Chapter 20: Seven Stars: Key

I looked down; it should be a copper key inlaid with beads, one of which was a dark green bead that didn't seem ordinary. I couldn't quite tell what it was made of, only knowing that ancients sometimes put beads in a corpse's mouth to preserve it. If I took this key out, the millennium-old beauty in front of me might instantly turn into a mummy. I would never risk doing something that terrifying. However, the current situation was too awkward—I couldn't exactly run off carrying this corpse on my back.

Just as I was hesitating, I suddenly heard a person's shouts approaching from afar. I looked up and saw a man screaming as he crashed through seven or eight branches, then was pulled by a vine and hung up right above my head. It was none other than that damned Fatty. It seemed he had finally given out and followed my example, only he looked even more beat up than me. Luckily he didn't hit his head. Hanging there, he cursed: "Damn it, would've never thought a vine this thick had that much strength!" Then he spotted me, froze for a second, and said, "Little comrade, you're messing around with a young lady?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Not daring to speak loudly, I made a gesture and said, "This one's dead! Hurry and think of something!" Fatty let out an "ah," wiggled his butt in midair, and said, "Well, you gotta get me down first!" I tossed the knife in my hand up to him. He caught it in one go, immediately flipped over, and started cutting the vine. At first I didn't realize what was coming, but by the time it occurred to me, it was too late. I'd just opened my mouth to tell Fatty to wait when he let out a weird yell and landed right on top of the armored corpse, knocking its mask off. I was about to lean in for a look when Fatty spun around and shouted at me: "Don't look—it's a blue-eyed fox corpse!"

Unfortunately, he shouted too late. In a flash I saw the face under the mask. One glance was enough to make my head buzz and my skin crawl in terror. I stammered, "How is that a person?"

Beneath that mask was a deathly pale face. If you looked closely, you could still vaguely make out human features. This person's entire head was hairless—no eyebrows, no beard—and the face was so sharp and pointed it was almost deformed. His eyes were barely long slits, with two blue pupils gleaming coldly from within those slits. As for the other features, they were nearly indistinguishable. I can put it this way: if you just glanced at it, that face looked very much like a grinning human-faced fox, especially those two blue eyeballs, which made it even more eerie. To be honest, most corpses I could still stomach, but this one—I really didn't dare look straight at it. It was just too scary. If someone saw it without any mental preparation, it would probably scare them to death. Fatty was terrified too. He rolled off the jade platform and exclaimed in horror: "Who'd have thought! So this is what King Lu Shang looked like?"

"Is this really King Lu Shang?" I asked. "How come he looks... like a fox?"

Fatty's eyes darted over the armored corpse. "A friend of mine once told me about this—it's called a blue-eyed fox corpse. A long time ago, someone robbed an ancient tomb from some unknown dynasty. When he opened the inner coffin, he found a blue-eyed fox lying on the corpse inside. Foxes are creatures of evil omen. A fox lying on a corpse—that's very bad news. He should have put everything back exactly as it was, but that grave robber wasn't skilled enough and couldn't bear to do it, so he secretly kept a jade turtle. Years later, he retired and went home to marry a wife. When his wife was about to give birth, the midwife let out a scream and fainted the moment she started delivering. The man rushed in and saw that his wife had given birth to a child with blue eyes. At first that grave robber didn't realize it was the fox causing trouble; he just thought the child had some strange disease and went everywhere seeking medical help. But not only did the child's condition not improve, his hair gradually fell out, and his face grew more and more fox-like. Only then did the grave robber figure out what was going on. So he traveled a long way back to that ancient tomb and put the jade turtle back where it belonged. After that, the child's condition stopped getting worse, but that fox-like face never changed back."

He smacked his lips and added, "But this blue-eyed fox corpse is seriously creepy. I heard that just looking at it once can infect you, and your face will slowly turn into something like what it looks like. Did you look just now?"

Though I didn't fully believe it, the thought of turning into that monster sent a shiver down my spine. I swore, "Don't talk nonsense. Changing or not is a problem for later. First, help me get out of here!"

Fatty thought about it—yeah, hemming and hawing now would just be useless. He hurried over to help me pry off the female corpse's hands. He strained and tried several times, but those hands were like iron—they wouldn't budge at all. He pulled hard a couple of times, panting from exhaustion. Seeing how nervous I looked, he tried to reassure me: "Don't worry, your Fatty's got plenty of tricks. If it comes to it, I'll just chop her hand off."

I quickly shouted: "No—what if there's corpse poison in here? Absolutely not. Besides, I've got no grudge against her. Cutting off someone's hand right off the bat—that's way too unkind."

Fatty scratched his head; he was out of ideas too. He said to me, "Generally speaking, if a corpse doesn't decay, it means it has an unfulfilled wish. If you fulfill that wish for her, she'll naturally let you go. Think about it—when she grabbed you just now, did anything unusual happen?"

I thought back a little and remembered. When I stood up earlier, her mouth suddenly opened. There seemed to be something inside—it looked like a key from its shape. Could that be it? With that in mind, I carefully straightened the female corpse's head, softly said, "Forgive me," and pressed on her cheeks. Her delicate lips parted slightly. I immediately saw the key inlaid with a verdant green bead on her tongue.

Fatty exclaimed in surprise: "Damn, that's a good find. She must want you to take that key out. Think about it—with that small mouth of hers, holding a key must be really uncomfortable."

I said nervously, "What if she suddenly bites down?"

Fatty grew impatient. "Look at you—you're full of weak points. Where would she bite you? It's not like it'd be your hand specifically, right?"

That made sense to me, so I steeled myself. I figured worst case I'd lose a couple of fingers. I took a deep breath, held out two trembling fingers, and reached into her mouth. Just as I was about to touch her lips, I suddenly heard a voice whispering in my ear: "Stop."