Daomu Biji Novel – Book 3 Summary

Table of Contents | Daomu Biji Universe

Book 3: 秦岭神树
Qinling’s Sacred Tree

Lao¹ Yang, a good friend of Wu Xie since young, was released from prison. He met up with Wu Xie and told him about how he discovered a mysterious bronze tree in Qinling. A few years ago, when Lao Yang was exploring an ancient altar in the area, he found a tree branch made entirely of bronze. He thus believed that there must be a tomb not too far off from the location and asked Wu Xie to come with him to find that tomb. Lao Yang was wearing an earring taken from a corpse near the altar. This earring was in fact a miniature hexagonal bell, but the inside had been sealed off so it could not vibrate.

¹ 老 [lao], lit. translated as “old”, is placed before the first name or the surname to indicate an endearing or respectful regard. It is commonly used to address a close friend who may or may not be older than you or an acquaintance who is older than you.

Before leaving, Wu Xie came to Lao Qi, a friend of his grandfather, to ask about the origin of the hexagonal bell. According to what Lao Qi said, the technique of making bronze bells dated back to the second half of Xi Zhou era. The bell carried a snake pattern which seemed to originate from the Snake Kingdom, a bizarre ancient kingdom that suddenly disappeared during Xi Zhou period. This kingdom worshiped two-bodied human-faced snakes and practised giving human sacrifices to their Sacred Tree, which was believed to have the power to grant any wish.

One night, Wu Xie had a strange dream. He saw Men You Ping and Chen Wenjin inside the underwater tomb 20 years ago. He also saw that Third Uncle was not fast asleep when the other eight members were looking around the tomb. When Wu Xie followed Third Uncle and was found out, Third Uncle turned to strangle him.

A few days later, Wu Xie and Lao Yang started the trip. On the way, they encountered a group of five people who were also searching for the tomb. Through eavesdropping, they learned that one member in the group owned the book He Mu Ji, a rare book passed down by The Deaf Army² that detailed the exact location of the tomb and how to enter it.

² The Deaf Army: A fictional historical army consisting of deaf and mute soldiers specialising in finding and excavating tombs under the order of the Emperor. The reason why the army consisted of deaf and mute soldiers is because they, being unable to hear or speak, ensure that the secrets of the tombs are never exposed.

In order to gain access to the tomb, Wu Xie and Lao Yang had to go through the Huang Quan waterfall deep in the ravine. Two members of the other group died, leaving only assistant Liang, Master Wang and the elder man. After that, assistant Liang was saved by Wu Xie and Lao Yang, and joined them to go to the tomb, while the other two went another way. The three went through a corpse field where a grand battle seemed to have taken place. Lao Yang accidentally set fire to the field, thus collapsing the entire tomb. However, they managed to escape to the pyre, in the middle of which was the bronze tree located deep underground. On the tree trunk, they found the pattern of a two-bodied human-faced snake. Densely covered with protruding branches, the tree was beyond the size of any earthly plant. Looking down, one could not see its roots, and looking up, one could not see its top.

The three then unanimously agreed to climb the bronze tree for they believed the coffin was likely to be at the top of the tree. On their way up, they were attacked by a herd of monkeys. Climbing up a bit further, they saw the elder man from the other group pierced through by a tree branch. His fresh blood followed along the pattern of the two-bodied snake, flowing into the tree trunk. They had a guess that the ancient people sacrificed humans by hanging them on the branches, thus letting fresh blood sipping through the trunk as offerings to their God.

Further up the tree, they encountered oodles of ancient bugs the size of a human head. These bugs had a distinct parasitic ability: They could attach themselves to the face of the hosts and control the hosts’ brains. The monkeys who furiously chased after Wu Xie’s group earlier were also under their control. While running away from the bugs, Wu Xie discovered that his blood, similar to Men You Ping’s, could chase bugs away. Assistant Liang then told Wu Xie that it was thanks to the Kylin Blood Clot that he accidentally swallowed in Lu Shang Wang’s tomb.

After running away from the insects, everyone was tired and Lao Yang was injured, so the three looked for a small cave to rest. Wu Xie fell asleep and woke up to find that assistant Liang had taken his gun. It turned out that assistant Liang had sided with Master Wang to betray him.

Master Wang and Wu Xie worked together to climb upward, leaving Lao Yang and assistant Liang in the cave. Finally, they reached the top of the tree and indeed found a coffin up there. The top was made into an altar, in the middle of which was a coffin almost entirely wrapped in tree vines. When opening the coffin, they discovered a path leading into the center of the bronze tree.

Master Wang told Wu Xie to go in to explore first. While Master Wang was standing outside waiting, he was taken down by Lao Yang. Lao Yang, by some mysterious power, morphed himself into Master Wang, then went inside the tree center to follow Wu Xie. He then revealed himself and convinced Wu Xie to help him materialise his mother. It turned out that whoever entered the bronze tree would earn the ability to turn his imagination into reality. The whole purpose of Lao Yang’s trip to the bronze tree was to trick Wu Xie into “resurrecting” Lao Yang’s mother, who had passed away while Lao Yang was in prison. Because Wu Xie was a genuinely innocent and conscientious man, the people he materialised would contain no evil energy.

Needless to say, Wu Xie would not agree to do something that defied life. While the two of them fought, from the ground, a giant Candle Dragon³ crawled out. The two ran away and the Candle Dragon chased after them, destroying the rocky structure along its path. Wu Xie was trapped inside a cave after several rocks fell down and blocked the entrance. Inside the cave, Wu Xie found a skeleton, a diary and an ID card belonging to someone named Xie Zi Yang. The name sounded really familiar, triggering Wu Xie to remember that it was Lao Yang’s full name! From the diary, Wu Xie shockingly discovered that Lao Yang, who had in fact entered this tomb previously, actually died. The Lao Yang that had been tagging along with Wu Xie up till this moment was a materialised Lao Yang “created” by the real Lao Yang before he succumbed to death inside the cave.

³ 烛九阴 [Zhu Jiu Yin], lit. translated as “Nine Yin Candle”, is an ancient beast in Chinese mythology. Also known as Candle Dragon, Zhu Jiu Yin takes on the form of a giant serpent with a human face, having a several-mile-long body that could emit bright light like a candle.

Wu Xie and “fake” Lao Yang, now one inside the cave and one outside the cave, continued cursing at each other. Lao Yang then led Wu Xie to imagine and materialise another serpent. The serpent crawled out from inside the cave, breaking the rocks at the entrance and knocking Lao Yang out, thus enabling Wu Xie to escape. Shortly thereafter, this serpent and the Candle Dragon fought with each other, their bodies twisting around the bronze tree. The materialised serpent, being smaller in size, ended up losing the battle. Wu Xie was engulfed by the Candle Dragon but quickly shot down the beast from inside its mouth. The Candle Dragon collapsed onto the water, releasing Wu Xie into the strong current.

Wu Xie drifted to the entrance of the tomb, where he now noticed a relief plaque that depicted the blood offerings of the Snake Kingdom. Similar to his preliminary guest, they would hang slaves’ corpses on the tree branches to allow blood to flow through the trunk. Another method was to directly throw the corpses into the center of the tree. The fresh blood would lure the Candle Dragon out, thus allowing the people to hunt it down and obtain its fats, which could be used to make candles that burnt for a lengthened period of time. Wu Xie then gradually drifted back to Huang Quan waterfall where he was rescued and brought to the hospital.

A while later, Wu Xie received a letter from Lao Yang, who apparently also had survived. Lao Yang apologised to Wu Xie for deceiving him. He mentioned that the ability of materialisation would possibly result in memory loss as a side-effect, thus urging Wu Xie to use this ability in moderation. Together with the letter was a photo of him and his mother vacationing by the beach in a foreign country. Wu Xie somehow sensed that the mother emitted an evil aura, but he convinced himself that it must be his imagination and went back to rest.

[End of Book 3]