Ca-chak.
“I’m back” Gu Qing Shan said.
“You’re back? Go and quickly make dinner” Li Qiu Yu called out.
“Is that how you greet people?”
Gu Qing Shan complained and made his way to the kitchen, only to see ingredients already prepared, lined up neatly on the chopping board.
“I’ll help you”
A girl walked into the kitchen, which was Zhao Qiong.
“Ah? Senior Zhao?” Gu Qing Shan was surprised.
“I came to discuss a few things with your sister, but it had gotten late, so she invited me to join you for dinner” Zhao Qiong said with a slightly flushed expression.
Gu Qing Shan looked outside the window.
It was getting a bit dark.
“Then, please help me wash these ingredients, I’ll handle the rest”
“Alright”
The two of them got to work.
While dicing meat, Gu Qing Shan used his inner sight to observe Zhao Qiong.
She was focused on washing the vegetables, after which she went to plate the table.
This young girl… should be clear.
Gu Qing Shan pulled his gaze back, then got busy cooking.
A few dozen minutes later.
An entire table full of food was prepared.
“Li San Lang, you’re definitely going to be popular when you’re older” Zhao Qiong said.
Li Qiu Yu yawned as she walked out from her bedroom, then glanced at the table of food.
“Ah? Why so much food today?” she asked in surprise.
“I’m in a good mood today” Gu Qing Shan smiled.
Li Qiu Yu picked up her utensils and began sampling the food.
“Hm, this dish is good, this one is also nice—— they all taste delicious. San Lang, listen to me, you need to make at least this much for every meal from now on”
Gu Qing Shan muttered silently: “In the long run, I don’t want to be part of the pig-raising industry…”
“Li Qiu Shan, say that one more time!”
…
After the three of them finished eating, they enjoyed some tea.
“San Lang, why are you in a good mood today?” Zhao Qiong asked.
“My cultivation progress is going well; I can feel that I’m about to obtain more of the inheritance from my spirit link” Gu Qing Shan replied .
Zhao Qiong and Li Qiu Yu both found that unexpected.
“That quickly?” Li Qiu Yu couldn’t help but exclaim.
Gu Qing Shan asked: “Is this considered to be quick?”
“Relatively quick, very few could be as fast as you are, it truly is extraordinary” Zhao Qiong praised.
Gu Qing Shan felt his heart tensing up, but smiled: “Ah right, sister Qiu Yu, I have a question”
Seeing his pleading expression, Li Qiu Yu snorted, then said: “Ask away”
“When I conducted the second spirit linking, you were sitting right next to me——- did I immediately fall asleep at that time?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Li Qiu Yu pondered a bit, then replied: “At the time, you looked at me for a bit, then fell asleep”
“Sister Qiu Yu, I don’t remember looking at you at all” Gu Qing Shan said.
Li Qiu Yu brushed it off: “That’s nothing to worry about, people always subconsciously do one thing or another without remembering it”
Gu Qing Shan didn’t stay too long on this topic.
He then turned to Zhao Qiong: “Senior Zhao, I heard from my history teacher that many void monsters once tried to enter the great tomb, was it true?”
This was common knowledge, so Zhao Qiong didn’t mind it too much and nodded: “That’s right, the great tomb had only just appeared at the time, exposing quite a few precious treasures and artifacts, drawing powerful entities from all over the void towards the great tomb”
Li Qiu Yu took a sip of tea, then casually interjected: “What is there to ask about, even we could only remain outside the tomb, slowly studying what to do, but they charged inside without any qualms, so their outcomes were as you’d expect”
Gu Qing Shan muttered: “Then, probably no one dared to arbitrarily enter the great tomb again after that occasion”
Li Qiu Yu shook her head: “That’s where you’re wrong. As long as there is benefit to be gained, there would be people willing to risk a thing or two. Ever since that time, once every dozen or hundred years, there would be at least one dumbass who would rush into the great tomb without informing us”
“Then, probably no one had ever managed to leave” Gu Qing Shan commented.
“Of course not” Li Qiu Yu smiled and replied.
Zhao Qiong corrected her: “There were still some with especially good luck, or perhaps they didn’t enter too deeply into the great tomb, that made it out alive—— but that’s the minority, and they’d already be half-way to death by the time they leave”
“Then, we surely must have caught them all” Gu Qing Shan said.
“No, we didn’t approach them at all, because we don’t know whether or not they brought with them some sort of terrifying Apocalypse. Most of the time, we’d just send them away from the Tomb of Myriad Beasts as soon as possible” Li Qiu Yu replied.
After saying so, she tapped Gu Qing Shan’s head and said: “But what is a kid like you asking so many things for? It would be better to quicken your spirit linking progress instead. When your strength reaches a certain degree, you would naturally learn about everything”
“Ouch, go easy” Gu Qing Shan called out in pain and complained: “I’m only 13, how long would it even take to learn more secrets?”
Seeing him being hit by his sister, as well as his pitiful expression, Zhao Qiong’s heart felt weak.
She rubbed Gu Qing Shan’s head and gently said: “In about two years, after you graduate from the Study Lodge, you can go to my Bookkeeping Ward to read some foundational documents—- we’ve made some basic notes regarding the entities that arbitrarily charged into the great tomb, you can take a look for yourself at that time”
“Senior Zhao is the best after all” Gu Qing Shan said.
Li Qiu Yu glared at him and said: “Are you done with tea? If you’re done then get back to cultivating!”
Gu Qing Shan stood up, said goodbye to Zhao Qiong before heading back to his bedroom.
As he closed the door, he could still hear the two girls talking.
“This child, seriously—–”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? We were also as curious about these matters as he was back then, weren’t we?”
Gu Qing Shan stood behind the door for a while and went through their conversation just now one more time.
So my spirit linking is proceeding faster than average, huh?
He silently thought before sitting down on his bed.
I have some conjectures and thoughts, but no evidence.
The truth is hidden deep among endless fog, so if I were to blindly approach, it couldn’t be helped that I ventured in the wrong direction.
Direction…
Gu Qing Shan sat still, silently waiting.
The shroud of night outside his window was gradually getting heavier.
He finally heard Zhao Qiong bidding farewell to Li Qiu Yu.
The door closed.
Li Qiu Yu went back in, washed her face, then returned to her chambers.
Gu Qing Shan waited for a while longer up until midnight, then stood up and left his room, heading straight to Li Qiu Yu’s bedroom.
He pushed open the door and entered.
Li Qiu Yu was still lying in bed, deep asleep.
Gu Qing Shan stared closely at her.
Li Qiu Yu didn’t notice it at all.
Shannu called out: “Gongzi, if you keep standing there, what are you going to do if she suddenly woke up?”
“She won’t wake up” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Did gongzi drug the food?”
“It’s actually a spirit cooking technique, it can help blood circulate better from head to toe, calm her mind, and lighten her spirits; however, the prerequisite is that she must first fall into a deep sleep” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Three flying swords appeared from the void of space behind his back.
「 If she’s not going to wake up, what—– should we do 」the Earth sword asked.
“What do you think gongzi is going to do?” Shannu asked in return.
The Earth sword said: 「 Take a guess 」
Shannu didn’t get caught up in its words and asked Gu Qing Shan directly: “Gongzi, what are we going to do now?”
Gu Qing Shan took out a formation plate and began arranging various formations.
“She’s currently in a state of deep sleep and has no powerful means of defending herself. So I’m going to put up several defensive formations for her, in case that something happens, I’d know right away”
Saying so, he arranged a few dozen defensive formations all around her bed.
Li Qiu Yu was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t notice at all.
“Is gongzi going to head out?” Shannu took a guess.
“Yes, we’re going to the Bookkeeping Ward to take a look if there had ever been any void monster that escaped from the great tomb” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“That place is surely going to be under surveillance” Shannu commented.
「 You only need to graduate from the Study Lodge in order to formally take a look, there’s no need to take this risk 」the Earth sword also said.
“I can’t wait that long” Gu Qing Shan said.
“Then, how about using [Night Cruiser]?” Shannu suggested.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t answer her.
He returned to his room, pushed the window open, then leapt outside.
During his leap, he transformed into a large orange cat and nimbly landed on the ground.
[Ghostly Shadow of Night], activate!
Borrowing the jade gourd pendant Adorable’s [Spotless Jade], the orange cat swiftly ran at full speed on the main road without being detected by any of the night patrols.
The orange cat made his way straight to the Bookkeeping Ward.
The Bookkeeping Ward was a black pagoda tower that stood at the city center.
It was already midnight, so there weren’t many people inside the Bookkeeping Ward, but some guards were still stationed here.
After all, the Bookkeeping Ward stored many ‘Mysteries’ and ‘Secrets’, the most valuable items in the eyes of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts.
The orange cat silently observed for a while as he ran around the Bookkeeping Ward, soon finding a ventilation port.
However, this location was protected by several pieces of bones, quite obviously, a Bone Master had already arranged a tight defense around this entire building.
“Meow——-”
The orange cat lightly called out.
The Six Paths Great Mountain sword suddenly appeared from the void of space and heavily thrust towards the ventilation port.
Every technique and spell collapsed under this attack.
The orange cat jumped in like a bolt of lightning.
At that very moment.
“WHO’S THERE!”
Loud shouts sounded from every direction.
Eight guards descended from above, landing near the ventilation port.
They looked around, but couldn’t find anything.
All the pieces of bones were completely intact.
Just now, the magic on the pieces of bones was merely triggered for a split second before vanishing.
The guards hurriedly contacted the Bone Master stationed inside the Bookkeeping Ward.
The Bone Master examined his defenses, then led the guards around each point to double-check any traces.
Still nothing.
Highly unusual!
In the end, the Bone Master concluded that the wind must have blown leaves or something of the same nature into his defenses, accidentally triggering the pieces of bones and resulted in his situation.
Since this wasn’t unheard of, this conclusion was accepted.
Everyone returned to their stations.
…
At another location.
Gu Qing Shan entered the Bookkeeping Ward and searched through each floor.
Since he had gotten a grasp on the basic information of this civilization, it didn’t confuse him too much while searching through their books.
Soon enough, he managed to pinpoint the information he wanted being placed on the lowest floor.
——-after all, even newcomers who had just graduated from the Study Lodge could gain access to these secrets, so they weren’t protected too strictly.
At this point, the Bone Master had returned to his station on the higher floors of the pagoda tower to watch over truly crucial secrets, so he didn’t pay any attention to this place.
The Bookkeeping Ward was dark and silent.
A single orange cat that no one could detect was slowly moving around the rows of neatly arranged pieces of bones.
[Other-worldly monsters’ deaths and corresponding information records]
The orange cat stopped in front of this guiding board.
It took off the long piece of bone being hung under there.
——this place was used to store very basic secrets and information, so there was only a single bone of this kind.
The orange cat felt a bit disappointed, but since he was already here…
Like a person, he sat down on the ground and carefully held the piece of bone up to read.
Suddenly.
Apparently found something, the slowly swinging tail behind his back abruptly stopped.
A piece of information was recorded using the Tomb of Myriad Beasts’ common language on top of the piece of bone:
[Naturally, there are some extremely fortunate void monsters who managed to escape from the great tomb, but they were very few of them]
[The following is the list of survivors]
[…]
[The fifth, Abyssal monster, Soul Shrieker]
