Chapter 70

All of a sudden, Qin Cheng was thrown to the ground from behind. He was already tall, so when he fell to the ground without a single warning, not only did his whole body hurt due to the strong impact, but even his head hit the ground hard, producing a dull sound.

The strong impact made his head dizzy, turning the scene in front of his eyes to tremble and shake for a while. The wound on his waist was also torn open, providing Qin Cheng with extreme pain. If it weren’t because of the impact he suffered on the head, he would’ve fainted in pain. It wasn’t until he was held up that he slowly realized what was going on.

He should be relieved to be lucky enough to have been rescued, right?

Qu Zhiwen knew that Qin Cheng had received a harsh blow, but the situation at the moment didn’t allow him to choose another way.

Originally, when he stumbled upon the three immortals, he thought that it would be easier for him to enter this tomb. But how could he know that even though this tomb didn’t have the same deadly formation as Su Jingmo’s tomb, those traps would make him suffer even more?

Although he was a Celestial Master, he only knew how to exorcise ghosts and repel demons, he couldn’t know where the hidden arrows were placed. Because of this, he wasn’t on guard when he walked straight into the tomb and he almost fell into a trap filled with inverted blades on the ground. If it weren’t because he knows a few Immortal techniques, Qu Zhiwen would have long fallen into that deadly trap.

Qin Cheng knew that Qu Zhiwen had some skills. At that time, when those grave robbers tried to enter Su Jingmo’s tomb, they were knowledgeable in Taoism, and they even used forbidden techniques to attract the Ghost Messengers, nearly dragging Su Jingmo to hell. It was Qu Zhiwen who helped them that time, expelling the evil spirits away.

Faced with such a situation, Qu Zhiwen should know how to deal with this armor more than he, a simple archeologist, would.

The General attacked Qin Cheng only, so Wu Hai wasn’t harmed. Wu Hai had never experienced a situation like this, so it took him a long time to come back to his senses. After a short while, he hurried to help pick up Qin Cheng.

Wu Hai, who didn’t know what to say, could only look at Qin Cheng, and sigh with a complicated expression: “You… are you trying to die?”

Qin Cheng covered the wound on the waist with one hand and frowned: “I’m just impulsive….”

Wu Hai didn’t know Qu Zhiwen, so when he suddenly appeared in the tomb, after everything he had experienced so far, Wu Hai’s first thought was to avoid him. After all, who knows what this man was trying to achieve?

“His name is Qu Zhiwen. He’s a Taoist priest, and he should’ve come with Jiang Ping.”

Qu Zhiwen, who was called a ‘Taoist priest’, glanced at Qin Cheng with annoyance, but he didn’t try to explain. He just stared at the silver armor that was able to move freely in front of them: “Qin Cheng, can you see if that armor has a soul inside?”

“No.” Qin Cheng shook his head and looked around. His face didn’t look good as he said: “What on earth is this thing? When I arrived at this place, I somehow fell into an illusion. Generally speaking, this tomb is not like the tombs I’ve seen before. The ancients believed that the coffin chamber was the residence of people after death. The dead are no better than the living, and they were also afraid of these Yin and Yang diagrams. However, in this tomb, the Yin and Yang diagrams are put everywhere. Weren’t they afraid that the dead would be affected by the tomb?”

Qu Zhiwen discovered this a long time ago. As he looked at the armor in front of him, who hasn’t moved yet, Qu Zhiwen said: “It’s true that the Yin and Yang diagrams are only harmful to the soul, and it doesn’t bring any benefits. But maybe, the whole purpose of them being in this tomb in the first place, was to make sure not a single soul would stay here.”

“What do you mean by that? If there aren’t ghosts here, then what’s moving that armor?” Wu Hai felt that this Taoist priest was quite unprofessional. If there wasn’t a single ghost here, then who was talking just now? Who was inside that armor? There couldn’t be any other way for this thing to move on its own!

Qu Zhiwen brushed Wu Hai aside, who was obviously distrustful of him, and smiled: “There’s indeed not a single soul inside this tomb. Generally speaking, the eight diagrams can restrain a soul, but the array in this coffin chamber isn’t the same as Su Jingmo’s tomb, which has a formation with malicious intent. That kind of soul formation isn’t made out of Yin and Yang diagrams, but with Taowu bones….  with some kind of spiritual stones. So, the construction of Su Jingmo’s tomb is the formation in itself. Even the chosen location, Ninghua Village, is also a rare dark place in this world. Su Jingmo’s formation is a soul-restriction formation, but the formation placed in this place has been carefully constructed without any kind of malice. This formation is called a soul-guarding formation.”

“Then, what do you mean when you say that there are no ghosts in this tomb?” Qin Cheng asked as he continued to pay attention to the armor of a General in front of them. Then Qin Cheng continued with a low voice: “Without a soul, what can you protect?”

“I can’t say for sure that there’s not a soul controlling the armor. Apart from the qi left behind by the owner of the armor, there should be an incomplete soul. By incomplete, I mean that the original soul must have been destroyed. Later, through a method, the soul must have been forced to leave a trace behind. Otherwise, what remained should have disappeared a long time ago.”

Qu Zhiwen knows only one method that could leave a trace of a soul behind. That being, the use of the Taowu bones….

Therefore, the familiar qi he felt outside the tomb should be the Taowu bone, which was being disguised by the formation….

Ning-qing, who was waiting to see what these people had to say, finally said out loud: “You’re very knowledgeable…. I have only one soul ¹ , but not a physical appearance. I’ve been in this tomb for thousands of years, and I have never stepped out of this chamber. If I were to take half a step out of his tomb, my soul would disappear. I’m afraid that the Emperor kept my soul here because he wanted me to guard his Mausoleum….”

“Rather than letting my soul disperse, I might as well guard this Mausoleum….” Ning-qing thought for a moment before whispering: “I’ve never left this chamber, and I can’t hear any noise coming from outside. I don’t know when my soul began to gain consciousness, and I…. still don’t know who this tomb belongs to….”

The voice of the General’s soul trembled slightly. As Qin Cheng and Wu Hai looked at each other, Qin Cheng remembered the inscriptions engraved on the stone walls in the tomb passage, and thought of the hypothesis that flashed in his mind at the time. Qin Cheng then weighed his words and finally said: “According to the size and structure of this Mausoleum, this should be a Joint Burial Mausoleum. As for the owner of the tomb, it should be Su Jingyan.”

As soon as he said those words, the General didn’t reply for a long time.

Qin Cheng didn’t know what happened back then, let alone what the General looked like when he was alive. But since he spoke in a stiff and dignified way, Qin Cheng could guess that he shouldn’t have been a sinister person before his death.

“A Joint Burial Mausoleum…. Yes, the Emperor and the Empress were deeply in love with each other. The Emperor and his Empress had an engagement for life…. it’s inevitable for them to be buried together. I’m just a 5th grade General, I’m lucky enough to guard the Emperor and the Empress Mausoleum after death….”

Even though the General was saying that he was lucky, how could Qin Cheng not recognize the words of someone who had a broken heart?

“This tomb is indeed a Joint Burial Mausoleum, but there should only be two coffin chambers. The first one is this one, as for the second one, it’s separated from this one by a wall.” Qin Cheng then raised his hand and pointed at the northeast wall. Then, he continued: “At the other side of that wall, there should be the coffin chamber of Su Jingyan, where his Underground Palace is.”

As soon as he said those words, the General’s armor trembled for a moment. Then, he slowly turned around, facing the direction Qin Cheng had pointed at and said: “Are you trying to say…. that only I and…. the Emperor, are in this tomb? And that he’s…. right there?”

“Yes.”

“Ha….. hahahahaha….” Right after Qin Cheng said that the General began to laugh out loud. However, this laughter wasn’t out of joy, instead, it was filled with bitter pain. After a long time, the laughter turned into a roar of sadness and helplessness, as if the most important thing in his life had been suddenly submerged in distress. It was a type of grief that came from the bottom of his heart, making the three of them able to feel his suffering.

There wasn’t a need for Qin Cheng to explain to Qu Zhiwen and Wu Hai what the situation was, after all, it was useless to understand it at this point. The General’s soul has long been scattered away, and only a trace of it remains in the tomb. He can’t reincarnate and he can’t leave this place, the only thing he can do is to guard this tomb for the rest of eternity. Even if they’re separated by a wall, they’re also separated by thousands of mountains and rivers.

That roar filled with pain spread into Qin Cheng’s heart as if he was able to see the ending between him and Su Jingmo. Su Jingmo can’t leave his tomb, and even if he could, his soul would scatter. More than a thousand years have passed, and Qin Cheng didn’t want Su Jingmo to stay in that cold place on his own for another thousand years. It was too long, and Qin Cheng didn’t want Su Jingmo to bear that kind of loneliness again….

“You didn’t come to this tomb for its treasures, did you?”

Ning-qing’s voice stopped Qin Cheng’s unknown thoughts: “We didn’t come for the treasures, we came because we wanted to know the reason behind the Xu Dynasty disappearing from history. It’s clear that it used to be a strong Dynasty, so why isn’t it part of history? We came here to know what happened back then that caused hundreds of years to be erased from history.”

“There are no records?”

Ning-qing’s reply was plain, which made Qin Cheng frown: “You don’t seem so surprised?”

“No, it isn’t that surprising.” Ning-qing said as he shook his head. “I don’t understand much about it, but for the Officials and Soldiers, the change and transformations of Dynasties are inevitable. Even if it disappears in history, so what? There will always be a new Dynasty that will replace the previous one. No matter how deep the past events were, they can’t be undone. More than a thousand years have passed, so what’s the use of knowing what happened back then? Besides, for me…. it’s already useless to speak about it. I can only hope that you will help me with one thing.”

“Why should we help you?” Qu Zhiwen, whose thoughts were unknown, looked at the armor in front of him and said: “What are the benefits?”

Ning-qing didn’t look back as he said coldly: “You must know that there are Taowu bones here, and you may have even heard some rumors about this tomb on the outside. Tell me, the people who came to this tomb, have any of them come out alive? And even if some were able to escape, did any of them survive?”

As soon as he said those words, the faces of the three men changed. However, Qin Cheng thought of the time Wu Hai and him were forced to walk towards the mountain peak by those grave robbers, and how one of them mentioned something about the tomb. Qin Cheng then asked tentatively: “I know someone who survived. He’s still alive to this day.”

The person Qin Cheng was referring to was Li Guoxian. Not only did he get some information about him from the grave robbers, but he was also sure that Li Guoxian was aware of this tomb. However, he wasn’t entirely sure whether Li Guoxian had entered the tomb or not, so when he said it like that, he was trying to get more information.

“Are you talking about the people who came here more than 10 years ago?”

After hearing what Ning-qing said, Qin Cheng looked at Wu Hai, who nodded at him and continued: “Yes, that man’s surname is Li, and he came here at that time. However, I’m not entirely sure when. You said that no one who set foot here will be able to live, but he’s not dead yet. Why?”

“At that time, I entrusted something to the wrong person.” After a pause, Ning-qing continued: “I remember that this man was indeed surnamed Li. He’s a talented person, his understanding of the tomb’s structure and his ability to find tombs should be among the best in the world. At that time, I didn’t know that the Imperial Mausoleum…. was here. So, I entrusted him to help me find the Emperor’s Mausoleum. In exchange, I promised to protect him from death, and he promised to find it. However, he never showed up after that.”

His words could be regarded as him realizing that he fell under Li Guoxian’s mischief. It has to be said that Qin Cheng’s heart was still a little hesitant, after all, Li Guoxian was his mentor, and he admired his archeology education. Qin Cheng used to respect that talented professor, so that’s why he went to study under him in the post-graduate college. But now, he had to acknowledge that Li Guoxian had always had his own interests, regardless of his students’ lives, who were even used as experimental mice. Even if they die, they will be regarded as a contribution to science…..

“Then why is he the only one that didn’t die? Oh, right, you can’t leave this tomb, so how can you protect him?” Wu Hai’s mood was naturally the same as Qin Cheng’s, so that’s why he asked with annoyance.

“Well… only if you three help me will I tell you.”

After hearing him say that, Qin Cheng looked at Qu Zhiwen, who was beside him. Qu Zhiwen shook his head, indicating that he’s not very sure about the General’s intentions.

“How can we help you?” Qin Cheng said anyway since he didn’t want to waste any more time here. He had lost too much blood, and if he doesn’t go to the hospital to treat it, he may die due to excessive blood loss. Moreover….after being away from Xi’an for so long, he wanted to hurry back and tell Su Jingmo that he had returned alive, that he had found Su Jingyan’s Mausoleum.

As for other information…. Archeology has never been a matter of discovering things in one or two days, so as long as he found the right place, he would be able to come back and keep working.

“It’s very simple, as long as you break the Yin and Yang formation, I’ll tell you.”

“Break the formation?” Wu Hai was surprised. “If the formation gets destroyed, won’t your soul dissipate? What are you trying to do?!”

“Even if it’s destroyed, he won’t dissipate right away. However, it will take 10 minutes at most.” Qu Zhiwen stared back at the General’s armor and couldn’t help but frown. “You don’t want to stay here anymore?”

“With this formation, I can’t get out of this coffin chamber. I’ve guarded this place for thousands of years, but I never knew that he was here….. His soul must have disappeared a long time ago. So what’s the use of being here? I might as well visit him in his Underground Palace.”

“More than a thousand years have passed, and his body has long turned into earth. Even if you go, you won’t be able to see him.” Qu Zhiwen said. “His soul must have been reincarnated, so maybe you’ll have a chance to see him again.”

“Even if he reincarnated, he must not remember me. Even if he does, what can I do? I don’t have a complete soul, and I can’t reincarnate. My fate with him has long been broken. I don’t even have a physical form…. this is enough.”

He didn’t say anything else, and Qin Cheng sighed. Then he rushed to ask Qu Zhiwen: “Is it difficult to destroy the formation?”

“It’s not difficult. It’s even easier than the formation in Ninghua Village’s tomb. As long as the tomb owner agrees, it will only take an hour to destroy the formation. Of course, if the owner of the tomb doesn’t agree, it would be useless to try, even if an immortal comes. It’s based on the will of the owner.”

“Then let’s start.” Ning-qing said. “You can begin, and I’ll tell you how to get out of this tomb.”

Qu Zhiwen nodded and said: “Stand in the middle of the Yin and Yang formation and relax. Your soul may not be able to withstand this kind of pain, but it will be over as long as you hold on for two-quarters of an hour.”

After saying that, Qu Zhiwen pasted a blood amulet in front of the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Black Tortoise, and the Vermillion Bird’s doors respectfully. In an instant, it was like an earthquake occurred, since the entire tomb began to shake. After seeing this, Qu Zhiwen quickly walked to Ning-qing’s side.

“Your soul is too small, I can wrap you under my soul so that you will not dissipate in the tremor.” Qu Zhiwen said, and without any hesitation, he took Ning-qing’s residual soul inside the armor and stuffed it into his own heart. At that moment, Qu Zhiwen’s face changed.

Two minutes of continuous vibrations later, Qin Cheng stabilized his body and looked into the center of the Yin and Yang diagram, only to see a tiny light shining on Qu Zhiwen’s heart, while Qu Zhiwen himself was frowning, as beads of sweat flowed down his forehead.

It was like he was in great pain. This situation lasted for nearly twenty minutes, and when the light left Qu Zhiwen’s body, the four doors roared at the same time.

Then, the whole tomb fell into silence.

“Is it done?” Qin Cheng asked Qu Zhiwen with uncertainty as he looked at the light spot which looked a little weak. “Is this the General’s residual soul?”

“Yes, but he will only last for 10 minutes at most.”

When Qu Zhiwen spoke, that soul flew back into the silver armor.

Right the next second, the armor put its hand on its throat, and slowly took out three pieces of jade the size of soybeans.

“Take this. With this, you can leave the tomb without dying.”

When Qin Cheng saw that jade, he knew that this should be that so-called Taowu Bone….

Qin Cheng inadvertently looked at Qu Zhiwen, who was the closest to Ning-qing, only to find that Qu Zhiwen’s calm face hadn’t changed.

Qin Cheng doesn’t believe that Qu Zhiwen wouldn’t know that these are Taowu bones, since even Wu Hai, who doesn’t know about the Taowu bones, sighed because of the strange light. The calmer Qu Zhiwen was, the more it proved that he had other thoughts in mind.

Maybe he came to this tomb for the Taowu bones, otherwise, why risk his own life in coming here?

As if sensing what Qin Cheng was thinking, Qu Zhiwen turned his head to him and said: “You don’t have to worry about me. I came here because Su Jingmo asked me to come. I owe him a favor, so I have to pay him back.”

“He told you to come?!”

With the mention of Su Jingmo, Qin Cheng’s entire expression changed drastically. When Qu Zhiwen saw him like this, he shook his head, wondering what would happen between this man and the ghost

When he thought of Su Jingmo sending him an ambush, the corners of Qu Zhiwen’s mouth raised. He was about to say something, when suddenly, Ning-qing threw the three parts of the Taowu bones to each man respectively.

“You should go now. If you don’t go right away, you may die here. This chamber should soon collapse.” Right after saying that, Ning-qing pointed to the southwest. “There’s a tunnel over there, which was used by the grave robbers to enter the tomb. You can follow the passage to leave, I think it’ll be safer for you to go from there.”

As soon as he said that, he waved his hand, and a gust of wind blew them towards the entrance of the tunnel. At the same time, a huge stone fell straight from above, so the three of them had to flee into the tunnel before they could say anything else.

That stone blocked the tunnel’s entrance…..

Okay okay okay!!! Does this mean that the General and Su Jingyan had an unrequited love???? Like, they both liked each other but the other didn’t know??!!!

Ning-qing didn’t know that he was in the Imperial Mausoleum (of Su Jingyan) and when he discovered that fact, his first thought of a joint burial was that it was between the emperor and the empress instead of the emperor and him!! Ahhhh

(Poor empress tho 😂 I hope she at least has her own mausoleum, otherwise… Yikes)

It was so sad when the General understood that the Emperor liked him back and that they had lost their chance 💔💔💔 but at least they were buried together 💔💔💔😭😭😭

Such a good chapter this one is 😭😭💖

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❀(*´▽`*) ❀

Footnotes

<ol>He’s referring to <b>魂魄</b> <b>hún pò</b> , which are two types of souls in Chinese philosophy. Within this ancient tradition of ‘soul dualism’, each living human has both a ‘Hun’ spiritual, ethereal, Yang soul (which leaves the body after death), and a ‘po’ corporeal, substantive, Yin soul (which remains with the corpse of the deceased). But, there’s also the tradition within Taoism, which proposes a soul structure called: <b>三魂七魄</b> <b>sān hún qī pò</b> (or ‘three immortal souls and seven mortal forms’). Basically, he has a part of his soul, but it cannot be seen.</ol>