When I 

returned

 to the hotel, I found 

Senior Shu

 hugging his 

life-bound rat; he was 

sobbing. Let alone him, even I had 

started considering

 the 

life-bound rat

 a member of 

our

 family 

as he 

had fought shoulder by shoulder with me a few times. 

I told 

Senior Shu

about

 Zhao Feiyan

’s decision 

and how her pet had followed 

her

. Then, I handed him the skirt. Although I liked this skirt a lot, as 

Senior Shu

 had lost his little 

brother

, I had to refrain myself and offered it to him. 

However, 

Senior Shu

, who had always been greedy, didn’t want the skirt.

He turned and silently put more ointment on Li Mazi’s body. 

As I had rushed away to chase after the white cat, I hadn’t taken a close look at Li Mazi. 

At this

 moment, he looked so thin

, and h

is entire body was pale. There were many decomposing spots on his 

skin

. 

His

 important, masculine part was swelling to the 

point

 that it couldn’t be recognized. He looked like a dried corpse that was unearthed from 

a

 random tomb. 

“How did he turn into this?” I was 

stunned

. 

Senior Shu

 snorted. “

H

e’s like the dog that never quits the habit of eating 

poop

. I’m sure he 

was

 bewitched by 

some

 beauty. If my 

life-bound rat

 hadn’t sacrificed its life to save him, I’m sure he wouldn’t even have a piece of bone left.” 

Although I was so mad at 

this

 foolish man

,

 I was still worried about him. “What should we do now?” 

“

He won’t

 die. I’ve used my special ointment to cover his 

festering

 wounds. They won’t 

worsen

 further. He should eat more nutritious foods, though

. H

e will recover soon.” After that, 

Senior Shu

 didn’t talk anymore. He quietly applied the ointment all over Li Mazi. 

Li Mazi woke up the next afternoon. However, when he spoke, he sounded like he had aged twenty years. I thought I was talking to an old man who had experienced enough ups and downs. 

Senior Shu

 prescribed some traditional Chinese herbal medicines

. He 

asked me to make them and apply the medicine 

to

 him daily. Afterward, 

he

 packed up. 

It

 seemed he 

wanted

 to leave. 

“Grandpa, where are you going?” 

“I’m going to find the Undead Grass,” said 

Senior Shu

 with sad, red-brimmed eyes. 

“Undead Grass?” It was the first time I heard about this name. I was

curious. “What is it?” 

“Undead Grass is a sort of fungi that grows on one-thousand-year old coffins. It can revive the dead,” explained 

Senior Shu

. “Of course, this Undead Grass is only able to revive th

ose who didn’t live 

up to their lifespa

ns

. It can’t help 

some

one 

who

 died in their bed at a ripe old age. My 

life-bound rat

’s fate

 was

 changed by me. Its 

lifespan

 wasn

’t that of an ordinary rat anymore

. I’m sure I can use the Undead Grass to save it!” 

“I’m going with you, 

Senior Shu

!” I 

said seriously

. 

No matter what, 

Senior Shu

 had been taking care of Li Mazi for me. As this bad thing had happened, I couldn’t let him bear the consequences alone! 

Moreover

, 

Senior Shu

 had started to 

treat

 me much better. He had stopped showing off and taking advantage of his old age. He treated me fondly and caringly.

“Grandson, I can do 

this

 alone. You should 

take

 Li Mazi back to Wuhan as soon as possible.” 

However, from the way he was speaking, I was even more worried about him. I asked Li Mazi to go home alone while stubbornly pestering 

Senior Shu

. 

Senior Shu

 knew he couldn’t shake me off, so he had to agree with me. “All right, here, keep this iron swallow. It’s the commission for you to escort me to find the Undead Grass.”

He gave the iron swallow back to me. 

Moreover, w

e finally knew the identity of the iron swallow. This iron swallow was the sculpture Emperor Cheng of Han had dedicated to Zhao Feiyan. It was put on top of Weiyang Palace. When Zhao Feiyan lost her husband’s favor, the iron swallow was removed. In the end, it was buried with her… 

F

rom the craftsmanship of this iron swallow and 

its

 historical value, it was a top-quality item. With a conservative assumption, I guessed I could sell it 

for

 around three million 

renminbi

. I would find a chance to sell this item

 later

. 

Needless to mention, the skirt

was also 

an

 excellent 

representative of

 ancient handicraft and manufacturing. Moreover, it had witnessed the beautiful yet sorrowful love between Emperor Cheng of Han and Zhao Feiyan, which made it a priceless treasure!

I didn’t have any 

plans

 to sell it. I would wait until the Yin energy on the skirt scattered. Then, I would give it to Yin Xinyue. When she had free time, I would ask her to dance for me. 

In the end, after Zhao Feiyan’s case was completed, 

Senior Shu

 had gotten nothing but the loss of his 

life-bound rat

. 

He even tried to

 give me 

most of the

 money, 

which

 didn’t 

seem to be

 his working style. 

I felt strange anxiety. “

Senior Shu

, is something bad going to happen?” 

He shook his head and didn’t answer.

I had to quit querying but 

kept 

probing about the Undead Grass. “

Senior Shu

, where is the Undead Grass?” 

“The Undead Grass is only found 

in the deep

 mountains of Yunnan Province. The 

p

eople there were good at using 

insects

 and corpses in the past. To prevent the deceased bodies from being eaten 

by 

snakes or worms, they would put mysterious herbs into the coffin. These herbs have been nurtured by the Yin energy inside the coffins

. S

lowly, they 

have

 grown fungi and become the Undead Grass!” 

I noticed that 

Senior Shu

’s eyes had kept moving while he was talking. It seemed he didn’t know much about the Undead Grass, anyway. 

“Have you ever seen the Undead Grass before?” I asked. 

He shook his head. “No, I

’ve 

only heard rumors about 

it

. That’s why I just want to try my luck this time.” 

After l

istening to him, I recalled the time we had given our all

to find the Night Dragon Bait to save Chu Chu. However, when we got the Night Dragon Bait, Chu Chu 

had

 already 

passed away

.

..

After m

aking 

the

 comparison, I could feel how much 

Senior Shu

loved

 his 

life-bound rat

. I made up my mind. No matter what, I had to help him find the Undead Grass. 

Senior Shu

 determinedly bought a map of Yunnan. He 

recalled 

a location on the map. When he showed me the map, I saw that t

h

e area he had circled was the western part of Yunnan. 

My deepest impression of the western area of Yunnan was the famous Western Yunnan Anti-Japanese War. Every time I heard the name Western Yunnan, I would have the image of brave Chinese people wrestling against Japanese soldiers in the Nu River. 

The mountains in Yunnan were full of waters and evil

 spirits

. Of course, 

the landscape

 there would be extreme

.

T

here would be 

countless dangers deep in the mountain

. To assure our safety, before we departed, 

Senior Shu

 brought me to his home to 

pick up

 a craft item that looked like a walking stick. 

“This thing is called the Holy Mother Scepter

. It’s 

an otherworldly item I

’ve 

subdued. It used to be the weapon of the Holy Mother of the White Lotus Cult in the Qing Dynasty. She made use of religion to lead the people 

to strike

 against the brutal Qing rulers. In the end, the rebellion failed, and they were executed.”  

Then, he took out a shining Emei Piercer

[1]

and gave 

it to me. “Your whip only works seven times. You need to equip 

yourself with more

 defen

sive

 weapons.” 

“What kind of treasure is 

this

?” I 

asked with a smile

.

Senior Shu

 waved his hands, “Kid, don’t feel 

content

. I

’m

 just letting you borrow this Emei Piercer to use during th

e

 trip. When we come back, you have to return it to me.” 

I nodded repeatedly. He had given me the jade skirt and the iron swallow. I 

would

 feel shame if I coveted his other items. 

“This Emei Piercer is a magic weapon. It used to belong to the Head of Emei School, Madam Beimi

,

” added 

Senior Shu

. 

“Don’t 

try to show off

, grandpa! Emei School? Why didn’t you say it’s from Wudang School?” I pursed my lips. 

Senior Shu

 palmed me at the neck

. In an irritated voice, he said, 

“You’re still a kid. There are so many things you 

don’t

 know yet. 

Take ordinary

 people as an example. Do they believe in the existence of otherworldly merchants?” 

I thought it was reasonable

, so I didn’t continue with

 this topic. I packed up the good stuff

. Then, 

we took a flight to Kunming. 

After arriving in Kunming, we 

went

 to Tengchong County in Baoshan City. 

It was

 where the three great rivers 

gathered

.

Tengchong borders Myanmar. In history, every time 

th

e Central Plains changed the ruling dynasty, this place would have a bloody baptism. After the Reform

, 

the 

place

 opened up to tourists, which helped the area’s econom

y. 

Senior Shu

 and I arrived in Tengchong at around twilight. We checked around and didn’t find any suitable hotels. It was fortunate that the weather was good. We walked under the bright moonlight

 and left 

the town to the remote

 and

 mountainous area. 

“The older the mountain is, the 

higher the

 possibility 

of finding

 the Undead Grass,” said 

Senior Shu

. Thus, our target was clear. We were head

ed

 to the highest mountain in our sights. 

After midnight, the temperature started to drop. We felt cold and tired. Determinedly, we set up a simple tent and camped in the middle of the mountain flank. 

When it drew close to dawn, I woke up because of 

a

 natural need. I crawled out of the tent

 and found 

a place to ease myself. When I turned around to return to the tent, I heard 

a

 strange noise echoing from the depths of the mountain. 

It sounded like a squeaking fox. 

W

hen I quieted my mind to listen, it sounded like a woman crying. Since it was too far away, I couldn’t distinguish what it was. I stood at my spot and 

observed

 the surroundings. 

I didn’t see anything strange, so

 I returned to my tent to sleep. 

When I woke up, it was noon. The weather wasn’t so good and there 

were no people 

on the small path to the mountain. The two of us ate some canned foods before packing up and continuing our hik

e

. 

I remembered the fox call I had heard during the wee hours, so I told 

Senior Shu

 about it.

Senior Shu

 nodded

. “

Yeah, in a place like this, there should be many strange phenomena. Don’t mind it. As long as it doesn’t affect us, just

 ignore it

.” 

After walking for the whole day, we reached Mount Horse Saddle. There were many volcanoes 

in the Tengchong

 area

. 

Mount Horse Saddle was the most famous one. The mountain got that name 

because

 its shape looked like a horse saddle. 

Although it used to be a volcano, the mountain had three freshwater lakes and lush vegetation. 

T

here were aquatic plants by the foothills

, and the area had 

gradually 

become

 the local graveyard. 

As such, t

here were many graves at the foothills. However, the higher we climbed, the 

fewer

 graves we saw. Anyway, I could see that the graves on the higher elevations were also older. Some of them were unearthed

, with t

he coffin lids scattered on the ground. 

There was n

o doubt

 that 

the tomb robbers had visited this place many times. 

Along the way, we sometimes saw the 

signboards

 that the authorities had left behind. It meant that Mount Horse Saddle 

had been

 exploited already.

I felt a little distressed

 and said,

 “

Senior Shu

, this place has become a scenic sight. Will the Undead Grass be able to grow in such conditions?” 

“My silly boy. 

S

cenic sights like this always 

have forbidden areas

. Didn’t you read the news? Many tourists 

die

 in scenic areas every day. 

I guess they

 court death themselves.”

Senior Shu

 lit up a cigarette

 and said 

with irritatio

n,

 “I’m sure they wanted to satisfy their 

curiosity, so t

hey entered th

ose

 forbidden areas!” 

I listened to him and agreed with 

his guess

. I stopped talking. 

Indeed, at around 

noontime

, we saw 

an

 obstacle that blocked the road. A 

barbed-wire

 fence was set up around the peak of the mountain. 

Along with

 the thorny shrubs and big trees, 

the way

 up to the mountain peak

 was blocked. 

A signboard read that there was some construction going

 on

 at the mountain peak. However, the paint on the board was partly peeled off. 

It seemed i

t was just a disguise. I couldn’t help but give 

Senior Shu

 a thumbs-up. The old man smiled disdainfully and took out two pairs of hiking boots from his bag. 

After changing into hiking boots, I cut two

sticks the size of a child

’s arm

. 

W

e carefully started to walk into the thorny, bushy area. 

Th

is

 mass of thistles and thorns w

as

 really large, around two square miles. The spiky bushes grew above some areas of a muddy swamp. It was easy to step into the swamp if we didn’t pay attention. That

 was

 why we sl

owly 

groped through. It took us around two hours to get out of the dangerous area. 

I checked the new surroundings. The vegetation around here was much thicker. Moreover, many spots were exuding bluish-purple gas. 

Senior Shu

 looked at the purple miasma

 and licked 

his lips

. He c

arefully suggest

ed

, “It’s 

a

 toxic miasma. We shall wait. We will try to 

invade

 the place tonight.”

When he said that, my heart throbbed. I couldn’t help but look at the miasma a little longer. 

The miasma was 

a

 sort of toxic gas that was often found in tropical forests. It was created 

by decomposing

 animal carcasses under high heat 

conditions

. In history, there was a famous story about miasma. Zhuge Liang and his army had encountered 

a

 miasma on their way to settle with the barbarians in the South. At that time, so many Shu soldiers were killed by the toxic gas. This time, 

Senior Shu

 and I didn’t bring gas masks with us. If we casually walked in there, we wouldn’t be able to return alive. 

Fortunately, the miasma wouldn’t exist twenty-four hours a day. It was like the early dews. 

T

he dews would evaporate when the sun was up, and the miasma would thin out and disperse at nightfall. 

However, the place with miasma would have a bigger possibility of having Undead Grass. 

Senior Shu

 and I camped there. No matter what, this place wasn’t far away from the peak. We set up our tents

and made this place our temporary base!