Chapter 324 This uncle’s story is a bit tragic

This is an underground space that is huge beyond imagination.

The dome is very high and inlaid with glowing crystals, illuminating the entire space like daylight.

The walls around are covered with various sophisticated tools and drawings.

Countless parts are placed in the center of the space, ranging from metal frames that are more than a person's height to gears and bearings as small as rice grains. They are categorized and displayed in an orderly manner on the shelves.

The middle-aged craftsman turned around slowly, the dullness on his face completely gone.

His eyes swept across Xiao Yu and finally landed on the token.

"One hundred and thirty years," he said hoarsely, "I thought I would never see the emblem of the Shenji Pavilion again in my lifetime."

Chu Xuanyi slammed his fan shut and said coldly, "You are indeed a remnant of the Shenji Pavilion."

The middle-aged craftsman glanced at him, his eyes showing no anger, only a kind of numbness that came from seeing through the world.

"Remnants? Perhaps." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "In the eyes of the world, we are traitors who detonated ley lines and killed countless innocent people."

He walked to a workbench and gently stroked a half-finished flying bird mechanism on it.

"My name is Gongshu Ming," he introduced himself calmly, "a direct descendant of the last master of the Shenji Pavilion."

When this name came out, Chu Xuanyi's pupils shrank slightly.

Gongshu.

This surname represents supreme glory in the history of mechanical engineering.

"Since you are the descendant of the Pavilion Master," Xiao Yu finally spoke, "then you should know how grave the sins committed by your Shenji Pavilion were."

Gongshu Ming raised his head and looked straight into Xiao Yu's eyes.

"Sin? Your Highness, do you know that the greatest sin we committed was not detonating the ley lines, but... our failure."

"Failed?" Chu Xuanyi frowned, "What do you mean?"

"What you saw, heard, and recorded in history books is all a lie that was covered up." Gongshu Ming's eyes became deep and painful. "Back then, the explosion at the ruins of Shenji was not our intention at all. The real reason was the arrival of the evil demon's symbol."

"Evil Demon Beacon." Xiao Yu repeated the unfamiliar word.

"What is that thing?" Chu Xuanyi asked.

"I can't describe it accurately," Gongshu Ming shook his head, a hint of fear on his face. "You can think of it as a coordinate, a beacon. A beacon cast from outside the world to ours. Its arrival itself means a catastrophe."

He paused, his voice growing drier.

"Our ancestors of the Shenji Pavilion used all their life's knowledge to build the entire Shenji City. Their purpose was to prevent it from coming, or in other words, to completely destroy it the moment it arrived."

"So, you launched that huge explosion in order to destroy that signpost." Xiao Yu grasped the key point keenly.

"Yes," Gongshu Ming closed his eyes in pain, "but not only did we fail to stop it, we... failed utterly. The power of the beacon was beyond our wildest dreams. Not only was it firmly rooted deep within the earth's veins, but the moment it was detonated, it released a... curse."

"Curse!" Chu Xuanyi sneered, "Playing tricks."

Gongshu Ming ignored his ridicule and stretched out his left hand.

"Your Majesty, please look."

Gongshu Ming slowly activated the energy in his body, and dark red lines like mechanical patterns appeared under the skin on the back of his hand.

The lines intertwined with each other, forming a strange pattern that flickered on and off with his heartbeat.

Ah Jiu hid behind Xiao Yu and whispered, "Brother Xiong Xiong, that pattern is so uncomfortable."

"This is a blood curse," Gongshu Ming's voice was filled with despair. "All direct descendants of the Shenji Pavilion have this in their blood from the moment they are born. It is an eternal shackle carved by Daobiao on us losers."

"What is the effect of this curse?" Xiao Yu asked in a deep voice.

"It has two triggering conditions." Gongshu Ming said slowly.

"First, any attempt to reactivate the core technology of the Divine Machine Pavilion and create mechanical puppets that transcend the times will immediately activate the curse."

"Secondly, any descendant of the Divine Machine Pavilion who is cursed cannot leave the 100-mile radius of the capital. If they cross the border, the curse will be activated."

Chu Xuanyi frowned upon hearing this, "What will happen if it is activated?"

Gongshu Ming raised his head, his eyes filled with unremitting sadness.

"It will become... a puppet."

"My second uncle was once the most gifted engineer in the Divine Machine Pavilion. Unwilling to see his ancestral legacy shattered, he secretly restored his ancestors' blueprints in a secret chamber, intending to build a 'Tian Geng Mecha'. However, the moment the mecha's core activated, the curse within him erupted."

Gongshu Ming's voice was trembling.

"He wasn't dead, but there was no light in his eyes anymore. His movements became stiff, and his body made the sound of gears turning. He became a living puppet, knowing only the repetitive movements of polishing parts."

"We can't kill him, nor can we revive him. We can only seal him in a sarcophagus underground."

"And my cousin, he refused to believe in evil and wanted to leave the capital to find a solution. He collapsed on the official road less than fifty miles outside the city gate. When we found him, he had turned into a puppet, muttering 'one, two, three, four' non-stop."

"So, you have stayed here for generations." Xiao Yu said slowly.

"Yes," Gongshu Ming nodded, "We can't leave, nor can we resume our ancestral business. The only thing we can do is to live in seclusion in the city as ordinary craftsmen and protect this place."

"Guard this place," Xiao Yu's eyes became sharp, "What is this place?"

Gongshu Ming smiled bitterly. "This is the true entrance to the ruins of the Divine Machine. We are the jailers. Our mission is to use the Divine Machine power in our bloodlines to suppress the evil demon beacon underground for generations, preventing its power from leaking out completely."

He looked at Xiao Yu with a hint of pleading in his eyes.

"We are like a rock blocking a crack in a dam. It's almost broken. The thing underground is becoming more and more active."

"Your Majesty, we are not traitors, we are atonement."

The expression on Chu Xuanyi's face was more serious than ever. He put away his fan and looked at Gongshu Ming for a long time without saying anything.

The truth was so horrifying that even he, the usually eloquent imperial tutor, didn't know where to start.

Xiao Yu's expression didn't change much, and he spoke in a low voice.

"What you said is empty talk."

Gongshu Ming smiled bitterly, as if he had expected him to say that.

"Your Highness is right. This kind of thing that subverts people's cognition, who would believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes?"

"If Your Highness has the courage, I am willing to take you to see the true ruins of the Divine Machine, and to see the shackles that have imprisoned our Gongshu family for over a hundred years."

"Lead the way." Xiao Yu's answer was simple and direct, without any hesitation.

"Your Highness," Chu Xuanyi couldn't help but warn, "This might be a trap."

"Brother Xiongxiong, I'm not afraid." Ah Jiu, nestled in Xiao Yu's arms, raised her head. "With you here, Ah Jiu is not afraid of anything."

Xiao Yu looked down at her, his eyes softening instantly.

He reached out and stroked the top of her head before saying to Allen Chu, "It's okay."