"But no," the old Gong suddenly widened his eyes in surprise and said, "You were buried alive while you were still holding a pot of spirit essence?"
I don't understand "Erwu spirit essence," it's a term from the theory of yin and yang.
The words "alive burial" are as clear as can be!
Is it that people who haven't died enter the tomb?
Qiu Ji didn't answer about which ancestor teacher it was; his body kept trembling, and his eyes turned completely red.
The voice was hoarse and even more menacing, and the hideous expression interpreted what it meant to have a blood feud!
Then Qiu Ji led us forward.
We passed by many pavilions and saw numerous bodies.
Without exception, these bodies were all sitting calmly in their own rooms, completely naked and covered in feathers.
Among them, three have had their bellies dug out with blood holes, while the rest are relatively intact.
The shock on the faces of Wu Jinlan and the others was indescribable.
Lao Gong hasn't said a word yet; he's also been shocked into silence by this sight.
Even though I don't understand the theory of yin and yang, I know that the mysterious Mount Yanming in ancient Qiang City is "terrifying," no, it is the creation of heaven and earth.
We've seen at least seven bodies, all of which have grown white feathers, indicating that they have reached the Feng Shui realm of transforming into immortals.
A gentleman, isn't the pursuit of knowledge both during life and after death, and becoming an immortal bird?
The ancient Qiang City makes it possible for their ancestors to have been able to use up all their power!
No, it's the result!
Qiu Ji's face also grew darker and darker.
His eyes were a deep crimson, caused by the ruptured blood vessels in his irises due to sheer desperation.
Including the first body, we've seen eight, and four of them had their elixir pods pierced.
"Too much... this... too much," the old Gong muttered in disbelief. "Ji Kuai's son, he's greedy... too greedy to chew. With so many corpse pills, how can he eat them?"
We then walked through several more pavilions where the bodies were presumably of more recent generations. They had just grown a little bit of downy feathers, indicating that they were in the process of transforming but had not yet reached that stage.
They were in a more pitiful state, with no whole bodies left, and their heads had been chopped off.
Without exception, all the pavilions we've seen have not triggered any mechanism.
As for this, Wu Jinlan's explanation was simple.
For now, the eight-house lineage people rely on growing herbs from corpses. Although they are indistinguishable from ordinary people in terms of looks, they must have come into contact with a variety of corpses in their daily lives. Where are there the most corpses? Naturally, it is in the tombs.
The better the corpse, the deeper the tomb, and thus the more traps there are.
For them, any mechanism is likely just a decoration.
Blood tears are rolling out of Qiu Ji's eyes.
We arrived at another location, which was slightly larger, resembling a smaller version of a pure-yang Taoist temple's main hall.
The height of the main hall was only three meters, which is quite small considering that normal Daoist temples have a height of ten to eight meters.
Inside the hall, the layout that should be present in the Pure Yang Daoist Temple was all here, along with over a dozen lotus thrones. Each throne had a Daoist monk sitting on it.
They were wearing veils over their heads, tall hats, or even some special caps.
Some were covered in white feathers, while others had a faint purple color on their skin.
Three of the bodies had their abdomens dug out, adding to the elixir pods from the various ancestors that were also extracted for transformation, there are now a total of seven corpse pills missing. Several other bodies had their heads chopped off as well. When added together, it also comes to seven.
"You people from the ancient Qiang City don't like to self-dissolve? No one swallowed a sword?" Lao Gong was looking at the position of the main door of the hall.
Li Yuji was kneeling there, and before this, he still looked like a high-status person, but now he seemed incredibly desolate and lonely.
He did not answer Lao Gong's question.
Too many spirit patterns are both good and bad, and it's good that people die in such peace, but it's also bad. It's like now, your ancestors... they all died in such peace. It wasn't fierce enough to prevent them from coming back to life. This is also related to the spirit patterns holding them down, turning them into trees full of peaches that anyone can pick from.
"This son of a bitch, Ji Kuai, must think that his ancestors' tombs are emitting green smoke, right?"
Lao Gong was complaining, and his tone hinted at deep envy.
"Old Gong, don't say such cold words... seven pills... what can he come up with? He must still be here, not daring to dig more pills because he's afraid of disrupting the Feng Shui of this place. This time, he definitely won't leave," Wu Jinlan said confidently.
Suddenly, I felt an odd gaze, and I turned around abruptly to look back.
Behind me was a stone path, empty and devoid of anyone.
Qiu Ji suddenly snapped to attention and ran wildly in one direction!
"Qiu Mr.," Wu Jinlan shouted, following him in a hurry.
We hurriedly followed to catch up.
After passing through several pavilions and flower gardens, we arrived at a place with a pavilion whose lower part is hollowed out. The steps wind around the interior of the hollow part, leading up to a room about four or five meters high, which has eight sides and is constructed in an especially strange manner.
"Hey, there's another corpse here? A female one? The ancient Qiang City is something else, actually having a female master?" Old Gong was surprised and then his face fell: "I hope that brat doesn't hurt the little lady in this pavilion. If he does, I will not rest in peace!"
"No... it's a concubine's body..." Qiu Ji's face turned extremely pale.
Li Zizhuo's demeanor changed, and he looked extremely shocked.
"What does 'concubine's body' mean?" Wu Jinlan was confused.
"What with concubine bodies and empress bodies, as long as it's not a bright empress," Old Gong, being a ghost with no heart or feelings, was still able to laugh.
Even he had a hidden meaning in his words, glancing at me, which seemed to be pointing to Black City Temple.
"The emperor's body is both righteous and evil. Having him guard the tomb comes with a price."
"The first generation of ancestors of the Qiang ethnic group, after excavating this strange body, also dug out a buried concubine's body from the tomb. The male and female bodies complement each other."
"The Emperor's corpse cannot be controlled. Even with extremely strong abilities to kill him, one cannot control him."
Qiu Ji quivered and said, "There is only one way, the initial agreement of the first master. The Emperor's corpse has been residing on Mount Yanming for a long time, crossing the Yin Dragon Water and guarding the place where our ancestors rest in silence in ancient Qiang City. The concubine's body is buried in the most crucial Qi source spot of this place. Our ancestors of ancient Qiang City and the pure-yang Daoist Temple's headmaster have not been able to rest in this best location."
"A good location for the concubine's body, and the Emperor's body will guard the tomb."
"And the concubine's nature is evil, a wet corpse. According to the records, she has already transformed into a leopard-man and is even turning towards an even more terrifying stage."
"This is a potential danger to the ancient Qiang City. A solution must be found to prevent the concubine's body from transforming, otherwise, the formation will collapse, and even our ancestor lineage and pure-yang Daoist Temple lineage will be unable to enter Mount Yanming in the future."
After Qiu Ji finished speaking, he still kept a tense gaze fixed on the suspended pavilion that was about four or five meters high.
Old Gong opened his mouth and said, "It sounds a bit fierce, but now what are you afraid of? Afraid that she will also be dug for elixir and beheaded? It's impossible. She occupies the core Feng Shui eye, and once disturbed, the Feng Shui here will become an anomaly. Then that coffin floating on the water surface should open, and the odd corpse you mentioned should be released."
"Ji Kuai is temporarily planning to live here, to enhance his power, not to court death," Old Gong emphasized.
"The talisman was torn, and the spinning staircase should be covered in talismans... The concubine's nature is evil, and she must be suppressed with talismans for a long time. Without talismans on the spinning staircase, it means she has come down. I had a vague feeling that I was being watched earlier..." Qiu Ji's face looked extremely pale.
My pupils slightly contracted, recalling the feeling I had just now.
Before I could speak, a master uneasily said, "I... I feel like I've also been spied on..."
"Yes, I also felt it..." Another master promptly spoke up.
"Master Luo... you just turned around, and you also felt something was wrong, right...?" Wu Jinlan's forehead was sweating slightly.
"Hmm?" Lao Gong changed the tone of his voice before saying, "You all sensed something? How come I didn't? That's odd..."
"What we felt was a gaze, she looked at us but not you, Old Gong. You felt the change in vitality, she is here and she is this place. You can't feel it because it's normal." Wu Jinlan explained.
"As the young Wu's strength has grown, he knows how to find an exit for Old Gong, that's good. That's good." Old Gong had just finished saying this.
Suddenly, I felt that the air became much colder and even had a sticky feeling, as if there was a wet, slimy substance attached to my skin.
On our way here, there was an extra person among the pavilions and halls.
It was a woman with a very graceful figure, but her face was stiff and rigid.
She was very beautiful, with facial features full of the classic taste of a woman.
No, she was an ancient corpse.
A garment woven from golden thread and jade pieces hung on her body.
Her hair was growing at an alarming rate, almost reaching the ground.
Those jade pieces were all seeping water without exception, and she stared at us stiffly, walking slowly forward...
