Chapter 56

Luo Binghe withstood it completely without making a single sound.

"…" Honestly speaking, Shen Qingqiu didn't think that he would actually hit him. But that didn't stop him from punching him extremely hard as if he was slamming all the suppressed anger from these past few days with it. Suddenly, the System beeped and announced:

Shen Qingqiu: "…"

Luo Binghe truly… fully deserved to be called a masochist! If he wasn't being abused, he wasn't happy. Hitting him one time actually gave 500 cool points, and the System's announcement even changed into flashy, youthful emoticons. It also used a tilde (~) for the first time ever. In all his years of living, he had never seen something so bizarre, especially since this bizarre thing was raised by him!

Shen Qingqiu was just lamenting over the failed results of his teaching method when Luo Binghe stopped playing along with him. With a push of his right hand, Shen Qingqiu accidentally released a burst of spiritual energy that he was suppressing in his palm, and the ceiling shook as he smashed a uniformly shaped dent into it. The dust pattered down, and Luo Binghe covered him with his body, both of his hands grabbing onto Shen Qingqiu's outer robe. He easily ripped it and laughed loudly. "Go ahead and hit me, in any case, I won't die! This disciple will gladly endure Shizun's teachings!"

His smile seemed to conceal a trace of faint misery. Shen Qingqiu even forgot about his clothes being ripped as his heart twinged, and he couldn't help but stop moving. But Luo Binghe didn't give him any more time to consider tender affection; instead, he suddenly ripped apart Shen Qingqiu's inner robe with one hand before he groped his waist, skin against skin.

Shen Qingqiu melted for a moment on the spot, before he immediately knocked Luo Binghe on the head with the hilt of his sword. He scolded, "You animal!"

Luo Binghe said with resignation, "In any case, I'm not even as good as an animal in Shizun's eyes, so I might as well act like one."

Shen Qingqiu was so angry that he wanted to laugh, but his vision blurred abruptly, and his body tilted as the Xiu Ya sword clattered onto the ground.

A kind of pulling force so strong that it felt as if his entire soul was about to be dragged out of his body attacked him. He could only stiffen his body, and Luo Binghe also stopped moving, somewhat bewildered. In the blink of an eye, Shen Qingqiu's head was already hurting so much that it felt like it was about to explode.

Countless fragments of scenes flashed swiftly before his eyes. Sometimes it was a white expanse of blank space, sometimes it was pitch black darkness, and sometimes he seemed to see indistinct human figures. There was a sharp ringing that painfully pierced his eardrums.

Luo Binghe couldn't afford to be wary any longer and hastily sat up before reaching out a hand to hold him down. Unexpectedly, he couldn't restrain Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu hugged his head as he rolled around on the floor, struggling, feeling as if there was a pair of huge hands roughly dragging his soul and mind out of his body.

There was something screaming, and as it shrieked, it felt like hands were reaching out at him from all directions, tearing at his soul.

Luo Binghe said in a panic, "Shizun, I… I was only trying to scare you just then. Don't take it seriously! What's wrong?"

Shen Qingqiu's body thrashed and flipped around in his arms. Luo Binghe half-held him as he quickly used his spiritual energy to sweep through the inside of Shen Qingqiu's body. There were clearly no abnormalities, but the sound of Shen Qingqiu's screaming was indescribably mournful and terrifying, as if burning red brand had been shoved deep inside his brain. Luo Binghe used every method he knew, but still, nothing worked.

As Shen Qingqiu's pulse grew weaker and weaker, Luo Binghe started to shake slightly before his trembling grew stronger and stronger. Finally, he couldn't prop himself up any longer, and he half-kneeled and half-fell onto his knees.

He roared, "Everyone! Everyone get in here!"

Shen Qingqiu suddenly opened his eyes.

Everything was pitch-black.

His heart was thumping wildly, and his eardrums seemed to be throbbing in time with it. In order to see whether or not it was just too dark, or whether he had gone blind, Shen Qingqiu really did reach out his hand.

He hadn't extended it fully yet before his fingers bumped into a solid barrier. Shen Qingqiu slowly started to fumble around.

After feeling about for a while, he had a guess in mind. He was currently inside something narrow, as if he was placed inside a long stone box. He patted the stone wall lightly, and it was ice cold, the texture fine and smooth; he estimated that it was made of something like marble. The walls didn't feel thick, and they should be about four inches wide, he found after using his spiritual energy to probe around.

He fumbled around for a bit before he held his breath and suddenly used force. His spiritual energy spiked, and he slammed a palm with a bang against the middle of the stone lid. He hit it three times in a row before the darkness fell apart, along with the enormous sound of stone crumbling.

Large amounts of fresh oxygen poured in, and Shen Qingqiu sat up abruptly, forcefully sucking in a few breaths. Only then did he discover that it wasn't actually that fresh and felt more like the air hadn't circulated underground for many years. Furthermore, it was extremely thin. When he lowered his head to take another look, he saw that he was actually lying inside of a coffin.

This long, stone box was unexpectedly a delicately carved stone coffin, its entire body glistening white like jade.

He pushed down lightly against the edge of the coffin and leaped out. When he looked around, he saw that he was currently standing in a weakly lit stone room. The coffin, which had its lid blown off, was lying on the altar in the middle of the room. Dusty objects were piled irregularly in the corners; there was everything from weapons and gems to scrolls, bottles, and jars. The cold light of swords and spears, along with the luster of gems and jewels, glimmered faintly beneath a layer of thick dust. After looking around in a circle, he saw that the walls were covered with paintings of demons dancing wildly, encircling him heavily in all directions.

The demon race's Holy Mausoleum. Shen Qingqiu arrived at this conclusion.

He hadn't digested this information yet when he unconsciously lowered his head and was hit by another piece of news.

His body was no longer the corporeal body molded from the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed. This was Shen Qingqiu's original body!

The Holy Mausoleum had a way to call back those from the dead; this truly wasn't something said to deceive others. Judging from the circumstances, it seemed like someone had smuggled Shen Qingqiu's corpse into the Holy Mausoleum before activating the soul recall array. It had dragged him completely out of his new body and back into this one.

The Holy Mausoleum was the demon race's forbidden area, and it was also the place where the past supreme rulers rested peacefully after death. If one didn't reach this high of a position, they would die upon entering. But when Shen Qingqiu was sent in, he was a dead person, and his soul had repossessed his body afterward. He slipped in through a loophole, which gave him this chance to sightsee.

Shen Qingqiu tested out his spiritual energy, and it flowed smoothly and easily. Luo Binghe said that he spent five years restoring this body's meridian system, which had actually been the truth. As for the toxicity of "Without A Cure," he didn't feel like his spiritual energy was sluggish for the time being, but he didn't know if the poison had been dissolved or not.

Once a soul occupied and was removed from the corporeal body molded from the Dew Flower Seed, it would swiftly wither and necrotize. He didn't know what kind of expression Luo Binghe had right now while facing that withered, wilted body of his…

His train of thought didn't wander very far before the System issued information with a 'trill':

【Please note:You have now entered the high level instance "Holy Mausoleum." The "Plot Hole Filling" mission has already been assigned. Please attack it eagerly and take initiative of your own accord.】

Shen Qingqiu made an 'oh' noise and continued to squat on the ground.

The System: 【Please attack it eagerly and take initiative of your own accord.】

Shen Qingqiu didn't move. The System: 【Warning: Please att…】

Shen Qingqiu: "I get it, I get it! I'm going!"

Shen Qingqiu felt his balls hurt incessantly1 as he walked outside of the tomb room. As he walked, he recalled the original version of the Holy Mausoleum. The houses in the Demon Realm were sheltered underground, but the Mausoleum was built above ground. In short, its customs were the complete opposite of the Human Realm's. Not only were there many traps inside the Mausoleum, but it was also treacherous and full of countless demonic creatures that guarded the tombs, hidden in the darkness.

If it weren't for the System's evil voice passing through his mind, he would have to be dragged before he would run out into the tomb passageway and wander around blindly!

The tomb passageway was overwhelmingly dark, but Shen Qingqiu didn't make a snap of fire. He held his breath and walked forward in absolute silence.

Not long after, the sound of rough, prolonged breathing emerged next to his ear.

It could be called breathing, but in reality, it was more like someone's dying gasps. Shen Qingqiu stood firmly.

Didn't they come much too fast?

A thin and weak figure slowly appeared from the darkness. It was closely followed by a second and third figure, floating closer very sluggishly like wandering souls.

These figures swayed with each step they took, and they walked nearer and nearer. Shen Qingqiu's expression didn't change as he slanted his body and adjusted the frequency of his breathing to the absolute slowest it could go.

This was the lowest-level demonic creature, and one of the guards most likely met in the Mausoleum: the Blind Corpse.

The Blind Corpse's name had the word "blind" in it, but it wasn't actually lacking any eyes. In fact, it had several more pairs than other monsters, grotesquely squeezed onto its face. Those with trypophobia would definitely detest it.

However, even though it had many eyes, they were essentially useless. Most of the time, the Blind Corpse's eyes were pointless, and it roamed about the Holy Mausoleum patrolling all day, its efficiency unusually low. Its eyes were both numerous and large, but they degenerated to a terrible state. However, its ability to perceive light was very strong, and even if the light was merely a weak reflection, it could quickly seize it.

Once it caught something, it would unexpectedly change and instinctively attack the origin of the light ferociously. When that time came, it no longer moved at this speed where it wandered slowly through the tomb passageways in a line. This kind of monster wasn't scary on its own; what was scary was what often appeared with it.

As Shen Qingqiu thought, a Blind Corpse stumbled closer, and he slipped to the side. Unexpectedly, a faint flame ignited in the darkness.

This flame was dark green and grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the tomb passageway into a bright green. Those Blind Corpses, which were about to brush past him, all abruptly turned their heads. Each and every face was embedded with four or five pairs of enormous, bloodshot eyeballs as they stared straight at Shen Qingqiu, who was in close proximity.

Last Breath Candle!

Shen Qingqiu was extremely fast, and in the next second, he had flashed to the end of the passageway. But no matter where he dodged, a stretch of faint green light would ignite with him so that there was no way to hide his figure. He was fast, but the Blind Corpses that had been provoked by the light were even faster!

Shen Qingqiu sent several Blind Corpses that had thrown themselves over flying. The Last Breath Candles used a living person's breaths as fuel, and as long as something or someone alive went near it, it would light up by itself. It sounded like a toy that could be used to avoid the swindlers and cheaters that roamed about the streets, but when it was paired with the Blind Corpses, the results were simply unimaginably savage. Just imagine: if an intruder slipped inside the Holy Mausoleum, no matter where he went, he would still have to breathe. When he breathed, the Last Breath Candle would ignite, unable to be extinguished or pinched out. The Last Breath Candle array could be set up in any corner of the Holy Mausoleum. A large horde of Blind Corpses would all throw themselves over, and only when the intruder died would the candle flame gradually dim. Last breath, last breath, the Last Breath Candle was really a great name for it!

For example, right now, more and more light-sensitive Blind Corpses had arrived, and they had already stuffed the entire tomb passageway full!

Shen Qingqiu rushed out of the tomb passageway and scrambled inside of a room. It was very spacious and imposing, and there was a coffin sitting in the middle of it. He vaulted up to it and tried to lift the lid, but it didn't move. He then hit it, which created a heavy noise, but it still didn't budge a single inch. The material this coffin was made of was actually much more solid than the one that he was just lying in. Shen Qingqiu thought, Could there be someone inside? He knocked against the lid of the coffin. "May I borrow this to hide in temporarily?"

He was originally just blurting something out, but unexpectedly, after he knocked twice, a voice actually responded from inside.

The voice was clearly coming from inside the coffin, but it was as crisp as if it was right next to his ears, not muffled in the slightest. It seemed to carry the hint of a laugh. "Please help yourself."

Holy ****. A real reanimated corpse!!!

Shen Qingqiu was terrified. With a sweep of his leg, he swept off several Blind Corpses that threw themselves onto the stone coffin. He leaped off of the stone coffin with two steps before sending several explosive attacks towards the ceiling. Crushed rock crumbled down. Shen Qingqiu saw that it was softening as he hit it, so he continued to attack it furiously. It would be best if he could make the ceiling collapse so he could take advantage of the chaos to run away, burying all the Blind Corpses and the reanimated corpse underneath the rubble. But amidst the melee, the sound of dark hissing suddenly came from outside of the mausoleum hall.