14. The Secrets of The Peach Blossom Residence (II)

When they got back to the forest where they rested earlier, Xiao Hei found a cave and lit a fire with some firewood, he also roasted some wild mushrooms over the fire.

Ye Lan open the wrapper and took the thing inside out and put it on the stone platform.

“It’s a box!”

The iron box on the platform was producing some weird blue light with the faint light from the fire.

The box was a dark golden one, with strange patterns carved on the surface. These patterns were actually some inscriptions rather than some carvings. However, these words were delicately arranged so that many pictures could be drawn out of them.

The pictures on each side of the box differed.

On the front side, there was a goddess of death, who was lying on the tree of rebirth and sleeping. A long sickle stood between the tree and the ground. The underground devils were on their knees and begging.

On the left, there was some strange grass and flowers growing in a marsh. A woman who had a snake-shaped body with a human head was curling in the thick fog above the marsh. Though it was a simple carving, people have no difficulty identifying the striking beauty of the woman.

Ye Lan looked to the right and found a cat carved on the iron. The cat’s eyes were so vivid that Ye Lan felt like her soul was drained by just a mere stare.

No matter it was the crane on the top, a toad in the back or the cricket below, they were all carved so weirdly, and were totally different from their normal forms in daily life.

Ye Lan was wondering, “These patterns are really weird!”

More strangely, the box itself didn’t have any lock as Ye Lan spent a long time checking.

As it didn’t have any lock, it didn’t have any key either.

If it didn’t have any key, no one was gonna open it…

Or maybe… since it was made, the box was never meant to be opened by other people?

Ye Lan found it hard to decipher the patterns and looked at Xiao Hei, “Do you know any of these patterns?” Xiao Hei gazed for a while and shook his head.

He saw Ye Lan fiddlingthe box for quite a long time and felt surprised. Then he asked, “Master, why don’t you open the box?”

“The box doesn’t have a lock…” Ye Lan frowned, “Nor does it have any key.”

She thought for a while and said, “The way to open the box must be as strange as the patterns on it.”

“Should we use a sword to cut it?” Xiao Hei pulled out his own sword as soon as he passed Ye Lan the roast mushroom, “In the ancient times, some capable man also used their swords to cut open the Chinese ring puzzle, as in cutting the Gordian knot!”

“No!” Ye Lan stopped Xiao Hei, “Our recklessness might break the stuff inside.”

Xiao Hei pouted and murmured, “I just don’t want to see you frown…”

“What did you say?”

His voice was so low that she didn’t hear it clearly, which relieved him to a great extent. He didn’t respond and shook his head lightly before he kept roasting the mushroom, sitting beside in silence.

“Little girl! Are you having any difficulty?”

“Old chap…” Ye Lan started to talk with him in mind, “Do you know how to open the box?”

“Of course I do.” The old man was having a sitting meditation in the void of the ring. He transmitted his voice to Ye Lan as he stroked his beard, “Listen, little girl, you should follow my instructions.”

“Gather your surrounding spiritual power to your left finger and bite it throughby teeth!”

Ye Lan did as he said and the spiritual power carried the drop of blood, floating in the air. Xiao Hei stood aside and remained silent as he watched this.

He had seen this kind of way to open a box—sacrificing with one’s blood.

“And then? Old chap, can you finish this all at once!”

“No rush, be patient, young lady!” The old guy groaned, “Did you see the picture of the goddess of death, inject your blood into the tree of rebirth!”

Ye Lan had spilled her blood towards the tree before he finished talking.

All of a sudden, the iron-made tree came alive, the exuberant brunches were like golden streams, spreading along the inscriptions on the surface until they covered the whole box.

Crack!

The box opened, with streaks of white light coming out of it.

After the light was gone, Ye Lan had a careful look at it and saw a velvet blanket at the bottom of the box, with the pattern of three cranes flying together carved on it, and a piece of jade pendant was put above.

Ye Lan took the jade pendant out and watched it carefully, the texture being smooth and delicate, the shape being carved leaf-like, the tassels attached to it were red stamens.

She twiddled the buckle of the tassels and swung the jade pendant before Xiao Hei, “Do you know what type of stone was used to carve this out?”

Xiao Hei shook his head and said, “However, judging from its texture, I don’t think it belongs to the Fengtian Continent.”

“Not from the Continent…Where does it come from then?” Ye Lan was thinking this to herself as she put it in her arms.

“Master, there’s a letter in the box.”

Ye Lan opened the letter as Xiao Hei passed it to her. Turned out this was her mother’s last letter.

Lan’er (her pet name),

When you see this letter, I might not be alive anymore in this world. Don’t be sad, I will always watch you from above the sky. You won’t be alone, my dear.

I guess you had known your descent as you can open the dark golden box, however, this is a very dangerous ancestry. You should keep it to yourself and not let anyone else know about it.

Lan’er, the Ye family you are now living in isn’t your true family. You need to be careful as they are very aggressive.

As for your lot, given your special identity and the fact that you are not strong enough, which is prone to cause fatal disaster, it would be better not to know about that for now. For your safety concern, I will not tell you either.

You will know it one day when you reach the peak of your perfection. This jade pendant is the symbol of your identity; you must keep it well and not lose it.

Hope everything is fine for you, my dear daughter.

We can still be mother and daughter in the next life.

Your mother’s last letter.

A feeling of sadness somehow fulfilled her heart as soon as she finished reading the letter.

She whispered to herself, “Mum, please don’t worry, I will make a good living and take revenge for you with a bloodbath of the Ye family!”

Beside the fire, this girl had made her mind. Her eyes were absolutely dark, shining with the light of the fire, which seemed to swallow up everything.