Chapter 49: The Peacock Flies Southeast (5)

  I watched him take down the guqin and said to Yuqing Dance: "Young nephew wants to use the sound of the qin to urge the gate of the dark palace, please aunt see that there are two hidden fish on the wall, put the fish symbol into the fish pattern wall."

  Yu Qing danced with joy, her eyes slightly disheveled. She suddenly leaned in close to us and gently stroked the flawless complexion of Bai: "Good boy, quickly come and play for your mother. You see, Mother has brought Bai's brother from the Bai family to play the piano for you. Didn't you used to love listening to his music? You must take care of Mother so I can find you inside and we can be reunited." Then she turned ferociously to Bai and shouted: "Hurry up and play! Can't you see that Yang Er is about to cry?"

  I shuddered, but his eyes, which were not white, were exceptionally calm, and he said expressionlessly: "Good!" Then he began to cut the strings one by one, focusing on plucking them lightly, and then with a wave of his slender hand, a long, mournful sound echoed through this dark underground palace.

  I thought this tune would be strange and piercing, but unexpectedly, this long-awaited reunion is more sorrowful than ever before. Fei Bai's eyes are tightly closed, his fingers moving with skill and emotion. Before long, the ancient stone wall responds to Fei Bai's zither music, gradually emitting a soft echo. Then, the smooth surface of the wall suddenly drops a water curtain, and two fish shapes appear on the wall - one red, one purple. They seem to be playing and swimming in the water curtain on the wall, their movements full of deep affection and attachment. No matter where one swims, the other will follow closely behind.

  If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have dared to believe that this illusion was so real. Yu Qing's eyes were dazed and she muttered to herself: "It's true, this is the Guardian Carp of the Yu Family that our ancestors designed. In the past, Second Brother would always play the piano to make the carp appear and amuse me. But later on, he only played for that cheap woman." She suddenly shouted loudly: "Don't waste any more time, quickly drive that purple carp over here!"

  The sound of the guqin changed, and as I looked at the water wall, a scene gradually appeared before my eyes. A gentle breeze blew across the white clouds, and the grass stretched up to the sky. In the clear pond, colorful lotus flowers bloomed quietly. Two carp, one red and one purple, swam leisurely under the green lotus leaves. Fei Bai stood by the lotus pond, smiling as she threw some food into the water. The purple carp jumped out of the water with joy, opening its mouth to catch the food, but suddenly a white-clad figure emerged from the water. She grasped the purple carp that was leaping in mid-air and burst into loud laughter.

  In the midst of maniacal laughter, the non-white sound of the qin suddenly stopped. The Double Carp Playing in Water picture in front of me suddenly shattered. Yuan Qingwu was just about to embed the Purple Fish Jade Symbol into the body of the Purple Carp when she secretly retreated backwards. As the music changed, the water curtain wall let out a loud cracking sound and the Double Carp disappeared. The ancient wall moved backwards, leaving only the water curtain, like a natural screen, separating the inner and outer worlds of the Dark Palace. On the water curtain, two lines of large vertical characters appeared: "Dark Palace Forbidden Land, Unauthorized Entry Will Result in Death."

  Yu Qingwu's lips trembled slightly, and with a wave of her water sleeves, she caught the purple fish jade token that had fallen down. She floated to Fei Bai's back and whispered, "You lead the way."

  He coldly put the guqin on his back again, and once more held me in his arms. As we passed through the water curtain, I suddenly realized that even the water curtain was an illusion, and my body hadn't gotten wet at all.

  Yu Qingwu's right hand was pinched on Fei Bai's shoulders, like autumn leaves in the wind, trembling non-stop. Even though Fei Bai wore a thick white fox fur coat, he could still pinch out blood with a glance. Fei Bai didn't move, and when they arrived at a wide open space, he said faintly: "Aunt, we have entered the Dark Palace."

  "Take me to the secret room where Ming Lang used to practice his skills, it was sealed later, hurry up, you must know, it's the place where your father used to practice."

  Fei Bai said coldly, "Young master, you'd better ask your aunt to think carefully. That place had collapsed once five years ago and it took a lot of effort from the people in the dark palace to block it up. If your aunt goes inside and can't find her husband, but can't come out either, what then?"

  "Don't waste words, go and come back quickly."

  He dragged me to a dark and damp place, pressed a mechanism, opened the iron gate with a pungent smell, and entered a stone room. With the faint fire, I shivered, what kind of practice room was this? It was full of torture instruments, everywhere was black bloodstains and human bones, the air was filled with the smell of blood and rot.

  "Auntie, please search carefully, Uncle and Yang Er might be inside." Yuan Fei said coldly.

  Yu Qingwu looked around, her body becoming more and more menacing, then she stumbled out, I was a bit surprised, wasn't she supposed to come in? Why did she leave in such fear?

  I looked at Fei Bai, but he was intently staring at her, with a hint of a smile in his eyes that was hard to detect. I felt a chill run down my spine as that smile seemed to be similar to Qing Wu's icy and ruthless one.

  He found two wooden sticks from somewhere, knelt in front of me, and fixed my injured leg. He raised his head: "Bear the pain for a moment, I'll help you set the bone, does it hurt?"

  I shook my head at him, and he gave me a faint smile. The smile was different from the one in his eyes, full of warmth and a thread of confidence: "Don't be afraid, I will definitely let you get out alive."

  I nodded again, looking at him with some fear, but he smiled again, his eyes suddenly becoming deep and profound. Before I realized it, he suddenly leaned down and gently kissed my lips. I was shocked and stared at him blankly, not daring to believe that this gentleman still had such a romantic and elegant demeanor in this situation.

  "What are you doing, you bastards?" The original qing outside shouted loudly, and I instinctively covered my eardrums.

  He slowly stood up, walked out of the room and said faintly: "Please forgive my aunt, she was frightened by the things inside, I just comforted her."

  "You're not allowed to be intimate," Yu Qing's eyes were filled with jealousy as he shouted: "Ming Lang, you're not allowed to touch anyone else."

  "Aunt's face doesn't look too good, perhaps she's thinking of how Uncle suffered here in the past." Mo Bai looked at Yuan Qingwu coldly and said: "Young nephew still remembers that it was Aunt who brought Uncle here, then personally locked him up to disperse his cultivation."

  "You're talking nonsense." Yu Qingwu's eyes were already disordered, looking at Yuan Feibai in horror, "I'm doing this for Minglang's own good."

  "Why did the aunt want to beat up the uncle?" Fei Bai said coldly, "I still remember that for several days in a row, the uncle's body was covered in bruises and he kept crying and begging the aunt for mercy, but you didn't stop."

  "Who made him forget me? I hit him to make him remember me," Yu Qingwu said, sweating like rain: "But he just can't remember who I am. He can't even call out anyone's name, but he only remembers why your mother..."

  I was secretly shocked by his iron heart and blurted out: "How can you treat your loved one like that?"

  "Who made him forget me, he doesn't love me anymore, I don't know what to do." Yu Qingwu finally covered her face and wept: "He's been calling out for Mei over there, Mei, I have no choice."

  She suddenly stopped sobbing, with a hint of realization on her face, and said in a hateful tone: "You despicable creature, you actually wanted to ruin my mind." Her watery sleeve fluttered as she pulled Non-White closer, smiling slyly: "What a pity it's still too early."

  "Do you think that if you don't speak, I really won't be able to find it?" She looked at the dark bloodstain extending from the terrible cage all the way outside, pulling us along as we followed the bloodstain.

  "Where is Auntie going?" asked the non-white border as it walked along.

  Yu Qingwu suddenly thought of something, looking at Fei Bai's face getting whiter and whiter, smiled: "I finally know where Ming Lang went." She looked at me in Fei Bai's arms, gently stroking my cheek: "Since Ming Lang is not here, he must have gone to that woman's grave."

  I naturally got goosebumps all over my body, and I involuntarily shifted to one side, keeping me away from her grasp. His face was pale with a hint of blood. It turned out that Mrs. Xie's real tomb was in this dark palace. No wonder last year during the Qingming Festival, Fei Bai was mourning his mother on the back hillside, and it was indeed just Mrs. Xie's empty grave.

  "I advise you, madam, to give up. Sometimes, a crazy war is not as elegant as freely letting go. At least when you meet your husband in the afterlife, you can still obtain his forgiveness." Qingming said calmly and clearly, looking at Yuqingwu.

  If I weren't really on the verge of death and had no energy, I would have liked to applaud with all my might and then grasp his hands tightly, saying excitedly: Comrade Yuan Fang, you finally understand this truth, your spiritual realm has finally been sublimated forever in the fierce flames of war.

  Unfortunately, there was a person with the surname Yuan whose mind and spirit were completely twisted. Yuan Qingwu slapped me with her palm, "Shut up." Yuan Fei pulled me back three steps in a hurry, but I couldn't dodge her attack. I spat out blood from my mouth and fell to the ground, injuring my leg. Her ancient zither had been smashed into powder.

  The young woman's grip on my throat tightened: "You little scoundrel, if you don't want your heart to die here, take me there quickly."

  Fei Bai glared at me, her eyes flashing with anger: "Aunt is also a noble lady, yet she bullies my younger cousin and a weak child like this. Doesn't she feel ashamed?"

  "It's your father's heartlessness and your mother's ruthlessness that are to blame! Take me to her grave at once!" she cried out in indignation.

  The non-white eyes were uncertain, staring at me for a long time, nodding: "Follow me."

  We followed the non-white, back just entering the empty land, the original green dance suddenly shouted: "Who?"

  A flash of silver light shot towards the source of the sound, and a mouse let out a miserable cry as it ran out, covered in blood. In an instant, it lay there stiffly.

  He called out, and with a flick of his left wrist, several small silver arrows shot towards Yuan Qingwu. Unfortunately, they were all blocked by her water sleeves. However, she intentionally let the last one pass through, which happened to hit my other leg that had been plagued by misfortune.

  "Mugunghwa." The non-white one growled out my name.

  And I was in so much pain that I couldn't say another word, I could only cover my wound and think to myself over and over again, Yuan Fei and I must have had a grudge from our past lives!

  And it's very deep!

  I once again confirm that he came into this world just to torment me!

  It must be like this, so as long as I'm with him, nothing good will happen to me. Either we'll meet petty people or run into madmen; if not losing an arm, then breaking both legs.

  Yu Qingwu smiled: "Mumu, look at your heart's person being so nervous, what a pity that the deeper the love, the more painful the injury."

  I saw Fei Bai's teeth clenched in anger for the first time, and after a long while, he said coldly: "Yu Qingwu, I promised you to open my mother's tomb chamber, don't torment her anymore."

  This was the first time I heard someone other than Bai Zhi call Yu Qingwu by his name, and yet Yu Qingwu didn't get angry, but instead chuckled: "That's right, my dear nephew."

  The three-person team continued on and stopped in front of a stone chamber with the two ancient characters "Qing Zhong" carved on it.

  Her hand seemed to tense up again, and I, who was being held by her, couldn't stop trembling either, muttering repeatedly: "I just want to see him one more time, see him one more time."

  His non-white face was full of sorrow, he seemed to be a little nervous, even his footsteps were unstable. He looked at me deeply and finally hesitated to slowly open the stone gate. The three of us entered the tomb of Mrs. Xie.