Kyushu · Endless Nagato

Chapter 13: Dance of the Dead (2)
It was strange, but after one night, the dust on the table seemed a bit thick, the ranger cursed the late assistant, and turned his head to find a rag to wipe off the dust.But at this moment, he felt something strange in his palm.As soon as he lowered his head, his heart suddenly trembled—the palms of his hands turned blue, and an itchy feeling began to spread.

"If you want to live, you'd better listen to me, because only I have the antidote for this poison." A voice came from outside the door.Then the door was pushed open, and in came a young, beautiful, fair-haired woman, but in the ranger's mind, she was no different from a poisonous spider at the moment.

Xue Huaiqing gave You Xia a drug to temporarily control the toxicity, and explained what he needed to investigate.The ranger knew very well that the corpse dancers used poison badly and their cold hearts were worse than poison, so he didn't dare to resist in the slightest, and chose to submit obediently.

"But you have to give me some time," the ranger said helplessly, "things in the palace are not so easy to investigate, and this person is almost 60 years old, and it is likely that he will no longer take on this important task, unless he is promoted Become a high-ranking official. If he no longer serves as the Jinwu Guard, it will be even more difficult to find."

"Three days." Xue Huaiqing said briefly.

"Three days is too short, it's too late," the ranger almost pleaded, "at least give me seven days?"

Xue Huaiqing thought for a while: "Five days."

She didn't say anything more, turned around and left, explaining that this was the final price and no further counter-offers were allowed.The ranger had no choice but to hang his head and watch her feet cross the threshold of the shop.

So Xue Huaiqing had nothing to do for five days.This is a big city, not a secluded countryside, she couldn't easily find a dead body to practice corpse dance, that would be too ostentatious.As for wandering the streets like an ordinary girl, it was too difficult for her.Both the city itself and the people in the city are just pale and empty symbols in her eyes, which do not attract her any interest.What's more, the glances of those men always made her very unhappy. She even hoped that she would not be so good-looking, maybe if she was an ugly girl, no one would pay attention.

Her only choice is to sit in the inn all day long, reciting the poisonous prescriptions that she has memorized by heart, or sinking into meditation.There are meditation courses in many different sects, but their methods and meanings are different.The meditation of the mystics is to better experience the power of the stars and enhance the spiritual power; the meditation of the Nagato monk is to think and explore the ultimate meaning of life.The meditation of the corpse dancer is different from the above two, and its purpose is to sense death.

Corpse dancers are a profession that deals with corpses all their lives. Legend has it that it originated from a behavior called "driving corpses".It is said that in some wild places in Yuezhou, the local people know how to use unique methods to drive the corpses to move.When those people die in a foreign land, the fellow countrymen can drive his corpse back to his hometown together, and then bury him. This method of driving the corpse is the embryonic form of the corpse dance.In today's Yuezhou, people cannot find a place that conforms to the legend to prove this point, and some other claims about the profession of corpse dancers are even more bizarre and absurd, unbelievable, and even Xue Huai Qing thought it was nonsense.

For example, Master once told Xue Huaiqing that there is a legend that many, many generations ago, a self-proclaimed wise man saw that the mainland of Kyushu would be engulfed by the magic fire gushing from the ground, but no one around him believed him On the contrary, he regarded him as a lunatic.The self-proclaimed wise man was very helpless, and came to a safe place alone that he thought could escape the magic fire, and because he believed that there would be no other living people in the world, he invented the corpse dance technique, and let a group of people corpse to be his servant.Of course, the world was not destroyed later, and this wise man was finally proved to be a lunatic, but the corpse dance technique he created was found to be convenient by the world and was able to spread.

None of these claims have been proven.But in any case, the corpse dance technique has been handed down, and formed a unique and fearsome sect of corpse dancers.Corpse dancers don't like to socialize with strangers, and they rarely communicate with each other except for fighting skills. Many corpse dancers live alone with the few corpses they use most conveniently until no one knows. Die silently.

The most basic quality of being a corpse dancer is not to be afraid of death, for which they have to meditate every day.During such meditation, the corpse dancer will slowly relax all his senses and mind, entering a state of complete emptiness, sometimes even stopping breathing briefly.The total loss of all senses is the corpse dancer's experience of death: emptiness, nothingness, remoteness, coldness, and complete silence.Through such meditation exercises, corpse dancers can improve their ability to manipulate corpses, because they understand death better than anyone else.

At the beginning, Xue Huaiqing was very afraid of this kind of meditation. She was worried that after the moment she stopped breathing, she would never be able to breathe again and would die.But after a long time, she gradually got used to it, and began to take an indifferent attitude towards death, even when her adoptive father Shen Zhuang died, she did not shed a single tear.

This may be the fate of the corpse dancer's life: they can control death, but they will also be slowly controlled by death, and finally become one with it.Xue Huaiqing knew that sooner or later she would embark on such a road of no return.

Corpse dancers are not afraid of death, but others are not necessarily so, at least the ranger that Xue Huaiqing found is absolutely unwilling to die.Five days later, he came to the inn to find Xue Huaiqing.

"I don't know if my investigation results can get the antidote from you, but I can only try," You Xia said with a wry smile, "I have found out the whereabouts of the man you are looking for, Xing Wanteng. He It is true that he used to be a Jinwu Guard, but he resigned more than 30 years ago, and moved many times later, and most people no longer know his whereabouts."

"But after all, someone still knows, right?" Xue Huaiqing heard his implication.

"Yes, there is a person who knows, this person is Xu Fengzhang, who used to be Xing Wanteng's colleague," You Xia said, "but he is unwilling to tell me Xing Wanteng's whereabouts anyway. I am just a ranger, not a murderer, and I don't want to use threats. To save my own life in the way of other people's lives. So I beg you, I hope you let me go, I will do my best, and then find ways to find Xing Wanteng through other channels. "

Xue Huaiqing thought for a while, then took out a small paper bag from her bosom, and handed it to You Xia: "Divide it into three parts, take one part a day for three consecutive days, and the toxicity will be cured. But after that, you can't drink alcohol for a month. Don't get close to female sex, otherwise it will cause great damage to the body."

When You Xia heard her say something like "you can't get close to women" in a cold tone, he could only sigh secretly in his heart.Xue Huaiqing asked again: "So, where is this Xu Fengzhang you mentioned? Maybe I can use some special methods to make him speak."

"This person...is currently being held in the secret prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice."

"prison?"

"Yes, not only was he imprisoned, but he was also being tortured. The purpose was to ask about the whereabouts of his colleagues back then, including Xing Wanteng," You Xia said. "It seems that the nature of this matter is very serious. And it involves a lot. Not only you want to find Xing Wanteng, but the officials also want to catch him."

Xue Huaiqing didn't answer, and the scenes that her adoptive father described over and over again came to mind.Judging from the information obtained by You Xia, it is not only Xing Wanteng who is related to the tragedy that year, but also Xu Fengzhang and other Jinwu Guards.The question that had been asked countless times in my heart jumped out again: These Jinwu guards did not protect the emperor in the palace, but went to Suohe Mountain to kill a commoner mother and child. What is the picture?
"Can I...can I go?" You Xia asked pitifully.

"Wait a little longer." Xue Huaiqing said.

"What else do you want to do?" Ranger's face turned pale.

"I just want to pay you." Xue Huaiqing put two gold bahts in his hand, "Everyone has to eat."

"Thank you, you are such a kind person..." You Xia murmured.

Xue Huaiqing let go of the poor ranger, but only asked him about the specific location of the prison, and then went alone.Apocalypse City has two prisons for all kinds of extremely serious criminals, but the "Secret Prison of the Criminal Ministry" mentioned by Ranger is not among them. To be precise, this is just an execution room and detention room. The "black room" of important suspects who must be made to tell the truth-this is another name given to it by insiders.There are all kinds of appalling and illegal tortures here, but ironically they belong to the Ministry of Punishment.Under normal circumstances, only suspects with special identities or special involvement in cases are eligible to enjoy all the treatment in this small black room.

In other words, this batch of Jinwu Guards back then was indeed related to some major cases, serious enough to enter the small black room.Behind the death of Shen Zhuang's wife and children, there must be some shocking secrets hidden.Xue Huaiqing walked around the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice a few times, saw clearly the situation of the guards on the periphery, and decided to use the late night to sneak in and try to fish out Xu Fengzhang.

She went back to the inn and was about to enter the room when a clerk cautiously greeted her: "Miss, it's not that you are a villain, it's because your companion stays in the room all day and doesn't come out to eat. She ...Is there really no problem? As a shopkeeper, the biggest fear is encountering... some extreme situations, you understand."

"Don't worry, she's just not feeling well. I'll bring her food every day, so don't worry about it." Xue Huaiqing said lightly.

The man looked at her face, didn't dare to say anything, shook his head and left.Xue Huaiqing pushed the door into the room, locked the door behind her, and cast her eyes on the other bed.Lying on the bed was a middle-aged beautiful woman with fair complexion and pretty face, but her eyes were always closed and she did not move.If you get closer, you can see that her chest doesn't rise and fall at all, which means that her breathing is very weak, or——not breathing at all.

"Master, I'm back, and I have to trouble you to go out with me on some errands tonight." Xue Huaiqing said.

The woman on the bed didn't answer, and couldn't answer.This is Xue Huaiqing's master who died a year ago, but now, it is a corpse servant under her control.Among corpse dancers, it is quite common for apprentices to use the master's corpse.And once the master's body is damaged to the point that it can no longer be used, only the apprentice can bury her.

three

A corpse dancer is a very daunting profession. During the day, whether it is manipulating the actions of dead corpses, finding and testing dead corpses, or searching for poisonous insects and weeds to refine medicines, it is possible to scare others half to death, so corpse dancers They are best at night operations.They have a whole set of unique skills to hide in the dark, and at the same time, a pair of eyes must be trained to see in the dark, because they even need to walk through tunnels or tombs in many cases.

Xue Huaiqing still remembers the first time she was forced by her master to go down to a certain tomb alone, when she was only 11 years old.The cemetery is not completely dark, but there are green will-o'-the-wisps floating around, and small animals crawling around in the soil, making rustling noises, as if the bones of the dead were trembling slightly.There was a sweet stale smell in the air, as if those corpses had been transformed into some fine wine after a long period of evolution, the smell was really disgusting.

Step by step, she stepped into this habitat of the soul, only to feel that every skin in her body was getting cold, her hair seemed to stand upright, and the deepest fear that was planted in everyone's heart was like weeds like crazy growth.But she can't back down, she can only go forward, with the aim of digging up a "usable" corpse recently buried in the family vault to grow into the first walking corpse she has.Corpse dancers have a specific name for their own walking corpses, called corpse servants. A well-preserved corpse servant can often be used for ten years or even longer, and it can almost be regarded as the most loyal partner of the corpse dancer.

Xue Huaiqing walked to her first corpse servant on such a bone-chilling winter night.This corpse is a strong female, a member of this well-known martial arts family who died recently. Beginning corpse dancers often choose such a corpse because of their excellent physique and easy control.

After passing through the long tomb passage, she stood in front of the newest coffin.Lifting the lid of the coffin, the stench of fresh corpses came oncoming, but Xue Huaiqing could tell through the smell that the degree of corruption was still within the "usable" range.Through specially formulated drugs, this corruption can be reversed, leaving the Corpse Dancer with a fully functioning corpse.But this kind of repair is like a blacksmith tinkering a pot or a carpenter repairing a door. It only repairs an object, but it cannot bring new life to the corpse.

Xue Huaiqing stared at the female corpse in front of her.The deceased had a beautiful face and a healthy body. If he did not die, there would probably be many young and talented young men from aristocratic families who would come to pursue him.But now that she's dead, she's just a pile of flesh and bones waiting to rot, and only the Corpse Dancer can save her from the maggots and give her a new meaning in existence.

Two long steel needles pierced the dead man's head and heart respectively, injecting the poison.A corpse dancer can use the corpse dance technique to manipulate any freshly dead corpse, just like Xue Huaiqing did to her adoptive father, but to achieve long-term manipulation and keep the corpse from decomposing, poison and other Some more advanced mental methods, and to make the walking corpse into a corpse servant who only obeys the control of a corpse dancer, a special operation called the engraving technique is required.Before this, although Xue Huaiqing had also manipulated some walking corpses, it was the first time to try to make a corpse servant.

The poison entered the body of the deceased through the wound, and began to re-stimulate the vitality of the body and the flow of body fluids. At this moment, Xue Huaiqing had to take the most important step, but also the most disgusting and frightening step.After hesitating for a while, she finally stretched out her right hand tremblingly, put her index finger into her mouth, and bit it hard to break the bleeding.Then, she put her index finger on the forehead of the deceased, and carefully traced a spell there.

Cold and sticky to the touch.When this woman was still alive, her skin must have been warm and delicate, with the scent of a girl, but now there are only deep burns left by death, and every touch makes Xue Huaiqing feel scalp It was numb, as if thousands of steel needles were pricking her back.Forcibly suppressing her urge to scream, she finished drawing the spell almost mechanically, and then began to activate the final step of the engraving technique.The blood-red charm gradually faded, and finally disappeared from the skin, and was completely inhaled into the body.

Did you make it?Xue Huaiqing didn't know, after all, this was the first time she used the engraving technique, and to verify whether it worked, she needed to try manipulating the corpse with the corpse dance technique.As she thought about it, she tried to issue an order to the corpse, but due to her nervousness, the order deviated a little.She originally wanted the corpse servant to raise her hand, but got an unexpected surprise——

The corpse servant suddenly stretched out his hands and held her wrist tightly.Those cold, dead hands were like iron hoops around her wrists.

Xue Huaiqing finally let out a scream that was no longer unbearable.At this moment, she forgot that she was a corpse dancer, but was just like an ordinary 11-year-old girl who was frightened hysterically by a dead man in a dark and terrifying tomb. All thrown into the sky.

"Call two more times, and the family members will arrive. Do you know what it means to catch a turtle in a jar?" Master's words drifted coldly from the entrance of the tomb, like a cloud of will-o'-the-wisp.

(End of this chapter)