Chapter 37 The Tomb

Black, still black.

Chu Jianshan wandered around for a long time, but all he could see was darkness. It also seemed that Cheng Yuan was not with him; the two of them had been teleported to different locations.

If he had spiritual power, he could at least emit a faint glow, but now Chu Jianshan has been stumbling and bumping into things for a long time, knocking over one thing or another. When he looked back, he hadn't even walked five meters.

He can't see now, so he can only rely on his sense of touch to the greatest extent possible, starting from the edge of the room and slowly walking along the wall, trying to measure the size of the room with his steps.

After looking around, he discovered that this was not an ordinary square room, but an irregularly shaped room, but there were many square wooden containers inside.

Chu Jianshan tried to open one of them, and it took him a lot of effort to finally lift the lid. The dust on the wooden board rose up and almost choked him. He slowly reached down along the edge of the container.

The sensation on his fingertips made his heart skip a beat. It was the feel of human skin. Inside lay a corpse, so these wooden containers must be coffins. And this whole room was filled with coffins; it was a tomb.

Chu Jianshan couldn't see, so he could only endure the nausea and carefully examine the corpses with his hands. Although the skin was still intact and there were no signs of decay or stench, even the coffins were covered in dust. These were definitely not fresh corpses; some method must have been used to preserve them intact.

To be honest, Chu Jianshan had no interest in being with a group of corpses, and he had a feeling that staying here for too long would not lead to anything good.

He groped his way to a door, which led to a seemingly endless tomb passage. Fortunately, there were some candlesticks on the walls, which prevented him from being completely blind.

He walked for an unknown amount of time, and then, as if drawn by something, he entered a room. The lights in this room were brighter than the others, and there was only one coffin on the high platform, which looked more luxurious than the others.

Just as Chu Jianshan was about to go in, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and pressed himself against the door. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the person's face clearly.

"Looks like my luck has finally turned around for once."

Cheng Yuan turned around and saw Chu Jianshan leaning against the wall. He asked, "What do you mean?"

Chu Jianshan slowly walked towards him: "Literally, I've always had bad luck, and I thought I wouldn't see you again before I got out."

Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow: "So you're really looking forward to seeing me?"

Chu Jianshan deliberately avoided answering his question, instead turning to ask, "Do you still have Mo Yang with you?"

Cheng Yuan asked in confusion, "What do you need Mo Yang for?"

Before he could react, Chu Jianshan took Mo Yang out of his body himself and said, "I need to have a weapon for myself, right? In case we get into a fight with someone, I won't have to keep asking you to save me. Don't worry, I'll be careful and won't damage your master's belongings."

Then he asked, "You've seen all those corpses, haven't you?"

Cheng Yuan nodded: "They are all intact, aged corpses, they must have been disposed of, but what's the use of keeping so many corpses?"

Chu Jianshan thought for a while and shook his head: "It may not necessarily be useful to him. I think it's more likely an experiment."

Cheng Yuan glanced at the coffin on the high platform and gestured to Chu Jianshan with his eyes: "Is it for the person inside?"

Chu Jianshan said, "It should be. Do you dare to open it and take a look?"

Cheng Yuan scoffed and walked towards the coffin: "What's there to be afraid of?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he channeled a burst of spiritual energy into his right palm and struck the coffin. The wooden planks instantly flew off, revealing the scene inside the coffin.

Cheng Yuan was about to call Chu Jianshan when he found that Chu Jianshan was no longer there. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he slowly turned his head and saw Mo Yang pressing against his neck.

But Cheng Yuan showed no unusual reaction, simply asking calmly, "What are you doing?"

Chu Jianshan tilted his head and slowly exposed him: "You acted so well, I almost didn't recognize you."

Chu Jianshan sensed something was off the moment the man entered. Cheng Yuan was usually calm and collected, but this man's pace was too fast. So he asked for the Mo Yang Sword, not just for self-defense, but also to verify his suspicions. Unfortunately, he didn't find anything unusual about the Mo Yang Sword.

But when he picked up the sword, he specifically emphasized the words "relics." Cheng Yuan firmly believed that his master was not dead, and given his narrow-mindedness, it was absolutely impossible for him not to react to those two words.

What truly convinced him that this person wasn't Cheng Yuan was the way he knocked the coffin lid away. Cheng Yuan is left-handed and usually doesn't use his right hand for actions that are easier for him, but this person deliberately switched the Flowing Sound Sword to his left hand during the preparation for the action, and then used his right hand to knock it away. This was obviously very strange.

Chu Jianshan brought Mo Yang closer to "Cheng Yuan's" neck and said, "If this Mo Yang is real, then it means you met Cheng Yuan, and it's very likely you even fought with him. Where is he?"

"Cheng Yuan" slowly turned around, looking at Chu Jianshan with a half-smile. His expression kept changing before settling on Cheng Yuan's face: "Are you really willing to kill me?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Chu Jianshan mobilized some spiritual power to sharpen Mo Yang's blade, leaving a bloody gash on his neck.

The conversation between this person and himself upon entering was almost flawless, so Cheng Yuan's memories must have been snooped on by him. Moreover, Mo Yang is also in his hands. That guy cherishes this thing like his life, how could it be easily taken away? I'm afraid his current situation is not good.

Cheng Yuan sneered twice, then pressed his hand against Mo Yang's neck, causing blood to gush out and flow down Mo Yang's body onto Chu Jianshan's hand.

"If you go now, you should still be able to see his body. If you go any later, he might have already been eaten."

Chu Jianshan's hand holding the Mo Yang sword began to tremble. He couldn't completely trust what the man in front of him said; he might be trying to provoke him, but he dared not gamble.

Taking advantage of his hesitation, "Cheng Yuan" exerted force, and Mo Yang pierced straight through his neck. In an instant, the man disappeared from Chu Jianshan's sight, along with the blood on his hands, as if he had never existed.

Mo Yang fell to the ground with a thud. Chu Jianshan lost all strength and could only barely support himself by holding onto the coffin.

Since meeting Cheng Yuan in Furong Town, he has forcibly mobilized his spiritual power countless times. He thought he could still use it a few more times, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even hold on with this little bit of spiritual power. If this continues, he doesn't know if he will be able to avenge Xie Yin before he dies.

Chu Jianshan struggled to sit up, his lips deathly pale. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the person in the coffin, a woman in her early twenties, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, her face covered by a thin veil.

Even through the veil, Chu Jianshan felt that this person was somewhat familiar. He muttered "Don't blame me, don't blame me" and then gently removed the veil.

Upon seeing the person in front of him, he stopped abruptly. This person was not only familiar to him, but also his sister Chu Qinglan and Jiang Yan's daughter, Jiang Rusheng.

Chu Jianshan was completely dumbfounded. He frantically tried to sort everything out in his mind.

This shouldn't be Jiang Rusheng. Although the two look almost identical, Jiang Rusheng is the only daughter of the head of Changjin Mountain. If she were to die, the whole world would know. In addition, Jiang Rusheng is only 16 years old now, so the two ages don't match.

But can there really be two people in the world who look so alike? And it was such a coincidence that he ran into them.

With a loud bang, the sound of something being blown apart came from outside the door. Chu Jianshan knew something was wrong and hurriedly grabbed the Mo Yang Sword and left.

The thing that was impersonating Cheng Yuan was a Mianling, a creature that is neither demon nor ghost. It likes to live in groups among the dead, attracting living people by impersonating humans. The Mianling that just now did not die; it retreated without a fight simply to inform more Mianlings.

Judging from the number of coffins here, the number of Mianlings is definitely substantial. Chu Jianshan was chased all the way to an unfamiliar place. The place was very open, and he was instantly surrounded by Mianlings and could not escape.

These things circled around him like ghosts, and then rushed towards Chu Jianshan one by one. Chu Jianshan dodged one wave and used Mo Yang to repel a few more.

This thing is extremely troublesome. To escape unscathed, he would probably have to mobilize his spiritual power again. However, Chu Jianshan could not guarantee whether he would still be conscious after defeating the Mianling.

Just as he hesitated, the Mianlings launched an attack all at once. Chu Jianshan raised his sword to defend, but was pushed back more than ten meters. He used the wall to support himself and confronted the Mianlings. Then, he suddenly changed his force, and the Mianlings rushed into the wall, creating a dent.

Chu Jianshan could have used this time to escape, but the sharp pain in his chest made him lose his strength instantly, and he knelt on the ground.

He clutched his chest, barely daring to breathe. His vision blurred, and he knew the poison was taking effect. If he couldn't get an antidote in time, he would suffer in agony for the next three days and die suddenly on the last day.

He tried to sit up, but his whole body was trembling violently, and he could only watch helplessly as Mianling charged towards him, yelling.

Bang! —

A sword gleaming with blue light was thrust between Chu Jianshan and the Mianling. The shockwave from the exploding spiritual energy repelled all the surrounding Mianling. Before Chu Jianshan could react, he was pulled away by the arm.

After shaking off the disgusting things behind him, Chu Jianshan finally had a chance to stop and see the person in front of him clearly. Cheng Yuan turned around, released his hand, and looked at him coldly. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Chu Jianshan calmed down and wanted to ask Cheng Yuan if he was alright and if he was injured, but before he could finish speaking, Cheng Yuan spoke first.

He said sharply, "Chu Jianshan, are you crazy?! Do you really think you can handle anything? You don't even have spiritual power and you still dare to provoke Mianling! Don't you know what would have happened if I had arrived a moment later?!"

Chu Jianshan was stunned by Cheng Yuan's shout and could only utter a single word: "I..."

Don't tell me you don't recognize these things!

Cheng Yuan interrupted him again: "Knowing how troublesome they are, you still go and provoke them. Are you afraid you won't die fast enough?"

Chu Jianshan lowered his head and didn't speak again. In fact, he understood that Cheng Yuan's words made sense. When the Mianlings were playing the role of living people, as long as they didn't expose them, they could usually get away unscathed.

However, under those circumstances, after guessing that Cheng Yuan was in danger, he didn't think too much about it and just wanted to save him as soon as possible. He forgot that there was more than one Mianling, and that it was extremely vengeful.

Cheng Yuan looked down at him, still patiently waiting despite his anger, wanting to hear a reasonable explanation from him.

Chu Jianshan knew he should tell him what he was thinking at the time, but the thought of how he had risked his life to save him, only to be scolded in the end, inevitably left him with some strange emotions.

He didn't know that this feeling was called feeling wronged; he just thought he was being too dramatic.

Seeing that Cheng Yuan was still in the mood to scold him like that, Chu Jianshan figured that everything was alright. He suppressed the sharp pain in his chest, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "It's my fault."

Cheng Yuan frowned: "I don't want to hear your apology, I..."

Before Cheng Yuan could finish speaking, Chu Jianshan turned around. He didn't want to listen anymore. He swayed as he walked forward, but he didn't know where he was going.

Cheng Yuan was still angry, and seeing Chu Jianshan turn and leave only fueled his rage. So he said threateningly, "Fine, you want to leave? Then don't make me save you again!"

Chu Jianshan stopped moving. Cheng Yuan thought he had regretted it and wanted to go forward to persuade him, but he saw that he could no longer bear the pain and slowly slid down the wall while holding on.

"Chu Jianshan!"

Cheng Yuan panicked for a moment and rushed over, kneeling in front of him: "What's wrong with you?"

By the dim candlelight, Cheng Yuan saw that Chu Jianshan's complexion was extremely poor, his lips were frighteningly white, and he was holding his chest with one hand, breathing slowly.

Cheng Yuan grabbed one of his hands to take his pulse. Chu Jianshan subconsciously tried to pull his hand back, but he was no match for Cheng Yuan's strength and could only resign himself to letting Cheng Yuan hold on.

After a short while, Cheng Yuan frowned slightly. Even if his medical skills were not good, he could tell that Chu Jianshan was in very bad condition. His pulse was so disordered that he even doubted that he had made a mistake.

He adjusted his position, kneeling diagonally behind Chu Jianshan so that Chu could lean on him, and asked softly, "When did the poison take effect?"

Based on his understanding of Chu Jianshan, the fact that Chu Jianshan could collapse in front of him must have been the limit of his endurance.

Chu Jianshan closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, refusing to answer his question.

Seeing Chu Jianshan like this, Cheng Yuan felt bad and realized that he had spoken too harshly. Although Chu Jianshan was impulsive, he was not without brains. There must have been an unavoidable reason why he made such a big mistake.

So Cheng Yuan gently helped Chu Jianshan up, whispered in his ear, and apologized earnestly, word by word: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you. I was too worried about you, so I said some things without thinking. I should apologize to you."

Although Chu Jianshan still didn't answer, he was clearly in a better mood, at least he no longer deliberately avoided Cheng Yuan's actions.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Cheng Yuan asked softly, "Are you still angry?"

Chu Jianshan stubbornly insisted, "I wasn't angry to begin with."

Cheng Yuan chuckled: "Really? Then why were you running away just now?"

"Find an exit, what else can we do?"

"Okay, I'll help you find the exit. Come on up."

Looking at Cheng Yuan squatting in front of him, Chu Jianshan blinked in confusion and asked, "What are you doing?"

Cheng Yuan turned around: "I'll carry you on my back. You definitely can't walk like this. I can go faster if I carry you."

Chu Jianshan hesitated for two seconds, and after some internal struggle, he still placed his hand on hers.

Cheng Yuan dragged Chu Jianshan by the leg and carried him on his back without any effort.

This was the first time Chu Jianshan had ever been carried on someone's back since he grew up. The distance allowed their temperatures to mingle, and with only two thin layers of clothing between them, Chu Jianshan could clearly feel the touch of Cheng Yuan's body.