian gods. I was first encountered with a curse there, just entering the entrance of the underground palace made me faint, but Youzi was different from me, he had entered it many times before, based on his discoveries over the years, it can be inferred that the lost Dragon Pearl for thousands of years is hidden in this temple.

  During the days I was unconscious, Youzi and Zhou Xingma have been tracking the footsteps of "Hei Niukou" without stopping. They found that they had entered the Three-eyed Temple during this period and came out from it. Zhou Xing inferred that these people are very likely to have obtained the Dragon Ball already and have set off towards their next destination, Lan Palace.

  Just as we were thinking about how to continue tracking down "Black Button", Uncle Liu said that I must bring someone along. I found it strange and asked Uncle Liu, "Who should I bring?"

  Uncle Liu said, "This man used to be one of your father's partners, named Liu Song, nicknamed 'Liu the Big Cannon'. This Liu the Big Cannon is extremely skilled with his hands, quick-witted and a straight shooter. Except for Mao Sandou who was kicked out of the mountain gate, your father valued him the most in the past. Only if he accompanies you on this trip can I be at ease."

  "I exclaimed: 'Has my father ever had someone like this under him? How come I've never known about it?'"

  Liu Shu sighed and said, "Since I promised your father to take good care of you, I never planned to let you inherit the family business again. Alas... who knew that in the end, you still joined this line, perhaps it's fate."

  I heard Liu Shu say so, and I thought that the Tongmen's Chuanhao Mountain should have been disbanded since my father died. Even if we found the old partners now, they might not be willing to help us. So I asked Liu Shu: "If there are more helpers, I would naturally be grateful, but is this Liu Dapao... willing to help us?"

  Uncle Liu said to me, "You don't have to worry about this. Your father had a favor for Liu Dapao back in the day, and he's also one of your father's most trusted partners. I'll go find him and ask him to come out of retirement, he definitely won't refuse."

  So the plan was settled, I continued to rest in the hospital for two more days, Su Qin stayed behind to take care of me, You Zi went to instruct people to prepare equipment, Liu Shu was responsible for contacting Liu Da Pao, and Zhou Xing continued to pay attention to the movements of the "Black Button" gang. During this period, a not-so-big-or-small episode occurred, Li Jian Guan, who was injured in the Wu Wang tomb, actually sent someone to visit me, this person was his girlfriend and subordinate, named Mo Xiao Bei, also responsible for investigating the theft case of Jiao Jin Hao.

  What surprised me was that Mo Xiaobei came to see me this time, and also left a sentence for Li Xiang that I didn't expect - take care of yourself.

  It seems that I underestimated this Officer Li, he must have also seen through our tomb raider identities, but at the time of Wu Wang's grave, he was forced by the situation and did not expose us. According to his character, I dare to confirm that next time he will continue to track down the Jiao Jin number, if I accidentally bump into him again, who knows, I might be caught by him.

  But it's come to this, and I don't have anything good to say. The most important thing right now is to lift the curse from me and Youzi.

  In less than two days, I had completed the discharge procedures and was packing my things when Uncle Liu brought Liu Dapao over. This Liu Dapao didn't look impressive at all - from his appearance, you couldn't tell that he used to be a street fighter; he had a round face, a big belly, and looked like a decent businessman.

  He quietly followed behind Uncle Liu, and when Uncle Liu entered the door, he saw that I was alone and asked me where Youzi and others had gone, and why Su Qian wasn't there either. I said everyone was busy collecting things, and it's unknown how long they would take to come back.

  Liu Shu said: "Long Qiu, come here and let me introduce you. This is Liu Dapao."

  Before I could even speak, Liu Dapao walked up to me with a loud guffaw and said: "Young master, I remember when I last came to see you, you were just a toddler who had just learned how to walk. I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, you'd grow up so big."

  I returned the courtesy, thinking that this Liu Dapao was indeed generous, and didn't bother with formalities either. After chatting for a few sentences, the topic turned to this operation. I said to Liu Dapao: "Our destination this time is Yulong Snow Mountain, I don't know if you've been there with my dad in the past."

  Liu Dapao said, "Don't be modest, young master. In the past, I followed your father on his travels all over the country, and we really didn't miss out on many places, including the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Ah yes, that piece of jade your father left you was brought down from the mountain."

  I didn't expect that just a casual question would reveal the origin of the number chip. I quickly followed up with another question: "Have you found the ancient tomb on the mountain?"

  Liu Dapao shook his head and said, "That's not it, but we found the remains of the craftsmen who built the ancient tomb. It was buried under several meters of snow. The locals said that the ancient tomb must be nearby, but 80% of it is probably inside the mountain. With our conditions at the time, we couldn't even dig through the surface snow, let alone go in. There was no way to start."

  I asked again: "Where did my father get the ancient jade from?"

  Who knows, Liu Dapao said he didn't know either, only knowing that my father had said that the numbered core was brought back from Snow Mountain. I asked him how my father thought of going to Yulong Snow Mountain to fight against the wind that year, and Liu Dapao told me the reason for this matter.

  Originally, Liu Dapao's ancestors were antique dealers in the capital city before he inserted incense in Longshan. When it was passed down to his great-grandfather's generation, a mysterious person once brought an ancient painting to his great-grandfather and asked for 1,000 taels of silver. His great-grandfather saw the painting at that time and found that it was not created by a famous artist, but the inscription "Lan Taoye meets the fairy" seemed to be written in Chongde's handwriting, so he knew it was something from the palace and didn't dare to take it.

  That mysterious person was very down and out at the time, perhaps because he urgently needed money, so he begged bitterly, claiming that this painting contained a shocking secret, if one could penetrate it, they would definitely obtain countless precious treasures, enough to enrich a country.

  Liu Dapao's great-grandfather didn't take it to heart at the time, thinking that this person must have gone mad from poverty. However, he couldn't get around this mysterious person and felt that the painting was still quite tasteful, plus it was a palace thing, so later on he agreed to borrow the painting for copying, keeping the copy for himself and returning the original to the mysterious person, who then received 100 taels of silver from him before leaving.

  Later, this ancient painting was passed down to Liu Dapao's hands. After Liu Dapao inserted the incense in Longshan, he followed my father from then on. One day, my father saw the painting that had been passed down through his ancestors and suddenly became infatuated with it, staying at Liu Dapao's house for several days and nights to study it carefully. Liu Dapao found this strange and asked my father, "Master, forgive me for being impertinent, but what exactly did you discover in this painting? Could it be that this painting is actually a treasure map?"

  "My dad said: 'This is not an ordinary painting at all, it contains a hidden mystery, recording the route map of an ancient god's tomb. It's very likely to be the ancient tomb I'm looking for. However, this painting doesn't record much detail, I only know that the location of this ancient tomb is roughly on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.'"

  Later, my father led a group of subordinates from Mount Tong to search for the tomb on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Unfortunately, the ancient tomb was buried too deeply, and only its approximate location was known, but no one knew how to dig it open. However, once, my father disappeared for many days on the snow mountain, and when he returned, all his equipment and rations were gone, leaving behind only a piece of ancient jade. When everyone asked him where he had been, he remained tight-lipped, saying that this jade would be useful to him and wouldn't be used as an expense for Mount Tong.

  And since then, my father also ordered the transmission of Mountain to give up searching for this grave. Many years have passed, and that period on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain has gradually faded from Liu Dapao's mind. This time, through my mention, he remembered it again.

  I couldn't help but click my tongue in dismay, thinking that all the clues indeed pointed to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. My father had been searching for the so-called ancient divine tomb all those years ago, and it was likely that the Azure Goddess Queen had built the Orchid Palace there without a doubt. Since he could get his hands on the core of the Golden Horned Number, perhaps during those two days when he went missing back then, he might have already entered the Orchid Palace. It seemed that the divine tomb buried deep in the snow mountain should have a secret passage for people to enter.

  At this point, I didn't ask any more questions, but instead let everyone hurry up and prepare. Once everything was ready, we set off for the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain the next day.

  Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is located in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. The terrain is treacherous and difficult to traverse. The entire mountain range runs north-south, 25 kilometers wide and 50 kilometers long, mainly composed of primitive forests, snowfields, glaciers, meadows, and rivers. Our destination this time is the snowfield above 4,000 meters above sea level.

  With Su Qin's connections, everyone made their way through the checkpoints and entered the mountains with their equipment without any issues. As they were worried that this operation would attract attention, they split into two groups to head into the mountains, agreeing to meet at a deserted area. I, Su Qin, and Liu Dapao were in one group, while Youzi and Zhou Xing were in another, with the latter two heading ahead of us. By the time we arrived at our destination following the pre-drawn route map, Youzi and Zhou Xing had already set up their tents.

  This place is located between the original forest and the snowy mountains, a very long gentle slope with sandy and stony ground, dotted with some green grass. This is my first time coming to this place, which is different from the scenic area in the first half of the journey. Although the scenery here is not brilliant, it has a few more natural flavors.

  The sky was extremely clear, full of starlight, with a large and bright moon surrounded by stars. However, the surroundings were quiet to the point where there wasn't even any insect sounds. After finishing dinner, we once again discussed tomorrow's mountain route. After roughly deciding on a plan, Liu Dabao arranged the order for taking turns keeping watch at night, and everyone began to rest.

  A night without words.

  The next day, after breakfast, we hastily set off into the mountains. This place was already a no-man's land, so the mountain road was rugged and difficult to navigate. We not only had to carry our daily necessities but also bring guns and ammunition, making our progress extremely slow. Our planned route was to first cross over a mountain ridge from the foot of the mountain, enter a valley, and then start climbing from the south side of the valley. We would march until nightfall and set up camp, estimating that we could cross the snow line by the afternoon of the third day.

  We basically had no experience in acting on snowy mountains, and the necessary equipment was all arranged by Liu Dapao. The most important ones were purchased by Youzi, some of which couldn't be bought on the market, such as Kunlun hooks, black donkey hooves, flying tiger claws, etc., were also customized in advance. In addition, we brought snow-melting, ice-picking, and mountain-climbing tools, all in all, each person had to carry about 20 pounds.

  Everyone had just climbed over the mountain ridge and entered the front half of the canyon, but they were all so tired that they couldn't walk anymore, so they had to find a place to rest first.

  Youzi sat on his backpack, wiping sweat non-stop and said to me: "Damn it, you say today's sun is so poisonous? I think later climbing the mountain will be suffocating."

  I smiled and said: "Don't complain, take advantage of the warmth now, once you cross the snow line, there's no chance to enjoy it."

  At this time, Liu Dapao suddenly laughed and said to me: "It seems that the proverb says that there is a father and son, it's really not wrong. The young master's words, when we came to this place in Tonghuashan, the host also told us."

  I heard him mention my dad, and suddenly remembered that year they went to the snowy mountain to find the Orchid Palace, what they experienced must have been extraordinary, so I couldn't help but ask: "Uncle Liu, when you came to this area back then, did you encounter anything particularly unusual, can you tell me?"

  Liu Dapao took a deep breath, looked up at the sky and said to me: "There's something very special I want to tell you... Actually, when my brothers came here back then, it wasn't considered a rebellion, but rather seeking dragons (finding ancient tombs). The process was extremely dull and uninteresting, so there isn't much to say. However, there is one thing I can tell you."

  At this time, everyone also gathered around, wanting to hear what happened when Longmen came to this place that year.

  Liu Dapao pondered for a moment, his eyes glazed over, and his thoughts flew back to that year: "I still remember, before we climbed the snowy mountain, we encountered a thousand-year-old corpse..."

  "Jiangshi? Does such a thing really exist?"

  It is said that "the corpse has three changes", in the folk legend, the corpse change generally refers to the zombie, also known as the big rice dumpling. However, very few people know that the corpse change is actually divided into three types: Jiǎn Biàn (诈变), Shā Biàn (煞变) and Xíng Biàn (行变). The corpse of Jiǎn Biàn is called a zombie, the corpse of Shā Biàn is called a Corpse Evil, while the corpse of Xíng Biàn is called a Walking Corpse.

  Actually, the formation of zombies and Jiangshi is quite simple, and not due to the power of ghosts or gods. Since ancient times, there have been many legends about zombies attacking people, but in fact, it's because the corpse has a very yin attribute and has grown many bacteria that carry static electricity on its body. So when this kind of corpse encounters the yang energy of a living person, it will actively pounce on the living person due to the attractive properties of the two kinds of energy fields. This phenomenon is normal, but people have exaggerated it over time.

  Jiangshi and jiangshi are almost the same, but in fact, jiangshi is a kind of witchcraft of shamanism. They pour secret medicine into the mouth and nose of the corpse when it has just died and the heat has not dissipated, and then use hawthorn wood to block the anus and seven orifices of the corpse, thus artificially creating a zombie with hair on its body.

  However, the walking corpse is fundamentally different from the first two. It is said that the walking corpse looks no different from a living person in appearance, with the only difference being that it has no pupils. It can run and jump, with immense strength, and is not afraid of knives or guns, making it the most bizarre kind of corpse.