63 lines
11 KiB
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63 lines
11 KiB
HTML
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:epub="http://www.idpf.org/2007/ops" epub:prefix="z3998: http://www.daisy.org/z3998/2012/vocab/structure/#" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<title>Chapter 16</title>
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<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Chapter 16</h1>
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<p>
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<em>“Try touching it?”</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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<em>“You have already been poisoned by my Single Gate Poison Gu. Without my other Gu that acts as the counterpart to it, after seven days you will turn into pus and blood and die.”</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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<em>“To compare myself to Sir Flower Wine, I’m just a fart! I must have been unwell in the head, to actually not recognize such a great person and offended Sir Flower Wine. Sir Flower Wine, please remember my clan’s generous hospitality earlier and spare my life!”</em>
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</p>
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<p>The scene replayed itself over for the second time on the wall. Fang Yuan remained silent; when the motion picture started to repeat itself for the third time he finally sighed faintly and said, “I see.”</p>
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<p>This method of leaving a moving picture with sound on the wall was probably the Flower Wine Monk’s doing with the help of a Photo-audio <em>Gu</em>. This <em>Gu</em> was able to record down imagery and project it out later.</p>
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<p>The Photo-audio <em>Gu</em> fed on light and sound to survive. For some unknown reason this secret cave emitted red light, while at the same time the stone crevice was connected to the outside world, so it would not completely isolate the sounds outside. Right now Fang Yuan could still hear the roaring of the smaller waterfalls. Thus the Photo-audio <em>Gu</em> was able to live on in this secret cave.</p>
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<p>A moment ago when Fang Yuan ripped away the withered vines, he had probably alarmed the Photo-audio <em>Gu</em> hiding in the stone wall. As long as one is not stupid, with mere guesswork one could tell that this moving image was authentic.</p>
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<p>Back then, the fourth generation clan head tried to plot against the Flower Wine Monk but he failed. After he lost in the battle he tried a sneak attack; even though it repelled away the latter, he eventually died because of it. This part of history was considered disgraceful, and the remaining surviving clan elders decided to tamper with the truth.</p>
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<p>They reversed the roles of the fourth generation clan head and the Flower Wine Monk.</p>
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<p>The Flower Wine Monk became the one who was defeated in battle and tried a sneak attack, and later died on the spot. On the other hand, the fourth generation leader was turned into the justified and perfect hero.</p>
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<p>But this story itself had a big loophole – The Flower Wine Monk had clearly died on the spot, so his corpse should be in the hands of the Gu Yue clan, but why was another pile of remains found?</p>
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<p>In his previous life, the <em>Gu</em> Master who found it had probably been terrified after seeing the moving image. Those surviving elders had long been dead, but to prevent the truth of the Flower Wine Monk from returning, this truth was probably kept secret by the top brass of the clan.</p>
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<p>That <em>Gu</em> Master realized that if he single handedly took the treasure it would be a huge risk. If people investigated and found that he was involved with the Flower Wine Monk in future, the top brass would naturally execute him. Thus after making his choice, he did not dare to hide away this treasure, but instead make a decision to notify the top brass.</p>
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<p>By doing so it would prove his loyalty to the clan. His subsequent circumstances would also show that he made a wise choice.</p>
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<p>However even if he did that, it didn’t mean that Fang Yuan would do the same.</p>
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<p>“I went through a pretty rough time searching for this treasure, so I should take everything for myself. Why should I share it with others? So what if I’ve been found out? Without braving the risks, where would you get profit? That <em>Gu</em> master is really cowardly,” Fang Yuan smiled coldly, no longer caring about the moving image that kept repeating on the stone wall. He turned around and stretched his hand, using his strength to pull apart the dead vines and roots.</p>
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<p>The Flower Wine Monk’s remains were also affected. It was originally intact, but right now it was being broken into several pieces. Fang Yuan could hardly care; he kicked away a piece of leg bone that was in the way and squatted again, searching through the remains.</p>
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<p>Firstly he found a bag of primeval stones. When he opened them he only found fifteen pieces.</p>
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<p>“Old miser,” Fang Yuan spat. The Flower Wine Monk’s outer appearance looked flashy, but unexpectedly he only had so little money put aside.</p>
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<p>However he quickly thought of the reason – The Flower Wine Monk went through a fierce battle, add on to the fact that he got tainted by the Moonshadow <em>Gu</em>, so he would definitely have used primeval stones to heal his injuries. To be able to leave behind fifteen pieces was actually not bad already.</p>
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<p>After that he found a few dead <em>Gu</em> remains. Most of them were flower and grass variety, and had all completely withered away. <em>Gu</em> are also living creatures, so they also need food to survive, and most of them are picky. Though the grass <em>Gu</em> and flower <em>Gu</em> need less food, but in this secret cave there was not even a single ray of sunshine.</p>
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<p>And after that…</p>
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<p>After that, there was <em>nothing</em>.</p>
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<p>The Flower Wine Monk was on the same level as the fourth generation clan leader. After fighting a fierce battle, he fought with around ten elders right after. His own <em>Gu</em> were mostly consumed, and up to this stage as he wanted to heal his injuries, he grew the Wine Sack Flower <em>Gu</em> and the Rice Pouch Grass <em>Gu</em> here. Yet in the end because of the Moonshadow <em>Gu</em> he was dragged to death.</p>
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<p>After three hundred year, the <em>Gu</em> in his possession also died away. The only ones left were the Photo-audio <em>Gu</em> on the wall and the Liquor worm.</p>
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<p>This Liquor worm was probably reliant on the Wine Sack Flower <em>Gu</em> and barely lived through until today. But as the Wine Sack Flower <em>Gu</em> withered away one by one, it also lost its food supply.</p>
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<p>This prompted the Liquor worm to go outside and look for wild Wine Sack Flowers. Then in this night, it was attracted by the aroma of the green bamboo wine and came before Fang Yuan.</p>
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<p>“The Photo-audio <em>Gu</em> can only record once, since it’s a one-time use <em>Gu</em>. Looks like the Liquor worm is my greatest gain here, no wonder that <em>Gu</em> Master decided to report to the clan. Looks like it was because the profit was too small, and not worth such a huge risk.” A sort of understanding rose into Fang Yuan’s heart.</p>
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<p>In his memories, that <em>Gu</em> Master was already Rank three, while the Liquor worm was just a Rank one <em>Gu</em>. To Fang Yuan it was more precious, but to that <em>Gu</em> Master it was pretty much nothing.</p>
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<p>However it was clear that due to his report, the clan gave him a big reward.</p>
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<p>“Should I also tell the clan?” Fang Yuan thought for a moment, then he pushed away this idea.</p>
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<p>The Flower Wine Monk’s treasure seemed to be just the Liquor worm and the primeval stones, but that was not the case. The most valuable thing was actually the wall that hid the Photo-audio <em>Gu</em>. In other words, it was the moving image that did not stop repeating on the wall.</p>
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<p>This image could entirely be sold to other villages. Trust in the fact that the top brass of the two other villages on Qing Mao Mountain must be very interested in this sort of evidence that could strike hard onto the conviction of a clan.</p>
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<p>What?</p>
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<p>You said something about a sense of loyalty and honour to the clan?</p>
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<p>I’m so sorry, Fang Yuan does not have one bit of that.</p>
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<p>Moreover this moving image isn’t even some kind of strong force that can destroy the entire clan; it won’t do much substantial damage. The indifferent nature of the clan will also not look at Fang Yuan with importance. He needed to rely on his own hard work and find cultivation resources, in the early stage of cultivation he needed to borrow the powers around him more.</p>
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<p>“Count on the clan? <em>Heh heh</em>.” Fang Yuan sneered in his heart, “How can I be so naïve like my past life.”</p>
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<p>Do not depend on anyone; you must rely on yourself on everything in this world.</p>
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<p>After making sure that he had ransacked every corner of the cave, Fang Yuan began his way back following the original road home.</p>
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<p>Holding against the water pressure and squeezing past the boulder, he returned outside the mountain. Looking back at this huge boulder, Fang Yuan suddenly thought of his past life. It was said that the remains were found in an underground secret cave. But how was this place underground? It was clearly in the inside of the mountain wall.</p>
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<p>No wonder he couldn’t find it for seven days straight even though he wasted so much effort. Looks like in his past life after the clan found out about this place, the first thing they did was to destroy the wall with the image, and then go about spreading a truth riddled with lies to mislead the clanspeople.</p>
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<p>To be able to find this place tonight was partly due to luck, partly due to hard work, and the biggest reason would be the green bamboo wine.</p>
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<p>This green bamboo wine was really rich, it could be said to be the best in Qing Mao Mountain. Perhaps in his past life, after that <em>Gu</em> Master lost his lover, the wine that he had been drinking was this wine.</p>
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<p>But all of this was no longer important. The Flower Wine Monk’s treasure had been unearthed and ransacked by Fang Yuan; although in the end it was rather disappointing, it was also reasonable. The most important was that Fang Yuan’s original goal (Liquor worm) was in his hands, and the item he needed the most (primeval stones) was also gotten.</p>
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<p>“Next up, I will need to set my heart on holing myself in the inn refining this <em>Gu.</em> As long as I have a vital <em>Gu</em> I can return to the academy and be qualified to stay in the academy dormitories. I’ll also be able to borrow the clan resources to cultivate. I can only stay in this inn for one or two times; if I stay too long the cost is too much.” Fang Yuan pondered, his footsteps never ceasing as he hurried back to the village.</p>
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<p>He was originally left with two primeval stones, but now he gained fifteen pieces, so the total is seventeen pieces. But to a <em>Gu</em> Master, this small amount of primeval stones mean nothing.</p>
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</body>
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