In contrast to the outside, the inside of the tomb of the living seemed more than what it was. Warm sunlight scattered over babbling brooks and rolling hillsides, birds sang and flowers waved under a dark red sky. Even the ground was the same dark red.
Lu Yun raised his head to look at the source of this world’s illumination—a lifeless eyeball instead of a sun.
The eyeball was enormous and its pupil dimmed. Someone had carved it into a night pearl that glowed in the dark and hung it in the firmament, making it the source of light for the tomb of the living.
Lu Yun didn’t know whose eyeball it was; his Spectral Eye couldn’t discern its death information. Instead of projecting a person from the tomb at Mount Tai, he’d projected an enormous golden sarcophagus. The tomb owner’s body rested inside.
“Someone’s been here already. Not only did they take the tomb owner’s sarcophagus, but they also killed the tomb keeper.” He looked up again. The eyeball in the air was the tomb keeper’s eyeball.
If the Corpse Refiners wished to construct a tomb of the living, they had to set a tomb keeper on it to prevent unexpected changes from occurring. Tomb keepers were the soul of the living trapped in the body of the dead, forever tormented by the anguish of their undead state.
An unknown interloper had killed the tomb keeper here and dyed the sky and earth with their blood. Since the tomb keeper had been the living dead, their blood was dark red instead of a bright red.
“Was that person trying to free you?” Lu Yun murmured at the dim eyeball that glowed like a sun. “There should be another eyeball that’s been fashioned into the moon. But… the Corpse Refiners must have noticed something amiss when the tomb keeper was killed.”
He looked around again and again; the sect didn’t seem to have detected the abnormalities in the tomb of the living.
“What blocked the hell cannon? There shouldn’t be anything in the Abyssal Hell that can withstand its might…”
He peered at his surroundings, but still found nothing of note. Everything was too ordinary here.
“Moran Dongning.” He sent a replica into the Disordered Hell when he suddenly thought of his captive.
“Eh? You know my name? Oh, Chu Xingran told you, didn’t he?” Moran Dongning started when she heard Lu Yun use her name.
“That’s right,” Lu Yun nodded. “Is Chu Xingran… a man or a woman?” He couldn’t help but ask when he thought of the Curse King’s ambiguous gender.
“Don’t ever joke about his gender!” Moran Dongning’s expression turned strange and she coughed dryly. “He’s the crown prince of Darklake and the most beautiful man of that territory. However, his looks are so fey that his enemies often call him a sissy.”
Abruptly enlightened, Lu Yun understood why the Curse King always looked constipated whenever he was asked whether he was a man or a woman. He… really wouldn’t be described as manly, masculine, or with any adjective used for a man.
“Where are you?” Moran Dongning paused. “There’s a strange place in the Abyssal Hell that’s been taken care of by someone. It’s being used to trick some other people, so you shouldn’t touch that place.”
“You mean the tomb of the living, don’t you?” Lu Yun nodded. “I’m standing there right now.”
Moran Dongning gaped at the young man and said slowly, “You can enter the tomb of the living… Eh, that’s right, dolt one and dolt two created that situation and bear you no enmity.”
“Huh?” Lu Yun blinked. “Who’s dolt one and dolt two?”
“Chen Xiao, Qing Buyi!” Moran Dongning articulated.
“Two overseers of the nine hells in the world of immortals?!” Lu Yun’s jaw dropped.
Chen Xiao was Qing Yu’s cousin and Qing Buyi was her big brother. Lu Yun had made them the overseers of two facets when he completed the thirty-three facets for the world of immortals. So they’d come here and raised such a big fuss!
No wonder Lu Yun noted some strange details about the tomb of the living. The dark red blood, eyeball in the air, and shifted sarcophagus hadn’t been accomplished too long ago. Two hundred years at most!
Is it really those two??
Upon receiving an affirmative look from Moran Dongning, Lu Yun regarded her with wary eyes instead.
“Who are you?” He carefully studied her face. It was a stranger’s face, but she looked at him in a manner that seemed slightly familiar. He definitely knew her!
“Me?” Moran Dongning blinked and mysteriously stroked her chin. “Guess!”
“I can’t, so I won’t bother.” Lu Yun curled his lip. “The tomb of the living is a bane upon the Abyssal Hell if it stays here. Do you have a way to blow it up?”
“If that was possible, those two dolts would’ve blown up the entire hell a long time ago.” Moran Dongning shrugged. “You’re so strong and capable, but you want a little girl like me to find an answer for you?
“…well…” she paused. “Although this is the tomb of the living, it’s also the Abyssal Hell.” She fell silent.
“It’s also the Abyssal Hell? That’s right… if I use abyssal hellfire to attack the tomb, that’s just me hitting myself. I’ll never even scratch the tomb.” Lu Yun brightened with realization. He’d been treating the tomb of the living as another existence all this time since he hadn’t known that everything was manifested from the Abyssal Hell. The methods used might vary, but the principle would be the same.
“Alright then, I’m off.” Lu Yun’s replica faded away.
Moran Dongning pouted. “He couldn’t figure out who I am? That makes me so sad… But he’d probably never believe that I’d capture my own master and send her back to the battle that destroyed the original Hongmeng.” The girl stroked her chin. “It’s her fault for getting involved with me! She took me as her disciple when my nascent spirit was injured and forced a karmic relationship. Would I still be me if I didn’t teach her a lesson for that impertinence?”
……
Lu Yun put Moran Dongning out of his mind. Since Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi were here and had completed such a massive undertaking in the yin tomb, that infused him with additional confidence for the task ahead. Incidentally, the two good-for-nothings that he’d never been able to see through were indeed much more than what met the eye.
“Tomb of the living eh? Heh, let’s turn it into a tomb of the dead.” When he took a step forward, abyssal hellfire blazed into existence around him and turned the enchanting world of the tomb into a hell of gray lava.
