Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps, seven ominous wooden slips.
These things had been mentioned for so long, as naturally as talking about eating and dressing, when suddenly, they appeared brazenly before their eyes.
Mu Dai took a tissue and carefully wiped away all the sand and dirt covering the objects, then gently placed them on a cloth spread nearby. The Bounty Hunter app’s alert tone kept ringing incessantly. Cao Yanhua frowned and said, “Why don’t you turn it off? This thing is too sensitive—it’s still alerting even after we’ve dug everything up.”
A thought seemed to flash through Luo Ren’s mind as he said, “Move these things further away.”
Yi Wansan realized, “Is there something else underneath?”
He quickly grabbed the ends of the cloth and carried everything away. Sure enough, when the detector was pointed at the pit, the alert tone became even louder.
Luo Ren picked up the military shovel and said, “We need to keep digging.”
They didn’t dig for long—after just two shovelfuls, human finger bones appeared beneath the shifting sand.
Yan Hongsha drew in a sharp breath: “Who is this now?”
Luo Ren put down the shovel, took out a pair of protective gloves from his backpack, and carefully brushed away the sand falling from the pit walls.
Upon closer inspection, there wasn’t just one set of finger bones but two, positioned upright and clasped together as if originally holding something.
Following the direction of the finger bones, they cleared away more soil and eventually found arm bones.
Luo Ren stepped back and pointed down, saying, “There should be a complete body below. I don’t know whose remains these are, but they appear to be sitting. We’ll need to expand the pit.”
For some reason, Mu Dai’s heart suddenly began racing violently. She pointed at the hands and said, “If the ominous slips were originally sealed, like a scroll, the position of the hands looks like they were holding the slips.”
Could this person be one of the five from the previous cycle who sealed the ominous slips? Taking it a step further, could this be the founding master of her sect, the one called Plum Blossom Zhao?
Luo Ren had probably thought of this too. While taking turns digging with Cao Yanhua, they rarely used the shovel, mostly using their hands to push and scoop. After about half an hour of digging, the complete form was revealed.
It was a seated man, his clothes not yet completely decayed, both hands clasped in front of him, with a gold-hilted dagger piercing his chest.
No wonder the Bounty Hunter app kept alerting—it was detecting this dagger.
When they pulled it out, they saw a line of small, engraved characters on the bottom edge of the dagger.
—”Snow falls as plum blossoms bloom, one flask of wine.”
Luo Ren pondered for a moment: “When this person died, he must have been tightly gripping the seven sealed ominous slips. That literate Dog Guard who dug the pit probably hadn’t reached this person’s body yet, but suddenly saw the scroll sealed by the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps, and pulled it out.”
If it had been someone else, they might not have been able to open it. But this literate Dog Guard was naturally the key to unlocking the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps.
The seven ominous slips thus possessed him, becoming seven malevolent energies eager to feed on blood and vital energy. The Dog Guard became the host that helped them restore their power. All planned arrangements—joint burial, carving a tombstone—abruptly ceased. Perhaps his consciousness became confused and unclear. The pit was hastily covered, and even the half-carved tombstone was overturned.
Cao Yanhua wondered, “But who buried this dead person?”
No one answered. In the silence, a tapping sound came from nearby.
Everyone turned around.
It was the restless Cao Jiefang, pecking incessantly at the cleaned Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps. Yan Hongsha quickly went to carry it away. Yi Wansan picked up two wooden slips and played with them in his hands: “In ancient times, those bamboo or wooden slips were usually connected by thread or rope to form a scroll. These wooden slips don’t have holes, so I wonder how they connected…”
Squinting his eyes, he aligned the edges of the two wooden slips. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he saw what looked like black tentacles extending from the sides of the wooden slips, connecting them with a click.
Yi Wansan shuddered in fright, almost dropping the wooden slips. Luo Ren said, “Try connecting all of them.”
The wooden slips all looked identical, with no apparent order. Once all seven were joined, they resembled an unfolded woodblock print. Yi Wansan rolled it up from one end into a tube. Mu Dai took one of the Phoenix clasps, opened it, and said, “Let’s try fitting it.”
The Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps encircled the tightly rolled wooden slips just as they should: three golden clasps in the shape of coiling dragons wrapped around the tightly compressed roll. As the claws locked into place, golden, flowing light appeared on the wooden slips.
The light gradually spread out, moving through the surrounding air, faintly resembling the elegant shadows of phoenixes and simurghs stretching out. It quickly enveloped everyone except Cao Jiefang, who looked uncomprehendingly at the suddenly appearing light and ran further and further away.
Everything suddenly darkened, then brightened again moments later, like their previous experience of entering the water shadows.
A marketplace, a tavern, people coming and going. A peddler pushed a cart piled high with wine jars, stopping unsteadily at the entrance.
The air was dry, the noise clamorous with shouting and hawking. The tavern was at its busiest, with waiters flicking sweat-soaked towels over their shoulders, calling out in long, drawn-out voices: “Coming…”
Hair buns, headnets, round-collar robes, and straight gowns—some even wore the “bookshelf on the head” four-cornered flat hats. It was most likely the Ming Dynasty, certainly before the Qing Dynasty.
Mu Dai stood in the second-floor corridor, feeling lost and confused. A waiter approached, carrying a steaming clay pot on his tray. She instinctively tried to move aside but wasn’t quick enough. The waiter, with a face full of smiles, passed right through her body with his tray of food.
Now she understood—just like in the water shadows, these people couldn’t see her.
Looking around, she saw Luo Ren waving to her from the end of the corridor, in a corner. She quickly ran over to him.
It was a private room with the door half-open. A waiter who had just served dishes was coming out and closing the door. Luo Ren seized this opportunity to pull Mu Dai inside.
Inside was a large dining table laden with dishes: tiger-skin meat, jade fish soup, Huizhou fermented tofu, flower pearls, oil-fried chicken, along with large wine jars and shallow wine cups. Five people sat around the table. A tall, handsome man held up a wine jar and was pouring wine into cups arranged in a row. A gold-hilted dagger was tucked at his waist.
A sickly-looking man stood up, carefully latched the door, and pushed against it to test if it was secure. Yi Wansan leaned against the door with folded arms, making exaggerated faces at the man.
Cao Yanhua, smelling the aroma of the dishes, reached out to grab a chicken leg, but after several attempts, it was like trying to grasp a phantom shadow. Beside her, Yan Hongsha was stifling her laughter.
The sickly-looking man returned to his seat and said, “I’ve made arrangements with Brother Yin. He asked us not to worry, saying he’ll settle near the Eight Trigrams Star-Gazing Platform from now on. The things we left will be well kept, and the tasks we assigned will be carried out—even if he dies, his son will continue, and after his son, his grandson. Even if the lineage ends, he’ll surely find someone reliable to carry on.”
A young woman in tight-fitting clothes laughed and said, “We saved his life from mountain bandits and are only entrusting him with this one task. I’m sure he’ll fulfill it properly.”
The man who was pouring wine made a sound of agreement: “I’ve already given up my position as manager of Plum Blossom Pavilion. In Wuzhen, they’re looking for craftsmen to build a house. I’ve instructed that the house be named ‘Four Archways View.’ Whoever inherits the house in the future will also inherit the secret of the Silver-Eyed Bat.”
A middle-aged woman next to him nodded and said, “Our arrangement is much simpler—the arrangements made by our predecessors were so complex, causing us a lot of trouble and wasting much time.”
The last person, a bearded giant, laughed heartily: “Indeed! If danger appears again in the future, send the Lu Ban artifact to Four Archways View. Brother Zhao’s people will take the artifact, and with the Silver-Eyed Bat leading the way, they’ll naturally find the box at the bottom of the river valley. After reading the silk scroll, they’ll understand what’s happening.”
Hearing the words “Brother Zhao,” Mu Dai’s heart pounded, thinking: This man truly is Plum Blossom Zhao.
Plum Blossom Zhao sighed: “I don’t know if this arrangement will have any flaws. After all, no one can predict the future.”
The woman in tight-fitting clothes smiled, raising her wine cup with both hands, and said, “We’re not immortals—who can plan without any oversight? This is the best we can do. Come, even if this is our last meal, we must toast to it.”
Upon hearing the words “last meal,” Mu Dai’s heart suddenly lurched. Looking at Yi Wansan and the others, she saw that their expressions had all changed.
Plum Blossom Zhao remained still, then after a while said, “I’m truly sorry to everyone.”
The bearded giant laughed loudly: “I, Old Zhou, offended villains and was already in a death cell, sentenced to execution according to the law. Thanks to Brother Zhao’s rescue, I’ve enjoyed many more meals in this world. Death is just a word—a head cut off leaves no more than a bowl-sized scar.”
The woman in tight clothes also smiled: “Brother Zhao helped me avenge a great wrong. I said then that I had nothing to repay with except my life, ready whenever needed. Dying alongside you, I have no regrets.”
The sickly-looking man raised his wine cup, drained it in one gulp, casually picked up his chopsticks to take a piece of white meat, dipped it in sauce, and chewed it, saying, “I said from the beginning that I was a death soldier. You came to find me simply because you knew I had a terminal illness and wouldn’t live long anyway. Dying sooner or later makes no difference to me; the sooner I die, the sooner I’ll transcend.”
Plum Blossom Zhao was silent for a while: “I actually couldn’t understand at first why death soldiers were specifically required—initially, I thought it was because the ominous slips were so evil that subduing them would risk life and death.”
He pushed away the cups in front of him, bent down to retrieve a bundle from under the table, and threw it on the tabletop with a clang.
The bundle opened, and Mu Dai could see that inside were the seven ominous slips sealed by the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps. On the slips, golden light and black malevolent energy intertwined, appearing and disappearing.
At first, she found it strange, but then she understood: Plum Blossom Zhao and his companions had already collected all seven ominous slips.
She heard Plum Blossom Zhao say, “All along the way, the ominous slips have given many brief messages. Chopping with knives, slashing with swords, burning with fire, and drowning in water, the silk scroll explains clearly that it all ultimately boils down to two words: human heart.”
“The human heart is something very difficult to explain. It is both the smallest and the greatest, the most complex and the simplest, the most poisonous and the most benevolent. The malevolence of the ominous slips comes from the human heart, and in this world, only the human heart can suppress the human heart.”
“If the ominous slips had no malevolent energy attached to them, they would be just ordinary wooden slips. If the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps had no additional power imbued in them, they would just be ordinary bronze pieces.”
He lowered his voice for the last sentence.
“This is a contest between two forces. Perhaps there’s a distinction between good and evil, but both require sacrifice. Without the final seal, the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps can only seal the ominous slips for seven days—and this final seal requires a life sacrifice.”
Cao Yanhua listened until her anger surged to her head. Momentarily forgetting the situation she was in, she rushed forward to argue, but just as she took two steps, everything before her eyes suddenly blurred, then became clear again in the next instant.
The scene had changed. They were in a desolate wilderness. A stream of fresh blood was rising diagonally into the air, when suddenly it changed direction, as if attracted by something, flying straight toward the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps placed diagonally on the ground. Strangely, when the blood touched the clasps, it instantly disappeared, leaving them gleaming like new, while the black malevolent energy on the wooden slips slightly receded as the blood spread over them.
Looking closely, they saw the woman in tight clothes collapsing limply, blood gushing from her neck. Plum Blossom Zhao held her body tightly, saying softly, “I’ll send you off properly and will join you soon.”
Not far away lay two corpses. The bearded man finished the last drop of wine from his gourd, staggered to the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps, and laughed loudly: “Come, this life, if you want it, take it.”
As he spoke, he drew his hand across his throat. A blade flashed, and with the smile never leaving his face, he fell straight onto the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps.
The scene changed again. Heavy rain poured down, howls rose from all directions. The surrounding mountains looked just like… no, they were the Fengzi Ridge where they now stood.
In the heavy rain, Plum Blossom Zhao came staggering along, with two or three rain-soaked hungry wolves stealthily following behind him.
He seemed to have known this already and didn’t mind. Looking around, he casually walked into a cave on the mountainside and sat leaning against the wall.
He pulled out the ominous slips sealed by the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps from his bosom, laughed loudly, drew the gold-hilted dagger, and stuck it in the ground beside his foot.
He murmured, “I heard this place is called Fengzi Ridge, and Laozi once came here. I also heard that the three peaks, when viewed from above, look like three phoenixes with their heads and tails connected.”
“Perhaps this is where Laozi first sealed you.”
“For thousands of years, you have been kept in different places, yet you always emerge again—why not return to where it all began? I hope that with the spirit of the sage in heaven, this time you will be sealed longer.”
He laughed loudly, pulled out the dagger, and with a swift motion, plunged it directly into his heart.
Then, using the last bit of his strength, both hands clutched tightly onto the ominous slips.
Amidst the lightning and thunder, the scent of blood spread through the air. Several wolves not far away arched their backs, ready to pounce…
Just then, the golden light suddenly flared brilliantly, and the elegant shadows of the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh swirled in the rain. Then, with a thunderous sound, the earth split open, and Plum Blossom Zhao, along with the ominous slips in his grip, instantly disappeared into the ground.
Mud and sand mixed with rainwater buried everything, leaving only the wolves, who came over bewildered, sniffing the ground repeatedly but finding nothing.
With a soft click, the Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps opened, and the wooden slips scattered loosely on the spread cloth, lying in disarray.
All images faded into silence.
The sun had risen to its highest point, the air was cool, but the mountain ridge was still filled with the scent of birdsong and flowers.
Everyone remained silent. Cao Jiefang waddled here and there, tail raised, searching through the grass.
After a long pause, Luo Ren crouched down to gather the wooden slips and clasps, saying, “Let’s go back first…”
Before he could finish, Cao Yanhua suddenly shouted, “I quit!”
He kicked away the military shovel at his feet. The shovel flew off and crashed against the mountainside with a clang. Cao Jiefang, startled, fluttered far away.
Cao Yanhua was on the verge of tears: “I quit! I don’t accept this!”
“What does this mean? Damn Phoenix, Firebird, and Simurgh clasps—everyone dies in the end? All dead? All of them?”
“Is this how good people end up? Then why be good? I might as well go back to being a thief. Even if I’m caught and jailed, at least they won’t make me die.”
Mu Dai bit her lip, trying to calm him down: “Fatty Cao…”
Cao Yanhua’s forehead veins bulged: “Little Master, our sect ancestor, that surname Zhao, I don’t know if he led them originally, but he also knew to find different kinds of people—either those already sentenced to death or those dying from illness—those people who didn’t care about death. But we’re different!”
He grew more aggrieved as he spoke: “We’ve been through so much hardship, nearly lost our lives several times, and I never complained. I just thought we were doing good deeds, saving people, finding peace of mind. But this is bullying!”
“Anyway, I quit. I’ll never put a knife to my own throat in this lifetime. If I do, I’m a son of a turtle—that’s my word.”
Cao Yanhua spoke with such vehemence that Yi Wansan wanted to laugh, though he admitted that Cao Yanhua had expressed exactly what he was thinking.
Yes, why should they?
He looked at Luo Ren: “Luo Ren, say something.”
Luo Ren continued packing without looking up: “Who is Fatty Cao so angry with? Me, your little master, Yi Wansan, or Hongsha?”
Cao Yanhua straightened his neck: “With the blind heavens and the unfair world!”
Yan Hongsha felt awkward and asked softly, “Luo Ren, what should we do?”
Luo Ren zipped up his backpack with a swoosh and said, “This is easy to solve.”
“Didn’t everyone just see the vision? Those five people discussed it and all stated their positions. Since we don’t know what to do, let’s vote. Anyone who wants to die, raise your hand.”
The question was blunt. No one raised their hand; no one wanted to die.
Luo Ren shrugged: “Isn’t that the solution then? We all agree—we quit.”
Pointing at the pit, he said, “Someone help me fill in the grave. The affairs of the living, we’ll solve ourselves. Don’t disturb the peace of the dead.”
Yi Wansan stood for a moment, then silently went to help. Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha assisted. Cao Yanhua felt awkward, thinking everyone was more level-headed than himself.
When they finished, Luo Ren said, “Let’s go.”
He shouldered his backpack, pulled Mu Dai along, and left. Yi Wansan and Yan Hongsha hesitated briefly, then followed. Cao Yanhua stood frozen in place. Seeing the others truly leaving without looking back, he suddenly panicked.
“Where are you going?”
“Back, of course.”
“To do what?”
“Eat, sleep, bathe, whatever we want to do.”
“We’re quitting?”
Luo Ren stopped and looked back at him.
“Didn’t we already vote on it? Fatty Cao, did you think I was joking with you?”