Chapter 74 074 Why do you keep remembering my bad points...?
System: "Yes."
Lu Yuanyuan: "…………"
While cremation did exist in ancient times, let's not forget that "The Enchanting Fairy Tale" is a famously melodramatic Mary Sue novel. How could it be complete without the satisfying scene where the male lead, after the female lead fakes her death, is heartbroken and on the verge of death while holding her fabricated corpse? Therefore, burying the entire body in the coffin is the mainstream practice of funerary sacrifice in this world.
What kind of place is this? Why would there be a jar of ashes enshrined here?
This memorial tablet reveals that the ashes belonged to Yue, and the given name was Fengzhu, which sounds like a woman's name. Crucially, "Yue" is the surname of the Yong Kingdom's royal family. Could this be the tomb of a princess or noblewoman of Yong Kingdom?
Lu Yuanyuan frowned, using the dim light of the pearl to look around. She had been knocked in and hadn't had time to examine the surroundings properly. This place was indeed a tomb, with burial objects piled up like small mountains on the ground: precious gold, silver, pearls, lifelike terracotta figurines, silver wine vessels, brocade fabrics... all demonstrating the noble status of the deceased's family during their lifetime.
If that's the case, then the secret chambers, mechanisms, and low-temperature environments all make sense. To prevent tomb raiders from disturbing their peaceful rest, ancient imperial tombs were designed with various traps and mechanisms during construction. The soldiers of Yong Kingdom wouldn't dare to break into the emperor's ancestral tomb to search for people, let alone imagine that the missing Consort Xie was imprisoned in a tomb right under their noses.
It has to be said that the monster was quite clever to think of hiding Consort Xie here.
Lu Yuanyuan felt a metallic taste in her throat and trembled as she turned her palm over. Grayish-white ashes mixed with her blood congealed in the fine lines of her palm.
If she wasn't mistaken, the monster seemed terrified of the ashes. As soon as the ashes were scattered, it fled in terror.
Also, when she was almost strangled, she used her blood-stained right hand to push the other person's face. The monster then released her in pain.
...Is it afraid of this jar of ashes, and also afraid of being stained with her blood?
Why?
Lu Yuanyuan's mind was in turmoil. The wound on her neck was throbbing, the monster's bloody lower half of its face, and its almost all its teeth... Countless images intertwined before her eyes, converging into a guess deep in her mind.
—Could that strangely shaped wound on her neck have been caused by the monster biting her?
Very likely!
The monster probably never intended to spare her life in the first place; it only brought her back because it was worried about leaving bloodstains while eating outside and attracting pursuers. Its first bite was aimed at her throat, but as soon as its sharp teeth pierced her flesh, her blood gushed into its mouth. To it, it was like suddenly drinking a mouthful of sulfuric acid. That's why the lower half of its face was so disfigured.
No wonder this guy used a strangulation method when he was killing her earlier; it was because it wanted to minimize the chance of it coming into contact with her blood!
But why is that?
What do she and the owner of the ashes have in common?
Just then, a person stumbled closer, grabbed her arm, and pulled her attention back to reality: "Let's go now!"
Lu Yuanyuan snapped out of her daze, nodded, and struggled to stand up.
This time, Lu Yuanyuan carried Consort Xie on her back as she ran. This would be much faster than the two of them holding hands. However, she could clearly feel that her reactions were much slower compared to her first escape attempt. Her whole body ached terribly, especially her ribs; her breath was stuck in her throat; her clothes were damp and hot; her feet felt heavy and weak, as if filled with lead, and the soles of her feet were burning hot.
As she ran, Lu Yuanyuan asked in a hoarse voice, "By the way, Your Highness, do you know who Yue Fengzhu is?"
Consort Xie wrapped her arms around her neck, her breath unsteady: "It was Princess Manjushri. What you just knocked over must have been Princess Manjushri's lotus throne."
Princess Manjushri?
Yue Hong's aunt who died young?
Yes, she remembered. Back then, after this princess died, the emperor of Yong built numerous temples for her throughout the country, sculpted her body from yin wood used to attract ghosts, and paradoxically surrounded the princess statue with a protective array. Now, with the addition of that urn of ashes that seemed to possess special powers, the princess's image appeared even more mysterious and strange.
However, Consort Xie's answer completely dispelled one of Lu Yuanyuan's unfounded suspicions—just now, she was wondering if she and this princess had some kind of clichéd past life relationship.
It seems she was overthinking it. When the original owner of this body was born, Princess Manjushri was still alive and well. Their lifespans overlapped, so it couldn't be a reincarnation relationship. And Lu Yuanyuan herself was originally from outer space, so there was no way she could have any connection with the reincarnation of a character in the book.
Lu Yuanyuan didn't know how far she had run; her legs were almost numb, and she was nearly exhausted when she suddenly felt a gentle breeze coming from ahead. At the same time, a beam of light appeared at the end of the passageway, and she heard a commotion of voices!
Consort Xie exclaimed excitedly, "Someone's coming! There's an exit ahead!"
Sure enough, climbing the slope along the corridor to its end, the two entered a large hall made of stone. The ceiling here was very high, nearly five meters above the ground, and now there was an opening, as if a stone slab had been moved. Sand and dust scattered, and blinding sunlight shone in through the narrow opening, where the figures of armored soldiers flickered by.
Like a traveler reaching their destination after a long journey, the bowstring snaps at its limit. Lu Yuanyuan lost control of her body and collapsed to the ground. Her ears were filled with noise as she heard hurried footsteps approaching, and then, a lightness lifted from her back.
"...It's the Imperial Concubine! Her Highness is indeed here!"
"Your Majesty, are you alright? Let us help you up!"
"You...wait! And her too, you have to take her out with you!"
“Your Highness, His Highness ordered us to pry open that exit. It’s very narrow, only one person can get out at a time. I’ll help you up first, and then this young lady will come up…”
Lu Yuanyuan lay face down on the floor tiles, motionless, vaguely sensing that Consort Xie was being lifted up. The surrounding noises grew increasingly chaotic, and her mind was foggy, unable to process the information. She tried to stand up, but like an engine that had stalled, it took her a long time to finally turn her face, her fingertips trembling slightly as she pressed them to the ground.
...No, it wasn't her hands that were trembling, it was the entire underground imperial mausoleum that was shaking!
Oh no! It must be because the soldiers forcibly opened the sealed imperial tomb, triggering the protective mechanisms here!
The main hall shook violently, rocks rained down, and dust billowed. Large and small stones fell from the sky; if one didn't dodge, a blow to the head would splatter brains everywhere. Since there were no ladders, the soldiers could only form a human ladder and painstakingly lift Consort Xie up, carrying her towards the narrow exit.
As Consort Xie was dragged out, the progress bar for the [Infant Consumption] instance on the system panel began to increase rapidly.
That's right. The key protected target in the instance has escaped danger. Everything should be over soon, right?
In just a short while, the hall shook even more violently, making it impossible to stand. Cracks appeared in the walls, and signs of sinking were already evident. The soldiers fled in terror towards the exits. Lu Yuanyuan, her face resting on the ground, squinted and saw the nearest soldier. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, wondering whether to risk his life to pull her up. But ultimately, he was frightened by the falling rocks and turned away in a panic, running towards the exit.
Lu Yuanyuan was not surprised by this, so she did not feel disappointed.
The curse of cannon fodder is that they will always be abandoned in times of crisis.
But the game has already progressed this far, and she is truly unwilling to let it end here.
The strength that had been drained seemed to surge back. Lu Yuanyuan gritted her teeth, laboriously supporting herself with her arms, and crawled step by step toward the nearest wall. During an earthquake, you need to find the triangle of life; that's something we learn in elementary school safety education.
Amidst the thunderous echo of falling rocks, she seemed to hear shouts and sounds of obstruction from behind. Lu Yuanyuan's head was buzzing, unable to distinguish between reality and hallucination. Without turning around, she stretched her fingers forward with all her might, and finally, she touched the wall.
Strange... Shouldn't walls be cold? Why do they feel warm to the touch?
With a loud bang, a huge boulder crashed to the ground beside her and exploded. The impact spread to her chest, which was pressed against the ground, causing excruciating pain in her ribs. She could no longer think about the strangeness of the wall, her eyes closed, and she sank into a long darkness.
...
Lu Yuanyuan didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she woke up, all the noise had faded away, and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
She is still alive.
Not only was it alive, but the back of its head was also resting on something hard and warm.
Lu Yuanyuan moved her aching neck and looked up. In the dim light, she saw a proud and handsome face.
Narrow eyes and red lips, with a bright and heroic air.
At that moment, she was resting her head on the other person's lap, and his hand was on her forehead as he looked at her with concern.
Lu Yuanyuan's dry lips moved slightly, and after a long while, she finally said, "Yue... Hong?"
Yue Hong responded softly, "Hmm. Don't move, you have a broken rib."
"Where are we?"
Yue Hong brushed her hair aside and said, "We're still in the imperial mausoleum. The main hall collapsed, and we didn't have time to get out, so I moved you to another place. I've re-bandaged your neck."
"What are you doing here? How did you know to come here to find Consort Xie?"
Yue Hong paused for a moment, then told the truth: "Today I returned from handling urgent military affairs outside, and on the way I received a secret letter saying that my mother is here, and if I do not appear within an hour, she will be killed."
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback.
Secret message?
What's going on here?
The situation is becoming increasingly confusing. Who would know the monster's movements and betray it to Yue Hong?
What is the purpose of bringing Yue Hong here?
“It concerns the safety of my mother, so I dared not gamble. I sent my guards back to inform my father, while I brought others to come and take a look. As soon as we arrived, we felt the ground beneath the imperial tomb shaking, so I had someone pry open the stone slabs.”
So that's how it is. What Yue Hong and the others sensed must have been the tremor in the imperial tomb when the monster first opened the secret chamber.
Who do you think wrote the secret letter?
Mentioning this, Yue Hong's expression turned somewhat gloomy, and he shook his head slightly. It was unclear whether he already had a guess but didn't want to talk about it, or if he had no clue at all.
"You..." Lu Yuanyuan's throat itched, and she couldn't help but cough, spitting out a few specks of bloody foam. Yue Hong's breath hitched, and the large hand gripping her wrist tightened.
After the soreness in her throat subsided, Lu Yuanyuan slowly said, "With so many rocks falling just now, weren't you afraid that if you jumped down to help me, you wouldn't be able to get out yourself?"
Yue Hong paused for a moment, then snorted, "In a critical moment, there's no time to think about so much."
Despite the precarious situation, Lu Yuanyuan still had a bit of a desire to tease him to ease the tension: "It's too late for you to regret it now. We might really be locked up here."
"...No, that won't happen."
Contrary to her expectations, Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback. She opened her eyes again and found Yue Hong staring intently at her from above.
"Even if I had time to think it over, I would still come down. Because I don't want you to die."
Lu Yuanyuan couldn't bear to look him in the eye. She lowered her eyelashes and reached out to scratch his wrist: "Yue Hong, help me up. I'll sit up and regulate my breathing so I can recover faster."
Yue Hong frowned, clearly disagreeing with her decision. But seeing Lu Yuanyuan's resolute attitude, he complied. He carefully supported her back, lifting her from the ground as if she were something fragile.
It was a world of difference from the rudeness I displayed when we first met.
Lu Yuanyuan thought.
Yue Hong, of course, couldn't hear her inner grumbling. He helped her up and said, "It's too cold here, come closer to me..."
As he was speaking, he paused, looking at her with a puzzled expression: "What are you laughing at?"
Lu Yuanyuan's lips curled up, and she said truthfully, "It's nothing. I just remembered how you used to lift me up and carry me on your shoulder like a sack."
"..." Yue Hong's face stiffened, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face as if he had been caught dredging up old grievances. He turned his head away and muttered, "Why do you keep remembering the bad things about me?"
"Make the best of a bad situation."
Yue Hong's body was warm, and his shoulders were broad, making him seem like a source of warmth in this cold tomb. Lu Yuanyuan closed her eyes and began to quietly regulate her breathing.
Now that she and Yue Hong are imprisoned in this awful place, their future is truly worrisome. The fact that the monster could hide Consort Xie and her deep within the imperial mausoleum suggests there are other secret passages leading out of here. It also doesn't have GPS on it, making it impossible to determine whether it went to chase Consort Xie or is still wandering within the mausoleum.
Regardless, she needs to regain her strength as soon as possible to prepare for any eventuality. She absolutely cannot end up like an NPC in a horror movie, too weak to escape when monsters attack.
However, humans are not sophisticated machines. Having expended too much energy and lost blood, she intended to meditate, but instead, she unconsciously lowered her head and fell asleep for a while.
The two sat side by side, and there was no movement around them; Yue Hong did not utter a sound either.
Suddenly, his shoulders felt heavy.
Yue Hong turned his head and glanced over, only to find that Lu Yuanyuan seemed to be asleep, her head tilted towards him.
Her eyebrows drooped when she was asleep, making her look rather pitiful. Her cheeks were smeared with blood and dust, like a cat with a dirty face.
The environment was dark and silent, without even the faint sound of dripping water, as if one were in a vast and silent universe.
Yue Hong didn't wake her. He let her lean on his shoulder without moving, gazing at the darkness stretching into the unknown ahead. After a long while, he suddenly whispered, "It's really dark here."
"..."
"It's really quiet."
"..."
“When you talked about the past, I suddenly remembered that you once said that during the Ghost Festival one year, you were locked in the Cold Palace where people had died. Were the nights there darker and quieter than here?”
Yue Hong's voice gradually lowered, turning into a barely audible muttering to himself.
"...I'm sorry, I used to bully you, you were actually very scared, weren't you?"
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