Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The unhinged sisters crawled out through the hole in the side wall.
Lu Lingzhu gnashed her teeth. “Damn it. Why is it you again?”
Qiao Moyu was on the verge of a breakdown. “Impossible. How is this even possible?!”
She slammed the compass to the ground, then quickly picked it back up and comforted herself.
“I’ve already lost five yuan. I can’t lose another thirty-eight eighty.”
Qiao Moyu circled the pit a few times, then crouched down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and brought it to her nose for a careful sniff. She even pinched off a bit and put it in her mouth.
A moment later, her expression gradually turned solemn.
“I was careless. This is actually a highest-grade Hidden Dragon Cave.”
Lu Lingzhu asked, “A Hidden Dragon Cave?”
Qiao Moyu nodded.
“Qianlong hides its scales beneath the nine abysses; heaven and earth hold their breath, and the world can scarcely find it.
“Do you remember that Ghost Tomb we dug up back in England?”
A Ghost Tomb was also called a Hidden Tomb. It was concealed using Qimen Dunjia.
Under normal circumstances, it couldn’t be discovered. Only on the fifteenth of each month, when yin energy was at its strongest, would it reveal any trace of itself.
A Hidden Dragon Cave was even rarer than a Hidden Tomb. The dragon vein was buried deep in a cold, yin place. There were no steles or stones on the surface, no obvious markers of any kind. It had to be fished out with Blood Bait.
“Blood Bait refers to a living person with a special bloodline, water in the Five Elements, and two deficiencies in their fate. You have the Blood Bait lie flat on the ground so as much of their skin as possible touches the earth. Their vital energy becomes the line, their bloodline the hook, and that draws the Qianlong out into the open.”
As she spoke, Qiao Moyu let out a long sigh.
“Two deficiencies in their fate: first, a lack of family; second, a lack of affinity.
“Anyone who can serve as Blood Bait comes from a family whose inherited fate is so hard it dooms their wives. Before twenty, their mother is guaranteed to die. Even if she doesn’t, families like theirs must have some sinister yin formation set up at home that shortens the lives of the women in the household.”
“Qianlong, Blood Bait-those are all things out of legends. Where are we supposed to find them?”
Qiao Moyu spread her hands.
“No chance. We came for nothing. Pack up. We’re going back.”
Lu Lingzhu suddenly grabbed her. Her gaze swept over me, then back to Qiao Moyu’s face, jumping between the two of us.
“Why don’t you take another look?”
Qiao Moyu snapped, “Look at what? I’m telling you, stop thinking about it. Hidden Dragon Caves are dangerous as hell. For the little bit of money the Yu Family is paying, it’s not worth us taking on a job that big, got it?”
As she spoke, she moved to put away the Luoyang Spade. Lu Lingzhu simply reached out and pointed at me.
“Look at him! He’s been lying flat here all night. Is it possible that he’s the Blood Bait?”
Qiao Moyu was stunned for a second, then burst out laughing.
“Are you that desperate for money? Blood Bait is one of the most mysterious professions in the yin trade, with the fewest surviving lineages. And after what happened before, the inheritance was badly broken. You couldn’t find more than a handful in all of China.
“And you think some random little boy in the middle of the night could be Blood Bait?”
Lu Lingzhu said, “Why couldn’t he?
“Have you forgotten? Yesterday, you actually managed to cash out, and Pinxixi said you were the luckiest person alive.”
Qiao Moyu said, “Oh, right. You make a good point.”
The two of them walked over and crouched down beside me, shining a flashlight on my face.
Lu Lingzhu excitedly pointed to the left side of my forehead.
“Look at him. His Sun and Moon Corners are sunken, so his birth mother must have died early. Kid, where’s your mom?”