Chapter 888 - 105: Cemetery

Chapter 888: Chapter 105: Cemetery

Gan Jiu and Shi Dazhu immediately broke into smiles. "Alright, then we’ll go back first to carry water and chop wood. Master Xin, do as you please."

Shi Dazhu held his pole horizontally, filling four big buckets and carrying another four in his hands. Gan Jiu had a mountain of firewood on his back. The two of them vanished into the cave.

Li Xin looked at the green mountains and clear waters, the surrounding ranges enclosing the place. This really was a fine spot. The small wooden hut had basic living necessities inside; it didn’t look hastily put together. Judging from the wood, it should have been here a long time, and had always been in use.

Only, to say those two had absolutely no other thoughts in mind—he still didn’t quite believe it. The Spiritual Energy here was wonderfully comfortable, on par with the mountaintop, maybe even better, and standing within it, it was very easy to slip into a state of Flow.

Li Xin tossed the dice: There is no danger in this place.

The dice gave a valid judgment: 7 points.

This meant the place wasn’t completely without danger, but nothing fatal, or rather it required some kind of trigger condition. Overall, the result leaned positive. Of course, to be thorough, and in case Idiot Zhu and Fatty Nine tried anything, Li Xin still used the Bell to summon the Immortal.

It wasn’t long before the Immortal arrived, still woodenly staring at Li Xin, showing no interest in anything around. Li Xin took out the chessboard and set it on the stone table outside. "I wrote a chess manual. Study it on your own first. I’ll cultivate. Once I’m done, we’ll play."

The Immortal’s soul fire flared a few times; he solemnly reached out with both hands, took the chess manual, and began to flip through it.

Li Xin had written down some Chinese chess openings—Heaven-and-Earth Cannon, Iron Door Bolt, Hanging Knight, Fishing Horse, Big Blade Gouges the Heart, and so on—anyway, just to give the Immortal something to kill time with. In his impression, Immortals were especially tolerant of loneliness. Back when he was training in the Secret Castle, most Immortals were like blocks of wood, motionless. The Immortal at his side was already considered extremely lively. Those other Immortals’ soul fire showed no ripples at all, as if nothing in the world interested them.

Returning to the wooden hut, Li Xin checked it over once, then sat on the bed. He took out the Golden Dragon Zen Bead and the Spirit Stone, made full preparations, and entered a meditative state, introspecting his own meridians, circulating the Martial Heart Technique’s Grand Circulation.

The Grand Circulation’s effect absolutely crushed the Small Circulation by far too much. The Golden Dragon Zen Bead was truly extraordinary. When he was circulating and guiding power through his meridians, the Golden Dragon Zen Bead could release a mind-focusing, Qi-gathering effect, preventing his mind from scattering and going astray, and it could also provide a bit of the Spirit Stone’s effect. It really was a Treasure for cultivation. With the abundant Spiritual Energy around, it was of great benefit. No wonder Cultivation Sects were so particular about location—sometimes a small difference in place would lead to a huge difference in results.

...

Longjing White Lake lay on the outskirts of Dragon Capital’s suburbs. Along the lakeshore, dikes enclosed stretches of polders, which, thanks to Hex-Tech, specially grew fresh vegetables and fruits year-round for the nobles of Dragon Capital.

On the dike of one such polder, Qi Badao was leading a squad of Night Patrol to investigate. Someone was digging in the field to take soil samples. A Life Master, face all scrunched up, pocketed a Silver Lira from Qi Badao and muttered, "The Evil God is still a god, you know. Let me say this up front: I can only divine the fortune or misfortune of this particular job of ours. What the hell is going on these days? One thing after another popping up—I’m aging a dozen years here." Though his mouth complained, his hands never stopped working the Life Master’s Divination Technique.

Two others, holding expensive Hex Telescopes, were scanning the skies in all directions. The Night Patrol’s gear had been upgraded; in the past, this kind of thing was something they wouldn’t even dare dream of.

Very soon, they carefully stowed the telescopes away and reported with solemn faces, "Brother Dao, it matches the report—didn’t see a single bird." Human eyes could miss things; with the addition of Hex Technology, the new telescopes absolutely wouldn’t.

White Lake sat in a low-lying area, vast wetlands hosting large flocks of birds. Not long ago, the bird population had suffered near-extinction levels of mass death. The matter wasn’t exactly big or small. No one had been hurt; strictly speaking, it didn’t really count as a case. But since it involved the dining tables of important people, the incident still ended up reported to the Night Patrol.

The Night Patrol side was actually a bit annoyed. Since the Night God’s revival, all sorts of Pseudo-Gods had been emerging in endless succession—they were already too busy to handle it all. Yet even this kind of trivial crap could get sent directly to the Shadow Owl side, and it was even marked as a top-priority rush case from above.

Though the Night Patrol was independent, in reality it was just one department within the Li Long system. If they offended every side and angle, they wouldn’t survive.

And matters like this were not something Meng Po or Dragon Ridge would care about. Cases of this sort basically ended up in Qi Badao’s hands—he was particularly good at handling these relationships.

Three figures walked back up onto the dike from the polder. One of them was wearing the Celestial Principle Sect’s Two-Star Scholar’s Robe, the atmosphere solemn. "The soil shows severe corruptive pollution—clearly an Old Era method. The taint of Sacrifice has already spread here. It will be even worse inside. The birds’ deaths were just collateral." Qi Badao’s brows knit tightly. Everyone was looking at him. He was the team leader on this operation. They had thought they were just coming to check things over, put the higher-ups at ease, give them a report, and that would be that. They hadn’t expected to actually find something.

"Ahem. Let’s wait for the Life Master’s result first."

Qi Badao said in a low voice. He still wasn’t very used to giving orders within Black Spade 3, mainly because of who the team members were—every one of them had better background, credentials, and strength than him. They were true prodigies. He always felt his past life as a gang member wasn’t presentable on such a stage.

A moment later, the Life Master’s whole body started shuddering, as if he’d paid an enormous price. Everyone tacitly pretended not to see it. This shuddering act was his old trick for fishing for credit. At first everyone had genuinely been concerned. Later, once they realized it was fake, they’d made him treat them to several late-night feasts to vent their ire.

Knowing was one thing; the Life Master still went through the motions as usual. After a few heavy coughs—to firmly lock in the merit he was due—he finally spoke. "Cough, cough... This mission carries misfortune within fortune. The target is to the southeast. Anything more, I don’t know. If I divine any further, I’m not sure the rest of my lifespan can hold out."

Misfortune within fortune—that result wasn’t too bad. Everyone’s taut expressions relaxed somewhat.

The Shadow Owl Team traded jokes with one another, but their eyes kept drifting, intentionally or otherwise, toward the two members of Black Spade 3, flashing toothy grins at them from time to time. These two had been transferred in from elsewhere and were truly aloof. Still, Night Patrol across the land was one big family. Their aloofness was only because they weren’t familiar yet. Now that they’d come to the Longjing Night Patrol, warming up was only a matter of time.

Before long, the Shadow Owl scout they’d sent out returned, looking very grave. "Captain, we’ve found something. It’s an underground tomb. I didn’t dare enter without authorization, but the tracks outside are a mess. There are signs of a large-scale Sacrifice to an Evil God."

Everyone turned their eyes to Qi Badao in unison, waiting for his command. This was a great achievement dropped into their laps, and their lineup this time was very strong.

Qi Badao clenched his fists. Just coasting through the days was miserable too—Heaven was finally starting to look kindly on him. He hesitated no longer and looked to the two members of Black Spade 3. "Tai Yang, Qu Fu, you two will be the vanguard with me." Then he turned to the Two-star Grandmaster and cupped his fists. "I must trouble Grand Scholar for his blessing."

The Grand Scholar smiled and waved his hand, saying nothing. Destroying a Cult contributed Wish Power to the Celestial Principle Sect’s cultivation, not to mention he also had Little Martial Uncle Xueyin’s instructions. Normally, Night Patrol operations wouldn’t have a Two-star Grandmaster tagging along.

Arriving at the tomb entrance, the Grand Scholar looked at the passage that had been forcibly dug open and frowned deeply. Dragon Capital was a millennium-old imperial city; there were many ancient tombs in its surroundings. The Council had already issued a strict ban on excavations, but tomb robbers remained impossible to eradicate.

At first he’d thought it was just an ordinary tomb, at most a bit larger. But after a few turns, the space suddenly opened up. The exterior was a fake tomb; only the inside was real. The warding restrictions, however, had already been broken.

"This layout is not that of a common noble’s tomb. It should be the underground royal tomb of some Prince from the Old Era, at least several hundred years old. Everyone be careful—there will be no shortage of labyrinths and mechanisms, and possibly even Old Era Hidden Power."

Who would have thought these lunatics could actually find a Prince’s underground royal tomb in the middle of a marshy wetland? They went down several hundred meters; the deeper they went, the more shaken everyone felt. The grand scale of Old Era tombs was beyond imagination, especially the size and height of this passageway. It didn’t look built for normal humans, but for giants over a dozen meters tall.

The smell of blood grew stronger and stronger—fresh blood. They exchanged glances and communicated with hand signals. Everyone tightened the equipment on their bodies, making sure nothing would make a sound. The dampness in the air was also very heavy now, and they could already hear strange noises drifting from the depths of the necropolis. Under Qi Badao’s command, they quickly passed through the chillingly vast underground corridor. The original Burial Chamber had now been converted into an Evil God altar.

They lifted their eyes and, in an instant, everyone’s face changed dramatically, pupils contracting violently. The Evil God altar was constructed from stacks of burial chamber mummies, layer upon layer of shriveled limbs and torsos, twisted into a grotesque arrangement. At the center of the altar lay a woman with a huge belly, bound in place. Even lying flat, her massively swollen pregnant abdomen jutted up frighteningly high. As her belly swelled once, everyone’s vision went black for a heartbeat, as if they had seen something. In that instant, a violent wave of Evil God pollution surged toward them—madness, panic, crashing down on their minds like a mountain.