Nightwatcher

# 461. Exploring the Late Emperor's Tomb

Xu Qi’an brought Hengyuan back to Xu Manor, ordered the servants to clean out a guest room, and had the monk settle in.

Having Hengyuan stay at the Xu residence was undoubtedly a significant form of protection for both Xu Qi’an and his household. There was already the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect, the little dark-skinned girl from the Southern Marches, and now a monk bearing a Sharira.

The Xu residence’s defensive strength was frankly terrifying, far stronger than most noble estates.

Hengyuan pressed his palms together and said, “Sorry to trouble you.”

With that, he followed the servant to the outer courtyard.

Though a monk, he was still a man, and it was inappropriate for him to stay in the inner courtyard, where most of the women lived.

Led by a servant, Hengyuan entered a quiet room on the outskirts of the residence.

He didn’t feel slighted at all. In fact, he appreciated Xu Qi’an’s thoughtfulness. Hengyuan needed a quiet space to recite scriptures for his morning and evening devotions.

After a quick tidy-up, Hengyuan pressed his palms together to thank the servant.

Once the servant had gone and he was about to close the door and meditate, a small head poked in through the doorway. Round, black eyes stared at him curiously.

Hengyuan smiled gently and said, “Little benefactor.”

He recognised the girl as Xu Qi’an’s youngest sister, he’d visited the Xu estate several times before.

“Are you going to live here too?” Xu Lingyin asked.

“Sorry to trouble you,” Hengyuan said apologetically.

Xu Lingyin stepped over the threshold and pulled out a nearly broken piece of pastry from her pocket, then looked up and offered it with both hands. “Here, you can have this.”

*What a well-behaved and kind child…* Hengyuan smiled, touched, and took the pastry, popping it into his mouth, only to find the taste was somewhat odd.

Xu Lingyin ran off happily, but soon came back holding a wilted orchid, its roots still trailing soil.

Hengyuan looked at the girl in confusion. After the cake, now a flower? Xu Qi’an’s little sister was just too enthusiastic and thoughtful.

Xu Lingyin frowned, looking distressed.

“I was playing outside and knocked over the flower Mum loves the most. I’m going to get spanked again. Uncle, can you say you did it instead? You’re a guest, Mum won’t hit you.”

Hengyuan said helplessly, “A monk does not tell falsehoolds.”

Xu Lingyin looked up, mystified but impressed. “What does that mean?”

Hengyuan gently explained, “It means I mustn’t tell lies.”

Xu Lingyin’s eyes welled up. “Then give me back the cake. I kept it in my shoe for three days and didn’t eat it…”

… Hengyuan was struck dumb.

…

Back in the study, Huaiqing and Li Miaozhen were still waiting. The two beauties, each striking in her own way, sat quietly. The atmosphere wasn’t exactly tense, but it wasn’t light either.

When Xu Qi’an stepped over the threshold, Huaiqing reacted more strongly than Li Miaozhen, standing up swiftly and gliding toward him.

She stopped abruptly in front of him, her limpid eyes fixed on his face, wanting to speak but holding back several times. She struggled to keep her voice steady:

“Who… who was it?” ƒrēenovelkiss.com

“It wasn’t him,” Xu Qi’an shook his head. After a pause of several seconds, he added in a low voice, “It was him.”

Two answers. Two “him”s. Each corresponding to one of the portraits.

Huaiqing’s face suddenly stiffened. Her beautiful features paled visibly, the colour draining away. She seemed unable to accept the truth. A wave of dizziness struck, and she swayed, about to collapse.

Xu Qi’an caught her by the waist and sighed. “Your Highness, my condolences…”

“We’re fine, we’re fine…” Huaiqing pushed him away a few times, then slumped softly against his shoulder, her fragrant shoulders trembling.

Xu Qi’an considered holding her tighter, but since she wasn’t Lin’an, he merely kept a light hold, letting her rest on his firm chest and broad shoulder.

Li Miaozhen, who had no idea what was going on, was stunned. Inwardly, she cried: *What… what are you two doing? Right in front of me?!*

The moment didn’t last long. After a brief sob, Huaiqing quickly composed herself, withdrew from his embrace, and murmured, “We lost our composure.”

Li Miaozhen seized the chance to ask, “What on earth is going on?”

Xu Qi’an glanced at Huaiqing and, seeing no objection, explained to the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect, “The one beneath the dragon ley wasn’t the Daoist Leader of the Earth Sect, it was the late Emperor.”

*The late Emperor?!*

Li Miaozhen’s face went blank. Her mouth slowly opened, eyes widened, and Xu Qi’an’s words echoed in her mind again and again. After a long while, she heard herself mutter:

“How can that be!”

“It was the late Emperor who was truly obsessed with immortality. I find it hard to believe as well, but the truth might be just that,” Xu Qi’an sighed again.

The late Emperor’s health was actually quite poor. Though he faked his death, the Sitianjian’s arcanists had accurately diagnosed the problem: he’d indulged too much in women, draining his body.

The historical records put it bluntly, “Zhende loved women.” That said it all.

He knew better than anyone how his body was, which was why he became obsessed with cultivation and immortality. But the rule that one bearing the fortune of the dynasty could not attain immortality meant he had to bury that desire deep.

Until the Daoist Leader of the Earth Sect arrived in the capital. Something must have happened in secret, unknown to outsiders, that changed the late Emperor’s understanding and made him believe immortality was possible.

Li Miaozhen took a long time to process this, then blurted out:

“No, that’s impossible! The late Emperor wasn’t a Daoist disciple. He wasn’t even a martial artist. But what you encountered in the dragon ley beneath the earth was powerful enough to terrify you!”

Huaiqing’s eyes were still slightly red. She took a deep breath:

“There’s no necessary link. The late Emperor was an ordinary man, yes, but that doesn’t mean he had no talent. Among the royal family, any prince with the potential to compete for the throne was made to take consorts early to ensure heirs. Whether or not a prince had children was a key factor in determining succession.

“In fact, if a prince was obsessed with martial arts, it would draw criticism from both the Emperor and the court. How could he govern if all his time was spent on training? Father… he was obsessed with cultivation for twenty years. The constant public criticism is proof enough.”

The implication being: if one wanted to be Emperor, one had to give up cultivation. People had their limits, after all.

The late Emperor chose the throne, but that didn’t mean he lacked talent.

Over those twenty years, he was like a parasite feeding on the Great Feng’s fortune, sucking the marrow from its bones, extracting the people’s wealth. Even a pig, fed such vast resources, would have become Marshal Tianpeng.[^1]

And now, judging by the current situation, the late Emperor’s talent was not small at all.

Li Miaozhen was left speechless. Then, struck by a sudden thought, she cried out in alarm, “Where is the Zhenbei King’s body?!”

Xu Qi’an and Huaiqing exchanged glances, puzzled by her reaction. “What about it?”

The Zhenbei King’s corpse had been torn to pieces, he was as dead as could be. In the Chuzhou case, no one had cared how a king’s body was disposed of.

The Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect slowly stood, her gaze sweeping over the two of them with growing horror:

“One Qi Transforms into Three Purities. One is three, and three are one. If the three incarnations aren’t completely destroyed, then he cannot die. Only his accumulated vitality perished, only a third of his soul was lost.”

Xu Qi’an and Huaiqing’s faces changed dramatically.

…

Sangpo, the newly rebuilt Yongzhen Shanhe Temple.

Yuanjing, dressed in a black robe embroidered with golden silk, stood with his hands behind his back before the statue of the founding emperor, squinting as he met its gaze.

He was already over fifty, yet with a ruddy complexion, jet-black hair, and upright bearing, he appeared no older than forty.

“Gaozu, you established the Great Feng dynasty, gathered the fortune of the Central Plains, and advanced to Rank One. At your peak, even the Church of the Warlock God had no choice but to submit.

“Wuzong, you overthrew the corrupt bloodline, gained the recognition of the Confucians, ascended the throne, and also reached Rank One. After that, the Confucianists flourished, and even the Buddhist sects had to retreat to the Western Regions.

“In six hundred years since the founding of Great Feng, aside from you two, there has not been another Rank One warrior. But no matter how powerful you were in life, how you dominated the realm, in the end, after a hundred years, you turned to dust.” Yuanjing’s eyes were calm, his tone firm:

“But I, I will be the first immortal emperor of the Great Feng. I’m close, so close…”

…

In the capital’s domain, the Fulong Mountains.

Viewed from above, the Fulong Mountains resembled a massive dragon lying dormant upon the earth, hence the name “crouching dragon”. This mountain range was a place of spiritual prominence, gathering the power of the ley lines, and was the finest geomantic treasure land in the capital’s territory.

Roughly three hundred years ago, the emperor of that generation chose this place for his tomb. Since then, six emperors in succession had been buried here, hence the imperial mausoleum was known as the “Six Tombs of Feng.”

The late emperor was also buried here.

A party of four infiltrated the imperial mausoleum in secret, using Sitianjian and Confucian techniques to bypass the crude lines of “defence” guarded by martial artists. They passed through the outer buildings of the mausoleum and entered the mountain, halting outside the tomb of the late emperor.

They had come to confirm matters one final time.

As the sovereign of a nation, faking death was no simple feat. Civil and military officials, imperial physicians, and the Sitianjian would all verify it thoroughly. Since the late emperor had been sent into the coffin, he must have been truly dead at the time.

What exactly had happened required investigation in the tomb itself.

Outside the mausoleum, Xu Qi’an tore out a page of Confucian magic and said to the three beauties, “Hold onto me.”

Zhong Li obediently hugged him from behind, while Huaiqing and Li Miaozhen gave him sidelong glances and placed their hands on his shoulders.

*Senior Sister Zhong is still the most obedient. Huaiqing and Miaozhen are both too headstrong…* Xu Qi’an muttered inwardly but spoke without pause. He channelled his qi into the paper and recited:

“We are not outside the mausoleum gates, but inside them.”

The paper burnt to ash, a faint clear light enveloped the four of them, and they vanished.

Zhong Li summoned a luminous pearl artefact, its pure, gentle glow illuminating the dark tomb.

Li Miaozhen glanced back and saw they had only passed through the gate, they hadn’t penetrated deeply into the tomb. She frowned and said, “Why didn’t you simply say we were in the main chamber?”

Using a Confucian technique just to step through a single doorway, wasn’t that wasteful?

They couldn’t openly open the door, nor could they afford to dig a tunnel, but surely Xu Qi’an could have teleported straight into the main tomb.

Xu Qi’an complained, “You don’t care about me at all.”

Li Miaozhen: “???”

She quickly realised: Confucian techniques incurred backlash. Passing through a single door caused only mild backlash.

If he had gone straight to the main chamber, passing through many traps, the difficulty along the way would have rebounded on the caster.

Zhong Li took the lead and said, “The late emperor’s mausoleum has twelve major mechanisms, seventy-two minor ones, and nine formations…” She recited them fluently. “Follow me. Don’t wander.”

The mausoleum had been designed and overseen by Sitianjian. As the Jianzheng’s disciple, Zhong Li had the right to examine the construction diagrams.

“Wouldn’t following her be more dangerous…?” Li Miaozhen muttered under her breath.

Xu Qi’an waved her concern off. “It’s fine. Just follow her. Nothing will happen.”

He had already stored the jade pendant the Jianzheng had given him in the Earth Book fragment. Right now, Xu Qi’an had the full protagonist’s halo buff, enough to counteract the misfortune of a Master of Prophecy.

Under Zhong Li’s lead, they safely avoided traps and broke through the formations, finally arriving at the main tomb.

Its gate was a pair of massive stone doors, tightly shut. Xu Qi’an halted, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

“What is it?” Li Miaozhen turned to him.

*Nothing… just having a bout of ancient tomb PTSD…* Xu Qi’an used lampooning to ease his nerves. *The late emperor surely couldn’t have returned to his own tomb, right?*

*Let’s hope I’m not cursed to always awaken the dead when I open coffins…*

He took a deep breath, pressed both palms to the stone doors, muscles tensing, and pushed them open.

His warrior’s danger sense gave no warning. Xu Qi’an exhaled in relief and stepped into the main tomb.

Zhong Li held up the luminous pearl in her palm. Its soft light revealed the columns, clay figurines, ritual vessels, and other burial items.

Xu Qi’an’s gaze turned to the centre of the tomb, where on a black jade pedestal lay a massive coffin made of sandalwood, edged with white jade.

He placed his hands on it, waited a moment, and, confirming no danger from his instincts, slowly pushed it open.

Inside the outer coffin was a regular-sized sandalwood inner coffin.

As Zhong Li approached, the sight within came into view. Lined with yellow silk, the coffin held a dried skeleton.

Li Miaozhen walked up, scrutinised the bones, and recalled the records they had gathered. “Height is similar.”

She glanced at the pelvis. “Male.”

*So… there is a corpse in the coffin. That means the late emperor was indeed buried, and not faking death?* Li Miaozhen frowned.

This wasn’t what they had expected. In their theory, the emperor had faked his death, been buried, then risen in secret.

“Give me the pearl,” said Huaiqing, extending her hand.

She took it from Zhong Li and bent slightly over the coffin, ignoring the poisonous miasma. After a while, her expression shifted.

“He’s not the late emperor.”

Xu Qi’an stroked his chin. “What makes you say that?”

All evidence indicated the late emperor had been healthy and whole. These bones were too. In a world without modern tools or DNA testing, identifying someone at a glance seemed almost impossible.

Holding up the pearl, Huaiqing said with a complex expression:

“His hand and foot bones are longer than usual. He’s a eunuch… Eunuchs are castrated in youth. When grown, their bodies differ from normal men, taller, but with slightly deformed limb proportions. Their hands and feet are longer.”

Xu Qi’an took a closer look and indeed found the arm bones unusually long.

*How does that even work…? No wonder she’s Great Feng’s top female scholar… I know a thing or two about autopsies, but in my time, there were no more eunuchs…*

Xu Qi’an whispered, “So, there’s no longer any doubt.”

A ruler was protected by the nation’s fortune, he could not be possessed by outsiders, unless the one possessing him was another emperor. In other words, the being under the dragon ley could not be the Daoist Leader of the Earth Sect wearing the late emperor’s skin.

Now that they’d confirmed the corpse was fake, it was clear: the late emperor was the true mastermind.

Huaiqing gave no immediate reply. Her voice was tinged with loneliness: “Let’s go.”

Xu Qi’an sighed. Yuanjing had not been Yuanjing for a long time. Perhaps it happened during the autumn hunt at the Southern Gardens, or maybe twenty years ago, when he suddenly began cultivating.

They didn’t know the exact method, but the truth lay before their eyes.

…

Outside the capital of Yan.

The ground was pockmarked with craters, smoke rising from them. Soldiers’ corpses lay strewn across the battlefield, blood soaking into the dark earth.

Nangong Qianrou knelt, scooping up a handful of scorching dirt. Crimson blood seeped between his fingers.

His armour was no longer bright, his face no longer fair and lovely, his body covered in sword and sabre wounds.

In his mind echoed Wei Yuan’s parting words: *If you don’t want to retreat within three days, then six days is the absolute limit. On the sixth day, you must leave, no matter what.*

Today was the sixth day.

…

[^1]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshal_Tianpeng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshal_Tianpeng)