Earth Vein as String (Part 2)

The oil lamp cast a dim, yellow light, illuminating several tired and tense faces. They were the elite Mausoleum Guards on duty at the Dragon Source stone cave of the Imperial Mausoleum. Earlier that day, they had personally witnessed General Meng Tian escort the critically injured Lord Chang'an, who was rumored to have slain Demonic Evils, into the forbidden area.

"Wang Wu, do you think... His Lordship can really survive?" a young guard whispered, his hand rubbing the cold hilt of his sword. His eyes held a mixture of reverence and a barely perceptible fear. The name Lord Chang'an, Cheng Xi, had already become intertwined with legends and terror among the lower ranks of soldiers, following the rumors of the demonic calamity at Mount Li and the subsequent palace coup.

"Silence!" the veteran, addressed as Wang Wu, hissed, glancing warily at the dark passage outside the barracks. "How can the life or death of a noble be for us to discuss? General Meng is personally overseeing it, and there's also the Great King's order... We just need to guard the entrance and keep unauthorized personnel away!" Even as he spoke, his calloused hand unconsciously rested on the bronze short halberd at his waist.

Suddenly!

Wooooo--!

An extremely low hum, as if from the deepest depths of the underworld, pierced the thick mountain rock without warning, echoing within the barracks and throughout the entire guard post! The sound wasn't harsh, but it possessed a heart-stopping penetrative power that reached the very depths of the soul! The oil lamp's flame flickered wildly, and dust rained down from the walls!

"What was that sound?!" All the guards sprang to their feet instantly, weapons drawn, backs against the wall, looking around in shock and uncertainty!

The humming continued, carrying a strange rhythm, as if... some slumbering giant was breathing, or perhaps... countless metals were resonating!

"Is it... from the burial pits over there?!" one guard's face turned ashen as he pointed outside the barracks, towards the direction of the deep burial army formation.

Wang Wu's expression changed drastically! Deep within the Imperial Mausoleum lay thousands of Qin Army Terracotta Soldiers, crafted from clay, life-sized, armed and armored! They were the formidable army the First Emperor intended to take into the underworld! This bizarre humming... could it be?!

"Let's go! Let's see!" Wang Wu suppressed the terror in his heart, gripping his short halberd. He led a few brave guards, cautiously moving towards the depths of the dark passage, following the direction of the hum.

As they approached the burial pit area, the humming grew clearer and more intense! The air was filled with a strong, earthy scent and... a faint, almost imperceptible aroma of rusting metal!

Finally, they reached the edge of the massive burial pit.

The sight before them made these battle-hardened guards' scalps tingle instantly, freezing them in place!

At the bottom of the pit, the thousands of terracotta soldiers, standing like a forest, were now... trembling silently! It wasn't a general shaking, but each soldier was vibrating independently at an extremely high frequency with an incredibly minute amplitude! The painted lacquer on the surface of the figures peeled off in the vibrations, revealing the grayish-brown clay beneath. Countless fine dust particles were shaken loose, filling the pit. In the dim light of the eternal lamps, it formed a bizarre, hazy mist.

Even more chilling was that the bronze halberds, spears, and swords held tightly in the soldiers' hands, those cold metal weapons, were now emitting a low resonance in time with the humming! It was as if... something was awakening them!

"The... the soldiers are moving?!" a young guard stammered, his teeth chattering, his voice on the verge of tears.

Wang Wu stared intently at the trembling sea of soldiers at the bottom of the pit, the veins in his hand gripping the short halberd bulging, cold sweat soaking his back. He saw something even more terrifying—in the shadowy corners of the soldier formation, at the feet of a few soldiers near the pit wall, on the ground covered in thick dust, were several drag marks! At the end of the marks were several inconspicuous, narrow fissures leading deeper underground! The soil at the edges of the fissures had an ominous, dark golden hue!

"It's not the soldiers moving..." Wang Wu's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with endless coldness. "It's... something... below... dragging them down!"

Stone Cave · Dragon String Resonance

The pale golden Dragon Qi continued to pour in. Cheng Xi's trembling had shifted from violent to weak, not a sign of improvement, but of life force rapidly draining amidst the fierce conflict. The dark red Turbid Fiend veins beneath his skin deepened in color, like a dried riverbed greedily sucking up the last of his Life Essence.

Meng Tian's expression was as heavy as iron, his hand holding the token trembling slightly. The clash between Dragon Qi and the evil energy was like two torrents colliding within Cheng Xi's fragile meridians, each impact making the token in his hand feel heavier. He could feel Cheng Xi's life force slipping away like sand through his fingers.

"Hold on..." Meng Tian growled, unsure if he was commanding Cheng Xi or himself.

At this critical moment of life and death!

Deep within Cheng Xi's brow, the gray light of the Chaos Origin Point, which had been frantically calculating, finally completed its final analysis and modeling!

Repulsion field analysis complete!

Energy conflict threshold locked!

Turbid Fiend contamination core node... located!

Optimal Dragon Qi energy flow path... calculated!

Chaos Earth Fiend residual factors... dynamic equilibrium parameters... injected!

The gray light erupted with unprecedented sharpness! It was no longer passively scanning but transformed into an invisible command stream, instantly taking over all controllable forces remaining within Cheng Xi's body—including the faint residual Chaos Earth Fiend, the scattered wisps of life force dispersed by the Dragon Qi's impact, and even... a sliver of inert energy forcibly analyzed and temporarily stripped from the Turbid Fiendish Power that was madly devouring his life force!

"Use the body as a vessel... use the meridians as strings... Earth Vein Dragon Qi... resonate with me, tune the frequency!!!"

The gray light let out a silent roar!

Bzzzz--!

A strange vibration, carrying a certain rhythm, erupted violently from the depths of Cheng Xi's dantian! This vibration was not an energy impact, but an energy frequency oscillation wave precise to the finest degree!

The oscillation wave instantly spread throughout Cheng Xi's entire body! The previously violent and conflicting Dragon Qi, Turbid Fiend, and residual Chaos energy, guided by this specific frequency oscillation wave, were like hair being combed by an invisible comb. Their own energy vibration frequencies were forcibly adjusted in an instant!

Repulsion force drastically reduced!

Even more astonishingly, this oscillation wave originating from Cheng Xi himself actually produced a subtle resonance with the pulse of the Dragon Source stone pool in the cave and the deep rhythm of the unpolluted Earth Veins of Mount Li!

Splash--!

The milky white Dragon Source water in the stone pool moved without wind, ripples forming! A purer, gentler, and more vast Earth Vein Origin Power, drawn by this resonance, no longer required the forceful extraction of the Ancestor Dragon Token. Instead, it actively, like countless rivers returning to the sea, flowed in wisps and strands into the infused pale golden Dragon Qi, surging into Cheng Xi's body!

This newly formed Dragon Qi, infused with the Earth Vein Origin Power drawn by the active resonance, was no longer domineering and repulsive. Instead, it carried a nurturing and inclusive quality! It followed the optimal path calculated by the gray light, gently yet firmly scouring Cheng Xi's riddled meridians, smoothing out the violent energy conflicts, and more precisely enveloping the Turbid Fiend contamination core nodes marked by the gray light!

Sizzle... sizzle...

The dark red Turbid Fiend veins, under the scouring of the Dragon Qi infused with Earth Vein Origin Power, began to slowly melt and fade like snow under the scorching sun! Although the speed was extremely slow, and Cheng Xi's aura remained weak, the deathly, sinking feeling like a maggot clinging to bone finally had a tiny crack torn open! A faint, warm current of life, nurtured by the Dragon Qi, painstakingly began to regenerate in the scorched earth-like meridians!

Meng Tian was shocked as he felt the change in the token in his hand—the Dragon Qi infusion had become exceptionally smooth, even faintly transmitting a gentle suction! He looked at the Turbid Fiend veins on Cheng Xi's skin beginning to fade, then at the Dragon Source water actively churning in the stone pool, his tiger-like eyes bursting with disbelief: "This... this is..."

Cheng Xi remained unconscious, but the frown on his brow seemed to slightly relax. The gray light at his brow, after completing this earth-shattering guidance, dimmed and fell into a deep slumber, as if it had exhausted all its strength.

At the edge of the burial pit, it was as silent as a tomb.

Wang Wu and the few guards stood like frozen sculptures, staring intently at the trembling sea of soldiers at the bottom of the pit. The low humming echoed like the wails of countless wronged souls within the vast pit, striking their taut nerves.

The drag marks extending from the soldiers' feet to the fissures in the pit wall appeared like hideous scars in the dim light. The fissures were deep, and the soil at their edges had an eerie dark golden hue, emitting a faint scent of sulfur.

Suddenly!

Crack... crackle!

A terracotta soldier near the edge of the rift, vibrating at a high frequency, had the ground beneath its feet suddenly collapse! The soldier lost its balance and toppled forward with a crash! Just as it was about to hit the ground—

Whoosh!

Several black roots, covered in dark gold chitin, as slender as adult arms and with chrysanthemum-shaped mouths at their tips, shot out from the rift like long-dormant venomous snakes! With incredible precision, they wrapped around the toppling soldier's ankles, waist, and the arm holding its halberd!

"Ugh!" Someone among the Mausoleum Guards by the pit couldn't help but let out a short, sharp cry!

Those roots erupted with terrifying strength! They retracted sharply!

Crack! Crack!

Under the immense pulling force of the roots, the heavy clay soldier was being dragged into the narrow rift! The soldier's ceramic feet scraped against the pit floor's rocks, creating a piercing sound and sparks! The ceramic body, under the intense friction and pressure, began to show fine cracks, with large patches of paint and ceramic shards peeling off!

In just a few breaths, the struggling soldier was completely dragged into the depths of the dark rift! All that remained on the pit floor were a few fresh scrape marks and a pile of broken ceramic pieces!

Dead silence.

The breathing of the Mausoleum Guards by the pit hitched. Fear, like a cold venomous snake, coiled around everyone's hearts.

Then, an even more terrifying scene unfolded!

From the depths of the rift that had swallowed the soldier, a bone-chilling sound of chewing and grinding emerged! It was as if something was tearing apart and devouring hard clay and bronze!

Hummm—!

The vibrating hum of the remaining soldiers at the pit floor suddenly intensified at this moment! As if stimulated or... summoned! They were no longer trembling chaotically but were subtly turning towards the rift that had swallowed their comrade! The bronze weapons they held tightly resonated with an even higher, sharper pitch, as if... in fear, and yet... in longing!

Wang Wu's face turned as pale as paper. He stared intently at the dark rift, as if he were looking at the entrance to hell. He suddenly turned and roared hoarsely at his stunned companions:

"Quick! Send out an alert! Highest level! Report to General Meng! Report to the Great King! The soldier pit... something is eating the soldiers! It... it's getting stronger!"