As Mi Li’s voice lowered, sobbing noises suddenly emerged all around them, as if something were crying.
Zu An’s expression changed. He quickly rushed over to the window to look outside. He saw overgrown weeds everywhere, and the wind was blowing so hard their giant leaves were swaying violently. Some of the wooden planks covering the dilapidated windows were rattling with noise.
“Ah Zu, I feel a bit cold.” Bi Linglong’s face was a bit too white. She subconsciously grabbed his hand. Her hand was ice-cold.
Zu An consoled her, “Don’t worry, it should just be the wind. This temple’s construction is pretty special too, with holes everywhere, so there’s bound to be such ghost whimpering voices when there’s wind.” Bi Linglong voiced her agreement, leaning against him and falling silent.
Zu An said to Mi Li, “Master empress, this doesn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t the creator of this place be the Qin Emperor? With how arrogant and dominant his personality is, how could he possibly create a statue for Xu Fu, let alone let him inscribe those characters? Don’t tell me that it was Xu Fu who made this temple?”
Mi Li frowned. “You’re right, it wouldn’t be too likely for Ying Zheng to make a statue like this for someone else. As for Xu Fu… This place has been the resting place of successive generations of Qin Emperors, so how could he possibly have a chance to build something here?”
“What you’re saying makes sense.” Zu An nodded. “But that only makes it even stranger. Since there is no way it can be the Qin Emperor, nor was it Xu Fu who made this place, then who in the world was it?” The two of them began to think to themselves.
Bi Linglong suddenly cried out in fright. “No!”
Zu An jumped in fright. He then noticed that Bi Linglong had actually fallen asleep while leaning against him. She was probably just too tired. She had suffered such a severe loss of ki, and her mind had always been tense all this time.
Zu An didn’t wake her up and let her sleep soundly. He carried her over to a rock and sat down, gently patting her to comfort her. Her body trembled from time to time, as she seemingly had an unknown nightmare.
He was about to continue his discussion with Mi Li when Bi Linglong suddenly spoke again. “It hurts…” It wasn’t her usual proud and competent tone, but rather a weak and helpless one.
Zu An called out to her a few times, but she didn’t show any signs of waking up. He could only gently press his palm against her back and send a warm flow of ki into her, nourishing her body that way. He hoped the warmth could help ease her nightmares.
But soon afterward, Bi Linglong suddenly exclaimed while sobbing, “It hurts! Please be gentler, Ah Zu…”
Zu An was speechless. Mi Li also turned around when she heard those words. She said with a smirk, “That woman is dreaming that you’re doing something to her.”
Before Zu An could reply, Bi Linglong slowly opened her eyes. When she first looked at Zu An, her expression was blank, then tears seemed about to come out of her beautiful eyes. She continued to twist around in Zu An’s arms. Her fair white hands gently caressed Zu An’s face, and then continued down. They passed along his neck, then his chest…
“Is this woman in heat?” Mi Li harrumphed. She turned around and appeared to be focusing on this temple’s strangeness. She wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to their random drama.
Zu An felt his throat go dry from the shocking feeling in his arms. He quickly shifted his attention and asked, “You’re awake?”
Bi Linglong voiced her agreement. Her voice was incredibly tender. “You did all that to me in my dreams. You have the nerve to ask me that right now?”
Zu An was speechless. What the hell do your dreams have to do with me?!
He had to admit that women were natural seductresses. Even someone who was always earnest like Bi Linglong had ended up being so powerful when she tempted him. Those large, misty eyes, her incredibly soft and wonderful body, her gentle voice… Every single part served as a deadly invitation.
Zu An had just tempered his body three times over with the Primordial Origin Sutra, so his yang energy was already at its peak. He immediately became hard when he was tempted that way.
When she felt his suffocating pressure, Bi Linglong blushed. She said softly, “Ah Zu, I’ve already thought things through. The emperor wants us dead. We might be able to get away for now, but we’ll be caught eventually. Rather than running in fright day and night without rest just to eventually die, we should instead choose to seize happiness every day.”
Zu An gulped with difficulty. “What are you trying to say?”
Bi Linglong looked at him with her beautiful eyes, and Zu An felt as if his soul had been gripped. She continued, “Do you think I don’t know what you’ve been thinking? You even used me to anger him on purpose earlier. Those words were your real thoughts too, right?”
Being exposed made Zu An unable to help but feel embarrassed. Bi Linglong’s moist red lips moved closer. “Even though we can’t beat him, we can get revenge, right?”
…
Meanwhile, in the desert, Zhao Ruizhi sneezed. Then, he looked upward and asked, “He Li, do you see a hint of green up there?”
Their group had continued into the desert while fighting against the evil black scorpion spirits, and they had accidentally fallen into a quicksand whirlpool.
With Zhao Ruizhi’s cultivation, he obviously wouldn’t be caught by some trifling sand. However, while King Qi Manor’s soldiers were struggling, they ended up exposing some city walls in the sand. That made him realize there were ancient city remains buried under the sand.
The endless sand had finally become a bit different. He had a feeling that this place had what he needed. He thus brought everyone into the underground city’s remains.
However, they encountered trouble as soon as they entered. A sea of flames rushed out when the scouts opened the city gates. Fortunately, Zhao Ruizhi quickly extinguished the flames, but the two scouts had already been burned to ashes.
Afterward, the survivors raised their vigilance to a hundred and twenty percent.
They encountered all sorts of traps and mechanisms in the ruins afterward. However, these people had been well trained soldiers to begin with. Together with Zhao Ruizhi overseeing things, they were able to pass by more frightened than hurt.
Their group ultimately entered a spacious hall and found some things, but those things were useless to Zhao Ruizhi. When he realized they had failed to find any clues related to immortality, he became vexed. He raised his head and saw some green above him. For some reason, he suddenly felt a wave of annoyance.
Even though He Li said he didn’t see any green, Zhao Ruizhi still didn’t feel relieved. As such, he sent out a palm strike above him. It blasted a shining green stone slab to pieces, and sand rushed into the room. The group quickly moved out of the way.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted, “Come quick, there’s a stele here!”
Zhao Ruizhi also noticed that a massive stele had fallen together with the quicksand. His figure flickered, and he appeared right next to the stele. The quicksand falling above him was blocked by a wave of invisible ki. He gave He Li a look, saying, “Go plug up that hole.” The entire palace could be flooded by sand if nothing were done about it.
He Li sulked. You were the one who made that hole, but you want me to fix it. Why am I so unlucky… But he didn’t dare voice any complaints and quickly flew up, pressing his back against the hole. He grabbed the sides of the ceiling with his arms, using his body to block the quicksand.
Endless sand poured down. The tremendous pressure was difficult to withstand even for a peak stage ninth rank cultivator like him. He could only hope that the emperor would finish up quickly, then bring everyone out of here.
Zhao Ruizhi looked at the stele in front of him. He didn’t recognize its material. It was entirely green in color. Many of the characters on it were already illegible, and only a few sentences were left.
The characters were extremely strange. However, Zhao Ruizhi was incredibly well-studied. He had seen similar characters from some ancient records. He slowly read to himself, “Above chaos rests dark clouds; the Heavenly Gate opens wide. The great sun returns to the Golden Palace; the Southern Star moves around the Alioth. The Imperial Canopy lies in purple; elegant music enters Zheng. Those who understand shall receive eternal life…”
“Eternal life!” His breathing quickly became hurried when he read the last two words.