Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“That looks like a Zombie, similar to the ‘Swordsman of Ning Province’,” Meng Qi blurted out as he thought of it.
He had previously blurted out the incident concerning Yangxia and Maoling.
“Are you sure?” Jiang Zhiwei asked subconsciously. “Could it be that the Life-changing Sect and Zombies have spawned from some ancient enshrouded procedures?”
Though the Sword Washing Pavilion didn’t belong to Taoism, it had still been imparted from one of the Jietian Seven Skills of the Sword. One of the skills, the “Supreme Methods of the Sword” had been closely related to Taoism. That was why Jiang Zhiwei didn’t directly ask whether the Life-changing Sect was a part of Zhenwu Great Emperor’s orthodoxy. Besides, the emperor was probably not the only one who understood such ancient enshrouded procedures.
Seeing their confusion, Meng Qi nodded and said, “I’m not sure either. The next time I see it, I’ll use the ‘Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth’ and test it out.”
“We’ll protect you,” Jiang Zhiwei added confidently.
Since Meng Qi couldn’t be sure if they were in fact Zombies, his supernatural power might not be effective. If he were alone, he wouldn’t risk using the skill unless there was no other way. However, he had Jiang Zhiwei, Qi Zhengyan, and Ruan Yushu with him. Even if there were any countercharges, he wouldn’t get into too much trouble.
Qi Zhengyan heaved a sigh. “I can’t believe your power can be so marvelous and invoke such a deep level of memory.”
Who would have thought that a mysterious, borderline Exterior mental skill could be so useful and powerful?
Even if the skill had no other effect, it was worth the Karma points for this purpose alone!
Meng Qi smiled with satisfaction at the comments. “Senior Brother Qi, do you want to give it a try? Who knows if you’ll find out that you’re my actual cousin or something after invoking your deep memories. It could also revive your missing memories from the Samsara. Maybe we were cousins in your past life? Are you sure you’re not tempted to give it a go?”
Qi Zhengyan twitched and looked in the other direction, tightening his grip on his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword.
Ruan Yushu observed the surroundings and casually said, “Haven’t you always been worried about Ananda? You should test it out after cultivating it.”
“Since I’ve lost some of my memories about the Samsara, I have to rely on other destined ones. I’ve already bothered many other Samsara compatriots, and tried to stimulate my own memories and enter the Samsara again through invoking their memories,” a grief-stricken Meng Qi said. But it was hard to come across such destined people.
Jiang Zhiwei suddenly spoke after falling into deep thought, “Something doesn’t add up. The Zombie from before demonstrated the unique outward display of the interior and looked like someone of the exterior level. But its performance wasn’t up to par, not even close to Half-step Exterior. It had neither deterrence nor strength. It could only ignite Yin fire and was vastly different from the Swordsman of Ning Province.”
“That’s right. Don’t forget parts of his body are decomposed,” Meng Qi said, suddenly recalling the details. He was doubting his own judgment too.
At that moment, Jiang Zhiwei found that something remained in the hole on the ground. She picked it up with her sword and saw that it was a jade pendant engraved with inscriptions.
It was contaminated by Yin Qi, explaining why there were gray-white patches on it.
“This is an old piece.” The Ruan family was an old family renowned for their zither-playing ability, so naturally, Ruan Yushu was adept in appraising jade and other antiques.
Meng Qi was able to read the writing on the pendant as it was similar to their current writing, but he felt a bit dubious about it.
“Sun Village, Huang Gang.”
He couldn’t help thinking that it was quite the name…
The rest exchanged glances. No one knew where Sun Village, Huang Gang was. So they had to put the jade pendant away and check elsewhere.
“There’s writing inside the coffin too,” Qi Zhengyan said after the discovery.
Meng Qi and the others surrounded the coffin and found writing on both sides of the coffin. On the right was some small writing, mostly sanded off. Only a few words were discernible to them.
“Day… truth…” Ruan Yushu whisperedread out.
Jiang Zhiwei pondered for a bit before saying, “It should be the instructions for some skill.”
Meng Qi turned his attention to the other side of the coffin, engraved with a line of poor handwriting. It wasn’t dissimilar to the writing on the jade pendant.
“This place is full of ghosts! Don’t touch anything!”
Each character was twisted as if the writer’s hand had been so weak that it trembled and he had to use every ounce of strength to carve the words. It was so clear that Meng Qi felt a chill run down his spine.
Judging from the writing, it ought to be the Zombie they had encountered earlier who wrote it. What could frighten an expert of the Exterior capable of linking the heavens to the point that he saw ghosts?
“Whatever it was, the thing was lying in the coffin when it carved the words with its fingernails,” said Jiang Zhiwei after a close inspection.
Ruan Yushu explained even further, “Each character is different and the levels of decomposition are different to that of the coffin. This means that the writing was carved at different times and stages, spanning over a hundred years.”
“Spanning a hundred years…” These thoughts formed an image in Meng Qi’s mind. A Zombie that was locked up in a coffin by evil ghosts temporarily regained its consciousness every 10 years or longer. It then carved writing whether through instinct or persistence.
From the writing, he could tell that the Zombie was only conscious for a short while, perhaps long enough to only carve one character or even a few strokes. Over a hundred years later, it had finally managed to leave a warning for the future generations.
This scenario gave him a chill just by thinking about it.
“Netherworld Reishi Mushroom,” Ruan Yushu said after seeing the Space Ring. Her cold voice sounded deep and mysterious.
Meng Qi snorted. “Don’t be afraid. This is going to the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms in exchange for Karma points anyway. I dare those ‘evil ghosts’ to try and drag the Dominator into the tomb!”
With the Buddha’s Lamp and Heaven Inflicted Pain on him, it was difficult for anything Yin to imbue his body anyway.
Everyone present had many life experiences and had even entered the Holy Mountain. So they weren’t easily terrified, not even by evil ghosts.
Suddenly, Meng Qi slapped the back of his right hand. “I’ve figured out why that Zombie couldn’t even exert the strength of a Half-step Exterior Scenery despite already reaching the Exterior level!”
Before the rest could ask, he continued, “He’s a Zombie but not a dead one, where he’ll become stronger the longer he’s dead. He’s still in the process of dying and his body is still decomposing.”
“He still has such formidable strength after a few hundred years. I can only imagine what his strength is like when he’s at the height of his powers.”
“That’s right. The Swordsman of Ning Province has only ‘passed’ for a dozen years or so,” Jiang Zhiwei replied in agreement.
After a few rounds of discussions, the four of them continued to move forward while sticking to their formation.
They came across a course way after passing through the tomb. The walls were bare and stripped of paintings.
It became darker as they walked, the light from before had totally disappeared. Darkness clouded Meng Qi’s eyes and he was forced to rely only on his Eye Acupores, barely making out the way.
Qi Zhengyan reached for a match and lit it up, but a gust of the Yin wind blew it out.
After several attempts, Meng Qi and the others tried many ways to block the wind but the flame continued to be snuffed out no matter what methods they tried. In the end, they couldn’t even ignite the match!
“Be careful,” Meng Qi warned. The electric light from the “Heaven Inflicted Pain” surrounded him and lit up the path at the same time.
The thunder snake slithered up and down, making the path in front bright one moment and dark the next.
Recalling the map in his head, Meng Qi said, “There’s an even larger tomb ahead.”
They saw the end of the course way as he spoke. There was a closed stone door with ancient writing on it.
“The dwelling of the dead,” Jiang Zhiwei read. Her grip on the Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow was as steady as ever.
Ruan Yushu pursed her lips. It was clear that she was somewhat afraid, being a young girl and all.
With the “Heaven Inflicted Pain” across his chest, Meng Qi pushed open the stone door with his hand.
A heaving grinding sound pierced their ears and a silvery white light shone from within the tomb.
Meng Qi spotted a grand tomb after they entered the stone door. It resembled more like a palace, but above their heads was a water screen that flowed rapidly from an unknown source rather than a ceiling.
In the middle stood a peculiar jade stone, glistening like the moon. It made the water screen look even more dazzling as if it had come out of some storybook.
There was a tiny writing engraved on the jade stone, but only a few of the characters were large enough to be read.
“The Yin-Yang Demon-rinsing Skill,” read out Jiang Zhiwei, who was alongside Meng Qi, also seeing the jade tablet.
“This seems to be one of the skills that Zhenwu Great Emperor left behind.” Considering the emperor’s nickname of the “Devil-Rinsing Grandmaster”, this was the explanation that Meng Qi came up with.
It might not be the best skill but it was left behind by Zhenwu Great Emperor! Even his average kung fu should be at least of the Exterior level!
Ruan Yushu calmly said, “I’ve not seen it in the records.”
“Maybe it was so ancient that it was lost throughout the centuries,” Qi Zhengyan said, speculating.
Though it was a mere speculation, Meng Qi thought that Qi Zhengyan’s words made sense.
The four of them headed straight for the carved jade stone.
The stone glistened, making the whole tomb seem like it was a palace standing on the moon.
Behind them, a ray of “moonlight” suddenly twisted. The light transformed into a human figure with messy hair and claws that aimed straight at Qi Zhengyan.
The attacker’s hands were pale with long fingernails with all the moonlight concentrated on them, bringing a sense of chill.
Frigid Crystals formed before the claws. The cold wind blew and snowflakes drifted in the air. Not only did it affect their vision, it also seemed to freeze their spirits and cut open their bodies.
The moment the “moonlight shadow” attacked, Meng Qi’s Buddha Lamp flickered. That allowed him to automatically slice the shadow with his blade.
He wielded his blade as quickly as thunder, reaching the claws as soon as he noticed its presence.
Clang!
Thunderclap erupted and shattered the Frigid Crystal. Qi Zhengyan’s dragon-like sword struck the attacker at its mid-brows.
Jiang Zhiwei took a step forward to guard Ruan Yushu. Her sword yielded a warm breeze to counter the cold.
Ruan Yushu played the “rebirth exoneration incantation” tune on her zither. It sounded like a mixture of Zen and Taoist chanting.
The “moonlight shadow” was half human and half Zombie. The skin on its neck was still under decomposition, so his strength was at about the Half-step Exterior Scenery level.
After hearing the sound of the zither, he stopped short of making another sudden attack.
Meng Qi’s aura changed as he seized this opportunity. He seemed to have integrated with heaven and earth, giving off a sense of peculiar appeal and the feeling of looking down upon the Samsara from a vantage point.
The scene of a vast but calm sea appeared on his mind just as the dark mist permeated the surroundings, shrouding the golden light and everything around them.
Meng Qi tried his best to revive his fragmented memories.
The golden light was like turbulent waves in the sea, bouncing up and down to shake off the dark mist.
Suddenly, the dark mist turned into a human figure that wore black robes and a crown. His face was sullen with deep eyes to match as he stared at Meng Qi sideways.
That one look was enough to make Meng Qi feel as if his head was exploding. He screamed in pain as blood spilled from his nose and ears. He was no longer able to sense his soul with his mind!
“Zhenwu Great Emperor?”
