Chapter 73

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

After returning to the campsite, the tourists were still engrossed in an enthusiastic discussion. Infected by this atmosphere, Fei Lezhi and Yin Baitao looked at each other with smiles in their eyes.

Originally, they had found it difficult to understand things relating to the crown and the scepter, the Dragon God Waterway, the lost bone flute, etc. They didn’t have a clue what all these things were about. But once Jiang Hongguang explained everything to them – although they suspected that he might have deliberately simplified matters to comfort them – they had to admit that they were both much more relaxed.

Experienced tourists had prepared the expedition equipment they might need to use in advance, but they had different financial circumstances and experiences. Due to their preferences, the items they had prepared were also different. Hence, experienced tourists might not prepare something suitable. For the newcomer tourists, the materials provided by the Travel Services were the same. Although they were relatively basic, the range of items was more comprehensive.

Everyone gathered to check for missing items and to fill in the gaps of the items they hadn’t prepared. After the arrival of the descendant of the eagle flutist, the tourists divided themselves in advance and prepared their things. They just had to prepare a backpack to go.

However, the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom weren’t one of the ruins where there were still many above-ground buildings. The ruins were severely damaged due to repeated earthquakes in history. Tourists who visited the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom for the first time might be disappointed, because at first glance, they would only see two bare buildings. There were some khaki-colored worn down walls and ruins on the mountain, and the other buildings could no longer be found.

This increased the difficulty of the exploration. Tourists had no way of knowing whether there was a secret passage to the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom under the khaki-colored rocks and which path led to the ruins. They could only explore the mountain by relying on their luck. They would definitely waste a lot of time by blindly exploring, and they might not find anything.

Legend has it that the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom had been built on a mountain. From the top to the middle of the mountain, there might be secret chambers and passages. The Dragon God Waterway mentioned by the descendant of the eagle flutist also implied that the underground secret passages of the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom were intricate, and there might even be water passages leading to Tangra Yumco.

In this way, even if Xu Yang’s title of [A Blind Man’s Perception] could detect passages/routes up to a range of ten meters underground, the underground secret chambers on and near the surface were likely to have collapsed long ago and no one could pass through them.

Although Ji Hongcai had brought digging tools, they still couldn’t dig a tunnel. None of them were professionals. Therefore, what would happen if they didn’t dig the tunnel well? It might collapse and all of them would be buried in it.

This was where the importance of maps came into play. Wei Xun took the human skin thangka map, led the tourists to the peak of Qianzong Mountain and looked downwards. They saw strips of yellow beneath them. Because they were not archaeological professionals, they felt that no matter where they looked, it all looked the same.

However, Wei Xun held the map, and just by judging the ground himself, he identified the three ruins discovered by the snow leopard and the ferret cub. They corresponded to the various complex symbols on the human skin map, roughly delineating the possible scope of the Xikang Temple.

“Look from here.”

Wei Xun casually circled the map using his hand, drawing attention to most of the right side of the mountain and the area a bit higher. This was closer to the tunnel full of headless mummies that the ferret cub had discovered.

That place might have been prepared for the sacrificial ceremony. The last king of the Xiangxiong Kingdom had been assassinated during the sacrificial ceremony at the lake when they were at war with the Tibetans. Before offering sacrifices to the lake, the Bon religion’s gusin and the teacher of the state definitely would have prepared sacrifices for killing in advance. It was very likely that the enemy soldiers who were captured on the battlefield were the living sacrifices.

The Xiangxiong Kingdom had regarded Bon as the state religion, and respected “height.” The higher the location where one cultivated, the more they would achieve perfection in their cultivation. And the gusin’s status was higher than that of the king, so Xikang Temple was located at the highest place in the kingdom. There should have been a watchtower that was built at a higher location for the gusin to cultivate. The place a little lower than the Xikang Temple might be the former Xiangxiong Palace.

But now, thousands of years had passed. Qianzong Mountain still stood, but the above-ground buildings were basically gone.

Seeing that Wei Xun actually took out a map, the experienced tourists could only sigh in admiration because having such a leader was really a relief. By the time Wei Xun had determined the general location, all the tourists knew what to do. The current tour group, which consisted of nine people excluding Wei Xun, divided into three groups.

Jiang Hongguang and Ji Hongcai led two groups respectively. With the top right of the mountain as the center, one group went east and one group went west around the range drawn by Wei Xun. Yin Baitao and Fang Yuhang, on the other hand, led the scouting group which could move at any time. They were currently staying at the campsite and watching everyone’s equipment. Once a signal was sent from one side, they would immediately notify everyone. Xu Yang followed Wei Xun as his exclusive underground probe.

“If IV-1 was still here, this purchasing point should sell walkie-talkies,” Jiang Hongguang said.

The mobile phone signal on the mountain was not good, and they only had one bar of signal. They were acting separately. It would be difficult to communicate with each other if something happened to them, especially if they accidentally fell and broke their legs or fainted. At that time, they would be up the creek without a paddle.

“We don’t have very professional expedition equipment, so be careful when exploring the ruins.”

Ji Hongcai was distributing the whistles to ensure that each team had at least two. “In the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom which have experienced lots of wind and rain, the seemingly solid earthen walls are likely to have grown loose long ago. It may collapse if you don’t pay attention to it. Keep away from those earthen walls and stone bricks, bring a trekking pole, and if you see cracks on the ground, don’t step on them directly.

“Tie a climbing rope to all three members of the group and keep a certain distance. If someone sinks, be sure to stabilize yourselves. If you are in danger, blow the whistle.”

Afternoon, 2 p.m. While the wind was not so strong, the tourists checked their gear one last time and proceeded to follow the plan. After their figures disappeared among the khaki-yellow colored rocks, Wei Xun walked down with Xu Yang.

The mountain road was not easy to traverse, and altitude sickness was also a severe test for Duoduo. Xu Yang loved his dog and trusted Wei Xun, so he let Duoduo rest at the campsite. He chose a walking stick of suitable length, and he could walk stably on the road.

In front of the two of them, there was a little black dog that was sluggishly bobbing its head and leading the way. It was so small that one couldn’t see it when it got stuck in rock crevices. However, Wei Xun could sense the location of dog IV-1 using his consciousness. Therefore, he seldom took a look at it.

Wei Xun had to agree that IV-1’s [Old TV] prop wasn’t as good as III-9’s [Distributing Pornographic Content] previously. III-9’s prop could shield the entirety of III-9. Even if III-9 appeared in the livestream split screen of other tourists, he would be mosaiced and in this way, other tourists’ livestream split screens were also blocked.

Even when all the tourists were on the same screen and it was impossible to block the entire screen for the sake of the audience outside the venue, the mosaic would stubbornly cover all of III-9 and the people closest to him. This included both their voices and images. It would all be mosaiced.

As for [Old TV], it wasn’t as great as that. It simply blocked IV-1’s livestream split screen and turned it into snowflakes, but if IV-1 was in the field of vision of other tourists, it would expose his figure to the livestream sub-screens. This meant the audience could see the little black dog staggering and walking in front of him through Wei Xun’s livestream split screen.

But currently, it seemed that the latter prop was better. If IV-1’s livestream shielding prop also shielded himself, the audience outside the venue would know at a glance what was going on when they saw a small mosaic following Wei Xun.

“Brother Wei, we’ve gone past 500 meters,” Xu Yang suddenly said.

When it was only the two of them, he would call Wei Xun “Brother Wei,” as if this would make their relationship seem closer.

“It’s okay. The reminder that IV-1 was seriously injured is still there, and he won’t recover so quickly,” Wei Xun said.

He saw the corner of Xu Yang’s mouth quickly hook up, and relaxed. The smart kid instantly understood that IV-1 probably wouldn’t come back.

If IV-1 could come back, Xu Yang believed that Wei Xun would not go 500 meters away from the other tourists, and it was most likely that everyone would always act together.

In fact, when Wei Xun had said that the tour group should split up to search for clues, Xu Yang had guessed that IV-1 might be dead. Even if he hadn’t died, Wei Xun’s claim that he would only be able to sense IV-1 when IV-1 was in the periphery of 500 meters from him should be false. Instead, Wei Xun had a solution to sense IV-1’s position at all times.

Even though Xu Yang thought of this, he didn’t tell everyone. He just secretly smiled happily and rejoiced in his heart, as if he and Wei Xun were growing closer again because of this little secret.

Later, Xu Yang felt Wei Xun’s hand fall on his head and he felt that Wei Xun had patted it lightly.

“You’re very smart,” Wei Xun praised.

It was really worry-free to bring a child like Xu Yang around, especially after Wei Xun had completely convinced him. The downhill road was not easy to cross, so Xu Yang walked very carefully even with the aid of the walking stick. Their speed inevitably slowed down.

Wei Xun thought about it for a while, and simply asked Xu Yang to stop and stand beside him. In the livestream room, when the audience thought they were about to see the warm and friendly scene of Wei Xun carrying Xu Yang, they saw Wei Xun put his arms around Xu Yang’s waist and lifted him up, and then held him under his arm. Then, they saw Wei Xun grab Xu Yang, as he ran and directly jumped down the mountain.

Xu Yang: ??

The audience: ??!

The strong wind whistled past his ears, but Wei Xun was like a sturdy beast who was born to live in the mountains. Every time he jumped down, he leapt seven or eight meters, and he held onto Xu Yang effortlessly. With two or three jumps, he arrived near the underground ruins where he had found the dual-cultivation murals earlier.

“You’re too fast.”

Wei Xun was still reminiscing about the feeling of jumping from the mountain unscrupulously just now. The thrill of rapidly falling and jumping downwards had made his heart beat faster. The corners of his lips twitched, and he was a little short of breath due to excitement.

It was a pity——everything ended so quickly.

He’d only jumped a few times before reaching the ground, and he hadn’t traversed many meters in total.

If, only if. Wei Xun couldn’t help but look forward to it. What a joy it would be if he could climb Mount Everest one day, and then start to jump down from the highest peak!

“Feels awesome, eh?”

Wei Xun smiled and put Xu Yang down. He really liked this child. Whenever he felt the urge to act like a child, he couldn’t help but want to share his favorite things with Xu Yang.

Bam.

Xu Yang, who was put down, fell to the ground, his body as soft as noodles.

Father, mother, am I in heaven?

In a daze, Xu Yang seemed to see his parents in heaven beckoning to him. Duoduo was barking at him next to his parents, its tail wagging so fast that he could see two tails.

Xu Yang happily stretched out his hand to them, about to grab his parents’ hands. But at this moment, Wei Xun rushed out from the side, grabbed his waist, and brought him from heaven to the 18th level of hell!

Heave!

Xu Yang woke up from his stupor abruptly. Feeling the wetness around his mouth, he licked it. It was sweet.

“Cough, sorry.”

Wei Xun fed Xu Yang a small half bottle of glucose, and secretly added some iron supplements. It was rare that Wei Xun felt strangely embarrassed. It was also rare for Wei Xun to meet a child with a high IQ like Xu Yang, which reminded Wei Xun of his childhood.

But not everyone was unafraid of death like him and liked to try all kinds of exciting things.

Wei Xun recalled the times You Ziming had tried to persuade him that it might be better for him to find a partner to fall in love with instead of doing these things. But Wei Xun had thought that he was not in good health and used the excuse that he shouldn’t waste others’ time, and perfunctorily rebuffed You Ziming.

He really couldn’t find anyone who could go crazy with him.

It wasn’t as if he could ask someone, “Hello, do you like extreme sports? Do you know how to fly a wingsuit or skydive? How many times have you climbed Mount Everest?”

Wei Xun sometimes felt wronged. He wanted to find someone who was as good as himself and he had a common interest with. This was not too much to ask for!

“No, it’s fine, I’m fine.”

Xu Yang still felt as if he was floating in the sky. He felt that the ground was soft, and he felt nauseous when he remembered the terrifying feeling of weightlessness. In fact, he was so frightened that his small face was pale white.

“I’m fine, Brother Wei, my, where’s my walking stick?”

Wei Xun felt even more embarrassed after seeing the little child being frightened like this. He took out the sleeping ferret from his pocket and stuffed it into Xu Yang’s arms. The heavenly fox cub was a good thing. Holding it would make one feel a deep warmth and have a happy mood. Naturally, one would feel love for it and want to protect it. It was indeed a very useful object to divert attention.

Xu Yang, who was just trembling as he leaned on his walking stick and wanted to stand up, hugged the ferret cub. However, it seemed that he was stupefied and fell to the ground directly, and the slumbering ferret cub fell to the ground with a patter. The small body that was gradually turning into a snow-white color rolled on the ground.

The ferret cub: ???

Wei Xun saw that Xu Yang was in a bad state, and Xu Yang’s face had turned even paler. His entire body was trembling, and he was in such a panicked state that he used both his hands and feet to inch backwards with all his might. It looked like he had been given a horrible scare. His teeth were gritted together, and formed a chatting sound. The soil on his face stuck together with his sweat and rolled up into clumps. He looked dirty and cut an extremely sorry figure.

No, it was not the problem with the ferret. Wei Xun instantly picked up Xu Yang, snatched the walking stick from his hand, and gave him a few mouthfuls of the remaining half bottle of glucose.

Xu Yang tugged at the corner of Wei Xun’s clothes, staggering backwards and taking a dozen steps back before he finally stopped moving. Now, he was gasping for breath in shock.

“What did you see?”

When Xu Yang had barely calmed down, Wei Xun asked in a low voice, “What’s under the ground.”

[A Blind Man’s Perception (Blue Title): As a blind person, you have extraordinary perception. Your esteemed self can sense up to ten meters underground, to the sky, the right, and the left, all around you. Of course, it is not easy to perceive things. Your esteemed self always has to have a guide dog or a white cane to do it.]

This was Xu Yang’s title. He’d been terrified after he had grasped the walking stick, so there must be something under the ground!

Wei Xun glanced at the location where they had been standing just now. He found that it was the place that the snow leopard had first discovered. It was the room with the strange Buddha statue and the secret passageway that Wei Xun had found, with the dual-cultivation murals.

“Yes, there are corpses, one, no, many, there are many corpses in the soil.”

Xu Yang’s voice trembled and his face turned pale. It was rare that he spoke this incoherently.

“A lot, a lot, they were standing, standing while being buried in the soil, and placed in a circle. I didn’t count how many there were.”

“Their necks look like they were broken off, their faces are all looking upwards, and all the corpses are——they’re looking at the people aboveground!”

The author has something to say:

Beep, you received a card that allows you to receive a huggy from leopardy, don’t be afraid tonight!

This is a white, oversized, fluffy snow leopard who likes extreme sports, can fly in a wingsuit, skydive, and has climbed Mount Everest more than a dozen times!

Would you like to rent one from Leader Wei? Rental is paid by praising Leader Wei one time!

Leopardy: Ouch!

T/N: PR-ed version will be up once it’s PR-ed. The chapter is PR-ed. I’ll be going on a week’s holiday, so I’ll try to publish what I can for now. Chapters will be published on 1x a week from now on because of my relatively busy schedule.