Chapter Ten: The Mysterious Curse of the Teacher's Gift

  After a night of rushing, we arrived at Luogu Mountain in Chenzhou the next afternoon. The Zhuyouke, which specializes in receiving corpse business, is located at the foot of the mountain. Through the evening glow, you can see the apricot yellow flag hanging from the top of the tree, which is particularly eye-catching under the gentle breeze, constantly waving and fluttering.

  "Master, I'm back." Looking at the scene in front of me, my heart suddenly became apprehensive and involuntarily shouted silently in my heart.

  It's been over a month since I left this place. Everything seems familiar, yet it gives me a feeling of things being different. I know it's because of Master's situation that has been troubling my mind.

  "Hurry up, brother, we're almost there." Lao Liu softly urged me as I slowed down my pace.

  I nodded and quickly quickened my pace to follow them, taking big strides towards the front. As soon as we entered the pine forest at the foot of the mountain, I heard someone in the woods say: "Scarface brother, you've finally come back! You made me wait so long!"

  Recognizing the voice, I hastily looked towards the forest and saw Xiaocui rushing out from behind a big tree, crying excitedly as she said: "I've been waiting for you every day here, hoping you can come back early to save Tianyu Grandfather. Today, my wish finally came true."

  "Don't cry, Xiaotou. My master will be fine. These past few days have been really tough on you." I gently wiped away Little Cui's tears and comforted her.

  Xiao Cui nodded heavily and said: "You're back, I can rest assured now."

  Looking at Xiaocui's already thin face, it seems that she must have been living in fear and anxiety these days. This little girl who was rescued by Lao Liu back then has now become an indispensable member of our group.

  Quickly walking through the pine forest and entering the house, I saw my master sitting on the bed with his eyes closed in a meditative posture. The usual old man who would have long since welcomed me at the door was nowhere to be seen. A sour feeling and a heart-wrenching pain suddenly attacked my heart.

  In a flurry of panic, he dropped his luggage and shouted: "Master, the apprentice is back!" He felt a blackness in front of his eyes, his chest was suffocating with pain, and he had already fainted to the ground.

  When I woke up, it was already the time of Shangdeng. Lao Liu and Fourth Brother were anxiously pacing back and forth in the room. Seeing me sit up, they both said with concern: "Big brother, you're awake?"

  I nodded weakly, my mind still a complete blank. The image of Master's usual voice and smile suddenly appeared clearly in my mind, and tears of sadness uncontrollably flowed out of my eyes.

  "Big brother, don't be so sad at this time. I think Master Tianyu still has a chance to be saved. Now is not the time for sorrow, let's quickly think of a way to save Master Tianyu, it's urgent." The fourth brother's words were calm and collected.

  She got out of bed and came to her master's room, where Xiaocui was washing his body. As she approached her master's side and looked closely in the lamplight, she saw that a large area of dark color had appeared on his back. When she reached out to feel his mouth, his breathing was even and normal, but somewhat weak. His eyes were tightly closed, and his face showed an extremely painful and lifeless expression, as if he was being deeply tormented by something.

  Seeing that my master was on his deathbed, the sadness in my heart surged up again. I held back tears and choked out: "Fourth brother, do you know why there is a strange mark on our master's back?"

  Fourth brother shook his head: "That morning, Tianyu Master seemed to have a lot on his mind and was muttering some strange words that I couldn't understand. After listening carefully, I only managed to make out something about 'retribution' and 'karmic debt'. By evening, he had lost consciousness and I was worried sick about his safety. After examining his body, I found that the old man's back had a faint black mark on it. I didn't expect that over the past few days, the black color on his back had deepened several times. I thought the old man had been poisoned, but even after finding people to prepare many antidotes, they were of no use. With no other choice, I came to Chen Zhou to wait for you."

  "Has someone put a spell on me?" Old Six said in terror.

  Upon hearing Lao Liu's words, I felt a chill in my heart and hastily used my hand to lift up Master's eyelids. After a closer look, there were no signs of poisoning. Shaking my head, I asked: "Did any suspicious strangers come by that day?"

  "That day, no one came here." Fourth brother said affirmatively. "Right, there is a letter from Master Tianyu, I almost forgot."

  I took the letter from my fourth brother's hand and hastily tore it open, recognizing Master's handwriting. The letter read: "My disciple, I will be leaving you in a few months. My heart is reluctant, but everything has its cause and effect, and there is a predetermined fate in the underworld. This is the punishment that I willingly accept. Do not grieve for me. Now, I am suffering greatly. When I return, do not bother with my life or death, just cremate me at Xianren Peak so that I can end my suffering as soon as possible. Also, if you see the object drawn in this letter in the future, be careful and avoid it, for it is the best strategy."

  Turning to the next page, there was a picture of a circular bamboo tube on it. What's strange is that at the end of the bamboo tube, there was a small child struggling to get out of the tube. At the bottom of the letter, there were several unrecognized strange ancient characters. It seems that Master had already anticipated all this.

  "What's written in the letter?" asked Fourth Brother. I handed the letter to Fourth Brother. The words in the letter made me feel puzzled, let alone how could I bear to burn my own master alive when the old man still had a breath of life left.

  "Is Master Tianyu an enemy of some powerful figure in the past?" Sixth Brother said thoughtfully from the side.

  "How could it be that my master, who was in seclusion at the Xianren Peak of Luofu Mountain before taking me as his apprentice, rarely asked about right and wrong in the Jianghu world? Where would he provoke any formidable figures? Besides, based on my speculation, my master is originally an unparalleled expert, whether it's martial arts or witchcraft, both are unfathomable. I think that now, in this Jianghu world, there are only a handful of people who can pose a threat to him." I refuted Sixth Brother's statement.

  "Big Brother Tianyu Shifu used to tell us that as long as there's a glimmer of hope, we shouldn't give up, right? From the letter, it seems that he still has at least several months left. We can seize this opportunity to uncover the truth hidden on Shifu's body. If not, at least we've tried our best. We definitely cannot just cremate him as he said in his letter." Fourth Brother said loudly.

  "Fourth brother, you're right. As long as there's a glimmer of hope to save my master, I absolutely cannot give up. But where should we start with this matter?" I asked anxiously.

  "Everyone come and take a look, I think the letter that Tianyu Shifu gave you is very strange. He must have foreseen that something was going to happen to him. With his skills, ordinary witchcraft wouldn't be able to harm him, but it seems like he didn't intend to resist in the letter. It's as if he couldn't resist and could only silently accept what was happening.

  I think the suspicious part of the letter is the picture of the bamboo tube child on the second page and those strange ancient characters. These things must be foreshadowing something, and Tianyu Shifu also warned Big Brother that if you encounter the things depicted in the letter, you must avoid them at all costs. It seems like he's very afraid of and wary of it.

  It looks like Tianyu Shifu must have encountered something before arriving at Luogong Mountain. One thing is for sure, this bamboo tube is definitely not what we think it is, it must have some symbolic meaning. Could it be that the old man's misfortune this time was caused by this?"

  Fourth Brother carefully analyzed the contents of the letter in his hand.

  Fourth brother's words made a lot of sense, and after listening to them, I couldn't help but think of Master who had sat alone on the mountain cliff countless times, silently gazing into the distance with a look full of worries.

  "Could it be that Master was worried about this back when I was a child?" I thought to myself, "If he was already worried about this back then, then several decades have passed between now and that time."

  It seemed that he had figured out a clue and quickly asked the two: "What on earth can take a person's life in a strange and slow way after decades?"

  Upon hearing my question, the fourth brother and old six were silent, both lowering their heads in deep thought. The three of them thought for a long time before suddenly slapping their thighs and exclaiming in unison: "It's a curse."

  After finishing, we fell into contemplation again because we knew that the curse made decades later could actually make my master, such a high-ranking person, helpless for so long. To think of dispelling it is definitely beyond our capabilities, let alone where the curse that Master was afflicted with originated from, which we still don't know at present.

  "As far as I know, curses are divided into two types: those with an image and those without. Strictly speaking, a curse is usually the former, while a spell is usually the latter. So we often refer to the latter as a 'curse'. Any curse with an image must have its true form. The curse on my master's body has not yet fully formed, so the dark color on his back will be several shades deeper than it was when you left this place. This shows that the true form of the curse is still gradually taking shape. Since we can't see the true form of the curse, we don't even know where to start to lift it. By the time the curse's true form has fully formed, it may be the day my master meets his demise." I was the first to break the silence...

  As for the strange pattern drawn in the letter, we were also puzzled at that time. We had to ask Xiaocui to use a dry towel to quickly wipe away the water droplets on Master's back and re-dress him.

  "What does this bamboo and child symbolize?" asked Liu Di in confusion.

  Fourth brother shook his head and said: "I think we should still look for clues in the letter, big brother you have a lot of experience, have you seen similar ancient characters anywhere?"

  Looking at the strange ancient characters drawn in the letter, I tried hard to search in my mind and indeed had a familiar feeling.

  "Ah! It was the ancient Miao script. Last month when I sent Old Miao Wang back to Guizhou, I think I saw it on a pillar in the Miao people's stockade at Fanjing Mountain." I exclaimed.

  "Hmm, I seem to have some impression too." Lao Liu said, rubbing his head.

  "It seems that the curse in Tianyu's body is related to the Miao people. The Miao people have always been known for their witchcraft, it seems we still need to go to Guizhou to figure out if this matter is related to the Miao people." Fourth brother said thoughtfully.

  I nodded, but in my heart I understood that the Miao people, whether in our Xiangxi or in Guizhou, were not to be trifled with and were fierce characters. Moreover, someone who could put a curse on Master must be an extremely formidable figure. This time going to Guizhou was definitely full of danger, but for the sake of saving Master, no matter how much danger there was, I would risk my life for it.

  "The Miao people are skilled in witchcraft, and the warriors are extremely brave. Big brother, you must be careful on this trip and absolutely cannot reveal our true purpose. It's best if we can operate secretly." Fourth Brother seemed to know that I would leave him at Zhuyou Village and instructed me thusly.

  Lao Liu patted his fourth brother's shoulder and said with concern: "Then I'll leave this place to Fourth Brother."

  The negotiations ended and it was already late at night, everyone dragged their tired bodies back to their own rooms to rest. After dawn, they still had to make some preparations for going to Miao Village to gather information.