bookbashuk Chapter 25 Chen Banshan's Words
Chapter 25 Chen Banshan's Words
The teahouse is an antique-style building, a three-story wooden building with upturned corners on the roof, and a small lion carved on each corner.
There weren't many customers on the weekday morning. On the second floor, by the window, a man in a Zhongshan suit was already sitting there with a pot of Biluochun tea and two plates of snacks in front of him.
The man smiled gently and pointed to the seat opposite him.
"Mr. Chen, please have a seat. I am Zhou Wenyuan, a collector."
Chen Mo sat down without touching his teacup.
"Mr. Zhou, where's the mirror?"
Zhou Wenyuan slowly poured the tea.
"No rush, let's talk about Liu Fengchun first. Do you know why he's stuck in the time loop?"
"Someone gave me a push."
Zhou Wenyuan raised his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing across them, but it vanished in an instant.
"It seems Mr. Chen has found out quite a bit. Do you know who pushed him?"
"The person who wears a black jade thumb ring."
"The thumb ring is with me now."
Zhou Wenyuan took out a small brocade box from his bosom, opened it, and on the black velvet lay a black jade thumb ring, the jade was warm and smooth, and a small seal character was engraved on the inside.
Chen Mo used his spiritual vision to carefully examine it; it was the character for "sacrifice".
"Are you the gravedigger?"
Zhou Wenyuan smiled.
"The tomb keeper... I guess so, but what I guard is not the tomb, but the rules. The Seven Star Dragon Locking Formation has been running for more than seventy years and needs to be maintained in balance. Liu Fengchun's time cycle is part of that balance."
"A balance maintained by the souls of the living?"
"To be precise, it's an unfinished obsession."
Zhou Wenyuan took a sip of tea.
"Obsession is a very strong energy, especially obsession that is deliberately interrupted and stuck at a certain point in time. Liu Fengchun's cycle recurs once a year on the fifteenth of July. Each recurrence releases energy to nourish the formation."
"That thing in the nourishing formation?"
Zhou Wenyuan's smile faded slightly.
"Did Chen Banshan tell you that?"
"My third great-uncle's notes mention that the Seven Stars are not for locking up dragons, but for raising them."
"He's too superficial."
Zhou Wenyuan put down his teacup.
"The dragon is not the one being raised; the dragon is the vessel. What the formation truly needs to nourish is an ancient and terrifying being, but that being needs a dragon's body to awaken."
Chen Mo felt a chill rise up his spine.
"Is Liu Fengchun's cycle providing energy to the dragon's body?"
"It's one of seven anchor points, each connected to a similar loop."
Zhou Wenyuan pointed to the black jade thumb ring.
"The person who pushed Liu Fengchun to hang himself was the first guardian of Yaoguang Tomb. His task was to create and maintain this cycle. Now that he is dead, the ring has been passed down to me."
"So you're an accomplice too."
"I'm just maintaining the status quo."
Zhou Wenyuan said calmly.
"The formation cannot be stopped, or something terrible will happen. But this year is special. The Tianquan position in the Seven Stars, which is your old house, has a new landlord. The formation has become unstable, and Liu Fengchun's cycle is also showing signs of loosening. If he finishes his performance on the fifteenth of July and the cycle is broken, the energy supply to the Yaoguang position will be partially cut off."
"and then?"
"Then a gap will appear in the formation, and the gap must be repaired, otherwise what is locked may be leaked prematurely."
Zhou Wenyuan stared directly at Chen Mo.
"That's why I'm here to cooperate with you. I can give you the mirror so you can help Liu Fengchun fulfill his obsession, but after that, you have to do one thing for me: re-stabilize the Yao Guang position in another way."
What if I say no?
Zhou Wenyuan didn't speak. After a while, he took out the bronze mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table.
The mirror was green, with intricate lotus scroll patterns carved along its edges, but the reflection was neither Zhou Wenyuan nor Chen Mo, but rather Liu Fengchun, half-dressed.
He was facing out of the mirror, his lips moving slightly as if he were singing, but no sound came out.
"This mirror was the last makeup mirror that Liu Fengchun used before his death."
Zhou Wenyuan said.
"When he died, the mirror was placed on the dressing table, reflecting the entire process of his hanging. So the mirror contained his final moments and also a part of his soul."
Chen Mo reached for the mirror, but Zhou Wenyuan stopped his hand.
"I can give you the mirror, but on one condition: tonight at midnight, take the mirror to the old site of Qingyun Theater, place it in the center of the old stage, and then leave. The next morning, you will find the second thing: rouge."
"Where are the tears?"
Tears need to wait.
Zhou Wenyuan released his grip.
"Wait for the person who should cry to appear."
Chen Mo picked up the mirror, and as soon as he touched it, a chill instantly pierced his heart.
Liu Fengchun in the mirror suddenly raised his eyes and met his gaze.
Chen Mo heard a very faint singing voice:
"...The vibrant colors of spring have faded, leaving only broken wells and crumbling walls..."
These are lyrics from "The Peony Pavilion: A Dream Interrupted".
Ripples spread across the mirror's surface, and Liu Fengchun's figure gradually faded away, returning to its normal reflection.
"He recreated his makeup from the last day in front of the mirror every day."
Zhou Wenyuan said softly.
"I keep drawing it over and over again, it's never finished, because every time I draw the left eye, I remember the hand that pushed him, and then everything resets."
Chen Mo put the mirror away.
"I will go at midnight tonight."
"I'll go alone."
Zhou Wenyuan added.
"Don't bring that psychic girl, and don't notify the other gravediggers. The fewer people who know about this, the better."
Chen Mo got up and left.
As he reached the top of the stairs, he turned back and asked:
"Mr. Zhou, you just said that the formation needs to nourish an ancient being. What exactly is that being?"
Zhou Wenyuan did not answer, but just looked out the window.
After a long time, he finally said:
"A god who was once worshipped and later sealed away, and the Seven Star Dragon Locking Formation is both its cage and its altar."
In the afternoon, when Chen Mo returned to the old house, Liu Xiaoyu had already returned, and she brought back an unexpected person, the sorceress Grandma Wang.
Grandma Wang looked to be in her seventies or eighties, with gray hair. She was wearing a dark blue jacket and leaning on a peach wood cane. She was sitting in the main room drinking tea, and the spirits around her were unusually respectful.
"Chen Mo, right?"
Grandma Wang looked up and sized him up.
"His grandson, who lives halfway up the mountain, does look somewhat like him."
"Does Grandma Wang know my third great-uncle?"
"More than just acquaintances."
Grandma Wang snorted.
"Of the seven tomb keepers back then, he was the most conflicted, knew the most, and died the earliest."
Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.
Do you know how he died?
"I know a little bit, but I won't talk about that today."
Grandma Wang put down her teacup.
"Little Yu came to see me, asking about Liu Fengchun's opera troupe. I heard his operas when I was young, and I also know the whereabouts of Rouge."
Liu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up and she said, "Grandma Wang said that the rouge Liu Fengchun used back then was a gift from one of his opera fans. That fan was a rich young lady, and the rouge was her family's secret recipe, with added pearl powder and rose dew. It couldn't be bought on the market. After Liu Fengchun died, the young lady took back the box of unused rouge and kept it ever since."
"That young lady is now..."
"He's been dead for thirty years."
Grandma Wang took over the conversation.
"But she has a granddaughter named Su Wenjuan, who runs a traditional Chinese makeup studio in the south of the city. Rouge should be with her."
Chen Mo frowned.
Will she give it to us?
"Then let's see what you can do."
Grandma Wang stood up.
"But let me remind you, Su Wenjuan's grandmother was a huge fan of Liu Fengchun back then. It is said that on the night of July 15th, she was in the audience and was the first person to shed tears."
The first audience member's tears.
Chen Mo and Liu Xiaoyu exchanged a glance; the clues to the three items were gradually piecing together.
"There's one more thing."
Grandma Wang walked to the door, then turned back.
"You're going to put a mirror at the old theater site tonight, right?"
Chen Mo was stunned.
How did you know?
"That Zhou Wenyuan always does things the same way."
Grandma Wang sneered.
"The mirror is bait, rouge is bait, and tears are also bait. He is fishing for you, and he is also fishing for Liu Fengchun's soul. But remember, the tomb keepers are never of one mind. Zhao Shouyi wants to seize the position of Tianquan, Zhou Wenyuan wants to stabilize the position of Yaoguang, and I... just want those who should rest in peace to rest in peace."
She paused for a moment, then lowered her voice.
"Chen Mo, your third great-uncle left me a message before he died, telling me to tell you when the time is right. Now the time is almost right."
"What did you say?"
"Mirrors lie, rouge sucks blood, and tears kill."
Grandma Wang had a deep gaze that could see right through him.
"Each of Liu Fengchun's three items is entangled in cause and effect. If you touch them, you will have to bear the consequences. Think carefully before you act."
After saying that, she leaned on her cane and slowly disappeared at the end of the alley.
The main room was deathly silent.
Liu Xiaoyu asked softly, "Landlord, should we still look for a landlord?"
Chen Mo looked at the green-glowing bronze mirror in his hand. His reflection in the mirror was somewhat distorted, as if it might turn into someone else's face at any moment.
"try to find."
He said softly.
"But it's not just for Liu Fengchun."
"Why is that?"
"I want to find out what exactly happened backstage at that play more than seventy years ago, and I also want to know why my third great-uncle died. I also want to see what kind of god is locked in the Seven Star Dragon Locking Formation."
He put away the mirror, looked out the window. It was getting late, the clouds were low, and there was a faint sound of thunder coming from afar.
At midnight tonight, at the former site of Qingyun Theater.
The mirror will be returned to its place, and the play from over seventy years ago may finally begin.