I won’t go into detail about the next part. The herdsman didn’t want to help me remove the hand from my back, but I finally managed to convince him.
The first thing I did was smash that hand into minced meat. Fortunately, when the herdsman started to cut it off, I only felt that it was connected to some of the tissue under my skin. Other than that, I didn’t feel any pain.
There was nothing I could do about the rest of the connection, so I would have to wait until I got out of this place and then have an operation.
Once that was done, I helped him deal with his leg, smoked his last cigarette, picked out a few pieces of ancient corpse flesh to carry with us, and then helped him walk out.
“You think you figured it out? It’s alright?”
I figured it out, I said silently to myself without answering him.
If the situation was more complicated, I wouldn’t be able to handle it anymore, but there was a big chance of winning so I could take a gamble right now.
Carrying the herdsman on my back, I started to walk out with difficulty. At the same time, I gave the sutra to him and asked him to recite it for me.
All the sutras in this book had been broken into pieces. A former me pieced it back together again according to the pronunciation, so that was why this book was so fragmented. Now, I believed that if he recited it according to the pronunciation, I could figure out what information I had left for myself.
I carried him on my back all the way to Juxian Hall without encountering any obstacles or losing my memory like I did when I went to get water for him. The two of us arrived here smoothly.
Along the way, I listened to all the sutras and learned what my previous self inferred about the truth of things.
It was a very clear message that was completely different from what Uncle Three or Poker-Face had left me before. In fact, it was an extremely detailed message almost like a detailed diary.
If only Uncle Three and Poker-Face had my language organization skills.
Next, I will describe everything that happened in my forgotten memories. I knew that that part of the journey would be more oppressive than I predicted. If all my previous experiences in the mountains were like being locked up in the hellish confines of Wuzhishan,(1) then the oppression I experienced next couldn’t be described in words.
Everything happened after I was dragged underground. During that process, my bronze piece was lost and all my subsequent memories were erased.
After I went underground, I went directly into a tube-like cavity. This structure was completely erased from my memory, which was why I drew the sea lily; it was the first creature that came to mind. Among the rubble, there were many passages that were actively used by those mollusk-like things.
<Chapter 31><Table of Contents><Chapter 33>
****
TN Notes:
(1) Per Seph: this is a “Journey to the West” reference. Wuzhishan (five fingers mountain) was formed when Gautama Buddha finally subdued Sun Wukong after the monkey king overturned the heavenly palace and none of the gods could defeat him. The Jade Emperor sought the help of the Buddha, and Gautama Buddha pressed Sun Wukong down with his hand, which transformed into the five fingers mountain keeping him suppressed. This kept him imprisoned for 500 years until he met Tang Sanzang, became his disciple, and was released from his prison. The imprisonment is on the bottom of pg 215 of this pdf I found and his meeting with Tang Sanzang (Tripitaka in the text) is on pg 327 of the same pdf.
MereBear's Translation 
“If only Uncle Three and Poker-Face had my language organization skills.”
I’m not sure how Uncle Three would have organized those facts but Xiao Ge is certainly a master at organizing his talking skills.
Thank you for the chapter.
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🤣🤣🤣 Couldn’t have said it better!
Can you imagine Xiaoge being as wordy as Wu Xie?
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In that case I would be think it’s a hallucination. 😂
Really it’s hard to imagine. So far, every time he has spoken more than one line, I have to check that sentence to make sure I didn’t mistake someone for him.
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Ah, you forget professor Zhang! The one time he out talks even Fatty!
Aw, that sort piece was sweet.
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Thank you. And you are right, there are those parts that he talks a lot and it makes me think he just wanted to impress Wu Xie. 😄
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Now I’m inspired by what you said, I want to share it.
I can imagine, Xiao Ge is telling in detail about his adventures to one of the tombs, with a poker face. Wu Xie look stunned, and fatty looks with his mouth open. Not getting response from Wu Xie, he tries to attack Xiao Ge in an attempt to confirm what he sees that resulting in a painful wrist. Wu Xie ignores him and says wait, I need to get a notebook and then goes to his room, muttering on the way, I have to draw a new plan, look like I’ve found a rival for my skills. He leaves Fatty, whose hand was stretched out to him for help and watching him from the floor. Cursing, Fatty gets up, glaring at Xiao Ge and goes out to get some fresh air or maybe food. And Xiao Ge, who still explaining, With smile, walks after him.
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Progress! Now who would’ve left that creepy hand for Wu Xie? Is that Seven-Fingered dude still around? I feel like he’s a likely culprit. As for one of the feminine auras, isn’t that female hei feizi still around someplace? Unless the body was smashed to smithereens when it fell from the bronze censor. I kinda feel like we haven’t seen the last of it though.
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Now I finally understand the five fingers mountain reference from Zhu Yi Long’s Lighting up the stars! Thank you!!!
I always get nervous when things go smoothly for Wuxie
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