Chapter Sixty-One What's Going On

  I chopped down with one sword, and Jin Gang Cannon burst out laughing.

  "Where did it go?" I opened my eyes to find that this sword strike had gone awry, and unexpectedly, the thick iron door was split open with a huge crack.

  Seeing that Gan Jiang was so sharp, he was overjoyed and his confidence doubled. He raised his hand again, and the chain wrapped around the beast-shaped copper ring broke off at once.

  "Lao Yu, this sword is really valuable!" Jin Gang Pao crouched down to examine the broken chain on the ground. Ever since Lin Zhuangui from San Huai market appraised Jiu Yang Fu Chen as worth tens of millions, Jin Gang Pao had been using Gan Jiang Gu Jian in every battle, but he didn't know that Gan Jiang was actually much more valuable than Jiu Yang Fu Chen.

  I drew my sword and approached the giant rat, which retreated several steps in terror.

  "Relying on this divine soldier, I will release you from your shackles. Don't be presumptuous!" The dry spear in my hand was stretched out before the raccoon dog's eyes. Although I judged that the raccoon dog wasn't ferocious, it still needed to be intimidated a bit.

  The mouse looked at the dry mole in my hand with a frightened gaze, nodding its head repeatedly.

  I didn't hesitate either, I widened my eyes and struck with one sword. This sword I had to watch closely, otherwise it was uncertain whether the broken thing was a lock chain or a mouse head.

  The chain on the mouse's neck fell into my hands, my sword did not enter its scabbard, and I turned to look at the mouse to prevent it from unloading the millstone and killing the donkey.

  The shackles on his body were removed, and the mouse-like creature shook its golden fur, letting out a long roar that sounded like the tolling of a bell, with a hint of sadness and sorrow. The sound was especially loud in the nearly enclosed tomb passage, and we all covered our ears, but still felt dizzy from the shock.

  At last, the roaring stopped, and the raccoon dog once again went down on all fours, lying prostrate on the ground, nodding its head at us incessantly.

  "You scared me to death, fortunately this guy has a bit of conscience." The crazy behavior of the mouse after gaining freedom made Jin Gang Cannon somewhat worried.

  "After being trapped for so many years and finally gaining freedom, it's normal to vent a bit." I originally wanted to imitate the ancient swordsmen with a clean and neat sheathing action, but after thinking about it, I didn't dare to. If it went in crooked, it wouldn't be funny at all. In the end, I carefully aimed at the scabbard and slowly inserted it back in.

  "Is there a way out from this gate?" I turned to look at the trembling and excited hamster lying on the ground.

  The mouse nodded repeatedly.

  "Come on, lend a hand!" I was at the left side of the iron gate, and turned to see Jin Gang Cannon and Mu Rong Zhui Feng. The two saw the situation and hurriedly came forward to help push it up.

  "Ka-chunk!" Just as the three of us were gnashing our teeth and shaking the tree, the iron gate on the right was gently pushed open by a mouse using its front paws.

  "This one is powerful, go take a look." The iron door was stuck, I pushed the wrong side, and quickly spoke to divert the attention of the two people to cover up my embarrassment.

  A crowd squeezed through the iron gate.

  "Lao Yu, this guy is even more corrupt than you." The scene before him left Jin Gang speechless.

  The tomb is not spacious, only a few square meters, with a white crystal coffin in the center. The burial objects are arranged on both sides, with a wooden bookshelf on the left, which has been piled up for many years, and scrolls scattered all over the floor. On the right side is a flat stone platform, where various Taoist utensils are placed in order, although they are covered with dust, but the shape of the sword can still be vaguely seen.

  "The person lying there should be the leader of a certain sect, and it's normal to have disciples and burial objects after death." I said, pointing at the crystal coffin.

  "There's no way out." Jin Gang examined his surroundings carefully and didn't find any paths or tunnels leading to the outside world.

  I furrowed my brow and turned to look at the golden hamster crouched beside me. The hamster seemed to understand my inquiry, and quickly scurried out, using its hands and feet to dig at the stone wall on the north side of the tomb chamber. Bricks and stones flew everywhere, and in an instant, a large circular hole was exposed. Although there was no light inside the hole, cold air from outside still blew in. This hole was likely the hamster's previous entrance and exit, which had been sealed by those Taoist priests later on; otherwise, gray bricks would not have appeared in the stone wall.

  After the tunnel was dug through, the rat did not rush out, but instead turned back to the tomb chamber, standing beside the stone pedestal where the utensils were placed, its huge mouth open, and it suddenly shook its head with a fierce jerk, throwing off the remaining shoulder chain.

  Blood splattered everywhere, the chain that pierced through both shoulders was violently pulled out. Two tea cup-sized holes on both shoulders spewed blood, and the intense pain made the mouse-like creature kneel down with all fours, its entire body trembling.

  "Old cow, bring out all the Yunnan Baiyao!" I shouted as I quickly stepped forward. At this point, I was completely certain that this mouse did not have a malicious heart.

  Jin Gang Pao quickly unzipped his backpack "Lao Yu, Yunnan Baiyao is in your bag!"

  I shrugged off my backpack and pulled out Yunnan Baiyao, rubbed my frozen hands, and was about to apply the medicine to the golden hamster when I found that the bleeding which had been gushing just a moment before had stopped.

  I stood there holding the medicine bottle, staring blankly at the bizarre scene in front of me, and I really became a monk who couldn't reach his own head.

  "Lao Yu, why is it so cold on this side?" The Golden Cannon reacted and followed over. I turned my head and found that the guy was emitting white air all over his body.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "You go to my side, it's hot as hell over there." Jin Gang Pao took a look at the hedgehog lying on the ground and turned around to run back.

  I walked to the other side of the stone tomb, where the temperature was relatively higher than the right side, but not as exaggeratedly hot as Jin Gang Cannon said it would be life-threatening.

  "Is this really the coexistence of yin and yang?" I frowned. In the world, yin and yang are born and overcome each other, with yang there is no yin, with yin there is no yang, just like the sun and moon alternate, one waxes while the other wanes. How can a situation where yin and yang coexist appear here?

  "This you can't see, give it to me quickly!" I lowered my head and thought hard, when the loud voice of Jin Gang Pao reached my ears. I raised my head to find that Jin Gang Pao was snatching something from Mu Rong Zhui Feng's hand.

  I reached out and grabbed it with a few steps forward. It turned out to be an ancient book made of silk fabric. I flipped through it casually and hurriedly threw it away. "You can't look at this either!"

  The book that Murong Zhui Feng picked up from the scattered ancient books under his feet turned out to be a "Bedchamber Spring Palace Painting" depicting the art of yin-yang mutual complementation. The painting was extremely detailed and vivid, with some parts drawn in fine lines, making it look very realistic. It's unknown what kind of painting materials were used, but after thousands of years, the colors are still as vibrant as new. It seems that this Taoist must have practiced the evil art of yin-yang extraction while he was alive.

  "Uh... " Jin Gang pointed at the scattered ancient books, trying to make excuses.

  "Stop messing around and take the good stuff over there to see if you can find anything that catches your eye, then bring it back. I'll handle things here." I put down my backpack and squatted down.

  "Aren't you saying that taking things from the dead hurts your yin virtue?" Jin Gang Pao has a good memory, I indeed said that.

  "This is an exception, take it! Take away all the ones you like!" I casually picked up a paper ancient book, which had become brittle with age and turned to powder in my hand.

  "Great, I'll go take a look and see if there's anything handy." Jin Gang Pao Mei excitedly pulled Mu Rong Zhui Feng along.

  Practicing evil arts, secretly burying Kunlun, destroying human morality, occupying people's homes. Such an evil Dao, if not taken down, who will be?

  I lowered my head to flip through the scattered ancient books, the materials of which were different. The paper ones couldn't be held in hand and turned to dust as soon as I touched them. A few bundles of bamboo slips were also crushed into powder by me. Only some silk ones were preserved, but most of their contents were about Yin-yang and tonic, making my face flush with shame.

  "Ah, ha, hey……” Near the stone pedestal on the right side where knives and swords were placed, Jin Gang Pao was shouting and doing something, I didn't have time to bother with him, I buried my head and searched for the ancient books that interested me. Finally, a "Stargazing Secret Method" appeared in front of me, I grabbed it and flipped through several pages, it turned out to be an ancient divination book that inferred all things in the world based on the changes of the stars in the sky. I was overjoyed, carefully put it into my backpack. After flipping for a while, I saw nothing else that caught my eye, patted my hands and stood up.

  "What are you doing!" I stood up and saw that Jīn Gāng (Gold Steel) was holding a dark red ancient sword, charging towards the stone platform to strike it down. I hastily shouted loudly.

  "Ah!" I shouted too late.

  "TMD, how come they're all wooden!" Jin Gang Pao muttered, throwing down the broken sword in his hand.

  I hastened forward and saw that under the stone pedestal were scattered wooden broken swords, and after a while of fussing with the Diamond Cannon, they were busy doing this.

  I quickly squatted down and picked one up, pinched it to take a look, and suddenly couldn't help but laugh and cry "What have you done?"

  Jīn gāng pào bèi wǒ shuō de měng rán yí gàng "wǒ xiǎng kàn kàn yǒu méi yǒu hé nǐ nà bǎ yí yàng lì hài de, shuí zhī dào zhè xiē pò wán yì ná zhe tǐn chún, quán shì mù tóu de!"

  Translation:

  The cannon was taken aback by what I said "I want to see if there's anything as powerful as yours, who knew these broken toys were so heavy, they're all made of wood!"

  "My Jiuyang dust brush is also made of wood, why didn't you smash it too? Take a closer look at these woods again."

  I took a closer look and found that the material of these broken swords should be made from peach wood that has grown for many years, with a light purple aura, seemingly a powerful artifact of the Star Observation Swordsmanship. Buried for so many years without being damaged, it was cut off by the Diamond Cannon in three or five strokes. Later, after reading that book "Star Observation Secret Method", I only knew that these eleven peach wood swords cut off by the Diamond Cannon were actually the treasures of the Star Observation Sect: the Twelve Flying Immortal Swords.

  "Breath is not weak, but what's the use of being so easily broken?" Gold Cannon retorted.

  "Not everything is better when it's harder, these peach wood swords can't withstand your chopping at stones no matter how hard they are." I was too lazy to reason with him, and lowered my head to search around, seeing if there were any "survivors".

  "Are they all cut off?" The peach wood swords were of varying lengths, and after searching for half a day, not one intact sword could be found. I raised my head.

  "It seems so." Jin Gang pao laughed loudly.

  "These peach wood swords have such a strong aura, they must be good at driving out evil spirits and ghosts. You're great, you've cut them all down." I stood up with regret.

  "You should have said so earlier." This time it was a waste of a golden opportunity.

  "There's another one here!" Murong Zhuifeng, standing beside her, listlessly stretched out her hand, and a palm-sized peach wood sword appeared in her palm. Probably because of the girl's nature, looking small and cute, thinking it was fun to secretly keep it.

  "From now on, it's your magic weapon." I grabbed it in one go and handed it over to Jingang Cannon.

  "Ah~~~~?" Jin Gang Cannon pinched the small wooden sword in his hand with two fingers.

  "Let's go, you're done for anyway." I said, shouldering my backpack and calling out to White Wolf.

  "This is for you, my old cow still doesn't believe in evil." Jin Gang Pao said, handing the small wooden sword to Murong Zhui Feng, and walked towards the white crystal coffin placed in the middle of the tomb.

  "Old cow, what are you doing? Don't move the coffin around." I shouted loudly.

  "Good things are usually in coffins, maybe there's a treasure sword too." Jin Gang Pao said, using his hard qigong to lift the crystal coffin lid.

  "Huh? What's this thing? Old Yu, come see an alien."