The ghost tomb belongs to the first leader of the Ling Sect, Yan Budu.
Yan Budu was born into the wealthy Yan family. As the youngest son of the Yan family, he lived a luxurious and licentious life since he was a child. He was extremely intelligent and once brought the Yan family to the top, and was known as a genius.
He considers himself to be an immortal. When he was seventeen, he stopped doing business and founded the Mausoleum Sect with a huge sum of money. He collected rare treasures from all over the world and built a mausoleum for himself. He once said that if he becomes an immortal, his tomb will be left empty, and if he dies, he will die in the most luxurious mausoleum.
Ten years later, the ghost tomb was completed. Due to the massacre of too many craftsmen, the Ling sect was jointly crusaded by the martial arts sects.
Yan Budu is indeed a rare genius that can only be seen in a century. He led the Ling Sect to resist stubbornly for two full years, and suffered countless souls under the sword, but he managed to survive. As a result, just as Lingjiao recovered his breath, he disappeared.
Yan Budu would not disappear quietly. One year later, everyone in the mausoleum sect believed that the ghost tomb had been sealed, and Yan Budu was secretly buried by his confidants.
The legend of Ghost Tomb has been passed down for hundreds of years since then.
... When the Central Plains was turned into a mess by Yan Budu, Yin Ci was searching for clues about the "immortal" on the border, but he missed a big show. A few years later, he changed his name to Su Zhi and led Chi Goujiao to search for ghost tombs. It's just that the opportunity didn't come and I couldn't find it.
At the beginning, the idea of looking at flesh was not so mysterious, so Yin Ci was too lazy to force it. Anyway, if he leaves it alone for a hundred years, his descendants will help him find it—
Now, people are gathering at the entrance of the ghost tomb, and no one wants to take the first step. In the end, the monks from Jianchen Temple took the lead. They lit lanterns, and the dim flames dispersed the dark shadows.
What appeared in front of me was not a tomb, but the entrance to the street.
As everyone stepped in, the will-o'-the-wisp lanterns were lit again, making the whole street brightly lit. The ground was paved with smooth bluestone tiles, and there were no bloody footprints, not even much dust.
There are lights, shadows, and traffic. Fragrant clothes and shadows are everywhere, and every house is brightly lit. The long street stretches as far as the eye can see, giving it a lively scene like a market.
I don’t know what was painted on the top of the tomb. It was so dark that there was no reflection, making it difficult to grasp the distance. Decorated with fine luminous pearls, it simulates a sky full of stars, and the moon glows with jade color, which is shockingly realistic. The shops on both sides are not much different from the rest of the world. The bricks and stones are all made of real materials, but the people passing by on the street and the various stalls selling goods are all made of paper, giving them a ghostly look.
At this moment, a heartbreaking crunching sound sounded.
The steel support at the door was crushed by the tomb gatekeepers. The two thick stone doors closed on their own, sealing everyone in the tomb. The incident happened suddenly. A few people who had been standing at the door unable to move now rolled and crawled out of the tomb door, almost being squeezed into a pulp.
Just for a moment, a shrill scream came from outside the tomb door, and then there was silence again.
There is an endless street in front of you, and behind you is a bloody dead end. The smell of the trap suddenly became stronger, and everyone fell silent.
After a long while, Shi Jingzhi slowly raised the silver bell, and even Yin Ci shook it in cooperation.
"That door is probably made of monsters." Shen Zhu walked out from behind the paper man with a relaxed tone. "There must be monsters in the tomb passage... We were brought here, maybe to hunt for treasure or to feed the monsters."
She took two steps forward, and the shadow of the lantern circled around the paper figure. The paper man's expression seemed to be moving, and the atmosphere became increasingly weird.
"Don't panic, everyone. The Jinyu Gang and other factions are waiting outside. If the tomb door can be opened the first time, it can be opened the second time. Even if it cannot be opened, I will send you enough food and water to survive for seven days. Within these seven days, We will definitely find a solution."
The "Senior Sister" of the Taiheng Sect stood up again, her voice still cold and sweet.
"Little girl, you are very good at talking. Our Chigou Divine Sect has not spoken yet." An old voice sounded.
"Wuxue Po." Shi Zhongyu, the senior sister of the Taiheng Sect, changed her expression and then saluted again. "I didn't expect the leader of the Chigou Sect to come in person. I'm rude to you."
Wu Xuepo laughed sharply: "How could I miss such a big tomb? I can't guarantee anything else. There must be a way out."
One good and one evil sang in harmony, and everyone gradually calmed down.
"Indeed. The old leaders of Chigou Sect are all here. If we still can't get out, no one in the world can save us." Shi Jingzhi muttered to Yin Ci.
Yin Ci's attention was not on this matter. He looked at the paper man next to him: "Master, the paper man's hair seems to be human hair."
Shi Jingzhi: "..."
Shi Jingzhi: "A good disciple, I don't want to know as a teacher."
Yin Ci: "Okay Master. Speaking of which, I'm a little concerned... Legend has it that thousands of craftsmen were sealed alive in ghost tombs. Why are there not even a single corpse? Where did they go?"
Shi Jingzhi was about to cry but had no tears: "Aci, do you hate me?"
Yin Ci suppressed a happy smile and shook his head sincerely.
"I see that the Underworld Street is divided into two branches. It's better to divide the troops into two groups and reunite here in three days." Wuxue Po spoke again, her voice hoarse. "The number of one hundred people in each group is just right. Any more will make it difficult to move, and any less will easily lead to disaster."
The Jinyu Gang hid one hundred and eight jade beads. After you fought for them, a total of twelve sects and thirty-nine lone rangers were qualified. Counting those from the Kushan sect who could not meet the upper quota, less than 300 people were buried in the grave. The Underworld Street was filled with paper figures, with more than 200 people crammed into a pile, making it really inconvenient to move around.
After Wu Xue Po said this, she directly took out a small clay pot without listening to other people's opinions: "For the sake of fairness, young people, please give me your hands."
The Chigou Sect acts both righteously and evilly, and is also a tomb-robber sect, so no one rushes to find fault. Representatives from each sect stepped forward and touched the pot.
The first one to touch was Shi Zhongyu of the Taiheng faction. She frowned and took out her hand. There was a white dot the size of a chess piece on the back of her hand. The person who came later took out his hand, and there were also dots floating on the back of his hand, either black or white.
Wu Xuepo smiled and said: "There is a Liangyi snake in the jar. With just one bite, you can distinguish the yin and yang of the essence. You also need to pay attention to the balance of yin and yang when going to the tomb, otherwise you will always attract some dirty things... This one has been detoxified. Yao She, don’t worry, boy over there, don’t you try?”
She glanced at Shi Jingzhi with her cloudy old eyes and grinned sneer.
Shi Jingzhi stood at attention instantly: "You are too polite. I made an agreement with the Taiheng faction earlier to go with them this time. Anyway, there are only two of us here. It doesn't make any difference whether we bite or not. As the saying goes, those who make big things don't stick to trivial details. You, boss." Don’t worry if there are a lot of people.”
Yin Ci was surprised to find that although his master was okay and coughed up blood, he still breathed quite a long time.
Wu Xuepo laughed strangely a few more times and looked away. She pointed around with her mummy-like fingers, matching black and white, and soon two groups of people were separated -
The Jianchen Temple and the Ling Sect were together, the Taiheng Sect and the Chigou Sect were together, and the rest followed the leaders on both sides. Only the people from Prince Rong's Mansion didn't decide the yin and yang, and Wuxue Po didn't force them, and waved them to join her own team.
"Aci, you were so lucky to have bumped into the Taiheng sect." Shi Jingzhi patted his chest. "Together with the Taiheng Sect, the Chigou Sect probably won't openly seek trouble..."
"Master Shi, why did you offend the Chigou Cult?" Jin Lan asked curiously.
"My jade beads were stolen from them... Oh, forget it, that old woman is staring at me again." Shi Jingzhi turned his head and pretended that Wu Xue Po didn't exist.
Yin Ci stopped teasing Shi Jingzhi, and he observed extremely carefully.
Yan Budu is a madman, and the setting in the tomb cannot be inferred by common sense. Although this is the first level, there may not be any clues related to immortality.
The Underworld Street divided into two branches, the left and right, and they took the left one. Looking up, there are still paper figures all over the street, a "lively" scene that makes people feel chilly.
This road resembles Hualiu Alley, with warm lights flickering in the lanterns, and the musty smell of powder filling your nostrils. The paper people, regardless of gender, are all dressed up in colorful clothes, with messy black hair, and their manners and movements are like living people.
There was no human sound everywhere, and the silence was suffocating.
"Let's find a house to clean up first so we can spend the night." Wu Xue Po pointed at the most luxurious brothel. "Let's just take that one. At least it's good enough to live in. There might be some treasures hidden there."
Yin Ci nodded secretly. No one knows where the way to the next level is, or when the tomb door will be opened. Find a stronghold first, so that people's hearts will not be too scattered.
It's just that this underworld street is really exquisite. The lights outside the brothel are brilliant, but the inside is not inferior at all. The paper dishes at the banquet were extremely lifelike, some were played and sang, some were scented and laughed at, but there was no similarity between them.
Being too close to the human world makes the chill a bit heavier.
"Don't touch things with your bare hands. If you want to touch them, you must freeze your fingers with Yin-cold internal force, without any body temperature. There are Yin fires underground, so be careful when placing ordinary fire sources..." After receiving Wu Xue Po's look, a few red hooks appeared The church members stood up and took command.
Shi Jingzhi exclaimed: "Chi Goujiao is quite generous, and he also knows how to help others first."
"It's either selling favors or raising cannon fodder." Yin Ci said casually, then naturally made up for it. "Grandpa said that there is nothing good in the Demon Cult."
"Aci, I've been wanting to ask for a long time, is your grandfather—"
Before Shi Jingzhi could finish the question, trouble arose again with the Changle Sect. Paper Man Street was so weird that one of the servants led by the leader of the Changle Sect collapsed - the boy was only seventeen or eighteen years old. He couldn't stand still and held on to the paper man next to him.
Wu Xuepo let out a long sigh: "Everyone, get away."
After saying that, she swung her cane and stuck it in front of several Taiheng disciples: "There is no need to go there. If there is no mechanism, he will be fine. If there is something fishy, it will be too late to save him now."
The young man's legs were so frightened that he sat there for a long time. Then he stood up holding on to the table and saw nothing strange. Just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, the paper man he touched suddenly moved.
It twisted stiffly and weirdly, and the sweet smile on its face became more obvious. The next moment, the paper girl opened her mouth slightly and spontaneously ignited without wind. The cyan flame licked the paper, releasing a cloud of milky mist.
The Chigou cultist's face turned pale: "The inner strength has turned cold, hurry up!"
The next moment, Yin Ci found himself being hugged by Shi Jingzhi, his head pressed into his arms. The cold true energy poured in from the limbs and bones, and soon disappeared. Even so, Shi Jingzhi still continued to deliver Qi continuously. Although the two of them were close to each other, they were as cold as ice.
"Aci, hold your breath." Shi Jingzhi gritted his teeth and said.
The rest of the people also turned to their inner strength, holding their breath and concentrating. The white smoke cloud bypassed them and went straight to the three servants of the Changle sect who had no martial arts skills.
Everything was like lightning, and the attendants inhaled the white smoke into their mouths and noses before they had time to react.
They only trembled for a moment, not even able to struggle a few times. Along with the rustling sound, small holes appeared on the skin of the three people, and then slowly closed. They were frozen in place, with the holes in their bodies expanding and shrinking one after another.
Shi Jingzhi seemed to have seen something, and his breathing suddenly became rapid. Yin Ci made a quick decision and reached out to cover Shi Jing's mouth and nose. The two of them stood close together without making a sound.
After a cup of tea, the rustling stopped and everything returned to silence.
Wu Xuepo let out a long breath and tapped her crutch on the floor. Only then did everyone resume breathing and move.
The head of the Changle Sect turned his head tremblingly and looked at the three servants. It didn't matter, the old man screamed, his feet slipped, and he almost made the same mistake as his servant.
"Interesting." Shen Zhu muttered in a low voice.
Taking a closer look, the three people were now smiling, their movements were naturally frozen in place, and their skin texture was no different from that of paper figures... Or rather, under the eyes of everyone, the three living people quickly turned into "paper figures".
Yin Ci recognized that thing.
A moment ago, the holes in the skin of the three people had not closed. They are constantly expanding, and at the same time they are repaired by "fabrics" of similar colors, giving the illusion that the holes are getting bigger and smaller.
The bones, internal organs, skin and flesh of the three people were all devoured by "that thing", leaving only a living false shell.
His five senses were very sensitive, and he probably noticed something strange just now. but…
Before Yin Ci could finish thinking, Shi Jingzhi lifted his chin. His cheap master forced his mouth open, stuffed a pill the size of a longan, and slapped him hard on the chest. Yin Ci couldn't resist in public, so he choked and almost burst into tears.
... It was a mistake. I was distracted for a moment and seemed to have forgotten to resume my breathing.