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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
"Stone" and "is" are pronounced the same, but one is in the second tone and the other in the fourth tone. At that time, Brother Five was spitting blood, so his pronunciation might have been inaccurate.
I was filled with anger and didn't consider what Brother Five meant by that word. In hindsight, I believe Brother Five was just identifying the murderer, saying something like "is (who killed me)."
Now I wonder, what if Brother Five meant the stone of the stone wall? This large stone wall is covered with vines; if we pull these vines away, could we see the Portal? Just like last time at the Yangshan Gold Mine, wasn't the exit of that underground laboratory hidden behind vines on a rock wall by the stream?
Qingcheng nodded in agreement: "Exactly, isn't this stone wall at the source of the stream? A stone wall this big could very well hide a Portal."
As she spoke, Qingcheng walked directly to the base of the stone wall and began to pull at the vines. I was momentarily stunned but quickly ran over to help clear them.
Although the vines were merely climbing plants, after growing for so many years, some had already embedded themselves into the cracks of the stone and couldn't be pulled out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to climb up using these vines yesterday. Moreover, this stone wall is about four stories high; pulling down the vines is quite a challenge.
After pulling down about ten or so not-so-sturdy vines, the remaining ones were basically impossible to move. Finally, I had to ask Qingcheng to stop. I took out my dagger and chose several particularly thick vines as footholds, cutting down all the other vines. It took nearly two hours to clear a bit of this stone wall.
Meanwhile, Qingcheng stood nearby with her wooden sword, alert and on guard. I knew she was worried that yesterday's Golden Blade would suddenly leap out and strike me on the head. To be honest, I was worried too, but worrying wouldn't stop us from working. Fortunately, until we finished clearing the vines, Golden Blade did not appear.
Breathless, I returned to the edge of the pool and sat beside Qingcheng, saying weakly, "I'm so exhausted I can hardly move. You go check if there are any mechanisms or Portals on the stone wall."
Qingcheng stood there in a daze without saying anything.
I nudged Qingcheng's leg: "Hey, why aren't you going?"
"Zheng Nan, look at this stone wall!"
Hearing this, I looked up and was momentarily stunned upon seeing the stone wall. My mind was filled with two big words: What the hell!
There was actually a huge mural painted on the stone wall. Although some vine branches and leaves still clung to it, the mural was already discernible. Earlier, while cutting down vines on the stone wall, even if I had seen patterns on it, I hadn't thought about it as a mural. Now that I looked at it suddenly, a strong visual impact shocked me.
Despite my shock, I'm an outsider when it comes to art; I know nothing about color usage, composition, or negative space. However, my first impression of this painting was that it must have been created by someone extraordinary.
The painting is a landscape, depicting the Great River flowing majestically eastward, with countless peaks on both banks adorned with various strange trees and peculiar rocks. The brushwork is bold and dynamic, exuding a grand atmosphere. What is even more astonishing is that the artist captured all this with just a few strokes, evoking a sense of awe even in someone as lazy as me.
After being amazed for quite a while, I finally withdrew my gaze and nudged Qingcheng, this time pushing her thigh: "Alright, stop looking, let's find the entrance!"
If she didn't respond to my push on her leg, then I would push her bottom next; surely there would be something that would move her.
Qingcheng snapped back to reality after I pushed her and continued walking while exclaiming, "What a miracle! What a masterpiece!"
Hmph, masterpiece? It doesn't seem that impressive to me. Of course, I wouldn't dare say that out loud; discussing matters of culture with someone from a prestigious family would only lead to trouble.
Watching Qingcheng tapping on the stone wall and occasionally raising her wooden sword to strike the upper part of the wall, I thought that such a large stone surface should take at least ten minutes to inspect. With nothing else to do, my gaze wandered back to the mural.
At the top of the mural, clouds and mist swirl around, with strange rocks lining the riverbank. A bit further away are various unusual trees; these trees might have been artistically processed because I couldn't recognize what they were. However, near the water pool at the bottom of the stone wall, there was one plant I recognized—it was none other than a Banana Tree.
Huh? A Banana?
Why did I find the term "Banana" so familiar? I'm not a woman; I shouldn't have any particular interest in bananas or plantains. Why do those two words feel so reminiscent? How could that be?
Banana? Banana!
Wait, I remembered! When Kong Xuan first found the Fire Spirit Pearl, she recited a verse about ancient tombs: "Water is not water, mountains are not mountains; rain strikes the banana leaves revealing their true appearance."
That's right! Rain strikes banana leaves revealing their true appearance.
Now that there's a banana tree on this stone wall, it must be related to the entrance. With this thought in mind, I couldn't help but shout, "Qingcheng, check around that Banana Tree and see if there's anything unusual."
Upon hearing this, Qingcheng took a few steps back to get a better look at the banana tree's position. She approached and struck it several times with her wooden sword before saying loudly, "It seems there’s nothing wrong!"
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but click my tongue in disbelief. This can't be right; what about the Yin Yang Essays? That ancient masterpiece—anything inscribed on it must have been done by masters among masters. Someone at that level wouldn't just make up nonsense for future generations to ridicule.
Hmm, it must be that Qingcheng didn't hit it hard enough. Let me give it a try.
I stood up and walked over to Qingcheng, waving my hand to signal her to move aside. Qingcheng was momentarily stunned and retreated behind me with a puzzled expression.
I twisted my neck, shook my arms, and then performed a chest expansion exercise from a radio calisthenics routine. I picked up a fist-sized pebble from the ground, swung my arm in a full arc through the air, and forcefully threw the stone towards the location of the Banana Tree.
With a loud bang, the pebble struck the stone wall, producing a resounding echo.
I tilted my ear to listen closely, and sure enough, there was a faint hollow echo coming from the wall. What did this mean? It indicated that there was indeed a Portal at this location, but it was quite thick. Estimating roughly, this stone door was at least one meter thick.
Qingcheng approached with an amused yet helpless expression: "It seems the entrance is right here. Now the only question left is how we can open it."
The two of us carefully searched along the stone wall surrounding the Banana Tree, not overlooking any suspicious spots. After searching for a while, we found nothing.
"Perhaps we should step back and observe this mural again," Xiao Qingcheng suggested as she gave up on searching.
"Why is that?"
"I think Liu An must have painted this mural for a reason; it’s possible that it contains deeper meaning," Qingcheng said with a furrowed brow.
This statement made sense, and I nodded in agreement. We stepped back about ten meters to focus on the mural. Upon closer inspection, we indeed noticed something peculiar.
The brushwork of the entire mural was grand and fluid, ethereal in nature; however, in the section depicting the Banana Tree—approximately three meters square—the brush strokes appeared somewhat different. Although they were also ethereal and fluid, they clearly lacked the same level of quality compared to the rest of the mural.
It was as if two different artists had worked on it: the lower part was painted by a master, while the upper part seemed to be done by a top-tier master. Viewed individually, there might not be much difference, but when compared side by side, the disparity was evident.
I stepped closer for a detailed examination and finally confirmed that this section had been coated with another layer of paint later on, obscuring the original artwork beneath it and then redone with new paint.
This type of paint should be some special coating, similar to those old lighters that had a sticker on them depicting a woman in a bikini. The bikini was made from special paint that would disappear when burned with a lighter, revealing inappropriate content underneath. Once cooled down, the paint would cover it again. This concept had intrigued me and Fatty for some time; we even put effort into researching it.
With this conclusion in mind and recalling that saying about rain hitting banana leaves revealing their true appearance, I suddenly understood. While explaining this to Qingcheng in excitement, I grabbed some water and splashed it onto the section of the stone wall where the Banana Tree was depicted.
It didn’t necessarily have to rain; using water would work just as well!
I splash! I splash! I splash splash splash!
Sure enough, the area where the water splashed began to reveal the underlying drawing.
I shouted for Qingcheng to come help. Qingcheng smiled strangely, reciting something under her breath, and with a wave of her Peach Wood Sword, a column of water shot up from the pool. With a whoosh, the column continuously splashed against the stone wall, drenching me completely.
Damn Xiao Qingcheng, she must have done that on purpose. How infuriating; she was even laughing. Hmph, if she wants to play rough instead of using spells, let's wrestle—best of five?
I awkwardly retreated to Qingcheng's side, watching as the stone wall was gradually revealed by the water column. The position of the Banana Tree revealed an ancient-looking Portal, adorned with a large Basin-sized Taiji Bagua Diagram.
Upon seeing this Taiji Bagua Diagram, Xiao Qingcheng immediately stepped forward and focused intently. I followed suit, pretending to observe as well. Who said that only those who understand can look? There are plenty of pretentious people besides me.
The outermost part of the Taiji Bagua Diagram had eight Chinese characters written on it. I crossed my arms and stroked my chin while reading aloud: "Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Gen, Xun, Dui—this is the Bagua? What does it mean?"
Qingcheng shot me an angry glare: "If you don't know, stop mumbling nonsense. That character is 'Gen,' and the other one is 'Xun.' Qian represents heaven, Kun represents earth, Kan represents water, Li represents fire, Zhen represents thunder, Gen represents mountain, Xun represents wind, and Dui represents marsh. This is not just Taoist culture; it's also Chinese culture. Don't insult it!"
Come on, it's just a mispronunciation! How did I insult it? Seeing Qingcheng's deeply pained expression made me chuckle. I simply stood aside and smoked a cigarette; after all, Xiao Qingcheng was definitely skilled with this Tai Chi Bagua stuff. I'll just watch her open the door.
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