Chapter 111

Qin Cheng’s face, who was lying on the floor of the coffin chamber, turned dark blue at visible speed. Although he looked like a dead person, if you carefully looked at him, you could notice a tiny breath. He was faintly inhaling and exhaling….

The chamber was extremely quiet, and Su Jingmo lowered his eyes to look at the unconscious Qin Cheng lying right in front of him.

‘ Qin Cheng must be feeling cold. But…. ’

Su Jingmo looked around the coffin chamber, but it was filled with things for the dead. There wasn’t a single thing he could use to help Qin Cheng warm up.

Su Jingmo frowned and squatted down to touch Qin Cheng’s cheek with his cold fingers. However, his fingertips couldn’t feel any warmth coming from Qin Cheng, unlike in the past. He was as cold as Su Jingmo’s own cold temperature….

‘ I don’t like this….This Qin Cheng, who looks like he’s dying, and who isn’t talking to me or responding to my touch…. ’

Su Jingmo’s fingers were fiercely drawn back, and then slowly tightened into a fist.

For some reason, at that very moment, an unspeakable sadness made Su Jingmo’s chest ache…..

“Although I’m always calling you stupid, I didn’t expect you to be this stupid.”

Su Jingmo then slid down and slowly laid down beside Qin Cheng, turning his head sideways to look at Qin Cheng’s face: “You’re really going to die, do you understand that?”

“There’s nothing left for you once you’re dead….and it’s very unfilial for you to lose your life without considering your parents…..”

The coffin chamber was completely silent. Even though no one responded to his words, Su Jingmo continued to speak softly: “My end is coming, and in less than 10 days, I will no longer be in this world…” Su Jingmo raised his hand and gently placed it on Qin Cheng’s waist: “I don’t know…. if by then….you will be….”

Before Su Jingmo could say it, he suddenly chuckled: “I’m afraid I won’t….”

“You, ah…. Although you knew it was a dead end, you still went on. I have told you so many lies, and hidden so much from you, but you never questioned a single word I said.”

“Do you know why I have lied to you so much?”

“I knew from the very beginning that you were the key that could destroy the formation inside this great Mausoleum. I knew because I was always able to sense anyone’s intrusion….but I could never feel you.”

“I built this tomb, and the formation that allows my soul to remain was set up by Master Xuyun.”

“Master Xuyun’s common surname was Tang…. So it seems that this tomb has always been doomed to disappear the moment you, and the Tang family, appeared. You two are the objects sent by the Heavens to destroy my thousand-year-old obsession, and eliminate all traces that the Xu Dynasty ever existed. But, Qin Cheng, I don’t want that to happen!!”

Su Jingmo took a deep breath and closed his eyes: “Therefore, I wanted to kill you. As long as you are dead, and your soul was trapped inside this tomb, you will be able to preserve the last traces the Xu Dynasty left behind….”

“….But, for a reason I couldn’t understand, I let you take Xuyun’s soul-renewal pill so you won’t die….”

Although Su Jingmo said that he didn’t understand the reason, in his heart, he understood that he had saved Qin Cheng’s life at that time because Qin Cheng had said his name before dying.

For a brief moment, Su Jingmo remembered that more than a thousand years ago, while he was dying, there was also a person calling his name…. With such heartbreaking sadness….

“Even if I saved you….it could also be considered as me harming you. That pill can renew your life, but it can also kill you….You know, I once regretted saving you, but your eyes stuck to me.”

“When those little thieves came to destroy the formation and opened the gates of Hell, I already knew you were there. I simply pretended to be tricked, but you really jumped out to protect me, and your soul was almost pulled down to the Eight Cold Hells because of that. Yet, you never backed away….”

“They can’t do anything to my soul, so how could I be helpless when dealing with those little demons? However, Qu Zhiwen, that brat, ruined everything….”

“Soon after, I found out that my time was coming, and that I wouldn’t be able to support the tomb for long. At that moment, I was secretly happy that I hadn’t let you die. To be honest with you, I’m afraid you’re the only one in this world who is so determined and stupid to be willing to take my place in the tomb. To be trapped for thousands of years…. Just to not let my thousand-year-old unrealistic hopes go to waste!”

Without realizing it, Su Jingmo had gently leaned on Qin Cheng’s shoulder at some point, snuggling up close to him. The breeze, that filtered in from somewhere in the tomb, gently caressed the hair on Qin Cheng’s forehead. One corner of Su Jingmo’s mouth lifted slightly as he saw this happen. Looking at Qin Cheng’s forehead, Su Jingmo couldn’t help but use his fingers to teasingly chase the windblown hair.

“I, Su Jingmo, have always been a heartless man. I always did what I wanted, and even to this day, I’ve never regretted anything…. But my Fifth Brother once said: ‘Even though you seem like a caring and loving person, you’re quite ruthless. Although you think you understand your own heart, in reality, you have never been able to do so.’ At that time, I didn’t care about his words. But not too long ago, I was finally able to understand what he meant to tell me.”

With that said, Su Jingmo rested his chin on his arm and laid on his side, looking at Qin Cheng the entire time. After a while, Su Jingmo leaned over Qin Cheng and kissed him on the lips.

“I have never been afraid of anyone nor anything because I always knew what I wanted. I have never been afraid of my enemies seeing through me because I have ways to make them submit.”

As he smelled the faint clean scent of Qin Cheng’s body, Su Jingmo smiled: “It’s just that I didn’t realize that from the moment I hid my true intentions from you, I was doomed to be constrained by my own actions. In the past, I never hid my intentions to obtain the Taowu bones from Lin Qing, whom I cherished…. But I hid it from you. Do you know why?”

Su Jingmo’s lips slightly touched Qin Cheng’s ear as he whispered: “Even now, I will only say these words to you because you’re unconscious. I hid it from you because I was afraid….”

“For the first time, I, Su Jingmo, was afraid….”

“Not too long ago, I discovered that I could be afraid. When that ‘Su Jingyan’ told you that I was using you from the beginning, and you questioned me if that was the truth….”

“I….flinched….Qin Cheng, I was actually afraid that you would….you would say….that you regretted knowing me….”

“But you just said outside: ‘Since these are my own wishful thinking, I have to be willing to gamble for it. Even if it means losing.’” Su Jingmo closed his eyes for a long time before he could continue: “Qin Cheng, you won the bet.”

The clear voice surrounded the empty coffin chamber, sounding with a certain helplessness and a slight coldness.

“Wake up. Didn’t you say that you wanted to go see the leaves of the red maple tree dancing in the air on an autumn day with me?”

“.…”

Su Jingmo didn’t care about what those people outside the tomb were doing, and he didn’t know how much time had passed. He simply laid quietly beside Qin Cheng, watching him sleep.

Since Su Jingmo was a ghost who didn’t need to rest, he wasn’t sure for how long he had stayed that way. But when he noticed that he wasn’t able to touch Qin Cheng anymore, Su Jingmo realized that, perhaps, many days had passed….

‘ That man must not be willing to sit still. ’

After thinking of this, Su Jingmo felt a violent vibration. This vibration didn’t come from the tomb itself, but from the southeast side of the formation. Once the vibration came to an end, Su Jingmo looked at his now missing left hand….

Seeing this, Su Jingmo raised an eyebrow and thought: ‘ According to what Xuyun said, the formation in this tomb will merge with my soul as if they were one. If the formation were to be destroyed, then my soul would also disappear. It seems those brats have destroyed the southeast side of the formation…. ‘

‘ It seems the descendants of the Tang family still have some skills, huh? Even after so many generations, Xuyun’s bloodline was capable of being preserved to this point…. ‘

As he thought of the way the Tang family managed to continue their bloodline after so many years, Su Jingmo smiled.

‘ So this is why Xuyun became a monk…. ‘

‘ After all, marry your own relative…. Who could stand it? ‘

“I guess it’s time for me to go out and meet old acquaintances….”

As Su Jingmo said that, the formation in the southeast side of the great Mausoleum was completely destroyed with Qu Zhiwen’s help.

As Qu Zhiwen looked at the collapsing of the Mountain due to the destruction of the formation, he had some indescribable thoughts: ‘ The formation made by the ancestor of the Tang family is really scary. As long as the formation is destroyed, everything else will be destroyed with it. Only this corner of the mountain has collapsed, and the burial goods inside the tomb have already turned into dust. ‘

Even if Qu Zhiwen wasn’t an archeologist like Qin Cheng, he also understood what a big loss this was. Those objects were considered treasures even in ancient times, so there wasn’t a need to explain just how valuable they were more than 1000 years later….

As Qu Zhiwen moved his gaze elsewhere, he saw a helpless Li Guoxian crying and screaming over the loss of the treasures. Qu Zhiwen then walked to Tang Jiaming and said: “Why did you tie him here? Are you just going to let him roar like this forever?”

Tang Jiaming glanced at Qu Zhiwen, only to reveal a strange smile: “Although he doesn’t want to admit it, Li Guoxian indeed cherishes the treasures of cultural value. I’ll let him see how these treasures are destroyed with his own eyes, and then I’ll kill him when I get the Taowu Bones!”

Qu Zhiwen didn’t speak anymore. After all, he was only cooperating with Tang Jiaming for a shared purpose. As for Tang Jiaming’s hatred for Li Guoxian, it was something Qu Zhiwen couldn’t control, nor something he cared about.

“Who the hell are you?! How do you know about the Taowu Bones?! You even know how to destroy this formation!!”

“Who am I? Are you really asking me who I am?” The one to speak was none other than Tang Jiaming. Since he was so thin, looking like skin and bones, when he smiled, his face contorted hideously: “Li Guoxian, I’ve been following you for so many years, and you can’t even recognize me? At least Qin Cheng can tell who I am by the sound of my voice.”

“Voice?” Li Guoxian was puzzled. After a while of pondering, his eyes widened in astonishment: “You, you, are you Tang Jiaming?!”

“Indeed, Professor Li. I’m Tang Jiaming….”

“There’s no way! How could Tang Jiaming be here?! Didn’t he ask for a leave to go home….? No, no, no! How could Tang Jiaming know the technique to destroy the formation inside this tomb?!”

“Why not?” Tang Jiaming looked at Li Guoxian and smiled. “How have your nightmares been lately? How does it feel to relive the crimes you have committed so many years ago? How does it feel to be killed by your dear old friend?”

When Li Guoxian heard this, his face suddenly paled: “Was it you, who has been giving me trouble this whole time?! How could you know those things?! There’s no way anyone, but me knows!”

“Oh? That’s not necessarily.” Tang Jiaming said with a gloomy voice. “The Heavens can see it all. They have specially asked me to come and take your life “

“No, no, no.” Although Li Guoxian had recently been disturbed by nightmares, he wasn’t a fool. Some things shown in his nightmares were real, but there were others that were false. What the dream showed about the event that took place so many years ago was utterly horrible, but such gruesome scenes didn’t match with what had really happened back then. However, the deaths of Li Guoxian’s friends were real….

‘ If it’s true that Tang Jiaming really created those nightmares, then Tang Jiaming must only know how they died….but he doesn’t really know what happened inside the tomb…. ‘

Back then, only two people escaped from the tomb. But only one of them survived….

“What’s your connection….to Qi Shengkang?”

The angst!!!! Why Su Jingmo, why are you being so sincere with Qin Cheng when he’s unconscious!!!!!???? 😭😭😭

.

Ko-fi goal for extra chapters~~ (*¯︶¯*)♡