Chapter 13 Hidden Dragon Vein

During my brief moment of astonishment, Ye Yang spoke, "You've divided and consumed the dragon vein?"

The Prince of An said, "Not exactly! When the dragon vein was severed, the earth's spiritual energy scattered, which, while creating many ghosts and monsters, also gave rise to numerous natural treasures."

"My Dragon Blood Tea is one of them."

"Everyone can savor it carefully; it will greatly benefit your cultivation."

After taking a sip of the Dragon Blood Tea, I went straight to the point: "To be honest, Prince of An, I've come to enter the Laocheng Camp (Prison Camp) of Xianyang River to deal with some issues."

"Your Highness, how much do you know about the Xianyang River?"

The Prince of An said, "To talk about the Xianyang River, we have to start with the severing of the dragon vein."

"You are all leaders in the world of术 (shù – occult arts), so you should know the legend of 'Emperor Taizong severing the dragon vein,' right?"

Among the folk legends about "severing the dragon vein," the most widely spread is the story of Zhu Yuanzhang sending Liu Bowen to sever the dragon.

In fact, there was another emperor who severed a dragon vein: Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty.

Legend has it that Li Shimin, in order to ensure the "eternal stability of his dynasty," sent eighty-one Daoist experts to various places to "sever the dragon veins," leaving only the "unique" Li lineage.

Before the Han Dynasty, the Guanzhong Plain was covered with dense primeval forests, but by the Tang Dynasty, the trees in the area from Guanzhong to the Qinling Mountains had been almost completely felled.

This is evidence of the dragon scales being removed when Emperor Taizong severed the dragon vein.

I had heard Ye Yang say before: dragon veins are different, and the methods of severing them also vary.

The three most common types of dragon veins are: ascending dragon, coiling dragon, and crouching dragon.

Severing an ascending dragon involves artificially cutting off the mountain range, earth vein, or water vein at the waist of the "ascending dragon," so that "the ascending dragon cannot ascend."

Severing a coiling dragon requires artificially cutting off the earth vein at its neck, so that "the coiling dragon cannot look back."

Severing a crouching dragon requires using the method of "moving mountains and controlling ridges" to suppress the dragon's head, so that "the crouching dragon cannot raise its head."

We had come all the way from Blackwater Fortress, and the dragon's tail and waist had been severed.

Could it be that the people who severed the dragon vein back then used different methods?

The Prince of An said, "When the Daoists sent by Emperor Taizong discovered the Hidden Dragon Vein here, they were also extremely shocked!"

"They did not expect that this dragon vein not only had the potential to break through and ascend into the sky, but also could regenerate even after being severed."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but interrupt, "Do you mean that this Hidden Dragon Vein can regenerate itself even if it's severed?"

"That's right!" The Prince of An said, "Those Daoists had never seen such a dragon vein. After several studies, they finalized a plan to sever the vein."

"Changing the course of the river to sever the dragon's tail."

"Building stone sluices to sever the dragon's waist."

"Excavating the earth veins to sever the dragon's neck."

"Casting a city to suppress the dragon's head."

"Therefore, the imperial court mobilized tens of thousands of prisoners to establish the Laocheng Camp here."

"Wait a minute!" I stared at the Prince of An and said, "As far as I know, this area was not included in the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty during the Tang Dynasty, but was under the rule of the Black Water Mohe."

"I believe you when you say that Daoists traveled here and discovered the Hidden Dragon Vein."

"But you say that tens of thousands of prisoners were mobilized to excavate the dragon vein and build a city here? Would the Black Water Mohe have allowed the Great Tang to send tens of thousands of prisoners into their territory?"

The Prince of An laughed and said, "Mr. Li, you underestimate the methods of those wandering Daoists."

"As far as I know, those Daoists, without using a single soldier from the Great Tang, persuaded the Black Water Mohe chieftain at the time to sever the dragon vein here."

I roughly understood what the Prince of An meant: he was saying that the Daoists at the time used extraordinary means.

术士 (shùshì – occultists) also often use these methods. The simplest way is to bring the ghost oneself, let the employer feel that his family is uneasy, and then the术士 (shùshì – occultist) will stand up to help the employer to exorcise evil spirits and鎮宅 (zhèn zhái – ward off evil from the house).

The术士 (shùshì – occultists) of that year probably used similar methods, except that their handwriting was astonishingly large.

The Prince of An continued, "After the术士 (shùshì – occultists) severed the dragon here, in order to suppress the dragon vein's baleful aura, they built four bunkers and left a part of the Daoists to resolve the baleful aura, which are the several military fortresses you saw along the way."

"However, ghosts and monsters still frequently appeared here, often rushing out of the ground and harming people's lives."

"The Daoist sect knew that if they could not effectively suppress the ghosts and monsters, the secret of the underground dragon vein would be discovered sooner or later. However, they could not think of a good solution and could only report to the imperial court."

"The imperial court was also at a loss for a while."

"In the end, the Six Doors shared the worries of the imperial court and came up with a way to exile术士 (shùshì – occultists) to suppress ghosts and monsters."

"The Six Doors assigned the术士 (shùshì – occultists) to different places according to their levels, the weakest术士 (shùshì – occultists) were placed in the Blackwater Fortress, and only the strongest术士 (shùshì – occultists) could enter the Laocheng Camp."

"On the surface, those术士 (shùshì – occultists) can accumulate merits in the Laocheng Camp and exchange them for commutation of sentence. However, the Six Doors will not give them a chance to leave the place of exile."

"The only ones who can return from here are the constables of the Six Doors."

"So that's how it is!" I nodded slightly: "No wonder all the constables who escort prisoners will have their memories erased after returning, it turns out that they don't want to expose the real secret of the place of exile."

I asked again: "Then how did you come to the place of exile? And why did the Six Doors block the road to exile?"