Controlled by Qi Buyan, Yan Wuheng let go of his grip. The longsword was still embedded in Yan Luoxu’s body, with blood blending seamlessly into her red dress, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.
Indeed.
He remained an unconscious puppet.
Otherwise, Yan Wuheng would never harm his elder sister, with whom he had been inseparable since childhood.
After refining the Yin Corpse Gu, she indeed deceived herself. Gently touching the wound and staining her hand with blood, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she suddenly laughed loudly, “I have exhausted all my efforts, only to end up like this.”
For some reason, the Yan King’s tomb suddenly began to shake violently, as if it was about to collapse soon. The pillars supporting the tomb for centuries trembled violently, with stones rolling down and cracks gradually appearing in the stone walls.
He Sui’an braced herself against the ironwood coffin to avoid falling, “What’s happening?”
Yan Luoxu continued to laugh loudly.
“What’s happening?”
Hearing Yan Luoxu’s voice, He Sui’an looked at her and vaguely guessed that the Yan King’s tomb was probably about to collapse.
Yan Luoxu mercifully told them, “Many ancient tombs have self-destruct mechanisms, and this Yan King’s tomb, which belongs to my seventh brother, is no exception. This means someone has activated the self-destruct mechanism.”
Once the self-destruct mechanism is activated, the Yan King’s tomb will disappear from this world in about a quarter of an hour.
Everyone inside will die.
The entrance to the Yan King’s tomb is blocked, preventing them from returning the way they came. They must find another way out. But finding a way out in a quarter of an hour is nearly impossible, and the likelihood of death is high.
Having lived in the Yan King’s tomb for so many years and being Yan Wuheng’s elder sister, Yan Luoxu surely knew the self-destruct mechanism and must also know of a hidden escape route.
But she wouldn’t tell them.
They would die with her, Yan Luoxu thought.
He Sui’an focused on the self-destruct mechanism Yan Luoxu had just mentioned.
In a critical moment, a highly skilled martial artist silently entered. Before He Sui’an could react, the person had already reached Yan Luoxu’s side, wearing a copper mask.
Yan Luoxu was shocked to see the man, then guessed his true purpose. Was he the one who activated the self-destruct mechanism of the Yan King’s tomb?
He said nothing, lifting her up.
The man turned and left with Yan Luoxu, and she moved with him without resistance.
Even Qi Buyan barely managed to react, immediately throwing a few silver needles in their direction. The man, as if having eyes on his back, dodged all the needles even while supporting Yan Luoxu.
When Qi Buyan released the Heavenly Silkworm Thread, the man released a swarm of black flying insects that disturbed vision, causing the thread to momentarily lose track of him, needing to deal with the black insects first.
Once all the black flying insects were dead, the person disappeared.
The ground was covered with the corpses of black flying insects.
Qi Buyan ignored them and extracted the mother Yin Corpse Gu from Yan Wuheng’s body.
As soon as the mother Yin Corpse Gu left Yan Wuheng’s body, which no longer had the temperature of a living person, he closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground, as if falling into a long sleep, but in reality, he was still a corpse that had been dead for a long time.
There is a significant difference between a corpse puppet controlled by the Yin Corpse Gu and a living puppet.
The former can have the Yin Corpse Gu removed at any time, while the latter, like the mad people of Fengling Town, would become another kind of uncontrollable puppet that likes to bite people if the Yin Corpse Gu is not removed within three days.
Qi Buyan put the mother Yin Corpse Gu into a small jar he carried with him. His calm demeanor made He Sui’an wonder if he had forgotten that the self-destruct mechanism of the Yan King’s tomb had been activated.
If they didn’t escape within a quarter of an hour, they would be buried deep under the yellow earth, falling into an eternal sleep.
Which essentially means death.
She looked around the main tomb chamber.
In He Hua’s book, there was a section describing how Yan Wuheng was once secretly ordered by his father to build an imperial mausoleum. The emperor of that time was very fond of Taoist priests and always listened to their advice, indulging in large-scale construction.
The Taoist priests said that choosing a place with good feng shui and building a new imperial mausoleum would ward off misfortune, protect the emperor, and ensure the nation’s prosperity.
He was given this reason for constructing the mausoleum, but he later learned the real reason.
It was indeed a new imperial mausoleum.
Normally, an imperial mausoleum was only for burying the emperor and his consorts, but this new imperial mausoleum was meant for burying the emperor’s seventh son, Yan Wuheng.
This was because a Taoist priest advised the emperor that His Majesty was the son of destiny and should naturally be immortal. The first step to achieving immortality was a life-for-life exchange, and it had to be his own flesh and blood.
In other words, Yan Wuheng was to die in place of the aging emperor.
Yan Wuheng’s birth mother was merely a lowly palace maid.
It was most fitting for him to die in the emperor’s place.
His mother being a lowly palace maid meant his death wouldn’t cause much trouble.
Moreover, the emperor’s dissatisfaction with him had been building up for a long time. Yan Wuheng, a son of a lowly palace maid, had barely climbed to the position of general, and instead of being grateful, he seized the opportunity to win the people’s hearts.
Of course, it was the emperor’s suspicious nature that made him believe that Yan Wuheng, having become a general and repeatedly winning battles for the court, was using his victories to gain the people’s admiration and praise.
So the emperor first took back his military power.
Then he used other means to suppress him.
Just when Yan Wuheng thought he would never rise again, the emperor summoned him back to the palace, seemingly entrusting him with the secret task of building the new imperial mausoleum, showing his trust in him.
Yan Wuheng agreed.
Not to mention that an imperial decree cannot be disobeyed, but he, who had lost his mother since childhood, yearned for this rare semblance of paternal love. He wanted to believe the emperor. Although he thought building a new imperial mausoleum to ward off misfortune was nonsense, he still complied.
Little did he know that ahead lay a trap meant to take his life.
A trap set by his own father.
After settling his wife, Yan Wuheng disappeared for several years to build the new imperial mausoleum. The emperor also instructed him to gather folk experts skilled in Gu techniques to refine the legendary longevity Gu.
The emperor believed that by having Yan Wuheng die in his place quietly and consuming the longevity Gu, he would surely achieve immortality and reign forever.
The new imperial mausoleum, which is this Yan King’s tomb, was supervised by Yan Wuheng himself.
He Sui’an tried to view the tomb chamber through Yan Wuheng’s perspective, recalling his habits described in the book, attempting to deduce how he might have designed the escape mechanisms in the tomb.
After securing the mother Yin Corpse Gu, Qi Buyan also began searching for the mechanisms in the main tomb chamber. There were no markings on the parchment map for this area.
The silver ironwood coffin suddenly showed significant movement.
Someone was climbing out.
While avoiding the falling rubble from above, He Sui’an looked up.
First out of the coffin was Su Yang, followed by Shen Jianhe, Zhong Kong, and Zhong Huan. They were momentarily stunned upon seeing He Sui’an and Qi Buyan.
Shen Jianhe quickly stepped forward, saying, “Miss He! Young Master Qi!”
He Sui’an responded, “Senior…”
He was hit on the shoulder by a falling stone, grimacing in pain but still asked, “Is this the main tomb chamber?” Glancing at the corpse on the ground, he asked, “Is this Yan King Yan Wuheng?”
“Yes, elder.”
Shen Jianhe then noticed another corpse lying opposite the coffin and asked, “If this is Yan King Yan Wuheng, then whose is the other corpse?”
He Sui’an couldn’t explain in a few words. They needed to find a way out of the Yan King’s tomb first. She said, “We’ll talk after we get out. The tomb’s self-destruct mechanism has been activated; it’s about to collapse.”
Shen Jianhe knew this too.
He had experienced similar situations when he went tomb exploring with his master and understood it was the self-destruct mechanism.
They hadn’t expected the end of the secret passage to be the main tomb chamber’s coffin. Halfway through the passage, the ground shook like an earthquake, and Shen Jianhe immediately realized the Yan King’s tomb was in danger.
If they didn’t leave, they would all die.
But there was no way back, so they could only move forward.
Next, they saw He Sui’an and Qi Buyan, who had arrived at the main tomb chamber earlier.
He Sui’an looked past Shen Jianhe and noticed Su Yang behind him. Her dress was dirty, her face pale, her lips cracked and purple, and her brows tightly furrowed, as if she had learned something difficult to accept.
Her arm had bloodstains, indicating she had been through a lot after they were separated. However, even though He Sui’an was very curious, she wouldn’t choose to ask about it at this critical moment of escaping.
Qi Buyan didn’t look at them.
He was searching for mechanisms.
Finally, both Qi Buyan and He Sui’an found a mechanism at the same time.
This main tomb chamber had two escape mechanisms, each leading to a different path—one a way of life, the other a way of death. Time was of the essence, and they had to make a quick decision.
The two escape mechanisms were on the ironwood coffin’s carvings, one depicting a lifelike lotus flower and the other a mulberry tree, mixed in with other complex carvings, making them hard to find at first glance.
It was He Sui’an’s careful examination of the ironwood coffin that revealed a slight indentation.
She didn’t press it immediately.
She was cautious.
It proved to be the right decision. Just as she found the lotus flower pattern, Qi Buyan found the mulberry tree pattern.
The reason these two patterns stood out was that they both had an almost imperceptible indentation, indicating they needed to be pressed down.
She had a strange premonition that pressing one would make the other unpressable.
Shen Jianhe came over.
He asked, “Which one do you think we should press?”
He Sui’an stared at the two patterns, lost in thought, not answering his question.
Shen Jianhe rubbed his chin and said, “I think we should press the lotus flower. You wouldn’t know this, but before we reached the main tomb chamber, we passed through several places and learned that King Yan’s wife was named He Hua.”
They had been through a lot… but he wasn’t sure if he should say more. He glanced at Su Yang silently and then subtly withdrew his gaze.
Forget it.
It was the family business of the princess; he should stay out of it to avoid trouble.
“You say her name was He Hua?” He Sui’an hadn’t known this.
Su Yang confirmed, “Yes, that’s right.”
He Sui’an still didn’t press the mechanism.
Shen Jianhe pondered, “He Hua is lotus flower, right? King Yan must have loved his wife a lot. People usually set mechanisms related to things or people they love and care about.”
A line of poetry flashed through her mind: “The mountains have Fu Sang, the marshes have He Hua.”
Here, He Hua indeed refers to the lotus flower, while Fu Sang refers to the mulberry tree. The book mentioned that Yan Wuheng’s wife did not like the lotus flower but preferred the Fu Sang—mulberry tree.
Since ancient times, liking someone often meant loving everything associated with them, even the things they loved.
He Sui’an wanted to choose the mulberry tree pattern.
Because Yan Wuheng’s wife liked the mulberry tree.
