Chapter 27: The Guardian of the Mausoleum

  At this moment, behind me was a cliff. If I dodged her attack, I would inevitably lose my footing and fall, which would be a fatal outcome. At that moment, my mind was racing, and suddenly I remembered the move "Yellow Sparrow in the Back" that my father had taught me back then, which could be used to deal with this situation. So I quickly lowered my body, opened my arms to hold onto the waist of the woman in green, took a step forward with my left leg, and drew an arc with my right foot, successfully turning around to her back.

  The woman in the green dress let out a surprised "huh" and seemed taken aback, but I didn't give her time to react. I immediately threw a punch, intending to hit the back of her neck. But she suddenly ducked down and also used the move "Yellow Sparrow Behind", instantly dodging behind me with incredible speed. Before I could even react, my neck was already in her grasp.

  I thought she would strangle me to death next, but unexpectedly this woman suddenly smiled lightly and loosened her grip on my neck, standing still on the spot, having already withdrawn her aggressive posture.

  I turned around and stared at her in a daze, wondering what was going on, feeling extremely surprised in my heart, thinking to myself how this woman could be using my father's kung fu. Just then I heard her say to me: "Is it true that the Dragon Clan's skills decline with each generation?"

  I furrowed my brow, and upon hearing the implication behind her words, it seemed that she had a deep connection with Tonghuashan. I asked tentatively: "Senior, aren't you also from Longshan?"

  The woman in the green dress still avoided answering, but instead said to me: "However, your move 'Yellow Sparrow Behind' is quite impressive, unlike your father, he uses this move awkwardly, not like a yellow sparrow, but rather like a monkey."

  I didn't know how to respond, so I just looked at her without speaking. The woman seemed not to feel the slightest awkwardness in the situation and turned around to face away from me, saying: "Let your companions come up too."

  After she finished speaking, she walked to a big rock and sat down, staring blankly into space, completely ignoring us. This woman's behavior reminded me of Zhou Xing, in some sense, the two of them gave me a similar feeling of cold arrogance, except that this woman had less of a worldly air about her, while Zhou Xing had more of an air of weariness.

  The woman didn't seem like an enemy, just now she made a move, probably just to test my martial arts skills, to confirm that I am the descendant of Longmen Mountain. So I also slightly relaxed my guard, suddenly remembered Su Qing being thrown to the ground by this woman earlier, hurriedly walked over to help her up and asked: "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

  Su Qin saw that I was worried and suddenly looked a bit shy, turning her face away and saying: "I'm fine, she didn't intend to hurt me."

  I saw Su Da Xiaojie rarely reveal a young lady's demeanor, and I couldn't help but smile at her. Su Qing saw my smiling face turn even redder, and she hurriedly raised her small fist to scold me, saying: "What are you smiling about? Hurry up and call everyone over!"

  Deng Youzi, Liu Dapao and Zhou Xing all climbed to the top of the cliff, and the woman in green finally stood up again. Everyone was surprised to see that the flute player was a woman, and the woman in green stood tall opposite us, her eyes scanning each person, but stopping for a moment on Zhou Xing. I noticed this detail and suddenly felt strange, thinking that this woman must know Zhou Xing?

  Just now when the enemy and I were not distinguished, the woman in green suddenly used the "Ling Jing" of the Jia Wu Zhen technique, and Zhou Xing was also able to distinguish that it was a Zhen technique, which shows that there must be some hidden truth. Moreover, Zhou Xing is a mysterious person who knows many secrets of the ancient gods, and his personality is also very similar to that of the woman in green. At this moment, the woman in green looked at him with particular attention, perhaps these two people still have some unknown relationship.

  At this point, I couldn't help but start paying attention to these two people. The sudden appearance of the woman in green might bring us unexpected clues, it's hard to say for now.

  It was still Liu Dapao who broke the silence first, and he bowed his hands to the woman in green, saying: "I don't know which mountain you are a friend from..."

  The woman in blue clothes waved her hand and said, "Let's skip the pleasantries. I just want to know what you're doing here."

  She said, intentionally or unintentionally glancing at my and Oil's forehead. Before Liu Dapao could respond, she turned around and walked towards the deep mountains, saying to everyone: "Follow me."

  I exchanged a brief glance with Youzi, thinking that this woman must have seen the curse on us, just like Zhou Xing did when he first saw us. I increasingly felt that there was some unknown connection between this green-clad girl and Zhou Xing, and if we followed her now, perhaps these secrets would be revealed.

  So I said to everyone: "Let's follow her and see what she wants to do."

  The woman in green clothes walked very quickly and soon entered the dense forest ahead, so everyone else also quickened their pace to follow her. The path that the woman led was winding and curved, we were worried that when it was time to come out, we would lose our way, so we had to make marks along the way.

  But then I don't know how long we walked, Su Qin suddenly pointed ahead and said to me: "Look, there's a house!"

  I hastily raised my eyes to look over, and indeed saw a roof appearing vaguely in the depths of the dense forest in front of me. It seemed like a pavilion. I couldn't help but be surprised that such an ancient building would appear in such a desolate place, and thought to myself that perhaps this green-robed woman was hiding out here?

  The fact proved my idea, the woman led us through several rows of shrubs and stopped in front of this attic. I had never seen such an old building before, so I couldn't help but raise my head to observe it carefully.

  In front of me, this pavilion is very tall and has three floors. The roof is a typical octagonal shape with wooden beams and brackets, and the bricks and tiles are all made of mountain rocks, which must have been built by the ancients using local materials. Such a large-scale pavilion cannot be completed by one person alone, so it can be seen that the people who left this ancient building should be the ancestors of the woman in green clothes. Just now I saw that this woman didn't seem like an ordinary person, and it seems that she is indeed a recluse from her ancestors.

  It was strange that the woman in blue didn't invite us all to go in, but instead turned around and pointed at me alone, saying: "Young man, follow me, the rest of you please wait for a moment." After speaking, she actually turned around again, pushed open the door and walked into the attic.

  Everyone was at a loss as to what the woman wanted to do, and they all looked at each other in dismay. I nodded to the crowd, indicating that everyone should calm down, and then followed the woman in green clothes into the attic.

  This is a elegant hall, in the center of which is laid a colorful autumn chrysanthemum carpet, surrounded by five armchairs arranged in order. On either side are placed tripodal incense burners with curved legs, and outside these are eight large red-lacquered pillars, whose bases are shaped like lotus flowers, while their brackets are carved into the shape of windswept clouds. Behind the main seat is a silken screen embroidered with gold thread, depicting scenes of birds paying homage to the phoenix and butterflies competing for flowers.

  The decorations in the outer hall, I have all seen them in the ancient books of Liu Shu's family, so I can recognize the famous halls at once. Although the combination is complex, there is not a bit of vulgarity. Since ancient times, it has been said that those who are good at hiding live in thatched cottages, but I never thought that this famous green-robed woman would live in such a fresh and elegant, ancient-colored attic. I even suspect that I have entered the fox fairy fantasy realm of "Liaozhai Zhiyi"!

  The woman in the blue dress didn't stay in the outer hall, but instead led me around the screen and up a wooden ladder to the second floor. The small corridor on the second floor encircled the octagonal house, with small lanterns and red ribbons hanging from the eaves. I felt extremely curious and couldn't help but reach out my hand to touch these lanterns, causing the copper bells below them to tinkle and ring out continuously.

  The girl still didn't pay attention to me, but instead walked into a side room by herself, and only then said to me: "Come in."

  I walked in slowly, but saw that the decorations in the side room were very simple, not as luxurious as outside. There was only a single bed, a table, two chairs and some calligraphy and paintings. The woman still wore the golden mask and didn't seem to have any intention of taking it off. She sat down on one of the chairs and pointed at the other chair, indicating that I should sit down too.

  "Senior, can I speak now? What did you call me in for?" I knew this wasn't the time to dawdle, my companions outside were still waiting for me, so as soon as I sat down, I quickly got to the point.

  The girl said to me: "Don't call me senior, my surname is Wei Chi, my name is Jiu, you... you can just call me Aunt Wei Chi."

  I nodded, and saw that the woman was slightly kinder at this moment. Suddenly thinking of Zhou Xing's relationship with her, I hurriedly asked: "General E, may I ask, do you know Zhou Xing?"

  Wei Chi Jiu was taken aback, then suddenly smiled lightly and said: "You actually discovered it, okay, I didn't plan to hide it from you either. My family has been hiding here since our ancestors' generation. From childhood to adulthood, I have never seen an outsider. After my parents passed away, only I was left here. Zhou Xing is the second outsider I've met in this life."

  "Then... The first foreigner you met... was my dad?"

  "Not bad, your father and Zhou Xing have both been here before. I suppose you know the reason why. Although they had never met before, they both came to this place one after another, searching for the ancient country of Lantian. However, that Lantian Palace is not a place ordinary people can enter. If it weren't for me saving them, they would have probably lost their lives here long ago."

  I couldn't have imagined she would be so frank, and hurriedly asked: "You also know about the ancient country of Lantuo? So, does a palace really exist on Snow Mountain?"

  Wei Chi nodded and said: "Actually, I am a guardian of the Langtao Palace."

  I was shocked: "What? A tomb guardian? So you're a member of the Ya Shen tribe..."

  Before I could finish speaking, she shook her head repeatedly and said: "I am not a person of that ancient tribe, but our ancestors were cursed by the things in the Lan Palace, so we had no choice but to live here. Because as long as we leave this mountain, we will die."

  She said, seemingly with a worried look on her face, and softly sighed before asking me again: "Does your father know 'The Picture of Lan Duo Meeting the Fairy'? Do you recognize this painting?"

  I nodded hastily and said I knew, but suddenly my mind was racing, and I stared at her in disbelief: "Could it be that the White Mountain Hermit who painted 'The Picture of Orchids and Fairies' is Aunt Yuchi's ancestor?"

  "Yes, Bai Shan Ju Shi is my ancestor. In the past, my ancestors and ancestral mother traveled to this place and suddenly saw a treasure aura on the snowy mountain, so they wanted to climb up and take a look. Who knew that they would encounter the curse of the tomb guardian and could no longer leave the mountain? That's why they hid in this place. My ancestor originally wanted to enter the Lantian Palace to find a way to break the curse, but as soon as he stepped into the palace gate, he fainted on the ground. If it weren't for my ancestral mother risking her life to save him back, I'm afraid he would have died inside long ago. My ancestor knew that his fainting was because the tomb guardian's curse on his body did not allow him to enter Lantian Palace, so he painted that 'Lan Tian Yu Xian Tu' and threw it down the mountain, hoping that in the future a high-ranking person would see it and enter Lantian Palace to break the curse for our family."

  I finally understood the origin of "Lan Duo Meets the Fairy", and I asked Wei Chi Jiu again: "Aunt Wei, did my father find Lan Duo Palace back then?"

  She nodded and said: "Found, but unfortunately he was in the main hall was shot by three-eyed god's divine light, himself also cursed, that is the kind on your forehead..."

  He said this, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "It is said that the curse of the three-eyed god, although also passed down from generation to generation, only has a mark on the forehead of the first generation's curser. You are supposed to be the second generation, how come you also have it? Could it be that you too have entered the Lan Ta Palace?"

  I shook my head and told her about my experience in the Temple of Three Eyes. She suddenly understood, muttering to herself: "Both second generation and first generation..."

  I don't know what she's thinking, just about to ask, suddenly remembered Zhou Xing, since Zhou Xing also came to find Lantian Palace that year, did he really know or not know the location of Lantian Palace? He told us he didn't know, was it a lie? Now the person who saved him is right in front of me, why don't I ask?

  I thought about it and asked Yuchi Jiu again: "Auntie Yuchi, when you saved Zhou Xing back then, did he also encounter danger in the Lantian Palace?"

  She shook her head and said, "It's not that, Zhou Xing was very down on his luck back then, seemed like a refugee, and was obsessed with the Lantian Palace. He didn't even bring many clothes when he came up, you can imagine what would happen to someone who is thinly dressed wandering around in the snowy mountains. When I saved him, he was already frozen stiff. Although his skills were impressive, they still fell short of your father's by a bit, and he was alone. Your father barely escaped with his life, let alone him? So back then, I didn't tell him the exact location of the Lantian Palace."

  I felt slightly relieved upon hearing this, although Zhou Xing was unwilling to reveal too much to us, at least he hadn't deceived us. Wei Chi Jiu said that Zhou Xing seemed to be deeply infatuated with the Lan Ta Palace, but why was that? Was it also because of some kind of curse? Judging from his appearance, he should be over thirty years old, and he could also leave the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which means that he didn't have a curse like mine or Wei Chi Jiu's on him. Could there be a third type of curse?

  At this point, I asked again, but Wei Chi Jiu shook her head and said she didn't know what Zhou Xing's purpose was in searching for the Lan Ta Palace. Seeing that our conversation had reached this point, I turned to ask Wei Chi Jiu: "Aunt Wei, did you call me here just to tell me these things?"

  Wei Chi Jiu said to me, "Besides telling you these things, I also plan to hand over two things left by your father."

  "What's with my dad?"

  Wei Chi Jiu said: "That's right, this was also what your father entrusted to me before he came down the mountain. He had already anticipated that you would come here one day, so he asked me to hand these two things over to you at that time, which should be helpful to you."

  I couldn't think of what my father would still have to leave me, and I hastily asked: "What is it?"