Chapter 271 The Collapsing Tomb
“Changxi?” Qin Yunuan saw that Leng Changxi from afar paused, and she thought that there might be an accident. However, Leng Changxi reached his hands into the coffin determinedly. In the customs, the dead people are to be respected. His action was extremely disrespectful.
However, Leng Changxi didn’t only reach out his hands but also held the head of the corpse powerfully. Qin Yunuan was far away, but she was feeling a bit daunted. Leng Changxi’s action seemed to have twisted the body’s head off. However, Leng Changxi was holding a multi-faced head in his hands, a multi-faced head indeed.
It was a well-made head. Every detail was carved lively. The eyes and nose were as fine as a real person. It could be compared to the human skin mask Leng Changxi made. Just because this head was multi-faced, people feel like it was watching them from any direction.
Qin Yunuan realized another problem despite her great shock. The corpse was actually fake. It was such finely protected and taken care of by A Mo, but it was a fake body. If the corpse were fake, then the tomb might be…
By then, Leng Changxi had already jumped back from the rock platform in the middle of the chamber, and he was still holding the multi-faced head in his hands. Even though the three faces on the head all had their eyes closed, it was still daunting to look at the head, maybe because of how it was made.
Leng Changxi seemed to understand what Qin Yunuan was thinking. He calmly analyzed the facts, “Rest assured. I think this may not be a fake tomb. Judging from how it has been decorated, I think it has been done carefully. Even though the mountain is big enough, there’s no room for another tomb. I guess that Chen Wan might not have died back then. She just found something to replace her.”
Qin Yunuan thought about it for a moment and agreed. “I guess so. How would such a powerful and wise woman die in an arsenal riot? If she faked her death, it was likely that she planned the riot as well, in order to let her get away from something. However, there’s one thing I don’t understand. She had everything in the world. Why would she fake her own death? What did she try to get away from?”
“Sometimes people get away just because they have everything. Some people chase after wealth and power, but some would prefer avoiding them. Maybe there was something more important to her.” Leng Changxi thought about it carefully and put the multi-faced head in the middle of the rock pavilion. Just as he did that, he suddenly felt the ground shaking.
He quickly straightened up and held Qin Yunuan’s hands. Then, the rock platform shook again, even Qin Yunuan felt it. It was a deep hole underneath. No one could save them if anything happened.
“Changxi.” Qin Yunuan was in a bit of a panic.
Leng Changxi looked around and held Qin Yunuan’s waist decisively. The edge of the rock platform was starting to break, and there was a feet-long crack already, which was still becoming larger. They were both in danger. Just then, Leng Changxi applied his light skills and leaped towards the central platform, which was meters away from the edge of the rock platform, carrying Qin Yunuan with him.
The sound of the rock platform collapsing was deafening. Qin Yunuan looked at the huge rocks falling into the emptiness below her feet. It was truly daunting.
After they landed on the central platform, Leng Changxi stumbled and nearly fell. After all, he was carrying Qin Yunuan with him, and where he jumped from wasn’t that stable.
“Changxi.” Qin Yunuan turned around and held Leng Changxi’s arm. Half of his body was already in midair. He gritted and held on to Qin Yunuan’s hands. The edge of the platform was very smooth, and there’s nothing he could hold on to. It almost drained every bit of his strength to get back on the platform.
Right on the central platform, Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi stood and watched the pavement where they came from falling apart. Until the last bit of it in front of the Duanlong gate collapsed, and the huge rocks fell, the muffled sound of the rocks hitting the bottom seemed to be reminding them that there was no way back.
All in a sudden, the central platform was the only structure left in the chamber. Actually, it was more like a rock pillar than a rock platform now. Leng Changxi knew that he had to come this way because of the fake body. Even though the corpse was fake, the crystal coffin was real. The most precious thing must be in the safest place. Besides, there was no exit in the chamber apart from the Duanlong gate. Leng Changxi was thinking that the exit might be somewhere next to the crystal coffin.
Sure enough, when Qin Yunuan was looking at the crystal coffin, she found a hidden compartment, in which was an iron made dial with strange characters on it.
It was bad news. Even though they found the key to the exit, if they couldn’t read this thing, they might not be able to get away. Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan were helpless at the moment. If they kept staying here, they would either starve or die because of the dim environment of the chamber.
“It was familiar to me.” Qin Yunuan suddenly said. Right, it was in that book without a cover. Some strange numbering symbols were used in the book, “1” for one, and “2” for two, which looked like a duckling. She didn’t know where these symbols came from, but she remembered them because she found them fun.
In this case, the symbols on the dial were a set of numbers. But what was the passcode?
“There are some words here.” Leng Changxi suddenly pointed at a small stone monument next to the crystal coffin and said. The monument was so small that it was like a decoration, compared to that of those who bragged around about their achievements.
“The most important day of my life.” Leng Changxi read the words out.
The words were quite random, and it was hard to say what the owner was trying to express. However, Qin Yunuan felt like there was some information in here.
“Maybe this is to hint that the passcode is the most important day of Chen Wan’s life.”
That was possible indeed. Leng Changxi nodded.
“However, what would be the most important day for a woman? The day of her marriage? Her birthday? Or the day when she met the love of her life?” Leng Changxi didn’t know much about women.
“Not necessarily.” Qin Yunuan looked at the well-made fake corpse inside the crystal coffin and tried to put herself in Chen Wan’s shoes. She came to this world with glory and changed the world drastically with her own wisdom. However, when she was at her paramount, she suddenly chose to get away. Looking at all the blueprints and powerful weapons that she created, but she chose to leave with a fake death in the end.
“Did you still remember the date which the riot happened?” Qin Yunuan asked.
“That’s top secret. I’m not really sure.” Leng Changxi shook his head, but he tried to remember everything he could in his mind. “However, I remember that several years ago, my father once mourned for someone’s death in the backyard on the day 7th of July. I couldn’t remember anyone from the family who died on that day. Later, I found out that he was mourning for his friend who died in a strange accident. When I looked into this history, I found that this friend of my father was one of the supervisors of the arsenal back in the years.” Leng Changxi’s logical thinking and analytical ability were perfect.
“Then it must be July 7th.” Qin Yunuan decided to take the risk.
Qin Yunuan stared at the dial and turned both the inner circle and the outer circle to “7”. With a click, everything was done. The two of them looked around nervously, but it seemed that nothing had happened. Is it that…
Suddenly, there was some sound coming from the crystal coffin. Was it possible that the corpse had come alive?
No, the corpse itself was fake.
The two went forward and checked the crystal coffin. To their surprise, the bottom of the crystal coffin had opened up, revealing some endless stairs. The stairs looked fairly new. It was either that no one had ever walked on them, or they were well protected by the crystal coffin.
Qin Yunuan exchanged glances with Leng Changxi. They had no way back now. The only option they had left was to keep going.
Leng Changxi held Qin Yunuan’s hand. The stairs looked less dim because of the light reflected from the crystal coffin. However, they couldn’t see what’s on the other side of it, which made them nervous.
“Are you afraid?” Leng Changxi asked.
Qin Yunuan merely held on to Leng Changxi’s hands tighter and said firmly, “I’m not afraid as long as I’m with you.”
Without a torch, the two could only stumble forward with the light reflected from the crystal coffin. Just when they stepped on the cold stairs, Leng Changxi felt the chill creeping up his heart. He let go of Qin Yunuan’s hand and said, “Stay here. I’ll go check it out first.” If there were anything bad on the other side, Qin Yunuan would have enough time to make her own judgments. That was the only thing Leng Changxi could do to protect the woman he loved under the circumstances.
“No.” Qin Yunuan knew what Leng Changxi was thinking, and she wouldn’t let him take the risk on his own. She wouldn’t let go of Leng Changxi’s hands. “If anything ever happens to you, I want the same to happen to me. Don’t leave me alone. You’re the only one I have now.”
“Silly girl.” Leng Changxi smiled. What was she supposed to mean by “I want the same to happen to me”?
In the end, Leng Changxi couldn’t leave the clingy Qin Yunuan alone. The two of them descended along the stairs. The further they went, the dimmer it was. They could only rely on Leng Changxi to find the way with his feet. Suddenly, Leng Changxi seemed to have stepped into the emptiness. He toppled and fell, dragging Qin Yunuan with him.