Seeing the "Boundary of Life and Death", Mengqi quickly took out the black fur. The strange symbols and patterns on it had been annotated by the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms into an incomplete map. Many places and routes were incomplete. Only two roads were complete, both of which led to the core of the mausoleum.
At the beginning of the map, the content written in the ancient characters was:
"The Boundary of Life and Death."
Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu could not recognize the strange symbols and patterns, but they could recognize some of the ancient characters that had been annotated by the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms. As for Mengqi and Qi Zhengyan, they were completely clueless and experienced the feeling of illiteracy. Mengqi had no place to learn the ancient characters before, and he did not have the time to learn them after joining the Six Fan School.
Next to the four seal characters of the "Boundary of Life and Death", a paragraph was written in tiny characters: "Those who cross will die, those who cross will live."
"Will we die if we cross the bridge?" After listening to Jiang Zhiwei's explanation, Mengqi was a little confused. How could they enter the mausoleum without a bridge? How could they find the secret of Zhenwu's Decoy Grave and start the next part of the task?
Moreover, the routes marked on the map were all behind the Boundary of Life and Death.
"That's another meaning," Ruan Yushu said calmly, holding the Phoenix-perching Zither.
Jiang Zhiwei smiled. "Since we are here, we can't just stop at the gate. Anyway, you should be ready to use the 'Buddha's Lamp' at any time. If something goes wrong, we will directly stop and return. I'd like to see what 'those who cross will die' means."
"This is really a typical Jiang Zhiwei character …" Mengqi thought to himself. He felt that this was the only way.
Qi Zhengyan did not speak. He looked at the front and back of the iron lock. It was hazy and dim there. Even though everyone had opened their Eye Apertures, they could not see clearly. It was as if they were blocked by the fog, or they were separated forever.
Mengqi focused half of his attention on the green lamp in front of his chest. Carrying the "Heaven Inflicted Pain", he walked past the boundary marker and stepped onto the iron chain bridge.
Electric arcs bounced around the long blade, making Mengqi look like the God of Thunder.
Jiang Zhiwei walked side by side with him, Ruan Yushu was slightly behind, and Qi Zhengyan was responsible for bringing up the rear. Although the four of them did not speak, they had a tacit understanding and had a clear division of labor.
Creak, creak, creak. The iron chain bridge was swaying. Apart from that, there was nothing special. There were no ghosts or ghosts, nor did it collapse.
Mengqi was rather puzzled. Could it be that "those who pass will die, those who pass will live" was fake?
Suddenly, he found that his body temperature was slowly but surely dropping. His heartbeat slowed down involuntarily, and his blood seemed to be sticky. His Yang Qi and vitality were shrinking inward, as if they were condensing into "seeds".
Despite this wonderful change, Mengqi's genuine Qi circulation, physical strength, and flexibility did not decline at all. His mind was still clear, his Vital Spirit was clear, and his spiritual mind did not sense any danger. The Buddha's Lamp was burning slowly, but there was nothing unusual.
He spread his spirit and immediately found that Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Qi Zhengyan's heartbeats had slowed down. There was a gloomy feeling coming from their bodies, as if they were dead rather than alive!
"Do you feel it?" Asked Mengqi. As soon as the words left his mouth, he was startled. His voice was full of gloomy Qi, as if it had floated out from the Nine Serenities.
Jiang Zhiwei nodded habitually. After looking at Ruan Yushu and Qi Zhengyan, she said, "It's the same, but I don't feel any damage to my body. Could it be that the 'death' in 'those who pass will die' refers to the fake death of the body?"
"Many bigwigs seek the way of immortality after death," Ruan Yushu suddenly said. Her voice was cold to begin with, but now it was even more gloomy.
"Hiding the mysteries of heaven through this kind of life and death transition?" Jiang Zhiwei had also seen similar information.
Mengqi said thoughtfully, "It seems that Zhenwu Great Emperor had prepared this for himself …"
The iron chain bridge was not long, so the four of them crossed it quickly. As soon as they stepped on the soil on the other side, Mengqi felt that his last weak heartbeat had completely stopped. His blood had stopped flowing, and his body temperature had disappeared. He was no different from a dead person, but the genuine Qi circulation was still the same. It was connected with the Qi dynamic of the outside world in a strange way that Mengqi could not understand, replacing the blood to support the body.
Sensing carefully, Mengqi found that his Yang Qi and vitality had not really disappeared. Instead, they had completely shrunk to the mid-brows and condensed into a "seed" as small as a mustard seed. It expanded and shrank rhythmically, keeping his body from rotting.
Mengqi's heart skipped a beat. He tried to understand a trace of the mystery of this change. It must be very useful.
"If we were seen by others, I'm afraid they would think that we are corpses." Relying on the Eight Nine Mysteries, he remembered the changes in the details of his body. Then he moved his limbs, feeling that his strength had not decreased.
As he spoke, he turned to look at Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Qi Zhengyan, and laughed inexplicably.
"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Zhiwei asked in confusion.
Looking at the gloomy and pale face of Jiang Zhiwei, and then at Ruan Yushu who had long hair and cold white clothes, Mengqi held back his laughter. "Nothing, nothing."
"This is like a Chinese Ghost Story!"
To prevent them from asking, Mengqi took out the black fur again and considered which path to choose. One was the furthest to the left, and the other was the furthest to the right. They were both winding and winding, passing by tomb chambers.
"Let's choose the left. The right is marked with 'Dangerous Land, Detour', and there are more places on it." Mengqi used simple principles to decide on the path.
Jiang Zhiwei and the others had no objection. Anyway, if something went wrong, they could stop and turn back.
Stepping into the misty land, the gloomy wind rose from all directions, as if drilling into their bodies and eliminating vitality. Mengqi circulated his genuine Qi to block the wind and moved to the furthest left.
After a while, he saw a door with various tomb-guarding divine beasts painted on it. But it was not closed, instead, it was unlatched!
"Could it be that someone came in before?" Mengqi frowned in confusion.
Qi Zhengyan pointed to a hidden place beside the door. "There are footprints."
Looking closely, there were pairs of shallow footprints at the edge of the gloomy fog. It seemed that more than one person had come!
Mengqi tightened his right hand that was holding the Heaven Inflicted Pain. "Maybe there are more variables inside than we think. We have to be careful."
When Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu nodded, Meng Qi pushed the door open first. In front of them was a long corridor paved with green bricks. The walls were full of vivid murals, all of which depicted a master suppressing various evil spirits.
This master sometimes wore a black robe and a Heaven Leveling Crown, holding a long sword made of turtle and snake. At other times, he wore a water gown with silk ribbons and hemp shoes. His face was thin and he looked middle-aged, but he was very dignified.
"Zhenwu Great Emperor," Ruan Yushu said concisely.
In today's world, the image of Zhenwu Great Emperor was attached with various myths and legends, which were quite different from this one.
Mengqi looked at the murals and sighed. "As expected of the Demon-destroying Grandmaster of the Ninth Heaven."
The four slowed down and tried to find clues from the murals. They found that most of the contents were related to suppressing the evil spirits and ghosts of the Nine Serenities, and the rest were about subduing evil spirits.
"In ancient times, the Nine Serenities were the scourge of the human world," Jiang Zhiwei said with a sigh.
At the end of the corridor was a very spacious chamber the size of a courtyard, but it was empty except for a pitch-black coffin placed in the middle.
The lid of the coffin was overturned. It seemed that the dead inside had climbed out!
Mengqi's scalp was slightly numb. The silver electric snakes of the Heaven Inflicted Pain jumped even more violently.
"There's a Ganoderma there." Qi Zhengyan was the first to find a Ganoderma the size of a fist growing stubbornly between the coffin and the ground. It was different from other Ganoderma, with a layer of grayish white on its surface and wisps of Yin Qi rising from it.
Jiang Zhiwei thought for a while and said, "It's suspected to be the Underground Spring Ganoderma, but it's a little different. It might be highly toxic and at least a hundred years old."
"It doesn't matter if it's highly toxic or not. We can exchange it for Karma points anyway. What's there to be afraid of?" Mengqi was very open-minded. He carefully approached the coffin and unsheathed the Meridian Sword. With a light flick, the Underground Spring Ganoderma fell into Ruan Yushu's hand.
At this moment, he saw six ancient seal characters carved at the bottom of the coffin.
Jiang Zhiwei walked side by side with him and immediately read the characters.
"You have this fate, and you will return to this place!"
An inexplicable chill rose in everyone's heart. Was this a curse or a prophecy?
Suddenly, a grayish white hand reached out from the soil beside the coffin and grabbed Mengqi's ankle.
The five fingers of the palm formed a mysterious seal. Between movement and stillness, there were endless changes.
With this grab, the entire chamber was suddenly set ablaze with gloomy green flames. They spread silently and gathered near the grayish white palm, blocking Mengqi's escape route.
Mengqi had just experienced the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect's incident, so he was very alert to things suddenly emerging from the ground. Therefore, he was not caught off guard. He kicked hard and jumped up into the air, flipped over, and fiercely slashed with his long saber.
Ruan Yushu played the zither with his right hand. The clear sound reverberated in the chamber, like the evening drum and morning bell, or the chanting of Buddha. The gloomy Qi dispersed, and a mournful and muffled groan came from the ground.
A figure drilled out and raised his palm, trying to resist the Heaven Inflicted Pain.
At this moment, Qi Zhengyan waved the frozen Dragon Stripe Golden Sword. A cold light flashed and the figure's feet were frozen to the ground. The layer of ice was crystal clear and reflected the flowing colors. Under the burning of the gloomy green flames, the figure's feet were quickly melted.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Zhiwei's Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow stabbed at the mid-brows, sweeping away the remnant soul. The sword light condensed, and the aura of death was dense.
The attacker's feet were frozen for a moment, and his figure slowed down. Mengqi finally saw his appearance clearly. He had white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and a weak breath. He seemed to be half-dead and half-alive, which made him feel inexplicably familiar.
The attacker roared and swung his left fist. The gloomy flame was generated from his shoulder and burned all the way to his fist. The flame flickered and burned silently, blocking Jiang Zhiwei's sword.
Jiang Zhiwei's Yama's Invitation was supposed to win with speed and momentum. However, the opponent was close to a dead person and was not affected by his spirit. It seemed that he did not think and moved randomly. Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhiwei's sword was blocked!
At the same time, Mengqi's Heaven Inflicted Pain arrived. The momentum of the knife was like a tide, rolling forward continuously.
The tide was made of lightning, silver and dazzling. The attacker's right palm turned into a fist and directly hit the blade. He was not afraid of the lightning!
Bang! Almost at the same time, two clear sounds were heard. Jiang Zhiwei's long sword and Mengqi's Heaven Inflicted Pain were both blocked.
The Electric Serpent suddenly expanded and enveloped the attacker. The black gas in his body evaporated, and he let out a shrill scream.
Bang!
The condensed flame exploded and spread in all directions. Jiang Zhiwei did not want the Yin Fire to touch her body, so she took a step back, adjusted the Qi in her body, and waved her sword to defend herself.
Mengqi took advantage of the force of the collision of the knife and the fist to rise again and avoid the Yin Fire. Ruan Yushu and Qi Zhengyan stood far away, so they were not affected.
The Yin Fire was extinguished, and the attacker disappeared, leaving only a hole in the ground.
"He is obviously restrained by the Heaven Thunder, but he is not afraid to make a move …" Mengqi landed and stood firm, frowning.
Suddenly, he remembered where the inexplicable sense of familiarity came from.
The attacker gave him a similar feeling as the "Swordsman of Ning Province". They were both Zombies, as if they were born from the same source!
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