Chapter 208

The back of my hand was a little itchy, not painful, and when I pinched it with my fingers, I almost fell backward off the platform. I quickly turned on the headlamp on my helmet. Near the wrist on the back of my hand, two or three tiny black-green flesh teeth had actually grown. If I didn't touch them, I only felt a slight itch, but if I touched them, it hurt as if tearing flesh with a splinter, and the bone marrow of my entire arm ached along with it. I hurriedly checked the rest of my body, and everything else was normal.

At this time Shirley Yang and Pangzi and others also turned on their light sources. I asked them each to check for anything wrong, but aside from me, Shirley Yang, Ming Shu, and Pangzi were all fine.

This is really strange. Everyone arrived at the Black Tiger Mystic Altar together and never separated even half a step, yet only I had an abnormality. If I don't think of a solution, I'm afraid I'll also grow "blood bait red flowers."

Just as I wasn't paying attention, I noticed Ah Xiang had collapsed beside me, unconscious. Her nose was dripping blood, and on the half of her face stained with blood, green flesh sprouts had covered it. There was also one on her hand. Ah Xiang sometimes bleeds from the nose when she sees things she doesn't want to see. Earlier, in the cave outside, she had just seen the "blood bait red flower," and her nose started bleeding. This phenomenon had happened before, but we hadn't taken it seriously.

Only now did I understand: the "blood bait" plant, which spreads death, disperses invisible pollen in the air. Once it touches fresh blood on the skin, it spreads and grows. From the moment Ah Xiang first saw it, she had already been infected with the blood poison.

Earlier, when everyone was lying on the stone platform observing movements below, Ah Xiang, due to suddenly discovering her nose wouldn't stop bleeding, grabbed my wrist to tell me, got blood on the back of my hand, and then fainted. I had thought she had seen something down below; I never expected this accident.

Shirley Yang wanted to help Ah Xiang stop the bleeding, but I hurriedly told Shirley Yang to absolutely avoid touching the blood. Pressing the upper ear bone with a finger can also stop nosebleeds—left side bleeding, press the right ear; right side bleeding, press the left ear. But no matter what, do not touch the blood on her body.

In Yin-Yang Feng Shui, "blood bait" is explained as a place where vital energy is excessive. Corpses die but do not rot, and qi and blood do not decline. Over years and months, not only does the corpse slowly begin to swell and enlarge, but every twelve hours it also blooms with flesh flowers. For the dead, it's no big deal, but if a living person's body grows this thing, they face only two choices: first, flee far away from this place of excessive vital energy, and the blood bait will naturally heal itself; but this region is the Ancestral Dragon's Abyss, and only by opening the eleventh gate can one escape quickly in a short time. Otherwise, stay here and wait for the so-called "fruit of the living" blood bait to flower and bear fruit. Then the living person will become a swollen corpse.

Ming Shu looked at his adopted daughter, her three souls faint and seven spirits dim, her life hanging by a thread, and with a sorrowful face he cried: "Has there been a mistake? This time it's truly all over. The lackey and the bodyguard are gone, the wife is gone, the glacial crystal corpse is gone, and now even my adopted daughter is going to die..."

I said to Ming Shu: "Don't wail yet. I also have blood bait growing on my hand. You can't bear to lose your adopted daughter, and I can't bear to lose myself. Right now we should hurry to think of a solution. As the old Tibetan folks often say—shedding tears to fill a flooded beach is no use; better to come up with a solution as big as a button."

Upon hearing there was still hope, Ming Shu hurriedly asked me: "So you have a way? Indeed, as expected, Old Brother Hu has a plan in mind and remains calm in crisis. But how will the plan come about? Please enlighten me to relieve this old man's foolish heart. If you can truly save Ah Xiang, I am willing to give my adopted daughter to you in marriage, and from now on we will be one family..."

I didn't answer, and in my heart I coldly snorted. The old harbor farmer, fearing I would abandon him in danger, still wanted to form a marriage alliance with me—he was seriously underestimating me. Such a trick might work on Pangzi, but who would have thought Pangzi wasn't stupid either? He said to Ming Shu from the side: "Ming Shu, if you truly care for Ah Xiang and are willing to bring her to Tibet to take such a great risk, why didn't your two precious sons come along to help? Not being truly related really does make a difference."

Pangzi doesn't hold back like I do when he speaks. Those few sentences really hit Ming Shu's sore spot. Ming Shu had no rebuttal, his face alternating between green and red, looking quite embarrassed.

I jabbed Pangzi in the elbow to make him shut up. Actually, Ming Shu has been decent to Ah Xiang. Of course, if she were his biological daughter, he would certainly not dare bring her to such a harsh environment as Kunlun. People are not sages; everyone has selfish motives. This also can't be blamed on him.

Seeing us ignore Ah Xiang's life or death, Shirley Yang, on the stone platform, was about to start arguing with us. While pressing Ah Xiang's ear bone to stop the bleeding, she said to us: "Stop arguing. All things in the world mutually restrain and assist each other. Within five steps of a venomous snake, there must be an antidote herb. The green little animal below feeds on blood bait. It must have something in its body that can neutralize the blood bait poison, or perhaps it has eaten some of the other things in this cave..."

I nodded and said: "If walking three steps can accomplish three things, but squatting motionless only leads to starving to death, Pangzi, you come with me down there to catch that little green-furred creature." After saying that, I threw two cold smoke bombs down onto the stone platform. Below, the dog-like animal was lying on the ground eating the last few fruits on the corpse. If we didn't act now, after it finished eating, it might burrow back into the cave's ground fissures.

Pangzi used the light from the cold smoke bombs to see the situation below. Wanting to save trouble, he pulled out his pistol and fired. Pangzi drew the gun, released the safety, loaded a round, aimed, and fired—almost all in the same moment. I tried to stop him, but it was already too late. In the hurry, I lifted his arm, and Pangzi's shot hit the cave wall.

The bullet struck, sending stone fragments flying. The vibration was considerable, and that seemingly blind and clumsy little animal was also startled. It turned around and crawled back. I said to Pangzi: "Don't kill it—catch it alive." As I spoke, I jumped down from the stone platform. On the male corpse that had just fallen below, I blocked its path.

This stone platform isn't very high. Pangzi turned his body and also crawled down. Together, one in front and one behind, we clamped the green-furred little dog between us. Both of us drew our entrenching shovels. This thing looks foolish and clumsy, only knowing to keep eating the fruit of the living, but its limbs are thick and strong, suggesting great strength. At this moment, it felt blocked front and back, turning in circles on the spot. Its snake-head-like face bore a large mouth, opening and closing emptily, giving off a foul stench.

The little beast's entire body is covered in flesh folds, with stiff green hair all over. I've never heard of such an animal in the world. Pangzi and I, assuming it first, thought it might be a zombie, but the difference from humans is too great. Perhaps it's a zombie formed after some wild beast died. Since its body is in a black-green, foul-smelling state, it must be poisonous. However, its size is only that of an ordinary small dog, so capturing it alive shouldn't be too difficult.

The little beast turned twice in place, faced Pangzi, opened its mouth, and bit wildly as it charged forward. Pangzi swung his entrenching shovel and struck it on the head. Although the beast's flesh and skin were very thick, being hit by the shovel made it hurt so much it went mad, leaping up and knocking Pangzi to the ground. Pangzi shoved his black donkey hoof forward, stuffing it into the beast's mouth.

That dog-like beast had never tasted black donkey hoof before—it probably doesn't taste good. It kept shaking its head, trying to spit out the black donkey hoof. Pangzi used his forehead to press against its mouth, and with both hands grabbed its front legs. Both sides exerted force, and they reached a stalemate.

I rushed up from behind, wrapped tape around the little monster's mouth for over ten turns, and then used rope to bind its legs and feet.

I pulled Pangzi up from the ground. Pangzi said to me: "This thing is much easier to handle than I imagined. Probably it does nothing but eat and sleep all day, with nothing else to do. But what exactly is this thing? I don't think it looks like a dog."

Ming Shu and Shirley Yang saw we had succeeded, so they immediately brought Ah Xiang down from the stone platform. Ming Shu glanced at the blood bait sprouts on the back of his own hand. In this short time, they had already grown to twice their size. Ah Xiang's condition was much worse than mine. If not treated promptly, I fear her life cannot be saved.

Pangzi kicked the beast we had captured: "Can this guy be used as an antidote? Look how ugly it is—its flesh and blood must be poisonous inside. Is it supposed to fight poison with poison?"

Shirley Yang said: "I don't know what kind of animal this is, but there are only two possibilities: either its body secretes something that can neutralize blood toxicity, or its living environment or the other food it eats can counteract the poison. Let's search around this cave—maybe we'll find something."

We didn't dare delay. We split up to search the bottom of the cave. I walked to beneath the huge glacial crystal stone, where many esoteric Buddhist symbols were carved. I didn't even have time to examine what the patterns on the stone meant before I discovered something strange beneath it. Originally, we thought we were seeing a redwood coffin pressed down above, but actually, beneath the great crystal lay a red-bottomed, black-patterned empty turtle shell, pressed by stone for what must have been a very long time. That giant turtle had probably long since died, rotted away completely.

Ming Shu also saw this empty turtle shell. The red-bottomed, black-patterned turtle shell is extremely rare. Legend says the "Phoenix Qilin Dragon Turtle" is one of the Four Spirit Beasts, and the turtle refers specifically to the thousand-year-old turtle whose shell has turned dark red. Ming Shu, deep in thought, turned back to look at the beast Pangzi had captured, then hurriedly said to me: "We've struck it rich... that thing isn't a zombie dog, but a shed-shell turtle. Ah Xiang can be saved."

Seeing Ming Shu overly excited and speaking incoherently, I had him calm down and speak clearly: What do you mean, "struck it rich" and "can be saved"?

Ming Shu didn't wait to speak further. He first used a shovel to cut off a piece of the turtle shell, crushed it with water, and applied it to the blood bait on me and Ah Xiang. A wave of coolness penetrated to the bone, and the numbness, itch, and pain on the skin immediately lessened considerably.

Seeing Ah Xiang out of danger, Ming Shu then told us: When Peter Huang was a sea pirate, he once intercepted a passenger ship, but strangely, everyone on board was already dead. In the ship's hold, many corpses had grown mushroom-like blood algae. The sea pirates killed a small crystal shrimp on the ship, but many people also touched the corpses' blood and were at death's door. The pirate chief, familiar with sea matters, knew something might be hidden on the ship, so he ordered a careful search. Sure enough, in the cargo hold they found a turtle shell jammed by cargo containers. An old turtle that can shed its shell must have eaten special things in the water and become refined. It killed everyone on the ship. Wherever it crawled, the dead would grow flesh flowers and flesh grass. After being eaten, the dead lost all their essence and blood, becoming dry corpses. In the deep abyss beneath Dragon Peak, where vital energy is excessive, a corpse can repeatedly grow blood bait.

Its shell is a treasure—all toxic conditions can be cured. This whole turtle shell is hard to come by; it's not just priceless, it's beyond price. Back then, the pirates fought over it internally, killed each other, and many died. Peter Huang nearly lost his life too. It was then that Ming Shu rescued Peter Huang at sea, and from him learned of this shed-shell turtle. When they returned later to search again, the pirates' ship had already exploded and sunk, so they could only return disappointed.

Later, as time passed, this matter was gradually forgotten. Now seeing this empty turtle shell pressed beneath the crystal stone, its grain and color are beyond ordinary comparison. Only then did I recall: people should accumulate virtue. Initially, a small effort saved Peter Huang's life; now it also saves my adopted daughter's life. Saving one life beats building a seven-story pagoda—doing good brings good reward.

Pangzi, upon hearing how valuable this thing was, hurriedly tried to dig the whole turtle shell out from below. I thought Ming Shu, having said his piece, had circled back to aim some indirect remarks at me—perhaps in Hong Kong and Nanyang, people lack sufficient sincerity toward each other, but saying this all the time really makes me resentful. I'll look for a chance to scare him half to death later. For now, I gave Ming Shu a perfunctory reply: "Don't seek answers on the mountain, don't ask the old man. The all-knowing and all-powerful are few; the utterly incapable are even fewer. Still, you, this old江湖, well-traveled and knowledgeable—we ignorant and inexperienced haven't even heard of such a strange tale."

My mind was not on the conversation with Ming Shu, but my eyes were fixed on that huge square glacial crystal stone. After just a few glances, the patterns on it firmly held my gaze. Could it be that the "Prince of Yunnan" once came here?