Chapter 68: Wang Hui

Chapter 68: Wang Hui

The two gazed down together, where a few lights flickered on and off, with no other movement. Sang Xu guessed they might not be lamps but glowing fluorite underwater. It wasn’t unusual for minerals to appear in such deep underground places. He patted Zhou Xia’s shoulder, and Zhou Xia, gripping the flying eave, flipped onto the roof ridge and leaped into the window opening like a swallow.

Han Rao was treating Shen Zhitang’s wounds. Her foot injury had been soaked in water, and fearing infection, Han Rao cleaned the wound, applied medicine, gave Shen Zhitang a shot of antibiotics, then snapped off a piece of the wooden railing from the tower’s staircase, carved it into two small pieces, and used them to splint Shen Zhitang’s broken left leg.

Seeing Sang Xu and Zhou Xia enter, Han Rao asked, “What now? Did we lose the Sang family ancestors' route? Should we go back to the drainage tunnel?” He was frustrated. “If only we could travel through time, I’d give each of them a kiss and ask them to tell me where the boundary stone is.”

Sang Xu felt relieved; Han Rao was gradually accepting the supernatural powers of the Asura Path. Perhaps in the future, Han Rao could be assigned some undercover seduction work.

Unaware of Sang Xu’s dark thoughts, Han Rao was just thrilled to find he was no longer barking. “I’m back to normal! Screw that, if anyone tries to make me act like a dog again, I’ll kiss 'em.”

Sang Xu said, “We haven’t strayed from the route. I saw a marker outside earlier. We need to go up three more floors, and we should be able to find signs of their passage from back then.”

Raising a flashlight to inspect their current level, they found it quite empty, with almost nothing except a few wooden figurines. But upon closer inspection of the floor, they noticed traces of objects having been placed there and scuff marks from things being moved. There must have been items here originally, but they were taken—whether by the ancestors of the Sang, Zhou, and Li families or by the Sang family members who later renovated the ancient tomb, it was unclear.

There was no time to dwell on this. The group ascended via the wooden staircase. The next level up was noticeably more furnished, with a tea table, an armrest, and an ornate canopy bed. Everything was unusually large, especially the bed, which looked like it could fit four or five people.

Han Rao whispered, “The old emperor had his fun; he must’ve had quite a harem.”

Shen Zhitang said, “Brother Han, don’t speak disrespectfully. Didn’t Brother Jian Guo say that the Grand Patriarch of the Sang family warned later generations not to disrespect the emperor?”

Han Rao quickly clasped his hands and bowed in all directions. “Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!”

They went up two more floors to the level indicated by the mark. Sang Xu shone his flashlight inside and suddenly caught a tall, slender figure standing behind a curtain, hunched low in a grotesque and terrifying posture. It seemed to be eavesdropping on them from behind the veil.

Han Rao cursed under his breath and raised his gun to shoot, but Zhou Xia waved his hand, and in a flash, he appeared right in front of the figure.

“It’s a dog-human mummy,” Zhou Xia’s voice drifted over. “Everyone, keep your heads down when you come in. Don’t look up randomly.”

“Why?” Sang Xu asked.

Zhou Xia said impatiently, “Just do it. Don’t ask so many questions.”

There was more than one mummy. Behind the curtains stood dozens of them, all wearing armor and carrying swords at their waists, like some kind of retinue or guards, yet each was hunched over like elderly men unable to straighten their backs. Han Rao clicked his tongue in amazement. “Looks like the Li State had an aging problem. Even old men had to stand guard for thousands of years.”

Seeing this, Sang Xu gradually understood what was really going on in this tomb.

Based on the golden vase paintings he had seen earlier, Sang Xu deduced that the old emperor had been transformed into a dog by the princess, and the dog impersonating the old emperor was buried in this mausoleum built for him. When Sang Wannian and the others entered this tomb, it was likely already completed, but the old emperor wasn’t dead yet and hadn’t been buried here, which was why Sang Wannian called it an empty tomb.

With so many burial items and corpses bearing elements of the fierce deity, Sang Xu even speculated that the princess might also be buried here after her death, and her burial chamber would undoubtedly be placed higher than that of the dog emperor.

With so many beast-faced mummies in this tower, could the princess be inside?

If the princess is here, then the boundary stone shouldn’t be far away.

Every time they entered the dream, the boundary stone was always in the most hidden, core, or important location. The princess’s burial chamber would undoubtedly be the heart of this ancient tomb.

Suddenly, Han Rao let out a cheer. Sang Xu walked over to see and found that Han Rao had discovered several volumes of damaged ancient texts on a shelf against the wall. Han Rao was exhilarated. “She says this is the Longhua Treasure Scroll—the secret manual of the Asura Path.”

“There are also Crossing River secret manuals for the Deva Path, Preta Path, and Animal Path,” Shen Zhitang added.

The texts were written in the ancient script of the Li State, which Han Rao couldn’t understand, so he asked Shen Zhitang to translate. Shen Zhitang said, “The Asura Path’s Knocking Gate has three divine powers. The first is ‘Charming Eyes’—uh, that’s Love Charm. Probably the name was changed by later generations over time. The second is ‘Illusory Form,’ which allows you to change your appearance for an hour, but you need to eat a human-faced owl raw. The third… the name is unclear, but basically, you can induce desire in others. To practice this power, you must consume the ashes of a red-powder skeleton.”

Shen Zhitang then looked at her Deva Path manual, which also recorded the Crossing River divine power: the number of little ghosts she could nurture increased, allowing her to raise three at once. When a little ghost enters someone else’s body, she can manipulate that person by sharing senses with the ghost.

Although there was only one volume of the Longhua Treasure Scroll, it contained the complete Knocking Gate divine power manual. Han Rao tucked the scroll into a waterproof bag and kept it close to his body. Shen Zhitang took the Deva Path manual, and the remaining Preta Path and Animal Path manuals were given to Sang Xu. The three agreed to share knowledge; even if they didn’t use the manuals themselves, they could trade them for HeavenMending Pills later. Once they got out, Shen Zhitang would translate and compile them into copies for the others.

“Hey,” Zhou Xia suddenly called out to them, “come take a look.”

The three of them approached and discovered many partial footprints in the mud on the floor.

Footprints? And only partial ones?

"Um," Shen Zhitang clung to Han Rao's back, her expression grave, "I have an ominous speculation."

"Go ahead," Sang Xu said.

"These dried corpses might be alive."

"How is that possible?" Han Rao exclaimed in shock.

They're all dried up—how could they be alive?

But Sang Xu understood the basis of Shen Zhitang's speculation—some ghosts tiptoe, which would leave only partial footprints.

"Idiots," Zhou Xia said, "those aren't ghost footprints. They're left by Sang Wannian and his group."

"Are you sure?" Sang Xu asked.

Zhou Xia said, "Yeah," "Four different footprint sizes, four people. Two of them are smaller, likely women."

Two men and two women—which perfectly matches Sang Wannian's party.

"Then why were they tiptoeing?" Shen Zhitang frowned.

Sang Xu followed the footprints and noticed that Sang Wannian and the others had wound their way through the piles of dried corpses. Their steps were extremely small, almost as if they were shuffling, barely lifting their feet. Sang Xu frowned, rose on his tiptoes, and shuffled forward, moving cautiously among the corpses. Han Rao watched his movements and said, "Dude, you're too good-looking to be making such sketchy moves."

Shen Zhitang nodded, "Like a weasel trying to sneak up on a chicken."

Sang Xu stopped, suddenly realizing—were Sang Wannian and his group walking like this to avoid something?

A weasel stealing chickens naturally doesn’t want to be seen by the owner, so it slinks stealthily.

Thousands of years ago, when Sang Wannian and his group entered this tower, something had discovered them and was searching for them. To conceal their tracks, they tiptoed, making no sound, hiding among the mummified corpses to evade whatever was hunting them.

At this thought, cold sweat broke out on Sang Xu’s brow.

What was it that had been hunting them back then?

After thousands of years, was that thing still here now, he wondered?

Just as he was about to voice this speculation, he suddenly noticed that the tower had brightened considerably. Earlier, it had been pitch black, impossible to see anything without a flashlight. But now, he could clearly see Zhou Xia’s long eyelashes.

What was it? Sang Xu turned toward the source of the light, which seemed to be not far outside the window.

At that moment, everyone saw nine lamps illuminated in the hazy darkness outside the window, as dazzling as the sun.

It was actually those nine lamps they had seen outside the tower! Sang Xu was puzzled—how had they risen to this height?

Sang Xu had been wrong, he realized; they weren’t glowing minerals but actual lamps lit by someone underwater.

Who was it? Who else could be in this ancient tomb besides them? Could there still be survivors from Li Jiashan’s group?

A sense of foreboding gripped Sang Xu, an indescribable heaviness pressing on his chest. The last time he had felt this way was when Emperor Xia wanted to kill him.

Zhou Xia’s brow tensing abruptly, he swiftly reached out, seizing Sang Xu with one hand and Han Rao with the other, pulling all three of them deep into the pile of mummified corpses. Outside, massive golden lanterns slowly approached the windowsill, and everyone collectively understood what Sang Wannian and his group had been avoiding.

Those weren’t lanterns—they were eyes, nine enormous golden eyes.

Shen Zhitang once said that, according to legend, Wang Hui has nine heads.

In the waters beneath this tower lives a living Wang Hui.

Nine one-eyed heads approached the nine wooden windows of the tower, golden light streaming inside. Sang Xu hid behind the dried-up corpses, seemingly able to see the black scales on Wang Hui’s rugged face. A deep, rumbling breath, like thunder, echoed, and Sang Xu was drenched in cold sweat, not daring to move.

All nine windows were occupied by golden eyes; the closer to the windowsill, the brighter it became. The group crowded into a small, dim area in the center, pressed back-to-back. Zhou Xia had disappeared to make room for them. At this moment, Han Rao most wanted to learn Zhou Xia’s special ability—how exactly did he vanish, and where was he hiding?

Don’t come in… don’t come in… Sang Xu prayed silently.

But it came in anyway.

A massive head squeezed through the windowsill, while two others slowly craned in beside it.

As the three heads faced different directions, the areas illuminated by the golden light shifted. Just as the glow from one golden eye was about to sweep over him, Sang Xu tiptoed and quietly moved toward the left area.

Zhou Xia instructed in his ear, “Turn left, take two steps forward, then turn right!”

He followed Zhou Xia’s commands, sweating profusely as he dodged.

On the other side, Han Rao, carrying Shen Zhitang on his back, also struggled to move cautiously. Shen Zhitang didn’t dare look, afraid that Han Rao might knock over some wine cup or jade artifact and make noise. The more they feared something happening, the more it did—as Han Rao turned, he kicked over a golden vase.

But in the blink of an eye, Black Girl slid over, belly up, and caught the golden vase. Shen Zhitang and Han Rao both breathed a sigh of relief.

Sang Xu crawled under a table as one of Wang Hui’s heads passed above it. He emerged on the other side, only to find Wang Hui’s long neck stretching right over his head.

“Idiot, run faster, quick, quick—” Zhou Xia suddenly said, then shouted, “Stop!”

A bright light abruptly appeared in front of him. He barely halted his steps, crouching under the neck, his heart pounding in his throat.

He waited patiently as the golden light swept past him. The nearest serpent head looked away and slowly retreated.

Sang Xu quickly ran a few steps and hid in the shadows among the dried-up corpses ahead.

Across from him, Han Rao and Shen Zhitang crouched in the narrow gap between two windows. A golden eye glared menacingly into the tower from each side, but the two were positioned exactly in the blind spot between them. The placement was so precarious… Sang Xu broke into a cold sweat for them.

The two looked toward Sang Xu, their expressions suddenly changing to one of extreme fear and shock. They kept making faces. Sang Xu frowned slightly, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. Had Wang Hui spotted him? No, the golden light wasn’t shining in his direction.

What was it, then?

Han Rao mouthed, “The dried corpses are moving!”

What!?

They had just inspected these beast-faced corpses—aside from being ugly, there was nothing strange about them.

Could there be something invisible to the naked eye on them?

Sang Xu’s heart sank. He immediately put on the Yin Jiao Nuo mask and looked at the nearby dried corpse. As soon as he did, his vision revealed something new—many towering black shadows were riding on the hunched dried corpses, exactly like the ones that had ridden Li Jiashan’s team back in the burial pit, but here there were several times more.

And now, squeezed among the dried corpse pile, Sang Xu was extremely close to these shadows.

They all lowered their massive heads, as if staring in Sang Xu’s direction. Sang Xu looked up and, the moment he met their gaze, felt their sinister eyes upon him. A wave of immense terror, like an icy tide, washed over him.

Just then, Sang Xu clearly saw one of the dried corpses shift slightly toward him.