Chapter 37: Dead Valley [死谷]
Dead Valley was still Dead Valley; no gold, no buildings, no anything. The carriage they were chasing, once it entered Dead Valley’s narrow mountain pass, it mysteriously vanished.
Early in the morning, the sun had risen. Sunlight was shining on the bright black stones, shimmering as if it was gold. Unfortunately black stones were still just black stones, no matter how much they glimmered they were not gold. Where were the gold?
If this place never had any gold, how did No Thirteen bought off all those people? If this place did have all these gold that people mentioned, how come they haven’t even seen a speck of gold?
Ma Rulong wasn’t concerned about the gold; it was Dawan. He believed once he find the carriage he’ll find Dawan.
— Where did the carriage go? How can a four-horses, six-wheels, large carriage vanish into thin air under the bright sunlight?128
Ma Rulong suddenly said, “Below.”
“What’s below?”
“Carriage, gold, people are all below.” Ma Rulong said, “They must’ve built a large scale secret structure underground.”
This was not delusion. Gold could destroy a lot that originally couldn’t be destroyed. Gold can also create a lot that originally couldn’t be created.
If there was a secret underground structure, the only person that could find the entrance was Yu Liu, but Yu Liu shook his head.
“You’re wrong,” He said,” They are definitely not below us. They are above.”
“Above?”
Ma Rulong turned his head around, looked toward where Yu Liu was looking, then saw the shaft around a blood red belt holding the curved sabre. That Persian slave, who can draw his sabre as quick as lightning, was standing on a rock beside the narrow mountain pass greeting them.
“Ma Rulong!” The Persian slave’s voice was loud and clear. “Who is Ma Rulong? If you want to find Dawan, follow me. If any one else comes along, Dawan will die.”
* * *
Sky was clear blue, sunny and bright, life was colorful, who wanted to die? However there was always that kind of people, people put their life on the line. As long as they believed something must be done, they would do it even knowing they would die.
Ma Rulong was this type of people. He slowly turned around, facing his friends, they all understood what kind of person he was. Tie Zhentian originally didn’t want to say anything, because no matter what he would say it didn’t matter. However, there was something he had to say.
“That person is a madman.” Tie Zhentian said, “He never need a reason to kill anyone.”
“I know.”
“Besides this time he has a reason to kill you.” Tie Zhentian said, “Because you already fooled him once, this time he wouldn’t let you go. After he kills you, he can still kill Dawan.”
“I know.”
“You still want to go?”
Ma Rulong gazed at him. “If you were me, would you go?”
Tie Zhentian sighed. “I would still go, definitely would go.”
He came over and strongly grabbed onto Ma Rulong’s hand, Yu Liu also came over and grabbed his other hand, then silently walked away. They also knew Xie Yulun still had a lot to say to him. They didn’t want to hear, couldn’t bear hearing.
The sunlight was shining on Xie Yulun’s face, such a beautiful sunlight, her complexion was nevertheless pale as the cold moon.
“I also know you would definitely go.” This time she didn’t shed any tears, on the contrary smiled. “If I was in their hand, you would also go.” She continued, “I just hope you understand one thing.”
“What?”
“No matter whether you are dead or alive, no matter who’s in your heart, I am already yours.” Xie Yulun smiled again. “Have you ever asked yourself, other than you, who else can I marry?”
Ma Rulong left. He left without saying a word. He couldn’t answer her question and couldn’t bear looking at her smile. After he left, the sky was still blue, sunlight was still beautiful, and the black rocks on the ground still gleamed like gold. Nothing in the world would all of a sudden change due to the life or death of a single person. He left for a long while without coming back.
Xie Yulun suddenly said, “We should go.”
Tie Zhentian asked, “You want us to leave? Why should we leave?”
Xie Yulun replied, “You should all know he would not come back, why are we still waiting here? What’s the point waiting?”
Yu Liu suddenly yelled, “There is a point!”
Xie Yulun again asked, “What’s the point?”
Yu Liu said, “I’ve found it!”
Xie Yulun asked, ”What have you found?”
Yu Liu did not say any word, he replied with his action — He already found out what was Dead Valley’s secret, already found the secret hinge button.
* * *
The black stones under the sun was lit up by the sunlight, thousands and myriads of black stone all looked the same. In reality, it was not the same.
If you also have Yu Liu’s experience and eyesight, you would be able to see within these thousands and myriads of stone, there were forty-nine pieces that were not the same. Ma Rulong wasn’t wrong. Dead Valley’s secret was indeed on the ground, the secret underground chamber’s entrance lies within these forty-nine different stones. Yu Liu already found this secret’s trigger; unfortunately Ma Rulong wasn’t able to see it.
Within this dangerous path on a desolate mountain side, not even a blade of grass grows. Ma Rulong silently followed the Persian slave walking forward, not even knowing where he was going, and not knowing how long he had been walking. However, he did know where the carriage they were chasing was. The carriage did not disappear or enter the valley, but turned around this dangerous rock and went into this mountain path.
Hard to believe that on this mountain path, which people seldomly traveled on since ancient time, was actually perfectly wide enough for this carriage to easily travel on. In other words, the fact this magnificent carriage could even manage to travel on this road was also something few people would even think of. This mountain path’s width and slope seemed to be carefully designed specifically for this carriage. That carriage’s width, speed, also seemed to be made specifically for this path.
However at the end of mountain path, there wasn’t any grand palace. There wasn’t even a house. It only had what seemed to be a very deep cave, which was also enough for that carriage to pass through. Sunlight didn’t enter the cave. Ma Rulong couldn’t see what was happening inside the cave. He only saw No Thirteen, who seemed very relax, standing in front of the cave with both hands behind his back.
Ma Rulong was finally able to take a clear look at this person. No Thirteen was also looking at him. The two people, face to face, were gazing at each other for a while. No Thirteen suddenly had this weird smile, which no one could really explain. He suddenly spoke what no one would ever imagine him saying. He suddenly asked Ma Rulong, “This show we had going on, shouldn’t we complete its final act?”
[End of Chapter 37]
Footnote
128. I remember earlier in the text, there were 32 wheels for 4 carriages…so wouldn’t that be 8 wheels per carriage. Since Xie Yulun mentioned the speed of the carriage when she was on it, this would be the same carriage. So why is it six wheels now?…I dunno…