Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 573: Opening a Tomb on a Moonless Night (part 1)

As Wu Jianwu followed Xu Qing and the Captain, slowly shaking his head, he had no idea that, at long last, someone had appeared who could not only understand his poetry, but appreciate it.

“The crumbling leaves are lonely and scattered; a bird missing feathers cannot fly high.” Wu Jianwu sighed.

Off to the side, Ning Yan’s lips twitched with disgust. As far as he was concerned, Wu Jianwu was off in the head. In fact, Ning Yan had decided that if he ever reached the pinnacle of all heaven and earth, he would definitely issue orders to have Wu Jianwu’s head opened up to see what host of demonic beings had possessed him.

Sensing that something was off about the way Ning Yan was looking at him, Wu Jianwu looked at him and snorted coldly.

“Shameless, but seemingly a decent chap; look close, you’ll realize he’s a piece of crap!”

The infuriated Ning Yan looked like he was about ready to start an argument. But then he thought about all of those random animals Wu Jianwu had, and decided not to.

Around then, the Captain said, “Would you two cool it? It’s getting late, so the time has come to show all of you my home. You will now see splendorous architecture and overflowing wealth. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into the construction of my mausoleum. And there was amazing treasure left inside as well!

“Big Jianjian, you like to collect the Ancient Emperor’s calligraphy? I have five scrolls in there! Little Ningning, remember those things you need for your ancestral bloodline awakening? I have seven of them. Just follow me! And as for you, little Junior Brother, believe me, you’re the main foundation of all of our big jobs, and also the main reason the Red Moon Cathedral is going to topple soon!

“Remember, all of you. Keep a firm grip on your jaw. Otherwise, it might drop so low it falls off your face!”

The Captain’s eyes shone with lofty pride, and he kept his chin stuck up as he led them forward.

The Captain’s confident words, and his look of longing, got Xu Qing thinking. He was increasingly curious about this past life of the Captain, and though he had some speculations, there was no evidence to give him any solid clues. That said, from all the Captain’s descriptions, it must have been a very extraordinary life. Thus, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with anticipation.

Wu Jianwu had stopped his poetry, and walked a bit faster to keep up. Ning Yan was looking increasingly excited, and Ling’er’s eyes shone with deep curiosity.

As night fell, the five of them left Ox-Receiving City and entered the Unfinished Mountains.

The Captain led the way. He hadn’t been here for a very long time, but it was where he had lived a previous life. Therefore, all it took was to note a few landmarks, and he had no trouble leading. Four hours later, the five of them were deep in the Unfinished Mountains. They had made their way past quite a few mountain peaks, and every time they did, the Captain would wax reminiscent.

“In the past, that was Pure Girl Summit, which was the location of a sect that one of my old flames called home. Ah, what a pity. She’s nothing but bleached bones now. She won’t be chasing me anymore. [1]

“This is where the Three Cauldrons Sect once stood. It was also where one of my best friends was born. Oh, how I miss him. As a member of the Weaponoid species, he was much stronger than our Little Ningning. He could take the form of any kind of weapon!

“There’s one constant in the vicissitudes of time: things change, but people stay the same.”

The Captain continued to sigh. Eventually, when the sky was completely dark, he led Xu Qing and the others to the foot of a barren mountain. Along the way, they stopped at seven different locations, where the Captain would perform an incantation gesture. It seemed like he was dispelling sealing marks.

“There are eight steps involved in opening this tomb from my previous life. All the seals have to be opened in the correct order within six hours. Make even one mistake, and it won’t work. The most important thing is to space out the timing correctly. You can’t go too fast or too slow. And now, we’ve reached the eighth and final spot.”

The Captain looked up at the barren mountain. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about this location. It looked completely average.

But after looking around and calculating the time, the Captain performed a right-handed incantation gesture, then pushed his hand out in front of him. A tremor passed through the ground, and many boulders seemed to shift in place. Upon sensing that, the Captain grinned. Then he smacked himself in the chest, causing blood to spray out of his mouth. As it landed on the ground, the blood seeped down and disappeared.

The Captain wasn’t done with his work, though. He began speeding circles around the barren mountain. To the shock of Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu, as the Captain ran, he pummeled himself viciously, until he had coughed up so many mouthfuls of blood it was hard to keep track of. The blood all disappeared into the soil, leaving no trace of itself behind. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Captain returned to them, huffing and puffing, his face pale. He was clearly very weak, but also visibly excited.

“If you mess up even one step of the process, the tomb won’t open. Other than me, nobody could possibly do this.”

After some quick calculations, Xu Qing determined that the Captain had coughed up enough blood to fill the bodies of two hundred ordinary people. It really did seem reasonable to say that the Captain was the only person who could do this.

“And now, polish your eyeballs and get ready to see something amazing!”

Laughing heartily, the Captain slapped the ground. The soil beneath his feet sank down, creating a vortex that instantly sucked the Captain inside.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Qing led Ling’er forward. Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu followed. They all entered the vortex.

A moment later, the vortex vanished, and everything went back to normal. The warding spells here had obviously been designed to mask fluctuations. During the entire time, almost no noise or vibrations escaped out to be detected by anyone.

Xu Qing had no idea where the vortex was taking them. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that the five of them were in a subterranean cave temple. It was quite large. The temple layout was oval, and it had a ceiling some several hundred meters high. Against the walls were twelve enormous statues. Some were humans, some were nonhumans. All of them had weapons in hand, and fierce eyes that seemed to see back into ancient times. They were so enormous that Xu Qing and the others felt like they were in a kingdom of giants. In the temple’s position of honor was a huge throne. It was empty save for an imperial crown made of stone. Though the stony cavern was simplistic in nature, it abounded with a straightforward and even overbearing air.

When Ning Yan was able to see everything clearly, he inhaled sharply.

Twelve Imperial Sovereigns, each of them 299 meters tall. And they’re bowing to a throne that’s 300 meters tall. It conforms to the pattern of a Grand Emperor!

Wu Jianwu didn’t know about such things, but he was nonetheless struck with an indescribable sensation that caused him to look at the Captain with a bewildered look in his eyes.

Xu Qing was similarly astonished. Based on all of this, it was obvious that the Captain had been an extraordinary person in this previous life of his. Even Ling’er’s eyes were wide with incredulity.

Seeing the looks on everyone’s faces caused the Captain to sigh softly. The sound of his sigh carried a sensation of reminiscence and melancholy throughout the stony cavern as the Captain slowly started walking forward. As everyone watched, he strode toward the front until he reached the 300-meter-tall throne, growing larger and larger as he did. Sitting on the throne, he looked out at everything.

The height, and the gaze, as well as the grandeur because of the surroundings, made it seem like the Captain really was a Grand Emperor returned, imbued with a spirit that could conquer mountains and rivers.

Wu Jianwu shivered instinctively. Ducking his head, he clasped hands and bowed. Ning Yan felt himself going a bit weak at the knees.

Only Xu Qing managed to keep himself calm and collected. He looked around suspiciously at the cave, and then at the enormous projected version of the Captain on the throne.

“Everything here is fake, isn’t it, Eldest Brother?”

Xu Qing’s words caused the eyes of Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu to go wide. The Captain, however, maintained the same dignified facial expression as he looked back at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing turned to the left, toward what seemed like nothing but thin air. Face completely expressionless, he said, “Stop fooling around, Eldest Brother.”

Laughter suddenly erupted from the spot Xu Qing was looking at, and the Captain materialized.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu looked at that spot, then back at the throne. The huge projected figure on the throne was obviously an illusion, not the real Captain.

The Captain ignored Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu. Chuckling, he looked at Xu Qing.

“Nobody understands me better than you, little Junior Brother. Well done. This place is actually intended to deter tomb raiders. Although the method to open the entrance here is complicated, and only I know how to do it, I still wanted to play things very safe. So I made this area.

“Any tomb raider who managed to make it this far, would surely be fooled by the illusion, and then stumble into the deadly traps. I’ve engaged in a lifetime of tomb raiding myself, so I understand all such things very deeply.”

Xu Qing nodded. All of this really did conform to the Captain’s style.

“Come, I’ll take you in further,” the Captain said. “After this are eight similar locations set up to guard against tomb raiders.”

Grinning craftily, the Captain led them up to the throne. There, he coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, and another vortex appeared that they jumped into.

They passed through six of the areas the Captain had mentioned earlier. All of them were constructed to look inimitably realistic. Also, each one was bigger and more magnificent than the one before it. In the sixth location, they felt like they were floating amongst the clouds. When Ning Yan looked around at what scenery was visible through the clouds, he was yet again dumbstruck. Everything conformed exactly to the pattern of the Ancient Emperors.

They didn’t continue any further. In the sixth location, the Captain harvested a bit of a cloud, coughed up some blood to mix with it, and subsequently created an enormous door made of mist.

Looking as proud as a peacock, the Captain stood in front of the door and said, “Normally speaking, anyone who reached this point would believe that there were more spots to visit. And that’s why I did things contrary to logic and hid the real entrance right here. This door leads to the first floor of my residence from this past life.”

Everything Wu Jianwu had seen had left him shaken to the core. The fact that so many facade tombs had been built to guard against tomb raiders begged the question of how amazing the real tomb was going to be.

Ning Yan’s thoughts were focused in a different direction. “What do the last two facade tombs look like?”

The Captain laughed but didn’t answer the question. Waving his hand, he summoned the Lonesun’s artificial sun, and had it shine a burst of light on the door. He did that nine times. After the ninth burst of light, the door rumbled open.

“I’m finally home! Ai. It’s been such a long time. I really miss this place.”

The Captain could already imagine Xu Qing’s stunned reaction upon seeing how skilled he was at hiding treasure. Trying to look like the epitome of casualness, the Captain beckoned at them to enter the door.

Xu Qing actually was looking forward to seeing what lay beyond the door, so he strode forward. Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu followed. Once they were in, the Captain smiled proudly and stepped in the door. On the other side was a very large mansion grotto.

“And this is— wait. What?”

As the Captain looked around, his jaw slowly dropped.

1. The ‘Pure Girl’ mentioned here is a reference to Sunü, an ancient Chinese goddess associated with music and sexuality. For more info about this, here’s the Wikipedia article. ☜