The Taiji gives rise to the Two Forms, representing yīn and yáng, each rooted in the other, endlessly revolving.
When Mei Lin heard a soft click, followed by the grinding sound of chains and gears, and saw the stone pillars in front of her slowly descend to form a Taiji pattern on the ground where the jade coffin rested, she reached the pinnacle of reverence and awe for Murong Jing He.
Time rewinds to the moment when she handed over the problem of approaching the jade coffin to Murong Jing He.
Upon hearing her question, Murong Jing He shifted his gaze from the jade coffin to survey their surroundings. Standing atop the stone forest, he could take in everything within the cave. It was then that they realized the layout of the cave was different from what they had assumed. The stone forest, seemingly located in the center, was not a circular island but rather curved along one side of the cave, resembling a large-headed fish with a rounded head and tapering tail. The shape formed a massive Taiji pattern with the fiercely burning flames on the other side. There was indeed another passage, but it connected directly to the stone forest.
Murong Jing He observed this extraordinary scene, frowning slightly. It was only after a while that he shifted his gaze from the seemingly unrelenting flames back to the jade coffin and the irregularly shaped open space in front of him. His long, phoenix eyes narrowed with a look of intense contemplation, making his eye lines appear longer and more graceful.
Mei Lin didn’t disturb him and instead aimlessly observed the strange cave, while cautiously sniffing the air to gauge how much longer they could linger there.
Then she saw Murong Jing He's eyes suddenly brighten as he looked toward the other end of the stone forest, opposite the jade coffin.
"If there's a recess over there, I might be able to find a way out," he said.
So they cautiously made their way over and, to their surprise, found a deep well that was completely out of place among the stone pillars. The well was as large as the stone coffin, its bottom unseen, and it was unclear whether it held any water.
"What now? Jump in?" Mei Lin asked in confusion, unable to figure out how to escape from such a dark, ominous pit that made her legs feel weak.
Murong Jing He shot her a glance, too exasperated to even scold her.
"I don’t believe that when they lifted that massive coffin up here, those people had to dodge traps with every step," he said coolly, his attention still on the jade coffin. As he spoke, his eyes roved around the well’s perimeter, searching for possible mechanisms.
Suddenly, Mei Lin had a thought and suggested that he sit against a stone pillar. She then used her dagger to chip off a piece of stone and threw it into the well. After a long wait with no echo, a chill ran down her spine.
But due to the change in height, Murong Jing He noticed a carved Eight Trigrams diagram on the outer wall of the well, and something stirred within him.
Following his instructions, Mei Lin reached out and touched the diagram, finding that it indeed protruded from the well wall, but no matter how she twisted or turned it, it wouldn’t budge, as if it was part of the well itself. While Murong Jing He continued to frown in thought, she kept fiddling with the square carving, turning and pushing it without much hope. To her surprise, when she pulled it slightly, there was a sudden click, and it extended a short distance outward, startling her into stepping back. After a moment with no further sounds, she relaxed a bit, but dared not move it again. Seeing this, Murong Jing He's face lit up with a smile. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Try pulling them out in the sequence of Qian one, Dui two, Li three, Zhen four, Xun five, Kan six, Gen seven, and Kun eight."
Since Mei Lin didn't recognize these terms, Murong Jing He had to point them out one by one. When she pulled out the last one, there was another click, followed by the heavy, slow grinding sound of chains and gears. Whether it was an illusion caused by the sound, she felt as though the ground beneath her feet was faintly trembling. She held her breath and almost stiffly retreated toward Murong Jing He, hoping that in case of danger, she could escape with him in time.
Just as she helped Murong Jing He to his feet, they heard a muffled gurgling sound from the well, as if water was being poured in. The sound grew louder and louder, eventually becoming a deafening roar, and the ground shook violently.
Mei Lin's face turned pale, not knowing what to expect. She was about to ask Murong Jing He if they should flee elsewhere when she saw the surrounding stone pillars begin to sink downward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Moments later, the noise and shaking stopped. The area where they stood had transformed into a flat white stone ground, while the previously empty space where the jade coffin lay had inexplicably changed color, glowing with a dark, nocturnal light. The black and white were sharply contrasted, yet they flowed together seamlessly, forming an unbroken circle, endlessly revolving. Even without standing at a height, one could see that it was a Taiji pattern. The jade coffin and the well were precisely the two points of contrasting colors within the black and white, representing the yīn within yáng and the yáng within yīn.
Around them, the forest of stone pillars still stood, separating the large and small Taiji patterns.
"We…" Mei Lin was overwhelmed by the changes, looking at Murong Jing He in confusion, and asked with difficulty, "What should we do?" With even the stones having sunk, could they still stand on this ground?
Although Murong Jing He had anticipated some mechanism, he hadn't expected such a scene to unfold, but his reaction wasn't as intense as Mei Lin's. He smiled slightly and said, "Perhaps we can take a walk around."
When she took her first step and found that the ground was as solid as before, with no hint of instability, Mei Lin's first glance was at the well, where, just as they had heard, it was now filled with water up to the brim, yet there was no risk of it overflowing.
She wiped the cold sweat from her brow, growing increasingly uneasy about this eerie place, and only hoped to leave as soon as possible. Without further hesitation, she helped Murong Jing He toward the jade coffin.
As they approached, the cold emanating from the jade coffin enveloped them, causing both of them to shiver involuntarily.
"Is it made of ice?" Mei Lin muttered, frowning, yet in a place surrounded by flames, it showed no signs of melting, so it couldn’t be ice.
Murong Jing He did not respond.
The jade coffin was about the height of Mei Lin’s nose, lidless, and emitted a lustrous glow, with faint traces of blue light seemingly flowing through it.
Unable to see inside, Mei Lin noticed that Murong Jing He had been staring into it for a while without saying anything. Unable to resist, she asked, "What's inside?" Naturally, she knew that there was a person inside, but she wondered if there might be something else, perhaps a clue to their escape.
Murong Jing He was silent for a moment before replying in a flat tone, "A person."
Mei Lin paused, then, deciding to rely on herself, she put him down and used both hands to grip the edge of the coffin. With a light leap, she hung onto the outside of the coffin. Having trained in martial arts, her body was light, and with this jump, she almost landed inside the coffin itself, but she held back, afraid of damaging the remains inside.
0 Comments