The author of the book "The Book of the Dead"

Chapter 50: A paradise on earth, a place to guard corpses
The night is as dark as ink, the cold moon is hidden, the stars are invisible, and the cold air penetrates the bones, as if it can penetrate the clothes and reach the heart.

Liang Yue fed Dong Ze a Dahuan Dan to preserve his remaining vitality.

"I grew up listening to my grandfather's stories about raising dragons. When I was young, my family fell into poverty and my parents died. I was left alone, so I traveled around the world looking for a sacred place to raise dragons."

Dong Ze was a northerner who happened to live in the era of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China. He experienced the disintegration of his family, the displacement of his clansmen, and the death of his family members, so he decided to escape from the world and look for a blessed land.

Perhaps it was a kind of spiritual sustenance, so Dong Ze searched from south to north for more than 80 years.

He traveled all over the country, encountered robbers, and was also helped by noble people. He managed to survive by relying on his humble internal skills and his eloquent tongue.

"Ahem, our ancestors once raised dragons for the Yellow Emperor in Lei Ze until the time of Emperor Shun. Because of his meritorious service in raising dragons, Emperor Shun granted him the kingdom of Dongfu. After that, the descendants of the Dong family traveled around the country, looking for a place to raise dragons."

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the spiritual energy was long gone, but the Dong family still kept dragons. However, the dragons they raised were basically alligators, which are what Liang Yue called crocodiles.

The Dong family has special skills in raising animals, which is why Dong Ze firmly believes in the myth of raising dragons. Now that he has seen Liang Yue's magical powers, he completely believes in the legends of his ancestors.

"Is there really such a paradise on earth?" After hearing Dong Ze's description, Liang Yue couldn't help but feel yearning. How could he not yearn for such a beautiful place on earth.

The scenery on both sides of the river receded, the strong wind made the eardrums whistle, and it was so cold that it made people shiver.

Liang Yue spread out his palms, and the flickering fire in his palms dispelled the coldness of the night.

"What a magical power." Dong Ze couldn't help but sigh.

After traveling around the country for many years, he knows what is a trick and what is real supernatural power.

The alchemist has internal skills and his magic tricks are so real that ordinary people cannot recognize them as magic tricks, but in the eyes of experts, they are nothing special.

Soon, they arrived at Zhuji. The Golden Crow had descended and it was already dark. The energy of the eternal lamp was sufficient to illuminate the area within a radius of dozens of feet.

"There are remains of an ancient peach forest here, and outside there is an ancient river system that extends to a not far distance." Dong Ze gestured. The cave used to be on a higher terrain, and there was a lake ten feet outside the cave entrance. The place to raise dragons was in the cave.

Normally, the dragons would enter the lake and swim and play proudly, tumbling in the water, with silver light shining everywhere and waves splashing, creating a magnificent sight.

Liang Yue's first reaction was the Liu family's record of the King of Yue swallowing the snake. According to legend, King Yun of Yue often passed by the lake on both sides of the peach blossom. While playing in the lake, he was swallowed by a giant snake and escaped from a cave after several days.

After coming out, Yunchang became extraordinary and extremely powerful. After a series of battles, he managed to break away from the control of Wu. From Yunchang's generation, he was called the King of Yue, laying the foundation for the hegemony of Yue.

This area was previously the capital of the State of Yue. This place might be the dragon-raising land mentioned by Dong Ze.

Yun Chang accidentally entered an ancient dragon-breeding land and may have accidentally swallowed some kind of elixir, thus undergoing a transformation.

"Cough cough..." Dong Ze coughed and woke up Liang Yue who was thinking. He leaned weakly on a big rock beside the pond, gasping for breath. The air he breathed in was always less than the air he breathed out, and it seemed that his time was running out.

"There may be a cave under the pool. Shanbo, burying me here will be like living in a paradise."

Dong Ze's chest heaved violently, his internal organs failed, and nameless severe pain invaded from all directions.

"Please wait a moment, Senior. I will be back soon."

Liang Yue took off his outer coat and dived into the water.

He raised his true Qi and started practicing the Helao method of Huainan technique.

Bubbles form three feet around the body to isolate the external water flow, and a steady supply of oxygen is drawn from the water.

He swiftly sank to the bottom of the cold pond, released his mind and sensed the surroundings, but he did not encounter any strange underwater beasts, mostly small fish and shrimps.

After about ten meters, we found a wide cave entrance.

Smoke and dust floated at the dark cave entrance, like a monster that was ready to devour its prey.

The entrance to the cave is very large, and small eyeless fish are swimming back and forth.

The figure entered the dark cave and swam forward along the direction of the water flow.

Suddenly, the tunnel became narrow and winding, and in some places only one person could pass through.

After swimming for about 300 meters, the cave was still dark. The water flow was slightly turbulent in this place, and there were dust and unknown fish floating in the water.

"This place... even divers from later generations would find it difficult to pass through."

In this era, almost no one can reach it.

After diving for several hundred meters again, the sound of water suddenly became louder in front, and there seemed to be movement on the water surface and a faint light.

"Have we arrived at this paradise?" Liang Yue felt a little expectant.

Wow!
Surfaced.

What comes into view is a huge cave hall. There seems to be glowing stones on the ceiling of the cave. The flowing water gathers into a river and flows to an unknown crevices.

The light is dark green, and the stalactites and stalagmites are of all kinds of strange shapes.

Some tower high into the sky like ancient trees, or hang low like a rolled-up bead curtain, and the sound of flowing water echoes in the spacious cave hall.

There was no fresh grass or colorful fallen petals on the shore. There were only rotten wood scattered all over the ground, collapsed houses, and only moss-covered ruins, which seemed to have retained something.

The wood is rotten and dilapidated, the place is devastated, and the air of time and vicissitudes is overwhelming.

Liang Yue was disappointed. He thought there really was a paradise out there. He laughed at himself and said, "Yes, after a thousand years, most of the things that should have fallen have fallen."

Without bothering to explore, he returned to see Dong Ze.

Dong Ze was leaning on a stone, his breath weak, with the Golden Crow beside him.

Wow!
Suddenly, a man jumped out from the water, his clothes were clean and not wet.

Dong Ze's eyes suddenly lit up, his face flushed, and he asked, "Shan Bo, have you found Taoyuan?"

"Found it, inside..." Liang Yue was about to tell the truth, but when he saw Dong Ze's expectant expression, he sighed in his heart, and a look of shocked excitement appeared on his face.

"It's so beautiful. It's very narrow at first, but then it becomes passable. After walking a thousand feet, it suddenly becomes open. The land is flat and spacious, with neat houses, fertile fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees and bamboos..."

"…Men and women dress like outsiders. The old and the young are all happy and contented…When asked what era it is, they don't even know about the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties."

True or false, perhaps it doesn’t matter.

For an old man who has experienced the Rebellion of the Five Barbarians, the migration to the south, and the destruction of his family, a white lie can comfort his uneasy heart in his dying moments.

"Haha, that's right." Dong Ze laughed loudly and slowly closed his eyes. Liang Yue's description was still echoing in his ears. It seemed that there was no regret after these eighty years of hard searching.

Dong Ze passed away suddenly.

Liang Yue buried Dong Ze on the shore and erected an unnamed monument. From then on, this last descendant of the dragon-taming clan would become one with the dragon-taming land that he had always longed for.

On the shore, Liang Yue thought for a long time, thinking of his Liuzhuang and the people who were struggling, and thought:

"The real Peach Blossom Spring will appear one day."

If there is no Peach Blossom Spring, then create one yourself.

Liang Yue returned to the cave again.

There are about ten houses in Taohuayuan, all of which have collapsed, with rotten beams and pottery bowls and basins inside.

There was a dried-up artificial pool in the center, with red powder like cinnabar at the bottom. Liang Yue scraped off some of the red powder and picked up some bones-like stones. The stone wall of the largest house was engraved with strange bird and insect patterns.

After writing down all the bird and insect writings, collecting the powder, taking the stone and a small glowing stone, Liang Yue walked out of the cave again, looking back at the cold pond, thinking: "I'll come again next time. This place may be a good place to guard the corpse."

The sky gradually brightened, a fish belly white appeared in the east, and the Taoist walked down the mountain.

……

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(End of this chapter)