Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“It’ll take more than four hours back and forth. We have more than enough time, but I don’t know if it’ll be easy for me to find what I want.”
“What are you looking for?” Long Tianze asked.
“I’m sorry, Tianze, but I can’t tell you.”
“I won’t probe further, then, since it’s your privacy. I’ll drive faster and shorten the time.”
Long Tianze stepped hard on the accelerator, causing the car to surge forward at godlike speed.
Two hours were not considered quick or slow.
By the time they arrived at their destination, it was already three o’clock in the afternoon.
An Xiaoning instructed Long Tianze to wait for her at the foot of the mountain while she proceeded inside alone with her purse.
Clad in a cap and a surgical mask, she began walking along the cemented path.
More than ten minutes later, she arrived at a village. She took a look at the signboard to see that it was the Shi Family village.
An Xiaoning picked up in her tracks and walked toward the front instead of entering the village.
The cemented path was only 500 meters long, after which the roads would become rocky and uneven. The temperatures were also much colder in the mountains. In order to avoid wasting time, An Xiaoning decided to run there instead.
She followed her mother’s instructions and continued walking after passing a small convenience store.
She finally stopped after covering another three kilometers and passing by two other villages.
She trod along the narrow path and climbed upward after making sure that there was no one else around.
It was a steep slope that was surrounded by withered branches and trees.
There were rocks past the trees.
The initial fair weather soon began to turn gloomy.
An Xiaoning arrived at the top of the slope and could not help but feel a little worried about whether or not the book was still there. After all, it had already been so many days.
She followed the markings her mother had told her to look out for and soon found the corresponding spot below the rocks.
She took out a small shovel from her satchel and began digging furiously.
The ground was rather tough and rigid, despite having sustained all sorts of weather conditions throughout all these years.
It was much harder to dig it up than she had imagined.
However, An Xiaoning did not slow down at all at the thought of wanting to find the book.
She continued to dig non-stop, thinking to herself that it was only a matter of time before she finds it.
Half an hour later, she finally found a metal box that had become extremely rusty.
I wonder what the condition of the book is like now.
She tried to open the box, only to find that the lid was tightly shut. Hence, she had no choice but to pry it open with the shovel.
The book turned out to be completely intact.
She touched it with her hands and discovered that there were no cracks or signs of decomposition at all.
This book was found in an ancient tomb, which, according to Mother, contained a corpse that had already turned into a skeleton. That just goes to show that the paper is of no ordinary quality, since it is still intact even after such a long time , An Xiaoning thought to herself.
She took the book out of the box and placed the box back inside the pit, which she then filled again with the soil. After flattening the soil with her foot, she proceeded to walk down the slope again.
The sky began to turn increasingly gloomier, and the clouds were hanging low.
An Xiaoning sprinted across a few kilometers, after which she panted heavily in exhaustion.
It began pouring as soon as she entered the car.
She could not be bothered to wait for the hot tea to cool down and instead began gulping down a bottle of mineral water.
She felt a chilliness in her chest.
“Tianze, let’s go back.”
“Sis-in-law, did you find it?”
“Yes.”
She sat behind Long Tianze and took out the book. She then tried to fold the corners of the pages and tear a small bit off, but to no avail.
The material of the book appeared to be an ordinary paper on the surface. However, An Xiaoning took a closer look to discover that it was made of animal leather.
The book was rather thin and only consisted of a few pages.
“Tianze.”
“Yes? What’s the matter?”
“Drive slowly, we don’t have to rush back. Alright?”
“No problem.”
She expressed assent and began reading attentively from the first page.
She had always had an excellent memory and could memorize all the books her mentor had given her within a short period of time.
A thin book was a piece of cake for her.
An Xiaoning put on her earphones and kept her eyes fixed on the content.
She read through the entire book once before memorizing the content again from the first page.
Instead of the supposed two hours, Long Tianze took three hours to drive back to the city due to the heavy rain and the slower speed that they were traveling at.
Within those three hours, she managed to memorize the content of the book completely, though she did not follow the instructions and prompts given on the book.
The sky had already turned dark by the time they arrived in the city.
An Xiaoning called No. 5 and instructed him to bring Mei Yangyang back to Wei Ni Estate in half an hour’s time.
They arrived back at Wei Ni Estate before Mei Yangyang, who arrived a few minutes later.
“Sis, did you find the thing you wanted to?”
An Xiaoning nodded and said, “I found it. Yangyang, I’m going home now. Tianze ought to get some rest after driving for so long.”
Upon returning home, she handed the book to Shi Qingzhou, who then said, “Memorize the content first.”
“I’ve already memorized it during the journey home just now. I’ll memorize it again tonight to make sure that I know every single bit of it like the back of my hand before burning it.”
Shi Qingzhou said solemnly, “Just memorize the content but don’t follow the instructions written on it. After all, it’s witchcraft.”
“Mother, did you read all the content?”
“No, I only glanced through it. I’m still rather afraid to read in-depth about such things,” said Shi Qingzhou, who subconsciously tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Actually, that stuff aren’t as terrifying as you made them out to be, Mother. There are annotations provided at the back of the book. Once you master the techniques, you’ll be able to go without eating or drinking, just like an immortal, but it all depends on yourself. That means you can still resume your normal activities like an ordinary person. Mother, this isn’t witchcraft at all.”
Shi Qingzhou looked at her and asked, “It’s not witchcraft?”
“Yes, it’s not witchcraft. It’s only a secret manual of psychological techniques, there’s nothing too sinister about it. I reckon the corpse of the coffin that Grandma had opened back then had probably lain inside the coffin out of her own accord. Otherwise, the book probably wouldn’t have existed today. The coffin must have belonged to a woman, because it’s stated in the book that only women are allowed to practice those techniques. It would be fatal for men to attempt to learn them,” An Xiaoning explained.
“Well then, Xiaoning, go ahead and master those techniques. I want you to possess extraordinary abilities. Only then can you protect yourself completely when you’re faced with difficulties,” said Shi Qingzhou, grabbing her hand tightly.
“Mother, I’m not finished yet.” An Xiaoning flipped to the last page of the book and said to her mother, “Look, it says here that the manual can only be mastered by extraordinary humans. It’s said that there were once hundreds of women who tried to master them but ended up losing their lives.”
Shi Qingzhou lit up with joy and said, “Does that mean only extraordinary psychics like us can learn those techniques? Your grandmother and I have succeeded on our first tries. It should be fine for you too.”
