Chapter 900: Chapter 530: The Autumn Air Is Brisk—A Suitable Day for Killing (Part 2)
Not long after, the aftershock of the "earthquake" subsided.
It seems... narrowly escaped another unknown impact.
Zhao Rong let out a long sigh, turned his head while panting, looked around at the sturdy tomb walls, nodded and muttered to himself:
"Hold on a while longer, give me a bit more time... At least it’s the new imperial mausoleum of a Great Dynasty; it shouldn’t be a shoddy construction, otherwise, my efforts to save you that day would be in vain..."
Having said this, he quickly pushed himself up against the wall and continued forward.
There were no torches lighting the tomb path, nor any ever-burning lamps Zhao Rong had heard of in tomb-raiding stories.
At the moment, there were only a few luminous pearls embedded in the hilt of Zhao Rong’s sword, emitting a faint glow.
He was running in these dark tomb paths, relying on his map memory of the imperial mausoleum, gradually delving deeper towards a place in the heart of the mausoleum.
This imperial mausoleum was vast, with countless chambers and paths; if he hadn’t previously acquired the detailed map from the mausoleum craftsmen, along with his ability to never forget what he reads, he would be almost certainly lost by now.
Tap, tap, tap...!
In the quiet passage, only the hurried footsteps of Zhao Rong could be heard.
At this moment, Gui seemed to have sensed something.
It became silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke seriously:
"Zhao Rong, be honest with me, have you thought of a way to survive? At a time like this, are you still hiding? Quickly tell me so we can discuss it together."
The young Confucian scholar silently adjusting the true qi of Red Dragon within his meridians heard this, came to his senses, took a deep breath, and nodded:
"Hmm, does stalling for time waiting for ’accidents’ count?"
Gui was taken aback, speechless for a moment, and then spoke in a tense tone:
"So there’s no plan, just running blindly to escape and leaving it to fate? Are you trying to stall for time, waiting for Zhao Qian’er to bring reinforcements?"
The Sword Spirit sighed and analyzed calmly, "She should be the fastest to arrive at the moment. Others, like Yan Jidao who gave you the Maple Leaf protection, and... Zhu Yourong, they are far away in Duyou, even if they come at their fastest, it will take about an hour; let’s not count on them... As for Zhao Qian’er, she might find reinforcements but..."
"But I am no longer in the Bamboo Forest Courtyard."
Zhao Rong interrupted softly, maintaining his pace.
He lowered his eyes and sighed slightly:
"So they probably will find it difficult to locate this mausoleum too, and even if they do, it will take them more time. At that time, I didn’t expect myself to end up escaping into this mausoleum, so I didn’t mention it to Qian’er, only jokingly said it’s an interesting place..."
Gui also sighed.
Help seems far away.
Being inside this mausoleum is both protection and a tomb.
The former is temporary, the latter eternal.
They... have only this path in the tomb before them, without visible "light" but eventually leading to its end.
At this moment, ahead was another sharp turn, Zhao Rong twisted his body, avoiding a dangerous trap marked on the map, turning into a path leading deeper into the tomb.
He shook his head, then nodded.
"Hmm, relying on reinforcements doesn’t seem feasible. Then... I am left with only one last path."
The Sword Spirit immediately perked up, a flame of hope igniting, "What path?"
In the narrow, dark tomb passage, the young Confucian scholar raised his head, staring straight into the unknown darkness ahead.
He bared his teeth with a grim smile.
"In seeking help... better to rely on oneself."
The Sword Spirit froze.
...
The so-called imperial mausoleum, ’mausoleum’ meaning grand as a mountain tomb.
This is the exclusive trait of imperial mausoleums, where the emperor’s tombs within mountain tombs form splendid grand underground palaces, lavish and extremely magnificent.
This Great Li Imperial Mausoleum is no exception.
However, deep within, Zhao Rong, though unable to stop and admire leisurely along the way, felt deeply moved.
"It’s indeed grand as hell."
After painstakingly traversing the perimeter filled with traps, he finally reached the outer edge of a magnificent underground palace.
In front of him was a ’moat’ filled with mercury.
Encircling the ’moat,’ was the underground palace.
This underground palace was also the main body of the entire mausoleum, according to Zhao Rong’s observation on the map, it was a huge square space with a dome, adorned with sun, moon, and stars...
The entire underground palace was made up of walls, gates, watchtowers, front halls, the main hall where the emperor’s coffin lay, and the rear chambers for the burial of the late emperor’s concubines.
Scattered among them were some storage chambers, tomb paths, and corridors.
The layout resembled a real imperial city above ground, modeled after the grand cold palace of Great Li’s cold capital.
Zhao Rong carefully observed the surroundings in front of the mercury ’moat.’
He leaned on his sword, adjusted his breath, combed his qi, and waited quietly for a while.
After another bout of ’earth-shaking’ from the mausoleum, Zhao Rong moved swiftly to activate a hidden mechanism marked on the map.
He crossed the ’moat,’ and entered the grand underground palace modeled after the cold palace.
"Cold Palace’s layout... this one I’m familiar with, been there many times."
Walking through the corridors into the underground palace, Zhao Rong’s view suddenly opened up. The bloodless pale-faced he forced a slight smile, muttered a word.
Zhao Rong raised his head, looked at the spherical dome symbolizing heaven, dotted with brilliant pearls.
They represented stars, guarding the central bright crystal-ceramic moon.
The Sword Spirit responded, "Well, that’s a small advantage."
Zhao Rong withdrew his gaze from the dome, laughed and sighed, "Hmm, thanks to that Du Gu clan, I’m particularly familiar with the path within this cold palace, especially the Guanghan Palace where she resides, walking in it naturally."
In conversation, the young Confucian scholar walked straight through the palace gates, watchtowers, and front halls of the underground palace.
Along the way, he passed storage rooms full of treasures without casting a glance.
Now, the young Confucian scholar entered the most critical yet stern main hall of the entire underground palace.
The main hall was grand and solemn, in the center rested a huge dragon coffin, showcasing bizarre and peculiar tomb room layouts.
However, he remained steadfast.
Continued forward.
Gui couldn’t help but ask, "Zhao Rong, where exactly are we heading now? Do you have a plan?"
"Of course."
Zhao Rong nodded, "Didn’t I say so? I’m familiar with this, we’ll head directly inside to the rear hall to find the emperor’s concubines of Great Li."
Gui: "..."
How on earth are you so adept at seeking out the late emperor’s widows of Great Li? You did this seeking for the Du Gu clan too!
With the state of things, yet still... true to your nature, Zhao Rong.
The Sword Spirit spoke sincerely and seriously, "Oh, if the late emperor in the central hall discovers Zhao Gongzi’s familiarity with the layout, he would certainly be quite pleased."
The young Confucian scholar who spoke of ’seeking help within oneself’ didn’t laugh.
In his heart, he recited a few lines, then suddenly halted beforehand.
Indeed, after waiting for a breath, another deafening impact accompanied by an unprecedented ’earth-shaking’ ensued.
Dust and stones crumbled down.
The young Confucian scholar stood alone, holding his sword, silently waiting.
He no longer clumsily supported the walls, his feet firmly rooted on the floor.
He closed his eyes, dust accumulating on him, thus lowered his head, deeply inhaling.
Zhao Rong had now roughly grasped the interval frequency of ’earth-shaking,’ however, there was no joy within him, because... this inferred pattern soon would be irrelevant.
The mausoleum’s restrictions seem unable to hold the next shake anymore.
That old beast... will come in.
Right now, when the tremors in the tomb path where he stood slowly subsided, Zhao Rong did not immediately proceed.
Lowering his head, he silently reached into his bosom, retrieving something from the Sumeru storage item.
Under the faint light emitted by the pearls on the dome above, one could barely see...
It seemed to be a well-preserved white jade pendant, and a clumsily embroidered yet lovingly crafted cute little sachet.
"Give me a bit more time, just a little while longer."
In the long tomb path that leads from the main hall to the rear hall, the young Confucian scholar whispered without raising his head, then continued onward.
The only remaining left hand tightly clutched the pendant and sachet.
Before warmly welcoming a certain disfigured old Confucian scholar, he must complete... one last thing.
...