Chapter 43, First Exploration of the Yi Emperor's Tomb, what the heck?
The tomb of Emperor Yi.
Every blade of grass and every tree shivers in the harsh winter, lifeless with the slightest gust of cold wind.
Lou Yan crouched on a spot halfway up the mountain, peering at the mausoleum through the winter grass.
The mausoleum stands atop the highest peak of Mount Sixiang. The once solemn mausoleum gate has been broken open, and two stone statues of the mythical beast Bixi have fallen to one side, their heads severed, and eerie ghost flames flickering in their empty eye sockets.
Several blood-red lanterns hung above the doorway, and in the dim light, Lou Yan could clearly see several skeletons piled up in a kneeling position at the threshold.
They are overconfident tomb raiders.
The air was filled with a sweet, rotten smell, and the ancient tomb was filled with a strange, alluring ghostly aura.
As expected, I was right.
Lou Yan stared at the severed beast head stone on the ground, trying his best to hold his breath and block out the overly sweet and foul demonic aura.
There are at least tens of thousands of demons in there.
The rhinoceros demon underestimated the simplistic nature of human nature. Those demons and evil spirits gathered here probably not to see the nine-tailed fox with its tail cut off, but for the ghostly aura of this place.
After Emperor Yi died, he entered the underworld and became the lord of all ghosts. His tomb was naturally connected to the ghost realm, and ghostly energy permeated the area.
Before those tomb raiders arrived, this place was still safe.
However, the opening of the mausoleum and the appearance of the Qin Mirror attracted more and more demons to gather there. Everyone wanted to use the vast ghost energy to improve their cultivation, but before their cultivation was perfected, they were exposed by the Qin Mirror and returned to their original forms.
Greed leads to trouble. This is indeed true.
Lou Yan did not linger, but climbed along the mountain path all the way to the mausoleum gate. A cold wind blew by, making people feel uneasy for no reason.
Located in the very center of the Four Symbols Mountain, this place is guarded by four ancient divine beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. When wind and rain gather together, spiritual energy naturally arises—the wind already carries a hint of winter snow.
Lou Yan glanced in the direction from which the wind was rising, but his gaze lingered for only a moment before he looked away.
He tightened his collar as if by accident, secretly cast a spirit-detecting spell, then covered the conspicuous halo with his sleeve and tentatively raised his arm.
A sharp whistle rang out; it was the sound of the wind howling fiercely.
The half-sleeved part of the robe that had been raised fell down with a thud, revealing an arm stained with blood.
Lou Yan's fingertips trembled as he stared at the fresh blood on his arm. He couldn't help but turn his head and spit, a fierce glint in his eyes.
Damn it, he felt this gust of wind was weird just now!
The book "Tongming Zhi" that Nanyushan made him copy contained the following record: Where ghostly energy accumulates, strange winds often arise. When demons and evil spirits cause trouble, they condense into formless winds. These winds are invisible and formless, only mixed with a trace of snow, yet they can silently pass through and sever any human body that dares to intrude.
Lou Yan endured the stinging pain in his arm and closed his eyes, trying his best to locate the source of the sound. However, the formless wind was unpredictable, moving from south to north in the blink of an eye.
But in the blink of an eye, Lou Yan's earlobe was cut open again.
Lou Yan gritted his teeth angrily, stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his still-healing mouth, a layer of sweat appearing on his forehead.
He has spiritual power with him now, so he won't be easily killed by a gust of wind, but what about his face?
What if the wind hurts his face?
With such a rapid and unexpected attack, it is impossible to enter the Yi Emperor's Mausoleum safely without devising a solution.
The wind howled fiercely, perhaps because it had tasted the blood of the demon wolf, and its howling became even more intense. In the blink of an eye, it circled Lou Yan dozens of times, tearing his robes to shreds.
Lou Yan had no choice but to bend down and snatch his belt. As he lowered his head, he finally gave in and began to recall the immortal techniques and spells that he had not studied diligently in his previous life and that he had disdained to think about after his rebirth.
A moment later, just before the wind of invisibility struck his cheek, he reached out and formed a hand seal, silently chanting the incantation—"Freeze!"
The wind stopped immediately, leaving only a slight chill in the air, and everyone remained quiet and dared not move.
The Wind-Calming Technique.
He had almost forgotten the first immortal technique that Heng Qichun had taught him, the simplest technique in the cultivation world.
Staring at the numerous wounds on his body and his disheveled clothes, Lou Yan finally felt a pang of regret.
How could I forget such a simple trick...?
When he learned the Wind-Fixing Technique, he had just been taken in by Heng Qichun and was still a weak, pitiful, and helpless lone wolf.
The Divine Firmament Palace was lonely. One day, he couldn't resist running away and, seeking novelty, went to the back mountain. There, he encountered a group of demons who had taken human form and almost swallowed him whole. Fortunately, Heng Qichun arrived in time—he was using the Wind-Fixing Technique at that time.
That was the first time Heng Qichun punished him, making him eat nothing but boiled radishes for a whole month without any oil or fat.
Afterwards, he condemned Heng Qichun for being too harsh on the little wolf. For the first time ever, he was allowed to go to bed with Heng Qichun and sleep together. In the middle of the night, he pestered his master to teach him the Wind-Fixing Technique.
wrong.
He hadn't yet become his disciple at that time.
Lou Yan thought to himself in a daze, "More than two hundred years have passed, and I'm already quite good at using this technique."
When he came to his senses, he had already entered the tomb of Emperor Yi. He stepped over the two shattered heads of the Bixie, his wolf eyes narrowed, and he could clearly see the furnishings inside the imperial tomb.
Two crimson lanterns hung overhead, their red light emanating an eerie glow, as if imbued with some kind of spiritual power.
In the dim light, one could see that the place was a huge stone chamber with three stone doors in front, each guarded by a stone statue of the Jiaotu deity.
The dragon's head has eyes that seem to be about to burst, and a bronze ring in its mouth, faintly exuding a divine aura.
Thinking of the two Bi'an statues at the entrance of the imperial tomb, Lou Yan burst into laughter, feeling utterly ironic.
As dragon princes, they probably never imagined that the person they were protecting would become the emperor of the underworld after death.
Perhaps because the stone gate was closed, Lou Yan had not yet smelled too strong a demonic aura. After thinking for a moment, he stood on tiptoe, took down one of the lanterns, and used the candlelight to illuminate the stone gate in the middle.
He raised his hand and gently tapped the copper ring, and the stone door opened in response.
Lou Yan frowned, surprised that it was much easier than he had imagined.
Beyond the stone gate lay a narrow and long passageway. Lou Yan held up his lantern and peered into the distance, only to be surprised to find that it stretched as far as the eye could see.
The passageway grew increasingly cold and eerie as Lou Yan walked, and he figured he was probably close to the middle of the imperial mausoleum. Strangely, he hadn't encountered any more demons along the way, which was inconsistent with the overly strong demonic aura he had sensed earlier.
Could it be that they've all gathered at the coffin of the Yi Emperor?
Based on his understanding of demons and evil spirits, Lou Yan instinctively felt that this was unlikely. He stood there for a moment with the lantern in his hand, silently extinguishing his previous spiritual sense.
It's best to avoid anything that disappears without a trace and poses a threat to his face again.
The golden light was faint. Lou Yan carried the lantern and took a few quick steps. He immediately felt a stinging pain in his fingertips—the Spirit Detection Technique was taking effect.
It seems there are monsters nearby.
Lou Yan was fully prepared, condensing his spiritual power to scorch his dantian, waiting for the demon to appear so he could kill it with a single blow.
However, half an hour later, he stood at the end of the passageway, holding a lantern, looking at the three stone gates that had reappeared before him, along with the three Jiaotu on the gates, and couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion.
What the heck?
What a great person he was! To build a mausoleum with so many layers upon layers of stone gates, with three stone gates after three stone gates. Wasn't he afraid of getting lost after he died?
But then I thought, since he became the emperor of the underworld after his death, he probably doesn't care about the state of his tomb from before his reincarnation.
The Spirit Detection Technique was still diligently working its magic, and the pain in Lou Yan's fingertips was becoming increasingly intense, which meant that the unknown evil spirit might be getting closer and closer to him.
Lou Yan guessed that once he opened the stone door, he would probably see a scene of demons surrounding him.
Adhering to the principle of using the main entrance and not the side entrance, Lou Yan knocked on the middle stone door for the second time. The spiritual power in his dantian was about to overflow, and he was just waiting to kill the demon hiding behind the door with one blow after the door opened.
The stone door opened and closed, and Lou Yan opened his eyes, focusing the spiritual power at his fingertips, to face yet another long, empty passageway.
very good.
Lou Yan smiled, suppressing the urge to vomit blood from anger, and slowly withdrew his spiritual power, continuing to walk along the long passageway by the light of the lanterns.
It was difficult to estimate the time inside the tomb, but the wounds on Lou Yan's body that had been cut by the Wuxiang Wind had begun to scab over. Based on his physical condition, he estimated that he had been here for at least three or four hours.
It must be dark outside by now.
Before going forward, he instructed Wei Xiuzhu to keep an eye on the rhinoceros demon and not to wail about it unnecessarily.
As for the Chongming Bird—don't let it go looking for help from random people; I'm not that useless.
He completely forgot the fact that he almost got buried in the same cave as the rhinoceros demon.
The passageway seemed endless, and in the extremely damp and cold environment, Lou Yan was drenched in sweat. His tattered clothes clung to his body, and he was so exhausted that he wanted to collapse on the spot.
When will this end?
Lou Yan leaned against the wall of the passageway, catching his breath for a moment, when he suddenly felt that the feeling was somewhat familiar.
That's how he felt when he and Heng Qichun were trapped on the mountain road in Huatan Town that day.
A road with no end in sight, an end that is hard to fathom.
Could it be...?
Lou Yan was startled; the half of his face illuminated by the lantern was now filled with a solemn expression.
Could it be that he has wandered into some illusion again?
But this is the Four Symbols Mountain. Xu Shengzi would never appear in such a place. Without the Illusion Talisman and the Ruthless Array, who could create an illusion?
Lou Yan pondered other possibilities, then simply placed the lantern in his hand against the wall and squatted down against it.
The only sound in the quiet passageway was his own panting; there was nothing else.
But that's not right.
Lou Yan raised his right hand, which was illuminated by the firelight, and was shocked to find that the stinging pain in his fingertips had reached an unbearable level. This meant that he was not getting closer to the demon—the demon was right beside him.
I've always been there, very close to him.
A dark red light enveloped him completely. Lou Yan suddenly turned around, his sharp eyes fixed on the red lantern he carried with him.
Wolf eyes are shrewd.
Sure enough, in the darkness, I could see the distorted human face on the lantern.
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Author's note: A whole day of meetings has completely worn me out. [crying emoji]
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