Zhong Li is now suffering from divine punishment and definitely cannot be left outside. Xu Qi'an has always been a man who cherishes women.

But taking her to the tomb may have the risk of annihilation. Therefore, Taoist Master Jin Lian's decision is the most secure and is unanimously agreed upon by everyone.

That night, unexpected incidents occurred frequently.

Zhong Li sat cross-legged, and suddenly a wild boar rushed out of the grass and brutally charged at her. A flying bird passed over her head, leaving behind a lump of gold ore.

A large tree suddenly fell from the wind and smashed onto her head; a hunter hunting on the mountain at night shot an arrow, almost killing her...

It's too tragic, too tragic. The men who witnessed Zhong Li's ordeal were all silent.

Silence of men, tears of women.

Finally, when it was dawn, Zhong Li made a list of items to restrain the filthy air and asked Qian You to go into the city to purchase them.

"I, I'll take a short nap..."

Zhong Li reached out and grabbed Xu Qi'an's sleeve. "Don't leave me."

When Qian You returned with the purchased items, Zhong Li was still sleeping. Xu Qi'an then carried her on his back and followed Taoist Master Jin Lian and others to the mountains in the south.

"Ying..." Zhong Li murmured.

"You continue to sleep. I'll wake you up when we reach the entrance of the tomb," Xu Qi'an said softly.

Zhong Li continued to sleep peacefully.

After two sticks of incense, Qian You led the group to a mountain hollow and found the entrance to the tomb, which was covered with branches cut down. After Qian You moved the branches, a narrow passage that only allowed one person to pass through was revealed.

"Let's go in," Taoist Master Jin Lian said.

"Okay."

Chu Yuanzhen and Heng Yuan nodded, then looked at Xu Qi'an together.

"Give me a reason!" Xu Qi'an said in a deep voice.

"The divine sense of a Refining Realm warrior can sense danger in advance," Taoist Master Jin Lian said with a smile.

"The Vajra Divine Art provides unparalleled protection," Chu Yuanzhen added.

"...Alright, you've convinced me," Xu Qi'an said, bending over with Zhong Li on his back and entering the tomb.

Taoist Master Jin Lian and the others followed behind, not getting too close, maintaining a relatively safe distance.

The entrance was narrow, only allowing one person to pass. After walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up.

After crawling out of the tomb, Xu Qi'an stepped on a brick. It must have fallen from the wall when the tomb robbers dug the tunnel.

Clang...

He struck the flint and lit the prepared torch, which burned brightly.

This tomb had been open for nearly three months, and the oxygen content inside was extremely high... This was not good, it would damage the artifacts in the tomb. Once some things come into contact with oxygen, they will quickly deteriorate... Hey, I don't need to think about these survival lines... Xu Qi'an complained in his heart.

Footsteps came from behind, and Taoist Master Jin Lian and the others crawled out of the tomb and jumped in.

Everyone lit their torches at the same time, illuminating the dark space.

Xu Qi'an picked up a brick, pinched it, and found that the hardness of the brick was countless times stronger than he had expected.

"What kind of brick is this?" he asked.

Taoist Master Jin Lian moved the torch over and looked closely. "It's a blue oak brick."

"?"

Xu Qi'an looked at him.

"It's a relatively rare stone, known for its strength and resistance to weathering," Chu Yuanzhen explained. "I've seen this kind of brick in books, but this is the first time I've seen it."

Xu Qi'an nodded. "We should be at the edge of a large tomb. Based on these bricks, the entire tomb should be built with blue oak bricks."

"The owner of this tomb is even more noble than we imagined."

Indeed, he is a genius at solving cases, with flexible thinking and strong analytical skills... Chu Yuanzhen thought to himself.

The group searched the tomb and found twelve coffins and four corpses, which had been dead for several days, emitting a faint stench.

"Three of them are brothers from the gang, and the other is a hired expert," Qian You said in a low voice.

Although the work was extremely risky and often encountered crises, he still felt heavy in his heart.

Xu Qi'an put down Zhong Li, handed her the torch, and squatted down to check the bodies. "The faces are dark blue, and the lips are black. They died from severe poisoning."

"There's no poison in the air," Zhong Li said.

Xu Qi'an nodded, quickly stripped the clothes off the dead body, and found several small wounds on the arms, as if they had been bitten by some kind of insect.

"They must have moved the coffins. These dead people must have moved the coffins," Chu Yuanzhen suddenly said.

Xu Qi'an's ears twitched, catching a slight, but densely packed, wriggling sound coming from the stone coffin.

The stone coffin seemed to be a vessel for raising poisonous insects.

"Should we open the coffins and take a look?" Heng Yuan said, looking at Taoist Master Jin Lian.

Taoist Master Jin Lian looked at Chu Yuanzhen.

Chu Yuanzhen nodded, flicked his finger, and shot a sword intent at the stone coffin. The stone coffin shook violently, and the wriggling sound stopped.

He waved his sleeve, and the stone coffin opened, emitting a foul stench.

Everyone present was a master and not afraid of mere toxins. Zhong Li spread out her palm, holding a brown pill, and said to Qian You, "This is an antidote pill."

"Thank you, miss," Qian You said gratefully, swallowing the pill.

The four members of the Heaven and Earth Society stood by the stone coffin, examining the inside, where the densely packed poisonous insects had been blown to pieces, and the black-brown liquid splattered all over the coffin walls.

In addition to the poisonous insects that were killed by Chu Yuanzhen, there was also a severely deformed skeleton, and the specific age could not be determined, only that it was very ancient.

It's a pity that this world does not have the corresponding technology, otherwise, the age of this skeleton could be determined... Xu Qi'an thought to himself."There are no burial goods; the coffin in this tomb chamber must belong to a sacrificial victim," Chu Yuanzhen said.

"The Great Feng doesn't have a tradition of live human sacrifices, does it?" Xu Qi'an asked Chu Yuanzhen for guidance with an open mind.

"The practice of human sacrifice dates back to ancient times, its origins untraceable. However, it was officially abolished during the Dayi Dynasty in the year 2123, before the emergence of the Confucian sage."

Chu Yuanzhen did not hesitate, naturally recalling the relevant knowledge and responding.

"That means the age of this grand tomb is over two thousand years," Taoist Master Jin Lian said.

After inspecting the chamber for a while without finding anything, the group, carrying torches, left the tomb chamber and ventured deeper. Along the way, they occasionally encountered one or two bodies that had died from traps.

After a short while, they entered a broader tomb chamber where the ceiling was lost in the dark depths, and the darkness ahead seemed boundless.

Waving his torch, Xu Qi'an saw many corpses lying on the ground. Some were fresh, having died only a few days ago, while others were desiccated, wearing tattered clothes that made it impossible to discern their original appearance.

None of these dried-up corpses were intact; some had their heads torn off, limbs ripped apart, or were chopped into pieces.

In addition, there were several coffins with their lids flipped open.

One could imagine that a fierce battle had recently taken place here.

Tomb robbers had opened the coffins, disturbing the zombies that slept within.

"What's with these zombies? I remember that it's the God of Witchcraft's followers who can manipulate corpses, right?"

Xu Qi'an, with his "extremely low cultural level," was the first to speak, his gaze sweeping over the coffins that had not been opened.

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Zhong Li shook her head: "These zombies have nothing to do with the God of Witchcraft. They have been nourished by the yin energy over time and have turned into zombies. Fortunately, these zombies have already been destroyed, saving us the trouble."

As soon as she finished speaking, a series of "bang, bang, bang" sounds echoed through the spacious tomb chamber—the sound of coffin lids being pushed open and falling to the ground.

In the darkness, one after another, shadowy figures stood up. They were withered but had sharp, black nails, and their eyes glowed a cold, terrifying green.

"Amitabha Buddha!"

Heng Yuan chanted the Buddha's name, stepping forward to meet the zombies head-on, and with a punch, he burst the head of one.

After dealing with the zombies, they discovered murals on the walls on both sides of the tomb chamber.

The mural on the left wall depicted a group of people in simple clothing and strange hats, prostrating on the ground, worshiping towards a high platform.

The mural on the right was quite indecent, showing countless pairs of men and women in coitus, enjoying the pleasures of the flesh in fixed positions. Some of the positions were even unheard of to Xu Qi'an, who had been educated by the "hard drive wives."

The bodies of the men and women in the mural were outlined with diagrams of meridian pathways.

"This seems to be an ancient sexual cultivation technique," Taoist Master Jin Lian said gravely.

"Ancient sexual cultivation technique?"

Chu Yuanzhen knew a little about it but not much, while Heng Yuan and Xu Qi'an had never heard of it.

After pondering for a moment, Taoist Master Jin Lian explained: "The Taoist God is revered as the ancestor of all methods, with extensive knowledge. Among the teachings he passed down, the three main sects of Heaven, Earth, and Man were the core, but there were also many other branches.

"One of these branches focused on dual cultivation, where yin and yang converge to seek the Dao together. At its peak, its influence was no less than that of the 'Heaven, Earth, Man' three sects. Followers were numerous, and it was held in high esteem by officials and nobles eager for the path of cultivation and longevity. Some female followers even lingered in the Taoist temples, willingly engaging in dual cultivation. According to the records of the Earth Sect, this included some women of noble status."

Damn, this sect really knew how to play... No, no, that's me seeing lewdness in everything. In their eyes, seeking the Dao was the core purpose, everything else was trivial... Xu Qi'an was shocked, staring at the mural intently, trying to memorize the positions and the flow of the meridians.

Heng Yuan shook his head, his gaze clear and undisturbed by the mural, as if everything on it was insignificant and unable to shake his Buddhist heart.

"This technique is indeed beneficial for advancing one's cultivation, but finding a partner for dual cultivation is too difficult," the top scholar commented.

Since it was dual cultivation, one naturally had to find a woman who was equally proficient in the technique, not just any woman from a brothel.

"Heaven and earth, yin and yang, transforming the five elements, the technique of dual cultivation is a direct and orthodox method to the Dao. However, while techniques have no class, people do. The progress of dual cultivation is slow, and one must maintain their original heart, not be occupied by desires.

"Gradually, this branch, in pursuit of quick success, created the technique of harvesting energy from others, thus falling into the demonic path. They deceived female followers, imprisoning them in the temples for energy harvesting, and kidnapped women from all over, causing public outrage.

"Eventually, they provoked the imperial army and the wrath of the martial heroes... And so, they were extinguished. Nowadays, there are only remnants of the dual cultivation technique within the Taoist sects, and being incomplete, they are not very useful. It's unexpected to find a complete dual cultivation technique here."

Taoist Master Jin Lian lamented.

"Then, why is there a complete dual cultivation technique here?" Xu Qi'an asked.

...

PS: This chapter is a bit short, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to update before midnight.