Chapter 152: Treasure
With the tomb guardian’s permission secured, Lin Huai steered the hearse down the rocky slopes, guiding the floating blood jade coffin and the jeweled corpse directly toward the depths of the valley.
Relying on the memories drawn from the crystal orb, she headed straight for the hidden cavern.
As she drew closer to the gorge, scattered fragments of bone appeared along the dirt. Lin Huai brought the vehicle to a halt, taking care not to crush the remains under her heavy tires.
The valley had remained sealed from human footsteps for centuries. The stagnant air hung heavy and stale, making it easy for toxic gases to pool in the low ground.
Taking no chances, Lin Huai pulled on a sealed protective suit and strapped an oxygen mask over her face before jumping down from the cab.
She knelt beside the nearest set of armored bones to inspect them closely. Stepping across the dry wash, she examined several more remains. Every single soldier bore lethal blade marks—deep cuts that exposed bone, etched with the brutal grooves of heavy hacking weapons.
There was a vast number of fallen warriors here, yet not a single set of bones faced away from the canyon entrance. Not one had tried to flee; every man had fallen meeting the enemy head-on.
Lin Huai had always held great reverence for such valiant warriors. Glancing toward the direction of the Martyrs’ Cemetery beyond the ridge, a quiet thought stirred in her chest. She raised her hand, gesturing for the blood jade coffin to glide lower behind her.
Walking steadily along the ravine, she began gathering the fallen soldiers one by one.
As the number of recovered remains inside the chamber grew, the dense spiritual energy finally roused Dong Xiaobao from her deep slumber.
The little ghost floated up through the open lid, her round eyes wide with surprise.
“Sister, where did all these bones come from? The battlefield malice clinging to them is so thick!”
Lin Huai assumed Dong Xiaobao was communicating through their mental bond as usual. Busy matching and aligning a soldier’s shattered ribcage on the ground, she answered without looking up: “These are brave warriors who fell in battle; it’s only natural for their resentment to run high.”
“We’ll rest them inside the coffin for a few hours. The soothing energy will wash away their lingering grievances.”
With a soft click, the fragments in her hands fell neatly into place.
She reached up and tapped the rim of the low-floating coffin. Responding to the command, the jade vessel generated a gentle suction, lifting the assembled skeleton smoothly from the dirt and laying it into the interior.
“Sister, are you taking them along with us?”
Dong Xiaobao spoke again.
Only then did Lin Huai realize the words hadn’t echoed in her head—the child was actually speaking aloud with a physical voice!
She looked up in astonishment. Not only had Dong Xiaobao learned to speak, but her body had grown noticeably larger.
She now looked like a healthy one-year-old toddler. She was still wearing the soft overalls Lin Huai had burned for her, but the pant legs were far too short now, resting above her shins like capris. Her messy, shoulder-length hair tumbled around her cheeks, looking thoroughly adorable.
Delighted, Lin Huai gently stroked the child’s cheek. “Xiaobao, how did you grow so big all of a sudden?”
Dong Xiaobao tilted her head, blinking her large, dark eyes. “I don’t really know. Sleeping in the coffin felt so warm and comfortable, and when I woke up just now, I was like this!”
“That’s wonderful,” Lin Huai said with a warm smile. “You should rest in the coffin more often from now on. Once I finish laying these soldiers to rest, you can crawl back inside and sleep some more.”
With that, she returned to gathering the scattered remains.
By the time she reached the sealed stone entrance of the cave, she had sorted and stored roughly one thousand fallen guards. The sheer scale left Lin Huai deeply astonished. What kind of imperial treasure could justify an entire regiment of one thousand elite guards?
And what kind of terrifying force had managed to slaughter all one thousand defenders in this narrow pass?
If the invaders had come for the hoard, the modern hiker whose memories Lin Huai viewed should never have found the vault sealed and untouched. Perhaps the attacking army had wiped out the defenders but failed to locate the hidden entrance, eventually retreating empty-handed?
Lin Huai shook her head, putting the mystery aside. It was an ancient tragedy from over a thousand years ago, far beyond her concern. All that mattered right now was the treasure locked behind that stone door.
Recalling the sequence the dying woman had accidentally discovered, Lin Huai stepped up to the mechanism. She aligned the levers and counterweights, replicating the final successful attempt.
The woman’s memory proved entirely accurate.
The heavy slabs ground together with a deep rumble. Lin Huai reacted instantly, preparing her defenses before the gap even widened.
She stacked three layers of Iron Wall Talismans in front of her. The moment the stone parted, the internal traps triggered with a violent snap. A storm of iron crossbow bolts whistled out from the pitch-black darkness, slamming uselessly against the golden barriers and dropping to the floor in a clattering heap.
Lin Huai didn’t lower her guard. This was merely the first layer of defensive countermeasures; deeper chambers would surely hold deadlier traps.
Dong Xiaobao sensed the tension as well. Floating close behind her shoulder, her sweet, childish voice held a note of caution: “Sister, be careful. The air in there feels strange.”
Lin Huai had already caught the unnatural chill. Drawing her Five Emperors Copper Coin Sword, she gripped the hilt tightly and stepped cautiously past the threshold.
Thanks to her constant exploration and mine-clearing practice inside the coffin’s golden gate, her reflexes for spotting hidden triggers were exceptionally sharp. Moving with disciplined precision, she stepped around several pressure plates, tripwires, and falling blades embedded in the passage floor.
Once the final trap was bypassed, Lin Huai stepped into the cavern’s grand central chamber.
Beyond rows of scattered, jewel-encrusted chests, the stone floor was carpeted with bodies.
The armor on these skeletons differed completely from the guard regiment outside. These were clearly the invading soldiers who had broken through the canyon.
At the very head of the chamber, resting atop a raised dais, sat a massive, polished black sarcophagus.
Standing alone at the base of the stone steps was a single skeletal warrior. Like a lone titan holding the mountain pass against ten thousand men, he had blocked the entire invading vanguard right here.
Even in death, reduced to bare bones, this commanding general radiated an astonishing, suffocating pressure.
He rested on one knee, both hands clasping the pommel of a heavy broadsword driven deep into the stone flagstones. His proud, armored skull bowed slightly forward in a pose of unyielding defiance, silently proclaiming his final victory to the world.
One warrior against a hundred. Even as his heart stopped beating, he had carried out his duty to the bitter end, defending this threshold and his fallen sovereign with his very life.
Lin Huai felt an immense wave of respect for this nameless hero. Stepping forward with measured paces, she came to a halt a respectful distance away and offered a deep, formal bow.
“General, your loyalty shines across the ages. May your noble soul rest in eternal honor! Yet a thousand years have passed; the land has changed, and old dynasties have turned to dust. Your sacred watch ended ten centuries ago. I come today only seeking the treasures left behind, with no desire to disturb the sovereign’s slumber. I ask for your understanding.”
She looked up, meeting the hollow sockets of the armored skull. “If the General does not object, Lin Huai of the Lin clan is willing to gather your honored remains and carry you to the Martyrs’ Cemetery to rest among fellow heroes. If this meets with your approval, please lay down your ancient obsession and let your bones find peace!”
Lin Huai had braced herself for resistance. A warrior who died bearing such immense responsibility—a man whose pride was forged into his very marrow—was typically stubborn and unwilling to yield.
Yet the moment her words finished echoing through the stone vault, the suffocating resentment clinging to the armored skeleton dissolved like morning mist. With a soft, clean clatter, the unyielding frame released its tension, the bones coming to rest peacefully upon the flagstones.
The final burst of lingering spiritual force rippled outward across the chamber floor. Caught in that righteous wake, the bones of the invading enemies piled around the steps instantly collapsed into fine, gray dust.
Lin Huai stepped forward without hesitation, keeping her promise as she reverently gathered the general’s remains.
