Zhang Ke's shoulders slumped, her scholarly face pale and sorrowful, evoking pity in those who saw her.
Shi Lan was also touched, and wanted to help but was completely confused. "Who are you talking about? What adult? I don't know him."
Zhang Ke was taken aback and asked in surprise, "It's the higher-ups up there."
Hearing him say that, Shi Lan was even more confused. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Zhang Ke blinked and said, "You're not mistaken. You took the master's most beloved treasure, and the master didn't get angry. If he didn't recognize it, why would he treat you like this?"
Shi Lan glared at him unhappily and muttered under her breath, "I didn't take anything."
Honestly, she's not a thief, she wouldn't just take other people's things, okay?
Zhang Ke was stunned for a moment before saying, "You have the aura left by an adult on you. I found you by following that aura."
Shi Lan looked at him speechlessly, thinking to herself, "You're not a dog, how can your nose be that sensitive?"
Inside the cave, the dim yellow light flickered and suddenly brightened a bit. Zhang Ke bent over, letting out a painful groan. His already pale face turned even paler, as if it had been painted with white paint, making him look frighteningly white.
Shi Lan shrugged slightly and pursed her lips.
Zhang Ke noticed Shi Lan's fear and forced a smile, "Don't be afraid, this is His Highness lighting the lamp."
Shi Lan looked at him in surprise, noticing that his figure was slightly illusory. Suddenly realizing something, she blurted out, "He... used your soul to light the lamp?"
Zhang Ke nodded and said sadly, "I transform my body into a lamp and use my soul as a guide. I now have another name: the Soul-Suppressing Lamp."
Shi Lan opened her mouth slightly, feeling that this Ninth Prince was truly inhuman; how could he do such a thing?
"The adult you're talking about is the zombie in the tomb?"
Shi Lan thought about it carefully, and realized that the only thing she had taken during this time was the bead that had automatically entered her body.
That bead belongs to a zombie. If what Zhang Ke said is true, then the adult he was talking about must be that handsome zombie.
“Yes,” Zhang Ke said with a smile when she remembered. “The Lord is very powerful. Although he doesn’t come down, I can tell that the Ninth Prince is still very wary of him.”
In just a short while, Zhang Ke's figure became ethereal, and his originally solid body could be vaguely seen to be somewhat transparent.
“But I don’t know him. I was forced to take that bead. I think you should find someone else for this.” Although Zhang Ke was pitiful, Shi Lan was not a bodhisattva. She did not have the awareness to sacrifice herself to feed a tiger.
Zhang Ke's face turned pale, and her excessively red lips suddenly lost their vibrancy, looking like a piece of dried blood smeared on white cardboard, sending chills down one's spine.
“Alright,” Zhang Ke finally managed a weak smile after a long silence. “Then I’ll have to ask him myself. But could you please stay here for a little while? Just a short while. I have some things to take care of, and I’ll make sure you get out safely when I get back. Is that alright?”
Zhang Ke asked cautiously, as if afraid that Shi Lan would refuse.
Shi Lan frowned as she looked at Zhang Ke, and although she was reluctant, she still nodded.
Seeing this, Zhang Ke revealed a smile. At this moment, he was no longer the same as before. His body had begun to become transparent, and his refined and elegant face was gradually tinged with a bluish-gray.
Shi Lan watched as he merged into the black mist. The mist immediately churned like boiling water, and soon the shadowy figures inside disappeared. Only one figure turned his head and nodded slightly to her before walking deeper into the tomb passage.
Silence returned to the surroundings. Shi Lan shone her flashlight around and found that the light was not even as bright as the light coming from the cave entrance a few meters away, so it must have run out of power.
Shi Lan turned off her flashlight, stared blankly for a while, then turned to look at the quietly glowing archway, and suddenly felt a surge of curiosity.
Why did Zhang Ke bring her here in the first place? Was there some secret inside?
After pondering for a while, Shi Lan couldn't help but quietly walk towards the semi-circular archway.
The archway wasn't large, only a little over a person's height. On either side of the archway were carved ferocious beast heads guarding the entrance. Shi Lan calmly glanced at them, bent down, and peered inside.
Inside the archway was still a tomb passage. In the center of the passage was a strangely shaped, large-bellied lamp, which illuminated the passage with a dim yellow light. The flying dancers on the stone walls, who seemed about to leap down, and the burly men holding cups and drinking and laughing with the people below, all seemed to come alive.
Shi Lan rolled her eyes, looking left and then right. The lamp flickered rapidly without any wind, and suddenly burst out with a tiny flame.
With a soft 'snap', a melodious tune immediately followed. Shi Lan was startled and quickly turned around to look around, only to find herself in a beautifully decorated palace. A few steps away, men were drinking and laughing, while below, a group of alluring dancers strolled and danced gracefully.
Shi Lan took two steps to the side, carefully hid behind a pillar, and secretly peeked inside.
A male voice came from beside me, "That is the Ninth Prince."
The voice came so suddenly that Shi Lan, who was caught off guard, almost had her pupils shrink to a tiny dot. "It's you?"
Shi Lan turned her head and saw Zhang Ke with a friendly smile, but her expression turned somewhat unfriendly.
Zhang Ke cupped his hands in greeting and said, "That is indeed me."
Shi Lan's face darkened, and she was very unhappy, feeling that she had been tricked by him. "You deliberately walked away, just to lure me here?"
Zhang Ke shook his head and said, "Originally I did have this plan, but after you saw through it, I changed my mind. I asked you to wait for me there so that I could use your name to plead with the magistrate. I didn't have any other intentions."
Shi Lan gave a low snort, offering no comment on his statement.
Zhang Ke seemed to be like that; seeing that she didn't believe him, he didn't explain further, but simply led her around the main hall filled with clinking glasses and to the back hall.
The rear hall of this palace was also quite large. Zhang Ke led her through two doors before stopping in front of a very inconspicuous lacquered red stone door.
“This is Qin Yi’s residence,” Zhang Ke said in a low voice after a long silence.
What do you want me to do?
Now that she's already in the game, all she can do is take it one step at a time. Zhang Ke's meticulous planning and efforts to lure her here certainly weren't for her to admire this stone gate.
"I'd like you to go in and call her out," Zhang Ke said gently, her eyes filled with a tender inquiry. "Is that alright?"
Shi Lan shook her head. "No, do you think I'm stupid? If I go in, I'm afraid I'll never come out again."
Zhang Ke was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Shi Lan to say that.
Shi Lan glanced at the beast head carved on the stone gate and said with a sneer, "Do you really think I don't know anything? This is a soul-capturing beast, which specializes in snatching people's souls. If I go in from here, I'm afraid I won't come out alive."
Shi Lan's voice was clear and pleasant, but Zhang Ke's face was very ugly.
“Since you refuse to go in, I’ll have to do it myself,” Zhang Ke said, his body suddenly growing larger. His fair face was so distorted that it was hard to look at, whether from inhaling or exerting his inner energy.
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