Chapter 301 The Dragon-Searching Mnemonic (1/2)
The cold wind howled, raising a cloud of dust on the barren mountain slope.
Six men advanced in the col. Braving the wind, they were cloaked in the clear cool light of the moon and stars.
The man leading the group was called Zeng Xunlong. He was a famous grave robber. The other five were his disciples, following him around the country to raid tombs. They made up a team.
One hour later, Zeng Xunlong and his five disciples arrived at a col. Flanking it were the grayish slopes of a mountain. Right ahead was a towering snowy peak.
The wind had died down here.
“We’re reaching the place. Yan Zong, pour some powder on the ground,” Zeng Xunlong said.
The youth whose hand had been crushed by Ning Tao took out a sack from his backpack. He tipped the sack and walked rapidly ahead. As he walked, he sprinkled powder. He was Yan Zong, the cruelest of Zeng Xunlong’s disciples. He was a deft worker. The powder he was sprinkling was not incense ash or lime, but phosphor.
After sprinkling phosphor, they could shine a flashlight on the ground and know if anyone was following them.
“Let’s go.” Zeng Xunlong led his five disciples to the end of the col towards the snowy peak.
Outside the col, a man, a woman and a dog arrived in their pursuit.
Just when they were about to enter the col, the nose of the Howling Celestial Dog twitched. “Goodness gracious me, they have sprinkled something on the ground.”
“Sprinkled what?” Ning Tao asked.
The Howling Celestial Dog replied, “I don’t know. Smells like… some fluorescent tubes.”
It did not know what phosphor was. But it could still distinguish the smell of fluorescent tubes, after rummaging through so many garbage bins. So it could still describe the odor.
Ning Tao said, “It’s phosphor powder. Right now, we can’t know if they have other accomplices meeting them. Let’s climb the mountain slope.”
At the bottom of the col.
Zeng Xunlong halted by an open plain. He stretched out a hand.
Yan Zong handed him a Dragon-Searching Plate. The other disciple, Wang Xing, was awaiting his orders, the Dragon-searching Ruler ready in his hands.
Zeng Xunlong advanced with his Dragon-Searching Plate. He kept shifting positions. As he walked, he recited, “To locate the Dragon, one must observe the girding mountains. Each gird represents a mountain pass. If a thousand-pound lock is latching its entrance, a noble lord must be residing there. If there is no doorway before one’s eyes, it must be the abode of a deity or immortal. Before excavating, one must first make sacrificial offerings. Then a passage of water will run through the mystical entrance.”
“Master, the Dragon-Searching Mnemonic you taught us doesn’t have the last two lines. Is this…” Yan Zong’s face showed complete bafflement.
Zeng Xunlong said, “That was an ordinary lord’s grave. This is a deity’s temple, the tomb of an immortal. All of you are honored to be accompanying me for this deal. You must be reaping good karma from your earlier lives. It doesn’t matter if you remember the last two lines of this mnemonic or not. Most probably, none of you will encounter this again.”
The disciples all started to nod, indicating that they had learned much.
Zeng Xunlong stopped by a mountain wall. He kicked away the accumulated snow under his feet, revealing a grayish black rock. There were strange patterns resembling human blood vessels on the rock surface. He scrutinized them and then put his Dragon-Searching Plate to one side. He took out a yellowed, ancient map from his backpack and studied it.
His disciples also drew near. Zeng Xunlong rarely did the job himself. He would only come if they were raiding a major tomb. His presence meant that his disciples could learn much from him.
On that ancient map were drawn undulating mountains. There was a secret river within these mountain peaks. A palace-like edifice was situated in one of those mountain peaks. A few characters in ancient script were written beside that building, “Temple within the Mountains.”
Zeng Xunlong seemed to have quickly verified something. He beckoned to a disciple. “Kneel on this rock and make nine kowtows on it.”
The disciple knelt down as instructed. He kowtowed obediently on the rock.
Bam, bam, bam…
Zeng Xunlong suddenly drew out a hunting knife from his waist belt. He held it in his right hand, skirting his hand around that disciple’s neck. Then he brutally slit his disciple’s throat from the front. At the same time, he tugged that disciple’s neck back. He raised his knee to keep that disciple in position, not allowing him to move.
Blood spurted out from his disciple’s slit throat, splashing onto that grayish rock.
The other disciples were all terrified, stepping back hastily.
Zeng Xunlong gave a low growl. “Don’t panic! That last two lines I recited aren’t for nothing.” “‘If there is no doorway before one’s eyes, it must be the abode of a deity or immortal. Before excavating, one must first make sacrificial offerings. Then a passage of water will run through the mystical entrance.’ Although I claimed that we are entering a temple, it really is a deity’s tomb. Before excavating it, we must first make sacrificial offerings. Otherwise, we can’t enter. Someone must be sacrificed. Once I clinch this business deal, none of you will need to worry about money for the rest of your life.”
The disciples recovered somewhat. It was not anyone of them who had been killed, and they would get more money after his death. This was something they could accept.
The disciple whose throat had been slit struggled twice and his spasm subsided. Fresh blood spurted out from his throat onto the rock. The strange patterns on it started to undulate. Strangely, a lot of blood had trickled down, yet the patterns on the rock were still drawing in blood. His blood seemed to be flowing to another place. Unfortunately, they could not tell where.
On the mountain slope to the left of the col, Ning Tao was quietly watching Zeng Xunlong kill his disciple and release his blood. He could not hear Zeng Xunlong’s voice, but the Howling Celestial Dog by his side acted as a broadcaster for him and Qing Zhui.