Treacherous Creatures
Ye Mu said, “If we meet this kind of thing in a while, turn back to the same way we came from. But everyone must remember: stay calm. If you get lost underground, you’ll die.”
Everyone nodded repeatedly, and then continued their trek.
Mo Linyuan walked in front of Ye Mu, as if indistinctly wanting to protect her. Ye Mu’s heart felt content, and the party continued forward.
The long and narrow corridor seemed to have no end, they kept encountering a fork. Ye Mu walked the path that had air current, and gradually, the path started to have a mural, but the painting seemed to become dangerous.
Mo Linyuan watched along the way, and his expression also became odd, especially that one of them, the countless poisonous snakes and worms on the resplendent hall were encircling a woman. That woman wore a phoenix coronet, her face enchanting. But after careful observation, it was not decorative patterns lying on her body, but rather, were poisonous worms.
Ye Mu was confused. She whispered, “What happened to this woman? Isn’t she the calamitous woman of the country? Why does she actually look like Miao Yu over there, a wicked woman who is very good at witchcraft?”
Mo Linyuan recalled the past. “I just remembered, I previously read an ancient book. The book said, the reason why the empire perished so quickly, is because this favored concubine had always liked to torment people all her life. The punishment she left behind that time is now gone, but according to the records, her favorite was to see a living person swallowed by snakes and other worms, and the emperor really indulged her. He didn’t bat an eye at the cries of the common people, and so the country perished.”
Ye Mu inferred, “So when this favored concubine was still alive, she really liked to fiddle with these things. That said, the many worms down here must have been left behind by the favored concubine, right? Generation after generation, since it’s in the mountains, it’s easy for them to find something to eat.”
Mo Linyuan shook his head. “It’s not clear, but probably by not getting rid of this, if it’s all poisonous creatures by this woman’s side, the following journey will definitely be more dangerous.”
Before he could finish speaking, he heard someone yell, “Snake! There’s a snake!”
Everyone followed the direction his finger pointed to, but didn’t see any snake. Someone asked, “Are you blind? Where’s the snake?”
That person said with certainty, “I saw, it was a gigantic snake, and it moved really fast!
Their words made Ye Mu’s expression frigid. “I believe them—I encountered a black python before! I fought with it.”
But that soldier’s complexion lost color as he said, “The snake that I just saw was red.”
His words made everyone quiet. So, there was more than one?
But Ye Mu smiled. “Nothing to be very worried about, I’ve recovered my internal energy now. If it dares to come, we’ll eat snake meat tonight.”
Everyone listened, and slightly relaxed and laughed. But it wasn’t possible to eat snake meat; they didn’t know how much human meat the snakes here had eaten.
Just when they were relaxing, suddenly, small sounds came out, and the speed was very, very fast. Ye Mu was the first to hear it and stopped everyone at once.
Very soon, they saw what the things that were coming were. They were rats, so many jet-black, red-eyed rats!
“Careful!” The moment Ye Mu finished speaking, she blocked them first. Those rats, however, were not scared of them, and they could bite people. Once those piercing teeth bit onto something, that bitten place would be rendered numb.
Seeing the troops panic-stricken in an instant, Ye Mu said in a low voice, “Don’t panic! Everyone get behind me!”
Everyone did as instructed, and then from the qi below her navel*, she brought the invisible internal energy out. That internal energy was like a knife, and immediately pressured those rats that they didn’t dare to come anymore. They started to turn and run away in a mass of darkness, just like a tide. Soon, they disappeared.
*where qi resides
Everyone released their breaths. Someone leaned against their back on the wall, and suddenly felt a force. He turned his head, and saw the sharp fangs of a black snake!
“Watch out!” Mo Linyuan swung a sword over. That snake’s head was chopped off, but its tail seemed to still be alive, firmly winding around the person’s neck. It was Ye Mu who finished it off with a knife, and the snake finally released its grip.
Everyone was badly shaken, and then was filled with reverence and fear toward this place.
“The person buried here definitely doesn’t want to be disturbed. What if we just leave?”
“Yeah! These poisonous creatures are certainly attacking us for the sake of that favored concubine!”
A good number of people had this kind of thought, but seeing Mo Linyuan’s sudden overcast complexion, no one continued speaking.
A manly man, at this critical moment, how could they be in chaos?
Ye Mu said, “Actually, you don’t have to be too scared.” She looked at the depths of the cave and said to the point, “To guard against theft, every tomb occupant will think of the best way to complicate matters. There are so many treacherous creatures here, so they must have been attracted by something inside, and then we disturbed their territory, so they attacked. It’s actually not because of the control of a remarkable person.”
Hearing this explanation from Ye Mu, they immediately felt so relieved.
“Then what do we do if there are still many of those creatures inside? The place where the rats had just bitten me is aching and itchy. Could it be poisonous?”
Ye Mu frowned. She compromised, “Let’s do this, we’ll walk on for a bit. If there are many of those creatures, we’ll retreat out. If there are none, we’ll continue. How’s this?”
Mo Linyuan was the first to nod. “We’ll do as you say. I am the chosen one*, I don’t believe any evil will block my way!”
*真命天子 – means an emperor who inherits the fate of the world/ordained son of Heaven (though now it’s also used as a metaphor for destined lover/true love.)
With this said, he was the first to walk in front. Mo Linyuan and Ye Mu were the same, they completely didn’t believe these, so they were fine in the dark, they were also fine with the hidden danger; they weren’t problems that couldn’t be solved.
Seeing His Majesty was this calm, the others felt ashamed and calmed down. After eating an antidote, they felt so much better and regained their confidence.
And finally, they walked out of the tunnel and arrived in a very vast area. It looked like an enormous cave that naturally took form, there were side paths all around.
At this time, a surprised voice came out, “Your Majesty! You’re here too?”
Mo Linyuan saw it was someone from Ye Xiaolang’s side. He quickly inquired, “Where is General Ye?”
That person’s expression dulled. “General Ye is a little wounded, he’s resting over there. Please follow me.”
When Ye Mu heard that Ye Xiaolang was injured, she hurriedly followed, and then in one of the cave tunnels, she saw Ye Xiaolang and the rest.
At this moment, they only had about sixty people. The others, if they didn’t die, they were lost.
Seeing Ye Xiaolang firmly shutting his eyes, Ye Mu asked, “What happened to him?”
A soldier next to Ye Xiaolang said in a low voice, “General Ye got bitten by the snake to save me! That snake was red, it might be extremely poisonous!”
Treacherous Creatures
Ye Mu said, “If we meet this kind of thing in a while, turn back to the same way we came from. But everyone must remember: stay calm. If you get lost underground, you’ll die.”
Everyone nodded repeatedly, and then continued their trek.
Mo Linyuan walked in front of Ye Mu, as if indistinctly wanting to protect her. Ye Mu’s heart felt content, and the party continued forward.
The long and narrow corridor seemed to have no end, they kept encountering a fork. Ye Mu walked the path that had air current, and gradually, the path started to have a mural, but the painting seemed to become dangerous.
Mo Linyuan watched along the way, and his expression also became odd, especially that one of them, the countless poisonous snakes and worms on the resplendent hall were encircling a woman. That woman wore a phoenix coronet, her face enchanting. But after careful observation, it was not decorative patterns lying on her body, but rather, were poisonous worms.
Ye Mu was confused. She whispered, “What happened to this woman? Isn’t she the calamitous woman of the country? Why does she actually look like Miao Yu over there, a wicked woman who is very good at witchcraft?”
Mo Linyuan recalled the past. “I just remembered, I previously read an ancient book. The book said, the reason why the empire perished so quickly, is because this favored concubine had always liked to torment people all her life. The punishment she left behind that time is now gone, but according to the records, her favorite was to see a living person swallowed by snakes and other worms, and the emperor really indulged her. He didn’t bat an eye at the cries of the common people, and so the country perished.”
Ye Mu inferred, “So when this favored concubine was still alive, she really liked to fiddle with these things. That said, the many worms down here must have been left behind by the favored concubine, right? Generation after generation, since it’s in the mountains, it’s easy for them to find something to eat.”
Mo Linyuan shook his head. “It’s not clear, but probably by not getting rid of this, if it’s all poisonous creatures by this woman’s side, the following journey will definitely be more dangerous.”
Before he could finish speaking, he heard someone yell, “Snake! There’s a snake!”
Everyone followed the direction his finger pointed to, but didn’t see any snake. Someone asked, “Are you blind? Where’s the snake?”
That person said with certainty, “I saw, it was a gigantic snake, and it moved really fast!
Their words made Ye Mu’s expression frigid. “I believe them—I encountered a black python before! I fought with it.”
But that soldier’s complexion lost color as he said, “The snake that I just saw was red.”
His words made everyone quiet. So, there was more than one?
But Ye Mu smiled. “Nothing to be very worried about, I’ve recovered my internal energy now. If it dares to come, we’ll eat snake meat tonight.”
Everyone listened, and slightly relaxed and laughed. But it wasn’t possible to eat snake meat; they didn’t know how much human meat the snakes here had eaten.
Just when they were relaxing, suddenly, small sounds came out, and the speed was very, very fast. Ye Mu was the first to hear it and stopped everyone at once.
Very soon, they saw what the things that were coming were. They were rats, so many jet-black, red-eyed rats!
“Careful!” The moment Ye Mu finished speaking, she blocked them first. Those rats, however, were not scared of them, and they could bite people. Once those piercing teeth bit onto something, that bitten place would be rendered numb.
Seeing the troops panic-stricken in an instant, Ye Mu said in a low voice, “Don’t panic! Everyone get behind me!”
Everyone did as instructed, and then from the qi below her navel*, she brought the invisible internal energy out. That internal energy was like a knife, and immediately pressured those rats that they didn’t dare to come anymore. They started to turn and run away in a mass of darkness, just like a tide. Soon, they disappeared.
*where qi resides
Everyone released their breaths. Someone leaned against their back on the wall, and suddenly felt a force. He turned his head, and saw the sharp fangs of a black snake!
“Watch out!” Mo Linyuan swung a sword over. That snake’s head was chopped off, but its tail seemed to still be alive, firmly winding around the person’s neck. It was Ye Mu who finished it off with a knife, and the snake finally released its grip.
Everyone was badly shaken, and then was filled with reverence and fear toward this place.
“The person buried here definitely doesn’t want to be disturbed. What if we just leave?”
“Yeah! These poisonous creatures are certainly attacking us for the sake of that favored concubine!”
A good number of people had this kind of thought, but seeing Mo Linyuan’s sudden overcast complexion, no one continued speaking.
A manly man, at this critical moment, how could they be in chaos?
Ye Mu said, “Actually, you don’t have to be too scared.” She looked at the depths of the cave and said to the point, “To guard against theft, every tomb occupant will think of the best way to complicate matters. There are so many treacherous creatures here, so they must have been attracted by something inside, and then we disturbed their territory, so they attacked. It’s actually not because of the control of a remarkable person.”
Hearing this explanation from Ye Mu, they immediately felt so relieved.
“Then what do we do if there are still many of those creatures inside? The place where the rats had just bitten me is aching and itchy. Could it be poisonous?”
Ye Mu frowned. She compromised, “Let’s do this, we’ll walk on for a bit. If there are many of those creatures, we’ll retreat out. If there are none, we’ll continue. How’s this?”
Mo Linyuan was the first to nod. “We’ll do as you say. I am the chosen one*, I don’t believe any evil will block my way!”
*真命天子 – means an emperor who inherits the fate of the world/ordained son of Heaven (though now it’s also used as a metaphor for destined lover/true love.)
With this said, he was the first to walk in front. Mo Linyuan and Ye Mu were the same, they completely didn’t believe these, so they were fine in the dark, they were also fine with the hidden danger; they weren’t problems that couldn’t be solved.
Seeing His Majesty was this calm, the others felt ashamed and calmed down. After eating an antidote, they felt so much better and regained their confidence.
And finally, they walked out of the tunnel and arrived in a very vast area. It looked like an enormous cave that naturally took form, there were side paths all around.
At this time, a surprised voice came out, “Your Majesty! You’re here too?”
Mo Linyuan saw it was someone from Ye Xiaolang’s side. He quickly inquired, “Where is General Ye?”
That person’s expression dulled. “General Ye is a little wounded, he’s resting over there. Please follow me.”
When Ye Mu heard that Ye Xiaolang was injured, she hurriedly followed, and then in one of the cave tunnels, she saw Ye Xiaolang and the rest.
At this moment, they only had about sixty people. The others, if they didn’t die, they were lost.
Seeing Ye Xiaolang firmly shutting his eyes, Ye Mu asked, “What happened to him?”
A soldier next to Ye Xiaolang said in a low voice, “General Ye got bitten by the snake to save me! That snake was red, it might be extremely poisonous!”
