The 25th Chapter: The Country Floating in the Sky

  Liu Dapao mentioned that when he was in Chuanhuoshan, a group of thieves came to Xueshan to fight, and before climbing the mountain, they encountered a walking corpse. He couldn't help but break out in goosebumps, apparently still having lingering fears after all these years.

  Youzi was very curious, he seemed to be half-believing and half-doubting Liu Dapao's words, but seeing Liu Dapao's terrified expression didn't seem fake, so he couldn't help but ask: "What exactly happened at the time? How can there be a thousand-year-old corpse in a place like this? Liu senior, quickly tell everyone."

  Liu Dapao was stunned for a while before he came back to his senses and said to us: "Actually, the route we took wasn't originally there, but was explored step by step by our brothers who followed the leader. At that time, when the large group climbed the mountain, the leader would always send experienced scouts ahead to explore the road."

  He slowly recounted the events of years past, and as he did, the scenes unfolded before us once again after all these years.

  That year, the great chaos of Longshan was actually triggered by San Dangjia, who first provoked Liangshan. San Dangjia was an old man from Longshan and was indeed dissatisfied with Er Ye, an outsider, being above him. Over time, he harbored resentment in his heart and eventually stirred up a storm. As a result, small matters became big, and Chuanhao Mountain was the first to be affected. Although Er Ye was harmed, his only son Long Hao managed to escape safely from Longshan with the help of Mao Sandou, leading a group of loyal subordinates from Chuanhao Mountain to establish another faction.

  But it was said that Chuanhao Mountain had just gained independence, and Mao Sandou asked Long Hao to expel him from the sect again. However, the Long family's foundation was not stable, and after Mao Sandou left, all major and minor matters fell on Long Hao's shoulders. Long Hao was young, his wrist was not as strong as that of the second master, and he did not have Mao Sandou's strategic mind, so it was really difficult for him to take a step forward, with difficulties piling up one after another.

  Long Hao knew that the development of Chuanhao Mountain couldn't be separated from money, so in the following years, he often took a few skilled brothers to go out and fight. The first few times were smooth, and back and forth, they indeed added a considerable amount of expenses for Chuanhao Mountain. However, there was an accident once, six brothers went out, only Long Hao returned injured.

  Since then, Longhao has been much lower-key than before, staying at home and letting Liu Dapao handle most of his affairs. Outsiders thought that Longhao was disheartened by his defeat, but only Liu Dapao knew that the reason for Longhao's seclusion was that he was studying documents from all over the country to find the three ancient divine tombs.

  Later, Long Hao happened to see the painting "Lan Tao Meets the Fairy" at Liu Dapao's home and realized a hidden ancient tomb route in it. This ancient tomb was one of the divine tombs that Long Hao had been searching for. From then on, things started to unfold.

  At that time, Long Hao led a group of thieves from Chuanhao Mountain to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. According to the route on the "Lan Duo Meets the Fairy Map", they occasionally sent scouts to explore the road ahead. At that time, Long Hao and his men happened to be resting in this valley as well. The thieves had just sat down for a short while when two scouts returned to report that there was a landslide at the foot of the mountain ahead, revealing a cave entrance. Upon hearing this, Long Hao immediately let the scouts lead the way and rushed to that location.

  "That year, my father's team encountered the walking corpse there?" I listened in surprise, never expecting that the walking corpse was at the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain, originally thinking they had only met after crossing the snow line.

  Liu Dapao nodded and said, "That's right, the Jiangshi is indeed in that collapsed ancient tomb. In fact, when we brothers entered the ancient tomb back then, the master had already sensed that there was something extraordinary inside, but didn't expect it to be a Jiangshi. Anyway, the things inside that tomb were extremely powerful, and although we all brought our equipment, in the end we still lost two brothers before we could finally deal with that Jiangshi."

  He then said to me, "After the event, the master of the house told me that the thing in the tomb was a princess from Lantuo Country in her lifetime. It's the tribe that left behind those three ancient god tombs."

  I and Youzi were shocked to hear this, looking at each other in dismay. No matter what, we couldn't have imagined that this walking corpse would be the princess of the Demon God clan. According to legend, any corpse that undergoes a transformation after death is due to the poor feng shui of its burial site. How could the Demon God Queen, such an extraordinary person, allow her own daughter to be buried in a desolate and evil place, leading to her becoming a walking corpse?

  I asked Liu Dapao in a hurry, "What's going on? How can the princess be buried inside the tomb? As far as I know, the mausoleums of kings and nobles have always occupied the best feng shui since ancient times. Even if the place where they were buried was not a dragon vein, it would not fall into an evil cave and become a big rice dumpling after death."

  Liu Dapao said, "Yes, I also found it strange at first and asked the master why a princess was buried in his tomb. The master seemed reluctant to talk about it much, only saying that it was an important location and Queen Lantou had to arrange for her most trusted confidants to be buried there to suppress something."

  Su Qin was busy with work a few days ago, so she didn't understand some things and pushed me to ask: "Long Qiu, isn't it the Ya Shen tribe? How did it become Lan Tu country?"

  I said to Su Qin, "Actually, Lantian refers to the Orchid Palace. You may not know the origin of 'Lantian Meets the Fairy'. The night before last, I and Youzi went to Liu Dapao's house to see that painting. As for this painting, Liu Dapao's father had carefully studied it in his early years and even wrote a book called 'Lantian Picture Chronicle' because of it. According to the introduction on the picture chronicle, the original author of 'Lantian Meets the Fairy' was a recluse at the end of the Ming Dynasty. This recluse is unknown by name, and can only be known by his pseudonym 'Bai Shan Ju Shi' from the inscription on the painting."

  "This white mountain hermit was extremely fond of cloud travel, and one time he came to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. When he stood at the foot of the mountain and looked up, he suddenly discovered a palace in the snowy white peak. The White Mountain Hermit felt very surprised, thinking that this palace must be the heavenly mountain's immortal palace, which is rarely seen in the mortal world. He immediately took out his brush and ink to depict the scene he saw, and then wrote a poem on the painting: 'The jade waves are like golden dragons rolling, the clouds and mist are brought together with one stroke of the brush. The murky ink cannot write the color of the high mountain, perhaps it is Penglai falling into the mortal world. The carved railings and jade steps lean against the light, the flying eaves and green tiles are at the mercy of the clouds. I only ask where the Lan Tao is, unexpectedly meeting this immortal in the heavenly boundary.'"

  Su Qin's literary attainments are quite profound, and after listening to me recite this poem, she couldn't help but exclaim: "This recluse is truly a superior person, able to write such poetic lines with this kind of atmosphere."

  I burst out laughing and said to Su Qin: "It's rare to hear you, Miss Su, praise our stunt performers. It's really refreshing!"

  Su Qin was taken aback by my words and didn't react until after a while, then asked me: "You mean to say... that this Bai Shan hermit, when he was alive, was a grave robber?"

  I said to Su Qin, "Who do you think he is? If he's not a grave robber, how would he know the method of 'drawing a map to guide the way' in grave robbing? And how would he know the general route of the Ya Shen Lan Palace? So I say, among the tomb raiders, there are also extraordinary people who are not ordinary, right?"

  Su Qin glanced away, pretending to be disdainful: "I didn't want to argue with you about this, but you still haven't answered my question!"

  I knew that this woman's prejudice against the tomb raider would not be easily dispelled for the time being, so I didn't dwell on this issue anymore and continued my previous narration to her: "I and Youzi carefully studied that 'Lan Dagu Zhi', this Bai Shan hermit must have found Lan Gong back then, and it's unlikely that he just saw it from the foot of the mountain, otherwise there wouldn't be a map of the route to Lan Gong hidden in the painting."

  Su Qin saw that I hadn't gotten to the point yet and couldn't help but ask again, "Then why is this Lan Palace called Lantuo Country?"

  I said to Su Qin, "It's said that this 'Lantian Encounters the Immortals' painting was originally untitled. Later, for some unknown reason, during the Qing dynasty, it was presented to the palace and Chongde Ye fell deeply in love with it. He believed that the painting depicted a mysterious country floating in the sky because the pattern on top of the palace resembled a 'Lantian ancient flower'. Since the two characters 'Lantian' also appeared in Bai Shan Ju Shi's poem, he named this mystical nation 'Lantian Country' and inscribed the five large characters 'Lantian Encounters the Immortals' on the painting."

  Su Qin said: "Lan Tuo ancient flower? Is it referring to the pattern resembling an orchid on top of Lan Palace?"

  I said to Su Qin: "I don't know if the pattern on Lan Gong depicts a lan tuo gu flower, but at least Bai Shan Ju Shi and Huang Tai Ji thought so."

  Su Qin nodded and said: "Then what is Lantuo Guhua after all? I've never heard of it."

  I told Su Qin, "According to the description in 'Lan Da Tu Zhi', Lan Da ancient flower is a legendary celestial flower, said to be transformed from the hairpin of the Queen Mother of the West. This rare flower only grows in extremely cold places and blooms once every 4,000 years, but its withering speed is even faster than that of the ephemeral flower. If someone can pluck it at the moment it blooms and mix it with snow mountain water to drink, then this person will be able to regain youth and live forever."

  Su Qin furrowed her brow, pondering for a moment before suddenly saying: "This flower can grant eternal youth if eaten! If the pattern of this flower appears on the Lan Palace, could it be related to the prophecy of the Sub-God Sorcerer King?"

  I nodded and said, "It's possible. I've always thought that the orchid totem on the mural wasn't simple. The Ah-god tribe worshipped the savage god bird before the Great Flood, and the totem was also this creature. If we understand it from a normal angle, the totem at the top of the Orchid Palace should be the savage god bird as well. Since the totem has been replaced with an orchid, it can be explained that in the period before the flood arrived, for some reason, this 'orchid' had already taken the place of the savage god bird in the hearts of the Ah-god tribe people. And this reason should be related to the prophecy of the Witch King that the Ah-god tribe would revive. It can even be further speculated that the revival of the Ah-god tribe was assisted by the power of the flower on the totem, and perhaps this flower is really the legendary Orchid Ancient Flower."

  Su Qin didn't quite agree with my point of view, thinking that it was too early to draw conclusions now. What exactly happened would only be known after entering the Orchid Palace.

  Having discussed this, everyone had rested enough. Oil Zi glanced at his watch and said it was getting late, so he urged everyone to set off quickly.

  I suddenly remembered the year when a group of thieves encountered a walking corpse at Mount Chuanhao. Since the person buried in that tomb was a princess of the Ya Shen tribe, then that grave must not be simple. It may still hold clues to the Lan Palace. I asked Liu Dapao: "Uncle Liu, where is the ancient tomb where you encountered the walking corpse back then? Can you take us there to take a look?"

  Liu Dapao said: "It's been too long, I don't remember it very clearly either. However, that ancient tomb is halfway up the mountain we climbed. If I continue walking forward, I should be able to recognize it. But... when we discovered the tomb back then, it had already collapsed severely. Now that so many years have passed, it's probably been buried in the mountain."

  I waved my hand and walked away, saying to Liu Dapao: "Never mind, never mind, just remember to show me later."

  Liu Dapao didn't quite understand what I wanted to do, and asked strangely: "What? Young master wants to enter that tomb? Our destination isn't there, let's not make unnecessary trouble."

  Su Qin said to Liu Dapao, "Long Qiu is right. There might be clues about the Orchid Palace in that tomb. It's better if we go take a look later. If the tomb is still there."

  The team set off again, and everyone stopped talking, each silently moving forward. I looked at Zhou Xing walking in front of me and thought that this guy's sense of presence was really too low, during the time we were chatting, I didn't notice him at all, until now when the team gradually fell silent, I paid attention to him again.

  At this point, our team is basically united, the only uncertain factor is Zhou Xing. He's really too mysterious, even though I've always believed he won't harm us, but in my subconscious, I still can't help but be on guard against him. Maybe it was because of the influence of You Zi earlier, who had always thought that his secrecy towards us was not with good intentions.

  However, during the days I was hospitalized, Youzi and Zhou Xing's relationship took an unprecedented turn, and I don't know what charm Zhou Xing has that can win over Youzi.

  In short, in this bizarre experience, too many things made me incomprehensible, whether it was the curse of the Three-eyed Temple or the last prophecy of the Subgod Witch King. Apart from these, the "Black Button" group is the most confusing to me.

  Ever since I was cursed by the third eye of the Three-Eyed God, I have experienced too many unbelievable changes. Everything that happens in front of me feels like a dream, or like a scene from an adventure movie. This feeling was especially strong during the days when I was hospitalized, so strong that it drove me to the verge of mental collapse.

  At this time, my body had recovered its health, and the adventurous blood in my bones surged out again. Now, for me, I hope to break through the secrets of the Ya Shen tribe more than lifting the curse on myself and Youzi. Fortunately, Liu Dapao has joined us, and no matter what, it should be a good thing. At least there is one more experienced veteran in the team, and we can also learn more about my ancestors from Liu Dapao.

  Since I knew about the series of secrets that my father and others came to Yulong Snow Mountain to find Lang Palace, I have been feeling some very important clues, and I also feel that Lang Palace will bury all the answers. Maybe all this has something to do with the prophecy of the Witch King of the Ya Shen tribe. Based on this speculation, it is not impossible for the "Black Button" group to want to get the secret of the Ya Shen tribe's rebirth after death and achieve some great ambition.