False evidence

Chapter 340 The Tomb of the Forty-Two Wives

The three returned to the 'maids' level and discovered that the maids, whose identities were indistinguishable from those of real maids, were all beginning to melt.

I grabbed Liu the Blind Man, who was about to step forward to check, and said urgently, "Hold your breath, let's go!"

However, it was still too late.

Liu the Blind turned around, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, and threw a punch at me.

I dodged his punch, and Liu Hong, sensing something was wrong, stepped forward to stop me.

Liu the Blind Man, however, seemed to have gone mad, wildly swinging his fists, making it difficult for anyone to get close to him for a time.

I had no other choice, so I endured two punches from him and managed to pin his arms down.

Taking advantage of the situation, Liu Hong struck him on the neck with a palm strike, knocking him unconscious.

The two men carried the blind man and hurriedly climbed two more floors before daring to breathe freely.

A faint, exotic fragrance wafted into my nostrils. After a moment of dizziness, I looked again and found myself back in the lowest level of the tomb!
The enormous magnetic coffin remained open. I walked up to it with trepidation, and when I saw the corpse inside, I instantly broke down.

The corpse was still in a dying struggle, covered in blood, but its face was still recognizable.

This is no Consort Li, she's clearly a preserved egg!

I wanted to cry, but I couldn't cry, and I couldn't even make any expression. I just stared numbly at the egg's face, which was contorted with pain.

"Whatever you see is an illusion!" Eunuch Sun's voice suddenly rang in my ears.

I was jolted awake, and my mind went blank for a moment. When I came to, the coffin and the corpse were gone. Instead, I found myself in a narrow space that looked like a chimney, climbing up a ladder riveted to the iron walls.

In his mind's eye, Lü Xin muttered, "Why did you wake up? It would have been better if you had just stayed half-asleep."

Liang Kaiyuan let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Thank God it was just an illusion, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to live."

"Hurry up and lend a hand!" Liu Hong called out from below.

Without thinking twice, I quickly turned around and took the still unconscious Blind Liu from his back.

After gritting my teeth and climbing for a while, I finally reached a small, damp cabin.

Liu Hong pointed to a spot where water was clearly leaking, and said breathlessly:
"The door...the door! This is how we got in!"

I put Liu the Blind Man down and went over to check. It was indeed a hidden door with a flip panel, but although it was leaking, I couldn't open it with my bare hands.

To make matters worse, at that moment, the last glow stick went out!

In the darkness, Liu Hong asked, "How is it? Still can't open it?"

I hesitated, but there was no light, and it would be pointless to talk to him.

Perhaps because we were at a high altitude, we could clearly feel the ship rocking and rising.

I first groped my way to Blind Liu, then to Liu Hong, grabbed his hand, and wrote in his palm:

The door is on the central axis, and the water pressure is too high, so it can't be opened now.

Liu Hong said, "Then let's wait a little longer. Once the boat surfaces, it will be able to open naturally."

I gestured and asked him if he had seen anything just now.

He said no, and asked me what happened earlier. He called me several times, but I ignored him.

I smiled bitterly.

Those large palace maids were all medical terracotta figures! They were just coated with a layer of wax. As the ship rose and its momentum changed, the special wax shell began to melt upon contact with the outside air.

Blind Liu was right; the smell emanating from the medicine figurine could indeed bewitch people's minds.

Even though I held my breath, the faint smell right in front of my nose still made me hallucinate.

What's even more frightening is that Liang Kaiyuan said he was also bewitched and returned to the main burial chamber, but in his eyes, the coffin contained not preserved egg, but Li Meizhi. Apart from the ghost eunuch Sun Li, of my three consciousnesses, only Lü Xin remained unaffected and guided my body upwards.

Fortunately, he only inhaled a very small amount of the odor; otherwise, he might have been usurped by Lü Xin!
I couldn't help but feel a little strange. After being possessed by Eunuch Sun, I learned the secret of the medicine figurine, but because of the loss of the imperial remains, I forgot to remind the two Lius beforehand.

By the time I remembered to tell Er Liu to hold their breath, it was too late.

Blind Liu was too close to the medicine figurine and was the most severely affected.

I fell for it myself. Even if Liu Hong reacted quickly, how could he not feel anything at all?
Communicating with Liu Hong was too much trouble, so I only voiced this question to Lü Xin, Liang Kaiyuan, and Eunuch Sun in my mind.

Lu Xin said sarcastically, "Didn't you hear anything?"

I paused for a moment, and then I remembered that when the outer shell of the medicine figurine melted, I did hear a 'rustling' sound, like the wind blowing through a lawn.

Liang Kaiyuan said, "I think I heard a strange sound, it felt like...like many seeds sprouting at the same time."

Lu Xin chuckled: "That's right. Not only does the smell emitted by the medicinal figurine bewitch people, but the sound it makes when it comes into contact with air and sprouts can also bewitch people's minds. Moreover, the effect is more intense and more subtle, making it harder for people to guard against. Liu Hong is deaf, which is why he was not affected."

I suddenly realized that I couldn't quite articulate my opinion on the mysterious medicine figurine either.

For the dead, a grave is like a home.

The role of the medicine figurine seems to be similar to that of a guard dog.

This analogy might not be the most appropriate, but if we hadn't trespassed into someone else's "home," how could we have gotten caught in the trap?

A sudden burst of light, followed by a stream of water, jolted me from my reverie.

Upon closer inspection, the previously locked flip-top door was now open.

Liu the Blind Man woke up as the water flowed through him.

The three of them emerged from the door one after another and saw that one-fifth of the steel ship tomb had already surfaced.

On the riverbank, Yan Fengwei and the others all looked stunned and dumbfounded.

Back on shore, as I dressed, I hurriedly said:
"Don't ask any questions, just get out of here!"

Upon seeing An Xin, I froze for a moment, then blurted out, "Yueying!"

An Xin was taken aback: "What Yueying? Why has your voice changed?"

I quickly covered my mouth.

The one who called out the name 'Yueying' was not me, but the eunuch Sun who was still attached to me!
I only told An Xin and the others not to ask too many questions for now, as the remains of the Emperor's spirit no longer exist, and the ship grave is still rising.

The government officials on Yugu Mountain ahead have likely already discovered the situation.

Even though we haven't broken the law, it's still troublesome if someone bumps into us.

Back in Yugu Town, the group went straight to a restaurant and booked a private room.

I took a teacup from my waist bag that I had used when I went into the water and handed it to Yan Fengwei.

That was given to me by Blind Liu; it was originally meant for me to perform autopsies.

I casually stuffed it into my fanny pack, but unfortunately, in the chaos, the edge chipped and broke.

Yan Fengwei's eyes lit up: "Official kiln! From the Ming Dynasty!"

I chuckled dryly and said, "Here, a little gift for you."

Yan Fengwei's appreciation of antiques is instinctive, but he also knew that I was in a low mood. He only glanced at it a couple more times before putting the teacup on the table.

He asked Liu Hong, "You said there's still a set of imperial remains in Nanning?"

Liu Hong nodded slightly: "I only found out through someone that there is a tomb of forty-two wives there. It is said that the tomb owner also died in childbirth. Whether there are imperial remains... I can't be sure."

(End of this chapter)