393: Yin-Yang Fish, the Mystery of the Stone Slab

Master Fatty asked: "What conditions?"

Ye Bai pondered for a few seconds, then curled his lips into a smile: "Have you heard of the yin-yang fish?"

Upon hearing "yin-yang fish," Master Fatty scratched his head and pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly widening: "Are you talking about that Taoist pattern symbolizing the balance of Yin and Yang? What does that have to do with this stone slab? Could it be that the patterns on this stone slab hide the mystery of the yin-yang fish?"

Ye Bai stood up, brushed the dust off his hands, and looked solemn: "The patterns on this stone slab may look chaotic, but they actually align with the shape of the yin-yang fish. I suspect that to open the treasure hidden beneath, we must trigger specific stone slabs in the order of the flow of Yin and Yang."

"If we get one step wrong, I'm afraid we'll trigger a mechanism, and we'll all end up dead here."

Yang Mi poked her head out from beside the stone coffin, her face full of worry: "Ye Bai, this is too dangerous. We don't have absolute certainty. Why don't we go out first and find another way?"

Ye Bai looked up at her and smiled: "Big star Yang, we are at the final step now. Retreating doesn't fit the rules of our trade. Besides, with me here, I won't let everyone be in danger so easily."

As he spoke, he crouched down and traced the patterns on the stone slab with his fingers, as if looking for that key node.

Master Fatty also crouched down to help, muttering: "We are playing a game of wits with the ancients. I wonder which ancestor set up this tricky mechanism."

"If Master Fatty ever finds out, I will definitely have a word with him."

Ye Bai ignored Master Fatty's muttering. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and he pointed to a stone slab: "This one should be the eye of the Yang fish. Let's start here."

He took a specially made iron pry bar from his backpack, carefully inserted it into the gap of the stone slab, and pried it with force.

The stone slab didn't budge.

Ye Bai tried prying it in a different way, but it was still useless.

He frowned slightly, flipped the stone slab over, and carefully observed the arrangement of the textures.

Master Fatty curiously leaned over: "Hey, brother, what are you doing?"

Yang Mi also stretched her neck to look at the Stone Stele, only to see that in the hollow center of the Stone Stele, it looked as if a black pearl was embedded inside.

"There is a Bead here..." Yang Mi said in surprise: "Ye Bai, could this be the yin-yang fish you mentioned?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a "click" sound was heard, and the stone slab actually opened slowly!

Ye Bai showed joy and quickly took out the black pearl.

Master Fatty leaned over and exclaimed in admiration: "It's so beautiful, brother. Your luck is simply Heaven-Defying. To be able to encounter even this thing, I admire you, I really do."

Ye Bai didn't have time to respond to his flattery; instead, he carefully examined the Bead in his hand.

The Bead was cylindrical, rough on the outside and smooth on the inside, vaguely emitting a black mist, which was very eerie.

Yang Mi asked in confusion: "Do you recognize this thing?"

Ye Bai nodded: "This is called a yin-yang fish Bead. It is the Soul crystal of the yin-yang fish. It can break any Formation or Restriction."

"Wow!" Master Fatty's eyes lit up: "You can actually break a Formation?"

Although he hadn't studied ancient culture much, he knew a thing or two about Feng Shui, Yin and Yang, and Bagua.

Ye Bai didn't say anything.

Master Fatty excitedly rubbed his palms: "Hehehe, I just knew it. A person like you can become the protagonist wherever you go!"

Ye Bai rolled his eyes at him: "Shut up, don't make trouble."

After speaking, he put the yin-yang fish back in its original position and then groped for the other two stone slabs.

Three minutes later, all the stone slabs were opened.

Ye Bai breathed a sigh of relief: "Done."

Yang Mi and Master Fatty both gathered around, wanting to see what secret the Tomb Owner had buried.

The bottom layer of the stone slab was empty.

Inside was a scroll. The craftsmanship was excellent, the lines were smooth, and it had a distinct ancient charm.

Ye Bai examined it for a while, then casually pulled out the scroll and unfolded it.

On it was a three-dimensional painting of mountains, rivers, and various beasts and strange birds. Among them, an eagle was particularly striking—

The eagle in the painting was soaring with wings spread, its eyes bright and piercing, its whole body bathed in blood, as if it were a living existence.

Ye Bai frowned: "This painting..."

Yang Mi asked curiously: "What kind of pattern is this? It seems I've seen it somewhere."

Master Fatty also agreed: "It is indeed a bit familiar, but I can't recall it all of a sudden."

Ye Bai shook his head: "Forget it. Anyway, there's nothing to do now. Let's study it before we leave." After speaking, he put away the scroll and prepared to continue digging downwards.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Master Fatty called out to Ye Bai: "Did you see clearly just now what was written on this?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Mi also leaned in and stared at the three-dimensional painting for a long time: "I didn't see it clearly, but these characters are very strange. I think they look quite nice."

Ye Bai glanced at the scroll: "They do look nice."

"Then can you recognize what is written on it?" Master Fatty urged: "Don't keep us in suspense, tell us the answer quickly."

Ye Bai shrugged: "These characters are very complex, I can't recognize them. Whoever among you is knowledgeable, please enlighten us."

Master Fatty choked, feeling his self-esteem wounded.

Yang Mi smiled and said: "Since you don't understand, then let me do it. I'll read it to you." She looked at the scroll: "It says the two characters 'Jiuzhou'. Hmm, I've recognized these two characters. This should be ancient Chinese pinyin, not traditional characters."

After speaking, she turned her head to look at Ye Bai: "Didn't you say it was written with 'Jiuzhou'?"

Ye Bai's smile was indifferent, but his eyes revealed a deep and cold sharpness: "You read it wrong. Jiuzhou is a type of ancient literary name, not simply referring to the name of a certain city. You read the character wrong."

Yang Mi's eyes widened: "How is that possible? I clearly saw it!"

She looked down again, still unable to believe it.

"Is... is this really the Jiuzhou character?" She looked up suspiciously, her gaze sweeping over the other eight stone slabs on the stone wall: "Are you sure every stone slab has characters on it?"

"Absolutely true." Ye Bai said affirmatively: "The nine stone slabs here are engraved with Jiuzhou characters. Only the one with the yin-yang fish is empty, which is why this stone slab could hide things. Moreover, I suspect this should be the tomb of the Tomb Owner."

Yang Mi's face turned pale: "Could it be that what we just experienced was the ghost of the Tomb Owner?"

Ye Bai pondered for a moment and said: "Not necessarily, but there is at least a seventy percent chance that this is the case, otherwise, it would be impossible to explain."

Master Fatty swallowed his saliva: "My God, this... this is too scary."

Yang Mi hugged her arms tightly, shivering uncontrollably.

Ye Bai comforted her: "What are you afraid of? Isn't there me here with you?"

"Pah! What use is it that you are with me?" Master Fatty rolled his eyes: "I am afraid of death."

Ye Bai scolded: "You crow-mouth, stop talking nonsense!"

Master Fatty smiled sheepishly: "I'm just joking, don't take it seriously."

"Let's go." Ye Bai patted his clothes and stood up: "Let's explore further down and try to leave this damn place as soon as possible."

After speaking, the three of them walked along the stone stairs deeper into the Tomb.

The further they went, the lower the temperature became.

The leather boots worn by the three of them stepped on the floor tiles, making dull thumping sounds.

Master Fatty was shivering from the cold: "Ouch, oh my god!"

Ye Bai glared at him: "Shut up!"