Chapter 2781 — A Strange Encounter in the Graveyard

Zhong Yongliang was deeply dejected. It had been over a month since he returned to the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect, yet aside from that first meeting when Celestial Worthy Chunyang had received him and settled him in the back mountain, he had never been summoned again.

Every day, the only person he saw was Gao Xiaofu; apart from him, not even a ghost's shadow appeared. At first he had thought Celestial Worthy Chunyang regarded him with special favor and had arranged a hidden paradise for him, but as time wore on he realized that this back mountain was nothing more than the burial ground of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect's past patriarchs—no place for cultivation at all. Only the most ordinary disciples were allotted courtyards in the back mountain, and his own courtyard was the most remote of all, with the graveyard just a short distance away!

Fortunately, Zhang Naiyu had not forgotten his leader Zhong Yongliang and came often to visit him, which brought Zhong Yongliang some comfort. Still, being overlooked like this was truly hard to bear. Though Zhang Naiyu said little, Zhong Yongliang could tell that he must have tried to plead his case—only Celestial Worthy Chunyang had given no response.

And so Zhong Yongliang could not bring himself to leave, yet staying here was meaningless. The cultivation method Zhang Naiyu practiced was beyond him, and he could only practice the crudest of mantras and formulas with Gao Xiaofu—each day dragging on like a year.

One evening, Zhong Yongliang was so bored he ached all over, and he said to Gao Xiaofu, "Xiaofu, I hear that patch out there is a graveyard. How about the two of us go exploring tonight?"

Zhong Yongliang was a man of rather faint courage, yet he loved a good fright. He had once enjoyed watching horror films alone at home—that mad psychology of a man who courts terror even as he shrinks from it.

"Go exploring?" Gao Xiaofu was also bored out of his wits. Though the thought of exploring a graveyard was frightening, the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect truly offered no entertainment—no television, no computer, and no signal on their phones, so no internet. To communicate with the outside world one had to borrow a satellite phone, for the sect forbade private phones.

So Gao Xiaofu, utterly bored, thought it over and agreed: "Fine. Shall we set out now?"

"Let's go. Your Brother Liang is about to suffocate—tonight I need a proper thrill!" Zhong Yongliang cursed. "Damn it, there are no women here either, so terror is all we have to play with!"

As they spoke, the two took up flashlights and left the courtyard, heading toward the graveyard.

The graveyard here was not as terrifying as those mass graves littered with bleached bones and burial mounds, but the forest of gravestones was frightening enough, especially in this open, empty place. When the wind blew through, it gave out a wailing sound—rather like the cries of ghosts.

"Brother Liang... isn't this place a bit too remote? Nothing bad will happen, will it?" Gao Xiaofu was growing timid, and the sound of the wind made him shiver uncontrollably.

"What could happen? We've lived right beside it every day and nothing's ever happened. Besides, this is the burial ground of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect's past patriarchs—they're our own grandmasters. Even if something did happen, it would be something good!" Zhong Yongliang waved his hand. "And besides, if it weren't scary, where would the thrill be? What would we be exploring for?"

"That's true, I suppose..." Gao Xiaofu nodded, steeling himself, though he was still afraid. "Brother Liang, how about I walk in front and you, since you're bold, bring up the rear and guard us?"

Gao Xiaofu kept feeling as though someone were behind him; he would turn around, and there would be nothing. He was truly afraid that a pale-faced female ghost would suddenly appear at his back and bite him.

"Coward. Fine, you go in front, I'll watch your back!" Zhong Yongliang nodded and let Gao Xiaofu take the lead. Zhong Yongliang was afraid too, but it was precisely this feeling he wanted—the more frightened he was, the better it felt, filling his heart with an inexplicable thrill.

And so the two walked toward the graveyard, one behind the other. Though the gravestones here were neatly arranged, the whole cemetery was built on the back mountain, and the mountain paths rose and fell unevenly, so the two could not walk fast.

"Brother Liang, you're still there, aren't you..." Gao Xiaofu's voice trembled. Every stretch of the way, he had to speak up and ask, to make sure Zhong Yongliang was still behind him.

"I'm here," Zhong Yongliang said.

"Ha, good..." Gao Xiaofu breathed a sigh of relief. Walking in front with someone guarding the rear, he was not so afraid anymore. "Brother Liang, look—this grave looks like it was built not long ago, and it's bigger than all the others. Seems this was someone of grandmaster rank! I just wonder which grandmaster passed away here in recent years?"

From behind Gao Xiaofu came no sound at all.

"Brother Liang?" Gao Xiaofu froze. Hearing no answer for a long while, he grew anxious and called out again, his voice shaking: "Brother Liang, are you there?"

Still no answer!

Gao Xiaofu broke out in a cold sweat at once; his clothes were soaked through in an instant. He gasped for breath, his whole body seeming to go numb, and though he wanted to turn around, he could not summon the courage...

"Brother Liang, please, don't scare me, I'm scared..." Gao Xiaofu was on the verge of tears. He assumed Zhong Yongliang was pretending to be silent to frighten him—though that was merely his best-case guess. He knew that, by rights, Zhong Yongliang should not be scaring him.

But the only answer to Gao Xiaofu was silence; behind him there was not a stir.

Drawing a deep breath, Gao Xiaofu turned around to see what was going on—but when he turned, he abruptly discovered that Zhong Yongliang was gone!

The vast graveyard was utterly empty. Under the moonlight the surroundings were faintly visible, yet there was not a single human figure anywhere. Zhong Yongliang had vanished into thin air just like that!

"Mother of God! Brother Liang, where did you go?" Gao Xiaofu was so frightened he dropped to the ground...

Zhong Yongliang felt one foot come down on a patch of soft earth, and then his whole body sank as if into quicksand. He plummeted down and landed hard on a solid surface, and then he lost consciousness...

But after that brief lapse of consciousness, Zhong Yongliang woke again. His mind was in utter confusion, as if some strange sensation had suddenly come over him—that he had become another person, and yet he still seemed to be Zhong Yongliang...

Dazedly opening his eyes, Zhong Yongliang gave a start: he found himself standing, it seemed, inside an underground cave, and in the cave lay a set of bare white bones!

Yet facing these bones, Zhong Yongliang felt no fear at all. Instead, a boundless sense of familiarity came over him, as though the bones were himself.