Chapter 605: Undead Grass


    When Ireturnedto the hotel, I foundSenior Shuhugging hislife-bound rat; he wassobbing. Let alone him, even I hadstarted consideringthelife-bound rata member ofourfamilyas hehad fought shoulder by shoulder with me a few times.


    I toldSenior ShuaboutZhao Feiyans decisionand how her pet had followedher. Then, I handed him the skirt. Although I liked this skirt a lot, asSenior Shuhad lost his littlebrother, I had to refrain myself and offered it to him.


    However,Senior Shu, who had always been greedy, didnt want the skirt.He turned and silently put more ointment on Li Mazis body.


    As I had rushed away to chase after the white cat, I hadnt taken a close look at Li Mazi.At thismoment, he looked so thin, and his entire body was pale. There were many dposing spots on hisskin.Hisimportant, masculine part was swelling to thepointthat it couldnt be recognized. He looked like a dried corpse that was unearthed fromarandom tomb.


    How did he turn into this? I wasstunned.


    Senior Shusnorted. Hes like the dog that never quits the habit of eatingpoop. Im sure hewasbewitched bysomebeauty. If mylife-bound rathadnt sacrificed its life to save him, Im sure he wouldnt even have a piece of bone left.


    Although I was so mad atthisfoolish man,I was still worried about him. What should we do now?


    He wontdie. Ive used my special ointment to cover hisfesteringwounds. They wontworsenfurther. He should eat more nutritious foods, though. He will recover soon. After that,Senior Shudidnt talk anymore. He quietly applied the ointment all over Li Mazi.


    Li Mazi woke up the next afternoon. However, when he spoke, he sounded like he had aged twenty years. I thought I was talking to an old man who had experienced enough ups and downs.


    Senior Shuprescribed some traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Heasked me to make them and apply the medicohim daily. Afterward,hepacked up.Itseemed hewantedto leave.


    Grandpa, where are you going?


    Im going to find the Undead Grass, saidSenior Shuwith sad, red-brimmed eyes.


    Undead Grass? It was the first time I heard about this name. I wascurious. What is it?


    Undead Grass is a sort of fungi that grows on one-thousand-year old coffins. It can revive the dead, exinedSenior Shu. Of course, this Undead Grass is only able to revive those who didnt liveup to their lifespans. It cant helpsomeonewhodied in their bed at a ripe old age. Mylife-bound rats fatewaschanged by me. Itslifespanwasnt that of an ordinary rat anymore. Im sure I can use the Undead Grass to save it!


    Im going with you,Senior Shu! Isaid seriously.


    No matter what,Senior Shuhad been taking care of Li Mazi for me. As this bad thing had happened, I couldnt let him bear the consequences alone!


    Moreover,Senior Shuhad started totreatme much better. He had stopped showing off and taking advantage of his old age. He treated me fondly and caringly.


    Grandson, I can dothisalone. You shouldtakeLi Mazi back to Wuhan as soon as possible.


    However, from the way he was speaking, I was even more worried about him. I asked Li Mazi to go home alone while stubbornly pesteringSenior Shu.


    Senior Shuknew he couldnt shake me off, so he had to agree with me. All right, here, keep this iron swallow. Its themission for you to escort me to find the Undead Grass.


    He gave the iron swallow back to me.


    Moreover, we finally knew the identity of the iron swallow. This iron swallow was the sculpture Emperor Cheng of Han had dedicated to Zhao Feiyan. It was put on top of Weiyang Pce. When Zhao Feiyan lost her husbands favor, the iron swallow was removed. In the end, it was buried with her


    From the craftsmanship of this iron swallow anditshistorical value, it was a top-quality item. With a conservative assumption, I guessed I could sell itforaround three millionrenminbi. I would find a chance to sell this iteter.


    Needless to mention, the skirtwas alsoanexcellentrepresentative ofancient handicraft and manufacturing. Moreover, it had witnessed the beautiful yet sorrowful love between Emperor Cheng of Han and Zhao Feiyan, which made it a priceless treasure!


    I didnt have anynsto sell it. I would wait until the Yin energy on the skirt scattered. Then, I would give it to Yin Xinyue. When she had free time, I would ask her to dance for me.


    In the end, after Zhao Feiyans case waspleted,Senior Shuhad gotten nothing but the loss of hislife-bound rat.He even tried togive memost of themoney,whichdidntseem to behis working style.


    I felt strange anxiety. Senior Shu, is something bad going to happen?


    He shook his head and didnt answer.


    I had to quit querying butkeptprobing about the Undead Grass. Senior Shu, where is the Undead Grass?


    The Undead Grass is only foundin the deepmountains of Yunnan Province. Thepeople there were good at usinginsectsand corpses in the past. To prevent the deceased bodies from being eatenbysnakes or worms, they would put mysterious herbs into the coffin. These herbs have been nurtured by the Yin energy inside the coffins. Slowly, theyhavegrown fungi and be the Undead Grass!


    I noticed thatSenior Shus eyes had kept moving while he was talking. It seemed he didnt know much about the Undead Grass, anyway.


    Have you ever seen the Undead Grass before? I asked.


    He shook his head. No, Iveonly heard rumors aboutit. Thats why I just want to try my luck this time.


    After listening to him, I recalled the time we had given our allto find the Night Dragon Bait to save Chu Chu. However, when we got the Night Dragon Bait, Chu Chuhadalreadypassed away...


    After makingthparison, I could feel how muchSenior Shulovedhislife-bound rat. I made up my mind. No matter what, I had to help him find the Undead Grass.


    Senior Shudeterminedly bought a map of Yunnan. Herecalleda location on the map. When he showed me the map, I saw that the area he had circled was the western part of Yunnan.


    My deepest impression of the western area of Yunnan was the famous Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War. Every time I heard the name Western Yunnan, I would have the image of brave Chinese people wrestling against Japanese soldiers in the Nu River.


    The mountains in Yunnan were full of waters and evilspirits. Of course,thendscapethere would be extreme.There would becountless dangers deep in the mountain. To assure our safety, before we departed,Senior Shubrought me to his home topick upa craft item that looked like a walking stick.


    This thing is called the Holy Mother Scepter. Itsan otherworldly item Ivesubdued. It used to be the weapon of the Holy Mother of the White Lotus Cult in the Qing Dynasty. She made use of religion to lead the peopleto strikeagainst the brutal Qing rulers. In the end, the rebellion failed, and they were executed.


    Then, he took out a shining Emei Piercer[1]and gaveit to me. Your whip only works seven times. You need to equipyourself with moredefensiveweapons.


    What kind of treasure isthis? Iasked with a smile.


    Senior Shuwaved his hands, Kid, dont feelcontent. Imjust letting you borrow this Emei Piercer to use during thetrip. When wee back, you have to return it to me.


    I nodded repeatedly. He had given me the jade skirt and the iron swallow. Iwouldfeel shame if I coveted his other items.


    This Emei Piercer is a magic weapon. It used to belong to the Head of Emei School, Madam Beimi, addedSenior Shu.


    Donttry to show off, grandpa! Emei School? Why didnt you say its from Wudang School? I pursed my lips.


    Senior Shupalmed me at the neck. In an irritated voice, he said,Youre still a kid. There are so many things youdontknow yet.Take ordinarypeople as an example. Do they believe in the existence of otherworldly merchants?


    I thought it was reasonable, so I didnt continue withthis topic. I packed up the good stuff. Then,we took a flight to Kunming.


    After arriving in Kunming, wewentto Tengchong County in Baoshan City.It waswhere the three great riversgathered.


    Tengchong borders Myanmar. In history, every timethe Central ins changed the ruling dynasty, this ce would have a bloody baptism. After the Reform,theceopened up to tourists, which helped the areas economy.


    Senior Shuand I arrived in Tengchong at around twilight. We checked around and didnt find any suitable hotels. It was fortunate that the weather was good. We walked under the bright moonlightand leftthe town to the remoteandmountainous area.


    The older the mountain is, thehigher thepossibilityof findingthe Undead Grass, saidSenior Shu. Thus, our target was clear. We were headedto the highest mountain in our sights.


    After midnight, the temperature started to drop. We felt cold and tired. Determinedly, we set up a simple tent and camped in the middle of the mountain nk.


    When it drew close to dawn, I woke up because ofanatural need. I crawled out of the tentand founda ce to ease myself. When I turned around to return to the tent, I heardastrange noise echoing from the depths of the mountain.


    It sounded like a squeaking fox.When I quieted my mind to listen, it sounded like a woman crying. Since it was too far away, I couldnt distinguish what it was. I stood at my spot andobservedthe surroundings.I didnt see anything strange, soI returned to my tent to sleep.


    When I woke up, it was noon. The weather wasnt so good and therewere no peopleon the small path to the mountain. The two of us ate some canned foods before packing up and continuing our hike.


    I remembered the fox call I had heard during the wee hours, so I toldSenior Shuabout it.


    Senior Shunodded. Yeah, in a ce like this, there should be many strange phenomena. Dont mind it. As long as it doesnt affect us, justignore it.


    After walking for the whole day, we reached Mount Horse Saddle. There were many volcanoesin the Tengchongarea.Mount Horse Saddle was the most famous one. The mountain got that namebecauseits shape looked like a horse saddle.


    Although it used to be a volcano, the mountain had three freshwaterkes and lush vegetation.There were aquatic nts by the foothills, and the area hadgraduallybethe local graveyard.


    As such, there were many graves at the foothills. However, the higher we climbed, thefewergraves we saw. Anyway, I could see that the graves on the higher elevations were also older. Some of them were unearthed, with the coffin lids scattered on the ground.There was no doubtthatthe tomb robbers had visited this ce many times.


    Along the way, we sometimes saw thesignboardsthat the authorities had left behind. It meant that Mount Horse Saddlehad beenexploited already.


    I felt a little distressedand said,Senior Shu, this ce has be a scenic sight. Will the Undead Grass be able to grow in such conditions?


    My silly boy.Scenic sights like this alwayshave forbidden areas. Didnt you read the news? Many touristsdiein scenic areas every day.I guess theycourt death themselves.


    Senior Shulit up a cigaretteand saidwith irritation,Im sure they wanted to satisfy theircuriosity, so they entered thoseforbidden areas!


    I listened to him and agreed withhis guess. I stopped talking.


    Indeed, at aroundnoontime, we sawanobstacle that blocked the road. Abarbed-wirefence was set up around the peak of the mountain.Along withthe thorny shrubs and big trees,the wayup to the mountain peakwas blocked.


    A signboard read that there was some construction goingonat the mountain peak. However, the paint on the board was partly peeled off.It seemed it was just a disguise. I couldnt help but giveSenior Shua thumbs-up. The old man smiled disdainfully and took out two pairs of hiking boots from his bag.


    After changing into hiking boots, I cut twosticks the size of a childs arm.We carefully started to walk into the thorny, bushy area.


    Thismass of thistles and thorns wasreallyrge, around two square miles. The spiky bushes grew above some areas of a muddy swamp. It was easy to step into the swamp if we didnt pay attention. Thatwaswhy we slowlygroped through. It took us around two hours to get out of the dangerous area.


    I checked the new surroundings. The vegetation around here was much thicker. Moreover, many spots were exuding bluish-purple gas.


    Senior Shulooked at the purple miasmaand lickedhis lips. He carefully suggested, Itsatoxic miasma. We shall wait. We will try toinvadethe ce tonight.


    When he said that, my heart throbbed. I couldnt help but look at the miasma a little longer.


    The miasma wasasort of toxic gas that was often found in tropical forests. It was createdby dposinganimal carcasses under high heatconditions. In history, there was a famous story about miasma. Zhuge Liang and his army had encounteredamiasma on their way to settle with the barbarians in the South. At that time, so many Shu soldiers were killed by the toxic gas. This time,Senior Shuand I didnt bring gas masks with us. If we casually walked in there, we wouldnt be able to return alive.


    Fortunately, the miasma wouldnt exist twenty-four hours a day. It was like the early dews.The dews would evaporate when the sun was up, and the miasma would thin out and disperse at nightfall.


    However, the ce with miasma would have a bigger possibility of having Undead Grass.Senior Shuand I camped there. No matter what, this ce wasnt far away from the peak. We set up our tentsand made this ce our temporary base!


    1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeici