A moonless night, made for murder; a windy night, made for arson.
A group of shadowy figures landed beside a sand dune, emerging one by one in the darkness, every one of them clad in black, darker even than the night itself.
Who else could this group be but Ziqing and her companions?
“This dune never shifts. Buried within is a tombstone wrapped in sand and stone—beneath it lies the bloodline clan’s old nest,” Meng Duo’er said in a low voice.
“You’re saying they live in a tomb!” Situ Jing’er exclaimed, startled.
“That’s right. Beneath it there should be a massive burial chamber. Most of the bloodline clan is still in dormancy to this day,” Meng Duo’er added.
“Going down there without warning, won’t that be…” Situ Haonan, far more cautious now than in his younger days, couldn’t help but voice his concern—with his precious daughter beside him, he had no choice but to be careful.
“The rest of you stay here. Beiyue and I will go scout ahead first,” Ziqing said seriously.
But to everyone’s surprise, Jun Buli and Situ Jing’er both spoke up at the exact same moment. “No.”
Everyone froze, turning to look at the two of them. They both seemed startled by their own outburst as well. Situ Jing’er was about to say something more when Meng Duo’er suddenly laughed. “Have you all forgotten I’m a barrier caster?”
As she spoke, she waved her hand gently, weaving a barrier, instantly forming a concealment ward that enveloped everyone within it.
After all these years of cultivation, her concealment barriers had reached a truly masterful level. She’d never been able to contribute much in the past—this time, she hoped she could finally be of real use!
Soon, everyone noticed a faint, shimmering layer of light surrounding them.
“Wouldn’t this make us even easier to spot?” Ziqing asked, puzzled.
“No—only those inside the barrier can see the light. From outside, we’re completely invisible. It must be very dark down there, so this faint glow should actually help us see,” Meng Duo’er explained seriously.
“Wow, sister Duo’er, your barrier technique has gotten even more impressive! You have to teach me sometime!” Situ Jing’er said, delighted.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised—Meng Duo’er really was a hidden gem. She’d just solved all of their concerns in one stroke.
Now, the whole group, effectively invisible, could stride boldly down into the tomb, deep into bloodline clan territory.
Meng Duo’er led the way, locating an unmarked tombstone within the dune, and the bloodline clan’s entrance slowly creaked open. At once, an overwhelming darkness surged out to greet them—it had already been quite dark outside, but the darkness within was seven shades deeper still, like a colossal black hole swallowing up every last scrap of the meager light outside.
One would expect fear in a moment like this, but instead, the group grew more and more excited, each of them more thrilled than the last—even the ever-cautious Situ Haonan found himself caught up in the excitement, letting go of Situ Jing’er’s hand and hurrying forward to join Ziqing and Jun Beiyue.
The entrance was narrow, and they filed in one by one. By the faint glow of the barrier, they found stone steps stretching endlessly downward, with nothing at all around them—empty on every side.
“Doesn’t look like this tomb is shallow.”
“It’s an entire underground palace.”
“Could it be even deeper than the old poison beast realm?”
No one was quite sure who’d asked that, but Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed sharply at the question. He asked quietly, “Duo’er, could this place also be some kind of barrier?” In the past, Meng Duo’er couldn’t have said for certain, but now, she was quite confident. “No. Everything down here is solid stone—this must be an excavated burial chamber from long ago.”
“Even the imperial tombs of the various kingdoms of Longyuan probably aren’t this deep,” Situ Haonan remarked, awestruck. Everyone present had excellent stamina, but even after walking for a long while, they still hadn’t reached the bottom.
But soon, Meng Duo’er, who was leading at the front, stopped abruptly. There were no more steps.
“There’s a cliff drop below!” she said in a low voice.
“Let’s fly down and take a look.” Jun Buli immediately summoned the Four Great Poison Beasts, carrying everyone down through the air.
But even the Four Great Poison Beasts seemed unnerved by this depth—they flew for a long, long time, and still saw no bottom.
“Young Master, if we keep going down, we’ll reach the earth’s core. Are you sure you two haven’t made a wrong turn somewhere?” the Nine-Tailed White Fox said loudly—the question, though addressed to Jun Buli, was clearly meant for Meng Duo’er.
The tone was unmistakably rude, its edge sharp enough to unsettle anyone.
But surprisingly, Meng Duo’er didn’t seem bothered in the least, answering with complete confidence, “Don’t worry, if I say this is the place, it’s the place!”
With that, she formed a seal with both hands, and suddenly sent the entire barrier plummeting downward at tremendous speed, no longer needing the Four Great Poison Beasts to fly at all—dragging even the beasts down along with them!
After roughly a quarter of an hour, the barrier gently touched down, leaving everyone utterly stunned—Meng Duo’er seemed like an entirely different person before them.
Situ Jing’er laughed heartily. “That’ll teach them to judge people by their looks, ha!”
The Nine-Tailed White Fox looked thoroughly embarrassed, and more than a little astonished—this once tearful, timid woman seemed to have changed entirely.
With the poison beast humiliated, its master naturally felt embarrassed too. Jun Buli recalled the Four Great Poison Beasts and shot a glance at Situ Jing’er, who’d just kicked him while he was down, but said nothing.
Until Yaotiao was found, he wasn’t going to be in a good mood, not for a single day.
“So it really is a massive tomb!”
Soon, everyone’s attention was drawn by Jun Beiyue’s voice. Following his gaze to the right, they saw a large passageway, its walls on either side densely lined with row upon row of black coffins!
The sight alone was enough to warrant the words “eerie and terrifying.” Even Ziqing couldn’t help but shudder—just this one passageway alone held hundreds of coffins along its walls, and it stretched on further still, a veritable sea of coffins!
“Sister Duo’er, if it weren’t for your barrier, I don’t think I’d have dared come here at all,” Situ Jing’er admitted honestly.
“Let’s not waste time—let’s go in and take a look,” Meng Duo’er said seriously, still leading the way forward.
At this point, Jun Beiyue and Jun Buli moved to the front.
“We’ll go first,” Jun Beiyue said flatly. Though his expression remained impassive, his presence alone was enough to reassure everyone. All noticed that since entering the tomb, he had never once let go of Ziqing’s hand.
Even though Ziqing didn’t need it, he kept holding on regardless—that was what a husband did.
Meng Duo’er didn’t argue, falling back behind them. Situ Jing’er hurried over to link arms with her, leaving her father Situ Haonan no choice but to bring up the rear.
The group moved cautiously along the narrow passage between the walls of standing coffins, and unfortunately, Ziqing’s guess proved correct.
This truly was a sea of coffins!
Past the passage, the space opened up wide, like a great plaza—though “spacious” hardly described it, since row after row, column after column, the entire area was packed with standing coffins, as dense and countless as an army encamped for battle.
More horrifying still, every coffin was solid black, utterly unadorned. The silence of the chamber, combined with the sight of all these coffins, created an even deeper, more oppressive stillness—one that made a person wonder what manner of thing slept within each one, and whether the lids might suddenly fly open at any moment.
Beyond the great plaza stood an enormous stone door, carved with countless bats, rendered so lifelike that one couldn’t help but wonder if they were real bats, simply dormant.
Everyone fell into an uneasy silence, exchanging glances before continuing forward—until Meng Duo’er suddenly spoke up. “Why don’t we open one of the coffins and take a look?”