Chapter 228

We were only focused on examining the dead fish on the ground, not realizing when Axiang had gone missing, but she certainly made no sound of struggling or calling for help, otherwise someone would have noticed. Everyone felt worried, thinking this time things were truly ominous, fearing she had been taken by whatever comes after the sacrifices to drink human blood.

But upon seeing the string of footprints, the blood was fresh and only one set of footprints; judging by the shape of the bloody footprints, it must have been Axiang's, about a dozen steps, until it became indistinct at the pile of dried corpses.

If she had been taken by something, the time couldn't have been too long; perhaps we could still catch up and save her. We didn't dare delay a moment, hastily following the direction of the footprints over the piled dried corpses. Below the corpse heap, blood footprints reappeared, leading around behind the altar. We hurried over in quick steps, went around Jade Mountain, and saw an opening in the crystal layer behind the mountain, leading who knows where. A slender figure flashed into the cave.

Although I only saw a shadow flicker briefly, judging by the build and clothing, it was almost certainly Axiang. She seemed to have nothing else around her, alone and bleeding so much—what could she possibly be doing here? I grew suspicious and slowed my steps, but Shirley Yang quickened her pace, rushing up from behind to catch up with Axiang, while Ming Shu loudly called her name.

When this altar's cave began, the middle was divided by clouds and mist; the disturbances of Thunderstruck Mountain had completely dispersed the stone smoke, but we had been rushing about, failing to notice there was still a cave entrance behind the altar. Now, a light mist slowly rose on the crystal layer, stone smoke drifting hazily, filling the surroundings with a quiet, dreamlike atmosphere, making everything seem unreal. The mountain fissures at the cave's edge were deep and unfathomable. My intuition told me this cave was no ordinary place. Inside, the crystal veins grew sparse, the fluorescence dim, with a faint sense of danger, but seeing Shirley Yang already stride quickly inside, I hesitated no longer, raised my "Wolf's Eye" flashlight, and followed her in.

As soon as everyone entered the cave, after just a few steps we caught up with the shadow we had seen earlier—it was Axiang. But she seemed to suffer from somnambulism, her eyes vacant and fixed straight ahead, blood continuously dripping from her nose, yet she was unaware of it and showed no reaction to our arrival, merely walking step by step deeper into the cave.

I reached out to grab her, but Ming Shu hurriedly stopped me: "Don't startle her, Brother Hu. Axiang probably has soul-loss syndrome—it must be left for her to wake on her own; touch her and her soul won't return. She never had this before—perhaps she's been possessed?"

I dared not act rashly, but Axiang's nose kept dripping blood; from excessive blood loss, her face had lost all color. If we ignored her, even just the bleeding could kill her. Shirley Yang said: "Stimulating smells like sulfur and nitrates can restore consciousness in hysteria patients." Having said that, she produced the "Northern Dark Pearl," about to act, when we noticed Axiang's hand now held a sharp crystal fragment, slowly pressing toward her own eye.

Shirley Yang hastily rubbed the "Northern Dark Pearl" under Axiang's nose; Axiang coughed violently, her body went limp, and she collapsed instantly. Shirley Yang and I hurried to help her sit up, tilted her head back, and pressed on the upper ear bone to stop the bleeding. Thanks to timely discovery, but what exactly happened to her? Why did she enter this cave? Why did she try to stab her own eyes? Could something in the cave have disturbed her mind?

Shirley Yang told me Axiang definitely couldn't go on; better let her rest here a while. I nodded in agreement—rest half an hour, no problem if we can't walk; I and Pangzi will carry her back even if we have to lift her. Axiang was somewhat fortunate; I asked Pangzi for a few shed turtle shells, crushed them with stones, and had Shirley Yang feed them to her. This priceless spirit turtle shell is a miraculous elixir for nourishing blood and spirit; Pangzi couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret—there wasn't much to begin with, all of it now gone to Axiang, leaving only a palm-sized piece. After thinking it over, this debt naturally falls on Ming Shu's head—let him write an IOU, repay it upon return, no welshing. Afterwards we went out and dragged in two dead strange fish; starving red-eyed, they'd eat anything. I thought about how long the murderous ritual had been abandoned—this stuff might not even truly drink human blood like its ancestors. Scrape off the scales, haphazardly light a fire, roast it—enough to fill the stomach.

I shone my flashlight around to examine the terrain—the cave was narrow and not deep. By the time we reached Axiang's location, we were nearly at the end. Raising the "Wolf's Eye," I could see the end in the beam: a wall built of massive stones, with three very low doorways at its base, and on the heavy wall, carved a totem of a bleeding eye, the eye full of evil.

Seeing the bleeding eye, everyone stared at each other, speechless for a long while. Not even the biblical map the Portuguese priest had secretly copied from the Reincarnation Temple showed such a place. Moreover, all legends and records state that the underground altar of E Luo Hai City has only a single passage—so where is behind this wall? And what does this bleeding eye suggest?

Shirley Yang said this bleeding eye should correspond to the closed eye before the white tunnel. In E Luo Hai City, many places display various eye totems. As I see it, all eyeballs carved on walls and stone doors serve to demarcate regions or give warnings. Closed eyes are easy to understand, but bleeding eyes have many possibilities—more likely a warning, indicating the area beyond this wall is a forbidden zone, even more important than the sacrificial altar.

I approached the stone wall at the cave's end and listened; from the three low doorways below came waves of foul odor. I wiped my hand—there was still sticky liquid. On the stone hung some fish-scale-like crystal flakes. The things that go to drink blood after sacrifices must have crawled in from behind the wall—so perhaps there is water behind it. The patterns on the stone wall are incoherent; it looks like it was once broken and then repaired, or perhaps it was never a wall but a stone door, sealed shut for some reason.

After a while, Axiang regained a bit of consciousness, her face deathly pale, her body extremely weak, speaking with effort. Shirley Yang asked her what had just happened: Do you know what you were doing?

Axiang first shook her head, then said that while under the Heavenly Beam, she suddenly felt afraid, her mind filled with only one thought: to leave as quickly as possible, never again look at those dried corpses. In a daze, she walked here herself, not even understanding why she did so.

Ming Shu said: "My foster daughter gets a nosebleed when she sees heavy yin things—this happened again. She's just too young. She doesn't understand good from bad, but we've weathered wind and wave many times—we know the stakes. This place isn't for lingering. Listen to me: returning the way we came is safest."

I considered: returning the same way would at most bring us back to the volcanic island in the lake's center. Though there are a few underground rivers there, it's basically a dead end, and the underground rivers rush violently—impossible to find a path with an injured person. Though behind this wall there may be danger, there's also a chance to find a way. Moreover, Axiang's dazed arrival here shows there must still be some secret hidden underground. Leaving it unattended is always a hidden danger. Since there's such a place hidden behind the altar's cave, perhaps it relates to the Ghost Cave—cut the grass, remove the root; an incomplete resolution means no peace upon return.

I checked the compass on my watch—the stone wall does not align with the east-west white tunnel; it lies northwest by north. With this bearing, I immediately made up my mind. Still, I needed to first seek agreement from the other members.

Shirley Yang said the return path was blocked by many fallen crystals, making retreat difficult. We still have two thunderbolt-style detonators left, but blasting won't open it. Another option: climb to the cave's top, use the detonators to blast the roof, letting the lake water above flood in and fill the cave, then we could swim back to the underground lake. But many of us are injured; staying in water too long risks life.

At this moment Ming Shu hesitated again, strongly advocating returning via the underground lake. He's overly superstitious, of course unwilling to go to places heavy with yin. He said to me: "Are you mistaken? Didn't your senior brother say we'd find water and survive this time? I think that's absolutely correct—but we don't know if there's water behind this wall, and how could we ignore the advice of an expert?"

I silently cursed the old Hong Kong farmer for dragging his feet again, but what could I do? If I sided with you, I'd abandon him—but Shirley Yang, who believes in God, would surely disagree with that. Bringing Ming Shu along, though his spirits have improved somewhat, I can't guarantee his paranoia won't flare up again. Then it struck me: this man has a weakness—his excessive superstition. Why not use that to make him firmly believe this is the way to live?

Thinking this, I told Ming Shu: "Encountering water brings the central path—of course that's correct. Along our journey we've faced no dead ends, always seeking water to resolve difficulties. But the water in the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams of the I Ching isn't necessarily flowing lake water—it also indicates direction. In the Five Elements, north represents water; the water's birth number is one, completion number six—north is water."

But this clearly wouldn't convince Ming Shu, since he couldn't understand it—and frankly, neither could I. However, having studied feng shui secrets, I naturally can't divorce myself from the Eight Trigrams and such divinatory arts. Though I won't study mechanisms like Zhang Yingchuan does, I still know some principles of the Five Elements' mutual generation and overcoming. Besides, I once heard Zhang Yingchuan lecture on this, so I gave Ming Shu a discourse: "The numbers of the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements all come from the River Map. What is the River Map? Back when Fuxi ruled the world—when Fuxi was leader—he worried all day, worried all day. You think—back then, those old officials, who had talk of greed and corruption? They all had a strong sense of responsibility, constantly worrying for the country and the people. One day he sat beneath an apple tree by the river, pondering state affairs…"

Pangzi was roasting fish by the fire, hearing me say this, couldn't help but interject: "Old Hu, I know this too—wasn't it an apple falling and hitting his head, giving him stars before his eyes, leading him to grasp the Eight Trigrams Taiji diagram?"

I said to Pangzi: "You don't know—could you please stop butting in? The one who had an apple hit his head was Newton. Fuxi stood by an apple tree by the river, worrying, contemplating the fate of his subjects. In that primordial, desolate age, disasters were many, people lived in fire and water, and humans then had very limited understanding of the natural universe. Fuxi prayed to the river, hoping for guidance—how could common folk avoid disaster, live in peace and prosperity?"

At that moment a dragon horse leapt from the river, carrying a map on its back. Thus Fuxi used its markings to draw the Eight Trigrams; some say it was the burden of that dragon horse, perhaps a giant turtle shell, or maybe the dragon horse itself was an old turtle, its shell bearing naturally formed wondrous patterns—regardless of what the legends say. In short, this is the River Map. Fuxi, according to the terrain in the map, drew the Eight Trigrams—this is humanity's earliest understanding of the cosmos and world, the Dao contained within. According to records, the pattern of the dragon horse bearing the map has a white dot and six black dots near the tail's back; seven black dots and two white dots near the head's back… varying differences. The River Map contains fifty-five black-and-white spots in total: twenty-five white, called heavenly numbers; thirty black, called earthly numbers. White represents yang. All odd numbers: one, three, five, seven, nine—black dots are even numbers: two, four, six, eight, ten, representing yin, called earthly numbers. At the same time, the River Map treats one through five as generating numbers, six through ten as completing numbers—between them exists a mutual generation and completion relationship. The five directions each have one odd and one even number, paired by giving two to symbolically meaningful numbers to correspond, indicating all things in the world are born of yin-yang union. It carries the meaning of the supreme ultimate penetrating heaven and earth—if not heaven-born and earth-formed, then earth-born and heaven-formed.

Hence we say north is where yang begins to arise, generating number one, completing number six—called "heaven one gives water, earth six completes it." Thus all natural laws reside here, so I say going north ensures encountering water and finding the central path.

Shirley Yang, upon hearing this, couldn't help but admire: "I never expected you to know so much miscellaneous stuff—before I thought besides looking at feng shui, you only knew how to count money."

Hearing even Shirley Yang say I'm learned, I naturally felt pleased, my mouth nearly unable to contain myself, yet I remained humble: "Actually I know a great deal, but you never give me a chance to speak. Now that I've said this, everyone can relax, right? All theories in the world are generated from objective existing facts, so I dare say north is definitely a life gate—besides, there's another important reason: the Gold-Tapping Corpse Scholars have an ancient rule: when entering ancient tombs to tap gold, one must first light a lamp in the southeast corner, because southeast is the direction of misfortune and affairs—misfortune is disaster, affairs are work and labor—once the lamp comes, misfortune arises. The northwest corner, however, is the life path—northwest, northeast, and north are the opening, resting, and life gates; among the eight positions, only these three are auspicious gates. This was even mentioned by Si Qian—he said: 'Those who act dwell in east and west; those who gather achievements often in northwest.' Likewise, in the eyes of one versed in yin-yang feng shui, affairs arise in the south, achievements are gathered in the north; from a strategic position, north, northwest, and northeast hold absolute advantage—north governs living water, belongs to benevolent form and active momentum."

After my words, Ming Shu was convinced, certain that going north was correct—if we want to get out alive, this is the only way. So the group rested briefly, then crawled through the low doorway at the end. Before leaving, I again stared at the bleeding eye on the stone wall, wondering if this totem had any connection to Axiang's startling action. I felt a few points of unease—truthfully, all that talk about north governing water was just to appease Ming Shu; I myself had little confidence. But since other paths are no longer possible, I hope this is a road to life.

Upon exiting the low doorway, the view suddenly opened up—a vast underground canyon appeared before us. Both sides' cliffs were sheer, deathly air heavy; nearby we could use the faint glow of the ore stone to see a rough outline, while far ahead it was pitch black, endless. After walking several dozen meters, we found the canyon filled with intersecting, enormous fossilized bones—recently, a triangular skull, as large as a small house, not much smaller. *Near the canyon's edge, countless bone fossils had grown into the rock, leaving only those long spines, indicating the stone had once been alive.

Pangzi, carrying the dazed Axiang, said to us: "Isn't it said the Demon Kingdom people willingly offer snakes? Look—there are so many snake skeletons here; we'd better be careful—maybe there are still living ones."

Shirley Yang said the bones in this underground canyon aren't like snakes'—more like those of Dragon King whales or such, dead for several million to tens of millions of years. I agree with Shirley Yang's view—correctly said, how could snakes have such huge ribs, nearly as big as a ship's ribs? All bones are fossils, no recent remains, so no need to worry—but we still don't know what the E Luo Hai people did here, so we must stay alert.

As we were about to go explore the path, Axiang suddenly said to me: "Something behind and to the side is making my head hurt." We hurried to look back—upon seeing it, we all involuntarily gasped, astonished and amazed—no one expected that, right where we had come from, another black colossus, like the Leshan Giant Buddha, was embedded in the mountain. Starlike glimmers on the mountainside outlined its towering dark silhouette, like a ferocious shadow, its back to us, towering to the heavens. Most strangely, this giant statue, tens of meters high, leans forward, its face and both arms sunken into the mountain's interior—its posture like bending to peer into the mountain. Its craftsmanship lacks the beauty and complexity of Buddha statues, possessing only an outline, no decoration or patterns.

Everyone had a question: "Is this the true form of the Black Heaven Thunderstruck Mountain?" What place is this? We immediately noticed the giant has two faces, front and back identical, no distinction between front and back, and only two arms, no legs. Where it connects to the ground, there is a door about a zhang high—inside seems to be some space, before it lie several fallen stone pillars.

Pangzi said: "Finally we've found a well-preserved structure—why not go in and look for valuables to bring back? Otherwise this trip truly is a loss-making shout."

I also wanted to go in, raising my head to gaze at the towering giant, nearly tripping over something underfoot—turns out those similar stone pillars are scattered throughout the canyon, and we have one right underfoot, half sunk into mud. Shirley Yang looked down at the stone pillar beneath her feet, suddenly said she knew what place this was, but didn't say it outright, instead telling Axiang: "Could you let me examine your eyes carefully?"