Chapter 901: Chapter 531: The Brisk Autumn Air Invites Murder (Part 2)
Within the Imperial Mausoleum, seeing Zhao Rong silently depart the Main Hall and head toward the Rear Hall, Gui couldn’t help but fall into deep thought…
“Zhao Rong.”
It couldn’t help but call out.
The Confucian Scholar with the severed arm said nothing, clutching the Jade Token and sachet as he continued onward.
At this moment, a certain Purple-clothed Sword Spirit pondered and said earnestly:
“Zhao Rong, are you thinking of having one last thrill before you die?”
The young Confucian Scholar moving silently forward couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth, paused briefly, shook his head speechlessly, and then continued onward.
At this moment, the White Jade Token was continuously emanating heat, as if a piece of ink jade a thousand miles away was being vigorously rubbed by a girl with autumn eyes, making the White Jade Token somewhat scalding.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar still paid no heed, just gripping it tightly.
He passed through a narrow passage and arrived in front of the closed door of the Rear Hall.
Here stood a massive stone door, blocking Zhao Rong’s path.
There seemed to be faint signs of life behind the door.
According to the map of the Imperial Mausoleum, the concubines of the Emperor of Great Li, unarmed and defenseless, were buried in this sealed chamber.
Zhao Rong pondered for a breath, walked to the right side of the stone door, stopped at the seventh floor tile on the right, squatted down, lightly tapped the stone slab, and then lifted it, activating the stone door switch according to memory.
With a slight “rumbling” sound.
The heavy stone door slowly opened.
Zhao Rong immediately walked inside, and after roughly discerning the situation within the hall, he let out a slight breath.
Everyone was present.
The light in the Rear Hall was dim, but the faint light of the pearl overhead was indeed brighter than outside, allowing one to discern shadows of figures.
Zhao Rong carefully surveyed the scene; in his vision, the eighteen white-clad veiled women he had seen by the waterfall pool outside that day were all present, none missing.
They were kneeling neatly in the hall, the white cloth previously covering their eyes had been removed, but the white veil covering their faces remained, concealing their beautiful features.
What surprised Zhao Rong was that these youthful and vibrant yet tragically fated concubine widows hadn’t seemed to cry or cause a commotion. Before he came in, they appeared to be reverently praying to the crystal-glazed moon on the domed ceiling.
These are indeed the divine and exceptional women of Li, unlike ordinary women from the foot of the mountain.
Zhao Rong observed a few more times, nodding.
At this moment, due to the sudden intrusion of this unknown outsider, the salutations and prayers of the eighteen white-clad veiled young women were interrupted, they turned around in surprise, gazing at the intruder.
They couldn’t help but rise, taking several steps back, distancing themselves from this one-armed Confucian Scholar by the door, retreating to the depths of the Rear Hall.
They observed him with varied expressions.
At this point, Zhao Rong’s gaze withdrew from a certain undeveloped silhouette among the crowd in the hall, he shook his head slightly, muttering “Somewhat beastly indeed.”
Then, he lowered his eyes, no longer paying attention to the varied gazes of the women in the hall, beginning his final task…
Rip—!
The sound of fabric tearing filled the air.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar at the door lowered his head, beginning to tear his clothes.
In the Rear Hall, the eighteen veiled young women gathered together couldn’t help but widen their eyes, taking a few steps back.
The next moment, they paused in their retreat once more, stunned.
Because before them, this seemingly hasty, disheveled, one-armed Confucian Scholar suddenly knelt on one knee, laying the torn fabric flat on the marble floor and using his knee to press it down.
The right sleeve of the one-armed Confucian Scholar hung empty, already soaked through with dark red liquid, and the roughly bandaged stump still seemed to drip that dark red liquid.
But he seemed to pay no mind to this, directly lifting his left hand, pinching his index and middle fingers, dipping them in the dark red liquid from the blood-soaked sleeve.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar used his fingers as a pen, beginning to energetically write on the fabric laid on the floor.
The eighteen veiled young women in the hall looked at each other.
Was this miserable and battered one-armed Confucian Scholar… writing a blood letter?
Kneeling and writing, the one-armed Confucian Scholar kept his head down, lips pressed tight, silently focused on writing, periodically lifting his two fingers to his blood-red sleeve to replenish “ink.”
The Great Hall fell into a deathly stillness.
Only the rough and urgent breathing of the one-armed Confucian Scholar and the sound of his fingers rubbing against the ground were exceptionally loud.
Moments later, a complicated map and corresponding text written in blood slowly materialized beneath his fingertips…
The one-armed Confucian Scholar’s calligraphy flowed in frenzy, completed in one stroke, and after finishing, he withdrew his trembling blood-stained fingers.
He supported himself with one hand on the ground, slowly standing, his bright eyes still fixed on the blood letter on the floor, brows furrowed, the thoughts in his mind a mystery.
In the next moment, in the vision of the eighteen white-clad veiled women, this one-armed Confucian Scholar smeared his blood-drenched fingers forcefully on the relatively clean part of his clothes, reached into his chest, and took out a White Jade Token and a small sachet.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar bent down, preparing to gently place these two items beside the blood letter, but his movements halted midway.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar furrowed his brows, sighed heavily, tore another piece of fabric from his clothes, then knelt on one knee again, just as before, and wrote another blood letter.
Then he put this smaller blood letter into the small sachet.
The one-armed Confucian Scholar placed the Jade Token and sachet beside the large blood letter.
The map also had some robust and powerful text in corresponding locations, detailing the mechanical techniques for specific spots, among other things…
…
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PS: Brothers refresh at three in the morning, I’m in good shape today, ahem.