Chapter 1097 - 1095: Yin Yang Jade
The next morning, Tang Yumeng had already gone to work. Lin Chuan washed up briefly, and took out the jade stone he got from Li Huaishan's home, carefully examining it for a while.
Why was this jade stone at Li Huaishan's place? This became Lin Chuan's biggest question.
Standing up, Lin Chuan left the house, returned to his home at Changlin Factory, and found the jade stone given to him by the General. He then headed to the City Committee Guesthouse.
Arriving at the guesthouse, Lin Chuan hung the jade stone he brought from home around his neck and went to Li Huaishan's room.
At the room's door, Lin Chuan knocked twice, then pushed the door open and walked in.
Li Huaishan's spirits had improved a lot. Yesterday, Lin Chuan had come with Tang Yumeng, so Li Huaishan still recognized Lin Chuan.
"Secretary Li, Secretary Tang sent me to check on you and see if you need anything." To give himself a good reason, Lin Chuan used Tang Yumeng's name.
Li Huaishan sat up in bed and said, "Thank Secretary Tang for the concern, I'm fine now."
"That's good," Lin Chuan said, intentionally bending down to expose the jade stone around his neck to Li Huaishan.
When Li Huaishan saw the jade stone around Lin Chuan's neck, his expression froze, eyes fixed on the stone.
Lin Chuan saw Li Huaishan staring at the jade stone, and asked, "Secretary Li, what do you think of this jade?"
Saying this, he took the jade stone from around his neck and handed it to Li Huaishan. Li Huaishan took the jade in his hand, felt it briefly, and then examined it closely, looking solemn as he said to Lin Chuan, "Can you tell me the origin of this jade?"
Lin Chuan didn't answer Li Huaishan directly, instead asking, "Secretary Li, do you recognize this jade?"
Li Huaishan pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, I do recognize this jade, but you need to tell me how you got it first."
This jade stone was snatched by Lin Chuan and Miss Lan from Thomas in Tokyo, Japan. Without hiding anything, Lin Chuan told Li Huaishan its origin, but he didn't mention anything about the old General Chen Zhenguo.
After listening, Li Huaishan looked at Lin Chuan and said, "How much do you know about this jade?"
Lin Chuan laughed and said, "I only know that holding this jade gives a chilling feeling, other than that, I'm clueless."
Hearing Lin Chuan's words, Li Huaishan looked surprised, took a long pause before he said, "Didn't expect you to experience that feeling. Okay, I'll tell you the origin of this jade."
Lin Chuan looked at Li Huaishan, saying nothing, waiting for him to continue.
Li Huaishan pondered for a while, and said, "This jade is called Yin Yang Jade. There should be two pieces; you have the Yin Jade, and there's another piece, the Yang Jade. Legend has it these two pieces are related to several ancient cultivation sects."
The matter was not mentioned by the old General to Lin Chuan, and he felt a shock in his heart. Cultivation sects are things that are fabricated in novels; could such sects actually exist in reality?
"Secretary Li, what do you mean by cultivation?" Lin Chuan interrupted Li Huaishan, asking.
Li Huaishan said, "China is the birthplace of Taoism, which reveres The Three Pure Ones, using the cosmic theory of yin-yang and the Five Elements' variations as its foundation to enhance one's cultivation, ultimately reaching the Unity of Heaven and Man; this is cultivation."
Lin Chuan hadn't researched this, and couldn't understand what Li Huaishan was saying. Seeing Lin Chuan's perplexed expression, Li Huaishan further explained, "A True Immortal is the highest realm of Taoists, who should possess grand ambitions, foresight, and devote themselves to diligent cultivation, seeking to achieve the Upper Realm of a True Immortal, hence cultivation. This passage means Taoists consider the True Immortal the ultimate standard of cultivation, and they ought to have broad vision and insights, diligently practicing."
"How is this jade related to cultivation then?" Lin Chuan asked curiously.
Li Huaishan said, "To ordinary people, these jades are just valuable stones, but to cultivators, they are treasures. The Yin Yang Jade, one yin and one yang, greatly aids in improving cultivators' abilities, and these two stones reportedly hide a shocking secret."
"What secret?" Lin Chuan asked.
Li Huaishan shook his head and said, "That, I don't know either."
"So, Secretary Li, how do you know all this? Are you a practitioner of cultivation?" Lin Chuan asked again.
Li Huaishan said, "I am not a practitioner of cultivation. The reasons I know these things are because my ancestors had a profound connection with Taoist cultivation. Since you are fated to possess this jade, I might as well tell you everything."
At this point, Li Huaishan picked up the teacup from the bedside, took a sip of water, and continued, "According to some ancient books left by my ancestors, these two pieces of jade descended from the heavens in ancient times, lying dormant on the peak of Kunlun Mountain for tens of thousands of years, until they were discovered by the Taoist elder Laozi during his cultivation on Kunlun Mountain. That's how he managed to transcend through the barrier and, through the transformation of the three pure ones, achieved immortality. After attaining immortality, these two jades disappeared without a trace, until the era of the Three Kingdoms when Zhuge Liang obtained them."
Lin Chuan had seen this in the tattered ancient books from the old general but he didn't interrupt, listening to Li Huaishan continue.
Li Huaishan said, "After Zhuge Liang obtained these two jades, he sensed the mysterious power within them. However, he was not a Taoist practitioner and couldn't harness the mysterious powers in the jade. With his intelligence and wisdom, he actually used the principle of the counteraction and reinforcement of yin and yang within them to set up several magical arrays, helping Liu Bei achieve significant feats."
"After Zhuge Liang's death, these jades disappeared from the world again until hundreds of years later, when another extraordinary person obtained them. He was the famous Liu Bowen. Liu Bowen was already a cultivator himself, and upon obtaining these jades, he managed to unravel the mysteries of the heavens, helping Zhu Yuanzhang win the empire."
"These two are both rare geniuses in a millennium, thus there's a saying in later generations, 'Five hundred years forward, there was Kong Ming; five hundred years back, there was Liu Bowen.' In a sense, the great capabilities of these two individuals were due to these jades, which is the mysterious power of the Yin Yang Jade. As for the secrets hidden within the Yin Yang Jade, perhaps only the Immortal Laozi can comprehend them."
Lin Chuan was hearing about these things for the first time, and he listened with great interest.
After taking another sip of water, Li Huaishan continued, "Of course, these are just legends, but these jades really contain an incredible mysterious power that ordinary people cannot perceive, unless they are born with the Heavenly Meridian."
"Heavenly Meridian??? Lin Chuan was even more puzzled.
"Indeed, the so-called Heavenly Meridian refers to a phenomenon where a person is born with an incredible pulse pattern, in other words, those whose governor and conception vessels are naturally unblocked at birth," Li Huaishan explained.
To Lin Chuan, it all sounded like an unreadable book, yet it piqued his immense curiosity. He asked, "Then how can one know if their governor and conception vessels are naturally unblocked?"
Li Huaishan shook his head, saying, "I don't know either. I only know what's written in the ancient books left by my ancestors. Earlier, you mentioned you could feel the jade being cold to the touch; perhaps you are one of those with such a supernatural pulse pattern."
Lin Chuan was stunned.
Li Huaishan said, "The reason I'm telling you all this is that my ancestor obtained another piece of jade by a stroke of luck. Yours is the Yin Jade, while my ancestor obtained the Yang Jade. The appearance of both pieces in the world foretells a major event in the human world, and you are the person who can prevent this catastrophe."
The more Lin Chuan listened, the more mysterious it felt. How did it lead to a catastrophe? He couldn't help but say, "Secretary Li, isn't what you're saying a bit too frightening?"
Li Huaishan said, "I'm not speaking nonsense; it's what's recorded in the ancient books left by my ancestors. Lin Chuan, remember, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. The jade and the ancient books are at the bottom of the bookshelf in my house."
As if foreshadowing something, after saying these words, Li Huaishan wore an indescribable smile on his face and suddenly stopped moving, sitting upright on the bed.
Lin Chuan was startled and quickly got up to shake Li Huaishan's body, but Li Huaishan remained motionless. When Lin Chuan reached out to check Li Huaishan's breath, he found that there was no respiration.
Lin Chuan, seeing that Li Huaishan suddenly stopped breathing without explanation, was shocked. Without thinking further, he picked up Li Huaishan and rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, Li Huaishan was immediately taken to the emergency room. After a few minutes, the doctor came out and told Lin Chuan that Li Huaishan had already died, and even the doctor couldn't determine the cause of death.
Lin Chuan couldn't guess the reason for Li Huaishan's sudden death no matter how hard he thought. His instincts told him it might have an enormous link with the Yin Yang Jade.
What exactly that link was, he couldn't say.
Tang Yumeng was in a meeting when she suddenly received a call from Lin Chuan, informing her that Li Huaishan had died. She was equally astonished and immediately left the meeting to head to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Tang Yumeng asked why Li Huaishan had suddenly died. Lin Chuan also couldn't provide any satisfactory explanation and had to turn to the doctor for answers.
The doctor couldn't say either, only telling Tang Yumeng that Li Huaishan's body showed no injuries or signs of illness, classifying it as a natural death.
Tang Yumeng pressed Lin Chuan on why he had visited Li Huaishan. With no other choice, Lin Chuan explained about the jade, leaving Tang Yumeng astonished, unable to find words for a moment.