Lie Huo Jiao Chou Volume 2 Chapter 31

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The lies finally surfaced, the water was on fire.

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　　Xuan Ji had heard the yelling from outside of the cave before the stone walls around him were shaken by the noise and the rocks fell down.

　　Sheng Lingyuan forcefully pressed at the side of his forehead: "If it were you, what would you do?"

　　He didn't look over as he talked, as if he was asking Xuan Ji but also like he was asking some identity that was hidden somewhere, who had always been watching over them. 

　　Xuan Ji looked back at the cave entrance. In Sheng Lingyuan's memory, this cave was not the shaman tribe's valley, and neither was it buried underground.

　　From the cave entrance, the light shone in, making his face look half bright, half dark, showing the clear cheekbones underneath the skin, making him look like a sculpture and not like a human body that could bleed.

　　"Nothing," Xuan Ji shrugged and said coldly, "Bixia, I'm not like you. You received elite education for ancient monarchs, while me, I headed for public school when I was a kid and then went to a 'utilitarian university' when I grew up. At this point of my life, my biggest goal now is getting a house and a car, striving for the egoism of 'five emphases and four beauties'*. If I can also be good to kids and respectful to elders, then I would already be considered as a model citizen. Why would it be that because of some hard to believe prophecy, I had to struggle since kindergarten to carry such kind of responsibility? Why, just because my dad is a tribe leader, and I at middle school age had to take over his position? Actually, I didn't get to choose this dad?"

*five emphases and four beauties was the name given to, and the norms advocated in, the socialist ethics movement of the 1980's. Five emphases: civility, courtesy, sanitation, orderliness, morality; Four beauties: soul, speech, behavior, environment.

　　The old and new values clashed, Sheng Lingyuan was shocked for a moment by his strange individualistic values, then calmly asked: "Oh, really? Then, right now, for what reason are you getting involved in these?"

　　Not waiting for Xuan Ji to respond, from the cave entrance came the echo of footsteps. He heard someone use the shaman tribe language to shout heartbreakingly.

　　Sheng Lingyuan's head seemed to hurt worse, he groaned then forcefully leaned his forehead against the cold rock wall.

　　Xuan Ji: "What did he say?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan responded so quietly it was almost impossible to hear: "The sacrificial altar… is opened, elders and children come first."

　　"Sacrificial altar?"

　　"It's the shaman tribe's forbidden area," Sheng Lingyuan's voice was overwhelmed by the sound of the people and their footsteps, "When the tribe leaders of multiple generations and the Sage felt that there were dangerous things... incantations that didn't have an antidote for, also ancient and mysterious techniques… they would seal them in this place. In the altar, there are more complicated protection incantations than Dongchuan's protective barrier. In there they prayed to their mountain god, they felt that the mountain god was like their mother, who would watch over the reasonable evil thoughts and was more lenient to their children than ever."

　　The cave entrance again echoed an agonized cry. At this time, not even needing translation, Xuan Ji could guess that person was urging the tribe people to hurry into the altar, then the shout ended in the midst of anguished shouts, the smell of fresh blood flooded in. The demon's roar sounded close by, making the children and women of this paradise horrified.

　　A shaman tribe child fell at Xuan Ji's feet. He reached out by instinct and his hand passed through the child's shoulder, then he remembered that he was only an onlooker coming from thousand years later.

　　Xuan Ji looked up: "Dongchuan was surrounded, the barrier was broken, the shaman tribe people sensed that they couldn't win, so they wanted to go somewhere to hide? They were waiting for…"

　　"Waiting for me," Sheng Lingyuan quietly said.

　　Because every time Aluojin fought with others, regardless of how angry Sheng Lingyuan was, in the end, he still wouldn't want to mind the little things with him and would still help him out.

　　Over time, he felt this was a matter of course.

　　Wait until he could hold through it, then Lingyuan would come.

　　As soon as Lingyuan came, the humans would run, then he could go out and take care of those opportunist demon beasts.

　　Lingyuan was like the altar for the mountain god, becoming his religion.

　　"Waiting for me to save him."

　　Aluojin, along with the shaman tribe warriors, were risking their lives to bring the tribe members into the altar and buy some time. The peaceful Dongchuan was ignited in the fire of war; the fire went through the mountains, the round houses, every branches and leaves, the plaza where they used to sing and dance along with the starry sky… All were gulfed down by the big fire.

　　"Tribe leader, look out!"

　　Aluojin who was guarding behind heard the warning. Without even looking back, he rolled down from the horse's back, then a large python leapt forward right after, opening its mouth that was as big as half a cave entrance and full of blood. The smell of blood was blown against his face. It bit Aluojin's horse in half, the horse's internal organs poured out onto the ground, while the first two legs still moved forward.

　　Aluojin bit at his index fingers, flew through the air and drew a strange symbol, then pushed it forward. The incantations carrying his blood clashed into the python, and both the python and Aluojin were thrown away.

　　The python was thrown backwards, breaking a tree that was bigger than one could hug, Aluojin leapt toward the cave entrance, the person who was waiting at the entrance immediately started the mechanism, the cave entrance made a booming sound and started closing down.

　　"Quick! Quick! Close the cave entrance!"

　　Xuan Ji then realized, the reason that the "shaman tribe grave" was buried not because the earth's surface changed and buried it to the ground, but because it was a cave with a sealing mechanism inside!

　　The python angrily slammed at the rocky mountain, the slamming sound scared the people inside. Some shaman tribe people went forward and helped the weakened Aluojin up: "Leader, we can't stay here long!"

　　Aluojin: "The people…"

　　"More than forty thousand people are here," One of his guards said, then lowered his back down to carry him and ran inside.

　　The stone doors fell down behind them one by one, the shouts from the outside could no longer be heard, the shaman tribe survivors looked at each other.

　　The center of the altar — which was also the cave where Aluojin's coffin would be at, must have not been a place where one could come and go as they pleased, so the tribe people stayed outside of it in the cave to rest, quietly sobbing or consoling each other.

　　Aluojin heaved a deep breath and went deeper into the cave alone. The white flowers that would "bleed" covered the cave entrance, in between the small gaps, one could see some reflection of light from the water.

　　Aluojin's knees went weak and he dejectedly kneeled.

　　His mind was muddled, he regretted it, vaguely feeling that he must have done something wrong, but didn't understand how things could turn out this way.

　　His dad was killed, the Sage was old and followed his footsteps the following year, no one left him any words to guide him, because he had abandoned his ancestor's teaching and went into a path that was full of thorns.

　　"That is the 'flower of life and death'," Sheng Lingyuan said, "The lake symbolized the mother, the shaman tribe believed they were born in this place, and they would return here after their death to be protected and have a long lasting sleep."

　　"Not too correct it seems." Xuan Ji remembered Aluojin who got nailed into the coffin yet still had to be woken up and clicked his tongue. He approached the cave entrance, looking around at the center from the gaps between the flowers for a moment, then asked, "In the beginning, this place had a lot of forbidden incantations? One can take them out to be used?"

　　"If he hadn't run completely out of options, he wouldn't dare, because that's offensive to the ancestors." Sheng Lingyuan said, "In addition, for some mysterious incantations, the greater the damage, the bigger the price for it. The old tribe leader left too quickly, so there were a lot of shaman tribe incantations and objects that Aluojin wasn't familiar with, and he was afraid of making the situation worse."

　　He made the situation worse too many times.

　　"But, honestly," Xuan Ji looked up to observe a bit, "This place can be used as a haven for a couple days with no problem — was something delaying you on the way, why haven't you come yet?"

　　"No… I wasn't delayed," Sheng Lingyuan was quiet for a long time, "I was on time."

　　The soldiers surrounding Dongchuan for three days and nights were so tired they couldn't stand, so they simply rested and reorganized. Aside from some night watchmen, they carried their wounded selves and laid everywhere and were dead asleep, and Aluojin also curled up around the altar to rest.

　　The mountain god was on the side, the flower of life and death's' light dimly reflected on him, he probably got the feeling of safety and slept like a baby.

　　Xuan Ji saw that the guards were getting sleepier and sleepier, then he smelled something slightly sweet, very faintly, like a touch on the nose, like a wind carrying a faint smell of spring from a garden hundreds of miles away.

　　Xuan Ji covered his nose and said in shock: "No, wait, did shaman tribe also have a 'Lead the Way Party'*?" 

*Internet term used by Chinese government-sympathetic netizens towards liberals, which was a term derived from the collaborators during the Anti-Japanese War who helped the foreign invaders by giving them directions for attacking locals.

　　Right when he finished, all the guards nodded off and collapsed. Then, the guard next of Aluojin opened his eyes; he had no indication of sleepiness and slowly stood up. Xuan Ji looked at his lifeless eyes and suddenly reacted: "Wait, he's not a betrayer — before, you said the old tribe leader was killed by a human-skin puppet who was disguised as a messenger, so this one is…"

　　"Yes." Sheng Lingyuan confirmed, "Danli was a careful person, how would he let anything escape his control?"

　　The 'human-skin' puppet made no sound as it approached Aluojin and looked down at the young tribe leader who was unaware. For some reason, behind those lifeless eyes, there seemed to be a different soul.

　　Then, he bent down in front of Aluojin.

　　Xuan Ji: "..."

　　If this was a horror movie, he would choose the 'peeking between the hands' mode to watch this. 

　　Unexpectedly, the puppet only pulled a cloak and lightly put it on Aluojin, then wiped the dirt on Aluojin's face, his actions were like a gentle father's.

　　Aluojin felt the warmth and snuggled closer to the cloak as he mumbled something in his mouth in the shaman tribe's language.

　　The puppet carefully stepped over him and got towards the altar. He took out from his chest an unlit torch*, then brought his hand to its surface. The torch suddenly lit up, but the fire looked very odd and not like the usual color of fire — it was almost a bright red, like the sky at dawn, it should have been a warm color, yet it was exuding coldness.

*火折, huo zhe, kind of like a torch used in the past. It looks like this:

　　The flowers around the altar looked like they met their natural enemy and retreated quickly whenever the torch came close, and soon enough there opened a space big enough for one person to pass. The whole scenery of the altar was revealed — a quiet lake, a stone ground with seals and objects and writing leaves.

　　This moment, Aluojin could sensed the light, he disorientedly opened his sleepy eyes. Then, he blinked dumbly for a moment and looked at the brother he had been with day and night in horror: "What are you doing?"

　　The puppet turned around to look at him, smiled, then turned around and quickly threw the torch into the lake. The fire not only did not extinguish in the water, but also took the water as if it was gasoline!

　　Aluojin jumped up, but before he could catch the arsonist, the person's skin quickly dried out, shriveling down to the bone, and inside was a small wooden puppet. 

　　Aluojin was dazed.

　　In a flash, his home, his father who was killed, the guard who was swapped without anyone knowing… everything was like a path and foggily pointed toward the truth.

　　Aluojin shouted and rushed into the altar.

　　But it was too late.

　　Those who betrayed the ancestors' teaching, they would no longer be protected by the mountain god. Deities would perish with their clay statues, or perhaps, everything that people believed it, it was only a delusion.

　　The lies finally surfaced, the water was on fire.

　　One by one, the seal on the urns on the altar cracked, black smoke came out like evil spirits getting released and clashed into each other at the altar. Aluojin didn't have any other options, in the dire situation, he could only use his body to cover the hole then turned around to yell at the tribe members who were still shell shocked: "Go! Leave the altar!"

　　The incantations that were urged on by the evil fire sensed the smell of blood and flesh and greedily rushed towards him. Aluojin's voice suddenly changed — his body was torn by one forbidden incantation and then, the white flowers of life and death turned red and started to bleed onto him. He was torn and melted from both sides by different incantations, and after a while, he didn't look like a human anymore.

　　After the initial terror passed, the tribe people screamed as they ran outside. The closed cave doors opened one by one, and the altar once again resurfaced on the ground, but very quickly, something came at them that made them scream and retreat  — the cave entrance was on fire!

　　That was a powerful demon fire with a white light. The first shaman tribe soldier stepped up and gritted his teeth as he tried to jump out in between the fire, yet he turned into ash as soon as he touched it. The fire quickly flooded into the cave, setting everything on fire, making the stone door melt into it.

　　The scared shaman tribe people sealed the cave once more.

　　At this moment, Aluojin who had been in the altar was 'torn apart' and 'mended back' for who knew how many times, yet the torture wasn't over. Blood dripped out from him and pooled into a small puddle under his feet. Then, in the pool of blood appeared a big butterfly larva which grew quickly and spread its wings — unlike the Mirage Butterfly, this blood-stained butterfly had left human bodies yet was still able to fly up after a while, and light of the red fire in the altar center was reflected on its wings.

　　And it headed towards the people!

　　"Didn't you want to know what were those human-faced butterflies that are of a different species?" Xuan Ji felt like Sheng Lingyuan's voice was so far away, "Here, this is an evil incantation that can't be burned even by demon fire."

　　In front of Xuan Ji's eyes suddenly came a bright light, so bright tears almost came out, then he found out he was now outside of the cave, and the entire Dongchuan was surrounded by the white demon fire. Someone shouted something loudly and wanted to get inside.

　　Xuan Ji followed the sound and turned around to see a group of people trying to stop the young Sheng Lingyuan.

　　He truly was late by only one day… one night.

　　"This fire went on for seven days and nights," Xuan Ji heard the Sheng Lingyuan by his side said, "Nobody could extinguish it, do you know why?"

　　Xuan Ji's spine suddenly grew cold.

　　Not waiting for him to respond, the scenery collapsed again, the two of them were now forced to follow the young heartbroken emperor into the altar.

　　This place was burned through. It was like a big oven, the smell of meat came from everywhere, the people inside should be cooked already, but those people who were burned until their bones and flesh mixed together were still standing!

　　People were freely chatting with each other like it was nothing, just like in Sheng Lingyuan's memory when they were just relaxing by the plaza behind the mountain at night.

　　At the end of the altar entrance, Aluojin who wasn't a bit injured looked through the crowd, beckoning Sheng Lingyuan to come closer for some reason. He was almost smiling, but it seemed mocking. He tilted his head, and his head fell onto the ground.

　　Aluojin sighed, then waved at his own head, then the head of the alive young man nicely rolled back and was picked up to be held in his arms.

　　The head opened its mouth, the voice echoed within the cave, saying: "Lingyuan."

　　The young emperor was going insane, he suddenly struggled out of his servants. The people around him tried to catch up but was yelled at by a sound.

　　"Stop!" The newcomer said, "Do you think you are the same as the people in this place?"

　　That was Danli's voice. Xuan Ji suddenly turned around and saw a man walking out, his entire body covered in a cloak, his face was hidden under a veil.

　　In an instant, Xuan Ji was able to weave together the whole story.

Chapter end