Warring States Period - Chapter 2: The Secret of Heaven

Seeing that no one spoke, I immediately stepped down the stone steps, ran to my brother-in-law's side, and asked, "Brother-in-law, what's wrong?"

My brother-in-law paused and said, "It seems this is destined by fate, inescapable!"

I understood what he meant.

My brother-in-law continued, "Turns out the ancestors of the Nine Gates made a terrifying pact with the master of that mysterious Warring States tomb. Anyone from the Nine Gates must fulfill their duty: to go to an uninhabited underground palace in the northern borderlands and guard a bronze ancient tomb door for ten years. The prerequisite is finding the Cloud-Peak Stele and reading the characters on it; only then does one earn the qualification to enter the northern borderlands."

Cold sweat broke out all over me. I thought to myself, to hell with the northern borderlands. That place is way too bizarre; I am certainly not going. Whoever wants to go can go.

My brother-in-law lit a cigarette pinched in his left hand and said, "My good nephew, you are the only one who knows!"

Old Zhang suddenly chimed in, "Master Feng, it's not like you don't know his capabilities, he..." Before he could finish, Kaizi tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to shut up, and he immediately fell silent.

At this moment, Sanshi also asked in confusion, "Master Feng, what should we do now? There's no path ahead."

My brother-in-law said, "It looks like we'll have to chisel a path. The craft left by our ancestors must not go to waste."

With that, he walked over to the side of the stone tablet and pulled a Luoyang shovel from his military rucksack.

Lin Qiang, the guide standing nearby, said, "Master Feng, I don't think that's a good idea. Since these walls are made of white marble, there probably isn't a path. While digging a tunnel to move forward isn't entirely impossible, it would detour us to more distant territory and potentially bring danger."

Everyone's brows furrowed tightly. My brother-in-law asked, "Then what do you suggest?"

Lin Qiang replied, "Master Feng, only the young master knows this!" With that, he sat back down in his original spot and started drinking water.

Everyone was baffled, falling into a silent, implicit loop. No one spoke or moved; they just ate when it was time to eat, drank when it was time to drink, and sighed when it was time to sigh.

Resigned, I sat down near the stone tablet on the side. With a faint "click" sound, I seemed to have triggered a mechanism.

Immediately, as I scrambled to hide about a meter away from the stone tablet, the floorboards transformed into a circular passageway, descending in a spiral straight down into the depths. Caught completely off guard, I tumbled into the newly opened tunnel.

Fortunately, I was quick-witted and managed to grab the edge of the floor in time to stop my slide. The others also ended up hanging onto the edges of the open stone passage just like me. My brother-in-law called out, "Nephew, you scared the life out of me!"

With that, he held up his waterproof flashlight and edged toward my position, followed step-by-step by the rest of the group.

Lin Qiang said, "I've passed through this place before. Well then, I'll take the lead. You all follow closely!"

He then stepped to my right, walked out into the darkness, and waved to signal everyone to follow closely. With no other choice, the group followed Lin Qiang's lead, clutching their waterproof flashlights and making their way downward step by grueling step.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at a three-meter-wide plank road clinging to the cliff. Everyone's nerves were taut; nobody uttered a word. The guide, Lin Qiang, suddenly stopped, glanced back over his shoulder, and whispered, "Make no sound!"

He then resumed his difficult, creeping advance. Just as I was about to ask why, I heard a blood-chilling, insidious laugh: "Since you've come, stay and keep me company!"

Lin Qiang waved his hand, signaling everyone not to act rashly.

A chill struck everyone's hearts, and they involuntarily exchanged glances. Listening closer, a familiar sound drifted to our ears. I thought it sounded like Second Master's tunes, because the voice was very much like his, yet there was a distinction. Second Master's voice was crisp and resonant, whereas this voice, though melodious and enchanting, lacked his distinct clarity.

My brother-in-law looked at me in puzzlement, as he had been the first to notice the anomaly. Then he muttered, "Is this... could this be... Second Master's tune?"

After listening closely once more, Sanshi stepped up to my brother-in-law and said, "Master Feng, this really is Second Master's tune."

Lin Qiang abruptly squatted down, clenching his fist to signal that there was a situation. Only after checking things out did he proceed. For some reason, an overwhelming drowsiness suddenly washed over me at that moment. I felt as though I was losing all awareness of my body, growing hazier the further we walked.

Gradually, even our footsteps became unsteady and erratic. Unable to fight off the invading wave of sleep, the entire group collapsed into unconsciousness.

Somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, I suddenly heard the voice of the man in black. He was shaking everyone and shouting. Seeing that it had no effect, he drew the ancient dark-gold saber from his back, made a cut across the index finger of his left hand, and let his blood drip onto everyone's glabella.

Within mere seconds, our consciousness returned, and we slowly blinked awake. Opening our eyes and recognizing the newcomer as the young master, we felt a slight weight lift from our hearts, though the Second Master-like voice was still echoing, sounding exceptionally eerie.

The young master asked, "Why are you all here? This is dangerous, get out of here quickly!"

My brother-in-law asked perplexedly, "Isn't this just a plank road?"

The young master shook his head and turned his face away, as if dreading something.

At that moment, Lin Qiang suddenly spoke up, "This is a Warring States-period plank road. Because of years of endless warfare, armies frequently launched surprise attacks across each other's plank roads. Another reason was that rulers of various states built hidden ancient paths simply to secure supply lines connecting prefectures and military strongholds.

"Back then, because of the cruel politics of slaughtering cities, the guards stationed along the plank roads were often brutally murdered. Over time, the lingering grievances accumulated and grew heavier. Later on, grain and pay transporters began hearing bizarre sounds, followed by mysterious disappearances. And then..."

He stopped midway. I looked at him in confusion.

Next, as I stood up to approach the young master for answers, an absolute silence descended.

Everyone was staring fixedly at me. Ocean pointed at me while mumbling something under his breath; because he was too far away, I couldn't make it out. I felt like something was deeply wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it, while Old Zhang kept making facial expressions at me.

I looked around in bewilderment. Han Xin's face was flushed and she averted her gaze; Sanshi raised his gun and aimed it straight at me, the bullet already chambered; Kaizi looked at me in terror, gripping his military dagger tightly in his hand.

I asked, "What is going on?"

My brother-in-law whispered, "Don't make a sound, behind you!"

The young master shouted, "Don't move!"

He decisively brought the dark-gold ancient saber gripped in his right hand down onto my left shoulder, making a gesture for me to stay silent. Then, muttering some incantation under his breath, he swung the blade toward my left shoulder.

With a miserable screech, a ghostly hand resting on my left shoulder snapped back.

The young master quickly yanked me behind his back and shouted, "Hurry up and leave, leave this to me!"

With that, he lunged into combat with whatever creature lurked in the dark.

We followed the young master's instructions. Passing the plank road brought us out into a vast expanse of water, though I was certain we were still underground. Everyone strapped on their diving gear and plunged in.

Lin Qiang's ancestors had been grave-robbers of the Moon-Sifting sect, and his swimming skills were exceptional. He had died in the line of duty while carrying out a tomb-protection mission, leaving behind a wealth of detailed records about the events of that time. Passing down to him, he was the twenty-eighth generation, hence his generation character was "Qiang."

After swimming for I don't know how long, we reached a bizarre location. Seeing a glow ahead, everyone swam toward it. It was a circular exit, and upon surfacing, a magnificent palace came into view.

We were in a reservoir right at its exact center. Stone dragon heads were carved into the southeastern, northwestern, northeastern, and southwestern directions, continuously spewing water outward.

To our front, on both the left and right sides, sat two exquisite stone outer coffins, and a tunnel lay directly between them.

My brother-in-law warned, "Don't touch or fiddle with anything randomly."

He scrambled up onto the stone platform of the circular reservoir ahead of the rest of us. Following his lead, the group gathered on either side of the coffins within the burial chamber. Inspecting the murals carved into all four walls, we found them deeply unsettling. When I turned my head to ask my brother-in-law about it, I saw that his face was completely drained of color.

My brother-in-law stammered, "That... that thing is a Ghost-Faced Corpse Demon!"

At that moment, Old Zhang asked, "Feng, do you think that thing can swim? The young master doesn't..."

Before he could finish, Kaizi shushed him. Resigned, Old Zhang could only grip his firearm even tighter.

Bubbles began to surface in the water, accompanied by a piercing sound that grew increasingly loud and frantic.

Suddenly, a mass of hair broke the water's surface in the pool, followed by a face. Looking closely, it was the man in black. Our tense nerves relaxed slightly as Sanshi reached out and pulled him up.

The man in black made a gesture for absolute silence, stared fixedly at the pool, and said, "Follow the tunnel between the two coffins. Do not look back."

Flashing our waterproof lights, we sprinted and arrived at a pristine, intact ancient burial chamber. The four walls were carved with a grandiose panorama depicting men and women, old and young, soldiers and generals. In the distance, vaguely discernible, stood a celestial palace crowning the peak of a snow-capped mountain. People at the foot of the mountain were hauling massive blocks of granite and white marble upward.

Another group of people could be seen pulling along other potential building materials. Beyond all this, the mountain was wreathed in misty vapors, exuding an ethereal grace as if one had stepped straight into an immortal realm.

My brother-in-law pointed to an old man depicted in the mural and said, "That is Ouyang Hongru. He was the architect of that celestial palace."