Chapter 14: The Secret Language of the Yin-Yang Seal!
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The man sounded as though he had seen and experienced it all, his words brimming with confidence. “The world is a very small place, you know.”
“Oh, right. What did my wife want you to look at?”
Zhang Xuan replied, “She asked me to appraise it.”
“But the writing on this thing can’t be deciphered, so there’s no way to give an accurate valuation.”
The man fell silent.
“Big brother?”
“Did the connection freeze?”
But the other side remained quiet.
The woman seemed to have finished making the rubbing. She adjusted the camera so that it was aimed at the rubbing. “Can you see it clearly now?”
As the camera shifted, Zhang Xuan’s brows immediately drew together.
Because of the patina, the symbols on the iron certificate had been indistinct.
But after the rubbing had been cleaned and processed, the symbols became perfectly clear beneath the light.
“Good grief!”
“Cloud Seal Script?”
The woman froze. “What?”
Zhang Xuan blinked, then drew a deep breath. “It’s Cloud Seal Script, the writing used for Daoist talismans.”
“And it’s the oldest version, too!”
“No wonder it looks like a bunch of ghostly scribbles.”
The woman paused, then asked excitedly, “Can you read it?”
Before Zhang Xuan could answer, the man walked over and snatched the rubbing away.
The woman instantly lost her temper. “What are you doing?”
“Give it back!”
The man, however, sounded impatient. “What’s so interesting about it?”
“Time for bed, time for bed!”
Zhang Xuan inhaled deeply, feeling his blood pressure rising.
That man was clearly there just to cause trouble.
Although Zhang Xuan had only caught a glimpse, he had already recognized several characters.
It seemed to be a poem.
And the poem appeared to contain some kind of hidden reference.
Moreover, it was written in Cloud Seal Script.
Unfortunately, he had not been able to see the whole thing. Otherwise, he could definitely have translated it.
Just as he was feeling frustrated, however, he suddenly saw the viewers posting the same message in the comments.
“Brother Xuan, I took a screenshot. Check your private messages!”
“Brother Xuan, look at the screenshot in your messages!”
“Streamer, I took a screenshot and sent it to you privately!”
“…”
Zhang Xuan was startled. He opened his private messages and, sure enough, found the screenshot sent by one of the viewers.
Narrowing his eyes, he read aloud, “The Eastern Nether Sea, misty radiance reflecting the colors of heaven; the flood dragon emerges from the hidden depths of earth; the earth grows turbid and the heavens turn blue.”
The moment Zhang Xuan’s voice rang out, the argument on the other side stopped abruptly.
He could not see what was happening there. He could only hear the woman ask in astonishment, “Why are you just standing there?”
“Give it to me!”
The man did not seem to try to snatch it back. Instead, he said in surprise, “You can read Cloud Seal Script too?”
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint appearing in them. “You can read it too?”
“So you deciphered it long ago?”
The man fell silent.
The woman was stunned. “When did that happen?”
“Didn’t you say that only Three-Pockmark could translate it?”
“You lied to me!”
The man’s voice was filled with panic and helplessness. “We’re live. Don’t say things like that!”
“I’ll explain later!”
The woman stood there, completely motionless.
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Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and moved the teacup away from in front of him. “Big brother, you’ve been there, haven’t you?”
The man: “…”
The woman: “What did you say?”
“Been where?”
The viewers in the livestream also realized what was going on.
The comments flooded in at once.
“If we can split up one couple, that’s one couple split!”
“Sister-in-law sounds like a real character. She’s wasted on this guy!”
“Brother Xuan, that’s the spirit!”
“Is there more to this?”
Zhang Xuan cleared his throat and said solemnly, “Big brother, am I allowed to say it?”
The man said nothing.
The woman replied, “Go ahead, Brother Xuan. I’ll send you ten Huazi gifts!”
With that, she tapped her phone.
Ten consecutive Huazi gift effects instantly appeared in the livestream.
Zhang Xuan took a deep breath. “In that case, I’ll gladly accept your command!”
“‘The Northern Nether Sea!’”
“That means the immortal islands in the northern sea—in other words, the islands off the northern coast!”
“That is the location.”
“‘Misty radiance reflecting the colors of heaven’ means that a rainbow appears amid the sea fog.”
“That is the sign.”
“‘The flood dragon emerges from the hidden depths of earth’ means that something evil rises from the bottom of the sea. It could be interpreted as an undercurrent or a deep-sea spring.”
“That is the time.”
“‘The earth grows turbid and the heavens turn blue’ refers to Pangu separating heaven and earth and the birth of the world. It can be understood as all chaos returning to order.”
“That is the result.”
“Put it all together, and it means: Go to the immortal islands of the northern sea, find the place where a rainbow appears in the fog, wait for the deep-sea spring to emerge, and then enter it. The result? You die, and everything returns to normal.”
“That is obviously a trap designed to send someone to their death!”
“If your big brother really went there and managed to return unharmed, it would be nothing short of a miracle.”
“Enough talk. Set off fireworks worth ten thousand steamed buns!”
The comments: “…”
The woman: “…”
The man, however, said, “You’re joking. How could it be a trap?”
“That was Yuan… Forget it. I can’t say who.”
“Anyway, it couldn’t possibly be a trap!”
“Young man, you’re definitely talking nonsense!”
The comments: “…”
“Damn, this big brother really is a tomb raider!”
“Did someone trick him?”
“This is incredible. The livestream has turned into a gathering of tomb raiders!”
“And he still refuses to admit it. I’m dying!”
The woman: “…”
The corner of Zhang Xuan’s mouth twitched. “Ahem.”
“Big brother, are you saying that this rubbing of the Dragon-Bone Heavenly Book came from Yuan Whoever?”
“Are you sure you weren’t conned?”
The man replied, “Conned my foot! I personally—no, that’s not right. I saw it with my own eyes—”
“No, that’s not right either!”
“I personally…”
“Oh, forget it. The important thing is that it’s real!”
“As for the outcome, it was the same as with Three-Pockmark. It was all just an accident.”
Zhang Xuan raised a hand. “All right, I understand.”
Then he drew a deep breath. “In that case…”
“I know where the problem lies!”
“Sister, please turn the rubbing over, then shine a light through it from behind!”
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The man sounded bewildered. “Young man, what are you trying to do?”
The woman followed Zhang Xuan’s instructions, turning the rubbing over and pressing it directly against a powerful flashlight.
When the writing became visible, Zhang Xuan’s pupils contracted sharply. “Just as I thought!”
“This is the real cipher!”
The man was still confused. “Young man, what are you talking about?”
The woman also asked curiously, “But if we look at it this way, aren’t the characters reversed?”
Zhang Xuan nodded. “That’s exactly how it should be!”
“This gilded iron tablet is actually a mold.”
“It was taken directly from a tortoise shell.”
“Just like a printing plate, the writing on it is reversed.”
“Only after making a second rubbing do the reversed characters become correct.”
“Do you understand?”
The woman nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
Zhang Xuan continued, “Modern rubbing machines have an automatic correction function, so the rubbing you made is still reversed.”
“Only when you look at it from the other side does it become correct!”
“It’s been reversed, then reversed again, and then reversed again before finally becoming right.”
The woman waved the rubbing in her hand. “How many times does it need to be reversed?”
Zhang Xuan was speechless. “Forget how many times. Just remember that you have to turn it over to read it correctly.”
Only then did the woman nod. “Oh.”
Zhang Xuan said solemnly, “Now that we look at it this way, these characters aren’t Cloud Seal Script after all. They’re Daoist Yin-Yang Seal Script!”
The woman’s voice was filled with surprise. “Yin-Yang Seal Script?”
“What’s that?”
Zhang Xuan explained, “It’s a form of Daoist writing even older than the ancient Cloud Seal Script.”
“Daoism emphasizes yin and yang, and the earliest seal script was divided into the two as well.”
“The normal form is Yang Seal Script, while the reversed form is Yin Seal Script!”
“Read one way, a character has one meaning. Turn it over, and it becomes another character.”
“One character, two translations!”
“But this method of writing was far too difficult. Then Buddhism arrived and began competing with Daoism. Since Yin-Yang Seal Script hindered the spread of Daoist culture, it gradually evolved into the Cloud Seal Script commonly used by Daoists today.”
The original Yin-Yang Seal Script was slowly forgotten.
The woman stared in amazement. “That’s so complicated.”
“What does the writing say?”
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly frowned. “It seems to be another coded message…”
“Wait, let me take a look.”
“Three thousand rods of yellow sand, thunder falls upon the celestial abode, ghosts and Buddhas chant the Burial Sutra, Heaven grants the serpent cypress rice!”
“Serpent cypress…?”
“The Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress?”
Zhang Xuan drew in a sharp breath. His heart began to pound violently, and he suddenly felt as though he had parted the clouds and glimpsed the sun and moon.
The viewers in the livestream were completely dumbfounded.
The woman seemed equally lost. “What does that mean?”
Before Zhang Xuan could answer, the man suddenly cursed, “Damn it!”
“No wonder that bastard Three-Pockmark insisted on looking for a Warring States tomb!”
“So he was playing me all along!”
“Serves him right for dying in that tomb!”
“Thanks, young man!”
With that, he ended the call.
Zhang Xuan: “???”
The livestream viewers: “????”