Chapter 7

Thus, Zu Qicang followed the old man into the crack. The crack created by the earthquake was very narrow, so narrow that one could only see what was ahead and couldn't even turn their head, making it feel extremely oppressive.

Fortunately, this crack was not very long. Zu Qicang walked about ten meters and then emerged from the crack. What he saw was a vast palace.

The palace was about hundreds of meters long and wide. At the end of the grand hall was a stone door over five meters high, completely blocking the way forward.

In the grand hall, there were eighteen huge pillars standing on the ground. Each pillar was entwined by a strange beast that looked neither like a dragon nor a tiger. The eyes of these beasts emitted a green light, staring intently at Zu Qicang as if they were about to pounce at any moment.

The old man patted Zu Qicang's stiff body and smiled, "Don't be nervous, they're not alive. The green light comes from the night pearls in their eyes."

Hearing the old man's explanation, Zu Qicang finally relaxed. He had no choice; he had already encountered two groups of monsters on this island. Now, upon closer inspection, he realized that the beasts on the pillars were indeed carvings, just so lifelike that, combined with the dim light from the night pearls, they gave the illusion of being alive.

"The entire tomb originally operated through Daoist techniques, but too much time has passed, and there has been a lack of maintenance, especially after the earthquake. Many of the mechanisms and formations here have failed, so there's basically no danger." As the old man spoke, the torch in his hand finally burned out. He casually threw it on the ground and, using the light from the night pearls, walked deeper into the palace.

"The passages behind are all sealed off. Through the rock cracks, we can only get this far. To go further, we need to find another way."

"This room is where the burial goods and sacrificial items are placed, a custom of the Western Wei nobility. They also have a habit of recording the tomb owner's life story in the sacrificial chamber. Come, let me show you."

Zu Qicang followed the old man, and as they walked, he saw various bottles, jars, statues, and gold and silver items scattered throughout the room.

The old man explained, "The tomb owner was also a Daoist practitioner, so his burial goods include not only various vessels but also many materials used for Daoist cultivation."

Zu Qicang nodded, and his gaze suddenly fell on a crystal coffin. The coffin was vertically embedded in the wall, and Zu Qicang could clearly see a dry corpse inside, with a human head and a bird's body, its wings curled up.

"This is called a Liang Bo," the old man said. "During the Western Wei period, Daoists had a custom of preserving the monsters they defeated in life as specimens to be buried with them. They hoped that even though they couldn't ascend to heaven, they would still have a retinue of monsters in the underworld."

"The Yin Nü you encountered earlier is also part of this. Because the tomb owner was very remarkable, the sacrificial items are particularly numerous."

As Zu Qicang continued to walk, it felt like he was in a museum of monster mummies. There were giant snakes with human heads, centipedes as big as cars, and tigers with three heads, all of which had become mummies. Despite their shriveled state, their faces still showed fierce expressions, giving a terrifying and eerie feeling, as if they could come to life at any moment.

After walking and looking around, Zu Qicang and the old man finally arrived at a mural. The mural covered a wall over a hundred meters long, and the figures in it were vividly depicted. However, due to the passage of time and the earthquake on the island, there were many cracks and fading colors.

The old man pointed to a child at the beginning of the mural and said, "This is the tomb owner."

In the mural, the child had a topknot and wore a Daoist robe, following an old Daoist into the deep mountains. With the old man's previous explanation, the meaning of this scene was clear: the child was following the old Daoist to practice Daoist techniques in the mountains.

The next part of the mural showed a young man sitting cross-legged on a mountain peak, with the old Daoist holding a book and teaching him something.

The subsequent murals depicted the man's life, showing how he achieved success in Daoist cultivation and then descended the mountain, being recruited by the royal family. The man, with his astonishing Daoist techniques, shone brightly in the army, defeating various monsters and alien races, helping the ruling power to conquer the north and south.

In the murals, the man was always seen emitting black, ribbon-like strands from his body. No matter what kind of monster, warrior, or opposing Daoist, once caught by these black ribbons, they would be defeated.

Then, in the murals, the defeated enemies were subjected to cruel punishments. Their heads were cut off, their bodies chopped up, and they were piled into a throne of corpses, with the man sitting atop it, surrounded by hundreds of black ribbons that fluttered like demonic claws.

The style of the murals then changed, showing the man at a banquet. It seemed that due to his great achievements, he was persecuted by the royal family. Several infants and women were executed, and the man in the mural showed a look of rage, clearly a very detailed depiction that even conveyed the hatred and fury in his eyes.

After that, the man fled alone, but was pursued by various powerful enemies along the way.

Despite his astonishing strength, the man was ultimately outnumbered and captured by the royal family. However, for some unknown reason, he was not executed. Instead, he was taken by a group of Daoist practitioners across the sea to this island.

They used Daoist techniques to build the tomb on this island, creating small human-like figures the size of fists to do the construction work, and building two-meter-tall stone figures to do the heavy lifting.

In the murals, the entire desolate island was transformed into an unprecedentedly large tomb. According to the murals, there were seven levels underground on the island.

While the man was still alive, he was bound with iron chains and sealed alive in a stone coffin.

The final part of the mural showed a black coffin being sunk into an underground abyss, surrounded by countless ghosts and flames, as if they were roaring in excitement.

After viewing the entire mural, Zu Qicang frowned and asked the old man, "Even if this is a tomb, why can't we leave?"

"Don't you understand? This is not just a tomb, but also a seal," the old man explained. "The tomb owner is not an ordinary person. He is recorded in history, and he should be the great Daoist practitioner of the middle Western Wei period, the Mirage Sect."

"Legend has it that the Mirage Sect was born with innate knowledge and was taken into the mountains by the Great Daoist Taixuan of the Southern Holy Gate to practice Daoism for twenty years. After coming out of the mountains, he quickly established himself in the dynasty with his astonishing Daoist techniques. He conquered the Bai Shou, Jiu Niao, and Teng Ri tribes for the court."

The old man pointed to the mural where the man was torturing others and using their corpses to build a throne.

"Legend has it that he had the power to communicate with the underworld and summon ghosts and gods to battle. After each war, he would brutally kill the captives to appease the ghosts and gods."

"Because of this, it is said that he had the ability to communicate between the realms of the living and the dead, to be injured but not die, and to die and come back to life. Look here..."

The old man pointed to the mural where the Mirage Sect and the court had a falling out. "Look, his body is pierced by swords and daggers, but he doesn't fall. Then he is burned and drowned, but it's not a battle; they just want to kill the Mirage Sect."

"So the people at the time didn't want to kill the Mirage Sect, but they couldn't. That's why they found this place to imprison him and seal him away forever."

Zu Qicang was skeptical about the old man's claim that the Mirage Sect was invincible, but he didn't show it. Instead, he asked, "Your point is that to imprison the Mirage Sect, this island has a seal, and no one can leave? But if it's a seal, isn't it strange to build it as a tomb?"

"It's not what I'm saying," the old man walked to a mural and patted the wall. "It's what they say." In the mural, several Daoists surrounded the island, each making different gestures.

"This is called the Great Array of Moving Stars and Changing Constellations. They used this array to cover the entire island, making it difficult for anyone to approach. Over time, the array's power has weakened, which is why we ended up here by chance."

"But compared to entering from the outside, leaving from the inside is a hundred times harder."

"Moreover, this is the array of the Southern Holy Gate. Look at these Daoists; they wear the same Daoist robes as the old man. They are the Mirage Sect's fellow disciples, so they built this as a tomb."

"How do you know all this?" Zu Qicang asked, puzzled. "There's nothing written on the mural."

"Because I also practice Daoist techniques and know more about the history of Daoist practitioners." The old man looked steadily at Zu Qicang, who suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest and saw a small, scorched spot on his robe.

"This is called 'Blinking Fire.' When practiced to the extreme, a single glance can burn someone to death."

Zu Qicang's face was full of surprise, but he felt the warmth on his chest and even touched it with his hand.

"Is there really such a thing as Daoist techniques?"

The old man sighed, "My meager Daoist techniques are like the difference between heaven and earth compared to the high-level practitioners who built this tomb and the Mirage Sect. It's almost as if I have no Daoist techniques at all."

"I fear that I will never find a way to leave here in my lifetime." The old man's face was filled with melancholy. Zu Qicang didn't say anything, just looked around, as if searching for something on the mural.

Seeing that Zu Qicang didn't respond, the old man pretended to be deep in thought and continued, "However, to leave this tomb, besides directly breaking the Great Array of Moving Stars and Changing Constellations, there is actually another way."

'The plot thickens,' Zu Qicang narrowed his eyes and asked, "Oh? What other way is there?"

"The array covers the entire island, and the tomb itself is safe, but outside the tomb, there are Yin Nü, giant elephants, and other monsters guarding the exits. Oh, the giant elephants are those large stone figures. If we go out, we will be attacked immediately."

"Even if we leave the tomb, we can't leave the island. Under the influence of the array, the sea around the island is full of whirlpools and strong currents. We can't leave by sea." The old man pointed to the ground. "Our only way out is underground, in the Mirage Sect's coffin."

"But before we go there, you need to learn some things first."