After listening to Abe Keiko’s words, I stood up and shouted at the great tree, “Immortal! Immortal! Come out and see me. If you really find us detestable, then just kill us all.”
Hua Changsheng yelled, “Xiao Qi, what’s wrong with you?”
I sat under the tree and laughed, saying it was just a joke. The kitten hid in my arms—ever since we arrived on the island, it had been unusually restless, more so than ever before. And I noticed that many in the group were staring at the kitten.
Little Rascal, affected by the kitten, was in a bad mood.
Affected by both the cat and the dog, my mood worsened. I felt irritable. I wanted to leave this island and never return, to go back to Jiangcheng and open a flower shop, selling all kinds of roses. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
Xie Xiaoyu sat beside me, pouting as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Passing through the great tree, we finally reached the foot of the mountain. Following the directions on the parchment, we found the narrow path leading uphill. By nightfall, we discovered a smooth stone wall in the mountains.
Carved on the wall were the words: *Seven Corpses Revealed, Eternal Life Achieved; Man Worse Than Dogs, Black Hearts and Lungs.* The first eight characters were exactly those.
I had heard of this for the first time from Yi Miao, who learned it from Gu Rechang. I never expected its origin to be here. But there were eight more words at the end: *Man Worse Than Dogs, Black Hearts and Lungs.* It seemed the person who carved these words on the wall had died here—betrayed, hence the lament about men being worse than dogs.
Beside the stone wall was a massive stone gate, tightly sealed. This must be the entrance to the ancient tomb. Guo Jue and Hua Chongyang stepped forward, examining the gate closely. They found three circular holes on it, which looked peculiar—not like keyholes. The group, blocked by the stone gate, was stunned. As dusk fell, the sunset cast its glow over the island, making the scenery breathtakingly beautiful.
After much effort, the stone gate remained unopened, so we rested in the open area near the cave entrance, planning to try again at night. But ancient mechanisms were not easily manipulated. Finally, Dai Hao suggested using explosives to blast the gate open.
I said, “Forget it. If we blow it open, the tomb might collapse before we even enter.”
I noticed the three cylindrical holes on the gate, their interiors textured like lock mechanisms. I took out the copper jar and tried inserting it—one of the holes fit perfectly. Hua Jueye exclaimed, “So that’s what the jar is for!” He then tried his silver jar, which had hung from his waist for years, inserting it into the gate.
Seeing everyone else taking action, Dai Hao also brought out his golden jar, preparing to insert it. But as he did, a beautiful song played from the jar, nearly bringing me to tears—a famous singer’s voice: *Today is a good day, everything you wish for comes true.* Dai Hao muttered, “Isn’t this supposed to be from the Tang Dynasty? How can it play modern songs?”
Guo Jue couldn’t help but burst into laughter: “We’ve been fighting over this, and it turns out to be a fake. How ridiculous!” Dai Hao’s face twitched as he hurled the fake golden jar to the ground, smashing it. A strange speaker popped out, still singing, *Today… today… is… is…* Dai Hao stomped on it, silencing it. He had spent over ten million on this worthless thing.
I shouted, “Professor Dai, don’t shoot at me!”
Dai Hao looked at me, confused. Like a magician, I revealed the real golden jar. Dai Hao gave me a thumbs-up, impressed. “You’re amazing—switching them out without anyone noticing.”
I inserted the golden jar into the last cylindrical hole. Hua Chongyang exerted force at the same time. With both hands, I pressed down on the copper and golden jars, twisting them. The massive stone gate, weighing thousands of pounds, slowly rose with a loud creak. As soon as the gate opened, the kitten darted from my arms into the tomb.
The copper jar reacted suddenly—tears inside it spilled onto the floor in front of the gate, producing a hissing mist.
On the floor were densely carved small characters, delicate and clearly inscribed by a woman. Under the flashlight, they were faintly legible.
I read aloud: *I, Gu Qingqing, seal this tomb here. If any worldly person wishes to enter, they must curse Donglingzi three times.*
After reading, I was baffled. Who was Gu Qingqing? Why would she leave such words at the entrance? And why did she demand curses against Donglingzi? Every entrant had to curse him.
I had met our founder twice but never heard him mention someone named Gu Qingqing. Gu Xiulian knelt before the inscription, kowtowing, and cursed loudly: *Donglingzi, you heartless beast! Donglingzi, you treacherous villain! Donglingzi, you ungrateful wretch!* I snapped, “Gu Xiulian, are you trying to die?”
Dai Hao fired a shot at my feet. “Master Xiao, your founder is Donglingzi. If you don’t want to hear this, step away. Otherwise, don’t blame my gun.” Xie Xiaoyu lunged at Dai Hao to teach him a lesson, but the Earth-Nourished Corpse, which had no consciousness and barely remembered me, vaguely recalled being lifted by the Jade Corpse Xie Xiaoyu before being sealed away.
The Earth-Nourished Corpse knocked Xie Xiaoyu to the ground, and a fight broke out. Little Rascal barked furiously. I drew my jade ruler and stepped in, separating the two corpses, pulling Xie Xiaoyu aside. The others took turns cursing our founder three times at the entrance. For every curse, I silently praised Donglingzi—his wisdom, his extraordinary bearing. This way, the curses and praises balanced out. Guo Jue and Hua Chongyang muttered mild complaints about Donglingzi’s unfairness, but Gu Xiulian cursed the most viciously.
It was midnight. The group seemed eager to enter, not even bothering to rest. Before stepping into the tomb, I praised our founder. Even if Gu Qingqing emerged—a figure from a thousand years ago—she wouldn’t come after me now, would she?
Little Rascal, Xie Xiaoyu, and I trailed behind as we ventured inside. The tomb was old and dilapidated, unfinished, with few traps. I suspected that since the island was remote, few could access the tomb, making traps unnecessary. Once the stone gate sealed, no one could enter. The island itself was likely isolated by a barrier, ensuring eternal secrecy.
We proceeded cautiously for half an hour. Inside the main hall, candles were lit, illuminating two murals on opposite walls. The group gathered to examine them.
The murals depicted a master and his two disciples enduring hardships to reach an island. Facing danger, the disciples abandoned their master. Ten years later, the master, having lived in the tomb for a decade, saw his disciples return—only to steal the tomb’s treasures.
Failing, they fled. Worse, they brought the master’s beloved, Gu Qingqing, to force him to surrender the treasures.
I cursed, “These disciples are despicable! How could such people exist?”
Abe Keiko said, “The full story is this: The master was Donglingzi. The eldest disciple was surnamed Hua, the second Guo. They discovered the tomb on the immortal island, containing an elixir of immortality. The disciples turned against their master. Unable to defeat him, they fled by boat. The master hid in the tomb, needing seven powerful zombies to reopen the gate. Later, the Hua and Guo brothers kidnapped Gu Qingqing to force Donglingzi to hand over the elixir.”
Guo Jue shouted, “Impossible!”
Hua Chongyang also retorted, “Don’t spout nonsense, girl.”
I raised my jade ruler. “Shut up! Miss Xue, continue.”
Abe Keiko said, “You may call me Sister Keiko. But both disciples were morally corrupt. Donglingzi refused to give them the elixir. Gu Qingqing, believing he no longer loved her, grew resentful. That’s why she demanded curses at the entrance.”
I thought to myself—the Ghost Sect’s most crucial test was morality. Perhaps this was why, from then on, morally corrupt disciples were harshly punished. Zuo Shan was crippled by Grandmaster Ye Guyi for his poor conduct—likely for the same reason.
I asked, “How do you know all this?”
Abe Keiko continued, “When Hua and Guo returned a second time, Donglingzi was trapped in the tomb. Gu Qingqing died. They forced him to swear never to consume the elixir before leaving. But they never expected Donglingzi to escape, rescued by an Abe family ship passing by. Later, conflicts arose between him and the Abe family. Eventually, he returned to China, founding the Ghost Sect in his final years, passing down the jade ruler. The Hua and Guo families, generation after generation, sought the elixir.”
By now, I was astounded.
So, our founder Donglingzi’s life had been so tumultuous—fleeing the imperial city, writing the unparalleled *Compendium*, taking two disciples, capturing zombies, searching for the elixir on an island, only to be betrayed by his own disciples, wasting precious years in isolation.
And most heartbreaking of all—his beloved misunderstood him.
Dai Hao, uninterested in the story, cut in: “Did Donglingzi take the elixir from the tomb?”
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