Chapter 59: The Third Year of Wude

  It's come to this, throwing a tantrum won't help, can only grit one's teeth and take it one step at a time.

  There is a Chinese proverb called "content with whatever one has", we are already content, the cannon just set the wild boar on fire again.

  The aroma of meat wafted through the air, and even I, who normally don't drink, grabbed a bottle of wine and took a few gulps. The badger meat had no gamey flavor, and its rich, savory taste was intense from the start. When you're facing a big test, you've got to fill your belly first - who knows when the next meal will be?

  After Murong Zhui Feng trapped us, he forgot everything and stared at the meat on the fire, swallowing saliva nonstop. Jinguang Cannon chopped off a raccoon dog leg and handed it over to her, but she looked at me timidly and didn't dare take it. I had no choice but to force out a smile with all my might, and only then did she snatch it away and start gnawing on it.

  "Lao Yu, your smile is quite fake." Jin Gang Pao had drunk half a bottle of white wine and his words were also straightforward.

  "She's got us stuck in this mountain cave, the road ahead is treacherous, life and death uncertain, it's not easy for me to laugh." I said with a mouthful of meat that was dripping with bear oil. Jin Gang Pao's cooking skills were indeed impressive, he had roasted such a large wild boar to perfection, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, flavorful throughout.

  "Does she look like she's doing it on purpose?" Jin Gang Cannon pointed at Murong Zhui Feng, who was eating voraciously. Logically speaking, people with guilty consciences are usually nervous. However, looking at her eating appearance, it really doesn't seem like she has a guilty conscience.

  "Old cow, tell me the truth, have you taken a liking to her?" I've had too much wine, it's not good, now my words aren't very reliable.

  "Not at all. Oh, my life has been tough, I've been bullied since I was a kid, and even in my teens, I still wore patched pants because we were poor. But you see, my two brothers may be foolish but they're kind to me, they'd save the cicadas and bird eggs for me. When I was young, I didn't understand what's good or bad, but as I grew up, I realized that people in this society are all so bad, everyone wants to harm me. In comparison, my two brothers are still better. So, I've concluded that brothers are always good people!" Jin Gang Pao got drunk and became sentimental.

  Jin Gang is a bit dim-witted and has bad luck. He got caught cheating on his girlfriend and was also taken advantage of by Yang Jun at work, so I can understand him.

  "Grass, am I a bad person?" The fragrant meat was enough for me to eat a few mouthfuls, and after wiping my hands, I twisted open a bottle of mineral water.

  "You have feelings for me, old cow, so I'm willing to risk my life to follow you on this adventure. Old Yu, do you think I wasn't scared when I jumped into that dark and smelly water? Honestly, I was terrified, but I still did it. If you fall in again, I guarantee..."

  "Alright, stop cursing me, eat quickly, I'll take a nap first. Wake me up at 12 o'clock." I said as I lit a cigarette. It's not good to smoke before bed, but I couldn't change this habit of mine.

  I woke up to find the sky had already darkened. The fire had long gone out, but it didn't feel cold in the cave. Looking around, I saw that Jin Gang Cannon, who was on watch, was lying next to Murong Zhui Feng, sleeping soundly. White Wolf, seeing that I was awake, wagged its tail and approached me affectionately.

  "TMD, sleeping and letting my dog keep watch, bullying others without saying a word." I kicked awake the snoring-like-thunder Jin Gang Pao.

  "What's going on?" Jin Gang pao sprang up and began searching around for his stuff.

  "I've eaten and slept, it's time to go!" I took out the bottle and drank a few mouthfuls of water. There was still plenty of mineral water left, plus I had only eaten less than half of the raccoon dog meat, so nutrition wouldn't be a problem. The air in the cave was also circulating well, and breathing was smooth.

  "Sleep a bit more, it's still dark outside." Jin Gang Pao wanted to lie back down again.

  "We've been trapped in this cave by your 'good guy' and it's getting dark." I lit a cigarette and started packing up my things.

  Half an hour later, it finally started moving.

  The cave is deeper than we imagined, and the further we go, the colder our hearts become, because we have been discovering some unusual places one after another.

  "Look, there's been a fire here!" The cannon pointed to the top of his head, where there were obvious signs of smoke scorching on the ceiling of the passageway. It was pitch black.

  "These are trivial matters, I'm now thinking about where the tiger from last night's incident went." Trembling with fear, they walked for over ten minutes but didn't find any trace of the tiger.

  "Let's go, be careful, there seems to be a spirit energy ahead!" I handed the dry gun to Jin Gang Cannon. Although the cave was pitch black, my partner and I could already see things in the dark without needing light. I vaguely felt that there was a faint spirit energy ahead.

  "Is it that tiger?" Jin Gang cannon drew his sword out of its scabbard.

  "It's too far away, can't see it now." I said and continued walking forward.

  After walking for more than a hundred steps, the stone walls around the mountain cave began to show signs of artificial excavation. The stone walls gradually became flat, and bricks and stones appeared underfoot. In front of them, a faint light actually seeped through the top of the cave.

  Seeing the light, I and Jin Gang Cannon were overjoyed in our hearts, and we quickly walked forward. As we approached, our hearts suddenly cooled down again. It turned out that the light was shining from a crack at the top of the cave, and the crack was only a few inches wide, making it impossible to escape from here.

  "Lao Yu, there is a way here." Jin Gang Pao was the first to lose heart and withdraw his gaze, looking around left and right before shouting out in surprise.

  I lowered my head and looked forward, only to see a black giant gate suddenly appearing six zhang away. I concentrated my mind and found that I couldn't see any aura inside the gate, so I judged that the gate should be made of iron. However, a yellow spiritual energy was emanating from the gap between the two giant gates.

  "What's with the stinky smell, who farted?" Jin Gang Cannon looked at Murong Zhui Feng behind him, and the latter quickly shook his head in denial. Jin Gang Cannon then turned his gaze to me.

  I shook my head and pointed forward with my finger. "It's coming from over there, go take a look!" I said as I took out the duster.

  Approaching the giant gate, I touched it with my hand and indeed it was made of iron. "Old Cow, give me the flashlight." I vaguely felt that there were sword marks engraved on the top of the iron gate, but the weakness of the observation technique was that it couldn't see clearly through metal, so lighting was needed.

  Jīn gāng pào cóng bèi bāo fān chū shǒu diàn tǒng, wǒ yī bǎ zhuā guò zhào xiàng tiě mén.

  Translation:

  The flashlight was pulled out of the backpack and I grabbed it, shining it towards the iron gate.

  "Lao Yu, what are you writing?" The cannon master, holding the iron door ajar with his hand on the hilt of his sword, saw that I hadn't moved for half a day and turned back to ask anxiously.

  "In the third year of Wude, our former master rode a crane to the west. He entrusted us with secretly burying him on Mount Kunlun, in order to seek liberation through ascension. Who would have known that after the tomb was completed, evil spirits crept into the blessed land, attempting to borrow our former master's blessings to avoid the purple calamity? We observed the stars at night and discovered their sinister plot. With swords in hand, we came forward and respectfully invited the Thunder God Chen Gong to destroy their wicked path ahead, while using a mysterious iron chain to bind their true selves behind. Considering that they had submitted to the blessed land without harming our former master's dharma body in the slightest, we spared one of them as a warning to later generations..."

  "Stop being so wordy and just say what you mean!" The Golden Cannon was getting a headache, directly asking me to translate.

  I explained the simple contents of the golden cannon that I had engraved on the door with a sword, and this guy felt relieved as soon as he heard it.

  "I was worried there would be some formidable stuff, but now it's all good. We should thank those Taoist priests." Jin Gang Pao had a smug look on his face, like he was taking advantage of someone who was already down.

  "Hmph, these stargazing sword-wielding Taoists are probably not good people. This mountain cave was originally possibly the lair of that demon they mentioned, but then this group came and occupied it, even finding an excuse to invite Chen Wenyu to destroy its spiritual energy with heavenly thunder." I didn't entirely believe the words on the iron gate, a truly powerful person wouldn't secretly bury themselves in Mount Kunlun.

  "You mean those Taoist priests were lying?" Jin Gang Pao's face was full of disbelief.

  I nodded: "The sentence on the roadside 'After the coldness of the bowl, there are 300 miles, and the Yellow Mansion Cave Heaven is like a fairy' was written by Cheng Feng Dao Ren. At that time, he flew over from above to watch the flowers and discovered that there was a relatively pure spiritual energy in the mountain cave on the ground. This spiritual energy must not be evil in his eyes, otherwise, he would not have used 'fairy' to describe it." At the critical moment, I had a sudden urge for cigarettes and hastily lit one, taking several puffs "Also, Cheng Feng Dao Ren was alive before the Tang Dynasty, which means that this spiritual energy already existed at that time."

  "Are you saying that the crow robbed the bird's nest?" The magpie occupies the dove's nest, and the golden rooster is speechless.

  "The old nest was occupied by someone, and the family just quietly touched it back, without damaging the corpse of the dead Taoist to vent their anger. So I judged that this so-called evil spirit should not be bad." As soon as my voice fell, I felt a slight fluctuation in the yellow aura inside the iron gate.

  "How can you hide underground and still get struck by thunder?" Jin Gang Pao finally knew why I dared to smoke with ease, put down his cigar, and lit one for himself.

  "Heavenly thunder can reach the underworld, let alone a small mountain cave. Besides, what do you think that inverted crack on the top of the cave outside is from?" I spoke with my mouth, but my gaze didn't leave the gap in the iron gate, and there was only one breath, not strong, which confirmed that there were indeed living things inside.

  "Come on, isn't it said that the things inside are tied up with chains? Let's go take a look." Jin Gang puffed on his cigarette, holding his rifle upside down, looking relaxed.

  "Don't forget, there's also a tiger." I joked.

  "How could I have forgotten it!" Jin Gang Pao hastily lowered his head and pulled out that divine turtle cannon.

  I turned around and rushed towards Murong Chui's Wind Chaser, exchanging a few words with him to calm down the White Wolf. Then I flashed into the iron gate.

  Smelly! Stinky!!!!!

  Contrary to my expectations, inside the iron gate was not a spacious tomb chamber, but still a narrow passageway.

  The entire tomb passage was almost filled with dense white bones, emitting a nauseating stench.

  "Holy crap." The golden cannon that followed was suddenly assaulted by a foul odor that made it almost vomit.

  I hastily waved my hand to stop his shouting, for the yellow aura was coming from a pile of white bones not far in front.

  I crouched down, my right hand grasping the Jiuyang feather duster, and slowly walked forward. The numerous white bones were of different ages, some turned to dust at my light touch. I lowered my head to observe, but didn't find any human skeletons.

  "The old fellow behind me seemed to have remembered something and was preparing to fire his cannon."

  I hastily waved my hand to stop, just at this moment, accompanied by the vibration of the ground, a huge yellow animal jumped out from the pile of white bones, with a bloody tiger head still in its mouth.

  "Lao Yu, bow your head!" Jin Gang took a step forward and pulled out Shen Gui Cannon.