Chapter 527: Going Against the Grain
Translator: Pika
“He was killed violently…” Zu An had a weird look on his face. If this had been ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, something would have surely been about to pop out.
Mi Li pointed at the corpse. “Look, there are a total of seven wounds on his body. Six of them are concentrated around his left side. His left arm, thigh, and pelvis have injuries made by both blunt and sharp weapons. Some of them have healed, while some haven’t. This means that he suffered merciless blows even while he was dying.”
“Was he a living sacrifice?” Zu An asked. They had run into too many sacrifices along the way. Knowing the culture of Yinshang, something like that was not beyond them.
Mi Li shook her head. “I don’t think so. The people who lived in the time of Yinshang reveled in living sacrifices, but such a fate was reserved for enemy captives, and not for their own citizens. They would never do such a thing to a general of such stature. From his wounds, he probably died on the battlefield, and his corpse was later buried here with the rest of the monarchs.”
“Oh…” Her analysis did seem to make a lot of sense to Zu An.
“What’s that?” Pei Mianman suddenly exclaimed. While they were talking, she had been carefully observing the coffin and its interior, and had suddenly noticed a strange object.
Zu An looked in and noticed an artificial hand on the right side of the corpse. It seemed to be made out of bronze. The hand was nearly identical to a real hand, and even had fingernails on it.
There were taotie runes carved onto the back of the hand, as well as other designs, giving an unusual aesthetic.
Mi Li said, “This was probably the mortal wound. His arm was severed on the battlefield, which caused him to bleed to death. From the looks of it, though, the soldiers of the Shang Dynasty weren’t able to retrieve his arm from the chaotic battlefield, so they could only make him an artificial one to ensure that his body was whole when they buried him.”
“An artificial limb?” Zu An explained everything to Pei Mianman, a strange look on his face. He hadn’t expected things such as artificial limbs to exist in such an ancient period.
Pei Mianman sighed in amazement. “A general who died on the battlefield! He is someone worthy of respect.”
With their hearts thus moved with admiration, they continued to look around inside the coffins a little more. Even though there were other precious golden and jade artifacts, they didn’t find any sign of a jade badge.
Zu An was just about to put the lid back on when Mi Li said with surprise, “You’re leaving just like that?”
“What else would I do?” Zu An was confused. He didn’t get what she was saying.
“You’re not taking any of the treasure with you? You have more than enough space in your Brilliant Glass Bead.” Mi Li looked rather aggrieved. “How can you come to a place of such treasure but leave empty-handed?”
Zu An shook his head, unmoved by her objection. “I’m no tomb raider. How can I steal any of these items, especially since they were things that this individual used and treasured while he was still alive?”
“You’re so close-minded!” Mi Li was not happy that she wasn’t able to bring him around. She turned her head away and sulked.
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 22… 22… 22…
Pei Mianman also had no interest in any of the items. The two of them were of one mind. They both turned to leave.
A sudden creaking issued from behind them. Both of them jumped in alarm and spun around.
They noticed that the lid of the coffin—which they had firmly closed just moments earlier—had suddenly shifted to the side, opening just a crack.
Pei Mianman shivered. “Ah Zu, did you close the lid properly?”
Zu An swallowed. “I did.”
Doesn’t that mean that the corpse just moved?
As soon as this thought appeared in their minds, a desiccated hand reached out from within the coffin and grabbed the side of the coffin. A chill wind swept through the entire tomb, and the temperature dropped substantially.
“Ah!!” Pei Mianman cried out in fear. This sight was just too frightening, even for a cultivator.
“Let’s get out of here!” Zu An knew that the situation was going south very quickly. He grabbed Pei Mianman and ran.
“Moo~!”
The powerful cry of a bull echoed through the tomb, and a massive bulk charged right at the two of them.
Neither of them dared face this attack head on, and they both frantically dodged to the side. As it passed them, they finally recognized what was attacking them.
It was a large water buffalo! It was the same shape as the bull they had noticed earlier, but was several times its size.
When they looked in the direction of where that bull statue had been, sure enough, that bronze bull was gone.
With a loud thud, the lid of the coffin was shoved aside completely. The desiccated corpse within it slowly stood up.
Zu An and Pei Mianman both stared at it, their mouths dropping open.
The water buffalo happily danced over to the newly-arisen corpse. The two of them looked rather close and intimate.
Zu An couldn’t help but say, “Elder, we were just passing by. Respectfully, we did not rob your tomb, and we even covered you back up. There’s no need for you to see us out!”
The corpse seemed to have heard him. He turned around to look at Zu An, his eyeballs vaguely visible. His mouth opened and closed, forming words with great difficulty. “Outsider, intruder, die…”
It stretched out a hand. A spear flew into his grasp, and the corpse slashed it at them viciously.
A green bolt of energy shot out at the two of them. Zu An and Pei Mianman hurriedly drew upon their own unique methods to defend themselves, but were still sent flying into the wall behind them. Sand and dust poured down from above.
Zu An was terribly shaken, and his fingers were bleeding as well. He had a rather awful look on his face. That was just a casual attack, yet it already packed so much power! His strength was clearly far above that of the previous skeletal warrior.
The two of them hadn’t even been able to defeat that skeletal warrior—how could they possibly face this general?
Zu An’s mood soured. If I was the protagonist, and things played out in the same vein as those tired web novel clichés, I would only be facing arrogant fifth or sixth rank cultivators. They’d be strutting around, mocking me and making sure I know just how big of a difference in strength there is between us, only to have me slap them all in the face afterwards.
But why are there eighth, ninth, and even master rank experts popping up left and right? If my ass isn’t getting beaten up, then I’m on the way to getting my ass beaten up… What the hell is this?
Damn it all!
The skeletal general—who was probably Ya Zhang—was stepping forward. He subconsciously moved to kick away the obstruction in front of him, but halfway through his motion, he stopped. He looked down and saw that it was his own coffin, which he would need if he wanted to return to his slumber. As such, he jumped over instead.
Bracing himself, Zu An used his Sunflower Phantasm, splitting himself into two copies and charging at his opponent.
Ya Zhang brandished his spear, cleaving straight through the clones. Both figures shattered, leaving Ya Zhang stunned. It didn’t feel like he’d hit anything.
Zu An appeared behind him in the next instant, swinging his sword towards the general’s head.
Thanks to the fight with the skeletal warrior, he already knew that these bastards’ heads were their weak points. He wanted to see if he could somehow catch him off-guard.
If Ya Zhang were still alive, then such an ambush would never have worked, given the gap in their cultivation. However, he was now a dried corpse, and the clarity of his mind and the flexibility of his body should surely be in an inferior state. It seemed like a worthwhile gamble to Zu An.
Sure enough, his plan worked! Zu An was overjoyed as he saw his sword flashing towards his opponent’s head.
The sword was on the verge of entering the back of his head when a deep bellow reached his ears, and a massive figure rammed into his body.
The bull statue was protecting its owner! Zu An felt as if he had been hit by a fire truck, and his body was sent flying.
Blood spurted out of Zu An’s mouth, and half of his body went numb from the pain. Any normal cultivator would have had half of their ribs crushed, and he would have suffered the same fate as well, if not for his special constitution.
That bull charged at him again, its massive horns glinting with a murderous light. If they scored a blow, the tomb floor would be covered in his internal organs.
“Ah Zu, be careful!” Pei Mianman flew towards him as well. Her fair hand swept out, releasing a black fireball that exploded against the onrushing bull.
The bull cried out, leaping about in anguish. Unfortunately, these black flames were extraordinary, and the bull was unable to extinguish them no matter how hard it tried.
General Ya Zhang was by its side in an instant, reaching out a hand to caress its back. A black mist spread across the bull’s body, slowly extinguishing the flames as it spread across it.
He looked coldly at Pei Mianman. “You’ve hurt my beloved bull. Die!”