Chapter 214

I stopped and stood seven or eight paces in front of Uncle Ming and Axiang, facing the gun Uncle Ming pointed at me. I already understood: Axiang must have said I was possessed by something, and since I bear her no grudge, she shouldn't be framing me, right? Could it be because I refused to marry her? How could a woman be like that! But Axiang seems good-tempered; she shouldn't be like this. Perhaps it's because I'm just too charming—my thoughts started to scatter. Then it struck me: maybe there really is something on me? Why can't I feel it?

I immediately recited two passages from Mao's Selected Works in my mind: "The style of combining theory with practice is closely linked to the masses, as is the style of self-criticism." No problem—I'm still me, I can relax.

Uncle Ming said to me: "Old brother Hu, we're on good terms, I see you have a bright future, so I intended to marry Axiang to you. But you really do have a problem now—Axiang's eyes won't lie."

The scene inside this "E Luo Hai City" truly exceeds anything humans can imagine—anything could happen. I'm mentally prepared for it, and I know that after his wife and bodyguards died, Uncle Ming has become a startled bird, capable of anything for his own safety—he'd absolutely dare to pull the trigger.

But when Uncle Ming raised his gun, Pangzi and Shirley Yang behind me also aimed their two semi-automatic rifles at his head. I waved at Pangzi behind me, telling them to stay calm. If either side loses their cool and fires first, whoever ends up in a pool of blood—it would be a terrifying fratricide.

Uncle Ming had just been overly nervous; now his so-called "little Zhuge" mind slowly recovered. He naturally sees the situation clearly: he should know that if he makes even the slightest improper move, Pangzi and Shirley Yang will hesitate not to blast two holes in his skull. He wants to put his gun back but feels awkward, trying to smooth things over with a few words, but he stammers and can't get them out. After a long while, he explains he drew his gun to shoot whatever's on my back. Who in this world has a father-in-law shoot his own son-in-law?

I saw Pangzi and Shirley Yang's gun barrels, and Uncle Ming's psychological defense collapsed—lend him more courage and he still wouldn't dare fire. So he directly asked Axiang: What's going on? Exactly what did you see on my back?

Axiang said: "Big brother Hu, I'm scared—I really did see a black thing on your back, but I couldn't tell what it was. Looks like a black vortex."

"A black vortex"? Could the eyeball curse on my body be changing? But why didn't Axiang see anything on Shirley Yang or Pangzi? I quickly pointed at my own nape and asked Axiang: "Is it here?"

Axiang shook her head: "No, it's in your backpack……and it's still there now."

I hurriedly took off the backpack behind me and found both layers of the zipper open—probably when we were at the end of the passage, Pangzi reached into my pack to pull out the probing yin claw, preparing to check for mechanisms behind the stone door. After using it, he wanted to put it back, so to save trouble he didn't zip the pack up. Axiang's eyes could only see the uncovered area. Even if not looking directly or in darkness, what could be inside my pack?

I shook out everything inside, and Axiang pointed at one thing and said: "It's this……"

This is Shirley Yang also coming over to look: "Phoenix Gall!" This bead was originally fused with the Skull King's skull, later brought back to Beijing by us. After being cut and peeled by skilled craftsmen, it's hard to fully restore its original appearance. Now, looking at it, I see the jade layer on its surface is gradually melting and disappearing, revealing the bead inside. It inherently possesses energy that attracts chaotic qi—this is what Axiang saw.

It seems the "Phoenix Gall" has definitely been affected by some influence of this mysterious ancient city, perhaps related to the "X-ray" that solidified time. With this bead in hand, perhaps we now hold the key to opening that dust-sealed door hiding countless ancient secrets.

Seeing we were unharmed, Pangzi took the opportunity to disarm Uncle Ming, and by the way confiscated his Swiss gold watch as well. Uncle Ming now has nothing to say in Pangzi's hands—he didn't dare utter a sound.

I and Shirley Yang observed the "Phoenix Gall" for a while, but couldn't fully grasp it at once. In short, this bead representing the eye of reincarnation for eternal life, and the secrets of this "E Luo Hai City," still need to be sought within the city. So we re-secured the bead, briefly explained to Uncle Ming and Axiang that this was a misunderstanding—there isn't even a ghost's shadow in this "E Luo Hai City," so they needn't worry. If they still aren't at ease and want to go their separate ways, then suit themselves—they've got legs, no one's stopping them.

Afterward we entered the great hall behind the stone door. Here there's only one chamber, the stone pillars all have lights, and the walls are densely covered with hundreds of pieces of human skin. Previously I saw murals painted on walls, but here they've used red, white, black, and blue to dye important events of the city onto the human skin surface. This is also the only place in "E Luo Hai City" where we've seen recorded event scrolls and symbolic markings.

In the hall there are also some large sacrificial vessels; deepest inside are some naked female idols. Shirley Yang only glanced at them a few times before saying: "The information recorded on these human skins is too important. Although the symbols can't be fully deciphered, combining them with the World-Conquering Treasure Pearl Heroic King's long chant in the section about the war against the Demon Kingdom, and linking it with the major events of the Demon Kingdom recorded in the hall, we can understand those obscure ancient histories. This will absolutely solve most of our problems."

Regarding intelligence information, although we've gathered quite a bit, up to now it's all been disconnected fragments—only Shirley Yang can organize and use them effectively. In this regard I can't help much; I can only offer some ideas.

So we let Uncle Ming and Axiang rest in the hall, Pangzi took charge of roasting some beef for everyone to stave off hunger, and Shirley Yang and I went to analyze the scrolls on the human skins, gradually clarifying clue after clue.

As the capital of the Demon Kingdom, "E Luo Hai City" has a political system completely different from other nations. During the Demon Kingdom's peak, its rule extended over the Kunlun Mountains' surroundings. There were no kings in successive dynasties—direct rule by the "Divine Bones of the Snake God" they worshipped. All major decisions were made by the kingdom's priests through sacrificing to the "Snake God's Bones," then divining the results. In that ancient era, "divination" was a very solemn and major activity, not something that could be held lightly—it required intervals of years, even decades, between occurrences.

The Demon Kingdom having no king is also why there's no palace in the city, only a divine temple. So-called royal members are merely high-ranking wizards who hold authority, but their status in the kingdom ranks fifth or lower.

In the Demon Kingdom's worldview, the "Snake God's Bones" is the supreme deity; next comes the cave where those bones are buried; then comes the "Pure-Eyed Akasha" (Giant-Eyed Snake), which has a single black fleshy eye on its head.

Then comes the "Ghost Mother," which appears most often in Demon Kingdom legends. The Demon Kingdom's religion holds that each generation of "Ghost Mother" is a reincarnation, forever unable to show their face, always veiled, because their eyes are the seventh kind of eye—capable of matching the "Buddha Eye"—the "Demon Eye." The Buddha Eye is boundless, the Demon Eye is limitless, and not every generation of Ghost Mother can possess this demonic pupil.

Below the "Ghost Mother" are those who master some evil arts, similar to the primitive form of "Gu technique"—a few chief priests. Of course, back then "Gu technique" was nowhere near as complex as during the Skull King's era; it couldn't harm people invisibly, mainly used for major sacrifices.

Their burial customs are also very peculiar: only the "chief priest" qualifies for burial in the "Nine-Story Demon Tower." In the ruins of the "Great Phoenix Temple" on Mount Kunlun's mound, the Demon Kingdom ancient tomb I saw should be the earthen grave of a Ghost Mother. This is because the first "Ghost Mother," regarded as the daughter of the evil god "Nianxiong Heiyan," was already buried in the demon pagoda atop the Dragon Peak Glacier. These terms are mentioned multiple times in the legends of King Gesar.

On these human skin scrolls, in some war scene depictions, we can even see wolf packs and other beasts participating. That white wolf is probably the "Crystal Free Mountain," though the status of the White Wolf King and the "Dap" ghost insect is quite low—equivalent to demon slaves. The ancient legends passed down from that era basically exaggerate and deify tribal and beastly traits, enshrining them as spirits of mountains, rivers, and lakes—just like the legendary era before China's Xia and Shang dynasties.

In the legends of King Gesar, due to the invasion of the "Northern Demons" (Demon Kingdom), the Ling, Rong, and Jia countries once repeatedly faced extinction. Finally, on the plateau appeared a king wielding the Treasure Pearl to Conquer Enemies, aided by the Lotus-Born Grand Master. But the allied forces of the other three countries, treading into the northern snowlands to slay demons and devils, in one fell swoop overthrew the Demon Kingdom. The Demon Kingdom's sudden collapse was likely due to the catastrophic disaster that appeared in "E Luo Hai City," but on these human skins, there is no record of this event.

At this moment Pangzi called out to us: "Got a butt? Then you won't worry about finding a place to get spanked—let's eat first, talk later."

I also felt the fire of hunger rising in my belly, so I temporarily set these matters aside and went to eat. Looking back, I saw Shirley Yang still staring blankly at the last few pieces of human skin. I called her several times before she came over.

But Shirley Yang didn't take the beef Pangzi roasted; instead she walked straight to Axiang's side, seemingly intentionally or not, idly lifting Axiang's hair with her hand to look at her nape. At this moment her complexion was already off, then she went to look at Uncle Ming's nape. Uncle Ming didn't know what she wanted, so he just let Shirley Yang glance at his nape.

Seeing Shirley Yang biting her lip, I knew something had happened—she always makes this gesture before making an important judgment or decision. Sure enough, Shirley Yang said to me: "I think we've all been deceived by Axiang's eyes. This city is indeed real, but this place is fundamentally not E Luo Hai City—it's the Bottomless Ghost Cave……"