Ancient tomb excavation traces

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My mind went blank; I could only watch as the rain poured down like a silver river, stinging slightly as it hit my skin. Before us, layers of ghostly soldiers, their illusory forms shifting and dispersing under the rain, remained in a state of flux, unable to solidify. I carefully freed myself from the branch I was leaning against. Seeing the situation reverse, Bao Cai, emboldened, snatched the bronze mirror from my hand and, reflecting it onto the faces of the ghostly soldiers, angrily shouted, "You damned bastards, give me a spear!" The mirror reflected off the ghostly army, and smoke immediately billowed out.

Seeing this scene, I felt a little uncomfortable. I thought that Tang Xuanzang had been captured by a monster and was bound to die, but I didn't expect Sun Wukong to appear in time and bring his army of naval forces! Lan Quexi was also very confused. She took out the dust-repelling pearl, and the pearl, which was originally glowing, became dull and lifeless.

We were all stunned. The dust-repelling bead had failed; no wonder the rainwater could seep in through the mountain's eye! Everything had happened so perfectly, making us feel as if heaven had smiled upon us. Coming to our senses, we looked again at the elusive Princess Chu—she was nowhere to be seen. We looked around; now, apart from the struggling ghosts, Princess Chu was truly gone. In this dramatic turn of events, she had left us only with a long, clear laugh…

Thunder rumbled from afar, and it sounded like it was about to engulf our area.

Hearing the thunder, our ancestor looked around and finally pointed to our right, shouting urgently, "Thunder and lightning are coming soon! Everyone, move to the ends of the tree branches and climb onto the cave wall!"

As soon as I finished speaking, a thunderous roar, accompanied by an extremely bright light, struck the top of the Netherworld Tree like a silver dragon. The entire back chamber was deafening. My heart pounded, and I hurriedly followed the ancestors to retreat.

There were layers of stone curtains on the cave walls. As soon as we went up, the little Taoist priest was awakened by thunder. The ghost soldiers in the Netherworld Tree were trapped by the rain formation and could not escape.

The young Taoist priest watched this scene thoughtfully. He glanced at Princess Chu behind Chu Ba, then gave a bitter smile, as if he understood something, and said, "I never expected that Sima Yan, who had calculated all the secrets of heaven, would ultimately overlook Princess Chu, who truly understood the way of heaven..."

We were completely confused and hurriedly asked him what he meant.

He said, "The silk scroll mentioned by Miss Lan records the story of Princess Chu borrowing ghost soldiers for the King of Chu. In other words, the ghost soldiers have nothing to do with Sima Yan. Sima Yan only wanted to take advantage of the solar eclipse, when the yin energy condensed, to use Brother Feng and Miss Lan as his and Princess Chu's reborn bodies so that they could be resurrected."

I only vaguely understood what he was saying when Bao Cai interrupted, "Hey, I also found it strange before. If Sima Yan wanted to ascend to immortality, why summon a whole bunch of ghost soldiers? These are all things from below, running up to heaven, wouldn't that mean he'd be fighting the Jade Emperor? How could he possibly ascend to immortality like that? He might as well just be thrown into the eighteenth level of hell."

Chen Yi was listening intently when Bao Cai interrupted, so he quickly told him to shut up. The young Taoist continued, "Here are the Netherworld Tree and the Dust-Avoiding Pearl. I always thought the Netherworld Tree was planted by Sima Yan, but now I understand. The Yin Soldiers are what the King of Chu needs, so the Divine Tree must have been planted by the King of Chu to allow Mi Ling to summon the spirits of the dead. As for the Dust-Avoiding Pearl, its original function was to stabilize the wind and ward off dust, but because it has been immersed in Netherworld Water for many years, it has become tainted with evil energy and turned into an evil object, fueling resentment. If I'm not mistaken, the corpses of the Yin Soldiers under the tree were awakened because of the Dust-Avoiding Pearl, but the revival of their souls does not depend on it."

The old ancestor stroked his chin, his brow slightly furrowed, and said, "Now that you mention it, I'm reminded of what Luo Laosan once told me. He said that during the reign of a certain King of Chu, a solar eclipse occurred. At that time, the Chu army was fighting against a foreign enemy, and the Chu army was suffering repeated defeats. Just as darkness crept in during the day, a strange army appeared. They had long, disheveled hair, pale faces, and no expression. They made muffled noises, carrying a chilling killing intent. Their appearance shattered the enemy army. Later, I heard that most of the enemy soldiers who survived that year were mentally unstable..."

I got goosebumps listening to this and said, "Is it really true?! That's so creepy!"

"Let alone seeing ghost soldiers during battle and losing your mind, if these things floated over again, I'd lose my mind too!" Bao Cai complained, because of the ghost injury on his shoulder blade, he was trembling, and his condition was similar to mine.

The young Taoist priest said, "It should be true, the timing matches... Mi Ling was from Chu, capable of predicting celestial secrets, and was bestowed the title of goddess. Since so many soldiers perished with her, she naturally wanted to fulfill their dying wish to serve the country. She did everything she could for the nation and for her father... She had regrets after her death, and must have known that a solar eclipse would reappear when yin energy gathers, and that the ghostly soldiers would once again break through the mountains, causing an irreversible situation..."

Following the young Taoist's words, the ancestor continued, "Rainwater is water without roots, the purifying water of heaven and earth. It locks away the yin spirits, preventing them from going out to commit evil. And this heavenly thunder belongs to yang, which can destroy the yin soldier souls that Mi Ling summoned a hundred years ago!"

The young Taoist priest nodded: "Everything is preordained, and cause and effect are cyclical. Mi Ling foresaw everything that would happen today. But no matter how she tries to make amends, she can't change the fact that she hurt so many people. Now, the price she pays is a lifetime of wandering in the abyss of sin... I saw great pain in her eyes just now; I think it's because her soul can't find peace, and she's suffering internally." The young Taoist priest spoke quietly, his expression somewhat melancholy, as if he were talking about himself.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!

I was filled with suspicion when the old woman scolded me, "So you were awake all along. Why didn't you get down and walk by yourself? You've made me so tired..."

Just then, thunder rumbled in the sky. The yin energy in the back chamber mingled with the awe-inspiring righteous energy from above, a moment of yin and yang clashing. Suddenly, the yin spirits on the Netherworld Tree condensed into a ball, gradually forming a tornado shape. The faces of the yin soldiers were on the outermost layer, twisted and ferocious, resembling a giant wall of yin spirits. They howled, filled with resentment.

The Yin Spirit Wall coiled around the main trunk of the Netherworld Tree, slowly rotating upwards. Because the Yin energy was so thick, the Rootless Water couldn't disperse it in the slightest, making it seem as if the heavenly thunder and the earthly Yin were about to fight to the death.

I watched in horror, as if I were at the scene of a natural disaster. Words could not describe the magnificence of the scene. The hissing thunder transformed into countless silver dragons! The Netherworld Tree was violently impacted. In an instant, a huge sound wave enveloped the cries of thousands of ghosts. Even if we covered our ears, we could feel the blood surging in our brains and hearts, and we were in great pain.

Suddenly, a dried corpse fell from the sky, followed by two... three... Coffins fell one after another from the Netherworld Tree, and the corpses scattered. Some of them hit us right on the head. We hurriedly retreated along the stone curtain to the gaps where we could hide. However, the Insect Lord, who was also seeking refuge like us, happened to be hiding in these gaps. Suddenly, many more insects crawled on our bodies. We were truly heartbroken.

The mummified corpse was flung out by the rapidly circulating evil spirits and crashed into the crevice of the cave where we had hidden. Outside, chaos reigned, like the scene in the movie "2012," where the world was about to end and everything was suddenly changing.

All of this happened suddenly and violently. The Yin Spirit Wall spun larger and larger, lifting up the rotting corpses that were originally on the ground. Some fragile branches of the Yin Spirit Tree were not spared either, becoming deadly weapons. If we hadn't escaped quickly, we might have been caught in it, our internal organs twisted together.

Fearing that the branches stirred up outside might rush into the crevice and kill us while spinning rapidly, the ancestor shouted loudly, telling us to take off our sharkskin and use it to block the crevice. The crevice behind the stone curtain was actually a small hole, still easy to move around in. Bao Cai and I took off our sharkskins, and the three of us blocked the opening. In a short while, the Yin Spirit Wall, like a wicked dragon, completely broke through the Rootless Water. Terrified, we huddled together, finding a little comfort in the face of this great calamity.

Most of the trunk of the Netherworld Tree has been destroyed. Although we are not far from the mountain eye, we still need to climb up. Now, the road ahead is uncertain, and everyone is very worried.

The sound of something huge crashing down echoed from the sharkskin every now and then, a series of thuds that disturbed our senses. Seeing that we were having trouble dealing with it, Lan Quexi came over to help, pressing down on the corner of the leather.

At this moment, our situation was extremely difficult. The sky beyond the mountain's eye seemed about to collapse, with dark clouds pressing down, lightning flashing and thunder roaring, and streaks of fire glittering in the sky. I hoped its yang energy would subdue the ghostly soldiers, yet I was also afraid of this natural force. However, in their struggle, a victor must emerge. A bright, blinding bolt of lightning shot into the ghostly wall, and the sound that resounded through the sky in the back chamber startled everyone, causing them to loosen their grip. A broken branch flew in during this moment. My heart tightened, and the branch flew towards Chen Yu, who was sitting on the ground. I tried to grab it, but it was too late. Just then, the young Taoist priest's eyes sharpened. He used one foot to scoop up the dried corpse that had been thrown in, and then kicked it hard, causing the corpse's body to open up the branch.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Yi, realizing what had happened, yelled, "You bastard, do you even know how to guard the gate? You almost got your childhood friend into trouble!"

I gestured an apologetic gesture to him, then pressed down on the sharkskin again. The thick clouds above the mountain's eye had gathered in clusters, brewing an even more powerful attack. After all, the Yin Spirit Wall had accumulated hundreds of years of yin and evil energy; though the heavenly thunder was fierce, it couldn't harm it in a short time.

Just as I was thinking this, suddenly, several intense white lights flooded my vision, illuminating everything around me, even brighter than daytime. My eyes stung instantly, and I instinctively closed them. The blinding light had temporarily blinded us. Then came a deafening roar, like a violent explosion, which made my ears and nose burn, and blood seep from my seven orifices.

All the surrounding sounds were deafening and indistinct, but I could vaguely make out countless screams and the sound of something burning. My mind was buzzing. After finally regaining my composure, I saw my ancestor beside me looking utterly astonished. I followed his gaze, and outside the crevice, the Yin Spirit Wall that had been so violent, like a tornado, suddenly vanished. Scattered Yin soldiers were being stretched... stretched, until finally dissipating onto the scorching branches of the Netherworld Tree...

My heart skipped a beat—it was on fire! Fireballs dotted the branches, the Netherworld Tree was split in half, and it all ended so quickly… I silently stood up, but then I heard someone beneath the tree howling in anguish.

The ancestor put down the sharkskin and walked to the crevice. I followed him, and there, beneath the Netherworld Tree, on the roots torn up by the Yin Spirit Wall, was a dark figure kneeling. Around him were corpses, mangled and torn apart. He held his head in his hands, gazing at the sky in despair, his red eyes filled with resentment… At this moment, he probably couldn't believe that Heaven did not accept him.

The ancients often said, "Thunder and fire are Heaven's punishment for the wicked." Sima Yan committed many misdeeds in his lifetime, his hands stained with blood, so the underworld would not accept him. Now he has become this ethereal black body, forever trapped in his own delusions, unable to be reborn.

The young Taoist priest said that Sima Yan was exceptionally gifted and intelligent, but his excessive intelligence led to a situation where things went to extremes. The burial ground is where people rest in peace; he had killed too many people, and his resentment was too heavy, causing the feng shui of the place to become unbalanced. The dragon energy underwent a drastic change during the solar eclipse, ultimately resulting in a clash between yin and yang.

As he spoke, another bolt of lightning shot straight down from the split tree trunk, transforming into a silver dragon that hissed and climbed along the ground up to Sima Yan's dark body. In an instant, darkness mingled with white light, surging within Sima Yan's body. White light burst forth from his black form, and with a deafening roar, Sima Yan ultimately perished alongside the dragon… (To be continued.)

I like tomb raiding.