Zu An voiced his shocking suspicion out loud, but Mi Li shook her head and said, âThatâs not too likely. Even though this tomb is quite grand, itâs still too far from the standard for an emperorâs tomb.â But she was also confused, as she remarked, âHm? This is the Qin Emperorsâ ancestral land. Apart from the successive generations of Qin Emperors, who else has the right to be buried here?â
Bi Linglong cried, âYou guys, come look! Thereâs a picture over here.â
Zu An and Mi Li turned around. Sure enough, they saw that there were several pictures on the wall. After their previous experiences, they knew that tombs would often have murals on the wall to record important events during the inhabitantsâ lives. That was why they began to carefully examine the images.
The first two paintings were of a general taking down many cities, clearly a representation of brilliant military service. The third painting was of him commanding a great army in the construction of a long wall. The final painting was one where he was surrounded by several officials, and he had no choice but to take a drug and end his own life.
Bi Linglong couldnât help but sigh. âThis general lived a glorious life, and yet this was his conclusion. The bow is put away when the birds are all gone, a worthy person is discharged when he has served his purposeâ¦â
âCould this person be Qin General Meng Tian?â Zu An couldnât help but remark.
Mi Li was quite shocked. âHow did you know?â
Zu An pointed at the third picture. âIsnât this the construction of the Great Wall? There are historical recordings of Meng Tian commanding an army of three hundred thousand to construct the wall.â
Mi Li sighed. âIndeed, the ancestor of the Meng clan was someone from the Qi State of the Warring States. Later on, they came to the Qin state and produced many outstanding generals, becoming one of the Great Qin Dynastyâs greatest clans. He had a brother, Meng Yi, and with these two brothers working, one out on the battlefield and one in internal affairs, their clan rose to power. Unfortunately, because the one they supported was Fu Su, they mustâve met miserable ends.â
She had already heard what had happened to the Qin State from being around Zu An all this time. She obviously knew that Fu Su and the Meng clan brothers had committed suicide on the rulerâs orders later on.
Zu An had a strange look on his face. He asked, âWas Fu Su your son?â
Mi Liâs brows rose. But now that they were already so close, she decided not to hide things from him. âFu Su was my older sisterâs son. My older sister passed away too early, so I entered the palace to become the new empress. I just never expected the Qin State would begin to attack the other six states, and so when they faced the Chu State on the battlefield, members of the royal family like us who had married in from the Chu State were obviously no longer welcome. Because Fu Su carried the Chu Stateâs blood, I donât believe Ying Zheng would ever have allowed him to succeed the throne.â
Bi Linglong was shaken from what she had just heard. Her suspicions were now confirmed! This woman was someone from the ancient era after all, and furthermore a glorious empress! No wonder her bearing is so noble and elegant. However, the Qin they spoke of wasnât some dynasty, was it? I have to ask Ah Zu more later.
âThatâs good then, thatâs good.â Zu An sighed. For some reason, he felt strangely happy when he learned that Mi Li hadnât given birth to a child yet.
âWhat do you mean âthatâs goodâ?â Mi Li shot back in annoyance. She definitely didnât think of it as anything good. She raised her head toward that coffin in the air and frowned. âWhy is the coffin wrapped in chains? Itâs almost as if itâs holding something back. Did the emperor hate him so much that his resentment didnât end even after this man died?â
Bi Linglong spoke up and asked, âDo you two feel that the elements in this space are a bit strange?â
Mi Li and Zu An had both overlooked that fact because they were overthinking things. When they sensed their surroundings, they both said, âThe earth element here is much more active and richer than usual.â
Mi Li paced around the room while looking around. She squatted down and brushed the floor with her sleeves. The dust on the ground was swept away, revealing all kinds of strange runes. She frowned. âHm? This is a formation, and it seems to carry a certain sinister auraâ¦â
âCan you tell what kind of formation it is?â Zu An asked.
Mi Li shook her head. âThereâs not enough information. Besides, we canât see the entire formation from where we are right now. We need to check other places.â
Just then, the ground suddenly began to rise and fall. The entire room began to quake!
âAre all the rooms going to change again like earlier?â Bi Linglong quickly moved toward Zu Anâs side. She was worried that they might be separated into different rooms. If that happened, she might really fall into true despair.
âI donât think so,â Mi Li said. She stared at the space beneath the coffin. The ground there suddenly ruptured.
Then, a mound slowly rose from it, growing taller and taller. The mound continued to twist about, eventually becoming a giant bear-like structure. It was a good thing that the room was big enough, or else it wouldnât have been able to stand up straight. It didnât have eyes, but its large head still âlookedâ at Zu Anâs party. It roared and charged at them.
Mi Li quickly said, âSome elements form elemental spirits when the element is abnormally dense or active. Iâll leave it to you.â
âI got this!â Zu An knew that she couldnât afford to waste her power here, so he naturally didnât object. âReal men should just do it⦠Pah pah pah, I mean they should just face their enemies head on!â He roared and charged forward.[1]
Bi Linglong was a little worried. She quickly warned him, âThis monster is called a Giant Earth Bear. Itâs extremely violent and strong, and it also possesses strong defensive prowess! Itâs hard to defeatâ¦?â
Zu An charged head-on, letting this bear hit him all it wanted. However, the bearâs attack didnât even tickle him. His fist hit the Giant Earth Bear in the head.
Boom!
The bearâs head exploded, and its giant body came crashing down.
Bi Linglong quickly rushed over to Zu Anâs side, asking, âAre you okay?â
âOf course,â Zu An said with a laugh.
âBut you were clearly hit by the Giant Earth Bearâs fistâ¦â Bi Linglong looked worried. Even though she had never fought a Giant Earth Bear, she had read about it in books. Its punch carried a thousand pounds of force. Even a master rank cultivator would be seriously injured if they were hit directly!
âDonât worry, this kid might not be good in other ways, but his body is pretty hard. A Giant Earth Bear isnât enough to wound him.â Mi Li harrumphed. Zu An had just reforged his body three times over with the Primordial Origin Sutra, so his body was already at an unheard-of level. There was no way he would be injured by that attack.
âWhat do you mean, Iâm not good in other ways?â Zu An became upset. He was just about to lash out, but he suddenly heard strange sounds coming from behind him. He turned around and saw that the Giant Earth Bearâs headless body was moving. The scattered earth condensed into another head. Then, after groping around on the ground, the bear replaced its head.
Mi Li said, âThe reason this thing is hard to deal with is because as long as it has access to the earth element, it will regenerate endlessly.â
That Giant Earth Bear roared and charged at Zu An again. Zu Anâs attack had already made it angry.
However, Zu An came up with an idea and summoned his Fire Phoenix. The phoenix flames quickly surrounded the monster. The extreme temperature evaporated all of the water in its body, causing its surface to develop visible cracks. There were even signs of crystallization.
Then, he quickly withdrew the phoenix fire and changed to the Snow Phoenix. The room quickly turned into a frozen world, rapidly cooling the Giant Earth Bearâs body. Its body could no longer hold on after being exposed to both heat and cold so quickly, and it crumbled into countless earth chunks.
With a wave of Zu Anâs hand, a layer of frost covered the chunks, freezing them and preventing them from gathering together again.
âLearn the sciences and you have nothing to fear; the saying was true after all.â Zu An patted his hands. He thought to himself that if he had enough time, he could even burn the pile of dirt into pottery.
âLetâs get out of here before the ice melts and keep looking around.â Zu An wouldnât be stupid enough to keep fighting something that wouldnât die. Who knew where the emperor was right now? He might even be ahead of them.
Mi Li and Bi Linglong had no objections. The group traversed a long path and arrived in a new room. Unlike the previous space, the room was full of life, with green grass everywhere. It felt as if they had entered a primitive forest.
âThose vines look like theyâre wrapped around something!â Bi Linglong pointed at the tightly coiled vines at the center of the room.
Zu An and Mi Li were both strong cultivators, so they walked over fearlessly to examine it. Even though many vines blocked their way, a path was quickly carved open by the sharp Taiâe Sword.
âItâs another coffin,â Zu An remarked gravely.
âBring it up; I want to see whoâs buried inside.â Mi Li could accept Meng Tian being buried here, because he had brought the Qin State tremendous contributions. He barely had the qualifications to be buried here. But she had no idea who was buried in the second coffin. There were no murals describing the ownerâs identity.
Zu An was also curious, so he raised the coffin lid. With his current strength, it wasnât difficult at all. However, when he saw what was inside, he felt his scalp go numb. A chill ran down his back. âWhy is he here?!â
1. The Chinese character he used for âdoâ can also mean âfuckâ â