Imperial Treasure

Chapter 582 - 377 Must

Chapter 377

Before Sui Yi could discern his appearance, the other party slowly said, "This is a Bai Xi. You should also know what a Bai Xi is. In ancient myths, it is a Divine Beast, the protector of Nvwa. People always believe mythological stories are not credible, yet Bai Xis still exist in this world. During the Warring States period, Duke Heng of Qi led his troops past Cloud Water Ze and saw a Bai Xi frolicking in the water. He was profoundly shaken by the sight, and his State Preceptor, Gou Heng, proclaimed it to be a Bai Xi from ancient times. He claimed that obtaining its essence would grant immortality. Therefore, Duke Heng ordered his troops to launch a fierce attack on the Bai Xi, but they were no match for it and suffered heavy losses. In the end, it was that State Preceptor who used Blood Witchcraft, summoning a Ghost General through the sacrifice of the blood and flesh of thousands of soldiers, to kill the Bai Xi. He then presented it to Duke Heng... Duke Heng kept it a secret, proclaiming the casualties as resulting from a sneak attack by the State of Zhao, and from then on, hid the corpse of the Bai Xi on-site, accumulating a massive number of wizards and Secret Masters to find a way to refine the essence of the Bai Xi... and that is the creation of this Ancient Tomb..."

The person’s voice was cold, like the water in a chilly spring, every movement reeked of coldness. Clearly a man of few words, yet he expended such effort to provide this explanation...

Sui Yi had no idea what his intentions were, whether they were good or evil. However, her condition was dire at the moment, only retaining about ten to twenty percent of her strength, which was no match for him.

"In their quest to extract the essence of the Bai Xi, those wizards and various secret experts resorted to many Secret Techniques, including live burials, dual corpse encasements... What you’ve witnessed in this Ancient Tomb are experiences some creatures once went through..."

The person spoke as if lost in recollection, or perhaps emotionlessly chanting...

Sui Yi didn’t know who the person was, but she knew that he knew some things that she didn’t know but wanted to find out.

"What, then, is Ao Yin?"

The man’s gaze seemed to sweep across the stone wall before resting on her. "The Bai Xi is a Divine Object, not something mere mortals can covet. Those people, despite their scheming, were unable to extract its essence completely. Fearing that they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the task and would thus incur Duke Heng’s punishment, Gou Heng thought of Ao Yin,"

"Ao Yin is a vile creature, fond of consuming human brains. Gou Heng exploited it to absorb human brains and refine them into Brain Elixir..."

"Pass off the fake for the real?" Sui Yi asked in return.

"Yes, Gou Heng presented the Brain Elixir, and Duke Heng, believing it to be genuine, ingested it and indeed felt a surge in his essence. Little did he know, he was consuming the essence of human brains... Afterwards, Duke Heng trusted Gou Heng even more, secretly increasing the resources and strength of the people involved in this Ancient Tomb, until he later became afflicted with a severe disease and died a miserable death in the palace..."

Sui Yi, an archaeologist, was familiar with history. Secret historical records related to the death of Duke Heng indicated it was caused by imprisonment by rebels within the Imperial Court and the struggle for power by his son. However, some unofficial records and folk stories suggested he met divine punishment for his misdeeds. After all, there are no walls without gaps in this world, and given the vast scale of the construction of this tomb and the number of people involved, how many could keep a secret unless all those privy to it were executed...? But in a chain of events, someone always knows.

"The Warring States period is over two thousand four hundred years ago. If Ao Yin did not die, nor the Bai Xi’s corpse decay, and whether Gou Heng and others successfully seized the essence... how do you know so much?"

Perhaps the last question was the key point.

The man fell silent.

This silence deepened the eeriness of the space.

Sui Yi had thought the man would no longer speak, but suddenly heard him say, "No matter what methods they used, in reality, they were unable to obtain the essence of the Bai Xi, and thus could not achieve immortality."

Without waiting for the other party to explain, Sui Yi whispered, "Is this just a half-human Bai Xi?"

Since time immemorial, Divine Beasts weren’t as mythical as perceived, roughly equivalent to creatures with the magnitude of dinosaurs. If ancient people saw dinosaurs, wouldn’t they consider such massive creatures to be monsters or Divine Beasts?

Their enormous physique, formidable strength, and extensive lifespan – through a combination of hearsay and exaggeration, it turned into mythology.

Naturally, the Bai Xi was also a powerful beast in ancient times, just mythologized...

And a beast naturally has desires.

It was natural for it to breed other forms of life.

But this human face...

Sui Yi could only smile wryly.

"That half-human face is the best proof. If it were a real Bai Xi, no human force combined with Gou Heng could have moved it in the slightest,"

"If that’s the case, then Gou Heng must have known it,"

Sui Yi felt that Gou Heng, being able to single-handedly orchestrate such grand secret affairs, must have been very formidable himself.

"He naturally knew," the man’s voice grew even more solemn, "In witchcraft, there is a secret technique – Essence. Combine that, and utilize the tomb’s inherent Yin and fierce energies to assist in stealing the flesh and essence of the half-human Bai Xi for his own use. What he desired for immortality was to consume the life of the half-human Bai Xi and transfer it onto himself, nurturing his own physique... to be reborn in a hundred years, a thousand years later." (Suddenly, it feels a bit like a trope from ’The Lost Tomb’ in the Lu Wang Palace – heaven help me, I haven’t plagiarized~~)