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墨書 Inktalez
Gravity pulled the Azure Dark Sword from the cliff, drawing a circle of light in the air, like flowing water sleeves. The Suan Ni Rope suddenly slackened, shooting up several dozen meters and slipping from my grasp. In that instant, I felt as if I had lost gravity, floating in the air. The world around me fell eerily silent as I was about to plummet from the cliff...
In the moment of falling, I felt a vast emptiness surrounding me, a chill seeping into my bones. Mist swirled at the valley's bottom, and the wind I stirred up sent the solitary wildflowers on the cliff dancing chaotically. I thought to myself, "Is this how it ends? What has this world left for me? Fighting against fate is merely a part of Fate's arrangement. Farewell, world... farewell, friends..."
As my body descended, I felt increasingly insignificant, enveloped by clouds and mist.
I was utterly despairing...
At that moment, on the cliff, Zhengyang and Big Mouth Lee were shouting hoarsely. Dong Tong's tears fell, and even Uncorrupted Bones' face twitched. Bald Qiang was completely stunned. He cried out, "You unlucky fool! Why does misfortune always fall upon you?"
Time passed second by second; I was falling rapidly. At this height, it would only take a few dozen seconds, yet it felt like a century had passed. "You still came!" My vision darkened as if soft hands were cradling me gently, slowly lowering me onto a pine tree on the cliff. After that, I lost consciousness completely.
When I awoke again, I found myself at the bottom of the cliff. Surrounding me were Zhengyang and the others...
"You are incredibly lucky to survive something like this... Do you know how scared I was?" Big Mouth Lee sobbed at the side, unsure if he was crying tears of joy or sorrow! My whole body ached; I had no strength left. A faint smile appeared on my lips as beads of sweat rolled down my forehead.
"We've reached the Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower; it's right ahead..." Zhengyang frowned slightly, his lips twitching involuntarily. The Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower—had we arrived so soon? It couldn't be a dream; that also meant future challenges would be even more daunting, and who knew what monsters might appear.
"I fainted earlier; what happened while I was out?"
After I lost consciousness, some events did unfold. Based on their accounts, I pieced together what had happened:
Due to the sheer height of the cliff, all their attempts to climb down and rescue me had failed! Below the cliff, mist obscured their view entirely; they couldn't see where I had fallen. They could only enter a cave to search for a way down. The cave was dense and twisted with paths. Just when they were feeling hopeless, a white shadow floated ahead of them. They followed it all the way to the valley's bottom. There, they found me lying on a tree halfway up in mid-air and devised a way to rescue me. As for what that white shadow was, no one knew yet!
"Could it be her?" I thought, but I couldn't be sure, and I didn't share this thought with anyone. They naturally didn't press me for more information, instead taking the time to rest while I recovered from my injuries. For some reason, my wounds seemed to heal remarkably quickly; in just two or three hours, I was able to move again. The others hastily consumed some rations and set off.
"This Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower is actually situated within the Demonic Land! It's truly bizarre..."
In geomancy, there are said to be nine major cursed locations, with the ninth being the Demonic Land. According to the Zhou Yi's Qian Zhaodu, "Yang Qi begins at Hai, is born at Zi, takes shape at Chou; hence, Qian is located in the northwest!" Therefore, this type of terrain is fragile and thin, mostly barren land. The solar energy is generated at Hai time, reaches its peak at Wu time, and dissipates in the northwest.
The Burial Book states: "The earth has four forces, and energy comes from all directions; thus, the left side represents the Azure Dragon, the right side the White Tiger, the front the Vermilion Bird, and the back the Black Tortoise. The Black Tortoise bows its head, the Vermilion Bird soars, the Azure Dragon winds around, and the White Tiger crouches. If the formations are reversed, they must be broken. Thus, a crouching tiger signifies a corpse being held; a coiled dragon signifies jealousy of its master; a Black Tortoise that does not bow rejects corpses; a Vermilion Bird that does not soar flees..."
This type of terrain can gather Killing Intent effectively; Killing Intent converges from all four directions—east, west, south, and north. Unsurprisingly, there must be several hidden channels flowing into where the Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower stands—these are the water veins connecting to the Nine Deadly Tombs' Killing Intent.
We were currently on slightly higher ground than the Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower. Standing on a slope overlooking this dark city was quite an impressive sight: "Five steps for a floor, ten steps for a pavilion; corridors winding like a serpent, eaves sharp as fangs; each embracing the terrain while competing for prominence." Indeed, that towering Corpse Tower had several hidden channels coiling around it before merging into the river in front of it, surging forth with white mist rising above.
The Killing Intent inherent in this Demonic Land reached an alarming level. Coupled with the continuous infusion of Killing Intent from the Nine Deadly Tombs, it was enough to terrify even demons. I couldn't imagine what kind of beings resided here.
Bald Qiang seemed to understand these matters as he scratched his head and asked, "This place has three rivers converging, creating a situation akin to three flowers atop a crown. Water can transform into wind; how could this possibly be Demonic Land?" It was my first time hearing Bald Qiang use such professional terminology. Not quite used to it yet, I chuckled and asked him playfully, "What nonsense are you talking about?" As soon as I spoke, I felt I had misspoken.
"Once we step into the Corpse Tower, you'll naturally understand its terror!" Zhengyang retorted without hesitation. It seemed that this place was indeed frightening.
Before we knew it, we had approached the Corpse Tower. The beam of our flashlight illuminated some blackened remnants of eaves and broken walls ahead. A river blocked our path. When we shone our lights on it, we saw that it wasn't very deep. We planned to wade across when our feet touched the water and found it had formed a thin layer of ice. The water was painfully cold.
This water was Old Yin water; when it encountered human Yang Qi, yin and yang clashed. To protect itself, my body emitted a large amount of heat. When this heat met Old Yin water—like dense clouds carrying ice meeting rising warm air—it either hailed or snowed! Thus forming thin ice meant my body didn't feel too unusual; my physique was strong enough to withstand Old Yin water. If there were no ice formed at all, then one would have an extremely heavy presence of Old Yin within them. I carefully observed everyone and noticed that only Dong Tong and Uncorrupted Bones' legs showed no signs of ice crystals at all. Uncorrupted Bones was a ghost and showed no abnormalities. Dong Tong was a woman but shouldn't have lost her Yang Qi so severely; an uneasy feeling surged within me...
After crossing the river and looking up, we finally saw the Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower clearly. Externally appearing as nine tiers, internally it consisted of just one layer—much like how the Forbidden City appears to have multiple layers but is essentially one inside. What first caught our eyes ahead was a Spirit Palace used for rituals that looked particularly dilapidated.
The entire Corpse Tower was immense and grand, yet it was constructed from the Black Stone Coffin, emanating an Eerie Energy that chilled the air, creating an atmosphere of strangeness and mystery. As we stepped into the Spirit Palace, we found it utterly spotless… not a speck of dust in sight. The Spirit Palace was a courtyard, empty and devoid of any objects. Taking a few more steps forward, we arrived before the Nine-Tiered Corpse Tower.
It was a towering gate, adorned with forty-nine nails on each side. Originally, these nails were merely used to secure the gate, but over time they evolved into decorative elements, acquiring significance. The nails of the Forbidden City are arranged in rows of nine, symbolizing the return to simplicity. However, seven does not represent beauty; rather, it is a malicious curse. Any term that concludes with seven is either exceedingly precious or extremely brutal. The precious ones include the Seven Rulings, while the brutal ones encompass the Seven Absolutes and the Seven Fiends of Death. This gate, with its seven horizontal and seven vertical nails, was even more sinister. Beneath each nail was carved a strange symbol, an ancient script long lost to time.
(To be continued)
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