Chapter 386: I Laugh Because You Are All About to Die

‘With my current strength, the only thing that could affect me like this would have to be one of the twelve Heirloom Magical Artifacts.’

‘Good thing it’s only palm-sized. If it were as big as the Ancient Bell outside Panxiang Temple, it’d be a real pain to get it out of here…’

Fu Juemin casually tossed the Ancient Bell into his shadow, placing it alongside the Exorcism Saber.

With the Bodhi Golden Body Formula and an Heirloom Magical Artifact both in hand, everything had gone so smoothly that even he was a little surprised.

‘My luck seems to be getting better and better…’

Fu Juemin thought as he turned around casually.

He scanned the secret chamber again, finding it completely empty except for the portrait of Emperor Qianming he had just destroyed and the Heirloom Magical Artifact, the Small Bell.

In the bare secret chamber, only the murals carved on the surrounding walls and the ceiling remained.

Some of these murals were accompanied by small inscriptions, seemingly describing the life of Emperor Qianming.

This was the last emperor of a fallen dynasty, a man who had first practiced Martial Arts before turning to “Cultivation,” became obsessed with the Alchemy Dao, neglected the court, and personally brought ruin to his entire empire. In the end, it was unknown whether he had simply vanished and died or had truly achieved “Ascension by Raising the Clouds.”

Fu Juemin was still quite curious about him.

With nothing better to do, he walked down the stone steps from the platform, examining the murals on both sides as he went.

……..

“COUGH COUGH…”

“It stinks to high heaven!”

“BLEGH~~”

Inside the long, narrow, and winding passage, Wei Jie’s party advanced slowly, holding torches aloft.

Their journey had not been smooth. Although the traps along the way had all been disarmed, the passage was flooded with sewage, teeming with venomous creatures, and filled with an unbearable stench.

This caused unspeakable misery for the pampered Nine Banner Youth, most of whom had come with the casual attitude of a spring outing. If they didn’t know countless rare treasures awaited them in the tomb ahead, many would have likely given up and turned back already.

“We are now in the Dragon Intestine Dao, a place where all the foul qi of Lu Mountain’s earth veins converges. It’s naturally going to be a bit filthy and smelly. But its advantage is that it’s safe and stable…”

Wei Jie covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief scented with Fragrant Powder and Antitoxic Powder, coldly rebuking the accompanying Nine Banner Prodigals. “If you can’t even endure this little bit of hardship, you’re unworthy of being called descendants of the Nine Banners. Hmph!”

The crowd of Nine Banner Youth could only shut their mouths and endure it.

Finally, a shout came from up ahead: “We’re here!”

The miserable crowd was instantly overjoyed. Ignoring Wei Jie’s words, they all ran toward the light in front of them.

Upon exiting the Dragon Intestine Dao, a scene of shimmering gold and jade met their eyes.

Before them were walls of agarwood and steps of suet jade.

Across a small, flat plaza stood dozens of exquisitely crafted White Jade Bridges, with water trickling beneath them.

However, the water was murky, black, and unbearably foul.

The Mausoleum of Emperor Wu could not have been like this when it was first built. Its current state could only be because the dragon vein was severed and the National Fortune had dissipated.

The Nine Banner Youth held their noses and quickly crossed the White Jade Bridge, immediately arriving at an Imperial Garden.

But unlike an ordinary Imperial Garden, the rockeries here were made of coral, the trees were carved from jade, and they were hung with nothing but pearls, agate, ivory, amber, and crystal.

What a divinely crafted and exquisitely beautiful sight it was.

The Nine Banner Prodigals were dazzled. As they walked through, they randomly plucked whatever they found pleasing from the trees and stuffed it into their sleeves.

Even though they only took one item from each plant, by the time they passed through the Imperial Garden, everyone’s robes, sleeves, and pockets were stuffed full of priceless ivory and gemstones.

And as soon as they walked out of the garden, they were once again stunned by the sight before them, gasping in astonishment.

Before them lay long alleyways.

There was a Gold Lane, piled high with Gold: gold bars, gold cakes, gold nuggets, gold leaf… and gold ingots stacked into walls. Picking one up at random, one could see inscriptions like “The Third Year of Qianming · Gold Fifty Taels” and “The Fifth Year of Qianming · Gold One Hundred Taels,” marking the reign year and weight.

There was a Silver Lane, with silver ingots, silver bars, silver cakes, and silver nuggets… more numerous than the gold, resembling chunks of frozen moonlight under the glow of Luminous Pearls.

Next was the Jade Lane, containing Jade Discs, Jade Congs, Jade Guis, Jade Zhangs, Jade Pendants, and Jade Tigers—the Six Ritual Jades were all present. There were also massive quantities of Jade Pendants, Jade Rings, jade hairpins, and Jade Ruyi scepters.

Then there was a Porcelain Lane, a Copper Lane, and Yaxiang…

The number of treasures the group had seen in the Imperial Garden they just passed through was already hard to imagine.

Yet all the treasures of the Imperial Garden combined were likely just the tip of the iceberg compared to these many treasure-filled lanes.

Even though they were all Nobles from the Nine Banners who had seen the world, they couldn’t help but be deeply shaken by the extravagance of the Last Emperor of the fallen dynasty.

Then, an unprecedented sense of immense pride and shared glory welled up within them!

“This world, in the end, belongs to us Manchus!”

Someone, overcome with excitement, couldn’t help but raise their arm and shout.

Faced with this sea of wealth, the entire group fell into a strange state of euphoria.

Only a few managed to remain calm, and Wei Jie was, arguably, one of them.

“What damn good is this mundane junk! Have you forgotten why we’re here?”

Wei Jie snorted coldly and continued walking deeper into the mausoleum without stopping, leading his men.

He knew very well where the true treasures of the Mausoleum of Emperor Wu were located, and he knew exactly what the Wangqi Elders wanted him to bring back.

‘The Elixirs and Pill Formulas left by Emperor Qianming! And the Heirloom Magical Artifacts!’

A sharp glint flashed in Wei Jie’s eyes.

‘Those are what I’m looking for!’

After the initial excitement and shock, the Nine Banner Youth gradually sobered up, realizing that they couldn’t carry much even if they were allowed to take whatever they wanted, and that they could always come back for these things later.

The group followed Wei Jie onward, passing through one grand hall after another until they soon arrived at a series of high platforms filled with weapons.

The Nine Banner Prodigals acted as if they had found interesting toys. They rushed forward, each picking out an impressive and beautiful set of armor and weapons from the racks to wear. They then pretended to fight amongst themselves, laughing and having a great time.

After passing through the Hidden Soldier Hall…

“Someone has been here!”

Elder Deer Horn, who hadn’t spoken a single word since entering the mausoleum, stared at the dust and debris scattered around the central platform of the Martial Arts Hall. A flicker passed through his indifferent, almost inhuman eyes as he spoke flatly, his face expressionless.

Hearing this, Wei Jie’s expression immediately darkened.

“Quick, go take a look!”

The accompanying Martial Tributors shot out like arrows, darting toward the deeper parts of the mausoleum.

Before long, the sound of fists and feet breaking the air in a fight came from ahead.

Wei Jie’s eyes narrowed. He led the group to catch up quickly. By the time they reached the final Pill Hall, they saw a tall, imposing figure with numerous twisted black tentacles sprouting from its body. The figure was being pinned to the ground by two Heart Intent Martial Tributors—who had also awakened their Spirits—one on each side.

Scattered around this figure were various Demon Skin Pill Formulas that had been shaken out during a search, along with boxes of all sizes containing Elixirs.

Wei Jie’s expression was grim. He walked forward, casually picked up a Pill Formula and a Pill Box from the floor to glance at them, then looked at Hong Huan pinned on the ground and sneered, “You’re like a mouse that fell into the rice jar, helping yourself to quite a few goodies. Helu must have lost his mind, not only telling you outsiders about a secret entrance even the Royal Banner didn’t know about but also willing to use a Ghost Dragon Beard on a piece of trash like you…”

Wei Jie leaned down, his handsome face suddenly turning savage. He snarled, “Speak! Where is your master?!”

Faced with Wei Jie’s interrogation, Hong Huan kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

Wei Jie’s gaze turned cold. He gave his men on either side a look, his face devoid of emotion.

The next second—

“CRACK! RIIIP—”

A Martial Tributor from the Purple Banner exerted his strength and ripped one of Hong Huan’s arms clean off!

Blood splattered across the stone platform. The excruciating pain of the severed arm caused Hong Huan’s face to instantly contort and twist.

But instead of begging for mercy, he let out a wheezing laugh.

Wei Jie spoke coldly, “What are you laughing at?”

Covered in sweat, Hong Huan struggled to lift his neck. He looked at Wei Jie before him, forcing a laugh through the pain as he spoke, “I’m laughing because unless you leave right now, take the fastest horse, ride the fastest carriage, and run nonstop all the way back to Yingjing. And then find some place to curl up into a ball. Otherwise…”

Hong Huan’s gaze swept over Wei Jie and every single person behind him.

A broad grin spread across his face as he enunciated each word, “When my Spirit Lord returns… Every single one of you…”

“Will… die!”

After uttering the final word, “die,” Hong Huan opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of bloody foam viciously onto the ground.

Then he began to laugh maniacally again, like a madman.

Everyone stared at him blankly. An eerie silence inexplicably fell over the scene.

After a moment, Wei Jie slowly stood up.

“Everyone, collect the Pill Formulas and Elixirs…”

Wei Jie’s face was unreadable as he spoke in a placid tone, “Also, continue to make him suffer. Whatever you do, don’t let him die so easily…”

With that, Wei Jie turned and walked away without giving Hong Huan another glance.

The people in the hall scattered, each getting busy with their tasks.

With his hands clasped behind his back and a cold expression, Elder Deer Horn watched as Hong Huan was tortured.

Suddenly, as if a thought had occurred to him, he glanced up toward the ceiling.