Chapter 28 – The Gaotian Tribe

Another fork in the road appeared. Zhan Changfeng said, “Hide.”

Jiang Wei nodded, put away the Night-Luminescent Pearl, and darted into a side passage.

Plunged into darkness, Zhan Changfeng slipped into the other path, fingers gripping the wall. With a swift hawk-like flip, she wedged herself into the diagonal corner where the wall met the ceiling, drew a deep breath, and held it.

The Zhu Yan’s hair gleamed white, its four hooves blazed like fire, yet its body was shrouded in a dim green light — fortunately, that green glow did not reach her height.

Zhan Changfeng watched without blinking as the Zhu Yan prowled back and forth at the fork.

It seemed extremely sensitive to human breath; with Zhan Changfeng suppressing hers so thoroughly, she had caused it to lose its target.

The Zhu Yan let out an impatient roar, then ambled into the passage where Zhan Changfeng was concealed, strolling lazily toward the depths. The four warrior statues followed close behind, their heavy footsteps reverberating long through the tomb passage.

Zhan Changfeng had, after all, lost her inner energy. Setting aside how long she could hold her breath, the sheer difficulty of bracing herself against the wall with all four limbs meant she could not maintain it for long.

But this necessary endurance could not be abandoned simply because it was impossible — no matter how unbearable, she had to hold on.

Just as her head swam with dizziness and her vision began to waver, a smear of diffused pale green appeared abruptly before her eyes. Her spirits jolted — it was the Zhu Yan, which had silently returned on its own!

“Ang!”

The Zhu Yan circled the fork several times, then re-entered the tomb passage and was swiftly swallowed by the darkness.

Zhan Changfeng waited another quarter of an hour. Once certain it would not come back, she dropped to the ground and gasped heavily for several breaths.

“Your Highness,” said Jiang Wei, confirming it was safe and producing the Night-Luminescent Pearl as he came over, “where do we go now?”

“Forward.”

“But — but isn’t that the direction that fierce beast went?”

Zhan Changfeng said with conviction, “This is the right direction.”

She offered no further explanation. In truth, she could not be entirely certain this path led anywhere — but the direction was right.

Wary of the Zhu Yan ahead, the two of them hung far back. After about half a stick of incense’s time, an amber-orange firelight appeared in the distance. Peering ahead, they saw yet another tomb chamber with its main doors flung wide open.

But this chamber looked as though something had burst it open from the inside with tremendous force — one half of the door was tilted outward at an angle.

Zhan Changfeng felt a draft of flowing air and grew even more certain in her heart.

She stepped inside and looked around. Sure enough, a large hole had been broken through the chamber wall, connecting to another space beyond.

“Your Highness, what is the story with this coffin?”

Zhan Changfeng glimpsed the firelight flickering on the wall and snapped, “Put it down!”

“…” Jiang Wei had already picked up the eternal lamp placed at the head of the coffin. Hearing her words, he hastily set it back — whether from too heavy a hand or some other reason, the shark-oil eternal lamp flickered and began to dim as though it might go out.

The coffin had been resting in the center of the chamber all along. Zhan Changfeng had noticed it the moment she arrived, yet had deliberately not examined it, because she had noticed that nearly half of the elaborate, ornate patterns carved upon the coffin matched the patterns on the Bronze Cauldron.

And according to what Songshi Zi had said, those patterns on the Bronze Cauldron originated from the Gaotian Tribe, who were known for their mastery of venom and Gu.

Naturally, the origin of this coffin went without saying.

It was best to avoid anything belonging to the Gaotian Tribe.

“Leave it alone.”

Zhan Changfeng turned her attention back to the wall.

The wall was extremely thin, as though it had been built later. Judging from the scattered rubble on the ground, there had originally been a door here.

She compared the height and it was not difficult to surmise: the true origin of the four warrior statues and the Zhu Yan was the space behind this chamber.

With that, the sense of wrongness she had felt all along was now explained.

Why warrior statues dressed in the Dragon Scale Army attire from the founding Emperor’s era had been crammed into a small, narrow tomb chamber.

Why the bronze statue of the Zhu Yan, which the founding Emperor had kept as his auspicious symbol, had been placed together with the Gaotian Tribe’s Bronze Cauldron.

Because they had never belonged there.

Beyond the wall was yet another tomb passage — but this one was utterly unlike any they had traversed before.

It was immensely long and wide, enough for two carriages to travel side by side. Above was a masterfully crafted arched ceiling carved with dragon motifs and auspicious clouds. Along the walls, an eternal lamp hung every ten meters. Someone who didn’t know better might have thought it was the brilliantly lit Corridor of some imperial detached palace.

Now this was the right style.

Even as Zhan Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief, her expression grew graver. Just what was the background of the Gaotian Tribe, that they had been able to locate the underground palace left behind by the founding Emperor?

If they sought to seize it, why had they gone to the trouble of constructing a false tomb palace filled with traps outside?

If it was to guard it… that was impossible. The Gaotian Tribe had appeared a hundred years after the founding of the dynasty — by then, the underground palace had long existed.

While the two of them were exploring the true tomb passage of the underground palace, a pale and slender hand snuffed out the eternal lamp atop the coffin lid. The coffin began to tremble, as though something inside was knocking against the lid.

“Little treasure, be good.”

At the end of the tomb passage, their field of vision suddenly expanded. Stone vaulted above like sky; vast ground stretched below like earth. Within stood row upon row of terracotta soldiers clutching blades, swords, axes, and halberds — the impression of a thousand-strong army.

But looking more closely, these terracotta soldiers were missing arms, missing legs, and broken weapons and clay fragments were scattered all across the ground — as though the place had witnessed a brutal and violent battle.

Zhan Changfeng wove through the terracotta soldiers, a deep sense of foreboding rising within her.

At the very front of the terracotta army was a flat, elevated platform.

Upon the platform, the bronze statue of the Zhu Yan stood with its head raised high. Warrior statues ten feet tall, swords planted in the ground, stood guard at the four corners. Behind them loomed an immense iron gate, seven zhang tall — one glance was enough to tell that no human strength could open it.

Jiang Wei kept his eyes fixed on the Zhu Yan and warrior statues, terrified they might come back to life.

But they did not move. Instead, a mechanism was triggered.

After a grinding of gears, the door of a side chamber swung open. Along with it came the sound of slow, deliberate applause.

A procession of figures, all swathed in black cloaks, slowly emerged. The one at the front clapped his hands and laughed, his voice aged and rough. “Worthy of the blood of the former king — the moment Your Highness the Crown Prince arrived, these vile creatures quieted down.”

Zhan Changfeng noticed the serpent embroidery on their cloaks and felt a vague sense of having seen it before. “Who are you?”

“This one is of the Gaotian Tribe — Wu Bing, patriarch and descendant of our founding ancestor…” He lifted his hood, revealing a deeply lined face. His eyes burned with reverence and fanaticism. “Wu Xingshan.”

Wu Xingshan — great general of the founding Emperor, the outsider who had presented the Dragon Scale Divine Scripture.

History had concealed something: she had never known that this Wu Xingshan practiced Gu and venom arts.

There had actually been hints of it all along. Was not that serpent emblem the very insignia of Wu Xingshan’s troops?

And the “former king” in Wu Bing’s mouth was not the old Emperor — it was the founding Emperor.

Zhan Changfeng said, “Your founding ancestor was one of the great generals of the Yin Dynasty, loyal and devoted through and through. Who would have thought his descendants would turn to forsaking their roots?”

“Your Highness misunderstands,” said Wu Bing. His expression was genial, but his intentions were anything but. “We are acting precisely in accordance with our ancestor’s words.” He smiled. “We respectfully ask Your Highness to surrender quietly — how unfortunate it would be if Your Highness were to suffer any injury.”

“Grandfather,” a young man spoke up. He was tall and slender with a face as fair as peach blossoms, graceful as jade — yet his words carried deep implication. “You once said the bronze Zhu Yan statue gained sentience because the Emperor carried it by his side day and night, nurtured by the imperial Purple Tenuity energy over eight hundred years. It only gained its spirit afterward — how could it recognize a bloodline? Unless…”

He paused, his meaning full. “Unless she also carries the Purple Tenuity Imperial Energy — a born sovereign.”

Wu Bing’s eyes lit up as though struck by sudden enlightenment. He stared at Zhan Changfeng with blazing intensity. “Yun’er makes a compelling point.”

His gaze was like the dim fire within a tomb passage — burning yet cold, carrying a meaning that sent a chill down the spine. “I’ll confess that when I first heard you were coming, I had intended to lure you into the trap-filled false tomb and have you killed. But hearing what Wu Yun said just now — you seemed to notice something was off about him?”

“Xiao Zhao” shoved Songshi Zi and Qiao Shan Ke forward. Both men had ashen complexions and unsteady steps, as though they had been poisoned by something.

Wu Bing spoke as if making casual conversation. Zhan Changfeng’s situation was unfavorable, so she naturally delayed as long as she could. She replied agreeably, “You were off.”

“What was off?” Wu Bing did not follow at first.

“The direction was off,” Zhan Changfeng said. “The night before entering the mountain, I determined my bearings by the stars. However, the mountain path that led me here was off — and if the path is off, the tomb it leads to is naturally also false.”

Wu Bing let out a cold, mocking chuckle. “You knew the tomb was false — so why did you still come down? Isn’t that just seeing a jar in front of you and climbing right in?”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince is far too arrogant.”

Zhan Changfeng corrected him calmly and unhurriedly. “Not arrogance. The emperors of our line all share one trait: when it comes to something they themselves have hidden away, they would sooner destroy it than let another lay hands on it.”

“If I am not mistaken, this underground palace has no entrance,” she said with a slight smile. “I examined the outer tomb passage just now — the walls are nine meters thick, built from the hardest black granite. You must have spent years chiseling through that wall.”

Wu Bing’s face twitched, anger flickering in his eyes.

Zhan Changfeng was unperturbed. “My reason for choosing to enter your trap-filled fake tomb: first, I wanted to see who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes. Rather than let you scheme against me, I preferred to investigate on my own terms.”

“Second, the two tombs are separated by only a single wall — there was a good chance someone had already opened the path for me.” She added offhandedly, “The hole was chiseled quite large — convenient for carrying out large items.”

Wu Bing’s face had gone completely dark.

“Xiao Zhao” was also indignant. “Then how did you know I was suspicious? I am certain I showed no flaw, and we exchanged no more than a single word.”

“It was precisely that one word,” Zhan Changfeng said, fixing him with a cold, deeply contemptuous gaze. “My people follow strict protocol — they never greet someone else first before coming to pay respects to me.”

“Xiao Zhao” felt as though a stone had lodged itself in his throat. All he had done was call out “Old Gao” first — couldn’t she at least consider the possibility that he simply hadn’t seen her right away?!

Damn it all. He hated nothing more than this sort of insufferably self-important type.

The entire Gaotian Tribe, facing someone who barely reached their chests, felt a certain malice wash over them — as though they themselves had somehow shrunk by a full measure.

Wu Bing said coldly, “What does a little brat know of the Gaotian Tribe’s power? Hmph. Your arrival here is no coincidence — it is the will of Heaven!”

Zhan Changfeng had nothing to say. The old man insisted on consoling himself with the will of Heaven — what could she do?

Outside the tomb.

Master Huang was puffing and panting as he climbed the mountain. Was this damned creature really asking him to serve as her escort, or was she just toying with him?!

Master Huang’s Shadow Veil Technique had a distance limit. If the subject moved too far away, he lost control — and Zhan Changfeng had kept going farther and farther until he could barely sense her at all.

What else could he do? He had given his word. Even on his knees, he had to see it through.

And so, while Zhan Changfeng wound her way through passages underground, Master Huang pushed his aging bones over hill and mountain above.

He looked up at the mountain peak ahead, his entire body aching.

“Ai!”

(End of Chapter)