Chapter 209: Fish Formation

The huge square "ice mountain crystal stone" was evenly divided into five layers, each layer bearing some simple stone carvings, a great deal of cipher text and symbols I could not understand, but the patterns were immediately clear; the top layer depicted many vicious killing rituals, my first impression being that these rituals closely resembled the "Gu techniques" of the Yunnan Prince of Xiang, both involving the cruel killing of people, then attaching something special to the body to transform the dead's resentment into a certain power.

I had no time to look further, so I hurriedly called Shinley Yang to come see this crystal stone; upon hearing, Shinley Yang handed Ah Xiang to Uncle Ming for care and walked to the crystal stone to observe intently; after a while, she said to me: "The Prince of Xiang's Gu techniques originated in Tibet; the Gu techniques recorded on this stone are far less varied and unfathomable than the Prince of Xiang's; this may be the oldest source of the techniques, merely an imperfect prototype, but the core of Gu techniques—transforming the life of death into another energy—has been fully manifested; later, although the Prince of Xiang's Gu techniques became more complex, they never departed from this original framework."

Shinley Yang said, actually when I first saw the "Snow Maitreya" frozen by the "Nai Qiong Shen Bing," I already felt a sense of familiarity; that thing truly resembled "Gu techniques"; after descending into the ice abyss and seeing the large number of freshwater jellyfish in the underground river, I thought the original form of that "Snow Maitreya" might be a freshwater blood-sucking jellyfish, which, during the great catastrophe when highland lakes transformed into ancient glaciers, gradually evolved into a form surviving in snowfield ice layers; they fear great salt, possibly related to this; perhaps the ancient demon kingdom or later Samsara Sect invented this "Gu," a heretical art that brings calamity for generations, based on these creatures' traits.

In this cave, the Xuanwu giant corpse transformed into a "human fruit" from certain perspectives also fits the characteristics of "Gu"; looking again at the second layer of the ice mountain crystal stone, it shows a woman covering her face with both hands; the third layer is a giant snake with eyes on its head; the fourth layer's most important part has been artificially worn and damaged, but from the wear pattern, it appears to be an original shape; perhaps there should have been an eye marking here before; the bottom layer is the most peculiar, only carving things that look like skeletons.

I pointed to this layer and said to Shinley Yang: "This large stone is divided into layers, each layer from top to bottom having different main content; this seems similar to the black tower arranged by position in Jingjue Ancient City."

Shinley Yang looked down again and said: "This is indeed an arrangement, but completely opposite to that of Jingjue Ancient City; judging from the description of the demon kingdom in the 'Pearl of Subduing Enemies' verses, the markings on this crystal stone should represent power or energy, not status, with the sequence from top to bottom, the lower down, the greater the power."

Although there is this certain difference from Jingjue Ancient City, there remains a close connection; based solely on this huge stone, it can be declared that the Ghost Cave tribe of Jingjue and the nation worshipping the abyss in the demon kingdom must have a very deep relationship; perhaps the Ghost Cave tribe was a branch of the northern demons or the Samsara Sect back then.

This shows we are indeed step by step approaching the truth of the "eye" ancestral curse; as long as we find the demon kingdom's "E Luo Sea," it will surely be more perilous than Jingjue; now, hesitation is impossible; we can only go forth with our lives at stake.

Afterwards, Shinley Yang and I found some other crystal steles in the cave, bearing little text, all recorded in graphics; from their records we learned that the ice mountain crystal stone pressing the molted turtle was a part dug out by the Samsara Sect from the "Gate of Disaster"; its carvings were made by the E Luo Sea people; that "Gate of Disaster" itself is an insurmountable huge crystal wall; when the demon kingdom was destroyed, the "Gate of Disaster" sealed its only passage to the outside world; later, the Samsara Sect dug open a passage through it, awaiting the arrival of the "Rebirth Day."

After searching the entire cave, the information obtained is only this much; I estimate placing a huge stone from the Gate of Disaster in the cave as an offering site to display the Samsara Sect's achievement in digging open the gate to the demon kingdom; the corpses and spirit turtle in the cave are special offerings; I estimate that following this river full of jellyfish downstream will surely lead us to that crystal gate; the "E Luo Sea City" should also be not far from there.

At this time, Pangzi had already dug out the spirit turtle's shell; that greatly swollen corpse, having been devoured of its grown blood bait by the "molted turtle," had become like dead wood; I estimate it will not swell again and become a "human fruit" until tomorrow at this time; while the captured "molted turtle," since being caught and neglected, now lies motionless; as for the cause of death, it probably died from being bound too tightly with tape, suffocating; this thing is not good, its whole body is poisonous, leaving it is uncertain; thus Pangzi threw its corpse, together with the male corpse that could grow blood bait, into a pile, poured some flammable material, and set it ablaze, reducing it to ashes.

Seeing that this cave had already been looted and killed, with nothing left of value, I led the people back to the outer cave; seeing Ah Xiang's injury was already harmless, though she had lost too much blood, now she most needs sufficient rest; the others are also exhausted; moreover, having finally eliminated the nearby hidden dangers, they all fell asleep with their heads down.

The deep abyss beneath the glacier is forever that environment, with no distinction between day and night, until one sleeps so long as not to want to sleep anymore, then rises to prepare; today we must continue along the river, passing through the "Gate of Disaster."

I checked my weapons, ammunition, and food equipment once; since the altitude here is low, I replaced my assault gear; cold-weather equipment cannot be discarded, for we may still need to cross mountains later; since Uncle Ming and Ah Xiang together can only carry one person's worth of supplies, the rest must be shared between me and Pangzi, so I travel as light as possible, discarding unnecessary items, carrying only essentials.

Uncle Ming was bargaining with Pangzi over how to divide that turtle shell; the two argued without result; finally Pangzi flew into a rage, planted his paratrooper knife into the ground, though he said nothing, the meaning was clear: "I can't be bothered to argue with you, Uncle Ming, you just handle it; if the division doesn't suit me, then I'll have to bring out the knife again to discuss."

Uncle Ming had no choice but to compromise, dividing according to Pangzi's method by headcount; thus Pangzi took four-fifths, leaving only one-fifth for Uncle Ming.

Uncle Ming said: "Are you kidding me, fatty? I and my foster daughter should get two shares, why only one-fifth?"

Pangzi had a blank expression: "Uncle Ming, you're also a shrewd businessman; how after sleeping one night and waking up do you only talk nonsense? Ah Xiang's share isn't already used by her for treating her wounds? The snow of Kalamir is pure; we who engage in tomb-raiding in Kalamir should also have hearts as pure as snow on the mountains; although I am usually naive and simple, appearing like a fool, I also know that when hungry one does not eat radish, when thirsty one does not drink pulla; you old man should not rely on having eaten two more buckets of salt particles than us; don't take me for a fool."

Uncle Ming has long been renowned in the Nanyang antiquities circle for his shrewdness, often calling himself Little Zhuge, having made many major deals; but now facing Pangzi this worldly demon king, if you reason with him, he pretends ignorance and deafness; if you make him angry, the consequences are unthinkable; just thinking about it makes one's flesh creep; helpless, I can only admit my misfortune.

Pangzi whistled, stowed the spirit turtle shell into his pack; Uncle Ming saw Pangzi's smug expression and was so angry he nearly fainted, only able to slump his belly bag and go look at his foster daughter.

I walked over, pulled Uncle Ming aside, and told him our current situation: "Uncle Ming, you and Ah Xiang are not like us; we have made preparations for this trip not to return; you have three choices: first, travel upstream along the riverbank, but the chance of getting out from there is fifty-fifty; second, remain in this Black Tiger Mystic Altar cave, wait for us to return and fetch you, but whether we can return alive and the odds I do not know; third, follow us downstream, pass through the Gate of Disaster, beyond which may lie the E Luo Sea City; this journey is absolutely perilous, nine deaths to one life; I cannot guarantee I can protect you father and daughter; life safety has no guarantee; ultimately, what to do is up to you to decide."

I told Uncle Ming, if he wishes to go separate ways, then give him the spirit turtle shell; Uncle Ming startled, then quickly expressed his stance: "Absolutely not splitting up; the group lives or dies together; we go together to the Gate of Disaster; in the future Ah Xiang will marry you, my business will also be handed over to you to manage; naturally the spirit turtle shell will also be yours; we are one family, why speak of two families? No need to discuss, just decide this way."

I sighed inwardly: "It seems Old Uncle Ming has decided we will abandon him regardless; no matter what I say, I cannot change his preconceived notion; he always thinks we want to find our own escape route alone; it seems the great dye vat of capitalism can truly corrode the human soul; from yesterday to now, whatever I should have said I have said to him many times over; saying it three times is as bland as water; going downstream is life or death, just look at each one's fate."

I could only bring Uncle Ming and Ah Xiang, advancing downstream along the river full of crystal veins; we walked continuously for three full days; later, the glowing freshwater jellyfish gradually became scarce; finally this long, narrow abyss had an end; a huge mountain fissure was blocked by a crystal wall several hundred meters high; the wall surface bore mysterious symbols and markings, like the ice mountain crystal stone seen before, but the wall is truly too large and too high; standing beneath this magnificent huge crystal wall, one feels as small as an ant; faint heavenly light is visible on the wall's top; this must indeed be the legendary "Gate of Disaster."

Below the crystal wall, not in the river, the river water flows through the wall; now is the time of year when the water systems of Kunlun Mountain have their maximum annual flow; it appears the dug tunnel lies underwater; if in normal times, the passage on the Gate of Disaster might be exposed above water; since we do not know the length of this passage, and diving equipment is only three sets, we dare not rashly send the whole team down; I decided to let everyone rest here first, while I alone go underwater to scout the route, then decide how to proceed.

Pangzi, however, stopped me, volunteering to go underwater to scout the passage's length, width, and narrowness; I know Pangzi's swimming is excellent, so I agreed to let him go underwater to explore the route; Pangzi held several tens of meters of river channel, also sufficient to swim back and forth in one breath; showing off, he wore no oxygen tank, only diving goggles, and dove into the water.

I stood on the bank, timing with my watch; seconds passed one by one; the water surface remained still and silent; my SHINLEG Yang began to feel impatient; after one minute with no return, I thought eight out of ten he had been bitten on the buttocks by a fish; I was about to go in to rescue him, when I saw water splash apart, Pangzi's head wearing a climbing helmet surfaced, he wiped river water from his face: "The passage in this crystal wall is very wide and not long, but damn it, the opposite side is impassable; underwater, large fish have formed a fish formation, so numerous they cannot be counted, packed tightly."

"Fish formations" exist in inland lakes, but here there are no human traces; fish schools have no need to form formations to defend against human capture, unless there is something unknown underwater threatening their survival.