Flowers of the Departed Souls - Chapter 47

When they reached a slope in Luoyang Village, the carrion vultures dropped them. The three of them scrambled up from the ground, already disoriented. Luo Xiaofeng shook her aching arms and sighed, “I thought flying was a beautiful thing, but now I realize it’s quite a torment. Scared to death, not to mention exhausted to death. My hands, they’re almost crippled.”

“My dear great-niece, are you alright?” Luo Xiaofeng was startled by the old yet warm voice. She saw that her great-aunt had appeared there at some unknown time.

Luo Xiaofeng, remembering her past attitude towards her, felt quite embarrassed. “Thank… thank you… Great-Aunt. We owe you our lives this time.”

Chi Ziming also hurriedly thanked her. “Before, I was so rude to you. I’m truly sorry.”

“Oh, my old woman’s memory is bad; I don’t remember such things. What’s there to be embarrassed about? But, my vultures, sigh.”

Thinking of the vultures they had killed, the old woman looked truly sad. Luo Xiaofeng quickly changed the subject. “Great-Aunt, how did you know we were trapped on that small island?”

“Look, those demonic flowers surged together; what a big event. I may be a bit old, but I’m not deaf or blind to that extent. And, if you truly want to thank someone, thank a young lady. She’s incredibly foresighted. She originally wanted to rush over to rescue you, but it was too late, so she thought of this method.”

“Who?” everyone asked in unison.

The old woman pursed her lips. “Hmm, she’s running over here now.”

They saw a petite woman running towards them, wearing clothes that looked noticeably oversized, with a large satchel slung over her shoulder and her hair tied back. Her hair was indeed long, somewhat strangely long. Even stranger, she was holding a sword. Had she just finished filming?

The woman rushed straight towards Chi Ziming, shouting, “Brother Ziming, I missed you so much!”

Chi Ziming looked left and right. Although her face seemed familiar, he truly couldn’t recall who she was. “You are?”

“It’s Ke’er! Look at my outfit. Grandma Luo helped me find it. She was afraid my previous attire was too flashy. See, isn’t it nice?”

Ke’er spun around. She was clearly much more lively and cheerful than Chi Ziming had seen her in the Realm of Qingxu. Environment truly can change a person. But then again, staying in a place like that for thousands of years would make even the most cheerful person go crazy.

“God, it’s Ke’er! You’re really, really alive?”

Guangming asked Chi Ziming in a low voice, “The Liangzhu female corpse?”

“Hey, who are you? And I’m not a corpse; I just fell asleep.”

“Oh, oh.” Guangming quickly nodded. “But how are you with the old woman?”

Ke’er chuckled twice. “That’s a secret; I can’t tell.”

Chi Ziming knew this secret. Luo Xiaofeng’s grandmother had already told him. It seemed she had cured this old woman’s eagle poison.

Just then, the old woman said, “Quickly go save my other great-niece; that granddaughter is much more obedient than this one.” She turned to glance at Luo Xiaofeng, who turned her head away, pretending not to hear or see.

Guangming said, “Oh, I always thought you were with the Divine Bird Cult members. So that’s not the case.”

“Alright, those people and the villagers are all locked up under Illusion Cliff. Let’s stop talking nonsense and hurry to save them.”

Before the words were even finished, Luo Xiaofeng shouted, “Those people, those people are coming up!”

They saw a few masked figures emerge in twos and threes from below the slope, each carrying a gun. “We seem to be surrounded. What do we do?”

At this moment, they were all a little panicked. Chi Ziming thought carefully. “How can Luo Xiaojie be so untrustworthy? His sister is also in his hands. He shouldn’t harm Luo Yifu. But why did he capture Luo Yifu too?”

Ke’er said coldly, “If he hadn’t captured Luo Yifu, he wouldn’t have gotten the Taotie.”

Taotie? Chi Ziming remembered Xiao Yilian mentioning in her letter that her family’s ancestral Taotie was stolen by Luo Jialiang. Had Luo Jialiang given that Taotie to Luo Yifu instead of Luo Xiaojie? Did the Taotie contain some special power that made Luo Jialiang not dare to give it to him, even though he pampered and protected him and even bore all the sins he committed?

Ke’er continued, “That Taotie was left from the Liangzhu period. In the era of Yu the Great, it was given to the Xiao clan as a reward, and thus it was passed down through generations of the Xiao clan. However, this Taotie is not an ordinary item; it is a divine object. If you call out to it three times, it has the power to summon wind and rain. And, if it cooperates with my jade yue, then the person possessing these two divine objects will have infinite power and can rule the world. Although Luo Xiaojie is young, he is a genius. He understands ancient texts and modern knowledge, his talent is extraordinary, and he has the gift of a hypnotist. I think that now, he must have obtained the Taotie, so he will definitely choose unscrupulous means to obtain the jade yue. Therefore, he has been searching for my tomb, which is why he never left Luoyang Village. If not for Grandma Luo continuously helping me, and her big birds, I think I would have been abandoned as a corpse in the wilderness.”

Everyone looked at Ke’er, wondering how she could be so familiar with these matters. Ke’er smiled. “Don’t let my long stay in there fool you. I just couldn’t move or see; I could still feel, and my hearing was normal.”

Luo Xiaofeng was a little anxious. “They’re almost here! And you’re still talking about this.”

Ke’er chuckled. “I haven’t fought in a long time; my hands are itching. All of you, step aside!”

Chi Ziming had witnessed Ke’er’s martial arts in the Realm of Qingxu and knew she possessed extraordinary martial arts and wisdom. But no matter how good her martial arts were, could she withstand bullets? Yes, the world had completely changed, technology was advancing with each passing day, so could ancient objects truly contend with modern high-tech ones?

Guangming pulled out his gun. Only Guangming had a gun here. “All of you, get down! I’ll hold them off for a bit.”

Ke’er gave him a cold look. “You, go to the side and protect them.”

Just then, bullets flew towards them. Ke’er drew her sword like lightning. With a flash of sword light, every single bullet was deflected back, hitting the masked figures, who fell down one after another. Not only were Chi Ziming and his group stunned, even the masked figures were thrown into disarray.

“That’s amazing!” Luo Xiaofeng was the first to shriek.

More bullets continued to fly, much more fiercely than last time. Ke’er seemed to step on something that lifted her into the air. She spun like a fairy scattering flowers, deflecting all the bullets back. The people below fell one after another, hit by bullets. For a moment, only a few masked figures were still alive, scattering in all directions.

“So strong! Then we have nothing to fear! Let’s go straight for them! Let’s drag that little devil out! I don’t care if he really has three heads and six arms!”

For a moment, they were all incredibly excited. Luo Xiaofeng grew even more excited as she spoke, almost dancing with joy. After all, she was still a girl with an uncorrupted heart.

“We should still be careful. Luo Xiaojie has the Taotie, and he has shapeshifting abilities. He can easily transform into anyone around us. And, he also controls the Departed Soul Flowers.”

At the mention of Departed Soul Flowers, Luo Xiaofeng fell silent. Yes, the thought of those flowers sent chills down everyone’s spine. Yes, they were terrifying. The thought alone was enough to make them shudder. They were simply the embodiment of demons, despite their delicate appearance.

“Is there any way to eliminate Departed Soul Flowers? I think I saw them in that Realm of Qingxu too,” Chi Ziming asked. This sentence was, of course, only understood by Ke’er and Chi Ziming.

“I currently have no other way, unless Luo Xiaojie dies. Then the animal cells within these flowers will also die. Departed Soul Flowers were originally very pure flowers, even sacred, because, just like the customs of Luoyang Village, they could guide souls that had just left their bodies to a safe place. Or rather, they would go wherever they were destined to go, be it heaven or hell. They were guides, very sacred flowers, and it was the same in our time. However, Luo Xiaojie implanted cruel and greedy animalistic traits into them, and every flower contains his own cells. He used his own cells and those of other animals, along with their devouring power, to cultivate these mutated or variant Departed Soul Flowers. This is a very insane project, not something an ordinary person can achieve. Therefore, to dedicate all his time to it, he created the illusion of his own disappearance. Only his father, Luo Jialiang, knew about this and supported him. Luo Jialiang originally admired his son’s talent and genius, but he never expected him to have such great ambition. Three years ago, he felt that he would surely be invincible in the future and established the Divine Bird Cult, gathering large numbers of people to support himself. So, on the surface, it seemed that Luo Jialiang was manipulating everything, but it was not true. Luo Jialiang pampered his son too much, which led to this consequence. However, it was too late for regret. Luo Xiaojie intended to use the Departed Soul Flowers as his weapon to rule the world in the future. Don’t let his young age fool you; if he had followed the right path, he might have become a world-renowned scientist. What a pity—”

The old woman sighed. “Don’t let my sister, that old hag, know. Otherwise, she’ll never accept this fact, and she won’t let us become enemies with him. From now on, just pretend he died when he was little, and that this grandson no longer exists.”

“No more talk. Let’s go! Grandma Luo, you stay here. If we have an emergency, you can release the vultures to save us.”

So the group of four descended the slope and arrived at the seaside. If they wanted to go to that mysterious place beneath Illusion Cliff, they had to cross the water. Luo Xiaofeng found a small boat and rowed straight towards the location beneath Illusion Cliff. This time, the Departed Soul Flowers did not appear. They managed to reach the bottom of Illusion Cliff relatively smoothly.

However, they gradually began to feel nauseous and dizzy. The name Illusion Cliff was not taken lightly. Ke’er took out a jade piece from her bag. For Chi Ziming, this item was all too familiar: it was the jade yue. Ke’er smiled. “Do you know why you were fine every time you entered Illusion Cliff later?”

“It can absorb radiation?”

Ke’er nodded. “Its essence is a piece of high-quality jade, capable of absorbing and reflecting harmful radioactive substances. As for those masked figures, their masks serve to conceal their true faces, and besides being a religious symbol, they have another important function: anti-radiation. That’s why they can freely enter Illusion Cliff.”

The jade yue emitted a bluish-white glow, continuously attracting some subtle light, and the nausea of the others also lessened and disappeared.

There was a landing stage at the bottom of the cliff, and the rocks above were particularly prominent, completely covering the area below. The landing stage was built tightly against the inside, so ordinary people would not see the hidden grotto within. Coupled with the terrifying legend of Illusion Cliff and its radiation, ordinary people simply would not enter, and would not even consider it. Looking inside, it was a dark, profound, unfathomable cave. Everyone got ashore. Luo Xiaofeng looked inside, feeling a bit unnerved. “Don’t you think it’s too quiet here?”

Indeed, there was no one blocking their way, and no one was on lookout at the cave entrance. It was abnormally quiet.

However, remaining cautious, they still walked inside. The interior was very wide and large, and the path was very flat. It was clearly man-made, carved out, and must have taken a considerable amount of time and effort.

Luo Xiaofeng exclaimed in admiration, “As a resident of Luoyang Village, I had no idea such a huge place was created here! My cousin is truly amazing.”

Guangming responded, “Indeed, very, very amazing. Should we help him accomplish his great ambition?”

Luo Xiaofeng waved her hand. “No, no, I don’t want to do anything heinous.”

As they spoke, a sudden storm raged inside the cave. Water poured in like a flood. They were caught off guard and knocked to the ground. The water, swept up like ocean waves, grew larger and larger, immediately pushing them towards the shore again. It seemed highly likely they would be swept into the sea.

Chi Ziming grabbed Luo Xiaofeng. Luo Xiaofeng fell to the ground, one foot already in the sea. He shouted, “Hold on to me—!”

Ke’er also almost got swept into the sea by the massive water. She grabbed a boat mooring post and pulled out the jade yue from her bag again. But this time, she not only took out the jade yue but also the jade rod. Composed, she struggled to stand up. The jade yue at this moment looked like a strung bow, the complete jade yue gleaming brightly, seemingly possessing infinite power. All they heard was the thundering sound of thousands of horses galloping. The water seemed to be pushed back by it, gradually receding. To their surprise, the water gradually receded into the shape of a Taotie. It let out a hoarse roar, then slowly disappeared.

“It’s the Taotie! Truly terrifying.”

The other three climbed up. Chi Ziming mumbled, “Thank goodness for the jade yue, otherwise we would have been finished again.”

Luo Xiaofeng gave him a cold look. “Tch, you didn’t see that Ke’er’s jade yue is much more powerful than that Taotie. This is a case of ‘one thing conquering another.’ With Ke’er and it, let’s just charge straight in!”

Ke’er smiled a little awkwardly. “I don’t know what else might happen inside. And, as far as I know, the Taotie’s power is not limited to this. Really, everyone, let’s be careful as we proceed.”

Now, proceeding forward, it was unobstructed. The excavated cave looked very flat, unlike natural caves with twists and turns. They reached a fork in the road, one path to the left, one to the right. They split into two groups: Guangming and Luo Xiaofeng to the left, Ke’er and Chi Ziming to the right.

Guangming and Luo Xiaofeng went straight to the left passage. Guangming led the way, gun in hand. But strangely, no one attacked them inside; the path was clear. Then they saw rows of rooms. It seemed they all lived here. Guangming pushed open door after door, but they were all empty; there was no one. Where were they? Were they all killed by Ke’er’s deflected bullets?

Luo Xiaofeng said, “It seems my sister and the others aren’t locked in here.”

At the very end, there was a door different from the other rooms; it was a stainless steel sliding door. Guangming pulled the door open and saw a narrow corridor inside. The corridor opened up to a wider view at its end, a courtyard. The courtyard contained many potted plants of strange flowers and bizarre grasses. For example, one looked like a chrysanthemum, but had a tumor-like ball stubbornly growing on it. Some looked like gladioli with gut-like things hanging from them, and looking closely, they were covered in snake-like fungal plants. There were also baby-shaped cacti. Every single thing looked twisted and ugly. Even the most beautiful things would inevitably carry an evil ugliness… The sight made Guangming and Luo Xiaofeng’s hair stand on end.

Then Luo Xiaofeng pointed to a radar-shaped object in the courtyard. “What is that? Could it be emitting the radiation in Illusion Cliff?” Guangming, standing nearby, also clearly felt a dizzy sensation. He picked up a nearby stone and smashed it down. The object emitted a smoky mist. He continued to smash it until it lay there like a pile of scrap metal, and his dizzy sensation from moments ago also disappeared. Perhaps, from now on, Illusion Cliff might have to be renamed.

This must be Luo Xiaojie’s laboratory, and the Departed Soul Flowers must have successfully mutated here. Passing through the courtyard, there was a door inside. Guangming listened with his ear for a while, heard no movement, then kicked it open. Luo Xiaofeng almost shrieked. This room, this room, was so familiar to her. Yes, it was etched in her memory, unforgettable forever. This was what she had called the mysterious place. Yes, animal livers and limbs soaking in formalin, all sorts of clocks, books, instruments, and that mud doll she had once given to Luo Xiaojie, the masks on the wall, the large painting of the God of Death. Oh, and that glass coffin, the glass coffin that had once terrified Luo Xiaofeng out of her wits. All of it. Even a fool could guess this was the laboratory of a mad, deranged scientist.

Guangming, covering his nose, exclaimed, “This place has everything! And every kind of smell!”

He casually opened the lid of a large box and saw a bloody, unrecognizable corpse inside. He almost vomited. He had seen so many corpses, but seeing this one still made him want to throw up. Besides being dark all over due to time, the main reason was that there wasn’t a single piece of good skin on its entire body. That face, that face, was clearly peeled.

Luo Xiaofeng leaned closer and let out a gasp, almost vomiting. The thought of having spent a night in this ghostly place with such a corpse and a skin-peeling pervert made her hands and feet cold, and her breathing almost stopped, even though that pervert was somehow related to her by blood.

Guangming sighed. “If I’m not mistaken, that was the true Luo Bozi. Truly cruel.”

He continued searching for things. “Let’s see if we can find anything useful. Move quickly. It seems there’s no one here. Let’s go meet up with them immediately. They might all be trapped over there.”

Luo Xiaofeng nodded. She took out what appeared to be Luo Xiaojie’s diary from a drawer. Guangming picked up a small bottle from the table labeled “Departed Soul,” containing some powder. He didn’t know what it was, but he had such a lingering fear of the Departed Soul Flowers that when he saw these two words, he just took it. The two quickly turned and ran back, wondering how Ke’er and Chi Ziming were doing.

Meanwhile, Ke’er and Chi Ziming were not as fortunate; they were in dire straits. They stood on one side, while Luo Yifu, Xiao Zhao, Gu Wancheng, and the villagers of Luoyang Village were all confined in the same cell. They looked at each other anxiously across a distance of ten meters, and in between, from the cave ceiling, hung clusters of Departed Soul Flowers, clawing and thrashing in their midst. Their deformed petals stretched out into blood-red, demonic faces, as if baring their teeth, arrogantly and disdainfully sneering at them.

Ke’er rushed forward, cutting through the flowers with her sword. But they, falling to the ground, remained active. And the flowers hanging from the ceiling showed no sign of being affected or harmed. The sword seemed to have no effect on them. Ke’er couldn’t help but retreat a few steps. For a moment, she was at a loss.

They faced each other for a long time, not knowing what to do. No matter how powerful Ke’er’s sword skills were, she couldn’t cut them dead. And the jade yue seemed to have no effect on them either. Was there truly no way to deal with these Departed Soul Flowers?

“It seems we’ll just have to find Luo Xiaojie first. If he doesn’t remove these flowers, then we’ll kill him.”

The villagers across from them shouted, “Save us! We are innocent!” And Luo Yifu cried, “Xiaojie drugged us and stole my Taotie. I didn’t see what he looked like; I don’t know where he went. But please, don’t kill him—”

At this point, Ke’er and Chi Ziming were not in the mood to listen to her. “Let’s go find Luo Xiaojie. The Taotie has appeared, meaning he should still be here. Let’s go find him first. I really don’t believe he has three heads and six arms. Let’s go see how Guangming and his team are doing first. Maybe they ran into him.”

Before they could set off, Guangming and Luo Xiaofeng came running over, panting. Seeing the barrier of Departed Soul Flowers suspended in mid-air, they gasped. “Oh my god, they truly are lingering ghosts!”

Chi Ziming eagerly asked them, “How is it? Did you find Luo Xiaojie? Or Luo Bozi?”

Guangming shook his head. “However, we did go to Luo Xiaojie’s laboratory, destroyed the radiation emitter, and found the real Luo Bozi. His body had been terribly skinned, and we found this thing.” He took out the bottle labeled “Departed Soul.” “I really don’t know what the powder inside is for, but I’m so traumatized by the Departed Soul Flowers that when I saw these two words, I just grabbed it.”

Ke’er snatched the bottle. “Never mind that, let’s just use it first.”

She opened the lid, then sprayed the powder like mist towards the Departed Soul Flowers. The flowers’ smiles suddenly froze, as if a feverish face had suddenly encountered a strong frosty wind. Then they convulsed like mad, their bodies shaking violently and gradually shrinking, then turning into pools of crimson, viscous water.

Everyone watched in stunned silence, as if they couldn’t believe that such terrifying flowers had simply disappeared. However, they didn’t know if these flowers would emerge from other places.

They rushed forward. Ke’er swung her sword, cutting off the lock, then kicked open the cell door. “Everyone, quick, leave!”

The crowd rushed towards the exit, but just as they were about to run out of the cave entrance, the person at the very front suddenly stopped. Because, standing there was a masked figure in black. He held a Taotie in his left hand, and in his right—something very familiar to Guangming—a bomb. Luo Xiaofeng also stared fixedly at his hand.

The masked figure removed his mask. It was a pale, wrinkled face, clearly Luo Bozi’s face, but his back was no longer hunched, and his legs looked normal.

Luo Yifu screamed heartbreakingly, “Xiaojie—! Don’t do anything foolish anymore! I beg you! Dad is already dead! What more do you want?! I’m begging you, put down what’s in your hand and come back with me, okay?”

And Luo Bozi, no, it was Luo Xiaojie, mumbled, “No, you’ve ruined me! My Departed Soul Flowers, everything here, my hypnosis clock, my Illusion Cliff emitter! I have nothing left now! I’ve killed people! Where can I go back to?! No, I’ll die with all of you!”

As he finished his last word, Ke’er swung her hand, and her sword pierced his heart. His entire body froze. The object in his hand was about to fall. Ke’er caught the bomb, and Chi Ziming picked up the Taotie. This Taotie, and the deaths of Luo Jialiang and Luo Xiaojie. The souls of Xiao Yilian and her family in heaven could finally rest in peace.

Luo Yifu rushed over, crying, “Xiaojie—Xiaojie! It’s Sister’s fault; I shouldn’t have lost you! It’s all Sister’s fault!”

Luo Xiaofeng also felt sad. She originally wanted to comfort Luo Yifu, telling her it had nothing to do with her, that he wanted to do this, but she couldn’t say anything. After all, little Luo Xiaojie was always so clever and lovable. She handed the diary to Luo Yifu.

For a moment, everyone was silent. Someone said, “I want to see what Luo Xiaojie looks like.”

Yes, no one had seen his true adult face. At this moment, Gu Wancheng, who had been silent, said, “He’s already dead. I think it’s best not to disturb him. That way, he can truly find peace.”

Guangming said, “Let’s leave this cave and go back to the village.”

Luo Xiaojie’s body was buried next to Luo Jialiang’s. During the burial, Luo Yifu touched his face. She truly wanted to see what he looked like, but her hand trembled violently. She ultimately didn’t have the courage to lift that skin. Perhaps, this was better. She preferred to remember him as that mischievous little boy of seven or eight, who got lost on a foggy day and fell to his death beneath a cliff.

But she opened that diary. Some things inside were so shocking. She truly couldn’t believe these things were written by Luo Xiaojie, done by Luo Xiaojie. But he wrote in it, “I miss Sister so much, I miss Mom. But I can only secretly glance at them. As long as I see them happy, I can be happy. And when I see them sad, I’m sad too. I miss you all so much.” He also remembered that song, the song Sister taught him to sing. Seeing this, Luo Yifu’s tears flowed again. In a trance, she heard Luo Xiaojie’s tender voice, softly singing: “Gentle breeze blows, gentle breeze blows, awaken from dreams to willows green, the person in the wind, oh, blows the flowers… Butterflies fly, butterflies fly, but everything can only be in dreams…”

The village returned to its former tranquility. When Guangming and his team left, all the villagers, except Luo Yifu, came to see them off. Ke’er decided to stay in Luoyang Village for now, because this village, five thousand years ago, was her home.

They shook hands one by one. But when Luo Xiaofeng held Gu Wancheng’s hand, she felt a strange sensation in her heart. She couldn’t describe what kind of sensation it was, but she noticed an inconspicuous red mole on his wrist.

Luo Xiaofeng watched their car drive away, but her heart didn’t feel particularly calm; instead, it was very uneasy. In her mind, that red mole appeared again and again. The hand of the young Luo Xiaojie. When she sculpted mud dolls with him, she used to playfully tease him about that mole, saying only girls had such cinnabar moles. She remembered the two hands, one black and one white, that had made a choking gesture as if to strangle her. That white hand also had such a red mole, though the color seemed a bit lighter. And, this psychologist, Gu Wancheng’s hand.

For a moment, she trembled, trembled so much that she couldn’t express it fully in words. “Quick, Ke’er, Ke’er! My God, that Gu Wancheng, that Gu Wancheng, he’s the real Luo Xiaojie! Quick, my God, how can we possibly catch up to them—!”