False evidence

Chapter 190 The Land of Dark Sweetness (Part 2)

All eyes immediately turned to me, even Xiao Shen San's eyes were filled with questions.

Lu Zelin jumped to his feet: "Impossible! You...you don't know my master's abilities. I know what you mean by 'blind spot'! He wasn't unaware of this, but he was absolutely certain that there was no hidden tomb chamber around the hill he initially arrived at. Given the layout of the tombs, there couldn't be one!"

I said, "Don't rush, let me tell you something first. You've heard of the Investiture of the Gods, right?"

Shen San said sullenly, "Hey, don't bully us because we've never been to school. I haven't read the books, but I've heard stories about it, and I even watched the TV series a couple of years ago..."

Seeing Lu Zelin nod seriously, I ignored Shen San and continued:
"The last emperor of the Shang Dynasty was King Zhou. Before King Zhou, all emperors were equal to heaven and earth and were called human kings! Let's assume there really was a concept of deification. Anyway, after the Shang Dynasty, all emperors were simply called Sons of Heaven."

As the name suggests, he is the son of the Heavenly Emperor.

From the time of Qin Shi Huang onwards, almost every emperor, upon ascending the throne, would immediately seek elixirs of immortality and ascension to the heavens. You should also know that there was one more thing an emperor had to do upon taking the throne.

“It’s for building a mausoleum for himself,” Lu Zelin said. “I understand everything you’re saying, but I still don’t know where the coffin is.”

I was at a loss for words and didn't want to fool such a simple-minded person anymore, so I simply raised my hand and pointed upwards.

"The king is buried in the world, and the emperor will naturally return to heaven."

Seeing Lu Zelin's stunned expression, I continued in one breath, "The sun, moon, and stars all have a place in the heavens. King Ying Zheng of Qin was a true emperor of all ages, a chosen one of heaven! After his death, he naturally had to return to the heavenly court. The emperor shines as brightly as the sun and moon, so there should be a heavenly palace dedicated to the First Emperor between the sun and moon, atop the clouds!"

Lu Zelin was completely stunned. It took him a full two minutes to slowly nod and murmur, "I understand, I understand... So it's up there... So it's in the sky..."

Xiao Shen San stood on the chair and patted his shoulder: "When you visit Lao Zang's grave later, remember to tell him this 'secret' so that he can rest in peace."

Lu Zelin had been very emotionally unstable, but he finally calmed down. "I know, thank you, thank you."

Xiao Shen had given me a meaningful look earlier, which meant that when he mentioned Zang Zhiqiang's experience, he unconsciously began to show a kind of obsession, even madness. And he said more than once: "I must find the Land of Dark Sweetness."

We are now generally aware of several situations:

Dark sweetness is a drug that can induce sleep;

Because when one enters a state of deep sleep, one will have very realistic, coherent, logically rigorous dreams that are difficult to distinguish from reality;

Furthermore, by inhaling or consuming Black Sweet Land, one can sleep without eating or drinking and wake up fully energetic.

(Regarding this, neither the monkey, nor the preserved egg, nor I believe it.)
Seeing Lu Zelin's relieved expression, I said, "Let's continue with our previous topic. Do you think that Jiang Baohan's ancestors crawled out of their graves with burial treasures because of the tomb owner's close associates, and that the artisans were ultimately buried alive in the land of black sweetness?"

Lu Zelin nodded: "If he came out empty-handed, people might think he accidentally fell into the pit. Because he took something, he was mistaken for a tomb raider. So, I think it's highly likely that the tomb owner used the Black Sweet Land."

The monkey asked, "Is the Land of Black Sweetness something you can eat or smell? So, if you covered your nose... or wore a gas mask, would you be fine?" "Impossible!" Lu Zelin immediately replied, "My master said that one of the ingredients in the Land of Black Sweetness doesn't come from the mortal realm, but from the underworld. So once it's triggered, it will take effect as long as it comes into contact with the skin."

"What if I wear a protective suit?"

"Get out of here!" I couldn't stand the monkey's nonsensical behavior any longer.

Lu Zelin continued, "There's another reason why I said Jiang Baohan comes from a family of tomb builders. That is, they not only know how to tame tomb snakes, but they should also possess a treasure. That thing, it is said, is not from the mortal world, but a kind of insect from the underworld."

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a tomb builder who was conscripted to construct a mausoleum for an emperor. Knowing he would never return, he went to his ancestral graves and wept and kowtowed. As he wept, suddenly, the graves opened, and an old man with a white beard stepped out.

The tomb builder recognized the old man as his father and hugged him, recounting the story of building the tomb. The white-bearded man pondered for a moment, told him to wait, and then turned and went back into the tomb. A short while later, he emerged, handing his son a transparent stone.

Inside the stone was a strange-looking worm, very small, still alive, and quite frightening. The white-bearded old man told his son to bite his finger and drip the blood onto the transparent stone. His son did as he was told, and then watched as the blood seeped in and was sucked up by the strange worm.

The white-bearded old man told his son, "This is a ghost worm from the underworld. It can resist all kinds of bewitching incense and poisonous fog. Now, feed it your own blood, and afterwards you will be immune to all poisons. Even ghostly fog from the underworld cannot harm you. But you must remember, you must never let anyone know about this, and you must remember to feed it your blood every full moon."

Lu Zelin said, "I know it's just a legend. But there must be such a worm, and it's mostly passed down among tomb builders. Only by feeding this worm with one's own blood and wearing it around one's body... I don't know if it can resist all poisons, but it must be true if it can prevent one from being bewitched by the land of black sweetness!"

I asked Lu Zelin, "You don't want the Yin-Yang Fan anymore, and the secret of the First Emperor's Heavenly Palace has been solved, so you don't need to look for the Land of Dark Sweetness anymore, right?"

Lu Zelin shook his head, looking bewildered.

"So what are your plans for the future?" I asked.

Lu Zelin didn't speak, but just looked at Shen San.

Xiao Shen said lazily, "What other plans could I have? Old Zang entrusted me to take care of him before he passed away, so he's like my child. My plan is to teach him to read, write, and understand principles while also having him go out to work and earn money. I'm old, and I'll kick the bucket sooner or later. I can't take care of him forever, can I?"

Pidan was both amused and exasperated: "Which of you two will outlive the other?"

"He needs to have something to do!" I pulled Pidan under the table.

Lu Zelin smiled bitterly: "Looking like this, what else can I do besides begging on the streets?"

Xiao Shen's face darkened: "It seems your master really doesn't know how to teach a disciple. You're ugly, you're uncultured, but don't you have hands and feet? You can be without hands and feet, but you can't be without a brain! What do you think I've been taking you around for these past few days?"

Xiao Shen San suddenly turned to me and Monkey: "You two are familiar with this area, so find some time tomorrow to ask around and see who owns that empty shop at No. 4 Shuangshan Road. Let's rent it for them. I want to start a business with my godson!"

(End of this chapter)