(six)
“How can you call this nonsense?” Wen Su laughed. He noticed Zhou Ziqiu’s embarrassment, made a joke, and then said nothing more. Anyway, there would be other opportunities to see these things in the future. He reached out and pressed the stone on the mural that had tripped up little Zhou Qinghe. Sure enough, there were several more booming sounds, and the wall opened up to reveal the hidden space behind it.
Wen Su raised his dagger and advanced cautiously, so when he saw a zombie pounce, he didn't hesitate to plunge the dagger into the zombie's head. The zombie's head instantly exploded, and luckily Wen Su dodged in time, escaping the ordeal of being splattered with green blood. He didn't know if the green blood was poisonous, but when it splashed on the ground, strange bubbles appeared, and a slight corrosive burning sound reached their ears, making Wen Su gasp – "Your brother really put a lot of stuff in there."
Zhou Ziqiu chuckled: "After all, we need to guard against tomb raiders."
Wen Su kicked the zombie's body that had fallen to the ground to prevent it from rising up again, and then used a Heavenly Thunder Talisman to blast the zombie's body to pieces.
Upon entering the room, the light from the overhead flashlights illuminated a shimmering expanse. The two looked closely and saw that it was gold thread embroidered on brocade and silk displayed in the room. These garments were embroidered using the most advanced satin and brocade techniques available at the time, and were meticulously crafted by the best embroiderers. The auspicious cranes rising from the clouds on the sleeves of the robes seemed ready to leap out of the garments.
It goes without saying who these clothes are for.
The two left the room and continued to follow the murals on the wall downwards. What troubled them was that each of the opened rooms contained two or three evil creatures or swarms of poisonous insects and malevolent spirits. It wasn't difficult to deal with them, but it was very troublesome.
Moreover, once you reach a certain depth, although the murals on the wall continue, the mechanism that allows you to open the hidden space with a single press is gone.
The two of them were a little confused for a moment.
Wen Su reached out again, carefully sensing the details of the mural on the wall, but suddenly, he discovered that the mural in his hand was moving with his hand! He immediately called Zhou Ziqiu, who was beside him, to come and see what the mural depicted: at this moment, another child appeared in the painting, a child who looked about the same age as Zhou Qinghe at that time.
Wen Su knew that this person must be Xie Xingzhou.
In this mural, Zhou Qinghe appears to be about six years old, standing on a tree. The blank space should be an open area, where Xie Xingzhou, who is about seven or eight years old, stands. The painter's skill is superb, vividly portraying Xie Xingzhou's arrogant demeanor.
Indeed, in Wen Su's eyes, Xie Xingzhou's demeanor was simply "arrogant."
"Look, something's not right here."
The mural that Wen Su had just moved was Zhou Gushan, who was next to Zhou Qinghe and Xie Xingzhou. Zhou Gushan was walking towards them with a person holding a scepter, but Wen Su pushed him away from the person holding the scepter. However, because Wen Su realized that the mural could be moved, he pushed it back to its original position.
When Zhou Ziqiu saw this scene, he was stunned for a moment. As one of the main characters in the painting, he naturally knew what the scene originally looked like. Without much hesitation, he reached out and switched the positions of Zhou Qinghe and Xie Xingzhou.
"It was clearly him who couldn't get down from the tree."
There was an unspoken familiarity in their words. Wen Su's eyes flickered, and his voice mingled with the rumbling sound of the murals moving: "Tsk."
Zhou Ziqiu didn't hear Wen Su's voice, but he saw his lips move slightly. He turned to look at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Su shook his head: "It's nothing."
"Oh." Zhou Ziqiu walked into the room and saw that it was full of scrolls. Some of them looked like they had been opened and were placed next to the stone table, revealing the paintings inside. The brushstrokes were clumsy and immature, not like the work of a master, but more like the work of a beginner. However, the painter was intelligent and the painting was not bad.
Wen Su walked to Zhou Ziqiu's side and saw this scene as well. He then came to the stone table and saw a dark oil lamp. The oil lamp had long been extinguished and covered with dust, and could not be relit.
He had intended to ask who had been here, but seeing this, there was no need to ask anymore. Even the painting on the stone table was no longer a question; the answer lay in their hearts.
"Let's go."
Zhou Ziqiu didn't look any further and turned to leave the room.
The staircase winds its way down, and time in the mural extends with the descent, until Zhou Qinghe in the painting is a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy. Even in the mural, one can see the man's weakness; he lies on the bed, while his servants are busy pounding and brewing medicine. A woman wearing a crown anxiously feeds him medicine, while another man wearing a crown kneels before a man holding a scepter, as if praying for his young son. The two young men who often appear beside Zhou Qinghe in the past are now facing a vast army in a corner of the painting, clearly indicating that the Zhou Dynasty is currently facing war.
The scene ends with the passing of this boy, who was only sixteen or seventeen years old. A man holding a scepter prays for him, two people wearing crowns weep with their eyes downcast, and two young men who rushed back from war to hear of the death kneel before the grave and weep, for not being able to see the boy off on his final journey and for the boy's untimely death.
The mural came to an abrupt end.
This is the life of Zhou Qinghe as recorded in history books—a vibrant and lively life that vanished in a hurry.
This is also what Zhou Gushan hoped for. Zhou Qinghe's true life was free from helplessness and desperation. He would quell the war for his younger brother, bring peace and prosperity to his brother, and use the power of the whole country to take care of his brother's health, making him the most cherished treasure of the entire Zhou Dynasty.
If everything he had seen in the past was an illusion created by Zhou Gushan, then this place was his own personal repentance. His relatives and friends had all passed away, and he would not have a good end either.
The one to blame most is the weather.
After a long while, Zhou Ziqiu let out a long sigh, concealing the desolation in his eyes, and looked at Wen Su: "Let's go."
Right where the mural ends, a tightly closed stone door stands there.
Wen Su nodded and reached out to push the stone door, but it wouldn't open. He looked around for the mechanism, but couldn't find it, so the two of them went back to the mural.
After searching the mural for a long time without finding the mechanism, the two were once again at a loss. Wen Su even took out his dagger and held it up against the wall to see if there were any small gaps, but when he took out his dagger, he saw that his dagger was gleaming.
Is there yin energy in here?
After hearing what Wen Su said to him, Zhou Ziqiu nodded and placed his hand on the mural. A heavy yin energy poured into it, and sure enough, the wall made a loud rumbling sound again. However, as soon as the wall recoiled slightly, Wen Su protectively shielded Zhou Ziqiu behind him with a dagger in his hand.
He smelled a floral fragrance.
How could there possibly be flowers down there?
Zhou Ziqiu also smelled the fragrance of the flowers. The two entered the room from the doorway and were greeted by flowers that emitted a faint white light in the darkness. The delicate shapes of these flowers could be vaguely seen. Moreover, as they entered the room, the fragrance of the flowers became more and more obvious. The strange fragrance went straight into their noses and made them feel a little dizzy.
“...Crystal Orchid,” Wen Su said in a deep voice.
The ghost orchid emits an alluring white glow in the dark, and it often appears with evil spirits. Its spiritual power can amplify evil energy, and prolonged exposure to its fragrance can cause people to lose consciousness. Therefore, it is also known as the "flower of death," "ghost grass," and "dream orchid."
Since crystal orchids appear here, there must be evil spirits here. Wen Su looked around and saw the children standing in the corner of the wall not far away. Each of these children had purple talismans pasted on their foreheads, their faces were bluish-gray, and their pupils were completely white. It was hard for Wen Su not to think of a tomb formation passed down from ancient times.
"...Eighteen Underworld Soldiers".
The Eighteen Underworld Soldiers, primarily using supernatural arts and secondarily using mechanisms, employed supernatural arts to invade the body of those who trespassed into the tomb, while the mechanisms protected the coffin's sturdiness. Eighteen energy points around the tomb were believed to protect the deceased's peace. However, this burial formation primarily used animals, its biggest drawback being its short lifespan, lasting from a hundred years to a few decades. But this formation had no fixed number of energy points; anything from rats and dogs to tigers and leopards, even living people, could serve as energy points. Therefore, some unscrupulous individuals began experimenting with using children instead of spirit beasts to enhance the formation's power and extend its lifespan. The "eighteen energy points" created using children became known as the "Eighteen Underworld Soldiers," but were later lost due to their extreme evil.
The eighteen ghost children here are similar to zombies, but while zombies in general have a spirit but no soul, ghost children have a complete spirit when they are refined into zombies. Moreover, the person performing the ritual uses extremely dark purple talisman paper, which greatly increases their power.
Apart from people like Wen Su who can draw talismans in mid-air, other Taoist priests generally use talisman paper when drawing talismans. Talisman paper is divided into five colors: gold, silver, purple, blue, and yellow. Gold talisman paper borrows the power of the heavenly gods and is the most powerful talisman, but it requires a very high level of Taoist cultivation from the caster and consumes the most magic. Purple talisman paper is completely opposite to gold talisman paper. It borrows the power of the underworld and is often used for evil deeds such as borrowing life and refining corpses. Taoist priests usually disdain to use it.
There is one question, however: there are only seventeen children of the underworld here, one is missing and his whereabouts are still unknown.
Wen Su breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had applied glutinous rice flour under his nose before coming down, so the floral scent didn't bother him much now. However, he still bit his tongue to refresh himself and brought the dagger to his hand. Zhou Ziqiu frowned, raised his hand, and summoned his longsword. Now, on the verge of collapse, the blade of his longsword, formed from evil energy, had some cracks, and a faint crackling sound flickered across it.
18:58:29
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
