Shen Jinghong felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his face deathly pale.
Madam Jia’s face was full of disbelief, then she said with grief and anger, "After the first wife passed away, I managed the household affairs and served the old lady, never daring to slack off. You must not slander !"
"Master, since you harbor resentnt towards in your heart, I will follow you then!"
Having said that, she attempted to throw herself forward, aiming to crash into the square table.
"Lady, don’t be hasty!"
Wang Daoxuan quickly stopped her and said in a grave voice, "Obsession is sotis not with a person but with an object. Think carefully, do you carry anything that Master Shen was fond of?"
Madam Jia was pale, clearly confused by grief and anger, and it took her a while to gather her thoughts. Suddenly rembering sothing, she took out a gilded copper key from her bosom.
With a trembling voice, she said, "This object was given to by the master before he left. He told never to lose it, and if anything unexpected happened to him, to give it to Jingyu."
"He would say this every ti he left, but this ti Jingyu also had an accident, and I didn’t think of it for a mont."
"Oh?"
Wang Daoxuan pondered as he took the gilded copper key.
This gilded copper key was a bit different from the ones popular now, being one whole piece of copper with a hook and carved with patterns in the center, and had complex serrations on both sides.
Wang Daoxuan could not recognize it, so he did not inspect it further but instead dangled the key in front of the body of the late Shen.
A strange thing happened: as the key swung, the body’s head began to move back and forth, its struggles growing even fiercer.
"Co, help this Daoist!"
At Wang Daoxuan’s call, Li Yan and Sha Lifei imdiately stepped forward, holding the body’s shoulders and placing it back into the coffin.
Wang Daoxuan then stuffed the key into the corpse’s hand, while undoing the "Corpse Suppressing Seal" and the grass rope, giving it a gentle push.
Strangely, the previously motionless sitting body imdiately fell down, and as Wang Daoxuan touched it, the eyes also imdiately closed, with no further movent.
"Master Shen’s obsession was this very object," said Wang Daoxuan with a shake of his head. "I will conduct a ritual tonight to soothe his spirit. Afterwards, burying this object with him should allow him to rest in peace."
"Hold on!"
Shen’s second uncle, the tall and thin elderly man, beca anxious and hurriedly stepped forward, saying, "This key is so important, this must be the family fortune our eldest brother concealed. Now that our Shen family is in such trouble, why not take it out to help the family through this adversity? Only then can our brother rest easy!"
His words and deanor disgusted everyone present.
They all knew this old man was up to no good.
Upon hearing this, Shen Jinghong’s face was imdiately filled with anger.
However, Sha Lifei, who was beside him, stopped him and chuckled, "Don’t be hasty, the old man has a point. The Shen family indeed is in dire need of a substantial amount of life-saving silver."
He continued, glancing at the two old n with implied aning, "Besides, it’s impossible to keep this secret with so many witnesses present. It’s inevitable that soone with a dark heart would think to rob the grave and take the treasure."
"You, stop talking nonsense!"
The short, fat elder quickly objected, facing the scornful eyes of the crowd with no sign of guilt on his face.
The old woman lying in the bamboo chair seed thoroughly disappointed with her two sons and did not bother with them, instead turning to Shen Jinghong and said weakly, "Jing Hong, from now on you will take charge of this family. See to it."
Shen Jinghong had a sowhat weak temperant, but even under these circumstances, he managed to maintain his composure. He gave a bow to Wang Daoxuan and said, "Daoist, if we retrieve the item, will my father be laid to rest peacefully?"
Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said, "The deceased’s obsession is only with the key, burying this object with him will suffice. As for what is inside, it is irrelevant."
"Good," said Shen Jinghong before turning to Madam Jia, comforting her, "Mother, don’t be saddened. Do you rember, what the key is for?"
Madam Jia shook her head, "The master didn’t say, and I did not ask."
The old butler interjected, "This key should be for a flower-flag lock, which was popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. Nowadays, we all use wide locks."
"Let have a look,"
Li Yan stepped forward to take the key, pinched a spell, and deeply inhaled.
In an instant, the slls within a three-hundred-ter radius rushed into his nostrils.
The gilded copper key was exquisitely beautiful and had a unique scent as well.
Since there was a key, there must be a lock—they should be of the sa material unless it was not in this Shen residence.
"I’ve found it!"
Li Yan’s gaze suddenly shifted to the backyard, and he strode toward it.
The Shen family mbers exchanged looks and followed closely behind him.
Passing through the courtyard corridor and several latticed flower walls, they reached the Shen family’s backyard, stopping outside a side room.
"This is Father’s study," Shen Jing Hong hurriedly explained.
Truth be told, his curiosity was piqued.
Without another word, Li Yan entered the study. With a leap, he soared into the air, reached out, and snatched sothing from the roof beam.
The onlookers craned their necks to see that it was indeed a black rosewood box.
The small box, crafted with the unique lacquer-wood technique of the Chu Territory, had complex and antique patterns, and was fastened with a gilt-bronze fish flag lock.
At a glance, the object appeared to be of a not too distant vintage, but the use of such an exquisite box signified the owner’s high regard for its contents.
Li Yan glanced at Young Master Shen, and upon receiving a nod, he unlocked the box.
Shen Family’s second and third masters couldn’t wait to gather around and beca irate upon seeing the contents: "What the hell use are these damn books?"
Inside the box was a book.
The cover read "Jin Book."
The "Jin Book" is one of the "Twenty-Four Histories" of China, compiled by the Tang Dynasty’s Fang Xuanling and others, and although it is a history book, it recounts various bizarre and fantastic events.
Li Yan’s brow furrowed slightly as he picked up the book and imdiately turned to the page marked with a red-circled bamboo bookmark:
Shen Gongzi drew closer, reading with confusion, "There appeared nurous torches, erging from atop the city walls, resembling large carts, covered with white cloths, accompanying the flas leaving the city, moving northeastward until they were extinguished by the river..."
"This is from the ’Biography of Yu Liang,’ describing an unusual phenonon witnessed one night by Yu Liang, a minister of the Eastern Jin, while he was serving as governor of the regions of Jiang, Jing, and Yu."
"Why would Father collect this?"
Lost in thought, Li Yan looked back at the box.
Inside it, there were two more items, one being a letter and the other a map.
After picking up the letter, Li Yan’s vision darkened from exasperation and he handed it out, "Young Master Shen, can you see what it says?"
The characters on it were weird and written in ancient text, which he couldn’t recognize.
After just a glance, Shen Jinghong was astonished, "This is a Ghost Book!"
Seeing Li Yan’s frown, he quickly explained, "In Yu Yuanwei’s discussion of calligraphy within the ’Book of Southern Dynasties Liang,’ it is ntioned that Ghost Books bring misfortune, stemming from ancient weapons, and represent two types of special characters."
"During the reign of Song Yuanjia, soone in Jingkou was struck to death by lightning, and on his arm were found the words ’thunderbolt books’. Those four words were ’killed by karma,’ and are the only known instance of a Ghost Book."
"The character for ’knife-fight’ is associated with ancient military equipnt—a vessel with a handle, used as a cooking utensil by day and struck for watches at night. This style of writing was often used in ancient military secret ssages."
With mixed emotions, he added, "This kind of knowledge is extrely obscure; Father often made and my elder brother learn it, and it seems it was ant for this."
After reading the letter thoroughly, his eyes filled with shock, "This is a secret order that Yang Xingmi had once sent to Black Cloud Capital, instructing them to search for sothing near Liangzi Lake..."
He then unfolded the second letter and read with a trembling voice, "This report says that ’Hall Capital’ and ’Falling Goose Capital’ both sent people. The two sides fought several covert battles, and afterward, a storm brought lightning and wind, causing all involved to mysteriously disappear..."
In the box, there was also a map.
Unfolding it revealed it to be the area around Liangzi Lake, densely marked with nurous red circles, so with hooks, others with crosses.
Seeing it, Shen Jinghong said sowhat helplessly, "So Father was still obsessed with finding the Black Cloud longsword technique."
"This matter for our Shen family is more curse than blessing..."
From his tone, it was clear he had no intention of continuing the search.
Sha Lifei’s eyes lit up, "Those Black Cloud soldiers must have been looking for treasures, there must be treasures around Liangzi Lake!"
Li Yan was speechless, "What sort of people were Yang Xingmi and Zhu Wen? If they couldn’t find it, do you think you can?"
Shen Jinghong also shook his head, "I’ve never heard of such a thing. No matter what’s out there, the Shen family has no plans to search any further."
After saying this, he stood up and said, "Daoist, now that my father’s obsession has been relinquished, may we proceed with the ritual to put his soul to rest?"
"Of course."
Wang Dao Xuan nodded and began to make arrangents, along with everyone else.
Nobody noticed that the son of the second master of the Shen family had eyes brimming with irrepressible excitent, as he lowered his head and returned to his own small courtyard...
User Comments
0 comments from readers