Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Grandpa, what happened?” Gao Peng asked as he put down his bowl and chopsticks.
With a serious look, Ji Hanwu glanced at Gao Peng, shook his head, and said, “You stay at home and wait until I come back.”
Then he put on his coat and left.
In a flash, he heard splashing sounds from the lake behind the villa, and the White Dragon took Ji Hanwu high up into the sky.
…
In the suburbs of the Ling Tong District, northeast of Chang’an City.
The tomb of the first emperor of Qin was located just near the Ling Tong district. After the Cataclysm, it hadn’t changed, so no one had paid attention to the place.
Just ten days before, the tomb of the first emperor of Qin had encountered a change. The stars had appeared while it was still daytime, and infinite bright lights had descended from the sky.
By night, starlights had dropped from the sky like drops of dense blood and plasma.
Chang’an City had witnessed the oddities occurring at the tomb since the first day, and they had immediately sent elites to investigate.
Then, they had found out that within ten miles of the tomb of Emperor Qin, there were no traces of birds, beasts, and monsters to be found.
The municipal government of Chang’an City made a prompt decision and withdrew the civilians near the Ling Tong District and entered into a state of emergency.
“It’s the tenth day now….” A general who held a pair of binoculars mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the ground underneath him shook as if there was an earthquake.
Tremble—
The ground shook violently as a powerful tremor exploded at the center of the tomb of the Qin emperor.
Cracks appeared on the ground and sand, and dust fell into the cracks that appeared. A dense smoke rose into the sky!
Several mountains around the area began to collapse and crumble. Boulders from the mountain rolled downwards, while the cracks spread as forests and trees collapsed, swallowed into the gaps in the ground.
Coarse and low growls could be heard from within the depths of the earth, sounding as if the speaker’s throat had been scratched by pieces of glass. Then an angry roar sounded, seeming like it came from deep within the soul and chest.
“O’ strong warriors of ancient Qin, let us face the difficulties of the nation together;
“O’ strong warriors of ancient Qin, restore territories that belong to us;
“Battles shall not cease until every last drop of blood has been spilled!”
Starting from the central region, everything started to collapse and sink. Blood and smoke mixed with the dust storm and formed a dark red cloud from inside out!
Rumble, rumble, rumble. Bolts of blood red lightning exploded from within the dark cloud.
“Kill!” A thunderous shout for blood shook the entire earth.
From afar, spectators widened their eyes. Just what was that!?
An arm sculpted from mud tore through the dusty smoke as two glowing red lights penetrated the smog. Brown mud armor stuck on the back of its hand, and the right hand was holding the handle of a sword, while the left held the sheath of the sword.
Clang!
A crisp metallic sound rang out as the stone sword was drawn out of the sheath.
One, two, three… Countless shadowy figures covered by the dark smoke rushed out of the area one after another.
The terracotta warriors were alive!!
Bang!
The bottle on the table was knocked down. A general with four stars on his shoulder stood up abruptly with both his hands on the table, his chest heaving up and down quickly.
“Just what are those researchers doing? Why are the terracottas alive?!”
The spectacled researcher on his side murmured, “This is the first time in all my years of research to learn that there are living terracottas.”
Ten miles away, pitch black barrels turned into a steel jungle, prepared for battle.
One by one, bodies made of dirt rushed through the layers of smoke and dust, finally arriving in their entirety under the sun.
One could even smell the smoke and dust from their bodies.
Multiple mud statues stood on the spacious and empty plain without moving an inch, swords hanging beside their waists while their right hands held spears.
A murderous and threatening aura filled the air.
Standing in the middle among the statues was a chariot. Four horses were tied together to move it, and the reins were held by a warrior seated on the chariot, while on the platform of the chariot, two warriors holding spears stood on either side.
The mountain peak suddenly collapsed. A dark golden casket was brought out from the mountainside by two black single-horned and crimson-hooved monsters.
The giant casket was covered in rich gold, with dragons and a phoenix sculpted on it. Although it hadn’t been opened yet, a vague but tremendously frightening Qi emanated from inside.
The giant casket was protected by countless terracottas surrounding it.
“Caw!” A giant golden condor in the sky shrieked while its Lord-tier aura shone, its mighty Qi locked on to the casket below. If anyone dared to infiltrate the casket in the slightest, it would immediately send down an irresistible force to attack.
A huge crackle sounded from the bright and clear sky. It sounded as if the thunder had cracked open the doors to the heavens.
“Hmph!” From within the casket came a cold snort, clearly showing its strong dissatisfaction.
“We unintentionally became the enemies of the first Emperor, and we unintentionally dishonored your majesty. However, right now, Chang’an City is a holy and impregnable place of the Alliance government. If your majesty really wants to infiltrate our alliance government, our alliance government will also not shy away from war!” said a general from far away through the loudspeaker.
There was a momentary silence.
The roar of a dragon suddenly came from somewhere in the sky, and a white-haired figure broke through the clouds as clouds were torn apart, a long tail trailing behind.
The giant Aquatic Dragon had first been owned by the emperor. Ji Hanwu looked down while riding his White Dragon.
“Aih…” A surprised sound came from the casket, as if a child had just seen his favorite toy.
There had never been an emperor who didn’t like dragons, for dragons had almost become the representative of emperors. If they were ever given a chance to ride a dragon, none of these emperors would ever let the chance go.
The mysterious being inside the casket also became interested in the biological beings called dragons.
“Dragons, huh…” Immediately after that, the expanding terracotta army stopped their march and began to retreat slowly.
“If your highness is willing to ally with us, we are willing to provide your highness with the latest information in the current world,” the representative of the military said loudly.
After a while, a cold and calm voice came from within the casket. “Granted.”
Could it really have been Ying Zheng? In the sky, Ji Hanwu’s eyes flashed. The words of the military representative were also misleading in some ways, so if the person within the casket wasn’t the first Emperor Qin and instead a particular general or prince under him, they wouldn’t have responded.
Perhaps it was due to the terrorizing effect of the White Dragon and the Golden Deity, but in the end, the terracotta army retreated to the mountainside. At the same time, the area within a ten-mile radius became a prohibited area that was locked down by the military; no one was allowed to enter without authorization.
Back at the Chang’an military camp, a white-haired general with five stars on his shoulder showed a smile on his face as he soon as he saw Ji Hanwu. He made a fist and lightly punched Ji Hanwu’s shoulder.
“You old b*stard, you’re getting tougher as you age. I’d believe it if you said you were going to live for another 100 years.” The white-haired general laughed.
Ji Hanwu smirked. “Isn’t that right. I still want to hold my Little Peng’s grandchild after all.”
“That does sound pretty good. If that day comes, remember to invite me to the celebration.”
“We’ll talk about it if you live to that day.”
“Then I’ll definitely live longer than you.”
The two highly respected old men chatted with each other like two children.
The old veteran from the military was called Sun Zhang. He was an old friend of Ji Hanwu, as they had grown up together in the same courtyard.
After they grew up, one went overseas for business while the other enlisted in the army, each embarking on a different life journey.
Although they had each gone their own way, the feeling between them had never waned. The two of them had continued to communicate through letters, and as time went on, their relationship became even stronger and better.
One of the reasons Ji Hanwu rested assured in leaving Gao Peng in Chang’an was because Sun Zhang was a general in the Chang’an military base, and he had also specifically asked Sun Zhang to take care of Gao Peng.
“All right. I know that you miss your grandson,” Sun Zhang said snappily as he waved his hands. “You should hurry back.”
“You take care over here. The thing inside the tomb of the first emperor feels a bit evil… Call me if anything happens.” Ji Hanwu nodded and left on the White Dragon.
