Chapter 41

Qin Cheng originally wanted to rest before eating anything, but soon he changed his mind once he thought about the tomb.

Zhang Jun and Wu Hai are different from the other archeologists. These two knew that Qin Cheng was able to see ghosts, but even then, Qin Cheng still had some things that he didn’t want to talk about with them. However, when the current situation with the tomb is as complicated as now, Qin Cheng can’t depend on himself anymore. Besides, there are many things that he can’t sort out alone because he’s already extremely busy at the moment.

Besides, Qin Cheng trusted them. Even though Zhang Jun seems like someone who loves to have fun and do things in an impractical way, not a single archeologist would stay in this tomb all day long just to have fun. On the other hand, Wu Hai is an honest and straightforward person, and if he has something to say, then he would say it without giving it much thought.

When Qin Cheng thought about it, he decided to tell them a bit about the things he discovered.

“Are you saying that this tomb may not be from any of the already known Dynasties? How can you be so sure about something like that?”

Zhang Jun whispered: “So far, we haven’t dug up anything that could describe the history of the time period this tomb belongs to….” After saying this, Zhang Jun paused for a brief moment, and then continued: “Qin Cheng, you didn’t go inside the tomb alone, did you?”

Qin Cheng looked at the two men in front of him, and nodded.

“You son of a-….. Are you seeking death?!”

Wu Hai looked at Qin Cheng with a calm expression and said: “I understand why you want to figure out these things as soon as possible, but several people have died there. For the time being, it’s better to avoid getting close to the tomb.”

Zhang Jun looked at Qin Cheng’s annoyed face and thought of the young man they met last time, the one who said that Qin Cheng was full of ghostly qi and that his face looked like he was about to die at any given moment. At this, Zhang Jun couldn’t help but frown: “No wonder why the youth from last time said that you were covered in ghostly qi….. I still had some doubts that day, but now I believe in what he said. Qin Cheng, don’t blame me for speaking harshly to you, but if you keep on going like this, who says that you won’t end up sharing Jiang Bo’s fate?”

“Who?”

Zhang Jun explained to Wu Hai what had happened that night. Then he looked at Qin Cheng, who hadn’t said any word yet, and asked: “Have you been running to that tomb for the last few months?”

Qin Cheng nodded: “I’ve been going to the tomb every night, ever since the police sealed Ninghua Village.”

After hearing this, Wu Hai couldn’t help but ask: “So, you didn’t find yourself in danger?”

“Of course I was in danger.” Qin Cheng said with a smile: “I even almost lost my life several times.”

“And then why did you go ba-?”

“Do you want to know why everyone that sets foot on that tomb ends up dead?” Qin Cheng cut off Zhang Jun’s words and then said: “Do you still remember that post that went viral about Ninghua Village’s tomb two months ago?”

Zhang Jun was stupefied: “Are you talking about the post that explained how the Pu Huang army disappeared?”

“Yes, that one.” Qin Cheng bowed his head, thought about it, and said. “As you know, I’ve been able to see ghosts since the night of Jiang Bo’s accident, and I saw countless ghosts inside that tomb. Perhaps, what that post said wasn’t false.”

“Pu Huang drank all the water of Chang’an. Xuan Yuan took advantage of the wind and went to the Capital….” Qin Cheng repeated that sentence from the post: “The post said that Pu Huang army was killed by the owner of the tomb because he was angry. This cannot be a coincidence.”

Zhang Jun looked at Qin Cheng’s eyes and his body unconsciously shivered: “Could it be because…. the owner of the tomb is still inside the tomb? Were you able to see him?”

Qin Cheng didn’t want to tell them about Su Jingmo, so he simply replied: “I’m not sure if he’s inside the tomb or not. I just saw that the other ghosts don’t dare to approach the Underground Palace, which is convenient for me to enter the tomb through the tunnel we excavated.”

Wu Hai sensed that Qin Cheng’s words were half-truth and half-lies, but when he looked at Qin Cheng’s eyes, he decided to trust him: “Qin Cheng, why did you want to tell us this?”

Qin Cheng, who was pouring himself a cup of tea, paused for a brief moment, took a deep breath, and then said: “My ability to see ghosts is limited after all, so I still need you to help me with many things. Secondly…” Qin Cheng took a sip of tea and smiled helplessly: “I haven’t died yet, so I can be considered lucky, but who knows what will happen in the future? Maybe I would end up losing my life by accident one day.” After what happened last night, Qin Cheng was sure that next time he won’t be lucky enough to simply injure his arm.

At this point, Qin Cheng explained to them the results of his own research. After hearing Qin Cheng’s words, Wu Hai and Zhang Jun were silent for a long time, after all, if every word that Qin Cheng had just said to them could be confirmed, it would be enough to shock the entire country and even the world.

Whether the fact that the Xu Dynasty cannot be found in any piece of history known until now, or that there’s no information about that Emperor surnamed Su whatsoever…. This is enough to understand that Qin Cheng is taking many risks in trying to discover all this…

“So, you’re saying that there aren’t enough objects that can confirm that Dynasty existed?”

Qin Cheng nodded: “This tomb is rich in antiques, but there isn’t much writing about that time. The only thing I can be sure of, is that the Imperial Mausoleum of the so-called Xu Dynasty is in Shanxi Province.”

“In Shanxi? Then why was this Emperor buried in Xi’an? Could it be that the so-called Great Xu was once settled in Xi’an, so this particular Emperor was buried here?”

“Imposible.” Qin Cheng frowned and shook his head: “The information I found didn’t mention that the Capital was moved from Xi’an, the only one mentioned is Zhongdu, and I think it should be around modern Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. I will go there soon to see if there’s any trace that could guide me to the Great Xu Imperial Mausoleum.”

“Speaking of Shanxi, I remembered that Tang-ge seems to be from Shanxi.”

“Tang Jiaming? How do you know someone else’s hometown?” Qin Cheng asked Zhang Jun with amusement.

Zhang Jun replied: “Even though his registered residence is in Xi’an, his accent isn’t. One time I asked him about it and he told me that he’s originally from Shanxi, and that he spent his childhood living with his grandparents in Shanxi, so that’s why his accent was different. Why don’t we ask Tang-ge if he’s familiar with Pingyao?”

Qin Cheng thought about it for a moment and then said: “There’s no need to ask him yet, let’s wait until I come back from Shanxi.”

Wu Hai sighed lightly. He didn’t think that Qin Cheng would tell them these things for no reason, so he asked. “Qin Cheng, you told us that you wanted us to help you, right?” When he saw that Qin Cheng didn’t deny it, Wu Hai continued: “Then, what do you need us to do?”

“T here will be a lot of things that I might have to do when I travel to Shanxi, and I would have to bring some equipment with me; so, I may need one of you to go with me to Shanxi when the time comes. On the other hand, I also found a lot of broken porcelain pieces in the tomb, and there are some words inside the porcelain, so I’ll also need your help in restoring them and deciphering what is written inside.”

“I’ll do the restoration work, after all, I’m more familiar with this kind of work than you two. Then, when you need to travel to Shanxi, Wu Hai will be going with you.” Zhang Jun said this as he looked up at Qin Cheng: “It’s just… you didn’t tell anything to Professor Li about this?”

Qin Cheng frowned for a while and then shook his head: “It’s better not to tell him yet. You know how Professor Li’s character is, he won’t allow us to approach the tomb. If he knew that I’ve been sneaking inside the tomb for a while now, I’ll have to stop what I’m planning to do, and ….” At this point, Qin Cheng narrowed his eyes: “Professor Li seems to be interested in the secrets of the tomb, but in fact, he isn’t. After being his student for so long, I know that he’s the type of person that would be the first one in studying what he’s interested in. But, in fact, I’ve never seen him go inside the tomb after we excavated the tunnel.”

After hearing Qin Cheng’s words, Zhang Jun also found that something wasn’t right. At this, Zhang Jun lowered his voice and said: “Are you trying to say that Professor Li might know something we don’t?”

Qin Cheng didn’t answer Zhang Jun’s question, but his silence was in fact an equivalent of affirming this fact.

Perhaps Li Guoxian really knew something, but he has simply never told them about it. Li Guoxian is very dedicated to this tomb, that’s for sure, and if he can stay here for more than a decade, then what is he not so sure about? However, he doesn’t seem to be so eager to open the tomb and uncover what secrets it hides inside.

Because of this topic, the three of them were silent for a long time. Then, Wu Hai suddenly spoke: “Alright, don’t tell him yet. Let’s wait and see what the circumstances will be in the future.”

The meal lasted nearly three hours, and by the time the three of them were leaving, it was already around 4 in the afternoon.

Since Qin Cheng couldn’t sleep at night, he was so exhausted that he had almost consumed all his physical strength. Once Qin Cheng arrived at his bedroom, he thought of sleeping for a few hours, so he set the alarm at 8:00 pm, and then fell asleep almost immediately.

In the end, Qin Cheng slept so soundly that when the alarm rang at 8pm, he couldn’t hear it.

By the time Qin Cheng finally woke up, it was already midnight.

…

On the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar, exactly at 12:15 at midnight, when the Yin qi is at its peak, the ghosts who stayed in the world of the living will crave for their lack of Yang qi that the living beings possess. Some of the ghosts that are still lingering in the world of the living will take advantage of this opportunity to suck the Yang qi from the humans.

Since Su Jingmo has been in the world of the living for so long, 1600 years to be precise, it has been such a long time since he has been a living human, and it’s also reasonable to say that his ashes must’ve long since disappeared.

So far, he has been able to stay intact inside his Imperial Mausoleum, but that’s because he has been relying on the unique formation of the tomb that allows his soul to be in a sleeping state. However, a ghost is still a ghost in the end; and even if he enters a deep state of sleep, he can’t stay conscious in the world of the living for long periods of time. After all, when he woke up again this time, the Yang qi that he absorbed from killing that army thousands of years ago has long since been consumed after so many years have passed.

Moreover, this time he has also spent too much of his ghostly qi while fighting against those evil spirits last night….

TJM is from Shanxi???? the last chapter he was kinda creepy too…

Also, the professor is kinda sus ??

And SJM is lacking Yang qi? That’s why he collapsed???

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(*´˘`*) ♡