Is it finally over?
Wang Hao, wearing only a pair of shorts, lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily. Wangcai, beside him, was also sprawled on the ground, its tongue lolling out, looking like a dead dog.
They were in a terrible state. Wang Hao's clothes had long been destroyed by the traps, and even Wangcai, which he had been carefully protecting, had been severely injured several times. If it weren't Awakening the fact that Wangcai had awakened its Bloodline Power and had strong recovery ability, it would have been dead long ago.
The journey is fraught with traps and mechanisms, with countless surprises and obstacles that defy your imagination. Compared to the more insidious and vicious traps that follow, the blade trap at the very beginning is child's play.
This was only because of years of disrepair; most of the mechanisms were either completely broken and stuck, or their power was greatly reduced. Otherwise, the two of them would have been dead long ago.
Even with his True Spirit Sword Intent, Wang Hao would find it difficult to anticipate such an ancient trap.
"I really don't know how the Eastern Heretic managed to build those traps underground back then, especially since the surrounding area is all solid granite!"
Having recovered somewhat, Wang Hao sat up and, while looking around the main tomb chamber, couldn't help but sigh.
Through his exploration, he discovered that the passageway was a downward spiral, encompassing an area of over a hundred feet in diameter and descending several tens of feet in depth, surrounded by granite as hard as Hundred-Forged Refined Iron.
To excavate a passage thousands of feet long in such an environment and set up so many traps would be an unimaginable feat even in modern times.
But it appeared in such an ancient era, which doesn't make sense!
One can only say that he truly lives up to his reputation as Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi.
"This doesn't look like a tomb!"
Wang Hao pulled out the luminous pearl he had found in the Japanese pirates' treasure from his shorts and, by the dim light, surveyed the spacious secret room.
No, calling it a secret room isn't accurate. The air here is very fresh, and there's even a Sisi smell of cooking.
He was familiar with this smell of fireworks; the entire Peach Blossom Island was filled with it before he entered.
It was caused by those big fires that started last night.
In other words...
"There's a ventilation channel connecting this place to the outside!"
This discovery further convinced Wang Hao that this was not a simple tomb. Generally, tombs would never have ventilation ducts for the living, and even if they did, they would be sealed off after construction.
Clearly, people frequently came here after it was built. That person was none other than the builder of this tomb, the Grandmaster Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi, also known as the Eastern Heretic.
"This dust is really thick!"
Using the faint light of the luminous pearl, Wang Hao found two flints and some special candles in the thick dust.
By lighting the candle with a flint, Wang Hao was able to see the entire secret room clearly and find the Eastern Heretic's legacy that he sought.
In the corner, there was a recessed bookshelf, densely packed with hundreds of books, and even some ancient bamboo slips.
Most of these books record esoteric arts, secret mechanisms, and the like, but there are also quite a few martial arts manuals.
" Finger-Flicking Divine Ability, Whirlwind Leaf-Sweeping Legs, Falling Blossom Divine Sword... Wow, even the Blue Sea Tide-Rising Song is included."
Carefully removing the books, Wang Hao looked at the titles on the covers, his excitement overflowing, especially when he saw the book "The Blue Sea Tide-Rising Song," his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
As a loyal fan of Old Master Jin, I naturally know that Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi's strongest martial art is the " Blue Sea Tide-Rising Song ". Moreover, it is a rare sound-based martial art that can rival top-tier martial arts such as the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, and may even be more valuable.
After all, this is a wide-range attack. If you learn this move, you won't be afraid of being surrounded. Even if you are surrounded by the imperial army, as long as your skill is strong enough, playing a tune on the flute will be enough to truly Sweep Away a Thousand Troops.
However, when Wang Hao took another book from the bookshelf, he was so excited he almost jumped for joy.
" Nine Yin True Scripture!"
Overwhelmed with excitement as he looked at the Nine Yin True Scripture in his hands, Wang Hao was at a loss for words.
He originally only hoped to obtain a little bit of the Eastern Heretic's legacy on Peach Blossom Island, maybe one or two secret manuals, but who would have thought that this harvest would be so abundant.
Not only did he inherit the martial arts skills of the Eastern Heretic, but he also encountered the Nine Yin True Scripture, one of the strongest martial arts techniques in Old Master Jin's works.
It's like God is helping me!
"Crunch, crunch..."
Suddenly, a series of harsh, jarring mechanical sounds came from below, causing the entire secret room to tremble slightly. Wang Hao turned his head and saw that Wangcai was biting a candlestick embedded in the wall.
The stupid dog was hanging up there, as if it wouldn't stop until it bit it down. Clearly, the stupid dog had accidentally triggered some kind of mechanism.
Wang Hao was quite frightened by this, after all, the psychological trauma he suffered in that passage was too great.
Before he could make a move, a clearing in the center of the secret chamber suddenly split open to the sides, and a crystal coffin radiating a chilling aura rose from it.
The clunking of the mechanism finally stopped when the crystal coffin was fully raised, and Wang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Idiot, get down here right now!"
Seeing that Wangcai was still biting the candlestick, Wang Hao was afraid that it would trigger some mechanism again, so he quickly ran over and pulled the dog down, slapping it on the head to temporarily subdue it.
There were many traps in the passage that were triggered by this idiot. If he didn't have some affection for this dog, he would have killed it and eaten it.
"Only with a coffin does it look like a tomb!"
After suppressing Wangcai, who still wanted to cause trouble, Wang Hao then began to examine the crystal coffin that had risen from below.
This coffin was carved from a single piece of transparent crystal, so clear that you could even see the person lying inside.
Inside lay a beautiful woman, without the slightest sign of decay, like a sleeping beauty. It must have been the chilling air that preserved her body from decay.
"Is this Huang Rong's mother? She truly is a beauty beyond compare, not much less stunning than that girl Dongfang Bai."
Looking at the woman lying inside the coffin, Wang Hao could roughly guess that she was Huang Rong's mother, Great Hero Guo's mother-in-law, and Huang Yaoshi's wife.
He didn't know its specific name, but there was no need for him to know.
The crystal coffin was quite large, big enough for two people to lie down in. The woman was lying on the right side, while the left side was empty, presumably reserved for someone.
"The seat next to him should have been reserved by Huang Yaoshi for himself. It's still empty now because something happened and he couldn't make it back before he died. The most likely explanation is that he died in the Battle of Xiangyang along with Great Hero Guo Huang Rong."
He knew something about the fate of Great Hero Guo's family. After the Mongolia captured Xiangyang, they all died there. In the end, only Guo Xiang escaped, but she also became a Kongmen and later founded the famous Emei Sect.
Therefore, Huang Yaoshi must have perished in the Battle of Xiangyang. Otherwise, if he had survived, there would be no reason for him to stand by and watch his beloved granddaughter become Kongmen.
" Great Hero Guo is really a swindler!"
After figuring this out, Wang Hao sighed. He greatly admired Great Hero Guo's national integrity, but he didn't quite agree with his actions.
The Song Dynasty rotted from the very top of the court, and it was beyond redemption.
If a country is reduced to the point where it needs a group of martial arts practitioners or even beggars to defend its homeland, is there any point in that country's existence? To be precise, is there any point in the existence of such a court?
This is not something that Great Hero Guo can change simply by gathering a group of martial arts practitioners who only know how to fight and kill; at most, it can only buy some time.
Whether or not Great Hero Guo exists, the final outcome will not change.
Therefore, the other party did not find the right method, and ultimately suffered the tragic fate of the whole family dying, so that his poor Old Yue could not return to fulfill his last wish to be buried with his mother-in-law.
" Eastern Heretic, now that I have inherited your martial arts legacy, I should fulfill your last wish to be buried with your beloved wife. I will prepare a cenotaph to place her there."
With a sigh, Wang Hao returned to the bookshelf he had been standing in front of and took out a box from the bottom shelf.
The first thing he checked was this box, since it looked like a good place to hide treasures. But when he opened it, he found that it wasn't a treasure or a martial arts manual at all, but a set of men's wedding clothes, exactly the same style as the one worn by Huang Rong's mother in the crystal coffin.
I didn't understand what was going on before, but now that I see this double crystal coffin, I immediately understand.
It must have been prepared by Huang Yaoshi for himself, wanting to wear this wedding dress before he died and be buried with his beloved wife, but unfortunately, he was unable to fulfill his wish in the end.
Carefully lifting the crystal coffin, Wang Hao unfolded his wedding clothes and prepared to arrange them inside. However, Wangcai seemed to have been suffering from the heat recently. After sensing the cold air inside the crystal coffin, it immediately darted in and lay down in the spot that belonged to Huang Yaoshi, next to his beloved wife, and even stretched out its dog nose to sniff around his face.
Upon seeing this, Wang Hao's face couldn't help but twitch.
If Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi, saw this scene, he would probably be so angry that he would lift the coffin lid, jump up, and strangle this guy.
Wang Hao grabbed Wangcai by the scruff of his neck and pulled him out. He then gently placed the wedding dress neatly in Huang Yaoshi's place before resealing the crystal coffin.
Twisting a few times on the candlestick that Wangcai had previously torn apart triggered a mechanism, causing the crystal coffin to be sealed again.
After the floor was reassembled and sealed, Wang Hao forcefully broke the mechanical candlestick in half to prevent anyone from disturbing the two elders' slumber.
After finishing all that, Wang Hao turned his attention back to the manuals, intending to take them out for a quick study. But as soon as he looked at them, his blood pressure spiked and he felt dizzy.
There, Wangcai, that idiot, was chewing and gnawing on a book, and he could even clearly see the words "True Scripture" on the tattered cover.
The only manual he found that matched the Nine Yin True Scripture.
In other words, that idiot destroyed the most valuable martial arts manual!
"You damned dog! Die!"
Wang Hao roared angrily, rushed over and snatched the remaining parts of the Nine Yin True Scripture from Wangcai's mouth. Looking at the manual, which was only half left, he was utterly heartbroken!
Without a word, they simply picked up Wangcai by its hind legs and turned it upside down, forcing it to spit out the fragments of the secret manual it had just swallowed. Unfortunately, the final result was not so pleasant.
These books have existed for hundreds of years, and even though they have undergone special treatment, they have reached their limits after such a long period of time.
While it wouldn't be exactly fragile, it's close. How could it possibly withstand the damage Wangcai has done to it?
Looking at the scraps of paper that had been smeared with the dog's stomach acid and saliva, Wang Hao suddenly felt a bit nostalgic for the taste of dog meat hot pot. Why not make a pot right now!
As if sensing a deadly crisis, Wangcai quickly tucked its tail between its legs and shrank into a corner, its head facing the wall as if it knew nothing and had done nothing.