Chapter 46

“Are you leaving tomorrow?”

“Well, yes.” After picking up the paper and pen from the stone table, Qin Cheng quickly carried a box full of books, and placed it on the stone table: “Oh, by the way, I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back, and since I thought that you might already read all the books I brought you last time by the time I come back, I brought you new ones. These books are about the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there are also some other contemporary history-books.”

“These books were written by previous generations, so it’s not written in modern Chinese. It also contains some notes, so even if some of the wording might not be quite the same for you, I think that you’ll be able to read them.”

When he looked at the box filled with books, Su Jingmo decided to pick up one that was at the top: “Water Margin?” Su Jingmo slightly raised his eyebrows, looked at Qin Cheng, and smiled: “Is this also considered a history book?”

“Ah no, I also brought a few fictional books. After all, history books are more raw and a little bit boring, so I thought of bringing you some well-written fictional books that had passed down to this day, after the Xu Dynasty.” Actually, those fictional works were well-known masterpieces, fictional books that were very familiar to Qin Cheng, and since Su Jingmo has never read them, he thought he would find them quite entertaining…..

When he thought of this, Qin Cheng took out a roll of copper wire from his bag. This time it would be different from the past, after all, he used to leave a rechargeable searchlight inside the tomb, but now, when he had to leave for who knows for how long, that rechargeable searchlight wouldn’t last until he comes back. After thinking about it, he decided to bring a roll of copper wire with the intention of connecting electricity directly to the tomb. This way, the Underground Palace would be bright, which would be convenient for Su Jingmo to read the books.

When they dug the tunnel, they connected the wire to the Diamond Wall ¹ .

Qin Cheng had brought enough wire to make the connection, and he didn’t have the intention to make it look pretty, so he simply installed the lights on top of the white jade pavilion, along the stone pillar. The pavilion below Su Jingmo had long been accustomed to the strange items brought by Qin Cheng, so he wasn’t surprised by these ‘electric lights’.

While sitting on the stone bench, Su Jingmo picked up a book from the box in front of him, and began to read. After having turned a dozen or so pages, Qin Cheng was finally done with what he was doing.

After he patted the dust on his hands, Qin Cheng moved away from the stone bench right under his feet, walked towards Su Jingmo, and said: “Look, I’ve installed a switch on this pillar. If you feel that the light is too bright, you can press this button to turn the lights off, and if you want the lights on again, you just have to press the button again.”

After hearing this, Su Jingmo put down the book in his hand, and replied: “Zhen can read in the dark, so this light is quite useless.”

Qin Cheng shook his head: “At least the tomb can be brighter.” The tomb was built inside a mountain, so there wasn’t any natural light inside, and when it was illuminated with artificial light, it looked desolate. Anyways, without any light this place looks even more gloomy and terrifying. In fact, if Su Jingmo could leave this tomb, Qin Cheng would instantly take him away, but since he couldn’t do that, he doesn’t want Su Jingmo to stay inside this gloomy place where there were only ghosts inside….

“It would be nice if…. you could leave this tomb.”

Once he heard that, Su Jingmo smiled and shook his head: “Even if Zhen could leave, Zhen will still have to rely on the Yang qi of humans to stay in the world of the living. After all, ghosts are beings that don’t belong to the world of the living, and if they’re forced to stay, their only path is for their souls to scatter away.”

Su Jingmo’s words made Qin Cheng think of the day Su Jingmo lost his mind, and worriedly asked: “Then, if I leave, will you disappear like you did that night?”

“If Zhen could disappear, then Zhen would’ve disappeared 1600 years ago. This tomb has a complex structure, and there’s also a divine beast guarding it. Zhen will be fine as long as Zhen remains inside the tomb. What happened that night, was because Zhen left the tomb with the help of the grave robbers’ array, and consumed too much ghostly qi while fighting.”

At the mention of the grave robbers, Qin Cheng’s heart felt even more uneasy. The grave robbers wanted the bones of the divine beast that were scattered inside this tomb, and that time, he also heard them say that they were sent here by someone else. Moreover, those bones seemed to be very important, so important that those grave robbers were extremely desperate to find them no matter what. Qin Cheng doesn’t know what that divine beast’s bones were for, or if someone else will try to come as well, or if there were more people eyeing those divine beast’s bones…. so, would Su Jingmo really be able to deal with it when the time comes?

“What if the grave robbers come back? What would you do then? Didn’t you say that the first time I entered the tomb, you thought that there was someone behind it? If that person is powerful enough to let me in, doesn’t that mean that he’s extremely skillful as well? What would you do if he decides to act?”

Su Jingmo looked at Qin Cheng and couldn’t stop himself from laughing: “Is Zhen so weak in your eyes? So weak that you need to worry about these things?” Su Jingmo, who was being arrogant and proud, stood up and graciously turned back, making his sleeves rise in the air: “The army that appeared here, thousands of years ago, is now buried under Zhen’s feet. What can those insignificant humans do? Qin Cheng, Zhen can see that you’re looking down on me, aren’t you?”

“I’m just worried about y-….”

“Can you even deny that you haven’t been regarding Zhen as a child who’s in need of your protection?”

Qin Cheng, who has just been interrupted, became speechless.

Indeed, he couldn’t deny that ever since he got acquainted with Su Jingmo, and after seeing him trapped by the formation and forced to fight, which made Qin Cheng realize the feelings hidden deep inside him, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to protect Su Jingmo, at all costs.

Perhaps, he inadvertently regarded the dead Emperor as a ghost who was so weak that he needed to be protected against any harm.

Perhaps, he may be unconsciously treating Su Jingmo as a woman in need of protection, as if he were his ex-girlfriend…..

Su Jingmo wasn’t only a man, but he was also a mighty Emperor who once ruled over this land. According to his character, he would naturally dislike being treated as a damsel in distress. In fact, Su Jingmo was more capable of protecting himself than Qin Cheng, to the point in which he even protected Qin Cheng several times…..

“I apologize….” Qin Cheng replied with a sigh. “But you still should be careful from now on.”

Seeing how Qin Cheng bowed his head to apologize to him, Su Jingmo’s words softened a bit as well: “Of course Zhen won’t let anyone hurt me, but….” When he thought that Qin Cheng must’ve been used as a puppet when he entered the tomb the first time, Su Jingmo was afraid that Qin Cheng had long since been caught into this mystery. Then, he closed his eyes, and continued: “But the human heart is terrible, even more frightening than the evil ghosts in hell. You should be more careful and don’t trust anyone.”

Qin Cheng stared at Su Jingmo, who was showing his back to him, and said: “I understand.”

“You don’t understand.” Su Jingmo turned around and stared back at Qin Cheng: “You won’t even believe in what Zhen said?”

“What do you mean? Are you trying to say that I can’t trust you either?”

“Naturally, Zhen is a ghost and you’re a human. You have what a ghost needs. Is there any other reason for you to trust Zhen? You were caught in this whirlpool the moment you stepped inside the tomb, so you should be suspicious of everyone, no matter who they are… Even though you’re only trying to figure out a period of history, some people might not think the same way as you do. Protect yourself, and stay alive in order to get the possibility of discovering everything.”

After he said that, Su Jingmo saw that Qin Cheng bowed his head, pondering over something. After all, this man truly cared about him. Whether it was giving him those books, or installing that bright ‘electric light’ for him, or the ink and paper…. This man has always wanted Su Jingmo to ‘live’ like a living person….

Immersed in a trance, Su Jingmo seemed to see the scene of that night again. The night in which Qin Cheng asked him if he was going to die with a smile on his face. Qin Cheng, who had embraced him, and Su Jingmo, who wanted to reciprocate… Qin Cheng, who had used all the strength he had left to hold him tight, so that Su Jingmo wouldn’t be taken away by the Eight Cold Hells’ whirlpool…. When he thought of all of this, Su Jingmo’s heart was slightly moved.

Su Jingmo then walked a few steps forward, and gently hugged Qin Cheng. As they were this close to each other, one could see that they were about the same height. Su Jingmo then turned his head and whispered in Qin Cheng’s ear: “Be careful, about everything.”

Qin Cheng didn’t expect that Su Jingmo would suddenly get so close to him, so he was extremely stunned for a moment. When he heard the whisper in his ear, Qin Cheng’s emotions, which were suppressed for a long time, suddenly surged up as he fiercely tightened his arms around Su Jingmo’s body, putting his hands around his waist.

“Su Jingmo… Su Jingmo….” Qin Cheng exclaimed his name over and over again, the same way he would always say it inside his mind, even if his feelings won’t be reciprocated…

Su Jingmo was held tightly as he heard his name being repeated over and over again in his ear, as if Qin Cheng was waiting for his response…. Su Jingmo’s gaze passed across Qin Cheng’s shoulders and neck, staring at a beam that was diagonally across the ceiling of the tomb. On the beam, there was a carved dragon and the painting of a phoenix. They were so beautifully done because this was the sight that only the Emperor could enjoy. However, if you look closely, you will find that the flying dragon had no eyes. This was different from the flying dragon inside his palace, when he was still alive. After all, a dragon without eyes can only be owned by a dead Emperor, which is exactly what Su Jingmo was…..

Since Qin Cheng was close to him, Su Jingmo was able to feel Qin Cheng’s body temperature and the soft heartbeat coming from his chest. After Su Jingmo became a ghost, his perception became more clear, to the point in which he was able to sense Qin Cheng’s blood flowing on his veins…. making him remember that he didn’t have any of this anymore…

At this thought, the hand that touched Qin Cheng’s back, was slowly dropping down. ‘ The moment I died, I lost the right to have it…. isn’t it? ’

…

The National Day Holiday was one of the busiest days in China, since many people would travel on this day, hoping to have some time to relax, and travel all over the country.

Knowing that there would be many people traveling during this holiday, Qin Cheng didn’t want to go to the most crowded areas where he’ll only be able to see a sea of people everywhere, taking pictures and talking. Because of this, for the last few years, Qin Cheng has been avoiding this holiday and simply stayed in college to keep up with his research.

Standing at the crowded station, Qin Cheng looked at the sea of people helplessly: “Every time I look at the news of this year it says that the percentage of tourism has increased from last year. I can only sigh at how shockingly crowded this place is this year.”

The taxi driver’s son-in-law, whose name was Wei Bofei, was waiting for his ticket to get checked beside Qin Cheng. After hearing what he had said, he chuckled: “Isn’t it like this all the time? I work at the airport, and I remember that last year there were more than 610 million passengers traveling during the National Day Holiday; nearly half of the people in China were ready to move around.”

Wu Hai had stayed up until very late last night, helping Zhang Jun sort out through the porcelain pieces. In addition to this, the moment he set foot inside the station, he was instantly squeezed by the crowd. As the exhausted Wu Hai looked ahead, at the people who were in front of him, waiting in line to check their tickets, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “I used to think that the numbers were falsificated. No matter how much I thought about it, I was still unable to believe that so many people would travel at the same time. However, now I can see that the percentage is actually true? We’ve brought the tickets several days in advance, and yet, we still have to wait.” The thought of standing for a long period of time made Wu Hai’s face look even worse.

“As a matter of fact, it’s not that bad. Except for some workers and farmers who don’t take this holiday right away, almost every white-collar student would take the opportunity to travel, right? Besides…” Before Wei Bofei could finish, his phone rang: “Excuse me, I have to take this call.”

“Alright, go ahead.” Qin Cheng replied. Then, he glanced at Wu Hai, who was being squeezed among the crowd, and asked him with a smile: “Are you alright? It will take us a long time to get there.”

Wu Hai shook his head: “Let me ask, aren’t we going to Jinzhong? Why didn’t we buy a direct ticket to get there? Why do we have to get there from Yuncheng?”

“If I could buy a direct ticket then we wouldn’t have to be so tired.” Qin Cheng replied helplessly as he stretched his hands. “But, I never thought that the direct ticket would sell out so fast.”

After finishing the call, Wei Bofei came back only to see the two of them chatting, and said out loud: “The person that called me was the seller! He said that he would go to Jinzhong antique market, just like last time…. However, he said that we should meet at a different hour. It seems that the police have been investigating the reselling of cultural relics recently.”

SJM: To be clear, YOU are the damsel in distress, NOT ME.

QC: Yes.

QC: *inside his mind* whatever makes you sleep at night.

Jslsjdksjd SJM might be a tough Emperor, but he cares for his human ✧･ﾟ:*( ͡ꈍ ͜ʖ̫ ͡ꈍ )*:･ﾟ✧

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ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉﾞ

Footnotes

<ol>金刚墙 jīn gāng qiáng ; Is a kind of reinforced wall, and in ancient architecture, all invisible reinforced walls were called “Diamond Wall”. Even though the Diamond wall was composed of ‘diamond soil’, the so-called diamond soil wasn’t natural in itself, and it was an artificial man-made mixture. In other words, the yellow soil unique to the Loess Plateau was mixed with glutinous rice juice and other kinds of flower juices. The principal characteristic of this soil was that it was so hard that it couldn’t be broken by swords and spears. This kind of soil was often used to build hard city walls.</ol>