"I have hands and feet, can you let me down so I can walk myself?"
The withered old man replied without looking back, "You're full of tricks, it's better to be carried."
I was so frustrated I wanted to curse, but the thought of their methods made me swallow the words.
After being captured by the withered old man, I thought he would directly turn me into a living corpse, but the blind old man stopped him and whispered a few words in his ear. Then I was taken by them into the underground palace.
Before entering the underground palace, I hadn't thought about escaping, but no matter if I used my wits or cast the Heavenly Speed Seal on myself, I couldn't escape the blind old man's pursuit.
After a few attempts to escape, the withered old man finally got annoyed and came up with a terrible idea: to tie me to a zombie. That way, I wouldn't be able to run.
There was no way to escape, and this crime would be enough for me to suffer. Zombies didn't walk like normal people, but hopped. I felt like I was on a bumpy cart, bouncing up and down with the loose restraints, which was incredibly uncomfortable.
Finally, we reached the main entrance of the underground palace, and the withered old man and the others stopped.
Several tents had been set up in front of the gate, and a few people were gathered around a fire, discussing something. Seeing the arrival of the withered old man and the blind old man, they all stood up.
"Old Ghost, did you get rid of everyone who came in?" one of them asked.
"Is there anything I, Old Ghost, can't do? How is your research going? If you don't open the door soon, you'll miss the once-in-a-century opportunity. The next triple alignment of stars will take another hundred years, and I don't have that much time to wait."
In response to Old Ghost's questioning, they all shook their heads. One of them said, "It's too difficult. I don't know what's gotten into the Yin Gua lineage, but they actually set up a Yin Gui Wen Array on the door. To break the door, we have to decipher the hexagrams, otherwise, the door simply won't open. If we force our way through, it's very likely to trigger the array on the door, and then..."
"Heh heh... I knew you guys wouldn't be able to do it. Look who I brought." Old Ghost moved aside, revealing me, trapped between the zombie's arms.
"Why did you catch a little kid? And tie him to an iron zombie? What kind of novel play is this?" said a胖子 (fat man), missing his left arm and blind in his right eye. His remaining eye looked at me with curiosity.
"Tian Can, you wouldn't know this, would you? This kid is a treasure. If it weren't for the blind old man's help, we wouldn't have caught him! Guess who he is?" Old Ghost cackled, showing off.
"How could a mere child pass through the Ghost Gu Array set up by you and the dwarf? You only discovered him when he got close to the underground palace. If there's anyone in this world who can achieve this, it must be a descendant of Yin Gua! Their lineage is unparalleled in avoiding danger." Another person, leaning on a cane, with his right leg shriveled like a chicken's claw, looked at me excitedly.
"Di Que, you're as sharp as ever. That's right, this kid is a descendant of Yin Gua. It really took some effort to catch him. With him, opening the underground palace gate will be much simpler." Old Ghost rubbed his hands excitedly, no longer looking like an octogenarian, but like a young man anticipating his wedding night.
"It's really him? Then the news from the Half-Yin Realm must have been brought out by this kid from the fake underground palace? It wasn't easy to lure you out!" Di Que looked at me with a mocking smile.
"Who exactly are you people?"
"Who are we?" Old Ghost pointed to himself, then roared, "We are people who seek immortality. If it weren't for Zhang Danian's trick ten years ago, we would have obtained the Half-Yin Realm long ago, and we wouldn't have to wait another ten years. Today, no matter what, we will fulfill our wish. Now, you immediately open the door for me."
Hearing about ten years ago, I immediately became agitated, but I forced myself to calm down. It seemed that the people my father dealt with ten years ago were them. To get them to say more, I quickly pretended to be unable to open the door.
"Kid, don't play games with us. How could you not know how to decipher the Ghost Wen Yin Gua set up by Zhang Danian? Do you think this old man really wouldn't dare to turn you into a living corpse?" Old Ghost's already yellowed eyes suddenly flashed with light, tinged with a hint of red, making him look like a ferocious ghost.
I shook my head helplessly and said, "Sirs, even if you turn me into a living corpse, I still wouldn't know how. My master never taught me Ghost Wen Yin Gua, and I'm hearing this name for the first time."
"You're lying? Unless you're not a descendant of Yin Gua, nor Zhang Danian's disciple." The old blind man, not Old Ghost, became anxious. He had confidently cast a divination and assured everyone present that a descendant of Yin Gua had entered Qingfeng Mountain and was currently in the mountains, which was why the dwarf had used his corpse-controlling蛊 (gu) to seal off the entire mountain to capture me. Now, to suddenly say he had captured the wrong person, wouldn't that ruin his reputation as a diviner?
"It's true that I am Zhang Danian's disciple, and I have studied Yin Gua, but I genuinely don't know about the Ghost Wen Yin Gua you're talking about. So, capturing me is useless."
"You..." Old Ghost and the blind old man turned red with anger but were helpless against me. I insisted that I didn't know Ghost Wen Yin Gua, and they couldn't be sure if it was true or false.
Moreover, time was pressing. Only I could open the underground palace gate, otherwise, they would have to wait another decade. They could only stare at each other, looking at me, and I looking back at them.
"Heh heh... Haha..." Di Que suddenly burst into laughter.
"Old cripple, what are you laughing at?" Old Ghost roared, looking at Di Que and demanding an explanation.
"I think you two are truly foolish to be toyed with by such a child." Di Que ignored Old Ghost's anger, hobbled over to me, and said, "Since this kid is a descendant of Yin Gua, he must know Ghost Wen Yin Gua, otherwise, he couldn't have learned Yin Gua. It's just that I don't know what methods Zhang Danian used to make him learn Ghost Wen Yin Gua without him realizing it."
"What do you mean? You're confusing me."
"It's simple. Do you remember that kid named Song Yi from ten years ago?" Di Que said softly.
"How could I forget? He was also a descendant of Yin Gua, but that kid was stubborn and unyielding. Even when I used my methods, he wouldn't yield, causing us to wait another ten years. Why are you mentioning him?" the blind old man mumbled.
"Because that person didn't die. He was saved by Zhang Danian, who had retired. From then on, Zhang Danian stopped taking disciples, and even when he did, he didn't teach Ghost Wen Yin Gua. But he forgot one thing: to know Yin Gua, one must learn Ghost Wen. The two are inseparable. Therefore, this kid must know Ghost Wen, otherwise, he couldn't have become a descendant of Yin Gua. It's just that I don't know what methods Zhang Danian used to teach him Ghost Wen."
After hearing Di Que's explanation, everyone suddenly understood. The blind old man even kicked me hard to express his anger at being deceived.
As for me, I trembled with rage at Di Que's words, wishing I could jump over and bite him. The culprit who caused my father to fall into a coma was right in front of me, yet I was tied up like a mummy and couldn't even make a move.
"Untie me, and I can try to help you decipher the Ghost Wen Yin Gua..."