Chapter 1361: "The Spirit Soul Race (3)"
Ye Gu stared at Fan Zhuo as he became dead silent, his eyes slightly narrowed.
Fan Zhuo continued to look at Ye Gu inquiringly.
The edges of Ye Gu's mouth suddenly curled and he suddenly yelped: "Argh! Ow! Pain pain pain! ! !"
A sudden howl broke out from Ye Gu's mouth out of nowhere and he was clutching at his abdomen while his face grimaced up in unbearable pain while he fell to the ground to roll in agony.
Fan Zhuo was taken aback as he raised his eyes to look at Ye Mei.
Ye Mei was stunned in surprise for a moment before he quickly realized why Ye Gu was reacting like this.
[The scoundrel was putting on an act again!]
But those words Fan Zhuo had said earlier had shocked Ye Mei as well. It was true that Ye Gu was indeed of the Spirit Soul race and upon his face he truly wore the Spirit Shackle Mask, but Ye Mei had not thought that Rong Ruo would be able to identify Ye Gu's race at first glance and had not thought that Fan Zhuo would know so much about the Spirit Soul race.
In order to help Ye Gu cover up, Ye Mei and Ye Sha immediately exchanged a glance between themselves and just picked Ye Gu who was pretending to be in pain up before saying stoically: "We don't know what other kinds of dangers there might be in the Dark Emperor's tomb. We'll just take this guy along with us so we can get a better understanding of the situation in this place."
Ye Mei's words interrupted and broke off Rong Ruo's and and Fan Zhuo's curiosity at that moment. Their main aim on this journey was to seek the Dark Emperor's tomb afterall and not for people of the Spirit Soul race.
"Alright. If Little Ruo is interested in the Spirit Soul race, after we get ourselves a little more familiar with this place, we can then ask him more about it then." Fan Zhuo said with a laugh.
Rong Ruo nodded, but she still seemed rather distracted.
Fei Yan watched Rong Ruo's expression and could not help but still feel a little worried but he did not know what to say.
Jun Wu Yao carried Jun Wu Xie and walked on ahead while Jun Wu Xie stuck her head out to peer behind to look at them.
Ye Gu looked absolutely dreary as he was held up between Ye Mei and Ye Sha but he still managed to notice the little black cat that stuck its head out over Jun Wu Yao's arm. That was the first time that he saw his Lord Jue treating any live form so indulgently. Could that little black cat have become the Dark Emperor's ring spirit?
But that wasn't likely.....
With that strange thought filling up his mind, the sorrow on Ye Gu's face faded away quite a bit and Ye Mei also noticed Jun Wu Xie's gaze peering in their direction.
[That was a extraordinarily intelligent and perceptive one there!]
[With the slightest careless misstep, they would surely be found out!]
Ye Mei immediately pinched Ye Gu discreetly and said in a low voice: "Don't let the cat out of the bag."
"Who will find out? The only ones looking at me now, besides the two of you beside me, is only that one cat." Ye Gu murmured softly back in reply.
Ye Sha sighed helplessly and then whispered through gritted teeth: "In that cat, resides an astoundingly amazing soul, and that soul is our Lord Jue's heart's most favoured. If you give the game away, you very well know the consequences."
After Ye Sha's warning, Ye Gu became a lot more subdued and continued to put on an act of being highly bitter and resentful, but in his heart, more and more questions sprouted.
Jun Wu Xie used her paw to point out the direction, leading Jun Wu Yao to the spot that Drunk Lotus and the others were at.
With Jun Wu Yao watching over her, her soul traded places with the little black cat once again.
The moment Poppy and Drunk Lotus saw Jun Wu Yao appear, both of them immediately became so quiet like stoic blocks of stone, not moving an inch from their spots.
After Jun Wu Xie and the little black cat finished transferring their souls, Ye Gu who witnessed the entire process was completely stunned by what he saw.
This was the first time he saw someone who was able to switch souls with their ring spirit. He had felt that the little black cat's soul had been rather strange but had not thought that it could be this strange.
The fact that a human soul can switch places with her ring spirit, that truly went beyond anything that he had known.
Chapter 1362: "The Spirit Soul Race (4)"
Jun Wu Xie was finally returned back to her body and no longer needed to view everything within the Dark Emperor's tomb through the eyes of the little black cat.
Jun Wu Yao lifted a hand to rub Jun Wu Xie upon the head with his eyes filled with an indulgent smile, sweeping his gaze over every single inch of Jun Wu Xie to be sure that she was feeling perfectly fine.
Towards Jun Wu Yao's highly doting and pampering actions, Ye Sha and Ye Mei had already gotten used to seeing, but for Ye Gu.....
He was absolutely.....
Stunned speechless.
[Hell!]
[What happened to their Lord Jue! ?]
Ye Gu began to suspect whether his memory of his Lord Jue had somehow gone awry. Why was the Lord Jue he remembered completely different from the one he was looking at right before his eyes?
And on his Lord Jue's face, when did it start to be capable of displaying such a highly gentle smile?
"You will soon get used to it." Ye Mei's stoic voice suddenly sounded in a low whisper within Ye Gu's ears.
"After you get used to it, you might even begin to find it rather heartwarming to see." Ye Sha chirped softly, nodding in agreement.
Ye Gu looked at the two of them with a look of absolute horror, staring at his once closest of comrades, so horrified like the two men were the complete picture of treacherous turncoats in rebellion.
[Had he been separated from the world for too long or was it still not awake afterall?]
Jun Wu Xie spoke with Jun Wu Yao for a while and her gaze then fell upon Ye Gu. She came to stand right before Ye Gu and stared piercingly at that slightly weak and pale looking face.
Everything that Rong Ruo and Fan Zhuo had said earlier, she had heard every single word. Based on the "little girl" she had seen from before and the young youth she saw before her now, she thought that Rong Ruo and Fan Zhuo must have guessed some things right about this youth. The person before her was of the Spirit Soul race and Jun Wu Xie found the unique ability of their race highly fascinating.
From a certain perspective, Jun Wu Xie and the little black cat were themselves two souls within a single body but unlike the Spirit Soul race, they would not cause the other soul to disappear as they aged.
The attention Jun Wu Xie was giving to Ye Gu made Ye Sha and Ye Mei highly uneasy.
Towards this Young Miss, the two of them had already gained a good understanding of her. They knew Jun Wu Xie was one person who was always killed or spared decisively and based on the current situation before their eyes, to her, Ye Gu was a guardian of the Dark Emperor's tomb, an enemy that stood in their way before them.
They were becoming very worried whether Jun Wu Xie would decide to have Ye Gu eradicated.
"Young Miss, we are still unfamiliar within this Dark Emperor's tomb. Should we keep this guy to dig some information out from him?" Ye Mei opened his mouth to ask cautiously.
Jun Wu Xie had not even said a word when a golden figure suddenly slipped between her and Ye Gu.
The sabre toothed tiger that had morphed from the little Hell Rodent stood looking like a protector before Ye Gu to guard him, seemingly afraid that someone might harm its Master.
The little girl had turned into Ye Gu and the Hell Rodent had transformed into the ferocious sabre tooth tiger. The eyes of the sabre tooth tiger were alert and on guard, completely unlike those of the naive and bumbling Hell Rodent.
It was protecting its Master.
"I had not said anything about killing him." Jun Wu Xie said as she lifted her head, looking straight at Ye Sha and Ye Mei.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei were suddenly taken aback.
Jun Wu Xie had actually never had the intention of wanting to have Ye Gu killed. As the guardian of the Dark Emperor's tomb, it was Ye Gu's responsibility to prevent intruders from entering and he was not a unpardonably evil person as well. At least, when Jun Wu Xie had been in the form of the little black cat, regardless whether it was the little girl or Ye Gu himself, they had both not done anything to harm her at all.
Moreover, Ye Gu had already been subdued by Ye Sha and Ye Mei. It could have been partly due to that little girl who had been sealed up within here for so long, or it could have been partly because of the naive and gullible little Hell Rodent, Jun Wu Xie did not feel much enmity against Ye Gu.
"Keep him." Jun Wu Xie threw those words at their feet and turned to leave. She really didn't want to hurt that other soul that resided within Ye Gu's body.
That slightly foolish little girl who couldn't even speak clearly.
Chapter 1363: "Treasure, Here We Come! (1)"
Ye Sha and Ye Mei both blew out a breath of relief secretly, their faces hard with feigned stern and stoic expressions as they made a show of warning Ye Gu to be cooperative and to not try any tricks.
Ye Gu's heart became even more depressed.
[Why are these two scoundrels being so respectful towards that little lass?] They were being so obedient that he just could not believe what he was seeing.
And trying to decipher the relationship between his Lord Jue and that little lass just put an enormous question mark in his mind.
The companions could be considered to have entered into the Dark Emperor's tomb and as the doors were opened up one after another, they were greeted with the sight of the countless mountainous piles of gold, silver and jewels. The amount of treasures in just any one of the halls could easily surpass the treasury of a country and more.
Towards such levels of glittery riches within the Dark Emperor's tomb, Qiao Chu had not once stopped drooling the entire way. He was always peering everywhere with every step he took, touching and rubbing. Before they had really seen any of the truly precious items, he was already almost losing his mind.
"It's little wonder it was said that the Dark Emperor once reigned throughout the entire Middle Realm. With so much precious treasure, he wouldn't be able to spend it all even over several lifetimes." Qiao Chu said as he gulped noisily, thinking how could there be such a great disparity between one mortal from another?
Fei Yan nodded in agreement. Before they met Jun Wu Xie, the kind of days the few of them lived were worse than that of a beggar, except for Fan Zhuo who enjoyed a much better living standard, but it could not compete in any way with the mountains of gold and silver they were feasting their eyes upon.
"We will no longer have the opportunity to witness the kind of glory when the Dark Emperor reigned over the Middle Realm. But the kind of things we see here buried within his tomb, is enough to tell us the kind of might the Dark Emperor possessed before, as knowing despicable character of the Twelve Palaces, they would never allow anyone to hold so much treasure if they had a choice." Fei Yan said, a little sadly.
The blood vengeance owed to them by the Twelve Palaces, had already made all of them deem the people of the Twelve Palaces as their mortal enemies.
Conversely, the Dark Emperor who had once held the Twelve Palaces in suppression, where the Twelve Palaces had had no choice but to submit themselves, became the idol they all worshipped in their hearts. They had heard many stories about the Dark Regions, but by the time they were born, the Dark Regions had secluded themselves and not interfered with the affairs of the lands. All that they knew about the Dark Emperor and the Dark Regions were from the stories and legends they had heard.
Powerful, mysterious, an existence that was almost seemingly invincible.
Where every single youth held in worship and looked up to.
The fact that they were not fated to witness the glory of the Dark Emperor when he unified and reigned over the Middle Realm, was also a point they sorely held in deep regret.
Sometimes, they could not help but think, if the Dark Regions were still around them, the Twelve Palaces wouldn't be able to be so outrageous with their deeds.
When the Dark Emperor was still in the Middle Realm, he strictly forbade anyone from descending into the Lower Realm to stir up any trouble. His mere presence was sort of like a protective barrier, separating the Middle Realm from the Lower Realm, severing all contact between the two realms, which also stopped people from the Middle Realm from using their unique ability to stir create any dangerous turmoil within the Lower Realm.
No matter how it was said, Qiao Chu and the other companions already had their hearts leaning towards the Dark Regions.
If they had not been left with no other choice, they would not have wanted to come disturb the Dark Emperor's peaceful rest, yet unfortunately, this was the only choice they had.
"The Dark Emperor was so powerful then, so how did he....." Qiao Chu asked as the question suddenly popped into his head.
He really could not begin to imagine who in the Middle Realm would be able to send the Dark Emperor to his doom.
"Nobody knows. Among all the rumours, the Dark Emperor's death had always remained a question. Not even anyone from the Dark Regions had once mentioned anything about the reason." Fan Zhuo said as he shook his head.
The Dark Emperor's death, had always been an unresolved mystery in the Middle Realm.
Chapter 1364: "Treasure, Here We Come! (2)"
How did the Dark Emperor die? And who was it that killed him?
No one had a certain answer to those questions.
The was once a rumour in the Middle Realm that said that a portion of the powers in the MIddle Realm had been unhappy with the Dark Emperor's reign and they had colluded together and employed some insidious methods to murder the Dark Emperor.
But that rumour had not been widely believed.
For if that had been true, with the kind of absolute loyalty the Night Regime held towards the Dark Emperor, it was impossible that they would not be able to determine who the culprits were through a thorough investigation. If it had really been certain factions among the powers in the Middle Realm who murdered the Dark Emperor, it won't just be the Night Regime, but the entire Dark Regions would have been up in arms and would not have spared them. It would have resulted in an highly insane revenge.
But after the Dark Emperor fell, the Dark Regions had instead secluded into themselves and not carried out any acts of vengeance.
It was hard for people to imagine that the people of the Dark Regions would be able to tolerate such an act if it had been true as even after the Dark Emperor fell, anyone who spoke ill of the Dark Emperor would still be eradicated, what's more for the culprit behind the murder.
The fact that the Dark Regions had not made any moves at all only made all the whole thing even more suspicious.
Within the Dark Emperor's tomb, highly lifelike stone murals could be seen everywhere. For the group of youths who had heard so much about the Dark Emperor, they could not help but be irresistibly drawn to all their contents where they could seemingly see the one man who had stood at the pinnacle of the Middle Realm a very very long time ago.
Jun Wu Xie and Jun Wu Yao walked side by side within the Dark Emperor's tomb, the unimaginably heavy stone doors seemingly light as a feather under Jun Wu Yao's hands.
Jun Wu Yao's eyes did not fall much upon the things decorating the Dark Emperor's tomb but were on Jun Wu Xie most of the time instead, as if all those that glittered and shone around him, was not as worthy of his attention as a strand of hair upon Jun Wu Xie.
Jun Wu Xie looked at Jun Wu Yao who had a smile upon his face, that impeccably handsome countenance that had become so highly familiar to her. With him at her side, everything just became so simple.
"This place is enormous." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.
They had been walking around in the Dark Emperor's tomb for almost an hour but still had not managed to get out of the many number of halls that were linked to one another. They passed walkways one after another and they did not know when they would finally reach an end, Every single enormous hall was before a walkway and in every one of those large halls, it was all filled with countless glittery riches, almost driving them all blind.
If they could pick just any one of those halls and brought everything within out, they would be able to instantly turn a small country stuck in poverty into instant prosperity.
They had only seen the tip of the iceberg of the Dark Emperor's tomb and it was already filled with so much treasure.
It just gave them an idea just how terrifying the value of the entire Dark Emperor's tomb really was.
Even without the temptation of the magical artifacts, just the riches that the treasure alone could provide would be enough to stir up the people from the Middle Realm.
In here, was seemingly all the wealth in the Middle Realm and gaining possession of the Dark Emperor's tomb would not just gain one only might, but also riches beyond compare!
It would be enough to arm any size of army all the way up to their teeth!
"That's right." Jun Wu Yao replied with a light laugh with a nod of his head.
Jun Wu Xie glanced at him and then understood that everything in here were completely beneath his notice.
But thinking about it, they had passed like a hundred of those halls and all they were filled with were mountains and mountains of glittery treasure without them seeing a single magical artifact that was able to enhance their powers. Throughout these rooms, instead of saying they were the things that were buried together with the Dark Emperor in his tomb, it might very well be called the place where the Dark Emperor stashed all his money after he fell.
Although the amount of it was just mind blowing, but its value was still limited to merely money.
Chapter 1365: "Treasure, Here We Come! (3)"
All these things, were not the main objective of this journey by Jun Wu Xie and her companions.
Compared to all those gold, silver and countless jewels, the stone murals upon the walls attracted the companions' attention a little more.
After seeing more of the stone murals, Jun Wu Xie's understanding of the Dark Emperor increased as well. Only for the fact that the Dark Emperor depicted in every one of those wall murals, had his face covered by a mask, making it impossible for anyone to see the Dark Emperor's real countenance, but in many of all those murals, they portrayed the past glory of the Dark Emperor very well.
Jun Wu Xie's gaze swept over all those wall murals before it fell upon Jun Wu Yao's face.
On that handsome and ageless face, was the same smile she had grown to become to familiar with.
Jun Wu Xie's eyelashes fluttered slightly and she suddenly lowered her eyes, but did not say anything.
"Continuing to walk on like this is not going to work as this Dark Emperor's tomb is a little too darned big doncha think? I'm wondering if we carry on walking around so aimlessly like this, which year of the monkey will it be before we find the right place?" Qiao Chu bemoaned after finally having managed to extract himself out from the giddy allure of the endless riches around, after his mind at least cleared up a little.
The Dark Emperor's tomb was just too big and the reason that they came here was mainly to locate magical artifacts that had been buried here together with the Dark Emperor to use them to increase their powers. But all they were seeing was just endless troves of expensive jewels with mountains of gold and silver, and things that they might have any proper use for, were largely lacking.
They had finally managed to reach their destination but all they had been able to do was to just barge all around the place like a headless housefly, which greatly depressed the companions.
"What Dumb Qiao said is right. Continuing to search blindly like this will only waste time for us. With the multiple layers inside and outside of the Dark Emperor's tomb, the place is much bigger than we had expected. People who do not know the way around here, will never be able to find the way through." Hua Yao said in agreement as he nodded. The map they held, was completely useless once they came inside here.
The final destination depicted upon the map was only the location of the Dark Emperor's tomb and did not mark out anything about the interior of the Dark Emperor's tomb.
It could be that their parents had only found the Dark Emperor's tomb but did not enter the place, or it could be they did not have enough time to record anything about the inside.
When Jun Wu Xie and the others found the Dark Emperor's tomb, a single question had been on the companions' mind.
The Dark Emperor's tomb had always been surrounded by a boundary barrier all this while and if Jun Wu Xie had not coincidentally discovered the presence of the barrier, where they had Jun Wu Yao bashing right through it, even if they had stood right before the Dark Emperor's tomb, they would not have had a single clue about it.
But the fact that their parents had been able to clearly determine the location of the Dark Emperor's tomb at that time was a point that they were still rather confused about.
At that time, how had their parents managed to find the Dark Emperor's tomb?
They really could not come up with a plausible reason for it.
"I'm thinking, why don't we ask this little pipsqueak?" Qiao Chu said as he walked to come before Ye Gu, eyeing the "little youth" who had half of his face covered by the mask.
Ye Gu's eyes narrowed and the sound of teeth grinding made Ye Sha and Ye Mei who were holding on to him suddenly feel their scalping crawl.
"Little one, can you bring us to have a look around the place?" Qiao Chu asked nonchalantly, completely oblivious to the danger he was treading into, clueless about the fact that his life hung just by the thinnest thread at that moment.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei lit candles and offered a prayer in their minds for Qiao Chu. Fortunately Jun Wu Yao was present. If Jun Wu Yao had not been there.....
They could well imagine the garish scene where Qiao Chu's blood would have sprayed three feet away.
Ye Gu's eyes narrowed and looked at Qiao Chu, his lips curved up but it didn't feel like a smile as he said: "Sure."
[Your grandmother, when Lord Jue allows it, I'll surely wring off this scoundrel's head off his shoulders! !]
Chapter 1366: "Treasure, Here We Come! (4)"
Qiao Chu obtusely thought that Ye Gu "had no choice" but to accede to his request and Qiao Chu face beamed brightly with a smile.
Ye Gu clenched his jaws tightly and secretly clasped his fists tightly around the gold plated jade pendants hanging from Ye Sha's and Ye Mei's hips on each side of him, soundlessly crushing them both into fine powder.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei gulped inwardly and could only pretend as if nothing had happened.
With Ye Gu leading the way, the companions then did not need to bash around blindly like headless flies within the Dark Emperor's tomb.
But Jun Wu Xie had not walked off too far before her steps suddenly stopped.
"Hmm?" Jun Wu Yao turned to look at Jun Wu Xie, his eyes inquiring.
Jun Wu Xie turned herself around and looked at the bunch of little companions of hers. She swept her gaze over them and she suddenly froze!
"Where is Little Jue?" Jun Wu Xie looked all around but did not see any sign of Little Jue among the companions. When Jun Wu Yao and the others had appeared on top of the roof of the Dark Emperor's tomb, she had distinctly spotted the little fella at the back of the group of companions but now, before they had managed to go anywhere within the tomb, the little figure was nowhere to be seen.
Only after Jun Wu Xie asked, Qiao Chu and the others then noticed that Little Jue was nowhere to be seen!
"I..... I have a bad feeling about this....." Qiao Chu said as he gulped loudly.
"Erm, I saw in the previous hall we just passed earlier, there was a pile of jade artifacts....." Qiao Chu said as he hesitantly lifted up a hand to point. The many doors they passed were all opened by Jun Wu Yao and they had found it everything highly fascinating at first but after seeing so much of them, they had started to not think much about it and merely cast their gazes over the treasures briefly.
[Jade artifacts!]
Qiao Chu had barely finished speaking his words when Jun Wu Xie immediately turned and walked back the way they had come.
Jun Wu Yao could not help but smile as he followed her.
In a large hall which had its door wide open, besides the glittering bars of gold and there was the jumble of precious gems and jewels as numerous as the stars that covered the entire floor. Above those treasures glittering brightly, there was a bunch of jade artifacts sitting among them, thrown carelessly into a pile.
Meanwhile, a tiny little figure was at that moment seated upon the mountainous pile of treasures, hugging a jade vase in his arms as his mouth chomped happily upon it going 'ka cha' 'ka cha'.
Jun Wu Xie looked on speechlessly at the little figure who was eating away happily, her heart feeling highly helpless.
Little Jue then seemed to notice that someone had appeared and he looked up from among the pile of jade artifacts, his mouth still chewing on a chunk of jade he had just bitten off, his large scarlet eyes suddenly blinking innocently when they saw Jun Wu Xie standing there.
He then subconsciously picked up a jade thumb ring from beside him and lifted his tiny hand towards Jun Wu Xie to say: "Little Big Brother, yit!"
Jun Wu Xie felt the corner of her mouth twitch. She really couldn't stomach that. (Pun intended. XD)
Besides mentioning whether her teeth would be able to bite through that hard jade stone, her stomach would surely be unable to digest "food" of this kind.
It was obvious, that these jade artifacts posed to be an immense draw to Little Jue as compared to the kind of quality of the jade they have outside, jade that were qualified to be placed into the Dark Emperor's tomb must have been carefully picked out by the people from the Dark Regions where only the best would do. Hence the spirit energy within those jade artifacts would be of a much better quality as well and to Little Jue, they would make him feel just a mouse who had managed to climb into the rice urn, pure and absolute bliss.....
Although the reason Jun Wu Xie had brought Little Jue along on this journey had been to find him more things that would be able to replenish the power of the Soul Calming Jade, but..... she had not expected for him to just plop himself down here at this moment to chomp away happily!
They still had not managed to find out the exact situation they were in, here within the Dark Emperor's tomb and asking her to leave Little Jue behind here alone was something she did not feel was safe enough to do.
Chapter 1367: "Treasure, Here We Come! (5)"
Without having any other choice, Jun Wu Xie could only get Fan Zhuo to drag Little Jue out from the pile of jade artifacts.
Finding himself being dragged away, Little Jue's face was one of despair his tiny hands reached out mournfully towards the "fine food", highly unwilling to be parted from them.
Jun Wu Xie held her temples and said: "Eat later."
Little Jue looked at Jun Wu Xie and then turned to gaze longingly once more at the pile of jade artifacts before he quietened down.
Jun Wu Xie was just about to walk away when she stopped, and as an afterthought, she added: "Give him a few pieces to take along."
In order to prevent Little Jue from giving in to temptation and come back here to squat in this place to stuff himself silly, Jun Wu Xie asked Fan Zhuo and her other companions to take a few pieces of the jade pieces each for Little Jue to have something to munch as they went on their way.
The Dark Emperor's tomb was truly shockingly immense as they came to discover while Ye Gu led the way forward. Even with Ye Gu showing the way, the companions still had to walk a very far distance.
From all the endless mountains of gold, silver and jewels, to the bigger sized pieces of lavish ornaments, the companions really got to see something beyond what any of them could begin to imagine.
"Whew, the Dark Emperor was a really rich man, so very rich." Qiao Chu said as he clutched at his wildly thumping heart, almost unable to take in all the excitement.
Even the ever calm Jun Wu Xie, had to admit to that after having seen just a part of the Dark Emperor's treasures.
"All these things here, was the Dark Emperor able to use them all?" Jun Wu Xie asked, suddenly raising up her gaze to look at Jun Wu Yao beside her.
Jun Wu Yao said with a laugh: "Why use them? Pretty things can be kept just to be looked at and admired, and just stash them away even when they are of no use. Who would dare take them away?"
An eyebrow lifted on Jun Wu Xie's face. Jun Wu Yao's manner of words gave her a strange feeling. That feeling somehow overlapped with another one of her guesses.
"That's right, with the unchallengeable might the Dark Emperor possessed then, who would dare taint their fingers upon the Dark Emperor's things? But, if he knew that his treasures would be coveted after by a bunch of little brats like us on this day, I wonder if he would be filled with rage." Jun Wu Xie said expressionlessly.
"He won't." Jun Wu Yao replied with a smile.
"How do you know that?" Jun Wu Xie asked, her gaze upon Jun Wu Yao.
Jun Wu Yao then replied: "As the Dark Emperor, how could all of these be worthy of his notice?"
"You seem to know a lot about it." Jun Wu Xie said in challenge.
Jun Wu Yao was slightly taken aback but did not say anything more.
Instead, it was Ye Sha and Ye Mei following behind who broke into bouts of cold sweat for their Lord Jue.
Without knowing the reason why, they could not help but feel that the Young Miss' question earlier had sounded a little strange, and their Lord Jue.....
[Their Lord Jue had replied a little too quickly it seems!]
[All of his words insinuating "just take what you want, I don't mind, they all belong to me anyway so you can have as much as you like". Lord Jue, are you sure that is fine?]
A fear rose in the hearts of the two men that their Young Miss seemed to have discovered something but they could not be certain about it.
Ye Gu did not know what was going on but as Jun Wu Yao was there, he had no choice but to obediently allow himself to remain under custody as his mind whirled with a hundred ways to send Qiao Chu to his death.
After walking for a fairly long time, they all finally came before a gigantic door made from jade.
The door was just enormous, bigger than any of the other doors they had seen. The door was made up of two panels, made from a single gigantic block of jade. If they did not see it with their own eyes, no one could have imagined that such a single block of jade existed under the Heavens. The jade door was inlaid with gold that formed a golden emblem, with precious gems the size of a chicken's egg set within, looking highly lavish and magnificent.
"This is the emblem of the Imprisoned Serpent." Fan Zhuo said as he stared at the two panels of the jade door, seeing the shape of the enormous serpent portrayed by the gold inlaid within.
Chapter 1368: "Treasure, Here We Come! (6)"
The huge serpent soared among the heavenly clouds, a pair of wings on its back, two sharp fangs that hung from its mouth that pierces through any form of defence.
"The Imprisoned Serpent is one of the emblems of the Dark Regions that symbolized their great might. The Dark Emperor highly favoured serpentine species and there were two Imprisoned Serpents throughout the Middle Realm then, both of them in the hands of the Dark Emperor. It was said that the Imprisoned Serpent besides being a symbol, had another unique aspect in its existence. It was neither a kind of beast nor was it a spirit body where it could traverse between the two planes. It could morph itself into solid form and could also maintain its form as a spirit as it chose." Fan Zhuo slowly exhorted.
"The people from the Dark Regions must have based it on those two Imprisoned Serpents as they made this door, implying that they guard the peaceful rest of the Dark Emperor."
Hearing Fan Zhuo's explanation, Ye Gu could not help himself but to cast a glance upon the youth, thinking what he said had been rather close to the truth.
Jun Wu Yao lifted an eyebrow and raised up a hand to push the jade doors open!
The immensely hefty jade doors swung open, giving out a heavy groan as they swung inwards to reveal the inside.
Behind the doors, everything was immediately displayed before the eyes of Jun Wu Xie and her companions.
It was a colossal palace of stupendous proportions, its ceiling reaching to monumental heights where eighteen thick chains hung from all sides of the palatial hall, their other end converging onto a single point right in the middle, pulled taut against a massive black coffin that hung suspended in mid air!
Within the palatial hall, were placed many different varieties of magical artifacts, all highly exquisite. All those magical artifacts glowed faintly like specks of stars, adorning the dim darkness inside the magnificent hall.
Everyone had upon witnessing the sight, became stunned with awe. They had imagined before how well filled with magical artifacts the Dark Emperor's tomb would actually be but when they were now witnessing it in all its splendour before their eyes, they realized how trifling anything they had been able to imagine really had been.
Countless numbers of magical artifacts were placed upon rows upon rows of white skeletal racks, their pulsating glow clearly revealing the power that they all contained.
Casting their gaze inside, they could not see the entirety of the colossal hall as the neat rows of skeletal racks extended out, densely filling up the hall. The had seemingly been haphazardly placed at first glance, but there was a certain pattern to it. They actually formed a peculiar pattern right in the centre of the hall pointing towards the spot that the coffin hung suspended.
The coffin that hung suspended in the air was enormous and though it was all black, peering to look at it carefully, one would be able to notice that complicated emblems lay hidden within all that black, tightly weaving into each other.
"That must be the Dark Emperor's..... coffin....." Rong Ruo whispered as she raised her head, to stare at the coffin suspended high up in the air, her heart feeling like a huge boulder was squashing upon it, oppressive and suffocating.
Everyone could well guess at the owner of that coffin. At this point when all the magical artifacts that they had so desperately seeked was right before their eyes, they suddenly did not feel any delight in their hearts, all their gazes only drawn to that coffin before them.
Resting peacefully in this place, was the Dark Emperor who unified and reigned over the Middle Realm..... the Lord of the Dark Regions!
All the rumours and stories they had heard before about the Dark Emperor, at that moment suddenly become a shroud that fell over their hearts with a heavy and solemn kind of pressure. They could not find in themselves any sense of delight, but found themselves suffocating under the oppressive halo the two words 'Dark Emperor' gave them.
The moment they realized that the Dark Emperor who once shook the entire Middle Realm was right above their heads, the whole bunch of youthful companions could no longer find it in themselves to fool around anymore.
Qiao Chu pushed his palms together and lowered his head, paying respects to the coffin again and again.
His mouth mumbling incessantly.
"Lord Dark Emperor, all of us here today have really been left with no other choice, and would like to borrow a few things to tide us over from your esteemed self. I pray that your revered self will not mind it."
Chapter 1369: "Treasure, Here We Come! (7)"
The Dark Emperor might have fallen but his glorious fame still lived. Even for this motley crew of lawless youths, they all held this man who once reigned over all in reverence and awe.
Jun Wu Xie looked at the way Qiao Chu and the others were reacting and she lifted her head to look smilingly at Jun Wu Yao.
Jun Wu Yao turned to look at Jun Wu Xie as well and his smile then faded a little. The expression in her eyes seemed to tell him that he had been seen through.
"That is the Dark Emperor's coffin?" Jun Wu Xie asked, turning her head around, not looking at Jun Wu Yao anymore, but her gaze swung to fix right upon Ye Gu who had been holding himself back for a long while.
Ye Gu looked at Jun Wu Xie. He was highly curious about Jun Wu Xie's identity and it was only because of Jun Wu Yao's presence that he did not dare ask her directly. Now that Jun Wu Xie was asking him a question directly, he could do nothing but nod his head in answer.
"And the Dark Emperor's remains are inside?" Jun Wu Xie probed further suddenly.
Ye Gu was taken aback and his eyes became quizzical.
Meanwhile, Ye Sha and Ye Mei were so shocked by their Young Miss' question that they broke into another bout of cold sweat.
[Why would the Young Miss ask that all of a sudden? She couldn't have possibly discovered anything could she?]
The two men had left the Dark Regions together with Jun Wu Yao back then and they had not returned since. They had not even known anything about the Dark Emperor's tomb until they heard about it from Jun Wu Xie and the others. They had been completely unaware that their brothers back in the Dark Regions had thought that their Lord Jue had passed on and were oblivious to the fact that they had even erected a tomb for their Lord Jue.
They only knew that their Lord Jue was currently still alive and kicking and hence, how could there be his "remains" within that coffin? !
[The Young Miss must have discovered that something was not right and she was trying to dig for more information from Ye Gu.]
Thrown into a state of panic, the two men could only secretly pinch Ye Gu behind on his back. Although it did not hurt him, it at least delivered to him their message.
Ye Gu immediately understood what they meant and his face creased up into a frown as he said: "Of course it is. Who else could it then be!"
Jun Wu Xie;s eyes narrowed up. She wasn't being overly suspicious here. It was just that when certain events were pieced and linked up together, it had somehow formed into a fuzzy guess in her head. That guess was extremely bold but her conclusion had not been derived from nowhere.
[Just who is Jun Wu Yao?]
Jun Wu Xie had not wanted to probe in the past, but after understanding what her heart felt, she wanted to know things to do with him, and know more about him.
[Even if his identity was someone else, it would be fine. But if it was as she was guessing, then the things hidden behind that one fact would truly be not simple.]
[Just how mighty had the Dark Emperor? How did he die?]
[Just how powerful was Jun Wu Yao? Why was he trapped in that cave?]
[What kind of things was Jun Wu Yao always secretly dealing with all this while?]
[If he truly was the Dark Emperor, then who was the one who imprisoned him within that cave? Who under the Heavens would be capable of bringing down the Dark Emperor of the Dark Regions! ?]
Jun Wu Xie needed to be certain of all that. She didn't care if Jun Wu Yao's real identity was revered or not, all she wanted to know was from where the dangers he faced was coming from?
"I want to unseal the coffin." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.
That one statement made everyone within that palatial hall all gasp loudly in shock!
Ye Sha and Ye Mei stared in utter disbelief at Jun Wu Xie, a ominous feeling suddenly hanging over their hearts.
[They're finished!]
[The Young Miss has definitely found out!]
Qiao Chu and the other companions who were still deep in worship of the Dark Emperor suddenly stared wide eyed with their mouths agape at Jun Wu Xie.
"Are.... are my ears playing tricks on me? Little Xie..... She..... she wants to break the seal off the coffin?" Qiao Chu said in a trembling stutter, his face developing an involuntary twitch. [Had that been a joke or did he just imagine himself hearing that?]
Chapter 1370: "Treasure, Here We Come! (8)"
Fan Zhuo was also shocked. He did not understand why Jun Wu Xie would suddenly become so interested in the Dark Emperor's coffin.
Honestly speaking, they were all only seeking to gain powerful might and did not really want to disturb the Dark Emperor's eternal rest, hence, unsealing the coffin..... was really just a tad too shocking.
Ye Gu's mouth hung wide open as he looked at the beautiful young girl who had spouted such outrageous words, his entire being suddenly frozen.
[Just who was this little lass? She dared to ask to unseal Lord Jue's coffin?]
After Jun Wu Xie said those words, she turned herself around and walked towards Jun Wu Yao who was just a few steps away from her.
"Will you help me with it?" Jun Wu Xie asked, her gaze staring fixedly upon Jun Wu Yao.
Jun Wu Yao was slightly surprised for a moment but he suddenly laughed. "If you are interested, we'll open it up."
Ye Sha and Ye Mei were about to cry at that moment.
[Lord Jue! Don't you think you are being too carefree with your words here?]
[Don't you realize that you are standing right here alive and kicking so that coffin would almost certainly be empty! The Young Miss is obviously trying to seek for answers towards your real identity here! The Young Miss is already suspecting that you are the Dark Emperor, shouldn't you be trying to come up with a way to deal with it! ?]
[This really isn't the right time to continue to be so hopelessly indulgent! !]
Despite Ye Sha and Ye Mei worrying their hearts to pieces, they could do nothing to change the words Jun Wu Yao had spoken out loud.
Jun Wu Xie merely continued to look quietly at Jun Wu Yao who still maintained a smile at the corners of his mouth, staring into the familiar mirth within his eyes.
"Lit..... Little Xie..... You're really going to unseal the coffin?" Qiao Chu asked in a faltering voice.
"That might not be the best thing to do right? The Dark Emperor..... It's been so many years since he fell, and with us coming here to steal his treasures that had been buried in his tomb is already highly disrespectful, if we are to even disturb his peaceful rest....." Qiao Chu said as he tried his best to dissuade, unable to understand from where Jun Wu Xie had suddenly come up with this crazy idea.
Throughout their journey here, he had also never heard her once mention she had such an intention.
Jun Wu Xie's eyes lowered slightly and she fell silent for a moment before she said:
"I was just joking."
"Har?" Qiao Chu asked, suddenly frozen in his spot.
He had never seen Jun Wu Xie joking about anything before and the first time she did it was on such a big scale. It had almost scared the living lights out of all of them.
Towards Jun Wu Xie's sudden change of her words, Ye Sha and Ye Mei finally blew out a long breath of relief.
"It's was just a joke?" But Jun Wu Yao was watching Jun Wu Xie closely. He could faintly detect that the little one seemed to have discovered something. Even he himself was unable to be certain whether there was another set of the "Dark Emperor's remains" within that coffin and if the coffin was opened and found to be empty, then Jun Wu Xie would have been able to confirm the guess she held in her heart.
[But.....]
[Why had the little one suddenly changed her mind?]
It seemed that Jun Wu Xie was not going to continue harping on that topic as her gaze drifted over to the magical artifacts placed upon the skeletal racks, her perfectly calm and composed demeanor looking like all her words said just before had really been all just a joke.
As she walked to come before the hundreds of skeletal racks, the little black cat that was lying upon Jun Wu Xie's shoulder said in a voice only audible to the two of them and said:
"Mistress, have you discovered something?" It could feel the ups and downs of Jun Wu Xie's emotions and just in the moments just before, it had distinctly felt the changes in Jun Wu Xie's emotions.
"Does it make a difference whether I did or not?" Jun Wu Xie asked suddenly.
The little black cat was rather taken aback.
Jun Wu Xie had at that moment, really been keen to determine whether Jun Wu Yao's identity was as she had guessed. And when she asked him whether he was willing to help her with it, his firm and decisive demeanor then had made Jun Wu Xie feel.....
Her pursuit for verification, a little uncalled for.
[Who he is, or who he had been, no longer mattered anymore.]
[To her, he, is just Jun Wu Yao.]
[The one and only under the Heavens, Jun Wu Yao. The one who always shielded her, and guided her, Jun Wu Yao!]