Translator: Pika
Zu An headed deeper into the cavern with Chu Chuyan in his embrace. Had it been half an hour ago, if he had a chance to shake off Shi Kun, he would surely turn tail and leave the mausoleum. After all, the zombie army was a huge threat to him.
However, after witnessing the ability of the Magical Flashlight to curb the undead, he changed his mind.
His experience in games and novels told him this creepy mausoleum he was in had great dangers lurking in here, and rewards and risks came hand-in-hand. There was a good chance that there were incredible treasures lying in wait here.
In the first place, his motive was entering the Ursae Dungeon was to secure the Evanescent Lotus and release his seal. Whether he would live in bliss or misery for the rest of his life counted on this, so naturally, he wouldn’t give up this precious treasure hunting opportunity!
Since he had an ace in his hand right now, it would be a waste not to use it to its fullest potential.
“I wonder how the ‘use’ for this flashlight is calculated by.”
Zu An remembered that the Magical Flashlight could only be used thrice. Since it had remained lit all this while, did it mean to say that as long as the light didn’t go out, it would still be considered as one use?
If that was the case, it was truly a relief that this mausoleum had been emanating a faint light all this while to keep the flashlight powered. Just to be safe, he even fumbled for an ignitable paper roll he was carrying with him and kept it in his hand, prepared to light it up in case he ever stumbled into a completely dark location.
“Honey, did you see Shi Kun’s expression earlier? How in the world did he find the confidence to ask me to cooperate with him after what he has done?” Zu An harrumphed. “It’s just a huge pity for Snow. She’s likely going to die with him there. Will you blame me for that?”
Given how depleted Shi Kun and Qiao Xueying were, it was unlikely that they would be able to stand their ground against so many zombie soldiers.
“Eyy. Honey, Snow did save us twice earlier. Am I being too heartless leaving her to the lurch here? Should I turn around and just save her? Heh, I bet Shi Kun is going to be so angry that he would explode like a volcano.” Just imagining the situation was enough to bring a smile to Zu An’s face.
“Hm? Honey, why aren’t you saying anything at all?” Zu An suddenly noticed that something was amiss. He hadn’t heard Chu Chuyan’s voice for a while now. So, he lowered his head to take a look, only to see the woman in his embrace had her eyes tightly shut and face ghastly pale. She was hardly breathing at all anymore.
Ever since she used the forbidden art, her life had already been hanging by a thread. If not for Zu An feeding her so many of Divine Physician Ji’s recovery medicine, she would have already breathed her last by now.
But even so, Divine Physician Ji’s medicine only provided her with some respite; it couldn’t cure her affliction. On top of that, they had been so busy on the escape that she hadn’t been able to get any rest at all. She was forcing herself to focus earlier on out of worry for Zu An’s safety, but now that they were finally out of danger, her tensed nerves finally relaxed, and she was swiftly consumed by exhaustion.
“Honey!” exclaimed Zu An in a panic.
He might not be a physician, but he could sense Chu Chuyan’s life slowly slipping away. He quickly took out a bunch of medicine and fed it into her mouth.
“It’s useless. Her ki meridians have been destroyed. Your medicine cannot fit the root of her problem,” a feminine voice suddenly sounded. The voice had a pleasant melodious quality to it, but at the same time, it carried an air of authority too.
“Who?! Who is the one talking?!” Zu An quickly swept his flashlight around the cavern, searching for the person who had just spoken to him. However, he was unable to find anyone at all. A chill suddenly crept down his spine. Could it be a ghost?
“You need not care who I am. I’ll only ask you one question. Do you wish to save her?” the feminine voice sounded. The voice seemed to have been whispered in his ears, but at the same time, it sounded so vague that it could have been from a far distance away too.
“Of course I do!” replied Zu An.
“Very well. Walk on, and you’ll stumble upon a spirit medicine. Harvest it and feed it to her, and she’ll be able to preserve her life,” the feminine voice sounded.
Zu An didn’t get to action right away. Instead, he asked grimly, “How can I trust your words?”
He knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. He did often fantasize himself as the protagonist of the world, but he wasn’t so naive as to think that a random stranger he met in this mausoleum would actually help him out of goodwill.
In his view, the owner of the voice sounded more like a demon often depicted in stories. It was probably trying to lure him into its trap through temptation.
“You have no other choice but to trust me. There’s no other way for you to save her,” replied the feminine voice coldly.
Zu An’s heart sank. He knew that the other party was right.
Unless he was lucky enough to stumble onto the other teachers of the academy and Ji Xiaoxi as soon as he walked out of this mausoleum, and they happened to have some sort of incredible treasure on them that could treat Chu Chuyan’s condition... but how could that be possible?
In the first place, if the others had stumbled upon such a precious treasure, it was unlikely that they would spare it to Chu Chuyan. They had no obligation to do that. Besides, he had a feeling that not even Ji Dengtu would be able to treat Chu Chuyan even if he was here, or else Chu Chuyan wouldn’t have been so despaired.
“Alright, tell me where to go!” Zu An gritted his teeth.
For Chu Chuyan’s sake, he could only march on no matter what kind of dangers lurked ahead of him.
Judging from how the mysterious voice had spoken with a rude tone earlier instead of trying to entice him, Zu An reckoned that she wasn’t lying to him.
Damn it, what’s wrong with me? Why am I more inclined to trust her just because she was rude to me?
Zu An carried Chu Chuyan’s body and walked in the direction pointed out by the feminine voice. Somehow, looking at this seemingly endless path before him, he felt that he was walking right into the mouth of a gigantic beast. Only the illumination coming from his flashlight was able to calm his unease a little.
Unlike before, he found himself faced with many divergent paths along the way, making the road far more complicated than before. He felt that he had walked into a labyrinth, and it didn’t take him long to lose his sense of direction.
Had it not been for the feminine voice guiding him along, he would have been utterly lost.
He did encounter quite a few zombie soldiers along the way, and some of them were even stronger than the zombie swordsman. However, under the shine of his Magical Flashlight, the zombie soldiers were forced to run away from him, as if he was the monster here.
Even the feminine voice couldn’t help but remark, “Looks like it’s the will of heaven. If not for that mysterious item you have there, you would have never been able to reach the center of the underground palace with your strength.”
Zu An made use of this opportunity to strike up an opportunity with that voice, “Based on what you’re saying, it seems like you have already been here for quite some time. Are you a human or a... ghost?”
The feminine voice giggled softly. “What do you think?”
The image of a demure woman laughing gently surfaced in Zu An’s head. “Well, regardless of whether you’re a human or a ghost, you’re bound to be a very beautiful woman.”
“Beautiful...” The voice suddenly fell silent at this point. There was a long pause before it sighed in desolation, “What’s the use of being beautiful?”
It was a casual remark, yet it sent Zu An’s body trembling. His heart began beating nonstop, as if something had triggered his adrenaline. Back when he watched ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’, he couldn’t understand why Duan Yu would be so entranced with Wang Yuyan just by hearing her voice.
However, at this very moment, he finally understood that there were some women who had voices so entrancing that it could draw a person in.
I guess perverts can be turned on by just about anything.
Zu An made a jab about himself before his eyes suddenly lit up. He realized that the passageway was opening up into a wide space. Even with a brief look, it seemed to be at least several football courts large.
What caught his attention the most was the lake in front of him. It wasn’t weird for there to be an accumulation of water inside a cavern, but the pristine clarity of the water was unnatural. On top of that, there were sprouting plants emanating a faint green light growing above the water. The surface of the lake was cloaked in a thin layer of mist. All in all, it looked extremely conspicuous in the midst of the dark underground palace.
While Zu An was lacking in common sense in this world, he could still tell as much as the plants were anything but ordinary.
As if having guessed his thoughts, the feminine voice said, “Indeed. The medicine that can cure your companion is inside the lake.”
Zu An could sense that Chu Chuyan’s breathing was becoming lighter and lighter. It was to the point where he couldn’t hear it anymore unless he was focusing hard. Knowing that there was no time to be lost, he rushed over to the lake with her in his arm.
However, an instinctive shudder ran through his body in the next moment, compelling him to stop in his footstep. He turned his stiffened neck toward the left.
He was too excited upon seeing the glowing plants above the lake that he forgot to assess his surroundings carefully, and it was only now that he was able to see what he had neglected.
There were rows of terracotta halberdiers standing in a neat formation in the midst of this massive underground square. They had towering figures, standing at around 1.85 meters tall. Even with a rough glance, Zu An could tell that there were several thousands of them.
By the sides of the halberdier formation were formations of war chariots, and behind them was a huge battalion of archers...
In other words, he was really faced with a complete army here!
Zu An rubbed his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he had returned back to Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum he had visited in his previous life.
Isn’t this practically the terracotta army?
However, there was a difference between the two. The terracotta soldiers before him were dressed neatly in vibrant armor. Their sharp weapons hinted that they were all elite soldiers. They couldn’t be compared with the dilapidated terracotta soldiers he had seen in the Mausoleum Site Museum in his previous life.
As if having sensed an intruder, blue light started gleaming in the eyes of the sleeping terracotta soldiers, and all of them suddenly turned to look at him simultaneously.
It was hard to describe this feeling. The eerieness of being stared down by thousands of terracotta soldiers all at once was so intimidating and sinister that he nearly suffocated.
Kacha!
The terracotta soldiers in the front row began moving. They held their halberds loosely in their arms, but for some reason, they seemed to be pointed toward Zu An. Their movements were still a little awkward at the start, but slowly, they were becoming more nimble.
Zu An gulped. He couldn’t even be bothered to gauge the individual fighting prowess of these terracotta soldiers anymore. With their numbers, they could easily crush him to death if they swarmed down on him all at once.
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