Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
When I woke up again, it was completely dark. My mind was still hazy, and I felt utterly weak. Not only did my wounds throb with pain, but even the slightest movement of my arm sent shockwaves through my entire body. Beside me sat Dong Tong, the cold woman. She looked somewhat fatigued; during my unconsciousness, she must have been taking care of me.
"Are you feeling better?"
Dong Tong asked as soon as she saw me open my eyes. Although her face remained as icy as ever, there was a hint of concern in her tone. She handed me a bottle of mineral water and even twisted off the cap for me.
I was surprised to find that this woman could be quite considerate.
At that moment, I truly had no strength left in me. If I had to twist open the bottle myself, I might not have been able to do it. After taking a sip from the water she offered, I felt much more comfortable and nodded in gratitude, saying, "Thank you."
Dong Tong shook her head and said nothing.
Having spent some time with her, I had come to understand her personality somewhat; she wasn't one to initiate conversation. However, I found myself unable to read her at the moment. So, I asked about our current situation.
This time, Dong Tong explained things to me in detail.
Due to my sudden fainting spell, everyone had no choice but to temporarily leave the tomb and rest in Poplar's room. During this time, Zhengyang extracted my Corpse Qi, while Big Mouth Lee and Bald Qiang conducted a brief patrol near the desert. They indeed encountered a group of foreigners who had entered the desert under the guise of tourism and clashed with Big Mouth Lee. After Bald Qiang knocked one of them out with a punch, they fled in panic.
Zhengyang carefully examined the tomb and discovered that it was actually a mother-son tomb. The entity residing within was likely a powerful figure who had been sealed by Killing Intent, preventing Nine Extremes Killing Intent from fully penetrating the tomb. As for where the main tomb was located, that remained uncertain.
So much had happened in such a short time; I felt quite embarrassed about it all. I had become a burden to everyone!
Previously, Aunt Huang had left Corpse Poison on me after striking me once. This type of Corpse Poison acted like a gas navigation device—wherever I went, the spirits would follow. This time, after being bitten by Sand Hammer, I had been afflicted with an even more potent form of Corpse Poison. However, unexpectedly, this misfortune turned into a blessing; my Corpse Poison was disrupted and absorbed by Sand Hammer's Corpse Poison!
After pondering all this, I turned back to look at them with a grateful expression...
After adjusting my mood slightly, I asked Dong Tong what our next plan would be.
"Back to the tomb again!"
I stared at it as Dong Tong let out a soft sigh. Zhengyang happened to walk in, glanced at me, and said, "Some things can't be given up just because you want to. Even if you know that the path ahead is fraught with danger, you still have to grit your teeth and push forward. Being in this world means you have no choice, just like Old Man Xia back then, and you and I are the same."
After Zhengyang finished speaking, he flicked his long sleeves and floated away. Watching his retreating figure, I fell into deep thought.
There was a profound meaning hidden in those words!
Just as my emotions settled, several people entered the tomb passage again. We walked deeper into the passage. As I passed through the stone door made of bricks and stones, I seemed to see something in the darkness smiling at me, but it vanished in an instant, leaving me with nothing.
Entering the tomb chamber, it was pitch black. Following the records in the Ritual regarding the positions for burial offerings, I roughly located the Offering Lamp and took out a fire stick to light it. It was an everlasting lamp made from mermaid oil, said to last for thousands of years without extinguishing. The Offering Lamp shone brightly, illuminating the entire tomb chamber without a trace of smoke.
As soon as we stepped into the tomb chamber, we heard a roaring sound from outside the tomb passage. A gust of wind carrying yellow sand rushed in intermittently, sounding like millions of migrating wildebeests thundering across the ground. Dong Tong frowned and shouted, "Not good! This is a Black Sandstorm!"
In spring 1979, there was also a Black Sandstorm that affected only Qiemu and Ruoqiang. In one area alone, over twenty-five thousand tons of dust fell per square kilometer, demonstrating the severity of its destruction. Wherever the Black Sandstorm went, both people and livestock were buried; we certainly didn't want to dig this pit.
"Uh! So we have to spend the night here?"
"Old man inside, please allow us to borrow this precious place for one night; do not bring down any punishment upon us!"
We shot Big Mouth Lee a glare. What happened to him being so bold? We had already dug up someone's grave, and he was still saying such useless things. Big Mouth Lee seemed to notice our thoughts and smiled, "Just routine business, routine business!"
I was still focused on the Black Sandstorm when Bald Qiang had disappeared somewhere. Suddenly, I saw him jump onto a large wooden box, laughing, "There are good things inside!"
Hearing this, Big Mouth Lee immediately grinned and climbed up as well. Standing on top of the wooden box, he nearly lost his balance: "Dude! There are several decapitated corpses in this box; why are you so happy about it?" Bald Qiang replied with a laugh, "I see no corpses; all I see is glimmering gold!" With that, he tore off several strings of gold and silver jewelry from the bodies and stuffed them into his pockets.
These two useless fools, in the Nine Deadly Tombs, were actually interested in gold and jewels. Bald Qiang jumped straight into the wooden box, kicking at the corpses and pulling out a few bracelets and some precious jade discs from the pile of bodies.
I was furious. What the hell was this? That box contained human remains meant for burial, and these two idiots jumped in as if they wanted to be buried with them. "You two idiots, get down here! The tomb owner will drag you down for a burial!" Reluctantly, they climbed down, their bags stuffed full.
In the center of the main hall of the tomb stood an altar, adorned with Three Livestock and Six Domestic Animals, along with countless lacquerware, porcelain, and other burial items. One of the boxes was wrapped in Iron Skin and showed no signs of rust. To my surprise, there was a statue of a Buddha in the tomb chamber, appearing to smile enigmatically. It wore a Pilu hat, held a nine-ringed staff, draped in a colorful robe, sitting atop a roaring beast with its feet resting on a lotus flower. On either side of the Buddha niche were carved couplets in Chinese: "Until hell is empty, I vow not to become a Buddha. Only when all beings are saved can one attain enlightenment!"
At first, I hadn’t paid much attention to these details until I suddenly looked up. Although the statue was sculpted in the Kushan style, the texture of its clothing surprisingly matched that of Cao Yi Emerges from Water. Logically speaking, Buddhist sculptures here should have been influenced by Roman and Indian styles; this statue with distinct Han characteristics shouldn’t be here!
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva belonged to the ruler of hell and was a superior of the Ten Yama Kings. Normally, he wouldn’t appear in a tomb like this. Could it be that there was an enlightened being here that needed protection?
"Xia, what are you thinking about?"
"This place feels off; it doesn’t seem like a Tomb from the Western Regions' Thirty-Six Kingdoms!"
"Oh! I think it’s strange too; why does this tomb look like a Buddha Hall? What kind of place is this?"
"You don’t know anything!" Bald Qiang shot back at Big Mouth Lee.
Big Mouth Lee spat heavily on the ground: "This is called professionalism; do you understand? Silly Qiang!"
Bald Qiang was ready to retort again when Zhengyang suddenly shouted, "Enough! Stop arguing! If I’m not mistaken, this tomb is meant to suppress something terrifying below—the tomb owner down there is something dreadful! Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is the lord of hell; even these ghosts would fear him!"
"Do you really think Black Sandstorm is just a natural phenomenon?"
"Isn’t that obvious? Are we responsible for it?"
"That's right, this Black Sandstorm is caused by the Killing Intent released from the tomb!"
To be honest, I completely disbelieved such nonsense. These "sandstorms" are actually whirlwinds wrapped in sand. They are a disastrous phenomenon resulting from the interaction of wind and sand, closely related to factors like the greenhouse effect, deforestation, vegetation destruction, species extinction, and climate anomalies. Sandstorms can erode soil, destroy vegetation, and threaten human health, but they are certainly not the result of some ominous Killing Intent.
Later, according to Zhengyang's explanation, I began to understand a bit more. It was precisely because we had breached the Tomb and released years of accumulated Eerie Energy that the Killing Intent had gathered and surged forth. At that moment, the underworld received a warning similar to a beacon signal, unleashing ominous winds and dark mists, followed by the arrival of Yin Soldiers.
The appearance of Yin Soldiers usually indicates a great battle in the underworld or a massive loss of life in the human realm that necessitates a large-scale search and capture operation by Yin Soldiers. In ancient times, those who died in battle or disasters would linger for thousands of years without entering Reincarnation, their souls remaining in a drifting state. They retained their last habits from life; if they were soldiers, they would still obey their commanders from before death. This flicker of intelligence made them incredibly terrifying.
In essence, we were in a place of extreme danger. Once opened, it severely disrupted the balance between Yin and Yang, inevitably leading to a large-scale mobilization of Yin Soldiers. However, there was another possibility for their deployment: if these soldiers had experienced fierce battles in life and died with lingering resentment, they would yearn for another confrontation with their enemies. Only by going through this underworld battle could they resolve their grievances and return to dust, ultimately rejoining the Six Paths. Yet I couldn't comprehend the motivations of these Yin Soldiers at all...
Outside, the Yin Soldiers were surrounding us while we had no idea what awaited us inside... We found ourselves in a dilemma, unsure of what to do next.
Bald Qiang kept cursing under his breath; it sounded quite imposing but he seemed rather cowardly as he plopped down on the ground. "The Yin Soldiers are passing through; it's terrifying! The tomb passage is frightening enough, and we have no clue what kind of monster awaits us inside!"
I couldn't help but smile wryly at his reaction and chose not to respond.
You’re still worried about what’s inside the tomb?
You should focus on surviving tonight first; this group of Yin Soldiers clearly came specifically for this Tomb.
Comment 0 Comment Count