Chapter 149: Lu Family Forbidden Land, Moment of Life and Death

Chapter 149: The Lu Family Forbidden Ground, a Moment Between Life and Death

The two spoke no more and slowly walked deeper.

Zhao Changhe carefully observed the stone walls on either side of the passage, feeling they must have been carved many, many years ago—not a recent endeavor—but certainly not as ancient as the last epoch.

Sisi was also looking, and she seemed far more knowledgeable about such matters than Zhao Changhe. As she studied, she frowned: "This was carved within the last hundred years, with signs of expansion. They've kept digging even in recent years. It seems the Lu family has been exploring this place's secrets all along, perhaps since they first settled here—generation after generation of investigation."

Zhao Changhe was taken aback: "How come I don't see any fresh marks?"

"Here." Sisi reached out and lightly tapped a corner of the right-hand wall, then gave it a gentle push. To Zhao Changhe's astonishment, the wall actually swung open...

Both of them immediately stepped back, covering their noses, their eyes widening simultaneously.

Behind the wall lay piles of bones, haphazardly stacked, countless in number. Among them, some clothing remained undecayed, revealing the coarse fabric of common laborers.

"They hired workers to dig, and fearing leaks, they slaughtered all the laborers and buried them here..." Zhao Changhe quickly deduced, his expression turning grim.

Even the Tang family, for all its debauchery, would never stoop to this. Compared to these "great houses," the Tang family seemed endearing.

The two silently closed the stone wall and continued downward.

The path stretched far, with no end in sight for a long time—far larger than the secret cave beneath the White Lotus Temple. That cave had been dug only in recent years, but this place had been explored by an entire family for a century.

Along the way, they saw many wrong turns and abandoned tunnels, clearly discarded once the correct path was found. The main route was paved with stone bricks and lit by luminous pearls, while the side tunnels were dark and gloomy, thick with cobwebs.

This made their exploration easier—no need to navigate a maze.

Further ahead, they even spotted some stone chambers with traces of people cultivating inside, though the occupants had left—likely gone to the Tang family. Again, this convenience aided their investigation.

Sisi grew increasingly impressed by Zhao Changhe's earlier deductions. Normally, this place would be impossible to enter, but now was a rare opportunity. The Lu family, long plotting against the Tang, would have deployed all their forces to strike decisively, never imagining a third party sneaking up behind them.

Both of them instinctively slowed and softened their steps—stone chambers for cultivation meant the core area was near, and some benefit could be gained there, prompting people to train. The mystery they sought to unravel seemed just ahead.

Rounding the end of the passage, they found a small hall. Peeking cautiously, they saw an old man with white hair and beard sitting cross-legged with eyes closed, facing a wall to one side, seemingly in meditation.

What surprised them was that the hall had no other exits—it was the end of the path. Yet the wall the old man faced showed nothing unusual, just ordinary stone. In contrast, the wall behind him bore strange scratches, like sword marks.

The scene baffled them. If one were to contemplate ancient sword marks, wouldn't one face them? Why turn one's back? Besides, these marks looked relatively fresh... Could he have made them himself while practicing swordsmanship?

Sisi whispered in his ear: "This old man is dying. He might have only a month or two left."

Zhao Changhe wondered how she could tell, but before he could ask, both his chest and back began to tremble.

On his back was the Dragon Sparrow, vibrating with a warning of danger.

On his chest was the golden foil, vibrating—for what reason?

Zhao Changhe had no time to ponder. The Dragon Sparrow's tremor was dire enough. He instantly grabbed Sisi's hand and rushed... forward.

Sisi: "?"

Just as Zhao Changhe moved, the old man opened his eyes: "I never thought our family would be the mantis, with another oriole lurking behind. Since you're here, don't think of leaving... Huh?"

Before him was a blade descending straight at his head, the Dragon Sparrow less than three inches from his skull...

The old man wore an expression of exasperated amusement. He lightly raised a hand and tapped the side of the blade, deflecting Zhao Changhe's thunderous, heavy strike with ease.

"Unexpected. When you realized I'd spotted you, your first instinct wasn't to retreat, but to attack!" The old man clicked his tongue. "Such boldness—you can't be unknown in the martial world..."

"Swish!" A dagger silently stabbed toward the old man's back.

The old man's bemused expression deepened. He seemed to sit still, yet his body twisted slightly, and Sisi's dagger grazed past, not even touching his clothes.

A gust of wind rose at his waist as Zhao Changhe seized the moment for a horizontal slash.

The old man finally lost his air of nonchalance. He pressed down on the blade with his right hand and rose to his feet.

Zhao Changhe stumbled back a few steps, his tiger eyes fixed unblinkingly on the old man, adopting a stance ready to attack again without a trace of fear.

The old man sighed: "Such a figure... wearing the clothes of our younger generation, but alas, not one of our own. A pity, a pity."

Zhao Changhe retorted: "Likewise, elder. With strength like yours, you should be on the Human Roll, yet you've hidden so deep the Chaos Chronicle doesn't list you."

The old man said flatly: "The Chaos Chronicle ultimately speaks through deeds... I haven't fought anyone in a long time, so I don't know if I'm truly Human Roll material. How did you judge?"

Zhao Changhe didn't answer. Wasn't it obvious? Yue Hongling and Chi Lie were definitely at the bottom of the Human Roll, or close to it. He didn't know if they could handle his slash and sweep so effortlessly—it seemed almost without effort. Perhaps without a real fight, he couldn't be sure, but this old man was certainly at that level, maybe even higher.

Fortunately, he didn't give Zhao Changhe the feeling of Tang Wanzhuang's finger that day—utterly inescapable. That would be Earth Roll, and he might as well give up.

But even at the bottom of the Human Roll, he couldn't handle this old man now... Yet Zhao Changhe oddly found himself unafraid, his mind clearer than ever.

He spoke slowly: "Your family is undertaking a great endeavor, elder. With your strength, why not join them? Aren't you afraid your family's scheme might fail, and they'll be wiped out?"

"Is this why you dared to come exploring?" The old man said calmly. "The Maitreya Sect Leader has arrived. The Tang family has no one to resist. Why should I bother going?"

Zhao Changhe's heart leaped, but he sneered: "But Tang Wanzhuang has come too. Can the Maitreya truly defeat her?"

The old man's expression shifted slightly. He said slowly: "Thank you for the information. Then I must kill you two first and head to the Tang family."

With that, a sword rasped from its sheath.

Zhao Changhe suddenly laughed loudly: "Stop bluffing. You're in no shape for a fierce fight. You'd probably run out of breath mid-battle. You don't dare join the fray—you're just putting on airs here. Otherwise, you'd have killed us with one sword stroke instead of chattering. I see now why your family chose this moment for their plot—it's because you're dying..."

"Swish!" The old man's eyes blazed with murderous intent as he thrust his sword straight at Zhao Changhe's throat: "Dealing with you two doesn't require a fierce fight!"

He wasn't boasting. Zhao Changhe couldn't see through the follow-up to this thrust; he knew no matter how he parried, the next move would pierce his throat.

But he never intended to parry.

Zhao Changhe grabbed Sisi's hand and suddenly charged toward the stone wall the old man had been facing: "I know how to force you into a fight!"

The seemingly dead stone wall rippled like water, and Zhao Changhe and Sisi vanished.

The old man, furious and frantic, charged after them: "Die!"

Light and shadow flickered, dimensions shifted.

When they could see again, they found themselves inside an ancient, solemn mausoleum, with passages branching in all directions, majestic and vast.

The air of the last epoch once again surrounded them.

The golden foil had trembled for a reason. Combining various clues and guesses, the most likely explanation was that the wall the old man faced led to a dimensional space, and the sword marks on the wall behind him were caused by sword qi emanating from this space.

Zhao Changhe had guessed right.

Before they could take in their surroundings, sword qi surged from all directions, murderous intent filled the air, and a killing aura far more terrifying than the old man's pressed down on them.

Sisi recalled a term she had heard before: Sword Emperor.

This was the Sword Emperor's mausoleum!

Not beneath Tiger Hill's Sword Pool, but here, under the Lu family?

And Zhao Changhe's expression showed he had expected this... Had he already guessed?