Lu Xiaofeng Book 5: Mansion of Spirits

[foxs]

szfong, Justin, HPC, ycb, DongBin, Clown, Anh, Jaya, you are welcome. Ysabel, welcome back (from vacation, I hope?).

---

“Even if this is really a haunted house, I still want to take a look inside.” Liu Qingqing was afraid of hunger, she was not afraid of ghosts.

She was already knocking on the door. The copper ring door-knocker was more resounding than a gong, yet there was no response from the inside at all.

She was about to give up, but the door suddenly opened. It was opened just a slit, hence a slit of lantern light came out. A man was standing in the dark, with his back toward the light. He was staring at her with cold eyes.

Although the lantern light was dim, it was glaring to her eyes. By the time her eyes had adjusted, she looked at the man, and instantly did not dare to look the second time.

This man simply did not look like a human, but he did not look like a ghost either. If we say that he was a human, he must be a mud-man. If we say that he was a ghost, then he was a ghost that was formed of clay.

From top to bottom his body was covered in mud; his face, his nose, his eyebrows, even his mouth looked like it was stuffed with mud.

Luckily he could laugh.

Looking at Liu Qingqing’s expression, he suddenly roared in laughter; he laughed so hard that the dried mud on his face flaked off and ‘plop, plop’, it fell to the ground.

Whether he was a human or a ghost, as long as he was able to laugh, he did not look too scary anymore.

Finally Liu Qingqing put on a brave face and with a forced laugh she said, “We are lost …”

She only said one sentence, the man already cut her off, “I know you are lost; otherwise, how could you get to this ghost place?”

His laughter was even more cheerful, “But Old Lady, you need not be afraid, although this place is a ghost place, but I am not a ghost; not only I am a human, I am a good human.”

Liu Qingqing could not resist asking, “If you are a good human, how come there are so much mud on you?”

The man replied, “Anybody who dug earthworms for several days would have so much mud on him.”

Liu Qingqing was stunned, “You dig earthworms?” she asked.

The man nodded. He said, “I have already dug 783 big earthworms.”

Liu Qingqing was even more shocked, “What are you going to do with so many worms?” she asked.

“That many worms is still not enough,” the man replied, “I still need to dig 713 to have enough.”

“Why?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man replied, “Because I made a bet with someone, whoever loses will have to dig 1500 earthworms, mustn’t be less even one.”

“And you lost?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man sighed and said, “Although I haven’t lost yet, I know that I will lose for sure.”

Liu Qingqing looked at him; she stared straight into his eyes, “This kind of bet is very unusual, the person who made a bet with you must be a strange man.”

“Not only he is strange,” the man said, “He is also an a$$h01e [orig. muddled egg]. Not only he is an a$$h01e, he is a big a$$h01e.”

Lu Xiaofeng has been standing afar off, suddenly he interupted, “Not only he is a big a$$h01e, he is an especially big a$$h01e.”

The man readily agreed, “Totally correct.”

“If he is an a$$h01e,” Lu Xiaofeng continued, “What about you?”

The man sighed. “It seems like I am too,” he admitted.

Lu Xiaofeng was going to say something else, Liu Qingqing was already screaming, “You are not an a$$h01e, you are a good man. I know you will absolutely let us stay for the night here.”

“You want to stay overnight in this place?” the man asked in disbelief.

“Uh huh,” Liu Qingqing said.

“You really want to?” the man asked again.

“Of course I really want to,” Liu Qingqing replied.

The man looked at her in shock, as if it was more shocking than seeing someone digging earthworms from the dirt.

Liu Qingqing could not help asking, “We are lost, there are no other houses around here, we want to stay here for the night, what is so strange about that?”

The man nodded, and then he shook his head, finally he muttered under his breath, “Not strange, not strange at all.”

Although his mouth said ‘not strange’, his expression looked very strange indeed.

Liu Qingqing could not help but ask, “Is this place haunted?”

“No, it’s not,” the man replied, “Not a single ghost in here.”

“In that case, would you let us stay one night in here?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man chuckled. He said, “As long as you really want to, you can stay here as long as you wish.”

He turned around and walked into the gloomy and desolate courtyard, while still mumbling to himself, as if he was saying, “I am just afraid that you might not even stay for half a sichen, because so far there has never been anybody who can stay here for long.”

Across the courtyard there were seven rooms, and there were quite a few lanterns in each room.

Surprisingly, there was still oil in the lanterns.

And surprisingly, the man lighted every single on of the lanterns in the room. And then he sighed in contentment, “No matter what kind of ghost place, as long as there are lighted lanterns around, it will look a lot better.”

Actually, the place did not look too bad. Although there was thick layer of dust accumulated everywhere, the beautiful and expensive looking decoration and furnishing did not look worn-out at all. In fact, it could be said that they were of the contemporary style.

Liu Qingqing tried to sound out the man, “Did you say that there has never been anybody who stay here?”

The man admitted.

It was only natural that Liu Qingqing probed further, “Why?”

The man replied, “Because there is something here that no one has ever been able to stand.”

“What is it?” Liu Qingqing asked, “And where is it?”

The man pointed with his finger, “Right there.”

He was pointing to a crystal case, which was on the sacrificial table right in the middle of the main hall.

The crystal was polished and ground that it was extremely thin, it was almost completely transparent. Inside the case there was something that looked like a withered flower petal.

“What flower is that?”

“That’s not flower; it’s not anything you can think of.”

“What is it then?”

“It’s a human eyeball.”

Liu Qingqing’s eyes grew big, but the pupil of her eyes shrank; she could not help taking two steps back in fright.

“Whose eyeball?”

“A woman’s, a very famous woman. This woman’s most famous feature was precisely her eyes.”

“Why was it famous?”

“Because she was the Divine Eyes. It was said that not only she could do embroidery in the dark, she could even hit a mosquito’s head with a needle from thirty steps away.”

“Are you talking about the Divine Eyes, Third Mistress Shen?”

“Other than she, who else?”

“Who put her eyeball in here?”

“Other than her husband, who else?”

“Wasn’t her husband the Jade Forest Swordsman Ye Lingfeng?”

“That’s right. There is also only one Ye Lingfeng in Jianghu. Fortunately there is only one.”

Liu Qingqing clasped her hands together tightly, the palm of her hands were wet.

Did she know the web of gratitude and grudges between Ye Lingfeng and Old Sabre Honcho? They reached this place, was it a coincidence? Or some unseen people secretly arranged all these?

The man who dug earthworms had his face completely covered with mud, nobody could see the expression on his face.

But his voice was rather hoarse, as he continued his narration, “There are a total of ninety-three rooms in this building, each room has a crystal case just like this.”

Each room had one? Liu Qingqing immediately burst into the second room. Sure enough, she saw an identical crystal case in it.

But the object inside the case was a whitered ear.

Like a specter the man who dug earthworms followed behind her, “When Third Mistress Shen died, Ye Lingfeng cut her off into ninety-three pieces …”

Liu Qingqing could not help crying out, “Why did he do that?”

The man who dug earthworms sighed and said, “Because he loved her too much, he wanted to see her all the time, no matter where he was or where he went, he wanted to see her. Even though he could only see one eye, one ear, he was satisfied.”

Liu Qingqing bit her lower lip, she nearly could not refrain from throwing up.

Lu Xiaofeng suddenly asked, “I heard that Third Mistress Shen’s cousin [orig. maternal older male cousin] is Wudang’s famous swordsman Wooden Taoist.”

The man who dug earthworms nodded.

[ycb5959]

Thanks!!!!

Ahem...this sounds really familiar (from the other novels on LXF)

The man nodded. He said, “I have already dug 783 big earthworms.”

Liu Qingqing was even more shocked, “What are you going to do with so many worms?” she asked.

“That many worms is still not enough,” the man replied, “I still need to dig 713 to have enough.”

“Why?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man replied, “Because I made a bet with someone, whoever loses will have to dig 1500 earthworms, mustn’t be less even one.”

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

Thanks for the memories ... er .. earthworms, ycb5959. And thks foxs for another update.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs for another update. Vacation indeed.

[Clown Prince]

Thanks Foxs! For the story and the earthworms.....

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[foxs]

ycb, HPC, DongBin, Ysabel, Clown, Anh, Jaya, you are welcome. Yes, you are not supposed to read the other books first ...

---

Lu Xiaofeng continued, “I heard that the two of them got married, it was Wooden Taoist who became the matchmaker.”

“That’s right,” the man who dug earthworms said.

Lu Xiaofeng said, “Ye Lingfeng did that, wasn’t he afraid Wooden Taoist would deal with him?”

The man who dug earthworms said, “By the time Wooden Taoist wanted to deal with him, it was already too late. In less than three months after Third Mistress Shen died, he went insane, he crashed his own head against the rock garden at the back of his house, his head was thoroughly mashed.”

“If someone had his head thoroughly mashed, naturally nobody would recognize his true identity, hence nobody can prove whether the man who died was really him.”

All along Liu Qingqing was holding her breath, finally she started breathing again, and immediately asked, “After he died, why didn’t anybody move these cases away?”

The man who dug earthworms said, “Because the people who wanted to move these cases away are now lying inside cases.”

“What kind of cases?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man who dug earthworms replied, “Something long, made of wood, usually designed to contain dead people. Most people, when they are dead, will be lying in a case like these.”

Liu Qingqing forced a chuckle and then said, “At least it is much better than being inside a crystal case like this.”

The man who dug earthworms said, “Unfortunately, not too much.”

“Why?” Liu Qingqing asked.

The man who dug earthworms replied, “Because being strangled alive by a pair of ghost’s hands did not feel pleasant at all.”

Liu Qingqing said, “But you said it yourself a moment ago that there is not a single ghost in this place.”

The man who dug earthworms said, “Indeed there is not a single ghost in here, but this place has at least forty-nine ghosts. Moreover, they are ghosts who died of injustice.”

“How many people were here originally?” Liu Qingqing asked.

“Forty-nine,” the earthworm-digger man replied.

“And now all these people have died?” Liu Qingqing asked.

“If there is an eyeball inside a crystal case staring at you every day, can you stand it?” the man who dug earthworms asked.

“I can’t stand it,” Liu Qingqing replied, “I will definitely go crazy.”

“If you can’t stand it, others won’t be able to stand it either,” the earthworm-digger said, “Therefore, everybody wanted to remove these cases. However, no matter who, as soon as he touched the case, his tongue would stuck out half a chi [Chinese foot, approx. 1 foot or 1/3 of a meter] long, and instantly his breathing would stop. Just like this.”

He stuck his own tongue out, and it was very long indeed. His face was completely covered in black mud, but his tongue was as red as blood. Only someone who was strangled to death would have that kind of appearance.

Liu Qingqing looked away immediately, she did not dare to even take a glance; yet she still could not resist asking, “What about you? Have you tried to move these cases?”

The man who dug earthworms shook his head, and then nodded. His tongue was still stuck out, basically he could not speak.

“All the people in here have died,” Liu Qingqing said, “How come you are still alive? You are not ghost, are you?”

The earthworm-digger suddenly took out his hand from his bosom, and tossed something full of blackish-green stuffs toward Liu Qingqing. These stuffs were surprisingly alive, they were warm, soft, and slippery. They were live earthworms!

Liu Qingqing screamed; she was so scared that she almost fainted.

She was actually not a kind of woman who get easily scared, but these moist, soft and slippery earthworms were just too much.

By the time she was dodging these worms, the earthworm-digger has already disappeared. The light flickered a couple of times, all the lanterns in the room suddenly went out.

She turned around. Lu Xiaofeng and the others were gone, she was all alone.

Fortunately, there was still light in the room next door. She rushed over, but the lantern in that room suddenly went out as well.

Although there were still lights in the rooms ahead, but by the time she rushed over, the lanterns went out one after another. In this way, all seven rooms she saw earlier had turned into complete darkness. Suddenly she could not see anything, not even the hand she stretched out in front of her eyes.

-- Was that eyeball in the crystal case still staring at her?

-- How about those forty-nine people who died in injustice, whose tongues were sticking out? Were they also staring at her in the dark?

She could not see them.

She was not the Divine Eyes.

-- That damned Lu Xiaofeng, where did he die?

“Hey old man, dead old man, the old man surnamed Lu, aren’t you going to come out?” She shouted, but there was no response.

There was not a single response. Housekeeper, Hook, Cousin; wonder where they went?

-- Have they all been strangled to death by a pair of invisible ghost hands?

-- Could it be that this was all a deathly trap?

She wanted to rush out, but three times she tried, she always hit the wall. Her entire body was drenched in cold sweats.

Her last attempt resulted in she tripped and fell down. Her legs went weak, she nearly did not have any strength to crawl back up.

Suddenly a hand was reaching out to her in the dark, pulling her up.

-- Was it Lu Xiaofeng?

It wasn’t.

Ice-cold and dry hand, with nails at least a cun [1 cun is approx. 1 inch] long.

She couldn’t help screaming at the top of her lungs, “Who are you?”

“You can’t see me, but I can see you,” a voice was sort of laughing in the dark, “I am the Divine Eyes.”

It was a female voice.

Was this hand reaching out from inside a crystal case?

The laughter continued, she tried with all her strength to grope forward. She pounced an empty space.

That ice-cold and dry hand reached out from behind her and caressed her neck lightly.

She really was not the kind of woman who got scared so easily that she passed out, but right now she fainted for real.

The tenth day of the fourth month. Clear.

When Liu Qingqing woke up, the sun was shining outside her window.

The window was moving, the trees outside were also moving – as if they were flying backwards.

She rubbed her eyes, and suddenly found herself to be in the carriage again. Lu Xiaofeng was sitting opposite her, he was staring at her with a wide grin on his face.

She bit her lower lip. It hurt, very much.

It was not a dream.

She sprang up, and glowered at Lu Xiaofeng.

Lu Xiaofeng smiled. “Morning,” he said.

“Morning?” Liu Qingqing said, “Is it morning?”

Lu Xiaofeng laughed, “Actually, it can’t be considered morning anymore. Last night you slept like a dead person.”

Liu Qingqing clenched her teeth, “What about you?” she asked.

“I also slept a bit,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

Liu Qingqing suddenly jumped up and pounced; she pounced on him, and strangled him on the neck, while saying ferociously, “Speak up, speak up quickly, what is this all about?”

“What it’s all about?” Lu Xiaofeng asked back.

“About last night,” Liu Qingqing replied.

Lu Xiaofeng sighed. “I was about to ask you,” he said, “What’s the matter with you? Why did you bump your head against the wall without any good reason and passed out just like that?”

Liu Qingqing shrieked; she said, “I am not crazy, why would I want to bump my own head against the wall?”

With a bitter laugh Lu Xiaofeng said, “If you yourself did not know, how in the world would I know?”

“I ask you,” Liu Qingqing said, “Those lanterns in the room, how could they go out together like that?”

“The lanters ran out of oil,” Lu Xiaofeng replied, “Naturally they went out.”

“What about that man who dug earthworms?” Liu Qingqing asked.

Lu Xiaofeng said, “When the lanterns went out, naturally he wanted to find more oil.”

“Did he find some?” Liu Qingqing asked.

“It was precisely because he found some oil that we were able to find you,” Lu Xiaofeng replied.

“Is he really a human?” Liu Qingqing asked.

“Not only he is a human, he is also a good human,” Lu Xiaofeng replied, “Not only he found oil for the lanterns, he cooked a big pot of rice porridge, each of us had eaten several bowls.”

Liu Qingqing stared blankly; she stared blankly for half a day before asking, “When the lanterns went out, where were you?”

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[Clown Prince]

Thanks Foxs!

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

Thks foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs for another update.

[ycb5959]

Thanks!
Minor error:

“That’s right,” he man who dug earthworms said.
should be "the" (unless he-man (of stellar transformation) has got a new hobby)

-- That damned Lu Xiaofeng, where did he die?
Not sure, but it should probably be "go to?" or "disappear to"

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[owlHoot]

Hee thks Foxs, it was more challenging that I thought but it was nice to revisit the story Thanks for the translation, the story is getting more and more confusing

[foxs]

Anh, Clown, HPC, DongBin, Ysabel, Jaya, you are welcome. ycb, first one is fixed, second one, I understand it is kind of awkward in English, but the original was 'die'; besides, 'go to' is not as strong as 'die', remember that LQQ hated (or at least very upset with) LXF. owl, you mean revisiting the story you are translating? Hang in there, don't give up. How much is left? Is it a short or a long book? Short, LXF series, long, Deer and Cauldron.

Anyway, shorter update today, marking the end of Chapter 12. It's been a very busy week for me ...

---

“In the back,” Lu Xiaofeng replied.

“I was at the front,” Liu Qingqing said, “What did you do in the back?”

Lu Xiaofeng said, “You were at the front, why must we also be at the front? We are not your shadow [orig. bum beetle], why can’t we go to the back to look around?”

Liu Qingqing suddenly shouted, “Housekeeper, Housemaid, Good Son, all of you, come in!”

The carriage stopped, all the people she called came over. She asked them the same question she had just asked Lu Xiaofeng, but their answer was the same. They did not understand why she bumped her head against the wall with no good reason and passed out.

Liu Qingqing was so mad that she almost passed out again, yet she could not resist asking, “Didn’t you all see the hand?”

“What hand?” Housekeeper asked.

“The ghost hand strangling my neck,” Liu Qingqing said.

Lu Xiaofeng suddenly laughed. “Yes, I saw that,” he said.

His smile was very mysterious, “Not only I saw it, I brought it with me,” he said.

Immediately Liu Qingqing’s eyes brightened, “Where is it?” she asked.

“Right here,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

He smiled, and from his pocket he took a hanging curtains cord, on the cord there were several cun-long hooks, the hooks looked like fingernails. “Aren’t these the ghost hand that wrapped around your neck?”

Liu Qingqing was speechless.

Hai Qikuo suddenly roared in laughter and said, “I can’t believe the Jiangnan Heroine with grand reputation Liu Qingqing could be scared and fainted by a string of window cord.”

“Actually, you should have thought about it,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

“Why?” Hai Qikuo asked.

Lu Xiaofeng said, “Because she is a woman, plus her age cannot be considered young.”

He sighed, and then with a wry smile said, “If a woman reaches her age, it is often very difficult not to be paranoid.”

The eleventh day of the fourth month. Clear.

Dusk.

From yesterday morning until now, the number of sentences Liu Qingqing spoke put together was still less than what she usually said during one mealtime.

Her countenance was also very unsightly. It was unclear whether she was still scared and her heart has not calmed down, or whether it was getting closer to the D-Day?

At the moment they were only half a day away from Mount Wudang. Old Sabre Honcho did not leave any message, nor did he give them any final instructions. Therefore, not only she changed, others were a bit nervous and tense as well.

Nobody knew what their chance of success would be in this operation.

Shi He (sic), Tie Jian, Wang Shidai, Gao Xingkong … these people could be considered the elites, the very top of Wulin experts. [Translator’s note: I could have sworn earlier it was Shi Yan …]

Moreover, in addition to those seven people, nobody knew for sure how many more martial art experts have arrived on Mount Wudang.

“Do you think Ximen Chuixue would come too?”

“He wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because the one he is looking for is Lu Xiaofeng, he can’t possibly think that Lu Xiaofeng is on Mount Wudang.”

Naturally the one who said those words was Lu Xiaofeng.

Perhaps the reason he said it was because in his heart he himself was hoping it was so.

Evenings was the time when the city was most bustling with activities. Their carriage was passing through the city center.

“Even if Ximen Chuixue is not coming, Wooden Taoist will definitely be there. Although for the last several years he has almost completely retired, but in such an important event of Sect Leader inauguration like this, he can’t possibly not get involved.”

“Of course.”

“If Wooden Taoist is here, then presumably Ancient Pine Hermit will also be here. Just these two, it’s already not easy to deal with.”

“I think Old Sabre Honcho must have had a way to deal with them, otherwise, why didn’t he include these two in the list?”

“No matter what, we shouldn’t even think about this matter now,” Lu Xiaofeng opened his mouth.

“What should we think about then?”

“We should think about where are we going to eat?”

At the moment Cousin, Housekeeper, Hai Qikuo were all riding in the carriage. They seemed to be about to open their mouth, but suddenly all of them shut up at the same time. Six eyes were looking at the doorway of a restaurant across the street.

The carriage was traveling very slowly, by the time they passed, there were three people entering the restaurant.

One man had red face and bald head, his gaze was sharp like an eagle’s. Another man was as tall like a bamboo pole, and he was as thin as a bamboo pole. He swayed to the left and wobbled to the right, as if a gust of wind would be able to knock him down.

The third person was holding on these two people’s shoulders, as if he was drunk; yet he dressed as a Taoist priest whose hair was completely white.

Lu Xiaofeng knew all these three; Cousin, Housekeeper and Hai Qikuo also knew them.

The one with the eagle’s eyes was Ying Yan Laoqi [lit. Hawk Eye the seventh], the Zongpiaobazi [head honcho/big boss] of the Twelve-Dock Alliance.

The one that looked like his walk was unsteady was actually the Yandang Mountain Lord, Gao Xingkong, whose qinggong had shaken both sides of the Yangtze River.

The old Taoist priest who looked totally drunk was the person they were just talking about, the famous senior of Wudang, Wooden Taoist.

Although Cousin’s eyes were fixed on these three, in his heart he was hoping the carriage would travel a little faster.

Who would have thought that suddenly Lu Xiaofeng said, “Order the driver to stop.”

Cousin jumped in fright. “Why?” he asked.

“Because we are going to eat at this restaurant,” Lu Xiaofeng replied.

Cousin was even more shocked, “Don’t you recognize those three people?”

“I recognize them,” Lu Xiaofeng replied, “But they don’t recognize me.”

“In case they recognize you?” Cousin asked.

“If they can recognize us right now, then when we arrived at Wudang, they will also recognize us,” Lu Xiaofeng replied.

Cousin pondered over it. Finally he understood what he meant, “You want to test whether they could recognize us?”

Lu Xiaofeng nonchalantly said, “In any case we need to take a risk of being recognized by them. If we are being recognized here, at least it would be much better than if we are being recognized in Wudang.”

He had just finished speaking, Liu Qingqing had already knocked the carriage loudly and called out, “Stop the carriage.”

Until then, everybody thought Lu Xiaofeng’s plan was obviously a great idea, hence nobody raised any objection.

Because by that time they had not entered the restaurant yet.

But when they went up, it was already too late to regret. And the one who regretted his decision the most was, unexpectedly, Lu Xiaofeng.

[szfong]

Thanks for another update... Can't wait to see what happens next...

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs