Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

When the iron door was opened, it was completely dark inside.

He wasn’t afraid that Miss Dong was plotting against him since she could’ve killed him a hundred times over on the ship, but this dark room looked as if it was underground. Even though he was reckless sometimes, he should still be more cautious now that he had entered such a dark place.

She let me see the corpse, so could there be beasts in this room? Are there more corpses or the remains of the Archives?

Although Miss Dong didn’t kill him, it wouldn’t be a good thing if she closed the iron door when he entered the room. Then he would be locked up and that wasn’t any fun.

Zhang Haiyan thought about it and decided he wanted Miss Dong to go in first so that he could walk in behind her. As a result, he slowed down.

Miss Dong walked in without hesitation and said to him, “Close the door.”

It’s fine, Zhang Haiyan thought to himself. Everything’s fine.

Miss Dong always acted before he had time to think, as if she knew him very well. He kept feeling like his various thoughts were inadvertently being seen through.

The room was very warm, and he could hear the pleasant sound of running water. There was an echo in the space that made him feel as if a girl was breathing ethereally.

Zhang Haiyan came in and closed the door, but he didn’t close it all the way in case something happened and he needed to make a run for it.

He noticed that there were stone stairs leading down. He took a few steps and found that the stairs actually led to warm water.

It was a hot spring.

Miss Dong was still walking up front, but now it sounded like she was wading through water. She soon lit a candle holder in the depths of the space, and their surroundings lit up.

It was a big candle, so the light was very bright.

He could see that they were in a small stone room with a hot spring flowing in from the wall, forming a pool. There was a stone table in the middle of the pool that had corners covered in sulfur which had converged and turned into something like stalactites. The table had obviously been placed here for a long time.

There were numerous tools on the table that were wrapped in linen, but other than that, there was nothing else in the room.

“Where’s the evidence?” Zhang Haiyan asked. “Isn't this just a bathhouse?”

Miss Dong’s pajamas were now soaked as the hot spring’s steaming water flowed along the absorbent material. Zhang Haiyan watched her approach the table and start fiddling with the tools. As the heat engulfed them, tattooed patterns started to appear on the exposed parts of her body.

Since the heat went from the bottom up, all the tattooed patterns appeared to grow from Miss Dong’s arms like flowers. Her tattoo was very colorful, and Zhang Haiyan was stunned by the sight of it.

He soon discovered that it wasn't a flower, but a Qilin.

The pajamas were now molded to Miss Dong’s body, showing off her figure. The two of them looked at each other.

“So, this is the evidence you mentioned. You’re from the Zhang family,” Zhang Haiyan said. “I don't believe it. You don’t seem like you’ve lived that long at all. Plus, isn’t your surname Dong?”

“People in the Zhang family use a pseudonym if they’re over a hundred years old. They also use Dong as their surname. My pseudonym is Dong Zhuohua,” Miss Dong said. “You don’t seem all that curious about why I’m the Ship King’s daughter even though I’m also an agent of the Southern Archives.”

“I’m guessing the Ship King doesn’t know that his daughter isn’t his daughter anymore. This probably isn’t your original face.” At this time, Zhang Haiyan was already feeling like something was wrong. Miss Dong looked like she was only in her early twenties, but the way she talked both here and on the ship made people feel like she was older than that.

Moreover, Miss Dong was too patient and talkative even though he had discredited her words the whole way. It made no sense for her to keep lying to him patiently after she decided not to kill him on the ship.

Plus, the calmness in her eyes wasn’t something that could be faked.

It would be easier to explain the whole thing if she was wearing a mask. Moreover, her figure looked like a woman in her thirties. It was possible that she was so calm because of everything she had been through before.

She must be lying to me because she wants something from me. I hope she can be more direct about it. Zhang Haiyan was now like someone who had lost his family. If some girl is willing to be kind to me in this way, it would be foolish for me not to listen to what she has to say. Otherwise, I might end up wandering around and really turn into a beggar.

So, Zhang Haiyan said to her, “Since Sister Zhang didn’t kill me on the ship, if there is anything you need me to do, you can just say it directly. You don’t need to force me to believe this story. I just need to know that the Southern Archives actually meant something so that Zhang Haixia didn’t die in vain. It’s fate that he’s gone now, but I’m afraid that everything we’ve done is all just a pipe dream and no one even remembers us.”

Miss Dong flipped open the linen wrapping that was on the table, revealing some things that looked like pens inside. “Zhang Hailou, how many times have I told you that you need to hide your motives whenever you do things? Zhang Haixia was so much better than you when it came to hiding his motives,” she said.

Zhang Haiyan froze, and Miss Dong continued, “I thought that you and Zhang Haixia could have a good life after you went to Malacca. Before you left, I told you that only those who remember my words are able to survive. You keep saying that you miss me, but you didn’t even follow my rules. You broke your promise and came back before the thirty years were up. Everything happens for a reason. You chose to be a coward after all.”

She straightened her hair, pulled at her chin, and tore a human skin mask off her face.

As Zhang Haiyan naturally retreated, he saw an extremely young face appear in front of him. He was stunned for a long time before he managed to say, “Mother?”

The young woman looked at him so calmly that he couldn’t tell what she was thinking behind those eyes.

“You have chosen your path. There is no chance for you to leave this matter now, so you should just accept your fate directly.” Zhang Haiqi threw the mask aside.

Zhang Haiyan looked at her in surprise. This woman—his master, his godmother, his superior—looked exactly the same as she did when he had left Xiamen. Even her skin was still like that of a young girl.

It was his godmother, Zhang Haiqi.

His heart warmed, and then he felt panicked and stunned as his mind came to a screeching halt. He wanted to say something, but he suddenly felt dizzy and Zhang Haiqi’s image in front of him became blurred. He saw Zhang Haiqi open an earthen jar on the table, which seemed to contain paint. Zhang Haiyan staggered, a little unstable.

“Mother, it’s great that you’re alive. What happened to me? I—I didn’t get to save Haixia. What happened to me?”

No matter how tough a man was, he would immediately return to that young boy when he saw the woman who raised him. All the countless grievances, loneliness, pain, and the memory of having to deal with it all on his own surged up in Zhang Haiyan’s heart before rushing away.

But he couldn’t even say a word. He didn’t know if it was because of the excitement or the water here was too hot. Maybe it was because he felt that the Zhang Haiqi in front of him was a little strange and different compared to what he remembered from his childhood memories.

“The hot spring here has been infused with medicinal drugs. People with ordinary blood won’t last long.”

Zhang Haiyan suddenly fell to his knees in the hot spring. Zhang Haiqi came to stand behind him and began tattooing him. “From now on, you feed your body with blood, and the tattoo will appear when your body temperature rises. Starting now, you’ll be surrounded by chaos, and you’ll stand by and let it happen.”

Zhang Haiyan felt confused as he lost consciousness.