Chapter Twenty-Two

After San Qiu Dao left, the place was left in a shambles, yet it returned to its initial stillness. A cold breeze swept through, causing Mu Xiangming to shiver involuntarily.

"Are you all right?"

"It’s just that this dress is a bit cold." She pulled her sash tighter.

Lin He smiled slightly, "But you certainly look beautiful in that dress!"

Mu Xiangming felt shy. "How can you joke at a time like this?"

Lin He frowned and said, "I’m only saying what my friend said—you look like a celestial being descended from the heavens!"

Watching him play the part, Mu Xiangming was torn between laughing and speaking. Lin He pulled a map from his clothes. "Enough! Let’s look at the route."

Under the moonlight, he unfolded the map: The layout of the tomb was a Nine-Palace Eight-Trigram formation. There were nine palaces in total, with paths crisscrossing in an extremely complex web. The palaces were divided into minor and major; the minor palaces were the junctions of the paths, while the major palaces were the endpoints. There were five minor palaces and four major ones. The entrance to the tomb was marked with the characters for "Yin" and "Yang," and the location of the martial arts manual was marked with "Yang."

Lin He’s brows knit together. Although the two poles were only separated by one vertical axis, moving from the Yang pole to the Yin pole was not something one could achieve just by having this map. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "It seems the real problem isn't the lethal poison inside the tomb."

Mu Xiangming spoke up, "The Nine-Palace Eight-Trigram formation is usually a military strategy; it’s rare to see it used in a tomb."

Lin He pursed his lips. "True. The map only marks the location of the manual; we’ll have to go in to figure out how to navigate it."

Mu Xiangming said, "Teacher Tao once taught us some chants for the Daoist Eight-Trigram array. I wonder if they might be useful now?"

Lin He: "Right! Do you remember them?"

Mu Xiangming thought for a moment: "Nine at the crown, one at the base; three on the left, seven on the right; two and four are the shoulders, six and eight are the feet; five resides in the center."

He put the map away. "Let’s go inside and see." Lin He found a thick wooden stick, wrapped it in a piece of black cloth he had, lit it with a fire-starter, and the two walked into the tomb together.

Lin He held the torch, and Mu Xiangming held the map. As they walked, their footsteps echoed in the cold, dark tomb, which reeked of strong medicinal herbs. Only the weak light from the torch illuminated the damp, rough stone walls, where no moss could grow due to the heavy toxicity.

"To spend such vast manpower just to build a tomb for himself—Wu Qianjun was truly extravagant," Lin He lamented.

Mu Xiangming added, "More than a hundred years ago, after Wu Qianjun died, Jiang Ling’er hid the complete manual in this tomb. Perhaps it was to give the tomb value so that they wouldn't be condemned by the world."

Lin He nodded slightly. He, too, was curious about that manual. What kind of martial art could make the Holy Mother of White Cloud Peak choose to bury it in a tomb rather than pass it on to the world?

They arrived at the first major burial chamber, the one closest to the entrance. Before their eyes were eight openings. The smell of herbs here was overpowering. In the center of the chamber was a giant boulder covered in various medicinal plants.

Mu Xiangming covered her nose; the scent was sickening. Sensing this, Lin He handed her the map. "The poison gas is thick here. You must tell me if you feel unwell."

Mu Xiangming nodded. "I will."

Lin He examined the openings and then went to the giant boulder with the torch. He noticed a bowl-sized hole in the ceiling. Looking up, he found it strange that even though the hole faced the night sky, no moonlight shone through. Pondering this, he noticed something beneath the herbs. Moving them aside, he saw a dragon carved into the rock.

Mu Xiangming recalled the Eight-Trigram chant her teacher had taught her.

"Nine at the crown, one at the base; three on the left, seven on the right; two and four are the shoulders, six and eight are the feet; five resides in the center." Mu Xiangming looked at the openings. If she counted the one they entered through, there were exactly nine! It matched: "Nine at the crown, one at the base; three on the left, seven on the right!"

Lin He was also pondering the information on the map. Mu Xiangming suggested, "Why don’t we just choose one at random to test?"

Lin He nodded; it was a viable plan. "All right!"

Mu Xiangming followed her intuition and chose an opening. "Let’s try this one first!"

Lin He held the torch, and they walked into the tunnel. The torchlight flickered in the dark, looking incredibly fragile. Their footsteps echoed, as if they were walking step by step into an endless abyss.

After the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, they emerged from the tunnel—only to find themselves back in the original chamber! Both were stunned. Even more unbelievable, the tunnel they emerged from was the very same one they had just entered! If that were the case, then retracing their steps through this tunnel would never lead them out of the tomb.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, they had to marvel at the mystery of the Daoist Eight-Trigram formation.

They had wasted half a stick of incense on just one trial, and Lin He’s torch was already dimming. Time was limited. Lin He marked the opening they had just exited to avoid repeating the mistake, then they headed into another tunnel.

A second time, a different tunnel, and they returned to the chamber again!

An hour had passed; it was already past midnight. The torch was nearly spent. Lin He gathered some flammable herbs from the giant boulder, tore a piece of fabric from his clothes, wrapped the herbs in it, lit it, and stuck it up.

Lin He placed the map on the boulder. "I feel like we won't get any information just by wandering. We can't keep testing them one by one. Let's analyze this tomb."

He observed the room and studied the map. "The only information we have is this 'Dragon Carving.' Only if we can find the dragon mark and the chamber’s position on the map can we find the correct entrance! Otherwise, just getting out will be a problem."

Mu Xiangming stared at the array on the map, a strange feeling dawning on her. She looked at the carved dragon, thought of her teacher’s chant, and the Eight-Trigram map, feeling that all three were connected.

Frowning, she traced the positions on the diagram:

"'Nine at the crown, one at the base' means the start of the array is nine, but the reality is one, symbolizing that the starting point and the initial destination are the same. 'Three on the left, seven on the right' indicates the left is three and the right is seven, representing the positions of the Green Dragon on the left and the White Tiger on the right. 'Two and four are the shoulders' means two and four are on the left and right sides of the array. 'Six and eight are the feet' means six and eight are at the bottom, and 'five resides in the center' means five is the heart and soul of the Eight-Trigram formation."

From the Yin pole where they entered to the Yang pole at the end, every line of Mu Xiangming’s chant corresponded to the positions on the map!

Lin He was shocked; the chant fit the map perfectly!

Mu Xiangming pointed to a major palace on the map. "The Green Dragon is on the left, three on the left, seven on the right. This major palace is where we are right now!"

Lin He frowned, as the palace she pointed to was a dead end on the map. This meant they had walked into a cul-de-sac.

Mu Xiangming didn't speak; she stared at the map, feeling she had missed a vital factor. She began to pick at her fingernails—a habit she had whenever she was faced with a complex problem, helping her calm her mind.

Suddenly, she realized. "It’s the Yin-Yang relationship!"

She looked at the Green Dragon on the stone. "I kept ignoring that the Green Dragon belongs to Yang! And this chamber is Yang!" She looked at the hole in the ceiling. "Why is there no moonlight tonight even though the moon is so full? Because the moonlight is Yin, and this chamber is Yang!"

Lin He had often noticed that Mu Xiangming’s talent for learning was peerless, yet her mother had always kept her busy with martial arts. Was her mother really planning for the day she would leave?

Seeing Lin He lost in thought, Mu Xiangming continued, "About Yin and Yang, Teacher Tao once said: the way of Yin and Yang is one of mutual restraint and mutual support. The way of restraint is the origin of all things; the way of support is the ultimate end of all things!"

Lin He snapped out of it. "Which path should we take?"

Mu Xiangming replied, "We entered during the Yin hour, and now we are in a Yang chamber. We should go back through the tunnel we first entered!"

Lin He nodded. He didn't have her memory for the chants, but he knew that what Teacher Tao taught must be related to this tomb. He realized that conventional methods wouldn't work; they had to try the unconventional.

They headed back. Lin He led the way with the torch, and Mu Xiangming followed. Lin He carefully observed every detail of the tunnel. The further they went, the more unfamiliar it seemed—a sign that Mu Xiangming’s deduction was correct. Even though they had entered through this passage, they had never actually walked this specific path!

Half a stick of incense later, the long, dark tunnel still showed no end. The fire on the stick was shrinking, burning down to within two inches of his hand. They picked up their pace; in this darkness, losing the torch meant losing their eyes. Lin He told Mu Xiangming to hold onto his coat so she wouldn't fall behind.

Rounding a corner, they finally saw a faint blue glow. They looked at each other and hurried toward the light. As they drew closer, they saw it: the second chamber of the tomb!

The moment Lin He stepped into the chamber, the fire turned blue! He immediately threw the torch down. It wasn't just the torch; a row of candles lined the stone walls, all burning with ghost-like blue flames, giving the entire chamber an eerie, hellish appearance.

This chamber was smaller than the previous one, with a giant boulder in the center. There were three openings, evenly spaced in a triangular formation. In a corner stood two wooden racks, each with three tiers, filled with sealed ceramic jars of various shapes.

Approaching the boulder, he saw a hole in the ceiling as well. This time, he could see the moonlight. On the boulder was carved a tiger, appearing as if it were roaring in anger!

Lin He: "It seems this chamber is the Yin pole!"

Mu Xiangming nodded slightly. "Yes, the White Tiger is in the West; in the Five Elements, it belongs to Metal, which is the Yin attribute!"

Lin He went to the wooden racks to examine the jars. They were covered with lids of different colors—celadon, white—and varied in shape, some round, some elongated. He counted them, wondering if it would provide a clue.

Mu Xiangming joined him. "There is a folk saying that the White Tiger is a 'life-restraining star,' and it is also a symbol of the Five Poisons. If I’m not mistaken, this must be where the Poisonous Crone stored her toxins."

Lin He: "Then we’d best not open these jars."

He took a candle from the wall, thinking it might come in handy later. He placed the map on the boulder and looked at the moon. "It’s past midnight; we must hurry." He looked back at the map. "Xiangming, can you identify the position of this chamber?"

"Hmm... I’m thinking..."

Mu Xiangming’s brows furrowed, her hands twitching as she stared at the map. She muttered, "White Tiger in the West... Nine at the crown, one at the base... three on the left, seven on the right... Nine at the crown... one at the base... three on the left, seven on the right..."

She looked up at the moon, thought for a moment, and pointed to the fourth palace on the right of the Yin pole. "The White Tiger is in the West, three on the left, seven on the right. West also means 'lesser.' The Yin pole is on the right, so it must be the fourth palace to the right!"

The spot she pointed to was a minor palace! This proved her earlier judgment was correct: this chamber was indeed much smaller than the last.

Lin He frowned. "If the next step is the Yang pole, we still have at least four more Yin-Yang transitions to go through!"

Mu Xiangming shook her head slightly. "If nothing goes wrong, it will be two!"

Lin He picked up the map, aligned it, and saw that the exit on the map pointed exactly to the tunnel on the right. Once the opening was confirmed, he put the map away and took another candle from the wall. "Take this, in case mine goes out."

Mu Xiangming took it. "All right..."

They hurried out through the opening.