Chapter 67 Blood Cultivation
Xiao Ma pointed at the window, "I think you can enter from there. Can you climb up there?"
"Don't spout nonsense. I am not Spider-Man."
"Oh my, I didn't think a country bumpkin like you would know about Spider-Man."
Ye Shaoyang had no time to chit-chat with Xiao Ma. He took out his phone and called Liu Ming to brief him about the current situation.
"That water tower was built before the liberation. It might be troublesome if you break into it without permission, as it belongs to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. If you are not in a rush, I can help you discuss the matter with the person-in-charge," Liu Ming replied awkwardly.
"Nevermind then, I am in a rush." Ye Shaoyang hung up the phone and called Xie Yuqing to tell her the current situation.
"Just break it. I will bring some manpower to you now," Xie Yuqing instantly replied.
Within twenty minutes, Xie Yuqing arrived with two policemen; they each carried a big hammer.
"Is this the door you mentioned?" Xue Yuqing wanted a confirmation from Ye Shaoyang.
….
"Smash it with your full strength!" She turned around and ordered the two policemen.
Ye Shaoyang stopped Xie Yuqing; he felt worried, "Are we really breaking it now? Will they blame us for destroying historical relics?"
Xie Yuqing rolled her eyes, "This is official police business! I don't care; we are investigating now. If they really want to put the blame on us, I, this big sister, will take all the responsibility. I will smash them as well if they try to mess with me."
Ye Shaoyang gave her a thumbs-up, "Cool!"
After ten minutes, they managed to break a sufficient-sized hole for a person to enter. Ye Shaoyang checked his backpack. Then, he turned around and told them, "You fellows can wait outside. It might be dangerous down there. " After he spoke these words, he entered the water tower. Due to the lack of a light source, the inside of the tower was pitch black. Ye Shaoyang stood still; he planned to light up a Lamp of Eternity. Suddenly, a beam of light shot in from behind. He looked back and saw Xie Yuqing.
"I will go in with you," said Xie Yuqing.
"You are not afraid?"
"Why would I be afraid if you are here?"
Ye Shaoyang gave her an ambiguous laugh. He scanned her body, "Hehe, aren't you afraid I will tear off your clothes again?"
Xie Yuqing kicked his butt, "You better behave. Otherwise, I will kill you if continue being such a d*ck!"
Ye Shaoyang rubbed his butt, "It is better if you switch off the torch. It can only light up a small area, which makes the unlit side look darker."
After she switched off the torch, Ye Shaoyang lit up the Lamp of Eternity and passed it to her. He took out his peach wood sword and carefully proceeded forward. He had to act more cautious in this strange environment. After all, Rui Lengyu had reminded him that something evil laid down there.
There was a cement staircase, which spiraled around a cylindrical cement pillar. The main functional part of this tower should be inside there. The stairs formed an easy slope. Suddenly, after they walked for more than ten meters, a white shadow pounced toward them from around the bend. In a split second, Ye Shaoyang reacted and stabbed it with his sword. The shadow emitted a short and mournful cry. Then, it evaporated into wisps of primordial spirits and flew toward the exit.
"Is that a spirit?" asked Xie Yuqing as she trembled with fear.
"Of course. It is normal to meet spirits here since this place has not been exposed to sunlight. That spirit is unrelated to the spirit nest."
As they moved forward, Ye Shaoyang felt Xie Yuqing grasp his arm and stick close to him. He could smell her faint fragrance and feel her exhale on his nape.
Ye Shaoyang abruptly stopped in his tracks.
"What's happening!" Xie Yuqing nervously exclaimed as she tightly grabbed his arm.
"Nothing. I like having intimate contact with you. Will you give me the honor?"
Xie Yuqing pinched his arm hard, "How can you still think of such things in this situation?"
Ye Shaoyang rubbed his arm, "Does that mean you will like it if we change to another occasion?"
This time, Xie Yuqing pinched his arm even harder, till Ye Shaoyang jumped from the pain. He grumbled, as they continued to walk. The steps were only several tens of meters long. At the end of the staircase, there was a small door located in the middle of the cement pillar. Xie Yuqing shone her torch upon it. They went in and observed the interior, the place was several tens of square meters in size, and there were also many rusty pipelines arranged in a complicated manner. The lower end extended into a rectangular pond. The light from the Lamp of Eternity cast a reflection on the water's surface and revealed a pond full of water. Ye Shaoyang felt a bit anxious, Is this the pond of blood Rui Lengyu mentioned?
"Wow, the water hasn't dried up after so many years!" Xie Yuqing could not believe her eyes. She tried to approach the pond, but Ye Shaoyang pulled her back at once. He shot a handful of copper beads toward one of the corners. With a loud scream, a vague human silhouette shattered into wisps of primordial spirits and drifted toward the exit. Ye Shaoyang grasped the peach wood sword in his hand and clearly shouted, "I, Ye Shaoyang, the Heavenly Master of Maoshan Sect, orders you to reveal yourselves now!"
After a few seconds, four barely visible, blurry-green shadows slowly appeared a few meters before Ye Shaoyang and Xie Yuqing. They could still identify one as male and three as females from the modern attire of the vague shadows. The shadows kneeled down in a respectful manner. Ye Shaoyang looked at the shadows and angrily asked, "What are you doing here? Why haven't you reported to the Netherworld council?"
One of the shadows kowtowed and replied, "Replying to the Heavenly Master, we've just passed away recently. We risked ourselves to stay back because we have some unfinished gratitudes and grudges in this world. This place does not expose us to any sunlight, so we chose to stay here temporarily. Heavenly Master, please grant us a favor…."
"Presumptuous! You're not allowed to stay in the human world. Go and report to the Netherworld council immediately!" Ye Shaoyang instantly threw a soul guiding talisman paper toward them. The four spirits did not dare to rebel and attached themselves to the talisman paper one by one. Then, they floated in the air for a while before they disappeared.
"You looked so cool just now!" Xie Yuqing gave him some rare praise, "But why didn't you ask them about the situation here?"
"They are new, so they don't know anything about here. Besides, there is no Yin Qi here. That means we are still far away from the spirit nest."
Ye Shaoyang walked around the pond and examined the surroundings. There was no other entry point except for the small door they used just now. Xie Yuqing held up the Lamp of Eternity and thoroughly examined the area. She became disappointed, "It seems like there is no secret passageway here."
"The secret passageway is below here!" Ye Shaoyang said as he stared at the black pond.
"How did you figure that out?" Xie Yuqing felt stunned, "Is this the pond of blood? But there is no blood here?"
Ye Shaoyang slightly dipped one of his fingers into the water. Then, he rubbed it between fingers. He felt a greasy sensation and immediately realized something. He exchanged the peach wood sword for the date wood sword and inserted it into the water.
Chiii!
Bubbles appeared around the sword; it was like the pond was boiling. Xie Yuqing felt puzzled and walked forward to take a closer view.
"Oh my gosh, how did the water become so red in color!" She involuntarily cried out in fear.
"This is blood, human blood—human blood fills this pond," Ye Shaoyang flatly replied.
Xie Yuqing felt her legs give in, as she almost collapsed. She backed off a few steps and said in a tremulous voice, "Don't try to scare me, Little trickster."
"Why would I want to frighten you?" said Ye Shaoyang as he pulled out the date wood sword; the blood that stained the blade continued to boil until it evaporated.
"A layer of corpse oil covers the surface of this pond. The blood absorbed all the corpse Qi, so it won't stink. The corpse oil can also prevent the blood from air exposure, which is why the blood hasn't dried up after so many years," Ye Shaoyang deeply frowned at the pond and continued, "The blood evaporated once it came into contact with the date wood sword; this means there is a monster down here. Now, I wonder what kind of monster would've frightened Rui Lengyu's father away. What could it be?"
Chapter 68 Danger in The Pond
Xie Yuqing paled in shock after she heard Ye Shaoyang's words. She asked, "What are we going to do now?"
"I will stay back to set up a formation. You need to go up. Ask the two policemen to help bring a water pump and a hose long enough to reach here. I want to drain the pond."
Xie Yuqing paused, "Won't the blood corrode the hose?"
"The hose is not a ritual tool, so it will be fine." Suddenly, Ye Shaoyang remembered something; he should not simply drain the blood pond. The blood in this pond had an extremely evil nature, which could attract spirits. If the blood somehow accumulated somewhere else and formed a new, small sprit nest, it would lead to a disaster. After some thought, he decided it would be better to call Old Guo, and maybe Rui Lengyu would come along. He took out his phone and called Old Guo, but the phone hung up after it beeped twice.
"Damn, no signal here." Ye Shaoyang passed his phone to Xie Yuqing.
"Help me contact my senior brother when you get outside and tell him about the situation here. Make sure that he comes along because he knows how to deal with this blood pond. Also, remind him to bring more tools here."
Xie Yuqing accepted the phone and asked with a trace of fear in her voice, "Aren't you coming with me? It is pitch dark up there. I...am scared."
Ye Shaoyang rolled his eyes at her. She seemed to become a timid and lovable little lady after she followed him down here. This felt completely different to her usual tomboyish behavior. He was not used to the current her. He asked in puzzlement, "We've seen a lot of ghosts together; you even killed an undead before. How come you are still so timid?"
Xie Yuqing replied, "Won't you feel hungry even if you eat every day? Besides, there were lots of us in the valley when we fought the undead. This is scarier than dealing with the undead."
"Alright, alright. You'd better go up." Ye Shaoyang placed his hand over the edge of the pond, as a serious expression dawned on his face, "I can feel that the monster down there has awakened after I inserted the date wood sword into the pond. You'd better be fast. I need to set up a formation as soon as possible."
These words terrified Xie Yuqing. Her face became as white as a sheet; she quickly turned around and ran out.
Ye Shaoyang stood at the edge of the pond. After a brief moment of thought, he suspected that this pond was used to feed the monster below. Moreover, the creature should be an undead or a drowned undead. He took out a carpenter's ink marker, an ample amount of red thread, and a piece of ambergris from his backpack. He used the ambergris to wipe over the red thread once. Ambergris was not a ritual tool but a type of medication that could absorb corpse Qi. It was similar to glutinous rice and naturally resisted the undead. Ye Shaoyang used the carpenter's ink marker to leave a red mark every ten centimeters along the edge of the pond. After twenty minutes, he finished marking the whole pond. Ye Shaoyang wiped away his sweat. He watched over the pond as a few small ripples appeared. It's moving! What can it be? A demon, an undead or another type of evil being?
He felt slightly anxious, as this pond of blood and the corpse oil had been well-nourished for seventy years. No matter what laid inside, it would be very difficult to deal with.
Ye Shaoyang thought and thought. If a violent undead was in the pond, the ink marker and the red lines might not be able to suppress it. As such, he took out a pack of glutinous rice from his backpack and sprinkled it evenly along the edge of the pond.
Suddenly, Ye Shaoyang heard footsteps from behind. He turned around and saw Xie Yuqing, along with a group of people. To his surprise, Liu Ming had come along with them.
"Mr. Ye, I rushed here once you called me. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage asked us to not destroy the inner structure of the building."
Ye Shaoyang waved his hand, "Talking about this is useless now. It only matters if we can leave this place alive."
Everyone paled when they heard Ye Shaoyang's words.
Ye Shaoyang looked at Old Guo, who carried a big haversack over his back. Then, he asked, "Senior brother, isn't Rui Lengyu coming along?"
"She is alone and making ritual tools at my place. She believes you can settle this without her help."
Ye Shaoyang felt speechless, as he did not even have such confidence in himself.
Old Guo approached, touched the water, and rubbed it between his fingers. Then, his face grew very serious.
"Something strange is down here."
"It is probably a violent undead, who has cultivated within this pond of blood." Ye Shaoyang stamped his foot on the edge of the pond, as he stared at the haversack on Old Guo's back, "Have you brought the realgar wine?"
"Yes, Police Officer Xie briefed me just now. I brought more ritual tools here, as I thought you might need to use them later." Old Guo put down his haversack. Then, he remembered something and asked, "Are you paying this time?"
"Of course I'm not." Ye Shaoyang turned around and glanced at Liu Ming, "Principal Liu, I'm glad that you're here. We almost died when we killed one hundred awakened undead at Mount Qiyun yesterday. Police Officer Xie can act as a witness. I told my senior brother that you would pay him 50,000 dollars in return. Are you okay with this?"
"And my 30,000 dollars too!" Xiao May loudly added.
"Er…. " Liu Ming's mouth gaped open, and he asked, "Were these undead related to our school?"
"Of course!" Xiao Ma arrived beside Liu Ming and seriously said, "Let me tell you something; these undead were under Feng Xinyu's command. Feng Xinyu planned to send them to attack our school, but we fought them with all our might to stop them. If not, they would destroy our school and leave corpses strewn all over the place."
A shiver ran down Liu Ming's spine, "Sure, sure, no problem. I'll pay you together after this."
Ye Shaoyang took out the realgar wine and the rice wine from Old Guo's haversack. Then, Old Guo and Ye Shaoyang sprinkled a layer of realgar wine along the edge of the pond. When they almost finished this, Ye Shaoyang looked back at Xie Yuqing, "Have you brought the water pump and the hose?"
"Of course." Then, she ordered a few policemen to carry the pump and the hose to the pondside. All of them felt scared. Even though these policemen had grown accustomed to the sight of blood in crime scenes, they still acted like an average person when involved in supernatural phenomenon.
"I'll go up and fix the cinnabar net to filter the blood, so it can directly drain to the sewer," Old Guo said as he walked. He looked back and showed Liu Ming five fingers, "This is an additional 5,000 dollars. Since we are close to each other, I'll give you a twenty percent discount."
Liu Ming wiped away his sweat. For now, he could not do anything; he could only continue to act as their moneymaker.
Ye Shaoyang ordered the men to carefully fix the water pump beside the pond and connect the wire from outside. Then, he told them to switch on the pump to its maximum setting, which smoothly pumped out the blood.
Ye Shaoyang asked everyone to back off. He held the date wood sword and stood in front the pond. When the blood lessened, Old Guo returned and gave Ye Shaoyang an 'OK' sign. Then, Ye Shaoyang asked everyone to exit the cave, except for Old Guo. After they left, Ye Shaoyang made a slight incision on his finger and drew a Defensive Barrier Talisman paper and stuck it to the top of the door. With this, the monster in the pond could not run out and hurt people. Old Guo stood behind Ye Shaoyang; he held the cinnabar gun. He felt both nervous and excited. If anything happened, Ye Shaoyang would protect him, so he could only provide some minor help from the back.
'Ka… Ka….' A burst of strange sounds resonated from the pond. The pump violently shook twice. It automatically tripped, and the power stopped.
"Damn, the monster has clogged up the pump." Ye Shaoyang frowned. He called out to Old Guo, "Let's pull out the hose and see."
They carried the hose and tried to pull it out. It was very heavy, so they were unable to do so. They called Xiao Ma for help. With the strength of three men, they finally removed the hose. Then, they placed it over the edge of the pond. The hose was slightly thicker than a normal adult; Ye Shaoyang squatted beside it. He looked inside the hose, but he could not see anything, as it was pitch black inside. Ye Shaoyang instructed Xiao Ma, "Can you try to turn on the water pump again?" Ye Shaoyang stood out of the way, but he had underestimated this high-powered water pump. Once Xiao Ma turned on the water pump, the water pump sucked in Ye Shaoyang's head with a loud Swoop!