Chapter 29: How Lin Yan Got Stuffed Into A Coffin
Lin Yan was a bit confused. He couldn’t remember if he had dreamed or not, feeling like he had just woken up from a normal sleep. But since Zhang Qiling said so and was looking at him like this, something must have happened while he was unconscious.
“Did you hear me talking in my sleep?” he probed. Zhang Qiling didn’t answer, just gave him a meaningful look, as if to say: “Yes.”
“Did I say anything?” He wouldn’t have accidentally revealed his transmigration, would he! Although it wasn’t as mystical as the various longevity methods in the original work, this wasn’t normal either! Zhang Qiling wouldn’t want to exploit him for something, would he? Although given his outwardly cold but inwardly warm personality, it probably wouldn’t be anything life-threatening, but he didn’t want to be kept in the dark like Wu Xie and run around everywhere either!
Lin Yan didn’t expect that he had accidentally thought in the right direction by sheer luck, but the process and result were completely different from what he imagined. If Wu Xie was the executor and breaker of the millennium chess game laid out in the original work, then what Zhang Qiling wanted him to be was the one who flips the chessboard.
Even if he didn’t have such strong abilities right now.
While Lin Yan was feeling anxious and uneasy, Zhang Qiling spoke: “You said a sentence in a language that, logically speaking, you shouldn’t know.”
He uttered four syllables with a pronunciation that Lin Yan couldn’t understand. This pronunciation was more harsh and heavy compared to Mandarin, exuding an ancient aura.
“What does that mean?” Lin Yan pressed him, but unexpectedly, after being silent for a few seconds, Zhang Qiling shook his head: “Don’t know.”
There were things even he didn’t know? He had never even heard of this language, let alone spoken it! How could he have said it while unconscious? Could it be that he had provoked something while chopping the zombie just now, and it had entered his mind too?
Huh? Why did he say “too”?
Zhang Qiling seemed to know what he was thinking, hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the zombie corpse beside him: “Has nothing to do with this. It should still be something you carry inherently, which reacted to this. But for you, it’s a good thing.”
He stared intently into Zhang Qiling’s eyes and was stunned to find that he wasn’t fooling him.
It was real.
But his previous life had been ordinary and ordinary, and he hadn’t encountered any strange supernatural events, so how could he carry something inherently? How did this thing get into him? He suddenly looked up at Zhang Qiling, who had already walked away, and suddenly remembered something. If there was anything that could have caused him to provoke this thing, it was only his transmigration! Was it at the Corpse Accumulation Cave entrance, or inside the Lu King’s Palace? It probably wasn’t the Lu King’s Palace. By the time he went down, his blood was already different! So, was there something unknown inside the Corpse Accumulation Cave? The original work only described the tip of the iceberg; there were actually more terrifying things not written?
Damn! Third Uncle misled me!
Today he only said a sentence while unconscious, but in a while, he might get possessed or reborn without knowing! Zhang Qiling said the zombie could react to this thing and it was a good thing for him, which meant the zombie could suppress it, or trigger this thing’s defense mechanism! In other words, he could use the zombie, or something on the zombie, to suppress that thing in his mind!
Thinking of this, he looked urgently at Zhang Qiling and asked: “Is there something on the zombie? Or can the zombie itself suppress it? You said before that things inside the tomb can also suppress it—what’s the common point that can suppress it?”
Zhang Qiling glanced at him and replied faintly: “It’s the aura.”
Aura? What aura could a zombie have? Yin energy, resentful energy, or baleful energy?
“Yin energy, resentful energy, baleful energy, and blood qi.” Zhang Qiling gave the answer.
Just hearing it, it didn’t sound like anything good! If the thing he carried needed these to suppress it, then didn’t that mean the aura this thing carried inherently was opposed to these? What the hell was this thing! It might be something good, but it could also possess him? Or assimilate him? After all, he could feel that he was already different from when he first transmigrated! At least his senses were sharper, and there was that unique blood that seemed to only react to Zhang Qiling’s bloodline, and that possible longevity he might achieve! And Zhang Qiling was helpless against it too! Or rather, he couldn’t confront it directly?
What kind of monster did he carry in his head, or rather, in his soul!
For a moment, Lin Yan’s head felt as big as a bucket, but he couldn’t sort out any clues from the mess.
He looked at Zhang Qiling. No matter what his goal was, he was the only one who could help him now. And the fact was, Zhang Qiling had taken him away, seemingly to help him?
Thinking of all the things Zhang Qiling had stuffed him with along the way, he gradually formed a hypothesis. Some elementary school student or detective had once said: eliminate all impossibilities, and what’s left is the truth!
The thing in his head might be related not only to Zhang Qiling, or rather, to the Zhang family and it! This might relate to that ultimate secret in the original work that wasn’t decoded! Only then would he be worth Zhang Qiling going to such lengths!
And indeed, he had been his nanny for almost two weeks!
He figured it out.
Anyway, these things were beyond his current ability to resist or choose, so since life had raped him, why not lie flat and enjoy it?
Thinking of this, he asked Zhang Qiling: “So what do we do next?”
Zhang Qiling answered him: “Go find Wu Xie.”
Lin Yan thought, yeah, that makes sense. After all, he’s the protagonist. Zhang Qiling telling him to find Wu Xie meant that during the plot progression, there would be some place or thing that could help him? Then being carried along by the protagonist all the way, lying flat, wouldn’t that be great? Makes sense, Xiaoge!
But how long until the second plot starts? Why not, besides Wu Xie, also meet up with Fatty? He has some connections in Panjiayuan too; maybe have him help look for clues? After all, they had some dealings in the Lu King’s Palace; he wouldn’t ignore this small matter, right? Thinking of this, he asked Zhang Qiling: “Can I go find Fatty first to check on something?”
Zhang Qiling straightened up and thought for a moment, then surprisingly pulled out an old feature phone from his pocket—Lin Yan’s eyes widened; it still had battery after two weeks of standby? What mobile phone is this powerful?
He fiddled with it a few times and put it away, nodding to Lin Yan: “I’ll have him check.”
“Huh?” It’s settled just like that? Wait, Xiaoge, where did you get Fatty’s mobile phone number? This isn’t scientific!
Shocked for a moment, seeing that Zhang Qiling had no intention of explaining, Lin Yan stopped being curious. Fine, he had plenty of magical things on him; this was just one more. By the way, penniless as he was, how was he supposed to find Wu Xie? Borrow money from Zhang Qiling for the bus? Hmm, actually not impossible?
He suddenly remembered that he had a share of the jade burial suit, and there were still some beads and other dry goods in his bag; sell them and he’d pay back! So for the first time, he confidently extended his hand to Zhang Qiling: “Lend me some money; when the jade burial suit money comes in, I’ll pay you back with the previous amount together!”
Zhang Qiling looked at him and shook his head.
“What does that mean? You have no money? Or no cash on you?” Zhang Qiling shook his head, then nodded.
Fine, in this era before mobile payments were widespread, no cash meant you couldn’t go anywhere.
Lin Yan immediately panicked, scratching the back of his head in headache: “So what now? Can’t get by without money; they won’t let you on the bus without a ticket. Or, go down the mountain to find a local, go to the bank—one side transfers, the other gives cash?”
Zhang Qiling still shook his head and pointed to the coffin: “Still need to take it; bus isn’t suitable.”
Lin Yan was shocked: “Wait, to find Wu Xie, we need to bring the coffin? Not taking the bus, then how do we go!” Two “black household” guys without identities, and somewhat capable too; if discovered, wouldn’t they get dissected for research?
Zhang Qiling shook his head again: “Not us, you!”
“Just me alone? That’s even worse; not to mention anything else, this empty coffin is pretty heavy. No matter how we go, if I carry it all the way, I might die of exhaustion before arriving.”
“There’s another way.”
Lin Yan looked at Zhang Qiling’s intense gaze and felt a bit panicked. If he wasn’t mistaken, though his expression was still blank, there was a flash of mischief in his eyes?
What the hell? Had this Xiaoge’s persona collapsed? Or was what he was about to do rather…
He only felt a chill, his hairs standing on end, a pain in his neck, and then his vision went black as he fell down.
Before passing out, the last thought flashing in his mind: Damn, fainted again!
When he woke up again, he found himself in an ordinary room, but the extraordinary part was that he was lying in the coffin. It only took a second for him to know how he got here.
Damn! There’s this method too!
But he couldn’t beat him, even more damn!
PS: Zhang Qiling: I didn’t lie, just didn’t say some things; it’s not my fault if you overthought it!
