Youbao Chapter 22: Stone Beast (1)
The old Taoist priest gently waved his hand to push the old man's arm away and said calmly: You are the head of the Corpse Catching Hall, and you go in and out of tombs. How can I go to such a place?
So he is the head of the Corpse Catching Hall. He is too old. I thought to myself and looked at him a few more times. The old man seemed to notice and turned his head slightly to look at me. His eyes were extremely sharp, but they became gentle in the next moment. It seemed like my illusion.
This must be the contemporary descendant of the Basuo lineage, the old man asked.
The old men with him also looked at me curiously, which made me feel a little uneasy. The old Taoist priest hummed and said: The Basuo lineage has declined, so I brought him here to see the world.
Hahaha, your Five Elements Pulse is also related to the Eight Ropes, so it’s not wrong to help him. The corpse-catching old man smiled, then took the old Taoist priest’s hand and walked to the table, saying as he walked: The Five Elements Pulse originated from the Five Classics, and you know the most. Come and help us see what this is.
I followed him curiously. I had no idea what the old man meant by the Five Classics. I thought it was something like a book. What was the relationship between the old Taoist's Five Elements and the classics?
When I walked to the table, I saw two stones on it, carved into animal shapes. They were a little abstract, one looked like a monkey and the other like a tiger, both of which were different from what we usually see.
The old Taoist priest walked up to it, looked at it for a few seconds, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
You really found something wrong. We old guys couldn't figure it out after watching it for a long time. The corpse-hunting old man said.
The elderly people nearby glared at him, as if blaming him for speaking without restraint. The old man didn't care and said: You don't understand it and you refuse to admit it. You guys are too stubborn.
Several elderly people felt a little embarrassed and simply ignored him.
The old Taoist picked up a stone beast and looked at it carefully. After a while he asked: Where did you get it?
I found it by accident when I went to the underground tomb. It looked strange so I brought it back. The corpse-catcher replied.
Where were both found?
The corpse-catcher uttered a "hmm", looked at the several elderly people from the Wei family next to him, and then said hesitantly: The other one was sent by him.
Gamu? The old Taoist priest looked at the corpse catcher.
I was suddenly shocked.
It's him. The corpse-hunting old man nodded: We didn't expect that he would come back after so many years, and he gave me such a strange thing. If I hadn't taken the same thing from the underground grave just now, I really wouldn't have noticed the strangeness.
The old Taoist priest fell silent, looking at the stone beast without saying anything. The head of the Wei family, the hall master Yiliu, also stood there quietly, glancing at me from time to time.
After a while, the old Taoist said: "My master once received something like this. Even with his erudition, he couldn't figure out why, but he could sense something strange. This thing is impervious to water and fire, and it's hard to be damaged by anything. It seems to be able to naturally block the power of Taoism."
What if I use the bronze-armored corpse? asked the corpse-catcher.
The old Taoist shook his head: "I don't know either, maybe you can try. But my master said that he had seen something similar described in ancient books. There is a beast, born as stone, a rare treasure of heaven and earth, and it will perish if it is destroyed."
The corpse-catcher hummed, looking nonchalant. It was obvious that he had not given up his idea.
The old Taoist priest put down the stone beast in his hand and looked at the corpse-catcher: Did he come here in person?
I don't know. When the family members arrived, they only saw this thing and a piece of paper. The paper told us that this thing was given to the family. It was very strange. Why did he give this thing but didn't explain why?
No one present could guess the reason.
The current head of the Wei family is about fifty years old, with half black and half white hair, not very strong, just like an ordinary old man. I suddenly found that all the old people with great abilities look very ordinary. Perhaps this is the so-called introverted temperament, returning to nature.
The Five Elements are one lineage, and they have always only taken care of the affairs of the Five Elements. This visit must be for teachings. The head of the Wei family said with a smile.
The old Taoist waved his hand: It’s not a matter of giving me advice, this matter is related to Gamu.
Oh? The corpse-catcher and the Wei family patriarch exchanged a glance.
The old Taoist priest seemed to have not noticed their little tricks, and said: Gamu refined the bronze armor corpse, but intended to use the earth-nourishing corpse pill to refine the corpse king, so as to combine the two and push the bronze armor corpse to the top. Not only that, when I went to question him, I almost died in the bronze corpse formation. Once the 400,000 ghosts in Changping are released, no one can suppress them. Gamu disregarded the will of heaven and human lives. You Wei family will not ignore such actions.
The several hall masters of the Wei family were silent, even the corpse-catching old man. Only the head of the Wei family said with an embarrassed look: Gamu is no longer a member of the Wei family, we have no power...
You mean the same thing? The old Taoist interrupted the master and looked at the corpse catcher.
The corpse-catcher looked at him and then remained silent. The old Taoist priest was calm and didn't get angry. He just flicked his sleeves, said "go" to me and left.
Now that he had left, how could I dare to stay any longer? I quickly followed him.
Not long after leaving the main house, the corpse-catcher caught up with us from behind.
Old Niubizi, I can't do anything about this. There are many things involved, and it concerns the greatest interests of the family. If the head of the family doesn't say anything, I can't make the decision. The corpse-catching old man said with embarrassment.
I know, I don't blame you. But since the Wei family said so... the old Taoist stopped and said calmly: If I kill Gamu, it will have nothing to do with the Wei family.
The corpse-catcher's face suddenly looked a little unnatural. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
The old Taoist priest didn't say much and just called me to leave the Wei family house.
After walking up the mountain path again, I looked back at the vaguely visible Wei family mansion with regret: Are we really leaving like this? What about old man Gamu?
I didn't have any hope in the first place, I just wanted to say hello to the Wei family in advance. Since they won't take action, I'll do it. The old Taoist priest said, his words were decisive and full of murderous aura.
It seems to me that the Wei family is hiding something.
Yes. The old Taoist nodded: Those two stone beasts are very special, more complete than the ones collected by my master. Gamu would not send them to the Wei family for no reason. His relationship with the Wei family was once as hostile as fire and water. This time, he sent something, either because he knew that I was going to ask the Wei family for a deal, or because he had other reasons.
What could be the reason? I asked.
I don’t know, it may be related to the stone beast, said the old Taoist priest.
Well...how about we steal it out in the middle of the night?
The old Taoist glanced at me and said: Are you going?
I smiled awkwardly, lowered my head and dared not answer.
The Wei family is full of zombies. They would eat me to pieces as soon as they entered. When others are threatened, they always say: "How dare you come!" If you come, you will be asked to stand in and leave sideways. But the Wei family always asks you to stand in and leave without leaving anything.
So, shall we go find Gamu now? Where should we find him? I asked again.
The old Taoist shook his head: I don’t know.
ah?
What? I am not a god. If I knew where he went, would I need to ask you to find a place to raise his corpse?
I laughed, and the old Taoist thought for a moment and said, "However, Gamu gave the Wei family a stone beast, so I think there must be a reason, and it may be of great significance. The head of the Wei family's corpse-catching hall has a close relationship with me, and even he is unwilling to speak for me..."
So, we go find the stone beast? I guessed.
No. The old Taoist shook his head and denied: We are looking for information related to the stone beast. Even the head of the corpse-catching hall can dig out the stone beast from the underground tomb. There must be a lot of these things. Even if we find them, we don’t know why. If Gamu is really related to the stone beast, there will definitely be news. We will definitely find him by following the news.
The old Taoist priest and I stayed in Xishuangbanna for a while, but we didn't find any trace of Gamu. So without further delay, the old Taoist priest used the method of shrinking the earth to take me away.
When we stopped again, we had reached a mountain.
It's not very big, but the forest is lush and the calls of birds and animals can be heard from time to time. In front of us, a small Taoist temple stands on the mountainside, not far from us.
As the old Taoist walked, he said: "This mountain has been inhabited by the Five Elements for hundreds of years. Although the birds and beasts in the mountain are born, grow old, get sick and die, they have never been slaughtered. So don't walk around randomly, or you might run into a wild animal."
I said "oh" and the old Taoist stopped talking and walked forward neither hurriedly nor slowly.
Soon, we entered the Taoist temple. It was a small Taoist temple, covering an area of several dozen square meters, divided into several rooms. Compared with the Wei family's house, it was really not impressive.
The door of the Taoist temple was not locked. The old Taoist priest pushed it open and said with some emotion: When the Five Elements Meridian was flourishing... Oh, forget it, why am I telling you this. You live in the second room on the left of these rooms. That was the residence of my junior brother. Don't go into other rooms without permission and don't explore.
Oh. I nodded and looked into the second room. It was simple and plain. There were not many furnishings, just a bed, a futon, and a table with paper, ink, brush, and inkstone on it.
My junior fellow apprentice likes writing very much, and he used to sing lyrics while writing in this room, the old Taoist said.
Oh, where is he now? I went into the room and wiped the table. There wasn't much dust.
Not long after my master ascended to heaven, one dark night, I heard strange noises in his room. When I went to check, he was gone. To this day, I still don’t know if he is dead or alive. The old Taoist priest sounded a little sad, and it was obvious that he had a good relationship with his junior fellow apprentice.
So weird.
It's very strange. I searched everywhere in the mountains, but I couldn't find any trace of him. It's like he disappeared out of thin air. I have given up on him for more than 20 years. He is a blessed man, blessed by heaven, so he should not die. The old Taoist said.
I was very surprised. The old Taoist priest's five elements of Taoism were very good, and even a big family like the Wei family was polite to him. But it was such a strange man. My junior brother disappeared that night and he couldn't be found even after more than 20 years of searching.
This incident was so strange and creepy that I couldn't help but think of those stories about gods and ghosts.
Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore. The old Taoist still had a nostalgic look on his face.
By the way, why did you bring me here? I asked.
The old Taoist said: My master once collected one and placed it in the Taoist temple.
Then let’s take it out and study it.
The old Taoist priest hummed, walked into a room, and came out soon. In his hand was a wooden box. The style was antique and had a unique charm. At first glance, the pattern on the box made people feel peaceful and as if they had found a support.
