Suddenly, Liu Xueyi's unfocused pupils sharpened. Terror surfaced on his crumbling, rotting face. "I remember! The mask... it was that mask!"
"I shouldn't have been curious. I shouldn't have wanted to see the face beneath the mask!"
"I took off the mask without permission. I—I saw the tomb owner's face. I was the only one who saw it. The other four didn't know."
"But I didn't do it on purpose. Something must have been interfering with me. Otherwise, how could I have done such a thing? I wouldn't dare. I couldn't possibly have dared!"
Hearing that Liu Xueyi had seen the tomb owner's face, everyone tensed. Luo Tianhe hid one hand behind his back, holding a bowl of blood-soaked glutinous rice, and watched Liu Xueyi warily.
Liu Xueyi clutched his rotting face without the slightest concern for the putrid flesh and foul-smelling slime. His eyes bulged as he descended into madness. "That face was terrifying. The entire lower half had been destroyed. His mouth had almost melted. It was... it was golden. No, it was gold!"
"Someone pried open his mouth and poured molten gold inside, burning him alive!"
Li Bai's fingers tightened instinctively. "Molten gold poured down the throat..."
Jiang Cheng had heard of this method of execution. It was used to punish criminals guilty of the most heinous crimes. For instance, a heretical monk who had once spread dangerous lies had died under this torture. The punishment, too, had been for the harm his words had caused.
Considering the title Lord of False Words, their earlier guess seemed close to the truth. The owner of this Blood Corpse Tomb must have said something he shouldn't have, angering the imperial authorities and bringing this disaster upon himself.
"Besides having molten gold poured down his throat, what else? What did