Their breaths, like feathers, brushed against each other's faces.
It stirred each other's heartstrings; in the darkness, the sound of their heartbeats was like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating gentle ripples that spread outwards from the center.
Xie Shuci's eyes were blank and uneasy, as if something was spiraling out of control.
He was both uneasy and expectant of Xie An's approach, not knowing what awaited him.
Then, in the next instant, Xie An stopped approaching.
Xie Shuci seemed to wake from a dream, a flame burning from his chest to his cheeks. He pushed Xie An away abruptly, leaned back, and his back once again slammed against the protruding rock.
"Hiss..." Xie Shuci grimaced in pain and cursed silently in his heart.
Xie An: "..."
Xie An acted as if nothing had happened, calmly pulling Xie Shuci in front of him and rubbing his back.
The little blind man's hands were broad and slender, carrying a slight warmth. Xie Shuci's body stiffened for a moment, and his cheeks felt as if they had been rolled in a pan of oil, burning him terribly.
Xie Xiaoci... what are you thinking?! You're an absolute beast!
To ease the awkwardness... well, judging from Xie An's calm demeanor, Xie Shuci quickly changed the subject to alleviate Xie Shuci's embarrassment.
“We’ve found the location of the main burial chamber, it’s just below the one behind it, but we don’t know how to get down there. Also, there’s an empty coffin in that chamber, and it’s said that the body inside was used to suppress the evil spirits, and it was an ancestor of the Guiyi family.” Xie Shuci’s voice was a little muffled, and he sounded a bit unhappy.
Xie An raised his head in response, his expression completely calm, showing no sign of taking what had just happened to heart.
Xie Shuci felt inexplicably annoyed by his unremarkable performance.
"If Guiyi were here, that would be great. He's so smart, he would definitely be the first to find the entrance to the main tomb chamber. Let's go find them!" With that, Xie Shuci took the lead and turned into the passageway.
He had only taken two steps when Xie An grabbed him from behind.
Xie An grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his side, then pointed to the other end of the passageway and said, "Dog."
Xie Shuci's eyes widened. "You insulted me?!"
Xie An: "..."
"You've gone too far! I'm telling you."
Xie Shuci knew, of course, that wasn't what he meant; he was just genuinely annoyed and wanted to vent his frustration on him.
Xie An decided not to waste words with him, took his hand, and turned to walk towards the other end of the passageway.
As they drew closer, Xie Shuci vaguely heard a few low barks coming from the tomb chamber at the end of the passageway. His pupils dilated, and the more he listened, the more familiar the sound became. He immediately forgot the inexplicable resentment in his heart, broke free from Xie An's hand, and walked past him into the tomb chamber first.
"Aww!"
As soon as Xie Shuci stepped inside, a dark, indistinct thing pounced at his feet.
"Your Majesty?"
Xie Shuci stared intently, then froze, bending down to pick up the gleeful dog from the ground. "Why did you come out?"
The king's black and white fur was covered in mud, as if it had rolled in a mud puddle, and it was incredibly dirty. When it saw Xie Shuci, it happily stuck out its tongue and "Awooo!"
Xie Shuci put his face down and placed it on the ground, saying, "Turn into a child."
"Aww!" The king obediently cried out, then transformed into a little dumpling, stretching out his short, chubby arms as if to be hugged by Xie Shuci. "Die! I love you!"
Xie Shuci held up two fingers and pressed them against the king's forehead, asking sternly, "Why did you come out?"
Seeing that Xie Shuci wouldn't let him hug him, the king pouted in grievance, his dirty little face making him look pitiful no matter how you looked at him, as if his life would lose its color and he would become a wooden puppet if Xie Shuci didn't hug him.
Nevertheless, he obediently answered Xie Shuci's words: "I, I beg Grandpa to let me out... I want to come back to you..."
Xie Shuci flicked him on the head and scolded, "Do you know how dangerous it is outside? You even managed to find your way here. Who let you come?" He didn't hit him hard, and the king covered his forehead with bright eyes. "Zidao, that's why I have to protect Diedie! I followed Diedie's scent here!"
After saying that, she raised her little face, wanting to receive Xie Shuci's praise.
Xie Shuci originally wanted to scold him a bit, but he couldn't resist the little guy's cute and innocent smile, so he opened his arms and said, "Come here, Daddy will hug you."
The little thing immediately grinned from ear to ear, kicking its short legs as it leaped into Xie Shuci's arms.
When he saw Xie An standing behind Xie Shuci with a cold expression, he timidly reached out and tugged at Xie An's clothes. The latter pulled the clothes off without hesitation and even took a step back as if he was disgusted by him.
The king pouted. Actually, he got lost when he first came in. He could clearly feel that Diedie's aura was here, but he couldn't find it no matter what he did. This strange place kept changing, and he was almost in tears. Finally, he saw the human next to Diedie.
This human is infuriating! I was following behind him, and he actually tried to shoo me away. When I refused, he kicked me twice!
But since you brought Diedie here to find me, I'll forgive you!
The two hadn't been embracing for long when Xie An stepped forward, pulled the king out, and turned him back into a dog.
It was only then that Xie Shuci realized that there were more than just the three of them in the tomb chamber. There was another person lying quietly in the corner, and judging from his clothes, this person should be a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect.
"Don't move, I'll go take a look." Xie Shuci called to Xie An, and then tiptoed toward the person.
The man lay in the corner with his back to Xie Shuci, seemingly lifeless, his condition unknown.
Xie Shuci was a little scared, afraid that the man was dead, or that he was half-dead. He walked up behind him, a few steps away, and pushed him with his hand, but there was no response.
Xie Shuci gritted her teeth and stepped forward to turn his body around. In the candlelight, the man's face was pale, his lips were purplish-black, and there was a bloody bite mark on his throat. It didn't look like something a human would leave; it looked more like something a zombie would leave...
Xie Shuci was startled by her own thoughts. She trembled as she reached out to check the man's breath, but he was already lifeless.
"Aww..."
The dog, with its keen intuition, sensed Xie Shuci's current state of mind and stepped forward to rub its fluffy head against Xie Shuci's leg.
Xie Shuci turned around and ruffled it, then tore off a piece of her own clothing and covered the man's face with it.
After doing all this, Xie Shuci got up to observe the situation inside the tomb.
The king is a little dog who doesn't understand anything, and Xie An can't see anything. Even if he has keen hearing, he can't do everything perfectly. So Xie Shuci has to stand up and protect the two of them on his own.
At the very least, he needs to meet up with Chu Guiyi first.
The furnishings in this tomb chamber were conventional, with nothing particularly strange. There was a shallow pit in the middle, in which various burial objects were placed. However, the burial objects were somewhat different from those in Chu Yezhao's tomb chamber. This one contained vessels of various sizes, which looked ancient and still exquisite.
Xie Shuci jumped into the deep pit and finally found the few weapons he had, intending to give them to Xie An and himself for self-defense.
The wounds on the necks of the Xiaoyao Sect disciples were definitely not inflicted by humans. Besides the Earth Ghosts and Wind-Eared Snakes, there were probably other evil things here.
Moreover, the disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect passed by this tomb chamber without any signs of a fight, indicating that they were already fleeing for their lives and had no strength to resist.
Xie Shuci tossed one of the swords to Xie An, saying, "Take this and use it for self-defense."
Xie An caught the flying sword blade precisely and nodded to Xie Shuci.
The dog on the ditch howled in dissatisfaction when it saw that the two men were holding weapons, indicating that it wanted one too.
Xie Shuci rolled his eyes and found something that looked like a shield among the burial objects. When he picked up the shield, he found a booklet underneath it. He glanced at it and saw that the cover said something about "elixirs". He didn't have time to look at it carefully before grabbing it and stuffing it into his small pouch.
He then climbed out of the shallow pit and tied the shield to the king's back.
"So majestic!" Xie Shuci patted him on the back, and the king proudly raised his head and let out a long roar.
The fierce howl of the wolf echoed in the quiet tomb. Xie Shuci was startled and hurriedly went to cover the dog's mouth, but it was too late. He clearly felt the ground shaking, as if a large group of things were approaching them.
Xie An clearly sensed it too. His expression hardened, and he grabbed Xie Shuci like a chick and pulled him up from the ground. Without any politeness, he kicked the culprit, the Great King, signaling it to lead the way.
The king glared at him resentfully. It was damnably afraid of this human, and it could indeed sense the danger approaching them. So, without daring to complain, it turned and ran to the other door.
Xie Shuci was thus dragged away by Xie An in a very humiliating manner.
But Xie Shuci didn't care about saving face, because he watched as a large group of figures suddenly appeared in the passageway he had come from.
They emerged from some secret passage; their bodies appeared human, yet they emitted roars like wild beasts.
The dim candlelight in the tomb made their faces look sinister and terrifying: twisted and rotting features, everted lips, and strangely shaped teeth. Even dry skin hung precariously on their faces, and their eye sockets were completely black, with no eyeballs at all!
For the first time, Xie Shuci hated his 2.0 eyes. By sheer bad luck, he glanced back and saw a horrifying scene he never wanted to see in his life!
Damn it, all those zombies, ghouls, and demons look adorable in front of these things.
"vomit……"
Xie Shuci glanced at it once and quickly looked away, feeling as if something was churning in his stomach.
"It's terrifying..." Xie Shuci murmured, his face pale. His limbs were weak, and he could only keep moving forward as Xie An dragged him along.
What disgusted and terrified him even more was that these "things" looked remarkably like humans! Their bodies and shriveled limbs were extremely similar to humans, yet their appearance had become so horrifying, more terrifying than wild beasts or rotting corpses, they had become real monsters. If they really were human, what had happened to turn them into this?
"Aww!"
The king led them into the passageway, then suddenly stopped and called out anxiously in a low voice.
At the same time, Xie Shuci also sensed that there seemed to be a group of things approaching them from the front of the passageway!
"ah--"
The rustling footsteps behind them were still approaching, but the same sound came from the front. Xie Shuci, his companion, and their dog were stuck in the middle of the narrow passage!
Fear overwhelmed Xie Shuci's mind. When he saw the mottled reflections on the wall on both sides, Xie Shuci felt as if a hand was choking him, and he was suffocating.
It's over! It's over! I'm going to die!
No... I can't die...
Xie Shuci, you are a cultivator, you must protect them, you can't back down! Think of a way... think of a way...
But what could he do? The passageway was too narrow; even the Dragon-Subduing Magic Artifact couldn't be opened. What other options did he have?!
"Don't be afraid, I'll figure something out."
With a trembling voice, Xie Shuci shielded Xie An and the others behind him. He always subconsciously felt that Xie An needed his protection, but at the same time, he felt that there was no danger with Xie An by his side. He didn't know how to explain the contradiction in his heart.
Xie An was pinned against the wall by him, his empty gaze flickering with the candlelight before settling lightly on Xie Shuci's back.
His body was trembling so violently.
As the chaotic footsteps and beast-like growls drew closer, the king instantly reverted to his original form, glaring menacingly at one of them.
Xie Shuci took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. There were no other tomb chambers in the passageway they came from, so these things couldn't have appeared out of thin air. Most likely, there were secret passages leading to other places in the passageway.
"Your Majesty, there should be a secret passage here. Can you smell it?" Xie Shuci asked in a trembling voice.
Immediately, he transferred his spiritual energy to the weapon in his hand, merging it with himself. When the monsters at one end of the passage appeared, he hurled the weapon forward, using his spiritual energy to control it as it flew into the monster horde. The blade cut through iron like mud, producing a piercing clang in the narrow passage. Wherever the sword light passed, countless limbs were severed. The severed limbs fell to the ground without splattering a drop of blood. The monsters seemed to feel no pain, crawling towards him even though they couldn't walk upright.
Xie Shuci felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn't dare to delay. He immediately manipulated the sword blade to fly to the other end of the passageway.
The severed limbs did have some effect, hindering their approach to Xie Shuci and the others.
The king took the opportunity to sniff along the crack in the wall. Because the stench from the monsters on both sides was too strong, it disrupted its ability to distinguish, and it could only smell the difference when it got very close.
When the king smelled a flat rock, he cried out twice in excitement.
Xie Shuci was overjoyed. He focused on controlling the flying sword, while Xie An reached out to push the rock.
At the same time, Xie Shuci felt the stone slabs beneath his feet vibrate. A bad premonition rose in his heart, and he shouted, "Watch your step!"
In the blink of an eye, as he shouted, the stone slab beneath his feet suddenly sank, and Xie Shuci and the other two were suddenly suspended in mid-air, falling straight down.
"Ah!! Who built this secret passage?! Are you crazy?!"
The moment his body fell, Xie Shuci's long-suppressed anger and fear finally erupted, and he couldn't help but curse loudly during the fall.
Who would build a secret passage right under their feet? Aren't they afraid of falling and dying?
In the chaos, Xie Shuci felt two hands pull him in, and before he could react, he heard a "plop" and rolled to the bottom.
Even though there was a warm body beneath him, his forehead still hit someone's chin when he fell.
Xie Shuci heard a muffled groan from above. He immediately realized what was happening and sat up abruptly, only to find that the little blind boy had cushioned the impact for him.
"Are you alright?!" Xie Shuci hurriedly rolled off him, anxiously checking Xie An for any injuries.
Xie An covered his chin, frowned, and waved to Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci's eyes turned red with anxiety. She quickly helped him up from the ground and scolded, "Are you stupid? I'm a cultivator. I have spiritual power in my body. Falling won't kill me. I'll recover faster than you. You should have used me as a scapegoat!"
Xie An sat up; he wasn't injured at all.
Seeing that he was still covering his chin, Xie Shuci pried his hand away, lifted his chin and looked at it. It was red, no wonder it was red! His forehead was so hard, it was a wonder he hadn't dislocated it!
Xie Shuci felt heartbroken. Looking at Xie An's red chin, she knew it wouldn't help, but she still gently blew on it, hoping to ease his pain.
Xie Shuci's face was filled with undisguised heartache and regret. He had been too flustered when he fell and hadn't noticed Xie An below. If only he had been calmer.
The wind brushed against her skin like feathers, bringing an indescribable itch. The tears in Xie Shuci's eyes were like stars appearing and disappearing in the night sky, dazzling and bright.
Unlike the stars in the night sky, which belong to everyone and appear before everyone, the stars in Xie Shuci's eyes at this moment belong only to Xie An.
If he could, he wanted the light in Xie Shuci's eyes to forever belong only to him.
No, it's not just about wanting; that's not in his nature. He wants everything Xie Shuci owns, and it belongs to him alone.
The sudden thought that popped into his head made Xie An pause for a moment.
When he came to his senses, he felt extremely embarrassed, so he took the initiative to push Xie Shuci away.
"I'm fine." Xie An coldly turned his face to the side, stood up with his hands on the wall, and distanced himself from Xie Shuci.
Xie Shuci didn't notice his abnormality. Seeing that he seemed to be fine, he turned to look at the king on the other side.
The dog, being thick-skinned and tough, hadn't fallen and immediately noticed the intimate posture between Diedie and the human upon landing. It thought the human was utterly shameless. He was the one who wanted to cushion Diedie's fall to prevent it from getting hurt, yet he still acted pitiful in front of Diedie, trying to get Diedie's pity and comfort—all tactics humans use to get Diedie's attention! It was absolutely despicable!
It has not forgiven humanity!
So when Xie Shuci looked at it, it shuddered and lay down on the ground, squeezing out two tears and whimpering pitifully.
When Xie Shuci saw it, he really thought it had fallen, and his heart, which had just been at ease, was tightened again.
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty, are you alright?" Xie Shuci knelt before the king, her voice trembling involuntarily. "Don't... I told you not to come along, why did you come? Now look what happened!"
"Woo..." The king touched Xie Shuci's hand with his paw.
Seeing that pitiful look, Xie Shuci couldn't bring himself to scold her.
Xie An stood behind him watching this scene, his teeth clenched tightly.
Just moments ago, Xie Shuci felt that something belonged to him and even regretted having such thoughts, but now he's eagerly approaching someone else.
The king continued to feign pitifulness, hoping Xie Shuci would pat his dog head and blow on him like he did on that human.
It was enjoying its moment with its eyes closed when it suddenly felt a heavy shadow fall on it. It cautiously opened its eyes a crack and saw the human bending down and reaching out his large hand towards it.
The king shuddered, forgetting to enjoy Xie Shuci's rare concern and caresses, and hurriedly stood up from the ground, sticking out his tongue and staring at the two of them with a fawning smile.
Please don't bully the baby, okay? They're so cute!
Xie Shuci: "..."
Xie Shuci narrowed his eyes, his sadness and guilt vanishing. Looking at the king, who was completely unharmed, he gradually realized that the king had been faking it!
Xie Shuci slapped the dog on the head. The king whimpered and lowered his head guiltily, not daring to refute.
"You've gotten bolder? You actually dared to lie to me?" Xie Shuci said unhappily. He grabbed the king's dog head and rubbed and kneaded it until he could barely breathe.
The king has a bitter pill to swallow, it's so unfair! Everyone else is obviously faking it, so why is only the baby being scolded?
The king gave Xie An a resentful look, and the latter glanced at it indifferently. It immediately shrank its neck and made a "I'm very obedient" expression.
After confirming that everyone was safe and sound, Xie Shuci looked around.
They fell into a passageway. Xie Shuci roughly understood that these passageways and side chambers were like axes, and the entire tomb was not built on a flat surface, but in three dimensions.
Just like the pattern they saw on the stone tablet in the first tomb.
With the main burial chamber as the origin, twelve interconnected passageways were built in the four directions of east, south, west, and north, forming a tomb resembling a "Ferris wheel." However, the ends of these passageways did not necessarily connect to the main burial chamber. Moreover, the locations of the side chambers were constantly changing.
However, something is not right. In the pattern on the stone tablet, all the side chambers are equidistant from the main burial chamber. How could Chu Yezhao's burial chamber be above the main burial chamber?
Could it be that the tomb chamber where Chu Yezhao was located was excluded from the twelve side chambers?
If so, there are probably many other burial chambers in the tomb besides the twelve side chambers.
Xie Shuci pondered for a moment. Apart from studying, Xie Shuci rarely used his brain and preferred to do things based on intuition. It was very difficult for him to figure things out and clearly integrate all the information.
"I want to talk to someone," the little blind man leaned against the wall, his face inexplicably cold, looking like he didn't want to talk to anyone; Xie Shuci glanced down at the king, who was playfully nuzzling him at his feet...
Forget it, let's not waste our time.
The most urgent thing is to reunite with the others.
"Let's go, Your Majesty, lead the way to the tomb ahead," Xie Shuci said.
"Aww!" the king responded happily.
The king led the way, with Xie Shuci and the other man following behind.
Having just experienced the terrifying scene, Xie Shuci's fear of this tomb was greatly reduced.
What's so scary about dead people?
What's terrifying are dead people that can move.
However, before the group could get close to the tomb chamber, the tomb tilted again, this time with a very small arc that did not affect normal walking.
At the same time, the wall of the passageway to Xie Shuci's right rear slowly rose up, forming an exit, from which came the sounds of many swords clashing.
"We've found the exit!" someone shouted.
Xie Shuci paused, then turned around and saw a disciple covered in blood running out of the door.
The disciple's body was covered in blood, but his original color could still be vaguely seen; he was indeed a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect.
The first disciple to run out met Xie Shuci's eyes, and the two were stunned for a moment. Xie Shuci recognized the man as Deng Changqing from the Xiaoyao Sect.
"Young Master Xie, this place is not safe to stay any longer, let's go!"
The situation was extremely critical, and Deng Changqing had no time to explain.
"you……"
"Ah!" A disciple flew out from inside the door, his body crashing violently into the stone wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Deng Changqing's eyes reddened as he helped his heavily injured disciple up from the ground and said to the others, "Retreat!"
Xie Shuci naturally dared not delay. He grabbed Xie An with his right hand, picked up the dog with his left, and ran forward.
As he, Deng Changqing, and several injured Xiaoyao Sect disciples ran into the tomb chamber ahead, Deng Changqing, despite his injuries, pressed a mechanism on the wall, and a stone door slowly descended.
Looking at their bloodied wounds, Xie Shuci glanced outside the tomb with lingering fear.
He saw a tall, slender figure appear in the passageway, holding a long sword.
Perhaps it was because the light in the passageway was too dim, but he felt that the figure was somewhat familiar.
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