PFC Chapter 143 Night Raid on the Imperial Tomb
Chapter 143 Night Raid on the Imperial Tomb
The imperial mausoleum is located within a majestic mountain, surrounded by towering peaks.
At the entrance to the mausoleum stood tall stone statues, carved with civil and military officials, as well as Qilin and Xuanwu. Upon approaching, the two were blocked by a huge rock.
The boulder is not an irregular stone, but rather a perfectly square and solid piece, cast and fixed from an unknown metal.
Xie Jin reached out and tried to push the boulder, but it didn't budge. "The boulder seals the tomb, and the underground palace is located inside the mountain. It seems that Emperor Jingyuan put a lot of effort into finding a place for his final resting place."
Meng Fuqing was observing whether the removal of the boulder would affect the underground palace and the entire mountain.
"Fly up to the boulder and take a look," she ordered Xie Jin as if it were second nature.
Xie Jin understood, nimbly climbed onto the boulder, glanced at it, and then landed lightly, saying, "It's not connected to the mountain."
He had barely finished speaking when he saw Meng Fuqing reach out and gently touch the boulder in front of him, and it vanished without a trace. All that remained was a slightly sunken ground and a long, dark, and winding path.
Even knowing beforehand and witnessing this scene firsthand, Xie Jin still felt it was unreal.
Realizing what was happening, he looked at Meng Fuqing beside him, his brow furrowing slightly, "Will it harm your body?"
Meng Fuqing was taken aback, then quickly shook his head and blurted out, "I have a lot of large rocks in my space, which I use to take out when people are not paying attention and smash them into mincemeat. Meng Linlang did not tell you about the use of the space?"
She wanted to know how much Xie Jin knew about the Spirit Spring Space.
"Thank you for showing mercy to me, Miss Meng." Xie Jin smiled. "To be honest, all I know is that the Spirit Spring Space is an invisible and intangible room containing spirit spring water, and only the owner can use it. I know nothing else about it."
Hearing this, Meng Fuqing felt somewhat relieved.
Stone beasts and stone figures were neatly arranged on both sides of the sacred path in front of the two. As soon as the boulder disappeared, the white wolf let out a threatening growl at the sacred path.
Due to the lack of ventilation for a long time, an indescribable odor wafted from inside the Shinto. To prevent the air from stagnating, the two stood outside and waited for a while.
A moment later, Xie Jin lit the torches he had brought, and Meng Fuqing picked up a small stone and threw it into the middle of the sacred path. After confirming that there were no traps, the two of them stepped down the steps.
The sacred path is built on both sides with huge stones, which are solid and heavy enough to withstand the erosion of two or three hundred years.
The map marked a mechanism in the Shinto path, but the conditions for triggering it were unknown. The two had to watch their step carefully. After walking for a while, they suddenly heard a 'click' sound. They stopped at the same time and looked at each other, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
As if struck by a thought, they all looked behind them.
The white wolf, with its tongue lolling out, looked at the two people who had suddenly stopped moving in front of it with a silly expression, tilting its head as if it were very puzzled.
The next moment, the two of them suddenly lost their footing and fell. As they fell, Xie Jin dropped the torch, grabbed the ground with one hand, and pulled Meng Fuqing into his arms with the other.
Meng Fuqing, who could have also climbed onto the top of the trap: ...
She withdrew her hand expressionlessly, looked down, and saw that the bottom of the trap was covered with sharp spikes that gleamed coldly.
In the four corners stood four fierce-looking stone statues, which were constantly shooting arrows from their mouths.
"Can we go up?" she asked Xie Jin.
Xie Jin's mask was knocked off, but even in this critical moment, he remained calm and composed. Thinking about what he was about to do, he smiled and said, "Yes, hold me tight."
As Meng Fuqing reached out to wrap his arms around Xie Jin's neck, he suddenly grabbed the arm that was supporting their weight.
All I heard was Xie Jin let out a muffled groan.
Without hesitation, she used the momentum to climb to the edge of the trap and nimbly made her way up.
"Do you need my help?" she asked, standing on the edge of the trap with a half-smile.
Xie Jin exerted force with his arm and leaped out of the trap. "No need for Miss Meng to worry."
The two then discovered that they were with the white wolf on one side, facing the underground palace across a trap.
Meng Fuqing took out a torch from his spatial storage, lit it with Xie Jin's tinderbox, and used the firelight to examine the ground. They finally confirmed that it was not the white wolf that had triggered the mechanism.
“Perhaps it’s the weight,” Meng Fuqing said.
Xie Jin nodded. "Exceeding the weight limit will trigger the mechanism. It seems that a lot of thought has been put into setting up the mechanism."
This means that even if the map marks where there are mechanisms, if they don't know the trigger conditions, the road ahead is still not entirely unobstructed.
Then he realized that if he wanted to get there, he would have to make two trips to bring Meng Fuqing and the white wolf with him.
Xie Jin glanced at the white wolf whining beside Meng Fuqing, his expression indescribable.
"Could we leave it here?" he asked Meng Fuqing.
“No.” Meng Fuqing refused decisively. “I brought it here precisely because I was worried it would run away.”
He loves hugging people, so giving an animal to hug him wouldn't be so bad.
Therefore, Xie Jin had no choice but to make two trips back and forth to bring the man and the wolf to the other side.
Having had their fill of Xie Jin's impatient, cold face, the two humans and the wolf continued walking forward.
Soon a magnificent mausoleum appeared before them, with upturned eaves, carved beams and painted rafters. Even in the dim firelight, the exquisite craftsmanship of the artisans was still evident.
Knowing that entering the main burial chamber would not be easy, the two did not go directly into the underground palace, but instead took out the weapons they were carrying.
Xie Jin used his personal sword, while Meng Fuqing used her dagger.
Xie Jin glanced at the dagger in Meng Fuqing's hand and said, "You follow behind me. Keep an eye on it."
It naturally refers to the white wolf.
He knew Meng Fuqing wasn't the type to obediently hide behind him, so he could only try to find something for her to do. Otherwise, he really wouldn't feel at ease relying solely on that small dagger.
Meng Fuqing's decision not to bring her broadsword meant that she originally didn't intend to take action, lest Xie Jin discover any more of her secrets.
She replied without ceremony, "Thank you for your hard work, young master."
After speaking, the two followed the map and pressed the switch on the wall. The heavy stone door opened with a rumbling sound. They waited for a while before entering the mausoleum one after the other.
The walls inside the mausoleum are painted with exquisite murals, most of which are related to the emperor's life, myths and legends, or celestial phenomena.
The originally brightly colored murals faded slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye the moment the tomb door was opened.
In the center of the tomb chamber was the emperor's coffin, surrounded by various burial objects, including gold and silver utensils, jade artifacts, and pottery figurines.
But both of them knew very well that this was not the real main burial chamber.
The map shows that the real main burial chamber is located below the false burial chamber, and the entrance is located below the coffin.
For some reason, Meng Fuqing felt that the standing terracotta figures were somewhat eerie, perhaps because they were sculpted too lifelike.
She noticed that the white wolf was sniffing carefully in front of a terracotta figurine, as if it had smelled something, and it even let out a "woof" at Meng Fuqing.
Immediately afterwards, Meng Fuqing saw Xie Jin walk up to the white wolf, grab it by the scruff of its neck, and drag it away from the terracotta figurine.
"Don't let it get close to the terracotta figurine. If it breaks, you'll find either a human corpse or a gushing pearl inside."