The Horrifying Peony

Under the night sky, the continuous sound of the pine trees in the distance could be faintly heard. It should have been a picturesque scene with a gentle breeze and a bright moon, full of poetry. However, these four people only felt a creeping sense of horror. Although the moonlight was as bright as day, they couldn't feel even a trace of the breeze. Where on earth did the sound of the pine trees come from?

Wang Qiang was so frightened that he was trembling all over and involuntarily recited the Diamond Sutra. Strangely enough, the eerie sound of the pine trees disappeared instantly. Seeing this, although the others couldn't recite the Diamond Sutra like Wang Qiang, they all, almost in unison, chanted "Amitabha Buddha".

After a long while, the group gradually calmed down. Lin Yuxuan stopped writing with his pen and began to ask what exactly had happened after they opened the coffin in the Princess's tomb.

The three of them glanced at each other, and none of them wanted to mention that terrifying scene. When Lin Yuxuan's gaze fell on Wang Qiang, Zhang Feng and Chen Yu also stared intently at Wang Qiang. Helpless, Wang Qiang had to tell Lin Yuxuan in detail about the situation of opening the two stone coffins in the underground palace of the Princess Yiyang's Tomb.

"When the peonies bloom, they will reach their peak and then decline?" Lin Yuxuan couldn't help repeating these eight words when he heard Wang Qiang say them.

At this moment, Chen Yu interrupted and said, "When I worked in the cultural relics management office, I heard that there are seventeen accompanying tombs around Qianling Mausoleum, where two crown princes, three princes, four princesses, and eight ministers are respectively buried. Strangely, except for the ministers, these crown princes, princes, and princesses all died at a young age. Maybe these eight words on the coffin are an indication that Princess Yiyang died young."

Lin Yuxuan thought it made a lot of sense and nodded, subconsciously writing down these eight words in his notebook.

Chen Yu continued, "This deep ditch in front of us should be the 'Huang Chao Ditch'. Back then, after Huang Chao's rebel army captured Chang'an, they blatantly tried to loot Qianling Mausoleum. He mobilized four hundred thousand peasant soldiers and dug a ditch more than forty meters deep on Qianling Mausoleum, but they never found the underground palace of Qianling Mausoleum. Later, when the Tang Dynasty organized its military forces to encircle and suppress them, Huang Chao had to stop the looting and withdraw from Chang'an."

At this time, Zhang Feng suddenly blurted out, "When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, after my flowers bloom, all other flowers will wither. The fragrance of the flowers will permeate Chang'an in an overwhelming array, and the entire city will be draped in golden armor."

Lin Yuxuan looked at Zhang Feng with eyes of surprise and approval. Wang Qiang beside him quickly interjected with a smile, "Mr. Lin, don't listen to this guy talking nonsense. How could he understand all this? A few days ago, I heard that Zhang Yimou was going to make a movie called 'Curse of the Golden Flower', and there are a lot of big stars in it. He's a fan of Jay Chou and only knew about this poem written by Huang Chao because he paid attention to the promotion."

All four of them couldn't help but laugh, and the tense atmosphere eased a lot.

Lin Yuxuan turned to ask Chen Yu, "This poem is supposed to be about chrysanthemums, right? But why are there inscriptions about peonies in the Princess's tomb?"

Chen Yu thought for a moment and seemed to have an epiphany. "As far as I know, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, peonies have been regarded as the king of all flowers by the world. It is said that one year, when it was snowing heavily in Chang'an, Wu Zetian was drinking and composing poems. In a fit of inspiration, she drunkenly wrote an imperial edict: 'Tomorrow I will tour the imperial garden. Hurry up and inform Spring. The flowers must bloom overnight. Don't wait for the morning breeze to blow.' Because Wu Zetian was the empress, the true Son of Heaven who could command all the gods in the world, all the flowers had to comply with the edict and bloom overnight. Only the peonies refused to go against the season and kept their petals closed. Wu Zetian was furious, banished the peonies from Chang'an and sent them to Luoyang. She even imposed a fire punishment on them. Unexpectedly, this gave birth to the finest variety of peonies, the 'Burnt-bone Peonies'."

Lin Yuxuan suddenly understood. "So that's it. Since peonies were regarded as the national flower in the Tang Dynasty, it's not strange that there are words related to peonies in the Princess's tomb. Maybe they symbolize nobility."

Suddenly, a few wolf howls came from a distance. The four of them looked at each other in dismay. Logically speaking, there were no wolves in the area around Qianling Mausoleum. Where did these wolf howls come from? But they heard it clearly. Hearing the wolf howls on this full moon night, an inexplicable sense of fear welled up in the hearts of the four of them.

The moon seemed to be especially bright. The four people sitting together could clearly see each other's faces. Zhang Feng asked Chen Yu in confusion, "Old comrade, what are you laughing at?"

Chen Yu was even more at a loss. "I'm not laughing at all!"

In an instant, Lin Yuxuan, Zhang Feng, and Wang Qiang all let out terrified cries at the same time: "Peonies!"

Under the bright moonlight, Chen Yu stopped talking and sat quietly on the ground. There was a strange half-smile on his face, and a peony actually grew out of the top of his head. He looked at the other three people in horror, not understanding why they were staring at him with such strange looks.

The other three were too frightened to speak. They watched in horror as the peony flower on Chen Yu's head grew at an alarming rate, while his eye sockets gradually sank in, revealing two dark eye holes. Chen Yu's cheeks also collapsed rapidly. Before long, although the body below his neck was still intact without any damage, the part above his neck had turned into a white skeleton.

On top of the skeleton was a blooming peony, which was so delicate and beautiful. Even in the dark night, by the light of the moon, one could clearly see the terrifying blood-red color of the peony.

The air seemed to freeze instantly. The other three were too scared to speak. They gradually realized the terrifying meaning behind the eight words "When the peonies bloom, they will reach their peak and then decline" as death had already arrived.

Who would be the next? The three of them looked at each other, filled with fear. Wang Qiang suddenly felt a surge of fear, and cold sweat broke out on his back. He let out a scream, "After we opened the coffin, I was the second one to touch the night pearl!"

Before he could finish his words, Lin Yuxuan and Zhang Feng saw that Wang Qiang also became quiet, with a strange half-smile on his face, and a small peony flower slowly emerged from the top of his head. Lin Yuxuan let out a terrified scream, and the notebook in his hand flew out due to the spasm of his hand, and he didn't know where it had fallen.

As the peony flower on Wang Qiang's head was blooming more and more vigorously, amidst his fear, Lin Yuxuan felt a trace of doubt in his heart. Why was Zhang Feng so calm and showed no signs at all? He turned his head to look and saw that Zhang Feng was smiling with a peony flower also blooming on the top of his head.

At this moment, Lin Yuxuan was already scared out of his wits, and the fear in his heart was beyond description. He watched helplessly as the three sitting corpses in front of him had pale white skeletons on the upper part of their necks, and on top of each skeleton was a blooming blood-red peony that was exactly the same and had reached its fullest bloom. He felt as if his soul had already left his body.

After a long time, Lin Yuxuan seemed to regain some consciousness. There was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. Could it be that only those who entered the tomb chamber would encounter such a terrifying change?

A faint light began to appear in the sky on the horizon, and Lin Yuxuan felt a little more at ease. He could also see the things around him clearly.

However, to his surprise, the deep "Huang Chao Ditch" that the four of them saw at night had disappeared without a trace. He was still sitting beside the Tomb of Princess Yiyang, and there was a large expanse of flat grassland all around. There was a thick tree to his right front whose name he couldn't tell. He clearly saw that the notebook he had unconsciously thrown away when he was frightened was stuck between the high branches of the tree, and above the branches was a large expanse of dense leaves.

The jewels they had looted from the tomb chamber, for some unknown reason, the openings of the bags were slowly coming undone, and the jewels were gradually rolling to the ground. What terrified him even more was that these jewels, as if influenced by the terrain or some invisible force, were all rolling into the tomb-raiding tunnel that he had assigned his three subordinates to dig.

Lin Yuxuan struggled to stand up slowly. He no longer cared about those rare antiques and just wanted to escape from this terrifying place as soon as possible.

When he stood up unsteadily, it began to rain. The cold raindrops hitting his face made Lin Yuxuan, who was extremely frightened, a bit more clear-headed.

Lin Yuxuan stumbled more than ten meters away, not daring to look back at the corpses of his companions with peony flowers blooming on their heads.

The rainwater flowed into Lin Yuxuan's eyes along his forehead, making it difficult for him to see the way down the mountain. He subconsciously stretched out his right hand and wiped away the rainwater that made him uncomfortable.

When he opened his eyes again and was just about to put down his right hand and leave, he somehow reached out and touched the top of his head.

At that moment, Lin Yuxuan completely broke down because he felt something soft on the top of his head. Judging from the feel, it seemed to be in the shape of a flower.

On the hillside not far away, under the washing of the rainwater, a mass of mud was slowly but powerfully flowing down, irresistibly washing away everything on the ground.

When the sky cleared up, the Xilan Highway became lively again. A large number of vehicles rushed towards Qianling Mausoleum, and groups of tourists swarmed in.

Everything seemed to have returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Only in a certain place on the hillside, a patch of sand and mud washed down by the rainwater covered a large area of the grassland.