Chapter 1398: An Injustice from the Distant Past
Chapter 1398: An Injustice from the Distant Past
The strange birds were shaped like crows, but their bodies were much larger than those of any ordinary crows. Nearly every single one of them was the size of a Chinese golden eagle. They were also extremely fast, letting out sharp and shrill cries. Zu An’s party could sense their concentrated mass of killing intent even from far away.
They now understood why the octopus monster hadn’t chased after them. It turned out that there were many dangers in the sky as well!
The octopus monster might have been able to throw its weight around in the water, but if it entered the air, it would no longer be able to swim around as it pleased and could just end up being eaten by the things in the air. Even though the birds were much weaker individually, when so many of them were gathered together like that, they would have enough power to devour it.
Zu An’s party felt a scalp-numbing chill. Even an ascension soul Kraken had needed to withdraw, so they naturally gave up on any thought of fighting too. They blurted out simultaneously, “Hurry and run!”
Before they even said anything, Zu An had already begun moving. He flew downward on the Wind Fire Wheels at a diagonal angle. Previously, he had already spotted a nearby landmass. At first, he had been worried that those birds would catch up to them, because they weren’t slower than the Wind Fire Wheels at all. If that happened, there would only be a bitter battle awaiting them. Unexpectedly, however, the birds didn’t chase after them, but instead continued to fly forward, as if they were avoiding something and fleeing in the other direction.
“Are the Unknown Regions that dangerous? No wonder there have always been legends of how difficult it is to leave one alive,” Yan Xuehen said with a groan, collapsing into Zu An’s embrace.
If Yun Jianyue had heard that at any other time, she would have already taken the chance to ridicule her. At the moment, however, she didn’t sense anything off and instead replied in agreement, “What do you mean difficult? It’s practically guaranteed death!”
Even though they were injured, they still had grandmaster rank cultivation. Furthermore, they already recovered seventy percent of their strength, so they were much more powerful than ordinary master rank cultivators. Despite that, they had already almost lost their lives several times.
More importantly, just how much time had they spent in this dungeon? They had already encountered so many terrifying beings in a short time. It really was hard to imagine that someone could leave such a place alive.
Zu An said seriously, “Actually, even though the Unknown Regions I explored before were dangerous, it wasn’t this dangerous. I feel that something isn’t quite right with this Unknown Region.”
The women were interested to hear that. They were about to ask him for the details regarding the other Unknown Regions, but something suddenly stirred within them that immediately made them give up on those thoughts. All of them focused on suppressing the poison inside their bodies.
Soon afterward, Zu An found a secluded grove and brought the others there. He helped them lean against a large tree and said, “Let me help you all.”
“No!” the three women exclaimed. They opened their eyes at the same time, staring at him in embarrassment and annoyance.
Zu An was stunned. He said with a bitter smile, “All of you are misunderstanding. I’m saying that I’ll help you transfer your ki and remove the poison.”
“No need,” Yan Xuehen said, her face turning pink. She knew perfectly well what kind of feeling being treated by Zu An would bring.
Yun Jianyue had seen what it was like when Yu Yanluo was being treated, so how could she dare to accept his help? She replied, “Don’t worry. We just accidentally took in a bit, so there’s no real poison and it won’t affect us too much. Our own cultivations are enough to get rid of the poison. However, we need some peace and quiet, so please watch over our surroundings for us.”
“Ah, really?” Zu An asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
“You brat, it looks like you’re disappointed!” Yun Jianyue remarked, shooting him a look. Yan Xuehen and Yu Yanluo also looked at him with ambiguous smiles.
Zu An’s face heated up. He protested, “Of course not! I feel happy for all of you, haha. I’ll just watch the surroundings for you three. Please focus on removing the poison.”
The women thus retracted their gazes. They no longer delayed any further and tried to get rid of the poison as quickly as possible.
Zu An looked around, but didn’t really see anything dangerous nearby. He gave the vast sea a look, then turned to the boundless mountain range off to the side. He couldn’t help but sink into his own thoughts.
In the past, he had always run into things that should only have existed in ancient China inside the secret dungeons. If he wasn’t mistaken, this Unknown Region was related to the Xia Dynasty. Only the Xia Dynasty would have so many connections to ancient mythology. Even something like the Taowu, one of the Four Perils, had appeared. He wondered if a divine beast that was even more powerful would appear. If that happened, it would be really bad.
He suddenly thought of something and summoned Mo Xi. She was dressed in leather armor that covered her chest; there was a short tigerskin skirt around her waist. There was also a clearly visible corset around her belly. Her tanned skin glowed like honey, and she had a pair of firm and strong thighs. Her presence carried a kind of sexy yet dangerous allure.
“This is a secret dungeon related to the Xia Dynasty. Do you feel anything familiar?” Zu An asked, looking at her with a hopeful expression.
Mo Xi looked at him with her head tilted to one side, as if she couldn’t feel a single thing; moreover, it was as if she were looking at an idiot.
Zu An was speechless. It seemed he had overestimated her. However, when he recalled that her skill had just saved them, he couldn’t really say anything and just recalled her. He could only wait for the women to finish eliminating the poison, feeling utterly bored.
…
Meanwhile, the Fiend Emperor’s group continued to walk toward the great mountain. Their surroundings were verdant and lush, but they didn’t see a single living creature. Let alone birds, there weren’t even any bugs.
Wu Liang held a spinning divining wheel. He said with a sullen expression, “There are no living creatures here, and yet it’s a place of absolute danger…”
Perhaps because he had said something, the Fiend Emperor suddenly stopped. Before Wu Liang was able to feel any happiness, however, he was sent flying forward by a kick from the Fiend Emperor.
I’m finished! The Fiend Emperor wants me to scout out the way! Wu Liang thought, feeling his insides turn ice-cold. He thought to himself, if there really were any danger, wouldn’t he be instantly ripped to shreds?
Surprisingly, however, even after he landed, the danger he had expected didn’t happen at all. When he climbed to his feet again, he was shocked to discover that there was a tomb at the foot of the mountain. Beyond the tomb’s gate were some ruined walls, and he could vaguely make out some statues. However, most of them had already been eroded by weather, so there were only some stone foundations left.
When he saw the old tomb, his eyes immediately lit up. All of his fear was immediately shoved into the back of his mind. He began to study the surroundings; at times he examined the ruined sculptures, and at other times the carvings. Then, he took out his divining wheel and checked the surroundings, as if he were measuring something.
Upon seeing his behavior, the Fiend Emperor then hurried over with the Golden Crow Crown Prince. As he looked at the old tomb in front of him, his brow furrowed.
“This tomb seems to be a bit dilapidated…” the Golden Crow Crown Prince said with a frown. This tomb is already in such a terrible state. There’s probably nothing good here anymore.
In order to prove to the Fiend Emperor that he had some value so he wouldn’t be easily sacrificed, Wu Liang quickly explained, “Crown prince, you can’t underestimate this tomb! Even though it looks extremely tattered, judging from the layout, the owner of this tomb was definitely someone on the level of an emperor when he was alive!”
“Emperor? Why is it so simple and crude then?” the Fiend Emperor asked suspiciously.
“According to the choice of location, the way the tomb is facing, and all of these statues, everything indicates this is indeed an imperial tomb. Only, the scale does seem to be a bit lacking,” Wu Liang said after thinking for a bit. “There are a few possibilities as to why that’s the case. The first is that when this tomb was designed, the ruler’s country was already close to destruction, so they didn’t have enough national power to build an imperial tomb. However, in my opinion, the different details of this tomb all seem to be in order, so that possibility doesn’t seem to be the case.
“The second possibility is that the owner might have only occupied his position for a short time and died young.
“However, there is a third possibility, which is that the emperor was someone who was chased off his throne, and so the scale and layout standards for this tomb had many more corners cut than usual.”
As he was explaining, a voice suddenly let out a long sigh and exclaimed, “Hahaha, how many years has it been? There is finally someone who knows about my injustice.”
Wu Liang shivered, then quickly hid behind the Fiend Emperor. The sound had come from the tomb, and the voice was exactly the same as the one that had led them here!
The Fiend Emperor’s expression turned grave. He looked in the direction of the tomb, exclaiming, “Are you a human or a ghost?!”