Chapter 2705 — Finding the Notes

The Sky Thunder Pig had lived here for hundreds, even thousands of years, and knew the place inside and out. It took the lead, clearing the way ahead, and with the Sky Thunder Pig out in front, no one needed to worry about running into any danger.

In fact, the last time Wei Zhao had departed this place, he had encountered no danger either. Though the passage was fitted with traps and hidden weapons, they had all been lured away and triggered by Yu Huoxing; such mechanisms were one-use only, and once spent they no longer worked.

So it was that the three of them soon reached the spots where the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death had once stood. Grim as the ancient tomb was, their passage proved smooth enough. White Leader was beside himself with excitement and delight; prepared as he was, knowing that Wei Zhao and Yu Xiaoke had both been here a second time, he had still never expected things to go so smoothly.

"So how should we go from here?" White Leader asked eagerly.

"This way lies the Gate of Death, where the coffin of our patriarch Zhang Lifeng rests—and where the Sky Thunder Pig once made its home. There's nothing much inside. Over here, on the other hand, is where Patriarch Zhang Lifeng used to store his belongings. My Fuxi Nine Needles, the Qi-Gathering Pills, and other such things were all discovered here." Wei Zhao said, "Let's search for the items first, and pay our respects to Patriarch Zhang Lifeng at the very end. How does that sound?"

"Fine, I'll follow your arrangements!" Though White Leader would have liked to pay his respects to the patriarch first, he knew Wei Zhao was anxious about his own constitution and wanted to find that book on the subject first. In truth, by proper reckoning of lineage, Wei Zhao was Zhang Lifeng's true inheriting disciple, while White Leader was a descendant many generations removed; much as Wei Zhao honored him as a master, White Leader did not dare press his seniority too far.

"Then let's go have a look!" With that, Wei Zhao led White Leader onward, arriving at the bookshelf they had visited before. Then he said to White Leader, "Teacher Bai, why don't you check first whether it's up here?"

Wei Zhao had given this shelf only a quick glance back then; it held no medical notes of Zhang Lifeng's, but whether it contained Zhang Lifeng's *Record of Strange Tales and Marvels*, he could not say. He simply had no impression of such a book being here.

White Leader nodded and began searching the shelf carefully, from beginning to end, sparing not a single title on any spine. There were not many books here, and it did not take him long to scan them all. When he finished, White Leader shook his head and said, "It's not here..."

"Oh. Then let's try the display room." Wei Zhao had not really held out much hope; he was merely proceeding step by step from the beginning.

Just as they were about to leave, Yu Xiaoke suddenly let out a startled cry: "Huh!?"

"What is it, Xiaoke?" Wei Zhao turned and looked at her.

"This bookshelf—it looks like someone has touched it!" Yu Xiaoke said, pointing at one of the books on the bottommost row.

"What? Someone touched it?" A chill broke out over Wei Zhao at once, and his hair stood on end! He was a cultivator and did not fear ghosts or spirits—but he could not claim such things did not exist. Otherwise, where had that ghostly thing in the jade pendant come from?

"Yes!" Yu Xiaoke said gravely. "This bookshelf must have gone untouched for hundreds, even a thousand years, so a layer of dust has settled over both the shelf and the spines. But look here, beneath this book..."

Wei Zhao and White Leader bent down at the same time and looked closely at the book Yu Xiaoke was pointing to. Sure enough, on the wooden board in front of that book, there was a mark where something had shifted. Everywhere else bore a layer of accumulated dust; only in front of this book was there a vertical groove, as though someone had recently pulled the book out and carried the dust away with it...

At the sight, White Leader seemed unperturbed, but Wei Zhao felt a chill run through his whole body. This ancient tomb... could someone else have come here?!

Because on the first visit to the tomb, neither Yu Xiaoke, nor Old Black, nor Yu Huoxing had disturbed the books on the shelf. Yu Huoxing had examined the titles carefully enough, but he had never touched them with his hands—Wei Zhao remembered that clearly. And now, here was a book that had been moved...

Judging by the mark, the book had been pulled out and put back no more than three months ago—the dust alone made that plain. So it could not be a trace left over from their last visit. The only explanation was that someone had entered the tomb again, taken this book out, and put it back!

But what could the purpose of that be?

Yu Xiaoke's breathing had quickened as well. Of the few people who knew about the tomb, all had been arrested and sentenced to death. She and the male thief had certainly never come back. Could it have been Yu Huoxing—or the female thief?

Yu Huoxing was the name that came to Wei Zhao's mind too, but the man was as timid as a mouse; there was no reason he would return to the tomb alone. Besides, everything useful in the tomb had been taken away last time—what would be the point of his coming back?

And Wei Zhao had heard that Yu Huoxing was being kept under house arrest by the Hidden Rain clan. Even if he wanted to leave, he would have no chance...

"Never mind. Let's first see what kind of book this is," Wei Zhao said.

Yu Xiaoke drew the book out. Wei Zhao kept his attention fixed on the jade pendant the whole time—thankfully, there was no reaction, which meant no danger. What he feared most was that the book was a trap someone had set, deliberately baited to hook whoever came along.

It was a *Record of Strange Tales and Marvels* written by a wandering physician. But the moment Wei Zhao opened the first page, he saw that something was different! The book was indeed a wandering physician's record of strange tales, yet the blank spaces within were densely filled with handwriting—all in tiny, fly's-head script, identical to the hand in the volume of Zhang Lifeng's alchemy notes Wei Zhao had found before. Plainly, this too had come from Zhang Lifeng's brush!

"This is it—this is the patriarch's *Record of Strange Tales and Marvels*!" White Leader stared excitedly at the book in Wei Zhao's hands and pointed at the writing. "The patriarch added his supplements to someone else's record, setting down some of his own unique insights. And the whole question of an alchemist's constitution—that was first mentioned in this very record. Naturally, once Patriarch Zhang Lifeng saw it, he would refine and complete it."

"So that's how it is. Which means, by a strange twist of fate, we really have found what we were looking for!" Wei Zhao said, staring at the *Record of Strange Tales and Marvels* with a look of astonishment.