In contrast to the outside, the inside of the tomb of the living seemed more than what it was. Warm sunlight scattered over babbling brooks and rolling hillsides, birds sang and flowers waved under a dark red sky. Even the ground was the same dark red.
Lu Yun raised his head to look at the source of this worldâs illuminationâa lifeless eyeball instead of a sun.
The eyeball was enormous and its pupil dimmed. Someone had carved it into a night pearl that glowed in the dark and hung it in the firmament, making it the source of light for the tomb of the living.
Lu Yun didnât know whose eyeball it was; his Spectral Eye couldnât discern its death information. Instead of projecting a person from the tomb at Mount Tai, heâd projected an enormous golden sarcophagus. The tomb ownerâs body rested inside.
âSomeoneâs been here already. Not only did they take the tomb ownerâs sarcophagus, but they also killed the tomb keeper.â He looked up again. The eyeball in the air was the tomb keeperâs eyeball.
If the Corpse Refiners wished to construct a tomb of the living, they had to set a tomb keeper on it to prevent unexpected changes from occurring. Tomb keepers were the soul of the living trapped in the body of the dead, forever tormented by the anguish of their undead state.
An unknown interloper had killed the tomb keeper here and dyed the sky and earth with their blood. Since the tomb keeper had been the living dead, their blood was dark red instead of a bright red.
âWas that person trying to free you?â Lu Yun murmured at the dim eyeball that glowed like a sun. âThere should be another eyeball thatâs been fashioned into the moon. But⊠the Corpse Refiners must have noticed something amiss when the tomb keeper was killed.â
He looked around again and again; the sect didnât seem to have detected the abnormalities in the tomb of the living.
âWhat blocked the hell cannon? There shouldnât be anything in the Abyssal Hell that can withstand its mightâŠâ
He peered at his surroundings, but still found nothing of note. Everything was too ordinary here.
âMoran Dongning.â He sent a replica into the Disordered Hell when he suddenly thought of his captive.
âEh? You know my name? Oh, Chu Xingran told you, didnât he?â Moran Dongning started when she heard Lu Yun use her name.
âThatâs right,â Lu Yun nodded. âIs Chu Xingran⊠a man or a woman?â He couldnât help but ask when he thought of the Curse Kingâs ambiguous gender.
âDonât ever joke about his gender!â Moran Dongningâs expression turned strange and she coughed dryly. âHeâs the crown prince of Darklake and the most beautiful man of that territory. However, his looks are so fey that his enemies often call him a sissy.â
Abruptly enlightened, Lu Yun understood why the Curse King always looked constipated whenever he was asked whether he was a man or a woman. He⊠really wouldnât be described as manly, masculine, or with any adjective used for a man.
âWhere are you?â Moran Dongning paused. âThereâs a strange place in the Abyssal Hell thatâs been taken care of by someone. Itâs being used to trick some other people, so you shouldnât touch that place.â
âYou mean the tomb of the living, donât you?â Lu Yun nodded. âIâm standing there right now.â
Moran Dongning gaped at the young man and said slowly, âYou can enter the tomb of the living⊠Eh, thatâs right, dolt one and dolt two created that situation and bear you no enmity.â
âHuh?â Lu Yun blinked. âWhoâs dolt one and dolt two?â
âTwo overseers of the nine hells in the world of immortals?!â Lu Yunâs jaw dropped.
Chen Xiao was Qing Yuâs cousin and Qing Buyi was her big brother. Lu Yun had made them the overseers of two facets when he completed the thirty-three facets for the world of immortals. So theyâd come here and raised such a big fuss!
No wonder Lu Yun noted some strange details about the tomb of the living. The dark red blood, eyeball in the air, and shifted sarcophagus hadnât been accomplished too long ago. Two hundred years at most!
Is it really those two??
Upon receiving an affirmative look from Moran Dongning, Lu Yun regarded her with wary eyes instead.
âWho are you?â He carefully studied her face. It was a strangerâs face, but she looked at him in a manner that seemed slightly familiar. He definitely knew her!
âMe?â Moran Dongning blinked and mysteriously stroked her chin. âGuess!â
âI canât, so I wonât bother.â Lu Yun curled his lip. âThe tomb of the living is a bane upon the Abyssal Hell if it stays here. Do you have a way to blow it up?â
âIf that was possible, those two dolts wouldâve blown up the entire hell a long time ago.â Moran Dongning shrugged. âYouâre so strong and capable, but you want a little girl like me to find an answer for you?
â...wellâŠâ she paused. âAlthough this is the tomb of the living, itâs also the Abyssal Hell.â She fell silent.
âItâs also the Abyssal Hell? Thatâs right⊠if I use abyssal hellfire to attack the tomb, thatâs just me hitting myself. Iâll never even scratch the tomb.â Lu Yun brightened with realization. Heâd been treating the tomb of the living as another existence all this time since he hadnât known that everything was manifested from the Abyssal Hell. The methods used might vary, but the principle would be the same.
âAlright then, Iâm off.â Lu Yunâs replica faded away.
Moran Dongning pouted. âHe couldnât figure out who I am? That makes me so sad⊠But heâd probably never believe that Iâd capture my own master and send her back to the battle that destroyed the original Hongmeng.â The girl stroked her chin. âItâs her fault for getting involved with me! She took me as her disciple when my nascent spirit was injured and forced a karmic relationship. Would I still be me if I didnât teach her a lesson for that impertinence?â
âŠâŠ
Lu Yun put Moran Dongning out of his mind. Since Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi were here and had completed such a massive undertaking in the yin tomb, that infused him with additional confidence for the task ahead. Incidentally, the two good-for-nothings that heâd never been able to see through were indeed much more than what met the eye.
âTomb of the living eh? Heh, letâs turn it into a tomb of the dead.â When he took a step forward, abyssal hellfire blazed into existence around him and turned the enchanting world of the tomb into a hell of gray lava.