Quickly, she stopped and grabbed a vine, shaking it vigorously. She managed to shake off several puppets.
The puppets in the front were shaken off, but more kept coming. He Sui’an didn’t dare waste any time and started running again. However, her worst fear materialized.
The vines of the suspension bridge were about to snap.
They creaked and groaned in a desperate struggle.
He Sui’an ran faster than ever before. Just a few steps away from the end, the bridge snapped. She plummeted downwards, the wind roaring in her ears.
The suffocating feeling of near-death filled her mind, and a strong survival instinct drove her to grab a dangling vine, halting her fall.
As she clung to the vine, Qi Buyan’s silkworm thread wrapped around her waist.
When He Sui’an was finally pulled up, her legs were already weak.
She lay on the ground, unwilling to get up.
Qi Buyan wiped the dirt from her face, as if he couldn’t stand to see his meticulously raised Gu insects so dirty. “You almost died, but you survived on your own. I’m very happy.”
He Sui’an looked up at Qi Buyan. The boy’s eyebrows curved into a beautiful arc, as if he wouldn’t be moved by anyone’s life or death.
Yet he said he was very happy she survived.
It sounded sincere.
Qi Buyan seemed pleased. “Remember, don’t let anyone kill you. If someone wants to kill you, kill them first. If someone hurts you, you can still kill them.”
He glanced at the dark abyss below the suspension bridge. “The same goes for puppets.”
He Sui’an didn’t say anything.
Having just escaped death, her mind was blank.
Qi Buyan left He Sui’an, giving her time to rest, and turned to the black and red door. He touched the lifelike carvings on the door.
Typically, to open a door like this, one would have to disable mechanisms set up a hundred years ago. Strangely, this door had no mechanisms. Though it appeared closed, it wasn’t locked.
He pushed, and the door opened.
The heavy sound of the door opening seemed to peel away a layer of history. He Sui’an, still resting, was startled by the sound.
Had he unlocked the mechanism already?
So fast.
Having rested enough, she stood up and entered with Qi Buyan. The first thing they saw was a coffin. This coffin was different from the ones they had seen along the way; it was made of ironwood.
Ironwood was very rare.
It was said that only once in a thousand years would such a tree appear. Coffins made from this wood could preserve a body from decay, making it very hard to find.
Inside the ironwood coffin lay a person. The coffin lid was open, as if someone had recently removed it and hadn’t put it back, allowing He Sui’an to easily see the person inside.
The body was indeed well-preserved.
It didn’t look dead, more like sleeping.
He Sui’an’s gaze fell on the young man’s face. His features were well-defined, with a high nose bridge and eyebrows that extended into his temples, giving him a dignified and heroic appearance. His hands were folded neatly over his waist, and he lay exceptionally straight.
Such features and a remarkable posture immediately reminded He Sui’an of the young man in the mural. Was this the King Yan, Yan Wuheng, from a hundred years ago?
“Is he King Yan, Yan Wuheng?”
He Sui’an tilted her head and asked.
Qi Buyan completely removed the lid that was half-covering the coffin. “It should be.”
“So, if this is Yan Wuheng, then is this the main chamber of the Tomb of King Yan?” He Sui’an paused. “But why can’t I sense the presence of the Yin Corpse Gu mother here?”
He glanced at the body in the coffin, as if pondering something. “You say you can’t sense the presence of the Yin Corpse Gu mother now?”
Worried she might be wrong, He Sui’an held her breath and used the child Gu within her to carefully sense for it.
After a moment.
He Sui’an came to the same conclusion.
Qi Buyan scanned the main chamber. The air was cold and quiet, devoid of any corpse stench, even carrying a faint fragrance. The stone walls were mottled with vines growing upward, full of life.
Compared to the other chambers filled with stone statues and golden ornaments, the main chamber was large but sparse, with only the ironwood coffin occupying the vast empty space.
Apart from the vines on the stone walls, the main chamber felt desolate and somber.
Yan Wuheng in the coffin seemed like someone in eternal sleep.
He Sui’an suddenly recalled a painting in He Hua’s room. At that time, He Hua had asked her to find a book stored in the left cabinet.
He Sui’an accidentally knocked over a painting scroll nearby. When the scroll opened, she unintentionally saw the person in the painting wearing similar elaborate clothing, though without facial features.
Could that be Yan Wuheng?
It looked similar.
Was it because He Hua had never seen Yan Wuheng and didn’t know his appearance, so she couldn’t draw his facial features?
No, if He Hua had never seen Yan Wuheng, why would the young man in her painting be wearing the same clothes as Yan Wuheng lying in the ironwood coffin? It was too strange.
He Sui’an’s thoughts became muddled.
Suppose He Hua had actually seen Yan Wuheng.
But Yan Wuheng was from a hundred years ago, and He Hua appeared to be only in her twenties now. How could she have seen him? No matter how she tried to explain it, it seemed contradictory.
He Sui’an shared her thoughts with Qi Buyan. He pondered for a moment, then without saying much, reached out to touch Yan Wuheng’s body in the coffin.
“What are you trying to do?”
She was baffled.
Yan Wuheng’s body was indeed well-preserved, giving the impression he might open his eyes and come back to life at any moment. But ultimately, he was just a corpse, incapable of speaking or living again.
Qi Buyan’s smile didn’t fade, his voice moderate yet echoing through the main chamber. “I want… to destroy his body.”
He Sui’an was stunned. “What?”
He was about to act when a woman appeared. She wore a red dress, with most of her black hair cascading down her back and the rest adorned with bright, flamboyant jewelry. Her every move was captivating.
With each step, she exuded an intense allure. Her red gauze dress stood out vividly against the dark, cold tones of the ancient tomb. Her shawl slipped off her shoulder, revealing a small patch of skin.
“Stop.”
The woman looked at them calmly.
He Sui’an also stared at her. “Who are you?”
As soon as this person appeared, He Sui’an’s inner Gu began to react. The Yin Corpse Gu mother was with this woman. She whispered this to Qi Buyan.
Qi Buyan understood.
Yan Luoxu seemed unafraid that they might attack her.
She walked step by step to the ironwood coffin. “I am the one who created the Yin Corpse Gu.”
He Sui’an noticed that this person resembled Yan Wuheng. Her gaze shifted back to him. “You created the Yin Corpse Gu to revive him?”
“Yes, my goal in creating the Yin Corpse Gu was to bring my seventh brother back to life.”
Yan Luoxu admitted it openly.
“From what I know, he was King Yan from a hundred years ago. You call him your seventh brother, so you’re his sister? Have you lived for a hundred years? How can a person live for centuries?” He Sui’an pressed on.
Yan Luoxu smiled. “I have indeed lived for centuries.”
He Sui’an murmured, “How is that possible?”
In this world without demons, ghosts, or immortals, how could someone live for centuries? It sounded absurd, yet she couldn’t help but want to believe what the other said.
Yan Luoxu looked at Qi Buyan.
She said, “I see you also understand Gu arts. Have you ever heard of a Gu called the Longevity Gu? This Gu can make a person live forever, without aging.”
Longevity Gu?
He Sui’an waited for Qi Buyan’s response.
He confirmed Yan Luoxu’s words. “According to ancient texts, the Longevity Gu once existed. Since the method to create it has long been lost, people thought it was merely a legend.”
Yan Luoxu seemed to recall something, speaking with a hint of mockery. “It’s not just a legend. It truly exists. I have the Longevity Gu within me, so I do not age, nor do I die.”
Few rulers throughout history didn’t seek immortality. Her father, too, was dedicated to pursuing eternal life.
Yet she had never expected that it would be she who achieved it.
She hadn’t expected it either.
Yan Luoxu lowered her eyes to look at Yan Wuheng in the coffin. She hadn’t expected him to give the only two Longevity Gus to her and his wife He Hua.
And then, he died alone.
What a foolish brother.
He Sui’an could somewhat understand Yan Luoxu’s desire to revive Yan Wuheng with the Yin Corpse Gu, but she had to mention another matter: “Do you know that many people in Fengling Town died because of the Yin Corpse Gu?”
Yan Luoxu replied, “I know, but what does it matter? I only want my brother to live again. Nothing else matters to me.”
“They died, and that’s that!”
Creating the Yin Corpse Gu was incredibly difficult.
As soon as she learned that this method might bring people back to life, she began working on it.
How long had she been at it? She couldn’t remember the years, only the repeated failures. The residents of Fengling Town changed from one generation to the next, and finally, Yan Luoxu succeeded.
No one could destroy her century-long effort.
Anyone who tried would be killed without mercy.
Yan Luoxu hadn’t originally intended to speak so much to them. She had planned to kill them immediately. But having spent most of these years in the tomb working on her Gu, she found their presence refreshing.
Qi Buyan leaned against the coffin.
He asked with a smile, “You’ve created the Yin Corpse Gu, but has he come back to life?”
Yan Luoxu’s flawless smile froze for a moment. She took out a small insect with a red head and green body, and eight legs, placing it into Yan Wuheng’s mouth, letting it crawl inside.
