Chapter 180: The Grave Keeper

Hu Rui'an withdrew his gaze from the retreating figures of the old man in the brocade robe and others, then turned back to glance once more at the study still engulfed in flames behind him.

Just moments ago, Murong Xiaoya had already left the ruined study and departed again with great speed.

Hu Rui'an frowned slightly; he felt that Murong Xiaoya's behavior just now seemed somewhat strange.

However, he did not dwell on it further and immediately followed in the direction the other had gone.

Yet, after Hu Rui'an followed for some distance, he halted his figure amidst a field of ruins.

In the blink of an eye just now, he had actually lost Murong Xiaoya's trail; the other seemed to have vanished into the rubble of some collapsed house nearby.

Hu Rui'an scanned the surroundings, yet still could not find any trace of Murong Xiaoya.

After all, the Murong Fu was the place where Murong Xiaoya had grown up since childhood; the other must be extremely familiar with this place. If there existed certain secret passages or hidden rooms unknown to others, Hu Rui'an naturally would not be aware of them.

Thinking of this, he leaped up to the high point of a beam that had not yet been completely destroyed, so that his line of sight could observe all directions at any time.

However, after waiting for a while, Murong Xiaoya still did not appear. Hu Rui'an shook his head and, helplessly, had to leave temporarily to find Li Musheng and the others.

……

At the same time, a slender figure appeared within a hidden tunnel beneath the Murong Fu.

Darkness surrounded them, so thick that five fingers could not be seen. Murong Xiaoya, her face streaked with tears, silently felt her way along the surrounding brick walls, moving forward slowly.

Finally arriving in a vast hidden chamber, she took out a fire starter and lit the wall lamp inside; the dim yellow light momentarily illuminated the darkness around.

The hidden chamber was empty, save for an old man sitting upon a cushion in the center.

The old man's head was full of disheveled white hair, his entire body covered in bloodstains. He bowed his head and hunched his body, motionless, as if dead.

Seeming to sense someone's arrival, he finally reacted, slowly raising his head to reveal a terrifying, aged face with both eyes gouged out and bloodstains flowing from the corners of his eyes.

"Second Uncle..."

Upon seeing the other, Murong Xiaoya's face showed a look of shock.

"You... how have you become like this?"

Hearing this, the old man on the cushion seemed to recognize Murong Xiaoya as well; his throat immediately emitted a sound like dry wood cracking against silk:

"It is Xiaoya, isn't it? Cough... cough..."

As he spoke, Murong Fu began to cough violently, spitting out blackish blood foam from his mouth that all fell onto his robes.

Seeing this, Murong Xiaoya hurriedly wanted to approach, but was stopped by the other reaching out a hand, who said:

"Do not worry about me... I am suffering deeply from severe injuries and a terrible poison, and I cannot live past tonight..."

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya suddenly stopped her steps, looking at the wretched old man before her.

She bit her lip heavily; after a while, she finally spoke:

"The Murong family is gone."

"I know... cough... cough..."

While coughing violently, Murong Fu struggled to climb up from the cushion and slowly said:

"In fact... I long expected... that this day would come..."

"That is why I agreed to give Zhen'er and Feng'er the Zhu Que Yan Pill... but I did not expect it to still be useless..."

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya only shed tears bitterly, remaining silent as a whole, standing in place without uttering a word.

Murong Fu sighed, gently shook his head, and spoke in broken, halting tones:

"Xiaoya... after Second Uncle dies... the Murong family will probably be left with only you..."

"Although... Second Uncle hopes you can live on in peace... but having witnessed the destruction of the Murong family with my own eyes... my heart still ultimately feels unwilling..."

As he spoke, Murong Fu slowly turned his head; a pair of pitch-black, hollow eye sockets seemed to stare directly at Murong Xiaoya as he said:

"Therefore... Second Uncle still wants to ask you one question... do you wish to avenge your parents and elder brothers?"

Upon hearing these words, Murong Xiaoya's entire body trembled instantly.

However, gazing silently at the terrifying-faced old man before her, she showed not the slightest hesitation; her eyes, already swollen from crying, now revealed a gaze of immense determination as she said:

"Second Uncle, I want to take revenge."

"For this, I am willing to sacrifice everything I have; even if it costs my life, I will not hesitate!"

Hearing this, Murong Fu sighed heavily again, seeming to hesitate for a moment, before weakly asking:

"Did Zhen'er and Feng'er give the item to you?"

Murong Xiaoya took out two objects from her bosom; then, looking down at the items in her hand, she said softly:

"My two elder brothers indeed left heirlooms for me. Although I am not clear what these are, perhaps they are the items Second Uncle mentioned."

At this moment, Murong Fu raised his hand slightly; the objects in Murong Xiaoya's hand were then sucked through the air and fell into his grasp.

Immediately, he carefully sensed them for a while, then returned the items to Murong Xiaoya, nodding and saying:

"It is indeed these items... It seems Zhen'er and the others, like this old man, are all unwilling..."

As he spoke, Murong Fu suddenly flicked his fingers, striking a green brick in the hidden chamber with martial arts true qi.

And in the next moment, a loud sound of mechanisms and hinges operating arose around; the hidden chamber where Murong Xiaoya and Murong Fu were located began to slowly descend.

At the same time, Murong Fu continued to speak:

"Xiaoya... you are the last hope of the Murong family... Today, Second Uncle will tell you the greatest secret of the Murong family..."

"Our Murong family has inherited for a thousand years... but our ancestors' rise to power originated from a tomb... the Zhu Que Tomb..."

"And our Murong family... secretly also call ourselves the 'Grave Keepers'..."

Speaking thus, Murong Fu seemed to aggravate the injuries on his body, then coughed violently a few more times, saying:

"The Zhu Que Yan Pill, which can increase martial arts cultivation yet poisons endlessly... also comes from the Zhu Que Tomb..."

Just then, the descending hidden chamber finally came to a stop.

At this moment, the dim yellow light of the wall lamp inside shone outward, revealing a pitch-black cave outside.

Murong Fu spoke no more, merely calling out to Murong Xiaoya once, then slowly walked toward the chamber's exit.

Murong Xiaoya took a deep breath, took the wall lamp from the green brick, and followed Lady Murong's footsteps.

Soon, the two arrived and stopped before a massive suspended coffin.

The coffin before them seemed made entirely of cooled lava, mottled crimson like congealed blood, its surface raised with countless densely packed feather-scale reliefs.

Unlike ordinary coffins, it was wrapped and suspended in midair by chains, giving off a vague, invisible sense of oppression.

"This is the Zhu Que Tomb."

Lady Murong looked up; though his eyes had been gouged out, he seemed able to see the coffin before him.

Murong Xiaoya placed the wall lamp on the damp ground, gazed at the crimson coffin wrapped in chains, gently closed her eyes, then suddenly snapped them open and asked:

"What must I do to take revenge?"

Hearing this, Lady Murong fell silent for a moment before speaking:

"The first step is to open the coffin before you."

With that, the true qi in the world surrounding Lady Murong suddenly grew restless; at the same time, the chains that had wrapped the crimson coffin began to snap one by one.

Only after all the chains had broken did Lady Murong lift the crimson coffin with true qi, suspending it in midair without letting it fall.

(End of this chapter)