Chapter 8: The General's Treasures (8)
Like a corpse, it could draw out the panic hidden in people's hearts.
Zhang Zhaoqi seemed to sense his gaze, his calm, still eyes turning back to look at him. Qi An noticed that the ghost-like scene from moments ago had vanished like a fleeting flower, Zhang Zhaoqi's ink-black eyes returning to their usual placidity like still lake water.
Qi An's long lashes trembled slightly, a hint of deep thought crossing his delicate features. He appeared to continue listening to Ge Da's flat, hoarse voice without a care.
"This peace, sacrificed by the general, is merely an illusion. The general, afflicted with a secret technique, awoke in torment only to discover that the person his heart had cherished had already passed from this world because of him. And so—the general, having become a vengeful spirit, did something mad that made everyone regret."
"What he did is not recorded in the ancestral texts. All that is known is that the prosperous Li Huo Kingdom instantly declined, war raging across the land, weapons clashing everywhere. The ancient kingdom that had ruled the continent for generations was reduced to rubble, and this palace was rebuilt. The ancient texts commanded the people of our village to deliver three meals here every day, and forbade outsiders from entering. It is said that it was because the sleeping general once said a words—"
"The one he loves will return here. He will find his treasure once more."
The ancient tomb remained as quiet as ever. The pale green glow of the luminous pearls散发着清冷和荧光, their cold light spreading silently. On the cracked ground, layers of dust had accumulated. Through the narrow passage by the entrance, a gust of wind blew in, lifting the dust into the air.
Qi An couldn't help but cough from the dust.
He covered his mouth and nose with his right hand, deliberately lowering his voice.
Zhang Zhaoqi's walking stride paused. A talisman appeared in his hand out of thin air once more. His fair index finger gently pointed, and faint black marks appeared on the yellow paper beneath his finger. Before the talisman could ignite on its own, Zhang Zhaoqi suddenly frowned almost imperceptibly and withdrew the talisman.
The temperature in the corridor suddenly dropped, then rose again in an instant.
The dust that had been freely floating in the corridor abruptly stalled, as if suddenly gaining weight, and fell to the ground in unison. The wind still blew, but there was no dust to dance with it.
Hidden in the shadows, pairs of eyes closely followed Qi An's movements, their forms concealed, invisible within the darkness, searching almost obsessively for the boy in the light.
The slender youth walking along wore rumpled civilian clothes. Whenever the wind blew, his garments would flutter gently.
The decrepit wooden door was closed tightly and silently in some strange manner.
When Qi An and the others arrived at the designated meeting spot, neither Jin Huijuan nor Wang Xiangqun had returned yet. Qi An gave Zhang Zhaoqi an awkward smile and sat waiting for the other group to come back.
[An'an, the report has been released.]
The system's voice came at the perfect moment, just when Qi An had nothing to do.
[Understood.]
Qi An closed his eyes, browsing through his work report from many years ago in his mind. What he didn't know was that during this entire time, Zhang Zhaoqi, who had been maintaining a detached demeanor, was quietly watching his face from the other side. His usually still eyes showed a ripple of emotion.
Qi An scanned his work report roughly. He had been from the Trash Crushing Division before. This three-thousand-character report described task processes that now seemed entirely unremarkable. Besides the target characters, Qi An noticed plenty of useless rambling.
The report contained nothing about the general's situation. After pausing, Qi An's attention fell on the final sentence.
Method of World Exit: Death simulation after being selected as a burial sacrifice.
Burial sacrifice...
A flicker of light passed through Qi An's eyes. He reread the report from beginning to end.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Zhaoqi's voice was ice-cold when he asked.
He had become unusually sharp. Even the most subtle movement from Qi An caught his attention, prompting his question.
"Hm? Nothing." Qi An smiled innocently and rather casually, revealing two cute dimples. After speaking, he lowered his head as usual. His black, silky hair came into view, and Zhang Zhaoqi withdrew his gaze with slightly darker eyes.
"You're back already." Jin Huijuan, stepping forward with measured strides, saw them. Her willow-leaf brows arched as she froze momentarily, then sighed helplessly. "We found the key to the chest and successfully opened it, but—"
Jin Huijuan paused, pulling out a stack of items from the chest she was holding. Among them were sheets of yellowed xuan paper, each bearing ink marks written with a brush. "We can't understand a single character on these."
"Even if these things are precious, we can't extract any useful information from them. And we didn't encounter a single ghost during our key-finding expedition." Jin Huijuan furrowed her brows. "I thought just now that perhaps because you were searching for the exit, it provoked their displeasure, so they all went to look for you. But looking at your faces, it doesn't seem like you encountered anything either."
"We've already explored most of the palace between both groups. How is it possible we haven't run into a single ghost?" Jin Huijuan's voice was laced with undisguised confusion. "Could all these ghosts have gone off to do something important?"
Upon hearing this, a flash of unusual emotion crossed Zhang Zhaoqi's eyes. He glanced sideways at Qi An, who sat obediently nearby, his gaze holding a hint of complexity.
As expected, Jin Huijuan noticed that no one in the room was paying attention to her. Her lips twitched, and she awkwardly changed the subject. "So what about you two? What information did you obtain?"
Zhang Zhaoqi glanced at her coolly and briefly summarized the information they had heard.
His tone was flat, narrating the entire story in a straightforward manner.
"The person the general loved was buried in this ancient tomb as a sacrifice." Jin Huijuan extracted the key information. "In other words, the general's treasure is this legendary beauty."
Jin Huijuan had no doubts about the story's authenticity.
Every event in the story could be matched with the five murals they had seen shortly after entering the tomb—natural disasters and man-made calamities, displaced citizens, the undefeated general and his personal guards, the national preceptor performing secret techniques on the high platform, the meticulously crafted underground palace and the beauty selected as a burial sacrifice.
And the soldiers encircled by dark energy, ultimately becoming vengeful spirits.