Chapter 353: Is This Really the Big Brother Emperor's Display?!

After a brief exchange, the group entered the camp.

In the center of the camp stood a heavy military‑green tent.

Outside, three layers of lead‑gray camouflage netting sealed it airtight.

It was probably impossible even for a mosquito to get in.

He lifted the entrance curtain.

The pressure dropped.

Only the humming of the marching cold‑light lamp could be heard.

Blue‑white light fell on everyone's faces, like a morgue fluorescent lamp.

In the middle of the tent was a Lishan Holographic Sand Table.

Red indicator lights along the sand table's edge blinked on and off, like a heartbeat.

An uneasy heartbeat.

The surrounding steel‑frame long tables were covered with items—

satellite maps, aerial photographs, hand‑drawn schematics annotated in red ink.

Densely packed, all marked.

Su Ming glanced over.

This group's homework was thorough.

He flung open the folding chair with a sweeping motion and sat down with a thud.

Zhao Xinghe was casually lifted and placed on his lap.

The little girl wasn't shy at all.

She clutched the bag of chips, crunching loudly, while her short legs wiggled.

It was on a completely different wavelength from the stifling pre‑battle atmosphere in the tent.

Lao Gou and the other four let their gazes linger on the little girl for a moment, then, with uncanny tacit understanding, looked away.

Still that line—

The people the boss brings are the team's ancestors.

Look as little as possible, and don't speak up.

Yet after only a few bites of chips, the little girl's eyelids started to droop, her head nodding little by little.

A common childhood ailment.

When you're sleepy, even the Heavenly King can't stop it.

"Later."

Su Ming lifted her and walked to the marching cot against the inner wall of the tent.

He set her down gently, pulling a military blanket to wrap her tightly.

"Sleep a bit; when you wake, I'll show you something fun."

His voice was very low.

Zhao Xinghe nodded obediently, his small body nudging further into the blanket.

He fell asleep in seconds.

Su Ming straightened his back.

In his perception,

the dark‑red, semi‑transparent spirit that no one else could see was calmly coiled at the side of the cot.

It made no noise, like a dutiful guardian spirit.

Su Ming turned around and sat back in the folding chair.

He crossed his ten fingers, leaned forward slightly, and pushed his body forward.

"Alright, let's get straight to the point."

His gaze swept over the five faces one by one.

"Before departure I received word that you all would creep into the outer perimeter over the next two days, just to scout the path."

"And the result?"

"Everyone's all gathered here, while the camp is still ten kilometers away."

The tent fell silent for two seconds.

The slightly plump Tu Bo Shu was the first to stand up.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled a tightly sealed Metal Flat Box from a pocket in his combat uniform's lining.

"Bang—"

He twisted the latch open.

A burst of putrid, fishy odor exploded instantly.

It was intense.

It was acrid.

Like three‑day‑rotten pork liver mixed into mud and then roasted over fire again.

Even the usually composed Shu Chong furrowed his brows slightly.

"Mr. Su, it's not that the brothers are afraid of death."

Tu Bo Shu's tone was hoarse.

"It's that road ahead; we really can't get through."

"Please take a look at this first."

Su Ming lowered his head.

The box contained a handful of soil.

Black and red intertwined.

Its texture was viscous, faintly writhing.

It was like mud mixed with half a jin of congealed plasma, and also like the peeled skin of some creature, clumped into a lump.

"This is what we touched on the outermost area last night, just a shallow step in."

"One shovel down, and we brought it back."

Tu Bo Shu pointed at the box.

"Just with that one shovel—"

"My Refined Steel Luoyang Shovel, which has been with me for twelve years, had its tip corroded away by half."

He spread his thumb and forefinger.

"The whole thing rotted, like it had been soaked in sulfuric acid."

"And this soil..."

"Don't touch!"

Tu Bo Shu hadn't finished speaking when a startled shout escaped.

Su Ming reached out, pinched a small pinch of dirt, and twisted it between two fingers.

Sticky and moist.

It possessed a strange elasticity.

Not the texture typical of mud.

More like...

Meat.

The moment his fingertip touched the thing, Su Ming's blood Qi instinctively surged.

It wasn't being eroded.

It was repelling.

Like an immune system detecting foreign invasion, automatically sounding an alarm.

"It's alive."

Su Ming's tone was flat; he casually grabbed a tissue and wiped the thing off his finger clean.

Tu Bo Shu's eyes nearly bulged out.

He had touched the same soil last night, and the back of his hand had a layer of skin burned off.

Su Ming immediately got hands‑on and kneaded it...

Nothing happened?

"It still has to be you..."

Tu Bo Shu swallowed, and steadied himself a bit.

Then he turned, walked to the sand table's edge, and pointed his finger at the Lishan Earth Vein diagram.

"Mr. Su, Living Soil is just an appetizer."

"The real big problem lies beneath."

Su Ming said nothing, just listened quietly.

"Everyone in this line knows that the Feng Shui Layout of the First Emperor's Tomb is universally acknowledged as the number one configuration under heaven."

"Head resting on Lishan, feet on Weishui, Azure Dragon on the left, White Tiger on the right, Nine Dragons Gather Qi, the Imperial Core within the Imperial Core."

Tu Bo Shu's finger traced the Earth Vein lines on the sand table, and halfway—

stopped.

"But now, everything has changed."

He lifted his head, his complexion grim.

"The Nine Dragons no longer gather Qi."

"It's reversed!"

"The Nine Dragon Vein Nodes have now all become gigantic suction sources."

"Instead of sending Qi inward, they draw it outward."

"The vitality, Yang Qi, and Earth Qi within several miles..."

"Like nine water pumps all cranked to maximum, crazily pumping into the earth's depths."

As he said that, the temperature throughout the camp seemed to drop a few degrees.

"What is this called?"

Tu Bo Shu inhaled.

"There's a saying in Feng Shui, called..."

"Ten Thousand Ghosts Devour Dragon!"

The four words sprang from his mouth, and the light above his head flickered briefly.

"In plain terms—"

"It's a massive Corpse Furnace."

"The entire First Emperor's Tomb is no longer a tomb; it's a pot that is currently burning."

"What stews in the pot... is everything living within dozens of miles around."

He pointed outside the tent.

You may not know, but all the vegetation over there has died.

They didn't die of drought; they were drained.

Trees, grass, insects—even the microorganisms in the soil are gone.

If a living person, unaware of the danger, forcibly rushes in——

【Tu Bo Shu】 raised a finger.

Half an hour.

Within half an hour, the yang energy will be completely sucked dry.

Turn into a desiccated corpse.

That's also why our camp has retreated to ten li outside.

Any closer and the risk is too great!

Su Ming listened, then nodded.

His expression didn't change much.

But in his heart, he had already matched this information with the intel given by Chen Rang——

No wonder that old guy said, sending those 【Dragon Guard】 in would be no different from sending them to their deaths.

Damn, we haven't even entered the gate yet, just the ground at the entrance can suck a person dry into a husk.

A major worry!

Imminent!

Is this the First Elder Brother's show of force?!

Anything else?

Su Ming's gaze shifted from 【Tu Bo Shu】 to the others.

The bespectacled 【Shu Chong】 immediately stepped forward.

With both hands, he handed a tablet to Su Ming.

On the screen were several photos with heavy grain and skewed angles.

Mr. Su, the Living Soil and Corpse Furnace are peripheral issues.

What truly makes us judge that progress is impossible is what's inside.

【Shu Chong】 pushed up his glasses.

Originally, there was a Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation around the First Emperor's Tomb.

This formation has been dead for over two thousand years.

Put simply, it's just a fixed-layout stone maze; as long as you have a map, you can just follow the steps.

But now——

It's alive!

……