Chapter 14: The Red-Clad Immortal Maiden

After the Ghost Clouds dispersed, although wisps of underworld mist still drifted in the grave forest, it no longer shrouded the sky and covered the earth as before, and the field of vision became clearer and wider, giving a feeling of walking through a mass grave.

The grave mounds were all seven or eight meters high, distributed in a scattered manner.

The stone tablets, one after another, were ancient and heavy, standing a head taller than Li Youyi as he walked past them.

Some had ghost flags planted in front of them, others had underworld banners standing, making strange sounds in the wind.

Who exactly was buried here?

Why were they buried on a ship?

Was it to bring them back to their roots? Or was it a unique burial method?

How did they die? And who built the graves and erected the monuments for them? Where did the builders go?

The bronze ship was filled with mystery everywhere; it must have an ancient and tragic story. Who cast it, how glorious it once was, and why it had lain dormant on Earth for a thousand years—none of this was known.

Was it now returning to the place where it started?

Or was it continuing on an ancient journey?

Li Youyi, filled with curiosity and a desire for knowledge, searched in the grave forest for half an hour before finally hearing the sound of wind chimes.

"Ding ding!"

The bone-material wind chimes hung on a blue stone tablet over three meters high, the sound crisp and pleasant.

Though said to be bone material, in reality, they were as crystal clear as jade, engraved with secret script symbols that could not be identified.

The thread connecting the bells was woven from silver wire, immortal and unbroken for a thousand years.

On the blue stone tablet was a portrait, and it was unknown what pigments were used to paint it; it hadn't faded in the slightest, vivid and lifelike.

In the portrait, the auspicious clouds were colorful, and the heavenly maiden was beautiful and transcendent.

She looked like an immortal maiden standing on the clouds, looking down at the human world, in bright red clothes, with beautiful hairpins, her wonderful eyes so vivid that one felt she could walk right out of the tablet.

"Could it be that a peerless immortal maiden of the past is buried in the grave?"

Li Youyi’s gaze returned to the string of bone wind chimes, wanting to take them down to study.

This should also count as an immortal item, right?

"Whoosh!"

He exerted force with his legs and leaped up.

Suddenly, that scorching current from the center of his right foot surged out, his body became light as a feather, and he broke through the wind, actually jumping to the top of the three-meter-plus stone tablet in one go.

He stood firm, swaying slightly.

Li Youyi held his breath and looked down at the ground, which was a story high, feeling it was inconceivable.

After cultivating the extraordinary, was he now able to vault over walls?

This feeling was too wonderful; anyone would feel their heart surging and their spirits soaring.

After calming his mood, Li Youyi reached out to take the wind chimes. But the moment his hand touched the bone pieces of the bells, a wave of dizziness struck him, and an peerless red-clad immortal maiden seemed to appear before his eyes.

Her slender, stunning figure, layer upon layer, kept pressing down on him.

"Bang!"

Li Youyi fell from the blue stone tablet, his head dizzy, as if he had been riding in a car on a bumpy, rugged mountain road for several hours.

"This thing is indeed strange; it cannot be touched!"

If it were so easy to take, the bone wind chimes would have been taken by other scientific researchers long ago; how could they have waited until now?

It was just that Li Youyi was a person with intense curiosity and a desire to explore, which was why he couldn't help but risk trying.

He practiced the Yuxu Breathing Method, mobilizing the scorching current from the center of his right foot along the silver pulse marks toward his head. A moment later, the dizziness vanished, and he recovered.

Li Youyi bowed respectfully to the portrait on the blue stone tablet: "This junior had no intention of offending; I hope the senior will not blame me... um, this junior needs to retrieve the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish and the Huang Long Sword, and I’m afraid I must offend you once more. As a heavenly immortal, you surely won't lower yourself to the level of a mere mortal, right?"

After Li Youyi bowed three times cautiously, he climbed onto the huge grave mound behind the blue stone tablet.

"Senior brother shouldn't have buried them too deep... found them!"

Li Youyi felt inch by inch through the grayish-white grave soil, and finally, at the top of the mound, touched a hard metal block. Brushing away the soil, it was indeed the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish.

One cyan fish eye, one red fish eye, both only the size of beans.

Just like before, it was an ordinary ancient ornament, showing no special spiritual nature.

"Is this fish eye the Buddha’s sarira that they all want to obtain? Is its microscopic form really a planet?"

How should it be activated?

Before Li Youyi could put the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish back around his neck, the wind chimes on the blue stone tablet suddenly rang loudly, and a sense of danger that made his hair stand on end struck him, like needles on his back, with a chill enveloping him.

Not good...

"Swoosh swoosh!"

There was no time to escape.

From the grave soil below, many black hairs grew, wrapping around his legs.

"Is this a corpse coming back to life? But I clearly bowed just now... is this senior too narrow-minded?"

The black hair grew extremely fast, wrapping from his legs to his waist, spreading to his hands and head.

Li Youyi mobilized the scorching current from the center of his right foot, surging toward the thirteen silver pulse marks throughout his body, erupting with his strongest power to tear and struggle.

He only held out for the duration of a single breath.

With a bang, he was pulled down by the black hair and fell to the ground, sinking toward the bottom of the grave soil.

It’s over!

What on earth is going on?

Senior Sister Cai and the others dug graves and built mounds, doing much worse, yet they didn't provoke such a disaster. He was only here to retrieve his own things, so why did he provoke such a terrifying evil object?

Could it be that he really accidentally encountered a stingy ghost?

"Brother Meng, Brother Meng, Old Liu and the others have been exhausted these seven days rushing to repair the generator. You have to talk to Captain Gao and arrange two good meals for them; we have to celebrate today no matter what, right?"

Chen Hong followed behind Zhao Meng, asking for credit for the members of the engineering and technical team.

"That’s natural; they deserve the first credit."

Zhao Meng stepped into the cabin where the cold storage was located, his expression changing instantly.

He saw Old Liu and several other members of the engineering and technical team all lying on the ground, unconscious, with only Xie Jin standing inside with his hands behind his back.

The cabin was messy and the light was dim, but one could still clearly see Xie Jin’s cold, mocking eyes.

"Bang!"

A sturdy security team member, 1.8 meters tall, ambushed on the left side of the door, swung a steel pipe and smashed it hard against the door frame of the cabin. Had Zhao Meng reacted a beat slower, his skull would have been shattered.

"Ambush, get out quickly."

Zhao Meng reminded Chen Hong, immediately retreated from the cold storage cabin, and was about to raise his rifle to fight back.

Another security team member ambushed outside jumped out, hugging Zhao Meng’s upper torso and arms from behind, letting out a low roar, intending to slam Zhao Meng against the cabin wall.

Zhao Meng had practiced martial arts since childhood and had served in the military for many years; his reaction was incredibly fast.

Before being slammed, his legs kicked against the cabin wall first, exerting force suddenly, and together with the security team member behind him, the two fell heavily to the ground.

After breaking free, Zhao Meng quickly flipped his body, and a punch like a hammer slammed down.

"Bang!"

The fist landed on the face, knocking the security team member who had just hugged him unconscious, blood streaming from the man’s mouth.

The security team member holding the steel pipe rushed out, swinging heavily again.

Zhao Meng didn't have time to find his rifle, rolled forward, and kicked him in the crotch. Accompanied by a scream, the steel pipe clattered to the ground, and the security team member knelt down, his legs trembling.

While picking up the steel pipe, Zhao Meng elbowed him in the temple, knocking him to the side.

Instantly resolving two skilled ambushers.

Before Zhao Meng could fully stand up, the third person in ambush rushed out, using a stun gun to strike his back.

"Swoosh swoosh!"

Zhao Meng’s whole body trembled, his muscles numb, and his body was unable to move.

And directly in front, Xie Jin rushed over, leaped off the ground, and carried his own weight with a knee strike to Zhao Meng’s heart.

This was a flying knee strike!

Once it hit, Zhao Meng’s ribs would surely break, and his heart would shatter.

In this life-and-death crisis, Zhao Meng broke free from the stun gun behind him and rolled to the side. Even though his whole body was weak and powerless, under his strong will to survive, he bit the tip of his tongue, forced his spirit, and threw the steel pipe in his hand.

With a bang, the steel pipe hit the third ambusher’s hand, and the stun gun fell to the ground instantly.

Zhao Meng took the opportunity to pick up the rifle on the ground, chambered a round, and aimed at Xie Jin, who had just landed, his face ruthless and cold, murderous intent exposed in his eyes.

"Bang!"

"Crack..."

In the shadows behind, Chen Hong held a steel bar, his hands wrapped in black cloth, and used all his strength to smash it into the position near Zhao Meng’s right shoulder.

The sound of bone breaking rang out.

Zhao Meng’s tower-like, mighty, and strong physique couldn't hold out, and he let out a low roar of pain, his body sinking, and the rifle clattered to the ground.

He tried hard not to fall, slowly turned around, his lips trembling, and looked at Chen Hong with an expression of disbelief.

No one knew Zhao Meng’s strength better than Chen Hong, so he couldn't show any mercy in his attack.

It had to be fast, and it had to be ruthless.

Chen Hong’s face no longer had any sunny, cheerful smile, only seriousness and coldness. The steel bar in his hand swung again, smashing into Zhao Meng’s knees, which were supporting his body.

"Bang!"

The kneecaps exploded, and his legs folded backward.

Zhao Meng could no longer stand up, in so much pain he nearly fainted. Chen Hong threw the steel bar to the ground, turned to pick up the rifle, and after checking the number of bullets inside, only then felt completely at ease.

Looking at Zhao Meng’s pale face and his eyes filled with anger, confusion, and unwillingness, Chen Hong felt very displeased and scolded: "I know what you want to say, isn't it all your fault?"

"Did I not suggest that you lead the brothers to kill Gao Xin and then become the captain of the research ship yourself, or even the captain of the entire bronze ship? At that time, everyone on the ship would have to listen to us; whatever we told them to do, they would have to do. If we told them to kneel, they wouldn't dare to stand."

"Those useless old, weak, sick, and disabled people should have been killed early on; they are a waste of food."

"As long as we control the supplies and the right to distribute them, we can do whatever we want and live to the end. But..."

"You are too pedantic! You don't have any ambition or the air of an overlord, still bound by those old rules. Since you won't take the initiative, I have to do it; I don't want to die."

Xie Jin looked at the rifle in Chen Hong’s hand with some trepidation and smiled: "Well done, with Zhao Meng dealt with, the others on the ship are nothing to fear. Give me the gun, and I will ask my cousin to give you the first credit."

"It’s better if I keep this gun for now."

Chen Hong wasn't stupid; naturally, he couldn't hand over the gun. While guarding against Xie Jin, he began to undress Zhao Meng.

After the outer coat was removed, inside was a purple leather soft armor. On the chest was a blood-red five-finger handprint pattern, with some strange scriptures in the palm, looking like the symbol of some mysterious organization.

Touching the soft armor with his fingers, there was a cool sensation.

"This should be the corpse-clothing leather armor he took off those skeletal humans. The leather armor hasn't decayed for a thousand years; it must be a treasure. No wonder he was able to break free from the stun gun."

Chen Hong was very happy, took the corpse-clothing leather armor off Zhao Meng, and put it on himself.

The corpse-clothing leather armor seemed to be able to grow larger or smaller; his physique was far less robust than Zhao Meng’s, but after putting it on, it was quite form-fitting.

Xie Jin knew there was nothing he could do about Chen Hong for now, so he had to suppress the anger in his heart and said warmly: "Hurry up and search; is the Buddha’s sarira on him?"

After Chen Hong searched him, a look of disappointment appeared on his face: "I’m afraid the Buddha’s sarira is still on his junior brother."

Zhao Meng, who had already resigned himself to his fate, heard this, his eyes instantly becoming filled with anger, and he roared: "Chen Hong, if you dare to hurt my junior brother, I will make sure you die without a whole corpse."

Chen Hong looked at him with pity: "If you could stand up, I would believe you. Brother Meng, you taught me to be daring and to fight hard, not to be an incompetent, angry person. How did you forget it yourself?"

Xie Jin walked over, stepped on Zhao Meng’s chest, pressed down with all his might, and leaned over with a cold laugh: "You are so agitated, it seems the Buddha’s sarira must be with him, right?"

Zhao Meng didn't know where he got the strength, but with his uninjured hand, he tried to prop up his body.

But how could he compete with Xie Jin?

Chen Hong said: "Forget it, why bother with a cripple? We haven't fully grasped the situation yet; don't waste time here."

Xie Jin stared at Chen Hong, who was walking out with the gun, squatted down, and searched Zhao Meng again.

Naturally, he found nothing.

"Tie them all up and take them to the deck. By the way, have you seen Cai Yutong?" Xie Jin didn't have as much ambition as Xie Tianshu; in his eyes, capturing Cai Yutong was more important than anything else, even the Buddha’s sarira wouldn't be a fair trade.

A security team member said: "She seems to have gone to the planting area with those graduate students and didn't eat the breakfast containing the drugs."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 15 =====